Chapter 2986: Parallel Time

"Given the Fifth Mainland’s history, my reputation is probably far more impressive than what you see before you," Progenitor Chen said with a small smile.

Lu Yin laughed. "History is nothing more than legends. A person’s reputation will be altered by others’ perception of them. No matter what, everyone’s still human."

"You are young but very open-minded. You shouldn’t be so mature. There are times when being impulsive isn’t a bad thing. It's exhausting to carry too many burdens on your own," Progenitor Chen said with a smile.

Lu Yin smiled back. "I thought that you were a serious person, Senior."

"I’m very serious when I fight."

"I hope that I’ll be able to see you emerge from Burial Garden one day, Senior," Lu Yin said.

Progenitor Chen's expression remained calm, though a hint of longing could be detected. "One day, I will create an invincible battle technique that will bring me closer to killing True God than anyone else."

Lu Yin was surprised. "Closer?"

Progenitor Chen continued to stare out at the lake. "I have spent all of these years in Burial Garden creating a battle technique that can kill True God. My forte is combat and creating battle techniques. Still, even after all these years, it is difficult to create something that can threaten True God. But while trying to create an invincible battle technique, I’ve managed to alter another technique. This might not mean anything to me, but it could be of help to you. Do you want to learn Inverse Step? "

"I have already learned Inverse Step."

"I’ve made some changes to it."

"I also learned some changes from Undying God."

"Undying God of the Seven Skygods? Right, when I first fought against him, he claimed to have created Inverse Step. He was able to skip time and fully restore himself with the use of Inverse Step. It was an impressive alteration of the technique. How is he?"

"Dead. We surrounded and killed him."

"Really?"

"I learned his version of Inverse Step, but I’m far from mastering it to the point of being able to skip time."

"He altered it to skip time, while I altered it to move parallel to time. You can also think of it as essentially freezing time."

Lu Yin went bug-eyed. "Time can be frozen?"

Progenitor Chen looked over. "Interested?"

Of course Lu Yin was interested. Every time Mister Mu appeared, time had stood still. Lu Yin had no idea how his master accomplished this effect, but Progenitor Chen had figured out a way to replicate this effect with Inverse Step. This was… Lu Yin did not know how to even describe it. Not even Undying God, who had created Inverse Step, could do such a thing with the technique.

Was it really accurate to simply say that Progenitor Chen was good at creating battle techniques?

Meeting Progenitor Chen was something that exceeded Lu Yin’s expectations, though the meeting was also proceeding along his expectations.

Progenitor Chen was easy to get along with. The Fifth Mainland had many legends of Progenitor Chen, but they were all related to battle and his victories. There was no mention of the man himself or his personality.

The only thing known about Progenitor Chen’s personality was the incident with Xia Qin. In order to get revenge on the Xia family, Progenitor Chen had instigated Xia Qin, forcing the Xia family to make a choice.

As another part of his revenge on the Xia family, Progenitor Chen had taken control of the Xia family’s Mountain and Sea, which was why Xia Shenji had never managed to become one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas.

These stories served as evidence that Progenitor Chen was someone who pursued revenge, which also suggested that he was not as magnanimous as people believed. After all, he was the one who had started the war between the Fifth and Sixth Mainlands.

However, this was a real person. Someone true and genuine.

Progenitor Chen had suffered persecutions and experiences that had pushed him bit by bit to the man he was now.

However, his purity had never changed. He had not betrayed humanity after being persecuted by the Xia family. He had not harmed the innocent. He had gotten revenge, but not complained or dragged others down. He had agreed to remain in Burial Garden because of Tombkeeper, never leaving despite the evident desire to do so.

While humanity had faced the threat of the Aeternals for countless years, Progenitor Chen had sat here quietly, contemplating and developing a battle technique that could change the situation. Not only that, but the man was also confident that he would succeed.

The man enjoyed helping his juniors as well, and given that Progenitor Chen liked Lu Yin, the man was willing to teach him without any reservation.

Progenitor Chen was in the purest sense a cultivator.

Two months later, Lu Yin prepared to leave. He had already mastered the alterations that Progenitor Chen had added to Inverse Step, though Lu Yin still needed a great deal of time to reach the level of mastery that would allow him to move parallel to time. It required the same level of mastery as skipping time.

Before Lu Yin left, he turned to face Progenitor Chen and offered a deep bow. "Throughout this junior’s entire journey of cultivation, I have received your favor, Senior. For that, I wish to express my thanks."

However, Progenitor Chen had already disappeared. All that Lu Yin received were a few words. "I am not that great. You’re the one who had the luck to obtain my techniques, which has nothing to do with me. On the day that I manage to create an invincible battle technique that can kill True God, who will worship me? I am willing to accept such gratitude then.”

Lu Yin stood back up, tore through the void, and left.

During his two months’ absence, nothing happened within the Heavens Sect, but there had been a great deal of news from the Sixverse Association.

Sovereign Lotus had cooperated with an outsider powerhouse to kill one of Aeternus’s outsider allies.

The Voidforce Universe’s Deepsea Region had been utterly destroyed, and Xiu Ci had been killed. Blood had washed the entire Deepsea Region, and the culprit was an outsider powerhouse by the name of Jing Zhe.

Jing Zhe had not only destroyed the Deepsea Region, but he had also announced that he had taken action because the Sixverse Association tried to deal with outsider powerhouses like them. If the Sixverse Association dared to target any more outsider powerhouses allied with Aeternus, they would retaliate by destroying a region within the Sixverse Association.

When Lu Yin heard about this, his expression turned sour.

"If the rulers of the Sixverse Association’s members universes weren’t in retreat, these outsider powerhouses would never dare to invade us!" Xu Leng visited the Heavens Sect, and her expression betrayed her fury.

"Sister Leng, I will ask Senior Xu Wuwei to go to your dual-colored mountains. With him there, you should be able to protect yourselves," Lu Yin offered. Xu Wuwei was a sequence powerhouse, and no matter how powerful the outsider powerhouses might be, they were unlikely to be as powerful as the rulers of the Sixverse Association’s member universes.

Xu Leng bitterly replied, "Jing Zhe has threatened the entire Voidforce Universe. Unless he is dealt with, it’s impossible for us to remain on guard all the time."

Lu Yin frowned. Jing Zhe was merely the first. If he was not dealt with, there would soon be a second and a third. Worst of all, even Astral Anura might appear, and no one would be able to stop that toad.

Lu Yin had chosen to ignore the Great Sovereign and intended to seize control of the entire Sixverse Association, but that also meant that he needed to be able to shoulder the corresponding responsibility.

Lu Yin had received a list of outsider powerhouses who were allied with Aeternus, and the intention behind that list was to have Lu Yin make sure that all those powerhouses were dealt with. They could not stop at this point in time.

Xu Leng left. She had only stopped by to ask for the Heavens Sect’s protection. Without that, the dual-colored mountains might become the next Deepsea Region.

Xu Leng had also made this trip without informing Xu Heng. Lu Yin understood her intentions, and he also did not want anything to happen to them.

Jing Zhe needed to be dealt with. No outsider powerhouse could be allowed to threaten the Sixverse Association, as it would only lead to additional problems in the future.

However, he first needed to learn more about Jing Zhe.

A few days later, Jiang Chen arrived at the Heavens Sect unannounced, which surprised Lu Yin.

"Why are you here?" Lu Yin was caught off guard by this visit. When Whitecloud had requested the Heavens Sect’s assistance, six powerhouses had been sent to fight against six of the Aeternals True God Guard Captains, which had prevented the Five Spirits Alliance and the Luna Alliance from being destroyed. At around the same time, the Great Sovereign had abruptly made a visit to the Scourge, which had put an end to the Aeternals’ war efforts for the time being. For the moment, Whitecloud only needed to deal with their own matters.

"Is it true that you’re asking for information about Jing Zhe?" Jiang Chen mentioned as he sat down.

Lu Yin's eyes lit up. "Do you know something?"

"My father does, so he sent me to share that with you," Jiang Chen replied.

Lu Yin's expression grew solemn. "The Lord of Lightning knows Jing Zhe?"

"They fought once. If the worm hadn't fled so quickly, my father would have killed it," Jiang Chen said with clear regret.

From Jiang Chen, Lu Yin was able to learn a bit more about Jing Zhe.

Jing Zhe was a worm. He was very powerful, but also extremely timid. The worm’s timidity allowed him to accomplish many things with impressive success. For example, his attack on the Deepsea Region had instantly startled the Sixverse Association and paralyzed the Cyclic Universe, preventing them from going after any more outsider powerhouses.

When Lu Yin saw the picture of Jing Zhe that Jiang Chen drew, Lu Yin remembered that, when he had been captured by the Great Sovereign and dragged to the Scourge, this worm had been among the summoned powerhouses that the Aeternals had called upon for help.

"This guy is incredibly greedy, but he is also a bigger coward than anyone else. If he hadn’t managed to scare the Sixverse Association with his attack, he would have instantly fled. As soon as this matter is finished, Jing Zhe will go into hiding, and not even the Aeternals will be able to find him. If you want to get rid of him, you need to create an opportunity for him to take advantage of, or else you’ll never have any chance at all," Jiang Chen explained.

"He’s promised to destroy another one of the Sixverse Association’s parallel universes," Lu Yin replied.

Jiang Chen was openly contemptuous. "Nothing but a show. He just wants to scare you. If he can do it, it’s best for him, and if he can’t, then he’ll just run away. He’s literally a worm, so do you expect him to have any sort of self respect?"

After thinking about things for a moment, Lu Yin felt this was an accurate assessment. He continued to consider the matter. "So, how can we create an opening for him to attack us again?"

Jiang Chen shared what he knew about Jing Zhe's habits. The worm had not randomly chosen to attack the Deepsea Region. Rather, the Deepsea Region was an environment that perfectly suited the worm, which let him feel confident. In the future, as long as Jing Zhe could find another suitable location to attack, he would do so as soon as the Cyclic Universe took action against another outsider powerhouse.

Of course, they would only have a single chance to deal with the worm. If he escaped, it would be impossible to find him again.

Lu Yin immediately sent a request to the Sixverse Association to have people secretly search for a location that was similar to the Deepsea Region. Simultaneously, he asked the Cyclic Universe to pause their activities.

"Thank you. Without this information that you’ve provided, I really would have had no idea how to deal with the worm," Lu Yin said.

Jiang Chen casually replied, "I'm sure that you’ll be able to deal with him. Jing Zhe isn’t actually that strong. He can’t compare to Astral Anura, let alone the Ancient Lightning Locust."

"The Ancient Lightning Locust? Is that the name of the old enemy the Lord of Lightning is currently dealing with?" Lu Yin asked.

Jiang Chen was clearly frustrated. "Yes. If not for that bug, my father would have definitely joined you in invading the Scourge a second time. Regardless of whether he survived or not, he would happily join the attack. Unfortunately, the Ancient Lightning Locust is his natural counter."

"What's going on?" Lu Yin was curious.

Jiang Chen rubbed his head and shared about the grudge between the Ancient Lightning Locust and the Lord of Lightning.

The Lord of Lightning was capable of absorbing the power of lightning through touch. Jiang Chen did not hide his ability, and he had accomplished this through the power of a black bead.

The Ancient Lightning Locust was a creature that cultivated the Law of Lightning, and it had a powerful instinct to devour lightning.

If the two were compared, the Lord of Lightning’s power was not nearly as pure as the Ancient Lightning Locust’s. Due to this, as long as the Ancient Lightning Locust was not provoked, everything should have been fine. The bug would not take the initiative to do anything, as it was very lazy.

However, the Lord of Lightning had accidentally touched the most powerful lightning in the megaverse, which was the same kind of lightning that the Ancient Lightning Locust guarded. This led to the Lord of Lightning constantly being pursued by the Ancient Lightning Locust.

No matter where the Lord of Lightning fled to, the Ancient Lightning Locust could find the man.

"Can't the Lord of Lightning just defeat the Ancient Lightning Locust?" Lu Yin asked.

Jiang Chen rolled his eyes. "How ridiculous. Why would he bother escaping if he could beat it?

"The Ancient Lightning Locust is practically invincible. Not even the Aeternals want to antagonize the thing. Basically, it’s about as powerful as your Great Sovereign. Father can stall and lure the bug away, but he doesn’t stand a very good chance in a direct fight. He’s always worked with Uncle Kong to drive it away in the past, but it usually reappears soon after.

"Eventually, we managed to find a parallel universe where we created a maze to trap the bug. No one thought that the Aeternals were watching the whole time, and as soon as they were prepared to launch an all-out war, they released the Ancient Lightning Locust, which caught us off guard. That’s why my father and the others weren’t able to go help the Five Spirits Alliance. Why else do you think I had to ask your Heavens Sect for help?"

OMA's Thoughts

Translated By: OMA

Edited By: Neshi/Nyxnox

TLC'ed By: OMA