"Luohu! Come out here! You have the nerve to scheme against the world, but not to show your face?"
Yang Mei shouted toward Mount Sumeru ahead of him. His voice shook the land for hundreds of millions of miles; every living being in the western lands could hear him.
Luohu had been waiting calmly for the others to enter the formation.
He suddenly heard Yang Mei's words, and his expression turned peculiar.
Hmph. Did Hongjun send him out to die?
Hongjun really was no simple man. He had already invited him into the formation, yet Hongjun had tossed Yang Mei out to make a fool of himself and was now calling him a coward?
"Ke-ke-ke-ke-ke~"
With a cold laugh, Luohu, hidden within the Immortal Slaying Sword Formation, spoke again.
"Old Man Hongjun, don't think I don't know what you're plotting. You're using Yang Mei to lure me out of the Immortal Slaying Sword Formation, then you'll all swarm me and trap me? Do you take me for Yang Mei?"
Yang Mei: "..."
How was everything Hongjun's scheme? And what was that last part supposed to mean?
Yang Mei couldn't help feeling rather aggrieved. He strongly suspected that Luohu was mocking him for having no brains.
As the words faded, a figure slowly materialized in the void.
The figure wore a robe as black as ink, and his eyes were as dark and cold as an abyss. Even an Ancestor-level figure who met his gaze would feel as though they were about to be swallowed by it.
The figure radiated baleful energy and held a long spear. It contained an endless, violent aura of evil and malice.
Even a Great Luo Golden Immortal would be left trembling with fear and suffer damage to their Dao Heart if they so much as looked at it.
At that moment, Luohu's aura had probably reached the level of a Saint.
Of course, that was only speculation. In the Primordial World, one could become a Saint only by following the Heavenly Dao's way. No matter how powerful someone was, they couldn't attain sainthood through their own cultivation.
Hearing Luohu's words, Yang Mei looked at Hongjun with even greater wariness.
He believed it. He believed Luohu's words!
Now he also felt that shouting those words had been part of Hongjun's scheme!
The moment that thought appeared, Yang Mei broke out in a cold sweat.
Terrifying! Truly terrifying! Hongjun had schemed against him without making a sound!
As expected, Hongjun was still the same Hongjun he knew.
He was still that old schemer. There was definitely a reason he'd gotten Luohu to come out himself!
No. I mustn't let him succeed.
But what should I do?
Yang Mei now completely believed that his outburst had been part of Hongjun's scheme.
How could I have been stupid enough to shout at him?
If Hongjun really is plotting against me like this...
Hongjun's scheme must be to get everyone killed. I can't let things go according to his plan.
At that moment, Luohu appeared before them, a dark, baleful cloud hanging above his head.
The Nine Demon Pagoda spun and surged within the cloud. Its four eaves and eight corners rang with endless, resentful howls.
Beneath Luohu's feet stretched a Twelve-Grade World-Ending Black Lotus. The astral winds tore through the sky, but not a single gust could come near him.
Despite the terror of his aura, Luohu regarded Hongjun with deep wariness. He didn't look at him as casually as he did the others—not even Shi Chen, who was hiding on a nearby mountain.
Faced with Luohu's guarded stare, Hongjun was speechless.
Yang Mei had shouted at him, and Luohu was the one putting on airs. Now both of them were looking at him so warily. Why did I suddenly feel like the villain here?
"Hongjun! How did you end up looking like this?!"
Only then did Luohu finally notice that Hongjun didn't look quite like he remembered.
Just over a dozen eras ago, he'd clearly been an old man.
"We're all immortals. What's strange about changing your appearance when you're bored?"
Hongjun replied casually:
"You... you're not actually going to come out and fight me one-on-one, are you?"
Hongjun stared at Luohu suspiciously. Had this guy lost his mind too?
But Hongjun didn't say it aloud.
Of course, if Luohu really did come out to fight him one-on-one, Hongjun would definitely call his companions over and have them swarm him.
"Hmm? Why should I come out? I think you're the ones who don't have the guts to come in!"
Standing within the Immortal Slaying Sword Formation, Luohu taunted them.
He wasn't stupid. It had taken great effort to bring the Immortal Execution Array Diagram back into play, and the Immortal Slaying Sword Formation gave him an absolute advantage. Why would he listen to Yang Mei's taunts now? Why would he go out and fight Hongjun one-on-one?
He'd have to be out of his mind.
Besides, he was sure Hongjun had some kind of scheme up his sleeve!
Though the two of them hadn't had much contact, one meeting had been enough for Luohu to see what kind of person Hongjun was.
In his eyes, Hongjun was a hypocrite who schemed constantly and always managed to stand on the side of righteousness.
By comparison, Luohu's methods were far inferior to Hongjun's.
If he weren't truly stronger than Hongjun, he wouldn't even want to make an enemy of him.
"If you've got the guts, come in here! Hongjun, you coward! Are you too scared to enter my Immortal Slaying Sword Formation today?!"
Well, after being provoked again and again, Hongjun had to admit that this tactic was working.
Hongjun shouted back:
"If you've got the guts, come out! We're not going to gang up on you. Don't you dare come out and fight me one-on-one?"
Hongjun's position was simple: What was a little pride worth? Everyone already thought he was scheming all the time, so no matter what he did, they'd assume it was part of a plot.
"Hahahaha! You say I don't have the guts? Weren't you all scared off by my Immortal Slaying Sword Formation earlier?!!!"
"Heh heh heh! And yet here we are, right back where we started. You only dare to rely on your Immortal Slaying Sword Formation to throw your weight around! If you've got the guts, come out and fight me one-on-one?!!!!"
"Hmph! You're a spineless coward who doesn't even dare enter my sword formation, and you've got the nerve to criticize me?!!!"
"You're a worthless wretch who doesn't even dare come out and fight one-on-one, yet you call yourself the Demon Ancestor?!!!"
"Hongjun! You old man!!!"
"Luohu! You coward!!!"
Hongjun and Luohu traded insults across the void.
"Ahem..."
Yang Mei finally couldn't take it anymore and spoke up.
He thought that if they kept this up, Luohu might actually come out.
He could hear it in the way the two of them were shouting.
Hongjun looked unconcerned, while Luohu grew angrier by the moment.
Though he didn't know what Hongjun meant by picking up the argument, Yang Mei was determined to stop Hongjun's plan from succeeding. So he stepped in to stop him...
Sorry, this fool had completely forgotten that the whole thing had started because of him.
So he addressed Hongjun:
"Daoist Hongjun, in my opinion, Luohu doesn't dare come out. We should just go in."
At that, Hongjun turned to the others behind him and furrowed his brow.
"Everyone, to be frank, I have already discerned the Heavenly Secrets."
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