Chapter 315: Smart

The Senior Brother was baffled. This guy was infuriating, especially the way he spoke and expressed his opinions.

But... to say that this guy was wrong?

No...

It was the complete opposite.

This guy was right, dead center.

The reason why he could descend to the Lower Realm was because of the artifact he wore, a pendant hidden beneath his clothes.

An artifact capable of concealing someone from the fundamental laws of Heaven and Earth was something incredibly unnatural. Its unnatural existence could be sensed by others with sufficient cultivation and enough experience in comprehending the Laws of Heaven and Earth.

To put it in a simpler metaphor...

It was like walking into a bar, seeing a beautiful woman, and with enough experience, immediately sensing that she might have something between her legs bigger than your family jewels.

That was the kind of instinct that came from experience and deep comprehension, something only those with sufficient cultivation could understand.

And the Senior Brother, with all his senses and experience, had never felt anything like that from this suave-looking man standing before him with his bare torso exposed.

Hell... this man wasn’t even wearing any rings, bangles, or pendants like him, artifacts commonly used to conceal one’s cultivation from the Laws of Heaven and Earth.

Yet this man could suppress him with nothing but pressure alone.

That meant only one thing.

This man was far... far stronger than him.

He might even possess the same cultivation realm as his Sect Leader, and perhaps be even stronger. After all, even his Sect Leader couldn’t suppress him to this extent through sheer pressure alone.

It also meant that this man had descended into the Lower Realm with his full strength completely unsealed.

People capable of doing such a thing could practically be counted on one hand.

And the only person he knew who could accomplish something like this resided within the Immortal Royal Palace.

The Immortal Emperor.

"Your... Your Excellency... who are you?" the Senior Brother asked nervously.

This scene nearly caused Gu Tianyang to suffer a stroke.

He had known his Senior Brother for a long time, and that man had never backed down before those inferior mortals.

Unless...

He slowly turned his gaze toward the suave man standing before his Senior Brother.

Unless this man had never been a mortal to begin with.

"Are you... are you perhaps... Your Majesty, the Immortal Emperor?" The Senior Brother blurted out the name that immediately appeared in his mind.

"Heh..." The Lord of Death snorted. "No... I’m not. I’m just a nobody, not someone significant enough for you to remember. Understand?"

Hearing this, the Senior Brother nodded submissively.

"Yes! I understand... Your Excellency, I’ll forget that I’ve ever seen you here."

As one of the core disciples of a sect in the Immortal Realm, the reason he had survived long enough to become a core disciple was because he knew how to read the room and understand hidden messages.

He could navigate through the turmoil and changes within his sect, and he always wisely chose to stand on the winning side. That was why he had survived until today.

In this case, this powerful man didn’t want him to remember anything that had happened today.

"Oh, by the way... There’s one thing I wanted to know." The Lord of Death asked.

"What does Your Excellency wish to know? I will give you the best answer I can if I know it," the Senior Brother replied.

"That’s good... I like smart people. There are two questions..." He paused, looking at the Senior Brother and the Gu Clan ancestor, Gu Tianyang.

He then walked toward Gu Tianyang and pulled the pendant from around his neck.

The moment he pulled out the pendant, the sky rumbled as dark clouds gathered overhead. Sparks began to dance across the sky, and within a mere moment, several streaks of lightning struck down toward Gu Tianyang.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

"Arrrggghhhh!"

The heavenly punishment struck Gu Tianyang’s Dantian directly, injuring it and causing his cultivation realm to decrease once more.

Then, the light of ascension enveloped him before he was forcibly sent back to the Immortal Realm.

As the light vanished, Gu Tianyang was nowhere to be seen.

Seeing what had happened to Gu Tianyang, the Senior Brother shuddered before looking toward the Lord of Death.

"The first thing I want to ask is about this..." He held up the pendant that could conceal one’s cultivation from Heaven and Earth.

"Where did you get this thing?" he asked.

"Reporting to Your Excellency, this Heaven Law Concealing Pendant was sold on the black market in the Immortal Realm. I also heard that some were being sold here in the Mortal Realm as well," the Senior Brother said in a submissive tone while cupping his fist respectfully.

"Do you know who produces it?"

"This..." The Senior Brother paused as he tried to recall the information he had. "This, I really don’t know. I didn’t bother to ask where it came from. This artifact is widely used by those with low cultivation in the Immortal Realm because it allows them to come down here and plunder the Lower Realm for cultivation resources."

Hearing this, Wei Chen scoffed and chimed in.

"So... because you guys can’t fight your fellow Immortal Realm cultivators for cultivation resources, you decided to pick a softer target instead? Very creative."

The Lord of Death didn’t say anything about Wei Chen chiming in, as this was also his honest opinion. However, his station did not allow him to voice it directly.

"It’s as he said..." The Lord of Death began. "There’s also a reason why, once someone reaches the Great Ascension Realm, they are forced to relocate to the Immortal Realm. It is because the Laws of Heaven and Earth here can no longer accommodate them."

Hearing this, the Senior Brother seemed to have an opinion.

"Your Excellency, please forgive my rudeness, but you were able to remain here without the concealing pendant."

The Lord of Death nodded, acknowledging the question.

"It’s because I can manipulate the Laws of Heaven and Earth, reducing the damage done to the Lower Realm’s laws to almost nothing. I also performed a ritual to bind myself to the Laws of Heaven and Earth here to some degree, so they would not reject my existence."

He calmly explained before continuing.

"But all in all, my existence here does not cause any disturbance to the Laws of the Lower Realm. Using this pendant is different. You cannot manipulate the laws, and the Laws of Heaven and Earth cannot detect you either."

"Do you know what would happen if this artifact were used en masse?"

The Senior Brother didn’t ask, but his eyes told everything. He didn’t know, but he was curious about the answer.

Although somehow, he had a foreboding feeling about it.

"The erosion of the Laws of Heaven and Earth, and the complete destruction of the balance between realms."

"Imagine the Lower Realm is like a wooden board. A thin wooden board that can only support the weight of a child."

"Now, imagine an adult stepping onto that board. It might not break immediately, but the damage has already been done. And from that point onward, it will become much easier to break."

"And trust me, when the balance of the lower realm was destroy, you won’t like it. That was because to maintain balance, part of the Immortal Realm would be dragged down to the lower realm to support the balance that has been lost, and anyone that come down with it would suffer the backlash and their cultivation might have been reduce, and for those with strong foundation they will be punished by the heaven before forcing to ascend."

Hearing the explanation, the Senior Brother gulped down his saliva nervously. He knew himself well. He was not a genius, and if what this powerful man had said was true, he could easily become one of the lower rungs that got dragged down here.

"The second thing I wanted to ask..." The Lord of Death changed the subject.

"Will I have a problem with your sect? Do I need to go up there and have a nice talk with your Sect Protector?" the Lord of Death asked.

The Senior Brother’s heart hammered against his chest as he quickly shook his head.

"No, Your Excellency. I won’t be able to remember anything that happened today, and I’ll make sure that the trash Gu Tianyang won’t remember either!"

With the reassurance from the other party, the Lord of Death finally nodded in satisfaction.

"That’s good. You may go... and remember your promise." The lord of death repeat his instruction.

The Senior Brother acted confused as he ascended into the sky, and the light of ascension began to shine around him.

"Why am I here? Hmm... I must have drunk too much. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here in this Lower Realm."

As his sentence ended, the Senior Brother vanished.

"Heh.... Smart..." The Lord of Death scoffed.

He then turned toward Wei Chen.

"This might be abrupt, but I need you to investigate where this thing came from." He shook the pendant in his hand. "I’ll also ask my people in the Immortal Realm to investigate it there as well."