Chapter 2321: Appearance

Lu Yin's eyes blazed. 5 trillion? That was even more than what he had obtained from the three Junior Progenitor Planets, which had been enough to bankrupt the four ruling powers. Lu Yin felt quite certain that not one of the four ruling powers had as much star essence as he was about to receive.

However, while it seemed like a tremendous amount, in the context of the entire Astral Beast Domain, it really was not that much. After all, some astral beasts also used star essence with their cultivation. Otherwise, Yao Gu would have never bothered to obtain a Mavis bank card.

If no one in the Astral Beast Domain used star essence for their cultivation, as was the case with the Technocracy, then Lu Yin would have obtained a much, much greater amount of star essence. In the end, Lu Yin would only receive the resources that the astral beasts were willing to give to their emperor.

Lu Yin believed that if all of the star essence in the entire Astral Beast Domain was gathered together, it would amount to at least 20 trillion, which was about twenty times more than what the Technocracy had given him.

In the entire Fifth Mainland, the place with the most star essence was still the Human Domain. Lu Yin could not even estimate how much star essence existed throughout the entire Human Domain. On top of that, there were also the Sixth Mainland and Perennial World’s resources. The more Lu Yin thought of the wealth that existed in the universe, the further his imagination wandered. He even began fantasizing about the possibility of gathering all the star essence in existence and Enhancing the slipper to the point where even the Aeternals’ True God could be instantly killed.

Still, just whom had that slipper belonged to?

In the following days, Lu Yin asked Yao Di to announce to the entire Astral Beast Domain the creation of the Astral Beast Army and also to expedite the entire matter before he made his way to the Heavens Sect to take up his new post there. In place of Yao Di, the Astral Beast Domain would be ruled by the Heavenly Blade Gate.

At this point in time, the Heavenly Blade Gate still only had a single member: Leng Qing. Not one other person had joined the Heavenly Gate. For this reason, Lu Yin tasked the Giants Army with accompanying the Heavenly Blade Gate into the Astral Beast Domain.

Only the colossal giants could suppress the rough and wild nature of the Astral Beast Domain.

Back in the Heavens Sect, Ku Wei received the terrible news. "Go- go to the Astral Beast Domain?"

Leng Qing looked at the young man in a condescending manner. "Get ready. These are the Dao Chosen's orders, so we leave immediately."

Leng Qing did not actually obey Lu Yin’s orders due to his position as Dao Chosen, nor because of his strength. Rather, it was solely because he wielded the Origin Progenitor’s sword. Lu Yin alone could wield that blade, and as far as Leng Qing was concerned, Lu Yin represented the Origin Progenitor himself.

The truth was that, out of all eight gatemasters of the Heavenly Gates, the one who was the most loyal to Lu Yin was Lu Buzheng.

Ku Wei whined, "Can I not go?"

Leng Qing shrugged. "Take that up with the Dao Chosen."

His hands trembling, Ku Wei prepared to send Lu Yin a message with his wireless jincan. However, it did not take long for Ku Wei to give up. He quickly gathered the Giants Army and prepared to depart for the Astral Beast Domain.

Being sent to the Astral Beast Domain was pure torture for Ku Wei. He had been enjoying a wonderful time in the Heavens Sect. With his position as Lu Yin's disciple, Ku Wei could essentially dominate the entire Human Domain! The feeling of having access to beautiful women, resources, and practically unlimited authority was beyond marvelous. If Ku Wei wanted to, he could even visit the Ku family and flaunt his improved status. How could such a lifestyle compare with what he would be doing in the Astral Beast Domain?

Reality was too cruel.

***

While Lu Yin was conquering the Astral Beast Domain and cleaning out their powerhouses to form the Astral Beast Army that he was taking back to the Human Domain, in the Perennial World, Virtue Archives was facing its own difficulties.

Even though only a month had passed since everything that had happened in the Higher Realm, there were no students at all in Virtue Archives. The students who had traveled to the Higher Realm had stayed there. As for the instructors, Prof. Bai, Prof. Wu, and six others had left. Prof. Hao Yu had been exposed as Lu Yin, which left only Headmaster Wen, Semi-Progenitor Ce Donglai, the God of Food, Mr. Tang, Prof. Zheng, Prof. Xiao Wen, Prof. Wei, and Prof. Huai. They were the only people in all of Virtue Archives now.

The descendants of big families such as Nong Siniang and Liu Que had all been taken back by their families, and they had never returned to Virtue Archives.

There were currently only seven people occupying all of Virtue Archives’ territory.

It was impossible for seven people to run an entire academy. There would also be no students returning or entering, as the four ruling powers had sealed off the entirety of Virtue District.

"This is ridiculous! The four ruling powers would have never taken such drastic actions against us before!" Prof. Zheng was irritated by the entire situation. "Why did that Lu Xiaoxuan have to come to our academy?"

Semi-Progenitor Ce Donglai, who was the guardian of the academy’s library, said, "Even without Lu Xiaoxuan coming here, our academy still would not have been able to last for very long."

Headmaster Wen stared off into the distance. He still was unable to accept the fact that Yu Hao was actually Lu Xiaoxuan. How had he managed to hide himself? How could a three-tribulation Envoy keep anything hidden from a Semi-Progenitor? Why had he gone and created such chaos within the four ruling powers? He had even gone to the Higher Realm and attacked Shenwu's Sky, which had caused Shenwu’s Sky’s Jiao to disappear. Then, he had somehow managed to survive a full-powered attack from Xia Shenji after the Progenitor had released his Progenitors’ World. Not even three Semi-Progenitors working together had been able to defeat the youth.

"Lu Xiaoxuan is truly an incredible genius. It’s no exaggeration to consider him the greatest genius of all time," Headmaster Wen remarked with emotion.

Mr. Tang voiced his admiration as well. "True. Throughout all of time, what three-tribulation Envoy has ever been able to fight against four Semi-Progenitors? He even killed one and then escaped from a Progenitor! Such things have never happened before, not even when the Lu family was at their peak."

Prof. Wei commented, "The past Lu Xiaoxuan would never have been able to accomplish this feat. History sometimes has a funny way of rewriting itself. The present Lu Xiaoxuan is quickly becoming capable of accomplishing everything that the Lu family of the past was capable of."

Prof. Huai listened in silence as the others spoke. Was there anything that he could contribute to this conversation? Not at all. He was truly a perfectly average Enlighter. Not even his students listened to him during his classes, and they frequently forgot that he was even present. He felt that an instructor like him should just leave the academy. The four ruling powers had provided a very generous offer, and truthfully, it was too good for him to encounter such an offer ever again in his life.

But Prof. Huai had not left. This was not because he was stubborn, but because he was simply too late. Right when he had been about to accept the four ruling powers’ offer and leave Virtue Archives, something had gone wrong with his body. When he had regained control, he could not find the offer that he had been given, and he had found the six people who were still accompanying him.

The six people were quite surprised to see that Prof. Huai had stayed around.

He was not stupid, and he could understand his circumstances. So, he had naturally stated that he had willingly stayed at Virtue Archives. He had humiliated himself before three Semi-Progenitors, and it had somehow seemed to work.

Prof. Huai had also heard too much about Lu Xiaoxuan over the recent days, and he could not help but think that reality was too cruel. How could that friendly, smiling Prof. Hao Yu actually be Lu Xiaoxuan, the greatest enemy of the four ruling powers? That person had created a huge mess in the Higher Realm, and he had even attacked Shenwu’s Sky. It all sounded impossible. Could a human truly accomplish such things? These were things that Prof. Huai did not even dare to dream of.

"The four ruling powers have given us a deadline. If the Mountain and Sea is not given to them, they will destroy Virtue Archives. It seems that my old bones are no longer capable of making them hesitate." The God of Food got up and rubbed his shoulders.

Ce Donglai looked over. "Are you going to attempt to break through and become a Progenitor?"

The God of Food nodded. "If I hadn't blocked that attack for Lu Xiaoxuan in Shenwu's Sky, the academy wouldn't be in such dire straits right now, and the four ruling powers would not be acting so aggressively."

"The academy has relied on you for stability for so many years. If they want the Mountain and Sea, at worst, we can do so," Ce Donglai said.

The God of Food's eyes dropped.

"We can’t truly stop them. Without students, an academy is no longer an academy. Being stubborn won’t help anything. Even if we use Progenitor Wen's sourcebox array to try to hold them back, it won’t work for very long," Mr. Tang interjected.

"Actually, we’re not completely without options." Prof. Wei suddenly spoke up, causing everyone to turn and look at her.

Even the God of Food was caught off guard. "Options?"

Prof. Wei laughed. "We've been focusing on everything that Lu Xiaoxuan did while he was in the Higher Realm and while he was messing things up for Shenwu’s Sky, but have any of you considered just how he came back to the Perennial World?"

The others glanced at each other as they considered Prof. Wei’s words.

"We all know that the four ruling powers sent an army into the Forsaken Land to hunt down Lu Xiaoxuan. Not only did he return here alive, but he is also much, much stronger than he was before. Even if he was helped by Semi-Progenitors, how could he have ever managed to escape from Progenitor Xia Shenji in the Higher Realm as a mere Envoy? The only answer is that he was helped by a powerful Progenitor, and that Progenitor might also be from the Forsaken Land," Prof. Wei explained.

No one knew the details of Lu Yin's fight against Xia Shenji in the Higher Realm, as Xia Shenji had not allowed any information to leak out.

"What are you saying?" Headmaster Wen asked.

Prof. Wei explained, "The New Corridor is going to be repaired, and it won't be much longer. When that happens, our Perennial World will be reconnected to the Forsaken Land. The four ruling powers will focus almost all of their attention onto Lu Xiaoxuan when that happens, but since Lu Xiaoxuan felt bold enough to stir up a mess in the Higher Realm, I believe that he’s confident in facing off against the four ruling powers themselves. That matches with what I felt about him while he was with us."

"So are you suggesting that we stall and delay until the four ruling powers are no longer able to pay any attention to us?" Ce Donglai asked.

Prof. Wei replied, "We just need to stall."

She looked at the God of Food. "The longer we can hold them off, the greater the chances of senior successfully becoming a Progenitor, right?"

The God of Food felt quite bitter. Becoming a Progenitor? How will that ever be possible unless I kill that beast?

Headmaster Wen looked over at the God of Food. "You are our academy’s only hope. Once you become a Progenitor, the four ruling powers won’t be able to do anything at all to us. Do your best."

The God of Food took a deep breath. "In that case, I’ll be going into seclusion now. Buy as much time as possible, but if it is too difficult, call for me. Even if my breakthrough fails, I’ll make sure to terrify them!"

Everyone was left speechless.

***

High above Virtue Archives, in the Higher Realm, stood the Wang family’s territory of the Higher Realm. Rising even higher, one would enter the Dominion Realm.

There was an area of the Dominion Realm that could not be seen from down below where the Mother Trees branches had all been smashed, and each branch was floating in the sky. Even though the branches were all broken, they were still absolutely massive, and each piece was large enough to hold multiple stars.

This was the warfront of the Dominion Realm where the Progenitors of the four ruling powers held back the forces of Aeternus.

On one of the broken branches, four people sat around a mirror. They were Xia Shenji, Bai Wangyuan, Wang Fan, and Progenitor Long.

The mirror between them was Progenitor Smoke's mirror.

Each of the four men touched the mirror at the same time and vanished. Upon entering the pocket dimension within the mirror, they glanced at each other. Without saying a word, they attacked in unison.

Soon, the mirror exploded, and the four Progenitors reappeared. They all looked at the middle between them where a cloud of white fog had gathered. The fog swept out and shot high into the sky as a powerful aura surged. The fog and the aura shook the Dominion Realm, as well as the battlefield below the Progenitors.

Countless people looked upwards when they felt the power of a Progenitor surge.

Even Semi-Progenitors looked upwards, though for them, they wondered whom this unknown aura was from. Who was this Progenitor?

The fog cleared at the center of the four Progenitors, and as it did so, Progenitor Smoke's true body was revealed. She was finally truly freed.

Progenitor Long grew excited as he looked at the woman, and he bowed low as soon as she became visible. "Senior Progenitor Smoke, Junior Long Er greets you!"

Bai Wangyuan watched as Progenitor Smoke appeared, his feelings complicated upon seeing her. For years, all of his old friends had disappeared one by one. There were only a few of the old people from his generation still alive, yet another old friend had just returned.

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