Chapter 2306: Prestige
The Fifth Mainland had not had a Progenitor since the Daosource Sect era, but at this moment, the power of a Progenitor swept across the Fifth Mainland. It was something that shocked countless people, and the universe itself seemed to churn and boil. The void was pushed back, and the universe felt like it was about to be changed.
Even though countless people were unable to see the jiao as it raced through the void, they were able to feel the beast’s unmatched pressure.
The jiao raised its head upwards and let out a roar, blatantly unleashing its power.
Lu Yin did nothing to stop the beast. In fact, he wanted the creature to create as big a ruckus as possible.
Before going to the Perennial World, Lu Yin had relied on Progenitor Chen’s power and the ability of the Star Stomp to dominate the Fifth Mainland. However, at this moment, Lu Yin was able to dominate the Fifth Mainland even without the help of Progenitor Chen's power.
This thought once again reminded Lu Yin of Progenitor Smoke, which left him feeling regret all over again.
All he could do was hope that the four ruling powers would help free Progenitor Smoke instead of concealing her. If she never showed up again, Lu Yin would simply gain another task to accomplish. He had lost the mirror, and he felt obligated to find it again.
In the Neoverse, the area that the Court of Seven Names had originally occupied before being disbanded had been taken over by the Three Fatalities Heavenly Gate. However, after Hen Xin had been dispatched to the Astral Beast Domain, the Three Fatalities Heavenly Gate had maintained a low profile and obeyed all of the orders that came from the Heavens Sect.
When the jiao roared, the Three Fatalities Heavenly Gate, the Hall of Honor, the Cosmic Sect, Gods Origin, and all of the various great powers of the Neoverse were startled. Then, every last person from each of those places offered a respectful bow. This was the power of a Progenitor that they were sensing, and it demanded their admiration and obedience.
The jiao possessed unmatched speed, and it took only a few breaths for it to swim from the Honor Zone to the Cosmic Sea. Once the beast arrived in the Cosmic Sea, the chaotic weather of the place was instantly suppressed, and the surface of the sea was actually forced downwards.
Highsage Leon looked up in the direction of the jiao and let out a wild laugh.
Lu Yin had sent a message with an explanation to Highsage Leon before arriving in the Cosmic Sea, as he did not want to create any misunderstandings that Lu Yin might be trying to intimidate Highsage Leon. Regardless of the heights that Lu Yin achieved, he always regarded Leon’s Armada as his home and family.
"Good job, kid! Hahahaha!" Highsage Leon was thrilled.
Everyone else in Leon’s Armada was just as delighted. Tens of thousands of people in the pirate crew, as well as the countless pirates who were secretly loyal to Highsage Leon all respectfully bowed in the direction of the jiao.
The beast quickly traversed the Cosmic Sea and arrived in the Innerverse. The Sword Sect, the Lingling Clan, and the other major forces all bowed in unison.
The jiao raced through the entire Innerverse and soon arrived at the Astral River. An Astral River Ark was in the Astral River, and it was shaken and nearly collapsed from the pressure that struck it during the jiao’s passage.
Everyone aboard the ark bowed. None of them dared to even look at the jiao.
The size and invincible power of the jiao were too shocking to people.
Finally, the jiao passed by Zhenyu Star and arrived in Earth’s solar system, where it let out another roar.
Just inside the Heavens Sect’s main gate, numerous people bent and bowed low. "We welcome the Dao Chosen’s return."
"We welcome the Dao Chosen’s return."
"We welcome the Dao Chosen’s return."
…
Word had been leaked before Lu Yin left the Honor Zone, so everyone knew that he had returned, which was exactly what Lu Yin wanted.
Atop the jiao, Lu Yin’s prestige within the Fifth Mainland would rise to the greatest level ever.
Who could use a creature with the strength of a Progenitor as a mount? Who could do so as a mere Envoy? There had not been a single person who had accomplished such an achievement throughout all of human history. Not even ancient powerhouses such as the God of Death, Wu Tian, and Destiny, who had possessed unmatched power, had ever accomplished such a thing. How could a mere Envoy ever hope to suppress a being with the strength of a Progenitor? No such being would ever submit to an Envoy.
And yet, Lu Yin had done just that. He was the first person in all of history to do so, and his image was deeply engraved into everyone's hearts at this moment.
The Fifth Mainland was Lu Yin's domain. A single word from him could determine the fates of countless lives. Lu Yin alone possessed the qualifications to stand above all others. It was true in the present, and it would only become increasingly evident in the future.
The four ruling powers were an increasingly imminent threat, which meant that Lu Yin had to raise his reputation within the Fifth Mainland to unprecedented heights so that he could fully unite the entire Fifth Mainland to stand up to the four ruling powers.
At this moment, there was only a single voice speaking for the entire Fifth Mainland: "We welcome the Dao Chosen’s Return!"
Even Chu Yuan, Heluo Mavis, Sky Garan, and others who had been rebellious and confident of eventually reaching the Progenitor realm themselves grew obedient and submissive when they saw the jiao. All of them bowed and greeted Lu Yin’s return. "We welcome the Dao Chosen’s return."
Even if Lu Buzheng was a senior of the Lu family from the Heavens Sect era, he displayed the same attitude at this moment. There was no one who demonstrated any sort of exception.
Lu Yin was satisfied when he saw everyone's attitude, though his attention was quickly drawn elsewhere: Ancestor Tortoise.
Earth’s solar system was not very large, and it was actually smaller than the heavenly sect, which had entire stars within it. Ancestor Tortoise was large enough to compare to the Heavens Sect as a whole, so the beast had never actually stayed inside the solar system, but rather just outside it on the opposite side from the Heavens Sect.
At this moment, the tortoise’s neck was elongated so that its huge eyes could stare at the jiao. The tortoise looked extremely curious.
As for the jiao, it gazed back at Ancestor Tortoise with equally strong curiosity.
The two enormous creatures’ eyes met.
They both continued to stare, neither backing down and neither showing the slightest hint of fear.
Lu Yin found this quite odd. Why did Ancestor Tortoise dare to meet the jiao’s eyes? The jiao was a beast with the strength of a Progenitor and was so powerful that even Xia Shenji had only been able to suppress the jiao because of the broken saber. The beast might not be intelligent, but its body was far, far stronger than Xia Shenji's clone.
As for Ancestor Tortoise, Lu Yin had always believed the creature to have the strength of a Semi-Progenitor. If it was more powerful than that, then why had it reacted with such terror when it had seen Corpse God?
However, Lu Yin could clearly see that the tortoise had absolutely no fear of the jiao.
This was quite surprising.
The jiao moved, raising its upper body to lift its claws higher as it released a tremendous roar. It wanted to scare the tortoise, so the jiao bared its teeth and claws.
The jiao’s roar was powerful enough to cause the void to tremble.
When Ancestor Tortoise heard the roar, its head shrank back, its eyes never leaving the jiao even though its head was hidden within its shell. The movements suggested that Ancestor Tortoise had been frightened, but its eyes only held curiosity. There was still no fear to be seen.
Lu Yin suddenly remembered that, when he had been roaming about the Middle Ocean with Bai Weiwei and Prof. Bai while searching for a beast with the strength of a one-tribulation Envoy. They had found a sea turtle with an appropriate level of strength, but Bai Weiwei had been completely helpless against the sea turtle.
Bai Weiwei was an Enlighter Realmbreaker who could fight against Envoys. Ancestor Tortoise was facing a dragon. The idea of a Semi-Progenitor standing up to a Progenitor seemed absurd, especially given how timid Ancestor Tortoise had proven to be. The only answer was that the jiao could do nothing at all to harm Ancestor Tortoise.
Even though Ancestor Tortoise was referred to as “ancestor,” that was nothing more than the Mavis family being respectful. The beast had been raised by the Lu family, but it was a glutton for the fruit grown by the Mavis family’s divine tree. The tortoise was gluttonous, timid, and lazy. Just because it was referred to as “ancestor” did not mean that the beast possessed the strength of a Progenitor, but Lu Yin was starting to question that idea.
The jiao became upset. It had finally encountered a beast of a similar size, but the creature refused to be intimidated, and that was infuriating to the jiao. Its incomparably sharp claws rose again and pierced through the void. It was just about to release another roar, when it was slapped silly by the slipper, leaving it almost unconscious. "What's wrong with you? Shut up."
The jiao felt like dying as it straightened its head and tried to see straight again. It felt terribly wronged.
In front of the jiao, Ancestor Tortoise’s eyes grew large. It had seen the slipper, and it instantly felt fear return from its past experiences. The whimpers of the jiao made the tortoise remember its own wailing after it had been struck. The memories caused Ancestor Tortoise to look at Lu Yin with fear. The enormous creature then simply closed its eyes. It intended to keep its eyes closed and pretend to be asleep.
There was nothing more hateful than that slipper.
This was the first time that the jiao and Ancestor Tortoise had ever met each other, but despite there being an entire solar system between them, they understood each other.
At the same time, there were many people throughout the Heavens Sect and Earth’s solar system who were eagerly waiting for an opportunity to get Lu Yin’s attention and shower him with flattery.
The jiao’s arrival caused endless words to appear in many people’s minds, but it seemed impossible to even form a single coherent sentence from those words. There seemed to be no way for the sycophants to adequately demonstrate their admiration. All they could do was wait to catch a glimpse of Lu Yin.
Elsewhere in the solar system, on Earth itself, all of the faces on bustling streets were turned to face in the direction of the jiao as people bowed towards it. There were thousands of statues of Lu Yin that had been erected across Earth. Lu Yin had long since been regarded as the most worshiped individual on Earth. The people there did not truly understand just how horrifying the jiao was, but its size alone made it clear that the beast could not be subdued by a normal person.
On one corner of a street, Xi Qi was holding a cup up to take a drink, and she even had the straw in her mouth as she stared at the jiao. "Brother Lu is so amazing!"
Atop her head, the vile fish was still slapping its fins around. "Girl, you have Lord Fish here with you! Who cares about impressing everyone? Lord Fish will teach you falconry, and then when you meet a big eagle in the future, you will help Lord Fish tease it. You will receive matching compensation!"
Xi Qi felt incredibly frustrated. "Just look at Brother Lu! He was able to subdue such an enormous beast. What about that eagle that you keep mentioning? Can we even fight it? I'm afraid that it sounds impossible."
"What are you talking about, you useless thing? Lord Fish will slap it dead with his tail! Hey, Lord Fish has seen that thing before. Where did it come from?" The nasty fish was staring at the jiao as it tried to remember, but it could not remember anything.
Lu Yin knew nothing about this conversation. He left the jiao outside of Earth’s solar system, forbidding it from roaring or making any sort of commotion. He then entered the Heavens Sect on his own, leading the members of Star Alliance along.
…
Lu Yin sat at the top of the Heavens Sect, Lu Buzheng and Leng Qing were sitting on either side of him. None of the other Semi-Progenitors were present for the moment.
102 people from Star Alliance were quietly standing in the Heavens Sect’s main hall. Every last person from Star Alliance was at least an Envoy.
"Seventh Bro, are all these people your prisoners? You’re too powerful! Like a blazing star that illuminates the universe for billions of years, you are…" As soon as Lu Yin arrived, the Ghost Monkey had seized the opportunity to constantly pile on the flattery.
Lu Yin frowned. "Shut up."
The monkey instantly shut its mouth and no longer dared to speak a single word.
Lu Yin looked over the people from Star Alliance cultivators. "Everyone who once followed the Lu family, step forward."
Of the 102 people present, more than a dozen stepped forward, though others were clearly hesitating.
"I’ll warn you right now—anyone pretending to be a vassal of the Lu family will die," Lu Yin sternly declared.
The hesitating people trembled and then quickly suppressed the temptation that they had briefly felt. They had all seen Lu Yin fight against Xia Shenji for a bit, and even though it had only been a brief glimpse before they had been taken away by the jiao, the fact that Lu Yin had successfully returned to the Fifth Mainland despite the four ruling powers’ pursuit was enough to prove something to them. Not to mention, they had already witnessed the jiao submitting to Lu Yin. As far as the members of Star Alliance were concerned, Lu Yin had demonstrated his prowess.
Lu Yin ignored everyone else from Star Alliance and focused solely on the vassals of the Lu family.
The old woman who had called out to Lu Yin as “young master” had died, as she had been one of the people who had charged at Xia Shenji to try to create a chance for Lu Yin to escape. Others had died with that woman as well, as they had all rushed towards Xia Shenji like moths to a flame. Every last one of them had died without even leaving a corpse behind.
Their deaths were painful to Lu Yin, just the same as Lu Xiaoxuan’s old servant that Lu Yin had buried on Zenith Mountain. Lu Yin did not even know that old man’s name, and he was unable to carve a tombstone for him.
The surviving vassals of the Lu family did not show the same affection for Lu Yin as those who had already sacrificed themselves for him. Still, the fact that they had been forced into Star Alliance was proof that they had refused to submit to the four ruling powers. Also, Lu Yin acknowledged these people as vassals of the Lu family.
Lu Yin looked over at Lu Buzheng. "Third Uncle, I’ll leave these people to you, so please treat them well."
Lu Buzheng nodded as he gazed at the group of a bit more than a dozen people, his feelings complicated. "I am Lu Buzheng. I am from the Heavens Sect era, which makes me older than Lu Tianyi."
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