Hearts sank at Zhao Shenguang’s words.
The celestial master tomb!
Although the official reason given for all those excursions to the tomb was that the younger generation needed to gain some tempering and experience, many of the dao immortals who’d accompanied them had reaped quite a bountiful harvest. When Lu Yun resolved the layout within and combined the two different tombs in the yin yang realms, all living beings inside had seen with their own eyes what they truly were.
Corpses without skin!
Only when the two tombs were fused back together were they reunited with both parts of their selves and return to who they truly were. The traumatic experience still haunted many of them even now, so Zhao Shenguang raising it at this time sent chills down their backs.
Most of them had been utterly baffled by the events of the tomb and why their skin would mysteriously separate from their bodies. After numerous rounds of speculation and expert deduction, the general consensus was that they’d entered the celestial master tomb through the wrong method and blundered into the yin realm because of that. Of course, this conclusion was naturally a Lu Yun propagated falsehood.
Hackles raised and hair standing up on the backs of their necks, the crowd considered the sudden appearance of the Xuan Yuan Tomb door with new eyes. As for why Zhao Shenguang knew of this despite being trapped in the Ancient Tree of Life at the time—he’d personally investigated many things upon gaining freedom to properly fulfill his duties as celestial emperor of Nephrite Major.
“Don’t worry about it, this is a real tomb door that we can safely enter.” A blue-haired man stood out at this point and gave his judgment in a ringing voice after a series of close observations.
He looked to be in his early twenties and was dressed in snow-white robes. Handsome features adorning his face, he held himself with an unearthly air. Being a void-ascended immortal, his cultivation wasn’t particularly strong. However, an extremely unique presence faded in and out of existence around him—profound, detached, and with a thick sense of viciousness.
“Who are you?” Frowns abounded when people saw him.
Void-ascended immortals were becoming ever more commonplace as time went on, many of which summoned phenomenon of ascension that encompassed entire provinces or even majors when they broke through. That caliber of immortal had grown so ubiquitous that the senior councils of various councils couldn’t be bothered with them anymore.
“This junior is Zou Longxiu, second disciple of the headmaster of the Dao Academy,” Zou Longxiu responded with a smile.
“Zou Longxiu? That traitor of Yellow Springs Land? The one who betrayed your home in front of the entire world and begged Lu Yun to take you in?” A man walked forward with a contemptuous tone and sized up Zou Longxiu.
Smack!
A figure flashed through the air and smashed a hand right across the speaker’s face.
“How dare you speak about my young lord like this, you court death!” It was a young girl in black clothes who looked roughly sixteen years old. However, her presence was as fathomless as the deep blue and she flared the aura of an arcane dao immortal without compromise.
She wasn’t just an ordinary arcane dao immortal; she pulsed with the power of the world. That meant she was equipped with a formation of heaven and earth, placing her at the level of a primordial arcane dao immortal!
Bing Ling.
King of the rimesnakes and the Infernum that Lu Yun had obtained in the Skandha Extinction Tomb. She’d later refined the arcane dao fruit of the North Sea’s rimesnake Bing Xuan, propelling her to arcane dao immortal realm. As one of Lu Yun’s ghostly soldiers, it was a given that she’d receive a formation of heaven and earth.
Currently, Bing Xuan and Bing Ling flanked Zou Longxiu, protecting their master’s treasured disciple. He was Lu Yun’s true disciple and a pupil of the Dragonshift Method. Given his status, he could be called a prince of Dusk Province.
However, he refused any special treatment and started off in the outer academy just like the other disciples of the Dao Academy. He would take the examinations with them to earn the privilege to advance, the only difference was that he’d be receiving all of Lu Yun’s knowledge.
Lu Yun’s first disciple Liu Qingmiao wasn’t present. She was only two, so even if she wanted to come, Qing Ruyan and the head of the Panorama Pavilion would never let her go.
“Just look at the Dao Academy throwing their weight around like tyrants!” The speaker earlier was an arcane dao immortal—peak of his realm. Six years ago, he would’ve had a spot in the apex of the world of immortals. But now, he wasn’t much of anything.
“Like tyrants?” Zou Longxiu flashed a smile at the man who’d been sent flying. “If we really threw our weight around like that, Bing Ling would’ve snapped your neck just now, destroyed your nascent spirit, and scattered your soul.” His tone suddenly turned ugly, “Would you like to see just how tyrannical we can be?”
“Hahahahaha—“ the arcane dao immortal crowed with laughter. “Do you see this, everyone? Though Lu Yun says he’s establishing a sacred land, he’s just a devil in the end. His disciples want to kill and maim at the drop of a hat. I’d like to request everyone to judge for yourselves, is this so-called Dao Academy of his a sacred land of immortal dao or demonic dao?”
“That’s Jin Chengming, one of the powerhouses of the former Jin Clan in Nephrite Major!” someone murmured. “The Jin Clan once forcefully occupied Lu Yun’s inheritance tower, which killed many of the clan’s experts when it exploded. The clan later moved out of the major, and Jin Chengming is their only surviving arcane dao immortal. No wonder he’s setting himself against Dusk Province.”
“So it’s someone from the Jin Clan.” Zou Longxiu inclined his head. “When my master and lady master welcomed the Dao Flower back into the world of immortals for the void realm, it was this clan who attacked the flower with a barrage from weapons of war. They wanted to kill the flower in its infancy.
“The immortal dao now resides in Mount Xuanhuang. If the Jin senior thinks that my master is a devil and that the Dao Academy a sacred land of demonic dao, then simply go to the mountain, awaken the immortal dao’s will, and have it destroy the academy.
“But what I’d like to know is whether the will of the immortal dao destroys the Dao Academy, or butchers you for the little bastard you are.”
Zou Longxiu sneered as emotions flickered across Jin Chengming’s face. Most people present were outright ignoring a minor arcane dao immortal like him. This never would’ve happened back in their heyday and when the clan had steadfastly clung to the thigh of the Feng Clan.
But now, not only was the Jin Clan demolished, so was the Feng Clan relegated to the lists of the world’s third-rate factions. Who would pay attention to a nobody like him and make an enemy out of the Dao Academy for his sake?
It was one thing to plot and scheme in the dark, but openly choose a side? Everyone here was a wily old fox and no one as stupid as that.
“Alright!” Zou Longxiu pushed the Jin senior to the back of his mind. “My master is an expert tomb raider and having received his knowledge, I know a thing or two about tomb raiding myself. According to my observations, though this door is perilous and extremely risky, it really is the entrance to the tomb.
“This tomb is another yin yang setup. There are two entrances: the one outside is the yang entrance, and the one inside the marsh the yin entrance.
“Master has triggered the yin door, so the yang one naturally reveals itself as well. This tomb is different from the celestial master tomb.”
