Chapter 1855: It’s Cold Here
“You can’t…” the demon of immortal dao answered blankly. “I 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 can’t even say that it’s really alive.”
“It’s not alive?” 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.
He’d imagined thousands of times before what it’d be like to have the Tome of Life and Death leave him and lose the death arts. To think that he’d encounter the situation today! The treasure was still with him, but he’d 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.
“I can’t really say if it’s dead or alive,” the demon mumbled. “I can’t tell what it is—a puppet?”
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 dog’s barking, he didn’t want more madness to ensue from further shock.
“Good thing I’ve already set foot onto my own path and crafted the origin h.e.l.l,” 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 didn’t know if it was the book that was ineffective in the Firmament Prison, or if it was the prison restricting the treasure’s 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 Or had the Tome of Life and Death purposefully withdrawn the death arts for a moment to test him?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 object—it was Lu Yun’s 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 f.u.xi, he defied the treasure’s 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 well…
Lu Yun formed his suspicions when the dog of war penetrated the walls of the Tome of Life and Death, but didn’t antic.i.p.ate that it would end up with the death arts completely losing their effectiveness. The warrior he’d summoned earlier had discovered signs of it; Lu Yun was mentally prepared thanks to his reminder. If he’d been caught off guard, it would’ve caused a long period of confusion.
“In that case, I’ll just use my own strength!” 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.
“Don’t kill it!” Chu Xingran’s voice suddenly rang urgently in his ear. Lu Yun jerked to a stop and quickly directed the dragons away. The ma.s.sive dog was so terrified that it s.h.i.+vered on the ground, crying with its tail between its legs.
Aha. I see. While the dog looked frightening, it wasn’t that strong. Lu Yun had been floundering in the darkness earlier, panicking about his blindness without the death arts. That was why he’d been petrified by the sudden appearance of an enemy.
If it wasn’t for Chu Xingran’s abrupt communication, he would’ve already run the dog over with all of the dragons.
“Where are you, Chu Xingran?” Lu Yun called out.
“So you did come, you brat!” Chu Xingran snorted. “Why didn’t you tell me first??”
It was… the big black dog speaking. It spoke human speech and with Chu Xingran’s voice.
“Er, did you put this thing here?” Lu Yun blinked.
“Not 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?” Astonishment bled through Chu Xingran’s voice.
Lu Yun refused to answer. He was so weak when he couldn’t use the death arts! No, this wouldn’t do! Just the Tome of Life and Death doing this on purpose was enough to send him into a tailspin—and the treasure doing so meant that there really were things in existence that could prevent the usage of its arts.
“Alright, follow me!” 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 wouldn’t wander off into another area when they weren’t around to control it.
The dog wasn’t meant to guard this pa.s.sageway; 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 wouldn’t enter the heart of the prison through this route—only Lu Yun would enter through the tomb of n.o.bility.
Lu Yun didn’t suspect foul play and jumped onto the dog’s back. He’d 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, h.e.l.l, and the combat arts of his own invention. When he lost the death arts earlier, he was so fl.u.s.tered that he’d completely forgotten about formula dao.
“I’m showing my lack of experience and relative youth. I’ve also had an easy time of things lately,” 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.
“Why didn’t you tell me that you were coming?” Chu Xingran complained as soon as they convened.
“I couldn’t say anything. If I did, word of my movements would get out.” Lu Yun shook his head and jumped off the dog.
“What, you mean you don’t trust us?” Xie Tianxun raised his eyes to look blandly at the young man.
“Some things always get out if they’re spoken of,” Chu Xingran explained before Lu Yun had a chance to. “If Lu Yun told me his plans, someone would’ve learned of them. My cultivation isn’t strong enough to keep this kind of secret.”
Lu Yun nodded. That was how word had gotten out about Earth being a seed of nothing despite the prudence he’d exercised. He’d been cautious of repeating the same mistake since.
“It’s cold here, come warm up by the fire.” Chu Xingran led him to the bonfire.
“Cold?” Lu Yun blinked with incomprehension.