Chapter 3049: Ring Energy

Aeternus did not care about the first generation of humans that they had captured and placed in the Aeternus Kingdoms. Rather, they wanted the children born within the Aeternus Kingdoms who would only ever learn about the outside world through the lens of the Aeternus Kingdoms. Such individuals felt like they belonged with the Aeternals, which was precisely what Aeternus needed.

Those people were the Aeternals’ greatest weapon to destroy humanity.

During Lu Yin’s last visit to the Heavens Sect, he had issued an order for everyone to immediately destroy any Aeternus Kingdom that they encountered. The length of time that an Aeternus Kingdom existed for would dictate how its inhabitants were treated. People from the first generation could be released, but those from the second or third generation, not to mention even later generations, could not. All of those people needed to be very closely monitored. While they might be human and look different from corpse kings, their hearts still belonged to Aeternus.

Lu Yin’s next goal was to reclaim the Sixth Mainland and destroy all of the Aeternus Kingdoms in it.

As a whole, the Aeternals possessed terrifying combat strength, a fearless tenacity, cunning intelligence, and extraordinary foresight. The more Lu Yin learned about Aeternus, the more he feared them.

Far away from him, he saw a Semi-Progenitor level corpse king notice the mechas that were currently approaching an Aeternus Kingdom. At the front was Fei Yan’s Blue Mountain.

The Semi-Progenitor corpse king immediately underwent a Corpse King Transformation, and its scarlet eyes turned green as its physical strength spiked. Then, it aggressively charged at Blue Mountain.

Within the mecha, Fei Yan was startled. His mecha’s sensors had detected the sudden spike in the corpse king’s power level.

There was a tremendous bang, and the Semi-Progenitor corpse king was sent flying. Not even a Green Eyes Transformation was enough to bridge the gap between the corpse king and Blue Mountain.

The mecha reached out to grab the Semi-Progenitor corpse king.

The monster’s bones shattered and was rendered completely immobile the moment it was grabbed. “What civilization do you belong to?”

The green color faded from the Semi-Progenitor corpse king’s eyes, and it glared at Blue Mountain as it continued to struggle violently.

“I asked, what civilization are you from? Speak or die,” Fei Yan demanded harshly.

The corpse king merely growled before letting out a roar.

Blue Mountain’s grip tightened, and the Semi-Progenitor corpse king was crushed with a splatter of blood.

The people of the Infinity Empire were accustomed to being ruthless and merciless while conquering other universes. Thus, even Shang Cheng and Shang An’an, who were watching, considered Fei Yan’s actions to be normal.

“The city up ahead has no powerful combatants. Start investigating it now.”

Several of the mechas moved out from behind the prince and princess, approaching the Aeternus Kingdom. Very quickly, a battle erupted. The corpse kings were basically ants before the mechas, and they were easily eradicated. A few oddly shaped giant corpse kings showed up, but even they were no match for the mechas.

Lu Yin watched the Aeternus Kingdom from the distance. He was accompanied by Bu Qing and the three other captives, and the jiao was perched on his shoulder.

It was inevitable for the Infinity Empire to encounter this particular Aeternus Kingdom, and the empire would not pass up a chance to engage in battle. This was a certainty, given that the Infinity Empire had never encountered any Aeternals and were ignorant of their power.

As Lu Yin watched, he could not help but wonder if the Infinity Empire was lucky or unlucky to have never encountered Aeternus before.

No matter what, any human civilization that encountered Aeternus would react as though they had met their mortal enemy, and the Infinity Empire was no exception.

Humans had a natural aversion and sense of disgust towards corpse kings.

Bu Qing glanced at Lu Yin. The man was not far away from the mechas, and yet he was completely invisible to General Fei Yan and all the others. It was clear that this person was far more powerful than they had even imagined. Over the years, the Infinity Empire had encountered many human civilizations where people cultivated, but very few individuals had been as powerful as this young man.

If only the empire’s guardians could intervene. Bu Qing felt a surge of hope, but it quickly transformed into a wry smile. The guardians of the empire could not stray far from the emperor, and they would not get involved in other parallel universes.

Bu Qing looked at the distant mechas and saw the ones that belonged to the ninth princess, the fifth prince, and Jiang Dongjian. However, even they would be helpless against this young man.

At this moment, the prospect of returning home seemed impossibly distant to Bu Qing.

She wondered what Lu Yin was planning. Could he be thinking of attacking the Infinity Empire? If that were the case, she might still have a chance to return home some day.

Lu Yin suddenly glanced over at Bu Qing, and she quickly looked away.

“Pray that your Infinity Empire doesn’t decide to abandon this universe. If they do, you will never be able to return home,” Lu Yin calmly stated.

Hong Yi looked over at Lu Yin. Even if the empire wanted to abandon their invasion of this universe, doing so would not be easy. It was clear that Lu Yin was targeting the empire and would not easily let them go. Hong Yi found herself curious about what this unknown universe actually signified.

The Aeternus Kingdom could not withstand the power of the mechas, and the fighting quickly came to an end.

After that, the mechanical hummingbirds scattered in every direction. The Infinity Empire was eager to scout the Sixth Mainland.

Lu Yin did nothing to stop their exploration attempts, intending to allow the empire to scout the Sixth Mainland. If they gained an interest in the Sixth Mainland, it would not be a problem for him to let them fight against Aeternus.

The Aeternals should not have even the slightest foothold in the Sixth Mainland.

Soon, half a month passed. During this time, the Infinity Empire continued to push deeper and deeper into the Sixth Mainland, and they frequently encountered the Aeternals. They developed a decent understanding of Aeternus, and they arrived at the same conclusion as Lu Yin: humans and corpse kings could not coexist.

As they uncovered the true nature of the Aeternus Kingdoms, and as they learned more about the Sixth Mainland, they also learned about the Fifth Mainland through the people that had been imprisoned within the Aeternus Kingdoms.

For a time, Shang Cheng and Shang An’an found it hard to accept what they had learned.

They could understand the idea of humanity being slaughtered, enslaved, or even exterminated by formidable enemies, but they could not comprehend the Aeternus Kingdoms. What purpose could such places serve? Were they trying to force assimilation?

“I think that we should destroy this Aeternus,” Fei Yan analyzed. “According to all that we’ve learned, while there are many of these Aeternals here in this Sixth Mainland, they have almost no truly powerful individuals. At most, they have two beings with ten-ring strength, which means that we are fully capable of completely wiping out this species.”

Shang Cheng replied, “There is no need to deal with this species. However, those people from the Aeternus Kingdoms also told us that this place is known as the Sixth Mainland, and it’s part of the same universe as the Fifth Mainland, which is under human control. When Fei Su and the others first entered this universe, they encountered some humans. Our presence in this Sixth Mainland is most likely a diversion created by those people from the Fifth Mainland. They are most likely trying to pit us against the Aeternals in this Sixth Mainland so that they can benefit from our efforts.”

“I agree,” Shang An’an said. “I’ve always felt that something about this has been off. That creature with eleven-ring defensive capabilities never once spoke or tried to communicate, and its actions were also rather clumsy. It’s possible that someone else was ordering it about, and with what we know now, clearly only people from the Fifth Mainland could have done so. This universe needs to have its threat level raised to the highest level.”

Jiang Dongjian also chimed in with, “We cannot be used by others.”

Fei Yan’s expression fell. He understood that this matter could no longer be a secret, and he regretted not being able to rescue his son.

Shang Cheng looked around. “In that case, we need to return. The people of the Fifth Mainland want us to wage war with this Aeternus, but even if we do fight against them, we first need to deal with the Fifth Mainland. As for these Aeternals, we’ll just deal with them later if we meet them again.”

Shang An’an and Jiang Dongjian both agreed.

Fei Yan had no choice but to agree as well. “Very well. Let’s compile everything we know and send a report to the Marshal. He’ll be the one to make the final decision.”

Far away, Lu Yin frowned. It appeared that the Infinity Empire was really going to abandon the Sixth Mainland. He had underestimated their ability to tolerate the Aeternals. This empire was much like the ancient Heavens Sect, and they looked down on Aeternus, treating them as a minor threat. This was not really a surprise. While the Aeternals were the enemies of all humanity, their forces in the Sixth Mainland were nowhere near enough to pose a threat to the Infinity Empire.

The empire’s confidence in their strength was no different than the former Heavens Sect’s arrogance.

Neither considered Aeternus to be a threat.

Upon realizing what was happening, Lu Yin decided to keep the prince and princess in the Sixth Mainland while he waited for the Empire to take action. However, if they still decided not to take actions against him, he will be going personally to find them.

However, an unexpected discovery quickly changed everything in the Sixth Mainland, and it left Shang Cheng and the others completely stunned.

It was a discovery that made it impossible for the Infinity Empire to leave.

Shang An’an’s expression changed as she looked over the new data. “A ring energy utilization rate that can potentially exceed thirteen rings? I’ve never heard of such a high utilization rate! What’s going on with this universe?”

Shang Cheng’s eyes blazed with excitement. “No matter what this universe might be hiding, An’an, we’ve found a breakthrough for the empire!”

Fei Yan was just as excited as the two youths. “The empire has spent countless years conquering and exploring universes, and only once did we ever encounter a ring energy utilization rate of twelve rings. That was what allowed us to achieve our current level of power. This current universe might allow us to push our energy utilization to thirteen rings! When our report reaches the empire, His Majesty will never agree to abandon this place.”

“We won’t either,” Shang Cheng said. He was struggling to contain his excitement.

A ring energy utilization rate of thirteen rings. Once this was verified and achieved by the Infinity Empire, the credit would be attributed to Shang Cheng. Regardless of his direct involvement in the exploration of the universe or any of the fighting that had taken place, Shang Cheng was the person who had given the order to explore it, and that order had directly led to the discovery of a ring energy utilization rate of thirteen rings. Fei Yan could not have given the order. Shang Cheng was the one who had allowed Fei Yan to explore the universe, and also enter the Sixth Mainland. There was no way that anyone could take this accomplishment away from the prince.

Shang An’an’s expression turned grave. “A ring energy utilization rate of thirteen rings will be irresistible for the empire, as it represents hope for a new breakthrough. However, have you considered the war we had to fight when we first discovered the utilization rate of twelve rings? That war nearly destroyed the entire Infinity Empire. That was because, at that time, twelve rings was an unprecedented level of power. This universe has a utilization rate of thirteen rings, which is an indication of the strength of this universe.

“There is very likely an incredibly powerful being who was ordering about the beast that we first encountered. We have not been able to explore the Fifth Mainland at all, and that was likely deliberate. It might appear as if we are easily conquering this universe, but the truth may be that we are being used by certain people in this universe to cleanse the Sixth Mainland. We are likely nothing more than pawns.”

Her warning instantly cooled everyone’s initial excitement.

Shang Cheng was no idiot. The war that the empire had fought when the utilization rate of twelve rings had been discovered had nearly destroyed the Infinity Empire, and this new universe carried the same threat.

Far away, a smile stretched across Lu Yin’s lips. People were intelligent, and there were some things that were too obvious and would become clear over time. Even so, he was no longer worried about the Infinity Empire leaving. Their desire for the Origin Universe appeared to be even greater than ever.

“What is ring energy utilization rate?” Lu Yin asked.

Next to him, Bu Qing and the other captives were startled by the question, but they did not hesitate to explain. “The Infinity Empire’s ring energy is not a specific type of energy that exists in a given universe. Rather, it is the general term for the power produced when energy is generated.”

“Get to the point,” Lu Yin interrupted. They had already told him this much before.

Naturally occurring phenomena, such as wind, water, and electricity, produced power when they moved, and humans could harness that power and make great use of it. Such things were examples of naturally occurring power. However, there was also a type of energy that was not inherent to universes, but rather introduced to them by sequence powerhouses who altered the laws of the universe. These energies included things like monarch essence, the energy in the Arboreal Realm, and others.

These energies filled specific universes, and since they were there, it was possible to use them.

The Infinity Empire gathered these introduced energies with their ring energy technology, which could create power by utilizing them. This was how ring energy was produced.

OMA's Thoughts

Translated By: OMA

Edited By: Neshi/Nyxnox

TLC'ed By: OMA