Chapter 2747: One's Choices

Lu Yin had no need for Semi-Progenitor level power vessels, or even Progenitor-level power vessels. After all, he had his slipper, which made anything else worthless to him.

Lu Yin already knew that Aeternus would not touch him, and he was already as protected as he could be with the power vessels that he owned. It was better to just ask to be rewarded with money, and star essence would be ideal. With that, he would be able to use Possession freely whenever he visited the Cyclic Universe. Maybe he would even be able to learn the secrets of that universe.

With enough money, Lu Yin could even Possess Sovereign Shao Yin himself and force the man to commit suicide, which would be perfect.

Resources from the other members of the Sixverse Association could be used to replenish or strengthen the energies in the power system within Lu Yin’s chest. The budding trees along the river that divided the continent of fatesand would grow stronger and taller if they received the corresponding energy.

Mister Mu had not forbidden Lu Yin from continuing down his path, and if there was no one who could guide him, then he would simply need to forge his own path.

In fact, the best option would be stellular essence, but that resource was too delicate. In fact, after Lu Yin had learned a bit more about the Cyclic Universe, he started questioning whether they possessed anything similar to the Mother Tree that could produce stellular essence in that universe.

With this, Sage Bodhi would understand that, when Lu Yin had mentioned money, he was truly referring to the most common resource in existence: money. Nothing more than material wealth.

The woman’s expression changed, and many of the other women in Wuju were similarly surprised. This was the first time they had ever seen such a reaction from Sage Bodhi. She had witnessed the Endless Frontier encounter crises and watched multiple peak powerhouses fall, but she had never reacted in such a manner.

Just who was this Lu Yin that he could produce such a strong reaction from Sage Bodhi?

"I understand. In that case..." Sage Bodhi thought for a bit. How should she know how much an Ascendant was worth? "500 million. I can give you 500 million star essence."

Lu Yin was stunned.

So much?

He had thought that a reward of 200 million would be pretty decent. After all, the Sixverse Association had many cultivators at the Semi-Progenitor level.

Sage Bodhi oversaw the entire Endless Frontier, which meant that she was aware of an even greater number of Semi-Progenitor-level cultivators.

Thus, Lu Yin genuinely had not expected such a generous reward.

If he were still in the Fifth Mainland, back when he had first started cultivating, Lu Yin would not think that 500 million star essence was a high price for the life of a Semi-Progenitor. After all, even the Daynight clan had possessed that much wealth, while at that time, there had only been seven Semi-Progenitors in the entire Fifth Mainland.

However, that had been the Fifth Mainland, not the Sixverse Association, much less the Endless Frontier.

While it could not be said that there were Semi-Progenitor level experts everywhere in the Endless Frontier, at the very least, there were experts at that level of strength in every single parallel universe. Even the Lilliput Universe, which Cang Bi had regarded as a safe universe, had Semi-Progenitor-level cultivators, and more than one such expert at that.

The idea that he could be rewarded with 500 million star essence made Lu Yin very excited. If he could obtain similar funds for every Semi-Progenitor-level corpse king he killed...

Ten would not be difficult, and even 100 was not impossible for Lu Yin, provided he remained on the Endless Frontier long enough.

That thought suddenly reminded him that he owed the New Inn the lives of four Semi-Progenitor-level corpse kings.

"I’ll take it: 500 million star essence," Lu Yin replied, feeling a bit impatient.

Sage Bodhi was completely unconcerned. She had never bothered herself with resources. Even when she had first started cultivating, her master had been one of the Nine Sages, and thus she had never experienced a lack of resources. She had no idea how much 500 million star essence actually was. In addition to that, as the commander of the Endless Frontier, the expenditures that she overheard were always in the hundreds of millions.

"Now, choose the peak powerhouse you wish to be forbidden from attacking you or those you choose."

Sage Bodhi said nothing more about the money that Lu Yin had been rewarded, and instead sent a list of five names: Sage Yuan, Sage Stone, Cong Si, Xu Leng, Shan Yan.

The first name on the list was Sage Yuan.

It was impossible for Sage Bodhi to not know about Sage Yuan’s grudges with Lu Yin, and yet she had still put his name on the list for Lu Yin. What was she trying to do?

If there was a desire to prevent Sage Yuan from attacking Lu Yin, then why put his name on the list? Why not simply order the Sage directly?

Next was Sage Stone. The previous Sage Stone had died and had already been replaced. Lu Yin had no idea who the new Sage Stone Was, and even Shi Jiao had mentioned that she did not know who the new Sage was.

Lu Yin really wanted to ask about the identity of the new Sage Stone, but that question would reveal that he possessed extensive knowledge of the Sixverse Association, which meant that he absolutely could not ask that question.

Cong Si? Lu Yin had never heard the name before, and he did not even know which universe the powerhouse was from.

Lu Yin just glanced at Xu Ling’s name, as he was extremely familiar with the woman.

Shan Yan... The surname indicated that they were a powerhouse from the Lost Clan, as all peak powerhouses from the Lost Clan would adopt the Shan surname upon reaching that level. It was also highly unlikely that any of the Lost Clan’s powerhouses would be Lu Yin’s enemies.

"Can you give me some information about these people?" Lu Yin asked.

Sage Bodhi adjusted her hat. Lu Yin had not immediately chosen Sage Yuan. Did he not care about the Sage? Still...

"No comment. Make your choice on your own."

Lu Yin thought for a while. "Whoever I choose cannot attack me or target me in any way, but what about me? Can I attack them?"

"Yes, but the moment you do, the restrictions will be negated, and the person will be able to retaliate and take whatever action they wish," Sage Bodhi replied.

Lu Yin no longer hesitated. "I choose Sage Yuan."

If he would also be forbidden from attacking the person whom he selected, then there was no way that Lu Yin would ever choose Sage Yuan. Lu Yin was determined to kill Sage Yuan himself.

However, since there was nothing stopping Lu Yin from attacking Sage Yuan, there was no reason not to select the man.

In the end, Lu Yin chose Sage Yuan out of fear that the man would attack the Origin Universe in some convoluted manner while Lu Yin was absent.

From what Lu Yin had learned from Sage Bodhi, the requests were acknowledged and enforced by the Great Sovereign himself. So unless Sage Yuan was willing to endure the Lament of the Sages, he would never dare to move against Lu Yin or anyone from the Origin Universe.

Sage Bodhi was not surprised, as she was aware of Sage Yuan’s grudge against Lu Yin. There was no one else that Lu Yin would choose from the list.

However, Lu Yin’s few questions also made it obvious that he had no intention of ever allowing Sage Yuan to go either.

"Make sure you specify who you want to be protected," Sage Bodhi replied.

Lu Yin instantly sent a single response back: Origin Universe.

Sage Bodhi was speechless. This was a rather excessive request, and it even included the four ruling powers.

"I will inform Sage Yuan. From the moment he receives the notification, he will not be allowed to do anything at all to the Origin Universe, including ordering actions to be taken indirectly, inciting hatred against them, etc. If anything is discovered, Master will personally take action. You can rest assured that this will be enforced, Dao Monarch Lu."

Lu Yin smiled. "I would love to see Sage Yuan's expression when he hears the news."

Sage Bodhi looked up. Actually, she also wanted to see that reaction, so she decided to personally deliver the news.

"With the Progenitor-level corpse king dealt with, do you intend to purge the Big Stone Universe, Dao Monarch Lu?" Sage Bodhi asked.

Lu Yin nodded. "Of course. I want to leave the Endless Frontier quickly. Sage Bodhi, I’m not sure when I will speak with you next."

"It might be during Master’s tea ceremony, as you will certainly be invited," Sage Bodhi replied.

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. Would Sage Bodhi also be attending the Great Sovereign’s tea ceremony? Lu Yin was already looking forward to that event, as he was personally going to kill that old dog Sage Yuan during the event.

...

Ten days later, Lu Yin stood in outer space, staring off into the distance.

Most of the Big Stone Universe had already been purged, and it was just a matter of days before it became official.

Once the Progenitor-level opponents were gone, Lu Yin had an even easier time purging the Big Stone Universe than he had in the Gemini Universe. Due to the unique characteristics of the Gemini Iniverse, there had been a shocking number of corpse kings there, which had complicated things. Meanwhile, the greatest obstacle in the Big Stone Universe had been the Aeternals’ Progenitor-level forces.

Lu Yin refused to rest, as he wanted to fully purge the Big Stone Universe as quickly as possible, and have it officially recognized.

Aeternus had sent two Progenitor-level monsters to the Big Stone Universe, which meant that they would not abandon the universe. There was a good chance that another powerful corpse king would soon arrive.

Wait...

Lu Yin suddenly felt that something was wrong, and he turned to look in the direction of the Big Stone Empire.

No matter how he looked at the current situation, things were not quite right.

If Lu Yin had realized that the Aeternals would not be willing to abandon the Big Stone Universe, then how could the emperor of the Big Stone Empire have not realized the same thing? If the man had realized that Aeternus would return in force, then why was he encouraging Lu Yin to purge Aeternus from the universe? The next powerhouse sent by the Aeternals might not be the camphor bug, and it might not even be something that the bestowal art carrier could keep occupied. This meant that the peace that the universe had enjoyed during the recent stalemate would completely disappear.

That consequently meant that the war in the Big Stone Universe would become far more brutal than ever before.

If all of that was accurate, then why was the emperor so happy?

Was it really just because the Aeternals were being defeated?

The Aeternals were highly intelligent, and they also did not care about winning or losing a single location, which was no different from humanity.

If Lu Yin were the emperor of the Big Stone Empire, he would have preferred the camphor bug and the bestowal art carrier to tie each other down. That would greatly restrict the area in the universe that was impacted by the ongoing war, while also creating a stable situation. Of course, the Progenitor-level corpse king had been outside of any such balance, which meant that its presence had disrupted the situation.

If Lu Yin ruled the Big Stone Universe, he would have made sure that the Progenitor-level corpse king was eliminated, and not the camphor bug.

What was going on with the emperor’s current behavior?

After a while, Lu Yin stopped thinking about the matter. Regardless of the theories he came up with, as long as just a few more days passed, the Big Stone Universe would be officially purged, and then it would be time for Lu Yin to leave the Endless Frontier.

During his time as Xuan Qi, Lu Yin had constantly heard about how cruel the Endless Frontier was, and it was absolutely true. However, it was also evident to Lu Yin that the Sixverse Association was not putting forth its best efforts.

Sage Yuan and Sovereign Shao Yin were allowed to freely roam about as though they had no responsibilities. After drafting Progenitors from the four ruling powers, the Sixverse Association would undoubtedly pull more peak powerhouses away from the frontlines. It was clear that the Endless Frontier could be fully resolved by the Sixverse Association, which meant that Lu Yin did not need to be concerned about the situation of the war and could instead worry about his own problems.

While the behavior of the emperor was suspicious, Lu Yin did not believe that the man was a spy for Aeternus or some sort of traitor. As long as the man was not cooperating with Aeternus to undermine humanity, Lu Yin would not care about whatever the man was scheming.

In a distant universe on the Endless Frontier, Sage Bodhi found Sage Yuan.

The man had been sent to the Endless Frontier now, and things had not been easy for him.

Lu Yin had been allowed to choose which parallel universe he was sent to, but Sage Yuan was not given that privilege. This was not because the Great Sovereign had deliberately made things difficult for Sage Yuan, but rather because of a standard rule of the Endless Frontier: any peak powerhouse who was punished by the Great Sovereign would be sent to the place on the Endless Frontier where the fighting was fiercest, and this particularly applied to the Nine Sages.

At the moment, Sage Yuan was in a very pathetic-looking condition. Blood stained his abdomen, and he had clearly been badly injured. He appeared frustrated and seemed as though he was restraining himself, much like a suppressed volcano about to erupt.

It was only because Sage Bodhi was delivering a message that Sage Yuan had been temporarily allowed to step away from the battlefield.

The man’s cold eyes drifted back towards the battlefield. Even someone as powerful as Sage Yuan had fear in his eyes. He needed to find a way to get away from the battlefield, or else he would certainly die.

These damned monsters.

"What's the matter?" Sage Yuan asked when he looked back at the display.

"Lu Yin is in the Big Stone Universe."

Sage Yuan's eyes flashed with a dangerous glint.

Lu Yin, that little shit, that vile little beast! If not for him, why would I be forced onto the Endless Frontier?

Given Sage Yuan’s relationship with Sovereign Shao Yin, he had earned enough merit to avoid the Endless Frontier for a very long time, but because of Lu Yin, Sage Yuan had been forced back early.

The Origin Universe had been a weak and quiet place for so long, so why could it not be left to Luo Shan or the four ruling powers? Why did a little beast have the guts to disrespect him, Sage Yuan?

That animal had to be taught a lesson. Not just Lu Yin himself, but everyone close to him! His friends, family, and everyone with any connection to him had to pay the price. Sage Yuan would make a river of blood that flowed through the Origin Universe.

Not only that, but Lu Yin also needed to be forced to watch everyone else die! He needed to watch as the last remnants of his Lu family were slaughtered and the Lu family defamed as the greatest sinners in human history. That was the fate awaiting Lu Yin for offending Sage Yuan!

The Sage had already planned out what he would do. Given his own status, as well as his relationship with Sovereign Shao Yin, Sage Yuan would join forces with the Three Monarchs Universe and throw their full support behind the four ruling powers to eliminate the Heavens Sect. As long as the war was between people of the Origin Universe, joining one side or another could not be considered interference.

As for the Endless Frontier, while it was a cruel place to be, Sage Yuan was confident in surviving, as long as he did not end up in a fight against some absolute monster.