Chapter 2334: Strike First To Gain The Upper Hand

Xia Shenji’s voice was soft as he recounted everything that had happened. He had not only faced the additional power of Progenitor Chen, but also gone against the power of the God of Death! Silence stretched out after Bai Wangyuan and the others heard about what had happened. As the silence continued, their killing intent mounted higher and higher.

"I suspect that I did not even face his final limits," Xia Shenji eventually forced out. He glanced over at Progenitor Smoke. "Xi Wei, what else is Lu Xiaoxuan capable of?"

Progenitor Smoke pursed her lips. What else? Isn't Xia Shang's power his final option? Where did the God of Death’s power come from?

Progenitor Smoke was aware that Lu Yin cultivated with death energy, but regardless of how powerful the God of Death had personally once been, it was simply impossible for a mere Envoy to severely injure a Progenitor, let alone a Progenitor on the same level as a master of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas.

Progenitor Smoke had spent a great deal of time at Lu Yin's side, yet she had no idea where in the world the God of Death’s power might have come from. On top of that, Xia Shenji believed that Lu Yin had still held back, and this badly confused Progenitor Smoke. Wait, the Origin Progenitor’s sword!

That thought caused Progenitor Smoke's eyes to light up. Bai Wangyuan and the others were all staring at her, and her eyebrows rose when she noticed their attention. "Why are you all staring at me? You can’t expect me to deal with that kid, can you?"

"What else is Lu Xiaoxuan capable of?" Xia Shenji asked, his expression incredibly gloomy. He had suffered a massive loss in face.

Bai Wangyuan and Wang Fan both felt that Progenitor Smoke knew something, as her expression had changed too noticeably. Even Mu Xie had seen her reaction and taken it as confirmation. He was also quite curious about his junior brother, and he was growing more and more shocked as to what Lu Yin was capable of. Mu Xie felt that their master was getting better and better at selecting his disciples. Wait, could their master have secretly taken action? That should not be possible. While Mu Xie’s master was so powerful that not even he could accurately judge the man’s strength, Mister Mu should not be powerful enough for Xia Shenji to not notice the interference. The gap between the two should not be that great.

Progenitor Smoke rolled her eyes. "How do I know what he’s capable of? Why don’t I just go ask him myself?"

"Xi Wei!" Bai Wangyuan shouted.

Progenitor Smoke instantly turned antagonistic. "What? Are you going to threaten me?"

Wang Fan spoke up, looking sullen, "Xi Wei, what would make you willing to help us?"

Progenitor Smoke laughed and shook her head. "Is this your first time meeting me?"

The men all felt helpless. The better one knew Progenitor Smoke, the more they would come to understand her personality. It was completely impossible to get her to betray Lu Yin.

Bai Wangyuan glanced over at Mu Xie. It was impossible for them to take action, and Bai Sheng alone was not enough to help Xia Shenji kill Lu Xiaoxuan, and only one person could go. With only one of them taking action, it was quite possible that they would face the same failure that Xia Shenji had encountered twice already, which would not help anything at all. Given the situation… "I will send Xian'er to deal with this."

Xia Shenji was surprised. "Bai Xian'er?"

Mu Xie looked over.

Progenitor Smoke's expression also slightly changed. She had already developed a deep impression of Bai Xian'er.

"Has Bai Xian'er become a Progenitor?" Wang Fan was taken aback, but he quickly said, "No, that’s impossible. Given her talent and innate gift, how could we not notice when she faces her tribulation? We wouldn’t miss even the weakest of cultivators becoming a Progenitor."

𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Bai Wangyuan softly answered, "While Xian'er has not yet become a Progenitor, she possesses a power that no one can understand. What’s more, she is also very familiar with this last survivor of the Lu family. Altogether, she is perfect to deal with this situation."

Xia Shenji was also very confident in Bai Xian'er. "Alright, we’ll try again. I will still cooperate with Bai Sheng. I need to personally put an end to Xia Shang's power. I will wait for Bai Xianer in the Wang family’s territory, as I need a few days to recuperate."

With that, the man disappeared.

Progenitor Smoke grew quite curious. "Bai Wangyuan, you seem overly confident in your descendant. Watch out, or else you might end up losing her."

Bai Wangyuan remained completely confident. "If Xian'er makes a move, she will not fail."

Progenitor Smoke stared at the man for a moment as the scenes she had witnessed in Crimson Garden replayed in her mind. A spike of fear shot through her heart.

Lu Yin was a monstrous talent, and he was also as cautious as anyone Progenitor Smoke had ever met. Even if he was not as intelligent as Hui Wen, Lu Yin was still able to manipulate the world around him, and was quite skilled at doing so. However, Progenitor Smoke had no idea how Lu Yin would fare against Bai Xian'er. The young woman had deceived Lu Yin twice when he had been trying to save people from Shenwu’s Sky. Thus, Progenitor Smoke simply lacked confidence in Lu Yin.

She felt she should help him, or at least let him know whom he was about to face.

…

In the Fifth Mainland’s Outerverse where everyone had been gathered, countless people felt inspired by Lu Yin, and this created a situation where the entire Fifth Mainland had united and gained the courage to go against even a Progenitor.

Still, only the vast majority had gotten caught up in the moment. There were still some who remained rational. Lu Yin was not very good at motivating people, and if not for the fact that he had just driven a Progenitor away, he would have never been able to unite the emotions of the entire Fifth Mainland.

The members of the Yōu family were the most clear-headed. While they appeared to be participating in the cheers with everyone else, the eyes of Yōu Keyan, Yōu Kexin, and even Yōu Ye'er were all calm. They had not gotten caught up in the moment, even though they were completely shocked by what Lu Yin had accomplished.

None of them had ever imagined that they would one day become enemies with a powerful Progenitor, and yet Lu Yin had just defeated such an opponent.

A Progenitor’s power to transform the universe was unimaginable to them, but even more unfathomable was how Lu Yin had managed to fight back against such a power.

The Ku family had arranged themselves a short distance away from the Yōu family, and Patriarch Ku Pu was occasionally glancing over at the Yōu family. The Yōu family had recently undergone great changes. They had actually started to cultivate the same sort of smokey power as Smoke-Eater Peaks, which the Ku family could not understand at all. The recent changes in the Yōu family had caused not only the Ku family to pay attention to them, but also the rest of the former members of the Seven Courts. In fact, the Cosmic Sect, Gods' Origin, and the other great powers of the Neoverse were all paying attention to the Yōu family now, wondering how they had suddenly acquired such a cultivation art.

The Yōu family knew that they were being watched, but they did not care at all. The Heavens Sect ruled over the entire Fifth Mainland, and no one could act willfully. Furthermore, the Yōu family was cultivating Progenitor Smoke’s wei, which meant that, even with Progenitor Ku’s inheritance, the Ku family could do nothing to the ?Yōu family.

Smoke-Eater Peaks was also paying close attention to the Yōu family, as they had started cultivating the same power as them. According to Gu Xiao’er, the Yōu family had recognized that Smoke-Eater Peaks’ smoke was an invincible power, and they had wanted to get closer to Smoke-Eater Peaks. As soon as Gu Laogui heard his son’s arrogant words, the young man received a harsh beating.

Lu Yin had already moved far away with the jiao. He had left as soon as he finished rallying the troops, as he could not remain close to them. The four ruling powers would not give up that easily, and for their third attempt on Lu Yin’s life in the Fifth Mainland, they might send a third Progenitor.

He touched his cosmic ring. If Bai Wangyuan or Wang Fan came back with Xia Shenji, it indicated that Aeternus had retreated from the Perennial World for the time being and granted the four ruling powers the opportunity to go after Lu Yin.

Would Bai Wangyuan and the others leave the Dominion Realm?

Lu Yin sat alone on a desolate planet while he considered his situation.

Suddenly, his wireless jincan trembled. "What's wrong?"

"Dao Chosen, the Yōu family wishes to submit a report." The Second Nightking sent a reply.

"Give it to me." Lu Yin was calm. He had not sought out the Yōu family quite yet, as he knew that he could not try to use the Netherworld River to locate Realmless’s headquarters until after the situation with the four ruling powers was resolved.

"Dao Chosen, this is Yōu Keyan. Just now, all of us lost control of our cultivation, and our wei formed a name: Bai Xian'er," Yōu Keyan reported.

Lu Yin was badly startled, and he leapt to his feet. "What was that? Bai Xian'er?"

"Yes. All of us lost control of the wei that we’ve been cultivating, and all of us saw the same name: Bai Xian'er," Yōu Keyan solemnly replied. She felt a chill when she considered the wei she had recently started cultivating, as she had instantly understood what had happened. Progenitor Smoke had interfered, causing her entire family to lose control of their cultivation. Progenitor Smoke had created wei, and thus she naturally had complete and final control over all wei in existence. Learning that someone else had total control of the wei that they had been cultivating left the entire Yōu family extremely uncomfortable.

After all, what had happened indicated that, regardless of how high their cultivation rose, their power would forever remain under Progenitor Smoke’s control.

Which cultivator did not dream of becoming a Progenitor? Progenitors stood at the peak of cultivation, and while that meant that most cultivators held no hope of ever becoming a Progenitor, the members of the Yōu family were different. They still believed themselves to be Progenitor Yōu Ming’s descendants, which gave them hope of eventually rising up and becoming Progenitors themselves. This was why learning that someone else controlled the wei that they cultivated was so disheartening. After all, did it not mean that they were basically under Progenitor Smoke’s complete control? No one would be willing to accept such a thing.

How worried was the Yōu family? Lu Yin did not care at all. He instead looked towards the Technocracy. Progenitor Smoke had personally sent Lu Yin a warning. Was she saying that Bai Xian'er was headed his way?

The thought of Bai Xian'er’s imminent arrival fell upon Lu Yin like a mountain. While Bai Xian’er was far weaker than Xia Shenji, she had mastered one of the Books of Destiny, and it would be impossible for Lu Yin to deceive her. He had no idea if his whereabouts or plans had been exposed. He simply had no idea what Bai Xian’er was capable of, and that made her far more terrifying.

Given the choice of facing a powerful idiot or a weak wise man, Lu Yin would choose to face the powerful idiot.

Xia Shenji was the powerful idiot, while Bai Xian'er was the weak wise man.

If Bai Xian'er, Xia Shenji, and Bai Sheng all worked together, Lu Yin had absolutely no hope of victory.

The Origin Progenitor’s sword might be able to catch someone by surprise, but that would only work if Lu Yin targeted Xia Shenji, Bai Wangyuan, or others like them. If Bai Xian'er was present, it was questionable whether Lu Yin would be able to launch even a single surprise.

Lu Yin spent a long time considering this new situation. Finally, he left the planet and climbed atop the jiao. He had decided to take the Book of Destiny that he held to Astral-10.

If Bai Xian'er wanted to take action against Lu Yin, it would be impossible to stop her. So, his only option was to strike first and seize the advantage. The only way Lu Yin could harm Bai Xian'er was to visit the Stargazing Deck and trigger Destiny.

Destina and Skymender had already verified that, whenever he triggered Destiny, they had received internal injuries. In that case, how could Bai Xian'er escape the same fate?

Regardless of whether it worked, Lu Yin felt that he had to at least try. If Bai Xian'er came to the Fifth Mainland and cooperated with Xia Shenji and Bai Sheng, Lu Yin would have no hope at all.

The jiao’s impressive speed meant that Lu Yin quickly arrived at Astral-10.

The ancient battleship swayed at the jiao’s arrival, and one by one, the instructors and the students looked up at the jiao, soon staring in horror. The pressure of a Progenitor made it difficult for any of them to breathe.

Lu Yin entered Astral-10 and instantly arrived in front of the Stargazing Deck. He quickly apologized to the Starmaster, casually removed the mentor from the Stargazing Deck, and blocked him from returning.

Lu Yin then immediately entered the Stargazing Deck.

The Starmaster was shocked. "Stop!"

Lu Yin's feet stepped onto the Stargazing Deck, and the moment he did so, the fatesand within his chest transformed into what looked like stars, seemingly simulating the universe. At that moment, Lu Yin once again made out the vague image of time.

At the exact same moment, on an island in the Cosmic Sea, Xuan Jiu was lounging on a a bench, lazily munching on some fruit. "Draft? Conscription? He actually became the enemy of a Progenitor! That bastard is becoming more and more of a freak. It doesn’t matter how many people join him—Grandpa Jiu won’t go! Not to mention, that madwoman Destina is going to be there, and she’s been searching for me. Well, given how the universe has changed recently, I should refer to myself as Destina’s Grandpa Jiu from now on, hahahaha!"

Xuan Jiu was relaxed and content, but the moment Lu Yin stepped onto the Stargazing ?Deck, Xuan Jiu spat out a mouthful of blood. There had been absolutely no warning whatsoever. The old man’s face grew pale, and he stared blankly towards the Astral Combat Academy, and his mouth fell open. "That ?bastard! You’re doing this again? Did Grandpa Jiu offend you somehow? Is there something wrong with your head? Why would you trigger Destiny at this time? Fuck!"