It was because of Donglin Taihuang that Qing Yu was forced to hide herself from the world; the sight of the man made Lu Yun’s blood boil with fury. There was no way he could hold back his anger at all.

If not for the tiny shred of reason he had left, he would’ve immediately called upon the last use of the celestial emperor’s corpse puppet and smacked the odious man to death. Still, he had no plans of letting Donglin Taihuang go.

The Black Emperor fired an uninterrupted volley of energy blasts at the Donglin genius.

“Are you crazy, man? Stop, stop!” Qing Yunhe roared with panic as he danced around the space, attempting to avoid becoming collateral damage.

He didn’t know what the strange cannon was, but he could feel its threatening lethality against dao immortals. It was potentially even more vicious than a weapon of war!

If the cannon were deployed at maximum power, Donglin Taihuang stood a good chance of losing his life.

Who was Donglin Taihuang?

The brightest genius of the Donglin Clan—nay, the entire world!

His entire clan held him up as its dearest treasure. The first ever natural-born immortal in contemporary times, he was above even Yue Longsha and Zhu Yan. He had reached the arcane dao immortal realm at less than a hundred years of age. If he was to die here, the Donglin Clan would go on an unmitigated rampage!

Considering their tyrannical arrogance, they would absolutely kill everyone who’d entered the dragon tomb. Even the majors’ imperial courts weren’t deterrent enough.

Boom—

Boom—

Boom—

Ray after ray of white light exploded from the barrel of the Black Emperor, tracking Donglin Taihuang’s movements and trying to score a fatal hit.

However, the Donglin scion seemed to have a strange power protecting him. Though the weapon inflicted grave injuries and pummelled mouthfuls of blood out of him, it didn’t endanger his life in the least.

Meanwhile, the recoil from the cannon also caused Situ Zong to stagger backwards. Fresh blood welling out of his mouth bore testament to his injuries as well. If he hadn’t refined the connate-grade Pelagic Orb, the tremendous recoil of the cannon would’ve already shattered his veins, meridians, and spirit—and even expelled his dao fruit.

“I understand why young lord Qing Han told me to refine the orb now. Not to kill our enemies, but to save my life!” Situ Zong chuckled ruefully. After refining the Pelagic Orb, he’d begun uninterrupted service as Lu Yun’s trusty limber. [1] Wherever Lu Yun pointed, he aimed.

“Thirty percent won’t do, huh? Let’s go with one hundred then!” Lu Yun didn’t care about what Situ Zong thought. Intently focused on Donglin Taihuang’s stocky form, he flared with murderous determination.

“Don’t get too excited!” Qing Yunhe and the youth with the sword aura hurriedly came up to him. They’d seen enough already; although Situ Zong carried the Black Emperor, Lu Yun was the real man behind the trigger.

“The fabric of space here can’t possibly survive the force of these blows. A few more shots and you’ll tear this place apart! All of us will die!” Qing Han’s brother spoke in a curt, decisive tone. He was very worried that Lu Yun would do something unwittingly suicidal.

“All of us will die?” Lu Yun blinked, then grinned widely. “Perfect. Death is just what I ordered!”

Rumble!

A vicious contortion of space heralded the entrance of an inky-black ship slowly gliding out from the aether.

The Divine Glory!

Wrapped in black smoke all over, the boat looked like a ghost ship from hell.

After plundering the North Sea Dragon Palace, Lu Yun and his envoys used many of the materials he’d acquired to upgrade the ship once more. After its latest round of refurbishment, the Divine Glory was about as good as a fortress ship could possibly get.

“Get on!” Lu Yun beckoned. Qing Han and Situ Yun were instantly sucked up by the ship, where Situ Zong noted a weapons notch and plopped the Black Emperor into it with a sigh of relief.

Qing Yunhe and the other youth traded knowing looks before leaping onboard.

“Die, all of you!” Donglin Taihuang’s clothes were in tatters. His face, not particularly fair in the first place, was as black as soot. Without the Black Emperor’s suppressive firepower, he finally had an opportunity to counterattack.

Starlight lit up his body once more. “Cosmic Sea, to me!”

Splash...

The incongruous sound of waves lapping against a shore was followed by an inexorable tide of stars. Spinning into motion, they began hurtling toward the Divine Glory with incredible force.

“The Cosmic Sea! He must’ve already refined it and was just here waiting for the Cosmic Skycarver to come back!” the unknown third youth yelped.

In the Cosmic Sea, heavenly bodies were as numerous as water drops in the sea. Their collective energy struck fear into even this master swordsman from the Dark North Sword Sect.

The scroll woven of starlight was already within Donglin Taihuang’s grasp.

“Power of the sea of stars, huh?” Lu Yun murmured, watching the stars’ trajectory as they hurtled toward the ship. His eyes turned purest white.

Ten billion immortal crystals were converted into energy and crammed into the Black Emperor in the blink of an eye. The inky-black ship turned white as milk.

Boom!

For an instant, the starfield was completely replaced by blinding white.

After who knew how long, the handful of people inside the chamber slowly recovered their sight.

The starfield—or rather, the room in the tomb that had held the Cosmic Skycarver and Cosmic Sea—was completely destroyed. The fabric of space all around them had been torn to bits, and the blast would’ve done the same to any trespassing immortal.

The dragon tomb was located in the North Sea, which wasn’t a complete facet, per se. Planes of existence here weren't as stable as the nine majors, ten lands, and four immortal seas. A single beam from the Black Emperor at maximum output had been enough to shatter the integrity of the space.

By now, the Cosmic Sea had reverted back into a silvery scroll and floated calmly at the center of the broken void.

“That was… an origin dao blow,” Qing Yunhe murmured, entranced by the performance of the Black Emperor. The cannon glowed with a reddish light, still cooling down from its earlier exertion.

He’d just personally witnessed the power of ten billion immortal crystals. Evidently, they were worth a single origin dao attack!

“Too bad he got away.” Qing Han waved a hand, summoning the scroll that was the Cosmic Sea to him with the power of the Cosmic Skycarver.

“He got away from that? Damn, he’s a rich kid for sure.” Lu Yun was mildly disappointed.

Killing Donglin Taihuang would’ve solved half of his problems, but what could he do now? The guy probably had all kinds of treasures designed to save his life. Even his arcane dao immortality didn’t mean he was safe everywhere.

The present world was far more dangerous than the ancient world, with celestial emperors prone to dying at any moment. People like Donglin Taihuang and the Deaf Prince indubitably carried around the collective aid of their clans, at least in treasure form.

“After that attack at full power, the Black Emperor will be out of commission for a bit… its core overheated. At least a week, huh…” Lu Yun sighed as he examined the cannon.

1. A limber is a two-wheeled cart designed to support artillery.