Wayfarer

Chapter 736: The Zombie Army Descends

All the cultivators were arrested by Lou Yujing's aura and intensity. Their breathing stilled; their backs turned cold.

Xiao Nanfeng and Yang Chuan looked directly at Lou Yujing, neither of them intending to relent.

"Xiao Nanfeng, Yang Chuan, were you trying to kill me?" Lou Yujing demanded.

"As far as other cultivators are concerned, if I don't stand up for them, their friends and relatives will. However, I'm duty-bound to the Martial Aspects of the Imperial Court. You unmasked yourself the moment you caused their deaths. If you want to fight, let's do so directly. Dispense with the nonsense," Yang Chuan retorted.

"Where are your zombie subordinates? Call them out!" Xiao Nanfeng demanded.

All the cultivators' eyes widened. A huge battle was about to break out.

Lou Yujing's killing intent flared. Intense frost froze the seawater in the vicinity and caused the resulting ice to crack.

Lou Yujing glared at the gathered cultivators. He found to his surprise that Xiao Nanfeng didn't seem to fear him at all. How could that be?

He suddenly took a deep breath, reined in his killing intent, and continued to talk.

"As I said, you misunderstand me. The zombies have nothing to do with me, but if I make a move now, wouldn't I simply be playing into your hands? Yang Chuan, just you wait. I'll report what you've done to the Heavenly Emperor. Let's see how he punishes you then!" Lou Yujing exclaimed.

The cultivators all around were taken aback. None of them had expected Lou Yujing not to relent. How could that be?

Lou Yujing whirled around to the void hole from which he had emerged. The damage to the void was swiftly being restored. Within moments, the hole had closed up and become a black line. Then, even that black line vanished as well.

Lou Yujing's eyes flashed with annoyance. He glared at the gathered cultivators, then commanded his subordinates, "Let's go!"

He flew off with his subordinates in tow, cracking the ice that had formed all around them.

Yang Chuan and Xiao Nanfeng didn't stop him. They eyed him coldly as he departed.

The cultivators all around were perplexed by Lou Yujing's behavior. Wasn't a fight about to break out? Why had the Immortal Emperor of Hongyue left so suddenly?

"Everyone, our meeting will continue as planned. We'll start once others who have been invited arrive," Yang Chuan announced.

"Understood!" the cultivators replied.

Although quite a few of the buildings had been destroyed in the earlier confrontation, some were still structurally sound.

Yang Chuan, Xiao Nanfeng, Ye Dafu, and the others headed into a hall and vanished from sight.

Before long, one of Yang Chuan's subordinates emerged. He flew up toward the underwater barrier, out of the sea, and into the clouds.

Deep within cloud cover, he uncorked a gourd and shook Xiao Nanfeng and Yang Chuan out.

"You may return," Yang Chuan said.

"Understood!" Yang Chuan's subordinate bowed and retreated, while Xiao Nanfeng secured the gourd by his waist.

Yang Chuan asked, "Do you know in which direction they set off?"

"I had Ao Zhou's subordinates keep watch in the vicinity. Their avatars pointed out that Lou Yujing set off in that direction. Let's go!"

"Very well." Yang Chuan nodded.

Yang Chuan flew off with Xiao Nanfeng.

"It's a pity that Lou Yujing didn't attack us. Otherwise, if we had caught him off-guard, I would have been able to take him down with the Heavenly Emperor's heart sword." Xiao Nanfeng sighed.

"He's too cautious," Yang Chuan agreed.

"It doesn't matter, I suppose. We'll have plenty of opportunities to strike in the future."

Yang Chuan's eyes flashed as he nodded.

Meanwhile, Lou Yujing was flying through the clouds with his subordinates in tow.

Yuan Wudi's face was a mask of rage. "Yang Chuan and Xiao Nanfeng were deliberately targeting you, Your Majesty. They waited until they tricked you into the black coffin before they destroyed it. If not for your overwhelming strength, you might have been trapped for good! Should we really have let them go so easily?"

"Let them go? Hardly. My intuition simply told me not to attack them then." Lou Yujing shook his head.

"Intuition?" Yuan Wudi exclaimed.

"Now, however, our circumstances have changed. It's time to let them pay the price for what they've done," Lou Yujing declared.

He retrieved a jade bottle and shook out a zombie radiating black smoke, the ancestral zombie that Lou Yujing's avatar had taken over.

The ancestral zombie flew off in a certain direction.

"Is that zombie heading to Yongding?" Yuan Wudi asked.

He immediately guessed that Lou Yujing had retrieved all the zombies from the black coffin hidden realm during his short time there. They were likely all within that jade bottle.

"Indeed. I'll take them all down at once. The zombies will suffice to finish off Yongding. As for you, join me in Shenfeng's capital."

"Understood!"

Just then, a red-armored cultivator strode forward. "Your Majesty, Hongyue's capital is under attack by a Boundless Immortal, but the defensive formation appears to be holding up for the moment."

"A Boundless Immortal?" Lou Yujing narrowed his eyes.

Yuan Wuji shook his head in surprise. "How could that be? A Boundless Immortal attacking Hongyue's capital now?"

"With Li Qianjun stationed at the capital, there won't be any issue in the short term. If I'm not mistaken, however, the assailant is likely someone linked to Xiao Nanfeng and Yang Chuan."

Yuan Wudi's eyes widened in surprise.

"I'll have to defend Hongyue, then. Head to Shenfeng's capital immediately and follow Jiuniang's orders," Lou Yujing instructed.

"Understood!"

Yuan Wudi and a subordinate with an avatar shot off in a certain direction while Lou Yujing and some of his subordinates with avatars headed straight for Hongyue's capital. The other Hongyue cultivators trailed behind at a slower pace.

Above a stretch of the sea, Xiao Nanfeng said, "Let's continue heading to Yongding."

"Did you receive word from your subordinates' avatars?" Yang Chuan asked curiously.

"I did. I had plenty of people stationed in the air. Three beams of light shot off in three different directions, likely three Boundless Immortals headed for Yongding, Shenfeng's capital, and Hongyue's capital," Xiao Nanfeng explained.

"Oh? Which Boundless Immortals are with them in addition to Lou Yujing and Yuan Wudi? The ancestral zombie?" Yang Chuan exclaimed.

"That has to be it. I've sent Ye Sanshui to Hongyue's capital to attack it, so Lou Yujing's main body is likely headed there to defend it. The zombies must be off attacking Yongding. As for Shenfeng's capital, if the Divine Emperor draws on her imperial might, there shouldn't be any problem. We need to return to Yongding immediately."

"Got it!" Yang Chuan replied.

He flew off toward Yongding with Xiao Nanfeng as quickly as he could.

Lou Yujing moved at an incredible pace. Before long, he arrived in Hongyue's capital. He paused in the air, a howling wind trailing behind him.

By then, the defensive formation around Hongyue was fully active. Smoke and dust filled the air.There had clearly been a huge commotion in the vicinity.

The moment he appeared, cheers rang out all across Hongyue's capital.

"The Immortal Emperor is back!" someone exclaimed.

A large number of Hongyue cultivators soared into the air, with Li Qianjun in the lead.

"We greet the Immortal Emperor!" the cultivators chorused.

"Where's the assailant? Isn't there a Boundless Immortal attacking the capital?" Lou Yujing asked.

Li Qianjun frowned. "Your Majesty, a Boundless Immortal did attack. He was shrouded in black fog and hiding his appearance. He attacked the capital for some time before fleeing into the southern forests. There hasn't been any commotion since, but we didn't dare leave the capital."

"Do you know what techniques that Boundless Immortal used? Could he be the Demon Child?" Lou Yujing asked.

"Given his stature, it's unlikely. We couldn't identify what techniques he used, nor who he is. He was particularly cautious," Li Qianjun reported.

Lou Yujing furrowed his brows. "Could Xiao Nanfeng and Yang Chuan have summoned another Boundless Immortal from the Imperial Court? Is it Ao Canghai or someone else?"

"What do we do now, Your Majesty?" Li Qianjun asked.

"Whoever it is must be gone by now, but they may have left some traces behind. Have someone search for clues in that forest."

"Understood!"

Lou Yujing headed straight for his palace. He didn't want to take risks; a capital was of prime importance to an empire, and he had to ensure that nothing went wrong.

High in the air above Yongding, a black figure remained suspended in the heavens: Lou Yujing's ancestral zombie body.

From afar, it saw blinding golden light around Yongding, which was surrounded by layer after layer of defensive formations. 361 stars hung high overhead, beams of starlight filtering down to Yongding and empowering its defenses.

"Xiao Nanfeng may have expected that I would come here, but it doesn't matter. Yongding will perish today!" the ancestral zombie declared.

It uncorked the jade bottle it had brought along with it and upended it. Black smoke gushed out, descending from the heavens, dyeing the entire sky black and turning day into night. Six zombie kings appeared from the smoke, trailed by a large horde of zombies.

It was as if a portal to hell had opened up. A fearsome aura emanated from the zombies and caused the cultivators in Yongding to shudder.

Xiao Nanfeng's avatar emerged from his palace in Yongding, followed by a large number of officials. They were staring at the ptich-black sky with trepidation.