Chapter 2363: Mu Shang's Confidence
Chapter 2363: Mu Shang's Confidence
Xia Ziheng gritted his teeth. Nothing had gone well for him recently. In fact, ever since Lu Xiaoxuan had posed as Yu Hao, everything that Xia Ziheng had attempted to do had failed. He had even been blamed for the Yu family incident, which had ended up with Xia Shenji beating the Semi-Progenitor. Given all he had been through recently, Xia Ziheng’s temper was nowhere to be found. "You old bastard, my Xia family will kill you one day!"
Kui Luo rolled his eyes. "Sure you will."
The man’s casual attitude caused Xia Ziheng's anger to rise higher than ever.
"Seniors, please calm down," Mu Shang called out in a soft voice. Despite the fact that he, an Envoy, was addressing two Semi-Progenitors, the fact that Mu Shang was an Array Grandmaster meant that his status was actually higher than an ordinary Semi-Progenitor’s. Mu Shang was qualified to speak with Progenitors, so he was far from intimidated by the two old men.
Xia Ziheng slowly dropped back down to the ground. Kui Luo was a tough old man who feared nothing. Given the fact that Lu Xiaoxuan was Kui Luo’s backer, it was possible that the old man might even openly insult Progenitors. However, Xia Ziheng was not in the same position, and he had to show Mu Shang a proper level of respect.
Mu Shang stared at Kui Luo.
Kui Luo smiled smugly as he also landed on the ground.
A cold light flashed across Mu Shang's eyes. There were simply too many people who hated Kui Luo. In fact, at least half of the guests at Mu Shang’s party likely wanted to kill the old man, but they were holding themselves back because they were too intimidated by Lu Xiaoxuan. It was undeniable that Lu Xiaoxuan’s arrival had overturned the Perennial World’s entire situation.
Some time passed, and Grandmaster Qiu Ling soon arrived. Mu Shang quickly stepped forward to greet the woman. While they were both Array Grandmasters, Mu Shang was the youngest and most junior of the four.
Grandmaster Qiu Ling looked around and gave a small smile. "It seems that I am the first to arrive."
Mu Shang laughed. "The presence of other Array Grandmasters truly gives this junior a great deal of face."
Grandmaster Qiu Ling asked, "Are you certain?"
Mu Shang immediately understood what was being asked. "Lu Xiaoxuan is not an easy opponent, so we shall have to see what he’s capable of."
Grandmaster Qiu Ling nodded and dropped the matter. She had not received any instructions from the Aeternals regarding Lu Yin. It seemed that not even Aeternus could control him any longer.
More and more people arrived at the gathering just outside of the rear battlefield. Everyone who was able to attend this party was very familiar with the rear battlefield. Regardless of how fierce the fighting on the five array bases became, they would consider the sight perfectly normal.
Gu Yan arrived next. He wore an exceptionally luxurious coat, and he moved very slowly towards the location of the gathering, accompanied by both his maid, Xiao Cui, and his bodyguard, Er Gouzi.
As soon as Grandmaster Gu Yan arrived, Mu Shang solemnly greeted the older man.
Many of the people at the party stopped talking and turned to stare when Grandmaster Gu Yan arrived.
Gu Yan was the number one Array Grandmaster of the entire Perennial World. He was someone whom no one could ignore.
"Thank you for coming, Senior," Mu Shang said with a smile as he offered a low bow.
Grandmaster Gu Yan replied by humming in a manner that could mean anything. He immediately looked past Mu Shang. "So that Lu Xiaoxuan kid hasn't arrived yet?"
Mu Shang frowned slightly. The wording of Grandmaster Gu Yan’s question made it sound like he was very familiar with Lu Xiaoxuan. "Not yet, Senior. Please, come in."
Grandmaster Gu Yan clearly had not come to the party for Mu Shang’s sake. While the old man did not dislike Mu Shang, there was no denying that Mu Shang was part of the Celestial Frost Sect, which meant that Gu Yan would not offer the junior Array Grandmaster too much face. No, Gu Yan was attending the party almost entirely because of Lu Yin.
Gu Yan had met Lu Yin once in the Lower Realm. If Lu Yin had not been exposed as an imposter while posing as Long Qi, it was very possible that he would have become Gu Yan’s apprentice. Furthermore, Lu Xiaoxuan was an old acquaintance of Grandmaster Gu Yan.
However, that relationship was something that almost no one was aware of.
As soon as Grandmaster Gu Yan arrived, Xia Ziheng, Wu Yao, and several other Semi-Progenitors all stepped forward to greet the man.
Grandmaster Gu Yan remained as courteous and shameless as ever. He even did his best to manipulate the conversations towards coercing the old men to give Xiao Cui some meeting gifts.
Kui Luo pulled a bit back from the rest of the party. Aside from Progenitors, there were very, very few people in the Perennial World who Kui Luo was intimidated by, but one of them was in front of him.
Grandmaster Gu Yan noticed Kui Luo and gave a brilliant smile. "Is that really Kui Luo, who pretended to be dead for so long? Why are you willing to show yourself now?"
Many people were left confused by this reaction. What was going on between the two old men?
Kui Luo was left speechless. He stared at Grandmaster Gu Yan. The old bastard really was not going to hold anything back. The Array Grandmaster had gone after him as soon as he laid eyes on him. "I would like to thank Grandmaster Gu for his help back then. You don’t need to worry, as this old man understands the situation. I will not embarrass you."
Grandmaster Gu Yan blinked. What the hell?
Many people turned to stare at Grandmaster Gu Yan with odd expressions on their faces. Had Gu Yan actually helped Kui Luo in the past? Why would the Array Grandmaster have helped the notorious bastard?
Grandmaster Gu Yan was left speechless. "Old man, don't be ridiculous! You really are shameless!"
Kui Luo cackled. He had just made a comment, and it was none of his business whether people believed him or not. Why did Gu Yan have to call Kui Luo out as soon as he laid eyes on him?
Grandmaster Gu Yan felt that not even he was as shameless as the old bastard in front of him. The more anyone spoke to Kui Luo, the more trouble they would end up in. Gu Yan looked beyond the gathering and saw the distant jiao. "Doesn’t that belong to the Xia family? Did Lu Xiaoxuan really steal it?"
As soon as the Array Grandmaster asked the question, Xia Ziheng's expression grew ugly.
Mu Shang quickly tried to change the subject.
"Why hasn't Lu Xiaoxuan arrived yet? This is just too rude! He challenged Grandmaster Mu, so he should at least have the courtesy to show up at a reasonable time!" someone commented.
"Shhh, don't don’t say that! You don’t want to mess with Lu Xiaoxuan! No one dares to make trouble for him now."
"But didn’t I hear that the four ruling powers are just using him as bait to lure out the last surviving vassals of the Lu family? He’s nothing more than the four ruling powers’ trap," someone spat contemptuously.
"Wait, where's Qiao Er? Why haven’t we seen Qiao Er even after being here for so long?"
Many people grew silent. There were some who knew what had happened, but many did not know that Qiao Er had been the trigger of the challenge between Lu Xiaoxuan and Mu Shang.
Mu Shang's birthday celebration had not been intended to be some grand event. If not for the fact that Lu Yin had challenged the Array Grandmaster, many of the guests would not have attended the party at all. The only ones who had always intended to attend the party were people from the Celestial Frost Sect, and other Lockbreakers. In fact, most of the people who had originally intended to attend the party were Lockbreakers, as they hoped to obtain the opportunity to learn from Grandmaster Mu Shang, which was also why practically all of the Lockbreakers had prepared gifts.
As Mu Shang's only apprentice, it was expected that Qiao Er would offer an even more generous gift than anyone else, but unfortunately, no one would ever see her gift, or even the woman herself.
One person stepped away from the other guests and entered the rear battlefield. After looking around and seeing the endless fighting taking place on the distant array bases, and expression of shock appeared on the person’s face. It was Skymender.
Given the fact that Lu Yin was going to challenge Mu Shang at this birthday party, how could only the Perennial World’s Array Grandmasters bear witness to the event? Lu Yin had actually wanted to have Highsage Grandmaster and Grandmaster Xiu Ming attend as well, but had eventually decided not to do so.
Skymender’s arrival instantly drew the attention of Grandmaster Gu Yan. "An unknown Array Grandmaster?"
Grandmaster Qiu Ling and Mu Shang immediately noticed Skymender as well.
Mu Shang's expression fell, as he recognized this individual. Skymender was the one who had helped Virtue Archives by taking control of the academy’s defensive sourcebox array and stopped Mu Shang from opening the array. Mu Shang was already aware that Skymender was an Array Grandmaster as well.
When Skymender arrived, Kui Luo approached and whispered something that no one else overheard.
The God of Food then approached as well, as Skymender had allowed Virtue Archives to hold back Mu Shang, so the God of Food naturally recognized Skymender as well.
There was a roar from the jiao, and Lu Yin suddenly stepped through the entrance to the rear battlefield. He slowly walked into the gathering as everyone turned to stare.
Everyone fell silent as they looked at Lu Yin.
Xia Ziheng's eye twitched. He had not laid eyes on Lu Yin since the young man had attacked Shenwu's Sky. Upon seeing Lu Yin again, Xia Ziheng noticed that the young man had somehow changed. There was something incredibly intimidating about his mere presence.
The enormous jiao completely filled the entrance to the rear battlefield, and a Champions’ Stage floated behind Lu Yin as he walked into the party. Every step he took rang out and was clearly heard by every single person present.
As Lu Yin moved closer to the crowd of people, the Champions’ Stage became much more defined, as he was accessing the runes of the Champions’ Stage so as to always be prepared.
Given that he was about to have a lockbreaking match with Mu Shang, Lu Yin felt quite certain that countless people wanted to attack him. While the four ruling powers would absolutely not break the truce, that did not mean that nobody was willing to help the four ruling powers by attacking Lu Yin for them.
Even if Lu Yin was not targeted by a Progenitor, there were other ways to threaten him, so he needed to remain on guard.
When Grandmaster Gu Yan saw Lu Yin slowly approaching, various emotions flickered across the old man’s eyes. Was this youth the person that Lu Xiaoxuan had become? It was a pity that the sunny and optimistic child had changed so much.
As soon as Lu Yin appeared, Mu Shang instantly ignored everything else. This was the moment that he had been waiting for.
"Brother Lu, how do you plan to challenge me?" Mu Shang stepped forward and immediately asked Lu Yin directly to state the method of challenge.
Everyone was focused on the two men. They were both so young, and yet both of them had truly unbelievable talent for lockbreaking.
Almost no one present believed that Lu Yin had any chance of defeating Mu Shang. Lockbreaking was not the same as combat. Even if Lu Yin could fight against Progenitors, it did not mean that he had comparable lockbreaking skills. Lu Yin’s future achievements in lockbreaking would be unquestionably grand, but that was only in the future. He simply did not have the experience to already be on the same level as Mu Shang.
Almost everyone believed that Lu Yin’s challenge was nothing more than an act of arrogance. The fact that he had fought against Progenitors and lived must have made him arrogant, and he clearly believed himself unbeatable in every way.
High above in the Dominion Realm, Bai Wangyuan and the other Progenitors were all looking down.
"Is Mu Shang confident?" Xia Shenji asked.
Bai Wangyuan said nothing. While he had received reassurance from Mu Shang, the fact that Lu Xiaoxuan was the challenger made Bai Wangyuan nervous.
Suddenly, Bai Wangyuan had a flashback to when the New Corridor had first been repaired and when Xia Shenji had gone to the Forsaken Land to kill Lu Xiaoxuan. Bai Wangyuan had been confident at that time as well.
Still standing in the entrance to the rear battlefield, Lu Yin calmly looked back at Mu Shang. "Stable Zone."
Mu Shang also appeared to be calm as he looked at Lu Yin. "I’ll offer you a chance to choose a different method. You have no chance of winning a game of Stable Zone."
Lu Yin shrugged. "Let’s give it a try."
Mu Shang nodded. "Back then, you used to call me Brother Mu. I’ve given you a chance to change your mind, but since you’ve refused, we’ll play Stable Zone."
While Stable Zone was considered a game, it was the best method of testing every aspect of a Lockbreaker’s abilities. It was possible to almost instantly determine the better Lockbreaker with a game of Stable Zone.
Grandmaster Gu Yan shook his head. Lu Xiaoxuan had dared to challenge to Mu Shang, and if they had competed in lockbreaking a sourcebox, Lu Xiaoxuan might stand a tiny chance of victory. However, there was no chance at all if they played Stable Zone.
"Hey, why is that guy trying to say that there’s no chance in a game of Stable Zone? Is he that certain that the Lu kid will lose?" Kui Luo leaned over and asked Grandmaster Qiu Ling.
Grandmaster Qiu Ling frowned. She also hated the notorious bastard of a Semi-Progenitor. "I don't know."
"Aren't you also an Array Grandmaster?" Kui Luo shot back.
Grandmaster Qiu Ling moved away from the old man.
Kui Luo rolled his eyes and looked back at Lu Yin. "Wouldn’t it be better to just unlock a sourcebox if he’s going to challenge an Array Grandmaster? Why go with something as unreliable as a game of Stable Zone? We don’t want to see something that messy! Stop messing around—we want to see some lockbreaking!"
"That’s right, we want to watch some lockbreaking!" Nong Sanniang shouted.
Liu Song coughed. "Lockbreaking would be more enjoyable to see."
A smile spread across Mu Shang's face as he calmly stared at Lu Yin. Everyone who was speaking up had enjoyed a close relationship with the Lu family in the past. It was obvious that they wanted to help Lu Yin, but it was all up to Lu Yin whether he would appreciate their kindness.
Lu Yin could not understand where Mu Shang's confidence was coming from. Lu Yin had acquired all of Grandmaster Qiu Ling’s lockbreaking experience, and he believed himself to be close to Mu Shang’s level when it came to lockbreaking. On top of that, Lu Yin had much, much greater combat strength, and while that did not directly assist in lockbreaking, it did provide a few distinct advantages when playing Stable Zone. Given the situation, why was Mu Shang so confident that Lu Yin stood no chance at all?
Lu Yin still had an opportunity to change his mind regarding his method of challenging Mu Shang.
Suddenly, Xia Ziheng spoke up. "We are right next to the rear battlefield, and if anything goes wrong while opening a sourcebox, who will take responsibility if the rear battlefield is affected?"
For sourceboxes that could challenge Lockbreakers of Lu Yin and Mu Shang’s caliber, it was highly likely that there would be unexpected surges in the sourceboxes’ danger zone. Given their close proximity to the rear battlefield, it was inappropriate for humans to risk anything if it might benefit the Aeternals on the rear battlefield.