Chapter 2336: Admiration
"Progenitor Bai, if you don"t stop now, it will be too late." Bai Xian"er was quickly growing weaker.
Bai w.a.n.gyuan suddenly looked over at Progenitor Smoke and Mu Xie. "The four ruling powers and I will no longer attack Lu Xiaoxuan. Tell Lu Xiaoxuan that he also needs to stop immediately."
w.a.n.g Fan and Progenitor Long both looked miserable. They had overheard the entire conversation between Bai w.a.n.gyuan and Bai Xian"er. While losing Bai Xian’er was completely unacceptable for the Bai family, neither the w.a.n.g family nor the White Dragon Clan had any vested interest in her life.
The two looked at each other, trying to think of a way to stop what was happening.
Progenitor Smoke reacted first. "Bai w.a.n.gyuan, are you sure that you want to stop?"
"Yes," Bai w.a.n.gyuan quietly affirmed.
Progenitor Smoke then looked at w.a.n.g Fan and Progenitor Long. "What about you two?"
w.a.n.g Fan frowned. Bai Xian"er"s life or death had nothing to do with the w.a.n.g family. "Lu Xiaoxuan is an Envoy capable of forcing even Xia Shenji to retreat. He poses too great a threat. We-"
Bai w.a.n.gyuan interrupted, "If the w.a.n.g family and the White Dragon Clan are unwilling to stop now, then my Bai family will stop you."
w.a.n.g Fan instantly lost his temper. "Bai w.a.n.gyuan, what are you saying?"
Bai w.a.n.gyuan visibly resolved himself, firming his decision. "You are well aware of just how important Xian"er is to my Bai family."
w.a.n.g Fan and Progenitor Long both stared at Bai w.a.n.gyuan. The atmosphere grew heavy.
Mu Xie spoke up. "With the Bai family joining us, we stand a good chance of winning."
Progenitor Smoke nodded. "That would make it Bai w.a.n.gyuan, Mu Xie, and I standing against w.a.n.g Fan, Xia Shenji, and Long Er. Of course, they still have other Progenitors that they can summon, but so do we. That kid Lu Xiaoxuan alone can be regarded as two Progenitors over the- Um, yes, we have a good chance of winning.”
Bai w.a.n.gyuan"s expression grew worse than ever, as he was actually being forced to help the last member of the Lu family. It was humiliating.
w.a.n.g Fan stared at Bai w.a.n.gyuan. "Lu Xiaoxuan will not just forget his hatred towards our four ruling powers. If he’s not dealt with now, he will only grow to be more dangerous in the future, as you already know."
Bai w.a.n.gyuan frowned and simply stopped talking to w.a.n.g Fan and Long Er. Instead, he sent a message to Bai Sheng. "Go speak with Lu Xiaoxuan and inform him that our Bai family has abandoned pursuing him. Tell him to immediately stop what he’s doing, no matter what that might be. It has to be now."
w.a.n.g Fan"s heart dropped. Bai Xian"er was simply too important to the Celestial Frost Sect. He knew that it was impossible to have Bai Xian"er and Lu Xiaoxuan die together.
Progenitor Long felt quite puzzled. "How did Lu Xiaoxuan manage to hurt Bai Xian"er so badly? Bai w.a.n.gyuan, even if we let Lu Xiaoxuan go right now, if he threatens your Celestial Frost Sect with this same method again in the future, will you still give in to him?"
Bai w.a.n.gyuan"s expression grew worse than ever. He naturally understood this as well, and he would have trouble even sleeping and eating before he understood exactly what Lu Xiaoxuan had done.
Progenitor Smoke managed to piece some things together. She remembered seeing the Stargazing Deck in the Astral Combat Academy, as well as hearing about the Book of Destiny. Could that be what had happened?
It was a pity that they had not known about such a method earlier, as they would not have had to go through so much earlier.
Lu Yin also regretted that he had not discovered such a thing earlier.
Bai Sheng crossed the Fifth Mainland with a single step, instantly appearing next to the jiao. He had already found Lu Yin.
"Bai w.a.n.gyuan is giving up on pursuing me and killing me?" Lu Yin asked in surprise, despite not truly being surprised.
Bai Sheng stared at Lu Yin. "Just what did you do? I"m quite curious about what you could have done to make even Progenitor Bai stop pursuing you."
Lu Yin had greatly underestimated Bai Xian"er"s importance to Bai w.a.n.gyuan. If he had realized the truth, then he would have targeted her long before. Bai w.a.n.gyuan was not even trying to negotiate terms, and he had simply announced that the four ruling powers were no longer going to pursue Lu Yin. Apparently, Lu Yin’s attack had been extremely effective.
"Let Bai w.a.n.gyuan himself come," Lu Yin said.
Bai Sheng crossed his arms. "What did you do? Why won’t you satisfy my curiosity?"
Lu Yin replied, "Senior Progenitor Sheng, I would like to ask you a question."
"Tell me."
"What will happen if Bai Xian"er dies?"
Bai Sheng"s expression instantly changed. "What did you just say?"
Lu Yin looked up at the Progenitor. "I asked what will happen if Bai Xian"er dies."
Bai Sheng’s eyes narrowed. "So, you have a way to target Xian"er? That makes me even more curious. Just how did you do that?"
"Senior, please just answer my question."
Bai Sheng bluntly stated, "Blood will wash this entire place."
Lu Yin’s eyebrows rose high.
Bai Sheng stared at Lu Yin. "I strongly suggest that you don’t even try it. Bai Xian"er is the Celestial Frost Sect’s—no, she is the Bai family’s greatest pride throughout all of history. No other person in the history of the Bai family, including even our Progenitors, can compare to her. Honestly, I can’t understand how such a person even exists, though you have also appeared now, so maybe there’s some sort of destiny involved.”
"Bai Xian’er is someone whom the Bai family simply cannot afford to lose. Do you know why the Bai family agreed to exile the Lu family?"
Lu Yin frowned. "Because of Bai Xian"er?"
"You could say that we agreed because the Bai family saw an opportunity to replace the Lu family, but in truth, Bai Xian"er is the one who is qualified to replace the Lu family and become the ruler of the Fifth Mainland."
"So, she was hiding her true talent when the Lu family was still around?" Lu Yin asked.
Bai Sheng laughed and shook his head. "She was never hiding. Rather, your family simply couldn’t see the truth."
Lu Yin finally understood why the Celestial Frost Sect had been willing to exile the Lu family.
Each of the four ruling powers had agreed to exile the Lu family for different reasons.
The Xia family had agreed because the Lu family had once helped Xia Shang. The w.a.n.g family had agreed because of w.a.n.g Si, or possibly for some other reason. The White Dragon Clan must have been tempted by the allure of becoming one of the four ruling powers. Before the Lu family had been exiled, the White Dragon Clan had not even been on the same level as the Liu and Nong families.
However, the Celestial Frost Sect had held the greatest ambitions, as they had wanted to replace the Lu family with Bai Xian"er.
This was also why Bai w.a.n.gyuan had reacted so strongly to the threat on Bai Xian’er’s life.
"I"m telling you this not as a threat from my Celestial Frost Sect, but rather to make sure that you understand the seriousness of this matter. If anything happens to Bai Xian"er-" Bai Sheng paused as he glanced around. "Everything that you see now—your friends, family, and everything you hold dear—will disappear. This is not a threat, but rather a friendly warning."
It was important to be cautious when taking hostages. Capturing someone considered important to the enemy could certainly achieve certain results, but if the hostage happened to be too important, the results might actually be counterproductive.
A perfect example was Bai Xian"er. At this moment, no matter how badly Lu Yin wished to kill the woman, he would not do so unless he was forced into a truly desperate situation. This was also something that Bai w.a.n.gyuan and the others were aware of. Lu Yin would hold himself back, because he simply could not afford the consequences.
This also meant that it would be very, very important for him to be extremely careful when negotiating with Bai Xian"er’s life as his hostage. A single slip-up could cost Lu Yin his life.
If Lu Yin died with Bai Xian’er, the four ruling powers would only lose Bai Xian"er, and while that would have a tremendous impact on the Celestial Frost Sect, her death would not affect the other three families. On the other hand, Lu Yin’s death would place the entire Fifth Mainland in grave danger. Lu Yin fully believed that Bai w.a.n.gyuan would go crazy and slaughter the entire Fifth Mainland in order to vent his anger at Bai Xian’er’s death.
That was not a risk that Lu Yin could take.
Lu Yin’s goal was to save his Lu family and get revenge on the four ruling powers, not die with them.
Bai Sheng"s explanation appeared to have exposed the Celestial Frost Sect"s hidden strength, but the information actually set the tone for future negotiations. Lu Yin would not be able to push too far. However, he also was aware that Bai w.a.n.gyuan would do his best to push Lu Yin to agree to additional conditions, which were the fundamental basics of a negotiation. In reality, the negotiations were going to be mutual concessions.
Lu Yin looked at Bai Sheng before him. The negotiations had already begun. "Senior Progenitor Sheng, I am the only one left of my Lu family."
Bai Sheng stared at Lu Yin, and the young man continued. "If I die, my Lu family will disappear completely into the long river of history, which would leave me as the greatest sinner of the Lu family. For this reason, no matter what it takes, I will make sure that I survive. If I can"t survive, Bai Xian"er will absolutely die. This is my bottom line."
Bai Sheng ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Threatening each other accomplishes nothing. You should talk to Progenitor Bai. Honestly, I belong in the Outer Realm, and if not for the fact that I have the Bai surname, I wouldn"t be here right now."
Lu Yin grew curious. "Outer Realm?"
"I told you the last time we spoke that you would learn of it in the future, but I never imagined that you were actually Lu Xiaoxuan. The Outer Realm has nothing to do with you."
Suddenly, a smile appeared on Bai Sheng’s face. "How about we make a deal? Just you and I. This won’t involve the Bai family, or the four ruling powers."
"What do you propose?" Lu Yin asked.
Bai Sheng replied, "There’s still one other person from your Lu family who’s alive."
The answer caused Lu Yin"s expression to quickly change. "Who?"
"If you want me to tell you, then you need to tell me how you were able to attack Bai Xian"er. What do you say?"
Lu Yin instantly refused. "That’s not a very good deal."
"There’s still someone else from your Lu family who’s alive, and they’re even a direct descendant," Bai Sheng said. He expected Lu Yin to become anxious to learn who the other survivor was.
However, Lu Yin had already guessed that Bai Sheng was referring to the man known as Nutjob Lu. He was the member of the Lu family with a Champions’ Stage who had once met with Ancient G.o.d. He was also the person who had left Arch-Elder Zen afraid of the entire Lu family. That fear was why, even after receiving so much help from the Lu family, Arch-Elder Zen had still doubted Lu Yin. Who else could the surviving member of the Lu family be but Nutjob Lu?
Lu Yin did indeed want to know where the man was, that was only to kill the man. It was not yet time for that.
How could Lu Yin hope to kill a powerhouse from the Lu family outside the Fifth Mainland? Even if Nutjob Lu was just a Semi-Progenitor, it would be impossible, and Lu Yin felt that it was highly likely that the man was a Progenitor.
The Lu family was different from the four ruling powers. Lu Yin had encountered all different kinds of enemies throughout his life, and he had even fought against the Dao Chosen from the Heavens Sect era, such as Sky Garan. However, Lu Yin had never fought against another member of the Lu family, and he did not want to do so.
Lu Yin understood how difficult he was as an opponent for others, but the same was true of any other member of the Lu family who possessed a Champions’ Stage.
There was no benefit in learning of Nutjob Lu’s whereabouts at this point in time. That information would only become useful after Lu Yin was at least a Semi-Progenitor.
Seeing Lu Yin be unmoved by the offered information, Bai Sheng just shrugged. "It seems that you truly don"t wish to know, so just forget it. I don"t want to get involved in things related to you, so I’ll let Progenitor Bai speak to you."
The man then stared at Lu Yin for a long moment. "Throughout all of history, you are the first Envoy to render a master of one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas helpless. You didn’t do so by relying on your background, only your own strength. Lu Xiaoxuan, ignoring our opposing positions, I, Sheng, truly admire you."
The Progenitor’s body then disappeared. He had left the Fifth Mainland.
After the man had left, Lu Yin"s clenched fists finally relaxed.
Bai Sheng’s admiration? Lu Yin had indeed accomplished feats worthy of a Progenitor’s admiration, but how much had Lu Yin suffered through before he was able to do so?
Lu Yin had literally died on several different occasions. He had not simply come close to death, but had actually died. If not for the Arcane Art—Fatal Revival, Lu Yin would have never survived for so long. There were certain things that were predetermined, but even then, could anyone have foreseen the current situation?
Lu Yin thought of Bai Xian"er, the Books of Destiny, and Destiny herself.
Had Destiny been able to peer down the long river of time? Could she have seen Lu Yin’s future? If Lu Yin’s future had already been seen, then had all his actions been antic.i.p.ated by someone else?
If someone could travel through time and s.p.a.ce, could they alter the past, which would also alter the future?
Lu Yin shook his head. This was not the time for such thoughts. He would soon be facing Bai w.a.n.gyuan, a powerhouse who was considered Progenitor Chen’s peer. Lu Yin could not afford the slightest bit of carelessness when dealing with such a person.
First, he needed to find a suitable place for the negotiations.