Chapter 2065: Responsibility

Lu Yin was surprised by what he heard, and he focused intently on the tired looking old man. Wang Fan had been one of the Wang family’s Progenitors, and he had controlled one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas during the Daosource Sect era.

Another person on the barren planet spoke up. Their back was facing the people watching from the main hall, so they were unable to see the person’s face clearly. Still, they clearly heard an emotional voice respond, "We can win by giving up. I have a plan, though I don’t know if you are willing to risk it."

"What are you thinking?" The next to speak was a man sitting on the ground. He looked younger than Wang Fan, though that did not necessarily mean the man really was young. This man gave off a very similar vibe as Bai Laogui, so he might also be from the Celestial Frost Sect. If that was accurate, then he might be another master of one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas: the Celestial Frost Sect’s Bai Wangyuan.

The Celestial Frost Sect, and the Wang, Xia, and Lu families had all controlled some of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas while the remainder had been controlled by Progenitor Hui, the Rune Progenitor, Progenitor Ku, and Progenitor Smoke.

Lu Yin might have any idea who else was standing on the barren planet, but he at least knew that the tired looking old man was Wang Fan.

"I’ve spent many years researching and designing a sourcebox array called Ceaseless Impetus. With a Semi-Progenitor acting as the central focal point, it is capable of blocking anyone beneath the Progenitor realm. As long as we place that on the battlefield, we will be able to hold back the Aeternals and protect humanity. Of course, this is all based on the assumption that we have a battlefield where it can be used, and we will also need powerful Progenitors to hold back the Aeternals’ powerhouses." The person with his back to Lu Yin and the others continued his explanation.

Lu Yin leaped to his feet, stunned. Progenitor Hui! This was Progenitor Hui! Lu Yin was actually looking at Progenitor Hui.

For countless years, Progenitor Hui had stood as an example of a powerhouse who could not be estimated by mere combat strength, as the man’s intelligence and resourcefulness had been enough to save humanity multiple times. He had predicted the course of the future and caused the Aeternals to target the Sixth Mainland instead of the Fifth Mainland. After the Fifth Mainland had been defeated and abandoned, Progenitor Hui had established the Technocracy as another means of insurance. He had even set the means for the Fifth Mainland to sneak people into the Perennial World to compete for Origin Matter in place. All of these various plans had come from Progenitor Hui.

It could easily be said that without Progenitor Hui, the current era would have never existed and that the Fifth Mainland would have likely disappeared long ago.

Progenitor Chen had been powerful enough to control two Mountains and one Sea, which demonstrated his unparalleled combat strength. The Rune Progenitor had been amazingly talented and created an entire civilization. Progenitor Ku had silently gone off to slaughter the Aeternals after creating Extremes Must Be Reversed. Each of these individuals had been incredible Progenitors, but Lu Yin had always admired Progenitor Hui the most out of all the famous Progenitors.

Progenitor Hui had been a guiding light for humanity, leading them to their destination.

Forgotten Ruins God stared at Progenitor Hui’s back as he faced away from the hidden main hall, and her expression grew dark. "Hui Wen!"

Lu Yin looked over at Forgotten Ruins God. "Hui Wen? Is that Progenitor Hui's name?"

When Forgotten Ruins God answered, she sounded depressed. "That’s the despicable bastard."

Lu Yin looked back over with a smile. Just as he had thought, no matter what most people did, it was impossible for them to actually make the Seven Skygods angry. That was something that only Progenitor Hui had managed to accomplish.

Hui Wen?

Chu Yuan, Heluo Mavis, and others from the ancient era could not understand the respect owed to the person with his back facing them. It was something that only Lu Yin could understand, as Forgotten Ruins God simply hated the man. Wait, Jiu Yao also hated him. That only made sense.

Down on the barren planet, Progenitor Hui's comment left everyone lost in their own thoughts.

Suddenly, a person with bloodstains covering his face and most of his robes appeared. Those robes looked exactly the same as what Chu Yuan, Heluo Mavis, and Sky Garan were wearing. He wore the robes of a Dao Chosen from the Heavens Sect era.

"Lu Tianyi!" Chu Yuan and Heluo Mavis exclaimed in unison.

Leng Qing was startled. "Dao Chosen Lu Tianyi?"

Lu Yin was similarly surprised. Lu Tianyi? This Progenitor from his Lu family had also controlled one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas.

Heluo Mavis stared at the man who had just arrived. "That’s Lu Tianyi! I would even recognize his ashes. So he already became a Progenitor."

Chu Yuan shook his head. "We were sealed away for so long that our old friends rose up to become Progenitors. Time is a terrible thing."

Down on the planet, Lu Tianyi faced Progenitor Hui. "If such a battlefield is found, can we really protect the Fifth Mainland?"

Progenitor Hui did not hesitate. "Yes."

Lu Tianyi lifted his hand and pointed at the Mother Tree. "That’s the battlefield."

Wang Fan and others all showed their confusion.

"You say that we can only win by making sacrifices, so we’ll face the Aeternals and completely separate them away from the Fifth Mainland. As long as we live die, the Fifth Mainland won’t be destroyed," Lu Tianyi explained.

"Arbiter Lu, what are you going to do?" Wang Fan could not resist asking.

Lu Tianyi stared at Progenitor Hui. "You've already thought of this, haven't you?"

Progenitor Hui replied, "Yes, but if you do this, you will be hated for eternity, as there won’t be any chance to explain your actions. In the future, this Fifth Mainland might have nothing at all to do with you. Your family will likely be regarded as traitors, rejected and exiled by the Fifth Mainland."

Lu Tianyi answered with a loud laugh. "That’s still better than watching the Fifth Mainland be destroyed! I was born and raised here, and my Lu family is willing to give up everything we have for it."

As he spoke, he glanced around at the other people. "What about the rest of you?"

Wang Fan was taken aback, and he hesitated.

The last person also hesitated.

"That's it, then. It's settled. If anyone needs to suffer the hatred of the Fifth Mainland, then my Lu family and I will take on all of it. We’ve been given the highest respect from the Fifth Mainland, so it’s only right for us to shoulder the entire burden. Hui Wen, I already know that you’re ready, so let's begin!" Lu Tianyi shouted.

Progenitor Hui admired Lu Tianyi. "That’s the attitude of a hero!"

"Wait, even if we hold back the Aeternals, what of the Sixth Mainland? Without us, will this place be able to survive?" Wang Fan quickly asked.

However, Lu Tianyi simply picked up his feet and walked away. "The Nine Mountains and Eight Seas aren’t dead."

As soon as he finished speaking, he disappeared.

Wang Fan gritted his teeth, looked over at another person, and then they also vanished.

Progenitor Hui was already gone.

Only a single member of the Lu family remained on the barren planet in front of the main hall. He looked rather stunned, as well as quite young. None of the other people even acknowledged him before leaving. He had been completely ignored.

Lu Yin stared at the man. Lu Yin had no idea who this man might be, but he was absolutely part of the Lu family’s main line. However, given his status, why had Patriarch Lu Tianyi not taken him away? Lu Tianyi had not looked at the other member of the Lu family once while they were both on the planet, and he had been completely ignored by everyone else as well.

The main hall started shaking again, indicating that they were about to leave this particular space and time.

Suddenly, another person appeared on the barren planet.

Everyone who recognized the individual was startled. "Ancient God?"

The person who had appeared was indeed Ancient God, one of the Seven Skygods.

Jiu Yao and everyone else reflexively glanced over at Forgotten Ruins God.

Forgotten Ruins God continued calmly watching the events playing out on the planet.

Ancient God appeared directly behind the man from the Lu family who seemed to be in a daze and then simply left without anyone managing to hear a thing that was said.

The main hall quivered once more. It was ready to travel through time and space once more. Lu Yin stared at the Lu family’s direct descendant with dull eyes who had remained behind on the barren planet. Did he have some sort of connection to Ancient God? Suddenly, Lu Yin saw yet another person. It was a young man who was standing rather close to the direct descendant members of the Lu family, and the young man was staring right at the dazed man. Suddenly, the dazed man abruptly turned and stared straight at the young man.

The main hall vanished, returning to the dark river of time.

Within it, everyone remained silent. What they had just witnessed left all of them unable to calm down. They could not resist looking at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. Ancient God had been on that planet, and he had appeared behind that man from the Lu family. Who was that member of the main line of the Lu family? Did he have some sort of relationship with Ancient God? Could he be a traitor to the Lu family? Was he a Redback?

Most of what Lu Yin had just witnessed allowed him to heave a sigh of relief, as he had definitively seen that his Lu family had not abandoned the Fifth Mainland, but had rather shouldered a disaster for the sake of the Fifth Mainland. However, that last exchange left Lu Yin uncomfortable. He had known that there were traitors within the Lu family, but where had they gone? Had that man been banished by the four ruling powers along with the rest of the Lu family? It was highly likely that the young man had brought a disaster of some sort or another down upon the Lu family.

The longer Lu Yin considered what he had seen, the worse the chill afflicting him became. The Aeternals had so many different odd methods of recruiting Redbacks that it was impossible for even the Lu family to be completely clean.

As for the young man who had appeared at the very end, there was no need to even think about whether something bad had happened to him; he had seen something he should not have. Still, Lu Yin felt that the young man felt very familiar, as though Lu Yin had seen him before.

"Who was that?" Lu Yin suddenly looked over and asked Forgotten Ruins God.

Everyone else turned to look at Forgotten Ruins God when they heard Lu Yin’s question.

Forgotten Ruins God just shook her head. "One of Ancient God’s people, so how should I know?"

Lu Yin stared at Forgotten Ruins God. "What happened to him?"

Forgotten Ruins God covered her mouth as she giggled. "Child, you’re asking the wrong person. I can't answer your question, though instead of worrying about the Lu family, you should be worrying about yourself. Our people are already right next to you, and they’re also a part of Ancient God’s plan."

Lu Yin's fingers twitched. He was well aware of just how pervasive and entrenched the Aeternals’ web was.

In the Perennial World, he had joined Humility’s Gate under the alias of Long Qi, and during that time, he had uncovered many Redbacks. Had he not felt proud of himself at that time? Even though Lu Yin feared the Aeternals's ability to recruit traitors and spies, Lu Yin felt confident in his die’s Possession ability, even if it was impossible to uncover every Redback. However, it was at this moment that he realized that he had still been underestimating the Seven Skygods.

The Seven Skygods had lived for endless years, and they had recruited and trained countless Redbacks, hiding them deep. It was no easy matter to uncover them all.

Lu Yin felt incredibly motivated by what he had just seen.

He had always believed that his Lu family was still alive and that they could not have been wiped out. But with such a traitor in their midst, how likely was their survival?

The main hall continued moving, and soon, a surge of stellular energy appeared once more, and it flooded into everyone's bodies. Lu Yin looked up, as this indicated that they were approaching the next destination in time and space.

This time, most of Lu Yin’s stellular energy vortices were fully replenished, and only the last vortex was a bit short. As for Heluo Mavis, her face had turned red while she did everything she could think of to hold back the flood of stellular energy. She had reached her limits during this flood of stellular energy.

The main hall trembled, and the statue once more began to devour all of the stellular energy.

This ebb and flow of stellular energy left people frustrated to the point of vomiting blood.

A bright light appeared, and everyone looked out from the main hall. They saw a massive furnace, and beyond that, there was the familiar sight of the Daosource Sect’s gates.

Lu Yin's expression instantly changed. "Heaven’s Furnace?"

There was no way he would be mistaken about this. Sure enough, they were looking at Progenitor Chen’s Heaven’s Furnace.

Everyone stared at the distant furnace off in the distance, as within it, there was a person screaming. The more distant Daosource Sect gates were crumbling.

"Progenitor Chen?" Jiu Yao exclaimed.

Chu Yuan and the others were stunned by what they were seeing, as there was a solitary man standing outside the Daosource Sect’s gates, and although he was alone, his aura seemed almost divine. It was as if he had replaced the Daosource Sect’s Sky Pillar. Even though he was clearly quite a distance away, he seemed to be taller than the universe itself.

That was Progenitor Chen.

"Xia Shang, release Progenitor Nan! Do you want to start a war between our two mainlands?"

"Xia Shang, you’re going too far!"

"Release Progenitor Nan."

…

Countless voices cried out as the entire Sixth Mainland condemned, cursed, and threatened the man outside their gates.

However, the person standing in front of Heaven’s Furnace looked perfectly calm, and he answered the countless cries in a powerful and melodic voice that reminded one of molten metal. "So what if he’s a Progenitor? I already said that if he dared to mess with me one more time, I’d obliterate him to ashes. I, Xia Shang, will do just that in front of the Sixth Mainland’s Daosouce Sect’s gate, and if anyone tries to stop me, I will burn your entire Daosource Sect to the ground! Your Sixth Mainland can come after me for revenge, and I will face you no matter how many people you send after me."