Wu Tong trembled with rage at the sight.
“All Dongguo Party generals, kill this brat!” Wu Tong pointed at Lin Yun furiously.
Though he could no longer command the hundreds of thousands of city guards, the over eight hundred Dongguo Party generals were still under his sway—they were all tied together, bound by the same fate.
Among them were five Transcending Tribulation Realm cultivators, six including Wu Tong, with the rest in the Mahayana realm or Void Realm.
“All generals, prepare to fight—any who dare commit treason, slay them!” Lin Yun ordered.
“Yes, sir!”
Huo Zhen, Liang Yuan, Yang Wan, Zhao Hu, Meng Shan, and the other generals behind Lin Yun responded, drawing their weapons to prepare for battle.
Lin Yun’s eyes narrowed, “Huo Zhen, order the formation!”
“All generals, form the array!” Huo Zhen’s voice boomed like a great bell, echoing through the sky.
Boom!
The hundreds of thousands of city guards stood, channeling their inner strength.
In the air above, a massive attack formation slowly took shape, radiating brilliant light that illuminated half the sky.
The Dongguo Party generals, about to strike, froze at the sight of the city guard’s united formation.
This array was enough to make even them wary.
Add to that Lin Yun and his allies—fighting now might well leave them at a disadvantage!
Lin Yun looked at Wu Tong, exuding authority, “Wu Tong, do you see? The hundreds of thousands of city guard soldiers are still under my command as lord! Justice will always triumph over evil. I am the rightful lord, so I am justice. What does your thousand years in Dongyuan Prefecture matter? The empire has stood for tens of thousands of years—its authority in the soldiers’ hearts is beyond your reach!”
“Lin Yun, since it’s come to this, let’s have it out—mutual destruction!” Wu Tong’s eyes blazed red, his face twisted. “I and the over eight hundred Dongguo Party generals are no pushovers!”
By rights, he should have held the upper hand, controlling Lin Yun’s fate.
His greatest miscalculation was not anticipating the city guard’s defection!
Wu Tong knew things had spiraled out of control with no way back. With him and the Dongguo Party generals, they could fight to the end.
Lin Yun gave a cold smile, “Mutual destruction? Heh, I’m afraid you don’t even have the chance for that!”
He turned to the over eight hundred Dongguo Party generals, “Everyone, do you truly wish to follow Wu Tong deeper into error? As imperial generals, you should die on the battlefield—do you really want to perish here, branded as traitors, dragging your clans down with you?”
“Lin Yun, you think you can sway our Dongguo Party generals? Hah, daydreaming!” Wu Tong laughed savagely.
Then he addressed his generals, “Everyone, we’re all Dongguo Party—tied together, we rise or fall as one. If I die today, none of you will fare well. The only way is to fight to the death and kill Lin Yun!”
The over eight hundred generals nodded—they understood they were a single interest group, bound by shared fate.
Lin Yun stepped forward, “Don’t listen to his nonsense. I know many of you joined the Dongguo Party reluctantly, for your futures. If you renounce the Dongguo Party, swear by your souls to serve it no longer, and do your duties well henceforth, I’ll let bygones be bygones. Your ranks will remain as they were!”
His words caused an uproar among the Dongguo Party generals—Lin Yun’s offer was undeniably tempting.
“Scoundrel, you think that’ll work? You underestimate our Dongguo Party’s unity!” Wu Tong roared.
Lin Yun didn’t reply, turning instead to Huo Zhen.
“Huo Zhen, go—execute Fan Xiao!” Lin Yun ordered.
Fan Xiao had been brought before Lin Yun earlier, and Lin Yun had intended to kill him, only to be stopped by Wu Tong and others.
“Brother, now? It doesn’t seem wise,” Huo Zhen said, startled.
Killing Fan Xiao could provoke the Dongguo Party generals. Their conflict had escalated because of this—Huo Zhen couldn’t fathom why Lin Yun would choose this critical moment to kill Fan Xiao, risking the generals’ belief that he’d never spare them.
“I have my reasons—go,” Lin Yun said.
“Yes, sir!”
Though puzzled, Huo Zhen obeyed Lin Yun’s firm command.
Drawing his spear, he unleashed the might of the Fifth Transcending Tribulation Realm and charged at Fan Xiao.
“Commander Wu, save me!”
“Dongguo Party comrades, save me!”
Fan Xiao cried out in terror.
“This…”
The over eight hundred Dongguo Party generals paled at the sight.
As fellow party members, they felt a pang of dread—if Lin Yun killed Fan Xiao, would he truly spare them later, despite his promises?
Just then, Huo Zhen’s attack landed, a single strike sending Fan Xiao flying, blood spraying. Fan Xiao was only a Third-Order Mahayana realm cultivator.
“Hm? Not dead?” Huo Zhen looked surprised.
Normally, that strike would have easily killed a Third-Order Mahayana realm cultivator.
“Die!”
Since one blow didn’t suffice, Huo Zhen attacked again.
“You’ve forced my hand!”
Fan Xiao, bloodied on the ground, roared as Huo Zhen’s next strike approached.
With a howl, his body began to swell and transform, turning in an instant into a four-legged demonic beast covered in green scales, its aura surging powerfully.
“Demonic beast! It’s a demonic beast!”
“Heavens, Deputy Commander Fan Xiao is a demonic beast!”
The courtyard erupted in chaos.
All the city guard generals and soldiers were stunned by Fan Xiao’s transformation.
The revelation was staggering—Fan Xiao, someone they’d worked alongside daily, was a demonic beast, and they hadn’t noticed!
“It really is a demonic beast!” Huo Zhen was taken aback.
“Then you deserve death all the more!” He unleashed a ferocious barrage of attacks.
“Fan Xiao… he’s actually a demonic beast!”
“Lord Lin Yun was telling the truth—he was targeting a demonic beast!”
The over eight hundred Dongguo Party generals stood dumbfounded.
Their clash with Lin Yun had intensified because he’d wanted to kill Fan Xiao, a Dongguo Party member. They’d thought Lin Yun’s claim was a pretext to assert dominance and cow them.
Now they realized Lin Yun was truly rooting out a demonic beast traitor…
Even Wu Tong’s face flickered with shock.
