Chapter 2276: Yu Hao's Loyalty

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. If he was actually Yu Hao, he might just join the Celestial Frost Sect!

Yu Hao's father had betrayed Yu Chuan to the four ruling powers, but even after losing his grandfather, Yu Hao had gone on with his life and even gotten married. This could be regarded as proof that he had not carried too much about his grandfather’s life, which suggested that the real Yu Hao would most likely believe abandoning Yu Chuan to be the correct choice.

However, that was only if Lu Yin considered things from Yu Hao's perspective. In truth, joining the Celestial Frost Sect was far from a good choice. For example, the independent cultivator who had founded Central Base had passed the Sky Beyond the Sky trial, and he had later been raised up by the Celestial Frost Sect to become a Progenitor. However, in the end, that Progenitor had been forced into the Outer Realm, and the sect that he had founded had been destroyed. This incident from the past showed the Celestial Frost Sect’s true motivations.

Lu Yin still knew almost nothing about the Outer Realm, but he was certain that any cultivator who was part of the Celestial Frost Sect but had an outsider’s surname would definitely be forced to take the place of other Progenitors in the Outer Realm and disappear forever.

"What are your conditions to join my Celestial Frost Sect?" Bai Wangyuan asked a second time.

Lu Yin froze for a moment. They were about to head for Shenwu's Sky, and once he arrived, the Xia family would force him to make a decision. At the same time, he was hoping to take advantage of the Xia family’s ceremony to worship their ancestors to rescue the people who were in Crimson Garden. He was rapidly running out of time. In that case… "As long as Progenitor Bai can promise that my grandfather will remain alive, this junior, Yu Hao, is willing to join the Celestial Frost Sect. I swear here and now that, should I betray the sect, I, Yu Hao, will lose all hope of becoming a Progenitor for the rest of my life."

As he heard the response through the communication crystal, Bai Wangyuan was caught off guard. He had assumed that he would need to say something more, or at least offer some additional incentive, but You Hao had been surprisingly direct.

However, when Bai Wangyuan considered all that had happened since Yu Hao had reappeared, he truly had shown himself to be rather biased towards the Celestial Frost Sect. It made sense that he wanted to join them. "You aren’t even going to mention any conditions?"

Lu Yin answered respectfully, "If I am joining the sect, then the interests of the sect should take precedence. If Progenitor Bai is willing to offer resources, this junior will gladly accept them. If Progenitor Bai is unwilling, this junior will demand nothing."

Bai Wangyuan suddenly felt a small bit of admiration for Yu Hao. The previous independent cultivator who had passed the Sky Beyond the Sky trial had demanded many conditions, some of which were difficult for even Bai Wangyuan to deliver. Finally, they had been forced to send the Progenitor to the Outer Realm. In comparison, Yu Hao was too loyal. "As long as you treat my Celestial Frost Sect with sincerity, my sect will treat you well in return. I promise you that Yu Chuan will live, and the sect will even help you get your revenge while you are in Shenwu's Sky. On top of that, Wu Yao and the others will fulfill any and all promises that they have offered you already. Additionally…"

Suddenly, the man hesitated for a moment. "Would you be willing to accept me as your master?"

Lu Yin’s mouth fell wide open. Master? Bai Wangyuan wanted Yu Hao as his disciple? This was completely unexpected!

He was speaking to Bai Wangyuan, the master of one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas since the Daosource Sect era! This was one of the most powerful experts alive, and the leader of the Celestial Frost Sect. He was someone who quite literally stood at the pinnacle of the entire Perennial World, and countless people dreamed of worshiping him as their master, but it was impossible for them. It was even impossible for someone like Bai Weiwei, who was a descendant of the Bai family.

If Lu Yin was truly Yu Hao, there would be no hesitation at all, but the offer held absolutely no appeal for Lu Yin. His master was Mister Mu, a powerhouse who had lived since the Heavens Sect era. Lu Yin truthfully had no idea how powerful his master even was.

On top of that, there was Progenitor Smoke, who was still in Lu Yin’s cosmic ring, and she was someone on the same level as Bai Wangyuan.

"Of course! Is that even possible?" Despite his personal feelings, Lu Yin still needed to demonstrate a level of excitement that left him nearly incoherent.

Bai Wangyuan received exactly the reaction that he had expected. It was impossible for anyone to refuse to accept him as their master. There simply was no one who would refuse. Even the direct descendants of the Wang or Xia families would not be able to resist the temptation. "Of course. I will give the orders to arrange a formal ceremony for you to worship me as your master."

If Bai Wangyuan was accepting a disciple, then it would naturally have to involve a grand ceremony. This was a big deal not only for the Celestial Frost Sect and the four ruling powers, but also for the entire Perennial World. It was the same as when Mu Xie had announced that he intended to accept Long Qi as his disciple. At that time, the White Dragon Clan had very formally and excessively sent out numerous invitations.

"Then, what about the Xia family?" Lu Yin asked.

Bai Wangyuan replied, "You can visit them. It doesn’t matter."

The call soon ended, and Lu Yin put away the communication crystal. He was already able to directly call both Wang Fan and Bai Wangyuan. Including Progenitor Smoke, he was now able to reach out to three of the masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas from the Daosource Sect era.

Wu Yao returned, and he looked at “Yu Hao” with confusion.

Lu Yin smiled at the man. "Senior, I’ll have to ask you for more guidance in the future."

Wu Yao was quite surprised. "You- Did you join my sect?"

Lu Yin acted humble as he answered, "It's just a coincidence, as Progenitor Bai has accepted me as his disciple."

Wu Yao's pupils shrank. "Progenitor Bai took you as his disciple?"

Lu Yin nodded as he smiled at Wu Yao. "There will be a great ceremony to formalize the matter soon, so I will have to ask you to watch over me until then, Senior."

"Very happy to do so! Welcome to our sect! You remain very humble, Prof. Hao Yu, despite being so talented and accomplished. You will fit in perfectly here in the Celestial Frost Sect. All of the sect’s resources will be made available to you, and if you need anything at all, just say the word, and I will be happy to assist you." Wu Yao's entire demeanor changed completely. If “Yu Hao” was going to be Bai Wangyuan’s disciple, then very, very few individuals in the entire Celestial Frost Sect would be able to match his status, and Wu Yao was absolutely NOT one of them. He would listen to Yu Hao’s every whim in the future.

"There’s just a single minor matter. I’ve recently encountered a bit of a bottleneck in my cultivation, and I don’t know if it might be related to the fact that I haven’t opened my three meridian points," Lu Yin hinted.

Wu Yao looked quite stressed by the matter. "Meridian points can only be opened with tribulation crystal pillars, and those resources are in the ancestor’s possession, so I cannot help you with that. However, there’s no need to worry, as Progenitor Bai will definitely give you tribulation crystals after formally becoming your master, and you’ll be able to successfully open your three meridian points."

"That’s a pity." Lu Yin then suddenly remembered something else, and he looked back at Wu Yao. "Actually, I’ve been feeling like my cultivation speed has started to slow down recently, and I wonder if anything could be done about it."

Wu Yao was utterly speechless. Was the kid complaining about his cultivation speed being too slow? That meant that he was not able to absorb enough stellular energy, and there was only one answer to that: stellular liquid. Did this kid actually know about stellular liquid?

"What are you suggesting might be able to help with that?" Wu Yao asked.

Just as Lu Yin was about to ask if it might be possible to receive some stellular liquid, he noticed Wu Yao's probing eyes and quickly stopped himself. Yu Hao would not have any knowledge of stellular liquid. "This junior needs sourceboxes."

Wu Yao was taken aback. "Sourceboxes?"

Lu Yin nodded and grew very serious. "The truth is that this junior was able to become a three-tribulation Envoy entirely because of my teacher’s guidance. I was constantly lockbreaking while having to endure the sourceboxes’ danger zones as my teacher watched over me. During that process, I eventually became a three-tribulation Envoy. My lockbreaking teacher is no longer around, and I also don’t have any sourceboxes, so my cultivation speed has slowed drastically. That’s why I was wondering if the sect might have any powerful sourceboxes."

Wu Yao thought for a while. While sourceboxes were indeed very valuable, they could not compare to a pillar of tribulation crystals or stellular liquid. It was completely within Wu Yao’s authority to use or give out a few sourceboxes. "I'll find a few for you."

"Please try to find dangerous ones, as those will help this junior improve faster," Lu Yin reminded the man.

"No need to worry."

A short while later, Wu Yao returned with three sourceboxes, all of which were Boundless Advanced sourceboxes with unique and powerful danger zones. Lu Yin quickly stored them away while continuously thanking the Semi-Progenitor.

It was at this time that Xia Ziheng finally arrived at the Celestial Frost Sect.

After Lu Yin had passed the Sky Beyond the Sky trial, Xia Ziheng had immediately started moving out towards the Celestial Frost Sect. Shenwu's Sky had been perfectly aware of how the Celestial Frost Sect would react: Yu Hao was absolutely being kept within the sect for as long as possible.

Even though Shenwu’s Sky could use Yu Chuan to threaten Yu Hao, Xia Ziheng had no idea if that threat would be able to outweigh whatever benefits the Celestial Frost Sect was offering.

After Xia Ziheng had been intercepted and delayed, he had become so anxious that he had rushed the rest of the way to the Celestial Frost Sect as quickly as possible once he broke away from his opponent.

"God of Food, your students have all finished challenging the Celestial Frost Sect’s trial. You should be on your way to Shenwu's Sky right now." Xia Ziheng had first tried to find Yu Hao, but given that Xia Ziheng was visiting the Celestial Frost Sect, there was no way that they would make things easy on him.

After failing to find Yu Hao, Xia Ziheng had instead gone to see the God of Food again.

The God of Food could do nothing but tell the truth about how the people from Virtue Archives had been forcibly kept in the Celestial Frost Sect, which infuriated Xia Ziheng. He immediately went to go speak with Wu Yao and Bai Su.

A long argument ensued. Wu Yao was no fool, and he continued to act as though he was ignorant to the fact that Yu Hao had already agreed to join the Celestial Frost Sect. Virtue Archives was still prevented from leaving the sect, and Wu Yao managed to drag things out for an additional three days before he was forced to allow the students and their chaperones to leave.

For all three days, Xia Ziheng remained just outside of Yu Hao’s guest quarters, and he refused to show any hint of courtesy whenever Wu Yao tried to enter and speak to Yu Hao. A stalemate had been reached for the moment, and Lu Yin thought that things would soon come to blows.

After leaving, Xia Ziheng glanced back at the Celestial Frost Sect’s gates and asked, "What did Wu Yao offer you to get you to join the Celestial Frost Sect?"

"They offered me quite a bit, including pillars of tribulation crystals."

Xia Ziheng snorted contemptuously. "The Celestial Frost Sect has some, but so does Shenwu's Sky. We also have more that they don't."

The Semi-Progenitor made a rather blunt reference to the fact that Yu Chuan was their captive.

Xia Ziheng turned his head to stare at “Yu Hao.” He needed to confirm that Yu Chuan was still a high priority for this young man.

The old man was satisfied with what he saw, as his last comment caused the young man’s face to twist in anger. “Yu Hao” fell silent and stopped responding to Xia Ziheng.

Xia Ziheng's voice suddenly grew much softer. "Yu Hao, no matter what happens, you will always be my Xia family’s son-in-law, and nothing can change that. As for Xia Zhitong and the other people who have harmed your family, we have already arrested all of them. After the ceremony to worship our ancestors, you will be allowed to do with them as you wish."

Lu Yin clenched his fists. "You’ll allow me to deal with all of them?"

Xia Ziheng nodded. "This is what I promised you in the beginning. What can the Celestial Frost Sect offer? My Shenwu's Sky can offer you just as much, so don’t be misled."

Lu Yin remained silent.

Xia Ziheng suddenly remembered something. "Last we spoke, I told you to invite Grandmaster Gu Yan to attend our ancestral ceremony. How did he respond?"

Lu Yin's eyes twitched, as he had completely forgotten all about that. "I'm still trying to find a way to bring it up to him."

Xia Ziheng frowned. "Is it that difficult a topic to discuss with him?"

"My teacher hates the four ruling powers, as you well know," Lu Yin answered indifferently.

Xia Ziheng stared at Lu Yin. "But I recently heard that Grandmaster Gu Yan changed his reactions when the Celestial Frost Sect was brought up."

Lu Yin looked confused. "That happened?"

Xia Ziheng and Lu Yin stared at each other. The old man tried to get a read on the young man, but he saw nothing but pure confusion in the youth’s eyes.

At this moment, the God of Food approached them. "Xia Ziheng, I heard that you were delayed on your way to meet us. Who stopped you?"

Xia Ziheng looked away from “Yu Hao” and moved on to speak with the God of Food.

Lu Yin let a sigh of relief escape.

The Xia family had a completely different attitude towards “Yu Hao” than the other three top powers. As far as the Xia family was concerned, Yu Hao already belonged to them, and if he tried to get away, there was only one fate awaiting him: death.

So far, it seemed as though the Wang family was the most sincere in approaching “Yu Hao,” as Wang Fan had been the first ancestor or Progenitor from the four ruling powers to approach “Yu Hao” directly, and he was also the master of a Mountain and Sea. Bai Wangyuan had only reached out to “Yu Hao” after he had proven himself by completing the Sky Beyond the Sky trial.

The Celestial Frost Sect was a great distance away from Shenwu's Sky. Lu Yin did his best to avoid Xia Ziheng, and he used the excuse of going into seclusion. He had only recently completed the Sky Beyond the Sky trial, so no one thought anything at all of him going into seclusion at such a time.