Six hours later.
Soul Duke's Domain disappeared, and within the vast sky, only a land of frozen ice remained. Zombie after zombie and dead soul after dead soul were hidden away within it.
Outside, Lei Dong and Luo Xing had already adjusted their mindsets, but upon seeing Soul Duke held fixed in mid-air by spiritual power like a specimen, the two of them were still filled with endless sighs.
Soul Duke's spiritual power was completely gone, the Rule of Death was corroding his physical body and soul, and Luo Xing's array made it impossible for even his Primordial Spirit to escape.
He lowered his head, unwilling to accept his defeat, and gazed at Li Dalong, seeing his calm eyes.
As death approached, he, on the contrary, became calm and composed.
"For these past hundred-plus years in the Wu Clan, you were waiting the whole time. You were never afraid of us taking your coffin, because besides you, it would never recognize another master. I fear its grade is even higher than what Luo Xing and I imagined."
"Upon Moon God's body is the blood of several million Wu Clan members, that is the Wu Clan blood and bones that the Li family harvested on the battlefield all those years ago.
Inside, there are also many, many other materials, which were the accumulations of the Li family from over a hundred years ago. You..."
As Soul Duke's voice fell, the faces of both Lei Dong and Luo Xing changed.
The answer dawned on them.
They also understood how on earth Moon God had been refined into a zombie!
Soul Duke was heard to sigh. "For these past hundred-plus years, it was never us keeping you like a caged animal. You never once resigned yourself to depravity, nor did you have the slightest thought of becoming one of our Wu Clan. All you needed was over a hundred years to wait until Moon God was refined into a Corpse Emperor within your coffin, and then, in this vast world, you could go wherever you pleased."
Hearing this, Li Dalong did not refute it; half of what Soul Duke had said was correct.
After obtaining the Moon God's corpse, he had already begun the work of refining a Corpse Emperor; it was just a pity that Tian Xing came too soon. At that time, he had left all his accumulations within the Heaven-Piercing Coffin and had issued a final directive back then in the Azure Cloud border city.
He had instructed the Heaven-Piercing Coffin, after his death, to go and find the descendants of the family, but he never expected to be rescued by Lei Dong and two Wu Clan elders.
"With this kind of technique in your possession, we cannot trap you, and Tian Xing cannot trap you either. As long as you are given enough time, you will become even more terrifying than Tian Xing."
Soul Duke's pupils gradually dilated. He looked towards Luo Xing and sneered, "Luo Xing, you love to weigh value. You will regret this decision."
With these words, his Primordial Spirit shattered, and he perished, his Dao dissipated!
His final shred of spiritual power sent the Dharma Treasures from his body floating up and landing in Li Dalong's hands.
Even as he died, he still revealed a cold sneer towards Luo Xing.
For some unknown reason, Luo Xing, looking at Soul Duke's dying smile, actually felt a chill run through his entire body!
And then... Li Dalong took Soul Duke's corpse, Moon God returned to the Heaven-Piercing Coffin, and Li Dalong hoisted the coffin onto his back.
He, as if nothing had happened, turned around and gave a faint smile to Lei Dong and Luo Xing.
"My thanks to you two for your help. Remember what I said before: I owe the Wu Clan a favor, and I also owe the two of you a favor. So then..."
"I will first repay the favor to the Wu Clan."
As Li Dalong's voice fell.
Luo Xing and Lei Dong glanced at each other. At this moment, they actually felt that Li Dalong was somewhat unfamiliar, and this unfamiliarity made them feel afraid.
It was as if the gentle and kind-hearted Li Dalong they had known for over a hundred years had, in an instant, become filled with deep cunning, his entire body radiating a gloomy temperament like that of a corpse!
Luo Xing asked, puzzled, "Li Dalong, given the current circumstances of the Li family, how do you intend to repay the favor to my Wu Clan?"
Li Dalong did not answer. He slowly turned around and looked at the borderlands of the Three Regions of Azure Cloud.
Woooo—
It was only in the time of a finger-snap after he turned around that, from the Azure Cloud border, the sound of a horn signaling the cultivators' retreat actually came!
"That's...?!!"
The faces of Lei Dong and Luo Xing changed. Their Primordial Spirits had already shot towards the border, and they saw billowing clouds of dust and smoke!
Those were the Azure Cloud cultivators, arrayed at the border of the Three Regions of Azure Cloud, over a thousand Spirit Arks, with no fewer than a million cultivators.
The foundation that the Azure Cloud region had built over the past hundred-plus years was on full display.
They had never expected that today, while Li Dalong and Soul Duke were fighting their great battle and their attention was drawn, the million cultivators of Azure Cloud had actually gathered.
Towards Soulstar City, where the Wu Clan had gathered!
In this moment, cold sweat streamed down their backs!
They could not imagine what kind of situation the completely unprepared Soulstar City would face if these Human Race cultivators were to attack at this moment.
"You..."
Luo Xing's face was instantly covered in gloom. He looked at the calm Li Dalong, seething with internal rage.
"How can there be so many cultivators? Li Dalong, what are you trying to do? When did they gather?!!"
Besides his anger, as he looked at those 'retreating' cultivators, he only felt a terror that grew the more he thought about it!
"The lightning tribulation... your lightning tribulation!"
Lei Dong looked at the somewhat unfamiliar Li Dalong with a complex expression.
"The Divinity Transformation lightning tribulation drew our attention. And you, using some unknown method, made the cultivators of Azure Cloud gather. If you had failed your tribulation today, or if we had blocked you from killing Soul Duke, or if you had been defeated by Soul Duke, the cultivators of Azure Cloud would have..."
"...taken Soulstar City!"
Recalling all the details of Li Dalong's breakthrough, Lei Dong suddenly felt that he had been too naive. No, or rather, it was that Li Dalong had changed. He had become more cruel and also more treacherous.
Perhaps Li Dalong had never truly trusted Luo Xing, and had never truly trusted him either.
Even if they had not intercepted Soul Duke today, Li Dalong had also made foolproof preparations for his tribulation!
The great army of Azure Cloud would have charged in, and Li Dalong would have likewise achieved his goals of getting back the Heaven-Piercing Coffin and killing Soul Duke.
What made them feel even more terrified was that they had thought the Li family had already lost their control over the Azure Cloud region, but in reality, the Li family, through some unknown means, was still secretly controlling everything in Azure Cloud.
The people of the Li family... they had never truly left!
Li Dalong paid no mind to the strange looks from Luo Xing and Lei Dong.
He could sense his old friend's anger, but he remained unmoved. He only stared intently in the direction of Eternal Sun Prefecture and let out a long, drawn-out sigh.
In all these years, Lei Dong had always treated him with sincerity.
But gradually, he could never go back to the way he was before. He had to ensure all his preparations were foolproof, even if his methods were disagreeable to others, and even if he himself had once most despised the kind of people who resorted to schemes and trickery.
He slightly raised his head. Having reached the Divinity Transformation realm, his Primordial Spirit had already perceived that someone was making divinations, was prying!
Within the sky, there was a divine soul using spiritual power to watch everything that was happening within the Wu Clan.
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