Chapter Seventy-Six: The Tomb of Life and Death

No wonder those four humans corrupted by demonic energy ended up in such a state. Regardless of their cultivation before, compared to the three immense presences surrounding the Tomb of Life and Death, the strength of those four was utterly insignificant. It seemed their lives had been deliberately spared—not out of mercy, but so that demonic energy could be implanted into the sea of their consciousness, transforming them entirely into fiends.

What was unexpected was the resilience of their wills; they clung to the last shred of consciousness, somehow surviving until they encountered him.

Though Long Yun now understood the origins of the Tomb of Life and Death, he was powerless to act. The fiends present were far beyond his ability to confront. Perhaps if he had reached the Innate Realm, he could attempt it, but as he was now, it would be certain death with no hope of survival.

With this realization, Long Yun was ready to quietly withdraw when a sudden voice echoed through the air.

“This time, no matter how many casualties we suffer, we must break open the Great Formation of Life and Death. That old fool can’t sustain such a powerful array for long—brothers, kill for me!”

Long Yun’s brow furrowed as he fixed his gaze on the center of the countless fiends. Atop a stone platform stood a towering demonic figure, unlike the lesser fiends he’d seen before.

Those lower demons were shrouded in dark energy, their forms indistinct. This one, however, revealed its true body: over ten feet tall, with a burly build, skin of deep green, a ferocious face, and two tusks curving upward to just beneath a pair of blood-red eyes. In its hand, it wielded a massive stone hammer. This demon was clearly one of the three mighty presences Long Yun had sensed, and surprisingly, it could speak the human tongue.

This fiend was truly formidable! The formation it referred to must be the array encircling the Tomb of Life and Death.

The formation showed signs of wear, evidence that, after all these years, the three powerful fiends had never ceased their assault on it. Who knew what level the Azure Emperor’s cultivation had reached to have maintained the array unbroken for so long?

Long Yun felt a deep respect for the Azure Emperor’s strength; he halted his retreat. If both sides fell into chaos, he might seize the opportunity to slip into the Tomb of Life and Death.

Having made his decision, Long Yun glanced around. With so many fiends gathered, the area around the tomb was thick with demonic energy. Carefully manipulating his own true energy, which carried a holy aura innately suppressive to demonic energy, he cloaked himself. Under precise control, the demonic energy gathered around him, swirling in a dense shroud, as he withdrew his true energy to the surface of his body, guiding the demonic mist to linger and not disperse.

Peering through the haze, he kept his eyes on the fiends. The moment an opening appeared, he would not hesitate to charge into the chaos, blending in and slipping into the tomb.

The vast mausoleum was ringed by countless stone pillars, each as tall as a building and inscribed with totemic talismans. Azure light coiled around them, indicating these pillars formed the foundation of the great array. At the tomb’s front stood a massive stone door, tightly sealed. To enter, one would first have to breach the formation and approach this door.

A sense of unease crept into Long Yun’s heart. If he succeeded in reaching the door, the three mighty fiends would surely notice him. If he failed to enter, death was certain. And as for passing through the door, he had no confidence at all. Even those three fiends had been unable to break through the formation—how could the door be unguarded? The odds of success seemed ever slimmer.

As he weighed his options, the fiends launched their assault. In a black, surging tide, they swept toward the stone pillars, blotting out the sky and engulfing the Tomb of Life and Death in a living storm.

A thunderous hum rang out as the totem pillars erupted in pillars of azure light, piercing the heavens as if to shatter the very sky. The beams spun together, forming a colossal, whirling disc—like a gigantic gear. Any fiend that touched the azure brilliance was instantly shredded, leaving not a trace behind. Yet the fiends pressed onward, heedless of death, as if devoid of will, throwing themselves into the attack.

The three great demons held back, their blood-red eyes fixed coldly on the mounting casualties.

“Elder Brother, these fiends are the fruit of our labor over countless years,” one of them suddenly spoke aloud. “But it seems they can barely scratch the formation, and soon, we may exhaust them all!”

The demon who had issued the earlier command threw his massive head back and laughed. “We created them, and as long as the three of us remain, what does it matter if they die?”

“But, Elder Brother! Their deaths are meaningless!” the third, silent demon finally spoke.

The eldest glanced at him and replied, “Haven’t you understood my intent, Third Brother? All these years, we’ve tried every method to break the formation, to no avail. Do you really think I’m relying on these worthless creatures?”

At this, the second and third brothers turned their gazes to him.

He continued, “They are merely a distraction. Do you remember when the three of us struck the array together?”

The faces of the second and third brothers shifted, then lit up with joy. The second said, “I see it now, Elder Brother. When the three of us attacked together, the formation didn’t unleash such a wide-ranging assault. Now, you’re using the fiends to diffuse the array’s power. When the time is right, we’ll combine our strength and strike—focusing all our might on a single point to break the formation!”

The eldest nodded approvingly. The youngest looked both enlightened and ashamed.

“This time, we must succeed. Once we enter the Tomb of Life and Death, we will rule this place absolutely. Every fiend here will be under our command. Then, we can return to the outer world and sweep aside the righteous sects!” the eldest proclaimed.

Long Yun, listening from the side, broke out in a cold sweat. He had almost rushed out just moments before, but the awe-inspiring power of the array had restrained him. That moment’s hesitation had saved his life. From what the eldest had said, whoever controlled the tomb would rule this world within.

If their words were true, the Heavenly Demon Mirror must be a storage artifact, its internal space sealed with countless fiends that had taken root and multiplied. The Azure Emperor must have sensed the growing demonic energy and risked entering to communicate with the artifact’s spirit, seeking to purge the fiends.

But it now seemed the Azure Emperor had failed, or perhaps the mirror’s spirit had been gravely wounded. Otherwise, with its mastery over this world and the Azure Emperor’s power, they would never be cowering in the tomb.

The intentions of the three demon lords were clear. They wanted to seize the artifact, to move freely in and out of this world, and use it as a refuge. Once they controlled the spirit of the Heavenly Demon Mirror, they would become sovereign here, their strength multiplied manyfold. Few among the righteous path could hope to oppose them, and they would command hordes of powerful fiends.

If they succeeded, the righteous sects would face a calamity of unprecedented scale.

As Long Yun realized this, his expression changed dramatically. At that moment, the eldest of the three fiends shouted, “Second Brother, Third Brother, if not now, then when?”

As his voice fell, three massive figures soared into the sky. Black radiance exploded in every direction, forming three streaks of demonic flame, merging into one as they crashed down upon the Great Formation of Life and Death!