Chapter 16

Nine golden dragons emerged, light gleaming off burnished scales and scaled claws. They exactly fit the image of the mythical dragons of Earth. Each was more than five kilometers long, but their bodies shrunk as they dove, simultaneously slamming into the giant willow.

Old Willow yelled in terror, but he was unable to stop the dragons from quickly shredding him to pieces. A faint scroll of painting emerged beside Yuying, protecting Lu Yun and Wanfeng from the debris.

“Is he dead?” Lu Yun collapsed to the ground, utterly drained. Even lifting a finger felt like too tall an order.

“The willow tree spirit is dead, master.” Yuying stowed away the Panorama of Clarity and helped Lu Yun up. It would be a while yet before he could stand on his own two feet.

“I had no idea that formations were this powerful. A feng shui layout pales in comparison,” Lu Yun sighed dejectedly. Were the feng shui layouts of Earth different from the formations of this world after all?

In his eyes, the Enneawyrm Provenance Formation was essentially the Enneawyrm Coffinbearers layout, but feng shui on Earth didn’t possess such unbelievable power. The entire city had slightly shuddered when the nine dragons hit the ground. If the manor hadn’t been part of the formation, it would be a pile of rubble right now.

Wait, that’s not true! Realization suddenly struck him. Formations and feng shui are two sides of the same coin. Formations are the yang side, and feng shui the yin. To utilize the full potential of a formation, imbuing it with the qi of heaven and earth is necessary. However, there’s no such qi on Earth. That’s why layouts there can only demonstrate the feng shui side of things, but not the power of a formation.

Anything related to feng shui had disappeared from the world of immortals, while formations contained absolutely no power on Earth.

Thanks to absorbing Yuying’s experience after obtaining her as an envoy, the now widely-read Lu Yun had quickly deduced the rules of the world here. That was also how he’d activated the Enneawyrm Provenance Formation.

With the Enneawyrm Coffinbearers becoming his personal combat art, he realized that he could control the city formation like he could the combat art.

It’s a shame that Yuying is a pill master. Her experience mostly has to do with pill refining, and she barely knows anything at all about formations. Lu Yun sighed inwardly. It looks like I should study formations as well over the next few months, apart from cultivating.

Formations of the immortal world were utterly fascinating to him.

“You should stop worrying, Wanfeng. Go to bed and sleep until your body’s had enough.” Lu Yun patted Wanfeng’s head when he saw how despondent she looked.

“Milord,” Wanfeng bit her lip, “if milord desires this servant’s spiritual root, it is yours whenever you wish.” She had reverted back to her old address for Lu Yun.

“Silly girl, why would I want your spiritual root?” Lu Yun laughed and added with a smile, “I found an Aurum Openia Pill in the tomb and already took it. I’m a cultivator now. Allow me to introduce you to this lady here. She’s the Pill Fairy Yuying you were talking about, but you have to keep her identity a secret!”

Wanfeng’s eyes widened and she gaped at Yuying in disbelief. Though Yuying looked familiar, so many things had happened since Wanfeng’s awakening that she hadn’t had the time to think. This inhumanly beautiful fairy is Yuying?!

“But, isn’t she dead?” The maid had yet to pick her jaw up from the floor.

“She wasn’t dead, just severely injured. She’d been recovering in the ancient tomb.” Lu Yun wasn’t sure how he should explain it, so he came up with a casual lie.

“Ah, I see!” A big smile tugged at Wanfeng’s lips, then she sagged and fainted again.

Yuying caught her and sighed softly. “Master, the matriarch—”

“Don’t!” Lu Yun hastily interjected. “Wanfeng is no matriarch. She’s only fourteen or fifteen—that makes her a minor. I’m not that much of a pervert. I’m a man with principles.”

Yuying blushed. “You’re only about fifteen yourself, master,” she muttered as she carried Wanfeng to her room.

Meanwhile, Lu Yun ascended the Mooncatcher Tower and tilted his head up to gaze at the starry sky. It was still that familiar sight. There were some differences in the positioning and look of the stars, but otherwise it was almost identical to the night skies of Earth.

I should be able to apply my feng shui knowledge to the stars as well. Now that I’m a cultivator, the yin energy in the manor is harmless. Still, I have to adjust the feng shui of the residence. Not now, though. I’ll do it six months later, once I’ve successfully retained the position of governor. Lu Yun was mentally sketching out his future.

It was late at night and the governor of Dusk sat cross-legged atop the tower, black qi slowly circulating in his body. This would be the first time he cultivated purposefully.

The Method of Life and Death!

Though he was new to cultivation, he could draw on all of Yuying’s experience in progressing from qi application to transformed spirit. The endless supply of qi from the heavens and earth converged from all directions, entering his body through the top of his head and slowly wandering through his meridians.

Although the Tome of Life and Death has awakened my dormant bloodline, I still need an Aurum Openia Pill to accelerate my cultivation. I can’t have Yuying give me the pill, though. Feng Li said someone would deliver one to me in a few days, and they should be here soon. Lu Yun stopped and shook his head.

He was a cultivator, but his body was too frail. His hard work tonight had completely failed to improve his cultivation. Clearly, he still needed the Aurum Openia Pill to change his constitution.

Oh? He froze. What’s this? He closed his eyes and found something new in his mind.

Method of Life and Death, realms of yin and yang. Connect yin and yang to walk the two realms!

Whoosh!

A chilly gust of wind whipped past Lu Yun, marking the disappearance of his body.

Is this the underworld?

He looked up and scanned his surroundings. It was a tattered world of ruined ground and ashen sky, without even a hint of life. Next to him rose a stele, upon which four words were written in blood: Gates of the Abyss.

So, there really is such a thing as the underworld? Lu Yun paused next to the stele. If it’s destroyed, what does that make me? One of the Yama Kings? A judge? Or Ox-Head and Horse-Face, the guardians of the underworld?

He mentally paged through the legends he knew. Judging from what he could do at the moment, he seemed to possess more power than a Yama King.

Immortals had transcended the three realms and five elements, so the Yama Kings had no power over their lives. However, if Lu Yun could reach the apex of cultivation and tap into the full potential of the Tome of Life and Death, even the mythical immortal emperors would live and die at his will.

I’m getting ahead of myself. What’s the use of the method and the two realms? Lu Yun scratched his head. With a single thought, he returned to the top of the Mooncatcher Tower. No living beings can survive within that gate except for me and Yuying. He fell into deep thought.