The embryonic minor world was one of the benefits Lu Yun had gained when he became one with the grand influence of the world. Even the peak of feng shui layouts could be projected into the minor world for further study.
Although it might not provide a solution, it could at least point to where the dangers were, enabling Lu Yun to avoid those places. However, the violently contracting thing deep within the abyss presented as a obscured ball of nothingness in the minor world.
He couldn’t tell what it was, but he was certain it’d exceeded a grand influence over the world. Such layouts must exist, but he’d never seen one before today. Who would’ve thought that he’d encounter it here beneath the celestial master tomb!
……
Bam!
The embryonic minor world broke apart and reassembled as a feng shui luopan before falling into Lu Yun’s hand. The Tome of Life and Death that’d kept the minor world intact returned to hovering over Lu Yun’s head to protect him.
Down, I must go down there! I need to know what that thing is! A voice roared incessantly in Lu Yun’s heart. As a tomb raider, he could never resist the temptation to explore the unknown. He’d never once considered if he would be able to stay alive upon embarking on a quest. This was simply an unfathomable question; all he could think of was how to get down there.
Such was a tomb raider’s nature.
Incredibly dense nascent spirit gas surrounded him, and the unusual weight prevented him from using any combat arts. Flying was out of the question, too.
The closer he drew to the abyss, the greater the density of the gaseous sand. The gas and the thing in the dark were working together to pull him down. He would fall to his death as soon as he stepped into the abyss.
What if… I transform into a gas particle of nascent spirit soil? Lu Yun’s eyes lit up with inspiration.
The dirt here was presented in gaseous form and rhythmically moved down the abyss, attracted by whatever was down there. Anything other than nascent spirit sand would be crushed if it took a tumble down.
Lu Yun activated his Spectral Eye and took a good look at the nascent spirit gas, analyzing its structure and properties. Although the dirt-sand mixture had turned to gas, seemingly mixed together completely, he could see how individual particles remained whole and distinct with his Spectral Eye.
The structure of the gaseous sand was highly unusual. To turn himself into one such particle, Lu Yun just needed to understand it inside and out. The death arts of the Tome of Life and Death were so incredibly powerful that he could turn himself into anything he understood the structure of.
Shapeshifting not only allowed him to transform into living spirits and things with a solid form, but gaseous entities were a very real possibility as well. However, the greatest hurdle was that the nascent spirit dirt was something entirely foreign to him.
“I’ve never tried turning myself into gas before...” Dark light shot out of Lu Yun’s eyes as he observed the void closely. He wasn’t looking at the minor world, but the nascent spirit dirt obscuring his vision.
“Heavenly qi! The gaseous sand shares the same structure as heavenly qi!” Lu Yun perked up.
He’d once observed heavenly qi and analyzed its structure with the Spectral Eye, attempting to synthesize it through other means to fertilize Dusk Province. In the end, though, he’d failed.
The content and structure of heavenly qi were just too complicated. Even though Lu Yun could see all of its components clearly, he couldn’t replicate it.
“But there’s something different between this gaseous sand and heavenly qi… Heavenly qi exudes power of great vitality, while nascent spirit soil is lackluster and lifeless. It’s the same structure and components… the dirt is like batteries that have run dry!” Lu Yun finally settled on the proper analogy.
Once drained of all energy, heavenly qi turned into the gaseous sand around him.
“Solid nascent spirit dirt contains the energy of heavenly qi and slowly sublimates it. Once it reaches this place, however, all of the power is drained from the gaseous dirt, leaving behind only empty exhaust.
“The sand is everywhere in the ghost realm. Although the heavenly qi released from the sand isn’t much, it should aggregate to a great amount and fill the ghost realm with an abundance of heavenly qi. Something is exhausting the qi and turning the soil into gaseous sand.”
Apart from the transformed gas of the Scaled-Dragon King, all of the other gas had converged here from the outside world. The nascent spirit dirt wasn’t the only source of such gas.
Once drained of all energy, heavenly qi transformed into this waste as well. It looked like there was something here converting the realm’s heavenly qi and nascent spirit dirt into gas and delivering it into the abyss.
Under the Spectral Eye, the components and structure of the gas were revealed to Lu Yun.
Pop!
The sound of a bubble bursting filled the air as the patch of space where Lu Yun popped, but the youth was nowhere to be seen.
……
“I did it!” Lu Yun was delighted that he’d successfully transformed into gaseous soil. He’d really succeeded in shapeshifting into everything with his death art!
Nascent spirit soil remained as individual particles even in gaseous form, ones smaller than those of the air. Lu Yun had once barely made himself as small as the regular particles with Size Manipulation, but still hadn’t been able to elude detection from dao immortals. As a particle of nascent spirit gas, however, he was small enough that not even dao immortals would sense him.
Lu Yun had not only combined the Shapeshifting and Size Manipulation death arts, but had also burned a karmic fruit to assist himself.
“Thirty breaths. I can only stay in this form for thirty breaths!” Lu Yun was caught by surprise, but didn’t panic.
He was moving far too quickly at the moment. If he hadn’t turned into gas, his original body wouldn’t have been able to survive the speed and he would’ve been crushed immediately.
In only half a breath, he and the rest of the nascent spirit gas had entered the abyss.
“Is it really a pair of lungs?!” Lu Yun was flabbergasted by the sight in front of him.
A pair of lungs lay before him, and they were breathing.