Necropolis Immortal

Lu Yun didn’t go after them. Bi Chen was useful alive and since Ji Lin had gotten away… well, he could keep his life. It was too much of a hassle to go after him. Besides, he was a Jade Ruins cultivator. He might very well become Lu Yun’s subordinate in the future.

Lu Yun spread out his right hand to look at a scarlet flame interspersed with gold flecks dancing in his palm. This was the original form of the Void Sacred Flame.

“Does this flame contain the Crimson Emperor Chapter of Inception? Is it the item that senior brother spoke of?” Lu Yun scanned it with the Eye of Nullification. “Wait, it really is in here!”

The heavenly dao combat art detected runes exuding profound presence jumping within the flame. They seemed to speak of an unparalleled great dao, one that felt very similar to the bamboo stick that Sky had given his junior brother.

The Crimson Emperor Chapter of Inception!

Lu Yun smiled faintly, he’d finally attained his goal for this trip. He moved to the Luminous Lotus Throne with a waver of his body.

“The personal treasure of the Undying Immortal King is the connate treasure that manifested his primary body…” Lu Yun easily discerned the relationship between the Void Sacred Flame and the Luminous Lotus Throne that was a connate treasure.

“This kills two birds with one stone! Although the Luminous Lotus Throne is just a connate treasure and thus less than the Reincarnation Disk or Seal of the Multitude, it’s very strong for its rank.” Lu Yun smiled faintly. “Second uncle has reached the latter stage of his cultivation. He needs a treasure for his image of heaven and earth when he breaks through to soul separation. This is perfect!”

He casually tucked the Luminous Lotus Throne away. While Lu Xiaochi had previously reached soul separation, his nascent soul and image of heaven and earth had been destroyed by a domineering powerhouse during that great battle. He needed to refine his image anew.

Connate treasures were few and far in between. Apart from the five immortal emperors, only a few chaos immortals in the world of immortals possessed any. Most of those were refined into images of heaven and earth, becoming part of their body.

The Undying Immortal King was a monster spirit immortal, blessed with domineering potential but unable to coalesce an image of heaven and earth. Thus, he’d used this Luminous Lotus Throne as his personal treasure. That they came from the same roots perfectly concealed the connate treasure aura from the lotus. Otherwise, some of the wandering chaos immortals would’ve made a play for it.

“I wonder if second uncle can comprehend the Reincarnation of the Major Five Elements Record from the Major Five Elements Demolition Godslayer Record.” Lu Yun scratched his head with uncertainty.

The Major Five Elements Demolition Godslayer Record was a premier method of the world of immortals, but its killing intent was so intense that if one was turned into a killing puppet if the cultivator\'s concentration relaxed for a single moment.

Lu Yun had nearly been controlled by this method in the world of immortals. Thankfully, he comprehended the Reincarnation of the Five Elements at a critical moment and disengaged from the overwhelming emotions of slaughter.

“Second uncle’s cultivation is too weak for now, he won’t arouse the will of slaughter,” Lu Yun murmured to himself before he vanished from the locale.

……

Ji Lin rematerialized in the depths of the place of burial. Pale as a ghost, relief and gratification shown in his eyes.

“Thank goodness I fully refined the inner core and comprehended the combat arts of the qilin in the last possible second. I would really be dead this time otherwise.” Ji Lin stroked his cheek. His unusually wizened face was now that of a young man’s. Completely refining the qilin inner core meant that his physical body was tempered by the core’s essence. His haggard body was returned to its youth.

“I’ve actually benefited from disaster. My strength will take another step forward after I heal from my injuries. It’ll be a bit more likely then that I can join the Great Xia Dao Academy.” Ji Lin wiped away a trace of blood from the corner of his mouth and gave his surroundings a cursory look.

He was in the ruins of a massive palace; broken walls and shattered buildings could be seen everywhere. Some of the vicious spirits roaming through the area immediately pounced on Ji Lin when they saw him land.

His spear flashed through his hand and tapped each of their blood runes. The vicious spirits were thus executed before they could begin to terrorize their new quarry.

“These things are damned terrifying. Thank goodness the unknown powerhouse made their weakness public.” Ji Lin wiped away beads of sweat from his forehead. He’d been part of the first batch of cultivators to enter the formation array and was well acquainted with the horrors of the spirits after watching others be turned one by one.

If they weren’t executed in one stroke and dogged the cultivator’s footsteps, it was then a difficult task to escape from them. The ones who were blood-red throughout were particularly horrifying. They were more formidable than the spirits mutated from cultivators.

“Ji Lin, we meet again!” A voice echoed over Ji Lin’s head just as he relaxed.

“Bi Chen!” Ji Lin narrowed his eyes, tightening his grip on his spear. He’d been wary of Bi Chen moments before, but had nothing to fear after fully refining the qilin’s image. He would be able to triumph against even empyrean immortals so long as he didn’t run into someone as heaven-defying as Lu Yun.

“Hahaha, Ji Lin, you’re getting ever more bold after obtaining the qilin inner core. How dare you directly use my name!”

Ji Lin sneered and pointed his spear at Bi Chen.

“Hand over the inner core and I’ll spare your life!” Bi Chen looked down on Ji Lin, contempt in his eyes. The latter was gravely injured and his aura in disarray. Bi Chen himself had relied on the sheer durability of his body to avoid severe injuries from Lu Yun’s last blow. Ji Lin, however, was a fragile human and just the aura from the flame wheel alone had shattered his meridians.

“Hmph, come get it if you’re so able!” Ji Lin took a deep breath and forced his true origin to rise and suppress his internal injuries.

“Then die!” Bi Chen waved his stick around and summoned fiery dragons out of the void that pounced on Ji Lin.

The latter raised his spear and summoned his qilin image, throwing himself on the fiery dragons.

BAM!

The qilin image shattered and Ji Lin spat out blood intermixed with pieces of his organs. He flew backward, unable to do anything against a new dragon from Bi Chen’s stick. Sorrow flashed through his widened eyes.

I hope Mo Ran can take care of himself… The thought lingered in his mind.

Silence descended upon heaven and earth, as if time had paused. A black figure had appeared in front of Ji Lin at some point and grabbed the fiery dragon. The dragon that was several dozen meters long froze in his grasp and Bi Chen found his blood freezing in his veins. His true origin sank like lead in his meridians; he fell straight down from the sky.

“How dare you attack my master… Do you want to die, reptile?!” rasped a voice shot through with anger.

“Mo Ran?” Ji Lin struggled to his feet, looking incredulously at the figure in front of him.

“Master!” A smile blossomed over the ugly young man’s face and he quickly took out a pill flask, emptying it into Ji Lin’s mouth. Color instantly returned to the man’s wan complexion and his wounds fully healed!

“This…” Ji Lin gaped. Not even healing pills had such incredible effects! “Are you really Mo Ran?” He stared dumbly at the young man in front of him. Although it was the same familiar ugly sight, there was a refreshing presence about him.

“It’s me!” Mo Ran nodded.

Five hundred years ago, he’d lived on the streets as a child bereft of all cultivation. He met the already-renowned Ji Lin just when he was about to die from starvation. Pity rose in the man and he took in the young man that everyone disliked, teaching him how to cultivate.

What delighted Ji Lin was that Mo Ran’s potential was profound. He successively broke through in five years and reached soul separation, drawing ever greater affection from his master. The scene in front of him at the moment, however, stunned Ji Lin.

Bi Chen was already able to hold his ground against empyrean immortals before he obtained the dragon spine. After he found it and activated his chi-dragon bloodline, the law enforcers of the Jade Ruins Realm were no match for him.

But Ji Lin’s disciple had immobilized the other with one blow!

Had Mo Ran encountered some heaven-defying heritage in this place of burial? Ji Lin heaved a sigh of relief and smiled, truly happy for the child.

Killing intent brimmed in Mo Ran’s eyes as he stalked toward the crumbled Bi Chen.

“Reptile, this young master has a set of principles.” Mo Ran’s tone was frosty and its grating qualities turned even more vicious given his current mood. “First, I can kill you and refine you into a treasure. You will burn day and night with the fires of tribulation and never find release!”

Bi Chen narrowed his eyes and suddenly shrugged off the black light around him, throwing himself at Mo Ran.

Bam!

Mo Ran smacked Bi Chen to the ground like he was shooing a fly and stepped on the latter’s face.

“Two, become my master’s soul pet and answer his every command!”

Half of Bi Chen’s face was already ground into the dirt; his eyeballs threatened to pop from the massive pressure.