Chapter 2203.2: Hadal Fire
“Don’t be provoked by him, Yun’er,” Lu Tianling frowned and transmitted a warning to his grandson.
“It is of no matter,” Lu Yun smiled. “Don’t worry, grandfather. I know what can and cannot be done.”
“Lu Yun, dare you fight in single combat in front of the citizens of the two empires?” Sui Ge’s voice carried clearly as he stared at the young man.
“Whyever not?” The Lu young master curled his lip. “But it’s boring to just fight. How about we add a forfeit?”
“What do you have in mind?” A smile curved Sui Ge’s lips. It was most ideal that Lu Yun was willing to fight.
“You are the leader of the Dark Orchid delegation, aren’t you?” Lu Yun scanned the group, identifying a couple hidden experts with the Eye of Nullification. However, they followed Sui Ge’s orders.
“I am,” the young man nodded.
“Then if I win, you shall announce on your emperor’s behalf that Darklake Empire is released from Dark Orchid’s control. How about it?”
A loud hubbub rose with Lu Yun’s response. Darklake Empire had been part of Dark Orchid ever since its founding. Over the past two thousand years, any soul projection cultivator that appeared in its lands was taken to Dark Orchid.
After all this time, Darklake was firmly tied to Dark Orchid. The superior nation fully commandeered all of the nation’s resources and mines. When a lower rank spirit vein appeared in Darklake one thousand years ago, a Dark Orchid powerhouse came to take it away.
Yet now, Lu Yun’s first demand was for Darklake to be freed from its vassal status. Although Situ Wenxian had announced several days ago that he would do the very same, it still induced panic when the possibility was close at hand.
“Darklake Empire wishes to be independent?” Sui Ge took in a sharp breath. This little empire had quite the ambition! Even those in the delegation exchanged glances with each other.
“Or can it be that the vaunted little prince cannot make the decision?” Lu Yun smiled.
“And if you lose?” Sui Ge asked instead.
“If I lose?” Lu Yun thought for a bit. “Whatever you want.”
“Whatever I want… I can represent Dark Orchid, but can you represent Darklake?” Sui Ge snorted.
“He can,” interjected the quiet Situ Wenxian. “If Lu Yun loses, we will strive to fulfill any requirement that Dark Orchid raises.”
“Alright!” Sui Ge immediately agreed.
It was the Darklake emperor on one side and the Dark Orchid delegation on the other. The latter also represented their emperor, so any agreement reached between the two was set in stone. There was nothing that could be changed. If one side went back on their word, they would be despised by other nations and even punished by the heavenly book when its power returned.
“But before that, shouldn’t the Darklake emperor open the city gates and let us inside?” Sui Ge continued.
“There’s no need for that, let’s fight first.” Lu Yun jumped down from the city walls. Immortals Forbidden flew to his hand in a streak of light. As he progressed in cultivation, so was the weapon reforged into a paramount rank spirit weapon. Glowing with crimson light, the flying sword burned like a miniature sun.
“So you’ve obtained a paramount rank spirit weapon, no wonder you’re so cocky.” Sui Ge gave a long peal of laughter and jumped down from the flying treasure. Snowy radiance flashed through his hand—another paramount rank flying sword!
Additionally, the energy ripples from his flare of power indicated that he was initial soul projection.
Soul projection and nascent soul were two entirely different realms. Entering soul projection meant that the nascent soul could separate and live outside of the body. It would survive even if the body died.
One only needed to find a treasure that could reform a physical body to fully recover. It was the equivalent of a second life.
Sui Ge hadn’t matched Lu Yun when he was latter nascent soul, but now that he’d broken through to soul projection, he was more than ten times stronger than before. In his eyes, Lu Yun was absolutely inferior to him now.
“Soul projection?” Lu Yun quirked his lips and didn’t waste time with speech. He leapt into the air and drew a fiery arc with Immortals Forbidden, bringing the sword down on Sui Ge’s head.
“Die!” The little prince roared and also flew into the air. He raised his paramount rank spirit weapon in front of him and met Lu Yun in the air.
Bam!
When the two paramount rank spirit weapons crashed together, Sui Ge’s body paused and shot back out. Lu Yun swiftly followed behind, not letting up.
“So strong! He’s latter nascent soul!” Sui Ge realized with dismay and stopped his momentum with a twist of his body.
“Should we help?” asked a brooding middle-aged man among the Dark Orchid delegation.
“Wait for Sui Ge to finish his fight.” A handsome twenty-some year old young man shook his head. “Although the heavenly book’s power has been dispersed, its surveillance remains. It will enact a reckoning after the fact for many things.”
The middle-aged man fell silent.
While the heavenly book no longer held sway over the world, its laws continued to keep an eye on Jade Ruins Realm. It was one thing if the offender was an immortal or cultivator from another world. They could just leave after the fact, placing themselves out of reach of the heavenly book’s power.
It was another matter entirely for those who lived in the realm.
The treasure didn’t interfere in trivial matters or private vows and promises. Everything related to nations, however, was under its purview. If one side broke their word, the heavenly book was sure to inflict heavy punishment when it returned.
The Dark Orchid delegation watched the fight with grim looks. Anyone could tell that Sui Ge had the losing hand.
“Lu Tianling’s grandson is Lu Tianling’s grandson alright…” A young man with silvery-white hair and the energy ripples of initial nascent soul regarded Lu Yun coldly.
Bam!
Sui Ge flew backward like a rag doll after an immense explosion.
“Do we continue, little prince?” Lu Yun smiled faintly at Sui Ge as he hovered over his sword. He’d yet to deploy most of his sword techniques—he was crushing Sui Ge through pure strength alone.
“Heh heh heh heh heh…” Sui Ge struggled up from the back and sneered coolly at Lu Yun. “Do you think you can beat me like this?”
Humm!
A loud reverberation sounded in the air as a flaming red gourd appeared in his hand. It irradiated the surroundings with a scorching heat wave, warming even Lu Yun’s face beyond his limits.
“A paramount rank dao weapon…” Whether it was those from Dark Orchid or Darklake, all those on the scene took in sharp breaths.
The flame-red gourd emanated a powerful aura that belonged to dao weapons. Its presence was a constant reminder that this was a paramount rank dao weapon.
Prince Sui certainly had gone to great efforts on behalf of his grandson! It was also apparent from this that neither Prince Sui nor Dark Orchid was as simple as they appeared on the surface.
Gravity appeared on Lu Yun’s face. He wasn’t afraid of the weapon’s rank, but what it contained; the fires of heaven and earth.
Indeed, the weapon was just a container for such a fire. There were one hundred and eight recorded fires of heaven and earth. Thirty-six heavenly fires, seventy-two earthly fires. Lu Yun’s disciple Kong Mengqian wielded only the lowest ranked earthly fire.
The fire in this paramount rank dao weapon was also an earthly fire, but it was far higher ranked than Kong Mengqian’s. It hadn’t been subdued by its wielder, merely confined to the gourd to be used at will.
Although Lu Yun’s connate li fire was much stronger than ordinary fires of heaven and earth, its power was connected to his cultivation. His fire was so much weaker than the one in the gourd.
Sui Ge’s hands flicked through hand seals and sent the gourd floating over his head. A gout of black flame jumped out from it and turned it pitch-black. The heat wave immediately billowed over everything on the scene.
“Hadal Fire, ranked number eleven on the ranking of earthly fires,” Lu Yun identified solemnly. He must make it his!
Whoosh!
The crimson gourd’s stopper popped off and a tongue of black flame shot out of the opening. It curled toward Lu Yun, who evaded it with a quick dodge. But the moment he moved, the flame exploded.
Scorching heat grazed Lu Yun when the fire simply grazed him. Sui Ge cackled to see Lu Yun run and waved the black gourd into his hand. Waves of Hadal Fire shot out from it, more than ten times stronger than before.
The black flames swiftly coalesced into a massive bird with a nine meter wingspan. It dove the moment it formed and brought down a blazing heat wave onto Lu Yun.
“A Hadal Fire Spirit…” His pupils contracted violently.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺