Chapter 2958: Skydog

There was a tall temple in the furthest depths of the Scourge. It stood beneath the black Mother Tree, beneath where the waterfall of divine energy fell. The building was solemn, majestic, and surrounded by red stars. The waterfall of divine energy swept over the entire temple, as it actually stood within the waterfall.

For the first time, Lu Yin was close to the black Mother Tree. He had moved past the Seven Skygods’ towers and entered the deepest regions of the Scourge.

This huge temple was no smaller than the main gate of the Heavens Sect. Behind the temple stood a statue that was set within the Mother Tree itself. It depicted the True God.

Lu Yin observed the massive temple before him as divine energy washed over him. He could not ignore the enormous True God statue that stood behind the temple, as the closer he approached, the more he seemed to sense the True God’s actual power.

Even with Lu Yin’s level of strength and status as the ruler of the Origin Universe, he still felt pressured. This was not merely the True God’s pressure, as there was also pressure from the presence of the Scourge, the black Mother Tree, and all of Aeternus.

As Lu Yin stared at the statue, everything around him fell dark. All that remained in the dark space was him and the statue.

There was a booming roar of evening drums and morning bells, and Lu Yin felt forced to bend beneath the tremendous pressure. He wanted to bow to this statue. No, he had to bow to the statue.

Lu Yin's vision doubled, and his head felt as if it were about to explode, but what of it? He had felt the same sensation when he anointed the Cyclops King as a champion. Lu Yin had already overcome such sensations before.

He did not want to bow to the True God, and that determination allowed Lu Yin to endure.

The divine energy within his body surged and boiled, trying to find release. Lu Yin suddenly looked up and stared at the statue of the True God. As he did so, a hand fell on his shoulder, instantly suppressing the divine energy and giving Lu Yin a refreshing sensation.

His expression changed and he slowly turned his head.

He found Progenitor Xi smiling at him.

Lu Yin's pupils flickered and he commented in Ye Bo’s hoarse voice, "My divine energy went out of control."

Progenitor Xi complimented him, "You were just inspired by the True God. He must like you a great deal."

Lu Yin blinked. Was that really the case?

A short distance away, Yu Huo was shocked. "Ye Bo, how long have you been in the Scourge for? How have you already gathered so much divine energy? When I first visited this temple, I instantly fell to my knees."

Lu Yin's eyes flashed. Kneel? He would rather run away.

Progenitor Xi pulled her hand back. "When any creature faces the statue of the True God for the first time, as long as they do not have enough divine energy to protect themselves, they will be forced to their knees. Only once a sufficient amount of the divine energy has been gathered can one face the statue directly. This is a privilege granted by the True God. You and the other captains are capable of doing this, and since Ye Bo is capable of it, he is qualified to be a captain as well.”

Yu Huo exclaimed, "The first time he used divine energy, it went very smoothly. I knew then that Ye Bo is incredibly talented at cultivating divine energy, but I still underestimated him. Just a bit more than a year of cultivating has allowed him to catch up to all of our years of hard work. Ye Bo, you might also be able to compete to be one of the Seven Skygods."

Lu Yin arched a brow. "Really?"

"Don't listen to his nonsense. The Seven Skygods possess a level of strength far beyond what we can even comprehend. That’s not something that just divine energy alone can compensate for," the Chiliagonist said as he arrived.

Yu Huo responded with an odd smile, "You’re only saying that because you don’t understand how high Ye Bo’s affinity for divine energy is. Just wait—as long as one of the Seven Skygods’ seats opens up in a thousand years, he will definitely be able to compete for it."

The Chiliagonist shrugged and walked into the temple on his own.

Progenitor Xi stepped forward. "Let's go."

Lu Yin looked back up and stared at the statue of the True God again. This second time, he no longer felt the same pressure as before. Was it really because of the divine energy in his body?

As he stepped into the temple, the roaring sound from the waterfall of divine energy falling outside of the temple was cut off, despite the deafening sound outside the temple.

The temple was dark, and the floor was dark red. As they moved further in, there were lit candles, and their light spread into the distance.

There were other people inside, and Lu Yin glanced at Yu Huo, who was the closest to him. Next was the Chiliagonist, whom he also knew. Farther away, the candlelight revealed Zhong Pan standing quietly. Across from him was a stone. A face had been painted on the stone in black, but it looked like nothing more than a simple stone. On their way to the temple, Yu Huo had explained that this strange being was known as Stone Ghost.

Further in, Da Hei was leaning against the wall in a corner.

The candlelight also illuminated a woman with long pink hair. She raised a hand to block the light. "Are you here already? I wanted to play hide-and-seek with my brother."

Lu Yin stared at the woman. She was quite beautiful, but there was something childish about her appearance. As Lu Yin looked at her, he saw mischievousness and cunning in her eyes.

A hand fell onto the woman's shoulder. "Don't misbehave. There’s business to be done."

The candlelight spread further and revealed the handsome face of a man with short-cropped blue hair. He was wearing a long robe, and there was a long sword at his waist. He looked as though he had just stepped out of a painting.

The man met Lu Yin's gaze and smiled. "You must be Ye Bo. This is our first time meeting. I am Dual Bladeform."

Dual Bladeform was not one person, but two. The man and the woman combined served as one of the True God Guard Captains.

They were a very strange pair, as they were not people, but rather knives, knives that had taken on human form.

"Hey! My brother just said hello to you, and you didn't even respond! How rude!" The pink-haired woman was quite irritated, and she glared at Lu Yin.

The blue-haired man rubbed the woman's head. "Don't shout. This place is peaceful."

"Who's still missing?" Progenitor Xi asked as she stepped forward and looked around at everyone.

The Chiliagonist replied, "Boss isn’t here."

Lu Yin's eyes moved. The True God Guard Captains were all regarded as equals, but Yu Huo had mentioned that they recognized one of the captains as their boss. He was the strongest, and he was known as Skydog.

Yu Huo had not mentioned any details. Instead, he had simply said that, even if all the other captains joined forces, they would not be able to defeat Skydog.

This comment had left Lu Yin quite concerned. Even sequence powerhouses could not ignore an attack from nine True God Guard Captains. All of them were powerful experts who had divine energy, which allowed them to handle sequence particles. On top of being able to block sequence particles, the captains were also individually very powerful, and they had unique innate gifts.

Even so, Skydog had succeeded in cowing all the other captains. Lu Yin believed that this Skydog had to be nearly as powerful as one of the Seven Skygods.

"Last again? He’s always so slow, despite having two more legs than the rest of us," the pink-haired woman complained.

Yu Huo commented, "He’s probably looking for something to eat."

Lu Yin arched a brow. Looking for something to eat? Could this Skydog be a creature similar to a Taotie?

"Here he comes." Progenitor Xi looked into the distance.

Lu Yin stared outside of the temple. The leader of True God Guard Captains, Skydog, was undoubtedly a formidable enemy, and Lu Yin wanted to see this opponent for himself.

After they waited for some time, a figure slowly entered the temple. The candlelight caused the shadow to stretch out very long as the figure entered the temple.

Lu Yin stared at the door, very solemn, but once he actually saw the figure clearly, Lu Yin’s expression changed drastically. He stared, dumbfounded. Was this really Skydog?

At the temple entrance, a short, half-meter-long white dog walked in. His tongue was hanging out, and he panted as he walked. His tongue hung so low that it was practically licking the ground. His feet were a bit unsteady, and his belly was round and swollen.

Lu Yin was stunned. Whose pet dog had been released into the Scourge?

"Wow, Boss! You’re so cute!" The pink-haired woman leaped forward and hugged the little white dog.

The beast was frightened, and it fled from the woman. She chased after it. "Boss! Let me hug you! I just want to give you a hug."

"Woof!"

Lu Yin's face twitched. That one bark shattered all his impressions.

After Skydog arrived, the atmosphere of the entire temple changed. The pink-haired woman chased after the dog, who kept on barking at her as he ran away. Yu Huo and the other captains were used to this sort of behavior, and they watched on calmly.

Even Progenitor Xi watched with a smile.

The blue-haired man also moved to chase after the pink-haired woman. "Hurry up and get back here! Quit messing around! You’re going to anger the boss."

"Boss isn’t angry—he’s so cute! I just want to hold him, hahahaha!"

"Woof!"

The farce continued for some time before it finally stopped.

The pink-haired woman never managed to grab Skydog. The dog hid behind Progenitor Xi, and the pink-haired woman did not dare to act recklessly around Progenitor Xi. The woman could only stare at Skydog, eager and ready to continue the chase at any moment.

Skydog's ears drooped, and his tongue hung out further than before. The dog looked exhausted.

"Alright, all of the captains have arrived. I want to explain something to everyone," Progenitor Xi announced. As soon as she spoke, everyone's expressions changed, and they grew solemn as they stared at her.

Progenitor Xi glanced around. "Of the True God Guard Captains, Ju Ji and Greenridge have both been confirmed dead. Chong Gui was part of the attack on the Heavens Sect, and no one knows if he’s alive or dead. That means that three captains are currently missing. This is Ye Bo, who is a new captain."

All the True God Guard Captains turned to look at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin was still staring at Skydog. When Progenitor Xi introduced Ye Bo, Skydog had glanced over. The dog’s eyes were round and bright, making him look like a cute and well-behaved dog. Seeing the tongue lolling out and the belly nearly scraping the ground, Lu Yin simply could not connect the animal that he was looking at with the boss of the True God Guard Captains.

Could this cute little dog really defeat all of the other captains together?

The man and the dog stared at each other, and there was only silence for some time. Finally, the dog got to his feet and slowly walked over to Lu Yin.

Progenitor Xi and others all just watched. Skydog was the boss of the True God Guard Captains. If he did not agree with Ye Bo becoming a captain, then nothing that anyone else said would matter, not even Progenitor Xi.

Skydog had a quite special status.

As everyone watched, Skydog walked over to Ye Bo and looked up at him.

Lu Yin looked down at Skydog. Should he squat down and pet the dog’s head?

“Woof!”

Skydog barked again and then circled Lu Yin. Once the dog was behind Lu Yin’s left leg, he raised a leg and peed.

Lu Yin's expression changed, and he nearly kicked the beast away.

"Congratulations. Skydog has recognized you and left his scent on you," Progenitor Xi said with a smile.

Lu Yin swallowed. He stared at Skydog as the god wandered back towards Progenitor Xi. After that, Lu Yin looked down at his own legs. He had just been pissed on by a dog.

A feud had just been ignited.

“Woof!”

Skydog barked again, drawing everyone's attention.

Progenitor Xi glanced around again. "There are still two captains who need to be appointed, so I hope that you can recommend some decent candidates. That is why I’ve gathered you here today. Ye Bo, as of today, you are officially one of the True God Guard Captains. Within three years, you will be assigned ten corpse kings. I hope that you will use them well to eliminate Aeternus’s powerful enemies and help unite all universes beneath us."

Lu Yin's expression changed. "Ye Bo will follow your orders."

“Woof!”

Lu Yin's face twitched. It was hard to take this barking seriously.

...

Stars shattered as spatial cracks spread into the distance.

Lu Yin was standing tall in outer space, five Progenitor-level corpse kings behind him. Before them was an endless swarm of weird bugs.

They were in another parallel universe. Ye Bo had been given a mission to destroy this universe.

The occupants of this particular parallel universe were all bugs. There were no other creatures to be found at all. While some of the bugs had the strength of a Progenitor, they were odd lifeforms that lacked sapience even at that level. There were also a tremendous number of Progenitor-level bugs.

Fortunately, the creatures had no intelligence, so Lu Yin was able to wipe them out even while controlling the corpse kings.