(Bonus) Chapter 2121: Response

The truth of the matter was that Lu Yin being in power was good for Smoke-Eater Peaks. More than twenty years ago, Gu Laogui had been upset for quite some time, as Lu Yin had taken advantage of Smoke-Eater Peaks. However, later on, Lu Yin had saved all of Smoke-Eater Peaks from being destroyed when they had faced a catastrophe in the Cosmic Sea. Gu Laogui had always remembered Lu Yin’s kindness at that moment, and the old man’s attitude towards Lu Yin had completely turned around.

Gu Laogui would never forget that his entire sect owed Lu Yin their very lives.

The external threat of the Aeternals had been eliminated, and peace had returned to the Fifth Mainland. Even with the new Heavens Sect dominating over all of humanity, Gu Laogui was no longer bothered by it, because Lu Yin was the one in power.

"You saved us in the Cosmic Sea, Alliance Leader Lu, and I will definitely repay your great kindness," Gu Laogui sent.

Lu Yin smiled. "That’s not all that you’re going to need to repay me for, Senior."

Gu Laogui became confused. "What do you mean, Alliance Leader Lu?"

"Senior, are you familiar with the power that you cultivate?" Lu Yin asked.

The old man became even more confused. "The power that I cultivate? Are you referring to stellular energy, Alliance Leader Lu?"

"Of course not. I’m talking about the smoke you use from your mountains."

Gu Laogui was completely lost by this point in the conversation. "What are you saying? I don't understand."

Lu Yin replied, "Wei-Induction Technique."

Gu Laogui was caught off guard. "How does Alliance Leader Lu know my Smoke-Eater Peaks’ cultivation art?"

"Senior knows the Wei-Induction Technique? Then why do you refer to wei as smoke?" Lu Yin wondered.

Gu Laogui still did not understand what Lu Yin was asking. "What's wei? I really don't understand what you’re talking about."

"You really don't know that the unique smoke you cultivate with isn’t even smoke? It's a unique power called wei, and it was created by Progenitor Smoke," Lu Yin said.

Gu Laogui was stunned. "Wei? We honestly had no idea. Ah, no wonder our cultivation art is called Wei-Induction Technique. So that's what it means."

Lu Yin could not tell for sure whether Gu Laogui was truly ignorant, or if he was putting on a show. Though, there should be no need for a charade. Smoke-Eater Peaks’ unique power was not particularly strong, and at best, when there was enough of it, it could be used to equip an army, strengthening and assisting those with inadequate strength. It was not much help to a true powerhouse however.

"Alliance Leader Lu, how did you learn about Wei-Induction Technique? Was it from Yun Tingting?" Gu Laogui asked.

Lu Yin replied, "I’ll explain more when I get back and see you in person, but for now, all I know for certain is the name of the cultivation art is Wei-Induction Technique. It might be similar to what you’ve been using and not be of much help, but if there are any higher levels of mastery that you’re missing, I’ll give them to you."

Gu Laogui was so stunned by Lu Yin's offer that he could not process the information.

The old man stared at his wireless jincan. He only knew one thing, which was that Lu Yin felt that it was possible to acquire higher levels of Wei-Induction Technique, but did those higher levels of mastery even exist?

Yun Tingting's Smokecloud Sect possessed a better understanding of this unique power than Smoke-Eater Peaks, but even then, the strength of their smoke was limited. If Yun Tingting had a higher level of the cultivation art, then there was no chance that Lu Yin would not have brought it up before now. This only made the whole conversation even more strange.

At this time, Lu Yin entered Zenith Mountain to meet with Yun Tingting.

Yun Tingting calmly looked at Lu Yin standing in front of her. Her attitude had changed drastically from when Lu Yin had first captured her. Lu Yin believed that the woman had gone numb from her extended captivity.

"You said that you’d let me go," Yun Tingting stated flatly.

Lu Yin replied, "I said I’d take you to the Perennial World."

Yun Tingting sneered, clearly not believing a word of it.

"You should know what’s been happening lately. The Perennial World sent an army into the Fifth Mainland, but at the same time, the Aeternals attacked. However, I’ve dealt with both of those threats. So, the next step is to go back to the Perennial World, and then I’ll let you go," Lu Yin said.

Yun Tingting casually said, "I don't have what you want with me."

Lu Yin asked, "You cultivate with Wei-Induction Technique, right?"

Yun Tingting did not answer. Her sect’s cultivation art was not some massive secret. After all, the people of Smoke-Eater Peaks also practice this.

"In that case, do you know about wei?" Lu Yin asked.

Yun Tingting’s eyes snapped wide open, and she stared at Lu Yin in disbelief.

Her expression answered Lu Yin’s question. "Smoke-Eater Peaks still doesn't know that what they use isn’t actually smoke, but rather wei, and you never corrected them. Do you really want to try to say that you don’t have anything I want to know?"

Yun Tingting was puzzled. "How did you find out about that?"

The corners of Lu Yin's mouth curled up into a smile. "Because I can also use Wei-Induction Technique, and I know that wei is a unique energy created by Progenitor Smoke, which is actually a different cultivation method than stellular energy. However, the descendants of your two sects treat the energy as simply a tool to power your battle techniques, which is different from how Progenitor Smoke used it. In fact, there’s no comparison."

Yun Tingting frowned. "Wei-Induction Technique is the battle technique that moves wei, but wei is essentially just an outside power that was created by Progenitor Smoke. All we can do is control that power."

Lu Yin finally understood that this was almost exactly like the Specter Clan. The Specter Clan could cultivate with death energy and manipulate it, but they could not produce the unique energy. Truthfully, they merely used the unique energy, and they did not actually cultivate it.

"Has your Cloudsmoke Sect only learned to use Wei-Induction Technique in the same manner as Smoke-Eater Peaks?" Lu Yin asked.

Yun Tingting replied, "We’ve mastered far more than Smoke-Eater Peaks, but we still use Wei-Induction Technique. It’s just that we have what can be considered a full version of the cultivation art, though we don’t have access to any of the higher levels. We know of the legends that claim that Progenitor Smoke was able to alter the universe itself with the power of wei, but we can’t access even a millionth of that power.”

"How did your sect get your version of Wei-Induction Technique?" Lu Yin felt curious.

Yun Tingting and Lu Yin both just stared at each other for a moment. "Are you really going to release me?"

"There’s no point in keeping you," Lu Yin replied. Though the words were harsh, Yun Tingting believed them. After all, she was truly worthless to Lu Yin.

At first, she and several others had been captured and imprisoned on Zenith Mountain because Lu Yin had not wanted to expose the existence of the Perennial World and had wanted to eliminate as many variables as possible. However, even people from the Heavens Sect era had appeared, let alone those from the Perennial World.

Forget the Fifth Mainland—even if Lu Yin’s various captives were released to the Perennial World, none of them would be able to harm him at all.

Yun Tingting thought back. "I heard from my father that the founder of our Smokecloud Sect once served Progenitor Smoke, and he was regarded as an outer disciple who wasn’t recognized by Progenitor Smoke. That was when the Fifth Mainland was fighting against the Sixth Mainland. There was some sudden change, and things happened too fast, but our ancestor was lucky enough to survive, and he followed the top powers to the Perennial World. As for Progenitor Smoke and the Mountains and Sea where they stayed, it all disappeared."

"Progenitor Smoke didn't go to the Perennial World?" Lu Yin asked, and when he remembered what Feng Mo had mentioned, the Mountain and Sea that Progenitor Smoke had controlled had most likely stayed in the Fifth Mainland.

Yun Tingting shook her head. "I'm certain that my father said that Progenitor Smoke didn't go to the Perennial World with the four ruling powers back then. He isn’t qualified to meet the four ruling powers’ Progenitors, so he doesn’t know anything at all about where Progenitor Smoke might have gone. All that has been passed down to us is just the Wei-Induction Technique that our ancestor received from Progenitor Smoke.

"Also, the reason why our ancestor was even given Wei-Induction Technique was so that he could help Progenitor Smoke create more wei that the Progenitor could use."

Lu Yin nodded. "So Progenitor Smoke had no heirs?"

Yun Tingting shook her head. "No. According to the ancient records left by our ancestor, Progenitor Smoke was a bit of a maniac."

"What does that mean?" Lu Yin was puzzled.

Yun Tingting replied, "I don't really understand it myself, but that's what’s mentioned in the records that were written by our ancestor’s own hand. There aren’t many details, and while some of Progenitor Smoke’s actions were noted, they were all trivial matters. Progenitor Smoke only left a few traces of inheritances behind. The Mountain and Sea…"

Lu Yin soon left. Yun Tingting had only been able to share a few details with him, as the Smokecloud Sect’s knowledge of Progenitor Smoke was extremely limited.

A maniac? Simple? Crazy? Infatuated? Or something else?

The Nine Mountains and Eight Seas were a form of inheritance, and any Progenitor who managed to control one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas would be an exceptionally powerful Progenitor, and all of them had the power to alter the universe.

This was true of both Progenitor Chen and the Rune Progenitor, and Lu Yin was learning that it had also been true of Progenitor Smoke. This indicated that the Progenitors from the four ruling powers who had controlled some of the Mountains and Seas could not have been weak either.

Realizing the possible power that those people must wield, Lu Yin became a bit uncertain at the prospect of eventually facing the four ruling powers’ Progenitors. Even if he was able to gather the full power of the entire Fifth Mainland, it still would not be enough to challenge even a single one of the four ruling powers. They were simply too powerful.

The only possibility was if they could be lured into the Fifth Mainland. Lu Yin felt confident that with Progenitor Chen’s power, he would be able to stand up to Wang Fan, or even a powerhouse like Bai Wangyuan.

Lu Yin pulled the mirror back out and returned to the pocket dimension. He looked around and said, "Every time you get attacked, as long as the power of the attack rises, you toss out a reward. I know what you’re doing. You’re fishing. You’re trying to lure people in with treasures and cultivation arts. You’re trying to get some outside power to destroy this fog so that if there’s anyone trapped inside, they can get out. While it’s also possible that this is all just a set program, I prefer to believe that there’s someone in there.”

"I don't know if you can hear me, but you'd better give a response. If you don’t, I’ll seal this mirror away. Given my current strength, as long as I, Lu Yin, want this mirror hidden, not even a Semi-Progenitor will be able to find it. You will stay trapped in here forever, never able to leave."

After a short pause, Lu Yin looked back out at the fog. "Answer, or else your future will disappear."

Still no response.

Lu Yin raised a hand and reached out for the fog mirror. "I, Lu Yin, have only cultivated for forty years, but I have already become a three-tribulation Envoy. Given another few decades, I’ll definitely become a Semi-Progenitor. I have already opened my three meridian points and used Origin Matter. Since you don’t want to answer, I’ll just have to wait until I’m a Progenitor to come back to this place. At that time, I hope that you will have the power to deal with a Progenitor, because if not, I will keep you imprisoned."

His hand then continued to move closer to the mirror.

As soon as he touched the mirror, he would leave, and his threat would become reality.

Of course, Lu Yin was just trying to scare anyone possibly hidden in the fog. Since it had some connection to Progenitor Smoke, how could he possibly just give up on it? He was not strong enough to break through the fog, so there was no danger to what he was doing. He just wanted to try it out.

The moment his hand was about to touch the mirror, a stone flew straight towards him.

Lu Yin reached out and caught it, but it really was just a stone. However, there was some writing scratched onto it. Ancient characters that Lu Yin did not recognize.

"Just wait a bit," Lu Yin said. He left the pocket dimension in the mirror, left Planet Aegis, and quickly returned to Earth’s solar system.

When he got back, the first thing he did was search for the Ghost Monkey.

The Ghost Monkey had been doing quite well for himself in the Lu Heavenly Gate. For the past twenty years, he had constantly portrayed himself as Lu Yin's servant. Many people from the Great Eastern Alliance had recognized the monkey, especially since he constantly took credit for the fact that he had been the one to throw Mt. Microcosms into the passage to the Starfall Sea and seal it. The Ghost Monkey claimed to have been the one to come up with the plan, and he even said that he had suggested it to Lu Yin.

Regardless of how the situation had actually played out, the results were unquestionable, and the Ghost Monkey was indeed due a portion of the credit for the accomplishment. This was why he was given a comfortable life in the Lu Heavenly Gate even in Lu Yin’s absence.

"That’s really how it was back then. Seventh Bro and I moved across the Mountains and Seas, and if not for Lord Monkey, Seventh Bro wouldn’t have been a match for that guy from Burial Garden. I risked my life to get a drop of a Progenitor’s blood at that time, and then by cooperating with my innate gift of shadows, Seventh Bro was able to defeat Yōu Qi." Four or five colossal giants gathered around the Ghost Monkey on a massive planet outside of Earth’s solar system. All of them listened attentively as the Ghost Monkey wove his tale.

OMA's Thoughts

Thank you all who had participated in the karma giveaway! Here's a bonus chapter promised from the event! Regular chapters will be out tomorrow (for me, at least), though the release time might be strange due to testing some things.

Translated By: OMA

Edited By: Neshi/Nyxnox

TLC'ed By: OMA