Chapter 497: A Piece of Human Skin

Bury immortals!

Wayfarer’s expression remained passive, but his face twitched visibly.

There were also tombs in the world of immortals where immortals were buried after their deaths. In Lu Yun’s eyes, however, those weren’t so much tombs, but underground palaces with formations set up and the dead buried within.

True burial rituals combined formations, feng shui, astronomy, geology, and all other aspects of civilization, a path that had been lost to history in the world of immortals.

A thousand years ago, Art Saint Wayfarer had had to break into an ancient tomb for immortals to let Yuying occupy it as her own. And now, Lu Yun was going to inter immortals via setting up a real tomb for immortals.

……

Rumble!

Lu Yun transmitted a landscape layout into Wayfarer’s mind, and the senior began redoing the terrain according to the blueprint. Landscapes shifted and rivers changed course. The earthen veins in Azure Province roiled violently.

The layout to bury immortals.

That was the most powerful burial layout that could be found in the records kept by Lu Yun’s sect. It was too grand for even emperors of the mortal world, true Sons of Heaven, to be buried in.

The layout only existed on paper. At least, he’d never seen such a setup on Earth. Now, however, he was going to set up tombs of yin and yang with a corresponding layout to seal the crack.

Though the layout to bury immortals was no connate grade layout, it gave rise to a most powerful grand influence over the world. With Lu Yun’s current strength, he wasn’t powerful enough to set it up. In fact, he would be shattered if he came into the slightest contact with it.

But Wayfarer was different.

He’d reached the greatest of heights in the world of immortals. Not even the scarlet yin spirits could approach him. He didn’t have to understand feng shui, but simply set up the layout according to Lu Yun’s instructions.

Once the layout was drafted, Lu Yun would be able to tap into its power through his mastery over feng shui and enter the next phase.

With a wave of his hand, Wayfarer transformed the terrain of Azure Province. As a result, a faint authority emerged around the ancient tomb. Seemingly suppressed by the sudden aura, the endless swarm of yin spirits halted, and scarlet spirits scattered in all directions out of sheer fear.

“It’s really working!” Immortals fighting the yin spirits outside the cities lit up.

The scarlet yin spirits were brutally vicious and their numbers too great. Many dao immortals had already died fighting them. Even a brief halt to the endless replenishment of the spirits was more than noticeable to those continuing the fight. The despair weighing them down lifted, and hearts were rejuvenated with hope.

……

“Grrrr!!” Suddenly, a powerful roar rang out from beneath the tomb. An enormous scarlet hand a full fifty kilometers long reached out and swatted at Wayfarer.

“Protect the geography here, don’t let it destroy the landscapes!” Lu Yun’s expression turned grave. He hadn’t expected such a monster would be buried underground!

His finger was poised on the trigger, ready to haul out the emperor corpse puppet at a second’s notice. If things got out of hand, he would immediately unleash his secret weapon. Several provinces—billions of lives—were at stake!

Wayfarer was completely occupied with constructing the vast layout to bury immortals. Even someone as powerful as he had to suffer an immense backlash from the grand influence of the world. He would’ve died, if not for his great might.

“Let me!” Qing Han quickly leaped into action when she sensed that Lu Yun was about to pull out some sort of trump card.

Hum.

Blinding starlight burst out from her body, and her long raven locks gained the luminance of the cosmos. She’d tapped into the full power of the starstones to strengthen herself. The Scroll of Shepherding Immortals transformed into a river of stars and wrapped around her figure.

“Go back!!” Qing Han attacked the giant hand with a great violet-gold palmstrike.

Conflicted emotions ran through Lu Yun’s face and he ultimately put the corpse puppet away. He lifted his hand and sent out dark cyan lightning from his palms. It was the technique the Azure Dragon King had taught him—Yi Wood Cleansing Thunder.

Rumble!

A violet-gold palmprint tangled with the lightning and slammed heavily into the scarlet hand. It flinched like it’d been burned, then retreated underground.

……

“That’s the Yi Wood Cleansing Thunder of the azure dragon divines! Why would Lu Yun know a divine combat art?!”

There were many with a wealth of knowledge in the world of immortals. They might not have ever seen the formidable technique in person, but it was mentioned in more than one ancient record. Immortals often lamented the fact that tomb raiding would’ve been several times easier had the yin spirit-countering thunder been passed down.

Yet here it was!

And from the hands of Lu Yun, a public enemy of sorts, no less.

Such wasn’t time for these kinds of musings, however. As soon as the scarlet hand retreated, the terrible yin tide returned once again. The hand seemed to have not only stopped Wayfarer from setting up the layout, but also further torn open the crack deep within the tomb.

……

“The true evil spirits are emerging. These immortals are doomed.” Up in the air, Mo Yi’s senior sister looked on with regret and fear on her face.

Plink! Plonk! Plink! Plonk!

A delightful melody of strings sounded as a graceful man dressed in white robes approached, surrounded by different notes.

It was Wayfarer!

Another Wayfarer!

“I do not know if these immortals are doomed, but I know that, as a member of the world of immortals, we must step forward at times like these, rather than watch from the sidelines.”

“Wayfarer...” Mo Yi’s senior sister gazed at the impeccably-groomed young man, her expression flickering through changes in quick succession. “You are no longer you.”

She schooled her face and sighed faintly.

“I am no longer Wayfarer after the real Wayfarer cut off his five senses and used our bodies to seal the cracks. I am Qin Sheng, also known as the Zither Saint. The cultivation of the eyes deviated and his body devoured mine, thus opening the crack. Although this was the eyes’ doing, I am still responsible.”

He smiled and manifested a zither before leaving for Azure Province.

……

A refreshing melody spread across Azure Province, rejuvenating the exhausted immortals.

“Finally.” Art Saint Wayfarer went up to Qin Sheng, protecting him with the beauty’s portrait, his eyes burning with suppressed greed. He had to keep his urges under control so as to not swallow Qin Sheng whole on the spot.

“The old guy’s real body is over there.” Art Saint pointed at the Wayfarer next to the ancient tomb, who was putting forth all of his efforts into a layout to bury immortals.

“Your cultivation has deviated and you’ve lost yourself to the taint of demons,” Qin Sheng responded as he played his instrument. “Wayfarer is dead. If that man really is him, then none of this would’ve happened.”

He spoke at a steady pace, his voice calm and collected. Crimson light flashed through Art Saint’s eyes, then he grimaced in great pain.

Qin Sheng glanced down at the Wayfarer below them. The man didn’t appear as a real person to his eyes, but as a piece of empty human skin.

……

Calling upon immense power, Wayfarer summoned sixty-four great mountain ranges from other parts of Azure Province to surround the ancient tomb according to the influences of the eight trigrams.

With the crack in the tomb torn open again, however, the swarm of yin spirits became even more deadly.

Lu Yun had stopped attacking. Luopan in hand, he moved around the sixty-four mountain ranges. He was going to set up both the tombs of yin and yang and a layout to bury immortals!

The power of yin and yang were the only thing that could seal the crack below.

Qing Han was faltering, and the yin spirits were becoming ever stronger. Hellfire’s countering effects were dwindling. Lu Yun could let hellfire rampage freely to keep them down, but then the world of immortals might become a second hell.

“Qing Han!!” Lu Yun almost lost his mind when he saw Qing Han collapse.

“Do not worry. I have her.” A pair of silver eyes opened gracefully, and a mild voice spoke into Lu Yun’s ear.

Violet radiance cascaded out of silver luminescence, surrounding Qing Han in a protective circle. A silver sword emerged in the air.

Cosmic Skycarver!

The sword found in the dragon nest of the North Sea appeared in the void, its brilliant sword energy filling the area and instantly cutting down the yin spirits. Empress Myrtlestar remained within the Scroll of Shepherding Immortals as she manipulated the Cosmic Eyes and Cosmic Skycarver.

“Do not use the power of the corpse puppet, or you will attract even stronger spirits and the tunnel beneath will be completely torn apart,” Empress Myrtlestar said calmly. “Qing Han is fine, and, unlike you, needs the tempering of life and death. She will be fine with me protecting her.”

Cosmic Skycarver fell into Qing Han’s hand in the next moment. She wiped away the blood at the corner of her mouth and smiled at Lu Yun.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Lu Yun sent the corpse puppet back into the depths of Violetgrave.

Crackle!

Dark cyan lightning crackled once more around Lu Yun. He took a deep breath and stomped on the ground.

Then—

Powerful dragon howls rang out from all directions. The earthen veins beneath the sixty-four mountain ranges shot out of the ground as individual dirt-colored dragons.

The layout to bury immortals had taken shape, and sixty-four earthen veins slowly evolved into dragon veins under the influence of the layout. Prompted by Lu Yun’s compass, they’d emerged as dragons.

1. The characters sound exactly the same between the two names.