Necropolis Immortal

“You’re a figurehead?” Lu Yun paused, dazed by the declaration.

“Indeed, that I am,” Jian Zhuxian smiled with resignation. “What else should I be otherwise? Dead like Xianxian or Luxian? Heh, Juexian is lucky because there’s traces of you on him. That’s why he’s alive—so he can be bait. The Luminaries saw everything when Yun Zhongzi visited us a hundred years ago.”

Lu Yun remained silent; this was different from his expectations. Ingress Sword Island hadn’t changed allegiances, but surrendered.

“The Luminaries want sword dao and Ingress Sword Island represents all of the sword dao in the Hongmeng. That’s why they marched on us. Without a sequence expert in residence, my faction is nothing before the Luminaries,” murmured Jian Zhuxian as he tilted his head to the sky.

“Can’t you set foot into sequence yourself?” Lu Yun asked. In his eyes, Jian Zhuxian absolutely had the strength to.

“Set foot into sequence? What an easy thing to speak of. It’s been countless eons since the dawn of the new epoch, but no one has been able to do so in the known expanses of the Boundless Planes,” Jian Zhuxian chuckled ruefully. “So many seniors stronger than me have failed to accomplish this achievement, so what right do I have to succeed?”

Lu Yun blinked when he heard the response, realizing that something was gravely amiss. Jian Zhuxian’s memories and knowledge had been altered, just like his had once been. It seemed that anyone who had the potential to access sequence would have their understanding of the world altered to believe that this was an impossible task.

Thankfully, Lu Yun possessed the Tome of Life and Death. His true memories and knowledge would return as soon as the slightest suspicion developed in his mind. Lacking the same advantage, Jian Zhuxian wouldn’t know the truth unless a sequence expert restored his memories and knowledge.

Who knew what other nonsense was present in Jian Zhuxian’s mind? There was at least enough to make him dispirited about his future. It was probably why he’d been permitted to live, and it’d likely take Daoist Ingress to restore his memories.

Lu Yun remained silent.

“So what if I can access sequence? The Quiet Sovereign King, founder of the Sword Clan, is one such powerhouse. His current status? Unknown after persecution from the Luminaries.

“...you should hurry and leave. They want to use me to see if the old man is still alive, so they won’t do anything to me. But you’ll die without a doubt if you remain. Nothing that’s ever emerged from the Central Hongmeng has met with a good end,” Jian Zhuxian advised when he saw that Lu Yun wasn’t responding. “If you’re here for Juexian, he’ll live if you’re alive. If you die… then he’ll die as well.”

“Are the Luminaries not going to stay their hand after Immortal’s End has reappeared?” Lu Yun frowned ferociously.

“Immortal’s End?” Jian Zhuxian chuckled. “Nothing matters if the old man doesn’t show himself, not even if his personal weapon—the Qingping Sword—appears.” [1]

Lu Yun nodded, then waved the armless halves of the Great Brahma into existence.

“This is… the Great Brahma under the Sun Sovereign King’s banner?” Jian Zhuxian’s eyes widened.

“A life for a life, how about it?” Lu Yun called out to the sky. Another figure had appeared over the mountain’s peak at some point in time.

He was dressed in white with white hair and white pupils. His expression was remote and lacked any flicker of emotion. While he was a strong Nihil World Sovereign, he didn’t practice sword dao. Plainly, he wasn’t from Ingress Sword Island. The young man who Lu Yun had knocked unconscious stood next to him.

“That is fine.” The man nodded after a long moment of contemplation. “Since you spared the Great Brahma, we will not seek trouble with you this time. You may go.”

“Milord!” protested the young man.

“All are brothers once they join the Luminaries,” replied the man. “Though our enemies must be eliminated, we cannot have our brothers sacrifice needlessly. It was our mistake to underestimate the Star Sect this time. Our oversight should not be borne by the Great Brahma.

“Bai Hongtian under the Sun Sovereign King’s banner thanks the fellow daoist for your mercy.” The man retrieved the two halves of his comrade’s body with a wave. He raised cupped fists and left with a turn.

“Did you see that? That is the Luminaries. I cannot afford to make enemies of them and neither can you,” Jian Zhuxian sighed after Bai Hongtian left. “Joining the Luminaries means joining a brotherhood, one in which all are equal. Perhaps that’s just a motto, but he was indeed willing to trade Jian Juexian and your life for the Great Brahma.”

Lu Yun inclined his head as he looked in the direction where Bai Hongtian had left. “But their brotherhood extends only to the few, to those strong enough to be extended the right. Look at him, he isn’t part of it.”

The young man whose name Lu Yun still didn’t know pointed at him for a long while before scampering off in shame. He couldn’t fight Lu Yun.

Soon enough, a weary Jian Juexian flew to them from another direction and landed on the mountain peak.

“As I thought, it’s you, Feng Feifan!” Jian Juexian snapped out the name—he knew Lu Yun’s true identity now.

“A name is a name, why be caught up in it?” Lu Yun smiled at his friend.

“Hmph,” Jian Juexian snorted and sat down on the ground, sulking. “They took Immortal’s End and probably won’t give it back to me,” he forced out through grit teeth after a while.

“I’ll take you to your old master, you can train by his side.” Lu Yun didn’t know the relationship between Jian Juexian, Jian Zhuxian, and Daoist Ingress, but referring to the latter as “old man” wasn’t something that anyone could do. Even the disciples that Daoist Ingress had accepted in the great wilderness had to respectfully hail him as the Venerable Sect Master or master.

“Is that old man really still alive?” Jian Zhuxian’s eyes lit up.

“The Great Brahma was worth only me and Jian Juexian, so I can’t take you with me. But if you stay here, Ingress Sword Island is still Ingress Sword Island. If you leave, it will become the Luminaries’ Ingress Sword Island,” Lu Yun asserted solemnly.

Jian Zhuxian nodded.

“Are Jian Xianxian and Jian Luxian both dead?” Lu Yun asked again.

“Dead. Deader than dead,” Jian Zhuxian responded in a muffled voice.

“Give me the legacy for Argent Snow.” Lu Yun suddenly recalled that this man was number one on the Hero Ranking. He would certainly have Argent Snow’s full legacy!

Deriving the heritage of the eight soul weapons was a massive undertaking. Lu Yun had managed only a few bits and pieces, so he would never pass up this opportunity.

“That Bai Hongtian planted a restriction in my soul force just now, I can’t give it to you,” Jian Zhuxian replied helplessly. “But… I can teach it to Juexian, who can then give it to you.”

He pointed before either of the two could respond and sent his Argent Snow heritage into Jian Juexian’s mind.

The recipient grunted ruefully. Though he’d once trained his soul force, he wasn’t interested in it and was only first level. He knew even less of supplemental dao and thus, didn’t understand anything that Jian Zhuxian had shared with him.

“Go on, say hello to the old man for me. Tell him I miss him.” Jian Zhuxian looked at Jian Juexian with a trace of envy.

“I will,” Jian Juexian nodded. “The day he returns is the day that a reckoning of the Luminaries arrives.”

“Lu Yun, you should be counting your lucky stars that it’s the Luminaries against you and not any other faction,” Jian Zhuxian suddenly said meaningfully. “As ambitious as they are, they never conceal their intentions or tracks. They are open, aboveboard, and keep their word. If it was anyone else—like the one who revealed your movements—you’d already be dead.

“The Luminaries always defeat their enemies fair and square so they can intimidate others and rule through virtue.”

“I know what you mean!” Lu Yun nodded. “But an enemy is an enemy. As open, aboveboard, and men of their word they might be, they are still the enemy. When it comes time to kill them, I will not hesitate.”

He raised a cupped fist salute and left with Jian Juexian.

“We’ve released Lu Yun and Jian Juexian. What of your deliberations?” Bai Hongtian appeared next to Jian Zhuxian when the others were gone. One Great Brahma was not enough for two lives.

“Ai… I will join the Luminaries,” Jian Zhuxian heaved an immense sigh and acceded in the end.

Bai Hongtian nodded, then took out the Great Brahma’s two halves.

“Senior, senior brother Bai Hongtian, take me back to headquarters, quick! Ask His Sovereign Majesty to repair my body.” The Great Brahma was awake and his eyes burned with hate. “I’m going to rip that Lu Yun to pieces after I recover!”

“Great Brahma, you have violated a heavenly ordinance and should be sentenced to death,” Bai Hongtian looked at him expressionlessly. “I was investigating just now and confirmed that you released your aura in the World Plane. You massacred three billion, three hundred and ninety-six million, eighty-three thousand innocent souls. Your crimes cannot be forgiven.”

The Great Brahma’s eyes widened.

1. Qingping Jian (green water lily sword) is a complete Chinese sword system which appeared in literature as early as the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220). According to an 18th century book, a Daoist monk named Pan Zhenren created the system. An excellent swordsman and scholar himself, Pan Zhenren is said to have meditated for years on the Dragon & Tiger Mountain. He developed a complete sword system fusing the strengths of many martial arts schools and Daoist theories. ☜