Chapter 2008

Once the vessel was completely emptied, Lu Yin moved on to the next one. Fortunately, the Xia family’s strongest elder, who was a six-tribulation Envoy, had joined Wang Shang at the army’s rearguard. Lu Yin disguised himself as the Wang family elder that he had already captured, and he went searching for the Xia family elder on the vessel. As soon as the man was found, Lu Yin knocked him out and threw him onto Zenith Mountain.

Yu Chen, Wang Su, Wang Yi, and the others quickly recognized the next batch of newcomers. This time, the people were all from the Xia family. Xia Taili landed with her head planted in the ground, and her limbs were all askew in odd angles that looked rather indecent. Luo Zhong—or rather, Xia Luo—did not manage to escape either. Lu Yin recognized him, but he did not have time to reminisce about old times. He needed to capture everyone.

Strangely, Xia Shenfei was not on the ship, and Lu Yin could not remember ever seeing Long Tian either. Had Lu Yin incorrectly heard that all of the Junior Progenitors had been sent to the Fifth Mainland?

Lu Yin soon moved onto the White Dragon Clan. They had not sent any six-tribulation Envoys, and Long Kui was their most powerful expert for this expedition. Originally, Long Quan had been sent as well, but he was already dead.

On Zenith Mountain, there was a blank look on Long Kui’s face as he observed the unfamiliar surroundings.

“You woke up really fast! No one else has woken up yet,” Wang Dashuai commented in surprise.

Liu Shaoge gave a small smile. “He’s Elder Long Kui from the White Dragon Clan. He has a good relationship with Lu Yin.”

Long Kui became even more confused. “Lu Yin? What are you talking about? Where are we?”

Wang Dashuai was familiar with Long Kui, as they had met on more than one occasion, so he explained the situation while silently taking pleasure in the older man’s misfortune.

Long Kui was stunned by what he learned. “Were all of you captured and sent here by Long Qi?”

“He’s Lu Xiaoxuan!” Wang Su retorted coldly. She was in a terrible mood at the moment. In the Dominion Realm, she had fallen to Lu Yin’s schemes, and shortly after she recovered, she had been tricked by Lu Yin yet again and captured. The whole ordeal made her want to die from the humiliation. Her only relief was that he was actually Lu Xiaoxuan, one of the Seven Heroes.

Long Kui smiled bitterly. “This army was formed to kill Lu Xiaoxuan, but we all ended up being caught by him instead. What a joke.”

“Seventh Bro is amazing! I, Fatty Wang, already knew from the start that there’s no one else who’s Seventh Bro’s match!” Wang Dashuai yelled feverishly, startling Long Kui and the others.

Wang Yi gave the fatty the stink-eye. This guy’s loyalty swayed wherever the wind blew.

The Perennial World’s army had been formed from cultivators from the four ruling powers, as well as various independent cultivators. People from both the Middle Realm’s Liu family and the Nong family had been supposed to join, but they had not shown up at the last moment. The only ones who had been taken to the border of the Technocracy to train had been the four ruling powers’ people. None of the independent cultivators had been qualified to join. A considerable number of those people had been sent out to search for Lu Yin while others had stayed behind to serve as servants.

Last was the Bai family.

This time, things were rather difficult for Lu Yin. The Bai family’s Elder Qing Xing had not decided to join the rearguard, instead remaining on the vessel along with two six-tribulation Envoys who accompanied him. Elder Qing Xing was a seven-tribulation Envoy, and he intended to act as the vanguard. Still, this was within Lu Yin’s expectations, though it put him in a bind.

He could not fight against a seven-tribulation Envoy, and besides that, the Second Nightking was present, and Lu Yin had no idea which side the man was on at the moment. Lu Yin could not tell whether or not the Sealed Cage Technique that he had placed on the Second Nightking was still effective, and the old man remained inscrutable, revealing no reaction whatsoever.

Lu Yin always preferred to err on the side of caution, so whenever he was unsure about something, he would always assume that it was a variable out of his control and plan for the worst-case scenario.

Based on what Lu Yin knew, the Celestial Frost Sect’s vessel was carrying not only Elder Qing Xing, who was a seven-tribulation Envoy, but also the Second Nightking, who was right below the strength of a Semi-Progenitor. How could Lu Yin handle this? If he was unlucky, he might even be recognized by the Second Nightking.

In the end, Lu Yin chose to give up. He took out his futon and sat in the air while hovering less than a centimeter above it. Next, he pulled out the candle that he had taken from God of Magenta and lit it. Then, he took out the egg that he had received from Tian Dou and Enhanced and held it above his head. Finally, Lu Yin held his Netherworld River in one hand and the Withered Bark in the other. After checking everything over, he felt some of his anxiety fade away. With all of these items, even a Semi-Progenitor would struggle to capture Lu Yin.

With that in mind, Lu Yin returned to his original appearance. He looked out of the spaceship, and his pupils transformed into runes.

Boom!

The spaceship exploded.

Behind the convoy of spaceships, the Xia family elder and Wang Shang were both startled. They quickly searched for the source of the commotion.

Lu Yin sat within the wreckage of the spaceship and smiled brightly out at Wang Shang through the shattered hull.

Wang Shang stared blankly at Lu Yin, the old man’s mouth agape. “Lu- Lu Xiaoxuan?”

The Xia family’s elder was at a loss. “Lu Xiaoxuan? Is that him?”

Wang Shang’s expression turned from dazed to cold. “Lu Xiaoxuan, why are you here?”

Even as he spoke, he waved a hand, and a powerful gust tore through the remnants of the spaceship. There was not a single person from the Wang family to be found.

At this same time, the Celestial Frost Sect’s vessel came to a halt at the front of the convoy, and Elder Qing Xing and the rest of the people on that ship turned to look back.

Lu Yin turned his head and beamed at the people in front as well. “Everyone, it’s been a long time! I heard that you’ve been looking for me, no?”

Everyone stared at Lu Yin. The silence was deafening, as no one knew how to reply.

No one could grasp the current situation. How was Lu Xiaoxuan in their midst? Also, what had happened to the Wang family? The Xia family? The people from the White Dragon Clan? Where had everyone gone?

Luo Zhong was also inside the Celestial Frost Sect’s ship, and his eyes were blazing. He needed to challenge Lu Xiaoxuan! Luo Zhong had once made an oath to never face his second stellular tribulation, but that was dependent on Lu Xiaoxuan’s death. After Lu Yin’s identity had been exposed, Luo Zhong no longer needed to hold himself back. After the battle in the Higher Realm against Lu Yin, Luo Zhong had easily passed his second stellular tribulation and become a three-tribulation Envoy. In the long years leading up to that moment, Luo Zhong had accumulated vast reserves of strength, so he had quickly grown in strength after his breakthrough.

At this moment, Luo Zhong was restless to fight Lu Yin.

A short distance away from Luo Zhong, there was a person staring vacantly at Lu Yin’s smiling face. The man’s body had gone rigid from terror. It’s him! It’s him! It’s him! Lu Xiaoxuan’s really alive! Why isn’t he dead?

The Second Nightking was also aboard the spaceship. When he saw Lu Yin’s happy face, the old man knew that everything was already decided.

After following Lu Yin for so long, the Second Nightking had developed a good understanding of the young man. Since Lu Yin had shown himself and was even smiling, it meant that he was in complete control of the situation. At the very least, Lu Yin was confident that he could get out of this situation without being harmed.

As the wreckage was moved aside and the items surrounding Lu Yin came into view, the Second Nightking’s eye twitched.

A Netherworld River, Withered Bark, and that candle that could unleash runes with a power that matched the Second Nightking’s own strength. Every last one of these items was an extraordinary treasure. The old man was not even looking at the futon; if anything went wrong, Lu Yin simply had to drop down the slightest bit, and he would instantly disappear. Who could stop him from doing that? The man was clearly overprepared.

There was a brief silence, and then Lu Yin spoke. “Didn’t you all come here to look for me? I’m here now, which means I’ve already done the hard part for you. The Fifth Mainland is practically a wilderness, and it covers a massive area, but now, there’s no need to tire yourselves out running around. You can just rely on me, Lu Yin! I’m happy to take the Wang family, the Xia family, and the White Dragon Clan safely around to tour the Fifth Mainland.”

The moment he registered Lu Yin’s words, Wang Shang returned to his senses. “Lu Xiaoxuan, what have you done?”

Lu Yin smiled. “Nothing much, I’ve just taken those people…” He paused for a moment as his smile turned a bit sinister. “…right out from under your noses.”

Elder Qing Xing instantly launched an attack, disregarding everyone else’s lives. Lu Xiaoxuan was right in front of him, and as long as the bastard was killed, he would have made a huge accomplishment. The Celestial Frost Sect would definitely find the means to raise Qing Xing up to become a Semi-Progenitor. This was simply a heaven-sent opportunity.

Lu Yin had always been on guard against an attack from Elder Qing Xing. He was aware that the people from the Celestial Frost Sect would never care about the lives of anyone from the other powers.

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The flame of the candle flickered. Elder Qing Xing had pointed a finger forward, but he ended up being blasted by an invisible force that was powerful enough to push him back several steps. The man was horrified.

Lu Yin sneered. “Attack me again, and I’ll eliminate the Wang and Xia families, as well as the White Dragon Clan.”

Elder Qing Xing glared. The man was fully prepared to continue attacking.

However, the Xia family’s elder instantly shouted, “Qing Xing, consider your actions carefully! He has Princess Taili!”

Elder Qing Xing slowly opened his clenched fist. He might not care about the lives that Lu Yin held in his hand, but Xia Taili was one of the Xia family’s direct descendants. If she died, the Xia family would absolutely take revenge on the Celestial Frost Sect. Qing Xing could not make the decision to take such a risk for his sect. It was reasonable that his sect would only pretend to punish him, but he most likely would not be able to endure the Xia family’s revenge. It was not worth taking the risk.

“Wang Su and Wang Yi are also with you, aren’t they?” Wang Shang asked quietly. His eyes never strayed from Lu Yin.

Lu Yin just smiled in response.

Elder Qing Xing let out a long breath. He was lucky that he had stopped when he had. If Wang Su, Wang Yi, and Xia Taili had all died because of him, he would be absolutely done for.

“Not just them either.” Lu Yin’s gaze swept over his audience. “I’ll be clear. Right now, Long Xi, Wen Diyi, and Liu Hao are also my guests.”

Wang Shang arched a brow. “You captured Long Xi? When?”

“Isn’t that obvious? When I was in the Perennial World,” Lu Yin answered.

The Xia elder glared daggers at Lu Yin. “Stop the bullshit, Lu Xiaoxuan! What do you want?”

Lu Yin turned to look at Elder Qing Xing. “What’s wrong? Aren’t you going to attack?”

Lu Yin’s taunt incited a flicker of anger to flash across Elder Qing Xing’s face, but how could he possibly attack at this moment? Direct descendants of the Wang family, Xia family, and White Dragon Clan were all in Lu Xiaoxuan’s hands. There were even people from Virtue Archives and the Liu family. If anything happened to all of these valued youths, he would be in truly deep trouble.

Qing Xing knew that his sect would still want him to attack, as the Celestial Frost Sect would benefit wonderfully if they were able to trade the lives of the other powers’ youths for Lu Xiaoxuan’s. However, Qing Xin did not have the courage to become the enemy of three of the four ruling powers. Not even a Semi-Progenitor would be so brash.

“There’s no point in talking to you guys. Go and call a Semi-Progenitor over. I want to talk to one,” Lu Yin drawled.

Wang Shang scoffed, “What? You actually have the guts to meet with a Semi-Progenitor?”

Lu Yin looked at the man. “Wang Si’s already tried to ambush me several times, but I’m still fine. What do I need to be afraid of?”

“Very well, we’ll ask Elder Wang Si to come then,” Elder Qing Xing replied. Of the four Semi-Progenitors who had traveled to the Forsaken Land, there was no doubt that Wang Si was the one who wished for Lu Yin’s death the most.

Lu Yin arched a brow. “I want to meet with Xia De.”

“Why?” The Xia elder was taken aback.

Lu Yin sniggered. Xia De was a much better option than Wang Si or Bai Laogui, and he was also not as stubborn as Ni Huang, who passionately hated Lu Yin. “It has to be Xia De. I won’t speak with anyone besides him. If you try to force things, I’ll start killing captives.”

With such a threat looming over their heads, Wang Shang and the others had no choice but to obediently send a report to Ni Huang and the other Semi-Progenitors while also asking Semi-Progenitor Xia De to meet with Lu Xiaoxuan.

The fact that Lu Yin had been right under their noses completely blew everyone’s minds.

Wang Si was so angry that she wanted to immediately return, but she was currently entangled in combat with a Semi-Progenitor corpse king.

Ni Huang was fighting off two enemies, so he was also unable to extricate himself from the battle.

Bai Laogui was similarly trapped.

Only Xia De was able to leave to meet with Lu Yin.

An hour later, Xia De arrived, and he gazed at Lu Yin in amazement. “Even if we look through all of history, you are unquestionably an unmatched genius, Lu Xiaoxuan. Just how did you hide yourself here?”

Lu Yin had a pleased expression on his face. “Hero Xia, I’ve admired you for a long time.”

Xia De shook his head. “We’ve met before.”

“Oh?” Lu Yin felt puzzled.

Xia De continued, “Back when you were still Lu Xiaoxuan, you met not only me, but also Bai Laogui, Ni Huang, and Wang Si. You met all of us in the past.”

Lu Yin nodded. “That’s certainly possible, but I didn’t ask you to come here to reminisce about the old days. Let’s make a deal: you all stay here and work with our Fifth Mainland to hold back Aeternus’s invasion, and in return, I won’t harm any of the people that I’ve captured, and you can even try to capture me after this is all over. Of course, whether or not you actually do catch me all depends on you.”

Xia De shook his head. “We can’t stay here. It’s impossible for our forces here to stop Aeternus. Even my Perennial World is forced to rely on the rear battlefield and the Ceaseless Impetus sourcebox array to resist their invasion. Without those things, we’d be just as defenseless as you. It’s a hopeless situation.”

“If I die, my captives will die too,” Lu Yin coldly threatened.

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