âYou canâtâŠâ the demon of immortal dao answered blankly. âI would be able to control it if it was still a dog of war, but it bears no resemblance to one aside from its appearance. I canât even say that itâs really alive.â
âItâs not alive?â Lu Yun blinked. With his Spectral Eye deactivated, he was unable to see through life and death. Personal strength alone was insufficient to determine whether the dog was dead or alive.
Heâd imagined thousands of times before what itâd be like to have the Tome of Life and Death leave him and lose the death arts. To think that heâd encounter the situation today! The treasure was still with him, but heâd lost the death arts all the same.
The Spectral Eye had become an innate part of who he was; he even used it to observe the living. The life and death of ordinary people was available to him with a single glance. But now, though his eyes saw everything in front of him, he still felt like he was blind.
âI canât really say if itâs dead or alive,â the demon mumbled. âI canât tell what it isâa puppet?â
Lu Yun closed the connection to the Tome of Life and Death and cut their conversation short. The demon had lost himself in the first dogâs barking, he didnât want more madness to ensue from further shock.
âGood thing Iâve already set foot onto my own path and crafted the origin hell,â Lu Yun sighed with relief. While the Tome of Life and Death was off limits, there were still plenty of combat arts and secret methods that he could make use of from his own dao.
He didnât know if it was the book that was ineffective in the Firmament Prison, or if it was the prison restricting the treasureâs capabilities. Or had the Tome of Life and Death purposefully withdrawn the death arts for a moment to test him?
The book was an inanimate objectâit was Lu Yunâs nascent spirit. However, there was also a specific order within it that defined a certain existence. It posed tests to challenge Lu Yun at regular intervals.
When he revived Fuxi, he defied the treasureâs will and replaced it, becoming the true master of the Tome of Life and Death. That had been one of the tests. Now in the ruins of the Firmament Prison, the death arts suddenly vanished. It might be the work of the order within the book as wellâŠ
Lu Yun formed his suspicions when the dog of war penetrated the walls of the Tome of Life and Death, but didnât anticipate that it would end up with the death arts completely losing their effectiveness. The warrior heâd summoned earlier had discovered signs of it; Lu Yun was mentally prepared thanks to his reminder. If heâd been caught off guard, it wouldâve caused a long period of confusion.
âIn that case, Iâll just use my own strength!â Lu Yun set his jaw and took a resolute step forward.
Rumble!
Purple dragons burrowed out of the ground and curled up around him. He set his foot on them and charged the black dog.
âDonât kill it!â Chu Xingranâs voice suddenly rang urgently in his ear. Lu Yun jerked to a stop and quickly directed the dragons away. The massive dog was so terrified that it shivered on the ground, crying with its tail between its legs.
Aha. I see. While the dog looked frightening, it wasnât that strong. Lu Yun had been floundering in the darkness earlier, panicking about his blindness without the death arts. That was why heâd been petrified by the sudden appearance of an enemy.
If it wasnât for Chu Xingranâs abrupt communication, he wouldâve already run the dog over with all of the dragons.
âWhere are you, Chu Xingran?â Lu Yun called out.
âSo you did come, you brat!â Chu Xingran snorted. âWhy didnât you tell me first??â
It was⊠the big black dog speaking. It spoke human speech and with Chu Xingranâs voice.
âEr, did you put this thing here?â Lu Yun blinked.
âNot me, Xie Tianxun did. He thought you would come, so he resurrected a dog of war and used a puppetry art on it. I say, can you not tell that this is a puppet?â Astonishment bled through Chu Xingranâs voice.
Lu Yun refused to answer. He was so weak when he couldnât use the death arts! No, this wouldnât do! Just the Tome of Life and Death doing this on purpose was enough to send him into a tailspinâand the treasure doing so meant that there really were things in existence that could prevent the usage of its arts.
âAlright, follow me!â The black dog stood up and indicated for Lu Yun to jump on its back.
Xie Tianxun had employed a special puppetry art on the corpse of a dog of war, then chained it to this spot. He wanted to make sure it wouldnât wander off into another area when they werenât around to control it.
The dog wasnât meant to guard this passageway; it was here to wait for Lu Yun.
The Firmament Prison normally saw no visitors. Even if there were any, they would be supremes or above. They wouldnât enter the heart of the prison through this routeâonly Lu Yun would enter through the tomb of nobility.
Lu Yun didnât suspect foul play and jumped onto the dogâs back. Heâd deduced the situation through formula dao. Only now did he truly calm down and sort through his scattered thoughts and emotions.
The death arts were unusable, but he still had the Dragonquake Scripture, formula dao, hell, and the combat arts of his own invention. When he lost the death arts earlier, he was so flustered that heâd completely forgotten about formula dao.
âIâm showing my lack of experience and relative youth. Iâve also had an easy time of things lately,â he concluded for himself.
A patch of bright light entered his view after an indeterminate period of time. It was a tiny bonfire with two people craning their necks around it. One of them quickly walked up in welcome when they saw Lu Yun.
âWhy didnât you tell me that you were coming?â Chu Xingran complained as soon as they convened.
âI couldnât say anything. If I did, word of my movements would get out.â Lu Yun shook his head and jumped off the dog.
âWhat, you mean you donât trust us?â Xie Tianxun raised his eyes to look blandly at the young man.
âSome things always get out if theyâre spoken of,â Chu Xingran explained before Lu Yun had a chance to. âIf Lu Yun told me his plans, someone wouldâve learned of them. My cultivation isnât strong enough to keep this kind of secret.â
Lu Yun nodded. That was how word had gotten out about Earth being a seed of nothing despite the prudence heâd exercised. Heâd been cautious of repeating the same mistake since.
âItâs cold here, come warm up by the fire.â Chu Xingran led him to the bonfire.
âCold?â Lu Yun blinked with incomprehension.
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