Chapter 2099: The Fire of Civilization

Reality was one massive enigma to Lu Yun. He had so many questions that awaited answers, but plainly, Yuan Yi couldn’t help him in that regard. She herself spent her days in a foggy haze—surviving to see the next sunrise was her only goal.

Lu Yun spent the next month in this world in such a manner.

Things were fine enough during the day, but endless ghost zombies surged from all directions at night, trying to run the dilapidated city into the ground.

People died every night. If it wasn’t for Yuan Yi’s presence, the city would’ve fallen long ago and all of its inhabitants become food. However, Lu Yun could tell that she couldn’t hold out for much longer. She’d saved Lu Yun because she was taking a gamble on him—she thought he was a powerful cultivator.

That was all.

Lu Yun recovered from his injuries, but he couldn’t sense the great dao. Whether it was formula dao, immortal dao, or reincarnation—all had vanished without a trace. The Tome of Life and Death floated listlessly in his consciousness, like it was dead.

“Civilization…” Lu Yun blinked with surprise when he sensed the vestiges of power within him. All of the great daos that he’d cultivated before, including reincarnation, immortal dao, and formula dao, had fallen silent. It was like they’d never existed.

A tiny bit of civilization flickered like a guttering candle inside his body. Instead of growing stronger as Lu Yun recovered, it slowly diminished. It wouldn’t be long now before it fully went out.

“Civilization has nothing to do with my personal strength. It needs the nourishment of external culture. Countless existences bolstered it in the nothing—there was the Three Thousand and existences derived from the three hundred and sixty-five demon gods that nurtured civilization…” Lu Yun suddenly realized the truth of what he was saying, that everything in the nothing had always been within the mistress, Dao King, and God’s grasp.

The betrayal of the Divine Temple of Nothing and destruction of the other three temples was also within their calculations. It was due to the destruction of the three temples that their seeds of civilization could spread throughout the nothing, turning it into a fake nothing in which life could survive.

The three hundred and sixty-five demon gods, as well as Ancestor’s existence and the Three Thousand, jointly propped up civilization within the nothing. It was what enabled the fires of civilization to blossom within Lu Yun’s body.

They wouldn’t have lit otherwise in Lu Yun’s body if it wasn’t for these preparations, even if he managed to travel to reality.

“Their goal is for me to light the fire of civilization in this world so it can revitalize. Civilization is the true meaning of life, the crystallization of wisdom…”

No wonder only the Netherdark Hell—keeper of dead civilizations—gave birth to Violetgrave. The others remained simply hells.

Lu Yun breathed out slowly when his thoughts traveled here. He didn’t blame God, the mistress, or the Dao King despite not wanting to be here. However, he was still angry and resentful. He’d been forced to do something entirely beyond him and had been compelled to come to this world. God even paid the price of his life!

Lu Yun was completely disconnected from the nothing. To those on that side, he was dead in certain aspects. Of course, they knew that he wasn’t truly dead because his life force remained, the Tome of Life and Death was still present in his body, the ten Yama Kings and ghostly soldiers were still present.

He was just… gone.

If he wanted to go home and see his loved ones, he needed to furiously cultivate and light the fire of civilization in this world. Only after he illuminated this world of despair could he break through the barrier of nothing and return to his place.

Lu Yun didn’t know how long the process would take; he had to ensure he stayed alive first. And what if he returned to find that a great devastation had taken place while he was gone?

The great devastation could not be denied. All that the mistress and Dao King could do was to delay it as much as possible.

“That’s really it…” Lu Yun heaved a long sigh and murmured to himself, “Everything I possessed in the nothing was a result of others paving the road for me. Even my great daos and accomplishments were part of someone else’s damned calculations. I never broke free to walk my own path.

“None of the mistress, Dao King, and deceased God’s plans can be found here. This is it. The rest is up to me.”

The mistress, Dao King, God, Hongjun, the Three Purities, Fuxi, and Ancestor had jointly raised Lu Yun so that he could light the flame of civilization and bring the faintest trace of hope to this despairing world.

But their plans remained in the nothing—it was up to him alone once he was in reality.

He had his goal, but he didn’t know what to do or how to even approach lighting the fire. All he could do at the moment was ensure his survival.

Cultivate!

Become a cultivator!

Perhaps he turned out to be vastly different from Yuan Yi’s expectations. He didn’t become a strong cultivator after he was on the mend. Although his physical body was stronger than all the others, it wasn’t to the point of a cultivator.

Yuan Yi was the only cultivator left in Jingzhou City. The rest had died in battle. She had many disciples that she sought to develop into new cultivators, but she failed with every single one.

Lu Yun was her new target.

There was no great dao in this world as the power of heaven and earth was confined to origin stones and buried deep within the ground. Being unable to cultivate external force, cultivators could only train themselves.

Condense qi and vitality, hone their bodies. When they were strong enough, they could withstand the enemy and possibly everything else. However, this included external nutrients as well. Origin stones were one source, food was another.

It was also the law of the jungle here, but every living being was an additional force against the ghost zombies. They were not allowed to harm each other before a natural death occurred. Otherwise, cultivators would become murderers and eat others for food!

Those who died to the ghost zombies were by and large assimilated. Even if they laid still in death, they struggled up before long and turned into new ghost zombies.

Thus, everyone who died in the night was tossed into the pit of thousands to be burned, even if they were ripped to pieces.

Lu Yun had fallen into the pit when he first arrived. If it wasn’t for Yuan Yi saving him, he would’ve been reduced to ashes a long time ago.