Chapter 2359: Interception

Grandmaster Qiu Ling had been an Array Grandmaster for some time, but she was still only a peak Envoy. She had not been able to breakthrough and become a Semi-Progenitor. Given her combat strength, it was impossible for the woman to evade Lu Yin, not unless she wanted to cease all civilities and set up a sourcebox array. On top of that, Lu Yin had even hidden from the woman before approaching her, not giving her a chance to set up a sourcebox array.

The Possession went far more easily than Lu Yin had anticipated. He had actually planned on patting Qiu Ling with the slipper, as he had assumed that she possessed some sort of emergency, trigger-type sourcebox array, but that had proven to not be the case.

Lu Yin Possessed the Array Grandmaster without any complications. As for the Progenitor who had attacked the rear battlefield, Lu Yin intended to leave that matter to the jiao and E Chi. In fact, E Chi had only been summoned to act as an alibi for Lu Yin. If Qiu Ling discovered that she was missing time due to being Possessed and suspected Lu Yin, then it would be a terrible mistake on his part.

Before arriving at his meeting with Grandmaster Qiu Ling, Lu Yin had given a good bit of thought about how to deal with her Void Brand sourcebox array that allowed the woman to review the past. Fortunately, Grandmaster Qiu Ling had asked Aeternus to lure Lu Yin away from their meeting, which had greatly helped Lu Yin with the complication that the Void Brand introduced to his plan of Possessing the Array Grandmaster.

Lu Yin did not waste any time as he quickly searched for memories regarding lockbreaking, and he absorbed all those memories without hesitation.

By accessing and absorbing a person's memories during a Possession, Lu Yin could very quickly acquire that person’s skills and battle techniques. This was precisely the source of Lu Yin’s confidence in facing Mu Shang. In fact, if Lu Yin had never Possessed Grandmaster Qiu Ling at all, he might not have agreed to challenge Mu Shang.

After forcing Xia Shenji and the others to retreat from the Fifth Mainland and formalizing the treaty with Bai Wangyuan, Lu Yin had always been at a disadvantage in his dealings with the Perennial World, and that even included when he had tried to help save Virtue Archives. Nothing about that had changed, and Lu Yin was still at a disadvantage.

As the memories continued to pour into his mind, Lu Yin quickly increased his lockbreaking experience.

The rear battlefield had not been attacked by the true body of one of the Seven Skygods, but rather by a Progenitor-level corpse king that had descended from the Dominion Realm. It appeared that the corpse king had been struck down by someone during an attack on the Dominion Realm. The truth was that even the attack on the Dominion Realm had been deliberately launched to ensure that Bai Wangyuan and the other Progenitors were all occupied and unable to watch Lu Yin for some time. Everything played out in a very reasonable manner that did not appear suspicious at all.

E Chi attacked the Progenitor-level corpse king, and the two crashed down to the New World.

Lu Yin was eager to see some of Aeternus’s Progenitor-level powerhouses that were not part of the Seven Skygods, but unfortunately, that was impossible at this time.

E Chi did not attack alone, as the jiao also attacked the corpse king. As far as anyone knew or could tell, Lu Yin was handling the enemy corpse king, as only Lu Yin could summon E Chi, who was nothing more than a champion from the Champions’ Stage.

After half an hour, the Progenitor-level corpse king disappeared. It had only visited the rear battlefield to pull Lu Yin away from his conversation with Grandmaster Qiu Ling. The Aeternals were not looking to start a true war on the rear battlefield.

Once the enemy Progenitor was gone, Lu Yin returned to his own body. He unsummoned E Chi and left. The timing was practically perfect, and he almost suspected that the Progenitor-level corpse king had been cooperating with him.

Once Lu Yin was gone, Grandmaster Qiu Ling trembled as she regained consciousness. Nothing at all about her surroundings had changed in the least, but as an Array Grandmaster, Qiu Ling was very sensitive to any changes at all, and she felt as though something had been lost.

Her expression soon changed. It was time. She had lost time! A full half hour was missing, and it was extremely noticeable because she had no memories of the fight against the Progenitor-level corpse king.

The battle between the corpse king and E Chi and the jiao had been visible from everywhere on the rear battlefield. Given the fact that Qiu Ling was a peak Envoy, it was impossible for her not to have observed any part of the fight, which meant that she simply had no memories of the battle. That was extremely odd.

What's going on? Who could have taken control of me??The Array Grandmaster had experienced a similar situation before, and she had suspected Aeternus to be behind the matter. This time, she had been controlled by someone right after she made contact with Aeternus and requested help. Could the Aeternals really be the ones controlling her?

At no point in time was Lu Yin suspected at all. The jiao and E Chi had fought off the Progenitor-level corpse king. If Lu Yin had been occupied with a Progenitor-level opponent, how could he possibly focus on anything else, such as controlling Qiu Ling?

Grandmaster Qiu Ling was becoming increasingly certain that the Aeternals were the ones taking control of her. Was it a warning? Or were they trying to use her for something?

Either possibility caused the woman’s heart to feel chilled. She regretted her past decisions, and she regretted becoming a Redback. However, the choice had already been made, and regret would not help her at all.

By this time, Lu Yin had already returned to the fourth array base, and he immediately went into seclusion. He wanted time to review and incorporate the memories that he had absorbed from Grandmaster Qiu Ling, and he also wanted to try to Possess another Array Grandmaster by rolling his die.

Lu Yin was on the rear battlefield, which was where all of the Perennial World’s Array Grandmasters spent their time. Possessing another one just might be possible.

There was more than a month left to go before the contest with Mu Shang, which made the timing rather tight for Lu Yin.

***

Far away, in the Higher Realm, Bai Qi arrived at the valley in the mountains. She did not say a single word and simply led the gathered crowd into the New Corridor and towards the Fifth Mainland.

Upon arriving in the Fifth Mainland, the first thing that they saw was the Allied Forces of the Great Eastern Alliance, the army of lesser giants, and millions of astral beasts. These were the forces that would rotate with the Fifth Mainland’s troops that were already on the fourth array base.

Further away, there was also Sky Creation Academy’s Lost Course Army, the army of super-sized androids, and even more forces that were densely packed together. The sight of such powerful armies startled the people from the Perennial World, including Bai Qi, and many believed that the Fifth Mainland was about to attack them. Bai Qi looked around at the forces gathered. Were there really that many cultivators in the Fifth Mainland?

None of the gathered armies was weak, and Bai Qi even saw many Envoys and Semi-Progenitors.

The Semi-Progenitors who had been stationed just outside the New Corridor were Herb Immortal and Zhan Lin. They were part of the Heavens Sect, and Lu Yin had tasked the two men with watching the New Corridor.

Such an important location deserved more than just one Semi-Progenitor’s protection, but two Semi-Progenitors and the full strength of the Technocracy was sufficient to guard the connection to the Perennial World.

When Bai Qi led Xia Shenfei forward, Long Tian and several others appeared as well. In front of them, Herb Immortal and Zhan Lin similarly moved forward.

Zhan Lin carried a deep hatred for the four ruling powers, which made him rather unsuited for standing guard at the New Corridor’s exit. However, the man was also the most familiar with the Perennial World out of anyone supporting Lu Yin, which made him the most suitable to protect the New Corridor.

"General Bai Qi of the fourth array base?" Zhan Lin was surprised to see the woman, but after recalling that the Fifth Mainland had already taken over protecting the fourth array base, it made perfect sense for Bai Qi to have been freed from her responsibilities on the rear battlefield.

Additionally, Bai Qi was Bai Wangyuan's own daughter, so it made sense for her to be the first semi-Progenitor sent to the Fifth Mainland to try to inherit the Mountain and Sea that had been made available.

Bai Qi also recognized Zhan Lin. "I didn't expect you to also be here."

The woman looked around, and sure enough, just as she had been told, the true universe was devoid of all stellular energy, and there was no star energy to be found in the visible universe either.

Zhan Lin hated the four ruling powers, but those feelings did not really extend to Bai Qi. Despite being Bai Wangyuan's daughter, Bai Qi had been the general of the fourth array base for many, many years, and she had been stationed there long before the Lu family had been exiled. The woman had no connection to Zhan Lin’s hatred. "It appears that the Celestial Frost Sect indeed stands at the peak of the Perennial World now. First, it was Bai Wangyuan who agreed to a truce with the Dao Chosen, and now you are the first one to challenge the Mountain and Sea."

Zhan Lin's comment caused Bai Qi's expression to change. The man was openly antagonizing her. "The other three don’t have any suitable candidates who can come here right now. Furthermore, the truce with Lu Xiaoxuan was agreed to by all four ruling powers."

Xia Shenfei took a sip of wine. Was the truce really a joint decision by all four ruling powers? While Xia Shenfei could not be certain of any of the other parties, he was absolutely certain that Progenitor Shenji would have never willingly agreed to the truce. Xia Shenfei was very curious about exactly what had taken place for the truce to form, but unfortunately for him, he did not qualify to be told such things.

"Stop wasting your breath. Lu Xiaoxuan should have already told you that he has made the Mountain and Sea available to us, as well as opened the Tower of the Fifth to our youths." Bai Qi glared at Zhan Lin with a cold expression before she turned to Herb Immortal. Zhan Lin had been forced into Star Alliance, and he had not been in the Fifth Mainland for very long. That meant that the second Semi-Progenitor should be Lu Xiaoxuan's confidante for receiving the forces of the Perennial World.

Herb Immortal nodded. "The Dao Chosen informed us of such. I’ll provide you with the location, but getting there will be up to your people."

The old man then tossed gadgets over to Bai Qi and those with her.

All of the technological civilizations in the Perennial World were trapped pond civilizations, but the people from the four ruling powers at least had a bit of experience with such things. So, they quickly got used to using the gadgets.

As soon as Bai Qi found the relevant locations, she turned back to stare at Herb Immortal. "I hope that you won't violate the agreement, as doing so will also void our truce with Lu Xiaoxuan."

"Don't worry. The Dao Chosen won't go back on his word, unlike your four ruling powers," Zhan Lin answered in a casual tone. He might not hate Bai Qi, but he would always be rude when it came to the four ruling powers.

Bai Qi ignored the man and instead glanced behind her.

Xia Shenfei put away his gourd of wine, and Long Tian straightened up. Every single person from the Perennial World was staring towards the Outerverse. After a moment, they all shot forward. They had been given but one mission: obtain the best inheritances from the Tower of the Fifth. There was nothing else in the Fifth Mainland that deserved their attention.

"Shenfei, let's compete! Why don’t we see which of us will be able to obtain the best inheritances quickest!" Long Tian shouted.

Xia Shenfei wiped a bit of wine from the corner of his mouth. "Fine."

Some distance away, Bai Weiwei looked solemn, and Xia Shenguang approached her. "Most of the people in this Forsaken Land have no idea just how precious those supreme inheritances are. But even so, if we allow them to learn of our goals, they will definitely work together to stop us. We should also cooperate."

Bai Weiwei was taken aback. "You’re actually considering working with others? That’s a surprise."

Xia Shenguang frowned. "While I might not like this Forsaken Land, they have sent many geniuses into our Perennial World to steal Origin Matter. It’s not as if there are no true powerhouses here."

The moment Xia Shenguang finished speaking, several sharp blade attacks flickered out, startling people as they quickly dodged the sudden attack. "Who is it?"

A person emerged from the void up in front of them and calmly stared at the Perennial World’s cultivators. People felt quite confused, and they grew wary of the man. "Who are you?"

"Wei An has come out to greet you all."

It was Wei An blocking Xia Shenguang and the others. Wei An was a two-tribulation Envoy, as well as Leng Qing’s disciple. This Envoy was dedicated to the blade, and he was powerful enough to have participated in the Heavens Sect’s Dao Chosen selection.

Bai Weiwei softly asked, "Did Lu Xiaoxuan send you here to stop us? Does he really intend to break the agreement?"

A smile appeared on Wei An’s face. "I'm still very young."

The answer changed the expressions on everyones’ faces. The agreement between Bai Wangyuan and Lu Yin had specified that no powerhouses from the older generations were allowed to stop the Perennial World’s youths. However, the inheritances within the Tower of the Fifth were intended to be competed for between the younger generation. What was wrong with members of the same generation participating in the competition? Wei An and Long Tian were about the same age, so there was nothing wrong with Wei An stepping forward. All this meant was that the competition regarding the Tower of the Fifth’s inheritances had started even before they arrived at the tower.

Of course, Wei An had not shown up unaccompanied. Young cultivators started appearing in all directions. As long as the difference in ages was not excessive, Bai Wangyuan and the other Progenitors could not argue that Lu Yin was violating the agreement.

Furthermore, not everyone who had been sent from the Perennial World was young. There were older cultivators present as well, as there was no age limit on challenging the Tower of the Fifth.

Despite the ages of the people from the Perennial World, the people from the Fifth Mainland who appeared were all youths.

Hen Mo, Lu Lai, Lu Jiao, and other geniuses from the Heavens Sect era appeared one after the other. Soon, Wen Sansi, Ling Gong, Liu Tianmu, and other former Ten Arbiters appeared as well, along with Lei Nü, Shu Jing, Yuhua Mavis, and more. The Perennial World’s people quickly grew extremely serious.

Long Tian hefted his large spear and then pointed it straight at Lu Lai, who stood at the front of the crowd from the Fifth Mainland. "You want to stop us? Show us that you have the strength!"

Since Wen Sansi and many others had not yet broken through to the Envoy realm, they were widely ignored. However, Wen Sansi and the others were not targeting Long Tian and the others of his level, but rather Bai Weiwei and those with similar levels of strength. Only the experts from the Heavens Sect era were capable of standing up to Long Tian and the other Junior Progenitors.

"Be careful. There’s no stellular energy or star energy here to recover our strength," someone warned the rest of the people.

Xia Shenfei's expression turned serious. Without stellular energy or star energy, this fight would be much more difficult.

However, the depleted energy was not the greatest challenge before them. Everyone sent from the Perennial World had seen reports regarding the Fifth Mainland, and they knew that there were even greater challenges awaiting them.