Necropolis Immortal

"No wonder this fellow refused to leave the Scroll of Shepherding Immortals. He was busy absorbing God's core essence." Lu Yun quickly determined some cause and effect with preliminary operation of formula dao.

Of course, it was only with God's approval that Ao Qin was able to absorb his core essence. Since they were close to the world of sequence and its pure strength of sequence, the dragon naturally broke through after a mighty battle.

Ao Qin had thrown himself into pitched battle with Ji Zun and decapitated the golden dragon on the spot mostly because he needed the baptism of a grand battle to break through to eighteen levels of sequence.

Despite his ascension, the expected heavenly tribulation wasn't forthcoming and neither was there great fanfare. Everything took place and concluded in a split second. The dragon race's world of sea dao ebbed as quickly as it'd appeared, vanishing without a trace after another heartbeat.

However, the disturbance still attracted attention from quite a few. A dozen powerful consciousnesses swept through the void and retreated when they saw Ao Qin at eighteen levels of sequence.

They had no desire to get involved in the internal affairs of the dragon race. Whether Ao Qin lived or died was a dragon matter and had nothing to do with them.

The dragons remained one of the predominant factions in the outside world and possessed the fearsome world of sea dao sequence. No one wanted to offend them. With the dragons' character traits, they would certainly address any slight they received in the Abyssal Tomb once they departed.

The only exceptions were entities such as the Moran Clan. That the Spacetime King had dared kill Ao Qin meant that the clan wasn't afraid of the dragons.

Most importantly was that although the dragons and Morans had both brought their Dao Flowers, they weren't dead set on obtaining the world of sequence. Their ultimate goal was to prevent the other from claiming the world, it didn't matter as much whether or not they were successful themselves. Additionally, none of the other factions would commit themselves to a death fight against these two parties either.

……

"He's still struggling for breath, are you sure you're not going to kill him?" Ao Qin smirked at Lu Yun.

Though the young man was sorely tempted, he shook his head. "It won't do me any good to kill him. I'll at most create a karmic relationship with the dragons."

"Didn't you say that there's no karmic repercussions to killing people here?" Chu Xingran flicked him a sidelong glance.

"There's no repercussions if we kill ordinary people, but this one's a prince of the golden dragons." Lu Yun looked at Ao Qin. "The brat's plotting against me. If I leave the Land of Reincarnation, he'll try to lure me to his side for sure. The relationship between the azure dragons and golden dragons is probably similar to the one between Haidong Lin and the other three sea lords."

Ao Qin nodded matter-of-factly. "Of course, you're a perverse genius even in the outside world. Who am I going to try to influence, if not you?"

Lu Yun kicked Jin Zun's head back to Ao Qin like he was playing football. Ao Qin didn't even look at it before punting it away again.

"Do you want to search for the original emperor? I have the feeling that he's not dead." Having accessed eighteen levels of sequence and being a dragon, Ao Qin was feeling much bolder than before. He grinned in a companionable fashion at Di Yin.

"I will refrain… I should find a safe spot and await the conclusion of this matter. I am the only one left of the Di Clan and our bloodline will truly come to an end if I die," Di Yin replied in melancholic tones.

"Nonsense," Chu Xingran chuckled. "The Di Clan thrives. There's a branch in the world of immortals that's under Lu Yun's protection, it's grown into one of the biggest clans in the world. That branch is descended from the original emperor's great-great grandson and decamped for the world of immortals to protect the immortal dao. They carried the original emperor's last wishes, and I—er, I… um…" Chu Xingran smiled awkwardly and didn't continue.

That branch had suffered from his plotting at every leg of their journey. Chu Xingran had fully seized the chance to curse the original emperor, but the emperor didn't end up losing a single hair on his head. It was Lu Yun who benefited and recruited the Di Clan branch to his banner.

Di Yin blinked; he'd thought that Lu Yun was lying to him. But no, it was real!

"Don't follow us around, you're completely useless," Ao Qin said mercilessly. "Go find a safe place and take a nap."

Di Yin nodded with a rueful smile. Though the emperor had created a world within him to give him the strength of a ninth level sequence expert, that level of strength was nothing in the tombs.

"Follow this bridge and don't look back." Lu Yun summoned the Bridge of Forgetfulness. "Since you care about the Di Clan, I'll send you to the Central Hongmeng. Di Ling has brought part of the clan back to the third realm. You can take them to the fourth realm to repopulate the clan there."

"I see." Di Yin accepted readily and set foot on the bridge, leaving without a single glance back. This was a place of heartbreak for him, he didn't want to spend a second longer here if he didn't have to.

"He's not a bad person at heart, just shouldering some burdens that don't belong to him." Chu Xingran smacked his lips as he watched Di Yin leave.

"And that's why you threw the Thunderstruck Wood to him?" Lu Yun rolled his eyes.

"How'd you figure even that out?" Chu Xingran's eyes widened.

"The original emperor appearing to be dead right now is probably also your work," Lu Yun sniffed.

Chu Xingran very wisely shut his mouth. He'd cast horrific curses on the original emperor more than once. Though they didn't take immediate effect, who knew what might've happened in this uncanny yang tomb fraught with danger?

"Let's go somewhere safe, I want to study the Imperial Seal," Lu Yun said.

"This way." Ao Qin waved his hand and left with the young man and Chu Xingran.

Those silently observing the area breathed sighs of relief. If Ao Qin had quickly joined the dragon camp, then the dragons were highly likely to win the world of sequence. The dragons, on the other hand, looked on unpleasantly. They hadn't expected Ao Qin to come back alive! Neither had they expected him to kill the golden dragon emperor's son and leave right after without rejoining them.

……

Lu Yun's replica stood in the world inside the Tome of Life and Death.

A massive world existed inside the Tome of Life and Death, one in which numerous mental brands floated. They belonged to his Yama Kings, Infernum, and all of the names written in the book. Lu Yun had stored the withered wood here once, using the treasure's power to erode the curse within. And now, he put the Imperial Seal here as well.

Although the Tome of Life and Death had become his nascent spirit, his understanding of the treasure was woefully inadequate. He couldn't even tell what the truth behind this world was.

The seal silently floated in front of him, power from the Tome of Life and Death gathering on all sides to suppress it. No one could get up to any mischief in here, whether it was anyone outside or anything in the seal itself.