Chapter 2350: Ownership Of The Mountain And Sea
The change that overcame Forgotten Ruins God lasted but a moment. The instance that Progenitor Smoke felt fear, Forgotten Ruins God smiled again, and the coldness vanished like an illusion. "Time to go. Let's talk more next time we meet. You’ll definitely join Aeternus, haha."
With that, her body simply vanished.
Progenitor Smoke stared blankly at the place where Forgotten Ruins God had disappeared from. The woman’s face flushed brightly. Had she actually been frightened? How could she have been scared? She was Progenitor Smoke! Little girl? How dare some traitor call her a little girl!
Anger bubbled up within the woman’s heart, and Progenitor Smoke clenched her fists tightly. She wanted to chase after the Aeternal.
Aside from Progenitor Smoke herself, no one else heard what Forgotten Ruins God had just said, not even Lu Yin.
He stepped into the sky between the array bases and approached Progenitor Smoke. "Senior, thank you for saving me."
Progenitor Smoke glared at him. "What senior? Scurry along."
The woman returned to the Dominion Realm in a huff, leaving Lu Yin stunned. Had he somehow offended Progenitor Smoke?
…
Almost no time passed between the moment Forgotten Ruins God had first appeared, to the end of her attack when she had left. There had barely been enough time for anyone from the Dominion Realm to even react, and the rear battlefield suffered no damage, aside from Lu Yin and Kuang Yan being injured. Well, the jiao had been struck twice as well.
After everything was done, the people on the three array bases that had been affected fell into confusion for a short time.
The sudden appearance of the landmass beneath the three array bases had not only confused the humans, but also the corpse kings, which was very fortunate. If the corpse kings had not also been stunned, then the human forces on the three array bases would have suffered catastrophic losses.
Lu Yin calmly went to check on the seriously injured Kuang Yan. The man was still alive, but his injuries were so severe that he would need months to heal and recuperate. In fact, the man had not even regained consciousness yet.
If Lu Yin had not blocked a portion of Forgotten Ruins God’s attack with Truesight, Kuang Yan would have died without question.
"I honestly can’t decide if that man is lucky or unlucky. He actually managed to survive a strike from one of the Seven Skygods at such close range," Arch-Elder Zen commented.
Lu Yin was staring at Kuang Yan, but his mind was on other matters.
It was clear that he had severely underestimated the Seven Skygods.
Lu Yin had actually believed that, since he was capable of defeating both Xia Shenji and Bai Sheng with his abilities, that it meant that he could also stand up to the Seven Skygods. However, in reality, Lu Yin had not even been able to force Forgotten Ruins God to bring out her Progenitor’s world. The landmass that had appeared was the pinnacle of the Wang family’s Sit and Forget. It was not even the woman’s Progenitor’s world.
Even with Forgotten Ruins God holding so much of her strength back, it was impossible for Lu Yin to overcome any of her attacks with the Progenitor-level runes that he had access to from Lu Jian’s Champions’ Stage. The gap between Lu Yin and Forgotten Ruins God was simply too vast.
He had always dealt with the Seven Skygods’ Semi-Progenitor avatars before this. Even if Ancient God had once revealed the power of a Progenitor with his Semi-Progenitor avatar, he had only exerted the most basic physical might of a Progenitor. What he had revealed back then was incomparable to the true strength of one of the Seven Skygods.
Lu Yin had just witnessed the true strength of the Seven Skygods.
Just as Forgotten Ruins God had said, Lu Yin’s level of strength was average, but nothing more than that.
Xia Shenji had not revealed his full strength when fighting against Lu Yin, and even Bai Sheng had likely kept some things hidden. The two Progenitors might have felt intimidated by Lu Yin’s strength and not wanted to risk death fighting him. However, if a true death match had been fought, then Lu Yin might have found it impossible to pull out a victory even after utilizing everything available to him, including the power that Progenitor Chen had left for the Fifth Mainland.
What actually made the four ruling powers afraid was his threat against Bai Xian'er.
Lu Yin let out a long breath. He felt that he should thank Forgotten Ruins God. If not for her, he would have likely grown a bit arrogant. He had truly believed himself equal to the four ruling powers’ Progenitors, but the Skygod had shown Lu Yin that he was still far behind.
Lu Yin was only a three-tribulation Envoy, but he was not far from triggering his fourth stellular tribulation. He was also confident that, after he became a Semi-Progenitor, he would be able to fight and even defeat Progenitors when they used their full power.
Lu Yin tried not to think about such things, as he was still too far from that level.
Fortunately, while Forgotten Ruins God had shown Lu Yin the gap between himself and truly powerful Progenitors, Lu Yin was not afraid. While he might not be able to defeat such powerhouses, he was not without the means to survive when facing them.
Lu Yin had enough power at his disposal that even Progenitors felt wary of him.
The rear battlefield fell completely silent. After the Forgotten Ruins God left, the countless corpse kings that had been attacking the five array bases also retreated, pulling back like a tide.
The war on the rear battlefield never ceased, but that did not mean that there were no moments of calm.
Bai Chi, Wang Xun, and the other Semi-Progenitors all remained silent.
They had watched as Forgotten Ruins God had attacked the fourth array base, but since they had not been present, they were unaware of the details. All that they had seen was Forgotten Ruins God attacking, the jiao moving out, and then Lu Yin summoning a Progenitor-level champion that attacked Forgotten Ruins God. In just a few moments, they had seen multiple Progenitors take action.
Finally, the Semi-Progenitors on the rear battlefield understood why the four ruling powers had agreed to a truce with Lu Xiaoxuan.
Lu Xiaoxuan was actually able to unleash the power of more than one Progenitor, so it was no wonder the four ruling powers feared him enough that they did not simply attack the young man.
The attitude that all the generals held towards the new defenders of the fourth array base changed in an instant. All thoughts of competing vanished. If Lu Yin left behind even one of those Progenitor level powers, how could any of the other array bases compete with the fourth array base?
Even if Lu Yin did not leave behind some form of a Progenitor’s power for the fourth array base, there were still four Semi-Progenitors stationed there. That was essentially the same as any other two array bases combined. Adding in the combat techniques and technology employed by the Fifth Mainland cultivators, the fourth array base was well on its way to establishing itself as standing above all the other array bases.
Forgotten Ruins God's attack on the fourth array base had startled many people, but the base’s instant reaction had been terrifying.
The most unfortunate person was Kuang Yan, while the most terrifying was Lu Yin. Also, the jiao had proven itself to be the most durable.
Lu Yin had not expected the jiao to possess such impressive defenses, though he did remember that, when both Xia Shenji and Bai Sheng had tried to attack him, the jiao had proven itself to be quite durable as well. All this time, it had never suffered any injuries at all.
Forgotten Ruins God had held nothing back when attacking the jiao, but she had not left even the slightest hint of injury.
Lu Yin looked over at the jiao in the distance. The beast was still flashing its fangs and claws. Lu Yin could not help but wonder just who could have left such a vicious wound on the jiao’s head that, even now, there was still lightning damaging the beast’s brain and leaving it stupid. Was that something that Xia Shenji was capable of doing?
Suddenly, the jiao lowered its head to look at Lu Yin. The enormous eyes took on a threatening look.
Lu Yin reached out for the Champions’ Stage and pulled out its Progenitor-level runes to fill the area around him. After a moment, he looked in a specific direction, and then Bai Wangyuan stepped out.
"Do you intend to attack the fourth array base, Progenitor Bai?" Lu Yin asked coldly while warily staring at Bai Wangyuan.
Bai Wangyuan replied, "I'm here to talk to you about Virtue Archives."
Lu Yin’s voice remained cold. "Coming here without giving any warning and surprising me like this is something that I consider to be a show of hostility."
Bai Wangyuan completely ignored Lu Yin’s irritation. "Lu Xiaoxuan, we've already agreed to a truce with you, so there’s no need to be so cautious of us. We won’t make ourselves liars, and even if we did, your vigilance would mean nothing."
"I'm just afraid that I might accidentally hurt you, Progenitor Bai," Lu Yin retorted.
Bai Wangyuan remained indifferent to Lu Yin’s provocations. "Are you certain that you want to get involved in Virtue Archives’ affairs?"
Lu Yin said, "The fourth array base was just attacked by one of the Seven Skygods’ true bodies, and yet Progenitor Bai doesn’t want to even ask about how we held back a Skygod?"
"Xi Wei has already been here, so nothing needs to be said."
Lu Yin stared at the man. "The Seven Skygods are able to appear as they will, but does the Dominion Realm have no countermeasures in place? Even if one of the Skygods only appears for a single moment, that’s enough time for them to kill everyone here."
Bai Wangyuan shook his head. "That is our responsibility."
The man suddenly felt something pull at his emotions, and he refocused on Lu Yin. "Or, could it be that you would like to join us in defending the Dominion Realm? We would welcome the assistance."
Lu Yin sneered. "Do I look like an idiot?"
"The Forsaken Land has managed to drive the Aeternals out and seal them out. It seems that all of the Seven Skygods' Semi-Progenitor avatars there have died as well. If they focus their attention entirely on the Dominion Realm, we will struggle to hold them back. It might become necessary for you to take action as well," Bai Wangyuan said.
Lu Yin was taken aback. "Haven’t you been holding back the Seven Skygods from pushing through the Dominion Realm for many years?"
"Of course not," Bai Wangyuan stated solemnly. "Every last one of the Seven Skygods is an ancient monster. Just like Forgotten Ruins God, whom you just saw, each one of them is far older than even your Lu family’s patriarch, Lu Tianyi. When any one of the Seven Skygods releases their full power, it is absolutely terrifying, and Xi Wei is incapable of stopping any of them. All of us would struggle to hold them back."
"Then why haven’t the Seven Skygods simply attacked the Dominion Realm? Wouldn't that be easier for the seven of them than trying to destroy the rear battlefield?" Lu Yin felt increasingly puzzled.
Bai Wangyuan replied, "Naturally, you’ll understand such things when you enter the Dominion Realm. There are some things that you won’t be told until you reach a certain level. You have no idea what is truly happening."
"In that case, how powerful are the Progenitor-level enemies that have attacked the Dominion Realm for so many years?" Lu Yin asked another question.
Bai Wangyuan clasped his hands behind his back. "Like I just said, until you reach the necessary level of strength, there is no need for you to know about such things. I’m here to speak with you about Virtue Archives right now."
Lu Yin looked puzzled. "What's going on with Virtue Archives?"
Bai Wangyuan retorted, "Don’t bother with the act. You sent people to help Virtue Archives, so you are clearly setting yourself up as an enemy of my four ruling powers. We agreed not to attack you, but that does not mean that we agreed not to attack other people from your Forsaken Land."
Lu Yin frowned. "Virtue Archives is the best academy in the Perennial World. You keep referring to the Fifth Mainland as the Forsaken Land, and we don’t even have access to stellular energy anymore. What’s the problem with sending some of our elites to study in Virtue Archives?"
"You know full well that we intend to destroy Virtue Archives."
"I didn’t know about that, but I do now. That makes me curious—why do you want to destroy the place?"
Bai Wangyuan stared at Lu Yin, who stared straight back at the Progenitor. "Whether you were aware of this matter or not, Virtue Archives cannot continue to exist."
Lu Yin laughed. "It's just an academy, so why does Progenitor Bai care about it so much?"
"Lu Xiaoxuan, I’ll be open and tell you that Virtue Archives is hiding a Mountain and Sea. We need that Mountain and Sea," Bai Wangyuan stated bluntly.
Lu Yin was surprised. "A Mountain and Sea? The Mountains and Seas should all already have masters."
"How many of the masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas are still alive and how many are dead is unknown. We don't know whom that particular Mountain and Sea belonged to, but regardless, it must become ours. Anyone who receives an inheritance from a Mountain and Sea will undergo a transformation in their strength, which will also help the rear battlefield," Bai Wangyuan said.
Lu Yin felt frustrated. As long as the four ruling powers thought that he did not know about the Mountain and Sea hidden within Virtue Archives, he had a justifiable reason to help the academy. However, with Bai Wangyuan stating everything so openly, Lu Yin was being forced into a corner.
"No matter whom that Mountain and Sea might have belonged to in the past, since it is now in Virtue Archives, the academy should retain control of it. However, I agree with what you said, Progenitor Bai. It can only be considered a pity for a Mountain and Sea’s inheritance to be wasted, but not just anyone can acquire those inheritances. The Nine Mountains and Eight Seas belong to the entire human race, not just your four ruling powers," Lu Yin said.
Bai Wangyuan's expression quickly fell. "So, you want to steal the Mountain and Sea?"
Lu Yin shook his head. "That’s not stealing, but simply fair access. People from the four ruling powers should be allowed to try to inherit the Mountains and Seas, but I also want people from the Fifth Mainland to try as well."
"What a joke! Lu Xiaoxuan, do you really believe that you can fight against my four ruling powers? The Mountains and Seas must all be controlled by my four ruling powers. No one can change that. Anyone who tries to steal a Mountain and Sea will be immediately struck down by my four ruling powers. Just see if you can stop us."
Lu Yin quickly continued, "Calm down, I haven't finished speaking."
Bai Wangyuan’s cold eyes stared at Lu Yin. If it was possible, the four ruling powers did not want to destroy Virtue Archives, as in doing so, they risked offending the Liu and Nong families, as well as Mu Xie and Progenitor Smoke. However, the four ruling powers were absolutely determined to seize the Mountain and Sea.
Those inheritances were simply too important.
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