As the shadow giant smashed down on Lu Yun, the two virtue orbs by the young manâs side flared with their respective worlds and met the blow.
The giant scattered as a multitude of shadowy shards; energy from the two worlds churned the shards into nothing. Lu Yun had identified long ago that the power of a world was the antithesis to these shadows. Otherwise, he wouldnât have been able to so easily destroy them with the drawing compass.
Horizonâs Edge was now an enormous drawing compass five thousand kilometers wide over Lu Yunâs head. It began tracing circles in the void, creating one huge circular world after another. They interlocked with each other to form an even more massive and durable world.
Lu Yun didnât immediately cover the burial mound with the world. He was thinking. The headless corpses on the ground were twitching again, but nothing else was happening.
âWhat are you waiting for?â Xing Wuliang asked when Lu Yun continued to hesitate. Brightheart also looked at him, but Lu Yun was looking at Jian Juexian.
âIâve fallen into a trap,â he transmitted to the young man.
âWhat?!â Jian Juexian blinked.
âWe shouldnât have excised those tumors. They arenât trying to erode the tomb, but to break the tombâs layout! Therefore, Iâve set foot into a trap.â Lu Yun brooded ominously.
Cutting out poisonous tumors had granted him the freedom to utilize the strength of a Nihil World Sovereign within the Tomb of the Hallowed Emperor. A world sovereign could break the layouts in the tomb!
The Cloud Sovereign was dead and the tomb had stood for countless eons. Many of its layouts had been depreciated by time. A Nihil World Sovereign was enough to dismantle all of them completely.
If he did so, he would fall into another layoutâthe one who set up the tumors in the tomb.
âThe layout isnât for the entire tombâitâs just for this tomb realm,â Lu Yunâs voice echoed in Jian Juexianâs ears again. âThe creation seed is here!â
âThe creation seed is buried over there!â Jian Juexian jerked with realization. It wasnât a person under the pile of dirt, but the creation seed!
As a mighty Nihil World Sovereign, Jian Juexian would never come in search for another sovereignâs legacy, even if that one had opened the doors to sequence.
âThatâs right!â Lu Yun and Jian Juexian conversed in a way unique to Nihil World Sovereigns. Anyone below their level couldnât see their actions or hear their words.
Lu Yun turned to Xing Wuliang, suddenly grasping why the latterâs shadow hadnât done anything other than simply vanishing on the spot.
Xing Wuliang had also fallen into the trap, but his shadow hadnât due to the other pair of eyes in his pupils. Though he wasnât a Nihil World Sovereign, he was a powerful supplemental grandmaster. His shadow had likely realized something to result in its inaction.
These shadows are controlled by something. Lu Yun once more looked at the headless bodies on the ground.
âDo you sense something off?â he asked out loud.
Xing Wuliang looked around uncertainly, feeling that something had gone wrong now that his junior brother mentioned it.
ââŠsoul force!â He took a deep breath and smiled wryly after cautiously sending out his consciousness. âMy shadow is telling me through soul force that I canât die no matter what, and that I shouldnât use the grandmaster-level soul force in this world.â
Bitterness welled up in his mouth; he believed his shadow. The others had been attacked by theirs as soon as the shadows broke free, but his hadnât done anything.
He looked at Brightheart; her eyes shone brightly with comprehension.
âThose poisonous tumors,â she said calmly without a change in expression. âBoth of you took care of them and received some benefits for doing so. Your grandmaster-level soul force comes from the tomb!â
âYes.â Xing Wuliang nodded. The world king was immensely experienced and no fool. She could quickly connect the dots after momentary thought.
âI really am a useless lump now, you three need to protect me!â Xing Wuliang said seriously. âMy shadow says that if I die here, youâll face thousands of supplemental grandmasters.â
He subconsciously looked at the bodies on the ground. He would join them if he died and become their king. His shadow was feeding information about everything to him, including the fact that the creation seed was buried here!
âYou and him are both caught in the trap, so you canât do anything and you canât die,â snorted Jian Juexian. âLittle girl, only you and I can fight back. How do our chances of survival look if we work together?â
Lu Yunâs world from the Horizonâs Edge had fully taken shape and fell down from the sky, enclosing them with protection. His worlds of sword and water virtue had completely eliminated the shadow giant. The tomb world was calm again, as if all danger had been taken care of.
However, the burial mound no longer had a shadow.
âIf only you and I work together, then the groupâs chances of survival are none.â Brightheart shook her head and asked with surprise, âJunior brother Feng has already counterattacked a few times. Why hasnât that resulted in backlash from the tumors?â
âBecause I can destroy this place even without falling into the trap. But right now, we need to protect Xing Wuliang. If he dies hereâŠâ Lu Yunâs blood ran cold with the thought of countless supplemental grandmasters popping out of everywhere. If heâd exerted the strength of a Nihil World Sovereign at any point in time, a layout targeting him wouldâve also appeared. That layout would be one of a Nihil World Sovereign and not soul force of supplemental dao.
âThen we keep going!â Xing Wuliang set his jaw. âThe master of these tumors wants whatâs buried in the mound. If we touch it, he wonât be able to sit still. We have a chance once the layout changes!â
He took large strides forward and headed for the center of the tomb realm. The creation seed was there and he was sorely tempted. All he needed to do was to take one look at it.
Lu Yun knew what Xing Wuliang was thinking and didnât object. That was indeed the best course of actionâif they had to remain unchanging, then the layout had to change. Flaws would appear once the layout changed.
The plotter had likely never imagined heâd attract a perverse existence like Lu Yun. Here was a Nihil World Sovereign with incredible soul force who could use a connate treasure!
Lu Yun guided Horizonâs Edge to keep its world covering them at all times. As they headed deeper into the world, the burial moundâs shadow appeared at some point in time. The shadows that Lu Yun had eliminated also reappeared and jumped into the mountainâs shadow to keep a covert eye on the young man.
His own shadow wanted to freely run around too, but he kept it firmly underfoot.