“I’ll tell you everything you want to know, including my cultivation methods!” Of course Xie Tianxun knew what Lu Yun was interested in. “But you have to kill Chu Xingran for me!”
He hated Chu Xingran with a burning passion. If it wasn’t for that bastard’s interference, he would’ve smoothly entered the Land of Reincarnation and already found his footing. The wind and rain would be at his beck and call for him to do whatever he wished.
“Chu Xingran?” Lu Yun and Moran Dongning looked at each other. “Didn’t he go back home? How did he attack you?”
Xie Tianxun smiled slightly at Lu Yun’s frown. While he didn’t know the nature of the relationship between the two or even who Lu Yun was, he could tell that Lu Yun knew Chu Xingran.
He quickly recomposed himself. “Opportunities abound in this Land of Reincarnation. Not only is there a world of sequence here, but so are there unexpected treasures tucked away in obscure corners. Chu Xingran would never be truly willing to leave!
“He’s the most devious, cunning, and treacherous man out there! He’ll stop at nothing to reach his goal! Don’t be fooled by his appearance! You recognized the Esteemed Nebula, didn’t you, Moran Dongning? He was here because Chu Xingran lured him here!
“It should only be Chu Xingran’s replica in this realm, his primary body’s left and found favor with the esteemed personage. He’s joined the Esteemed Nebula’s camp and is now his representative!”
Lu Yun and Moran Dongning goggled at each other.
“…Poison King! His identity now is the Poison King!” Xie Tianxun wracked his brains and finally recalled a name that Chu Xingran had said to him. You Hun had turned into the Poison King and followed his destiny to be refined by Chu Xingran.
Lu Yun’s expression flickered rapidly and he seemed to believe what he was hearing.
“Alright then, give me all of your cultivation methods and I’ll help you kill the Poison King,” he nodded.
“Not the Poison King, Chu Xingran!” Xie Tianxun immediately picked up on the loophole in the young man’s words. “I’ll give you my cultivation methods only if you kill Chu Xingran!”
“Oh?” Lu Yun looked him up and down. “Do you think you have the right to talk terms with me?”
“Do I not?” Xie Tianxun laughed with the ease of assurance. “The worlds in this land are flawed, so although you natives possess a world of sequence, you won’t be able to cultivate to the level of great perfection. My methods will nicely fill in the gaps.”
He looked at Moran Dongning. “The Morans’ methods are taboo. Whoever dares teach them to outsiders will activate a restriction as soon as they begin talking. Her soul will fly apart, so don’t put your hopes in her.”
Moran Dongning’s expression shifted and she nodded with resignation. The cultivation methods and combat arts of the great factions were all protected by restrictions. Not only were they forbidden to teach outsiders, but if outsiders learned anything by accident or derived their way to the proper path, they would also be devoured by the restrictions.
People such as Ao Qin and Chu Xingran all had restrictions in their methods. The same held true for the Corpse Refiners and the Infernum that Lu Yun had collected in the Abyssal Tomb. It was because of that that he hadn’t been able to learn the methods of the outside realm. Their methods had scattered the moment they died, and although they remembered the knowledge, they were unable to cultivate or pass it on to Lu Yun.
Their power was also replaced by the Tome of Life and Death.
Xie Tianxun, however, was different. He didn’t come from a big faction or possess any heritage. Everything he commanded was the result of his own hard work. His cultivation methods and combat arts were cobbled together from a lifetime of training, so there were no restrictions within them.
Lu Yun looked at Moran Dongning, who nodded back at him.
“Then forget it,” he sighed. “I can’t even break free of the Land of Reincarnation and might end up going through the next loop. Who cares about all this right now? There’s no real rush to study the knowledge of the outside realm.
“C’mon, let’s record some clips that aren’t safe for work. You can take them out with you, Dongning, and sell them for a good price. He’s famous in the outside realm, isn’t he?” Lu Yun cackled at the girl.
“Uh huh uh huh!” Moran Dongning replied with excitement. “He’s on par with Jiang Kui, Ao Qin, and my brother! In fact, he’s stronger than all of them and is hailed as the foremost genius of the realm! He’ll definitely go for a princely sum!”
Moran Dongning’s brother was the Spacetime King, but that was just his identity in this land. She didn’t speak of his real name, and neither did Lu Yun ask.
“Foremost genius?” Lu Yun guffawed. “He’s a grassroots genius without the restrictions of a great faction. How difficult and arduous his path must have been! What a damn shame that he’d die here!”
Pfft!
Xie Tianxun spat out a mouthful of blood before fainting dead away. This was a premeditated action as current surroundings prevented him from offering any resistance. He could escape from everything only if he was unconscious.
One had to say, Xie Tianxun was a very sharp-witted individual. He knew how to resolve the awkwardness in front of him and leave a way out for himself.
“Do you believe him?” Moran Dongning looked at Lu Yun.
“Chu Xingran’s not that dumb. He invested so much effort to sever the karmic relationship between himself and this Land of Reincarnation that he’s not about to jump straight back in. Not to mention, I’m willing to bet that the dragons will richly reward him for his participation in Ao Qin’s resurrection. As strong as that Esteemed Nebula may be, he’s far beneath the dragon race.”
The dragons wouldn’t fight over a new world of sequence—theirs had already evolved to peak form and dominated the outside realm. Only someone like the Esteemed Nebula, someone who ardently desired to establish their own world and refused to swear fealty to a large faction, would come fight over it at this time.
Moran Dongning nodded.
“But I’ve detected a terrible poison curse on the energy lingering within him. In the fourth realm, only the Poison King and Curse King can do something like that…” Lu Yun furrowed his brow and caused Moran Dongning to tense again.
“You… seem to care about Chu Xingran a lot?” Lu Yun couldn’t help asking when he saw her reaction.
“No I don’t!” Moran Dongning grew even more nervous. “Not at all!”
“The best looking guy in Darklake…” Lu Yun stroked his chin and assessed the girl. She was hopping mad but refused to explain herself—it would only dig herself deeper into the hole.
“But it’s true that Chu Xingran came back at one point. Thank goodness he ambushed Xie Tianxun, or it’d be such a disaster if he quietly became part of this realm.” Lu Yun wasn’t afraid of enemies out in the open, he was much more concerned about enemies in the shadows, particularly stunning characters like Xie Tianxun from the outside realm.
Moran Dongning heaved a sigh of relief to see that Lu Yun had changed the topic.
“Right now, you stay here and figure out how to get his cultivation methods from him. I’m going to start building the foundations for my great dao.” Lu Yun took a deep breath and thought of where he was going to begin—the land of darkness.
