Jiang Chen maintained a firm grasp over corpse dao despite being absent from the Land of Reincarnation. Whoever cultivated it would ultimately become his puppet.
However, Lu Yun’s Infernum were an exception. They were protected by the Tome of Life and Death; Jiang Chen wouldn’t even detect their presence unless he grew stronger than the treasure. The ghostly soldiers could only be commanded by the book and Lu Yun.
Five thousand handpicked Infernum rushed out of the hell battleship, spreading out among the Corpse World in the blink of an eye. They were well familiar with the surroundings and had, in fact, set up many of the layouts. The arrangements were swiftly dismantled and even the world began to show signs of collapse.
Since the corpse qi zombies were manifested from the layouts, they faded away as their origins fell apart. A tinge of blue appeared in the grayish-yellow sky the more the clean-up efforts widened.
“The solution is that easy?” Chu Xingran looked incredulously at the crumbling Corpse World.
“Of course not,” Lu Yun shook his head. “The layouts may be broken, but the World Gates are still shut. This place will still explode if I leave. Though it won’t turn the secondary worlds into zombie farms, the explosion of a major world will affect them all the same and make it easy for the darkness to invade.
“Perhaps that will be the precursor to them being fully assimilated by the dark. The secondary worlds are what’s supporting the primary worlds after the Major Cycle Worlds have fallen. If they’re gone, the primary worlds will decline and be devoured by the gloom.” Lu Yun was extremely grave. “But of course, the Corpse Refiners don’t care about that. If Jiang Chen severs the part of corpse dao that’s extended into the Land of Reincarnation, all karmic repercussions having to do with that part will remain here. It won’t have anything to do with the sect even if my home completely turns into darkness!”
He thought for a moment before continuing, “I don’t know what kind of layout is set up here that connects me to this world. It seems to have made me the basis of existence for the Corpse World. Everything is fine as long as I’m here, but everything will explode if I leave.”
“You can’t break this layout either?” Chu Xingran blinked, then took a deep breath as he thought of something. “I have a way out.”
“You?” Lu Yun paused.
“I know what this is… a kind of jail. The world is a jail that confines the imprisoned. Prisoners cannot escape if the World Gates are shut, but if they do, the jail will explode,” Chu Xingran explained. “Irredeemable villains or cold-hearted sorts will not be held in a jail like that. Only the kind that cares about life can be held in a World Jail, because the surrounding worlds will be affected if it detonates.
“But this is a very ancient layout that was broken a long time ago.”
“How?” Lu Yun started. Seas would have changed to mulberry fields and the mulberry fields back into seas after a thousand years. He couldn’t cultivate here either, so the thousand years would be a complete waste.
He wasn’t willing to stay here for six hundred years, much less one thousand.
“I’ll remain here in your place,” Chu Xingran said quietly. “The way to break this layout is for me to stay here while bearing traces of your presence. Perhaps the Corpse Refiners were actually targeting me instead.”
Chu Xingran shared a grudge with the sect and had originally come to the Land of Reincarnation to both cultivate and to interfere with Corpse Refiner plans. No one, including himself, had imagined that the reincarnation cycle of this land would be so powerful. He’d been wrapped up in the Curse King’s destiny from beginning to end and couldn’t break free of it.
Meanwhile, the Corpse Refiners had been on the scene the moment the land formed during the first reincarnation cycle. They’d created their own destiny and repeated it endlessly, waiting for the final loop to appear so they could complete their work.
Although Chu Xingran had broken free of his assumed destiny, his replica still remained in the land partially due to Qing Buyi and also partially due to the Corpse Refiners. He’d hidden his motivations well because he didn’t want Lu Yun to feel that he was using the young man.
“If you stay here in my stead, I can guarantee that you’ll die a horrible death.” Lu Yun gently shook his head. He’d yet to see through the Corpse World after all of his analysis. He hadn’t thought much of the numerous layers of zombie farms and refinement formations, but the world became more mysterious after the Infernum had wiped it clean. Not even they, the original architects, understood what they were looking at.
“Your primary body will die too—there are more existences than your grand curse that can kill the primary body through a replica.” Lu Yun looked solemnly at Chu Xingran, bearing no more of the bone-deep hatred he’d once held for the man. Since he’d accepted the man as his friend, Chu Xingran was on par with Wu Tulong, Zi Chen, Mo Qitian, and Dongfang Hao. They were brothers of life and death and someone he could entrust his back to.
“I know,” Chu Xingran set his jaw. “But the Land of Reincarnation can do without me. It must have you. Don’t worry, I won’t die that easily. I’ll request the Azure Dragon King and Qing Buyi to protect my primary body.” He smiled easily. “I’ve experienced thirty-three loops since arriving, this will be the thirty-fourth. In the past loops, you wanted nothing more than to skin me alive, but could never do so.”
“Thirty-three?” Lu Yun blinked. His future self had journeyed through thirty-three loops, which meant that neither he nor Chu Xingran had ever visited the thirty-fourth loop that Moran Dongning had blocked his way to.
“Yes, thirty-three times,” Chu Xingran nodded. “I know you well. Although I was influenced by the Curse King’s destiny and repeated his actions, that didn’t prevent me from observing you. I studied you in great detail, so I’m confident of pulling the wool over this World Jail’s eyes.”
“Let him stay,” Moran Dongning’s voice rang in Lu Yun’s ears. “He won’t die, the reincarnation inspector will protect him.”
“The inspector? Who? My oh-so-convenient brother Lu Feng, or Jin Gushen?” After countless derivations, Lu Yun had narrowed the inspector candidates down to these two. One of them was his friend Jin Gushen, and the other was his incomparably mysterious brother Lu Feng.
“Lu Feng…” Moran Dongning blinked. “He’s also a space traveler, the same as Chen Xiao and Qing Buyi. Chen Xiao and Qing Buyi are just closer to each other.”
“Then it’s Jin Gushen?” Lu Yun’s jaw dropped.
Moran Dongning nodded quietly. “Chu Xingran inadvertently saved the inspector’s life when he first arrived in this land. The inspector had to enter the land to recover from his wounds, and thus Jin Gushen was born.
“He does not exist outside of the thirty-three loops that Chu Xingran is part of. He is an exception that does not reincarnate or interfere with other people’s lives.”
etvolare’s Thoughts
I think I need the backstory about Lu Feng because I’ve completely forgotten where he comes from… And no wonder Jin Gushen wasn’t involved when the potentates were raising hell.
