Chapter 2317: The Most Familiar Stranger
Chapter 2317: The Most Familiar Stranger
As far as many people from the Heavens Sect era were concerned, both the Aeternals and the astral beasts were nothing more than slaves. In particular, astral beasts were seen as mere animals, despite their intelligence, and the humans from the Heavens Sect era absolutely looked down on the creatures. Even Lu Buzheng was no different.
It was an arrogance that came from the Heavens Sect era.
"True. Putting things nicely, it would be collaborative combat, but if you want to put things bluntly, then it was slavery," Lu Buzheng replied somberly, "During our era, countless astral beasts were forced to move to the Fourth Mainland just to make it easier for humans to track them down. I personally enjoyed researching and breeding astral beasts. There were countless different species back then, and it was when the oddest of creatures would likely appear…"
Lu Yin silently read through Lu Buzheng's messages, and as he did so, he gained a clear mental picture of the Fourth Mainland during the Heavens Sect.
Lu Buzheng claimed to be proud to have been born in the Heavens Sect era, but to Lu Yin, many of the details sounded exactly like the Aeternals’ desire to enslave human beings.
The Heavens Sect had enslaved astral beasts, while Aeternus wanted to enslave humanity. To Lu Yin, the two were essentially the same.
Lu Buzheng and others from the Heavens Sect era could not empathize with the astral beasts’ miserable plight, but Lu Yin could understand it. He had visited Aeternus Nation and seen humans enslaved by other creatures. He could empathize with the enslaved. Astral beasts also possessed emotions and sapience. It was likely that they viewed humans in the same manner that humans viewed Aeternus.
At that instance, Lu Yin's boiling blood cooled.
He looked over at Yao Di, who had also seen Lu Buzheng's message. Despite the Celestial Demon’s lowered head, Lu Yin could still see his frustration, anger, and helplessness.
"We haven’t been absent from the Heavens Sect era for very long from our perspective, and I still remember a great deal. If you want, I’ll compile all of what I remember for you. In fact, our Lu family-"
Lu Buzheng tried to continue, but he was suddenly interrupted by Lu Yin, "Third Uncle, what I need is cooperation, not slavery."
Yao Di’s head snapped up, and he stared at Lu Yin in surprise.
Far away, Lu Buzheng was also taken aback. "Um… Is there a difference?"
Lu Yin did not know how to respond, but Lu Buzheng’s reaction was rather depressing. "Let's talk about this more later."
Lu Yin ended the conversation.
Despite seeing Yao Di’s stare, Lu Yin said nothing.
Huh??Someone appeared in front of Lu Yin. The person was horribly unkempt, as though he had not taken care of himself for many years. The man faltered as he floated through space. He appeared completely lost.
Even from far away, Lu Yin could see the hesitation and confusion in the man’s eyes.
Seeing that the man’s hair was black and white, then unless Lu Yin was completely wrong, this man was the Third Nightking.
Far away, the Third Nightking was glancing around in a daze. What had happened to the void streams? Where was the Void Wanderers’ ancestor? Why was the entire Profound Void Realm simply gone? He appeared dazed and unsure of where he should go. His memories continued to return, but he had been asleep for far too long, and many things were very hazy.
Finally, the man saw the enormous dragon, and his mouth fell open in shock as he stared at it in horror. What is that? It’s so huge! Not only that, it’s too powerful!
Only then did the man realize that he felt a pressure from the unknown beast that induced a long forgotten fear. This was not something that he could stand up to at all.
The man’s memories continued to grow clear, and his view of the universe was also gaining clarity. He continued to stare at the jiao. That can’t be a Semi-Progenitor level beast, could it?
"Third Nightking?" Lu Yin called out.
The voice startled the Third Nightking, and he was just about to flee, but he looked over in confusion. "Who?"
Lu Yin gazed at the confused man, his feelings complicated and conflicted. Sure enough, this man really was the Third Nightking.
How many times had Lu Yin spoken about this man since he had heard of his existence from the Ghost Monkey? If not for the Third Nightking, Lu Yin would have been captured by the Daynight clan long ago. If not for using the Third Nightking to entice the Daynight clan, how would Lu Yin have ever survived to reach his current heights? The Third Nightking could be considered to be the most familiar stranger that Lu Yin had ever met throughout all of his time cultivating.
However, Lu Yin had completely forgotten about the Third Nightking after the Daynight clan had been dealt with. Lu Yin certainly had not expected to meet the old man while passing by the Profound Void Realm.
"Come here," Lu Yin casually ordered.
The Third Nightking had not dared to approach the jiao, but Lu Yin's order left the man unwilling to leave. Most importantly, how did this creature know his name?
The Third Nightking had assumed that the jiao had addressed him.
After a bit of thinking, the old man boldly approached and stopped a short ways away from the jiao, where he offered a respectful bow. "I greet Senior."
The jiao stared at the human with its massive eyes. The beast automatically wanted to scare the human by showing its teeth and claws.
Lu Yin stepped forward. "Third Nightking, it’s been a very long time."
The Third Nightking stared at Lu Yin in shock. "You’re a human?"
Lu Yin smiled. "That’s right."
The Third Nightking was taken aback. How could a human be in the Astral Beast Domain? Unless… "Who are you? Why do you know my name? Have you betrayed humanity?"
Lu Yin lifted his head and glanced around. "My name is Lu Yin, and while you don't know me, I know you very well. You’ve even helped me a great deal."
The Third Nightking was only getting more and more confused. "Are you an old friend of my Daynight clan?"
Lu Yin turned back to calmly look at the Third Nightking. "I conquered the Nightking clan."
The Third Nightking's eyes flared as he stared at Lu Yin in disbelief. "You- what did you just say?"
"I said that I conquered the Nightking's clan. It was because I saved the Dayking's clan," Lu Yin explained.
The Third Nightking's face grew pale as he stared at Lu Yin. The old man had no idea what to think or feel at this moment. Hatred? Submission? If the jiao were not present, he would definitely attack, but with the beast before him, the Third Nightking was unable to do a thing. It emanated a fearful aura that suppressed him down to his very bones, pressing him to surrender.
"When we get back, you’ll have a choice: join the Second Nightking and become a part of my Heavens Sect, or become an independent cultivator."
Lu Yin then returned to the jiao’s head and continued moving towards the heart of the Celestial Beast Empire .
The Third Nightking could not stop thinking about the reference to the Second Nightking. Had the Second Nightking not actually died?
Long ago, the two of them had been forced into the Astral Beast Domain by the Hall of Honor, and they had been forced to fight desperately against the Celestial Beast Empire. The First Nightking had died in the fighting, while the Third Nightking had been trapped in the Profound Void Realm. Had the Second Nightking not died? And had he surrendered to this mysterious person?
The Third Nightking glanced in the direction of the Human Domain. His memories were continuing to come back, and his mind was still clearing up, but he knew that he needed to return to the Human Domain as quickly as possible. He needed to find out what had happened.
The appearance of the Third Nightking could be seen as the end of Lu Yin's past. The old man essentially served as a mirror that reflected Lu Yin’s former helplessness and weakness. He had since risen to become extremely powerful.
The Third Nightking had missed an entire era. The era that had created the legend of Lu Yin.
…
Decades had passed since Lu Yin had first started cultivating, and during that time, he had slowly come to understand the situation of the entire Fifth Mainland, as the truth had been gradually revealed to him like a magnificent scroll unrolling.
First, he had learned of the matters that concerned a single weave. Then, the Outerverse. After that was the Astral River, the Innerverse, and the Starfall Sea. His knowledge had expanded further and further, and he had soon learned of the existence of Ironblood Weave, the Astral Beast Domain, and the endless war between the astral beasts and the Human Domain.
He had first fought on the border warfront as a student in Astral-10. At that time, he had not even dreamed of the eventual possibility of conquering the entire Astral Beast Domain.
How many cultivators lived throughout the Human Domain? How many powerhouses were there? Countless. Even though Lu Yin had believed himself to be very talented, he had never considered that he would be the one human to eventually conquer the Astral Beast Domain.
Cultivation was a long road, and Lu Yin had faced death numerous times, as well as waged several wars with the Astral Beast Domain. He was no stranger to the astral beasts’ powerhouses, but he knew almost nothing at all about the Celestial Beast Empire itself. He had never visited it, and he also had not expected to be doing so this soon.
Could astral beasts build cities? Lu Yin knew the answer to the question after seeing the heart of the Celestial Beast Empire. It was indeed quite impressive.
The Celestial Beast Empire was located at the center of the Astral Beast Domain, in a region known as the Celestial Beast Weave. This entire region of outer space was surrounded by tributaries of the Astral River that were filled with planets, mountains, cities, and rivers.
There were many astral beasts that were able to take on human form, so the existence of numerous cities was nothing difficult to understand.
What did surprise Lu Yin was that the arrangement of these tributary Astral Rivers looked like they had been laid out in the exact same arrangement as when he had visited the Starsibyl Sect, only enlarged many, many times over. If not for Lu Yin’s domain, he would have never been able to even detect the similarities at all.
When the jiao arrived, countless astral beasts roared at the sky throughout the Celestial Beast Region.
Yao Di was in agony. He was hearing the voice of his Astral Beast Domain surrendering to an outsider. The Celestial Beast Empire itself was surrendering to Lu Yin.
In the face of a beast with the strength of a Progenitor, not to mention over a dozen Semi-Progenitors, even the Celestial Beast Empire was helpless against the Human Domain.
The tributary Astral Rivers formed rings around the region, and there were also many astral beasts that actually lived in the rivers themselves. At this moment, all of those beasts had risen to the surface and were bowing towards the jiao.
There were countless mountains and landmasses, as well as both gigantic astral beasts and tiny astral beasts. Irrespective of their form, all of them faced the jiao and bowed in the exact same manner.
Each of the tributaries featured a massive city that acted as the heart of the river. The cities were filled with astral beasts living there in human form, or actual humans. These were all people who had betrayed the Human Domain, and at this moment, they looked absolutely terrified as they also faced the jiao and bowed low.
A single voice rose from the entire Celestial Beast Region. "We greet Lord Lu Yin, Dao Chosen of the Heavens Sect."
"We greet Lord Lu Yin, Dao Chosen of the Heavens Sect."
"We greet Lord Lu Yin, Dao Chosen of the Heavens Sect."
…
Who in all of human history had ever been able to subjugate the Astral Beast Domain and force the countless astral beasts who lived there to surrender? No such thing had happened since the Heavens Sect era, and even then, the Origin Progenitor had ruled over everything. The Heavens Sect had suppressed the Fourth Mainland, but after that era, human beings had never again conquered the astral beasts. It had not even happened during the Daosource Sect era.
Lu Yin rode atop a dragon with the strength of a Progenitor, dragging Yao Di along with him. He had arrived in the Astral Beast Domain while demonstrating an invincible power, and he had started a new chapter for the Astral Beast Domain.
During the Heavens Sect’s opening ceremony, he had personally executed Wang Si. After that, Lu Yin had even faced Xia Shenji. He had not believed it possible for anything to surprise him anymore, but Lu Yin could not help himself from feeling proud at this moment. He had conquered the Astral Beast Domain, which had waged war against the Human Domain for countless years. Enemies who had fought against his homeland for countless years were bowing their heads to him.
"At ease!" Lu Yin declared in a voice that rang across the entire Celestial Beast Weave to reach the ears of every single creature there.
Not every astral beast had fought in the wars against Lu Yin, but they had all heard the legends of Lu Yin. Hearing his words sent tremors through the hearts of the astral beasts, and at that moment, they felt that they had truly been conquered by Lu Yin.
A group approached Lu Yin from the front. They were led by Skymender, and he was followed by Yao Xuan, Xu Qing, Feng Lin, and several other astral beasts that were using a human form. These astral beasts represented all the top powers of the Astral Beast Domain.
The patriarchs of six of the top ten species on the Celestial Beast List were present. The patriarch of the carrion beetles appeared as a very short man who was less than half a meter tall with snow-white eyebrows that hung down to the bottom of his feet. He looked completely harmless.
The patriarch of the soaring firebeast clan had the appearance of a person with long, tri-colored hair, though it was impossible to determine if they were male or female. As for the creepers’ patriarch, he appeared to be a tall, thin man.