Chapter 2137: Extreme Path
Chapter 2137: Extreme Path
Lu Yin unfolded the paper. His expression changed as soon as he read it, and his eyes snapped up to look at Xu Qing.
The general’s heart dropped. Given Lu Yin's sudden change in attitude, he had to be furious about what the paper contained.
Lu Yin folded the paper back up as he glowered at Xu Qing. "Do you know what was written in that message, General?"
Xu Qing quickly answered, "I don't. The imperial advisor ordered me to not look at it before I gave it to you."
Lu Yin stored the paper in his cosmic ring. "Skymender sent this gift?"
Xu Qing nodded. "That’s right."
Lu Yin looked away and fell into contemplation for a moment before looking back at Xu Qing again. "Deliver this message to Skymender for me: I understand the message, but-"
Before he continued, all emotion left Lu Yin’s face. "Even if this message burns the receiver, it won’t comfort the sender.”
"See our guest out."
Lu Yin’s last words to Xu Qing before dismissing him were clearly a threat, which only increased Xu Qing’s curiosity regarding the contents of that piece of paper. While Lu Yin had clearly been angry, he had also felt rather helpless. Just what had the imperial advisor written?
Still, Xu Qing’s curiosity amounted to nothing, as he was quickly escorted out by the Second Nightking.
After the astral beast had left, Kui Luo could not hold back from asking, "Hey, kid. What’s going on? You look pretty upset."
The other Semi-Progenitors also looked at Lu Yin with questioning expressions.
Lu Yin looked at Jiu Yao. "Back when the Upper Three Gates were broken open and the Fifth Mainland’s sky changed back, your Sixth Mainland invaded my Fifth Mainland. Do you remember that matter, Gatemaster Jiu Yao?"
Jiu Yao's expression instantly changed. What was going on? Was Lu Yin looking to settle old grudges after so much time had passed?
"I do, but that was a long time ago. Why are you bringing it up now, Dao Chosen?" Jiu Yao asked softly. His expression was rather strained at the moment. That invasion had ended in the Sixth Mainland’s defeat and a major injury for the Progenitor of Combat. It had been a humiliating affair for the Sixth Mainland.
Lu Yin replied, "When the Sixth Mainland invaded the Fifth, the Human Domain was not the only place you invaded, as you also attacked the Astral Beast Domain."
Jiu Yao nodded. "That's right. Blackblood Realm, Grand Martial Realm, and War Martial Realm attacked the Human Domain while the Blood Homage Realm and Rock Realm attacked the Astral Beast Domain."
As he was speaking, the Semi-Progenitor’s expression abruptly changed. "The Extreme Path?"
Lu Yin's expression grew cold, and he tossed the paper in his hand to Jiu Yao.
As the man looked at the paper, his expression grew ugly.
Kui Luo’s curiosity was overwhelming him, so he reached over and snatched the paper away. "What's going on?"
Lu Yin frowned. The Extreme Path was the path that the Sixth Mainland’s Rock Realm and Blood Homage Realm had taken to invade the Astral Beast Domain. After the Sixth Mainland retreated, the Astral Beast Domain had taken control of the Extreme Path, and they had continued to occupy it from that time onwards. Skymender’s gift to Lu Yin had been the Extreme Path’s name, which was no different than delivering a threat. If the Human Domain made any moves against the Astral Beast Domain, the Extreme Path would be reopened.
Aeternus had controlled the Sixth Mainland for quite some time, but it was quite possible that they did not even know about the Extreme Path. However, if the Astral Beast Domain reopened it, the Aeternals would immediately discover that they had access to the Fifth Mainland. The Human Domain was not only facing a threat from the Starfall Sea, but also this path that had slipped through the cracks.
"You actually forgot about something this important?" Arch-Elder Zen asked as he passed the message over to Qing Ping.
Lu Buzheng also looked over at Jiu Yao. "This is a matter concerning your Sixth Mainland, so why did you never mention anything before?"
Herb Immortal spoke up. "The Extreme Path is not easy to get through, and we only discovered it by accident. After we returned to the Sixth Mainland, we were able to completely seal the Extreme Path from our side, and we expected the Astral Beast Domain to do the same. Later, when the Aeternals attacked us, we actually tried to reopen the Extreme Path. This is why we believed it to be completely gone. We never even considered that they might have left it closed instead of sealed.”
"It's also possible that it simply can't be completely sealed," Jiu Yao interjected.
"Can you guys find it from this side? I can go seal it," Leng Qing offered.
Lu Yin's eyes flickered. "Gatemaster Leng Qing, your cultivation is focused on stellular energy, which means that you will be at a rather severe disadvantage in the Astral Beast Domain. If you end up antagonizing them, you won’t be able to deal with them, and we can’t risk anything that might give Aeternus another path to invade us."
Leng Qing wanted to respond, but he was interrupted by Arch-Elder Zen. "That’s true. Yao Di, the emperor of the Celestial Beast Domain is almost as powerful as one of the Heavens Sect’s gatemasters. There aren’t many gatemasters who can be confident about defeating Yao Di."
Lu Yin looked over at Hen Xin. "Gatemaster Hen Xin, you should be the one to go."
Hen Xin's expression fell. He felt that there was something wrong with Arch-Elder Zen’s assessment of the situation, but there was no denying the lack of stellular energy. Thus, sending a cultivator who did not rely on stellular energy was the best choice, though there were very few options available given that restriction. Lu Yin had immediately called Hen Xin out, and he was in no position to refuse the order. "The Three Fatalities Heavenly Gate’s gatemaster is capable of overpowering Yao Di, but there’s also the mysterious Skymender that we need to consider as well. My guess is that he should also be a Semi-Progenitor."
As Lu Yin continued to speak, he looked at Jue Yi. "Death energy should be more than enough to deal with him, so you should also go, Gatemaster Jue Yi."
Jue Yi was also briefly stunned by Lu Yin’s orders. "Does it really require both Hen Xin and me to deal with mere beasts that were once our slaves?"
Destina was the one to answer. "The Aeternals were once regarded as ants and were ignored during our time, but they have since stomped humans into near-extinction, haven’t they?"
"In that case, why don't you go?" Jue Yi shot Destina a glare and snapped back at her.
Lu Yin spoke up, "Because I’ve already chosen two gatemasters. That should be enough."
Jue Yi gave Lu Yin a hard stare, but Lu Yin stared right back at the Semi-Progenitor.
After a moment or two passed, Hen Xin said, "Very well. We’ll take care of this."
Qing Ping tossed the slip of paper over to Jiu Yao so that the man could mark down the Extreme Path’s location.
"Sect Gatemaster Hen Xin, Gatemaster Jue Yi, this will be the first time our Heavens Sect takes action outside of our territory. I hope that the two of you will not disappoint all of us. This is also a matter of giving the two of you an opportunity, as these astral beasts are the descendants of the creatures that were enslaved and abused by the Fourth Mainland all those years ago," Kui Luo said in an odd tone of voice.
Hen Xin frowned. He was no fool; the fact that the Astral Beast Domain had taken the initiative to remind the humans about the Extreme Path meant that they were confident that they could retain control of the path. While the two Semi-Progenitors were fully capable of overpowering the entire Astral Beast Domain, they were walking into an unknown situation, and there were times when strength meant nothing.
Kui Luo was using his words to force the two gatemasters to do everything that they possibly could to handle this matter properly.
"Old man, who are you to say such things? How could beasts which were once enslaved be capable of standing up to Gatemaster Hen Xin or Jue Yi? One of them is the proud disciple of an ancient Dao Monarch, while the other is the God of Death’s disciple. Each of them is smarter and more powerful than any mere beast. You’re overthinking things," Lu Buzheng interjected.
Cai Er laughed. "You can’t compare beasts to the two gatemasters. How is that even fair?"
"You’re right, haha. I apologize to the two of you," Lu Buzheng said with a smile.
Several people participated in a little song and dance that forced Hen Xin and Jue Yi to put their full efforts towards their task.
However, Hen Xin had already lived in the modern era for twenty years, and he had also lost what he had considered to be a guaranteed bet in the team battle against the other Heavenly Gates. As a result, his perception had shifted. He would no longer allow himself to be influenced by the words of others. "The Aeternals were able to rise up and surpass us, which means that it might be possible for the astral beasts to do the same. You can’t blame us if we fail."
He then rose and immediately departed from the Heavens Sect without giving anyone a chance to say anything further. This was a matter that needed to be dealt with as soon as possible.
Jue Yi stared at Lu Yin for a moment before following after Hen Xin.
"Hey kid, do you really think that they’ll be able to handle this?" Kui Luo asked.
Lu Yin shook his head. "Skymender claims to be capable of seeing both the past and the future. He’s a complete mystery and definitely not an easy opponent. Sending those two is just checking on the situation. Actually, the Astral Beast Domain should have already assumed that we would send a Semi-Progenitor to investigate the Extreme Path."
"See the past and future? Isn’t that the same as Destiny?" Lu Buzheng muttered to himself.
Destina glared at the man, hatred smoldering in her eyes.
Her expression caught Lu Yin’s attention, and he remembered Lu Buzheng mentioning to him early on that all of Destiny’s disciples had chased after and harassed him because Lu Buzheng’s third stream of ancestral qi could summon Destiny. The most ruthless disciple of all had been Destina. It was only because of Lu Yin that the two were able to sit at the same table in peace.
However, Lu Buzheng still felt a bit guilty every time he saw Destina.
In a similar manner, Cai Er looked over at Destiny with cold eyes. She had always compared her own appearance to Destina’s, which was something that Lu Yin could not understand in the slightest. Destina might be beautiful, but she had the appearance of a growing child. What was there to compare?
Just as the various powerhouses from the Daosource Sect era had their own grudges and hatreds, the same had existed during the Heavens Sect era.
"Senior Destina, do you know if there were any astral beasts on the Fourth Mainland that were capable of divination?" Lu Yin asked.
Destina shook her head. "At least during our era, there weren’t any."
Kui Luo barked an odd laugh. "If even a member of the Lu family can use the power of Destiny, what can’t?"
This comment instantly caused Lu Buzheng's face to turn green, and Destina shot another glare in his direction.
Lu Buzheng instantly turned around to viciously glare at Kui Luo.
Lu Yin was left speechless. This old man was really brutal with his comments.
Lu Yin quickly spoke up to diffuse the situation. "This Heavenly Gates’ conference should end here. Arch-Elder Zen, Gatemaster Qing Ping, please stay behind for a moment."
Lu Buzheng was the first to escape the main hall.
A white cloud shrouded Destina and hid her body right before she exited the main hall as well.
Cai Er muttered, "You’re so pretty, yet you always keep yourself wrapped up and hidden. What a waste."
After most of the Semi-Progenitors were gone, Lu Yin addressed Arch-Elder Zen. "Senior, what's wrong with the Champions’ Stage?"
The old man felt puzzled. "What Champions’ Stage?"
Lu Yin pursed his lips. "The one that I borrowed from the Hall of Honor."
Arch-Elder Zen was caught off guard. "What do you know about that?"
Lu Yin was surprised by this reaction. "This junior is very curious about that Champions’ Stage, as it’s clearly something that was left behind by my Lu family’s Lu Tianyi. Why didn’t you ever say anything?"
Arch-Elder Zen was even more surprised. "How do you know about that?"
"Don't worry about how I know about that. What’s wrong with the Champions’ Stage?" Lu Yin repeated.
Arch-Elder Zen sighed. "The truth is that all of the Progenitors that left the Fifth Mainland left behind some of their power to protect this place. The powers left by the Rune Progenitor and Progenitor Hui have already been used up, and you inherited the power that Progenitor Chen left behind. I know that your Lu family’s patriarch Lu Tianyi left that Champions’ Stage for us, but it never worked."
The old man’s tone grew increasingly bitter as he spoke. Lu Yin was quite puzzled. "Since my ancestor left the Champions’ Stage here, why doesn’t it work?"
Arch-Elder Zen just shook his head. "I truly never understood."
Lu Yin's went wide. "Patriarch Tianyi didn't show you how to use it?"
"Senior Lu Tianyi gave me some blood, and he said that I just needed to sprinkle the blood on the Champions’ Stage to summon champions. I actually tried it long ago, but nothing happened. If it had worked, I would not have needed to use the Rune Progenitor’s power to deal with the Sixth Mainland."
"Blood doesn’t do anything," Lu Yin agreed. He had tried it himself long ago. After understanding that the Hall of Honor's Champions’ Stage was the innate gift of his own Lu family, he had tried to trigger it with his blood. However, there had been no reaction whatsoever.
"It's as if that Champions’ Stage has always been defective. It was only because it was completely useless for so many years that we were willing to let you borrow it when you asked. Even back then, I had a guess that you might be connected to the Lu family, but I never even considered the possibility of you being a member of the direct line," Arch-Elder Zen explained.
"So Yuan Shi also knew about it back then?"
"You asked Yuan Shi if you could borrow it. How could he not know? He might only have a power level of a million, but his status within the Hall of Honor is no lower than Qing Ping’s. He is held in high respect and is privy to many matters."
Lu Yin understood. "It’s no wonder that when the Sixth Mainland captured the Champions’ Stage back then, the Hall of Honor sent all of us to take it back. What would have happened if we had failed to recover it?"
Arch-Elder Zen’s eyes flashed with a cold light. "I would have taken it back myself."