Chapter 2344: Showing Off
Chapter 2344: Showing Off
In every part of the entire Perennial World, countless people were staring at the sky with wide eyes that started to turn bloodshot. Had the Lu family returned?
Adventure King stood atop a tree trunk and looked upwards. He let out a long breath. There was no longer a need for him to hide.
The old man from the Nong family who had helped Lu Yin escape while fleeing through the Middle Realm sat on the ground in an undignified manner. They were finally back.
One after another, people looked as though they had been reborn as they stared up at Lu Yin with eyes filled with admiration and anticipation.
In Seed Garden, in the Middle Realm, Nong Sanniang, Nong Lie, and many others were badly startled. "The Lu family is back? How could the four ruling powers possibly agree to that?"
Patriarch Nong Ya's eyes flickered. "It would seem that Lu Xiaoxuan has forced the four ruling powers to take a step back."
Nong Sanniang felt quite puzzled. "But why? The entire Lu family was exiled, so no one can help him. Any one of the four ruling powers’ Progenitors should be able to easily deal with Lu Yin, so how could he pull this off?"
It was not that the Nong family did not want the Lu family to return, but rather that this declaration was too shocking and confusing.
While the four ruling powers had agreed to a truce with Lu Yin, they had not publicized anything about that matter. As a result, Lu Yin’s announcement was far, far more shocking to everyone in the Perennial World.
Nong Ya could not make sense of what was happening, so he immediately contacted his family’s Progenitor.
The Liu family did the same thing. Liu Yijian’s hunched figure stared at the image of Lu Yin standing atop the jiao’s head, and the old man smiled. "The child from back then really has returned."
"It would be great if Little Pebble still lived as well. We all thought that Bai Xian’er benefited the most by using the Seven Heroes as a stepping stone for her achievements, but it seems that it is all going to change now," Liu Yishou commented.
A short ways away from the two men, Zhang Dingtian clenched the hilt of his saber while staring upwards. Are you really back?
Once again, they were both beneath the same sky, and yet the distance between them was greater than ever.
In one corner of the Middle Realm, countless pairs of eyes looked up at the sky from within Specter Abyss. "The God of Death’s heir has returned. Await the Progenitor’s orders."
In the Higher Realm, countless people from the four ruling powers stared at the image in a stupor. Many of them asked why someone from the Lu family was still safe and sound. Just how could the last survivor of the Lu family act so arrogantly?
There was no option but for the entire Perennial World to hunt the young man down and kill him. And yet, he had announced his presence and was looking down upon the entire world.
Xia Taili hopped up in anger. "Hit him! Strike him! Why isn’t the Progenitor attacking him?"
Xia Luo was left speechless by the sight. This was just too much showing off.
Wu Taibai shook his head while laughing. There were some people who existed above the heavens, and they were truly and completely incomparable to all others.
Xia Xing looked miserable. The Death Seal was still inside the patriarch’s body, and Lu Xiaoxuan had drawn the broken saber and taken it away. Now, it was impossible for Xia Xing to prove his worth to the family’s Progenitor. This was something that outsiders did not know, but everyone from the Xia family certainly did.
One of the most forbidden crimes within the Xia family among those who cultivated the Nine Clones Secret Technique was for a clone to replace the main body. Without the ability to draw the broken saber and prove his worth, would the family’s Progenitor just kill Xia Xing? The patriarch had no idea.
Recently, Xia Ziheng had started having some questions regarding Xia Xing, as the patriarch had helped Lu Yin get away with several deceptions. For example, Xia Xing had reported to Xia Ziheng that Yu Hao had spoken to Grandmaster Gu Yan in the patriarch’s presence. He had also claimed that Yu Hao had asked Gu Yan to attend the Xia family’s ceremony to honor their ancestors.
Xia Xing had defended himself by claiming to have seen Yu Hao make the call and speak, though he had apparently never seen whom Yu Hao had been speaking with. The patriarch had claimed that it was an honest mistake on his part, but there was no way for Xia Xing to know if the Semi-Progenitor believed his story or not.
Xia Xing had been on edge for some time, and as he looked up at Lu Yin Xiaoyuan, the patriarch’s anxiousness only grew worse.
In the Celestial Frost Sect, Yu Chen stared upwards with a blank expression, though there was an odd glint in her eyes. She had once hated Lu Yin because he had caused Bai Shaohong's death. However, as she looked at Lu Yin’s brazen display in the Higher Realm, the woman realized that she might be looking at an opportunity.
Far away, a man was desperately fleeing from a pack of astral beasts that were trying to kill him. The man screamed and leaped into the sky from time to time to avoid attacks.
Suddenly, the man noticed the image in the sky that was being transmitted through distorted space. "Lu Xiaoxuan?"
The man’s name was Hua Beibei, and he had met Lu Yin on the rear battlefield before, but that was while Lu Yin had been using Long Qi’s identity. It was only after Long Qi had been exposed that Hua Beibei had understood that he had met Lu Xiaoxuan.
Had that man really become so arrogant? Was Lu Xiaoxuan actually flaunting himself so provocatively in the Higher Realm?
A massive beast that looked like an enormous rhinoceros tried to gore Hua Beibei with a horn. The man grabbed his butt and fled once again. "Help me!"
Atop the Wang family’s mainland, Xiao Can looked upwards. He also saw Lu Xiaoxuan, whom Xiao Can had also previously known as Long Qi. Xiao Can had even traded a Root of Intelligence with Long Qi shortly before he had been exposed as Lu Xiaoxuan and pursued by the entire Perennial World. Just how was he able to openly appear in the Higher Realm?
On Dragon Mountain, Long Tian clenched his fists. Lu Xiaoxuan, Long Qi, Yu Hao! They’re all him, the bastard.
While pretending to be Long Qi, Lu Xiaoxuan had fought against the four Junior Progenitors and trapped them in the Dominion Realm in the Forgotten Ruins. Long Xi had been captured, and Long Tian’s cosmic ring had been stolen. The White Dragon Clan had been completely humiliated before the entire Perennial World.
When pretending to be Yu Hao, the same bastard had seen through the disadvantages of the White Dragon Clan’s blood pool that contained a trace of the Ancestor Python’s blood. Even though no rumors had spread, the people who mattered had already learned of the matter. In particular, the other three ruling powers were now aware of the issue, and the White Dragon Clan had lost any advantage that they had previously enjoyed.
It’s always this bastard! Why is he behind everything?
Long Tian really wanted to fight Lu Xiaoxuan, but he knew that that was nothing more than a dream. The bastard was only becoming more and more of a freak. He had actually fought against four Semi-Progenitors as a mere three-tribulation Envoy. Long Tian could not even begin to imagine how one was capable of doing such a thing.
Only Sister Xing could possibly compare to such an incredible talent.
At this moment, countless people were staring at Lu Yin. They could feel his arrogance, as well as his desire to return to the Perennial World. Lu Yin had waited too long to openly return to the Perennial World, and the surviving vassals of the Lu family had waited even longer.
The void that had been twisted and warped around Lu Yin was torn apart. Bai Wangyuan was interfering.
Lu Yin looked up at the Dominion Realm. "Senior Bai, there’s no need to be so touchy. It was just a greeting."
Bai Wangyuan and the other Progenitors all had miserable expressions on their faces. The more arrogantly Lu Yin acted within the Perennial World, the more incompetent they all appeared to be.
The entire Perennial World had just been informed that Lu Xiaoxuan had returned, and his return meant that the four ruling powers were unable to do anything to him. This failure was a huge blow to the four ruling powers’ reputation.
Unfortunately, everything had already happened, which meant that it was impossible to do anything about it. They could only hope for Lu Yin to become a Semi-Progenitor as quickly as possible so that they could kill him.
"Lu Xiaoxuan, the fourth array base has been evacuated. If you don't take control of it now, Aeternus will seize control of it," Bai Wangyuan stated softly.
Lu Yin just smiled. He ordered everyone following him to climb on top of the jiao, and then he slapped the beast. "Go!"
The jiao bared its fangs and flashed its talons before releasing the full power of its Progenitor-level aura, which caused the Higher Realm to sway for a moment. Then, the jiao took off towards the rear battlefield.
In the Middle Realm, Headmaster Wen and the other faculty members of Virtue Archives stared on in shock as the image in the sky vanished.
"Was that- Was that Lu Xiaoxuan?" Mr. Tang was stunned.
Prof. Xiao Wen was dazed. "That was definitely Lu Xiaoxuan. He's back."
"Impossible! How could Lu Xiaoxuan openly show himself in the Higher Realm? The four ruling powers would never be willing to let him go!" Prof. Zheng immediately denied what they had all seen.
However, everyone had seen the same thing.
"It wasn’t only Lu Xiaoxuan. He brought countless people with him as well, though I have no idea what they were all doing in the Higher Realm," Prof. Wei commented.
Ce Donglai and Headmaster Wen glanced at each other. "That valley in the mountains."
Headmaster Wen nodded. "That's the only place that’s connected to the Forsaken Land. Very few people even know about it. But why would the four ruling powers let Lu Xiaoxuan go? Could Lu Xiaoxuan have joined one of the four ruling powers?"
The moment those words were spoken, Wen Lai himself felt like he had said a joke. Even if Lu Xiaoxuan were able to set aside his personal hatred and was willing to join one of the four ruling powers, none of them would ever be willing to let him remain alive. They carried an unsolvable hatred for the last surviving member of the Lu family.
There was only one possible explanation for Lu Yin’s sudden appearance.
Despite how unbelievable it seemed, no one could think of any alternative explanation: the four ruling powers had taken a step back.
"How did he do it?" Ce Donglai felt terribly puzzled.
Headmaster Wen was also quite confused, but then his eyes suddenly lit up. "I’ll keep stalling Mu Shang for as long as possible, so please get a hold of Lu Xiaoxuan as quickly as possible and ask him if he can help our Virtue Archives!"
The rest of the faculty all grew excited as well, and Mr. Tang immediately tried to call Lu Yin. He has to answer! He has to!
There was no one more desperate for Lu Yin to save Virtue Archives than Prof. Huai. He had been panicking for some time, as he was fully aware that he would be done for the moment the academy was destroyed. Watching Mu Shang open the sourcebox array had made Prof. Huai desperate, and he had almost stepped forward to surrender, but that was not possible. His only option was to live or die with the academy. You have to save us, Prof. Hao Yu! You’re the greatest professor the academy has!
In the southernmost part of the Higher Realm, the Mother Tree blocked the way to the rear battlefield.
The rear battlefield was too cruel a place, and there were certain things that were better off concealed from the public.
The Tree Realm completely blocked all sight of the rear battlefield from the rest of the Perennial World. It did not take the jiao long to reach the Tree Realm.
The people of the Perennial World stared blankly at the jiao, having no idea how they should react to its sudden appearance. The beast’s terrifying aura made people tremble. They had lived through life and death on the rear battlefield, but they had never experienced the pressure of a Progenitor. It was a completely different sort of pressure, and even fearlessness in the face of death did not help with this pressure.
Not to mention, the jiao liked to flash its fangs and claws, and seeing the beast brandish such frightening weapons almost caused the people there to collapse in terror.
Just as Lu Yin was about to order the jiao to rush forwards, his communication crystal vibrated.
Since Lu Yin was back in the Perennial World, he was naturally using his communication crystal, though he also kept his wireless jincan around so that he could communicate with the Fifth Mainland.
Having to use both a wireless jincan and a communication crystal was rather inconvenient, and the wireless jincan was easier to use. Thus, Lu Yin intended to push for wireless jincans to be more popular in the Perennial World.
"Prof. Hao Yu, it's me!" The image of Mr. Tang appeared on the communication crystal, though the man looked to be quite anxious.
Lu Yin was surprised by the call. "Mr. Tang? What's wrong?"
"Yu- no, Lu Xiaoxuan, Virtue Archives is facing a disaster. I wonder, would you be willing to help?" He directed the communication crystal to show a more distant image, and Lu Yin saw Headmaster Wen inside the academy’s sourcebox array, struggling to stall Mu Shang from unlocking the academy’s final defenses. Further away, Lu Yin could make out the five Semi-Progenitors.
"If it's really impossible, we won’t try to make any trouble for you, but-"
"Mr. Tang, I am also one of Virtue Archives’ instructors, and if the academy is facing difficulties, then as long as I have the ability to do so, I will offer my help," Lu Yin interrupted Mr. Tang.
Mr. Tang was thrilled to hear such a response. "Thank you! Truly, thank you!"
Lu Yin was in no rush to reach the rear battlefield, so he quietly listened just outside the Tree Realm as Mr. Tang explained the difficulties that Virtue Archives was facing. "So, as long as the academy has students, it will be allowed to continue?"
"That's what we were told, but even if we have students, they need to be able to enter the academy, and the sourcebox array can't last much longer," Mr. Tang answered in embarrassment.
"How much longer can the sourcebox array endure for?" Lu Yin asked.
Mr. Tang looked over at Ce Donglai, who replied, "Once the Undying Bird and the Dark Undying Bird completely disappear, we will have two days, at most. This is also on the premise that the headmaster puts forth his best efforts to stall Mu Shang. Without the headmaster, the sourcebox array would have been broken today. Mu Shang is an Array Grandmaster, and he’s already been working on breaking this array for ten days."
Lu Yin took out his wireless jincan and sent a message. He was contacting Skymender.