The tunnel dug by the Treasurehunter Rat was very long, twisting and turning to its destination and often splintering into numerous forks and side passages. The rat was very smart—it hadn’t concealed the tunnel, but neither did it want others to profit off its work. Thus, it turned its tunnel into an underground maze.
A sinister atmosphere oozing with evil and uncanny presences filled the tunnel. Even Lu Yun couldn’t help but shudder, but he didn’t release hellfire.
After the tenth tendril of order solidified, the flames of the five hells slowly became the structure of support for the hell of order. Only when three hundred and sixty-five tendrils of order crystalized and became the true fire of order would the other five be released.
Miao and Qing Yu shifted around, keeping Lu Yun protected between them as they walked.
“Oh, Little Yu, I’ve come to a few more reflections in my recent cultivation. They might be useful to you,” the little fox suddenly said to Qing Yu.
Walking at the front with Quiet in hand, Qing Yu paused.
“Remember how I followed your theory after ascending to kinghood and combined my dao rules?” Miao continued quietly. “I’ve been attempting this sort of combination recently and think that the path after ninth step kinghood is precisely that of combination—to combine nine rules into three, then three into one.
“I think my current strength is beyond any conventional ninth step king in the realm.”
Lu Yun was once more reminded of the king soldier’s words when he heard this, how most of the kings in the Hongmeng were treading the wrong path. The little girl in a red skirt had also once said that Hongmeng kings were just ants, that even ninth step kings glimpsed only the tip of the iceberg.
“But I think this path is more complicated than that and it needs further exploration. My grasp of formula dao isn’t as strong as the two of yours, so I leave the rest to you,” the little fox concluded.
“I see.” Qing Yu nodded. “I’ve only just returned to ninth step kinghood and my ninth dao rule isn’t polished yet. I’ll be able to study this path once my dao rules are all perfected.”
She looked excitedly at Lu Yun, who also understood her meaning. In the world of immortals, he and Qing Yu had respectively become the headmaster and dao sovereign of the world because they’d repaired the void realm and perfected the immortal dao. Who knew what would happen here if they achieved something on a similar level?
“Wondrous existences abound in the Hongmeng, it’s not impossible to find someone above ninth step kinghood.” Lu Yun shook his head. “We need absolute, domineering strength if we want to reign superior in the third realm.”
His thoughts turned toward the Metal Potentate who’d taken away Jin Gushen. That was a prime example of someone who’d most likely reached the level of combining his dao rules and progressed far down the path.
“Mm.” Qing Yu came to her senses as well. They were in the Hongmeng, not the world of immortals. She and Lu Yun could see far beyond the horizon in the world of immortals, but they couldn’t even see the real Hongmeng as of yet.
According to the little fox, the path that was to come was the most important.
“Scrr scrreech scrrrr!” The Treasurehunter Rat suddenly stopped and pawed at the ground, then began gesturing wildly.
Even with their connection through the Tome of Life and Death, Lu Yun still couldn’t understand the creature. It’d once been able to take human form, but had completely lost the ability after Lu Yun beat it back to its true form. It couldn’t voice human speech or even transmit human thoughts anymore.
Lu Yun felt like he’d picked up a large boulder just to smash it down on his own foot.
“It says that someone’s modified this passage—someone’s been here before us!” Miao interpreted with an unpleasant expression.
Lu Yun frowned slightly. “Let’s turn smaller and use the Silence Talisman!”
He flung out a few more talismans and shrank the entire group to smaller than a dust particle floating in the air. Silence Talismans refined from karmic fruits completely concealed all trace of their presence.
“It’s Ghost Dragon,” whispered Qing Yu. “He discovered the thieves’ tunnel and modified it. It’s a dead end ahead. If we keep following the path, we’ll end up dead without a doubt!”
Lu Yun’s frown deepened. Ghost Dragon had modified the path ahead, but not the overall layout, preventing Lu Yun from discovering that there was anything wrong. If it hadn’t been for the rat’s sudden warning, he would’ve died here if he traveled to the mountain alone.
“The layout hasn’t changed, but the road ahead is a dead end. The only way to manage that is… to have a terrible creature ahead!” He took a deep breath.
Qing Yu’s proclamation of a dead end considered all of their strength combined. A dead end didn’t mean lack of a path, but that this passage would lead to the dead end of their lives.
Any treasure, formation, or mechanism would change the layout of the great maze and result in minute changes that put Lu Yun on guard. That the layout hadn’t changed meant that there must be an extraordinarily terrifying creature ahead.
The Treasurehunter Rat wasn’t an ordinary animal and was equipped with extremely keen senses. Far more perceptive than the trio, it’d immediately detected the dangerous presence lying in wait for them.
“Is there any other way?” Lu Yun looked at the rat; it couldn’t have made only one passageway to the heart of the mountain.
“Scrr scrr scree!” The rat paused, then nodded and headed in another direction.
“The other way is more dangerous, but it’s a bit better than the one ahead of us,” Miao responded.
The thieves’ tunnel was only a meter across, but it might as well be a world compared to the trio’s current size.
Splish splash.
The sound of water suddenly traveled into their ears, followed by a searing heat wave.
“A magma river, there’s a magma river here!” Lu Yun blinked. No wonder the rat had said this way would be more dangerous.
Magma rivers of the Hongmeng weren’t ones of the lower worlds. If one drop of magma from this river dripped into the world of immortals, it would transform into a blazing star and burn for all of eternity.
“There’s an arcane beast king in the river—a crimson python,” the little fox pointed out. Being only a common realm cultivator, an arcane beast king was incredibly frightening to the Treasurehunter Rat.
“It’s just a sixth step arcane beast king, ignore it.” Qing Yu spared a single glance for the river and carefully helped Lu Yun across. Sixth step kings wouldn’t see through his Silence Talismans.
“We’ll be at the main section of the grave after this magma river…wait!” Miao suddenly shrieked. “What’s going on? Is this an illusion?? Why are we back to that dead end?”
It was another dead end after the magma river, one just like the passage they were just in!
