Chapter 514 As Cunning as a Ghost

"Hello, Fellow Daoist. I am Lu Hao. I found a hidden faction, and judging by the zombies' clothing, they must be wealthy. However, there's a Void Realm zombie inside, and I'm no match for it. Would you be willing to help? If we succeed, we’ll split the loot 70-30, with you taking the larger share!"

An Yun gave Lu Ye a cold stare.

He wondered what Lu Ye was up to.

He didn’t recognize this guy.

This person was weaker than him—forget combat ability, his cultivation level was definitely inferior.

So the real question was: What was his game?

Was he just trying to get help looting treasures, or was this a trap to kill him?

If there was no clear answer, then it wasn’t worth thinking about.

"Mind telling me your name?"

An Yun suddenly attacked, thrusting his spear at Lu Ye in a flash.

Lu Ye...

The spear shot forward—then stopped dead.

Lu Ye's hand had caught it.

An Yun growled, putting all his strength into it, but the spear remained immovable.

"Fellow Daoist, I just wanted to team up for treasure. Why resort to violence?" Lu Ye asked calmly.

All of An Yun's strength seemed to drain away like water into sand.

He had already realized he was no match for his opponent.

In that case, the only option was to flee.

An Yun released the spear and retreated, but Lu Ye was faster—his hand clamped onto An Yun's shoulder.

Damn these cultivators—every last one’s sharp as a knife.

Why couldn’t he ever meet an idiot?

"Fellow Daoist, I’m from a major clan! Kill me, and you’ll be marked. We’ve all come here seeking treasures—I can give you all the treasures I possess. Just let me live!" An Yun pleaded urgently.

"A great clan? Which clan?"

Lu Ye raised an eyebrow.

"Fellow Daoist, my clan is secretive, with an Emperor among us. I can’t say more, but I implore you to think carefully—there’s no need to kill me."

"Just saying that without naming your clan won’t save you," Lu Ye said with a smile.

But his smile was ice-cold with killing intent.

An Yun’s expression darkened.

"I swear, my clan has an Emperor!"

"Then, can you at least tell me your name?" Lu Ye asked.

An Yun paused.

He saw Lu Ye's other hand already clenched into a fist.

"An Yun, my name is An Yun!"

"Real name or fake?"

"Real, I swear it's real, Brother! There's no need for this. Killing me won't do you much good, and you'll only be tracked down by my clan's elders. Please reconsider!"

"I can guarantee that even if you take my treasures, I won’t hold it against you. I won’t tell anyone, and I won’t make an enemy of you!"

"Brother, think twice!"

Lu Ye...

Damn, this guy’s sharp.

"You're from the Shadow Clan, right?"

Lu Ye asked.

An Yun's pupils shrank abruptly.

How the hell did he know?

The Shadow Clan had always been a well-hidden faction, not just in the Nine Heavens, but in this whole world.

Very few knew of them.

So, was this man deliberately targeting him? Was his goal the Shadow Clan?

"If you know I'm from the Shadow Clan, then you should understand just how powerful we are. Fighting us would be like an ant trying to topple a tree. Walk away now, and we’ll call it even."

"Even if you have a grudge against the Shadow Clan, you and I have no beef. There’s no need to target me. I’m a nobody in the clan anyway."

To be honest, An Yun wasn’t lying.

Among his generation, plenty were way stronger. Though he had reached the Broken Realm, he’d hit his limit.

Even among fellow Broken Realm cultivators, he couldn’t defeat a mindless zombie—that says it all.

"You got it wrong. I’m not an enemy of the Shadow Clan. In fact, I know plenty of your kin—Dark Wuxing, for example, or Dark Wuhen."

An Yun was stunned. Lu Ye actually released his grip on his shoulder.

"Huh?"

Now, An Yun was totally lost.

"If you’d said you were from the Shadow Clan earlier, I wouldn’t have acted against you. Just a big misunderstanding," Lu Ye said with a smile.

An Yun...

"So... I can go now?" An Yun ventured.

"Hold on. Who’s heading your clan’s team this time?" Lu Ye asked.

An Yun was completely fed up.

He had already sensed that something was a hundred things off about Lu Ye—a hundred signs something’s wrong.

But now his life hung by another’s hand—what could he do?

"Brother Daoist, since you know people from the Dark Clan, you should understand that Dark Clan affairs are not something I can disclose," An Yun said frankly.

"Not a single word?" Lu Ye frowned.

An Yun’s voice was iron. "Not even a little!"

Lu Ye's expression darkened.

"I don’t take refusal well—and you’ve already refused me more than once!"

"Apologies, but this is an ironclad rule of my clan."

An Yun took a deep breath.

"If Brother Daoist insists on knowing, then cut me down if you must!"

Lu Ye grew thoroughly intrigued by the Dark Clan.

Now that’s loyalty—a cultivator willing to go this far, even to death.

Then death it was.

Lu Ye suddenly lashed out with his sword.

An Yun bellowed, fighting back, and the two engaged in a fierce battle. Lu Ye took the opportunity to observe his opponent’s cultivation path, piecing together seventy or eighty percent of it before a sweep of Sword Light ended An Yun’s life.

After the kill, Lu Ye studied the crimson blood.

The last one—a Great Dao Realm cultivator—bled black, but this one ran red.

He began poring over An Yun’s corpse.

Not a damn thing.

Had he found even the slightest anomaly, Lu Ye could have let the system analyze it.

But since things had come to this, he could only play it by ear.

His form rippled, transforming into An Yun’s appearance.

An Yuaner approached Lu Ye, eyeing him up and down.

"A perfect match!"

Lu Ye nodded.

"Tch, continue!"

He went back to the slaughter, his physical body growing tougher by the kill.

As his body strengthened, Broken Realm foes fell like wheat.

Across the entire Heavenly Corpse Wastes, the land boiled with battle.

In the core region of the Ancient Land of Heavenly Corpses, a group from the Dark Clan had just captured a large city and were now resting and regrouping.

"How many died in this battle?" An Wuxing asked.

This time, he was the one leading the team.

An Wuxing was a Quasi-Emperor expert, and Lu Ye had faced him in his previous life.

Back then, it was An Wuxing who had led the attempt to reclaim An Li from Lu Ye's hands.

But when they went to confront Lu Ye, they happened to encounter the Dark Chaos.

After surviving the Dark Chaos, they sought out Lu Ye again.

Lu Ye... had ascended to Emperor.

As a result, An Wuxing, who had originally intended to fight, quickly changed tactics and offered congratulations instead.

"Elder, we lost nine."

An Wuxing nodded.

"What about the other Dark Clan members?"

"Six were lost—An Fengyuan, An Chen, and An Yun..."

An Wuxing nodded again.

"Remember," he ordered, "do not let anyone infiltrate by impersonation. If anyone is found impersonating a Dark Clan member, report to me immediately!"

Normally, the Dark Clan wouldn't be this vigilant.

But now, they had entered a critical period and had to remain vigilant.

"Understood!"