Chapter 2122: Progenitor Smoke

A giant raised a hand, and the Ghost Monkey imperiously nodded his head. "Ask your question."

"So are you saying that the alliance leader wouldn’t have been able to fight against Yōu Qi without you, Lord Monkey?" the giant asked. While he looked like a massive colossal giant, he was really just a child. Still, the giant was impossibly large.

The Ghost Monkey proudly replied, "That's right! Without this monkey, there’s no way Seventh Bro would have been that guy’s opponent. Back then, Seventh Bro was still too weak, though that was also because of how young he was. The Ten Arbiters, Qiu Shi, and Yōu Qi were all a good bit older than Seventh Bro."

"Isn’t that considered cheating then?" Another giant raised a hand and asked.

The Ghost Monkey dismissed the matter with a wave of his hand. "Of course not! Lord Monkey and Seventh Bro lived as one, so how could working together be considered cheating? If that were the case, then Yōu Qi’s horse and the weapons that everyone uses would also be considered cheating."

"So are you Seventh Bro’s weapon, Lord Monkey?"

"Of course not! Lord Monkey and Seventh Bro will live or die together! We’re brothers."

"Lord Monkey’s so powerful!"

…

As he recounted his stories, the Ghost Monkey grew more and more comfortable. He glanced around at the small gathering of massive giants. It felt quite nice to hear their compliments. The monsters that Ghost Monkey had spent time with in Aeternus Nation had been utterly incapable of voicing a single compliment, so the Ghost Monkey has decided that he would make it a special point to teach these children. That way, even after they grew up, they would admire the Ghost Monkey more and more. This was the Ghost Monkey’s path forward.

All of a sudden, the eyes of the giant children grew wide, and they slightly panicked as they looked towards Ghost Monkey.

The monkey felt rather surprised. Aren’t these brats getting a bit too excited? I need to calm them down, as I’ll be in trouble if that bastard Ku Wei finds out about this. That guy can make even that horrible fish shut up.

"It’s been a long time, Ghost Monkey." A gentle voice spoke from behind the beast.

The Ghost Monkey reflexively transformed into a shadow in order to hide. He had not even noticed that someone had gotten so close to him! If this was an enemy, the monkey knew that he would be done for. Wait, why does that voice sound so familiar?

The Ghost Monkey popped back out from the shadow of one of the giant children, and he looked back at where he had just been sitting. His eyes grew large. "Seven- Seventh Bro?"

"Alliance Leader!" The group of colossal giant children all shouted excitedly as they looked at Lu Yin, their eyes full of admiration and fanaticism.

Lu Yin smiled. "Why don’t you all go play for a bit? I need to do something with Ghost Monkey."

"Yes, Alliance Leader." The group of giant children reluctantly moved away, all the while casting reluctant glances back at Lu Yin. They all looked as though they were seeing their hero.

The Ghost Monkey fully emerged from the shadows, a smile on his face that normally only appeared when he saw the Celestial Ice Phoenixes. He rushed over to Lu Yin. "Seventh Bro! I’ve missed you so much!"

Lu Yin grabbed the Ghost Monkey and returned to the pocket dimension in the mirror.

The beast glanced around in a daze. Where were they?

"Read what’s written here." Lu Yin tossed the stone to the monkey.

Right when the monkey had been ready to start flattering Lu Yin, a rock was thrown at him. He snatched it automatically, and after glancing at it, he said, "Huh? Writing from that era?"

Lu Yin watched intently. He had already known that the Ghost Monkey could read this writing. There were other people who could as well, as Lu Yin could theoretically go ask Arch-Elder Zen or the Second Nightking for their help in translating the message. However, Arch-Elder Zen was wandering the universe and would be inconvenienced by Lu Yin’s request, and the Second Nightking was still hiding in the Honor Zone. Thus, Lu Yin did not intend to bother either of the old men. The Ghost Monkey was the easiest option.

"Seventh Bro, why is this asking if you’re from the Lu family?" the Ghost Monkey asked as he read the message.

Lu Yin stared into the fog. "That's right. I’m a descendant of the Lu family. Who are you?"

The person in the fog was somewhat stunned by the response.

There was a bang as another stone exited the fog and fell to the Ghost Monkey's feet.

The beast picked it up, and read, "I am the Progenitor Smoke you mentioned earlier."

After reading the new message, the Ghost Monkey's eyes grew impressively large, as though he could not believe what he had just read. He read the writing on the rock a second time to confirm his translation, and then he stared blankly at Lu Yin. "What, Progenitor Smoke?”

Lu Yin's expression fell, and he glared at the fog. "Is this a joke?"

The Ghost Monkey also became angry. "Progenitor Smoke, though not well-known, controlled one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas! How could you be Progenitor Smoke? Would Progenitor Smoke be trapped within his own fog? Who would believe you? Idiot."

The Ghost Monkey felt much better after venting for a moment, and he quickly turned to look at Lu Yin and licked his lips as he smiled. "Seventh Bro, this guy’s clearly a liar. He’s actually claiming to be Progenitor Smoke? He-"

Suddenly, the Ghost Monkey realized that there was something wrong with the look on Lu Yin’s face. "Seventh Bro? What's wrong?"

Lu Yin was staring intently at the Ghost Monkey. "How do you know that Progenitor Smoke controlled one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas?"

Twenty years ago, even Lu Yin had not known who had controlled the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas, and he had only learned the truth from Xin Nü. How did the Ghost Monkey know about this as well?

The Ghost Monkey quickly explained, "That information became public knowledge a long time ago. A lot of people now know about the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas, and most members of the Twelve Heavenly Gates are aware of that information."

Lu Yin frowned as he remembered that things had changed while he had been gone. Many secrets had become public knowledge, and information had become far more widely available.

It was hard to remember, but long ago, most people had not even known about the existence of the Sixth Mainland.

The Ghost Monkey's explanation was perfectly reasonable.

There was another bang as another stone fell. The Ghost Monkey picked it up. "This one says ‘I'm really Progenitor Smoke.’"

As soon as he finished reading, the Ghost Monkey bared his teeth. "Seventh Bro, this person’s obviously a liar! He’s got to be plotting something by pretending to be Progenitor Smoke. Damn, if they want to impersonate a Progenitor, then why not at least pretend to be Progenitor Chen?"

Lu Yin stared at the fog. "If this person really is Progenitor Smoke, then why are they trapped in this fog? How could Progenitor Smoke be trapped by her own created power?"

Another stone flew out, and the Ghost Monkey caught it. "I went overboard.’"

Lu Yin blinked. "That’s all it says?"

The Ghost Monkey nodded.

Lu Yin gazed into the fog. This person claiming to be Progenitor Smoke was using rather casual language… "How can you prove you are Progenitor Smoke?"

One more stone flew out. "’How can you prove that your name is really Lu Yin?"

After translating the message, the Ghost Monkey got angry. "Seventh Bro, this guy has the balls to insult you!"

Lu Yin just stared at the fog. "If there’s no way to prove you are Progenitor Smoke, I will keep this mirror permanently stored and hidden away and won’t touch it until I become a Progenitor, if then. Choose carefully."

A stone flew out. "I don't know how to prove it without speaking to people I know."

Something occurred to Lu Yin, and he pulled Zenith Mountain out and released Yun Tingting.

The woman looked rather confused. She had moved from Zenith Mountain to the pocket dimension inside the mirror, but it was quite clear that she was not in the outside universe yet.

"The person in this fog is claiming to be Progenitor Smoke. You’re going to verify their claim," Lu Yin stated.

Yun Tingting was stunned. "Progenitor Smoke?"

Lu Yin nodded.

Yun Tingting instantly denied the possibility, "How is that even possible?"

She looked around, glancing at the fog that surrounded them. "No, it’s impossible. How could Progenitor Smoke be trapped by their own fog? There’s no way. This person’s a liar."

The Ghost Monkey quickly agreed, "That's right, they’re a liar! Seventh Bro, don't pay attention to this person. He’s just a liar who’s trying to scam you."

Another stone flew out, and this time it directly smashed right into the Ghost Monkey's forehead. He quickly grabbed it, and read, "You’ve called me a liar three times now. Any more of your bullshit, and I’ll peel your hide off!"

The Ghost Monkey was startled by the message, as it was clearly addressed at him.

Right as the monkey finished reading, another stone flew out. The Ghost Monkey automatically read the next message. "Seventh Bro, he says he doesn’t know this girl."

Lu Yin looked over at Yun Tingting. "Try to figure out a way to prove whether or not this person is Progenitor Smoke."

Yun Tingting was blunt. "There’s no way. How could Progenitor Smoke be trapped by his own power?"

"I asked you to prove something, not give your opinion." Lu Yin's expression darkened.

Yun Tingting had no choice but to look back at the fog. "Let me ask you, what is Progenitor Smoke's most defining characteristic?"

A stone flew out, and the Ghost Monkey grabbed it. He stared at the mist after reading the message, and said in a strange tone, "Seventh Bro, it says ‘Beautiful.’"

Lu Yin was taken aback. "What?"

Yun Tingting was also caught off guard.

"Beautiful." Even the Ghost Monkey was left speechless. Was that really something that a mighty Progenitor would say?

Lu Yin looked back at the fog. "Are you messing with me? I’m not going to put up with this."

A stone flew out. "If you’re from the Lu family, go find Lu Tianyi. He can prove my identity."

Lu Yin replied, "If I could find Patriarch Lu Tianyi, why would I have bothered to find someone else?"

Yun Tingting spoke up, "Tell me, how many servants did you have in the past?"

A stone flew out. "None."

Lu Yin's expression fell. None? He looked over at Yun Tingting.

Yun Tingting frowned. "Did you have any informal disciples who followed you?"

"No."

Yun Tingting looked at Lu Yin. "This can’t be Progenitor Smoke, as there’s no way Progenitor Smoke wouldn’t know about my Yun family’s ancestor."

A stone flew out. "The ancestor of the Yun family? Back then, there was some bastard named Yun San who stuck around my Mountain and Sea. He said something about being hunted by the family of an enemy. I thought that he was rather pitiful, so I let him stick around for a while and gave him the Wei-Induction Technique."

Yun Tingting's eyes grew large. "Our ancestor's name is considered taboo, but he really was known as Yun San."

Lu Yin arched a brow, Yun San? The name sounded like it belonged to someone who would be hunted and pursued. "Aside from the secret of your ancestor's name, is there any other way to prove that this person is Progenitor Smoke?"

Yun Tingting thought for a bit. "From some of the descriptions that our ancestor wrote…"

Yun Tingting suddenly focused on the fog. "When Ancestor Yun San met Progenitor Smoke for the first time, what did he call the Progenitor?"

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. The first time someone addressed a person without knowing who they were, they would naturally use something different from the person’s real name.

A stone flew out, and the Ghost Monkey suddenly felt a new form of agony. He felt that this person was slowly proving themselves to actually be Progenitor Smoke, as unbelievable as that seemed. Even people from the Heavens Sect era had appeared, so what was really impossible? What if this person really was Progenitor Smoke? Progenitor Smoke had controlled one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas, and if he offended such a powerhouse, he would definitely be flayed alive.

The Ghost Monkey swallowed dryly as he thought of such possibilities and glanced down at the stone. "Seventh Bro, it says, ‘Sister Fairy.’"

Yun Tingting suddenly dropped to her knees. "Yun Tingting, descendant of the Yun family, greets Progenitor Smoke."

Lu Yin was startled. "Are you sure?"

Yun Tingting spoke in a very respectful tone, "That is a name that only my ancestor used, and only my Yun family ever knew of it. I only saw it mentioned in one of the ancient records written by my ancestor. This was something that no one ever knew of aside from my ancestor and Progenitor Smoke."

Lu Yin stared back at the fog, rather stunned. This person really was Progenitor Smoke!

"This little monkey greets Progenitor Smoke! Senior Progenitor Smoke will live forever! This little monkey welcomes Senior Progenitor Smoke back! Welcome…" the Ghost Monkey started wildly flattering the person in the fog.

Lu Yin continued staring at the fog, as he simply could not believe this. One of the people who had controlled one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas was right in front of him. He had asked Yun Tingting to help prove things, but Lu Yin’s intention had been to expose an imposter. Shockingly, this person had been completely honest. "Why are you trapped here, Senior? How can this junior get you out?"

Another stone flew out. This time, the Ghost Monkey's attitude was too subservient, and he held the stone over his head in a respectful position as he translated, "A Progenitor from your Lu family can break this open and allow me to access some of my strength, but if you want to release me completely, it can only be done by someone more powerful than me."

Lu Yin felt helpless. "The Lu family has been exiled, and the current universe doesn’t even have any Progenitors, so I don’t know how I can help you, Senior."

A stone flew out. "Isn’t this the Fifth Mainland?"

"Yes."

Another stone flew out. "Then why are there no Progenitors? Did all fourteen Progenitors from my era die?"

Lu Yin was caught completely off guard. Fourteen Progenitors? So many?