“Pfft! Pfft!”
Hao Yuntian spat blood, collapsing, his mouth twitching.
The returning Lin Yun needed only a single word to end his life.
He had no chance to resist.
In his final moment, he vaguely sensed a calamity brewing in the Star Martial Empire.
This time, the Heaven-Slaying Alliance would bear it…
“Run! Run!”
With Hao Yuntian dead, his Heaven-Slaying Alliance forces scattered in panic.
A joke—seven Transcending Tribulation Realm experts hovered above, including Lin Yun.
With Hao Yuntian gone, who’d dare resist?
“Where’s my personal guard?” Lin Yun glared at the fleeing Alliance members, his eyes icy.
“Here!”
The 10,000 guards answered, their voices like stampeding horses, deafening!
“Kill every last one of those fleeing rats—no survivors!” Lin Yun’s voice was cold as he issued the command.
“Yes!”
The guards drew weapons, surging with killing intent, charging downward.
This small force was weak in Lin Yun’s eyes—his guards were more than enough.
Boom!
The black-clad guards dove into the battlefield, unleashing a one-sided massacre!
“We’re saved! We’re alive!”
The Dali family cheered, thrilled.
“Yuantai, is that really your Heavenly Sword Sect’s Lin Yun? Wasn’t he dead?” Dali Yuantai’s father asked, excited.
“It… it’s really Senior Brother Lin Yun!” Dali Yuantai said, dazed.
He was just as shocked.
Lin Yun descended, landing before Dali Yuantai.
“Yuantai, we meet again,” Lin Yun said, smiling.
After over a decade, seeing a Heavenly Sword Sect comrade filled Lin Yun with joy.
He and Dali Yuantai had joined the sect together, bonding well.
Without Lin Yun, Dali Yuantai would’ve been the standout of their batch.
Seeing Lin Yun up close, Dali Yuantai’s shock turned to excitement.
Lin Yun was the Heavenly Sword Sect’s ‘god’!
“Lin Yun, you’re really alive—amazing! Amazing!” Dali Yuantai grabbed Lin Yun’s arm, thrilled.
“Seeing you alive makes me happy too,” Lin Yun smiled.
He’d feared returning to find most of the Heavenly Sword Sect dead.
“Exalted Lin Yun, thank you for saving our Dali family’s remnant,” Dali Yuantai’s father said, stepping forward to thank him.
“Thank Exalted Lin Yun for saving us!”
The surviving Dali family members knelt in gratitude.
Without Lin Yun, they’d be dead.
“Senior Brother Lin Yun, this is my father, the Dali family patriarch,” Dali Yuantai introduced.
“Patriarch Dali, Yuantai, why was Hao Yuntian’s group hunting you?” Lin Yun asked.
“Senior Brother, after crushing the Heavenly Sword Sect, the Heaven-Slaying Alliance saw the benefits of unity. They’ve been causing trouble, recruiting more forces to join while suppressing or wiping out those who resist,” Dali Yuantai said.
Dali Yuantai’s father added, “Our Dali family can’t compare to the Heaven-Slaying Alliance. We stayed neutral, just a minor family in the empire, prominent only in our kingdom. They never bothered us.”
He continued, “But recently, the Heaven-Slaying Alliance seems to have the empire’s covert support. They’re sweeping the empire, forcing all notable factions to join or face annihilation—no neutrality allowed.”
“Oh?” Lin Yun was surprised.
This was unexpected.
“We refused to join but didn’t oppose them, wanting neutrality. That made us a target for their purge!” Dali Yuantai said helplessly.
“The Heaven-Slaying Alliance is that brazen now? Why’s the empire backing them?” Lin Yun asked.
Without the empire’s covert support, the Alliance wouldn’t dare stir such chaos.
“In recent years, the demonic clan’s been active in the empire. The empire’s doing this to control all factions and prevent some from secretly aligning with the demons. For things the empire can’t do directly, they let the Heaven-Slaying Alliance handle the consolidation. The Alliance is happy to be the empire’s dog, growing stronger in the process,” Dali Yuantai explained.
“I see,” Lin Yun nodded, understanding.
He hadn’t expected such upheaval in the Star Martial Empire.
With the demonic clan stirring, change wasn’t surprising in these tense times.
But it fueled Lin Yun’s anger!
“By the way, Yuantai, how’s the Heavenly Sword Sect? Why aren’t you there?” Lin Yun asked, tense and worried.
The sect’s state was one of his greatest concerns.
Dali Yuantai’s gaze dimmed.
“After that battle, the Wanderer, the Xiaoyao Tower Master, and Sister Mo Qing’s backing protected the sect, sparing it from ruin. But it’s fallen hard. Only one or two in ten disciples remain,” he sighed.
He continued, “I wanted to stay, but my father summoned me back for the family, so I left temporarily.”
“Many brothers faced the same. They wanted to stay, but their families, knowing the sect’s feud with the Heaven-Slaying Alliance, wouldn’t let them, fearing retaliation. Some left willingly, and the sect master encouraged departure. Only a few stubborn ones stayed.”
Hearing this, Lin Yun’s heart churned with mixed emotions.
“It’s my fault…”
Lin Yun lowered his head, eyes dim, a pained expression crossing his face.
Huo Zhen and the others behind him were stunned.
They’d never seen Lin Yun so anguished.
