Elder Gong not only called Lu Yin, he also reached out to the Hall of Honor and the other major powers, as he wanted as many people who were being hunted down to be protected as possible. The Great Eastern Alliance had spread greatly, and it now encompassed too large an area of the universe, and this was actually why Elder Gong had called Lu Yin.
Lu Yin immediately ordered all of the Great Eastern Alliance’s experts who had been sent out to hunt the dried up corpses to protect whoever was being targeted, regardless of whether or not they were part of the alliance.
These people might hold the key to learning about ancient times.
Even though the Great Eastern Alliance covered a vast territory and had many powerhouses, it was impossible for the Envoys to be ordered around. Even though the Sword Sect and the other powers that controlled the great flowzones of the Innerverse had joined the Great Eastern Alliance, they had only joined the alliance; they were not Lu Yin’s subordinates. All of the people with ancient bloodlines who were protected would not be sent back to Lu Yin.
For this reason, Lu Yin did not attempt to issue any orders to the Sword Sect or the other powers and instead acted honestly about the situation. People would be more decisive and proactive when they were motivated by their own self interests.
Lu Yin had asked Elder Gong about where the desiccated corpses had come from, and the Semi-Progenitor’s answer had been both expected and unexpected: Aeternus.
However, Aeternus only had corpse kings, so where had these dried up corpses that hunted after ancient bloodlines come from?
Elder Gong eventually informed Lu Yin that there was a specific person behind the dried up corpses: the Seven Skygods’ Undying God.
Undying God was one of the Seven Skygods, and every single one of the Seven Skygods possessed an extraordinary origin. For example, Forgotten Ruins God was someone from the Wang family, which was one of the four ruling powers of the Perennial World. In fact, Forgotten Ruins God was the Wang family’s oldest ancestor, which made the Skygod truly ancient.
There was Forgotten Ruins God, Undying God, and also Corpse God, who possessed a body with a size comparable to what Progenitor Chen’s giant clone had achieved. Lu Yin was very curious about each of the Seven Skygods, and he really wanted to know their true identities.
The appearance of the corpses created a big show across the universe where people were chased after and protected. Once the Sword Sect and the other powerful organizations started to move, the corpses’ targets suddenly became a precious commodity that everyone was eager to protect, as they all hoped to obtain an ancient inheritance.
Unfortunately, almost everyone ended up being disappointed. While many of the corpses’ targets did indeed have items that had been passed down from ancient times, frequently, too much time had passed, and the items had been either lost, damaged, or their records were incomplete. Not even people who possessed ancient bloodlines were able to understand everything in the inheritances. Most of the people acting as protectors ended up disappointed.
However, there were also some who succeeded.
After half a month, there was news from the Sixth Mainland’s Justice Manor. One of their members had rescued an old woman from one of the desiccated corpses. She was the last surviving member of her family, and although the family’s surname had changed several times due to various reasons, there had always been a piece of stone passed down through the generations. No one knew where the stone had come from or what it was, and all the old lady knew was that the stone had to be passed down and that it absolutely could not be lost.
There were some landscape paintings on the stone, but other than that, it looked quite ordinary. However, the scene that the painting portrayed was shockingly ancient, and Justice Manor’s World Imprinter had said that the painting gave him the impression of being beyond ancient.
In the Neoverse, Aurora Enterprises also rescued someone who had been targeted. This person did not possess any sort of inheritance, but instead had been given just four words: Mountains and Seas Technique. No one thought these words held any meaning, and many people had heard these words without noticing anything at all.
However, these four words held an entirely different meaning for Aurora Enterprises. The person who had been rescued was just a Cruiser, which put him at the very bottom of the Neoverse. He lived in one of the floating astral cities, and he had never heard of the Astral Tower or the Mountain and Seas Zone. Clearly, Mountain and Seas Technique referred to the Mountain and Seas Zone, and more importantly, it referred to the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas.
When Lu Yin heard these words, excitement filled his eyes, and he instantly remembered what he had encountered in the Daosource Sect’s ruins. He had entered more than one of the Mountains and been challenged to “breakthrough,” though he had failed. He had seen colorless flames during one of those challenges and a spring of water that was constantly pumping out more water in another, but he had not been able to comprehend anything.
Both of those inheritances belonged to the Mountains and Seas, so was this phrase also some sort of inheritance from the Mountains and Seas?
Also, there was that old woman who had been rescued by Justice Manor. Lu Yin had a feeling that the painting on the stone in her possession was related to the painting that the Lost Radiance Academy possessed that the Neohuman Alliance had focused on so intently.
It turned out that the people who possessed ancient bloodlines who were being hunted down by the corpses really did have something. Lu Yin grew more and more interested in the people who were being targeted. He asked some people to look into making records about everyone who was hunted, regardless of whether they were killed or survived, regardless of location, and even regardless of whether or not they possessed an inheritance.
The entire universe started focusing on ancient bloodlines who were being hunted down by the corpses, and as time passed, the number or people being targeted and the number or corpses both started to increase.
Also, at this time, Burial Garden revealed itself to the world.
A spaceship was steadily moving along through outer space, making its way towards the Cosmic Sea. It was a transport ship that was carrying a great number of goods, and it constantly shuttled back and forth between the Cosmic Sea and the Innerverse.
It was nothing more than an ordinary transport, and yet, one of the desiccated corpses appeared atop it. This corpse was able to travel through the void, and it had a power level of more than 200,000, so the people aboard the vessel looked at it in pure fear.
There was a bang as the ship was torn apart. Instantly, dozens of people were thrown into outer space, where they quickly perished.
The broken spaceship continued to explode. In one cabin, a youth desperately hid beneath a table, but he was jostled by one of the explosions ripping through the wreckage. He assumed that he was about to die, but the nearest explosion was blocked before the shockwave could reach the youth. He looked up, and the first thing that he saw was a desiccated corpse with black eyes and a withered face. The youth’s pupils shrank to pinpricks, and the last words of his father echoed through the teen’s mind.
‘Child, remember that our surname is Wang, which is a primeval surname. While this is our foundation, we cannot reveal this to the outside world, or else we will have no place here in the Innerverse. Remember this, child.’
The young man stared at the corpse in a daze as it kept muttering, “Ancient bloodline detected. Target acquired: kill.”
After that, the corpse reached for the young man.
The youth had no idea when it happened, but a fog had appeared in space. When the corpse reached out for the youth, a war banner suddenly appeared in front of the boy. The banner was wrapped with strange strands of gray energy that blocked the corpse’s hand, though the flag was crushed.
A sword shot out from behind the young man, and the corpse’s head separated from its body and landed at the young man’s feet. Even as it died, the head was still muttering, “Ancient bloodline detected. Target acquired: kill.”
The young man’s face had gone completely white. His eyes swiveled from the headless corpse to behind himself. There, he saw a knight staring at him. For some reason, this knight’s figure sometimes seemed to be fully transparent and invisible at times, and yet fully solid at other times.
The young man stared at the knight in confusion.
“Starting today, you are accepted as a disciple of Burial Garden.” Leaving these words behind, the knight disappeared along with the boy. No one could see either of them any longer.
Similar scenes repeated across the universe.
Arch-Elder Zen quickly received word, and he reached out to Burial Garden’s Tombkeeper. This person was one of the Human Domain’s seven Semi-Progenitors, though he was quite unique. He was an old man who hardly ever spoke, which only made him all the more intimidating.
“Is Burial Garden about to open?” Arch-Elder Zen said.
“Yes.”
“Burial Garden was about to open back when the Sea King opened the Upper Three Gates, but the Rune Progenitor’s power delayed that. Why is Burial Garden about to open now?”
“The ancient bloodlines are facing a crisis. We adhere to the ancient ancestors’ orders to protect and preserve the bloodlines.”
“My Hall of Honor can do that as well. In fact, the entire universe is trying to protect the ancient bloodlines.”
“Those people merely hope to take the inheritances of the ancient bloodlines for themselves and gain access to legacies from the ancient times. They do not know that there are certain inheritances that they cannot lust after.”
“This current situation doesn’t require Burial Garden to open. Have you forgotten how some humans will turn into fiends when Burial Garden opens?”
“Burial Garden’s opening offers a possibility for both talented humans and humans who seek the wrong path. Some will eventually turn into fiends, but there is also the possibility of exceptional humans rising up. There are pros and cons, but my sole responsibility is to protect the ancient bloodlines.”
Arch-Elder Zen said nothing more. He could not direct or order Burial Garden.
Before long, tombs started to appear in many places across the universe. Each one was dozens of meters tall, and the gates to the tombs were actually tombstones. The bolts were all made of clay, and each tomb had the words “Burial Garden” engraved upon them.
Even though there were no other words written, everyone knew that Burial Garden was open. As long as a tomb could be opened, they could enter Burial Garden.
However, what was Burial Garden? No one knew.
On the Ross Empire’s mobile fortress, Lu Yin was staring at the gate of a massive tomb that had risen out of the sea. He was a bit stunned at the sight. Burial Garden? What was going on?
“Alliance Leader, many other places in the Great Eastern Alliance are also reporting the appearance of these tombs. On top of that, they have appeared throughout the Innerverse, the Outerverse, the Cosmic Sea, and the Neoverse. These gates to Burial Garden have appeared in countless locations throughout the universe,” En Ya reported.
Ku Wei arrived. “Master, this is from Burial Garden, one of the Three Dark Hands. How did it show up here?”
Lu Yin glanced at Ku Wei. “Have you been to Burial Garden before?”
Ku Wei grinned. “They’re all dead people, and they’re really uncomfortable to be around. Master, make sure that you don’t get involved with them.”
Clearly, this was not something that Lu Yin could avoid getting involved in, as Burial Garden’s gates had appeared right in front of him. It seemed obvious that it was to let Lu Yin go inside, but he did not want to go at the moment—who knew what would happen after he entered.
The Three Dark Hands consisted of the Neohuman Alliance, the Court of Seven Names, and Burial Garden. Not a single one of the three was easy to deal with, and one of the Human Domain’s seven Semi-Progenitor’s was from Burial Garden. Lu Yin had wanted to speak with the man, but he had been completely ignored when he tried.
“How do you open this door? Just push it?” Lu Yin asked.
One after another, various people from the Great Eastern Alliance started to arrive. Even Lan Si appeared, and he was the first to step forward. “I’ll give it a try.”
Elder Tie quickly moved to stap Lan Si. “This is dangerous! Don’t be rash.”
Lan Si stared at the gates of the tomb. “I’ve heard of Burial Garden before, and even though they’re one of the Three Dark Hands, they have done nothing that can be considered evil. They are only known as one of the Three Dark Hands because of their reputation. Also, it’s said that Burial Garden possesses an impressive inheritance.”
Lan Si had been one of the Ten Arbiters, but he had been completely surpassed in recent years. Even his Vacuum Palm had been taken by Lu Yin and then improved beyond what Lan Si was capable of, and he had always been frustrated by his lack of progress.
Lan Si somberly stared at Lu Yin. “I’m going to go to Burial Garden. After I obtain an inheritance, we’ll have another match.”
Lu Yin smiled. “I’ll be waiting.”
Elder Tie started to get worried. “Do you want Mt. Stacks Dojo to have no future?”
Lan Si walked up to the gate. “If I, Lan Si, wiped out everyone, what would be the difference between the presence and absence of Mt. Stacks Dojo?”
He then placed his hands on the gates to the tomb and gave them a fierce push. Surprisingly, they opened much easier than expected. A gray vortex appeared that looked much like a wormhole. Without any hesitation, Lan Si stepped into it and disappeared.
