Chapter 2352: Lost

"It would seem that Progenitor Bai has agreed. In that case, I will have to ask Progenitor Bai to have Xia Ziheng and the others retreat so that they don’t disturb the students' entrance exams," Lu Yin said.

Bai Wangyuan stared at Lu Yin. "I hope that you will follow through on what we’ve agreed upon and that you won’t send anyone to maliciously intercept people from my four ruling powers. If you do, this agreement will be instantly invalidated. This is not a formal, public agreement, but rather a merely verbal agreement between the two of us."

"Don't worry, I won't." Lu Yin reassured the man.

Bai Wangyuan turned around and was just about to leave. Wait a minute…

The Progenitor suddenly turned back to stare at Lu Yin. Before the old man even realized what was happening, he had been drawn into Lu Xiaoxuan’s pace. When had Bai Wangyuan even agreed to the first option that had been offered?

Lu Yin just smiled at Bai Wangyuan.

The Progenitor took a deep breath. Forget it, it doesn't matter.

The four ruling powers were going to be able to challenge the tests for the Mountain and Sea in the Fifth Mainland, and they had even gotten access to the Tower of the Fifth, which meant that they were not suffering any losses. "If you truly want to protect Virtue Archives, then don't bother doing useless things like interfering with the decisions of my four ruling powers."

After speaking, the man vanished.

As soon as Bai Wangyuan was gone, Lu Yin pulled out his wireless jincan and started sending out some orders.

A few more days passed. Lu Yin had assumed that he simply needed to wait for Zhou Tang and the others to be delivered to him, but they never arrived. As for Virtue Archives, nothing happened to the academy.

Xia Ziheng and the other Semi-Progenitors received new orders, and they all left the Virtue District. Peace returned to Virtue Archives.

Headmaster Wen called Lu Yin in order to thank him, and at the same time, the headmaster asked how Lu Yin had managed to dissuade the four ruling powers.

Wen Lai had no idea how Lu Yin could have reached an agreement with the four ruling powers. Even if he could, it was unlikely that any agreement would be able to help Virtue Archives. The man had only ordered Mr. Tang to reach out to Lu Yin with the faintest of hopes, but Headmaster Wen had not had any real hopes of success.

Lu Yin did not bother trying to hide anything, and he shared all the details of the agreement that he had reached with Bai Wangyuan with the headmaster. Wen Lai remained silent for a long time. Ultimately, he only had two words to say: thank you.

Despite only being two words, they said more than a thousand.

There were times when words were useless, no matter how many were spoken. There were times when just two words could mean the world.

Several more days passed, and Lu Yin could not wait any longer. He directly contacted Bai Wangyuan about Zhou Tang and the others, as there was no need to bother going through anyone else.

Bai Wangyuan had not even known that Zhou Tang and the rest had not left New City in the New World. Truthfully, the Progenitor had never even thought about the people banished to the New World, as their lives and deaths had nothing to do with him. He did not care at all if they were released. After Lu Yin made the matter one of his conditions to the truce, Bai Wangyuan had handed the matter over to Bai Qi, the former general of the fourth array base. The woman had no assignments after being replaced by the Fifth Mainland on the fourth array base, and she was actually still on the rear battlefield. She had been working on calculating her compensation for all that she had accomplished on the rear battlefield.

Bai Qi arrived at the fourth array base and sought out Lu Yin. "The people in New City can’t come up here for the time being."

Lu Yin's eyes flickered with a dangerous light. "That is what Bai Wangyuan himself promised me as part of our agreement."

At this moment, an endless sea of corpse kings charged upwards. While the fourth array base had far more robust defenses than the other array bases, there was still constant fighting taking place. Additionally, there were Envoy-level corpse kings that tore through the void to charge upwards, and they attacked the top of the array base.

Lu Yin ignored the battle taking place as he continued to stare at Bai Qi.

The woman explained, "After you were exposed while posing as Long Qi, the White Dragon Clan was infuriated. As a result, everyone with any connection to your identity as Long Qi was investigated, and New City was not exempt from that, especially because of how many former vassals of the Lu family were sent there. People in New City clearly knew that Long Qi was you, Lu Xiaoxuan, but they kept it secret. A price was paid to Mu Shang so that he would set up a sourcebox array above New City.

"People can only enter that sourcebox array. There is no exit, and Mu Shang has the key."

Lu Yin frowned. "Mu Shang? He's currently at Virtue Archives. Are you saying that the sourcebox array can’t be opened until he comes back?"

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Bai Qi shook her head. "Everything that has to do with the rear battlefield must remain on the rear battlefield. When Mu Shang left, he was required to leave the key behind. He left it with his apprentice, Qiao Er, but-"

Suddenly, Bai Qi grew extremely hesitant, which puzzled Lu Yin. "But what?"

"Qiao Er lost the key."

Lu Yin's eyes grew large. "What did you just say?"

Bai Qi shrugged and repeated, "Qiao Er lost the key."

Lu Yin stared at Bai Qi in a daze. After being stared at for some time, Bai Qi started to feel awkward. This was not the reaction that she had expected at all.

"She lost the key?" Lu Yin reconfirmed. After seeing Bai Qi’s nod, Lu Yin let out a loud laugh. His laughter spread across the fourth array base, and countless people heard it.

Jiu Yao heard the laugh, and while it was the first time he had heard such a laugh from Lu Yin, it gave the Semi-Progenitor chills. There was no hint of happiness in that laugh.

Arch-Elder Zen recognized the sound; it was Lu Yin’s laugh of anger.

Even the jiao could hear Lu Yin’s laugh, and the beast looked down towards Lu Yin. Confusion filled the creature’s eyes, and it automatically raised a paw to show its claws and reveal its fangs, but after glancing around, it saw that no one was around. There was not even a corpse king willing to approach it, so after a moment, the jiao lowered its paw once again.

Bai Qi watched Lu Yin as he laughed. The woman started to feel nervous. Even though she had spent many, many years protecting the fourth array base, she had met Lu Xiaoxuan before. It was clear that the man before her was not Lu Xiaoxuan. This man was Lu Yin, a man who had the courage to openly challenge Shenwu’s Sky. There was nothing such a person would not dare to do.

"She didn't lose it on purpose," Bai Qi said, but even she did not believe her own words. Who would believe that a cultivator would lose something so important? The key had definitely been placed in Qiao Er’s cosmic ring, so how could it have been lost?

If Bai Qi knew what Gu Xiao’er, Lan Si, and Yao Gu had experienced in the past, she would not have had such doubts.

Lu Yin showed a happy smile. This feeling was something that he had not experienced in a very long time. Was he being provoked? Treated like an idiot? He had recently fought against Xia Shenji and exchanged threats with Bai Wangyuan. Just what was going on?

Even on his deathbed, Lu Yin would not have expected to deal with such pettiness. It was also not just Lu Yin, as even an old man like Bai Wangyuan most likely would not even consider such a thing. While the four ruling powers’ Progenitors all dreamed of killing Lu Yin, they would never employ such petty methods.

"Let's go. Show me this sourcebox array," Lu Yin said. He looked calm once more, and there was no hint of happiness or anger on his face.

Bai Qi stared at Lu Yin. "From what I know of Qiao Er, she didn't do this on purpose. There’s just too many things on the rear battlefield that can’t be accounted for."

Lu Yin replied, "I know. I don't blame her. Let's go."

Bai Qi was not very familiar with Lu Yin, so she could not determine what was going on in Lu Yin’s mind at this moment.

Lu Yin did not travel with the jiao, and he instead simply followed Bai Qi to the first array base. As Lu Yin moved along, a Champions’ Stage appeared beside him. The presence of the Champions’ Stage drew several glances from Bai Qi. Why was it there?

She did not know that the Champions’ Stage that traveled with Lu Yin was not his own. She could not even imagine a person transforming into their own innate gift happening.

If not for what Lu Yin had experienced with God of Flames, he would never have believed such a thing to be possible either.

The first array base was situated closest to New City.

In the past, when Lu Yin and the others had fallen to the New World from the second array base, they had traveled towards New City. Then, they had determined the direction by traveling towards the first array base.

While the five array bases looked like they were all very close to each other, the distance between each one was vast enough for numerous stars to exist. If Lu Yin and the others had fallen from the fifth array base instead of the second, then they would have never been able to reach New City, as the distance would have been too great to traverse.

The sourcebox array that Mu Shang had arranged for New City allowed people to enter, but not leave. The only way to open it was with the key that had been left at the first array base.

As soon as Lu Yin arrived at the first array base, he saw a battle taking place everywhere.

The first array base’s commanding general was Bai Chi, whom Lu Yin had heard of before.

When Lu Yin had wanted to trade Qing Chen’s merit points for the Cloudguard Robes, the robes had already been reserved by Bai Chi. If not for Xia Yan’s interference, Lu Yin would have struggled massively to acquire the Cloudguard Robes.

Also stationed on the first array base was Semi-Progenitor Xia De.

Upon seeing Xia De again, Lu Yin acted as if he did not know the Semi-Progenitor, and he instead only looked at Bai Chi. Xia De was actually extremely nervous. His time spent in the Fifth Mainland as Lu Yin’s prisoner had been humiliating, and the Semi-Progenitor was worried that Lu Yin would say something in public, even though many people already knew of the matter.

As for Bai Chi, he was staring straight at Lu Yin.

The general of the first array base had not expected Lu Xiaoxuan to grow up so fast. Just how many years had passed? Once, the youth had needed to exchange borrowed merit points for the Cloudguard Robes to keep himself safe on the rear battlefield. But now, he had managed to negotiate a truce with a Progenitor of the four ruling powers.

Lu Yin had no interest in speaking with Bai Chi. The only people in the entire Celestial Frost Sect who could warrant Lu Yin’s notice were Bai Wangyuan and Bai Xian'er.

However, Bai Chi was very interested in Lu Xiaoxuan. More precisely, the general was interested in Bai Zhen's death. "You killed Bai Zhen?"

Lu Yin ignored the question and instead glanced over at Bai Qi. "Where's the sourcebox array?"

Bai Qi glanced at Bai Chi before leading Lu Yin away.

Bai Chi's expression fell. "Arrogant beast!"

He then looked over at Xia De. "If not for your Xia family being so soft, that last survivor of the Lu family would have died. Not only has he survived and caused so much trouble, but you were also almost killed by him."

Xia De retorted, "That's right. Lu Xiaoxuan is over there right now because of us, so why don’t you go kill the three-tribulation Envoy?"

Bai Chi snorted contemptuously before he turned around and left.

Kill Lu Xiaoxuan? Ignoring whether such a thing was even possible, the four ruling powers had already agreed to a truce with Lu Xiaoxuan. If Bai Chi attacked Lu Xiaoxuan and broke the truce, then the fallout would be more than he could bear. After all, the truce had been negotiated by a Progenitor.

Also, Bai Chi was aware of the fact that Lu Yin had fought against four Semi-Progenitors on his own while in Shenwu's Sky. No matter how powerful Bai Chi might be, that feat was beyond him. Even more importantly, the entire rear battlefield had just watched as Lu Yin had fought against Forgotten Ruins God. Kill him? That was nothing less than suicide.

Xia De mocked the general. "Nothing but talk."

Elsewhere, Lu Yin was looking at the sourcebox array that filled the sky above New City.

The sourcebox array could be seen all the way from the first array base, which suggested that the sourcebox array was not too far away from the array base. However, that also indicated that the sourcebox was very, very far away from New City, given the city’s distance from the first array base.

"Is it that light and shadow?" Lu Yin was surprised.

Bai Qi nodded. "That's right. That light and shadow is from the sourcebox. Without that, it would be impossible to see it from the array base."

Lu Yin was amazed. Sure enough, Mu Shang was qualified to be an Array Grandmaster. While Lu Yin was not certain about the underlying sourcebox array, the one that produced the light and shadow should be an original creation of Mu Shang. It did not add any abilities or power to the underlying sourcebox array, as it merely ensured that the sourcebox array could be seen from any distance.

This was not something that Array Masters would normally add to a sourcebox array, but it was necessary for the current situation. No one was willing to enter the New World and undo the sourcebox array. So, since they were able to see it from the array base, a person could control the sourcebox array with the key. This overlaying sourcebox array was very effective in this particular situation.

"This sourcebox array is called Coiling Knot, according to Qiao Er. I don't know who created it or where it came from, but it prevents people from leaving New City. The city can be entered, but not left," Bai Qi said.

Lu Yin asked, "Where is Qiao Er?"

Bai Qi was rather surprised that Qiao Er was not present, so someone was sent to look for the woman.

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