Zhao Clan Territory.
Lu Jun glanced at the other party. Although he had not been taken away by the Divine Wood Well, his mind had collapsed, reduced to a useless wreck.
However, there was still the possibility that Zhao Jing was pretending to be insane, trying to deceive him.
To be safe, Lu Jun showed no mercy. With a thought, a three-foot sword light shot through the air. The weapon spirit controlled the Tai'a Sword and slashed down fiercely.
Puchi!
Facing certain death, Zhao Jing's expression remained blank. He neither dodged nor evaded. His body trembled as his head was severed, flying high before falling down, blood splattering three feet into the air.
"Seize!"
Immediately after, Lu Jun controlled the star track. The Death Element's undead space opened, and a gray-black vortex of death appeared, swallowing Zhao Jing's corpse along with his soul.
"Good. Uproot the problem completely."
He felt at ease. At the same time, he released his spiritual sense to perceive Zhao Jing's aura, sensing the powerful lightning fluctuations within the corpse. If refined into an undead, it might possess strength above a mid-level Monarch.
It would also be an extremely rare Lightning Element humanoid undead, fierce and powerful, unafraid of the restraining effects of Light Element magic.
However, with Lu Jun's Death Element Basic Spell Flesh Stitching, combined with the Intermediate Spell Summon Spirit, there might be a chance to split out the opponent's Lightning Element Soul Seed Crimson Mountain Red Lightning. If sold, it would fetch a high price.
But after splitting it, refining the corpse into an undead would at best result in a standard Monarch-level entity, with rather average combat strength.
"Should I or not?"
Lu Jun hesitated. Elemental Soul Seeds were tied to advancing to Forbidden Curse—their value was higher than a mid-level Monarch. To be honest, with his strength, he did not care much for a mere mid-level Monarch's combat power.
Once he returned to the Ancient Capital and reclaimed an entire undead empire, would he lack subordinates among the Eight Great Undead Lords?
But Lu Jun was reluctant to simply sell it off. Unfortunately, none of his three wives cultivated the Lightning Element.
Wait Mo Fan cultivates Lightning Element.
"I'll decide later. Once he gathers tens of billions of funds and advances his Lightning Element to Super Tier, I'll sell it to him at a discount."
Lu Jun shook his head, not in a hurry to decide. Mo Fan was his friend selling it to him would not be a loss. At that time, with the Lightning Element Divine Seal Blessing plus Crimson Mountain Red Lightning, a never-before-seen twentyfold destructive Lightning Element would emerge.
Heh, it would probably not be much weaker than his own Metal Element.
He restrained his aura. In the distance, Feng Zhoulong and the others sensed that the battle fluctuations here had subsided and began gathering.
Among them, Lu Mei walked over with light steps, her red dress fluttering. She extended her fair jade-like hand and grasped her younger brother's, asking with concern, "Are you alright?"
She had observed from the edge of the battlefield, witnessing the terrifying clash between the two. Even a Supreme Monarch might not surpass that.
"I'm fine." Lu Jun replied casually, "I've even killed an Emperor. Zhao Jing is nothing."
Only Feng Zhoulong expressed concern, "I've heard of Zhao Jing. He's a rare Forbidden Curse seed in Jiuzhou, backed by many powerful figures. If you killed him, will Jiuzhou hold you accountable? And the Zhao Clan they have close ties with several Forbidden Curse mages. Their stance…"
"No need to worry. Even if I were wrong, who would question me over such a trivial matter? As for the Zhao Clan, they are not worth mentioning."
Lu Jun's expression remained calm. Helping Zhao Manyan correct the internal rebellion could be explained as internal conflict.
Meanwhile, in the ruins of the Zhao Clan estate, the two ordinary Super Tier mages guarding Old Zhao had long fled, along with hundreds of Zhao Clan members. Even after the battle ended, they did not dare return.
"Old Zhao! Old Zhao, are you still alive?!"
Mo Fan stood atop the ruins, shouting loudly.
No matter how he called, no one responded.
Thus, Mo Fan said sorrowfully, "Old Zhao, you died so miserably. Your beauties, I'll take care of them."
"Cough, cough, cough…"
At that moment, a coughing sound came from beneath Mo Fan's feet, startling him. He quickly stepped aside and stared at the ruins in uncertainty.
Zhao Manyan's hoarse voice came through, "Damn it, Mo Fan, get off me, you're stepping on me!"
"Ah?" Hearing this, Mo Fan was shocked and hurriedly stepped back. "Oh, oh, sorry!"
A moment later, from deep within the ruins, a blond young man crawled out in a disheveled state. He glared at Mo Fan, coughed a few times, still shaken. If he had not used his turtle-shell defensive magic during the earlier battle, he would have been obliterated by the aftershocks.
In midair, Lu Jun witnessed this and slowly descended, approaching with a smile. "Old Zhao, you alright?"
Zhao Manyan showed gratitude, patting Lu Jun's shoulder as he said solemnly, "Counting the Venice assassination, you've helped me twice. I won't say thanks for such great kindness. As long as I, Old Zhao, hold my position in the Zhao Clan, you will always be a friend of the Zhao Clan."
"Whatever you want, I can get it for you."
Hearing Zhao Manyan's bold words, Lu Jun smiled and shook his head, not taking it too seriously. He asked softly, "What exactly happened to you? How did the head of a great clan end up in such a miserable state?"
At these words, Old Zhao sighed deeply and began to recount the whole story.
It turned out that several years ago, he had decisively taken his elder brother Zhao Youqian back to the family and exposed the matter in front of their father and the elders, naturally enraging the high-ranking members of the clan.
However, their father was gravely ill. After repeated deliberation, he could not bring himself to kill his own son. Instead, he imprisoned Zhao Youqian forever within the family's forbidden ground, never to be released again.
Zhao Manyan felt conflicted, yet he could accept it. He too could not bring himself to kill his own brother. Such a situation would be unbearable in any family, even the Tang Emperor a thousand years ago had carried such a shadow in his heart.
Old Zhao said gloomily, "Besides, my mother is just an ordinary woman. If something like this happens in the family and my brother were executed, she would probably blame herself to death, living in sorrow, thinking she failed to raise him properly."
After that, everything had originally gone smoothly. When their father passed away, he directly inherited the position.
But not long ago, due to insufficient prestige, Zhao Manyan made several mistakes externally. At this time, the opposition that had been lying low began to rise up—especially those under his elder brother, led by figures like Zhao Jing from the older generation. Gradually, his authority no longer extended beyond the clan territory.
Lu Jun frowned slightly. It seemed that forcing Zhao Manyan into power back then had not been a mature decision.
After all, Old Zhao's foundation was insufficient, and he was still inexperienced. Without the trials and hardships of the original timeline, it had been too forced.
"However, you don't need to worry," Lu Jun said with a faint smile. "I have a major business deal for your Zhao Clan to cooperate on. If you handle it well, you will gain unprecedented prestige. It will also boost morale externally and secure your position as clan head."
Zhao Manyan asked in confusion, "What business?"
"Stardust Magic Devices!"
Lu Jun spoke just one term. Old Zhao, as a wealthy young master, immediately changed expression and understood the immense profit behind it, a venture capable of shaking the international landscape.
"But…" Lu Jun changed tone and smiled, "Setting up production lines and research funding is something our Military Strategy Office cannot fully afford. We'll need a bit of support from President Zhao."
"Good, good, good! No problem!"
Zhao Manyan agreed without hesitation. Forget Stardust Magic Devices, even out of gratitude for Lu Jun, he would give it away directly.
Now that Zhao Jing's faction had completely fallen, and with Lu Jun backing him, the internal clan situation would likely shift. He would regain control of power and be able to mobilize hundreds of billions in funds. If he dared to take the gamble, he would surely achieve great success.
For additional chapters
Versatile mage {40 chapters}
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