Legends of the shamanic divines had long been lost to history, evidence of their existence purposefully erased. If Xingzi weren’t here, Lu Yun would’ve had trouble identifying the tribe even with access to her memories.

Hence, what people knew about the primordial shamanic race might not even be about the real one, but rumors of the shamanic divines.

What Ruyi said next stupefied Lu Yun even more.

According to her, the shamanic divines were indeed part of the divine race, but eighty thousand years ago, they’d set up corpse coffins to curse their origin race as well as destroyed the divine court.

So the Tombs of Yin and Yang on Levitating Island set up with the corpses of two Exalted divines was their doing as well!

“What’s going on with all this?” A series of possibilities flashed through Lu Yun’s mind as he flew back into Dusk City.

Xing Chen remained where he was, coolly staring down the oncoming bloody light and an imperceptible black flame flickering in his eyes.

“This is... hellfire!!” screamed the shamanic divine within Xing Chen’s body. A crimson shadow rushed back out of Xing Chen to make a hurried escape from Dusk Province.

Swoosh!

Lu Shenhou’s body slowly burned into ashes and dissipated on the wind.

Pah!

Xing Chen threw up a mouthful of dark blood and sagged, wilting visibly. His body had been refined with a shamanic method and the power of shamanic divines was its bane. Lu Shenhou’s attack had greatly injured him in just an instant.

If the power had remained in him just a moment longer, Lu Yun’s replica would’ve disintegrated and reverted back into a Nine Yin Soul-Parting Wood. Then the gig would’ve been horrifyingly up.

What alarmed Lu Yun even more was what the shamanic divine had called out as he escaped: Hellfire!

Traces of hell’s existence had long since been erased by an unknown hand, and even Empress Myrtlestar was oblivious to its existence. However, the shamanic divine knew about hell!

“He can’t be Lu Shenhou!” Lu Yun’s expression grew quite frightful. Like Xing Chen, the shamanic divine wore a soul shroud, one refined from Lu Shenhou’s soul!

……

Hardly a moment had passed from the divine’s emergence to his forced retreat by hellfire. Many didn’t even realize what had just happened, given the lack of time to process events.

Then, Dusk City shook from a series of enormous explosions.

Buildings detonated one by one. Some immortals who’d sealed away their own cultivation were even killed.

Bam!

The city gates burst open and a figure emerged. “What are you waiting for? Charge into the city with me! This land should be ours!”

The newcomer sported violet hair and eyes, and wore an outfit completely of violet with an immortal sword in his hand. It was Zi Chen and he’d announced his arrival by blowing the city gates wide open from the inside!

The cultivators outside paused, then rushed into the city with glee.

“Kill Xing Chen first!” someone yelled. “He was critically injured by Lu Shenhou earlier, this is the perfect time to kill him!”

“Allow me!” roared the Monster Lord. The golden lion lunged at Xing Chen in a flash of golden flame.

“Scram!” Xing Chen snarled and threw a punch at the lion.

Bam!

Darkness rippled through the air as the Monster Lord wailed in a backward trajectory of a straight line, many of its bones broken.

“Such a strong physique!” called out the lion. It’d been grievously injured, but only physically; its nascent spirit and monster core remained intact.

Roiling inner energy churned and instantly healed its body, but dread overtook its golden gaze.

The golden lion was a pureblood immortal beast among the monster spirits and its physical prowess was almost second to none in its kind. However, Xing Chen had managed to throw it back and shatter its bones with just a single hit, even in his injured state. His physical strength greatly exceeded that of the Monster Lord’s.

Rumble!

Purple lightning crackled across everyone’s gazes: the Thunder Lord. Lightning circled madly around him and morphed into powerful combat arts, blasting into Xing Chen.

Xing Chen was struggling beneath the assault. The shamanic divine had made a complete mess of his inner energy, and his body was on the brink of collapse. He didn’t dare tap into his full power. Otherwise, he would’ve killed the Monster Lord with that punch.

The Thunder Lord attacked him relentlessly with terrifying lightning arts, forcing him to retreat again and again. He couldn’t do anything but bear the brunt of the attacks with his body. If he hadn’t been a replica refined from Nine Yin Soul-Parting Wood, he would’ve already been rendered to ashes from all of the concerted attacks.

The Fangyang youth made a move at this time as well. Powerful flawless combat arts hit Xing Chen squarely in the chest, slamming him into the ground. It took but a few moves for the three to jointly suppress the injured Xing Chen.

Unfortunately, Lu Yun didn’t have time to spare for Xing Chen at the moment.

He’d been absent from Dusk Province in recent period, and Qing Han had been preoccupied with the unrest within the Chen and Lu Clans. She’d been unable to do anything else, especially after the death of the Lu patriarch.

Meanwhile, Lu Yun’s Envoys of Samsara had been helping Lu Yun refine the replica in hell. Dusk Province had thus been infiltrated in the absence of careful attention.

Although no powerful immortals had entered the province, a band of elite cultivators springing out of nowhere were enough to occupy Lu Yun for a while. They were all deathsworn and responsible for the deaths of the senior council members in the clans and the self-sealed immortals moments ago.

Those people didn’t really belong to Dusk, but everyone knew Lu Yun was the reason they’d been forced to leave their homeland and hide in Dusk Province as wanted fugitives by their major. If they died here, Dusk Province and Lu Yun would become an utter joke.

Lu Yun’s allies, the Panorama Pavilion and East Sea Court, and even the Mo Clan and Star Demon Sect included, would question their alliance when they saw Lu Yun’s weakness and failure.

……

Dusk Province fell to utter mayhem and chaos.

An army of cultivators had emerged from places unknown to invade the cities in Dusk. The capital wasn’t their only target, as all of the other cities were under attack as well. Meanwhile, Xing Chen’s body was cracking under the concerted effort of three powerful cultivators.

“Die!” A crescent of ivory sword energy slashed through the sky.

Thud!

A giant Monster Lord’s head flew into the air, the nascent spirit within sliced and diced to pieces.

Outside of Dusk City stood an average-looking, but tall young man. Wearing long robes of the same shade of ivory, he gripped an immortal sword that glinted with a frosty light.

Qing Yu.

She was in the form she’d assumed back in Destiny City.