Chapter 2314: Attack
The moment Lu Yin entered the Astral Beast Domain, he could tell that this place was completely different from the Human Domain. The place was far more desolate than the Human Domain, and there was almost no trace of any sort of technology at all. In fact, it felt no different from the Astral Wilderness.
Lu Yin’s current destination was the Extreme Path.
At the opening ceremony for the reestablishment of the Heavens Sect, the Astral Beast Domain had sent Lu Yin a threat by reminding him of the existence of the Extreme Path. Thus, Lu Yin had been forced to take action against the Celestial Beast Empire. Regardless of how many Semi-Progenitors the Human Domain had gathered, it was time to remove the threat. Lu Yin could not allow the Astral Beast Domain to maintain a threat to the very existence of the Human Domain for any longer.
A few days earlier, Lu Yin had sent Qing Ping a message, asking him to make arrangements for one of the Human Domain’s spies in the Astral Beast Domain to lead him to the Extreme Path. Naturally, Lu Yin intended to use a disguise for the trip.
His Mask of Death was able to deceive even Semi-Progenitors, which meant that there was no place Lu Yin could not go to. There was no creature alive in the Astral Beast Domain who could identify Lu Yin through his Mask of Death.
The only variable remained Skymender, as his book might be able to predict certain details.
However, Lu Yin had even made preparations for that possibility.
In the Human Domain, Destina’s eyes opened. In front of her was Starsibyl. "It's time to begin."
"Yes."
Skymender had told Lu Yin that he owned one of the Books of Destiny as a means to convince Lu Yin that the astral beast’s divinations were accurate. At that time, Lu Yin had threatened to tell Destina about the book, but Skymender had remained very confident. He believed that Lu Yin was afraid of Destina and that that fear would prevent Lu Yin from saying anything.
However, Skymender had been overconfident. Lu Yin had kept the information from Destina not because of fear, but rather because it had not been the right time. Lu Yin had always intended to use Destina to make trouble for Skymender.
This was the proper time.
Before heading to the Astral Beast Domain, Lu Yin had spoken to Destina about certain matters. Lu Yin intended to use Destina to keep Skymender busy and distracted.
Lu Yin was not particularly concerned about whether or not the Book of Destiny could be used to make trouble for him. First, the people involved needed to deal with their own matters.
Both Skymender and Destina were highly intelligent, which made it nearly impossible for Lu Yin to use them. For this reason, Lu Yin had clearly ordered Destina to make trouble for Skymender at a specific time. If not, there was no telling when Destina would move against Skymender, even with the knowledge that he held one of the Books of Destiny.
In the depths of the Astral Beast Domain, at the heart of the Celestial Beast Empire, Skymender’s eyes snapped open the moment Lu Yin entered the Astral Beast Domain, as a flicker of fear had appeared in Skymender’s heart.
It was impossible for anyone who knew divination and who held one of the Books of Destiny to feel such things for no reason. Clearly, something was wrong.
Skymender immediately opened the Book of Destiny, but the moment he did so, he was momentarily dazed. He held his head as he stared at the Book of Destiny, but there was a white cloud. It was Destina.
Destina was attacking Skymender through Destiny’s methods. Skymender knew that Destina would not attack without cause, so could she have learned that he held one of the Books of Destiny? Had she figured it out for herself, or had Lu Yin told her?
For some time, Skymender was unable to settle his thoughts or even think straight due to Destina’s attack. All he could do was try to fight back through Destiny’s methods. Skymender felt that this should be the source of that flicker of fear.
At the same time, Lu Yin saw the person who was supposed to escort him through the Astral Beast Domain. No, this was not a person, but an astral beast. Lu Yin’s escort was a creeper.
The Hall of Honor’s most important mole within the Astral Beast Domain had been a creeper second only to the species’ patriarch. Right before Lu Yin had left to visit the Perennial World, he had asked the Hall of Honor to get in touch with the creeper and have it determine the location of the humanoid sourceboxes. Unfortunately, that creeper had mysteriously died, which had been a terrible loss for the Hall of Honor.
Luckily, the Hall of Honor had recruited more than one astral beast traitor, and one of the other traitors was even a creeper.
Lu Yin joined the creeper, and the astral beast then proceeded to lead Lu Yin through the Astral Beast Domain towards the end of the Extreme Path.
The Extreme Path was a very fragile spatial passage, and even a small bit of external force could tear it open, reestablishing the connection to the Sixth Mainland, which had long since been completely taken over by Aeternus. This was what had allowed Skymender to threaten Lu Yin and the Human Domain.
The Extreme Path was also always being guarded by either Skymender himself, or the emperor of the Celestial Beast Empire. Only a Semi-Progenitor could defend the Extreme Path’s exit from Hen Xin and Jue Yi, who were constantly watching the place.
While the Astral Beast Domain had used the Extreme Path’s existence to threaten Lu Yin, the possible connection to the Sixth Mainland also made them very uncomfortable. Since Yao Di had to personally guard the location, the entire administrative center of the Celestial Beast Empire had been relocated as well.
If not for the threat of the Extreme Path being reopened, Lu Yin would have already seized control of the Astral Beast Domain. After all, Lu Yin knew the place would benefit greatly from coming under his rule.
Lu Yin had carefully chosen the day of his visit to the Astral Beast Domain, as his arrival at the Extreme Path coincided with the day that the individual standing guard would switch out, according to a report that Lu Yin had received from Hen Xin.
Lu Yin used the Mask of Death to assume the form of an astral beast that was very close to the size of a human. Thus, he had no issues approaching the Extreme Path.
Of course, Yao Di was the closest being to the Extreme Path’s exit in the Astral Beast Domain. No other astral beast was allowed to even approach it.
The Astral Beast Domain did have human occupants as well, all of whom had betrayed the Human Domain. However, none of the human powerhouses helped protect the Extreme Path, as it was considered far too important for them to take any risks.
Lu Yin calmly followed the creeper deeper until they were both rather close to Yao Di. Then, Lu Yin looked over to observe the emperor of the Celestial Demon Empire.
Yao Di was currently in his astral beast form, and his enormous body covered the entire Extreme Path. In order for anyone to take control of the Extreme Path, they needed to first drive Yao Di away, and that was practically impossible.
Yao Di was about as powerful as Kui Luo, but the Celestial Demon’s spiritual force was even more robust. Even Hen Xin and Jue Yi, gatemasters of two of the Heavens Sect’s Twelve Heavenly Gates, could not instantly seize control of the Extreme Path from Yao Di, and if the Celestial Demon decided to risk his life, the battle would tear open the Extreme Path, which would draw the Aeternals’ attention and bring disaster down upon the Fifth Mainland.
Mt. Microcosms blocked the path to the Starfall Sea, but there was another path that the forces of Aeternus could potentially take to reach the Fifth Mainland, which was the Extreme Path. Lu Yin really did not know what could be done to repair this weakness. Did he need to leave the jiao behind to protect this place?
Lu Yin would only have one chance, and it would only last for a brief moment. If he failed or missed the opportunity, the Fifth Mainland would suffer a disaster.
Lu Yin did not dare to do anything rash. He was carefully calculating everything.
Yao Di had no idea that, just a short ways away, Lu Yin was staring at him. Yao Di felt that he was safe while standing guard for the Extreme Path, though he was also rather irritated by the task. He was the emperor of the entire Celestial Beast Empire, and yet he had become the guardian of the Extreme Path. In many ways, he had become a prisoner.
"What do you think about what I said? Humanity has no future at all. Humanity has already been almost completely destroyed, as you only have a single Mainland left, while Aeternus still possesses most of their strength. Why do you insist on following that person? Join my Astral Beast Domain. We won’t treat you badly," Yao Di suddenly said with a voice that shook the nearby space.
Lu Yin followed the emperor’s gaze and saw that he was addressing Hen Xin and Jue Yi.
Neither Hen Xin nor Jue Yi had been informed of Lu Yin’s visit. They had simply relayed detailed reports to Lu Yin this entire time. They had no idea what Lu Yin was planning on doing with that information.
The two remained silent, standing quietly in outer space without giving any sort of response.
Yao Di shook his head in a helpless manner. He had made similar offers countless times before to these two men, but they had not responded to him even once.
He was constantly feeling more and more pressure. He had already heard the reports that claimed that Lu Yin had subdued a mount with the strength of a Progenitor, and while Yao Di had dismissed those reports out of hand, even if Lu Yin’s new mount did not have the strength of a Progenitor, it should at least be as strong as a Semi-Progenitor. How could Lu Yin have possibly subdued a Semi-Progenitor level beast and forced it to become a mount?
Lu Yin was becoming ever more incomprehensible to Yao Di.
If he had learned in advance that the Aeternals would drain the true universe, Yao Di would have led the Astral Beast Domain to cooperate with Aeternus to destroy the Human Domain.
The astral beasts simply desired balance. Aeternus and the humans kept each other in check and balanced each other. Yao Di had not expected, nor wanted, humanity to seize the upper hand and drive the Aeternals completely out of the Fifth Mainland. The Astral Beast Domain had been driven into a corner.
As Yao Di contemplated recent events, he closed his eyes. No matter where he might be, he still needed to continue cultivating. As he did so, he released his spiritual force so that he could instantly react to anything that happened.
When Lu Yin saw Yao Di’s eyes close, he thought that his opening had arrived. He took out a bit of dirt from his cosmic ring. It was the dirt and saliva mixture that he had been given by the White Dragon Clan.
As a precaution, Lu Yin had already shown the dirt to Long Xi in order to confirm what he had been told about it.
The Ancestor Python induced an odd sense of pressure on any non-human creature, and Lu Yin wanted to use the soil that he had received to create a brief opening that he could exploit.
Lu Yin decided that it was time for him to make his move. Using his void god level domain, the soil touched with Ancestor Python’s saliva suddenly appeared right beneath Yao Di.
The emperor’s eyes snapped open, terror filling them. He felt as though he was seeing the Ancestor Python’s mouth that could swallow the entire sky release a roar while preparing to simply swallow Yao Di. For a moment, he lost control of himself due to his overwhelming desire to flee.
Yao Di was not alone, as every single astral beast in the nearby area was instantly overcome with fear as well.
It was at this moment that Lu Yin moved, and he vanished in an instant.
While Lu Yin’s domain had reached the void god level, at the moment, he had more faith in a secret technique that was created by a powerful Progenitor.
Lu Yin abruptly appeared right beneath Yao Di, beside the bit of dirt that had appeared a moment ago. The presence of the soil made it difficult for Yao Di to react due to the wave of fear that had overwhelmed him, and Lu Yin had appeared during that small window. The emperor was barely able to see Lu Yin pull out a slipper and smack him in the head.
Yao Di was left unconscious, and his spiritual force collapsed. His eyes went slack, and his mind went blank.
The slipper was able to daze even the jiao, so there was no need to worry about it being able to deal with Yao Di.
After the emperor lost consciousness, Lu Yin kicked the astral beast away, leaving the Extreme Path’s exit clear.
While many things had happened, everything took place in the blink of an eye.
Not even Hen Xin and Jue Yi had a chance to react, let alone the nearby astral beasts. Every creature who was not human was still stunned by the dirt that contained the Ancestor Python’s aura. So, none of them had even noticed that control of the Extreme Path had changed hands.
At the heart of the Celestial Beast Empire, Skymender was still fighting with Destina when he felt the same flicker of fear as before. His expression changed drastically, as something was clearly wrong. If he was already dealing with Destina, then why would that tiny bit of fear suddenly reappear? He suddenly looked in the direction of the Extreme Path. Something was very wrong.
Skymender reached out to Yao Di.
Unfortunately, Skymender was already too late. Yao Di had been knocked unconscious and was drifting through outer space. All of the astral beasts near their emperor were staring at Lu Yin in fear and bewilderment.
Lu Yin put the slipper back away and turned to look at Hen Xin and Jue Yi. "Why are you still standing there in a daze? Get over here and take control of the Extreme Path!"
Only then did the two Semi-Progenitors recover.
The two men had spent almost a year in the Astral Beast Domain, constantly looking for an opportunity to seize control of the Extreme Path’s exit, but to no avail. The fact that Lu Yin had succeeded so easily was shocking.
How had he taken action before Yao Di could even react? What had that slipper been?
No one could provide any answers. Lu Yin was becoming increasingly incomprehensible to even the ancient powerhouses.
From planning to execution, Lu Yin had only needed a few days to seize control of the Extreme Path and the nearby area. Sometimes, the longer a plan took to make, the more difficult it would be to execute.
The threat of the Extreme Path had been eliminated, so Lu Yin summoned the jiao to join him.
The jiao was still just beyond Ironblood Weave when it received Lu Yin’s summons, and the pressure of a Progenitor was fully released, causing the entire Ironblood Weave and the entire eastern Outerverse to tremble.
The jiao shot into Ironblood Weave, and raced into the Astral Beast Domain.
Outside of Earth’s solar system, Ancestor Tortoise’s eyes rolled beneath its eyelids, but it continued to sleep. The only other change was that its head was no longer inside its shell, which it had done before to prevent it from being bitten off while the tortoise slept.
Back in the Celestial Beast Empire, Skymender managed to regain control of himself after his brief moment of shock. His expression was incredibly dark at the moment, as he knew that the situation was bad. He was unable to get in touch with Yao Di, which could only mean that something had happened to the emperor.
It was at this moment that Skymender suddenly felt a Progenitor’s aura. Lu Yin had actually managed to tame a Progenitor-level mount.
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