“Not only can you not manage it, but neither can the immortals navigating through the yin tomb do so either,” the priest of earth said seriously, his gaze fixed on Lu Yun.
Dangers and threats abounded in the yin tomb; it was almost impossible to get to Xuan Yuan’s burial chamber from there. Meanwhile, the point of extreme yin in the yang tomb led directly to the head of the snake outer-coffin, which housed Xuan Yuan’s coffin.
“I’ll be able to deal with it as long as I can get to the spirit manifestation of the spleen.” Lu Yun smiled when he noticed the skeptical looks on the priests’ faces. “Truth be told, the world’s kidneys had evolved into a divine spirit as well, but I still managed to kill and refine it.”
The five priests turned to Lu Yun at the same time.
“You’ve refined an organ of the world? How foolishly daring.” The priest of earth gaped at Lu Yun in disbelief. “The world’s organs were intangible and undefinable instruments ensuring the operations of the world, but they somehow took concrete shape and became the recipients of tributes. Only someone with unimaginable power would be capable of purposefully creating such an arrangement.
“Aren’t you worried that all your effort in refining the organ will end up benefitting someone else?”
Some believed that a great opportunity had fallen into their lap after laying hands on a supreme treasure, but what they didn’t realize was that they’d actually just become someone’s pawn, and all their effort would amount to nothing in the end.
In the priest’s eyes, the organs of the world must be peerless treasures that’d been years in the making by a great being of unfathomable heights.
Countless elites, including great emperors, had tried refining the organs, but all of them ended up meeting an untimely demise. Not only were their organs reclaimed, so was everything they ever were.
“If I’m daring enough to refine the organs of the world, I naturally do so for certain reasons.” Lu Yun shook his head. “Besides, I’ve already refined four organs. Once I acquire the spleen, I’ll have gathered all five yin organs and be able to create the true body of the world by manifesting the six yang organs.”
“What?!” the five priests jointly shrieked with shock. “You, you’ve refined four organs already?! Impossible!! If that’s the case, the owner of the organs must have come searching for you already…”
“It’s his replica who’s refined the organs,” said Ashu. “And his replica is the fourth holy king of the underworld!”
“A holy king of the underworld?” After a pensive pause, the priest of earth nodded. “I see, there are no problems then if you’re a holy king of the underworld. Follow me.”
Gone were the Xuan Yuan Slaves and the other four priests, leaving only the priest of earth. He set a course for Lu Yun and his companions to head south.
“Why does he trust us so much?” the demon sovereign asked, caught off guard by the sudden about face.
“Because I’m acquainted with the five former high priests,” murmured Ashu. “He must know about me since he’s the successor of the previous priest of earth.”
The priest in question nodded. “You can’t be found by the zombie tree no matter what. Otherwise, the many worlds of this universe will be doomed.”
Ashu fell into a pensive silence.
……
South of the tomb realm resided an enormous volcano belching thick black smoke. It was so large that its mouth was as big as a province in the world of immortals, running hundreds of thousands of kilometers across.
Yang energy abounded within a five hundred thousand kilometer radius of the volcano, causing Ashu to squirm in agitation. If he could cultivate here for a year or two, he’d become a living man. However, he’d given up on that plan after Carmine Eternal’s warning: the moment he came back to life, the zombie tree would come for him.
“The door leading to the yin tomb lies within the volcano.” The priest of earth turned to Lu Yun. “Given your cultivation and strength, though, you’ll be burned to death by the endless fire elements before you can even get close to it.”
Whoosh!
White flames burst out of the demon sovereign’s body, releasing a conflicting energy of extreme cold and heat.
Boom!
The fire elements in the area gathered at tremendous pace, scattering the demon sovereign’s Hadal Bonefire and turning it into elemental fire. Eyes wide with horror, the demon sovereign barely kept himself from knee jerking into his skeletal manifestation.
“My Hadal Bonefire cannot burn here!”
That meant a flame more powerful than Hadal Bonefire had taken root in the area, claiming the five hundred thousand radius as its territory. No fire lesser than it could burn here.
“Hadal Bonefire?” an icy female voice remarked from the mouth of the volcano. A young woman donning palace attire emerged with fire swirling about her. She was the priest of fire, the one who had left earlier. The volcano below was the real altar of fire!
“That’s nothing but a lowly yin fire.” The priest of fire flicked a glance at the demon sovereign and curled her lip, her delicate features arranging themselves into slight derision.
“What we saw earlier wasn’t the true fire altar, but a manifestation created by the volcano!” Realization struck Lu Yun as soon as he saw the priest of fire emerge.
The five elemental altars were each a unique entity that could not be duplicated, but the power of the altars could be manifested by various corresponding treasures. Before Emperors Fall, the five altars were controlled by the priests under Xuan Yuan’s banner. The five priests now were able to manifest the five altars through their treasures and legacies.
The tomb realm created by the Moat Snake allowed no cultivation, so the five priests were no cultivators. All of their power came from tributes and faith. The Xuan Yuan Slaves treated the five priests as divine spirits and worshipped them, granting power similar to that of sacrifice-born divine spirits.
“The art of incantation isn’t about tapping into the world’s power and manipulating it on your own, but connecting to the five priests and tapping into the world’s power through them!” With his formula dao operating at its limit, it didn’t take long for Lu Yun to come to an informed conclusion.
The five priests each ruled over a part of the tomb realm, and these five treasures of the world were the sources of all power here. The priests received their strength from the Xuan Yuan Slaves, and the two parties complemented one another perfectly to form a perfect cycle.
“We aren’t the biggest obstacle you face, little fellow, that’d be the fire elements in the environment.” The priest of fire chuckled, “If you can make your way to the door and open it, no one will be able to stop you.” She suddenly changed the audience that she addressed. “Alright, there’s nothing for you to do here anymore. You are all dismissed.”
The Xuan Yuan Slaves lurking around the volcano retreated silently.
“That’s it?” Lu Yun blinked, nonplussed.
The priests of fire and earth exchanged a look and shook their heads.
“Outside of special occasions,” sighed the priest of earth, “Even I have trouble passing through the great fires to reach the door.”
