Chapter 1678: Progress

Bluedome Elder frowned. Ten days had already passed, and this woman was very stubborn. However, he was certain that she possessed Progenitor Wushang's hide. She had offered five weaves to Lu Yin in exchange for Progenitor Wushang's hide, and she had been smart enough to even come up with using Master Qing Hua as an excuse. If not for Qing Tan, Bluedome Elder would have never learned about this exchange.

“I repeat: give me Progenitor Wushang's hide, or else you will be tortured forever!” Bluedome Elder shouted.

Madam Hong screamed in despair, “Let me out! I- I really don’t have Progenitor Wush- Progenitor Wushang’s hide!”

“Hmph,” Bluedome Elder turned and left. The woman would not be able to last for long.

***

Gaia’s Swamp was connected to both the Innerverse and the Cosmic Sea. It only occupied a small area, but it was the Fifth Mainland’s most closely guarded prison, and it held their most violent criminals.

On one particular day, a thousand meter long and hundred meter tall pig was running frantically while panting.

“Trouble! There’s trouble…” He screamed as he ran. Suddenly, he slammed into a giant toe, and the pig looked up just in time to see a drop of water crash down onto him like a waterfall.

The pig choked and coughed. “This wine is too strong! Lord Piggy can’t drink this! I can’t drink this!”

“Blah blah blah, stop talking, pig. Do you want me to roast you? Hahahaha!” Loud laughter rang throughout Gaia’s Swamp, and many of the chains started clanging as the prisoners were being tortured by the laughter.

Lord Piggy immediately spoke up, “Shh! Shh! Sir Warden, the prisoners can’t handle it! Laugh quietly, quietly.”

“They should all just die. Those who should be alive are dead, but those who should be dead still live. They can all just die, hahahaha.”

“Master Cha’s father won’t be able to take it.”

“Cough, go take a look and make sure he’s still alive.”

“Alright.” Lord Piggy was just about to leave when his ears perked up. “No, no. Sir Warden, there’s trouble.”

Another drop of wine landed on Lord Piggy. “What now?”

Lord Piggy gulped. “Sir Chief Justice just sent another prisoner, and it’s someone famous.”

The Warden asked, “Famous? How famous? Tell me.”

Lord Piggy gulped again. “He’s the- the Second Nightking.”

Lord Piggy was waiting for the Warden to respond when a head suddenly appeared in front of him, and a pupil glared at the pig. “The Second Nightking? Isn’t he dead?”

“He’s still alive. He was in the Celestial Frost Sect’s ruins and only recently reappeared, but he was sent here right after that,” Lord Piggy explained.

The Warden was surprised. “He was caught right after he reappeared? Hahahah, how unlucky! He’s an important person who’s lived for a long time, and yet he was still caught as soon as he reappeared! Go and lock him up. I don’t care who he is, but since he’s in Gaia's Swamp, he’ll have to listen to me, hahahaha.”

“Shh, Sir Warden, Master Cha’s father won’t be able to take it!”

“Cough, go take a look and make sure he’s still alive.”

“Alright.”

Chains were connected to the ground that also wrapped around the prisoners.

Lord Piggy frantically ran back and forth to lock the Second Nightking up. Then, the pig spread word about the Second Nightking to everyone in Gaia’s Swamp.

Liu Huang opened his eyes. “The Second Nightking? What an ancient person. The prison break will be even easier with him here. Still, we’ll have to wait a bit longer to let him recover. Defeating the Warden won’t be easy, but it’ll happen soon. Soon.”

***

Lu Yin looked to the west with regret in his eyes.

Nightking Dijiang had died, and the Second Nightking had been imprisoned. The battle against the Daynight clan would have been nearly perfect, if not for the fact that Lu Yin had learned the Sealed Cage Technique. Instead, he kept feeling like he had suffered a huge loss because of the Sealed Cage Technique’s sheer value.

Lu Yin was not particularly concerned about Nightking Dijiang’s death, but the Second Nightking was extremely powerful, even stronger than Yuan Shi. If Lu Yin could control that person with the Sealed Cage Technique, he would be capable of doing whatever he wanted wherever. In the entire Fifth Mainland, only the Semi-Progenitors and the Chief Justice would be able to stop Lu Yin. He would not even be scared if he went to the Sixth Mainland.

There was no possibility of Lu Yin allowing the Second Nightking to remain in prison. He intended to make good use of this potential minion.

Thus, he needed to visit Gaia’s Swamp before the prison break happened.

“Alliance Leader Lu, should we speak about the promise that was made?” Liu Ye and Fei Hua asked Lu Yin.

Lu Yin turned to face them. “What promise?”

Fei Hua arched a brow. “Have you already forgotten, Alliance Leader? You promised that you would return our freedom after we killed Nightking Dijiang.”

Lu Yin frowned. “Did you kill Nightking Dijiang?’

Fei Hua’s voice grew cold, “While we might not have killed him, he still died because of us. He would have never been in the ruin’s great hall if not for us, and he was killed by the gray figures in that room.”

Liu Ye calmly explained, “Alliance Leader Lu, we have come to know you well after following you during this time. This is why we were willing to take such a risk and enter the Celestial Frost Sect’s ruins. Even though the people from this Fifth Mainland may not know just how dangerous the Celestial Frost Sect is, we are well aware. Alliance Leader Lu, you should know how difficult the choice to enter that place was for us to make. If not for the Chief Justice’s bell, both of us would have suffered the same fate as Nightking Dijiang.”

“We almost died, Alliance Leader Lu. You’ll keep your promise, right?” Fei Hua glared at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin hesitated.

Liu Ye and Fei Hua looked at each other happily.

“Yes, but I need you two to do one last thing with me,” Lu Yin said.

Fei Hua grew furious. “Alliance Leader Lu, are you trying to go back on your word?”

Lu Yin remained calm. “You can claim that Nightking Dijiang died because of you, but I feel that his death was because of me. If not for me and Elder Jiu Shen disturbing the remnant spiritual force throughout the ruins, Nightking Dijiang would have never died. Thus, you only accomplished half of the mission that you were given. On top of that, you two are only alive because of the item that I allowed you to use. I will permit you to regain your freedom because you’ve helped me before, just not because of this incident alone.”

Fei Hua was just about to say something when Liu Ye stopped her. “What is it that you want us to do, Alliance Leader Lu?”

Lu Yin turned towards the west. “Come with me to Gaia’s Swamp.”

“Gaia’s Swamp?” they asked. It was clear that they had not heard of this place before.

Lu Yin did not bother elaborating, and he instead immediately contacted Arch-Elder Zen. Arch-Elder Zen had already given Lu Yin his contact information after Lu Yin returned from the Perennial World.

Liu Ye and Fei Hua were both from the Perennial World, and they were only following Lu Yin because sourcebox arrays had been planted within their bodies as a means of preventing them from causing any problems while in the Fifth Mainland. Thus, Lu Yin needed to speak with Arch-Elder Zen before the two Envoys could be freed.

Some time later, Lu Yin informed Liu Ye and Fei Hua, “I’ve spoken to Arch-Elder Zen, and he’s willing to allow you two to be free. However, you will have to remain under observation after leaving me. You will need to stay at Mt. Microcosms, and you will only be allowed to freely roam the Fifth Mainland after Arch-Elder Zen has agreed to it. He will even remove the sourcebox arrays inside you at that time.”

Liu Ye and Fei Hua were thrilled. “The sourcebox arrays will be removed?”

Lu Yin smiled. “You’ve both been a great help to me, and I have also gotten to know you better during this time. I have promised him that you won’t cause any problems, so I hope that you won’t disappoint me.”

Liu Ye immediately replied, “Thank you, Alliance Leader Lu.”

Fei Hua glanced at Lu Yin. She had not expected Lu Yin to actually be the one to eventually help them. “Thank you, Alliance Leader Lu.”

Lu Yin continued, saying, “Gaia’s Swamp is the Fifth Mainland’s most secure prison. The Second Nightking has been locked up there, and there’s something I need to deal with there as well. I’ll need your help during this visit, but after we leave Gaia’s Swamp, both of you can make your way straight to Mt. Microcosms.”

Liu Ye and Fei Hua had been protecting Lu Yin ever since he had returned from the Perennial World. Lu Yin had already become accustomed to their presence and protection, and he felt saddened that he was about to lose two bodyguards.

Oh right, there was another thing that he needed to do. He quickly got in touch with San Liang and asked about Wan Gong’s progress.

San Liang took three days to respond. “Wan Gong just got back to me, and he said that they’re making good progress. However, there is one final obstacle, which is that there’s no material that can withstand what they require.”

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. “What else did he say?”

“Just that. It looks like it’s becoming more and more difficult for him to call me,” San Liang answered in a respectful manner. Ever since he had been warned by Lu Yin, San Liang had grown far more respectful in the way he spoke towards Lu Yin.

Lu Yin was not at all surprised by Wan Gong’s situation. Microarray technology was Aurora Enterprises’ most classified project, and since the research project was close to a breakthrough and Wan Gong was a senior engineer, he would naturally be under stricter monitoring at this time.

It would most likely be very difficult for San Liang to get in touch with Wan Gong from this point forward. Lu Yin would have to go to Aurora Fortress himself.

They needed a special material? The bark from the Mother Tree would likely fit their needs. Was that their final obstacle? Lu Yin started to get excited.

However, where would he acquire bark from the Mother Tree?

That was a massive problem.

Seven days later, when Lu Yin arrived in Blazing Mist Flowzone, the Money Bombs from Astral-10 also arrived.

Lu Yin became excited as soon as he saw 4,000 Money Bombs, and he immediately announced that he was going into seclusion.

Lu Yin was already aware of Liu Qianjue’s plans, and it was clear that the Sword Sect’s master and the others wanted to get rid of Lu Yin’s Envoys. Emperor Luo, Liu Ye, and Fei Hua were all within the Ross Empire, so Liu Qianjue and the others were unable to touch them even if they tried.

The Great Eastern Alliance’s forces had returned to Blazing Mist Flowzone after withdrawing from Daynight Flowzone, which shocked Liu Qianjue and the others. They had expected Lu Yin to stay in a nearby minor flowzone after pulling out of Daynight Flowzone, so they had not expected Lu Yin’s forces to actually fully return to Blazing Mist Flowzone.

Was the Third Nightking really going to return?

Lu Yin found a quiet place in the Ross Empire and took out his die. Apart from the Money Bombs, he also needed to Enhance the cube-shaped power vessel and the stellular energy pills.

He had more than three billion star essence on him at the moment, so he was able to spend money quite freely.

His finger touched the die, and the die landed on Pilfer. A piece of a useless material fell out, and it was crushed into dust the moment he exerted any bit of force. It was probably able to withstand a Hunter’s attack, but such things were useless to Lu Yin.

He continued rolling his die, and it next landed on Timestop. This was a common result, and Lu Yin appeared in the Timestop Space.

Once he was in this place, he was guaranteed to eventually roll Enhance.