Lu Yun continued to observe the mist-shrouded Skandha Range with mounting concentration.
“You’re telling me that this Skandha Extinction Tomb can end a bloodline? Y- you must be joking.” Qing Han peered intently at his friend’s face, hoping the governor was only being tongue in cheek. Unfortunately, he only found a look of utmost seriousness aimed at the black fog around the mountain range.
The notion of a tomb that could ruin a clan’s fortune was too shocking to believe. Immortals walked the dao to seek long, even extended lives. It was very normal for five-plus generations of a single family to live in the same house. If someone bore a hypothetical grudge against the Qing Clan, they only needed to abduct five members of the main bloodline and set up a tomb complex like this to easily ruin his clan.
Yuchi Hanxing remained silent, but her face revealed that she was equally alarmed by the prospect.
“Look over there,” Lu Yun shook his head. “The black mist around the Skandha Range exists only to hide the tomb beneath it. But it’s not enough to hide the surrounding layout. This is a natural extinction influence in the terrain, the kind that this tomb requires.” The young man spoke with absolute certainty. “This tomb predates the great war, which means it’s at least a hundred thousand years old. It’s still doing what it was designed to do!”
“What?!” Qing Han’s eyes opened wide. He still found it difficult to understand what his friend was saying. A hundred-thousand-year-old tomb that was still doing… what, exactly?
Nevertheless, he’d witnessed Lu Yun’s skills in unraveling formations during their prior adventures in the burial mound and tomb for the living. Despite his current confusion, his confidence remained with his friend.
“I wonder what race has lasted this long under the tomb’s power?” Lu Yun inhaled with wonder. In the present, the world of immortals had no knowledge of feng shui. There was no way a tomb like this could be built now.
If immortals knew feng shui at all, there’d be no reason for their stumbles when exploring ancient tombs. They would’ve swiftly raided every tomb in the world long ago. His four envoys’ memories definitely didn’t contain any information about feng shui, either.
Whatever race it was, its fortunes sure were persistent. Wait, the mist is visibly dissipating at a glacial speed!
When it was all gone, the extinction layout would disappear as well, turning the extinction tomb into an ordinary one. It would also mean that the race’s bloodline was entirely snuffed out.
“Come on. Let’s go inside and take a look!” Lu Yun’s heart welled up with eagerness. He practically leaped down from the fortress ship, the two girls close behind. One of his sect’s forefathers had excavated a Skandha Tomb before, albeit one that had already done its job and ended some poor sap’s family line.
The fog was nearly solid within the mountain range. It was barely possible to see one’s fingers, whether with the eye or the consciousness. Thankfully, the Heavenly Formation of the Black Tortoise had already cleared a path through the haze, allowing direct passage into the Skandha Range.
“What a huge willow tree!” Qing Han’s eyes widened at the tree in front of them. Its trunk was practically a huge wall, and its boughs reached up into the sky. “Why couldn’t I see it from the outside?”
He hadn’t given much thought to his friend’s mention of a ‘desolate willow’ earlier. It was his first time in the mountain range, and he really hadn’t thought the tree would be anything extraordinary.
“This willow itself is a layout… er, a formation’s nexus. Of course its exterior would be hidden.” Lu Yun looked the black willow up and down. “This willow looks just as desolate as the books said it should be. It must’ve taken more than a hundred thousand years for it to grow this big!”
The Heavenly Formation of the Black Tortoise continued circulating, bringing an immeasurable amount of natural energy down on the locale. All races of otherkind cultivators in the Skandha Range, big and small alike, as well as the giant willow, had been brought to their knees.
“Governor of Dusk!” A human face suddenly appeared upon the willow’s black bark. Its humongous eyes glared vicious daggers at Lu Yun.
“You must be that so-called Dusk Lord… mm, Lord Shithead, I’d say.” Lu Yun glanced sidelong at the nearby pond as he said this. [1]
Splash.
Any further words he had were cut short as the inky pond erupted in a ferocious wave, carrying a dusken turtle out of the depths atop a geyser. The turtle was almost half a kilometer wide! Even more surprising, it had a dragon’s head.
Sharp, bony spikes protruded from every inch of its reptilian armor, as well as its joints and tail. Its armaments cut a fearsome picture.
“A juba!” Lu Yun and Qing Han uttered in unison.
The juba was a majestic spirit with dragon blood in its veins. According to legend, it was descended from Baxia, one of the nine sons of the Dragon King. Just like its progenitor, its rippling strength could move mountains and seas.
Boom!
In the same instant as the juba’s emergence, a ball of water more than thirty-six meters in diameter barreled at Lu Yun, crackling with electricity.
“It’s a trap!” The young man paled. He’d noticed something lurking in the nearby pond, but a terrifying juba? The Heavenly Formation of the Black Tortoise, still floating in midair, seemed to have no effect on the new monster spirit.
A thick humidity permeated the air; Lu Yun could feel the claustrophobic feeling of suffocation settle in all around him, almost as if he were drowning in the sea.
“Formation, rise!” Yuchi Hanxing exclaimed forcefully. The heavenly formation descended at her command, shielding Lu Yun from the ball of power.
An explosive din reverberated through the air. Lightning and waves lit up the sky over the Skandha Range as the Heavenly Formation of the Black Tortoise shattered from the impact.
In the rippling aftershocks, countless soldiers of the Dusk Phalanx were turned to dust. Every spirit under the formation’s former influence was freed from their bonds.
“Hahahaha!” The juba roared. “The Heavenly Formation of the Black Tortoise is anathema to all monster spirits, but not I! We juba are the children of Baxia and descendants of dragons. Your pathetic formation can’t restrain me!”
Its body abruptly ballooned to ten times its original size and a claw with talons as sharp as a dragon’s slammed toward Lu Yun.
Hum.
A hoary halo appeared around Yuchi Hanxing. She produced an icy halberd, jabbing it at the claw as viciously as she could. Qing Han took this opportunity to grab Lu Yun before flying back in a hasty retreat.
“Don’t use that scroll!” Seeing his friend reach for the Scroll of Shepherding Immortals sent Lu Yun into a panic; he stopped Qing Han as soon as he noticed.
“But….” Qing Han colored. He wanted to say something, but Lu Yun put a hand over his mouth.
Qing Han is too naïve! He didn’t know how many pairs of eyes were watching them from outside the mountain range. If he said even half a word about the scroll, he’d be cut to pieces as soon as he left the province.
“It’s just a juba,” Lu Yun snickered. “All yours, Aoxue!”
“As you wish,” a frosty voice echoed. The scent and aura of blood unceremoniously filled the air, heralding the appearance of a figure dyed a faint crimson. “A juba who dares style itself royalty?” Aoxue’s slender form came into view.
“Wait, you’re…! How can this be?!” The juba gasped in shock.
1. The shithead insult is also a derogatory form of reference for turtles.
1. The shithead insult is also a derogatory form of reference for turtles.