Chapter 2738 – Lilliput Universe
A figure stalked through the undergrowth, trampling over the trees and plants. They were clearly just a bit more than a meter tall, and yet they looked like a giant due to the size of the trees and plants.
This was a strange place where the trees were the height of gra.s.s, which made ordinary people appear like giants.
The figure stopped from time to time, as though searching for something. After some time, the figure turned and headed in a particular direction.
Right in front of the figure was a tiny form that was hiding in a round bush. The tiny individual saw the figure heading in a different direction and let out a sigh of relief.
Suddenly, a slitted, scarlet eye appeared in front of the tiny individual, and it stared straight at him.
The tiny individual was badly startled, and he fell back, emerging from the bush.
He looked no different from any other human, but he was only the size of a normal person’s palm.
And the figure that had been stomping through the trees was naturally a corpse king.
The corpse king stared down at the palm-sized person and reached out to grab him.
The hand-sized man shrieked, pulled out a small bow, and fired an arrow.
Despite the man’s diminutive size, his arrow was far from weak. The attack easily pierced through the corpse king’s hand, drawing blood.
However, the single arrow seemed to consume all of the small person’s strength, and he was no longer able to flee.
The corpse king reached out, grabbed the small man, and squeezed.
There was a soft pop, and blood dripped to the ground.
The corpse king opened its hand, looking at the shattered body.
The monster wiped its hand on the ground and then continued on its way.
This was the Lilliput Universe, a part of the Endless Frontiers.
…
The void split open, and several people fell out. They were Lu Yin and his companions.
Lu Yin looked around in surprise. What was this?
They had appeared in a city that had clearly been abandoned for a very long time.
It was far from uncommon to encounter abandoned cities in the Endless Frontier. Even so, this particular city’s buildings were quite odd. Most of them were only waist-high, and even the tallest were only ten meters tall. The doors, windows, and even the landscaping were also shrunken down to a much smaller size.
Their escort saw their location and heaved a sigh of relief. "How lucky! We didn’t end up in the middle of a battlefield.
"Dao Monarch Lu, Lord Cang Bi, this is the Lilliput Universe. The natives of this universe are only as large as your palm, which is why the buildings here look like this. This lowly one has completed the mission, and I will return now.”
"If you need anything, sirs, just speak with the locals. It is very easy to distinguish friend from foe on the Endless Frontier."
Lu Yin asked, "How are military achievements recorded?"
The man replied, "That is also the responsibility of each individual parallel universe. They are required to verify each accomplishment, based on their own intelligence gathering abilities."
Cang Bi added, "There are simply too many people joining the Endless Frontier every single day, which makes it impossible for all of them to receive an ID card, as well as unnecessary. This place is a battleground, and for most people, just surviving is accomplishment enough, and they don’t even consider trying to achieve anything on the battlefield.
"Military achievements are simply unattainable for most people, and those who pursue such things are not the average combatant, which makes them easy to distinguish."
Lu Yin understood. Rather than saying that the Endless Frontier was a battlefield, it was more accurate to call it a meat grinder.
It was not actually a battlefield, but a slaughterhouse.
With that, the escort left.
The others all looked at Lu Yin, clearly wanting him to take the lead.
Of course, Lu Yin could not take these people with him. It was already very lucky for them that he had brought them to the Lilliput Universe.
He first released his domain, as Lu Yin searched for the natives.
After finding one, he grabbed Cang Bi and they both instantly disappeared.
Far away, several people were fighting against a corpse king on a meteorite in s.p.a.ce. One of the people was an ordinary human, and they had already fallen to the ground, seriously injured.
The corpse king waved an arm, deflecting arrows before attacking and shattering one of its opponents’ bodies into pieces. In an instant, there were only two small figures still moving around. They stood next to the fallen man, staring at the corpse king. Fear and determination warred in the eyes of a small person, but he still raised his bow, holding an arrow in a firm grasp, despite his trembling arms.
The corpse king slowly walked forward, a hand stretched out.
Two arrows flew through the air, only to be easily deflected by the corpse king.
At this moment, a gust of wind blew through the void. It was black and easily visible.
A powerful wind sweeping through outer s.p.a.ce was certainly not a normal phenomena.
As the black wind swept by, the corpse king’s upper body vanished, instantly and completely destroyed. All that remained was the lower half of the creature’s body.
The man lying on the ground breathed a sigh of relief.
As for the two hand-sized people, they collapsed onto the ground next to the man.
Suddenly, Lu Yin and Cang Bi arrived, and they were instantly noticed by the three people on the meteorite.
The man who had fallen to the ground became ecstatic as soon as he saw that the two men did not have scarlet eyes. "Are you here to help?"
Lu Yin nodded. "Though it doesn’t look like we’re needed anymore. What was that black wind? Is it coming back?"
He looked at the two palm-sized people.
The man struggled to get to his feet, but he did not manage to do anything more than cough up blood. He was barely able to make any sound at all. "Have them explain."
One of the tiny people rose into the sky while looking at Lu Yin and Cang Bi. "Thank you for coming to help. We are natives of this Lilliput Universe. My name is Tuo Mu."
The other one said, "My name is Tuo Qu."
"That black wind is the unique gravity wind of our Lilliput Universe. If a person isn’t strong enough, their body will disintegrate when it is struck by the black wind," Tuo Mu explained.
Tou Qu added, "That"s why our bodies are so small. We are perfectly normal-sized people here."
"It’s great that you came. How many people came with you this time?"
Lu Yin replied, "Six."
Tuo Qu wailed, "Six? So few?"
Cang Bi asked, "What’s the current situation in this universe?"
Tuo Mu answered in a bitter tone, "We can"t defeat the Aeternals. In the past, the corpse kings didn’t have any advantage in our universe, but they’ve captured two of our elders and transformed them into corpse kings. After that, we started being beaten back and forced to retreat. Greentea Planet is the intelligence center of this universe, and if that is captured, we’ll lose all contact with the Sixverse a.s.sociation. If that happens, our universe will be flagged red."
Tuo Qu said, "Forget about that! If the Sixverse a.s.sociation has sent people to reinforce us, then we’ll at least be able to fight back. If that doesn’t happen, our people may go extinct."
Cang Bi"s expression turned ugly. Why had they encountered such a serious situation the moment they arrived on the Endless Frontier?
The man on the ground forced himself to speak up, "Nothing can happen to Greentea Planet, nor to the spatial portal. If either of those things are damaged, the Sixverse a.s.sociation will lose this universe entirely.
"Did- did any Ascendants come with you? Only- only an Ascendant would be strong enough to deal with the forces Aeternus that has sent here."
Lu Yin asked, "Are you from the Cyclic Universe?"
Cang Bi replied, "In order to make things easier for everyone, the entire Endless Frontier uses the Cyclic Universe’s terms for cultivators. Ascendant is what the Cyclic Universe calls our Three Monarchs Universe’s Semi-Monarchs."
The man on the ground continued to look up at Lu Yin and Cang Bi.
Lu Yin said, "Don"t worry, there’s an Ascendant with us."
Cang Bi thought to himself, Not only is there an Ascendant, the person in front of you dares to openly insult Sage Yuan! He’s probably comparable to a peak powerhouse.
"That’s- that"s good. Hurry, and go- go help Greentea Planet." The man on the ground released a sigh of relief. He relaxed and laid back down on the ground. His bleeding showed no sign of stopping at all.
Lu Yin took out an Enhanced pill and offered it to the man.
The man shook his head. "It’s no use. My- my life is already gone. There’s no way to save me, but thank you."
The meteorite continued to fly through s.p.a.ce. Tuo Mu and Tuo Qu stood next to the man, sadly watching as he died.
While sad, this was all too common an occurrence. After all, this entire universe was part of a battlefield.
"Let"s go. Show us the way to Greentea Planet. This man is an Ascendant, and he can help," Lu Yin said as he pointed at Cang Bi.
Tuo Mu and Tuo Qu looked at Cang Bi in shock. "Really? You’re an Ascendant?"
Cang Bi glanced at Lu Yin, but he still nodded. "Yes."
"Then let"s go, hurry!" The small two men anxiously indicated the direction and then led Lu Yin and Cang Bi along.
The Lilliput Universe was not small, so despite being a Semi-Monarch, Cang Bi took some time to reach their destination. They also ran into many active battlefields along their way.
But Tuo Mu and Tuo Qu never stopped, as Greentea Planet was much more important.
Lu Yin observed the two tiny men. He had seen such people before, as they were the same as the little fairies who had played beneath He Ran’s stairs. When Lu Yin had first seen such tiny people, he had been quite surprised. He had never thought that they would be natives of the Lilliput Universe.
This universe would have most likely remained a peaceful place if it had not been found by the Aeternals and the Sixverse a.s.sociation. However, after those two ma.s.sive powers discovered a universe, the place would have no choice but to be annexed into the Endless Frontier.
Unless one of the two sides fighting the war was completely defeated, these parallel universes would always be a battlefield.
Lu Yin understood that it had been the right decision to thwart Sovereign Shao Yin"s plan for the Origin Universe, regardless of the cost.
Lu Yin might not be able to help others, but the Origin Universe could not become part of the Endless Frontier.
"Did the Aeternals or the Sixverse a.s.sociation find this universe first?" Lu Yin suddenly asked.
Tuo Mu and Tuo Qu were caught off guard, and they had no idea what the answer to his question was.
Cang Bi whispered, "This universe was first found by the Aeternals, and the Sixverse a.s.sociation followed them here. Without the Sixverse a.s.sociation, this universe would have been conquered by Aeternus long ago."
Lu Yin understood. No wonder the little men were so happy to see reinforcements. If the Sixverse a.s.sociation had conquered the universe first, much like what had happened to the Cloudflow Universe and then added it to the Endless Frontier, the natives would hate the Sixverse a.s.sociation nearly as much as the Aeternals.
Of the sixty-two parallel universes, Lu Yin had no idea how many were in a similar situation.
***
Far away, a black wind swept through outer s.p.a.ce. It looked like a dark cloud settling over a city as it moved, and it was terrifying to look at.
Just beneath the black wind was a series of planets that continued into the distance.
Battles were being fought on each of those planets at this moment.
Corpse king, Lilliputians, and normal humans were all fighting.
On a planet at the center, arrows fired out from both sides of the battlefield, and each impact warped the void and caused spatial tears to spread out.
Fighting filled the entire region.
Corpse kings were falling one after another as they fought against the normal humans and the tiny Lilliputians.
An inverted tower lay in the distance. It was upside down, as though the earth was actually the sky.
Beneath the tower were countless tiny people, all charging forward while gritting their teeth. They looked like they were racing to their deaths.
"Hurry! Protect Greentea Planet! The people there won"t be able to hold out any longer!"
"The fifth planet has been destroyed. The expert from the Voidforce Universe is dead."
"Have any reinforcements arrived?"
"Cultivators have arrived, but the closest are at the second spatial portal, and there are no Ascendants among them. They need at least two days to get here."
There was a bang as a wall shattered.
The arrow pierced the tower, shot through the ground, and then continued on through the black wind overhead. Once the arrow entered the black wind, it broke apart, and the shattered fragments fell down in a rain of death.
Countless Lilliputians were caught up in the attack, crushed to a pulp.
The ground was stained red.