“Do you understand?” Violetgrave looked calmly into Lu Yun’s eyes. “The chaos and the worlds are just a matter of different perspectives. Both sides want to live, it isn’t a matter of who deserves to die more.”

Lu Yun still remained silent.

Survival of the fittest was precisely that cruel sometimes. In order for one side to survive, the other had to die.

“Are you faulting them for not saving the life forms of those previous worlds?” Violetgrave asked hesitantly.

He flicked a sideways glance at her and harrumphed. “I’m no Virgin Mary, the hell do I care about their survival?”

Violetgrave looked on in confusion.

“I’m just thinking, I’m only a minor empyrean realm immortal in the chaos. What good am I going to be if I go? If even the six sacred palaces can’t hold off the nine sacred lands, what’s an ant supposed to do?”

Lu Yun scratched his head. For the world of immortals, he played the role of overseeing the bigger picture and guiding the immortals from the shadows, setting up the Immortal Realm Battlefront and ensuring that everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.

But in the chaos, he couldn’t do anything at all.

Though he’d dominated all comers in the Inception Spiritrial Arena, who would follow the rules of engagement in a real battle? Sparring between those of the same realm was essentially a test of potential. In a real struggle of life and death, who wouldn’t use a superior cultivation realm to dominate their enemies?

He might be the Inception sacred prince, but he was also a joke.

Violetgrave remained looking at Lu Yun with a mysterious look instead of responding.

As he looked back at her, something occurred to him. “You’re not wanting to make another deal with me, are you?”

“Congratulations, that’s correct!” Violetgrave grinned merrily. “I’ll keep watch over this spatial node for you—”

“Hang on!” Lu Yun interrupted. “That doesn’t count, you voluntarily stayed here!”

“Fine, fine.” She waved it off. “Accept the Netherdark Hell and I’ll give you a talisman that will allow you to use the power of a sovereign three times.”

Lu Yun finally understood—Violetgrave had planned to shove the Netherdark Hell at him all along.

“Can we swap for another condition?” He shook his head.

“Forget about it then, the six sacred palaces don’t have much to do with me anyhow.” Violetgrave stretched languidly and took a lazy seat in space. “I haven’t been this free in so long! I’m so much freer than before even if I have to stand guard over this spatial node.

“Ah, the smell of fresh air!” She sucked in a deep breath through her mouth.

“There’s no air in space.” Lu Yun rolled his eyes.

“Ah, the smell of fresh qi!” Violetgrave amended with a deep sniff.

“Seriously, can’t we change the conditions?” Lu Yun chuckled wryly.

The woman shook her head. “I’m a real living being now and no longer threatened by what’s in the Nihil Hell. I don’t need souls anymore, so Qiu Luoyu profited handsomely off his transaction. He’s received my nether fire for free and doesn’t have to pay the price in the future.

“Your son’s deal with me is paid in full, so apart from having you look after the Netherdark Hell for me, I really don’t have anything else to offer in negotiations with you.

“In return for you helping me become a real being… First, I’m keeping watch over this spatial node on Qing Yu’s behalf. Second, I gifted her all of my achievements in the Hongmeng. That is my offering of gratitude to you.” She stoppered the rest of Lu Yun’s words with a few neat statements.

“Then… fine.” Lu Yun shook his head.

“You agree?” Violetgrave lit up.

“No, I decline!” Lu Yun smiled. “Since you’re standing guard here out of gratitude to Little Yu, then I have nothing further to worry about. I’ll head to the chaos now and take care of those nine sacred lands.”

“What…” Violetgrave looked dumbly at Lu Yun.

He left with a turn before she could finish her thought, departing from the cosmos, heading for Mount Xuanhuang to reach Earth and pay a visit to Mount Buzhou.

Only Hongjun sat at the peak of Mount Buzhou; Fuxi had left long ago. With the six palaces under attack, he had to return to the chaos as the Inception and Creation Palaces were his home.

“Dao Ancestor, the world of immortals is stable now,” Lu Yun reported with a smile.

“Don’t, don’t call me Dao Ancestor! You’ll shorten my lifespan with this over-the-top rhetoric!” Hongjun jumped in shock when he heard the honorific.

“The ancestor is being humble,” Lu Yun corrected with all seriousness. “The immortal dao has already acknowledged your position as the ancestor of the immortal dao!”

Hongjun chuckled ruefully. The dao ancestor, dao sovereign, and dao headmaster were the three great posts of the immortal dao—supporting the dao as a tripod of power. In residence at Mount Buzhou all this time, Hongjun hadn’t known that Lu Yun and Qing Yu had started calling him the dao ancestor long ago.

“In that case, it would be disrespectful for me to refuse the honor,” he breathed out heavily. Though he hadn’t expected anything in return for his efforts from the very beginning, it was still a gratifying feeling to have his endeavors validated at such a high level.

A smile floated onto Lu Yun’s face.

“I know what you’re going to do—go on, then. Nothing must happen to the six palaces,” Hongjun declared solemnly.

“I understand.” Lu Yun nodded and made to walk off Mount Buzhou.

“Hmph!” A sharp snort sounded as a white shadow darted to his shoulder. It grumbled, “I knew you wanted to get rid of me. That’s not happening!”

The little fox crouched down on Lu Yun’s shoulder and aimed a lethal glare at his cheek before darting into his robes, prompting an immediate scowl.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been waiting here for you! I knew you were going to get rid of me! Hmph, you heartless bastard!” the little fox continued muttering with dissatisfaction.

Hongjun sat down cross-legged next to them, wholly immersed in sudden meditation. He knew nothing of the entire universe, much less a conversation happening right next to him.

“Alright, alright, let’s go together.” Lu Yun acceded wryly. He really hadn’t dared meet up with the little fox after Qing Yu’s parting words. She may seem like a magnanimous person, but she wasn’t one to be trifled with if she grew jealous.

“That’s more like it.” The now content little fox withdrew her head into his robes.

Lu Yun turned to bow at Hongjun, who waved back at him, before setting foot into the chaos.

Chaos currents brushed past him. With his cultivation at peak empyrean realm, the chaos no longer posed a threat to him. Even the devastating chaos tribulations were nothing but a gentle breeze. And while his cultivation was at empyrean realm, his true level of strength was long past the chaos.

“Heh heh heh… You actually dared come here, brat! Do you know the meaning of death?” a sinister voice sounded by his ears.

The ghost ancestor’s laughing and crying face suddenly appeared next to him and came down on Lu Yun’s head with a claw.

Swoosh.

A large abyss appeared next to Lu Yun and another huge claw probed out of it, wreathed by blasts of chilly air. It grabbed onto the ghost ancestor and hauled it into the abyss.