Chapter 1722: The Summoning Formation

“I’ll send the two of you out since everything has been taken care of.” Lu Yun understood Ao Qin and Chu Xingran’s intentions when he saw them bet with currency from the outside realm. “The tomb formed by Ruina and the Abyssal Hell is incredibly robust and primarily focused inward. It’s easy for someone to enter, but difficult to leave.

“There are two ways to depart—the first is through the world of sequence. But given how indestructible its world barrier is, even a joint blow from everyone present won’t shake it one bit. There’s no way of telling how long until it’s breached.”

“What of the second?” Chu Xingran frowned.

He’d known about the first method a long time ago and also knew that it was a dead end. It would take another heaven-shaking battle and massive slaughter of epic proportions for the world barrier to be truly opened. Even the powerhouses of the outside realm would be involved then, so attempting to leave through the world of sequence was as Lu Yun said—a great unknown.

“There’s a crack between the world of sequence, yang tomb, and yin tombs. I can punch a hole through it and send you on your way.” Lu Yun pondered for a moment. “But there’s too many uncertainties with that method as well, and I can’t be certain of where I’ll send you.”

“We wouldn’t be going home?” Ao Qin couldn’t help but ask.

“Based on my calculations, I can definitely deposit you in your realm, but I can’t be certain of exactly where you’ll be.” Lu Yun nodded, then shook his head.

“That’s fine, it’s enough to be in our realm!” Chu Xingran quickly said. He and Ao Qin were highly prominent characters in the outside realm. They’d be able to find their way home no matter where they were.

“Then that works, I’m just worried that things will be dangerous in your realm and if I send you to someplace forbidden…” Lu Yun mused.

𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

“Are you trying to hint at something?” Chu Xingran shuddered. He knew that Lu Yun hadn’t really let him off the hook!

Lu Yun winked at him. “Give me a bag of those enigma stones.”

The man clenched his jaw and took out a bag the size of a palm, throwing it to Lu Yun. The young man caught it with a merry twinkle.

While it filled a palm on the outside, it could fit an entire world inside. Small mountains of enigma stones were piled in the bag, too many to be counted.

“I know what you’re planning. The primary and secondary worlds of the Land of Reincarnation are broken and cannot nurture cultivation resources. You want to use the stones as seeds and grow them in the fourth realm, don’t you?” Though Chu Xingran asked a question, he already knew the answer.

“Pretty much,” Lu Yun nodded. “If I can develop them into enigma stone veins, it will be a deed of unquestionable virtue accredited to you. Your karmic debt to this land will fully fade away.”

Chu Xingran fell silent.

“Come, let’s send you guys home.” Lu Yun stood up. They were in a moderately sized mountain cavern. Although the yang tomb was fashioned out of Ruina, the great dao of Ruina here had been replaced by the way of burial, so not every place was the sea.

The group’s expressions changed drastically when they left the cavern. The air had turned gray at some point and dense fog sealed the area like it was an iron curtain. Shadows flickered through the gray haze and emitted strange noises.

“This is the Great Formation of Corpse Refinement,” Lu Yun’s tone turned chilly.

While he wouldn’t kill innocents, the same didn’t hold true for everyone else. The Corpse Refiners had slaughtered everything in sight for the past three years, refining countless battle zombies. After losing their zombie farms, their efforts redoubled to replenish their troops. Lu Yun had run into them once when he was hunting those who’d turn into mindless butchers and engaged in a mighty battle with them.

The sect was too powerful in the yang tomb and even an eighteenth level sequence expert had numbered among them. Lu Yun and the group had run off—Ao Qin was still seventeenth level during that encounter.

He never imagined that they’d find the group’s hiding spot and surreptitiously lay down a formation, sealing off the area! Lu Yun’s attention had been focused on the Imperial Seal and although Chu Xingran and Ao Qin were skilled in formations, they couldn’t detect the Great Formation of Corpse Refinement. Their thoughts were full of home, and they were highly distracted by the close prospect after being away for so long.

When the three discovered the situation, they stood with their backs to each other and looked around warily.

“…it’s not aimed at us,” Lu Yun suddenly said. “The formation I laid down conceals our tracks so thoroughly that even the Corpse Refiners’ eighteen level sequence expert won’t be able to pick up our trail. This should be just a coincidence, a formation they’ve randomly set up.”

Chu Xingran and Ao Qin looked on gravely, not saying a word. Not even the dragon genius dared make any moves upon being trapped in the formation.

Eighteen levels of sequence was an apex powerhouse in the Abyssal Tomb and Land of Reincarnation at large. However, it didn’t count for much in the outside realm. Even Ao Qin was simply just a notable figure of the younger generation. In the outside realm, the Great Formation of Corpse Refinement could refine heavyweights beyond sequence.

A sudden thought struck Lu Yun and abyssal hellfire quietly ignited over the group, concealing their life signs. He took out two Shapeshifting talismans and stuck them onto Chu Xingran and Ao Qin, transforming them into zombies. He then turned himself into one as well.

“Have I really become a zombie?” Chu Xingran stared incredulously at his hands. The corpse qi in the formation no longer attacked his body!

“Shut up, zombies don’t talk.” Lu Yun maintained an expressionless face and imitated the zombie way of movement, looking around the surroundings. The other two followed close behind him.

“What kind of monster was I enemies with before?” Chu Xingran smiled wryly and quickly set the thought aside. As the Curse King, he’d only been following what the Curse King was supposed to do. He’d at most made a few minor adjustments to his predetermined path.

Corpse qi became less dense in front of them; they’d reached the edges of the formation. Some cultivators dressed in Corpse Refiner uniforms stood on the fringes—sect disciples.

“What are they doing?” Chu Xingran couldn’t help but transmit.

“It looks like they’re summoning some sort of major being.” Lu Yun intently studied a pile of dirt that the Corpse Refiners stood around. It seemed inconspicuous, but was a massive summoning formation.

He jerked his head up and scanned the premises with the Spectral Eye, taking in everything within fifty million kilometers. There were three hundred and sixty-five dirt mounds placed in this range; they formed a complete summoning formation!

Someone that inspired so much effort and care from the Corpse Refiners was no ordinary person.

etvolare's Thoughts

Quick update, changing the "outside world" to "outside realm". Honestly this should've occurred to me before, given realm > world in NECRO.