Lu Yun was going out of his mind. He was a freaking fake and now in the heart of the Inception Palace camp! His nerves were sending him up a wall!!

Though Huo Jun hadn’t discovered anything off about him, that didn’t mean that everyone else would accept his cover story. Once the Inception contingent determined he was a fraud, it’d be difficult for Lu Yun to even die if he wanted to.

Unfortunately, there was nothing else he could do or say for the moment. He could only go with the flow and figure out a way to leave as soon as possible. The one thing he prayed for was that no one would find anything wrong with his identity. Please let them all be like Huo Jun and think that I’m a secluded disciple!

Though Lu Yun commanded the power of inception, his combat arts and cultivation methods were all derived from the Dragonquake Scripture. He didn’t know any palace methods or arts, which would be his greatest tell.

He may be able to pull the wool over the eyes of outsiders, but the gig would be up in front of Inception disciples.

……

“Senior brother!”

“You’ve come back, senior brother Huo Jun.”

“How are things outside?” Inception disciples crowded around him the moment he set foot into the formation. Given that there were more than a hundred million mortal realm disciples among the six sacred palaces, Huo Jun ranking in the top twenty meant that he was best of the best.

“Those idiots of the nine sacred lands are still fighting over that sword. They just can’t wait to die,” Huo Jun snorted and then turned to Lu Yun. “Junior brother, you can cultivate here with peace of mind. Don’t go running around elsewhere.”

“Will do.” There was nothing for it but to agree.

“Senior brother, who’s this?” asked the rest of the curious disciples.

“Ah, yes. This is a secluded disciple of our Inception Palace. He’s quite something, to take two combat arts from a sixth level mortal realm cultivator and not die from it,” Huo Jun laughed heartily. “I haven’t even asked your name yet.”

“…my name is Lu Yun.” Hating every second of this, Lu Yun still offered his name.

Odd expressions crossed faces in the crowd when they heard the response.

“What is it?” Huo Jun raised his brow.

“Senior brother, you spend a lot of time away from the palace and aren’t familiar with all of our disciples. But we… don’t seem to know this junior brother Lu Yun,” frowned a girl. “I’m a secluded disciple too, but I’ve never seen him in my life.”

She cast an unfriendly look at Lu Yun, whose heart skipped a beat, but he retained a composed look on his face. 

You Huoran had said that secluded disciples were a very mysterious bunch. Even they might not know all of the other secluded disciples. The sacred palaces were bigger than an entire world; there were plenty of people diligently cultivating away in a dusky corner somewhere.

“Besides,” the young girl continued before Huo Jun could respond. “A strict number of us came to the Tomb of Heaven and Earth this time. Everyone’s name is on record—there’s no one called Lu Yun on the list.”

She flipped her hand over and sent a tall beam of light into the air. Inception disciple names were clearly recorded on it; Huo Jun’s was prominently listed.

The girl was called Ling Xiu and one of the leaders of the mortal realm disciples of the Inception contingent sent to the tomb. Her strength rivaled Huo Jun’s.

Lu Yun’s guide frowned slightly when he heard Ling Xiu’s clarification, but he remained staring silently at Lu Yun, waiting for a response.

The center of everyone’s attention had his head down without a word while his mind furiously raced through all available alternatives. Lu Yun had thought he would have a chance to consider a strategy for withdrawal when he arrived; unfortunately, he’d been exposed by the first Inception disciples he met.

Though Inception Palace was a mammoth organization, its internal structure was well defined and strictly organized. Numerous people had tried to infiltrate the palace before, but all were exposed before they’d gotten too far on their mission.

Including… the three-eyed man.

“You said before that those of the sacred lands didn’t give you a chance to explain. I’m giving you one now. Explain yourself, why you possess the power of inception, and how you can deploy the combat arts of the chaos dragons!” Huo Jun said when Lu Yun remained quiet.

“Are you going to say that you’re a disciple adventuring outside and joined us when you heard about the tomb, which is why your name isn’t recorded on the roster?” Ling Xiu smiled superciliously.

“My identity was fake to begin with, so there’s nothing much to explain.” Lu Yun relaxed and spread his hands out at the group.

More than anything else, his current situation drove home the point of how different the chaos was from the world of immortals. Most things would probably not go according to his wishes and he was as weak as an ant here. He didn’t even control his own life and death.

As their conflict escalated, Qing Yu returned to hell with the Bridge of Forgetfulness and guarded the six paths of his nascent spirit along with Aoxin’s mother. They were concerned that those of the Inception Palace might destroy Lu Yun’s nascent spirit through the void.

……

“But he really does command the power of inception and he’s a member of the sacred clan… That can’t be faked, can it?” someone around them asked incredulously. “Is he part of another sacred palace? But we can only wield the power of our own sacred palace, so…”

Lu Yun’s power wasn’t fake and the body of a sacred clan member that he’d created out of the Dragonquake Scripture, in conjunction with the Tome of Life and Death, was also real.

Ling Xiu paused and looked at Huo Jun, who was equally confused as her. If this wasn’t the case, how would he have thought that Lu Yun was a sacred palace disciple and brought him back to camp?

“Speak! What’s with you?” Ling Xiu whipped around and roared at Lu Yun.

“I don’t know either, I’ve always been like this.” Lu Yun shrugged with both hands turned upwards. He wasn’t dumb enough to spill the beans.

“Not going to be forthright, are you?” Ling Xiu walked up and placed her finger between Lu Yun’s brows, wanting to read his memories. However, the Tome of Life and Death immediately reacted and bounced her finger away.

She stumbled backward in surprise, gaping at Lu Yun.

“The princess has a replica here, let’s take him to her! As a sovereign, she’ll be able to determine who this kid is!” another voice raised. “No matter what, our power cannot be controlled by an outsider! We need to get to the bottom of how he became an Inception sacred clan member!”

“Can it be that he’s really part of us and has just been wandering outside all this time?” someone else asked quietly.

“That’s not outside of the realm of possibility either.”

“Whatever, all will be determined by Her Highness.”

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