“So you spared him because he’s Daoist Ingress’ heir?” Lu Yun snorted. “The Chan Sect and Jie Sect aren’t exactly on friendly terms. You’re obviously dead, but your replica is alive in the worlds!”
“I died in order to enter the Tomb of the Hallowed Emperor so I could set up my layouts and obtain the Imperial Seal. As for the Chan and Jie Sects… The Jade Pure One and Daoist Ingress were just recreating in the great wilderness what they once experienced in the original Hongmeng.” Yun Zhongzi regarded Lu Yun carefully. Since the young man knew him and had taken out Daoist Ingress’ sword, he must have an incredible connection with the legendary personage.
Yun Zhongzi quickly ran through everyone his replica had met in the worlds, but couldn’t place the person in front of him.
Feng Feifan?
Of the Feng Clan?
Was he one of Fuxi’s descendants or an heir?
“Did you create the world filled with treasures? That doesn’t belong to the tomb.” Lu Yun recalled that Yun Zhongzi was a fanatic about refining items. He could copy all sorts of weapons, equipment, and even connate treasures.
A world with piles of precious baubles? That’d been too ridiculous. Only the person in front of him could create so many treasures.
Blushing faintly, Yun Zhongzi didn’t respond. He had indeed created that world and filled it with imitations.
“Recreating their experiences in the original Hongmeng?” Lu Yun suddenly seized on something that the man had just said.
“Who are you?!” Yun Zhongzi abruptly demanded. “I’ve already given my name since we are to have a frank conversation, but you? Who are you? There was no Feng Feifan in the great wilderness!” He cut to the chase and named the proper era in the worlds.
“Do you remember Lie Shan?” Lu Yun replied with a careful look at the man’s face.
Yun Zhongzi immediately looked constipated. He fixed a glare at Lu Yun and sneered, “Flame Emperor Lie Shan of the human race? Stop joking around. He’s the result of Fuxi borrowing the mistress’ power to summon someone from the future.
“Setting aside his identity, Lie Shan is so young that he’s less than a thousand years old. He wouldn’t be a Nihil World Sovereign even with ten lifetimes of cultivation. Right now, he’d at most be a more powerful potentate in the Hongmeng.”
Lu Yun nodded. He had indeed reached only potentate level in the Hongmeng during the last thirty-three cycles. He’d been able to pierce through the barrier, but hadn’t been able to set foot into the fourth realm.
According to what was to come, those nearest and dearest to him would start to be caught in traps meant for him and die in his stead. His final ending was to sit alone in the void, watching over the gradual decline of the immortal dao.
But now? He was an abnormality, one that was raising a decently sized wave in that long, unchanging river. It was up to him whether or not the wave could overcome this era.
“I am indeed Lie Shan and I saved a strand of your soul force in the great wilderness. Your soul should’ve regrown by now and be cultivating in the world of immortals, integrating into the immortal dao.” Lu Yun nodded, certain that the man in front of him was Yun Zhongzi.
The twelve golden immortals of the Chan Sect had been crippled and their acupoints destroyed by Daoist Ingress’ disciples. Only Yun Zhongzi had been spared—proof of his uniqueness.
Yun Zhongzi stared dumbly at Lu Yun, not knowing what to say. The Nihil World Sovereign that he’d spent all of his efforts luring into his trap was the Flame Emperor of the human race? One of the most important personages around and his personal benefactor?
What was he supposed to do now??
According to Fuxi’s plans, Lu Yun should be busy creating an empire in the Hongmeng, preparing to welcome the immortal dao into the third realm so it could traverse the land. But he was in the fourth realm instead? And a Nihil World Sovereign?
The plan had gotten out of control.
“Some things are a bit difficult to explain… You’re here for the Imperial Seal? What is it?” Lu Yun could guess what Yun Zhongzi was thinking.
In the past thirty-three cycles, Lu Yun hadn’t had the Tome of Life and Death. He’d used another method to resurrect Yun Zhongzi and the others. He’d ultimately been the cause of death for them as well, but the name “Imperial Seal” still sent Lu Yun’s heart racing.
The treasure that he’d wielded in those past cycles had been a jade seal. He’d used it to revive the demon gods of the great wilderness. Since he’d lacked the Tome of Life and Death, he’d also lacked hellfire and the kingdom of hell. Regardless, everything he’d possessed had been extremely potent.
The seal had been the source for Qing Yu’s Heavenly Palace and formula dao. It’d been the treasure stored in the Han Dynasty tomb on Earth, not the Tome of Life and Death.
In the past thirty-three cycles, he’d always obtained the seal. But in the thirty-fourth, the seal had turned into the Tome of Life and Death. Thus marked a change in trajectory for the entire cycle.
So when Lu Yun heard the words “Imperial Seal”, his heart pounded for a strange reason.
Yun Zhongzi remained quiet, staring at Lu Yun for a long while before finally saying, “I almost retrieved it when I entered the great wilderness, but I failed because something appeared. The Imperial Seal is meant for you—it is the jade seal of the Hongmeng emperor.
“Since you’ve become a Nihil World Sovereign, that means the mistress has told you many things,” Yun Zhongzi took a deep breath. “Fuxi’s mission was to recreate the broken Dragonquake Scripture, and mine was to give you the seal of the only emperor of the original Hongmeng—also the ancestor of the Hallowed Emperor.”
He had his ways of communicating with the outside world, so he’d been able to confirm during this time that he was indeed speaking with Lu Yun, the legendary Flame Emperor of the human race!
“The legacy of the original Hongmeng is held within the seal. Since your mission is to reforge the original Hongmeng with the Dragonquake Scripture, the Imperial Seal is a very necessary tool!” However, Yun Zhongzi’s expression turned dire and despair blossomed through his mind.
“But why do you have the withered wood on you… The resentment of everything in the original Hongmeng, all of the beings of an epoch are in it…” Color drained from Yun Zhongzi’s face and he resembled the dead that he truly was. “You are doomed to fail with that wood on you…”
Lu Yun frowned, Yun Zhongzi was right. He’d also possessed the withered wood in the past thirty-three cycles and its existence had caused everyone around him to die.
“It won’t be the case this time.” Lu Yun shook his head. “It’ll work this time, trust me.”
Yun Zhongzi’s pallor improved slightly when he thought of Lu Yun’s method of nothing and the icy hammers.
“Though this wasn’t exactly how the original plan was and it’s a bit later than we decided, it’s not too late to retrieve the Imperial Seal for you!” Yun Zhongzi said solemnly.
etvolare's Thoughts
I gotta confession — whenever I read Yun Zhongzi's name, I think of zongzi, rice dumplings. A thousands of years old talking rice dumpling, everyone.
