Chapter 2354: I’m Taking You Back
Lu Yin immediately unleashed his domain, and he quickly felt the presence of two Semi-Progenitors. One was on the mountain, while the other was deep underground.
In New City, the more powerful a person was, the closer to the top of the mountains they could live. This was because the base of the mountains were more dangerous. So naturally, Semi-Progenitors lived at the peak.
After Lu Yin’s domain enveloped New City, which was actually called the Stacking Mountain Range, his expression quickly turned ugly. The number of living humans was less than half compared to when he had visited the New World previously. He quickly found Zhou Tang, Guo Hai, Tu Qiming, and Big Sis Luo Sha. However, Lu Yin could not find Brother Hong, the Matriarch of the Eastern Mountains, or Wan Sen.
Lu Yin was able to see everyone in New City, and the Semi-Progenitor at the top of the mountain range had already noticed the young man’s arrival. Surprise flashed across the man’s eyes as he stepped out and instantly appeared right in front of Lu Yin. "Have you also been banished to this place? A three-tribulation Envoy has managed to reach the void god level with his domain…"
"Senior?" Lu Yin felt a bit puzzled. This Semi-Progenitor was an old man who was nearly five meters tall. There was a somber expression on the man’s face, and his hair had been plaited into braids. There were dozens of small skulls tied to each of the braids.
The old man stared at Lu Yin, and he even circled the young man before letting out a sigh of admiration. "Such delicate skin and flesh. For such a young man to achieve such a cultivation, you are comparable to the heirs of those monstrous powers. What’s your name? Why were you punished? Who did you offend to be sent here?"
Lu Yin frowned. He had smelled blood when this old man arrived, and it was a nauseating stench. Somehow, it felt a bit familiar. "I offended Bai Qi."
"Bai Qi? The general of the fourth array base? You’re quite unfortunate. She is not some ordinary person, but is actually the daughter of the Celestial Frost Sect’s Progenitor Bai. Killing you would have been a mercy, as sending you here is a fate worse than death." As the old man spoke, an odd smile appeared on his face. He looked at Lu Yin in a bizarre manner. "If an old man like me slowly tortures you, do you think that Bai Qi will notice? Would she be willing to let me go?"
Lu Yin did not answer the man, and he instead looked up at where Tu Qiming was staring down at Lu Yin.
He smiled at Tu Qiming, and Tu Qiming’s mouth fell open. "Is that really you?"
Complicated, conflicting emotions flickered across the man’s eyes as he stared at Lu Yin. Tu Qiming looked worried, excited, and anxious all in one, as he knew that Lu Yin was actually Lu Xiaoxuan.
When Lu Yin had fallen to the New World, he had posed as Long Qi. During that time, he had become acquainted with Tu Qiming, and he had also beat Tu Qiming due to a rather complicated reason. Eventually, someone had been sent to New City who had brought news that Long Qi was actually Lu Xiaoxuan. Tu Qiming and many others had not believed such a thing, and they had even thought that the story was a conspiracy concocted by the four ruling powers. But more and more people had been condemned to the New World with the story, and Mu Shang had even come to set up a sourcebox array; thus, people had gradually come to believe what they had been told.
Tu Qiming had laughed loudly for an entire day, despite his mental torture. He had laughed through the pain. He had not been alone, as Uncle He and many others had joined in. There had even been laughter echoing up from beneath the ground.
Learning that Lu Xiaoxuan was still alive had made them all feel like the sun was shining down upon the New World.
No matter how much torture they endured, they had been given a glimpse of hope.
Tu Qiming had been wondering about when he would see Lu Xiaoxuan once again, but he had never expected that day to arrive so quickly.
"Do you still want a beating?" Lu Yin said to Tu Qiming with a happy smile.
Tu Qiming gulped dryly, and his expression flitted from confused, to excited, to finally aggression. "I'll be the one to beat you this time!"
With that, the man charged to attack Lu Yin.
Lu Yin pursed his lips and simply avoided the attack, which caused Tu Qiming to slam into the ground. The man ended up with a mouth full of dirt.
More and more people emerged and noticed Lu Yin. Some grew excited, while others were left confused. Some felt curious, and others became anxious. Lu Yin's arrival changed the entire mountain range.
The Semi-Progenitor grew puzzled. "Tu Qiming, do you know this man?"
"That’s none of your business," Tu Qiming answered bluntly.
The old man's expression fell. "Watch your words! If not for Wan Zhiyi, I would have already thrown you out to feed the corpse kings!"
Tu Qiming sneered. "If it weren’t for Wan Zhiyi, you would already have become the corpse kings’ food."
The old man's expression grew even worse.
After yelling at the Semi-Progenitor, Tu Qiming turned back to face Lu Yin. "Don't run away! Let me punch you."
"Why?"
"You beat me up before."
"That's because you deserved it."
"You’re the one who deserves a beating! If I’d known who you were back then, I would’ve just pissed on your face!"
"The more you talk, the more I feel like I owe you a beating."
Tu Qiming yelled and punched at Lu Yin again, but Lu Yin just rolled his eyes and casually tossed the man aside.
Uncle He watched from above, looking quite distressed. Still, he did nothing to stop the two men. For Uncle He, this was a nostalgic scene, as the young master had frequently been beaten up by the Seven Heroes long ago. After so much time, such a scene had finally reappeared. ?It felt like Uncle He had gone back in time.
Suddenly, someone rushed down and grabbed Tu Qiming. The man turned to stare at Lu Yin and softly demanded, "Why did you come back here?"
It was Zhou Tang.
There was a terrible expression on the man’s face as he stared at Lu Yin. "There is absolutely no way out of here. Were you captured by the four ruling powers?"
Tu Qiming let out a gasp, and he turned to stare at Lu Yin.
Further away, others who had known Long Qi and learned that he was truly Lu Xiaoxuan stared at him. Everyone’s expressions grew ugly as they all waited to hear Lu Yin’s answer.
He glanced around at the gathered crowd. Just as he was about to speak, the Semi-Progenitor cut him off. "It appears that you have been here before and that these people all know you. You should be another surviving vassal of the Lu family."
Tu Qiming shot the old man a frigid glare. "Fuck off! You don’t qualify to speak to him!"
The old Semi-Progenitor grew furious. "Tu Qiming, do you really believe that I won’t touch you?"
"Try it." Lu Yin stared at the old man.
Tu Qiming was taken aback, while Zhou Tang and everyone else nearby stared at Lu Yin in shock. They could hear the confidence and arrogance in his voice, but he was clearly just a three-tribulation Envoy. Where was his confidence coming from?
The old Semi-Progenitor had not expected Lu Yin to suddenly threaten him, and a powerful killing intent blossomed in the man’s eyes as he sneered at Lu Yin. "Well, it seems that not showing myself for so many years has caused the rest of the world to forget about Ancestor Ku. Even a mere junior has the gall to speak to me in such a manner now? Do you truly believe that Wan Zhiyi can keep you safe? He’s already lost all his strength while imprisoned. I’ll kill you right now! Let’s see just what that old man can do."
The man then reached out to grab Lu Yin. By all logic, it should be an easy matter for a Semi-Progenitor to capture a three-tribulation Envoy.
Tu Qiming was terrified. "Grandpa Zhiyi!"
The Semi-Progenitor who referred to himself as Ancestor Ku grew wary, and his attack instantly slowed. He was actually terrified of the underground Wan Zhiyi.
Despite his certainty that Wan Zhiyi had been terribly weakened by his incarceration, the man’s reputation still stood strong. Even the four ruling powers were reluctant to kill Wan Zhiyi, and they had instead merely imprisoned a powerhouse who had long been at the cusp of the Progenitor realm.
However, Wan Zhiyi did nothing, and the old man's hand quickly approached Lu Yin.
Tu Qiming shouted, "He’s Lu Xiaoxuan!"
Zhou Tang and the others were unsurprised by the outburst, and they continued to watch in silence. However, the Semi-Progenitor’s hand suddenly stopped, and he turned to look at Tu Qiming in disbelief before looking back at Lu Yin once more. "Lu- Lu Xiaoxuan?"
Tu Qiming let out a huge sigh of relief when he saw the old man’s grab halt. Tu Qiming stared at the ground. "Grandpa Zhiyi, you should already know this. He is Lu Xiaoxuan! It’s Lu Xiaoxuan."
However, there was no response from beneath the ground.
Uncle He and the others were surprised to see no reaction at all from Wan Zhiyi. Why wasn’t the man responding to Lu Xiaoxuan's return? Something was not right.
The old Semi-Progenitor glanced around suspiciously, but he did not have the courage to finish his attack. While Lu Xiaoxuan was certainly a junior, he was not someone whom the old Semi-Progenitor could afford to mess with. Even if the four ruling powers were pursuing Lu Xiaoxuan, the old man did not dare to take action without further information. The name “Lu Xiaoxuan” was not merely a name; it also represented a remnant will from an unrivaled hegemon.
Lu Yin looked down at the ground. He had clearly been noticed by the Semi-Progenitor who was at the cusp of the Progenitor realm. Wan Zhiyi was someone whom even Progenitors had been polite to, and the man should be a powerhouse on the same level as the gatemasters of the Twelve Heavenly Gates, or possibly even above them.
"Grandpa Zhiyi, why won't you say anything?" Tu Qiming felt quite puzzled. Lu Xiaoxuan had returned, so there was no reason for Wan Zhiyi to be completely unresponsive.
The old Semi-Progenitor grew sullen. "Are you certain that this kid is Lu Xiaoxuan? He’s not an impostor?"
Tu Qiming was caught off guard, and he reflexively turned to stare at Lu Yin. An impostor?
Tu Qiming and the other surviving vassals of the Lu family had spent many years in the New World, and even the four ruling powers had forgotten about them long ago. All that awaited the banished survivors was death. Did they hold any value at all to the four ruling powers? Not once had anyone been sent to even question the survivors, nor had any imposters ever been sent to them in the past. Thus, they had not even thought to question Lu Yin’s identity.
When they had received news that Long Qi was actually Lu Xiaoxuan, they had all believed the information to be false, but the impossible news had eventually been proven true. The Long Qi that they had all met was indeed Lu Xiaoxuan.
The Long Qi that they had gotten to know was Lu Xiaoxuan, but that did not mean that the person who had just arrived was the same person as the Long Qi that they had met in the past.
In fact, it was possible that Grandpa Zhiyi had already noticed that something was off, which was why he had not appeared.
Tu Qiming and others all stared at Lu Yin. "Are you a fake?"
Zhou Tang's eyes grew cold. If this person was indeed an impostor, then he would die, even if he was a direct descendant of one of the four ruling powers.
Confronted with everyone's stares, Lu Yin spoke slowly, "There are two possibilities for why Senior Wan would not take action. The first would be that I am an impostor."
There was a pause before Lu Yin continued speaking. "Second," he enunciated as he stared at the Semi-Progenitor, "You are just trash that poses no threat to me."
The Semi-Progenitor's eyes flared. "What did you just say?"
Lu Yin frowned. "Did you say that your name is Ancestor Ku? Do you think that you deserve such a name?"
The jiao suddenly rose into the sky, and its body returned to its full size. It immediately started flashing its fangs and claws as the power of a Progenitor fell upon the Stacking Mountain Range.
There was a split second where everyone was absolutely horrified and startled by the terrifying aura that erupted from the jiao. The old Semi-Progenitor was the main target of the beast’s aggression, and he instantly collapsed, spitting out blood as he fell. The blood splattered across his face, leaving him with a pathetic appearance.
The old man’s mind went blank from terror due to a Progenitor-level beast being so close to him. Anyone would be frightened, and a Semi-Progenitor was no exception.
As for Tu Qiming and the others, they were completely stunned, and they were just lucky that the jiao had not targeted them. Other than the Semi-Progenitor, everyone else merely felt the jiao’s aura.
The beast covered the sky, and its shadow enveloped the entire Stacking Mountain Range.
The mouths of Zhou Tang and the rest fell open as they stared on in a daze. When had any of them ever gotten this close to a creature with the strength of a Progenitor? Was that truly the power that they were sensing? It was something that they had never encountered before, but it was the only possibility that they could think of while in the presence of such overwhelming strength.
Lu Yin looked down at the old man on the ground. He kicked the Semi-Progenitor, which sent the old man tumbling down. "Starting today, you are no longer allowed to call yourself Ancestor Ku. You don’t deserve that name."
Everyone stared in stupefaction at Lu Yin's display of dominance. Everything was forgotten. There was no thought at all in anyone’s mind. It was as though they were lost in a dream.
Lu Yin raised a hand, and the jiao retracted its aura and shrank back down.
Some time later, people started to recover.
Tu Qiming gulped. "You…"
Lu Yin smiled. "I've come to fulfill my promise. I’m taking you back."
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