“That’s Lu Yun! What’s he doing here?” The immortals were taken aback by the young man’s sudden appearance. They’d been previously floundering in a forest of tombstones and burial structures, from which frequently manifested immortal ghosts that wasted not a moment to attack them.

Everyone’s nerves couldn’t be more taut after that thoroughly confusing slaughter of epic proportions. Lu Yun and Situ Zong’s arrival nearly incited them in a gut reaction of a mob attack. If not for Situ Zong’s timely threat down the cannon barrel, they probably would’ve already cut Lu Yun to ribbons.

Within the crowd, joy flashed across Canghai Chengkong’s face. The Dark North sword immortal had lost contact with Lu Yun upon arrival in this strange graveyard, so his master’s reappearance slightly eased his mental strain.

However, his expression soon turned grave once more. Lu Yun was unresponsive to his transmitted messages. His master was lost in a reverie and remained unaware of the situation here.

……

“Sinful blood? Traitor? Dragons and phoenixes are sinners? What, I’m a traitor because I’m releasing them?” In this instant, Lu Yun perceived Qi Hai was now someone else altogether. His soul was still his; but his spirit had become another’s.

Dragons and phoenixes were considered blessed creatures nearly everywhere, on Earth and any other mortal world. Furthermore, they were supposed to represent sovereignty and imperial authority.

Even in this present world of immortals, dragons and phoenixes occupied lofty positions. Whenever they were mentioned, other immortals became generally reverent.

But this person claimed their blood to be sinful!

Wherefore had that sin come about? Who had decreed it so?

However, the last sentence scared Lu Yun the most. Why had he called Lu Yun a traitor for wanting to kill the two-headed zombie and releasing the bloodlines of these two races?

Not ‘enemy’, but ‘traitor’!

To him, Lu Yun must be one of ‘them’.

But… who were ‘they’?

Why had they laid down such a terrifying curse upon the bloodlines of two great races?

Ten thousand years ago, the Water Altar had existed at the intersection of the dragon and phoenix nests. Later on, it was transplanted to the abyss of fallen divines... to suppress the divine race there!

The Skandha Range, too, carried an unbelievable curse targeting the entirety of the divines, one that included the four cardinal tribes as well as all the rest. Could the same group of people have done all that?

Had he… had the old ‘Lu Yun’ been one of them?

The young man was lost in thought. What was all of this for?

The Tome of Life and Death? Hell? Or something else?

He didn’t care about the ‘traitor’ part all that much. His ‘fellows’ had spent so much time and effort to lay down all these curses, which meant they sorely lacked the absolute strength to accomplish their aims.

Why else would they go to such elaborate lengths otherwise? Violence was often the simplest solution.

“M-milord!” Situ Zong scrambled to Lu Yun’s side. “W-what should we do? They’re coming for us!” Although he carried the gun, this young man controlled the proverbial trigger.

“Eh?” Lu Yun finally snapped to reality. “Who’s coming for us?”

He shook his head a little before taking in his surroundings for the first time.

“Aha.” A gentle point from his finger unleashed a fountain of starlight.

Hum.

When the light dimmed, the air cleared to reveal the hundred and eight peerless immortals. Still in their positions in the Great Formation of Heavenly Spirits and Earthly Demons, they looked uniformly perplexed.

In the moment of the formation’s completion, all of them had lost their selves to become part of the world—until Lu Yun had dissolved the formation at this moment.

“I… I grasped the truth of aether dao? I can pluck the fruit as soon as I am strong enough!” murmured a peerless immortal.

“And I… I have accumulated enough. The endeavor for dao fruit is still quite dangerous, but I can see a ray of hope…” Ling Zhen shook his head to clear his mind, then inclined his head to Lu Yun in deference. “Thank you for your help, fellow daoist!”

“Thank you for your help, fellow daoist!” All hundred and seven other immortals spoke in unison. To a person, they were immensely, sincerely grateful.

Concentrated goodwill welled up from their bodies, streaming into Lu Yun. The fruit of goodwill he had burned earlier spontaneously regrew itself.

Lu Yun had hand-picked all hundred and eight of the immortals himself. Any enemies among their number would still be honorable in their conduct.

After their enactment of the Great Formation of Heavenly Spirits and Earthly Demons, they found themselves filled with the truth of aether dao. The handful who’d had that before were granted sufficient strength and comprehension instead.

This was the grace of conferring dao, and the Sal Tree of Life and Death absorbed their gratitude as purest goodwill.

Although the amount paled compared to what he’d received on Levitating Island, their concentrated purity was still enough for an instant goodwill fruit.

No… there’s more than goodwill here. Virtuous merit? Lu Yun’s heart trembled.

It was exactly that! Virtuous merit, gained through conferring knowledge of the dao.

New ideas, conscious and unconscious, began to flood his mind.

……

The other immortals tensed when they saw the hundred and eight peerless immortals suddenly appear, and some of them noticed that the entire group had gained a newfound understanding of aether dao immediately.

Previously itching to leap into action, their eagerness to strike was dampened by that fact. A hundred and eight peerless immortals who understood aether dao, working together, were more than capable of threatening a handful of those who’d already grasped it.

“To seek a dragon of mountains coiled,

Those deathly cliffs with mysteries roiled.” Lu Yun suddenly gave a long whistle. The mystical force within him spun rapidly before gathering overhead. Before long, a luopan appeared.

Hum—

Brilliant golden light blazed forth from his body.

Crack!

The void before him fractured quietly, almost imperceptibly.

Thump!

A huge corpse landed at the young man’s feet.

It was the two-headed zombie, the very same one that Lu Yun had leveraged a heaven and earth layout to quash. This was the real key to countering the ghost tree.