Chapter 2089: Clash Of Eras

In the team competition, the use of battle techniques or any form of power aside from battle force was forbidden. This meant that only a few people from the Three Fatalities Heavenly Gate’s team needed to take action to completely suppress the Bloodlines Heavenly Gate’s team. It was a miserable defeat.

Toolwielder, Xiao Qing, and the others on the team had all been Realmlings, which meant that they far surpassed Coco and the others on her team in terms of cultivation, but unfortunately, the two teams’ mastery of battle force was the inverse. If the competition allowed anything at all aside from battle force, then Toolwielder alone could have swept through the Three Fatalities Heavenly Gate’s entire team.

This team competition would determine whether the battle force cultivation arts would be made public to the Fifth Mainland, or if they would remain within the sole custody of the Three Fatalities Heavenly Gate. It has nothing to do with the other forces. Thus, the Undying Heavenly Gate had not even sent a team to participate in the team competition. They had no use or desire for battle force, as they cultivated death energy. The Divining Heavenly Gate was the same, and as far as those two groups were concerned, this team battle competition was essentially a show to watch.

Lu Yin shook his head. If the Lu Heavenly Gate and the Honor Heavenly Gate had other cultivation methods that their people could employ, then there would be no need for this competition. The situation really was quite bad.

The Bloodlines Heavenly Gate’s team was completely suppressed from start to end, but at the very last moment, all ten people from the Bloodlines Heavenly Gate united to defeat Wang Yi and the woman whom Lu Yin had not recognized—it seemed her name was Bian Ling—destabilizing the two women’s conditions and leaving them unable to fight in the next match.

Hen Xin was unconcerned. The eight people on his team who were still in fighting condition were enough to deal with the Lu Heavenly Gate’s team. Their mastery of battle force was much worse than Hen Xin’s people.

The next match was the Lu Heavenly Gate against the Honor Heavenly Gate. The result was as expected; the Honor Heavenly Gate directly forfeited, letting the Lu Heavenly Gate team remain in peak condition for their fight against the Three Fatalities Heavenly Gate team.

Xia De just laughed. "Just as I thought!"

Xia Ji spat in contempt. "When facing true strength, such tricks are useless."

Hen Xin remained calm. This method was too simplistic, and it would be too easy for his people to defeat the Lu Heavenly Gate. There were good and bad things about the modern era, but when a person’s strength was taken away from them, the best choice was to go with the flow.

"Let’s hurry up and get to the next match so that we can end this farce," he said lightly.

Everyone stared down at the plaza as the two teams entered it. The Three Fatalities Heavenly Gate was down to just eight people, and they were up against the Lu Heavenly Gate’s team.

Lu Yin was quite curious, as he still had not yet seen the team representing the Lu Heavenly Gate.

When the ten people appeared, he pursed his lips. Sure enough, he knew almost all of them, just like with the Sixth Mainland’s team. The most talented people of a generation would not change, and genuine late bloomers were just too few and far between.

The members of the Lu Heavenly Gate team were Ling Gong, Wen Sansi, Little Mountain God, Yōu Ye'er, Hai Dashao, Hui Santong, and Ku Wei.

Although Lu Yin had not interacted with Hai Dashao or Yōu Ye'er much, the rest of them were all old friends, especially Ku Wei. Lu Yin was happy to see that the man had reached this level.

Wait, why were there only seven people?

Lu Yin was not the only one surprised to see that the team was missing people, as even Hen Xin was caught off guard. Despite treating this team battle rather seriously, he had never truly believed that the Lu Heavenly Gate had any chance of victory. It was simply impossible. However, they had only sent out seven people, which was even less than the Three Fatalities Heavenly Gate’s team.

"What is the meaning of this?" Hen Xin looked over and asked Lu Buzheng.

Lu Buzheng looked back. "We’ll show you what a gap in strength really is."

Hen Xin frowned, and he started to feel a bit uneasy. He had always been cautious, and Lu Buzheng's attitude was clearly indicative that there was a problem. Could there be some monstrously talented genius within the Lu Heavenly Gate’s team? If anyone had managed to master ten lined battle force, let alone aurelian force, that single person would be capable of completely wiping out Hen Xin’s team.

Within the plaza, Xia Luo had maintained a low profile so far, but he looked at his opponents with open curiosity. With only seven people, was this indicative of their confidence? Could Lu Yin be hidden within their numbers? No, Lu Yin was disqualified from participating in this team battle, as he had trained battle force long ago.

"What are you looking at, pretty boy?" Little Mountain God stepped forward and glared at Xia Luo.

Xia Luo’s hidden identity had been revealed long ago. After returning from the Perennial World, it had been impossible for him to remain incognito, and his identity as Luo Zhong had long since disappeared.

However, since Xia Ji had returned to the Xia family and acknowledged them as his ancestors, it meant that Xia Luo, as the inheritor of the Xia family within the Fifth Mainland, was naturally a part of Shenwu’s Sky.

Little Mountain God had no idea who Xia Luo was, and he simply did not like Xia Luo’s looks.

"Is a broken piece of stone going to fight us? Don’t break it. Just grab it so that we can play with it later," Xia Linyue mocked.

Ling Gong moved her spear and pointed it straight at her opponents. "Where is Xing Kai?"

Xia Luo shook his head. "I have no idea. Someone captured him."

Wen Sansi was taken aback. "Xing Kai was captured? He was in the Three Fatalities Heavenly Gate. Who’s able to capture him from there?"

Xia Luo just shrugged to indicate his ignorance.

There was a sharp shout, and the match officially began. Countless people were nervously watching. The Divining Heavenly Gate and the Undying Heavenly Gate might not care about the outcome of the wager concerning the spread of battle force cultivation methods, but Arch-Elder Zen and many others had placed a great deal of importance on this competition.

As soon as the battle began, Dai Ao attacked first. His battle force twined around his hand as he struck at Xia Linyue. At the same time, Darkvoid attacked Shan Lingui.

No one had ever expected Darkvoid and Dai Ao to attack their own team members, and even Xia Luo was stunned for a moment.

The opposition was similarly stunned. They had been told before the match that they should not be surprised no matter what happened during the battle, but they had merely assumed that someone would interfere in the match. Who would have imagined that infighting would break out?

Hen Xin was startled as he stared at the plaza.

Chu Yuan’s brow furrowed. Was this really how they intended to win?

Dao Ao’s palm strike shattered Xia Linyue's battle force, and the man was sent tumbling through the air as he smashed into the ground far away. At the same time, Darkvoid attacked Shan Lingui. Coco took advantage of this opening and stabbed her syringe right through Shan Lingui’s battle force. In an instant, Shan Lingui and Xia Linyue were both badly injured.

"Attack!" Ling Gong shouted. As she yelled, her impressive seven lined battle force appeared and wrapped around her body. She thrust a sharp attack at Xia Luo with her spear.

Wen Sansi and the other members of the team all took action as well.

On the back of Ancestor Tortoise, Lu Yin let out a breath. So this was what Wang Wen had meant when he had said that he was 60% certain of achieving victory. At this moment, the remaining four members of the Three Fatalities Heavenly Gate’s team were facing off against all ten people from the Lu Heavenly Gate. On top of that, both Xia Linyue, and Shan Lingui had been badly injured, which meant they were actually just down to Xia Luo and the man whom Lu Yin did not recognize.

How were they supposed to fight against such odds?

Xia Luo was very strong, incredibly so. If it became a true life-and-death battle, Lu Yin was certain that Xia Luo could fight and win against everyone else on the stage, including even Ling Gong and Wen Sansi. However, the current match was a competition that was restricted to battle force, so Lu Yin did not have too much hope for Xia Luo.

As expected, the Three Fatalities Heavenly Gate lost. Their defeat was simple and straightforward, as Xia Luo had no desire to desperately drag things out.

Hen Xin stared across the plaza at Lu Buzheng. "Despicable."

Lu Buzheng just scoffed. The truth was that this entire plan had nothing to do with him. Everything had been arranged by Wang Wen and Wei Rong, and Lu Buzheng had not known about anything until after he sought out the two young men after hearing Lu Yin’s reminder.

For the people from the Heavens Sect era, such schemes were shocking to see. It was not that they were stupid, but rather that every era possessed a unique zeitgeist. During the Heavens Sect era, people had competed against each other with pure combat strength and creativity. There had still been schemers, but compared to Wang Wen and the others, their plots were like those of children.

Chu Yuan's worldview was also challenged by what he saw. Was this really a way to fight?

Jue Yi also stared at Lu Buzheng. He thought back to Wang Si’s suggestion of how to deal with Lu Yin. In the current era, the winner was crowned king. The people from the ancient era were still too naïve. It was possible that the Aeternals had managed to destroy five Mainlands through similar plots and schemes.

Jue Yi suddenly found himself questioning his own actions. Did he also tend to not think things through enough?

Arch-Elder Zen and many others thought nothing of what happened, and the Bloodlines Heavenly Gate did not bat an eye. Had it been fair for Hen Xin to propose a competition restricted to only battle force? The Three Fatalities Heavenly Gate had always focused on battle force, and the Third Mainland’s Dao Monarch had even created that cultivation method. In a straightforward competition, there was no way for the Three Fatalities Heavenly Gate to ever lose, so it was only natural that they had looked for alternative methods.

Many people believed that people who used underhanded methods were evil, but if the rules blatantly benefited one party, then what was the point in agreeing?

In other words, the ends justified the means.

According to Wang Wen's and Wei Rong's thinking, as long as they were able to achieve their goals, it was of no concern whatsoever if they used despicable means to get there.

"Lu Buzheng, you’re a member of the Lu family! Don’t you feel any shame for your family in employing such schemes? How can you not feel as though you’ve disgraced the Heavens Sect era?" Hen Xin yelled a reprimand through gritted teeth.

Lu Buzheng still said nothing, as he was genuinely embarrassed.

Instead, Kui Luo answered with a strange laugh. "You’re really too arrogant. All you keep prattling on about is how humans have regressed and how weak this era is, but your all-powerful Heavens Sect was wiped out by the Aeternals while our pathetic era has managed to hold them back for countless years! Tell me, is this progress or regression?”

"Don't forget that you’re only able to stand here today and act all pompous because of Progenitor Hui’s plotting and scheming. Without such methods, humanity would have been erased long ago, and it wouldn’t have been humans who unlocked the sourcebox that you were sealed in, but rather those monsters."

Hen Xin frowned. "Simply saying words doesn’t give them any meaning. Something despicable will always be despicable, regardless of how much you may pretend otherwise."

"There's no need to cover anything up. We won. You lost. That’s how it is!" Kui Luo shouted.

Arch-Elder Zen looked at Hen Xin. "Gatemaster, are you not going to accept how things turned out?"

Jiu Yao sighed. "Our eras really are completely different. I’ve seen for myself the glory of the Heavens Sect era. In your era, you were able to completely suppress the Aeternals and enslave every astral beast in the universe. Humans were able to act as willfully as they wished, but things are different now. Combat strength is nothing more than one means that helps keep humanity alive. If you want to rigidly stick to the principles of the Heavens Sect era, the Fifth Mainland will not last for long."

"You people don't have the courage of a true powerhouse!" Chu Yuan retorted. His voice was not loud, but it still reached the entirety of the Heavens Sect.

Kui Luo glanced over at the young man. "Kid, a powerhouse’s courage won’t be shaken by such petty details. You have your path, and others have their own."

Chu Yuan raised his head high. "To step forward boldly and walk upon a road to invincibility! That is the courage of a powerhouse! Relying on such schemes just means that you will eventually be defeated by them, just like your Lu Yin! He tried to sneakily steal the Origin Progenitor’s sword, and yet he fell by taking that sword to the heart! Even the Origin Progenitor’s sword looks down on such actions!"

Countless people from the Lu Heavenly Gate became furious, and they started shouting loudly. Chu Yuan was insulting Lu Yin.

Kui Luo sneered. "Just an arrogant belief left over from the Heavens Sect era."

Chu Yuan glanced around the plaza. "This may be a different era with different principles, but I will show you all the true road to invincibility today! I’ve seen your Progenitor Chen and the Rune Progenitor! Both of them were invincible powerhouses. How sad it is for them that you are taking the wrong path. Humanity should not be led astray by people like you!"

Lu Buzheng grew solemn. "You really are too arrogant."

"Regardless of whether it’s the Heavens Sect era or now, the law of the strong will never change!" Chu Yuan stared at the Lu Heavenly Gate. "Only the strong possess the right to speak."

Hen Xin smiled. "We’ve lost the team competition. I’ll admit it. Still, it doesn’t matter. If my representative, Chu Yuan, becomes the Dao Chosen, my Three Fatalities Heavenly Gate will still stand above all others."

Lu Yin glared at Chu Yuan with cold eyes from the back of Ancestor Tortoise. He raised a hand and brought his die out. Ten days had passed, so it was time to continue rolling. He just hoped that he could roll a four.

As the dice slowly came to a stop, Lu Yin frowned when he saw one pip.