Chapter 2412: The Progenitor Of Secret Arts

Yi Ren’s expression grew serious as he stared at the jiao. Slowly, he released the aura of a Progenitor, and it spread out from beneath the Aeternus Kingdom to eventually encompass the entire Starfall Sea.

The man had already recognized Lu Yin. The young man was the rival of his disciple, and the two had previously competed. How had Lu Yin become capable of riding atop that enormous, Progenitor-level beast’s head?

A four-tribulation Envoy was riding a Progenitor-level creature. It was hard to believe without seeing it personally, but that was exactly the scene before Yi Ren. Lu Yin was arrogantly provoking a Progenitor while standing atop the jiao’s head.

The strength of the jiao left Yi Ren nervous. The only other beings he had ever felt such majestic power from were the Seven Skygods themselves. He was rather hesitant to step out.

Xia Shang’s blade had broken Yi Ren’s Progenitor’s world, which was the disk that he had used to attack. After that, when Yi Ren had tried to force his way into the Fifth Mainland, he had been attacked by that man, and half of the Progenitor’s body had been crushed. Subsequently, he was suffering from a bit of psychological trauma.

He brought out a scarlet eye and attempted to get in contact with the Seven Skygods, but he failed to connect to anyone. What was going on? What were the Seven Skygods doing?

“Yi Ren, you traitor! Get out right now!” Lu Yin’s stern shout rang out again. As the jiao moved closer, its body cast a dark shadow over the entire Aeternus Kingdom which had previously been the Sea King’s Dome. The beast’s overwhelming might left the people below it quivering.

The Progenitor realm was the peak of cultivation. Countless people had dreamed of becoming a Progenitor, only to fail. There were many more who had never even dared to dream of reaching such heights, but at this moment, their Progenitor was actually hiding while Lu Yin hurled insults at him. The scene left Yang Yi and many others completely speechless.

“Yi Ren, you’ll be the shame of all Progenitors if you refuse to get out!” Lu Yin continued to antagonize the Progenitor of Secret Arts. Purplish-black battle force covered Lu Yin’s body, and the Champions’ Stage floated behind him. His appearance atop the jiao was that of someone who should not be trifled with.

Bu Kong’s mouth fell open. How had such a massive gap opened between them? They had both possessed the same level of strength just a short time ago and had been competing, but was Lu Yin already qualified to challenge his master?

Deep underground, Yi Ren continued his attempts to connect with the Seven Skygods. He was not afraid of Lu Yin, but he was very intimidated by the jiao, as well as Xia Shang, who was still hiding in the Fifth Mainland. Yi Ren was absolutely terrified of that man.

With a junior boldly insulting him from the sky above, Yi Ren started to grow anxious. Something had to have happened.

Lu Yin started observing the ground beneath the Aeternus Kingdom. The Progenitor of Secret Arts was more of a coward than Lu Yin’s expectations. Even after he had spent so much time humiliating the man, the Progenitor was still afraid to show himself. Since when were Progenitors so weak-willed?

Although the Progenitor of Secret Arts did not emerge, Lu Yin also did not try to go underground and search for the man. Lu Yin was worried that there might be some sort of trap waiting for him down below. As for the battlefield, things had reached a stalemate for the moment.

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Far away, at the entrance to the Starfall Sea, Hai Feng and Hai Dashao relentlessly fought against the corpse kings with Elder He supporting them from behind. All the three men wanted nothing more than to rush to the Sea King’s Dome and reclaim their home.

After decades, they had finally caught a glimpse of hope.

“Little Feng, Little Shao, there’s no need to rush. We will definitely take back the Sea King’s Dome. Don’t get separated from me,” Elder He worriedly called out. Hai Feng and Hai Dashao were right at the edge of the Envoy’s line of sight. While he also wanted to rush to the Sea king’s Dome, he was a node, and he needed to stay behind to maintain a connection between all the cultivators within a million miles of his location. He could not afford to move further ahead.

Hai Dashao fell back, following the path indicated by an arrow that appeared in his lens. In the place where he had been standing just seconds before, layers of the void shattered from the aftershock of powerful, distant attacks that were not even aimed at the man. If he had not followed the instructions provided by the Battlefield Navigation System, he would have been forced to suffer the full force of the damage with his body.

Attacks always filled an entire battlefield, and it was common for people to die without even knowing how they died or who had killed them.

However, with the Battlefield Navigation System in place, the human armies were able to receive advance notice regarding incoming attacks, which provided them with a great deal of confidence and assurance. Each person felt as though they were being directly guided by someone far above who was able to analyze the entire battlefield and give appropriate commands.

Even Envoys and Semi-Progenitors were shocked by the system’s utility, despite the fact that it was much less useful to individuals at their level.

Envoys and Semi-Progenitors used different techniques from regular cultivators. The Battlefield Navigation System needed further upgrades before it could offer the same degree of assistance to more powerful cultivators.

Even given the current abilities of the system, its performance was outstanding. The damage and casualty rate that the human forces were suffering were extremely low, both for combatants and for the battleships.

Chu Yuan, Heluo Mavis, Sky Garan, and many others were stunned by humanity’s progress. While the Heavens Sect era represented the pinnacle of human civilization that had featured more than tens of thousands of different races and cultures, in some ways, the modern era was no less impressive. They had learned about miracles such as Progenitor Chen, Progenitor Ku, the Rune Progenitor, and many others who had been born after the Heavens Sect era. More recent inventions included microarray technology and the Battlefield Navigation System, both of which were in the process of transforming the way wars were fought. The quest for progress and innovation had remained constant throughout all of human history.

Even in the eyes of the people from the Heavens Sect era, the creativity of the modern era would have made the entire ancient society stare on, wide-eyed in awe.

Zi Jing was inside a vessel, observing the battlefield from outside the Starfall Sea, still within the Fifth Mainland. The attitude that humans held toward Aeternus had completely changed. Despair and the desperation to survive were completely gone, replaced by a burning anger and a fiery fighting spirit. Each movement that was made was more agile, more confident, and more precise than the ones before. This was the true capabilities of humanity.

“I just pray that it wasn’t a mistake to place all my hopes on you. I hope that you’re able to keep me safe,” Zi Jing murmured to herself. Although she was staring at the Starfall Sea, her mind was far from the battle.

Above the Aeternus Kingdom, Lu Yin’s spittle continued to fly as he came up with new lines to insult the hidden Progenitor. After some time, the Progenitor of Bloodlines caught up with Lu Yin and the jiao. Upon hearing the young man using all sorts of colorful language to try to draw Yi Ren out, the wounded Progenitor grew a bit pale. “Dao Chosen, let me try.”

Lu Yin agreed, and the Progenitor of Bloodlines stepped onto the jiao's back. "Despite being a Progenitor, he's too timid to come out and face me, even after I’ve been openly insulting him from here. Senior, could you tell me about the kind of person that Yi Ren is?”

Of the Sixth Mainland’s three Progenitors, the first that Lu Yin had personally met was the Progenitor of Combat, Jiu Xiang. When the Sixth Mainland had invaded the Fifth Mainland, Jiu Xiang had personally taken action, only to be forced to retreat by the Rune Progenitor’s remnant power.

The second was the Progenitor of Bloodlines. After Lu Yin had successfully passed his first stellular tribulation to become an Envoy, the Progenitor of Bloodlines had visited and spoken to Lu Yin in person.

As for the Progenitor of Secret Arts, Yi Ren, Lu Yin had never crossed paths with the man. This was primarily due to the fact that Yi Ren had betrayed humanity. Before that, there had never been any chances for the two to meet. Lu Yin had no knowledge regarding what kind of person Yi Ren was, and this was the closest that they had ever come to meeting each other.

The Progenitor of Bloodlines arrived at the top of the jiao’s head and then turned to stare at the Aeternus Kingdom. “Yi Ren, I’m here.”

Yi Ren's expression darkened after he saw the Progenitor of Bloodlines standing beside Lu Yin

“The Yi family once ruled over the Brahman Realm. Long ago, our Sixth Mainland warred against the Fifth Mainland. During the war, Xia Shang was killed, and entire generations of clans and families were wiped out. Yi Ren, do you still remember?” the Progenitor of Bloodlines asked.

Yi Ren’s expression turned ugly, and a cold glint flickered through his eyes.

"The Yi family may be gone, but our Sixth Mainland has not forgotten them. Thousands of families offered you food and shelter, and thousands more gave you resources and offered you cultivation arts. It was due to their help that you were able to develop your various secret techniques. Do you still remember who provided you with the tribulation crystals that allowed you to open your three meridian points? Or the person who gave you your Origin Matter?

“Do you remember what you once said? Your goal was to bring glory to the Yi family by taking back control of the Brahman Realm. You wanted to repay the Sixth Mainland and return all of the favors owed to those who had helped you. Have you forgotten all this?” the Progenitor of Bloodlines reprimanded.

Yi Ren lifted his head and said, "Xue Manzi, there's no need to bring up the past. I have already repaid the debts I owed."

"Which family does your disciple Bu Kong belong to?" asked the Progenitor of Bloodlines in a harsh tone.

Yi Ren’s entire body twitched.

Within Aeternus Nation, the words rang out like thunder in Bu Kong’s ears. Which family was he from? He was an orphan, no?

"He’s a member of the Heng family, which provided you with the tribulation crystals. However, they were completely wiped out while you were training in seclusion. After you managed to become a Progenitor, your first action was to avenge their destruction and eliminate all of their enemies’ families. It was at this time that you took in Bu Kong as your disciple. To cleanse his heart of all hatred, you kept him in cryostasis for several decades before allowing him to start cultivating. You devoted a significant amount of time and effort to train him, and yet you asked him to join you in betraying humanity. Additionally, there's Yang Yi, your eldest disciple. The Progenitor of the Yang family was the one who gave you your Origin Matter, but he was killed by Xia Shang. He left that Origin Matter for you, but you also convinced Yang Yi to accompany you when you betrayed humanity.

“Is this how you repay the Heng and Yang families? How will you ever manage to compare to Xia Shang when you are nothing more than an ungrateful traitor?” the Progenitor of Bloodlines yelled.

“Shut up!” Yi Ren roared.

The Progenitor of Bloodlines continued in the same stern tone. “I know that Yang Yi and Bu Kong are both in this Aeternus Kingdom right now. I dare you to look them in the eye and tell them how their ancestors helped you become the Progenitor you are, and yet how you’ve brought them to betray humanity with you, setting them up to become monsters. Go ahead, explain yourself to them.”

There was a deafening boom as the Aeternus Kingdom erupted and Yi Ren shot into the sky. His disk was launched towards the Progenitor of Bloodlines, accompanied by a shout. "I said, shut up!"

Lu Yin quickly pushed the Progenitor of Bloodlines out of the way, and the jiao raised its claws and slashed at the disk. There was a collision as the sound of screeching metal filled the air. The jiao’s strength was suddenly sapped away, and its power dropped. Even the size of its body seemed to reduce a bit.

“Be careful. He became a Progenitor through the Reversal Cycle technique, and that disk is his Progenitor’s world. It’s called the Reversal Disk, and it is able to revert his opponents’ power back to their childhood state,” the Progenitor of Bloodlines warned.

The jiao examined its bleeding claws in confusion.

The disk sliced through the void, shooting back towards them a second time. Wherever the disk passed by, it left behind an absolutely black nothingness. Lu Yin quickly summoned his champion, E Chi, and commanded him to attack the disk with his serrated blade. Another ear-splitting screech rang out as the two weapons clashed, releasing a shower of sparks. Then, the disk swept upwards, and E Chi was sliced in two. This was something that not even Bai Sheng had been able to accomplish. Not only was the edge of this disk honed to an unbelievable level of sharpness, but Yi Ren was also using Reversal Cycle.

This technique was very difficult to handle. However, as soon a flaw was discovered, exploiting it became quite straightforward.

Thankfully, Lu Yin had already encountered Reversal Cycle several times in the past. Bu Kong had been defeated by Lu Yin so many times that the former Daosource Three Skies no longer had the confidence to challenge Lu Yin.

There were two methods to defeat Reversal Cycle; one could either avoid the attack entirely, or one could erase its power. Lu Yin had had a tough time erasing Reversal Cycle with Truesight when he had fought against Bu Kong in the past, so he had chosen to either dodge the attacks or use another method to attack. However, at this moment, Lu Yin had access to Progenitor-level runes.

The disk once again streaked towards the jiao, but before it could strike, the jiao’s body recovered its original strength. Despite both of them possessing the strength of a Progenitor, the jiao was much more powerful than Yi Ren. Thus, Reversal Cycle was only able to affect the jiao for a short time before wearing off.

Realizing that the disk was capable of injuring it, the jiao made sure to avoid any further contact with the weapon.

Lu Yin left the jiao’s head. While the jiao exchanged blows with Yi Ren, Lu Yin covered the disk with multiple layers of Progenitor-level runes. Since it was impossible for Lu Yin to destroy the disk, he wanted to at least limit its movements.

Since the disk was Yi Ren’s Progenitor’s world, it acted as his main weapon and played a key role in almost all of his attacks. With the disk somewhat suppressed, the Progenitor immediately started to struggle. Moreover, his old injuries had weakened him to the point where even Bai Sheng would be a more challenging opponent.

Still, Progenitors stood at the pinnacle of cultivation, and there was a reason for this. Despite being unable to inflict any damage to the jiao, evading the beast’s attacks required no effort from Yi Ren.

“Let’s see how many of your men can survive my attacks!” Yi Ren threatened with a cold gleam in his eyes. The attacks from the disk never stopped, though the man himself started moving towards the entrance to the Starfall Sea.

Lu Yin could no longer remain calm. Yi Ren was planning to attack the Fifth Mainland’s forces, which left Lu Yin with no choice but to leave the Starfall Sea to stop the Progenitor.

There was no longer any reason for Lu Yin to hide his abilities, and he instantly started using Star Stomp. Yi Ren looked down in terror as the star beneath him suddenly shot upwards. Then, it exploded.

The blast’s overwhelming force left Yi Ren reeling backwards, and a crack appeared in the middle of his disk. In utter disbelief, he turned to stare at the man who had just unleashed such devastating power.

“I wasn’t planning on using Progenitor Chen’s power, but since you don’t have any intention of showing mercy to my people, then I’ll borrow his strength to send you on your way.” As Lu Yin spoke, more stars and planets throughout the Starfall Sea began to rise.

The Starfall Sea was part of the Human Domain, which meant that a number of the stars and planets in it were Progenitor Chen’s creations. Not one of the astrological bodies that Lu Yin detonated was home to any living creature. In fact, no living creature lived on any of the planets in the Starfall Sea, as Aeternus had moved all of them to either the Aeternus Kingdom or Grayweed Continent.