Chapter 2184: Yes And No

This old man was clearly a member of the Purple-Gold family. Even though he was only a one-tribulation Envoy, he had obviously been an Envoy for a long time, and he had also been watching Lan Gui for quite some time. While Lu Yin did not know exactly why, Lan Gui was unable to escape from the old man.

Purple-gold flames burned Lan Gui, and he fled from the true universe in humiliated defeat. The old man sneered. "Behave yourself and help my Purple-Gold family gain some fame. That way, you can at least die quickly."

Flames covered Lan Gui.

The man grew pale and gritted his teeth. He transformed into a blue fish and managed to dodge with a nearly unbelievable movement before fleeing into the distance.

However, two more attacks appeared from the direction that Lan Gui fled in. While the two attackers were only Enlighters, they were using impressive power vessels, and they were also cooperating to cut off Lan Gui’s escape path.

While the Enlighters were unable to attack Lan Gui in the true universe, they were able to destabilize things with their power vessels.

The old man's expression turned cold. "You actually want to resist?"

Flames surged and spread out, covering an entire region of the sky as a purple-gold phoenix appeared. An endless sea of fire fell, but these flames did not burn the true universe. Instead, only the void was incinerated, though the temperature was more than what Lan Gui could bear, and he was forced to show himself. When he appeared, he spat out large amounts of blood, which was instantly burned away by the flames.

Everyone watching the battle pulled back. "The Purple-Gold family’s been chasing after this guy for a long time. He’s targeted a lot of the talented youths from many powerful families, including the Purple-Gold family."

"The Celestial Frost Sect actually has the biggest grudge against him, as he injured several of their disciples."

"The Celestial Frost Sect can't lower themselves to go after Lan Gui, but the Purple-Gold family is different. That old man is from an older generation of the Purple-Gold family, and he’s focused on observing Lan Gui. He even forced Lan Gui to attempt his breakthrough. That man will never let Lan Gui escape. There’s no chance at all. If Lan Gui manages to escape, the old man will just follow and trap him again. There’s nothing that Lan Gui can do anymore."

Lu Yin frowned as he heard the nearby conversations. The Purple-Gold family was acting like a bully. While Lan Gui certainly had his own issues, Lu Yin had fought together with the man, and therefore, he wanted to give him a hand.

At this moment, a stern shout echoed, "Third Uncle, please show some mercy and leave this to me."

Everyone looked over and saw a phoenix flying over from the distance. The creature transformed into a young man. After the transformation, the young man instantly moved towards Lan Gui. The purple-golden flames that covered the young man’s body merged into a sword that slashed down.

Lan Gui gritted his teeth. This was truly despicable. The Envoy had not removed his own sea of flames, and they were suppressing him as the young man from the Purple-Gold family attacked. While not exactly cooperating, the two were clearly treating Lan Gui as a trophy to improve the young man’s fame.

Not a single youth from any of the four ruling powers had been able to kill Lan Gui, and yet, he was going to be killed by some kid from the Purple-Gold family now.

This was also why the Purple-Gold family had spent so much effort tracking Lan Gui and studying him. It was not simply because of the grudges that had built up between Lan Gui and the family, but also because they had ulterior motives.

Lan Gui gritted his teeth. Blood leaked out from the corner of his mouth as he used his full strength to retreat. The young man’s sword missed, so he lifted it once again and slashed sideways. The blade’s flames tore Lan Gui’s stomach open, and a scorching pain penetrated his abdomen.

The new Envoy raised a hand to grab the sword of purple-gold flames, and stellular energy broke down the star energy. At the same time, Lan Gui stretched his other hand out to break into the true universe.

A cold expression covered the face of the old man from the Purple-Gold family, and flames seeped into the true universe, burning Lan Gui yet again.

Half of Lan Gui's body was burned. As he watched on, the flaming sword stabbed into him, though there was no blood to be seen as it was all incinerated by the flames.

"Despicable!" Lan Gui roared.

The young man from the Purple-Gold family just sneered. "Just know that you died to Jin Chongshan!"

The sword swept out once again, clearly with the intention of bisecting Lan Gui.

However, the Purple-Gold family had still underestimated Lan Gui. The man had been able to escape from the four ruling powers’ elite disciples many times in the past, and even one of the four Junior Progenitors had failed to capture the man.

That record was also why Lu Yin did nothing. Lan Gui was already using an odd power vessel.

Lu Yin was not exactly sure how the power vessel worked, but every attack suddenly missed Lan Gui. For example, the flames from the old man from the Purple-Gold family had seemingly burned half of Lan Gui's body, seriously injuring him and leaving him on death’s door. However, in reality, the flames had only affected Lan Gui’s left arm.

As for Jin Chongshan’s attack, the difference was even more absurd, as the young man’s sword had only pierced the skin of Lan Gui's arm, not delivering any real harm at all.

Lan Gui had looked practically dead, but a moment of carelessness on the part of Jin Chonshan and the old man allowed Lan Gui to transform into a blue fish and escape. He was moving more than twice as fast as before. Before fleeing, the man had even left behind a mysterious sourcebox array and activated it. The array caused the nearby space to shift, and an irresistible force pushed the old man and Jin Chongshan away.

Lu Yin watched as Lan Gui fled. While the man had had two directions available to him, he unluckily chose the wrong one.

Lan Gui fled through the true universe in the form of a blue fish, continuing on in one direction. He passed by one person after another, when suddenly, he felt a chill. A pair of eyes had locked onto him, though they also seemed indifferent. Even worse, there was a vague, sharp feeling that overcame Lan Gui. It was the feeling of a sharp blade or sword.

A thousand meters in front of him stood a young man. The young man had a sword on his back, and he was staring at Lan Gui, despite clearly only being an Enlighter. The young man was able to see into the true universe, and the fact that he could see the blue fish unnerved Lan Gui.

The man had skirted death too many times and been chased and attacked often enough that he trusted his instincts. Despite not being an Envoy, Lan Gui could sense that this young man could kill him.

The words "Junior Progenitor level" flitted through Lan Gui's mind, and he immediately turned and fled in a different direction while keeping an eye on the young man, worried that he would release a sudden attack.

The young man never moved at all, and he simply watched as Lan Gui fled.

However, because Lan Gui was forced to change direction, he was briefly delayed. Even if it had only been a moment, it was more than long enough for an Envoy.

Purple-gold flames filled the sky once again, and a ray of unimaginable heat pierced through the air to strike Lan Gui. This heat ray was more terrifying than any other attack that had been used so far, and it came close to the level of a two-tribulation Envoy.

Lan Gui had literally just broken through to become Envoy, and he had also been injured by his stellular tribulation. After what he had already endured in the battle, he was helpless to do anything against this attack except watch as it approached.

Right behind the burning ray, a sword slash streaked through the sky. The young swordsman who had stood in Lan Gui’s way had taken action. The man was determined to be the one to eliminate Lan Gui. In fact, if not for the man having been treated as a training dummy for the four ruling powers’ youths, the swordsman would have cut the clown down long ago. The time had finally come.

The Lan Gui’s pupils constricted as he stared at the approaching attacks. It felt like the heat was going to melt his body. Death was approaching.

Everyone believed that Lan Gui was as good as dead. However, right when the burning ray and the sword slash were about to land, practically close enough to stab Lan Gui between the eye, they both vanished. Instead, Lan Gui was treated to the sight of a blank expression on Jin Chongshan's face. What had just happened?

Jin Chongshan was not the only confused one, as the old man from the Purple-Gold family and everyone else around felt similarly befuddled. What had just happened?

Lu Yin had interfered.

A wax doll stood on his shoulder. He had just used Truesight to erase the phoenix flames and the sword slash. This was the Infinity realm of Truesight, though not one person knew it. No one had been able to sense anything at all, so no one knew Lu Yin had taken action.

Lan Gui and Jin Chongshan were less than a meter apart, each staring blankly at the other.

Jin Chongshan stared at Lan Gui. "What did you just do?"

Lan Gui’s eyes narrowed, and he simply turned around and left without saying a single word.

Jin Chongshan reflexively attacked, but his flames could no longer manifest, as they were suppressed by some mysterious power. The feeling of helplessness caused the young man to feel a moment of panic, and he turned to the old man from the Purple-Gold family. "Third Uncle, what-?"

The old man cut the young man off with a raised hand. He looked around the area, a somber expression on his face. "The Purple-Gold family’s Jin Wan sought out Lan Gui to exact revenge. If I have offended some senior, I beg for your understanding. If Senior is protecting Lan Gui, please make this matter known. My Purple-Gold family is always willing to show respect for those with true strength, but we also always hope to know the names of experts."

There was no answer.

The old man continued to glance around. There were hundreds of people in the surrounding area. He saw Explorers, Hunters, and even a few Enlighters. All of these cultivators were people whom Jin Wan could instantly see through.

Suddenly, his eyes locked onto a certain face. This was not because of the individual’s strength, but rather because of the face itself. It was so handsome that it completely stood out from everyone else.

Jin Wan stared at Lu Yin, and the young man who stood in front of Lan Gui also stared at Lu Yin. It wasn't that they could see through Lu Yin's attack, but rather that Lu Yin was too prominent and good-looking. While it was natural to check someone’s cultivation base, it was generally considered ill-mannered to continue trying after failing to see through it at a glance.

Lu Yin had not bothered to hide his true cultivation. While he was not sure what he would do after arriving at Virtue Archives, his plan consisted of waiting to see what would happen. So, there was no need for him to pretend to be an average cultivator. He had absolutely no worries about being discovered after saving Lan Gui.

However, Lu Yin had never even considered that he would be discovered in such a mundane manner. There were clearly some downsides to being too handsome.

"Might I trouble you for your name, Senior?" Jin Wan asked as he stared at Lu Yin. Although the old man’s words were polite, his tone was not very respectful. While Jin Wan was not able to see through the young man, appearances could be changed. It was possible that this handsome youth had been the one to interfere in matters, but regardless, from Jin Wan’s perspective and age, there was no way that the person he was addressing was some old monster.

Lu Yin blinked. "Hao Yu."

"Were you the one who saved Lan Gui?" Jin Wan asked.

A short distance away, Jin Chongshan was staring at “Hao Yu,” and he could not help but speak up. "Third Uncle, it couldn’t be him! He-"

"Shut up," Jin Wan ordered.

Lu Yin smiled. "If that’s what you think."

Jin Wan felt puzzled. "What do you mean, Senior? Yes means yes and no means no."

Lu Yin replied, "I might have, or I might not have. It’s up to you to believe it or not."

Jin Wan frowned. This person was not saying anything at all. Was he being deliberately antagonistic towards the Purple-Gold family, or did he simply not care at all about them? Jin Wan could not be sure. If this seemingly young man was the one who had interfered, then what had he done? Just how powerful was he?

"Who is your master? Might they know of my Purple-Gold family? We can speak of old times, since we’ve met each other today," Jin Wan offered politely.

Lu Yin dismissed the offer with a hand. "I don’t have any master, as I’m just an independent cultivator. I’m certain that I’ve never had anything to do with your Purple-Gold family, so if that’s all, then I’ll head out now. We can speak again in the future."

Lu Yin then made it clear that he was about to leave.

Jin Wan’s fingers twitched, as he wanted to stop the handsome youth from leaving, but caution stopped the old man. He worried that this unknown individual might be much stronger than what he appeared to be, and Jin Wan did not want to risk offending a powerhouse.

At the same time, this day’s events had been planned out a long time in advance by the Purple-Gold family. They wanted to use Lan Gui’s death to help Jin Chongshan gain a great deal of fame. Jin Wan would not have an easy time of things when he returned and explained what had happened, and the Purple-Gold family could easily be treated as a joke after this.

Jin Wan continued to hesitate.

Lu Yin moved to leave, and in the end, Jin Wan did not stop him, as he was still struggling with indecision. While the old man was vacillating, the young Enlighter realm swordsman appeared in “Hao Yu’s” path. "Liu Que requests Senior’s teachings."