Zhuo Bufan shook his head with a rueful chuckle when he heard Lu Yun’s words.
“The ramifications of that place are too great. If I say its name out loud, its experts will detect the utterance and come for our heads.” Fear flashed across Zhuo Bufan’s face. “Only when we reach Starcloud City, where the power of a king’s domain envelops the land, will I dare say the name.”
Lu Yun and the little fox looked at each other, shock charging the look between them. What kind of place was it to scare Zhuo Bufan like this?
As Lu Yun had just arrived in the Hongmeng, he didn’t know anything about the political landscape. Even if Zhuo Bufan said the place’s name and where it was, Lu Yun still wouldn’t know where to find it.
“Are you thinking of the Valley of Ten Evils in the Hongmeng?” the little fox leaned in and asked haltingly.
All color drained from Zhuo Bufan’s face when he heard the name and he hastily made a shushing motion.
“No! Don’t speak of it! The Valley of Ten Evils is a place of great depravity. We mustn’t speak of it!” Zhuo Bufan wanted to clap his hand over the little fox’s mouth, but couldn’t bring himself to do it. After an internal struggle, he settled for gesturing wildly on the spot.
“It looks like that is the place then.” The little fox rested her face in her hands. “Our son does indeed have some connections to a certain place in the valley, but let’s talk about it when we reach Starcloud City.”
She blushed hotly when she said “our son”, and Zhuo Bufan ducked his head, averting his eyes.
Lu Yun arched a brow at her. “I thought you said you weren’t going to refine the crystal ball?”
“It belongs to me!” Panic floated onto her face and she continued on with her brand of logic, “So what if I refined one of my possessions? We’re in the Hongmeng where dangers lurk around every corner. Don’t I get some extra ability to protect myself if I regain my replica?
“You don’t want Lu Qing to lose his mother at his tender age, do you?” huffed the little fox. “And, you’re not allowed to make any more little foxes with me! I’m still young! And, and, we only, we only did it that once…”
Her voice grew steadily smaller until she sounded like a mosquito at the end.
Zhuo Bufan decided the best course of action was to lie on the ground and pretend he’d fainted. The young mistress always shocked the living daylights out of her audience when she talked!
Lu Yun didn’t continue the conversation, instead taking out the one hundred and eight purple crystal veins that the Redbud King had given him.
The little fox immediately forgot about the awkward situation and drew close with interest.
Purple crystals were wonderful things. The amount of Hongmeng qi in one piece of premium purple crystal was several times more than all of the immortal qi in the world of immortals combined.
The third realm was so much more sophisticated than the current world of immortals, a fact that extended to its level of qi by several hundreds of million times over. Of course, premium purple crystal was also the highest level of crystalline qi in the Hongmeng. Ordinary common and inferior realm cultivators had no right to obtain it.
“You want to send them to the world of immortals?” The little fox quickly grasped Lu Yun’s intentions.
“Yes.” He nodded. “The world of immortals needs a massive amount of qi in order to grow. The more qi there is, the faster it expands and the immortal dao develops! These one hundred and eight purple crystal veins are the best fertilizer for the world!
“Only through continued maturation of the world and strengthening of the immortal dao will the immortals of the world grow stronger as well! Just you, Little Yu, and I are insufficient to protect that massive world. The only way forward is to ensure that it has the ability to protect itself!”
This was the most fundamental reason why Lu Yun had ultimately accepted the crystal veins. Purple crystals? Zhuo Bufan had plenty of them. Lu Yun could just take his if he wanted some.
“You’re not keeping a single one for yourself?” the little fox asked with some pain as she watched Lu Yun shove crystal vein after crystal vein into the abyss. Having knowledge and experience of the Hongmeng thanks to her son, she knew full well the value of a premium purple crystal vein.
“Then… let’s keep nine.” Lu Yun paused and took back nine veins, sending the remaining ninety-nine through to hell.
Though the ninety-nine were sealed, the lizard-dragon, Di Ling, and her Di Clan reviving through the sea of Hell Flowers all knew how to break the seal. They also knew how to most appropriately use the crystal veins.
Lu Yun didn’t put much thought into how to divvy up the ninety-nine; he was certain that the ten Yama Kings would make the best decision.
“How extravagant!” Zhuo Bufan clucked his tongue. “As a titled king, all of my father’s riches added together are just a hundred purple crystal veins. The Redbud King so easily gifted the young master with the fortune of a king!”
Lu Yun jerked with shock and the little fox regarded the revelation uncomfortably as well.
“The king bears no ill will toward me and she didn’t think much of gifting me the crystal veins. This means…” Lu Yun hummed with thought.
“Her emotional intelligence isn’t that high,” the little fox finished for him.
“Right, it’s on par with yours.” He flicked a sideways glance at the fox, who remained silent.
“Young master and mistress, shall we head on to Starcloud City?” Zhuo Bufan broke the silence before it turned too awkward. “Once we reach the city, this humble one will tell you everything you wish to know!”
His internal demon wasn’t Hopeless Major of the Valley of Ten Evils, but that the venerated one of the alliance had told him this.
“Mm, alright.” Lu Yun inclined his head.
The little fox butted in, “Nothing’s going to go wrong with the transportation formation this time, right?”
“No, no!” Zhuo Bufan smiled wryly. “The Redbud King is such a special existence—she can manipulate all of the purple crystal mines in the region. They form a unique forcefield of heaven and earth, which is how she can interrupt the light of transportation.”
“Forcefield of heaven and earth? There’s heaven and earth in the Hongmeng?” Lu Yun blinked.
“Heaven.” Zhuo Bufan pointed upward, then pointed down. “Earth.”
“…I… see.” Lu Yun paused, then frowned slightly before nodding slowly.
“Heaven and earth are a vast concept. The ones of the Hongmeng are illusory, while heaven and earth in the chaos come from real worlds.
“Many kings have guessed that the power of heaven and earth in our realm comes from the worlds located in the chaos. While they’re continuously destroyed, their core essence, the seed of heaven and earth, always remain. It constantly germinates and gives rise to new worlds.
“If the great sun and true moon of the chaos are the sun and moon in ours, then the heaven and earth in the chaos are also that of the Hongmeng,” Zhuo Bufan concluded his impromptu lecture. “Perhaps… heaven and earth, the chaos, and Hongmeng are from the same root. They might even be the same entity.”
“The Scorch King told you this, didn’t he?” Lu Yun smiled at Zhuo Bufan.
“Ahem! My father didn’t tell me this, I read about it from one of his journals,” Zhuo Bufan responded awkwardly.
Qing Yu had deduced all this when entering the fourth realm, that the worlds, chaos, Hongmeng, and even the fourth realm all stemmed from the same point. They were one.
