Chapter 2420: Entrance To The Upper Three Gates
Behind Lu Yin and the jiao, the fourth array base’s defenders flooded into the New World with the protection of the Semi-Progenitors’ inner worlds. Upon arriving, everyone started to eradicate the scattered corpse kings that had been left behind.
“Be careful. The true depths of Aeternus"s power are unfathomable. They have both Progenitors and Semi-Progenitors, such as the Twelve Marquises. Every last one of them is a terrible opponent to deal with,” Arch-Elder Zen called out.
Lu Yin nodded. “Senior, make sure our men don’t spread out too far. Staying close will prevent them from encountering accidents, as well as ensure that they can quickly retreat, if necessary.”
“I know.”
After the city was smashed apart, Lu Yin decided to have Arch-Elder Zen and the other Semi-Progenitors oversee the rest of the cleanup. In the meantime, Lu Yin had the jiao take him deeper into the New World. His target was the huge scarlet eye. If he could destroy it, then Aeaternus’s endless streams of corpse kings would be cut off. Still, that did not mean that the Seven SkyG.o.ds themselves would be hindered, as the Aeternals still had the coordinates for the known universe. For those at the Seven SkyG.o.ds’ level, it would not be too difficult for them to return.
While Lu Yin lacked the strength necessary to exterminate the Seven SkyG.o.ds, or any Progenitor, for that matter, destroying one of Aeternus’s giant scarlet eyes would still be a meaningful loss for the Aeternals.
The fact that Corpse G.o.d had abandoned everything to rush over to the Starfall Sea as soon as the giant eye near the Fifth Mainland was threatened proved just how important these things were to Aeternus.
Cities were scattered along the path into the depths of the New World. The jiao instantly destroyed each city without any hesitation. When Lu Yin turned back, he saw that they were moving further and further away from the Mother Tree. At this moment, Lu Yin was seeing the Perennial World from the Aeternals’ perspective. To them, Mother Tree was stained blood-red.
Even after all this time, Lu Yin still had no idea just how the Mother Tree had managed to reach its current size. It was large enough to separate humanity from Aeternus. Just how long would it take Sapling to reach that size?
Suddenly, Lu Yin’s gaze focused on a location some distance away. There, his domain had detected the presence of a Semi-Progenitor. It might even be one of the Twelve Marquises.
The jiao was ordered to attack, and it raised a claw and slashed at the location that Lu Yin had indicated.
The void was torn apart, and the attack even channeled into the ground below as well. The damaged extended further than the eye could see. The power of a Progenitor could suppress absolutely everything, and all the nearby corpse kings were instantly crushed, producing rivers of blood.
A figure shot out from the ruins of a city, and numerous shapes that resembled centipedes materialized in the air. They almost instantly scattered in all directions.
Sure enough, Lu Yin had found one of the Twelve Marquises, and from Marquis Lan’s memories, Lu Yin was able to identify the Semi-Progenitor. He had an innate gift that created creatures known as chilopods. They looked like centipedes with black bodies and crimson mandibles, and their venom was incomparably deadly.
Whenever this marquis appeared, the five array bases always ended up struggling. His chilopods were so venomous that even touching the tiniest amount was lethal. Furthermore, the victims would suffer unbearable pain during their final moments. Throughout history, this one enemy had slaughtered countless defenders from each of the five array bases. Of the Twelve Marquises, this particular marquis ranked among the top three for those who had killed the most humans. He had also partic.i.p.ated in the latest a.s.sault on the rear battlefield, and no one could calculate how many he had killed.
This marquis was absolutely worth a bit of Lu Yin’s time.
Endless numbers of chilopods scattered in all directions. The cacophony caused by the disturbing sounds of rustling chitin and the clicking of sharp, crimson mandibles was enough to give anyone chills.
The jiao raised its claws and slashed down.
There was a deafening boom, and enormous cracks opened up, crisscrossing across the ground. The void crumbled as spatial cracks spread far into the distance. The aftermath of this one attack reached all the way to the five array bases.
When the jiao raised its claws again, not a single chilopod remained. All of them had been instantly crushed to death, and their bodies had fallen into the spatial fissures.
A marquis who had frustrated and terrorized the Perennial World over the years had been killed just like that. He had never even had the opportunity to actually show himself.
This was the strength of a Progenitor. The jiao had been too close to the marquis, making it impossible for him to escape. Of the Twelve Marquises, this individual had actually been one of the weakest, and he had only been able to create so much death and destruction due to his odd innate gift.
After eliminating the marquis, Lu Yin continued to ride the jiao towards the depths of the New World.
The jiao blazed a trail of carnage, destroying one city after another as it moved through the New World. Trailing close behind it were Yao Di and Hen Xin, who had been placed in charge of cleaning up the leftover corpse kings. Finally, Arch-Elder Zen and Jiu Yao brought up the rear, as they needed to oversee the weaker cultivators while remaining ready to pull any of the humans’ forces into their inner worlds at the first sign of danger.
As Lu Yin pressed deeper into the New World, several strange planets started to appear overhead. They were the seven planets from the Outer Realm, and among them was the green planet, Azure Hills. Another one was beautiful and hazy, as though it had been covered by a veil, and it was known as Blossom Planet. There was also a planet teeming with activity that looked like an eyeball from the outside, and it was known as Iris Planet. Besides them, there was also a triangular planet called Broken Star.
Lu Yin kept a wary eye upwards, as he was worried that Planet Ominion would appear as well.
However, Planet Ominion never appeared. These planets that did appear all fell down to the New World as streaks of light, crashing into the surface.
Over the years, Aeternus’s Redbacks had infiltrated the Perennial World, and their information had given Aeternus a very thorough understanding of the Perennial World. However, the Perennial World had not simply pa.s.sively remained on the defense during all this time. Starting from the time of the Daosource Sect era, the Lu family and the four ruling powers had also sent their scouts deep into Aeternus’s territory. The Perennial World had also gained a thorough understanding of the New World and its various cities.
The Outer Realm’s planets had not been left above the New World merely so that they were in position to attack, but also to serve as markers. This was the Perennial World’s method of informing the defenders of the fourth array base of where the corpse kings were located, where cities could be found, and even where powerhouses were hidden.
Marquis Midday frowned when petals rained down from Blossom Planet. Someone’s keeping tabs on me?
Blossom Planet had always stayed a great distance away, which meant that the petal rainu had never posed any threat to Marquis Midday. However, if the humans’ invasion of the New World incited the Perennial World’s Semi-Progenitors to join the attack, then the situation could quickly change.
Marquis Midday started making his way deeper into the New World.
Marquis Xiang followed suit.
No one was tracking w.a.n.g Xiaoyu, but she also moved deeper into the New World.
One after another, each of the Twelve Marquises began to move away. This was the first time that the New World had ever experienced such a change.
Lu Yin spotted another one of the Twelve Marquises, though he did not find this marquis through his domain. The jiao also had not been the one to uncover this marquis, as the beast was too lazy to do anything as proactive as searching. No, this marquis had exposed themselves.
A strange peal of laughter rang out across the New World. In a world that was filled with death and despair, laughter sounded incredibly abnormal. Corpse kings were incapable of laughing, and no normal person would laugh after arriving in the New World, so where had this laughter come from?
Lu Yin eventually found the source of the laughter. It came from one of the Twelve Marquises. Lu Yin examined a vague memory from Marquis Lan regarding this mysterious marquis, but during his Possession, Lu Yin had been focused on the memories of the Aeternals’ wars in parallel universes. Still, after focusing on the memory, Lu Yin began to recall some details.
This marquis possessed an innate gift called Howl of the Dead. When the innate gift was used, laughter would fill the air and completely overpower one’s senses. After that, faces of dead people would start to manifest. It was a strange and chilling innate gift, and while this marquis was not responsible for as many human deaths as the last one, his innate gift had traumatized countless defenders from the five array bases. Even after they returned to the Perennial World from the rear battlefield, many people had struggled to overcome the PTSD caused by this particular innate gift.
Since the marquis had been found, there was nowhere for him to flee. He also died to the jiao’s claws.
Two of the Twelve Marquises had been slain as Lu Yin had paved a path across the New World, but there were still many who remained alive.
Lu Yin was the most eager to run into Marquis Lan, as he wanted to Possess the marquis again and continue to access his memories. Using the die’s Possession had only allowed Lu Yin to Possess the marquis for a very short time before the Possession was forcibly ended. The limit was due to the fact that Lu Yin was not a Semi-Progenitor yet. He was also interested in meeting w.a.n.g Xiaoyu, as he wanted to learn more about what had happened between her and Progenitor Chen.
For the moment, Lu Yin could not find a single one of the Twelve Marquises.
Hmm, something’s strange.?With his domain, Lu Yin could sense that all the corpse kings were moving in the same direction. Among them were corpse kings with the strength of Envoys, and there was even one with the power of a Semi-Progenitor.
Lu Yin’s domain was able to spread across a vast region, and he had kept it extended as far as possible. His instincts told him that something odd was happening, so he guided the jiao to move in the same direction. Soon, Lu Yin’s domain could sense that the corpse kings were leaping into a fissure in the ground, only to vanish without a trace.
Underground, ripples parallel to the ground above spread through the void in layers that were nearly imperceptible to the naked eye. There were various ruins in the area surrounding the phenomenon.
Lu Yin studied the situation for a moment, and then his eyes grew large. That place might very well be what connected the Upper Three Gates and the New World!
There were only a few paths of escape available to the corpse kings. The first was the enormous scarlet eye, while the second was to pa.s.s through the Upper Three Gates and head to the Starfall Sea.
The jiao howled as it lashed out with its claws, tearing open the ground next to the fissure that connected to the Upper Three Gates. The pressure of a Progenitor’s strength was enough to keep all the corpse kings away from Lu Yin.
Lu Yin looked down. Sure enough, this fissure was the opening in the New World that connected to the Upper Three Gates.
When the Sea King had forcefully opened the Upper Three Gates, this place in the New World had been connected to the Fifth Mainland. After Aeternus occupied the Starfall Sea, they had moved through the Upper Three Gates to come to the New World, which had increased the pressure on the rear battlefield multiple times over.
Lu Yin looked back at the five array bases. The entrance to the Upper Three Gates was very far away from the rear battlefield. Just how had Bai Xian’er made it to this place?
He looked around. No matter what might have happened in the past, the exit of the Upper Three Gates was completely different from how it had been a few dozen years ago.
If Lu Yin had arrived right after the Sea King broke through Upper Three Gates, Lu Yin might have been able to glean something about how Bai Xian’er had arrived. But right now, it was impossible to determine anything.
Getting to this location could be regarded as a milestone, as it meant that the Starfall Sea had been completely recovered for humanity. Next, Lu Yin would claim the entire New World.
The defenders of the other array bases watched as Lu Yin led the defenders of the fourth array base into the New World and then killed two of the Twelve Marquises. As they pushed through the New World, the combined efforts of Hen Xin and Yao Di felled another marquis, and the people watching were starting to twitch from their growing impatience.
All the array bases competed with each other on the rear battlefield. Regardless of any outside opinions, the fourth array base had completely and undeniably surpa.s.sed all the other array bases at this moment. Their success, combined with Lu Yin’s mocking remarks before leaving, made the rest of the protectors of the rear battlefield grinding their teeth in frustration.
Having fought on the rear battlefield for so many years, being looked down upon by people from the Forsaken Land had left a sour taste in their mouths.
Up in the Dominion Realm, Progenitor Long quietly commented, “Lu Xiaoxuan has already pushed quite far into the New World. Regardless of whether a SkyG.o.d appears or whatever might befall him, we’ll become laughingstocks if we still refuse to act.”
“If this is all just a part of Aeternus’s plan to force us into losing the rear battlefield, then all of mankind will have to pay the price,” Bai w.a.n.gyuan said gravely.
“If Aeternus wanted to trick us, they wouldn’t have waited so long. The crack in the Mother Tree will naturally make all of us more worried, which means that we are less likely to fall for their tricks than normal,” w.a.n.g Fan said.
Bai w.a.n.gyuan lifted a hand, and Bai Xian’er’s image manifested from his communication crystal. “Xian’er, what’s wrong?”
Bai Xian’er calmly gazed at the Progenitor. “Senior Progenitor Bai, Lu Xiaoxuan will never throw his life away.”
This single sentence struck Bai w.a.n.gyuan’s mind like a bolt of lightning. He quickly put his communication crystal back away. “Let’s fight.”
Within moments, battle cries rang out from the remaining four array bases. The Shenwu World spread across the New World. Bai w.a.n.gyuan, Xia Shenji, and Progenitor Long all attacked as one. Xia Yan and the other Semi-Progenitors released their inner worlds to envelop their troops, and they all charged from the array bases and into the New World.
Lu Yin turned his head back to look. “Couldn’t hold yourselves back any longer? Then let’s work together. We’ll talk after Aeternus is completely and permanently driven out.”
A determined glint appeared in his eyes. “Jiao, forward!”
This was the first time that the mood on the rear battlefield had been elevated by hope and excitement. Armies from each of the five bases charged into the depths of the New World, slaughtering their way from city to city.
Progenitors from each of the four ruling powers entered the New World, and they immediately began to push into its depths.