Chapter 85: I Await Your Triumph

The first to emerge from within was a familiar figure—Feng Qianyu. From her initial desperate escape to her eyes shining with excitement and then switching into her fiercest battle mode, it was as if the fragments of immortal stones beneath the tree and the supreme immortal stones hanging from its branches belonged solely to her.

Suddenly, she caught sight of Long Yi, still diligently gathering the immortal stones under the tree. He wielded the red silk immortal artifact, each strand roaring like a dragon’s head, surging through the Eight Directions, disrupting the incantations Long Yi cast and then, with his own strength, tightly wrapping the supreme immortal stone the size of a small house.

“Mine, mine!” Feng Qianyu rejoiced, ignoring Wu Yun and the others.

She grabbed Long Yi, who was about to argue, while Wu Yun unfurled a formation diagram to envelop them all. This formation, which had started at Three Skies Three Earths, restored itself to Four Skies Four Earths, and amidst the abundance of supreme immortal stones, it grew and repaired itself within the diagram like a rocket soaring upward.

Crack!

Hundreds of supreme spirit stones collected by Long Yi shrank a layer within the formation, and the diagram itself recovered to Six Skies Four Earths.

Heaven forms the array; the array can be mended by immortal energy. The earth, however, requires not immortal energy but a multitude of metallic substances.

Restoring it to this degree satisfied Wu Yun, who led the group away, grumbling. Lan Chulian, too, never expected such a situation—the influx of cultivators added countless variables to his Immortal King tribulation.

“Don’t think you can escape!” Lan Chulian, seeing Wu Yun about to flee, changed his hand gesture and shouted, “Sword, fly!”

The immortal sword withstood the pressure of the immortal tree, expanding over twenty yards, moving at incredible speed, about to strike the formation above Wu Yun’s head. But unexpectedly, as if invisible, it circled once and returned to its original place.

This was not the first nor the second time it had happened. Under the cover of the formation, Long Yi snorted, “I won’t touch anything that belongs to the senior!”

Recalling how Lan Chulian had accepted the supreme immortal stone handed over by Wu Yun, Long Yi grew confident—this fellow could not escape the senior’s grasp.

Just as Wu Yun was about to leave the divine tree, the frantic crowd began climbing its trunk, believing the countless stone fragments beneath it were within reach.

Lan Chulian devised a plan and was about to shout when Wu Yun stopped him, “Don’t go too far!”

Boom!

A bolt of tribulation thunder struck down, this time with the tree spirit intentionally not interfering, all of it crashing onto Lan Chulian’s immortal sword.

He held the sword high, thunder coursing through it, and the surge at his feet stirred up a violent tide, unearthing buried bones and sending them crashing in all directions like a raging wave.

At this, the newcomers realized someone was undergoing the Immortal King tribulation. They were about to curse when Lan Chulian called out, “Don’t be fooled! All the supreme immortal stones are with him—you won’t get any from the tree!”

Some believed him, some hesitated, but most climbed the tree.

Only four revealed ferocious faces—they were the stag-headed, octopus-bodied monsters known as the Stag-Octopus Demons. Born with many tentacles, the more they had, the more formidable they became, and these tentacles were their greatest innate weapon.

One chieftain commanded the three remaining elders to surround them; one threw himself at the formation, a hundred giant tentacles enveloping Wu Yun’s diagram.

“Chieftain, I’ve caught him!” The elder boasted. Even at the peak of the Immortal Realm, being bound so tightly meant escape was nearly impossible in the short term.

The tentacles suddenly sprouted countless barbs, piercing the perimeter of the formation and rotating, secreting a black liquid to corrode the barrier.

This time, Wu Yun didn’t struggle. As the elder hesitated, Wu Yun ignited a fire from his own body, roasting the captured tentacle, and spat it out after a single bite.

Far too sour—the Stag-Octopus Demon had survived for a reason: its flavor was abysmal!

The roasted smell made Yue Qi shake her head repeatedly. Seeing this, Wu Yun raised the flame, blending the blazing Phoenix fire within himself, burning from inside the diagram outward.

With a crackling sound, the great elder of the Stag-Octopus tribe was engulfed in flames. No matter how he tried, the fire could not be extinguished, nor blocked. From the soul bursting forth to the vanishing void, he was reduced to a formless black smoke and dissipated.

This scene drove the chieftain to agony. He and the elder were brothers, having grown up and cultivated together. Outside of himself, the elder ranked second in the tribe.

“Brother Black Smoke!” The chieftain cried in grief as the seventh and tenth elders produced two meteorite-like immortal artifacts to smash into the formation. Unexpectedly, the formation opened a gap, and fifth-grade immortal energy poured in, vanishing without so much as a ripple.

The fifth and seventh elders clutched their stag heads, anxiously shouting, “Explode! Explode!”

But only pain struck their chests; the artifacts detonated, but the formation remained intact, as if the moment when the link was severed had been mere illusion.

Beneath the formation, Wu Yun frowned at the irregular meteorite artifacts, his expression darkening. Such items were refined from countless living beings—likely some marine creature.

The resentment within was overwhelming, instantly burned to ash by Wu Yun, though even so, black energy lingered, gathering on his index finger.

“I detest these sinister artifacts made from living creatures forced together. If detonated, this poison could contaminate and corrode the formation—an ideal mechanism-breaking weapon!”

As he spoke, Long Yi understood, took the Soul-shocking Blade, and left the formation. In the next moment, two blood-soaked stag heads were brought back, their immortal souls struggling and begging for mercy.

Wu Yun did not kill them, but transferred the black energy from his finger into their souls, then released them to be taken in by their chieftain for recuperation.

The chieftain’s face flickered indecisively; the two elders, mid-to-late Immortal Realm cultivators, had fallen to the youthful Long Yi wielding the Soul-shocking Blade—unable to withstand a single blow despite their many immortal artifacts.

He considered retreat, but just as he was about to move, the immortal artifact at his waist exploded, severing a hundred tentacles.

Yet it wasn’t over—a mass of black energy emerged, led by the two elders, seemingly mindless, their souls burrowing into the chieftain’s head.

The chieftain had his own skills; he staunched the wounds and produced a block of soul-sealing wood to cover his forehead and suppress his soul. This block was genuine Soul-sealing Wood, able to ward off evil spirits—a treasure he’d prepared for his Immortal King breakthrough.

Despite being slightly injured, the chieftain still hadn’t met Wu Yun’s expectations. The latter sighed and pointed out the flaw, “These refined creatures, neither revering heaven nor earth, lack faith and soul. Even when made into evil spirits after death, their resistance is weak. However, this stag-octopus monster is quite impressive. He possesses the Water-Light Immortal Body. If water and light are separated, he could achieve a pure immortal body, and reaching Immortal Emperor would be no challenge!”

Wu Yun lectured like a teacher, endlessly. Long Yi frowned—did he mean to have him kill again? He glanced at the Soul-shocking Blade, then at the opponent’s peak Immortal Realm cultivation, dispirited—not that he couldn’t cut, but with so many surrounding predators, was he expected to slay them all?

The delay allowed more to tumble down from the immortal tree in disarray, even Feng Qianyu slinking down, fixing her gaze on Wu Yun.

“Boss Long, you’re wrong. The senior meant the octopus arm tastes exquisite; you should bring a piece to try!”

As Bear Third spoke, Long Yi’s head throbbed. Seeing Wu Yun’s encouraging expression, he braced himself and went out again. Under the eyes of all, he tried to pick a piece to pass off, but the little bug atop a green leaf shouted, “Get a fresh one!”

“Fresh?”

Long Yi eyed the chieftain’s newly sprouted tender tentacles, his mouth uncontrollably watering. Damn bug! He cursed silently, raised his blade, and hacked.

He charged forward, only to be blocked by Lan Chulian, whose momentum had recovered after the thunder strike. Having used the Stag-Octopus Demons to hinder Wu Yun and buy himself time, his life-bound immortal sword once again blocked Long Yi.

Obstructed, Long Yi saw many more descending from above—some immortal monsters already eyeing him hungrily. He shrank back into the formation, silent, feigning muteness.

Yue Qi tugged at Long Yi’s calf, but he remained resolutely speechless.

Wu Yun sighed, “Let me do it, then.”

He went out, used a supreme immortal stone to trade for one tentacle from the chieftain, and joyously grilled it. The chieftain cautiously refined the immortal stone within himself, and his wounds immediately healed.

There are no absolute enemies, only absolute interests. The chieftain, muddled by Wu Yun’s earlier words about his brother’s sins and the elders’ unforgivable crimes, and his own foolish actions under Lan Chulian’s instigation, found himself swept up in the exchange.

He swung his blade, severed a tentacle, and handed it over in exchange for the formation. He could scarcely believe the other party truly dared trade a supreme immortal stone the size of a small hill. Even a tenth of this would restore all his severed tentacles.

Yue Qi gnawed on the chewy tentacle, several times getting bits stuck between her teeth, prompting Bear Third to use silkworm thread to fish them out.

As the group licked their lips, eager to express their feelings, Long Yi grumbled, “Why is his flesh so good, senior? Why is it that…”

Wu Yun nodded, praising, “His cultivation method is completely different from his subordinates. Water-Light Immortal Body, cultivating the power of water and light, and after his temperament was influenced, he would never commit mass slaughter.”

As he spoke, a plaintive voice rang out from outside the formation—Feng Qianyu had obtained an immortal stone but was driven off the tree by its leaves and branches. Her once proud armaments were insignificant before the countless leaf-like immortal artifacts.

“Thunder outside the tree is heavy; you cannot leave. Beneath the tree, nearly all are late-stage Immortal Realm cultivators. Do you intend to provoke the wrath of all?”

Her sigh barely faded when hundreds of light points flashed from the heart of the formation—each a brewing immortal artifact, locking onto the formation, preparing a thunderous strike.

Long Yi ventured to answer, “What’s the matter, Lady Treasure? Are you trying to stop us, to become our enemy?”

Feng Qianyu smiled, “You’re mistaken. I’m waiting for you to unleash your might and drive them all away—then I’ll pick up the immortal artifacts!”

This statement, wild and unrestrained, drove those nearby to distance themselves. Among them, the strongest was Master Cuo Guangming of Divine Lake Bow Manor, wielding the Sky-piercing Sun-shooting Bow, a third-grade immortal artifact. He locked onto the formation, dismissive, “I thought all around him were his allies, but now it appears they’ll turn on each other for immortal stones. In that case, hand over your entire fortune, and I, Cuo Guangming, will bear witness and guarantee your survival!”