Necropolis Immortal

e dead? No, that can’t be.
He can kill me with a simple decree, so why go through all this trouble?”

The expressions on his face reflected his rapidly shifting thoughts, and an answer quickly showed itself.
“Someone acquired a Aurum Openia Pill for me, didn’t they?”

“Your Excellency is indeed clever.” Feng Li flashed Lu Yun a thumbs-up.
“However, the decree didn’t come from His Majesty himself, but rather the crown prince.
With His Majesty recently in closed door cultivation, His Highness the Crown Prince has been in charge of all important affairs.”

Lu Yun fell silent.
He was now a cultivator, but he was still only at the qi application realm.
How much could he possibly improve in half a year?

“There is a sliver of hope,” Feng Li oh-so-sincerely offered.
“If Your Excellency can form a golden core within six months, you’ll stand a better chance of surviving the tournament.”

“I stand a better chance if I enter the core realm? Is the tournament limited to only core realm cultivators?” Lu Yun perked up.

“No.” Feng Li shook his head.
“There are a plethora of treasures in the celestial court.
Some can limit a cultivator’s level, so that’s how we’ll ensure the highest strength is only at the core realm.”

Lu Yun was silent for a moment, then sighed after a long pause, “Might I surrender the governor’s seal and command token now and abdicate my position?”

This development would certainly result in his death.
Even if he could ascend to the core realm after six months, he couldn’t possibly rival the old freaks who’d been cultivating for centuries.

Back in the ancient tomb, Yuying had destroyed eight spirit realm cultivators with a mere origin core cultivation.
Only one managed to escape with a shard of his soul.
Powerful cultivators were still powerful, even with their strength limited; they would crush peers of the same level.
That much, he knew.

Feng Li nodded, then shook his head.
“I’d advise against it.
Many wish for you to abdicate, but not those who sent you the pill.
If you give up, they’ll have someone seize your body and regain the title of governor.”

Lu Yun sighed, “I understand.”

Dusk Province was no rich territory, but a governor still held great power.
Lu Yun was essentially a child in possession of a mountain of gold.
“Thank you for answering my questions, Sir Envoy.
I would like to hold a banquet at my manor to express the depths of my gratitude,” invited the young man with a hopeful expression.

Feng Li’s eyes lit up and he snuck a glance at Yuying.
A shudder ran down his spine a half-second later as the invite’s ramifications hit home.

This brat is entirely too treacherous! If I accept his invitation, there will be rumors on the morrow that I’ve allied myself with him!

Feng Li had only carried on the conversation out of interest in that strikingly beautiful woman.
He wouldn’t have spared Lu Yun a second glance, if it’d just been the governor.
At the end of the day, however, he wasn’t going to risk his life for a woman.

“No, no, that won’t be necessary.
I’ve just eaten.
You must be tired, Your Excellency.
You should retire early for the day.
Please excuse me!” Sneaking a final glance at Yuying, he bolted.

“He sure ran off quickly.
What a shame.
Despite how he looks, he’s a shrewd one.” Lu Yun was slightly disappointed.

“Should we lay low somewhere, milord?” Ge Long had been by Lu Yun’s side all this time, and Feng Li’s message raised goosebumps all over his body.
There was no way out for Lu Yun.

“Why should we?” The hesitation and fear in Lu Yun’s expression faded.
He sniffed coolly and said, “I’m still the governor for the next six months and have the absolute upper hand.”

Ge Long gulped, too scared to respond.

Wanfeng nodded vehemently.
“That’s right! The young master is the governor.
Why should he be scared?”

“It seems crass and, well, childish, to determine the governor through a tournament,” Lu Yun remarked with a slight frown.

“That’s not the case, master,” Yuying explained.
“There are seventy two provinces in Nephrite Major.
The ones in the four cardinal directions—Dusk Province to the north, Crimson Province in the south, Azure Province in the east, and Argent Province to the west—are particularly unique.
The governors of these four provinces must be the strongest fighters in the region, or have the potential to become the strongest.”

Befuddlement clouded Lu Yun’s expression.

“That’s because there’s an ancient tomb higher than emperor level in each of these provinces.
Only the strongest expert of the province can keep a tight grip over the tomb,” Yuying explained.
“These four tombs are no regular tombs, and each of them seem to have bred some sort of demon king.

“Every once in a while, the four tombs lose control and hordes of evil spirits rush out to wreak havoc.
The four governors must use their seals to deploy the power of the province to quell the chaos.
The command token is also something that only the four governors possess.” During Yuying’s term, she’d dealt with three such calamities.

“Tombs of ancient immortals?!” Lu Yun’s eyes lit up.

“Master, your current cultivation isn’t high enough to break the restrictions on the four tombs.
You’d have to at least be an immortal yourself.” Yuying smiled wryly.
This master of hers had an unusual passion for tomb raiding; such an occasion was how she came about.

“Alright then.” Lu Yun nodded.
“I’ll have to enter that ancient tomb in Dusk Province sooner or later.
As for the disturbances, well….”

He’d be more concerned with riots of the living.
As a bona fide Yama King, how could he possibly be afraid of any trouble from the dead?

Ge Long cackled.
“Milord can be much more than a mere governor.
You could be like the ancient immortal emperors wielding absolute rule— ”

“Enough of that,” Lu Yun interjected.
“Find an excuse to return to House Ge, and notify me as soon as they make a move.
Something must’ve happened for the patriarch to not show his face even after his son died.”

“At your service!” Ge Long said eagerly.
“Please excuse this old servant!”

When Lu Yun returned to the governor’s manor with Wanfeng and Yuying, the place was well lit.
A chubby, diminutive old man in the accoutrements of a steward approached them.

“Aiyaya, Wanfeng, you’re finally back.
I thought that brat Lu Yun had kidnapped you and was getting worried.” The old man stepped forward and reached for Wanfeng’s hand, an action swiftly blocked by Lu Yun when he saw that the maid didn’t know what to do.

The governor growled with a frown, “What do you think you’re doing, Xue Lang?”

“Oh, Your Excellency! Greetings from this old servant!” Xue Lang was surprised to see Lu Yun block him, but quickly recovered and cheerily cupped his hands.
“Right this way, Old Willow.
This is the girl I was talking about.
Her spiritual root is of empyrean grade, and she formed a golden core before she turned sixteen.
A hundred thousand premium spirit stones for her is simply a bargain, isn’t it?”

The steward shifted to the side to allow an old man in green to stride out from the door.
He gave Wanfeng a few inquisitive glances, then noticed Yuying off to the side.

“Indeed, her spiritual root is of empyrean grade.
She’ll make an excellent vessel,” Old Willow nodded slightly, then continued, “and I’ll pay another fifty thousand for the woman there.”

Grand Steward Xue’s eyes lit up.
“Wonderful! A hundred and fifty thousand premium stones for two women! Please step out of the way, Your Excellency.”

1.
These correspond directly to the four sacred beasts, whether in terms of color and direction.
The Black Tortoise is associated with Dusk, and I ended up choosing Dusk because the Chinese character used for the province name also means ‘profound’, as opposed to straight up black.
Dusk is the meeting point between night and day, a time of transition, mystery, and possibilities.

Crimson and Azure are self-explanatory, and Argent was a slight struggle.
The White Tiger is associated with the metal element, and calling it the Metal Province seemed slightly silly.
The word ‘argent’ won out because it means silver or a silvery-white color, which better corresponds to its sacred beast.

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