CH 2171.2

One month ago, Fengxian Wu was wary of a Lu Xuan at initial golden core. One month later, she was able to defeat numerous golden core cultivators with a sweep of her arm. The contrast was stark.

“Miss Fengxian was once injured?” Terror appeared on the enforcer’s face. He knew full well how precious each member of the Fengxian bloodline was. If this young lady suffered an accident whilst in the Jade Ruins Realms, even Xuanhuang Empire would be her burial goods.

“It is of no matter. The Lu young master and Senior Bloodbath have healed my injuries. I have made a full recovery.”

The man breathed out more easily after hearing Fengxian Wu’s response. “Then it seems that Bloodbath’s merits are more than his faults. They negate his previous crimes. Upon my return, I will request that the chief enforcer pardon Bloodbath.”

“In that case, my gratitude to the venerated chief enforcer.” Lu Yun smiled with a glance at Fengxian Wu.

The black armored man also looked at Lu Yun with a much more gentle expression.

“It is best that as few know of my affairs as possible. Don’t send people to disturb me or reveal my movements. Your chief enforcer won’t be able to shoulder the consequences. You should go back now,” Fengxian Wu transmitted once more.

“Understood,” the man took a deep breath. “Then I trouble young master Lu to look after Miss Fengxian while she is here.”

He raised cupped fists to Lu Yun.

“Naturally, if I might know the senior’s name…?”

The man blinked, then smiled faintly. “Helian Shan.”

“Please be at ease, Senior Helian. No one will touch Miss Fengxian while she resides at the Lu residence. But the Nineheavens Pagoda…” Lu Yun paused meaningfully.

“I will take care of them, don’t worry.” Helian Shan stopped, then continued, “As Bloodbath is a combination level cultivator, his presence here violates the rules. He should stay in the shadows whenever he moves around.”

The enforcer had a good impression of Lu Yun and thus exchanged a few more words with the young man before leaving in a ray of sword light.

“Miss Fengxian’s identity is indeed extraordinary. Even an enforcer whose word is law in the world of cultivation bows and scrapes in front of you. He was worried about breathing too loudly!” Lu Yun said cheekily to Fengxian Wu after Helian Shan left.

A proud smile appeared reflexively on Fengxian Wu’s face, but she blinked in the next second. Was it worth boasting about that Lu Yun admired her?

“This young lady saved your life this time—it counts as returning your favor for helping me recover.” Fengxian Wu lifted her chin. “But you then struck a connection with Helian Shan through me, so you owe me one.”

Lu Yun nodded and replied solemnly, “Miss Fengxian speaks truly. The Lu Clan was saved this time purely thanks to Miss Fengxian. They say that words are too paltry when it comes to gratitude too great to be repaid. If Miss Fengxian needs help with anything in the future, I will do my utmost to fulfill your need so long as it is within the scope of my abilities.”

He spoke with an earnest look in his eyes—there was none of his usual craftiness or lewdness to be found. Fengxian Wu’s eyes widened when she saw his expression.

She’d gotten to know the young man better after spending a month together. Although he was an unmitigated good-for-nothing bastard, he was extremely principled when it came to certain things.

He always returned kindness tenfold, repaying a drop of dew with a lively spring.

As a wily old fox of three thousand lifetimes, Lu Yun knew that sometimes friendship was much more important than profit or gain. He was very pointed in his actions—Fengxian Wu would treat him as a friend and never think of him as anything more than that.

It wasn’t narcissistic for him to say that he needed to carefully maintain this boundary. He was too exemplary and easily attracted attention. However, he wasn’t interested in anyone. Lu Yun wanted to save himself for the two who were sealed away in his memories.

……

The appearance of a law enforcer daunted some of the unstable elements in Darklake Empire. Currents of trouble that’d been ready to overtake the capital settled down for a few days. Although representatives of the Nineheavens Pagoda were still present in Dark City, they were uncommonly law-abiding.

They said nothing when Lu Yun threw Xu Lang’s corpse into the streets—even when the second senior brother had been stripped naked.

The law enforcer had killed without another word on behalf of the Lu Clan. That was sufficient for everyone to understand that the current Lus were a faction not to be touched.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread dot com".

Lu Yun gained the most out of the incident. Thanks to Helian Shan’s appearance, the family remained as solid as Mount Tai in the furor raised by the dao weapon. More importantly, the three ninth rank empires withdrew their arrest notice for Bloodbath. It took only a few short days for the elder to no longer be a fugitive.

The news sent all of Jade Ruins Cultivation World into an uproar while the Ouyang Clan viewed it with quiet dread. Never had they fathomed that they’d make such a mess of things. The family was doomed if Bloodbath came looking for revenge!

However, another piece of gossip swiftly made the rounds—the powerhouse that’d wielded the dao weapon was a cultivator from Wing Empire, one of Darklake Empire’s two major vassals. His name was Yong Heyu.

Attention that’d been gathered on Darklake Empire immediately shifted to Wing Empire. As Yong Heyu’s previous master, Crown Prince Situ Jie was quickly identified and prodded to find Yong Heyu.

……

The Lu residence.

Patriarch Lu Tianling was absent and no one knew where he was, the second master was in closed door cultivation below ground, which left Lu Yun the only one in charge.

“You spread the news, didn’t you?” Bloodbath had reverted to his original appearance—long, dark red hair, blood-red eyes and white robes. He sprawled comfortably on the chair in front of Lu Yun.

The cancellation of his arrest warrant allowed him to relax greatly. He made enormous daily progress in the Canon of the Blood God after recovering from his injuries; he was almost nascent soul now. The goodwill emanating from him was so strong that he almost nursed a remarkable faith in Lu Yun.

The Ouyang Clan had taken advantage of him for numerous years, but everything changed after he met the young man. He’d lost his home a long time ago—the Lu residence was his home now.

“No,” Lu Yun shook his head. “It was just impossible to conceal Yong Heyu’s involvement. How are the twenty-nine getting along?”

“Their willpower is decent, but their potential is subpar. Their cultivation hasn’t grown much—a twenty percent increase in strength at most,” Bloodbath sighed.

“Twenty percent? That’s not bad.” Lu Yun nodded. He’d yet to resolve the Vermilion Bird affair because Situ Yun was distracted by the crown prince’s machination these days.

“I will have to continue to trouble the senior in matters to come,” the young man said. “Although these people come from the army and have experienced life and death, they are still yet to reach my standards.”

“What are you looking for?” Bloodbath frowned.

“Senior, please take these people to the Great Wilderness Mountain for further training,” Lu Yun said carefully.

“What?!” Bloodbath went slack jawed. The Great Wilderness Mountain was a zone of immense danger in the Jade Ruins Realm. There were countless spirit beasts and even monster spirits there.

“This is the Four Divisions of Heaven Formation, a combined force formation. I leave it in the senior’s hands.” Lu Yun handed a jade slip to the elder.

“The Four Divisions of Heaven Formation?” Bloodbath scanned it curiously. “Ah…”

He was stunned. Being a formation master himself, he easily saw how powerful this one was. It used the four symbols and twenty-eight mansions of the sky to summon the power of the stars from the four cardinal directions. Its might was unparalleled.

“As strong as this formation is, those people still need to practice it. How about this, I’ll teach it to them first and have them practice for a bit before heading to the mountain.” A strange smile curved Bloodbath’s lips.

Lu Yun blinked, then quickly understood that the elder wanted to make a move against the Ouyangs.

“However, this formation requires only twenty-eight. You’ve given me twenty-nine.” Bloodbath didn’t know what Lu Yun was planning.

“Yu Qianhua’s cultivation is the highest among the twenty-nine, I’m tapping him to be the commander of the Vermilion Guard. The other twenty-eight will be hidden guards concealed in the shadows. The Vermilion Guard will also fall to the senior.” Lu Yun smiled gently.

“You brat, you’ve got designs on me!” Bloodbath cursed with a chuckle. He understood what the young man intended.

Although they were out to train, it was also a recruiting drive. This was a trip to truly reassemble the Vermilion Bird—what Lu Yun meant by the Vermilion Guard. Given Bloodbath’s finesse, it was no problem for him to recruit some men. The senior also understood that by giving the Vermilion Guard to him, he was tied to the Lu Clan in the future.

To be honest, he hadn’t thought of any other possibility after Lu Yun took out the Canon of the Blood God. That wasn’t a method that belonged to the world of cultivation.

……

Bloodbath left with the men; Lu Yun didn’t care to inquire what his exact plans were.

“Are you not interested in the dao weapon?” Fengxian Wu grew much more lively after seeing Helian Shan. A small smile could often be found in her frosty expression.

“Dao weapon?” Lu Yun had obtained a lower spirit rank sword from Cloudexit. He’d just refined it, so he smiled with amusement at Fengxian Wu’s question.

“It’s one thing if we secretly stole it from him. If we blatantly take it by force, we’d just be creating trouble for ourselves.” He waved her off. “The aura of a dao weapon is too great. Everyone without five hundred kilometers would be aware whenever we used it. If we lack sufficient strength to retain it, it would only be inviting disaster to take it.”