So-called skydragons were dragons who’d ascended beyond dao immortal realm, having discarded whatever their original bloodline was during their ascension.

Donglin Shaochen had gained his heritage from a skydragon, which made his method pure! However, he was facing a true blood dragon.

The ending wrote itself.

……

“Who?” Lu Shenhou asked when he heard Lu Yun mutter. “Who asked for what?”

“Nothing,” Lu Yun dismissed. “Where were we? Oh, right, what’s the deal with the tomb you’ve entered?”

Lu Shenhou tensed. “It’s the tomb of a cultivator that dates back a very, very long time ago. I think it was present before the ancient times!”

The ancient times meant the period during the great war a hundred thousand years ago. Lu Shenhou wasn’t sure by how much the tomb predated that. Probably… before the emergence of the ancient immortal civilization?

“In the same vein, only cultivators are allowed entrance into the tomb,” he recounted his experience with a solemn experience. “The immortals who were with me were dusted to ashes as soon as they set foot inside.”

Lu Yun nodded and listened quietly.

“I made a terribly frightening discovery there....” Lu Shenhou trembled uncontrollably as confusion and fear filled his eyes. “The path of cultivation is severed, and not in the way we think it is. It was broken before the ancient times! The spirit realm shouldn’t be the last realm for cultivators. There’s another major realm after that!”

“What?!” Lu Yun shot to his feet, gaping at Lu Shenhou in disbelief.

The path of cultivation was severed in the middle? There was another realm after the spirit realm? How did contemporary cultivators become immortals then?

Did they all skip a realm after forming their nascent spirit?

Cultivation was the foundation for immortal dao. Could one be considered a whole and complete immortal if they lacked an entire realm?

“Are you sure?!” Lu Yun grabbed Lu Shenhou and demanded with a grave expression.

“I’m not completely sure, but there were signs in the tomb that seemed to point to that conclusion. That’s why I didn’t tell anyone my findings, not even the venerated ancestor.” Lu Shenhou frowned and smiled wryly. “I want to return to the tomb and thoroughly explore it. That’s why I came to you.”

Lu Yun let him go and sat down, considering his words. “If that tomb existed before the ancient times, then you and I alone aren’t enough for the expedition.” He shook his head.

“I’ve already sent word to Wu Tulong,” responded Lu Shenhou. “He’ll be here in half a day.”

“No, that’s still not enough!” Lu Yun’s eyes flashed sharply. “Wu Tulong, Dongfang Hao, Mo Qitian, and Zi Chen all have to come… and Qing Han, we need him as well!”

Qing Han’s Scroll of Shepherding Immortals contained the ancient Empress Myrtlestar. She would undoubtedly prove invaluable on such a trip.

Lu Yun rose to his feet. “We go to the tomb not to confirm if there’s a realm missing on the progress of cultivation, but to deduce what that realm is! We’ll repair the path ourselves!”

Lu Shenhou trembled. “I’ll send an update to Wu Tulong!”

“I’m swinging by the Qing paradise.” Lu Yun turned to leave his residence. “If they don’t hand Qing Han over, I’ll kill Donglin Shaochen myself!”

……

Outside the Three Primes Perfection Paradise, Aoxue held Donglin Shaochen in custody and delivered her terms. The crowd of bystanders looked on with bated breath.

Donglin Shaochen, slayer of golden immortals, had been defeated by a casual backhand. His captor only wanted to exchange him for Qing Han, that bad omen made manifest!

“Exchange Qing Han for Donglin Shaochen?” Qing Xiangpeng scoffed. “Donglin Shaochen is the top true immortal of House Donglin, and their future patriarch. You don’t dare hurt him!”

Crack!

Aoxue immediately crushed one of her captive’s bones. Despite the pain, Donglin Shaochen tightened his jaw and refused to cry out.

Eyes narrowed, Qing Xiangpeng didn’t react either. A broken bone was nothing to an immortal, and could be easily healed by circulating one’s inner energy.

“Qing Xiangpeng, isn’t it?” sounded a clear, youthful voice. “Former patriarch of the Qing Clan?”

A young man in a white robe descended beside Aoxue.

“You know who I am, and you know what’s between me and House Donglin.” Lu Yun trained his gaze on the man at hand. “Donglin Yuhuang, the last patriarch of House Donglin, fell in Dusk Province. His son Donglin Shaogong died at my hands, and his nascent spirit was displayed on the Dusk city walls, tormented for days until it faded. Do you think I’d hesitate to kill any member of House Donglin?”

With a twist of his hand, he plucked Donglin Shaochen’s spirit out of the purple manor between the youth’s brows. The young man’s head exploded like a watermelon, his headless body sagging into a boneless heap and falling from midair.

“Give me Qing Han or I’ll crush his nascent spirit,” Lu Yun declared.

Qing Xiangpeng gawked in shock, still floundering for a strategy. He hadn’t expected Lu Yun to destroy Donglin Shaochen’s body as soon as he showed up!

All of the onlookers sucked in a breath. So this was Lu Yun’s true nature—he didn’t play by anyone’s rules! Only then did their minds recall that Lu Yun had hacked his way from the outer to the inner city. Dead city guards littered his route, and the Feng immortals had been driven away by his relentless bloodlust.

“I will crush his spirit after three breaths.” Lu Yun tightened his grip, making Donglin Shaochen’s spirit wail with horror.

“How dare you!” roared Qing Xiangpeng.

“One breath left,” Lu Yun said impassively.

“Get that bastard Qing Han out here!!” shrieked Qing Xiangpeng. If it was just Aoxue, he would’ve been confident of saving Donglin Shaochen, but this harmless-looking young man was a different story.

Lu Yun had indirectly killed the last patriarch of House Donglin, and wouldn’t hesitate at all to kill more of their members. There was no love lost between him and House Donglin, after all.

Qing Han was soon manhandled through the paradise and hauled out into public view.

“Get out of here!” Qing Xiangpeng shoved the boy forward and forced a stream of immortal power into his body.

“Umph!” Pain overtook Qing Han’s expression, and he vomited out a mouthful of black blood.

“Qing Han!” Panicked, Lu Yun caught his friend and detected that the poison previously calmed by the Fusang Purewood was acting up again; it showed signs of consuming Qing Han from within.

Puff!

Lu Yun crushed Donglin Shaochen’s spirit with a vicious squeeze of his right hand.

“You court death, Lu Yun!!” Qing Xiangpeng flew into an incandescent rage. He flashed in front of Lu Yun, lunging at the boy with the side of his right hand.

“You’re the one seeking death,” Lu Yun forced out through grit teeth.

Bam!

Before Qing Xiangpeng could draw any closer, a wave of blood swirled around Lu Yun. A grand formation emerged at almost the speed of thought, into which Qing Xiangpeng rushed headlong.

“This is… the Great Formation of Heavenly Fiends!” Qing Xiangpeng’s heart sank. By now, he quite regretted hurting Qing Han on an anger-driven impulse. Who would’ve thought that Lu Yun would react so strongly? A complete formation had emerged in an instant! The Dusk governor had obviously come prepared.

“Lu Yun!!” screamed Qing Xiangpeng. “House Donglin will come after you for killing Donglin Shaochen!!”

“Worry about yourself first,” Lu Yun said coldly, but didn’t activate the formation to kill Qing Xiangpeng. The Qing dao immortal who’d stopped his progress outside the inner city was fast approaching.

“Your clan’s old fellow saved you once, Lu Yun, but no one’s coming to save you this time!” Grinning wolfishly, the dao immortal looked down at Lu Yun. This was the Qing paradise, and the one challenging the clan was Aoxue, not Lu Yun!

Not even Lu Daoling could do anything if he killed Lu Yun. He was entirely in the right, since Lu Yun had not only trapped an important Qing member in a lethal formation, but also killed Donglin Shaochen.

“I stand for him,” an emotionless voice slowly sounded in the air. “Drop this for my sake.”

“Who is it?!” The Qing dao immortal started and scanned his surroundings. He couldn’t tell where the voice had come from.

“Come back, Qing He,” a resigned voice suddenly traveled out from the paradise. “For your sake, senior, I will let this go.”

“Under… stood.” Despite extreme reluctance, dao immortal Qing He turned back to his clan’s paradise. That had been his forefather’s voice, an authority he couldn’t ignore.

With a wave of his hand, Lu Yun scattered the formation and sniffed at Xiangpeng, “I hope there will always be a dao immortal to rescue you.”

A livid Qing Xiangpeng clenched his jaw and returned to his clan’s territory.

“Keep blocking the entrance, Aoxue.” Lu Yun turned to raise a cupped fist salute to the air. “Thank you for saving me, senior.”

“I am saving the Qing Clan,” the measured voice said before fading out of existence, stunning the assembled cultivators with his response.

Saving the Qing Clan?

What was that supposed to mean?

Even the Lu ancestor was befuddled. “What did Wayfarer mean? He did this to save the Qing Clan?”

Indeed, it was Wayfarer who had intervened, the very same as Wanfeng’s master. This was his first showing in Xiankan after a long absence.

……

Wayfarer sure is something else. He must’ve sensed the dread zombie within Violetgrave. Lu Yun departed, leaving Aoxue at the front entrance of the Qing paradise.

Originally, he’d planned to have the dragon princess leave with Qing Han. However, Qing Xiangpeng’s impulsive retaliation when releasing Qing Han necessitated a change of heart. For the crime of having his friend almost entirely consumed by poison, Aoxue would stay here to punish the Qing Clan… for an entire month!

This duration almost drove them mad, even though it was something they’d brought down upon themselves. If they’d accepted Lu Yun’s olive branch and permitted Qing Han to leave with Aoxue, the entire affair could’ve ended with all parties satisfied. However, not only had the Qing Clan refused the offer, but they’d even hurt Qing Han.

Lu Yun couldn’t be bothered with showing them any respect after that.

Thus, the blockade continued.

At the same time, a faint sense of melancholy rose in his heart. Wayfarer had put in an appearance, but Wanfeng was nowhere to be seen.