Chapter 1901: Exceeding Sequence

“A grand supreme strolls in and out of pagoda heartland like it’s his own backyard. I’d be sad for Lu Feng if you really didn’t discover his presence.” Lu Yun lifted his head and addressed a corner of the secret chamber.

Luo Ming gradually materialized into view. The nine clawed golden dragon had grossly underestimated them, thinking that none was the wiser to his presence. Although Luo Ming had only sent a replica to Darkstar, this was his strongest replica. How would he possibly be oblivious to an intruder’s presence in the Wind and Cloud Pagoda?

“Who is Tailong?” he demanded with a stern expression.

“Who do you think you are?” Lu Yun cocked his head. “Why should I tell you?”

“This is the Wind and Cloud Pagoda. You will explain yourself in full detail if you wish to receive our protection,” Luo Ming replied frostily. “You are just the boss’ foster brother, not blood brother.”

“When. did I ever. say. I needed the pagoda’s protection?” Lu Yun’s temper flared.

“What are you doing here if you don’t need our protection? Rising Sunriver came for us as soon as you arrived. Although Luo Qian collected thirteen hundred ancestral veins of heaven and earth for our troubles, it still affects our strategic partnership with the divine nation.

“Additionally, if my guess is right, the boss gave you the ten thousand ancestral veins that you brought out, didn’t he?” Luo Ming said expressionlessly. “Out with it, who is Tailong? I will cripple you right now if you don’t explain yourself.

“It will not affect the boss so long as you don’t die. I’ve investigated your relationship with him—your parents took him in when the boss was young. This debt of nurturing is the only thing that connects you. The boss doesn’t owe you anything.”

Lu Yun calmed down. He raised his eyes to Luo Ming and nodded. “You’re right, that debt of nurturing was discharged by the ten thousand ancestral veins. Your words have jarred me awake. Luo Qing calling me her illustrious master completely went to my head and I started to get too full of myself.”

Lu Yun snorted at himself. “I don’t know who Tailong is either. He’s probably a premier grand supreme of the chief worlds? Let me out, I don’t need anyone’s protection.”

Luo Ming coldly sized him up and shook his head. “You’re not going anywhere before the boss comes back. If you dare leave now, I’ll take back all the major worlds that your World of Immortals has conquered.”

“Is Lu Feng behind this?” Lu Yun narrowed his eyes, a flame of anger igniting in his heart.

“I’m behind this. The boss is an illustrious spacetime traveler and a preeminent grand supreme of the realm. You are his only weakness. If it wasn’t for his parting instructions to protect you, I would kill you right now to erase this weakness.”

He left without waiting for a response from Lu Yun.

The young man knew that Luo Ming was a man of resolute determination. He would accomplish whatever he said he would do. In fact, he probably decided to come here only after he heard of Lu Yun arriving on Darkstar.

Luo Ming was fanatically loyal to Lu Feng.

It didn’t matter to Lu Yun whether or not he stayed here. He just wanted the world heart and derive the orders of hell with it. But with Luo Ming’s current attitude, he would take it from Lu Yun even if Nightmare successfully collected it. That was what he was most worried about.

“I only hope that Luo Ming will back off after Luo Qian emerges from seclusion. He needs to stop interfering in my affairs.” Lu Yun didn’t have any options available when it came to Luo Ming’s treatment of him. He couldn’t fight the guy and if he left through the Gates of the Abyss, Luo Ming probably really would take back all of the major worlds that the World of Immortals had seized.

The hundred million supremes that Tailong had given him? They weren’t even jokes compared to a grand supreme.

Lu Yun cleared his mind of wildly swirling thoughts. Since he couldn't put up any resistance, he might as well take a breather and focus on cultivation. He’d derived his personal path of cultivation—he didn’t need to craft a dao palace. He could exceed sequence whenever he reached thirty levels and enter the next stage of cultivation.

His nascent spirit was the Tome of Life and Death. It’d become his only nascent spirit after his six paths melded with hell. Its various marvelous uses were also slowly becoming apparent as time went on.

The dao palace served as the nascent spirit of a supreme. Only when the nascent spirit wasn’t strong enough did one need to forge a dao palace with shards of sequence to house the nascent spirit. Through it, the cultivator could sense the orders of heaven and earth and take their cultivation to the next level.

This held true for all life. All cultivators needed to forge a dao palace from sequence to enhance their nascent spirit. Only then could they clearly see the world for what it was. However, Lu Yun had no need for that. His nascent spirit was strong enough by itself that he could observe heaven and earth without a dao palace.

He only needed to access his thirtieth level of sequence to naturally become a supreme.

....

“You grounded the illustrious master?!” Luo Qian’s replica demanded with a dark face as she exited seclusion and met her colleague.

“You don’t need to concern yourself with the affairs of Darkstar anymore,” Luo Ming answered calmly. “You can go to Luo Trading Major World after you finish crafting a dark dao palace for Nightmare of the Ghost Sect.”

“Luo Ming, you might not understand how important Lu Yun is to the boss,” Luo Qian quickly elaborated.

“The more important he is, the worse it is for the boss.” Luo Ming lowered his eyelids. “The boss’ identity as a spacetime traveler was previously an absolute secret, but it had to be revealed for this Lu Yun. This is not a good development for the boss.”

Luo Qian clenched her teeth. “Are you not afraid of the boss coming back and finding fault with you?”

“He will not as long as Lu Yun does not die,” Luo Ming replied. “It’s just solitary confinement, I’m not taking his head.. hmm?!”

His face snapped with shock and he vanished on the spot. Luo Qian’s replica also jerked with surprise.

Both of them appeared next to Lu Yun. He’d accessed thirty levels of sequence and his cultivation level continued to rise. He was exceeding sequence!

“What, what are you doing?!” Luo Ming wanted to shake the young man. Why was he so rashly exceeding sequence at thirty levels?!

That was the lowest standard by which one could exceed sequence, but the shards of thirty levels could not forge a dao palace. That task required at least thirty-one. Surpassing sequence at thirty levels meant the cultivator was crippled and would forever remain on this level. In the chief worlds, only supremes with dao palaces were adults.

Lu Yun opened his eyes and slowly exhaled when he finished exceeding sequence.

“It is done,” he smiled.

“Did you sacrifice your future to throw a tantrum at me?” Luo Ming’s expression was ominously foreboding. He’d confined Lu Yun here, but the young man answered with accessing more levels of sequence and surpassing it entirely. This was no different from Luo Ming personally crippling the boss’ younger brother!