Chapter 2360: To Fight

Some distance away from where the two groups met, Sky Garan, Heluo Mavis, and Chu Yuan appeared. They blocked the path forward in three different directions, which sealed all paths to the Human Domain.

Long Tian’s expression completely changed when he saw these three as they were true Dao Chosen from the Heavens Sect era. They had each been the greatest genius of an entire Mainland, descendants of families comparable to the Lu family. In comparison, Long Tian and the other Junior Progenitors were nothing more than descendants of various powers that had lived under the Lu family’s rule. If Long Tian or the other Junior Progenitors had lived during the Heavens Sect era, none of them would have been qualified to compete with these Dao Chosen. They would have been limited to the Fifth Mainland and completely overshadowed by the Lu family.

Xia Shenfei smiled. "Now this is quite interesting. This is perfect, as I want to see just how much of a difference there is between me and a Dao Chosen!"

The man was the first to charge forward.

Long Tian also rushed forward. If he could defeat one of these Dao Chosen, it would demonstrate that they were talented enough to compare to the best of the Lu family. As for competing with Lu Yin, that was something that no one even considered any longer.

Wang Su looked serious, as she fully understood that they stood no chance whatsoever. The fact that these three people had appeared meant that Lu Yin had no intention of allowing anyone from the Perennial World into the Tower of the Fifth. There was no one from their generation who was capable of breaking through the defensive line that had been set up to block them. The youths of the Perennial World were being blocked by their peers of the same generation from the Fifth Mainland, Sixth Mainland, Astral Beast Domain, the ancient Heavens Sect Era, the Perennial World’s Star Alliance, and even the surviving vassals of the Lu family. The power arrayed against them was unimaginable.

Wang Su was much clearer about what the current situation entailed than Long Tian or any of the other Junior Progenitors because she had already spent years fighting in the Fifth Mainland.

Bai Qi looked rather upset by these developments, and she turned to look at Herb Immortal.

To the side, Zhan Lin spoke up. "This is nothing more than a competition between peers, which doesn’t violate any part of the agreement. Or, could it be that your four ruling powers lack the courage to have your youths compete with their peers from the Forsaken Land?"

Bai Qi responded in a cold voice, "They can do as they wish, as long as it remains a competition between peers. However, if I learn that either of you have interfered in things, then the four Progenitors will not be polite. My four ruling powers’ truce with Lu Xiaoxuan is limited to not attacking him. It doesn’t matter if a few Semi-Progenitors end up losing their lives."

As soon as she finished speaking, she vanished.

Lu Yin was able to stop the youths that the Perennial World had sent to the Tower of the Fifth, but nothing could be done to stop Bai Qi from attempting to receive the inheritance of the Mountain and Sea.

Access to the Tower of the Fifth had been thrown in as an additional incentive, which was why Lu Yin was able to mess around a bit. However, access to the Mountain and Sea and allowing them to attempt to acquire the inheritance was the core tenant of the agreement. Nothing would be allowed to interfere with that matter.

If Bai Qi was actually able to receive the inheritance from the Mountain and Sea, then it was simply a matter of fate.

However, such a thing was incredibly unlikely. Just how many Semi-Progenitors throughout all of history had managed to receive an inheritance from one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas? What were the chances of anyone that the Perennial World sent actually succeeding?

"How wonderful. They have so many Progenitors, they can just threaten whomever they wish," Herb Immortal muttered enviously.

Zhan Lin replied, "The threats mean nothing. None of the four ruling powers’ Progenitors can get away from the Dominion Realm. If they could, things in the Perennial World would have changed long ago, and the matter with Virtue Archives would never have been allowed to even start. If those four Progenitors work together, not even the Dao Chosen can do anything to stop them."

"True enough. In that case, we can just treat them as being trapped. I only hope that Bai Qi doesn't obtain the inheritance from the Mountain and Sea, as that would be such a waste," Herb Immortal said.

The Mountain and Sea that Lu Yin had given the Perennial World access to was the one with the test with the flame. It was one of the Mountains and Seas that had been in the ruins of the Fifth Mainland’s Daosource Sect, and it would be best if the inheritance could help improve humanity’s strength.

However, if the inheritance was obtained by an enemy, then something would have to be done about it.

Bai Qi's speed meant that she arrived in the Outerverse within half a day, and she had no trouble finding the Mountain and Sea.

Unlike in the Perennial World, the two Mountains and the Sea had not been hidden in the Fifth Mainland. In fact, everyone was welcome to try to receive the inheritances.

Bai Qi entered the Mountain and Sea. She crossed the Sea and approached the peak of the Mountain, at which point she disappeared. All she heard were the words, “Challenger, enter."

She watched as a circle of torches lit up in front of her. The same scene that Lu Yin had witnessed before appeared, and the flames rose up and merged together. Each time the flames merged, their color grew deeper, until the flame became completely invisible. Bai Qi felt an incomparably hot temperature.

While the woman was a Semi-Progenitor, this heat was so intense that she felt like a mortal facing the sun.

Bai Qi could not understand what was happening at all. Her fingers twitched, as she wanted to touch the flame, but she did not dare to actually do so. She felt that the moment she made contact with the flames, she would be reduced to nothing more than a pile of ash.

Was it really possible for someone as powerful as a Semi-Progenitor to be burned to death?

Darkness fell, and Bai Qi withdrew from the Mountain and Sea. Again, she heard a voice. This time, it said, "Challenge failed."

She found herself standing outside the Mountain, drenched with sweat. She stared at the imposing sight, unwilling to accept her failure. She did not understand the challenge. There was nothing about what she had encountered that she could understand.

"That’s perfectly normal."

A familiar voice addressed Bai Qi. She turned around to look and found a thin man looking at her. She was surprised to see him. "Old Shan, is it really you?"

Master Shan had arrived, Lu Xiaoxuan's old protector.

The old man stared at Bai Qi. "We meet again, General Bai."

Bai Qi was puzzled to see the man. "I thought that you were also banished."

Master Shan laughed. "I was lucky. By trying to save my young master, I managed to survive."

Bai Qi said nothing. She had met Master Shan several times in the past. When Lu Xiaoxuan had visited the fourth array base on a training excursion, Master Shan had remained within the array base’s headquarters, secretly keeping Lu Xiaoxuan safe. The old man had even fought side by side with Bai Qi during that time. Despite the man’s frail appearance, his defensive capabilities were frightening. Bai Qi had assumed the old man had died, so seeing him again was quite the surprise for her.

The woman was suddenly reminded of the Lu family. Would they also reappear one day?

No one actually knew what had happened to the Lu family. The four ruling powers had done their best, but they had only succeeded in exiling the Lu family; it had been impossible to destroy them. Their only option had been to toss the family away from the Perennial World and out to the Aeternals. However, could even Aeternus truly destroy the Lu family?

In addition to Lu Tianyi, the incredible powerhouse who was able to summon the masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas with his Investiture of the Gods, the Lu family had another legendary existence.

Personally, Bai Qi had always felt that the four ruling powers had done something wrong by exiling the Lu family. Only people who had defended the rear battlefield for most of their lives would be this certain that the four ruling powers’ decision had been wrong. This was because the rear battlefield had been more affected by the Lu family’s absence than any other place in the Perennial World. The pressure on the defenders had increased drastically, and they had never invaded the New World again after the Lu family had been banished.

Bai Qi moved to leave. There was nothing to be said between her and Master Shan, as they had become enemies.

Master Shan looked at Bai Qi's back. "You won’t try again?"

Bai Qi softly said, "There’s no need. I don’t understand, and that won’t change no matter how many times I try. What about you? Have you tried it?"

"Not yet, but I don’t have any hope of success," Master Shan replied.

Bai Qi left. She was going to be replaced by someone else, as each of the four ruling powers’ Semi-Progenitors were going to take turns challenging the Mountain and Sea. Once they were done, their Envoys would take turns.

Even though the idea of an Envoy inheriting a Mountain and Sea was something that had only been mentioned in one or two unconfirmed legends, the four ruling powers had chosen to ignore the impossibility and still send their Envoys to try to receive the inheritance from the Mountain and Sea. After all, the Mountain and Sea was in the Fifth Mainland, and having a master of one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas rise up in the Fifth Mainland would not be a good thing for the four ruling powers.

Master Shan stared at Bai Qi's back as the woman left. The man felt conflicted. He had lost a memory that should have been unforgettable. If that had not happened, he definitely would have attacked the woman.

The man stared out into outer space. "Young Master, the Lu family will definitely prosper once again."

Bai Qi returned to the Technocracy after leaving the Outerverse. In the Technocracy, the Semi-Progenitor was met by the sight of a pale-faced Long Tian, an incredulous Xia Shenfei, and a bitter Wang Su. All of them had been soundly defeated by the Dao Chosen of the Heavens Sect era.

In contrast, Chu Yuan and the other two appeared calm. It was as though everything was within their expectations.

"What kind of monsters are they? Why are they so strong?" Long Tian could not believe what he had just encountered. Even though he had crushed his self-esteem and stopped comparing himself to Lu Yin, he had not expected to discover that there was such a vast difference between him and the ancient Dao Chosen. After all, the Fifth Mainland had no stellular energy, and the three people’s cultivation progress had stagnated for twenty years. Still, the three Junior Progenitors had been utterly crushed.

As for the three Dao Chosen, Sky Garan felt nothing but contempt for the three people from the Perennial World. They had not even been able to force Sky Garan to use his innate gift. Even though the Junior Progenitors seemed to be only a single step behind the Dao Chosen, this difference in ability could never be compensated for. This was the difference between a Dao Chosen and the heirs of a Mainland’s top powers.

It was much like how the difference in strength between the Lu family and the four ruling powers could never be overcome.

The more decisive the defeat of the Junior Progenitors, the more apparent Lu Yin’s freakish strength became. He had defeated all three Dao Chosen from the Heavens Sect era by himself.

Seeing the current situation, there was nothing that Bai Qi could do about it, as Lu Yin truly had not done anything to violate the agreement.

"Time to head back," Bai Qi stated with a stony expression.

Bai Weiwei and the others were unwilling to leave, but they followed Bai Qi's orders.

How could any of them break past three of the ancient Heavens Sect’s Dao Chosen? However, regardless of the Dao Chosen’s incredible strength, it should be impossible for there to be survivors from the Heavens Sect era within every age range. There had to be people from the Perennial World who did not match the ages of the geniuses from the ancient era. They refused to believe that the people of the Perennial World could not measure up to their peers in the Fifth Mainland.

After Bai Qi returned to the Perennial World, the four ruling powers would send people of every conceivable age into the Fifth Mainland. Would they really be able to stop all of the Perennial World’s people?

Given the strength of the Fifth Mainland, it was impossible for them to completely block everyone from the Perennial World, but there was also nothing that prevented Chu Yuan and the others from crossing realms and challenging their seniors. Chu Yuan was strong enough to stop even four and five-tribulation Envoys.

***

On the fourth array base on the rear battlefield, Lu Yin was feeling quite frustrated as he lowered his arm. He had just rolled his die, but even with four rolls, he had not managed to get even one Possession. Still, he had rolled Timestop once, and he had spent nearly a year practicing the Cosmic Art.

At this point, Lu Yin needed to wait ten days before rolling again.

Lu Yin had no idea if he could Possess another Array Grandmaster, but he felt that it was highly unlikely. It all depended on luck, and that was not much to rely on.

In the past, Lu Yin had wanted to Possess someone from Star Alliance so that he could remove all of their restrictions at once, but that Possession had never happened. This showed what would happen when relying on luck.

Actually, are there any cultivators with an innate gift that affects luck? Lu Yin wondered.

Ten days passed, and Lu Yin lifted his head to resume rolling his die.

It slowly came to a stop after spinning. Five pips.

Seeing the five pips, Lu Yin was just about to re-roll the die, but then he suddenly remembered that he was on the fourth array base, surrounded by countless cultivators.

With that, Lu Yin’s first thought was Jiu Yao.

Hen Xin had no innate gift. In fact, there was not a single member of Team Resolution with any sort of background or innate gift. It seemed to Lu Yin that Arch-Elder Zen also lacked an innate gift, as Lu Yin had never seen the old man use anything like it. No, the only reliable option was Jiu Yao.

Once again, it all came down to luck. Besides, it would be a waste of a roll if Lu Yin did not try to take advantage of it somehow.

Lu Yin vanished, and he instantly appeared on the active battlefield. At the moment, Jiu Yao was standing next to Hen Xin, and the two Semi-Progenitors were staring out at an endless sea of corpse kings in the distance.

Suddenly, they both felt something. Lu Yin's abrupt appearance startled the two men, and they nearly attacked him.

Lu Yin patted Jiu Yao's shoulder with a hand. "I didn’t bring you here to the front lines to watch the fun, but to help with the fighting."

With that, the young man disappeared.

After Lu Yin was gone, Jiu Yao finally reacted, though only by turning around and directing a blank stare towards Hen Xin. The other man was also staring at Jiu Yao. Neither of them could understand what had just happened.

Lu Yin returned to the headquarters and lifted his hand. He found a new symbol on the side of his die that normally showed five pips. It was an image that looked like a brain, which surprised Lu Yin. Just what was Jiu Yao's innate gift? Why would it be represented by such an image?

After considering the matter for a moment, Lu Yin set it aside while making a mental note to ask about the matter after returning to the Fifth Mainland.

With that, he tapped the die again. He needed to continue rolling.