Chapter 2025

Before long, Forgotten Ruins God and the other Semi-Progenitors from Aeternus left the gathering. Ancient God alone remained behind as he stood waiting. Before long, Whiteless God emerged from the void behind him.

Ancient God turned towards her. "The rat is headed for the Outerverse, just as you said. He’s planning to enter the Perennial World through that planet."

"Let him. The Perennial World is extremely difficult for us to take down. If we enter through that planet, we will be scattered across the entire place upon reaching the Perennial World. Since we can’t control where we’ll end up, that path is useless to us," Whiteless God nonchalantly replied.

Ancient God quietly answered, "After all these years, I never expected the Lu family to be left with just one little rat. We will never see the Lu family rise to the peak again."

Then, he vanished.

…

On the back of Ancestor Tortoise, Lu Yin spent a long time hesitating over a decision. Finally, he made up his mind after seeing the Astral River off in the distance. He accessed his gadget and called Arch-Elder Zen.

"Where are you?" Arch-Elder Zen asked.

Lu Yin responded, "This junior is going to Frostwave Weave in the Outerverse. Senior, we should go together."

Arch-Elder Zen felt puzzled. "Frostwave Weave? Where are you headed ? The Astral Wilderness?"

With all that had recently happened, Lu Yin no longer hid anything from the old man. "There’s a galaxy in Frostwave Weave known as the Milky Way. There’s a planet there known as Earth, and close by, there’s another planet known as Jupiter. Jupiter has a portal that leads straight to the Perennial World.”

Arch-Elder Zen’s mouth fell open. "Did you just say a portal that leads directly to the Perennial World?"

"Senior, have you forgotten that this junior once disappeared from Jupiter?" Lu Yin reminded him.

Arch-Elder Zen thought back. "I remember that the Neohuman Alliance attacked you, and then all traces of you vanished after you arrived at Jupiter. The next time I saw you was when you returned from the Perennial World. So, you got there from Jupiter?”

Lu Yin confirmed, "That's right. The portal in Jupiter will take you straight to the Perennial World. Senior, I understand that it’s tough to admit defeat, but there’s no saving the Fifth Mainland. We have to leave."

Arch-Elder Zen stayed silent.

Lu Yin urged, "This junior hates abandoning the people of our Fifth Mainland, but we don’t have any means of taking this place back right now. This is just like what happened to the Sixth Mainland. Despite their unwillingness to give up, they were still eventually forced to relocate to our Fifth Mainland. In the past, the four mainlands were also destroyed because of Aeternus. Staying here means that we will either be captured and transformed into corpse kings or die a pointless death."

"If I’m understanding your intentions correctly, you want us to meet you in Frostwave Weave and head to the Perennial World together through this Jupiter," Arch-Elder Zen clarified.

Lu Yin nodded. "That’s right."

Arch-Elder Zen sighed. "Do you really think that it will be so easy? You might be able to go, but it will be impossible for us. Since you know that Jupiter holds a path to the Perennial World, Aeternus absolutely knows it as well. They might not stop you as you hold a pivotal role in their schemes, but do you seriously believe that they will let the rest of us head over and reinforce humanity’s strength in the Perennial World?”

Lu Yin’s brow creased, and he turned to look to the west. Arch-Elder Zen was not wrong. Even if Lu Yin managed to take some people to the Perennial World with him, it would make sense for Aeternus to not stop him. However, they had no such reason to allow Arch-Elder Zen to leave. If Aeternus were actually willing to let such a thing happen, they would not have destroyed the New Corridor.

The primary reason why Aeternus had destroyed the New Corridor had not been to prevent the Perennial World from sending reinforcements to the Fifth Mainland. The Perennial World had its own battlefield behind the Mother Tree, and that was their focus. They had almost no incentive to help the Forsaken Land. No, the reason why the corridor had been destroyed was to prevent Arch-Elder Zen from traveling to the Perennial World.

Aeternus was currently unable to breach the Perennial World’s defense, which was why there was a battle of attrition taking place behind the Mother Tree on a battlefield that had stood for ages. Allowing humanity to add additional Semi-Progenitors to their defenses would only further reduce Aeternus’s chances of breaking through that battlefield.

Lu Yin was different. His mere existence was a trigger that would incite civil war within humanity. The four ruling powers were eager to kill him, and so the more people he took with him to the Perennial World, the larger the war that would break out in the Perennial World. Lu Yin would be a drain on mankind’s strength, not an enhancement.

Lu Yin closed his eyes. He needed to determine his next moves very carefully.

He could also understand how the people of the Sixth Mainland had felt in the past, as well as what the residents of the other four mainlands must have felt.

Arch-Elder Zen bleakly said, "If you have the chance, then leave. Even though you are a part of the Lu family, you became a part of this Fifth Mainland the moment you took over the war against the Astral Beast Domain. With the Tower of the Fifth, you can be considered half a master to many people in the Fifth Mainland. The Fifth Mainland has given you much, but you have also contributed greatly to our Fifth Mainland. If you become a Progenitor one day, we might see a hope of retaking the Fifth Mainland from Aeternus’s hands."

Lu Yin clenched his fists as he felt a surge of emotions. The Fifth Mainland was far more important to him than the Perennial World. Losing his memories as Lu Xiaoxuan had essentially allowed him to restart his entire life. The Fifth Mainland was his true home.

"Senior, even if I leave, you cannot simply wait around to die. If people scatter too much, it will just leave everyone as easy targets for Aeternus to pick off one by one."

Arch-Elder Zen smiled wryly. "Don't worry. Have you forgotten how the top ten finalists of ZENITH were sent to the Perennial World? We have our own final resorts. Also, didn’t you already convince me to open the sourcebox sealed in that place? I’ve already given Xiu Ming orders to start unlocking it immediately. No matter what becomes of this decision, things can’t get worse than they already are. This is the true reason why we separated—it’s to allow Aeternus to believe that they can easily pick us off. That way, they won’t feel any need to rush and conquer us immediately. The time that we buy with this will allow us to finish opening that sourcebox. Of course, this is also a gamble that I’ve chosen to take. "

Lu Yin's eyes lit up. That was right. Mister Mu had told Lu Yin to unlock that one sourcebox, and he had also mentioned that the Neoverse had their own ways to reach the Perennial World. "Since you have already thought everything through, Senior, then this junior can rest assured. Take care of yourself."

"Take care," Arch-Elder Zen solemnly replied.

As Lu Yin lowered his hand, a thought occurred to him, and he lifted his hand back up to call Big Sis, Brother Hui Kong, and everyone else who was dearest to him.

Suddenly, his gadget lost all signal.

“It looks like Aeternus shut down the network. Something must have happened in CyNet World," Wang Wen commented helplessly.

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. He had already anticipated that such a thing would eventually happen, so he did not spend any time getting upset about matters. Whatever had happened to CyNet World was beyond his control, and there was also no confirmation that anything had even happened in that place. "What are our losses?"

Wang Wen grew visibly sadder as he delivered the report, "More than half of our forces have been lost. Even though the fighting didn't last long, many people didn’t have the time to retreat, as our forces were spread out too thin. There were also too many true powerhouses on the battlefield. Even casual movements by those people were enough to destroy planets, and our battleships didn’t stand a chance against them. Any shockwaves or missed attacks also wiped out entire ships and everyone on board.

"Fortunately, the Lu Elite Troops and the Giants’ Army are more or less intact. However, the Redemption Army suffered heavy losses, and Lightning Axe died. Of the Lu Elite troops, Ganggu Daynight, Ying Daynight, and Chen Ji are all dead. From the Allied Forces, Xueshan Auna, and Elder Tie…"

Lu Yin interrupted Wang Wen when he was only halfway through his report. He had known beforehand that they would suffer terrible losses, but the results were even worse than his most exaggerated estimates. On top of that, Wang Wen had only reported the Great Eastern Alliance’s situation. How many people from Leon's Armada remained alive? How many of the mentors from the Astral Combat Academy had died? What about the Mavis family, and all the other groups?

From the moment that Lu Yin had stepped onto the battlefield, his focus had been entirely focused on the two sides’ Semi-Progenitors, which had left him with no time to pay attention to anyone else at all. It was only when reading the after battle reports that he realized just how brutal the battle had been.

"However, more than half of the corpse kings were also wiped out. I guess that we can consider that good news." Wang Wen attempted to comfort him.

Lu Yin remained bitter. "Losing that many corpse kings won’t make any difference. Once they completely take over the Fifth Mainland, they’ll have access to an endless stream of corpse kings."

Wang Wen did not know how to reply. Lu Yin was absolutely right. Aeternus would soon start to transform countless humans into corpse kings, which would change the nature of civilization itself. After several years of occupying the Fifth Mainland, any human left behind would undergo a massive change in both values and worldview.

The most terrifying thing about this war was not the physical conquest, but the transformation in ideology.

Lu Yin looked to the south. Would Arch-Elder Zen and the others be able to sneak their way into the Perennial World? He was uncertain. They might prefer to stay in the Fifth Mainland to carry out a final struggle before dying with dignity.

Until the Fifth Mainland was completely shattered like the previous four mainlands, people would not give up on their home.

Whoosh!

Highsage Leon suddenly arrived at Lu Yin's side along with Black and White. More than seven years had passed since Lu Yin had last seen the twins, and they were already all grown up.

“Brother Lu!" Black and White greeted him excitedly as they stood behind Highsage Leon.

Lu Yin felt his mood improve when he saw that the twins were well. "What? I’m not Little Lu anymore?”

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White rolled her eyes. "Childish."

Black stared at Lu Yin. "No wonder they say that men will always remain immature no matter how much they age."

Lu Yin pursed his lips. "Run along and find somewhere else to play."

When the battlefield had been evacuated, Highsage Grandmaster had led a group from Eversky Island to Ancestor Tortoise, and they had traveled towards the Outerverse with Lu Yin.

It was quite likely that Highsage Leon had been the one to fight for that outcome. There was no way the man could bear to leave either his people in Leon's Armada or Lu Yin behind.

"In the end, we were still defeated." Highsage Leon sighed and shook his head bitterly. "That Sea King guy was right. The Fifth Mainland already lost once, so we’ll be defeated a second time.”

Lu Yin's face remained calm. "I want to win just once. Just one victory is enough."

Highsage Leon patted Lu Yin’s shoulder. "We all saw what you did on the battlefield. I’m proud of you."

"We’re also proud of you, Little Lu," Black and White said in unison.

Lu Yin was speechless. They were already back to Little Lu? Who was the childish one now?

Ancestor Tortoise headed towards the Outerverse, and then it made its way directly into the Astral River, bypassing the Astral River Ark. It quickly crossed the Astral River, arrived in the Outerverse, and headed for Zenyu Star.

There were always people protecting Zenyu Star: Huan Sha, the Imperial Court's Cabinet, Minister Gavin, and more. Zhao Ran and the others had been taken to Aurora Fortress long ago, so Lu Yin’s current visit was to pick up a few important people from the Great Yu Empire, such as the Huo and Auna families, the staff from the Technology Department, as well as people from Yu Academy.

Shortly after arriving, Ancestor Tortoise left.

Back on Zenyu Star, countless people stared wide-eyed at Ancestor Tortoise. The tortoise was much larger than their entire planet, which challenged everything that they knew.

At this same time, Lu Yin was staring back at Zenyu Star, the Champions' Stage beside him.

This was the Champions' Stage that the Hall of Honor had used to encourage the youths to fight for during the Sixth Mainland’s invasion. It had later been taken away by Lu Yin, and it had stayed in an ocean on Zenyu Star ever since, but he decided to take it with him.

He had no idea how this particular Champions' Stage had remained in existence for so long. It was possible that Lu Yin’s own innate gift simply had not reached such a formidable level yet.

"Alliance Leader, someone would like to see you," En Ya respectfully announced.

"En," Lu Yin grunted.

A woman approached. She was beautiful, had a spirited nature, and had fiery red hair that hung all the way down to her waist. She was Huo Xiaoling.

Lu Yin glanced at the woman. "It's been many years, but you barely look any different at all"

Huo Xiaoling bowed respectfully. "Greetings, Your Highness."

“Why did you ask to see me?" Lu Yin went straight to the point.

Huo Xiaoling responded with equal bluntness, "I want to stay on Zenyu Star".

Lu Yin was surprised. "Why?"

Huo Xiaoling fell silent and stayed that way for a moment.