The corpse puppet was Lu Yun’s secret weapon, one that instantly granted him the power of a celestial emperor. He hadn’t resorted to it even when he was surrounded by eighteen dao immortals and more than a thousand immortals. This time, however, he used one of his remaining two chances to protect Qing Han and the others while they deduced and restored the void realm.

He’d known he wasn’t its match the moment the hairy creature appeared. Only by channeling the puppet’s power could he stop it. If the creature’s swings hadn’t followed a trajectory that bequeathed glimpses into the heavenly dao, he would’ve flattened it with the corpse puppet early on.

By now, the Tome of Life and Death had recorded the trajectory and imprinted it in his mind. Without hesitation, Lu Yun fully released the power of an origin dao immortal and annihilated the monster.

“Ah, this is her power. No wonder you can walk the path of cultivators with the strength of an origin dao immortal. You are her chosen tribute. So what if you repair the path? You will still be sacrificed one day.” Its dying words sent a chill down Lu Yun’s spine.

Chosen tribute? Who was ‘she’? The woman named Violetgrave within her namesake sword?

Lu Yun considered the weapon gravely. For some reason, he felt a blood connection to it, which made it impossible for him to be repulsed by it. It felt as if the sword was always meant to be his. He felt no negative feeling toward the woman inside, either.

“I’ll burn that bridge when I come to it. Once I reach my peak and fully become the overlord of hell with the Tome of Life and Death, I’ll control all lives in the world. No amount of scheming and plotting will work on me then.”

Thinking of the book, his greatest source of power, eased his mind. There was also the Sal Tree of Life and Death in his dantian. It’d grown to about a foot in height with three yellow flowers adorning its branches, morphed from the goodwill that Lu Yun hadn’t absorbed yet. Once the cultivation path was restored, he’d consume the flowers and break through.

For now, he picked up the black axe that the monster had left behind. It weighed at least six thousand kilograms. Whatever it was made of, it’d remained intact in a clash with origin dao immortal strength.

It was certainly no ordinary treasure.

Just as he was going to examine the white path, the entire space trembled and everything around him crumbled. He returned to the chamber where Qing Han, Wu Tulong, Zi Chen, and Mo Qitian sat crossed-legged on four Dao Flowers, a dense, calming, and refreshing fragrance wafting from them. Lu Yun’s position and posture remained the same as before, as if nothing had happened.

“The Sugato Sword is still here and the consciousness brand on it is still intact...” He found the weapon was on him again, and the brand that should’ve been destroyed by the hairy monster was whole and complete.

“Was that all an illusion?” Lu Yun frowned. The axe he’d picked up had disappeared as well, like it’d never existed. “What’s going on?”

Frowning, he sent his consciousness into Violetgrave and found only one seal left on the corpse puppet.

There were three seals put on the dread zombie, and one was lifted every time he used its power. After all three were exercised, the puppet would become a dread zombie again and gain its freedom.

“So it did all actually happen!” Lu Yun checked the purple manor inside his nascent spirit and found that the trajectory recorded by the Tome of Life and Death yet remained. “So it wasn’t the real world just now, but a spiritual realm.”

All existences on the white path were purely spiritual. If the monster had killed him, he’d become a mindless zombie in the real world. That was also why the monster hadn’t become an Infernum after its death.

Lu Yun kept his guard up, even though the monster was dead and couldn’t hurt his companions anymore. More threats might still arise; thus, he studiously guarded his friends.

The room billowed with the fragrance of the Dao Flower. Qing Han and the others had entered a trance of dao contemplation.

Hum.

After an indeterminate period of time, Qing Han shook and whistled, his body relaxing involuntarily. He’d completed the framework of the void realm, and Mo Qitian, Zi Chen, and Wu Tulong came to as well.

The perceived void, unravelled void, and returned void had become whole again as well. Finally, the formerly dead void realm was rejuvenated on the Dao Flower.

Qing Han, Mo Qitian, Zi Chen, and Wu Tulong each carried within them a complete void realm. Once they headed out of the isolated tomb, the resurrected Dao Flower and the restored cultivation path would settle back down in the outside world.

Then, the severed path of cultivators outside would be repaired as well.

Of course, they couldn’t repair the path solely by themselves, despite being the top cultivators of the world. Instead, it was the power of the Dao Flower that would repair the path through them.

“Our talent is nothing to write home about,” Wu Tulong opened his eyes and lamented. “There’ve been a good number of great geniuses throughout history who noticed the broken path after ascending to the transformed spirit realm. They pushed past the barrier that directs all cultivators straight to immortality and entered the void realm on their own!”

“And then they all died.” Lu Yun nodded. They’d all met their deaths at the hands of the creature.

“Heh, the celestial emperors hailed us as the youth sovereigns, but we pale in comparison to the real geniuses who came before us,” Mo Qitian sighed. He was a peak transformed spirit realm cultivator and had previously been one step away from ascending to immortality. However, neither he nor Wu Tulong had sensed that the cultivation path was incomplete. They’d all thought their next step was to soar to the ranks of immortals.

Throughout the process of reconstructing the void realm, they saw genius after genius from generation after generation enter the white path on their own and fight the black-furred monster, attempting to repair the cultivation path. They’d all died under its axe.

They were the true geniuses in Mo Qitian’s eyes.

“It’s not too late. At least the path is now repaired!” Zi Chen was frugal with his words. “Let us compete to see who can enter the void realm first!”

There were no cultivation methods left of the void realm. All records, methods, and combat arts related to it had been destroyed eras ago. Cultivators could only rely on their own power to bridge the gap and explore it!

“Alright, let’s see who’s the first to break through!” Mo Qitian’s heart welled with anticipation.

“Let’s leave the tomb!”

“We’ll help the Dao Flower bloom in all realms!”

“And restore the broken path of cultivation!”

“Return the vanished void realm to the world!”