The thing that’d killed Lu Shenhou had known the human would return; that was why his body had purposefully been left behind. Without seeing his body, Lu Shenhou would’ve lived forever in blissful ignorance.
None of the tomb monsters or layouts could hurt him, since he was already dead. No matter where he went—even if he entered the bronze door—he would end up here, the place of his death and where his unfinished business lingered: to repair the broken cultivation path.
Leaving his body behind had triggered his death upon his return. That also meant the monster that’d shattered the arcane dao immortal power might still be around.
The group raised their guard and carefully scanned the area.
“Get back!” Lu Yun flashed over to Zi Chen and pulled the youth to his side, summoning the Sugato Sword and unleashing its energies at the same time “Something’s happening to Shenhou’s remains,” he hissed.
“What?!” The others trained their gazes upon the body.
It was reanimating.
A thick, metallic tang of blood burrowed into their noses as crimson fluid gushed out of the body to converge into a humanoid monster. When it took concrete shape, it slowly rose to its feet. Roughly seven feet in height, blood-red scales covered its lithe body and a tail dragged behind it, looking, for all intents and purposes, like a humanoid lizard. Its open maw revealed sharp teeth that were still dripping with blood.
Crack!
Suddenly, the monster lowered its head and bit into Lu Shenhou’s body, swallowing it whole.
Hum.
Crimson light receded, leaving behind inky-black scales that glowed dimly with a dark splendor.
“It’s evolving from a spirit into a living creature!” Face clouding over, Wu Tulong manifested a lance.
“Grrrawl!” A low growl emitted from the monster’s mouth. It stared at the five of them with black eyes, hunger flashing within.
Devouring the living would allow it to evolve further.
“Die!!” commanded Lu Yun, pointing at the monster.
Puff!
A ball of black flame ignited on its body, swifting spreading all over and interrupting its lunge at the humans. Briefly freezing with shock, it had time for a brief, pained shriek before turning to dust.
Where did it come from? It’s accumulated so much bad karma that the karma is almost tangible! Just how many has it killed?!
He may have killed the monster with the Judgment of Life and Death, but he was still reeling from what he’d just seen. That thing could rival the akasha ghosts summoned by the layout of certain death! More importantly, the monster had left nothing behind in the wake of its destruction, and it hadn’t turned into an Infernum.
It had no soul!
“That’s… the technique you’ve used to kill Beigong Yu, isn’t it?” Mo Qitian gawked in shock. In his eyes, that point was almost god-like in its power. The monster had broken through a dao immortal barrier and killed Lu Shenhou. However, Lu Yun had killed it with a single point, the same thing he’d done to Beigong Yu back in Dusk Province.
“That’s one of my secret techniques.” Lu Yun nodded.
The others didn’t continue the line of questioning. Secret techniques weren’t something to get to the bottom of.
“No one move yet,” Lu Yun hurried out when the others shifted to look around the chamber. “The monster was just an accidental intruder. The real danger in the chamber hasn’t manifested yet.”
He spoke quickly and with great urgency, deeply worried that his companions would trigger the most dangerous thing in the tomb—the fourth coiled mountain of the Door of Demise. Fortunately, he’d broken the first three layers of coiled mountains, or he’d be helpless against the fourth. Four coiled mountains combined and the entire layout manifested would kill even the nine celestial emperors in the flesh.
Qing Han had stuck by Lu Yun’s side all this time, never straying more than a step away from his friend; he knew that the safest place in any tomb was with Lu Yun. The other three quickly returned and warily scanned their surroundings.
"To seek a dragon of mountains coiled,
Those deathly cliffs with mysteries roiled.
Danger shies if mountains hide,
Yin and yang do mountains ride!"
Hum.
Lu Yun’s luopan burst forth with golden light, illuminating the modestly sized chamber.
“What the hell!!” Everyone’s eyes shot wide open with shock.
Where the light reached revealed walls and floor tiles made of corpses. The entire chamber seemed to have been built with layer upon layer of dead bodies. Incomprehensibly dense, the entire room was comprised of corpses.
Gazes empty and smiles eerie, every head faced the group. It felt like they’d been buried by an endless supply of corpses.
“What was this chamber built with? What’s going on?!” Qing Han’s voice shook as he tightly held onto Lu Yun’s elbow.
“This is the resting place for the path of cultivation.” Lu Yun patted his friend’s shoulder. “These people are its burial goods.” He activated his Spectral Eye to read the information from the bodies.
“The realm beyond the spirit realm was hacked away. All cultivators of that realm and anyone who knew about it, be they cultivators, immortals, or even mortals were killed and buried with it. Since everyone who knew about the realm died, and all its records and methods destroyed, the realm effectively ceased to exist. Thus the path of cultivation was severed. This chamber is the fourth coiled mountain of the Door of Demise...” murmured Lu Yun. “The Avici Cell layout.”
Another clue that pointed to hell existing at one point in time!
Avici was the eighteenth level of hell that hawked immortality as its worst torment. An eternity of suffering and torture with no hope of reincarnation awaited those sentenced to this level. The feng shui of the main chamber was based on the Avici Hell, and therefore possessed its power. Even the dead could continue to live!
“So the mortals in the town outside and Lu Shenhou have retained the illusion of living because of this place.” Lu Yun paled slightly.
Hell had crumbled long ago, taking with it the Avici Hell. However, someone had built this chamber with the eighteenth layer of hell as a blueprint, manifesting its power in the world of immortals and creating many living dead.
Nevertheless, this didn’t compare to the real Avici Hell, which allowed dead spirits to become truly immortal. This layout only allowed the dead to continue living as long as they believed they were alive. Once that belief was shattered, the living dead would fade away.
“Lu Yun, don’t you think the corpses seem alive…?” Qing Han asked nervously with round eyes.
“The power of the Avici Hell has activated,” muttered Lu Yun. “The dead here will come back to life as living corpses....”