“Holy Emperor Fuxi was the one who shoved the position of emperor onto me. Now that you're the Yellow Emperor of the human race, I’ll have a much easier time of things.” Lu Yun waved a hand.

The two were talking in the middle of the streets, but none of the people rushing around them registered their presence. When one's cultivation reached their realm—empyrean realm—their body became part of the great dao and the world itself. Hailed as great masters of combat arts, even human kings wouldn't be able to sense their presence if they didn't reveal themselves.

Xuanyuan lowered his head in thought, nonplussed by the lack of challenge. “Even so, I still don't accept how things are.”

“Don’t accept how things are?” Lu Yun raised an eyebrow at him.

“Of course not! My master often says that the Flame Emperor is the number one great emperor and strongest expert of the human race. How it’s only because of the Flame Emperor that the connate demon gods don't dare attack humanity.” Being as young as he was, Xuanyuan had a fiercely competitive streak. “But I've also killed a few connate demon gods and don't think I'm any less than you! Therefore, the two of us need to fight it out and determine who's better.”

“Is this really important to you?” Lu Yun looked weirdly at the great emperor.

“Very.” Xuanyuan nodded. “I’ll always feel a little bit of regret if we don't settle the question.”

“Alright then.” Lu Yun nodded and looked into the skies. “We fight in the nine heavens.” He turned around and vanished in the air.

Xuanyuan arched an eyebrow, he hadn't been able to catch the Flame Emperor’s move! But his hotly competitive heart refused to back down; he summoned a sword from his palace with the wave of his hand.

The Xuanyuan Sword!

The first man-made treasure in the world, created from heavenly bronze collected by Emperor Xuanyuan himself and refined by kingmaker Guang Chengzi. Though it was a man-made creation, its true strength was on par with connate treasures.

Sword in hand, the Yellow Emperor soared into the skies and instantly arrived below the cosmos. The boundary that protected the great wilderness was gone, exposing the entire planet to the boundless stars. That should've made it a prime target for all of the realm monsters and yin spirits lurking in space.

But for some reason, they were nowhere to be found in the cosmos. Lu Yun stood beneath the stars and nodded when he looked at humanity’s current emperor.

“Make your move.”

Hummm.

The Xuanyuan Sword flared with radiant light that cut through space. Stars, sun, and moon dimmed from the resplendence that shone so brightly.

A battle between the Flame and Yellow Emperors of the human race naturally drew attention from many interested parties. Numerous demon gods looked their way and snorted with subsequent dismissal when they saw the match-up. Though the Yellow Emperor had slain a few connate demon gods, his victims had only been at initial chaos realm. The Flame Emperor, however, had trounced Dijiang armed with the Bell of Chaos.

If it wasn't for a certain person residing in humanity’s capital that the demon gods couldn't afford to anger, they would’ve assassinated this Emperor Xuanyuan a long time ago. In light of that, the demon gods set a variety of plans into motion, attempting to find a chance to kill the Yellow Emperor.

Xuanyuan was the rightful ruler of humanity and approved by the heavenly dao. His fortunes ran abundant, and he seemed poised to grow from the great emperor of the human race to one of all life.

Though he was currently out in the open, unprotected, the demon gods didn’t dare make a move since he was with the notorious Lie Shan. Though they couldn’t afford to provoke the existence in Zhuolu City, the Flame Emperor was even more terrifying. If they dared kill the Yellow Emperor in front of him, he’d probably erupt into an immediate slaughter of any demon gods he knew and saw.

……

The Xuanyuan Sword emitted rays of iridescent energy while its master called upon sword dao, slowly forming a dragon in the air.

“Your sword dao comes from Bai Zhaoju… has he emerged from seclusion?” Lu Yun’s eyes lit up with recognition.

“Bai Zhaoju? The White Emperor?” Xuanyuan blinked and nodded. “He’s exited closed door cultivation and officially set foot into the chaos realm. Jin Nation to the west has also allied with the Xiong Nation.”

“I see.” Lu Yun nodded. “Make your move.”

He grabbed gently at empty air and returned with a black sword—a sword projection. Projecting Pangu’s body had raised his nascent spirit observation method to marvelous heights. Not only could he project the form of whatever being he observed, but he could also project swords and various other treasures.

Swoosh!

He slashed downward, accompanied by a black sword dragon that twisted out of the void. This was a blow made without hesitation or reserve and encompassed the strongest sword dao that he could muster.

……

“Hold on, Flame Emperor wants to kill Yellow Emperor!” Numerous demon gods stirred with renewed interest when they read Lu Yun’s move.

“That little bastard is one of the most sinister and cunning out there. He looks like he wants to kill the Yellow Emperor, but he’s actually tempering his junior’s sword dao!” A frosty light danced in Nuanzi’s eyes as he watched the two emperors face off. “We can only take action from the shadows if we want to kill the current human great emperor, we can’t let the Flame Emperor know who did it! Otherwise, he’ll kill anyone remotely related to whoever raises his suspicions!”

Nuanzi had quietly studied the great dao in the comfort of his home all these decades. He’d finally created a cultivation method suitable for himself and progressed at a tremendous pace after that. He’d exceeded the original Dijiang without the Bell of Chaos, but still didn’t dare offend Lie Shan. While his brethren thought Lie Shan wanted to kill the Yellow Emperor, Nuanzi knew better. This was just an excuse to temper Xuanyuan’s sword dao!

…...

Xuanyuan was scrambling for survival in a laser storm of sword light and almost lost his life a few times. It didn’t take long for him to realize how frightful the Flame Emperor was. If the senior wanted to kill him, it’d only take him one move!

“Keep your mind focused on the task at hand or you’ll really die here.” Lu Yun extracted himself from the situation while nine black dragons soared through space, transforming into layers upon layers of a sword ocean that trapped the great emperor within. Xuanyuan looked very much worse for the wear—his imperial robes flapped in tatters and his crown had been smashed to pieces.

“You’ll be able to break out of this sword formation when you ascend to chaos realm,” Lu Yun said coolly. “Your master hasn’t taught you any real skill, so it’s up to me, your martial uncle, to teach you something.”

“Martial uncle?” Xuanyuan goggled.

Bai Zhaoju, Ling Weiyang, Chi Biaonu, and Zhi Guangji were all in closed door cultivation due to their masters’ arrangements. They wouldn’t emerge before they ascended to chaos realm. Upon leaving the Builder Tree, Goumang’s true spirit had directed Ling Weiyang to another location for seclusion. This left only Xuanyuan.

Since Guang Chengzi hadn’t arranged for his disciple to do anything similar, Lu Yun would act on his behalf.

“You don’t need to worry about humanity for the time being, someone else can fill in your spot for a bit. Just stay here and cultivate in peace.” Lu Yun turned and left the cosmos.

The second he left, an enormous dark hand probed out from the stars and pawed at Emperor Xuanyuan in the middle of the sword formation.

Whoosh!

The nine black sword dragons shot out of the formation and streaked into nine enormous rays of light, slicing and dicing an existence hidden deep within the cosmos.

“As I thought! The little rat’s using the Yellow Emperor as bait to further root out connate demon gods!” yelled Nuanzi. He’d felt the presence of death from the nine dragons just now.

A trap!

The Flame Emperor wasn’t just tempering his junior, but also using the Yellow Emperor as bait in a trap for the connate demon gods!

“This is a formation, Fuxi’s formation!” Demon gods peered at where the nine sword dragons patrolled a certain patch of space, looking upon it with envy, jealousy, greed, and killing intent. “What a pity that the Flame Emperor has fully come into his own and is even more terrifying than Fuxi…”

It made no difference who wielded formations—they were all something that connate demon gods didn’t dare touch.

…….

“The humble daoist greets my martial uncle!” Back in the human capital city, Guang Chengzi hastily bowed at Lu Yun when he saw the human.

“There’s no need for such courtesies, sir!” Jumping with fright, Lu Yun quickly avoided the bow. This was the future forefather of dao! He didn’t dare interact with this elder like he did with Daoist Yuyu.

“Martial uncle and my master call each other fellow daoist, so you are my martial uncle.” The venerable daoist looked like an otherworldly elder with youthful features. He smiled merrily at Lu Yun, “This humble daoist had been wondering how to discipline my disciple, but martial uncle has solved the problem for me.”

“Alright, Xuanyuan’s taken care of for the moment. What else does Daoist Hongjun have planned?”

Guang Chengzi nodded slightly. “My master says that the great dao follows nature, so martial uncle should do whatever it is you wish to do. Don’t worry about breaking certain rules.”

“Oh?” Lu Yun brightened.