“Someone’s gone to a great deal of effort to send the withered wood to me. I’d be spurning their kind intentions if I didn’t accept it,” chuckled an unconcerned Lu Yun.
Hong shook her head without a word.
“So this part of the Hongmeng was originally a tomb and the world beneath us is its tomb realm. That’s why the ghosts keep attacking it, because it’s literally a paradise for them,” Lu Yun expounded as he looked at the world below.
“Mmhmm.” Hong nodded. “The original inhabitants of the Hongmeng are buried here and the entire third realm’s been modified into a real tomb.
“This was a scheme executed in the open. Someone wanted to bury the origin point of the fourth realm in the tomb realm, turning it into a realm without roots. But this tomb is the final resting place of the original Hongmeng denizens. How could someone actually do, or dare do anything to it?
“And, there are no actual corpses in the tomb, they’re all hero barrows,” sighed Hong.
“So… that’s why we have the immortal dao?” Lu Yun blinked and asked subconsciously.
“That’s right!” Hong nodded. “Immortal dao came to be thanks to the strategizing of numerous fourth realm powerhouses. With the immortal dao supporting this Hongmeng and returning it to its origin, it will become the root of the once-proud fourth realm again. It will become its core, the Hongmeng of the most supreme fourth realm!”
Lu Yun shook.
“Don’t you find it weird that the initial name for the Boundless Planes was the ‘fourth realm’?” Hong enunciated carefully as she looked at Lu Yun. “Within the worlds, the world of immortals presides over the mortal worlds and is the core of the first realm. In the same vein, the Hongmeng is the fourth realm’s world of immortals.
“Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Lu Yun’s eyes widened. This… seemed to subvert some of his understanding of existence.
“First came the worlds, then the worlds begat the chaos, the chaos gave birth to the Hongmeng, and from the Hongmeng resulted all living beings!
“The worlds are one, the chaos splits the clear and chaotic into two, the Hongmeng beholds the three essentials, and the Boundless Planes is all life!” Her voice grew louder the more she explained.
“This… this…” Lu Yun shook his head fiercely. “Aren’t the three realms, including the Hongmeng, equal to each other on an objective basis?”
“They are indeed equal in the eyes of life, but an order of existence can be determined even for realms on equal footing. There is a difference between the primary and secondary!
“First came the worlds, then the chaos, and then the Hongmeng. That in itself is unequal!
“The laws and rules of the worlds appeared first, so they are the strongest! The chaos and Hongmeng come second!
“Laws and rules give rise to order, therefore the orders of the worlds are also the strongest! Because they are the strongest, they are much less likely to be controlled or wielded by their cultivators. This is why the beings of the worlds are the weakest and those of the chaos and Hongmeng are relatively stronger. The beings of the worlds have a very difficult time using their home’s orders to improve their lives or cultivation.
“But in that ancient age, the beings of the worlds were the strongest. They were unchallenged at the apex of existence. Rules that are strong and mighty to begin with only become stronger when wielded by the equally strong.” Hong’s voice shook; she seemed to be reliving that far off past.
“Is the section of withered wood something that belonged to the worlds of old?” Lu Yun asked with a frown.
“No,” Hong shook her head. “It’s something of the fourth realm, but possesses the power of the strongest of the worlds…”
She didn’t elaborate further, plainly wary of something. There were too many taboos in this part of the Hongmeng, so one wrong word or accidental exposure of certain truths could result in inexplicable backlash.
“It is an inauspicious thing,” she concluded weakly. “It was once a supreme existence of the worlds, but it is a terrifying corpse in death. The withered wood is the corpse.”
“I see.” Lu Yun nodded. Dead things were the last thing he was afraid of. The Tome of Life and Death was already refining the wood, so he didn’t care if the withered wood was the most terrifying zombie king in the fourth realm or what.
“And,” Hong continued, “Go save the overlord of Ice when you have the ability to. He is a kind and benevolent powerhouse. He accepted being sealed into the iceberg to save the countless souls of his plane.”
“Mmhmm,” Lu Yun inclined his head. He would’ve made the attempt even without Hong’s mention; the master of the Plane of Ice had given him such a strong nihil method without demanding anything in return. Lu Yun could now see through more of the fourth realm even when he wasn’t using it to activate the sequence of time. He could even borrow the strength of the immortal dao to familiarize himself with the method.
A monumental debt of gratitude had been incurred.
“Ah, do you know what this is?” Lu Yun materialized the Tome of Life and Death and held it up with one hand.
Hong looked blankly at him. “I don’t know. Perhaps there really is something in your hand and it doesn’t want me to see it. If my guess is right, your Nihil World Sovereign level in the fourth realm comes from what I can’t see.”
Naturally speaking, she'd observed everything he’d done in the Boundless Planes. When he subdued the Bridge of Forgetfulness, he’d only been a Void World King. But now? He was one of the greatest in the realm!
“Can you see it now?”
Hong’s expression turned stiff. She could see the treasure this time; it was a bronze scroll that glowed with six different colors—the colors of the six hells.
“Don’t worry, it wouldn’t let me see it, but it did when you wanted it to. That means it completely belongs to you. It will never leave you unless you die,” Hong raised an eyebrow. “I still don’t know what it is, I’ve never seen it before—not even in the time of the Great Ancien.”
What she referenced as the Great Ancien was the era in which the Hongmeng was complete and the center of the fourth realm.
“Alright, you can go back now. You should make a trip to Mount Cloudcover if you want to ascend as a ninth step king. Retrieve your future self first.”
It wasn’t a surprise that she knew of his future self too. Hong’s cultivation level was in the fourth realm as well, so she could see what’d previously happened in the third realm when she stood at its peak.
“What is the sequence of time?” Lu Yun suddenly asked.
“The sequence… you will know when you reach that level.” Hong plucked a flower from the ground and placed it in his hands. “Since the six hells are on you, this flower of six colors will be of help to you.”
The last time she gifted him a flower, Lu Yun had just treated it as a marvelous treasure. This time, however, he could see his future path in it.
etvolare's Thoughts
"Ancien" is not a typo btw! It's the root of the word "ancient", which I thought fitting since we're talking about a suuuuuuper old age and all.
So people have been saying all along that being more sophisticated/stronger/advanced than the rest, the third realm contains the second and first. Hence it's superior (Sun rotates around the Earth). Then the big truth is that the three realms are equal (Earth rotates around the Sun). Hong suddenly turns that secret view of the truth upside down and says that the worlds/world of immortals is the most superior (I don't know what the analogy is here, we are all subjects in an alien lab?).
However, cultivators in the world of immortals are weaker because the world of immortals has stronger rules and orders than the other realms. It's a bit counter intuitive. Since the rules and orders are stronger, that means humans are less able to use them. Imagine if the elements of our Earth was so potent that they exploded anytime someone tried to mine them (yeah that ain't how science works, but roll with it). Our society would be less developed despite the higher quality elements simply because we can't use them.
