Lu Shenhou's murmur was as quiet as a whisper, but it made Lu Yun’s heart tremble.

He wasn’t alone? Who else had come?

Xing Chen opened the Spectral Eye and warily observed his surroundings. Dark and cold, an eerie wind blew past and elicited a subtle transformation inside the formation. Mo Yi, Chen Xiao, Qing Buyi, and Lu Feng stood up at the same time, vigilantly observing the growing darkness around them.

Empress Myrtlestar opted for her true appearance. Imperial Star hovering over her head, the other two starstones landed beside the forge of sky and earth and shielded it in boundless starlight.

The Formation of the Ten Yama Kings also came into view, the ten kings occupying positions in the ten directions and locking down the vicinity. The eerie wind gradually grew in intensity, filling the air with ghostly wails.

……

“This isn’t yin wind from hell.” Lu Yun inhaled sharply when he felt the strange wind. “Be careful… akasha ghosts are here.”

Akasha ghosts!

Lu Shenhou’s reinforcements were akasha ghosts! In the air, white figures flickered in and out of existence, filling everyone with dread.

“The akasha ghosts have hell weapons with them,” Lu Yun suddenly added. “Be careful not to let them take your souls.”

He’d once very narrowly escaped that fate himself. Thankfully, Qing Yu had thrown caution to the wind and exposed her true appearance to deploy her starstone and the Scroll of Shepherding Immortals, saving his life in the nick of time.

And now, their forms vague and indistinct, an unknown number of akasha ghosts had arrived. These specimens were different from the ones in the divine race’s Last Repose. The ones that dwelled there merely came to destroy activated altars and were closer to incarnations or replicas. But the ones in front of them, hazy and shadowy, were the akasha ghost’s primary bodies.

Bursts of yin wind blew by, so cold it made one’s blood run cold.

Empress Myrtlestar beckoned gently with her fingers and conjured the Scroll of Shepherding Immortals, unleashing pure white light from the treasure that drifted through the air like petals of a giant lotus flower.

The next moment, a stillness descended upon the scene. When time resumed its flow a beat later, the akasha ghosts scattered in a panicked flurry.

So it would seem that the Scroll of Shepherding Immortals really could suppress akasha ghosts. The first time they’d appeared, Qing Yu had also used the scroll to frighten them away.

However, these ones only instinctively reacted for a short moment before rushing at them a second time. They wielded various hell weapons, like chains and shackles or torture instruments once found in the eighteen layers of hell, and the very fabric of reality rippled intensely in the wake of their assault.

The ghosts shrieked like feral beasts as they swarmed forward. At that moment, the image of a similar charge in hell came to Lu Yun’s mind.

Deja vu? The two scenes were eerily familiar, if not identical.

“Wait a moment!” He stiffened as he suddenly thought of something.

Hum!

With a gentle shake, the Scroll of Shepherding Immortals streaked into a trail of rainbow light and shot at the akasha ghosts.

“No, don’t!!” Lu Yun howled even as he lunged forward and threw himself in the scroll’s way.

Bang! The scroll slammed heavily into him and sent him flying.

“What are you doing?!” Empress Myrtlestar chided softly. She hastily went to help him up, took out a healing pill, and shoved it into his mouth.

“No need.” Lu Yun gently waved her off, opened his mouth wide and sucked in a swift mouthful of air.

Pop pop pooooop!

Strange sounds snapped within Xing Chen, and soon after, his chest caved in by the Scroll of Shepherding Immortals inflated again. His body housed three organs of heaven and earth, and he wasn’t a being of flesh and blood to begin with, so he could regenerate even if crushed to a pulp.

“Everything is fake…. This is a layout of absolute death,” Lu Yun slowly recomposed himself and spoke commandingly, “Cease your attacks, all of you. Everything you see is an illusion, a facade. Akasha ghosts have indeed come, but they’re always accompanied by layouts of absolute death. As long as you don’t trigger the layout, they won’t be able to harm you.”

Lu Shenhou froze for a split second. He hadn’t expected Lu Yun would see through the existence of the absolute death layout.

The last time, Lu Yun had made the mistake of bringing an akasha ghost into the kingdom of hell, thus triggering the layout of absolute death accompanying the ghost and summoning a throng of ghosts to descend on the netherworld.

At that time, he’d realized that the so-called layout of certain death wasn’t a feng shui layout in the truest sense, but something that surrounded an akasha ghost like a personal domain. As long as one didn’t touch the layouts, akasha ghosts couldn’t truly arrive in person.

……

Lu Yun’s primary body no longer paid attention to Lu Shenhou. Glistening with dark, mysterious light, the Tome of Life and Death was focused on the forge of earth and sky while Lu Yun calmed his mind and focused all his attention on refining Qing Yu’s poison.

“Heh… you countered my efforts so easily.” Though defiant, Lu Shenhou couldn’t breach the defenses of the Tome of Life and Death, and the akasha ghosts were equally useless against Lu Yun. “Sure enough, you’re quite the remarkable man, Lu Yun. Had you lived in the Primordial Era, you might very well have made that ancient emperor your follower.”

Empress Myrtlestar opened her mouth, about to reply, but Lu Yun dragged her over to his side.

“Don’t bother responding to him, he’s spouting pure bullshit.” It wasn’t Lu Yun’s first time confronting akasha ghosts. Additionally, the Spectral Eye could now see through all fabrications—even Qing Yu’s former disguise would’ve been stripped down at first glance. Likewise, the Spectral Eye had also plumbed the depths of the resurrection layout.

“Don’t talk, don’t move. Even if the primordial immortal emperor were to come in person, treat him like empty air,” Xing Chen commanded in a cold voice.

The ten Yama Kings naturally followed his orders to the letter, while Mo Yi and the other three, in their capacity as protectors of the four formation eyes, likewise wouldn’t act rashly. Empress Myrtlestar sighed faintly. To think a noble ancient empress like her would be lectured by a junior!

When my soul is fully healed, perhaps I, too, should start again from the beginning… With this one last thought, she gradually faded into nothingness.

“Did you say to treat the primordial immortal emperor like empty air even if he came in person?” Lu Shenhou suddenly posited.

Lu Yun threw him a sideways glance, but didn’t bother to reply.

“That... immortal emperor truly has come.” When Lu Shenhou’s voice fell, strains of immortal music filled the air and immortal radiance sprinkled down from the sky. An exceedingly handsome man walked down from the firmament with a measured pace. His face was striking and his features exquisite. Appearing as a young man, he was tall and slender, his tidy blue robe an appropriate finishing touch.

Inside the void, Empress Myrtlestar’s eyes widened when she saw the newcomer. She tightly covered her mouth, barely stopping herself from shouting in surprise.

The immortal emperor!

The immortal emperor of the Primordial Era!

The immortal emperor who’d unified a world where immortals and demons ran amok, the one who’d established a supreme immortal dynasty!

“Fake, it must be fake! How would the immortal emperor appear in this place?!” Empress Myrtlestar screamed inwardly.

“Who are you?” To her shock, she heard Lu Yun address the young man.