Chapter 2224: Capture

After Bai Teng left, Long Ke appeared. He had succeeded in transforming his branch family of the White Dragon Clan into the main family. This success was not only because the previous main family had been too close to the Lu family, but also because Long Ke himself was extremely observant.

He had watched Bai Teng question Yu Hao, and something had felt off about the situation. Bai Teng had constantly been observing Long Ke, but Long Ke had also been keeping an eye on Bai Teng.

Thus, as soon as Long Ke saw Bai Teng leave, the patriarch chased after the sect master.

Bai Teng believed that he knew Lu Yin’s destination and that he would be able to learn something by following the young man. However, Bai Teng had never imagined that Long Ke would be following him as well.

Long Ke had once wanted to use Long Qi’s existence to remove Long Quan. The patriarch of the White Dragon Clan had a mind that Bai Teng could not fathom.

It was in this manner that Lu Yin arrived at a certain deserted island, with Bai Teng following close behind. The sect master hid himself within the waters of the Middle Ocean while observing Lu Yin, and further back, Long Ke trailed behind Bai Teng.

Lu Yin found his current situation truly bizarre. What the hell was going on? Bai Teng’s appearance was planned and expected, but Long Ke’s arrival was a surprise. What’s more, Bei Teng was too much of an idiot to even realize that he had been followed.

Fortunately, Lu Yin had been on guard the entire time, and so he hid himself the moment he noticed Long Ke. Only Bei Teng caught a glimpse of Yu Hao, while Long Ke saw nothing at all.

Behind Bai Teng, Long Ke also found the situation to be quite odd. Just what was Bai Teng looking at? Aside from a few astral beasts, there was absolutely nothing on the deserted island, but Bai Teng acted like he had found something.

Lu Yin shook his head, Bai Teng might be an idiot, but even he would not arrive without some sort of protection in place. If the sect master suspected that Yu Hao was capable of stealing the resources from the Junior Progenitor Planets while keeping the entire thing hidden from the God of Food and the powerful guardians on each planet, then the man would definitely be very careful and have made adequate preparations.

If Lu Yin acted hastily when attacking the sect master, it would likely instantly expose him to the four ruling powers.

However, while Bai Teng had made his preparations, Lu Yin had made his own. One was Progenitor Smoke, and another was Truesight.

Lu Yin’s first thought had been to attack Bai Teng with Truesight, but after thinking the situation through, Lu Yin had realized something. Since Bai Teng dared to follow him, Lu Yin had to be prepared for an attack as powerful as a Semi-Progenitor’s, and Lu Yin would expose himself if he failed.

In that case, it was best to ask Progenitor Smoke to step out.

Lu Yin took out the mirror and entered the pocket dimension to speak with Progenitor Smoke.

The woman instantly refused. "No. Who do you think I am? Do you think that I would stoop so low as to help you with such a trick? What a joke!"

Lu Yin smiled apologetically. "Of course it’s not just that. Rather, if this junior wants to rescue the survivors of the Lu family, I need to capture Bai Teng. While he is an idiot, he’s not completely stupid. He must have made some preparations, and I’m worried that I won’t be able to deal with them. That’s why I’m forced to ask you to interfere, Senior."

"Listen to yourself! An idiot, but not stupid? Does such a person exist?" Progenitor Smoke rolled her eyes.

Lu Yin was forced to reveal something. "Senior, please look at this."

He pulled out the needle-like weapon.

Progenitor Smoke grew a bit curious and looked over. "That? Isn’t that the weapon that Lu Buzheng and the other guy used to try to break me free? What about it?"

"Senior, please test its toughness now," Lu Yin asked.

Progenitor Smoke used a bit of strength to test the weapon, but there was no reaction at all. She used more force, increasing her power more and more until she used all the strength available to her in her current state. Even then, the needle-like weapon showed not even the slightest hint of any damage.

"It's so tough, but I can’t see anything special about it. I’ve never focused on training my physical strength." Progenitor Smoke tossed the weapon back to Lu Yin.

Lu Yin solemnly stated, "Senior, this weapon is at least five to ten times stronger than it was before."

This was surprising for Progenitor Smoke to hear. "It’s that much stronger? How did you do that?"

She did not doubt Lu Yin's claim, as she knew that Lu Yin would not dare to lie to her.

Lu Yin also was not just spouting off random nonsense. While he did not know exactly how much the weapon had improved after being Enhanced, he felt that his estimate should be fairly accurate, given the amount of star essence he had spent on it. The weapon now likely approached the Progenitor realm in terms of power.

How large was the gap in strength between Progenitors and Semi-Progenitors? It was not something that could be summarized as a mere increase in power, as it was impossible for even ten Semi-Progenitors to put up a fight against a Progenitor, not unless the Semi-Progenitors in question were absolute freaks like Bai Xian'er or Qing Ping.

"It’s this junior’s innate gift. I can use star essence to improve the performance of certain items." Given Lu Yin’s current status, there were certain things that needed to gradually be discussed, and others that needed to be slowly revealed.

He felt that at least a few people likely already suspected his innate gift of being able to improve power vessels. He had already revealed the giant mechanical arm that he had picked up from the treasury in Endless Weave’s warfront. Even back then, some people had most likely started to suspect that Lu Yin was capable of improving the performance of his items. Sooner or later, he would not be able to conceal this part of his innate gift.

Of his die’s six different abilities, Blackhole Disassembly had already been revealed to the Technocracy, and others might have potentially realized that Lu Yin had the ability to Enhance items, just by analyzing his equipment. Gift Copy could be easily exposed if Lu Yin used it too frequently to borrow other people’s innate gifts. As for Possession, Tian Dou had already unraveled that ability, though he was also dead. Blackless God had also been involved in that matter, so it was not completely impossible for Lu Yin’s Possession ability to be known to the Skygod.

It was possible that almost all six of the abilities of Lu Yin’s die had been exposed, and Lu Yin no longer intended to keep everything a complete secret.

Progenitor Smoke stared at Lu Yin in surprise. "You have a second innate gift that allows you to do something like that? That’s genuinely amazing. Even Old Fu isn’t as impressive as you."

Lu Yin just shrugged. "Even if it’s amazing, it burns through too many resources. So, now you know what happened to all the resources on the Junior Progenitor Planets, Senior."

Progenitor Smoke nodded, but curiosity filled her eyes. "Show me how you use your innate gift."

"I can't use it for now. After each use, I have to rest for a long, long time. Otherwise, my innate gift would be too freakish."

"True. There’s a balance to all things in the universe, and there’s no innate gift that’s truly flawless. In that case, how far can you improve this needle-like weapon? Is this the limit?" Progenitor Smoke asked.

Lu Yin replied, "This junior doesn’t really know, but Senior, time is running out. Please help me capture Bai Teng as soon as possible. Otherwise, I’ll be exposed to Long Ke as soon as he lands on this island, and then I’ll be in a great deal of trouble."

Progenitor Smoke rolled her eyes. "You’re actually sending one of the masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas on an errand like this? You really know how to have fun, kid."

The woman then left the pocket dimension within the mirror, which allowed Lu Yin to heave a sigh of relief. It was becoming more and more troublesome to ask this woman for help.

In the waters near the deserted island, Bai Teng started to drift upwards a bit. Just where had that brat gone?

The man was clenching his cosmic ring. If Yu Hao had indeed stolen the star essence from three of the Junior Progenitor Planets, then he had to have a top powerhouse working with him. Bai Teng understood this, and yet he had still been bold enough to chase after Yu Hao. Naturally, the sect master had made some preparations, and he had also reported the current situation to the Progenitor. Bai Teng was not trying to personally capture the thief who had raided the Junior Progenitor Planets, but rather just expose the criminal.

More and more people in the Celestial Frost Sect were no longer paying any attention to Bai Teng, and it was just a matter of time before Xian’er left seclusion. As soon as that happened, the position of sect master would be hers. Bai Teng was unwilling to lose his position, even to his own daughter. Thus, he had to accomplish something of note, and he would do whatever it took to succeed.

Even as his mind continued to race, Bai Teng still could not find any hint of Yu Hao’s presence on the deserted island.

The sect master was in a bit of a rush. Yu Hao had disappeared, but where was Long Ke? The White Dragon Clan’s patriarch should have arrived by now.

Far away, Long Ke was still observing Bai Teng. Just what was this idiot doing?

Wisps of fog twined around Bai Teng just above the ocean’s surface, but Bai Teng did not react at all. It was only after the fog completely surrounded him and cut off his connection to his cosmic ring that Bai Teng’s expression changed drastically. He instinctively tried to take out the treasure given to him by his Progenitor, but he was too late, and he was instantly dragged into the mirror by the surrounding fog.

Further away, Long Ke was deeply disturbed by the sight of Bai Teng’s mysterious disappearance. However, Long Ke was also unable to react in time, and he was also captured by the fog, instantly losing consciousness.

Lu Yin watched from the deserted island as both Bai Teng and Long Ke collapsed. The first step of his plan could be considered a success.

He threw Bai Teng onto Zenith Mountain, just like what he had done with Xia Xing's clone. Then, Lu Yin Possessed Long Ke's body. As for Lu Yin’s own body, he asked Progenitor Smoke to help him conceal it. He wanted to make sure that no one saw anything other than Long Ke. Lu Yin absolutely did not want to be discovered.

Progenitor Smoke became quite curious about what Lu Yin intended to do.

Some time later, Lu Yin guided Long Ke’s body back to the Island of Hope. Lu Yin’s own body never moved more than five meters away from Long Ke, though due to Progenitor Smoke’s wei, no one could see Lu Yin’s body, not even the God of Food.

Lu Yin had gradually gained a deeper understanding of Progenitor Smoke. While the woman was not a powerful combatant, her wei was absolutely perfect for capturing people, hiding things, and other utility tasks.

Also, he had come to understand that, when Progenitor Smoke had claimed that not even Progenitor Chen would be guaranteed to be able to break her free from her trapped situation, that was not because her wei was overly powerful. Instead, it was more of an indication of how perfectly suited wei was for trapping and restraining people. Pure strength might not be enough to free someone from Progenitor Smoke’s wei.

After understanding this particular detail, Lu Yin had lost confidence in freeing the Progenitor with the needle-like weapon. Even if Progenitor Smoke had exaggerated things slightly, it was quite possible that an ordinary Progenitor would not be strong enough to free her. Regardless of how much Lu Yin Enhanced the needle-like weapon, it would only be able to touch upon the power of the Progenitor realm at best. Unless…

Lu Yin guided Long Ke's body back to the Island of Hope, avoiding other people as much as possible along the way, but he soon caught Wang Zheng's attention.

Wang Zheng had quickly noticed that both Bai Teng and Long Ke had left, but he had been too busy to follow after the two men.

When Wang Zheng saw Long Ke return, he moved forward to ask about where the two patriarchs had gone, but Wang Zheng quickly noticed that Long Ke was injured. There was blood at the corner of his mouth, and he was acting like he was afraid of being seen. Long Ke quickly cleaned his face and returned to his clan’s Junior Progenitor Planet.

Wang Zheng's eyes flashed. Clearly, something had happened. He immediately tried to contact Bai Teng through his communication crystal, but his crystal could not connect to the other man. Wang Zheng moved on to call Long Ke, and after waiting for a long time, Long Ke finally answered Wang Zheng’s call.

"Brother Long, where did you just go? I wasn’t able to find you," Wang Zheng asked.

Lu Yin was still controlling Long Ke's body, and he replied, "I achieved a bit of insight into my cultivation, so I wasn’t paying attention. What's wrong, Brother Wang?"

Wang Zheng asked, "Brother Long, do you know where Bai Teng went?"

Long Ke laughed. "Why would I know anything about that? Well, if there’s nothing else that you need, Brother Wang, I would like to go into seclusion."

It was quite clear that Long Ke was eager to end the call.

Wang Zheng glared at the communication crystal in his hand. There was clearly something wrong with Long Ke.

Lu Yin ended the Possession and then left the Island of Hope while hidden by Progenitor Smoke's wei. He traveled quickly, quickly joining back up with Bai Weiwei and Prof. Bai. They had no idea that Bai Teng, the sect master of the Celestial Frost Sect, had just been kidnapped.

After grabbing Bai Teng, Lu Yin relaxed a great deal. He smiled more when he looked at Bai Weiwei, which caused the young woman to think that her professor had some feelings for her.

After a few days of traveling, Lu Yin and the others arrived back in the Middle Realm, and they continued to travel towards Virtue Archives. After they returned, news came out that the Celestial Frost Sect had arrested Long Ke on the Island of Hope. The news shook the Perennial World.

Long Ke was the patriarch of the White Dragon Clan, not some lowly cultivator, but the Celestial Frost Sect had still arrested the man. This enraged the White Dragon Clan, and it shocked both Shenwu's Sky and the Wang family.

However, this matter was actually related to Wang Zheng, as his words had led to Long Ke’s arrest. After all, Long Ke had been arrested because he was the primary suspect in Bai Teng’s disappearance and in the loss of the resources on the Junior Progenitor Planets.

In the Higher Realm, at the gates of the Celestial Frost Sect, Long Ke was beyond furious. Despite his status as the patriarch of the White Dragon Clan, he had actually been captured and arrested by the Celestial Frost Sect like a common criminal. This was a humiliation that he would never be able to live down.

"Patriarch Long Ke, what is your connection to my sect master's disappearance?" an old man demanded in a stern voice. This man was Wu Yao, and he was a Semi-Progenitor who had been recruited by the Celestial Frost Sect.