Slumbering beneath the Karmic Tree all this time, Carmine Eternal had recovered enough to emerge from hell. However, she remained in snake form and the wings that’d been folded on her back were gone.

The Blood Sea trembled the second she appeared, as if affected by some sort of power.

“Impossible, how are you still alive?!” Vivid blue drained out of the Spiriteater Demon Snake’s eyes, leaving them a terrified stark white.

“I was indeed dead.” Carmine Eternal’s voice was as biting as deep frost. “But you idiots recreated the Blood Sea in the world, so I came back to life again. Whether it is the Blood Sea of the past or the Blood Sea now… I am eternal so long as it exists.”

Scarlet light flared from her body and exerted control over the Blood Sea in the skies of Nephrite Major.

Despair wrapped around the snake king; he was imprisoned in midair and couldn’t move a muscle. The creatures that’d scrambled out of the bloody depths all shuddered in horror and scampered right back.

“Carmine Eternal’s core is heavily damaged. She lingers between life and death and hasn’t fully resurrected!” a great voice boomed out of the Blood Sea. “Kill her now…”

“Who do you think you’re killing?” A second figure appeared over the four coffins. Ge Long. He wielded a longsword shimmering with hazy light in his hand and turned around to look coldly into the scarlet depths.

“You, you, you’re alive too, old monster!” With a solemn exclamation, the voice in the sea fell silent.

Ribbet!

Ribbet!

Ribbet!

Enormous frog croaks reverberated in the void as a frog half a kilometer long each hopped out of nothing at all.

“A Spiriteater Demon Frog!!” shrieked the snake king. He thrashed and gyrated wildly, desperately trying to break free of Carmine Eternal’s restraints. Alas, nothing had an effect no matter what he tried.

“Haven’t they all gone extinct? What is one doing here?!” he demanded with petrified shock.

Spiriteater Demon Frogs and Spiriteater Demon Snakes shared exceedingly similar names, but the two were natural rivals. A fight to the death ensued whenever the two species met each other as they could swallow the other to fortify themselves.

The Spiriteater Demon Frog popping into existence was just at the true immortal realm—tasty snacks for the snake king under any other circumstances. However, Carmine Eternal keeping him in check meant that he was a sitting fly for these frogs.

“RIBBIT!” This frog was naturally the one outside the Sword Barrow. Having set foot into immortality, its eyes sparkled with excitement as it focused on the snake king. Without further ado, it hopped over and swallowed the enormous snake with one bite.

Hissing with abandon, the snake king sought to break free of the hold, but he couldn’t call on any of his power and was also being countered by his natural bane. His protestations grew fainter and fainter until finally, they sounded forth no longer.

The Spiriteater Demon Frog belched with satisfaction and swayed down from the air, erupting with loud snores when it hit the ground.

Clear blue skies slowly returned to the firmament. Ge Long and Carmine Eternal returned to hell; the four evil coffins remained arrayed in the air to protect Qing Yu and the Central World. The five forefathers of the Star Demon Sect worshipped the coffins before taking their leave.

When he saw their actions, Lu Yun finally fully understood why the sect had bizarrely come under his control and take him as their leader, and why the desolate willow was so respectful toward him. It was all because of these coffins!

Or more precisely… Ge Long.

……

Lu Yun’s strength receding marked the passage of the full four hours; Xing Chen also returned to the arcane dao immortal realm. A purple haze flashed by Lu Yun’s side before a shapely figure walked out of the light.

Violetgrave’s corpse—the dread corpse.

Having undergone three uses of the dread corpse’s strength, it was freed from playing the role of a battle zombie and could reemerge once again. However, she seemed a bit different from when Lu Yun first met her.

The deathly air about her and the strength that belonged to a zombie had vanished, replaced by the power of the living. Oddly enough, her soul was alive, but her body was dead. In fact, she was a living dead now, the same kind of existence as the tomb keepers of the underworld.

It was the thoughts of the dread corpse that inhabited her body and not the soul of Empress Myrtlestar. They were transmuted to a soul due to the empress’ power. When she’d used her combat arts to create three uses of the corpse puppet for Lu Yun, each exercise had consumed the power of death within the dread corpse. Upon the consumption of every last bit of death within the corpse, it’d birthed a soul that’d returned to yang and was therefore alive.

She possessed all of Empress Myrtlestar’s combat arts and memories, but was her own person completely different from the empress. Her strength now was what the empress had possessed at her peak—beyond the principal realm!

“You are free,” Lu Yun spoke quietly without looking at her.

“Indeed, I am free.” The newly born living dead mused pensively, “The world is quite vast, but where is there a place for me?”

“Come to the underworld.” Holy King Atrophy approached her. “Become our fifth holy king!”

She lowered her head in thought, then raised it for a nod. “That will do. I will go to the underworld and be your fifth holy king. From now on, my name is… Violetshade.”

“Good, wonderful, most excellent!” Holy King Atrophy applauded loudly. He’d come for Lu Yun this time and possessed a backup plan of forcefully abducting the young man if unsuccessful. Most surprisingly, Lu Yun was willing to send his replica with the organs of the world to the underworld, and now a living dead made from the corpse of a primordial empress was willing to be the fifth!

Fourth Holy King Xing Chen and Fifth Holy King Violetshade!

“However!” The holy king suddenly turned solemn. “You need to think this through. There is only duty and responsibility for a holy king of the underworld, no authority! There will be no return once you enter.”

He was speaking to Violetshade. As Lu Yun’s replica and refined from the Nine Yin Soul-Parting Wood, Xing Chen wasn’t a living dead and could freely come and go as he wished in the underworld.

The same was hardly the case for Violetshade, who nodded wordlessly in acknowledgement.

“I would ask that the two fellow daoists stand guard over my dao partner,” Lu Yun suddenly requested of the holy king and Violetshade.

“Do not worry.” The holy king scanned the premises, noting the immortals that’d clustered around again after Lu Yun lost his strength. He and Violetshade remained where they were as two door guardians, deterring everyone and even the demon god from approaching.

“Since I am the fourth holy king of the underworld, I can thereby pardon Ashu and allow him freedom in the world of immortals,” Xing Chen suddenly said.