Necropolis Immortal

The powerhouses of the chief worlds were up to no good at every second, employing wiles and trickery to recruit locals and expand their influence. But after those from the Autumnus Realm entered the fourth realm, they disappeared like a drop of water melting into the sea.

The azure dragon ancestral god had said that those from the Autumnus Realm were here for the powerhouse that’d entered the fourth realm with their primary body. And now Chu Xingran said that the strongest in the chief worlds came from the Autumnus Realm, that they were already here.

……

Chu Xingran held his forehead when he heard Lu Yun’s question. “The Azureclad, Purpleclad, and Crimsonclad Dukes were once hailed the strongest of the younger generation in the Hongmeng. What of them?”

“They were artificially boosted to that reputation?” Lu Yun gaped.

“They fought their way to that reputation… The various heavyweights of the chief worlds have all suffered defeats at that one’s hands, and extremely bad defeats at that. The current Moran patriarch, as well as that of the azure and golden dragons, have all lost to that one.” Chu Xingran shrugged. “They’ve never seen or fought the ones that you speak of, so they have no basis of comparison. Those names reside in the myths and legends of the chief worlds, and it’s only a few exceedingly old fellows who’ve had any doings with them. The current strongest of the chief worlds is no ancient existence.”

“Oh, so it’s like Guan Yu fighting Qin Qiong,” Lu Yun nodded. “I thought you were talking about yourself.”

Chu Xingran blinked, then pointed at his nose. “I am Chu Xingran.”

“I know you are,” Lu Yun winked. “You’re also the Curse King and Poison King.”

“I’m alive strictly because of you,” Chu Xingran winked back. “I don’t have any kind of special identity. I’m just luckier than most and got my hands on a nice treasure that makes those old things fear me more.

“Remember the fragment of the Firmament Prison that I gave you?” he pointed out. “I picked that up in the ruins of the Firmament Prison. Those ruins are shards of the primeval heavenly court and I found something there that makes the old things afraid of me.”

Chu Xingran wasn’t content to just play the hand he’d been dealt with in life. Secret locations abounded in the chief worlds and he often explored them. Making it out alive from them naturally meant that he’d reap numerous opportunities.

“Really?” Lu Yun looked sidelong at him. “You know most of my secrets, but I barely know anything about you.”

A sheepish expression crossed Chu Xingran’s face. Lu Yun had established his hell dao, formed relationships with Leize and Fuxi, and retrieved his hells right in front of him. The young man had been very candid about many of the land’s secrets and his own trump cards.

Lu Yun brought this up now not because he didn’t trust Chu Xingran, but that he truly knew nothing about the man. That made it difficult to formulate his future plans and identify where to put the Chu Xingran among them.

It was one thing if they were discussing run-of-the-mill happenings and striking up a friendship. But under present circumstances, every step that Lu Yun took was a matter of life and death. If he did anything wrong, it was very possible that the entire Land of Reincarnation would pay the price.

Take current events, for example. Three hundred supremes encircled the Star Formula Academy and took them all hostage. The outsiders conquered thirty-six plane clusters at the same time, manifesting the heaven and earth of the chief worlds. Lu Yun hadn’t been able to respond to that.

“Alright then,” Chu Xingran said resignedly and slapped his forehead. “In the Primeval Era—and I mean the Primeval Era of the chief worlds—there was a behemoth that ruled over everything. That was the primeval heavenly court and the name ‘chief worlds’ originates from that period.

“The primeval heavenly court was similar to the feudal dynasties of Earth. It was one massive dynasty that governed with absolute authority and the court built the Firmament Prison to suppress the worlds, later establishing hell dao out of it. The dao of the five hells from the god of Mount Tai comes from the primeval heavenly court.

“The court was destroyed overnight one day, leaving no one able to unify and rule the chief worlds since.

“The azure dragon ancestral god and others had official titles and positions at court. When I visited their ruins, I obtained the heavenly court’s heritage and can be considered as something like their crown prince. If I’d like, I can summon their surviving troops and create another behemoth faction at the very least.

“When it comes down to it, I originally entered the Land of Reincarnation to evade the old things that wanted to take the heritage from me.”

Those loyal to a fault would treat Chu Xingran as the court’s heir and crown prince, but some only wanted the legacy that he’d gained. Vicious and dangerous were an individual’s motives, and something didn’t belong to one just because they’d acquired it.

Chu Xingran would have to become much stronger than he was now if he wanted to rebuild the primeval heavenly court. He’d at least have to exceed supreme, otherwise the heritage would just be a source of trouble for him.

He hadn’t been willing to say anything before because of this.

The four ancestral gods were great gods conferred by the court and as a result, possessed certain karmic ties to it. That was why he’d helped them evade the powerhouse who’d come in search of them. The azure dragon ancestral god had sent a ray of his will into Chu Xingran then, disguising him as the azure dragon heir so that the dragons would protect him.

The spacetime travelers also had something to do with the primeval heavenly court. Moran Dongning wasn’t one to begin with, she’d followed the Spacetime King here to avoid certain things in her clan. Becoming a spacetime traveler was largely tied to the legacy that Chu Xingran wielded, which was why she looked at him with different eyes.

It was just that he’d never wanted to expose this part of himself, so he’d never interacted with Moran Dongning. The dragons were different—the ancestral god was their faith and belief. A single word from the ancestral god could willingly compel the entire race, especially the azure dragons, to fight to their deaths. The Morans, however, were a clan. They had no faith in anything other than the fist, and internal politics were complicated beyond regard.

“The legacy of the heavenly court!” Chu Xingran sighed. “I don’t want it, but it’s stuck to me like plaster and I can’t pull it off no matter what. Those who know the truth and want the heavenly court must kill me to get it. I don’t want to die, so I can only hide.

“Thank goodness though, that those old things only know the legacy’s gone. They don’t know it’s with me.”

Out of the supremes searching through the Land of Reincarnation, some were also here to investigate the whereabouts of the heavenly court’s heritage.

Lu Yun widened his eyes, guessing at something when he saw Chu Xingran’s expression. The young man paled with horror.

“You… didn’t take the heritage out of the Land of Reincarnation, did you? You left it here!” His lips trembled.

“Yep, and it’s on you,” Chu Xingran nodded.

Lu Yun shuddered involuntarily—he knew what it was.

“Impossible! Isn’t that from the god of Mount Tai?! And you came to the Land of Reincarnation only thirty-three loops ago. That thing’s always been here…” Lu Yun took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.