The Hongmeng Tower floated in the center of the third realm, wisps of pure purple presence circulating around it. The little fox’s lithe figure sat quietly beneath it.
Innumerable powerhouses of the Hongmeng were quelled by the tower in its present state. The lost ancient city had appeared as well—the city lord stood next to the little fox, side by side with Hong and Meng.
Immortal dao percolated through the third realm and extended to every bit of land. It underwent a fundamental change when Lu Yun arrived. The immortal dao of Fairylands joined it, strengthening the version in the third realm. The former incorporated three thousand great daos, making it far stronger than the one in the world of immortals.
Upon Lu Yun’s arrival with the immortal dao from Fairylands, the immortal dao from the world of immortals immediately melded with it.
The little fox smiled radiantly at Lu Yun when she saw him. Having been parted for hundreds of years, all of her longing was expressed in that smile.
“You’ve succeeded.” Lu Yun merrily looked back at her.
“I was a little bit off from full control—they still had room to strike back at me. But now that you’ve come back, the little bit of courage they cling onto will vanish into the wind.” The little fox’s lilting voice traveled through the land like a gentle creek.
Despite Lu Yun remaining out of public sight, the various potentates and true kings immediately understood who the little fox was talking to when they heard her words.
The Immortal Potentate!
The personage who’d suppressed the ten divine nations by himself and sent their rulers fleeing for shelter. He was the first one to punch through the barrier around the Hongmeng and enter the fourth realm. That man had returned as a powerhouse of the fourth realm! He was now someone that no one in the third realm could hope to contend with.
With the little fox’s mastery over the Hongmeng Tower, she used it as the catalyst to conduct immortal dao into the third realm and replace the original Hongmeng great dao. This marked the final opportunity for the native powerhouses to fight her.
If they succeeded, they would have a place of their own even after immortal dao traversed the Hongmeng. They wouldn’t need to bow their head to another. If they failed, they would be at the mercy of their new rulers.
And now, they’d obviously failed.
“Alright, alright, be on your way. Immortal dao encompasses all. Once you are denizens of the immortal dao, your status and identity will be the same as they are now.” Lu Yun revealed himself in the void and waved gently to everyone.
“Do you mean that?” The Metal Potentate stepped forward with skepticism.
“Go ask your disciple Jin Gushen if I have ever broken my word.” Lu Yun placed his hands behind his back. “I come from the world of immortals and it is my root, but I am not its master. Her titans stand together and a hundred schools of thought jostle with each other.
“The same goes for the chaos and Hongmeng. I have neither desire nor ambition to be the master of life. I just want to do what I should be doing.”
“That’s true, this guy loves leaving his work to others. He always gets the job started and never finishes it,” grumbled the little fox next to him. “I bet you he came back now because he started something in the fourth realm and doesn’t want to oversee it. Therefore, here he is.”
Lu Yun half rolled his eyes at her and glanced at Hong and Meng. He’d always found their existence strange and he still couldn’t see through their cultivation level, strength, or the nature of their being. But their names plainly indicated a deep relationship to the third realm.
“You’re here looking for me, aren’t you?” Mo Yi popped out behind Lu Yun. There was no one in the entire realm who could see her apart from him.
She’d surreptitiously helped the little fox refine the Hongmeng Tower and set it as the next destination for the immortal dao after the second realm. Thus far, immortal dao had entered the chaos at most and was yet to develop to the point of traveling through the third realm. Mo Yi was secretly helping things along.
“Mmhmm,” Lu Yun nodded. “The Dao King told me to stop you and not let you go to the unknown expanses.”
Mo Yi blinked.
“Of course, he knows me best.” She shook her head with a wry smile. “I have to go, you can’t stop me.”
“If I can’t, then I’ll go with you.” Lu Yun’s gaze was clear as he looked unblinkingly back at her.
“Your current cultivation level does not enable you to pass through the land of darkness and enter the unknown,” Mo Yi sighed.
“Then let’s wait for me to grow strong enough and go together when I can travel through the land of darkness,” Lu Yun remained firm.
“You… are certainly annoying.” Mo Yi shook her head. “You’ll only become a burden if you go with me.”
“You’re going for the Imperial Seal and I’m its master. Somehow I’m the burden?” Lu Yun snorted.
“You know what I want to do?” Mo Yi’s gaze sharpened.
“My future self saw you die because of the seal thirty-three times in thirty-three loops. Do you really think I don’t know what you want to do?” Lu Yun turned solemn. “The original emperor took the seal and sent it to the unknown expanses. Do you not know what he was attempting?”
Mo Yi ducked her head.
“He was trying to protect you.” Lu Yun lifted his head to look at the pale purple sky. “The original emperor must have detected something. He likely knew that he lived in endless reincarnation loops…”
“Ai,” Mo Yi sighed and gently shook her head. “The Imperial Seal is trouble and nurtures a terrible fiend. If the fiend isn’t destroyed…”
“Then the most devastating consequence will just be the arrival of the great devastation, the end of everything, and the destruction of all daos. After that, the next reincarnation cycle will begin,” Lu Yun answered for her before she could finish. “In the thirty-three cycles that I witnessed, you destroyed it thirty-three times, but the great devastation always arrived in the future.”
Mo Yi paused.
“Since the most severe result is death and destruction, so what if it’s allowed to live?” Lu Yun had clearly seen that she’d died with the thing in the seal each time, laying down her life to ensure its death.
Mo Yi frowned tightly and suddenly clutched her head, pain crossing her features.
“Don’t move, she’s attempting to break free of her destiny!” An urgent voice rang out and Ah Ahi appeared out of thin air. Her hands wove through the air the second she appeared, like she was weaving a great net. “I see fate… I see your fate! Your fate isn’t to kill the thing in the Imperial Seal, but its destiny is to kill you! Your fate is to die at its hands!”
Apart from Lu Yun, she was the only other person present who could see Mo Yi.
