Lu Yun nodded. The human demon had patently forbidden him from entering in order to protect him.
This tomb was far too dangerous and sinister. Despite having temporarily made its residence here, the human demon still didn’t fully understand how this place had come to be. An immortal was buried here in this tomb, one beyond emperor rank. Upon entering, Lu Yun had felt an indelible shadow creep over his heart.
It was almost as if he was being watched from some forgotten corner by a horror unknown. Not the human demon, not Mo Yi, and certainly not the teeming dead; but someone—or something—entirely and inexplicably alien.
The threefold needles spun around rapidly upon his feng shui compass before finally deciding on a direction. ‘Great misfortune’. Two glowing, scarlet words floated up from the compass’s second layer.
“What does that mean, exactly?” Mo Yi gawked at the luopan in Lu Yun’s hands with mild astonishment.
“There’s a layout inside this tomb—well, you might as well call it a formation. It’s capable of affecting intangible fortune,” Lu Yun replied honestly. “If the layout isn’t broken, the human demon senior will surely die.”
Mo Yi blinked.
“The key to doing so lies in the direction my compass points… but there’s also great misfortune there,” Lu Yun continued, half to himself. The ancient tomb was already unlucky and dangerous enough. For there to be a place inside that was even worse… he wasn’t sure whether he was properly prepared.
“Is there really a formation like that?” Mo Yi furrowed her delicate brows. She was a great formation master herself, having grasped a genius mixture of formation and combat arts, but she’d never heard of such a thing before.
“There was a formation like this inside Dusk City as well. The entire province declined because of it,” Lu Yun observed.
Mo Yi’s eyes widened in understanding, but she held back whatever she had to say in favor of looking elsewhere.
A hovering figure slowly approached them: the Celestial Emperor of Exalted Major. It was the very same that Lu Yun had seen back in the Sword Barrow. Though the emperor’s consciousness remained, he’d become the human demon’s vessel.
“That is where the tomb’s owner is interred,” said the human demon through the emperor’s body. “I dare not approach it, either.”
“Who could be buried here?” asked Lu Yun.
There were four such tombs in the world of immortals, which were scattered in four of Nephrite Major’s provinces. Every so often, outbreaks of evil spirits came forth from them to devastate the surrounding countryside.
“I do not know. He, or it, is very strong.” The human demon shook his head. “This is the resting place of the human emperor. His scattered blood infused this place with exceeding mystery, more so than anywhere else in all the majors.”
“The resting place of the human emperor. That again, huh? Can you tell me more about it?” Puzzlement flashed across Lu Yun’s face. Qi Hai had mentioned a ‘resting place of the human emperor’ before, but even now, he still didn’t know what it meant.
“After the emperor’s fall, there were no more,” explained Mo Yi. “The human emperor died here. He was recognized by the heavenly dao, and after his death, the dao no longer recognized any more emperors in all the worlds.
“The ‘immortal emperors’ that came after him in the ancient times, and the ‘celestial emperors’ we have now… they’re all just self-styled titles. Plus, anyone who’s declared themselves emperor since then has suffered a painful end.
“It was true for the ancients, just as it is for the present celestial emperors. None of them are ever granted a peaceful death.”
“She’s right.” From within hell, Qi Hai offered his perspective. “After the human emperor fell, the surviving leaders of mankind dared not take on a similar title. They called themselves kings instead, out of deference and caution. But now I hear about celestial, monster, and divine emperors? Kids these days sure are fearless.” His voice dripped with sarcasm.
As a transmigrated spirit who’d lived through countless eras, Qi Hai had access to his past lives’ memories despite not awakening in any of them. He knew many examples of what he talked about.
Empress Myrtlestar was one. She and her entire tribe had been sacrificed to the Skandha Extinction Tomb. The word ‘emperor’ truly had a curse on it.
“The human emperor died here for sure, right?” Lu Yun wanted to confirm.
“The last emperor, to be precise,” corrected Mo Yi.
“Could he be buried here, too, then?” Lu Yun wondered.
“No.” The human demon shook his head with great certainty. “The resting place has been around since the era of human rule. This immortal tomb, on the other hand, dates from the era of immortal dao.”
Lu Yun fell silent for a moment before cracking a crooked smile. “Well, we’ll just have to take a look ourselves then, won’t we?”
A smile like this cropped up whenever he’d encountered a large, unexplored tomb back on Earth. Lu Yun never shied away from a good challenge; the harder the tomb, the stronger his determination grew.
His Dragonsearch Invocation began working overtime. A brilliant ray of gold emanated from his luopan, lighting up the path ahead. Countless dead spirits fled in every direction, unwilling to be touched by the burning light. Lu Yun’s eyes turned pitch black and he walked down the path with wide, sweeping steps.
This tomb was different from other ancient tombs.
Most tombs were either complete underground palaces, or complex, interconnected mazes. This tomb had no chambers, hallways, or annexes. There was only a deep, unending nothingness. Even his Spectral Eye failed to yield any information about what lay beyond.
Ninety percent of the tomb already belonged to the human demon—he could even command the lingering dead here. The only thing outside of his control was whatever existed yonder, a place where the human demon himself dared not advance, either.
In fact, Lu Yun was quite sure that that place was the reason for the extinction layout.
“Milord, milord!” an urgent call suddenly sounded behind him. “Your old servant begs you to wait! Your servant is coming!”
Ge Long arrived only a few moments after his voice. His face carried its customary simpering smile, and the eagerness in his eyes was unmistakable.
“Golden core realm?” It was the human demon’s turn to be taken aback. All he saw was an ordinary golden core cultivator. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary about Ge Long.
Mo Yi looked the old man up and down; she knew how remarkable he really was, but he certainly didn’t look the part.
“Go ahead, clear the way. Eat whatever you can find!” Lu Yun smiled to see the old servant.
“Yes, sir!” Ge Long was overjoyed. He dashed into the darkness as fast as he could.
