Chapter 2367: Past Letters
Mu Shang’s eyes narrowed as his smile faded. "If you want to challenge me as a Realm Array Master, you still have a long way to go. Go back and work hard. The Lu family already paid the price for their arrogance, and you will too."
In the Dominion Realm, Bai Wangyuan heaved a sigh of relief.
Wang Fan admiringly said, "As expected of the youngest Array Grandmaster in history. The game looked even the entire time, but it was nothing more than Lu Xiaoxuan’s delusion."
Xia Shenji said, "He truly believed that he became invincible in the entire Perennial World because of that truce with us. He has no idea how far from the truth that is, and now he has to pay the price."
Progenitor Long was also looking downwards. "Yes, it's time for him to pay the price."
At the entrance to the rear battlefield, Bai Hong held himself up proudly. "See? Just as I said, Grandmaster Mu wasn’t struggling from beginning to end. He was simply helping to teach a junior. It’s too bad that Lu Xiaoxuan is simply too arrogant. He could not see the difference between him and Grandmaster Mu until it was forced upon him. I’ll tell you now—an Array Grandmaster is not someone whom a Realm Array Master can hope to challenge. You had best remember that."
Bai Hong was proud of his explanation and commentary on the game, but there was no hiding the fact that Mu Shang looked far more miserable than Lu Yin. Still, the final results were undeniable.
Everyone stared at the game board. The match was about to end.
Lu Yin let out a long breath. "I'm curious about one thing."
Mu Shang and Lu Yin stared at each other. "Are you trying to stall? That’s useless, as I can instantly end this game whenever I wish. Stalling does nothing to help you."
Lu Yin replied, "I know that, but I just want to ask you something. You don't merely dislike my Lu family, do you?"
Mu Shang's eyes flickered.
"I don't know why, but I've felt hatred for you the first moment I laid eyes on you." Lu Yin's expression fell as he stared at Mu Shang. "It's as if just the sight of you irritates me somehow. Did something happen to us?"
Mu Shang’s eyes flared, and a cold flicker of light suddenly appeared in their depths.
"Don't you think that defeating me after I recover my memories will feel far more satisfying?" Lu Yin challenged yet again.
Mu Shang's expression twisted. "While I agree, unfortunately, you haven't recovered your memories."
"Did I do something to you?" Lu Yin asked in a loud voice.
Mu Shang shouted angrily, "Apologize after you recover your memories!"
Just as the man was about to destroy the last bit of the white star energy, Lu Yin suddenly raised a hand. A gust of wind swept out, triggering an unremarkable bit of the danger zone in a random corner of the game board.
It was a completely inconspicuous location that no one had touched from the very beginning of the game. However, the moment Lu Yin’s gust of wind struck that area, the danger zone that had been manipulated to surround the white star energy was instantly scattered without any resistance and then destroyed. Much of the white color disappeared as well, but a small bit remained.
Mu Shang was shocked. This was completely impossible.
Lu Yin's eyes grew cold. Without any warning, he controlled the tiger-shaped portion of the danger zone, and the false creature charged at Mu Shang. As it passed, all the black star energy was destroyed. It arrived in front of Mu Shang and then slammed into the man.
Mu Shang did not even react as the condensed danger zone slammed into him. After the man was struck, the tiger shape collapsed and transformed into countless sheets formed from the game board’s danger zone, and they rained down upon Mu Shang. Most of the sheets struck the man, knocking him out of the game board. The Array Grandmaster spat out blood as he flew through the air and slammed into the ground far away.
Grandmaster Gu Yan instantly took action, and the eight Boundless Advanced sourceboxes that had been used to create the game board were separated with a speed that startled Lu Yin. He had intended to separate the sourceboxes so that the danger zones would no longer overlap, but Grandmaster Gu Yan had completed the task instantaneously.
At this moment, Lu Yin was shocked by the demonstration of Gu Yan's abilities.
If it was said that Lu Yin had reached the same level of competence in lockbreaking as Mu Shang or Grandmaster Qiu Ling, then Grandmaster Gu Yan’s demonstration had just revealed that the old man was on an entirely different level from the other Array Grandmasters.
Lu Yin stared at Grandmaster Gu Yan, and after the sourceboxes were fully separated, the old man also turned to stare at Lu Yin. Gu Yan’s expression was no longer indifferent, but instead revealed both excitement and confusion. "How did you manipulate that bit of the danger zone?"
Mu Shang had been defeated. It was a result that no one had anticipated.
Lockbreaking was a completely different thing than cultivation. Before Lu Yin had abruptly defeated Mu Shang, regardless of how impressive his cultivation or combat power, no one had believed him capable of comparing to an Array Grandmaster in lockbreaking.
Even if Lu Yin could defeat Xia Shenji or the masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas, it was only an indication of his combat power. It had absolutely nothing to do with his lockbreaking abilities.
At this moment, everyone was lost and dazed. They had just watched Mu Shang vomit blood and be sent spinning through the air. A Realm Array Master had just defeated an Array Grandmaster. This was a first in history.
When Gu Yan had been a Realm Array Master, he had challenged Array Grandmasters to games of Stable Zone, and he had even managed to force some games to a draw. That achievement had laid the foundation for the man’s future reputation as the greatest Array Grandmaster in the Perennial World.
Lu Yin had just defeated an Array Grandmaster as a Realm Array Master. What did that indicate for Lu Yin’s future?
While others simply saw a Realm Array Master defeating an Array Grandmaster, Grandmaster Qiu Ling was far more stunned by the results of the game, despite not knowing that Grandmaster Gu Yan’s Hidden Corner sourcebox array that had been used. She had played Stable Zone against Gu Yan before, but the old man had not needed to use Hidden Corner to defeat Qiu Ling. However, Qiu Ling had heard rumors of the unique sourcebox array, and she had even happened to discover that Mu Shang had learned the sourcebox array as well.
When Qiu Ling had played Stable Zone against Mu Shang, she had wanted to see the sourcebox array, but their game had never finished, due to an unforeseen interruption. During the match between Lu Yin and Mu Shang, she had watched the hidden sourcebox array instantly create an opening for a victory. It was like seeing someone seize their enemy by the neck. Victory was literally in hand in such a situation, and yet Mu Shang had still been defeated.
Had Lu Xiaoxuan managed to find a flaw in the hidden sourcebox array?
Qiu Ling stared at Lu Yin. How had he managed to win?
This was the same question that Grandmaster Gu Yan could not find an answer to. He was still staring at Lu Yin. "How did you find the sourcebox array that was hidden within the danger zone?"
How did he find it? Lu Yin looked over at Mu Shang. The man was still lying on the ground in the distance, badly wounded. Lu Yin looked away from his defeated opponent and turned to face Grandmaster Gu Yan. There was an odd expression on Lu Yin’s face. "I just found it like that."
Grandmaster Gu Yan slowly approached Lu Yin one step at a time. Wariness entered Lu Yin’s eyes as the old man softly stated. "That’s impossible. Let alone you, a Realm Array Master, even an Array Grandmaster could never find that sourcebox array given how it was hidden. For you to have managed to manipulate that strand of the danger zone as you did, you also know that sourcebox array, don’t you? You’ve already learned it."
Lu Yin grew curious. "Why would you say that, Grandmaster?"
"Because I’m the one who created that sourcebox array," Grandmaster Gu Yan carefully enunciated.
Lu Yin was taken aback. "You created it? Wait, what's your connection to Gu Yue?"
Lu Yin had only been able to find the strand of the sourcebox array hidden in the danger zone of the game board because of Gu Yue's journal.
Gu Yue had been a powerhouse who had been buried on the Shenwu Continent. He had possessed a power level of over a million, and he had also been a Lockbreaker. He had set up the sourcebox array that used the five planet-sized sourceboxes that protected the Shenwu Continent, which had made it very difficult for the rest of the universe to even find the Shenwu Continent. Even when people knew where the place was, they needed to force their way through the sourcebox array, and only after all of that would they be able to reach the continent hidden in a pocket dimension.
Whether it was because setting up the sourcebox array had taken too long, or because Gu Yue had not wanted to seal the Shenwu Continent away completely, the protective sourcebox array was not overly powerful.
Despite the strength of the sourcebox array, the size of the five planet-sized sourceboxes still shocked Lu Yin. In the past, he had not been able to understand how anyone could have set up a sourcebox array with such enormous sourceboxes, but he had since come to understand things a bit better: Gu Yue had to have been a Realm Array Master, or even an Array Grandmaster.
If the man had been an Array Grandmaster, then he had been a genius on the same level as Mu Shang, and he had even successfully reached such a level before becoming a Semi-Progenitor, or even a peak Envoy. However, it was indeed possible that Gu Yue had become an Array Grandmaster when he had been older than Mu Shang.
Lu Yin had spent a great deal of time studying Gu Yue’s journal and using it as an aid in his lockbreaking journey. The moment Mu Shang activated the Hidden Corner sourcebox array to finish the game, Lu Yin had suddenly remembered that the sourcebox array had also been mentioned in Gu Yue's journal. Unfortunately, the information in the journal had been incomplete. For that reason, Lu Yin had deliberately started a conversation to stall Mu Shang while Lu Yin thought back about what had been mentioned about the hidden sourcebox array. Then, he quickly tried to find some opening that could be exploited against it.
He had been lucky and had found an opening.
If Gu Yue had never seen the Hidden Corner sourcebox array and mentioned it in his journal, Lu Yin would have never been able to find the opening, and he definitely would have lost.
Lu Yin had actually believed that many Array Masters were familiar with the Hidden Corner sourcebox array, but from Gu Yan's reaction, that did not seem to be the case.
Grandmaster Gu Yan grew even more excited when he heard Lu Yin mention Gu Yue. "Where is Gu Yue? He’s my apprentice."
Lu Yin stared at Grandmaster Gu Yan in a daze. Gu Yan, Gu Yue… Really??"He died long ago and is buried in my Fifth Mainland."
Grandmaster Gu Yan’s body swayed and fell. He had always shown himself to be a money-grubber, but an otherwise inconspicuous man. However, at this moment, Gu Yan looked like nothing more than an old man who had lost a loved one.
Xiao Cui quickly helped the old man back up.
Grandmaster Gu Yan looked heartbroken. "I had already guessed he was dead. If he was still alive, why would he not come to see me? So it turns out that he died."
Lu Yin sighed. "Senior, my condolences."
As Lu Yin spoke, he pulled out Gu Yue's journal and offered it to Grandmaster Gu Yan.
The old man stared blankly at the journal before taking it and looking through it. His hands trembled as he did so.
Gu Yue's journal was incomplete and missing parts. Lu Yin had not looked at it since he had become a Realm Array Master, but he had memorized the entire journal long ago, so there was no need for him to hang on to the book. It seemed proper to offer the journal to Grandmaster Gu Yan.
Lu Yin never even considered the possibility that Grandmaster Gu Yan would be lying. What could the old man gain by lying about Gu Yue, a powerhouse who had died so long ago? There was nothing in Gu Yue’s journal that would benefit the Perennial World’s greatest Array Grandmaster.
By this time, many people had surrounded Mu Shang, and someone helped him up. Unfortunately, the man’s injuries were severe, and he kept coughing up more blood.
No one said a word, though they all stared at Lu Yin in confusion. How had a Realm Array Master managed to defeat an Array Grandmaster in a game of Stable Zone? It should have been impossible.
Xia Ziheng clenched his fists. Lu Xiaoxuan had done it yet again. The youth kept creating one miracle after another. First, he had attacked and escaped from Shenwu's Sky. Then, he had escaped from Progenitor Shenji himself! He had forced two Progenitors to retreat from the Forsaken Land, though Xia Ziheng had no idea how he had accomplished that. Lu Xiaoxuan had even managed to somehow force the four ruling powers to agree to a truce with him. Every single accomplishment was unbelievable and should have been impossible, but Lu Xiaoxuan had created every single one of those miracles on his own.
Lu Xiaoxuan was undoubtedly the most dazzling star within the entire Fifth Mainland. His very existence seemed like a miracle. Could the Lu family truly be destined to rule over the Fifth Mainland?
Even Kui Luo remained silent. He had already guessed that Lu Yin might win, but that was only because Kui Luo knew that Lu Yin never did anything without being confident of victory. Still, Kui Luo found this victory particularly unbelievable.
No one else heard the conversation that had taken place between Lu Yin and Grandmaster Gu Yan, or else their surprise would have been diminished.
If Mu Shang had not tried to win by using the Hidden Corner sourcebox array, and Lu Yin had not happened to find a solution to the sourcebox array, then the outcome of the game would not have been certain at all.
Lu Yin was not confident that he could have seized control of the tiger-shaped portion of the danger zone before Mu Shang. So, he could only say that he had been destined to win.
Mu Shang was unwilling to even look at Lu Yin. The Array Grandmaster could not understand why he had lost. Was Lu Yin’s lockbreaking talent so high that he was capable of understanding a sourcebox array with just a glance? That was also impossible. If Lu Yin was really so capable, Mu Shang would have lost far sooner.
Up in the Dominion Realm, Bai Wangyuan and the other Progenitors looked down in silence. Mu Shang had lost. He had actually been defeated.
Bai Wangyuan suddenly realized that he was not overly surprised by the outcome. Was it because Lu Xiaoxuan had already created too many miracles?
Progenitor Smoke looked down with a bright smile on her face. She felt as if she could see Hui Wen’s resemblance as she looked at Lu Yin.
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