Chapter 2153: Compensation

"How do even you not know?" Lu Yin was truly surprised. Progenitor Smoke controlled one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas, which meant that she was someone who essentially stood at the very peak of all of humanity. Despite that, even she barely knew anything about the Immemorial Citadel.

Progenitor Smoke replied, "All of those guys hid what they knew so well that I couldn’t get anything from them, but I definitely wasn’t the only one who didn’t know. Wang Fan, Bai Wangyuan, and Hui Wen certainly didn't know anything either."

"Are you sure?" Lu Yin found this hard to believe. Even if no one mentioned anything to him, Progenitor Hui's intelligence was not something that people could fathom or see through.

Progenitor Smoke gave Lu Yin a sharp look. "Are you questioning my ability to read people?"

"Not at all," Lu Yin quickly denied, "Senior’s ability to see through people should cover even the tiniest details, so even Progenitors wouldn’t be able to hide things from you. How could I possibly doubt you? I just find this whole matter confusing. It’s quite strange."

Progenitor Smoke loved to hear people compliment her, and the more exaggerated the compliment was, the better.

Wait, the two women keeping me company right now are not easy for anyone to get along with. One’s an uncultured brute of a pirate, while the other needs to be praised until you’re blue in the face…

"Progenitor Yōu left a memory of the word ‘Immemorial’ behind, and I’ve heard the Immemorial Citadel be mentioned on three separate occasions. It would seem that it is not a simple place, and if Xia Shang and the others aren’t dead, then they might be there." Progenitor Smoke started voicing some guesses.

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. It looked like trying to roll six pips on his die had become a priority. Given his current strength, he should be able to Possess six-tribulation powerhouses, which would give him access to more knowledge than ever. However, there was no chance that six-tribulation experts would know anything about the Immemorial Citadel if even Progenitor Smoke knew nothing.

"I'm heading out." Big Sis nodded.

"Big Sis, where are you going? Back to the Divining Heavenly Gate?"

"I’m going to search for the Impious Sutra," Big Sis replied in a low tone.

Lu Yin frowned. "Will you be able to find it?"

"Bullshit! I can sense anyone infected with the Impious Sutra within a certain range, and I’ll be able to track them all down!"

"That’ll be dangerous." Lu Yin started to worry.

Big Sis shook her head. "How could a battle technique that I created threaten me? I’ll be fine, don’t worry. I can take care of myself. After all, it’s just a battle technique."

"But it can control people."

𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"There’s no one under the Semi-Progenitor realm who can threaten me, and which Semi-Progenitor would actually dare to attack me? Don't worry so much." Big Sis then took off immediately, and she headed to Earth. She was first going to check the place that Undying Yushan had searched so thoroughly.

With Big Sis gone, Lu Yin needed to comfort the Yōu clan a bit. He could not just run away after someone he had brought to visit the clan had left with their secret technique.

Even if the Yōu Secret Art belonged to Progenitor Yōu, it had been treated as the Yōu clan’s greatest inheritance for many, many years. Leaving without giving them any sort of payment or compensation would be devastating for the Yōu clan, but it would be even worse for Lu Yin's reputation. The Starsibyl Sect might not have followed Lu Yin, but he was still able to use them. On the other hand, the Yōu clan had become one of Lu Yin’s vassals, and he had to properly take care of them.

These thoughts triggered a headache.

The best compensation for taking the clan’s secret technique away would be to give them another secret technique. Lu Yin considered the techniques that he personally used, but the Yu and Ce Secret Arts could not be thoughtlessly handed over to the Yōu clan. On top of that, while Lu Yin had many high quality battle techniques, as far as the Yōu clan was concerned, the value of those things paled in comparison to the Yōu Secret Art that they had just lost.

"Are you thinking about how to compensate the Yōu clan?" Progenitor Smoke asked.

Lu Yin nodded with a wry smile. "The Yōu clan came here from the Neoverse for me, and so I need to take care of them for my own reputation. Big Sis took the Yōu Secret Art from them, so I can’t just leave them with nothing."

"You can teach them Wei-Induction Technique," Progenitor Smoke offered.

Lu Yin looked at the woman in surprise. "Senior, are you willing to teach them your Wei-Induction Technique?"

Progenitor Smoke looked outside the main hall. "No matter what, I can be considered an old friend of their ancestor, and I have no heirs or disciples of my own. It’s best to leave some things behind. Old Fu, Xia Shang, and the others all left behind some of their power, but that’s not as easy for me to do. On top of Wei-Induction Technique, I can also let them learn Smoke Incarnations. Oh, I also have a secret technique of my own called Mistlock Tracking. I can teach them that as well."

Lu Yin was delighted by the offer. "Thank you, Senior!"

Progenitor Smoke started to laugh. "As far as these people are concerned, even all this together won’t compare to the value of the Yōu Secret Art they lost."

"No, from their point of view, instead of trying to protect their Yōu Secret Art, receiving the assistance of one of the masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas is much better," Lu Yin said.

With this offer, everyone from the Yōu clan knelt on the ground and thanked Progenitor Smoke for her kindness. If not for the woman’s refusal, they would have declared themselves to all be her disciples. Truthfully, the Yōu Secret Art was of very little use to the clan, and the inheritance of a genuine master of one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas was undeniable. However, there was still a tinge of sadness as after being passed down for countless years, the Yōu Secret Art had become a symbol of the clan’s legacy.

"I'm only teaching you all this because of that picture that you had. After all, I did know Yōu Xiaojing. She was an old friend. I just hope that you’ll pass down enough of my strength that you won't let me down," Progenitor Smoke said.

Everyone from the Yōu clan just thanked her again.

Yōu Lao's excitement was so intense that he actually exacerbated his own injuries. Progenitor Smoke’s teachings had given the old man hope for the Yōu clan’s revival.

They might have lost the Yōu Secret Art, but over the course of countless years, the Yōu Secret Art had never provided much benefit to the Yōu clan. They might have acquired some battle techniques from the secret technique, but that was the extent of it. How could that be compared to a true inheritance from one of the masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas? Furthermore, the clan had even received another secret technique.

"Senior, this junior has always wondered about just what a secret technique actually is," Lu Yin probed.

Progenitor Smoke thought for a bit before giving a response. "After a person becomes a Progenitor, they will have a strange resonance with the universe. It becomes possible to meld your power in the universe, which allows for the creation of previously unimaginable abilities. That’s what a secret technique is. Still, when Progenitors are fighting, secret techniques really don’t amount to much, and they’re usually developed for disciples or descendants to use. Basically, they’re a means of a lifesaver."

Lu Yin did not really understand, but he also did not try to struggle to comprehend what Progenitor Smoke was saying. The truth was that, even when Semi-Progenitors fought, very few of them used secret techniques. They were a special form of power that were more useful the weaker a person was; as a person grew stronger, the effects of a secret technique would grow less and less exaggerated, until their effects were no longer considered miraculous.

The excitement that Lu Yin had felt when he first received the Yu Secret Art no longer existed. Even when Progenitor Smoke had offered to teach Lu Yin her Mistlock Tracking, it had not roused any interest in him.

Progenitor Smoke only took one day to teach the Yōu clan's powerhouses. She then left behind some records of Wei-Induction Technique, her secret technique, and some battle techniques for the clan to use. Before Lu Yin left, Yōu Lao returned and asked Lu Yin to keep an eye on Big Sis. The Yōu clan still refused to believe that they were not Progenitor Yōu Ming’s descendants, and they would actually prefer to believe that Big Sis was not Progenitor Yōu.

"Whether they’re the descendants of Progenitor Yōu or not isn’t really all that important. A family inheritance is certainly good to have, but there are people who have climbed to the peak from nothing. Ku Jie struggled a lot, and I also came from nothing. I never had any sort of family inheritance," Progenitor Smoke commented after she and Lu Yin were moving through outer space once again.

Lu Yin was carrying the mirror. "They don't expect to actually get anything from Progenitor Yōu. Rather, they don’t want to deny their ancestors’ faith."

"How pointless," Progenitor Smoke said.

Lu Yin suddenly remembered something, and he looked over at Progenitor Smoke. "Senior, do you have a lot of treasures and power vessels?"

Progenitor Smoke turned to stare at Lu Yin, her eyes narrowing. "What do you mean?"

"I'm just asking. When this junior first attacked the fog in the mirror, every time I used a more powerful attack, you tossed out a treasure that matched the strength of my attacks, so I was just wondering how much you have."

Progenitor Smoke opened her mouth to deny having such wealth, but Lu Yin continued, saying, "Given your status, you must have an entire collection! Since you controlled one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas, then forget Envoys and Semi-Progenitors—even other Progenitors must have sent you gifts, especially with the battle technique that you inherited from your Mountain. Your understanding of battle techniques has to exceed other people’s, so there had to have been a lot of people asking for your help, right?"

Progenitor Smoke opened her mouth and let out a small cough. "That's true."

Lu Yin's eyes started to light up. "Do you have any Roots of Intelligence?"

Progenitor Smoke once again opened her mouth to deny it, but Lu Yin just barreled on. "Of course you do. During your era, even Progenitor Hui must have needed to show you some respect."

"Right again," Progenitor Smoke agreed. However, despite her arrogance, she started to grow a bit wary.

"Would you be able to let this junior use two of your Roots of Intelligence?" Lu Yin's eyes were positively glowing by this point.

Progenitor Smoke prepared to refuse, but Lu Yin did not give her the opportunity to do so. "Of course you can. A senior as powerful and considerate as you would never care about something as minor as two little Roots of Intelligence."

Progenitor Smoke stared at Lu Yin. "I don't want to."

Lu Yin was taken aback, and he blinked at the woman next to him. "No? You don't want to?"

Progenitor Smoke snorted disdainfully. "Don't try to trap me with sweet words. I’ll tell you up front that I do have Roots of Intelligence, and definitely more than just two, but there’s no way that I would lend you any, let alone give them to you or trade them away."

"Roots of Intelligence can’t possibly mean anything much to you, right?" Lu Yin pushed.

Progenitor Smoke lifted her head high. "Even though that Hui Wen wasn’t worth much in a fight, he was definitely smart, and he grew and developed these Roots of Intelligence. Back then, too many people wanted to get them from him, and the ones that I have, I stole."

"You stole them from someone?" Lu Yin was stunned.

"I stole them from Hui Wen! He wouldn’t give me any when I asked for some, but who was he trying to kid? I just took them and left." Progenitor Smoke recounted her deeds proudly, like a child who had broken the rules.

However, Lu Yin was not interested in how she had acquired them. "In that case, how many of the roots do you have? If you stole them from Progenitor Hui himself, you must have gotten quite a few."

A smile appeared on Progenitor Smoke's mouth. "I know that you're trying to trick me. You’re just the same as Hui Wen. I’ll admit that I have quite a few, and I’m even willing to trade them to you, but unfortunately for you, that doesn’t mean anything, as you don’t have anything that I need."

As they spoke, the two returned to the Heavens Sect.

Lu Yin had his own home within the sect, and it was a massive palace with stunningly beautiful scenery.

Zhao Ran also lived there, and she spent much of her time growing numerous flowers.

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered when he thought of Zhao Ran. "Senior, please join me for some tea."

"I said that I’m willing to trade with you, but nothing else is going to work. Besides, I can’t drink anything, as my real body is still trapped in the mirror’s pocket dimension," Progenitor Smoke said.

Lu Yin did not reply, and instead just sat down and called out, "Zhao Ran, bring me some tea."

"Ah, you’ve returned, Your Highness! I’ll be right there!" Zhao Ran's happy voice echoed back. She was also in the flower garden.

Progenitor Smoke glanced around. "I can’t wait for my body to get free. It feels so much better to enjoy things with a physical form."

Lu Yin was still considering what he could trade for a Root of Intelligence. It was true that Progenitor Smoke really did not need anything, other than for her body to be freed from the fog. However, that was beyond Lu Yin’s capabilities. Besides, even if he could do that, he would not trade his efforts for something like a Root of Intelligence.

After all, Progenitor Smoke was trapped because she had been working to protect humanity by fighting against one of Aeternus’s corpse kings.

Even after spending quite a while dwelling on the matter, Lu Yin still could not come up with anything that he could exchange for a Root of Intelligence.

Finally, Zhao Ran appeared, carrying a cup of tea that had a disturbing greenish hue. Lu Yin stared blankly. Had it been his imagination, or had the steam from the tea just formed a skull in the air? No matter what, this tea clearly looked like poison.

"Oh, you have guests, Your Highness? I'll go prepare another cup!" Zhao Ran hurried away as soon as she saw Progenitor Smoke, not even bothering to leave behind the tea that she had prepared for Lu Yin.

Lu Yin looked over at Progenitor Smoke, but the woman was still staring at where Zhao Ran had disappeared. Progenitor Smoke even rubbed her eyes before commenting in utter disbelief, "That- that girl? Why is she here? How is she still alive?"

"Do you know Zhao Ran, Senior?" Lu Yin asked.