Chapter 2337: Negotiations
Chapter 2337: Negotiations
Elsewhere, Xia Shenji had already returned to the Dominion Realm. Just like Wang Fan and Progenitor Long, Xia Shenji did his best to argue against letting Lu Yin go free, but there was no changing Bai Wangyuan’s firm determination. The man was immovable.
The more the other three pushed, the more Bai Wangyuan felt like they were gloating.
Eliminating both Lu Xiaoxuan and Bai Xian'er was the perfect outcome for the other three, as only the Celestial Frost Sect would suffer a loss in that case. Not only that, but it would also be a truly terrible loss. The more that Bai Wangyuan considered what his sect stood to lose, the more determined he became.
The other three ruling powers had already achieved their goals from exiling the Lu family, but why would Bai Wangyuan ever agree to sacrifice the future of his Celestial Frost Sect?
That was completely unacceptable to Bai Wangyuan.
Finally, Bai Wangyuan managed to force Xia Shenji and the other two to agree to his decision. They really had no choice, as Bai Wangyuan and Mu Xie alone were already enough to stop the other three Progenitors from taking action. Not to mention, they also needed to take Progenitor Smoke and Lu Xiaoxuan himself into account. It was impossible for the three Progenitors to go to the Fifth Mainland to deal with Lu Xiaoxuan.
As for the rest of the Perennial World’s powers, it would be wonderful even if the Liu family, Nong family, and Specter Abyss did not help Lu Xiaoxuan, but they would absolutely never help the four ruling powers.
Wang Fan and the other two could do nothing at all.
Mu Xie kept a careful eye to ensure that Xia Shenji remained in the Dominion Realm while Bai Wangyuan alone went to the Fifth Mainland to negotiate with Lu Yin.
Progenitor Long commented, "Twice he has survived a Progenitor’s assault, and he even forced a Progenitor to retreat before creating a situation where he cannot be attacked for a third time. Lu Xiaoxuan can be regarded as the greatest genius in history. He’s accomplished feats that not even Xia Shang could have done. After all, if not for the Lu family’s protection, your Xia family would have killed him."
Xia Shenji's expression turned ugly.
Wang Fan softly commented, "If we don't kill him now, it will only become more difficult to do so in the future. Bai Wangyuan is mistaken."
Progenitor Smoke sneered. "Do you really think that no one can see what’s going through your mind right now? You just wish for Bai Xian'er to die as well. Old Fu once said that you’re narrow-minded, but you’ll never admit it. Just look at the bigger picture for humanity. Even if Lu Xiaoxuan and Bai Xian'er are enemies, which of the two isn’t an unprecedented genius? Once either of them becomes a Progenitor, they won’t be the greatest threat to you, but to the Aeternals.”
"Even if you want to eliminate those two in the future, who would be capable of doing so? Your descendants? Hmph!"
Xia Shenji glanced over at Progenitor Smoke and Mu Xie with a cold glare. He then looked at Wang Fan and silently said something.
Wang Fan's eyes flickered, and he responded with a very slight nod.
Back in the Fifth Mainland, Bai Wangyuan emerged from the New Corridor and looked around. He frowned; just as Xia Shenji had reported, the true universe in the Forsaken Land was completely drained of all stellular energy. What had the Aeternals done?!
If they were able to drain the Forsaken Land’s true universe, then they could do the same to the Perennial World, though it was possible that the existence of the Mother Tree made things more difficult. It was possible that the Forsaken Land had merely been an experiment ground for Aeternus’ tests.
The Progenitor suddenly turned to stare in a specific direction. He had found Lu Xiaoxuan. A thought and a step saw Bai Wangyuan disappear.
Lu Yin was quietly waiting in the Neoverse, standing above Peacewater Planet.
He was at the entrance to Aeternus Nation, as this was the location where Lu Yin had chosen to carry out his negotiations with Bai Wangyuan.
Bai Wangyuan soon appeared, and he appeared very close to Lu Yin.
Disregarding his life as Lu Xiaoxuan that had been forgotten, this was Lu Yin’s first time laying eyes on Bai Wangyuan.
If Lu Yin compared Bai Wangyuan’s appearance to Xia Shenji's overbearing presence, then Progenitor Bai seemed more… cloudy? Yes, that felt right. He was hazy, like the clouds above the Celestial Frost Sect. The man felt somewhat ethereal, as if he could be seen, but not touched.
Bai Wangyuan was clearly standing right in front of Lu Yin, but the Progenitor did not seem to actually be present. He almost felt like some sort of illusion.
The moment Bai Wangyuan appeared, the jiao let out a roar and grew incredibly wary.
Lu Yin quickly said, "Please move back a bit. I fear being attacked with you so close."
Bai Wangyuan retreated a short ways. He stared at Lu Yin in amazement. "Xiaoxuan, we meet again."
Lu Yin shook his head. "My name is Lu Yin. We’ve spoken to each other before, Progenitor Bai."
Bai Wangyuan’s eyes flickered. "Are you referring to when you were posing as Yu Hao?"
Lu Yin smiled. "I must thank you, Progenitor Bai, for your consideration when offering such generous conditions. If I were really Yu Hao, I would have agreed. Unfortunately, I’m not."
Bai Wangyuan similarly felt regretful. "It would be wonderful if you truly were Yu Hao. I would have agreed to any conditions that you had asked. It's really such a pity."
"I feel honored to make Progenitor Bai feel that way," Lu Yin replied. He then raised a hand that held the stone that was the foundation of the dimension that held Aeternus Nation. It allowed Lu Yin access to the parallel universe.
"Please, Progenitor Bai." Lu Yin opened the passage to Aeternus Nation and then proceeded to enter.
Bai Wangyuan did not hesitate and followed right behind Lu Yin.
Upon entering Aeternus Nation, Bai Wangyuan immediately noticed the seven broken towers that stood in the distance, and surprise filled his eyes. "Is that…?"
Lu Yin and Bai Wangyuan were standing in the sky above an abandoned city that had once been part of Aeternus Nation. The city had once been filled with many desperate humans. It had been the place where Aeternus had experimented with mingling humans and corpse kings.
The underground area was where humans had been transformed into corpse kings, and even further down was the endless sea of death energy. It was no less than what had once been in Gaia’s Swamp and the ruins of the Bizarre Sect, and it might even be greater.
This death energy was precisely why Lu Yin had chosen Aeternus Nation to hold the negotiations.
It had been the God of Death’s power that had badly wounded Xia Shenji and forced him to retreat. In order to force Bai Wangyuan to be wary of him, Lu Yin needed to rely on the God of Death.
Progenitor Chen's stars were not even close to enough to threaten Bai Wangyuan.
"Those are the towers of the Seven Skygods."
Bai Wangyuan turned to stare at Lu Yin with ice-cold eyes.
Lu Yin continued, "Don't look at me like that. I didn't cooperate with the Seven Skygods. You should be able to clearly see that we were the ones to destroy this place. The Seven Skygods used to hide here, but we found it and destroyed it."
Bai Wangyuan's animosity faded a bit. Lu Yin would not make false claims of such things, as it would be easy to uncover the truth, and there would also be no reason to hide anything. Besides, if Lu Yin were truly working with Aeternus, then the people of the Fifth Mainland would know nothing about it.
Truthfully, Bai Wangyuan’s heart had dropped when he first saw the seven towers, as he had instantly jumped to the assumption that Lu Yin was working with Aeternus.
Bai Wangyuan did not fear Lu Yin’s power, even in an ambush, but the Aeternals were completely different. If even a couple of the Seven Skygods ganged up on Bai Wangyuan, he had no confidence of being able to escape alive.
"Why did you choose this place for us to meet?" Bai Wangyuan demanded.
Lu Yin pointed downwards. "There is a great deal of death energy here, which allows me to use the God of Death’s power once again."
This caused Bai Wangyuan to frown. Xia Shenji's wounds had been caused by the God of Death’s power, and Lu Yin’s explanation fully explained his courage to face Bai Wangyuan by himself. After all, Lu Yin had not even taken the jiao into the parallel universe, and he was entirely alone with Bai Wangyuan for the negotiations.
The old man nodded. "Don't bother trying to threaten me. You are able to attack Xian'er, which gives you the leverage to speak with me, but don’t assume that anything else will get you anything more. I can promise you that the four ruling powers will not do anything to you for the moment, but you must promise not to harm Xian'er."
"A temporary truce?" Lu Yin arched a brow.
Bai Wangyuan stared at Lu Yin. "The most that we will agree to is to not pursue you until you’ve become a Semi-Progenitor. Even if I told you that we would never harm you, you would not believe me."
Lu Yin sneered. "By the time I become a Semi-Progenitor, Bai Xian'er will already be a Progenitor. Is this some kind of joke?"
A dangerous glint flickered across Bai Wangyuan’s eyes. "The Progenitor realm is not as easy to reach as you believe. Even the youngest Progenitor in history needed at least a thousand years to reach that level. Xian'er is not nearly that old, and she has not even become a Semi-Progenitor yet."
Lu Yin was stunned. "Bai Xian'er isn’t a Semi-Progenitor?"
"No."
This was shocking to Lu Yin. He had never forgotten that, when the Sea King had forced the Upper Three Gates open, a powerhouse from the Sixth Mainland had tried to stop the Sea King, only to be casually slaughtered by Bai Xian'er. On top of that, Lu Yin was capable of fighting against four Semi-Progenitors at once, but he had been completely helpless against Bai Xian'er. He had therefore assumed that Bai Xian'er was a Semi-Progenitor, just the same as everyone else. Learning that she still had not become a Semi-Progenitor was simply terrifying.
Lu Yin sympathized with how others perceived him; the woman was an absolute monster!
It was no wonder why Bai Wangyuan regarded Bai Xian'er with so much importance and was even confident that she would become capable of fully replacing the Lu family and take charge of the Fifth Mainland.
Once Bai Xian'er became a Semi-Progenitor, let alone an actual Progenitor, who could stop her?
Was this something that the Wang and Xia families simply did not consider, or were they ignorant as to just how scary Bai Xian'er really was?
Of course, it was also possible that Bai Wangyuan was lying and that Bai Xian'er was already a Semi-Progenitor. It was a distinct possibility that the Progenitor was lying in order to reassure Lu Yin.
"Xian'er is not yet a Semi-Progenitor, let alone a Progenitor. We are offering you the time needed to become a Semi-Progenitor, and given the speed at which you’ve cultivated thus far, it will take you no more than a few dozen years to do so. In that amount of time, Xian'er can become a Semi-Progenitor at best. This is my offer, but it is conditional on you telling me how you managed to attack Xian'er," Bai Wangyuan stated in a low voice.
The condition caught Lu Yin off guard. It had been understandable for Bai Sheng to ask the same question, as he was not very familiar with Bai Xian'er, and he had even mentioned that he did not speak with her very often. However, why was Bai Wangyuan asking the same question?
Had Bai Xian'er not shared what had happened with the Progenitor?
Bai Xian'er had to know that Lu Yin had attacked her by triggering Destiny, but why had she not shared that information with Bai Wangyuan? Had she simply not had the opportunity?
Regardless, Lu Yin did not want to give anything away. "That’s something between Bai Xian'er and me. I won't speak about it."
"You must tell me." Bai Wangyuan's expression grew solemn.
Lu Yin put his hands behind his back, "Progenitor Bai, you would not have come here to negotiate with me if you were willing to sacrifice Bai Xian'er. There is no way to force me to say anything that I don’t wish to say.”
"I call you ‘Progenitor Bai’ not out of respect for you, but simply because I don't know how else to call you. Should I address you as Bai Wangyuan?"
Bai Wangyuan's eyes widened. "Threatening Xian'er might be able to keep you alive, but it’s far from enough to allow you to do whatever you want! If you think that threatening Xian’er can grant you such freedom, I’ll make sure to punish you severely."
"Any punishment you force upon me, I’ll make sure Bai Xian'er experiences even worse. I won’t kill her, but I can still make it impossible for her to cultivate. No one can defeat me while I’m in the Fifth Mainland. While you can certainly slaughter the Fifth Mainland, I can make Bai Xian'er pay for your actions with her life. If you dare to kill the surviving vassals of my Lu family, I’ll slaughter the army that you sent after me. Go ahead and gamble, Bai Wangyuan, but I promise you, as long as I don’t die, I will eventually become a Progenitor. Just wait and see the despair I will force upon your four ruling powers," Lu Yin quietly retorted.
Bai Wangyuan’s eyes narrowed as he studied Lu Yin carefully. The old man did not release any wisp of killing intent, nor any hint of a Progenitor’s aura, but Lu Yin was still subjected to incredible pressure.
Lu Yin unconsciously took out the broken scythe, and the endless sea of death energy surged up from the ground in what looked like a black rainbow as it poured into the broken weapon. Bai Wangyuan was shocked by the sight.
The God of Death had been one of the most powerful people during the Heavens Sect era. No matter how confident a person might be, no one would believe themselves stronger than the God of Death, who had been a truly legendary powerhouse.
Bai Wangyuan had already seen what sort of state Xia Shenji had ended up in after being struck by the God of Death’s power, and Progenitor Bai was not confident that he could block such a powerful attack. Not to mention, Lu Xiaoxuan was not only able to wield the power of the God of Death, but he could also use Xia Shang's stars that had been left in the Fifth Mainland and summon E Chi as a champion. Finally, there was the jiao that he had tamed.
There was truly nothing that could be done against Lu Yin within the Fifth Mainland.