“What’s that? That thing in his hand, it looks like a compass. It revealed the truth of our surroundings!” Some shifted their attention from the ghosts and zombies to the item in Lu Yun’s hand.
A luopan!
Its golden light had revealed all the creatures and layouts in the area for what they were.
“No wonder Lu Yun and Qing Han were able to make their way here safely as two cultivators. Such a treasure can reveal all dangers in a tomb. If I can get my hands on it....”
All eyes were suddenly on the compass Lu Yun was holding, the Witherdew celestial emperor and Donglin E’s included.
“That’s refined from a Ten Orientations Stone,” identified a well-cultured voice.
Immortals turned to find a young man with the air of a mortal scholar leisurely leaning against a rock.
“The ten Orientations Stone?” The ingredient took them by surprise, its name well-known to their ears.
It was an extremely rare material that exceeded ninth rank. Any master refiner in the world of immortals would go mad with want if they laid eyes on it.
“A year and a half ago, the Panorama Pavilion held an auction for the stone in Xiankan and it ended up in Lu Yun’s hand,” Qing Yunhe said at a deliberate pace. “At that time, Grandmaster Zhurong Cangshan of the Zhurong Clan asked Lu Yun for it, but was convinced to give up after Lu Yun demonstrated the greatest technique of equipment dao: the forge of earth and sky.
“He said he was going to refine a treasure with the stone. It would seem that he succeeded.”
“Qing Yunhe from the Qing Clan!” Many immortals recognized him.
“What evidence do you have to support your claim that it was refined from a Ten Orientations Stone?” An aether dao immortal from House Donglin narrowed his eyes with a scoff. “You’d better think first about the consequences before you run your mouth!”
This compass could reveal every evil and trap in ancient tombs, which in itself made it remarkably valuable, even more so than the Ingress Path of Nephrite Major.
If Lu Yun had acquired it, it wouldn’t be that much of a big deal. But if the youth had refined it himself... the ramifications of that were great enough to disrupt the status quo of the world of immortals.
The Ten Orientations Stone was rare, but if Lu Yun could refine one compass, he could refine many more. Most heavyweights were already convinced, but just didn’t want to admit it.
“You haven’t noticed, have you?” Canghai Chengfeng spoke up from Qing Yunhe’s side, someone else who’d slipped back after receiving his marching orders. “Lu Yun used a combat art or method when activating the compass. Only with the two in tandem can the treasure fulfill its true purpose.”
“Lu Yun’s mastered a special heritage, a heritage for raiding ancient tombs.” His tone was casual, but what he’d said almost drove everyone mad. They stared ardently at Lu Yun like they had at the Fire Parasol Tree. A living treasure moved and breathed right before their eyes!
“However, he’s also the head of the Star Demon Sect,” Canghai Chengfeng continued, effectively dousing his audience with a bucket of freezing water and snapping them out of their greedy craze.
“Star Demon Sect, Star Demon Sect....” The knowledge weighed heavily on everyone’s mind.
Even the Witherdew celestial emperor looked wary. His relentless pressure and persecution of the Star Demon Sect was only to intimidate them, making them so cautious that they wouldn’t make a move against him while he grew and filled out his wings.
Canghai Chengfeng and Qing Yunhe exchanged a look.
“That must be what Lu Yun meant when he said supplemental paths as king and wanting to raid all the tombs in the world....”
……
Lu Yun was now close to the Ghost Tree bathed in blazing fire. Golden light shot out from the luopan, seemingly forming several minor worlds to drive away the unholy beings. While the Dragonsearch Invocation hummed in continual operation, the indicators and three layers of the compass continued to overlap and diverge, deducing the truth of the place.
“This isn’t the heart of the dragon nest, but a qi point.
“This nest lays at the intersection of water and fire, which happens to form a great influence of the world. We are at the point of fire, so there must be a place of water somewhere else in the nest. If there’s a creature like this there as well...” Lu Yun mumbled, his forehead slightly creased.
Dragon nests were the ancestral lands of the dragon clan where dragonlings were nurtured, So this couldn’t be a layout of yin and yang. Those represented life and death, and were layouts for the dead.
Although this place had been modified into a tomb, it was still a dragon nest. Only through the interaction of water and fire could there be a layout facilitating procreation and the flourishing of one’s descendants.
The dragon nest itself was a grand influence of feng shui where water and fire intersected. If Lu Yun’s theory was right, the fire enveloping the Ghost Tree must be the ancestral fire of the dragons.
The fire had been extinguished when the nest was changed into a tomb, but for some reason, the Fire Parasol Tree then appeared here and ignited it anew with its connate fire.
What about the water point? How is that manifested? The vast North Sea, or... Questions chased after each other in Lu Yun’s thoughts.
The Ghost Tree had become one with the dragon nest, devouring the souls and bodies of entering dragons to revitalize itself. But as long as it hadn’t completely come back to life, Lu Yun could use the layout against it. The key to destroying the place of fire was the place of water.
Only, he couldn’t be sure if the latter had also become host to another terrible creature.
“Wait! Point of water… can it be?!” A shudder ran down his spine as he recalled a terrible being.
Water Ghost Grasp!
A monster that was both spirit and layout. Even Lu Yun couldn’t find a way to deal with it.
That’s right. Water has no form, and it’s not confined to a single location. The layout of Water Ghost Grasp must be the place of water...
The luopan in his hand flared again, driving back the agitated monsters as his mind raced.
The Ghost Tree teetered between the realm of life and death. Though its will continued to influence the monsters around them, it hadn’t yet been fully resurrected.
Lu Yun poured everything he had into the luopan and pushed it to its limit, suppressing the Ghost Tree’s natural instincts while his brain went into overdrive, searching for a way to kill it.
“Qing Han!” he transmitted suddenly. “Go back to the room where we encountered Qing Quan. The Water Ghost Grasp must be there. Try to lure it here!”
A way to locate its true self had suddenly struck him.
“That won’t be necessary,” a voice murmured at his ear. “I’m already here.”