Chapter 1496: Hidden Needle

Upon seeing Bai Zhen's expression, a smile crept across Bai Chi's face. "How will this do? You should already know about the power of the Fay Blossom, right?"

Bai Zhen was terrified at first, but after registering Bai Chi's words, he became incredibly excited, and he even started panting. "Really? Really?"

Bai Chi smiled. "Of course. However, this thing is not on the exchange list, and I have no need of your merit points. And naturally, I can’t give you a Fay Blossom for free. So, how will you repay me?"

Bai Zhen struggled to tear his eyes away from the Fay Blossom to look back at Bai Chi. "What would you like?"

Bai Chi smiled gently as he put the Fay Blossom away. "Check the exchange list. Maybe you’ll find a better defensive treasure listed."

Bai Zhen spoke in a rushed manner, "Sir, just tell me what you want."

Although the Fay Blossom was not a defensive object, they were actually even more useful than one, and they were far more valuable than the Cloudguard Robes. If Bai Zhen were able to choose between the Cloudguard Robes and the flower, he would absolutely choose the Fay Blossom without any hesitation.

The moment that Bai Chi had taken out the Fay Blossom, Bai Zhen had already known that the general had been prepared. Regardless of whether or not the Cloudguard Robes had been available, the Fay Blossom would have appeared. This was a choice, and it was not one that Bai Chi was offering, but rather that old man.

Bai Chi thought for a while as he stared at Bai Zhen. "Honestly, I don't actually know what I need from you, but you should already know. If not, I would never have a Fay Blossom in my possession."

Bai Zhen's eyes flashed, and he seemed to be struggling with something.

Bai Chi was in no hurry, so he simply waited.

After a long time, Bai Zhen finally said in a solemn manner, "Hidden Needle."

Bai Chi had to ask, "What?"

Bai Zhen stared at Bai Chi in an earnest manner and slowly repeated, “Hid-den Ne-edle."

Bai Chi was stunned. "The Lu family's Hidden Needle? You have it?"

Bai Zhen nodded.

Bai Chi looked Bai Zhen up and down. "How did you learn the Hidden Needle? That technique is unique to the Lu family, and they never let it leak out. You were just a mere retainer, so how were you able to learn that skill?"

Bai Zhen sneered. "Retainer? That’s just a matter of who I follow. The person I follow is extremely powerful.”

Bai Chi’s expression sharpened, and he nodded. "That's not bad. It’s no wonder why you were able to survive on the sloped land for nine years. With the Hidden Needle, forget nine years—even surviving for twenty years might not be impossible. It’s no wonder why you were given that test."

Bai Zhen shook his head. "He doesn’t even know that I learned the Hidden Needle when he gave me my test. He simply doesn’t want to see anything that’s even slightly related to the Lu family, but I will definitely survive and get everything that I want."

Bai Chi smiled. "The Hidden Needle is a wonderful skill." He then raised his hand, causing the Fay Blossom to reappear and slowly float over to Bai Zhen. "It's yours."

Bai Zhen received the Fay Blossom with a complicated expression. Was it really worthwhile to trade the Hidden Needle for a Fay Blossom? The technique could be considered a lost art, and Bai Zhen had no idea if anyone from the Lu family was even still alive. However, he would not change his mind even if it was for 10,000 Fay Blossoms. After all, the Celestial Frost Sect would never allow anyone to learn the technique ever again. Even if he dared to teach someone, who would dare to learn it?

It did not actually matter anymore; the Lu family was gone. Bai Zhen quickly shook away any remaining thoughts and looked up. Bai Chi's eyes were glistening as he waited to learn the Hidden Needle.

***

Over on the second array base, Lu Yin received the Cloudguard Robes. When he opened the package and felt the material, his first reaction was that it was too tough. This item was able to endure attacks from powerhouses who had survived five stellular tribulations! More importantly, it contained more than a single sourcebox array within it.

Lu Yin found this rather unbelievable; who could have set up a sourcebox array that fit within a mere set of clothing?

Lu Yin had seen many enormous sourcebox arrays, the first being the one that protected Shenwu Continent. Later, there had been the one in the Lockbreaker World, and there was also the Ceaseless Impetus that he was currently standing upon. All of them were beyond massive. However, the Lu Cloud Clothing in his hands contained the smallest sourcebox array that he had seen so far.

Big and small were two extremes. It was very difficult for something to be the largest, but it was also extremely difficult for something to be the smallest.

If someone else redeemed the Cloudguard Robes, it might be nothing more than a piece of defensive equipment, but this item had a completely different level of value in Lu Yin’s hands. It was possible he could glean something important from it.

Lu Yin had specifically asked where the Cloudguard Robes had come from, but no one knew, not even General Xia Yan. All that the general had known was that the clothes had been accidentally left behind on the battlefield.

With the Cloudguard Robes successfully delivered, Xia Yan reached out to Liu Jing and told the Envoy to set up Lu Yin’s terror ant team.

Lu Yin’s team consisted of more than 3,000 people, and that was just his group. Before his team set out, another group of cultivators from the second array base had already traveled to the Mother Tree’s trunk to start clearing out the terror ants, and more people would be sent in the future as well.

There were both powerful and weak cultivators within the 3,000-plus members of Lu Yin’s team. Most of them were older ones, as it was not easy to find youths that could step onto the battlefield behind the Mother Tree, as most of them lacked the required strength.

However, there was not a single Envoy within Lu Yin’s team, though there were several Enlighters on the cusp of becoming an Envoy. On the other end, the weakest members were mere Explorers.

Just this single team of 3,000 people alone is enough to sweep through the Fifth Mainland’s Outerverse, Lu Yin thought to himself. Despite the strength of his team, Lu Yin’s people were only tasked with clearing out ants in the Perennial World.

These 3,000 people were not a singular, cohesive team. Rather, they had been divided into multiple squads by Liu Jing. Each squad consisted of around ten people, and Lu Yin had been assigned to a squad of fifteen people, which included five Enlighters. Liu Jing had personally assigned all of the squad members. Lu Yin’s squad captain was an old man who was also the most powerful expert within the 3,000 strong team. He was infinitely close to the Envoy realm.

"The squads have been assigned, and the captains have each been given the coordinates of the locations that you are responsible for clearing. Overall, you are to clear the section of the Mother Tree’s trunk that lays closest to the second array base. Remember, you won’t only face terror ants, but also monsters hidden within the ants as well as traitors. Be careful," Liu Jing said. He briefly glanced over towards Lu Yin, and then waved the army over towards the teleportation device, their destination the Mother Tree’s trunk.

The array base’s Ceaseless Impetus was connected to the Mother Tree’s trunk, and it also extended away from the enormous tree. Thus, it was possible to reach the trunk by just traveling along the second array base’s array formation.

While it was technically the trunk of the Mother Tree, from their perspective, it was actually a brown continent, no different from the branches that Lu Yin had seen up in the Dominion Realm. The primary difference was that, in the Dominion Realm, there had been countless piles of discarded bark on the branches, while the trunk had countless countless of corpses from both humans and corpse kings.

The corpse kings were constantly assaulting the Perennial World, endlessly trying to climb up to the array bases from one direction and climbing up the Mother Tree’s trunk from the other direction.

As everyone emerged from the teleportation device, they looked around in curiosity. In addition to the cultivators standing guard over the teleportation device, there was also a temporary headquarters some distance away.

To the north, they could see the Mother Tree’s massive trunk, as well as countless cultivators awaiting battle. This place was a frontline of the battlefield.

The team began to split up upon arriving, each squad making its way to the region that they had been assigned to.

Everyone had been given their own task. Explorers were required to eliminate a certain quota of ants, and Hunters had a different quota to meet. It was impossible for anyone to leave without completing their individual task, and it would also be impossible for them to find a place to hide and relax.

Lu Yin's squad moved along the tree trunk under the lead of the old man who was their captain. Meanwhile, several other teams stopped nearby to discuss something.

The old man also stopped. He looked at Lu Yin and the others before solemnly saying, "This old man is Shen Hai, and I was appointed as your captain. Even though the general ordered me to take this position, I still have to ask, are there any objections?"

Lu Yin and the others stayed silent.

The old man continued on in a satisfied tone, saying, "Since there are no objections, then this old man will take on the responsibility of being captain. We are on the battlefield behind the Mother Tree. This old man has been here once before."

Everyone was surprised by this reveal, and one of the middle-aged women asked, "Senior, you’ve fought on the battlefield before?"

Shen Hai nodded. "That’s correct. I came here when I first became an Enlighter. I spent several years fighting here, and I was lucky enough to return alive. My name was left behind on the battlefield’s records, and I was drafted just like most of you were. Most of us were recruited because of our strength, though there might be other reasons as well. However, this old man doesn’t care about any of that. To make things brief, I’ll warn you all once—obey everything that I say, and I’ll do my best to get you all out of here alive.

"This battlefield is too big, and internal conflicts aren’t uncommon."

The squad stayed silent.

The middle-aged woman finally spoke up in a respectful tone. "We will obey everything that senior says."

Shen Hai was satisfied by her response, and his eyes swept over everyone else’s faces. Most of the people in the squad were clearly nervous and scared, which was normal. After all, this was the first time that they had stepped onto this great battlefield, so this was normal. Eh? The old man focused on Lu Yin. Why is this child so relaxed?

Lu Yin was not exactly relaxed, though his attitude could easily be interpreted as such. He had numerous precious items, especially the Cloudguard Robes, which made him feel safe, thus putting him in clear contrast to his squad mates.

Shen Hai frowned and carefully studied Lu Yin. This sort of ignorant person was Shen Hai’s greatest fear on the battlefield. These people usually became overly courageous and arrogant after gaining a meager bit of cultivation. This youth was a very young Enlighter, and he was clearly highly talented, but that always came with the arrogance of the high heavens. This kind of person was the most difficult to order around, and to put it plainly, extremely selfish.”

With this thought, the old man looked back at the middle-aged woman and indicated for her to look over at Lu Yin and pay attention.

The woman glanced at Lu Yin, and just like the old man, she was also unhappy with what she saw. Lu Yin stood out like a bright beacon within their squad, and he really did look careless.

Lu Yin was currently considering how he was supposed to uncover traitors. Were there any in his squad? He did not know, but he also had no plans to stay with this team the whole time. Rather, he intended to move on after making sure that there were no hidden traitors. Lu Yin had noticed Shen Hai’s reaction, but he did not care.

Shen Hai quickly led the squad to where the second array base connected to the Mother Tree’s trunk. Everyone looked down, but they were unable to see the bottom. If they jumped down, they might end up in the New World.

The New World was the main battlefield behind the Mother Tree, and it was also where one could find countless corpse kings. These creatures were always trying to climb up from the New World and reach the Mother Tree’s trunk, or the sloping inclines of the five array bases. The New World was number one on humanity’s list of places to conquer, as capturing the New World would mean that they had completely driven those monsters out of the Perennial World. It was actually for this reason that it had been called the New World.

"Let's go. Everyone, remember to follow orders!" Shen Hai shouted sharply. His aura as he stared straight at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin remained calm. He suppressed his relaxed attitude and followed the rest of the squad as they jumped down and landed on the trunk. Once again, Lu Yin was entering a new world.

…

Overhead, there was an endless brown landmass, and down below was the same. This was the Mother Tree’s trunk.

Half a month had passed since the squad had arrived, and during this time, Shen Hai had led his people across the trunk and cleared away millions of terror ants. Still, they had only cleared away a minuscule portion of the ants, and there were so many left that they could not even be counted.

Fortunately, they had not encountered any corpse kings so far.