Ying Luo’s eyes were as if blood-red amber and she no longer gave off the presence of the living.

“Get out of her body, or I’ll have you experience death again.” Lu Yun stared expressionlessly into the girl’s eyes.

“We’ve already died once, what fear is there in dying again?” An eerie smile blossomed on her face, a kind of smile that would’ve never appeared on the original Ying Luo.

Resentment from those who’d died here had lingered after death, forming a titanic vengeful spirit that then latched onto her fear and attached to her body.

This was her first solo expedition from the sacred palace and the first time she’d explored an ancient tomb so thoroughly hidden from the light of day. Though her potential was unparalleled and she was the apple of her palace’s eye, the challenging circumstances still caused inexplicable dread and fright.

Of course, this also tied into how weak she was at mere second level mortal realm. This was the constant worry of her heart, so the vengeful spirit had stolen into her body following that opening.

This was also why she’d relied on Lu Yun in the earlier test. His show of strength induced her to view him as someone to depend on, like a senior of her palace.

……

“There’s no fear in dying.” Lu Yun nodded in agreement. “But how about in a life worse than death?”

Whoosh!

Black flames of hellfire ignited with a fury in his eyes. The power it released now was different from what it possessed in the great wilderness and world of immortals. In fact, it seemed to be a different flame entirely.

Hellfire was severely constrained in the worlds due to their fragility, so even some ghostly entities could withstand it. While present within the indestructible chaos, it flared with the domineering presence that properly belonged to it.

“You!!” The vengeful spirit controlling Ying Luo’s body quickly backed up while Lu Yun advanced upon it.

“You haven’t done anything wrong. Your greatest mistake was to be weak. In this dog eat dog place where the law of the jungle reigns supreme, being weak is the original sin.” Lu Yun’s eyes brightened with intensifying hellfire as it gradually set his body aflame.

“They treated you as sacrifices because of your weakness. You had no other choice because you’re weak!

“You, too, can dictate the lives of others if you were strong enough. You did nothing wrong, just erred in being too weak.”

There was nowhere for Ying Luo to retreat to anymore; Lu Yun stood right in front of her.

“Is there no place for the weak to exist in this realm, in all of existence?” Despair colored the vengeful spirit’s tone.

It despaired over its weakness and also viewed the hellfire in front of it with bleak wretchedness. Lu Yun was right; he could not only have it die again, but also subject it to a life worse than death.

“No,” Lu Yun fell silent. “Life is so mercantile and obsessed with personal gain that it defeats one with pessimism. Though I wish to protect a group of beings and ensure that they can live without care or worry, I must suffer even stronger pressure to reach my goal. Thus, I have no choice but to grow stronger.

“I want to live on and also guarantee that those I protect will live on as well. That means I have no choice but to search for more strength and become a titan in my own right, which includes dictating the fates of those weaker than me.”

Desolation filled the amber eyes of the vengeful spirit inhabiting Ying Luo.

“Now get out of her body.” Lu Yun cut short their emotional talk and spoke in removed tones once more. He stretched out a hand and gently opened a door. “Enter this door for a chance to live.”

Everything was dead here, completely and thoroughly dead. Even the last vestiges of their souls and spirits had scattered. What stood in front of him was a collection of malice and resentment that was unable to fade away. They’d accumulated into a mammoth vengeful spirit; their blood still flowed and their warmth yet to cool completely.

The amber film over Ying Luo’s eyes melted away as the titanic vengeful spirit departed from her body. It filtered into the door over Lu Yun’s palm—the Gates of the Abyss.

Huge swathes of Hell Flowers bloomed gracefully over the plains of hell. The enormous spirit scattered over the new blossoms and transformed into individual seeds that sank into the flowers.

“Why does he go to all this trouble?” Ashu sighed softly, sitting next to Zhi Guangji, Chi Biaonu, and Bai Zhaoju on the banks of the sea of Hell Flowers.

“It’s the reason why the three of us are alive again.” Bai Zhaoju stretched lazily against the stamen of his flower.

The soul force that Lu Yun brought back from the great wilderness had all awakened in their Hell Flowers, but there was a long journey ahead of them if they wished to become fully living beings again.

In the meantime, Ashu visited hell to take care of his old friends.

“You guys need to stop lazing around and focus on your cultivation. Your true spirits have awakened, which makes this the perfect time to establish your foundations,” Ashu rose with a solemn expression. “Your previous limit was chaos realm, but now that you’ve been reborn and your true spirits tempered by the power of reincarnation, it won’t be a difficult task for you to become creators this time around.”

“Alright alright, man, you say this eight hundred times a day. My ears are growing calluses!” Bai Zhaoju stuck his finger in his ear. “I’m the White Emperor, of course I’m becoming a creator in the future!”

Chi Biaonu and Zhi Guangji smiled wryly at each other.

……

Ying Luo sagged weakly into Lu Yun’s arms, unconscious after the vengeful spirit took possession of her body. Her features underwent a fundamental change after she was insensate to the world.

She’d been a delicate and pretty girl before. Quite pretty, but not to extraordinary levels.

But now…

Lu Yun couldn’t find any other words to describe her. It was no exaggeration to hail her as the greatest beauty of the six sacred palaces. If she didn’t conceal her face, he was absolutely certain that she wouldn’t make it to the tomb after leaving Creation Palace.

But the treasure used to conceal her face was quite interesting; it was ineffective when she was unconscious.

“She’s on the same level as the little fox, but less pretty than Little Yu,” mumbled Lu Yun as he gazed upon her face. “Mmhmm, that’s right. Little Yu is the prettiest.”

He shifted her over to a nearby wall.

The boundless expanse of corpses had disappeared upon the vengeful spirit’s departure. All of that had been an illusion. The only real aspect of their surroundings was the flowing river of blood and the faint warmth that suffused it.