Chapter 2117: Cusp Of A Breakthrough

Lu Yin listened in silence. The roles of education and defense were not surprising. During the Heavens Sect era, the Dao Monarchs had ruled over everything, and both Progenitors and Semi-Progenitors had been forced to accept the Dao Monarchs’ authority. It was entirely possible that this absolute suppression was the driving force behind humanity’s prosperity during that era.

Mankind’s true strength could only be revealed when superpowers were able to fully unite humanity.

This was exactly what Lu Yin wanted to do as well.

How could scattered human forces compare to a unified Heavens Sect?

"The duty of the Twelve Heavenly Gates was to guard the gates of the Six Mainlands, and they had nothing to do with the administration of the Heavens Sect. The ones who actually ran the Heavens Sect were the Dao Monarchs and the various elders. When a Dao Monarch went into seclusion, their Dao Chosen would act on their behalf, representing the heavens. There was also a sect legislature, and the members belonged to various Mainlands and of all cultivation levels, where they could voice their needs and requests. These people had to be factionless and only represent the common interests of people." Lu Buzheng explained.

The Heavens Sect’s legislature sounded quite similar to the Hall of Honor’s council of overseers.

The Heavens Sect had been a towering monster that rose high above the sky like the crown of a tree, but those monumental structures required a proper foundation. The legislature body had been the Heavens Sect’s foundation.

"At present, our reestablished Heavens Sect has an elder, which is Senior Progenitor of Bloodlines. We then have Highsage Grandmaster and Elder Gong who are part of the education division, while Kui Luo, Arch-Elder Zen, and Herb Immortal are all part of the defense division. As for the administration division, there is Aurora Enterprises, Shamrock Enterprise, and other organizations that serve the sect, as well as the Heavenly Prison. There are…"

Lu Yin spent half an hour listening to the explanation. Essentially, Lu Buzheng had structured the current Heavens Sect in the exact same manner as the Heavens Sect of his own era.

Despite the great differences between the two eras, it was possible for the reestablished Heavens Sect to improve and grow into the previous structure. The modern Heavens Sect could reach its previous peak in the future, but it was impossible to accomplish that transformation in one move. Disregarding the other issues, it was impossible to fully unite the Twelve Heavenly Gates.

"By the way, Leng Qing has taken back his post as gatemaster of the Celestial Blade Heavenly Gate, and Cai'er has also taken back her position as gatemaster of the Jadevase Heavenly Gate," Lu Buzheng said.

Lu Yin asked, "Why is Arch-Elder Zen a defender? Who’s the gatemaster of the Honor Heavenly Gate?"

"Qing Ping."

This surprised Lu Yin. "Senior Brother Chief Justice?"

This time, it was Lu Buzheng's turn to be surprised. "Qing Ping is your senior brother? Who’s your master?"

Lu Yin shook his head. "I don't even know myself, but Third Uncle, but why didn't Arch-Elder Zen become the gatemaster?"

Given his strength, Arch-Elder Zen was fully qualified to be a gatemaster of one of the Heavenly Gates.

Lu Buzheng replied, "He said that he needed to let go of certain things, and that going forward, he wouldn’t concern himself with common affairs. Instead, he’ll focus on his cultivation and traveling the universe."

Lu Yin nodded. After the all-out war between the Fifth and Sixth Mainlands, Arch-Elder Zen had led the Fifth Mainland. The man had established the Hall of Honor and protected the Human Domain. Countless years had passed, and the man was exhausted from his efforts. Mistakes had undeniably been made over the course of Arch-Elder Zen’s oversight, but much of that was due to the burden of responsibility towards humanity that he carried. The burden had been so great that the man had never even considered attempting to breakthrough to the Progenitor realm. However, since Arch-Elder Zen had finally been allowed to lay his great burden aside, it was possible that humanity would eventually have another Progenitor.

Of course, losing his great burden did not guarantee that Arch-Elder Zen would succeed in his breakthrough attempt. Countless talented humans had been born across the ages, from the Heavens Sect era to the modern era, but very, very few of those people had succeeded in becoming Progenitors.

One did not necessarily have to be an outstanding individual to successfully break through to become a Progenitor. Many people had built up impressive foundations in preparation for their breakthrough or waited years for the right moment to make their attempt. Lu Yin did not yet truly understand the breakthrough process from Semi-Progenitor to Progenitor.

"The role of a defender is perfect for Arch-Elder Zen. Third Uncle, just how many Semi-Progenitors are a part of the Heavens Sect right now, and how many have remained independent?" Lu Yin asked.

"Right now, we have eighteen Semi-Progenitors. If you include Qing Ping, who is just as strong as a Semi-Progenitor, then we have nineteen. Five Semi-Progenitors, including Ni Huang, have been imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison. Lan Xian is currently acting independently of the Heavens Sect. I’ve given her the choice of becoming either an educator or a defender, but she has not responded."

Lu Yin's eyes flashed. "We’ve missed a person."

"Who?" Lu Buzheng felt quite curious, as he was certain that he had not missed any of the living Semi-Progenitors.

Lu Yin looked towards Gaia's Swamp. "The Specter Clan’s patriarch, Tian Dou."

Lu Buzheng had no idea who Lu Yin was talking about. "Who’s that?"

"Get a hold of Jue Yi and have him send Tian Dou to find me," Lu Yin ordered indifferently. The Specter Clan had once joined forces with the Aeternals to survive. There were certain things that could not simply be ignored, and anyone who had been involved with the Neohuman Alliance, regardless of their identity, had previously been unilaterally destroyed. This was why Shenwu Continent had been almost completely wiped out, and it was also why the Yōu clan had been investigated. Even if the Specter Clan had helped the Fifth Mainland fight against the Aeternals for the last twenty years, it was not nearly enough to cancel out their previous crimes. Ignoring their actions was unfair to others.

Lu Buzheng nodded.

"Also, Aurora Enterprises, Shamrock Enterprise, the pyrolyte mining, microarray technology research and development, and the Lockbreakers Society have all been added into Backyard."1

"Backyard?"

Lu Yin gave a small smile. "It’s a science and technology R&D division—I named it Backyard."

Lu Buzheng had no idea why Lu Yin had chosen such a name, but he went along with it.

"Third Uncle, the reality is that you shouldn’t be doing these tasks, as you’re the gatemaster of the Lu Heavenly Gate," Lu Yin commented.

Lu Buzheng responded with a big smile. "I wouldn’t be able to relax if this task was left to anyone else. No matter what, you’re the only direct descendant of my Lu family, so Third Uncle will keep an eye on you until you’re able to bring around another direct descendant for me!"

Lu Yin was momentarily confused, but he quickly understood the insinuation. However, this reminder only made him feel depressed, as Ming Yan was still frozen.

Lu Buzheng did not notice the sudden change in Lu Yin's mood. "Oh, I forgot to mention something—Chu Yuan has made a great contribution."

Lu Yin felt puzzled. "A great contribution?"

Lu Buzheng nodded, and then he excitedly explained, "As expected of the only Dao Chosen to have met with the Origin Progenitor! I don’t know how much he managed to learn from the Origin Progenitor, but while you were in seclusion for the past few months, he brought up the possibility of creating a visualization method with the ancient golden characters. A lot of people have already succeeded with his method, greatly improving their combat strength. Chu Yuan’s earned a lot of fame with this move.

"His request for a reward is that once the Heavens Sect legislature is formally established, he must be one of the first formal members."

Lu Yin did not care about this. Chu Yuan's motivations were too obvious, and he was in too much of a hurry. If Lu Yin were in Chu Yuan’s position, he would never join the Heavens Sect. Since Chu Yuan had already attached himself to the sect, there was no need to worry about him.

It was wonderful that the ancient golden characters could be used to learn a visualization method, as it would greatly improve the strength of the Fifth Mainland’s cultivators.

"Third Uncle, don’t the people from the Celestial Frost Sect know a visualization method?" Lu Yin suddenly asked.

Lu Buzheng dismissed the idea. "The only ones with visualization methods were the ones who ruled the Six Mainlands, as they had received the necessary instruction from the Origin Progenitor himself. Those included my Lu family, the Sixth Mainland’s Garan family, and the Second Mainland’s Mavis family."

"The Sixth Mainland’s Garan family had a visualization method?" Lu Yin wondered. If this was true, then why had the Sixth Mainland taken a broken path of cultivation and been deceived by the Aeternals into using imprints?

In some of the Rune Technology ruins that Lu Yin had visited, he had learned that the Sixth Mainland had been deceived, and that fact had always stuck with him.

Imprints were not an orthodox cultivation method. When the Progenitor of Combat died, all of the cultivators with his imprint had been greatly weakened. Imprints were able to temporarily increase a person’s strength, but it made their Imprinters too dependent on their imprints.

Lu Buzheng replied, "Are you thinking about the Sixth Mainland’s imprints?"

Lu Yin nodded. Lu Buzheng and the others from the Heavens Sect era had already spent twenty years in the current era, which was about the same amount of time that Lu Yin had spent before vanishing for twenty years. Their knowledge should be about the same as his.

"I asked about this matter specifically. Not only me, but Hen Xin did the same. We learned that, when the Garan family suddenly disappeared, the Sixth Mainland hoped to acquire the power of a visualization method. They believed their imprints to be a visualization method, but were badly mistaken. They have since forsaken their imprints and have instead started to look into the visualization method of the ancient golden characters," Lu Buzheng explained.

"By the way, Qing Ping has come looking for you several times."

Lu Yin felt curious about this. He had no idea why his senior brother wanted to see him. "Got it. I’ll reach out to him."

Lu Buzheng left to send a message to Jue Yi, and Lu Yin also reached out to Senior Brother Qing Ping with his own wireless jincan.

CyNet had been busy rebuilding the communication network in the Human Domain, but they needed time to finish that monumental project.

"Is it true that you are able to take stellular energy back from those droplets?" Senior Brother Qing Ping asked.

"Yes."

Qing Ping bluntly stated, "I need."

At first, Lu Yin wanted to reply, ‘You’re being ridiculous. Who doesn’t need it now?’ But then, he suddenly remembered something that made him excited. "Senior Brother, are you going to attempt your next breakthrough?"

"Yes."

"When will that be?"

"Any time."

Lu Yin grew short of breath. Senior Brother Qing Ping was a powerhouse who was at the very peak of the Envoy realm, and yet he was already as strong as Semi-Progenitors. Once he broke through, he would be comparable to the gatemasters of the ancient Twelve Heavenly Gate, such as Hen Xin. "How much stellular energy do you need, Senior Brother?"

"The more the better."

Lu Yin frowned. He had no idea just how much stellular energy his senior brother possessed in his body, but Lu Yin only had two bottles of stellular liquid. Even if Qing Ping still had some bit of stellular energy left, it was most likely not very much. "I have two bottles of stellular liquid."

There was a long period of silence. "Not enough."

"How much do you want, Senior Brother?" Lu Yin asked. Suddenly, he thought of something else. "Senior Brother, if there’s no stellular energy left in the true universe, even if you manage to succeed in your breakthrough, where will your stellular tribulation come from?"

It was not beneficial to avoid facing a stellular tribulation. Even though each one was a difficult challenge that could kill a cultivator, passing each tribulation refined a person’s body. Without a tribulation, would a Semi-Progenitor still be a real Semi-Progenitor? Even if they managed to create an inner world, how vast would the difference between one who had faced a tribulation and one who had not be?

"I will face my tribulation in the Perennial World," Qing Ping replied.

Lu Yin was caught off guard, but he was quickly left stunned. "Can you even get to the Perennial World?"

"Of course. How do you think the finalists from ZENITH got there?"

Only then did Lu Yin remember. He had actually forgotten that the Neoverse had always had a path to the Perennial World, and it was actually on the planet that he had arrived at after his own return from the Perennial World.

"Breakthroughs are easily detected in the Perennial World, and once I’m noticed, the situation will quickly get dangerous if I don’t have enough stellular energy," Qing Ping replied.

Lu Yin immediately understood that Qing Ping wanted to fully restore his stellular energy reserves so that he could escape after undergoing his breakthrough. "So, Senior Brother, you want to restore your reserves here, and then go to the Perennial World and pass your tribulation? I don’t have enough stellular liquid to fully restore you. Actually, how much stellular energy do you even have?"

Qing Ping replied, "Not too much less than you."

Lu Yin arched a brow. Not too much less than me?

"Senior Brother, do you know how much stellular energy is in my body?" Lu Yin asked.

Qing Ping replied, "I don't."

There was a pause before he continued. "I’ve estimated your reserves by comparing it to several people from the Lu family that I’ve encountered before and then multiplying that by five."

"What people from the Lu family?"

"When I was in the Perennial World to get my own Origin Matter, I fought with a one-tribulation Envoy from the Lu family. I believe that you should have five times more stellular energy than him."

"You were able to fight against an Envoy from the Lu family back then?" Lu Yin was shocked. He had already known that Senior Brother Qing Ping had been to the Perennial World and that he had defeated all of his peers at that time, including some members of the Lu family. However, the people who had participated in the Yuanlun Festival should have only been Enlighters, which meant that the Envoy that Qing Ping had faced should have been an elder from the Lu family, and he definitely would not have been a member of the direct family line.

Still, even members of the side branches of the Lu family had absurd energy reserves.

Regardless of their own cultivation level, the Lu family’s descendants were all Realmbreakers, and very few people could cross realms to defeat them.

When Lu Yin had been in the Perennial World, he had managed to fight against a one-tribulation Envoy, but he had only won because of the God of Death Transformation. Lu Yin had relied on the God of Death’s inheritance to defeat Shi Xin, who had been considered invincible among one-tribulation Envoys. How had Qing Ping accomplished such a feat?

[1] Lu Yin is deliberately choosing a rather crude name here. He's purposely humiliating the companies and organizations that are being incorporated into Backyard by giving them this name. Specifically, there's a Chinese expression about strolling around one's backyard, indicating that a backyard is part of someone's house. Lu Yin is pretty blatantly claiming ownership of the various organizations and referring to their wealth as his own property. ☜