The attack was so fast that Lu Yun had no chance to respond. Even Mo Yi and the human demon were too slow to do anything other than watch the young manās head be pierced straight through.
āEh?!ā a confused yelp sounded out.
āIāve been waiting for you!ā Ge Long cackled on the other side of the Mirage. He yanked his head off and flung it into the darkness as hard as he could. A flurry of commotion and a chaotic din of shrieks and yells ensued.
āWhat is this?!ā sounded an angry roar from the unknown. Whoever it was was rather upset at having been thrown for a loop.
āIdiot, Iāve been waiting for you for a very long time.ā Lu Yun put a hand on his forehead; there was no wound there at all. āWhen I said the effect was double-sided, I canāt believe you were fool enough to actually believe me. Do you not have a brain to use?ā
Heād known someone was watching in the darkness from the very start, and had intentionally mislabelled everything as divine obsessions and slain one example to lower its guard. The mention of the dual layoutās reciprocal effects had been the perfect bait.
Ge Long had been waiting on the sidelines, and a feigned moment of absentmindedness was all it took to land the culprit hook, line, and sinker.
Killing a projected image meant the death of the real person as well? A feng shui layout that could do that was impossible to the point of sheer fantasy.
Ge Longās body followed his head, barrelling into the darkness and fighting tooth and nail against whatever was there. Lu Yun couldnāt see into the depths, but the proceedings had Mo Yi and the human demonās full attention.
Thump!
A figure was thrown out into the light to land in a heap at Lu Yunās feet. He wore a blue-black robe and a cloudy current of air covered his face, obscuring his features. A sword was upon his backāthe Sword of Chaos.
...Sword Divine! He was the one whoād been watching Lu Yun from the darkness!
A battered and bruised Ge Long walked back out into the light with his head between his fingers. He had quite a few bruises and holes all over his body, but otherwise seemed none the worse for wear.
āHeheheh. Iāve managed to carry out your orders, milord! Iāve got him!ā The old servant sounded very proud of himself.
āSo he was the one who ambushed you just now? And⦠you wanted to draw him out. Is that why you did all that?ā asked a highly surprised Mo Yi.
āNot entirely.ā Lu Yun let out a small sigh of relief. āI really did feel threatened by whoever it was, but I didnāt expect it to be Sword Divine. If Iād known it was him, I wouldāve gone much further than that.ā
The sight of the person at his feet felt a bit surreal. Someone whoād become his foremost enemy at some point in time was oddly easy pickings. Ge Long had done who knew what to restrict Sword Divineās body. Entirely immobile, this longtime foe was forced to lie still upon the ground.
āLetās see who you really are.ā Lu Yun swatted aside the cloudy haze over Sword Divineās face.
ā¦ā¦
āY-you⦠why is it youā¦ā Lu Yunās face immediately paled at the revelation that the revealed face imparted and he stumbled backward in trembling fear. āHow⦠how can you be the heir to the Sword of Chaos? Whyā¦ā
āAnd why canāt it be me?ā Sword Divine snickered. He narrowed his sharp eyes and gazed coldly at Lu Yun.
āNo, this is all wrong⦠the Sword of Chaos hadnāt been completed yet when you died⦠It canāt be you!ā Lu Yun muttered feverishly, trying to convince himself.
Sword Divineās identity defied sensibility and reality. He was Lu Shenhou!
In Lu Yunās analysis of everyone heād seen and met in the world of immortals, Lu Shenhou was the only one he had completely ruled out. But here he was, as Sword Divine!
This was a man whoād died and refused to believe his own death. A man who bore the strongest of convictions to lead Lu Yun and the others back to the ancient tomb to repair the path of cultivation and release the Dao Flower. That very same man was also the heir of the Sword of Chaos: Sword Divine!
The current Lu Shenhou possessed the body of a divine and was the same man as the one Lu Yun had seen during the Sovereign Ranking.
Indeed, Lu Yun was absolutely certain that his identification was correct. Any personal apprehensions aside, this was a revived and transformed Lu Shenhou for sure. In the same vein, the sword on his back was the Sword of Chaos, the one Lu Yun had seen in the Sword Barrowāno other sword could have its characteristics.
Lu Shenhouās eyes only grew icier as time passed, and he didnāt dignify Lu Yunās amazement with a response. Suddenly, a black light burst forth from the sword on his back, which gradually spread to his entire body.
āNo!ā Lu Yun blanched once again. He took out the Tome of Life and Death without hesitation, slamming it down upon Lu Shenhou as fast as he could. This was the first time heād ever shown the book to any outsiders.
It seemed that no one knew such a book existed in the first place. Even Qi Hai, whose spirit had undergone countless reincarnations, hadnāt heard of the artifact before.
To Lu Yun, the Tome of Life and Death was his strongest treasure and greatest reliance. If the Sword of Chaos was acting up, the only thing that could quash it was the Tome of Life and Death.
Boom!
An absurd amount of force blasted from the tome. It transcended time, transcended space, transcended illusion and reality. Aside from the infinitely proximate Lu Shenhou, no one else in the room could feel it.
This was the power of the dead.
āBreak!ā Lu Shenhou roared with primal ferocity. His divine body spontaneously disintegrated and his true spirit was subsumed into the Sword of Chaos.
Clang!
The ringing sword violently cut a hole through nearby space. In the next instant, it was gone into the aether.
āA true spirit! Lu Shenhou is only a cultivator. How can he have a true spirit?ā Lu Yun gasped.
The soul and true spirit were both essential parts of an immortalās existence. In theory, only plucking a dao fruit would bring the latter into being.
However, Lu Shenhou was no immortal!
āThat Sword Divine is a peculiar existence,ā Mo Yi remarked coolly. āAfter you shattered his cloudy mask, I wasnāt able to see him anymore.ā
The human demon nodded wordlessly in agreement.
āThatās too bad. I was so close⦠At least now that I know who he is, itāll be a lot easier to deal with him from now on. Still⦠why does it have to be him?ā A part of Lu Yun still couldnāt accept what heād just learned and he stared off blankly into space for a long while.
Previous Chapter Next Chapteretvolare's Thoughts
...okay that was my last possible guess as well. I hadn't expected Sword Divine to be someone Lu Yun knew, and good bro LSH was my last. guess. ever. Wth?
...was LSH always a sleeper agent? But his soul seemed to bless Lu Yun and the others when he died... or was that because their goals happened to align at that time?