Chapter 1984: A Lost Item

Ultimately, Arch-Elder Zen and the Human Domain’s other Semi-Progenitors had decided to seal off the sourcebox, and the Lockbreakers Society was given the task of protecting the place and ensuring that it remained a secret.

Everything had gone well, and as long as the battlefield remained undisturbed for a period of time, the sourcebox would eventually recover. Even though that would take a tremendous amount of time, it was still better than the risk involved in opening the sourcebox.

However, something had changed a bit more than a decade ago; the Neohuman Alliance had learned of the sourcebox, and they had started trying to forcefully unlock the sourcebox and release the ancient beings sealed within it.

The Neohuman Alliance had learned of the place through Geoffrey.

Lu Yin looked around. He remembered that the Lockbreakers Society’s Outerverse headquarters on Sourcepeak Planet had been attacked after the Outerverse had been cut off from the Innerverse. During the battle that had been initiated by Wei Rong, the Neohuman Alliance had made a move, and they had stolen quite a few things from Geoffrey’s secret room.

Lu Yin had managed to pick up a page of True Insight from that hidden room, but the other items had all been taken by a corpse king.

After the Innerverse reconnected to the Outerverse, Geoffrey had spoken to Lu Yin about the attack and asked some questions, and Lu Yin had also been questioned by the Lockbreakers Society multiple times, but Lu Yin had never been told anything about the other items that had been stored in Geoffrey’s hidden room, though he had heard hints that there may have been a star chart of some kind.

He had not expected that star chart to be a map leading to this frozen place.

It was no wonder why Geoffrey had once commented that having the star chart stolen might prove to be a blessing or a curse.

The Neohuman Alliance was hoping to open the sourcebox and release the beings sealed within, but no one knew if doing so would be a blessing or a curse. It was possible that a powerful corpse king had been sealed away and that its release would lead to the destruction of the Human Domain. However, it was also possible that a powerful human had been sealed away and that releasing them would return an ancient heritage to humanity. It was impossible to know for sure.

Arch-Elder Zen’s perspective was that he wanted to protect humanity, and thus, he was unwilling to take such a risk. Just like when he had played the game of Chinese Chess with Lu Yin, the old man felt that humanity could not afford to gamble.

"Master, is President Shang Yang still pushing to unlock the sourcebox?" The young woman in front of Lu Yin spoke again. Her name was Yi Dishui, and she was Hao Yue's disciple. She looked young, but she had already been cultivating for hundreds of years.

"Hao Yue" replied, "That's his business, and it has nothing to do with us."

Yi Dishui looked frustrated. "Master, you’ve been stationed here for so many years, protecting this place and preventing anyone from unlocking it. If President Shang Yang can persuade President Xiu Ming to open this sourcebox and release the creatures sealed within it, then won’t it make the years that you’ve spent here be for nothing?"

"Hao Yue" ignored the younger woman and walked off on his own. As he gazed into the ice beneath his feet, he saw countless creatures, some of which were so massive that he could not even see their full forms. There was nothing but this frozen field of ice as far as the eye could see.

Could this battlefield be from the same time as when Xin Nü had been sealed away?

It did not seem possible. Xin Nü had been sealed during the Daosource Sect era, during the war between the Fifth and Sixth Mainlands. That was not an ancient era, as that time was not much older than Arch-Elder Zen and the Fifth Mainland’s other Semi-Progenitors. Thus, it could not be considered truly ancient.

Also, the fact that Xin Nü had broken free indicated that she had merely been sealed away by some technique whereas this entire battlefield had been turned into a massive sourcebox.

Just what was involved in the formation of a sourcebox? It was a process that took countless years to finish.

Not to mention, this was an unbelievably massive battlefield that had been completely turned into a sourcebox.

"Master, what will happen if this place really is unsealed? I heard President Geoffrey accidentally mention that cultivation during ancient times was most likely very different from what we do now. Do you think that’s true?" Yi Dishui asked curiously.

Lu Yin frowned. This woman was quite annoying, and he could not say anything to her.

"President Geoffrey once argued with President Shang Yang, insisting that releasing these ancient beings could only be harmful or at best useless. President Shang Yang argued that releasing them could become a turning point in human history. He claimed that humanity has been regressing and that cultivators were much more powerful during ancient times than we are now." Yi Dishui continued to hound Lu Yin, but he still did not respond to anything that she said.

Yi Dishui rolled her eyes. "Also, Master, what about Junior Brother Shan Ku?"

Lu Yin was taken aback by this question. Shan Kun? Why was that name so familiar? Lu Yin felt certain that he had heard it before.

"That Great Eastern Alliance is too arrogant! They actually dared to imprison Junior Brother Shan Ku! Regardless of what he might have done, Junior Brother Shan Ku is still a member of our Lockbreakers Society! You should be the one to punish him for his mistakes, Master. What gives the Great Eastern Alliance the right?" Yi Dishui ranted.

Only now did Lu Yin remember that Shan Kun was the Lockbreaker who had come out of one of Burial Garden’s gates in the Great Eastern Alliance’s territory. He had tried to fight his way out, but he had eventually been subdued and captured by Emperor Luo, and the Lockbreaker was still imprisoned within the Great Eastern Alliance.

It turned out that Shan Ku was one of Master Hao Yue’s disciples, and Master Hao Yue was a Realm Array Master, which was not a person easily dealt with.

Fortunately, Hao Yue had been stationed at this ice field for many years, and he never left the place. The universe as a whole had almost no knowledge of the man. On top of that, while Yi Dishui had mentioned Shan Ku’s situation several times after she learned about it, Hao Yue had never responded at all.

A Realm Array Master was only a single level below an Array Grandmaster. Both the Outerverse and Innerverse presidents of the Lockbreakers Society, Geoffrey and Shang Yang, were Realm Array Masters.

Lu Yin closed his eyes and proceeded to completely ignore Yi Dishui as he started to review Master Hao Yue's lockbreaking experiences. Before long, Lu Yin ended the Possession, and his consciousness returned to his own body.

As Lu Yin had expected, a Realm Array Master was someone with incredibly extensive lockbreaking experience.

It had taken Lu Yin some time to even access all of the man’s memories, and if he wanted to fully review everything, it would take much longer. In fact, the longer Lu Yin spent reviewing the memories, the greater his understanding of lockbreaking would become.

As Lu Yin’s cultivation had risen, the advantages of his die’s Possession were becoming more and more apparent. This last Possession had even informed him of a place jointly guarded by the Hall of Honor and the Lockbreakers Society that was held in utter secrecy.

If the day eventually came that Lu Yin became a Progenitor, would the universe still hold any secrets from him?

As he focused on digesting Realm Array Master Hao Yue’s lockbreaking experience, Lu Yin did not rush to roll his die again. Instead, he closed his eyes and reviewed his newly acquired memories and experiences.

Several days passed before Lu Yin reopened his eyes. At present, Lu Yin was a two-star Boundless Advanced Lockbreaker, but he had also already mastered multiple sourcebox arrays. His official ranking could not properly register his lockbreaking abilities.

Lu Yin was severely lacking when it came to actual lockbreaking experience, but when it came to sourcebox arrays, his mastery far surpassed what Boundless Advanced Lockbreakers possessed, and it even encroached on the level of Realm Array Masters.

A Lockbreaker was required to master three sourcebox arrays to qualify as a Realm Array Master, and Lu Yin fulfilled that qualification. However, his lockbreaking experience was terribly insufficient.

On the other hand, Hao Yue was a fully qualified Realm Array Master.

Reviewing Hao Yu’s memories and lockbreaking experience was basically a shortcut for Lu Yin, which was why he had been so eager to absorb it all. Now, Lu Yin was fully confident that he qualified to be a five-star Boundless Advanced Lockbreaker, so he needed to find the time and opportunity to officially raise his ranking.

It was impossible to do so at the moment, as even if Lu Yin had the time to go take an assessment, President Xiu Ming and all the other high-ranking Lockbreakers were all absent. There were not very many powerful Lockbreakers who had stayed behind in the Lockbreakers World.

Also, Lu Yin had learned that, apparently, Wu Dan had been trapped in Burial Garden when it had been sealed off, as Hao Yue had overheard President Xiu Ming mention the matter.

Lu Yin checked his cosmic ring and found that he had only used up about a billion star essence, which was most of his remaining funds.

Lu Yin had learned that the amount of star essence consumed by his die’s Possession ability was not only related to the distance between him and the body he Possessed, but also the strength of the person who was Possessed.

When he had been in the Perennial World, he had Possessed San Liang when the man had been in the Fifth Mainland’s Neoverse, but that Possession had burned through much fewer star essence than Lu Yin’s latest Possession.

It was possible that if Lu Yin was able to Possess someone with a power level of over a million, it might burn through hundreds of millions or even billions of star essence even when Lu Yin was right next to the person he Possessed.

It seemed that Lu Yin’s die’s ability to devour his money had not been fully realized in the past, and all of Lu Yin’s previous expenditures could only be regarded as a small warm-up.

He raised his hand, and Lu Yin’s die reappeared. It was time to continue rolling the die, as he might not have the time to do so after the Tower of the Fifth’s construction finished.

He tapped the die and stared at it as it slowly came to a stop on one pip. A long gun fell out. Lu Yin picked it up and exerted a bit of strength, which instantly caused cracks to cover the gun.

Lu Yin shook his head and returned his attention to the die.

Gift Copy. Worthless. Gift Copy again. Still worthless. Enhance.

Lu Yin lowered his hand, as he needed to rest for ten more days.

After that time passed, Lu Yin brought out his die again. All four of his previous rolls had been worthless, and his current attempt still did not land on six, but his fourth roll did give him Timestop, which was at least useful.

Sure enough, the more frequently Lu Yin used his die, the more difficult it was to roll Possession or Enhance.

After almost a year of training in the Timestop Space, Lu Yin had increased his mastery of the Cosmic Art to 54,000 simulated stars.

Intending to roll his die yet again, Lu Yin rested for the next ten days.

Lu Yin was fully invested in rolling his die during this time. The last time he had spent so much time rolling had been in the Perennial World.

He tapped the die again and watched as it slowly came to a stop on four pips.

The scenery before him changed, and Lu Yin returned to the Timestop Space.

During this stint of rolling his die, Lu Yin had spent almost four years training in Timestop. While this could not be considered a very long training session for most cultivators, it was a very long to Lu Yin.

By the time he returned from the Timestop Space, Lu Yin had managed to simulate nearly 60,000 stars.

He was slowly but surely approaching mastery of the fifth level of the Cosmic Art, and he was anticipating completion more and more as time passed.

He reached out and tapped his die again.

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Three pips. Useless. Again. Gift Copy. Again.

Lu Yin felt like he had a very low chance of rolling Possession again, so it was a happy surprise for him to see six pips on his die as it came to a stop on his fourth roll.

When his consciousness entered the dark space, Lu Yin looked around but found no bright balls of light. He moved further in, but there was still nothing.

Despite searching for a while, Lu Yin failed to find any bright lights.

This was his first time encountering this situation, but the higher Lu Yin’s strength rose, the fewer people there were at the same level of strength as him. This had not made much of a difference in the past, but Lu Yin finally realized that when he achieved a power level of a million, or even became a Semi-Progenitor, it would not be easy for him to find others with his level of strength to Possess.

Also, he was well aware that the longer he stayed in the strange dark space, the more star essence he would burn through. Feeling trapped, Lu Yin simply merged into the brightest orb that he could find. It was quite dim to him, but it was clearly the brightest light one around.

As his consciousness merged into a different body, Lu Yin felt a quiver before his vision cleared. He saw many cultivators neatly lined up in front of him, looking towards him.

"If you really want to join the war efforts after you enter the Forsaken Land, you must make sure to keep these people close to you at all times," a familiar voice spoke up.

Lu Yin was in a bit of a daze as he turned his head to look at the speaker and absentmindedly blinked when he saw her. Yu- Yu Chen?

Lu Yin was standing next to Yu Chen, who had previously been Bai Shaohong's maid. On the other side of the woman stood Liu Shaoge.

"Understood," Liu Shaoge answered Yu Chen with a smile tugging at his mouth.

The memories started to pour in, and Lu Yin’s fingers twitched as his eyes danced about for a moment. Oddly enough, he had actually Possessed Elder Qing Xing's body.

Elder Qing Xing was no stranger to Lu Yin. When Lu Yin had first met Long Xi, Elder Qing Xing had been present as a representative of the Celestial Frost Sect. At that time, the elder had deliberately made things difficult for Lu Yin. The elder’s presence had also been the reason why Long Xi had falsified the blood test to “prove” to everyone that Lu Yin was a member of the White Dragon Clan.