Chapter 2834: 折荒城

The Winds of Jiuzhou

“Fellow Daoist Lu,” Zong Shenliang said slowly, collecting himself a moment later. “It’s better to resolve enmity than to deepen it. Whatever your demands are, feel free to state them. If I can meet them, I won’t haggle.”

“My demands?” Lu Ye’s expression was odd.

Zong Shenliang said, “You captured me but didn’t kill me. Isn’t that because you want to use this clone of mine as a hostage to negotiate with my true self? So, you can state your demands now.”

If possible, he still wanted to preserve this clone.

Lu Ye scoffed softly and slowly shook his head. “You’re overthinking it.”

He stepped forward, approached Zong Shenliang, and raised his hand to pat his head.

Zong Shenliang’s eyes widened, and he wondered to himself, could he have been wrong? Was this guy really going to kill him? But if that were the case, he could have acted just now; there was no need for such elaborate measures.

However, when Lu Ye’s large hand came down, he felt no force, not even a hint of killing intent.

Only a dense, dark greenish-black mist enveloped him from head to toe!

Zong Shenliang’s expression changed in alarm. “What are you doing?!”

Although he didn’t know what the dark greenish-black mist was, he instinctively felt uneasy. His power surged, and he tried to struggle.

But with a forceful press from Lu Ye, Zong Shenliang was completely immobilized on the spot, unable to move.

“It’ll be over soon, don’t move around!” Lu Ye’s soft voice entered his ears.

Zong Shenliang felt a surge of humiliation. It had been years since he became one of the Ten Great City Lords, and he had never been treated like this. Even facing Ba Qiu, he would have the courage and qualification to fight. Yet now, as just a clone, he was firmly controlled by someone.

He quickly realized something was wrong. “Poison?”

The dark greenish-black mist was clearly a potent poison with extremely strong corrosive power, rapidly eroding his body. Under this erosion, the vitality within him rapidly faded.

Something was wrong, very wrong. If Lu Ye truly wanted to kill him, he could have just done it directly. Why use such a potent poison?

What exactly did he want to do?

In a daze, he recalled that after the last major battle, Xuan Wuzong, who had fought Lu Ye, also seemed to have been poisoned. After that, Xuan Wuzong went into seclusion to neutralize the toxins in his body.

At the time, he thought Xuan Wuzong was exaggerating. With the profound foundation of the Ten Great City Lords, what poison in this world could possibly affect them?

Only now, experiencing it himself, did he understand that the potent poison Lu Ye wielded was something even the Ten Great City Lords struggled to resist.

He was going to die!

He wanted to relay this information to his true self, but the interior and exterior of Banlan were isolated, and this was the core of the ruins; he simply couldn’t do it.

His consciousness gradually blurred, then completely faded away.

Lu Ye stood before Zong Shenliang’s clone, frowning as he watched.

The characteristics of the poisonous corpse were too obvious: a layer of dark greenish-black mist enveloped its entire body, and anyone who saw it would notice something amiss. Such a poisonous corpse wouldn’t be of much help for the upcoming plan.

The clone also stood nearby, scratching his head repeatedly. “It seems useless.” The reason Zong Shenliang’s clone was left alive was to wait for his true self to arrive and convert him into a poisonous corpse, but now it seemed the situation differed from what was expected.

Lu Ye pondered for a moment, then his eyes lit up. “Not necessarily. Perhaps someone can help.”

In front of Qing Palace, the Starry Sky cultivators were waiting.

Fei Mu’s eye twitched as he looked to the side, whispering, “Aunt Hua Ci, it’s better not to move around randomly.”

Over there, Hua Ci stood before a poisonous corpse, her eyes gleaming with an unusual light as she scrutinized it. As if observing wasn’t enough, she even reached out to touch the dark greenish-black mist on the corpse’s surface.

She looked full of curiosity, clearly wanting to know what kind of poison this was.

However, she ultimately didn’t truly touch the dark greenish-black mist. The substance looked extremely ominous. Although she had extremely high attainments in the path of poison, she couldn’t guarantee her safety after touching the dark greenish-black mist.

A figure suddenly appeared beside her.

“Martial Uncle!” Fei Mu quickly saluted.

Lu Ye nodded slightly, then turned his gaze to a person. “Patriarch Hun Que, come with me!”

In the crowd, Hun Que stepped forward upon hearing this. Lu Ye enveloped him with a burst of power, and both disappeared simultaneously.

Hua Ci opened her mouth, but before she could speak to Lu Ye, she sighed.

At the entrance of the ruins, Lu Ye’s true self reappeared with Hun Que. The clone stood together with Zong Shenliang’s poisonous corpse.

Hun Que stood firm, glanced left and right, and then asked, “What do you need me to do?”

Otherwise, Lu Ye wouldn’t have brought only him.

Lu Ye said, “I recall the Soul Tribe has a secret art, somewhat similar to 'borrowing a corpse to return a soul,' and it can even exert some of the corpse’s abilities from when it was alive?”

Hun Que’s gaze immediately fell upon the poisonous corpse nearby, and he understood. He said, “You want me to possess this corpse?”

Lu Ye nodded. “Exactly.”

“I’ll try!” Hun Que replied, his form transforming into a ghostly light that darted into the poisonous corpse.

The poisonous corpse, standing still, remained motionless. Three breaths later, it suddenly opened its eyes and stiffly moved its limbs.

“How does it feel?” Lu Ye eagerly asked.

The poisonous corpse spoke, its voice somewhat hoarse. “My strength differs too much from his. While I can control this body, if I use his power, I likely won’t be able to maintain it for too long.”

Although Hun Que was the current patriarch of the Soul Tribe, he had only recently advanced to the Harmonious Dao realm. Zong Shenliang, one of the Ten Great City Lords, even if only a clone, was far beyond what Hun Que could currently compare to.

“As long as you can control it,” Lu Ye nodded. “Patriarch, you can try activating his power.”

“I’ll try…”

A short while later.

Outside Banlan.

Within that Void-tier Harmonious Dao City, a figure stood with hands clasped behind his back before the main hall. This figure wasn’t tall, but his aura was profoundly deep. He was precisely the city lord, Zhe Huang.

Under Zong Shenliang’s command, there were more than a dozen Void-tier cities. Zhe Huang City had existed for a very long time, and City Lord Zhe Huang could be considered one of Zong Shenliang’s earliest followers.

After Banlan was discovered this time, Zhe Huang first sent people inside to investigate, quickly ascertaining the situation within Banlan, and then reported the information.

The dozen or so Harmonious Dao cities attacking Qing Palace were also dispatched by him.

If possible, he even wanted to move his Void-tier city into Banlan. However, a Void-tier city was too massive and cumbersome to move, so he could only abandon the idea.

Furthermore, in his view, attacking a Star Abyss Gate didn’t require the power of a Void-tier city at all.

Currently, the Star Abyss was turbulent, and a storm was brewing. Countless starry skies had appeared in the eyes of various powerhouses with the integration of the inner and outer realms. The aura of ultimate treasures emanating from those starry skies stirred countless powerhouses to action.

As a Void-tier City Lord, Zhe Huang naturally also desired to seize an ultimate treasure for himself.

The Star Abyss Gate encountered this time might be an opportunity. However, before that, he still needed to await news from Zong Shenliang.

“Fellow Daoist Zhe Huang, why don’t we go inside and take a look as well?” A voice entered his ears.

Zhe Huang turned his head to look beside him. It was a slender cultivator with blood-red skin and pointed ears.

This was a Blood Clan powerhouse, whose aura’s profoundness was in no way inferior to Zhe Huang’s.

After all, this Blood Clan member was originally a Void-tier City Lord. However, the Blood Clan had recently been besieged by the Dragon and Phoenix Clans, suffering heavy casualties, and many Harmonious Dao cities were breached. The survivors fled and scattered under the command of several other Ten Great City Lords.

This Blood Clan Void-tier City Lord had fled to Zong Shenliang at that time and was taken in by him.

Zhe Huang slowly shook his head. “Our Lord has already gone inside. We just need to wait.” After a pause, he spoke, “Xue Li, I know what you’re thinking. There are indeed ownerless ultimate treasures beyond the Star Abyss Gate, but they are not for you to covet. As long as you are loyal enough, if there are any extra ultimate treasures, our Lord will naturally bestow them upon you.”

Xue Li shrugged at the words. “I wasn’t thinking that much. I’m just purely curious. The starry sky… aren’t you curious?”

Zhe Huang snorted coldly. “Put away your excessive curiosity… Also, the Azure Mirror is in the hands of that human, Lu Ye. Xue Jiu is likely already doomed.”

Xue Li’s expression changed upon hearing this. “The Azure Mirror is in Lu Ye’s hands?”

Although he had been forced to seek refuge with Zong Shenliang, he still held a glimmer of hope in his heart: that the Blood Lord would one day return, and with a single call, the remnants of their Blood and Insect Clans could reassemble around the Blood Lord.

But if the Azure Mirror was in Lu Ye’s hands, the Blood Lord’s fate was clear.

“Our Lord told me this personally,” Zhe Huang said slowly. “During the previous battle besieging Ba Qiu, that human Lu Ye intervened and used the power of the Azure Mirror when he fought Xuan Wuzong.”

Xue Li’s expression shifted repeatedly.

He didn’t think Zhe Huang was lying to him, as there was no need.

Had the Blood Lord… truly fallen?

“Our Lord is back!” Zhe Huang’s expression suddenly turned grave.

Xue Li looked up and saw a black mass soaring out from the colorful starry sky. It was none other than Zong Shenliang, who had entered not long ago.

The black mass moved like lightning, reaching the city gates in the blink of an eye.

Zhe Huang quickly waved his hand, opening a gap in the protective formation. He bowed with cupped fists. “Our Lord!”

Xue Li on the side also saluted.

Zong Shenliang merely nodded slightly.

“Our Lord, are you injured?” Zhe Huang keenly noticed this, as Zong Shenliang’s aura showed subtle signs of instability.

“A small mishap,” Zong Shenliang replied casually, his voice slightly hoarse.

Zhe Huang’s expression changed. For a moment, he wasn’t sure what Zong Shenliang had encountered inside Banlan that would cause him injury.

“And these two are…?” He then curiously looked at the two figures accompanying Zong Shenliang.

These two figures were enveloped in black mist by Zong Shenliang’s activated power, their true appearances obscured.

But Zhe Huang could sense that these two were definitely not anyone he knew.

He couldn’t help but wonder, where had his Lord found these two? And what about the others who had gone in earlier?

“No need to ask further,” Zong Shenliang said plainly, his tone brooking no argument.

“Understood!” Zhe Huang quickly lowered his head.

“I need to return to my main city for a while,” Zong Shenliang ordered as he swept towards the central hall. “Also, seal this city of yours. Entry is permitted, but no one is allowed to leave!”

Zhe Huang was filled with doubts, feeling that his Lord was acting strangely after returning this time, but he still accepted the order, saying, “This subordinate understands!”