The further in he went, the heavier the cold air became. Soon enough, it grew difficult for Lu Yun to remain on his feet.
“If this really does belong to a realm monster… then it’s a seriously horrifying one.” He used great effort to prevent himself from summoning hellfire.
Thankfully, he’d grown enough from his battle with the three-headed lizard that while his cultivation hadn’t improved, he was indeed more than ten times stronger than before. He only needed to make a few adjustments before his body adapted to the new temperature.
“If it wasn’t for the trial beforehand, I probably would’ve already frozen to death by now.” He was suddenly feeling grateful toward the lizard.
If it wasn’t for the chimera lookalike, he would have no idea how to evaluate and improve himself.
The path beneath his feet started to blur as the end of the bloody way was in sight. An enormous Blood Sea came into view, frothily scarlet and bubbling with a pungent stench.
Lu Yun paused by the boundless waters and stared dumbly at it.
“This is… the real Blood Sea? The Blood Sea that was once in the human dao hell has somehow ended up here!” He took a deep breath, absolutely certain that the scarlet depths in front of him was the Blood Sea that’d once stood in human hell!
It’d vanished mysteriously when human hell had been destroyed. Though a new portion had formed in the world of immortals, it was form without substance as it didn’t belong to hell.
He saw the genuine article in front of him now. It was impossible that Lu Yun was mistaken, because he’d once seen it in the great wilderness!
“How… why? Why is the Blood Sea here?” At a loss, he looked around blankly.
It was still frigid and much colder compared to the outside world. However, he could wholly ignore the temperature now.
The blood path plainly extended from the Blood Sea. Those who’d entered the tomb earlier had all been swallowed by its depths, their lives traded for the path from its waters.
“That’s…” Lu Yun’s eyes suddenly widened with recognition. The air over the Blood Sea was also bright scarlet. A dense crowd of things that resembled blood-red gems were embedded in the air, too many to be counted.
“Realm monsters! Those are realm monsters!” he gasped with shock.
Those things that looked like jellyfish were the true form of the realm monsters, but these ones were all dead. The arctic nature of the surroundings came from their corpses.
Lu Yun’s head ran numb with awful realization. There were too many realm monsters in the air—at least tens of millions! Each of them represented a dead world or a realm on par with one.
“How is this possible? Are they all transformed from dead worlds?” he murmured to himself.
“No, these realm monsters don’t come from dead worlds,” a melodious female voice rang by his ears.
Lu Yun turned around to see a young girl dressed in short, downy yellow robes. She’d appeared at some time and lacking any other species indicators, appeared to be human.
Tall and lithe, her eyes and brows were uncommonly pretty. Her long black locks were casually swept up by a hair clasp, and eyes that sparkled like the stars stared unblinkingly at Lu Yun.
He’d dismissed the body of a chaos dragon and gave off only the presence of an ordinary chaos creature. Clear chaos currents flowed through his body and the secret arts of the chaos and the Tome of Life and Death worked in conjunction to completely conceal his true presence.
“Eh?” He looked at the young girl with surprise. That she was here meant that she was also a stunning genius who’d passed through the test of the bloody path.
“Hello, my name is Ying Luo and I’m from the Creation Palace,” she introduced herself with a smile.
Creation Palace! Remaining calm, Lu Yun tensed inside.
The sacred palaces were the titans of the chaos, and though this young girl didn’t seem that much stronger than him, she was certainly a sovereign’s disciple. He’d seen four sacred palace disciples earlier, but Ying Luo hadn’t been among them. She must have come later.
“I’m Lu Yun… My master and I are wanderers in the chaos.” He didn’t make up a new name. Lu Yun was a very ordinary name and there were probably a hundred million Lu Yuns in the chaos.
In the great wilderness, he’d randomly picked Lie Shan for himself and somehow became the Flame Emperor of the human race. He had no desire to repeat a similar feat here. Though the mention of Lu Yun might result in specific interest from the sacred lands, they would never think that he’d dare use his real name in the chaos.
“Lu Yun?” Ying Luo cocked her head and thought for a moment, then smiled. “The nine sacred lands turned over every part of the chaos for Lu Yun a while back. One would think you’d change your name.”
Lu Yun coughed and didn’t respond.
“I’ve browsed records of the mythical world before and the realm monsters are mentioned in them. They were once the last guards for that world, but they failed in the end as well,” sighed Ying Luo.
These words sent Lu Yun in a daze and he still failed to respond.
“Junior brother Lu Yun?” Ying Luo waggled a slender figure in front of him.
“Ah, yes!” He shook his head briskly and grinned. “I was just wondering where these realm monsters come from, and why they’d protect that world.”
“I don’t know since it’s not written in the records. But one thing I am certain of is that that world wasn’t as filthy and sordid as we say it was. Its denizens were no devils. All life is equal whether in the chaos or the realms. We just have different perspectives.” Ying Luo giggled, “You’ll understand what I mean in the future.”
“Eh?” Lu Yun hadn’t thought he’d hear this viewpoint from a sacred palace disciple. Someone with this kind of insight should be a sovereign, or at least Qiu Luoyu’s level.
Ying Luo, however, seemed to be a very ordinary disciple.
“Our monarch said that, I don’t really understand it either.” Ying Luo blushed.
“Alright.” Lu Yun quirked his lips wryly and didn’t pursue the matter further.
“Ah, you should be careful. There’s another test ahead. I can’t pass it alone, which is why I came back for help.” She blushed again.
