Necropolis Immortal

“Fire Virtue Potentate…” The Fish King sank into contemplation when she heard the name and stared at the flames below. “Since he’s a potentate, then he’s on par with the eleven rulers of the ten divine nations. But why does the azure dragon ancestral god say that even the fourth realm will suffer if he is released?”

Though she hadn’t been able to speak earlier, she’d heard Lu Yun’s conversation with the azure dragon. She just hadn’t been able to interject.

“The azure dragon’s will is sullied by something. Though he hasn’t lost his sense of self, he voices endless lies.” Lu Yun shook his head. “He probably doesn’t even remember what he just said, so we can’t trust anything he shares.”

“But… the Opposition Supreme did indeed exist once…” the Fish King said hesitantly.

“We can trust maybe half of what he says, think of the other half as just a joke.” Lu Yun opened the Spectral Eye and scanned the field of fire virtue. It teemed with death notices and information, most likely an ancient battlefield judging from its timeworn nature.

Time held no strength in the Hongmeng, so many things were preserved in good shape when not eroded by outside force. The death information here, for one, remained untouched by the power of destruction.

“It looks like the azure dragon didn’t lie this time, an utmost powerhouse of the chaos did indeed die here.” Lu Yun furrowed his brows and shook his formation robes, drifting down toward the flames.

They were just like the lake waters above them—bottomless and unfathomable.

The creatures of destruction that the Fish King had rebuffed earlier charged them again after momentary respite. They seemed endless—the life forms within fire virtue seemed more bloodthirsty and savage than those in water virtue. More than ten thousand of them attacked Lu Yun’s group before they’d descended fifty kilometers.

While the core essence of fire virtue life forms was the same as water virtue beings, they differed when it came to external appearance. Water virtue life forms mostly resembled different kinds of fish, while fire virtue beings took on strange shapes. Some were only a head, others were an arm or a leg, and some were just an eyeball.

“Do you guys realize… that the creatures of destruction here probably grew out of someone’s corpse?” Feng Qi shifted uncomfortably.

He was of no help whatsoever in an environment like this; he’d even drag them down instead. As strong as his battle strength was, he needed to be in melee range to fight his opponents. But if he charged into the crowd of creatures, he wouldn’t be coming back.

“This is the final battlefield in the struggle to take down the Fire Virtue Potentate,” Lu Yun nodded. “He was probably unkillable and could resurrect in this boundless fire virtue, so the four ancestral gods and six great supremes built what’s present here.”

“Six great supremes?” The Fish King blinked.

“The four ancestral gods of the Hongmeng and six great supremes of the chaos were present—five of the supremes died and left only the Opposition Supreme. I wonder if he died in the end too? Probably, why else would no one know of his name?” Lu Yun murmured to himself.

“Found it, right here!” He suddenly stopped and fixed his gaze at the void ahead.

There didn’t seem anything different about this location compared to others. Fire virtue, the order of opposition, and the power of destruction filled it to capacity.

“This… this orb looks so delicious!” Feng Qi gulped hard. An orb that blazed like a fireball reflected in his eyes and the Hongmeng Treasurehunter Rat in his arms drooled incessantly.

“This is an ultimate treasure of the realm, a fire spirit pearl… no, the Fire Virtue Orb!” exclaimed the Fish King. “It’s a treasure that became a connate item—it’s an egg!”

“An egg of the Fire Virtue Potentate?” Lu Yun blinked. “No, wait. Although a fire virtue creature is being nurtured inside, it’s not the Fire Virtue Potentate. The potentate is dead and buried in this tomb. He won’t transform himself into an egg before the layout of the tomb is dismantled…”

He grabbed at the air and retrieved the Fire Virtue Orb hidden in the void, handing it to Feng Qi.

“Go ahead and boil it,” Lu Yun said.

Feng Qi swallowed hard and smiled ruefully. “How about a few more fruit instead? What’s developing inside is possibly one of the powerhouses that died in the ancient battlefield. I won’t be able to sleep at night if I eat it.”

As gluttonous as he was, he wasn’t a complete lunatic. But when he was starving, he was crazier than a lunatic.

He held the orb with both hands and went almost cross-eyed staring at it, but he kept himself firmly in check and didn’t even lick it.

Lu Yun nodded and threw another couple of karmic fruits at Feng Qi. Those he did quickly devour.

“If it wasn’t for this thing nurturing a living being, it would be worth less than a karmic fruit. Whichever one of you wants it can have it.” Lu Yun didn’t want the Fire Virtue Orb, he only had one goal in mind here: he wanted to use the hellfire of order to eliminate the Fire Virtue Potentate. His fire of order would attain great perfection then and he’d be able to continue on the path of cultivation.

Thus, he didn’t want to be caught up in any unnecessary karma before he saw the potentate’s body, just in case it gave rise to unexpected developments later on.

“You’re giving it to us, just like that?” Feng Qi looked askance at him.

“I’ll hold onto it.” The Fish King snatched it out of his hands before he could react. “I’m worried you’ll eat it at some point if you get hungry enough. The Immortal King is right—the orb’s greatest value isn’t in the fact that it’s an ultimate treasure of the realm, but in the life that developed in it.”

“Okay.” Feng Qi took a careful look at the Fish King and didn’t fight her for it. “I wonder if there’s any other ultimate treasures here, I’ve never eaten one.” He licked his lips.

“There’s many, too many to be counted,” Lu Yun mentioned. “Most of them belonged to the ancient experts who died here, and some came into being through to the special circumstances of this environment.

“However, ultimate treasures of the realm have their own spirits. Since they know you want to eat them, they’ll never show themselves,” he snorted with laughter.

“I’m just saying, I wouldn’t really eat them.” Feng Qi pouted. “There’s a coffin over there!” His eyes suddenly lit up. “Is that what you’re looking for?”

“Coffin?!” Lu Yun went slack jawed with shock. He whirled around and grabbed Feng Qi and the Fish King, propelling himself upward with everything he had.

“The Fire Virtue Potentate is buried here, but not to rest in peace. This tomb means to seal him away forever, so there shouldn’t be a coffin here!” He was so stressed that he didn’t sound like himself anymore. “A coffin being present here means that someone else is also buried here. The tomb layout will break!”

etvolare's Thoughts

Miao tomb flashbacks, anyone?