“I thought gaining my envoys’ memories and experiences would grant me their masteries, but I was definitely wrong.” Lu Yun emerged from the Gates of the Abyss, his face swollen and covered in bruises. He swallowed a pill and circulated its medicinal effects through his injuries.

He’d been sparring with Aoxue, the dragon princess having suppressed her cultivation to the life core realm to make it a fair fight. Still, Lu Yun was no match for her.

Whenever they used the same combat art, the results were as different as night and day. Aoxue could even easily counter Lu Yun’s Nineteen Cerulean Sword Dragons with a single strike.

It was a heavy blow to his ego indeed.

Aoxue was a once-in-a-thousand-years battle genius of the dragon race. Now that she was a blood dragon, she would be viewed as a top genius in the entire world of immortals. In fact, she’d already been in the top three of the world back in the day, when she was a life core cultivator.

Although Lu Yun possessed all of her experiences and memories, he could only take at most three hits from her when they possessed the same cultivation level. Still, his motivation burned fiercely. After recruiting Aoxue as an Envoy of Samsara, he’d not only gained her experience and memory, but also her talents. As long as he put in the work, he would one day become a battle genius like her.

The passage of time essentially stopped outside the Gates of the Abyss when Lu Yun set foot in hell. Here, he had all the time in the world to digest the envoys’ skills and make them his. However, hell was a dead world. Every once in a while, he had to return to the real world, or the energy of hell would taint him, slowly turning him into a monster shunned by the living.

……

“I can take four hits from Aoxue now!” A small smile pulled at Lu Yun’s bruised face; it was such a tremendous step forward.

Originally, he’d planned to have Aoxue stay in the Skandha Range and investigate the Enneawyrm Coffinbearers, but circumstances demanded that he summon her back to be his sparring partner. Otherwise, he wouldn’t stand a chance against the great geniuses in the world of immortals.

“Emergency, trouble, trouble, emergency!” Wails traveled in from the door, followed shortly thereafter by Ge Long crawling in, cradling his head.

“What’s going on? What’s wrong?” Lu Yun frowned and snapped, “Put your head back on first.”

“Of course, of course!” Ge Long wiped his head clean of tears, snot, and dirt, then placed it back on his neck. “Milord, the two ladies started trouble with someone they can’t afford to offend in the southern part of the city. They’re surrounded by a great number of immortals. Even this old servant almost died at their hands!”

Ge Long was seriously injured, and, in fact, would’ve died several times over if he’d been a regular golden core cultivator. It was only because his name was written in the Tome of Life and Death that allowed him to survive. Those haughty immortals didn’t care about a golden core small fish like him, giving him the opportunity to escape.

“Yuying and Feinie?” Lu Yun blinked. “They’re in trouble? Who started it?”

Those two were both on the aloof side. They would never start something, unless someone else provoked them first.

“Lady Feinie wanted to take a look at the Coretrial Arena this morning, so Lady Yuying went with her. Some arrogant womanizer came out of nowhere and harassed them. Lady Feinie drove him away at first, but the skirt chaser returned with his men and attempted to kidnap them.” Ge Long continued, “Those bullies even injured Sir Qing Han, who came after hearing what happened, and have surrounded Feinie and Yuying. You must stop them, sir. If—”

“What did you say?” Lu Yun’s expression darkened. “Who injured Qing Han?”

“It- it was the young man who harassed the two ladies.” Noting Lu Yun’s scowl, Ge Long hurriedly added, “But Sir Qing Han probably isn’t seriously hurt....”

Lu Yun narrowed his eyes and vanished in a trace of shadow.

……

The arena was in utter chaos. Fenie had set up multiple formations, and Yuying had sent her eight swords flying through the air to drive away the incoming immortals. Qing Han sat cross-legged at the center of the formations: face deathly-pale, eyes screwed shut, and a bit of blood dribbling out the corner of his mouth.

More and more immortals gathered around the edges. Swords and treasures of all colors dyed the premises with a scintillating kaleidoscope of light.

“Hahaha, who do you think you are?!” A foppish young man with slicked-back hair and powdered face jabbed a finger at Qing Han. “Trying to scare me with the celestial emperor of the Nephrite Major? Clean out your ears and bow at my feet! I am Donglin Shaogong, the ninth young master of the foremost aristocracy in the Eminent Aureate Major! Do you want to die, threatening me with a decree from the Nephrite Major’s celestial emperor?”

He widened his eyes in a vicious glare and gestured wildly with a hand fan. “Attack! Raze those formations and tear that black-robed kid apart. Then capture the two fairies and bring them to my room!”

Feinie and Yuying exchanged a hesitant glance. House Donglin was the most powerful house of Aureate Major! That major was also known as the Eminent Aureate Major, spearheading the world of immortals along with the Primus Major.

Nephrite Major was considered mediocre, at best, in the world of immortals, ranking much lower than Aureate Major. The true power of the foremost aristocracy in Aureate Major was immeasurable, and much more domineering than the Qing, Feng, and Lu Clans were in Nephrite Major.

The immortals attacked the formations even more relentlessly under the Donglin scion’s order.

Feinie didn’t dare use the Formation Orb, nor could she counterattack without restraint. She could only struggle arduously with her own personal strength.

“Bastards!!” a voice exploded midair. “What do you two think you’re doing?!” Lu Yun barrelled in atop an enormous fortress ship and ferociously scolded Fenie and Yuying, an accusing finger punctuating each word of his loud censure.

“We await our punishment, Your Excellency.” Feinie and Yuying knelt down, their faces drained of color.

“Oh? So you’re the Dusk governor?” Donglin Shaogong naturally assumed Lu Yun was angry at Feinie and Yuying for offending him. His eyes lit up when they settled on the fortress ship and he struck a lofty pose. “Hahaha, you’re a smart guy. You know it’s stupid to get on my bad side. Hand over the two fairies, the head of the Qing brat, and the fortress ship beneath your feet. I can consider letting you off the hook then.”

“You two have been pulling your punches because you’re afraid of taking lives,” Lu Yun reprimanded with lingering anger. “Are you trying to make the governor’s manor the butt of every joke? Well, you aren’t to be blamed either. I forgot to tell you that while I don’t seek out trouble, I’m not afraid of it. Go on, let yourselves loose.”

He sighed, “Whoever hurt Qing Han will pay with his life. No one from House Donglin will walk away alive. No mercy, no quarter!”

Qing Han shook slightly when he heard Lu Yun.

“Understood!” Yuying and Feinie responded in unison with trembling voices. They’d been worried about making an enemy out of House Donglin, so they pulled back after learning who the young man was. However, their master didn’t seem to care about that at all!