Kabooooom!
Spatial turbulence rocked the tomb realm as its insurmountably stalwart space was blasted open. Ruinous spatial storms rode in on the turbulence and ripped into the tomb realm, trying to turn it all into chaotic currents of the void.
However, the tomb realm was one created by the moat snake and even sturdier than the world of immortals outside. The spatial storms only had time to wreck their havoc for a hundred millionth of a second before all of the turbulence disappeared entirely. All the same, if the storms had made their way outside, they would’ve destroyed the world of immortals!
Once the pitch-black storms were ejected, the enormous Fire Altar revealed itself from concealment. It’d protected Lu Yun, Ashu, the Venerated Sacrosanct Demon Sovereign, and the other four high priests from that blink of earlier violence.
Unwilling to see harm come to them, You Si had protected the four priests in that crucial moment as well. If she had any kin left in the world to speak of, that would be the four of them.
The priest of earth threw her a grateful look, but she didn’t bother returning the gesture.
Eyes bright with the projection of the Tome of Life and Death hovering over his head, Lu Yun was one with Xing Chen in this moment and had forced the usage of his combat arts onto his replica. As strong as the heritage of a holy king may be, it was no match for the treasure of death!
……
The Dusk River and corpsefire clashed only once before both of them flew backwards. Xing Chen was thrown thousands of kilometers into the distance, recoil that was reflected in the zombie tree as well. The two seemed evenly matched.
Qing Hongchen’s face appeared once more on the zombie tree and he looked guardedly at the black chain in midair. The Dusk River seemed to be corpsefire’s bane.
“Using corpsefire against me?” Xing Chen leered. “I’ll show you what it means to be the heir of the primeval human hell!”
Rumble!!
The black chain of the Dusk River came snaking back through the air, this time with hellfire burning on it. It seemed to be a snarling dragon wrapped in an inferno from the black flames of hell—it pounced upon the zombie tree.
Raging with berserk madness, the tornado of corpsefire came howling back to its wielder and became one with the tree again. Shuddering violently, the zombie treant planted its roots in the ground and returned to its original form. When both the Dusk River and hellfire were about to reach it, the soil around its roots started quaking uncontrollably.
Black soil shot upward in a reverse waterfall, forming a liquid shield that rebuffed the two-pronged attack. Up on the Fire Altar, Ashu looked at Xuan Yuan, who looked helplessly back at him.
“The living soil is dead, I can’t control it either.”
Living soil! The last of the five great treasures!
This treasure had also perished and become a dead thing. Languishing in the Xuan Yuan Tomb, the zombie tree had subdued it when it took the corpsefire. Just as wood fed fire, so too could it contain earth. Therefore, the zombie tree hadn’t spent much effort in capturing two treasures that were already dead.
The treasures of wood, fire, and earth deployed at the same time in a terrifying combination that beat back the Dusk River; even Xing Chen on the other side suffered grave injuries. Coming together as one, the awe-inspiring mixture of strength then barreled into the zombie tree’s body. While a shell-shocked Xing Chen watched on, the tree’s hulking girth swiftly shrank into the size of a regular human being.
A slim and slender young man exuding hazy gray light appeared in front of him.
Qing Hongchen.
The very one that Lu Yun had seen all these years ago, other than the incredible presence of death’s will around him.
The presence was so intense that, in Lu Yun’s eyes, it surpassed the limits of primeval hell. It represented the final destination of all things and the truest end of all!
“I would be truly complete if I obtain the Dusk River and the blade of nonbeing. I wouldn’t need that spirit anymore,” murmured Qing Hongchen to himself, his eyes devoid of any light. The blade of nonbeing was what Lu Yun had named Traceless.
“I’ll leave immediately if you give me the Dusk River and the blade of nonbeing. I’ll depart from the world of immortals and travel the endless cosmos. I swear to never come back or make any trouble for you!” Qing Hongchen suddenly roared with a rush of desire, displaying an abrupt surge of strength that was on par with Xing Chen.
“I might’ve actually believed you and handed them over if I didn’t know what kind of person you are. But now? Go choke on that big fat dream of yours.” Derision quirked Xing Chen’s lips.
Traceless wasn’t dead—it hadn’t been contaminated by the terrifying yin energy. It was the only one of the five that was intact and in perfect condition. Though Lu Yun didn’t know what would happen if the five great treasures were gathered in one place, he knew that nothing good would result from Qing Hongchen possessing all of them!
Xing Chen stepped forward, bringing the strength of the Dusk River and hellfire to bear at the same time. Churning forth in an overbearing mass of fire and water, he rammed into Qing Hongchen. Their collision was so great that this part of the world threatened to crumble to pieces!
……
Upon the Fire Altar, You Si deployed the power of the altar with all of her strength and prevented the fearsome shockwaves from flattening the group. Lu Yun was seated on the ground and directing the Tome of Life and Death, melding his thoughts with Xing Chen’s and imbuing his replica with the power of hell.
He couldn’t move at the moment, so a stunning woman in white robes suddenly materialized next to him. She approached the four high priests lying listlessly on the Fire Altar and thought for a moment.
“Are you four willing to serve my master?” She loftily considered the four with cool indifference. The three immortal fires chased each other in her eyes, imparting to her a certain formidable aura.
Yuying, first of the Ten Yama Kings!
“Master? Lu Yun?” The priest of earth shook his head. “To serve him is to serve the underworld. There is no release after one enters the underworld, so we would rather die.”
“Master’s existence is something you lot can hardly comprehend,” You Si spoke up. “You will obtain what you want if you serve him—the altars!”
Xuan Yuan had taken the altar of earth, but he was only a string of thoughts now, not even a soul fragment. He was unable to call upon the altar’s strength.
Yuying nodded and extended her hand to reveal the Wood, Metal, and Water Altars floating above her palm. Despite being the size of a palm, the priests of forest, ocean, and blade immediately glued their gazes to them.
