Chapter 2002: Another Replacement

Seeing how badly Long Xi had been shaken by this revelation, Liu Shaoge spoke up in a casual manner, "Long Qi is Lu Yin, and Lu Yin is Liu Xiaoxuan. He lost his memories and all of his cultivation before ending up in the Fifth Mainland. He later returned to the Perennial World and happened to meet you there. Nothing’s impossible, and it all depends on fate. There are certain people who are simply destined to meet each other."

He glanced at Long Xi. "You should be happy. The person you’ve been missing is back."

Long Xi's pupils fluctuated as she grew increasingly pale. Long Qi was Lu Xiaoxuan…?

Her head suddenly snapped up and she shouted, "Come out, Long Qi! Long Qi…”

Off in the distance, Wen Diyi and the others glanced at each other in disbelief. "Long Qi is Lu Xiaoxuan?"

Liu Hao was absolutely shocked. "One of the Seven Heroes is actually still alive? And it’s even Lu Xiaoxuan, of all people? How did he pull that off? On top of that, no one knew about it?"

Yun Tingting grew completely terrified. The Lu family was a horrifying monster that had once ruled the entire Perennial World. She had never imagined Long Qi could actually be Lu Xiaoxuan.

Crown Prince Gui Qian's expression grew complicated. This was not good for his Specter Abyss. They could accept an ordinary person becoming their lord, but they could not accept anyone from the Lu family’s main line. That was no different from being ruled by the Lu family! If that was what Specter Abyss wanted, they would have fallen under the Lu family long before. Why wait?

Unexpectedly, after countless years of waiting had passed, the lord that Specter Abyss had been waiting for turned out to still be someone from the Lu family. This seemed to be their inescapable fate.

"Long Qi, come out!" Long Xi shouted. She had been infatuated with Lu Xiaoxuan from childhood when she had watched the rise of the Seven Heroes. When everything had happened to the Lu family, it had been said that Lu Xiaoxuan had died, and she had spent years mourning his death. Simply because Lu Xiaoxuan had enjoyed her laughter, Long Xi had laughed a great deal when she had been younger, but her smile had faded away with Lu Xiaoxuan’s disappearance.

Her smile was only for Lu Xiaoxuan.

Learning that that bastard Long Qi who had kept her locked up for so long was actually Lu Xiaoxuan had put Long Xi’s mind on the brink of collapse. How was she supposed to face him? Was she supposed to be happy? Sad? At this moment, Long Xi felt completely lost.

Enjoying the pleasure of revenge, Yu Chen watched Long Xi as though triumphant. Yu Chen felt as though she had finally succeeded in getting revenge for Bai Shaohong.

Liu Shaoge blandly stated, "It’s useless to shout for him. His memories are gone."

Long Xi's body trembled, and she dropped her head. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Yes, he had lost his memory, so could she hold anything against him? He was Lu Xiaoxuan, but he was also Long Qi. No, he was Lu Yin, who lost his memories. His life had been completely reset and he had long since lost any connection to his past with Long Xi.

Yu Chen shot Liu Shaoge a cold glare.

Liu Shaoge just shrugged. He was not helping Lu Yin or Long Xi, but simply reminding the woman of the current situation. While Yu Chen was happy to ignore the consequences of her current actions, Liu Shaoge would rather get on Lu Yin’s good side. At least that way Lu Yin would be less likely to kill him from a whim. Liu Shaoge had no means of protecting himself from Lu Yin at this time.

Finally, Long Xi walked away in silence.

"Yu Chen, what’s going on outside? How did you get locked up?" Wen Diyi asked.

It was only at this moment that Yu Chen noticed Wen Diyi and the other prisoners. "So you’ve all been stuck here? How absurd. Everyone thinks you all died in the Dominion Realm."

"What happened?" Liu Hao raised his voice.

Yu Chen answered with a cold laugh, "Lu Xiaoxuan is already dead. The Perennial World formed an army led by four Semi-Progenitors, and they’ve all been sent to the Forsaken Land, vowing to kill Lu Xiaoxuan. He has no chance of surviving. Even the White Dragon Clan’s Grand Elder Ni Huang got sent. There’s no Semi-Progenitors who can stand up to him."

Long Xi heard the explanation, and her hands balled up into fists so tight that her nails dug into her palms. She had heard many stories about the grand elder’s incredible strength. He was someone who was just a hair’s breadth away from the Progenitor realm. How had Lu Xiaoxuan been forced into such a terrible situation?

"And what about you? Why were you here?" Wen Diyi continued his questions.

Yu Chen remained silent.

Liu Shaoge started to slowly explain some things.

In the world outside, Lu Yin paid no attention to what was happening in Zenith Mountain. He was worried that the mountain would be noticed if it stayed out of his cosmic ring for very long, and so he had made sure to quickly put it away after tossing Yu Chen in.

As soon as Lu Yin had sent Yu Chen to Zenith Mountain, he had known that Long Xi and the others would eventually learn the truth. It did not matter, and it was about time for them to know the truth. It was even possible that Lu Yin would be able to learn something about Lu Xiaoxuan from Long Xi.

…

In Sky Creation Academy’s territory, just outside the New Corridor, the last Semi-Progenitor finally arrived. The Perennial World’s invasion army was fully accounted for at Sky Creation Academy.

The army was led by four Semi-Progenitors.

"What? Even though the two of you moved out, Lu Xiaoxuan still managed to escape?" The last Semi-Progenitor was Xia De. When he had been younger, he had enjoyed introducing himself by calling himself a hero, and many people had started calling him Hero Xia. The nickname eventually stuck.

Wang Si answered in a frosty tone, "The Forsaken Land must be hiding him, as there’s non other way that bastard of the Lu family could have escaped from us."

Ni Huang’s brow furrowed. "But you and I arrived even before the Forsaken Land’s Semi-Progenitor of."

Bai Laogui grumbled, "It's still not impossible. You should know how cunning that Lu bastard is. He worked with Kui Luo to wreak havoc throughout the Middle and Higher Realms. Even now, Humility's Gate isn’t happy with us because of what happened back then. My Perennial World has stood strong and united for years, yet he managed to create a rift all on his own. Even Specter Abyss has started to move. He can’t be allowed to live.”

Ni Huang felt rather puzzled. Could the Forsaken Land really have hidden Lu Xiaoxuan?

"Regardless of whether or not the Forsaken Land has hidden him, we will make them find him. I don't believe the Forsaken Land would dare start a war with us over some measly Envoy," Bai Laogui said sternly.

Xia De frowned. "If at all possible, we should avoid fighting. It’s never good when there’s infighting among humans. Don't forget, back then, the Fifth Mainland was defeated because the Sixth Mainland managed to hold us back."

Wang Si snapped back, "We’re not the ones pushing for a fight right now, but the Forsaken Land! Lu Xiaoxuan must die! That’s our bottom line. Since we’re all here, we’ll just face them with a show of strength."

She then turned to Xia De. "I almost forgot; there’s a Semi-Progenitor who’s a descendent of the Xia family branch your family left here in the Forsaken Land. He’s also willing to give us Lu Xiaoxuan.”

Xia De showed no surprise. "It's only expected for my Xia family to produce a Semi-Progenitor. Do you want me to contact him?"

Ni Huang spoke up, "The Forsaken Land’s Semi-Progenitors can be counted on a single hand. Our chances of winning will increase greatly if we can get one of them to join us."

"Wait." Bai Laogui arched a brow in a questioning manner as he turned his focus onto Ni Huang. "Are you saying we don’t have any chance of victory without the Xia family’s Semi-Progenitor changing sides? Senior, your strength is second only to the Progenitors. You’re as famous as the All Dao family’s ancestor, Wan Zhiyi, was at his peak. Surely you alone are enough to deal with these people."

Wang Si's expression sank.

Ni Huang let out a sigh. "The Forsaken Land won’t be an easy opponent. They also have someone at the same level as me. At the very least, it will be impossible for me to quickly defeat him."

The two Semi-Progenitors who were learning of the strength of their opponents were alarmed by these words.

"By the way, what about that Burial Garden? Didn't you say you wanted to take the ancient inheritances from that place?" Xia De suddenly asked.

Wang Si answered grumpily, "Burial Garden’s gone. It closed up during a fight with Aeternus and can’t be reopened."

Xia De was frustrated. "Aeternus again? How are they everywhere?"

Bai Laogui gave a crooked smile and pointed towards the Starfall Sea. "Aeternus is here as well, and the Seven Skygods even personally took action. One of the Sixth Mainland’s Progenitor even defected to them. The situation here’s only getting worse and worse.”

Xia De's face twitched. "Even a Progenitor turned traitor?"

Ni Huang spoke up, "There’s no need to worry about Aeternus. Their strength has almost completely been wiped out in the Forsaken Land."

Wang Si interjected, "Let's deal with that Lu bastard first, then we can talk about other matters. Let’s send some people into the Forsaken Land right away to look for Lu Xiaoxuan, focusing on the Innerverse. I heard Lu Xiaoxuan was the one to start the Great Eastern Alliance, so I'll capture the people close to him from there one by one. Let’s see how long he can stay hidden."

The Semi-Progenitors’ orders were quickly disseminated, and the Perennial World’s invasion army prepared to leave the Technocracy and push into the Forsaken Land to capture their target.

Lu Yin also received orders, and he grimaced when he saw them. However, he quickly changed his expression and turned to face Elder Qing Xing who was in front of him.

"Let's go. The Semi-Progenitor wants to personally meet with you. I presume he has certain expectations of you and Yu Chen. Right, where is Yu Chen?" Elder Qing Xing asked.

Lu Yin had not expected the Celestial Frost Sect’s Semi-Progenitor, Bai Laogui, to call for a meeting with him and Yu Chen. Well, the man wanted to meet with Liu Shaoge, rather than the current imposter.

"Elder, what happened?" Lu Yin asked.

Elder Qing Xing replied, "The Semi-Progenitors have ordered us to capture several of the leaders of the Great Eastern Alliance that Lu Xiaoxuan created. Both you and Yu Chen have skills that are needed for this. We aren’t going to war, so we need to carefully consider the methods we are going to use. This is something that Yu Chen and you have both shown yourselves to be quite skilled at."

A cold light flickered through Lu Yin's eyes. The Perennial World was finally starting to move against the Great Eastern Alliance. Fortunately, he had already made preparations well in advance.

"Hurry up and go see the Semi-Progenitor. I'll find Yu Chen," Elder Qing Xing urged before leaving.

There was no way in hell Lu Yin would meet with Bai Laogui or get close to any Semi-Progenitor at this time. He had no confidence his disguise would stand up to such scrutiny. Regardless of how mysterious the Mask of Death was, it could not be overpowered enough to trick a Semi-Progenitor.

He needed to find someone else to replace, and quickly.

Whoever Lu Yin replaced could not have too high or too low of a status. They needed to be someone who drew almost no attention, but who was also able to leave the Technocracy.

Lu Yin soon found his target: Wang Yi.

Wang Yi had not been seen since ZENITH, and rumors claimed that he had been seriously injured the Seven Skygods’ attacks on the finalists. After that, Wang Yi had returned to the Wang family in the Perennial World and spent all of his time in isolation to train. If Wang Yi had not gone into seclusion, the Fifth Mainland’s trespassers in the Perennial World would have been discovered long before they actually were.

"Brother Wang!" Lu Yin called out.

Wang Yi was moving through space, and he turned to see who had called out to him, only to see “Liu Shaoge.” "Who are you?"

Although Liu Shaoge had done quite well for himself in the Celestial Frost Sect, he had only started to become well known within the sect itself. Wang Yi was part of the Wang family, and was second only to Wang Su, their Junior Progenitor.

“This little brother is Liu Shaoge. I would like to ask for Brother Wang’s advise on a certain matter," Lu Yin courteously requested.

Wang Yi was completely uninterested. "I don’t have time."

He immediately turned to leave after giving a curt response.

Lu Yin quickly added, "It’s about Lu Yin."

Wang Yi froze and turned back to look at “Liu Shaoge,” curious. "Go ahead.”

Lu Yin gestured for Wang Yi to follow him.

Wang Yi’s eyes narrowed and he gave “Liu Shaoge” a contemptuous look. Still, Wang Yi eventually approached and entered the small private area that Lu Yin had created with a bit of the white paper that allowed people to travel through space.

"Just say whatever it is you want to say," Wang Yi ordered. He had no interest in someone like Liu Shaoge, who was only a hunter.

Liu Shaoge was both brilliant and cunning, but he had not yet managed to become an Enlighter. After all, he was a rather typical cultivator, and could not compare to Lu Yin, who had essentially used cheats to speed up his cultivation.

The truth was that someone like Liu Shaoge would typically be considered incredibly talented. He was a single generation behind the Ten Arbiters, and he was more than qualified to join the Universe Youth Council in the Fifth Mainland’s Human Domain.

Unfortunately, Liu Shaoge’s progress was far from outstanding in the Perennial World, as even the Ten Arbiters would all struggle in a fight with Wang Yi.

Lu Yin gave Wang Yi a big smile.

Wang Yi frowned, and then just felt a sharp pain from behind before he lost consciousness.