“Why are there four from the sacred clan by his side? … we should've killed him when we had the chance!” Huo Shentong dearly wanted to slap himself across the face. If he'd known the truth of the situation, he would've taken care of Jin Gushen at first light. He hadn’t thought that there’d be four sacred palace disciples by the genius’ side, and that they’d come from three different sacred palaces!

It would be one thing if they all came from the same palace—Huo Shentong wouldn't think much of them then. Unfortunately, three sacred palaces were represented by the four of them. Ethos Palace would never offend three other peers for a mere Huo Shentong.

He’d already seen an emblematic display of their power; ignorance was no longer a plausible defense if he continued to make a move. Inception, Burgeon, and Creation Palaces would never let him off the hook for it.

Though he possessed a soul lamp within Ethos Palace, the faction would surely hand it over if three sacred palaces came knocking. The dignity of one sacred palace was not to be defiled. Offending three at once was worse than courting death.

……

“Long time no see, Huo Shentong.” Leng Xian scanned the scene with her frosty beauty. She hadn’t released the power of creation on her, but she also took a step forward at this time.

“Junior sister Leng Xian!” Though Huo Shentong was an eternal overlord and had reached the level of a sacred land prime, he still had to bow his head when facing a creator of the sacred clan.

His eyes began to shift around. Leng Xian enjoyed an uncommon status within the Creation Palace and was one of the monarch’s most favored disciples. Though she was only a creator for now, her potential was extraordinary.

Even Creation Palace’s most notable treasure had been bestowed to Leng Xian for use in self defense.

“Is there anything else?” Leng Xian asked coolly as she stood firmly in front of Ying Luo.

“No, nothing else…” Cold sweat beaded the foreheads of Huo Shentong and the three other eternal overlords.

“Then get out of here,” Leng Xian concluded with some impatience.

“Y-yes…” Even with all the borrowed courage in the world, Huo Shentong didn’t dare make a move against Leng Xian in broad daylight. There was no way to kill the woman; the moment she resurrected from the soul lamp was the moment of doom for the fire origin land.

Besides, there was also Wang Shu here!

As the son of the Burgeon monarch, he was infinitely more important than Leng Xian. Huo Shentong might have a chance of emerging alive if he offended Leng Xian, but if he accidentally irritated Wang Shu… that was the precursor to utter annihilation.

Thus, Huo Shentong led the others from the fire origin land in a quick, sheepish retreat.

Utter annihilation was no hyperbole. Experts of the water elemental land once killed an Inception creator when they fought over a treasure. When that disciple revived from their soul lamp, three sovereigns departed from the palace and razed the water elemental land to the ground. It’d been rebuilt only with the help of the other four elemental lands and was still the weakest among its brethren.

……

Jin Gushen relaxed when he saw Huo Shentong leave with his men. He was stronger than Huo Shentong, but just barely. There was a sacred palace behind Huo Shentong and another three eternal overlords as bodyguards. If it came down to a fight, Jin Gushen would also be heavily injured, if not outright dead.

In a place rife with dangers like the Tomb of Heaven and Earth, to be gravely injured was the same as being dead.

“We saved you this time.” Lu Yun retracted his power and bumped Jin Gushen’s shoulder with his. The latter looked dubiously at Lu Yun. He’d clearly felt the purest power of inception from Lu Yun just now!

What was labeled the power of inception was a strength derived from the six laws of highest order in the chaos. The sacred clan was who they were because they could control these orders. If an ordinary chaos creature ascended to sovereign realm, they still wouldn’t be a sacred clan member if they didn't grasp one of the orders.

Though Jin Gushen was extremely baffled, he wasn’t fool enough to question Lu Yun in front of everyone.

“It is indeed thanks to you all this time, or I might’ve been in true danger.” He smiled at the others.

“Senior brother Jin, would you like to join the Creation Palace?” Ying Luo immediately asked when Jin Gushen thanked them.

“My Burgeon Palace is not bad as well,” Wang Shu grumbled, then looked at Lu Yun. “What, are you not inviting senior brother Jin to join Inception Palace? Or have you two already reached an agreement?” His gaze turned suspicious.

“I would rather senior brother Jin never join a sacred palace,” Lu Yun snorted back. “He’s about our age, but already infinitely close to sovereign realm. If he joined a sacred palace, some old freak inside would want to dissect him and study him in detail.”

“Dissect him?” Ying Luo blinked her large eyes, not understanding.

“To slice senior brother Jin’s body and true spirit into pieces so they can observe what makes him tick,” Lu Yun explained.

Wang Shu and Ying Luo shuddered in unison.

“That is indeed the case.” Lie Shan nodded. “Senior brother Jin avoids the sacred palaces likely because of this reason.”

Jin Gushen nodded.

“Let us go. The big mountain ahead of us is the main tomb of the Tomb of Heaven and Earth, and where that massive pit holding everyone is,” murmured Lu Yun as he looked at the enormous mountain ahead of them. “This pit doesn’t just hold mundane beings, but everything that existed in the mythological realm—including masters that’d ascended beyond the chaos.

“This mountain that soars into the clouds is propped up by their endless resentment.”

Jin Gushen and the others remained silent. There weren’t creatures of the realms that were wholly ignorant in the dao of burial. They naturally understood what Lu Yun was saying.

“We might be separated after we head inside, so I won’t be able to protect you any further. You must be careful.” Jin Gushen glanced at Lu Yun.

He didn’t care about the others, but he did care about Lu Yun’s safety. In all his years and throughout his journey from mortal soul to eternal overlord, this was likely the first person to befriend him.

Thus, he didn’t care who Lu Yun was. This only friend had risked his life to save him in the zombie sea and lured away two murderous beasts for him. This brotherhood was more precious than anything else.

“Mmhmm.”

Like many of those around them, the five of them head toward the enormous mountain. The moment they touched the actual mountain, they vanished into thin air.

……

A putrid rotting smell burrowed into Lu Yun’s nostrils. He almost fainted, even with his mental fortitude.

“The corpse qi outside comes out from here.” Slightly dizzy, he pinched his nose and used Shapeshifting to turn himself into a zombie before feeling a little better.

“I wonder how the little fox and the others are doing?” He was thinking of Miao, Qiu Luoyu, and the two chaos creatures that’d sworn loyalty to him.