“Zou Longxiu.” Lu Yun waited for the monster spirit to wrap his mind around the Dragonshift Method before having him stand up.

“Master!” It wasn’t until now that Zou Longxiu finally realized the magnitude of Lu Yun’s abilities. There was so much more to this human than what appeared on the surface. Just the Dragonshift Method alone was sufficient to turn tombs into his backyard!

“Are you still unwilling to erase the vestige of a second bloodline inside you?” Lu Yun asked earnestly.

Though considerable, Zou Longxiu’s potential couldn’t be labelled as unparalleled. The reason for that lay in his mixed ancestry. If he could refine his secondary bloodline and purify his dominant lineage, his potential would be fully unleashed and he’d be capable of feats like instantly freezing the entire lake.

As things stood, his mixed blood tarnished his ice mo bloodline and weakened his strength and talents.

“This disciple… is unwilling!” Zou Longxiu took a deep breath, his tone and expression as firm as ever.

“Very well then.” Lu Yun nodded. “From what I can see, your second lineage comes from an immortal beast of extreme yin. If you can obtain the yin vein below the lake and refine it into yourself, you’ll be able to combine the two bloodlines and evolve them into a new one.

“A bloodline of extreme yin is one of the strongest lineages in the world. Only, there’s too little of it inside of you, so devouring this yin vein will make you a lot stronger!” Lu Yun looked at Zou Longxiu, his intense gaze making his disciple shake.

“This yin vein is likely a dragon vein that’s been polluted by yin energy. It’s been abandoned by nature, so you can devour it without fear of backlash. Go now and consider this my trial… If you can devour the yin vein, you’ll become the founding disciple of my tomb raider sect. If you can’t… then you’re on your own.” Lu Yun sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes. “Three days. I’ll wait here for you for three days.”

Bing Ling and Bing Xuan had gone to save Yuchi Tianhuang, but Lu Yun wasn’t worried in the slightest. He’d left the mark of the Gates of the Abyss on Bing Ling, so if needed, Kui was ready to appear at a moment’s notice to defeat the fur seals. This was, of course, a last resort. He’d really rather prefer Kui to not show himself.

Lu Yun’s tribulation would soon be upon him, and he had a gut feeling that it’d be full of trouble and danger. The denizens of the world weren’t going to let him have his way so easily. Therefore, he’d left two aces up his sleeve, namely Kui and the celestial emperor’s corpse puppet.

As for Qing Yu’s tribulation… As long as he could survive his own, he’d be an immortal and gain an even greater mastery of the Tome of Life and Death that’d allow him to repair hell. There wasn’t much to worry about.

He was certain that compared to his days as a cultivator, his strength would be in an entirely different league after becoming an immortal.

……

Using the Dragonshift Method, Zou Longxiu sank underground in search of the giant yin vein.

For his part, Lu Yun had already employed the Dragonshift Method to discover that the core of the lake was this vein, a dragon vein tainted by yin energy.

This kind of yin vein was extremely rare. Generally, dragon veins decayed after being invaded by yin energy, then ultimately disappeared for good.

Meanwhile, the crowd around the lake had yet to disperse. Everyone hovered nearby, as if waiting for something. Without warning, the lake’s perimeter shrank abruptly and gathered toward a certain spot. Gleaming like black jade, a small sapling slowly emerged at the center of the lake.

“It’s an Arcane Yin Tree. The Arcane Yin Tree has finally appeared!” an immortal shouted in delight. However, he didn’t recklessly dive into the lake. For immortals like him, the yin energy inside was still as lethal as ever.

“An Arcane Yin Tree?” Lu Yun blinked, then found information about this tree in Su Xiaoxiao’s memories.

Arcane Yin Trees grow over yin veins. A single flower blooms every sixty thousand years, which produces a single fruit another sixty thousand years later that requires yet another sixty thousand years to mature.

All in all, an Arcane Yin Fruit requires a hundred and eighty thousand years to produce a single Arcane Yin Fruit. This fruit is a soul fruit of extreme yin that can transform into a complete soul, or be used to remold an almost-destroyed soul.

“Transform into a complete soul…” Lu Yun’s eyes lit up with excitement.

If my replica can refine this fruit, he’ll become a real living being. At that point, Xing Chen’s replica won’t be one of his, but another one of mine!

On top of becoming a true entity, Xing Chen would also gain the ability to self-regenerate. If he were injured again, he would be able to take care of himself, rather than needing Lu Yun to do so for him.

Lu Yun looked back and fixed the Arcane Yin Tree with an ardent stare. Rather than an immortal fruit, an Arcane Yin Fruit was a kind of soul fruit. Nurtured by yin energy, it didn’t require the immortal dao, so its growth wouldn’t be affected by the damage done to the immortal dao.

After taking root in a yin vein, an Arcane Yin Tree would only appear when its fruit had matured. Once the fruit matured, it claimed the energy of the entire tree and left it as a withered husk.

As the yin energy of the lake converged toward the Arcane Yin Tree, the light emanating from the tree grew ever more dazzling. A thumb-sized fruit glittering faintly with black light could be glimpsed amidst its branches.

According to Su Xiaoxiao’s memories, this fruit needs a hundred and eighty thousand years to mature… But this celestial master tomb was only built one hundred fifty thousand years ago…

Just as I thought, this tomb was built over even bigger ruins. While ruminating over the issue, Lu Yun vigilantly surveyed his surroundings.

Without a doubt, there were quite a few immortals that were aware of the Arcane Yin Fruit, and as the amount of yin energy started decreasing, they began wading into the lake.

“Stop!” Lu Yun froze when he saw someone throw himself headlong at the tree. With a flick of the hand, Violetgrave appeared in his grasp and cleaved the peerless immortal in twain with a quick backslash.

Plop!

This monster immortal came into view in its original form—a giant python rolling in the lake and hissing its distress.

Brandishing Violetgrave, Lu Yun took to the air with a grim expression.

“It’ll eat the soul of anyone foolish enough to get too close to it before the fruit matures. Do you people want it to become sentient?” His voice echoed in the air and made all of the surrounding immortals blanch.

The Arcane Yin Fruit was indeed a soul fruit that could transform into a complete soul. Before it matured, it’d eat the soul of any living creature it touched, extract their mind, and absorb it as nutrients to develop its own awareness.

If a mature Arcane Yin Fruit were to become sentient, no one present would be its match. Even Lu Yun would have to make a run for it.

“Lu Yun, just say so if you want this fruit for yourself. Why put on airs to scare us?” The giant python’s friends had already moved forward to heal his wounds and reattach the split halves. Face wan, the python bristled with hostility as he glared at Lu Yun.

“It’s true, I do want the fruit.” Lu Yun’s mouth curved up gently as Violetgrave lightly vibrated in his grasp and sang out with a bright croon. “If anyone wants to die, you can come try me.”

Violet sword light exploded, turning into a sword river that flowed beside him. In it, one could see his sword techniques drifting without end. The sight made the surrounding immortals fall back in fear. True, Lu Yun wasn’t an immortal yet, but he was on the cusp of attaining immortality. His tribulation would arrive in only three months!

Moreover, void-ascended immortals like him were the only ones who could be called genuine immortals. In comparison, current immortals were nothing more than false immortals.

“A void-realm immortal! Lu Yun’s about to become a void-ascended immortal!” Those present turned pale and even dao immortals could be seen grimacing. They’d already run into several void-ascended immortals inside the tomb, and ordinary aether dao immortals were simply no match for their ilk.

Whoosh!

But at this time, sharp sword brilliance flashed through the air and a kelp-green ray of sword light appeared in front of Lu Yun almost simultaneously.

“Hm?” He froze, but the violet sword river sprang into action and parried the incoming blow. Even so, the tremendous force conveyed through the sword strike was enough to shake Lu Yun’s upper body.

“A void-ascended immortal… A real void-ascended immortal?!” Lu Yun narrowed his eyes and looked in the direction of where the attack had come from, only to see an awkward humanoid figure struggling toward him.

It was an obese woman with grotesque features, mottled, dark-green skin, and a messy shock of hair sticky like ocean kelp. Meanwhile, her legs looked soft and weak as she walked, as if they were newly evolved appendages. On the whole, her movements were reminiscent of someone swimming in water.

“A fur seal?” It took a single glance for Lu Yun to see through the creature’s nature. This was a fur seal, and one that’d taken human form not long ago.

Are there also fur seals in the world of immortals? Realization struck him as soon as the question emerged, and he mentally snapped to high alert. This must be one of the West Sea fur seals that Yuchi Tianhuang spoke of earlier.

The Infernum had mentioned that West Sea fur seals very likely lived inside a special ruin from the Primordial Era. The immortal dao in these creaturess was complete. In other words… these fur seals were connate immortals!

“You’re right... I’m a fur seal.” With a hand gesture, the abnormally distended woman called the sticky-looking, kelp-green sword back into her grasp. “You, you’re called Lu Yun, right?”

When the woman smiled, the sight of misshapen and uneven teeth crammed into her mouth almost made Lu Yun gag.

“What a coincidence, I’m called Ge Yun. My mother is Ge Yanxia.”

“Your family name’s Ge, and your mother’s surname is also Ge?” Lu Yun’s brain had trouble making sense of it.

“That’s because my grandfather is also my father.” Ge Yun smiled again, her big, sticky face almost making Lu Yun vomit. “Lu Yun, my race wishes to thank you for coming up with the formation of heaven and earth, or whatever it is you call it. By patching the defects of the current immortals, you’ve lifted our restrictions and made it possible for us to legitimately set foot in the world!”

Ear-piercing laughter suddenly shrilled out of her mouth. “As repayment for your lovely deeds, I’ve decided to make you my man!”