Not even Lu Yun could see through what kind of existence Lu Shenhou was now. In all likelihood, the man had left Xiankan all those years ago not to avoid suspicion, but to set up all of his various other schemes.

Perhaps Donglin Taihuang searching out the Qing Clan and requesting production of a girl with a cosmic constitution was also related to him. Likewise, he’d been the one who’d brought Lu Yun, Qing Yu, and a few others to the ruins of the Firmament Prison, into the tomb where the Dao Flower lay.

It also was inside that tomb that Dongfang Hao had died, then mysteriously came back to life to obtain the Sword of Chaos. Plainly, none of it was a coincidence and all had been part of a carefully crafted plan.

But because of the appearance of the Dao Flower and the discovery of the void realm, neither Lu Yun nor anyone else had taken note of these oddities. In fact, even when Lu Shenhou had revealed the body of a shamanic divine, he still hadn’t aroused Lu Yun’s suspicions.

Thanks to his arrival now, everything finally clicked in place in Lu Yun’s mind.

In his current state, Lu Shenhou was neither dead nor alive. He was a non-entity to anyone alive, while to departed spirits, he was just an indistinct shadow. Nearby, Empress Myrtlestar, Chen Xiao, Mo Yi, Chen Buyi, and Lu Feng all sensed something afoot, but nevertheless, none of them could see Lu Shenhou. For them, he simply didn’t exist.

Inside the kingdom of hell, Lu Yun’s nascent spirit formed a conduit that connected his primary body to Xing Chen, so the replica could also make use of his death arts. For that reason alone could he define Lu Shenhou’s presence with the Spectral Eye.

……

“Who in the world are you?” One after another, Sword Atlases unfurled around Lu Yun.

Now that his command over them had reached the realm of great perfection, each Sword Atlas could manifest ten thousand ninth-rank flying swords. A full one hundred and eight Sword Atlases soared into the sky, transforming the surroundings into an ocean of sword energy.

Meanwhile, Lu Yun’s primary body remained unmoving and continued to recite incantations, silently refining Qing Yu with the forge of earth and sky.

“Me?” Lu Shenhou smiled mildly. “Didn’t you recognize me already? I am Lu Shenhou.”

He strode forward and eased his way past the barrier formed by the Sword Atlases, arriving in front of Lu Yun. For him, the Sword Atlases were simple mirages with no tangible existence. It was fundamentally impossible for them to stop him in any way.

But he halted the next moment, an unsettled expression on his face.

“Hellfire.” Seeing the ball of black fire in front of him, he gently stepped back. “I see, the thing on you was hellfire. I suppose the primeval human dao’s hell must also be in your possession, if so.”

Turbulent hellfire erupted from Lu Yun and transformed the space into an ocean of fire as far as the eye could see. Ordinary means were ineffective against Lu Shenhou, but hellfire… hellfire was the bane of a being like him.

“No wonder, no wonder I subconsciously brought you there… Only one with the power of human hell could have awakened the Dao Flower and brought it back to life.” Lu Shenhou lowered his gaze, a cold, ruthless smile flashing past his lips.

Crackle!

His figure suddenly lit up with flames burning a hazy purple. As if afraid, hellfire immediately contracted into a ball and returned to Lu Yun’s hand.

Nether Fire.

Flames that had once destroyed human hell… Nether Fire that belonged to Violetgrave. She’d once said that hellfire was the greatest fire in the multiverse. According to her, Nether Fire was far, far inferior. But in Lu Yun’s hands, hellfire was limited by his cultivation and couldn’t unleash its full potential.

As an analogy, the tiger might be the king of the jungle, but a tiger cub was still no match for an adult wolf.

Moreover, Nether Fire had once been wielded by a supreme being so mighty that they’d destroyed hell. In the process, it’d absorbed a fraction of hellfire’s power, so it was little wonder its appearance could force hellfire back.

“It took me three entire eras to set this plan in motion. Although Qing Yu isn’t my only pawn, this pawn is on the eve of blossoming and bearing fruit. How can I possibly let you ruin it?” Cool and collected, Lu Shenhou looked even more like a Sword Divine than Dongfang Hao.

Each of his steps left a purple footprint in the air, and each time he stepped forward, hellfire receded a tiny bit in response. However, Lu Yun stood his ground.

“Since this plan took you three eras to lay out, I’ll use just one lifetime of mine to break it!” Xing Chen’s body glittered with a tricolor glow. The heart, lungs, and liver of heaven and earth pulsated audibly inside the body of the trivial golden immortal, resonating with the rhythm of the world. Spectral Eye wide open, two beams of black light as sharp as swords erupted from his irises and pierced more than thirty meters through the air.

The illusory silhouettes of the ten Yama Kings appeared behind Lu Yun. As they infused their strength into Lu Yun’s replica, Xing Cheng’s cultivation increased dramatically, rising from peak golden immortal realm to arcane dao immortal realm.

Meanwhile, this corner of the world shook furiously and produced a mysterious resonance with Lu Yun and his breathing.

“It’s no use. I’m not a living existence, so the cultivation and realms of the living mean nothing to me.” Step after step, Lu Shenhou made his way toward the forge of earth and sky. “I’ll be frank, this entire world is mere nothingness to me.”

Boom!

Lu Yun finally sprang into action. Encased in fire as black as night, his fist punched straight at Lu Shenhou’s face. Black hellfire crackled to life as if suddenly endowed with prodigious courage, and it no longer backed down in the face of the Nether Fire.

Even so, Nether Fire jumped from Lu Shenhou and scattered hellfire, while Lu Yun’s fist went straight through Lu Shenhou’s figure, as if the man was a mere illusion devoid of substance.

“Wait, what?!” Lu Yun stared in disbelief. Why couldn’t he even touch Lu Shenhou?

“For someone of flesh and blood like you, I am a non-entity, something that doesn’t exist… While, for me, all of you likewise don’t exist.” Lu Shenhou shook his head gently, walked past Lu Yun, and came in front of the forge of earth and sky.

However, Lu Yun’s primary body opened its eyes, and two blue halos of light lit up inside his irises.

Hum!

The Tome of Life and Death appeared above him and blasted Lu Shenhou away in a flare of dazzling radiance.

“What was that?!” Lu Shenhou flew more than thirty meters through the air before managing to steady himself and land on the ground. In utter disbelief, he gawked at the Tome of Life and Death.

Shrouded inside a hazy bronze light, the book’s appearance remained hidden, but it’d demonstrated power great enough to repel Lu Shenhou. This power was gentle and devoid of killing intent, yet it was a barrier he couldn’t surmount despite his best efforts.

“Just like me… something that shouldn't exist in this world?” Lu Shenhou sighed softly before smiling. “Then it’s fortunate I didn’t come alone.”