Lu Yun fell silent at Qing Yu’s response. He’d spent his initial days in terror and uncertainty when he first arrived in the world of immortals. Though there was Wanfeng by his side, he didn’t dare share his secrets with her.

There was no one he could have a heart-to-heart with until he met Qing Yu. She’d swept away the loneliness and gave him an outlet for the secrets in his heart, preventing his personality from deviating into the extreme.

This was so incredibly similar to the circumstances that Lu Yun’s past self found himself in. Qing Yu understood, so she didn’t blame him.

Rather, it was the little fox who felt a twinge of regret at this point. There had indeed been a bit of personal motive at play when she sent her strand of soul force with Lu Yun’s past self. She could’ve easily told him to obtain a tendril of soul force from Qing Yu so his dao partner could keep him company.

Alas, everything was set in stone now.

……

“Alright, alright, things aren’t as serious as you two think.” Qing Yu smiled and caressed the little fox’s head. “You’re still a decent, proper, unmarried fox.”

The little fox wanted to cry.

“As for your child… he has to call me First Mother!” Her eyes suddenly sharpened. “I am the official wife in this household!”

Miao flashed back into fox form and darted into Qing Yu’s robes, refusing to come out no matter what anyone else said.

“She loved to hide in her true form back when Taiyi chased her. It looks like her habits still remain the same after all these years,” teased Wahuang as she peered at the little fox. “Since Qing Yu doesn’t find fault with you, then this matter is at an end for now. Let us return to our primary business.”

Wahuang turned serious. “How do you plan to return to the Tomb of Heaven and Earth to collect the Blood Sea?”

“I’ll go with Little Yu!” Lu Yun thought for a moment. “But first, she must light a soul lamp!”

“A soul lamp?” Qing Yu knew almost nothing about the particulars of the chaos, but she quickly employed formula dao on these two words and drew a rough sketch of what this item was.

“There’s no need.” She shook her head. “Lighting a soul lamp means creating a backup plan and the absence of the courage to cut off all means of retreat. How will one train to the highest levels when nothing is truly on the line? A soul lamp would be more of a hindrance for me.

“And, do you remember the phoenixes?”

“The phoenixes?” Lu Yun blinked.

“That’s right, the phoenixes and their art of rebirth,” Qing Yu continued.

“Yeah.” Lu Yun nodded.

The phoenix art of rebirth was a massive trap. It required them to split and conceal part of their soul in a corner of the void, an act that not only limited their potential, but also decreased their respect for death.

That, combined with the curse on phoenixes in the world of immortals, resulted in the immense decline of the entire race. They went completely extinct in Huang Qing’s time, but the main reason for that was their art of rebirth. The dragons had likewise been cursed, but they were still the rulers of the four oceans in the world of immortals.

“I haven’t determined what flaws the soul lamps hold yet, but they’re nothing good. I highly recommend everyone to not overly rely on them.” Qing Yu looked at Huaxu and Wahuang.

“I see.” Huaxu nodded, then smiled ruefully. “As things are, the soul lamps are a core part of the six sacred palaces. If not for them, the sacred clan would’ve long been exterminated several times over.”

The reason for that lay with the Dubiety Realm. Almost everyone of the palaces had perished at least once in that realm, including the six monarchs. It was through the soul lamps that they were reborn after that disaster.

Qing Yu didn’t have a response for that.

“Okay, let’s set aside the soul lamps for now,” Lu Yun said hastily. “Soul lamps existed in the mythological realm as well and have been passed down till modern day. There must be something extraordinary about them.”

Huaxu and Wahuang exchanged worried glances with each other. The current sacred clan had indeed lost all respect for and consideration of death. When the soul lamps had malfunctioned in the Tomb of Heaven and Earth, that had been a ruinous disaster for the sacred palaces. Too many geniuses with great potential had died on that trip.

“If Little Yu doesn’t want to, we can forget about the soul lamps.” There was a tendril of her soul force in a Hell Flower bud anyway. If anything happened to her, she could be reborn in the sea of Hell Flowers.

However, the process would be interminably long.

“We’ll be off to the tomb now.” Lu Yun resolutely grabbed Qing Yu’s hand.

“Do we need to talk this out some more?” asked Wahuang with a frown.

“No need, no plan can account for all possible changes. Little Yu and I are well versed in formula dao and can just adapt to the situation.” Lu Yun shook his head.

“I’m going too,” the little fox said weakly after poking her furry head out of Qing Yu’s robes.

“We’ll take you with us if you take human form and promise to never return to fox form,” Qing Yu chuckled.

The little fox withdrew her head, plainly intent on not going anywhere. There was nothing that Lu Yun or Qing Yu could do.

“Since you’ve made your decision, I shan’t interfere.” Huaxu had a more open mind about things and let the matter rest. “This is a one-time use transportation formation. You can use it to return to Creation Palace if you meet with any inexorable danger. Remember, it can be only used once.”

She gave a tiny formation disk to Lu Yun.

“Understood.” Lu Yun nodded and put the disk away.

Although he had Qing Yu by his side and released the Bridge of Forgetfulness so it could protect them at any time, it was better to keep his aces hidden as much as possible. He also had no idea what level of strength the bridge was at. If his past self, in the prime of life, had faced the bridge, he would’ve been crushed in a split second.

After absorbing his past self, he grew ever more reverent of the chaos. It was simply too enormous and filled with all manner of strange and eccentric things. Even his past self hadn’t dared probe it too deeply, to say nothing of the third realm.

……

The Tomb of Heaven and Earth now completely occupied the previous current of clear energy and towered in the chaos as a titanic tomb. It released a suction force from time to time, devouring the vitality from any nearby creatures and leaving them as withered husks.

While there were still some cultivators in the area who wanted to try their hand at fortune and fame, they were few and far in between. The place had become restricted grounds, but the tomb no longer appeared as it once did.

A boundless black earth extended from the tomb, unfurling into an eerie land of rubble and charred dirt. It was a connector between the tomb and the fathomless chaos, and its end wasn’t in sight.

“This is…” Lu Yun stood upon the charred dirt and peered at it closely, incredulity flashing across his face.

“What is it?” Qing Yu looked at him curiously.

“The underworld!” Lu Yun slowly breathed out a sigh. “This burnt earth is the underworld!”