Chapter 184: Tomb Keepers (1/2)

Both Lu Yun and Qing Han were nonplussed by the flying sword wobbling their way. Radiating an energy unique to zombies, it was a zombie sword!

“How is this… even possible?” Befuddled, Lu Yun searched through the memories of all four of his envoys, but found nothing about zombified swords. This was too strange an occurrence.

“Uooahh!” snarled the Black Tortoise, the enormous soundwave destroying the flying sword. Smoke left in the destroyed sword’s wake slowly dissipated.

Lu Yun remained tense, and the Black Tortoise’s two eyes settled somewhere ahead; there was still something there. The sword zombie had been a scout, testing the waters for whatever terrible thing lurked in that far corner. The sacred beast didn’t dare advance without knowing what it was.

Lu Yun and Qing Han looked on with matching solemness. Once again, silver starlight flickered about Qing Han as he channeled the power of starstones.

“Don’t.” Lu Yun stopped his friend. “The thing’s gone.”

Qing Han dismissed his starlight.

“Recall the Black Tortoise,” said Lu Yun. “It won’t be of any help here.”

Qing Han nodded and collected the giant beast into the Scroll of Shepherding Immortals. Too much water-attribute energy was present on the Black Tortoise, which served as a continual irritation to the fire elemental power in the environment. As soon as the divine beast returned to the scroll, the fire ceased its violent surges.

“To seek a dragon of mountains coiled,

Those deathly cliffs with mysteries roiled.

If danger lurks behind doors closed,

Let it remain in yin yang form.”

Hum.

Lu Yun’s mystical force gathered above his head and collected into a luopan; but this time it radiated starlight like Qing Han.

“Five stars orbit in the skies, five dragon veins course the ground.

Five stars and veins are as one, to which the latter follows the former.

From them emerge five archetypes, to be divided, analyzed, and understood!”

Emitting a continuous hum, the luopan rotated at top speed, attracting an endless stream of starlight that split into five blinding stars over Lu Yun’s head. Three of the stars faded, leaving two that brutally slammed into the luopan over his head.

Lu Yun paled as blood trickled down the corner of his mouth.

“Lu Yun!” Qing Han rushed to his aid, but Lu Yun waved him off and made another seal with both hands. The luopan flickered once before devouring the two stars, and the governor’s face grew even more pale.

“Right, the luopan that the Dragonsearch Invocation creates isn’t a real one, which makes it difficult to use the cosmic feng shui method.” Lu Yun opened his eyes and wiped the blood away.

The cosmic feng shui method was another technique unique to his sect. Through observing the trajectory of the stars were they able to divine the landscape and true layout of a tomb.

Back on Earth, however, the method based its conclusions on the position of the stars. In the world of immortals, it created actual images to facilitate judgment of which star’s influence had reached the tomb. The feng shui of tombs wasn’t just a result of formations influencing the local environment, but the power of the stars was a crucial component as well.

Lu Yun had reasons to believe there was a connection between the sword zombie and the tomb’s feng shui. However, the complicated terrain and endless lava prevented him from getting a clear look.

“Strange, this is an intersection of the Gold and Fire Stars.” Lu Yun dismissed the cosmic feng shui method with a flash with surprise. Instead of the actual celestial bodies, he was referring to the power the stars possessed.

There were three enclosures, four symbols, and twenty-eight mansions found in the celestial sphere. [1] The celestial bodies had no connection to the five elements while in the sky, but once their light reached the world of immortals, it combined with the five elements and created the five cosmic elemental powers.

Thus emerged the Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth Stars. Wherever their influence touched, corresponding terrain emerged. Although the tomb was covered by the Great Cloudwater Lake, it wasn’t beyond the reach of cosmic power.

“The Fire Star should counter the Gold Star, so how can they coexist here? Strange, how strange.” Lu Yun frowned. In the wheel of the five elements, fire countered gold. The relationship between the five cosmic powers followed the relationship of the five elements.

“Is there possibly a treasure that can balance gold and fire here?” Qing Han posited after some consideration.

“If there’s a treasure that can overrule the relationship of the five elements...”

Qing Han and Lu Yun exchanged a glance and answered in unison, “It must be connate-grade!”