Chapter 2878: Unfathomable
Sovereign Lotus was furious. Her Cyclic Universe had never been humiliated like this before. With the Three Sovereigns and Nine Sages, there was no universe in the entire megaverse who dared to cross them. However, the Origin Universe had recently reappeared, and it was climbing up higher and higher. Already, they had more peak powerhouses than the Cyclic Universe, and they even had a monster who could compare to the Great Sovereign herself. They also had multiple Sequence Progenitors. Across countless years, aside from Aeternus, this was the first time that the Cyclic Universe had been suppressed by another universe.
Lu Yin"s eyes grew frigid. "Many traitors of my Origin Universe fled to take refuge with your Cyclic Universe. Are you telling me that I shouldn’t antagonize your Cyclic Universe and that I should consider the overall situation? Don’t misconstrue matters. How does your universe have the strength to start a war with us?"
Sovereign Lotus’s expression turned stiff. She wanted to attack so badly.
On the other side, Chu Jian and Yao Lan arrived at the same time.
"What is it that Lord Lu wants to do here?" Chu Jian asked. His match with Lu Yin at the Tea Ceremony had transformed the young man. He no longer pursued perfection, and his mentality had stabilized, allowing him to see many things clearly.
The truth of the matter was that the Cyclic Universe had been on edge ever since the Lu family had returned, and they had been worried that the Lu family would disregard the Cyclic Universe’s stance on matters and start a war over Nutjob Lu, Bai w.a.n.gyuan, and the other refugees. Fortunately, the Lu family had remained somewhat reasonable and had not done so. There was also the fact that an outsider had intervened in the matter and prevented a war from erupting, but Chu Jian did not know if Lu Yin was aware of that detail.
It was completely understandable that the Origin Universe wanted to punish its traitors, but that could not be done until it was confirmed that doing so would not benefit Aeternus. This was also the reason why the Great Sovereign had led the ma.s.sive a.s.sault on the Aeternals on the Endless Frontier. The attack on the Tea Ceremony had been a trigger for many things.
This was also why Lu Yuan had partic.i.p.ated in the attack on Aeternus on the Endless Frontier. As long as the Lu family was not certain of the balance between humanity and Aeternus, it was impossible to attack the other human forces because of the traitors.
Unfortunately, the attack had resulted in a draw, and neither side had gained any particular advantage.
However, while the Great Sovereign, Lu Yuan, and the other most powerful cultivators from the Sixverse a.s.sociation were in seclusion, Lu Yin had stepped out. This made Chu Jian quite nervous. Lu Yin was not Lu Yuan, and if the young man was unaware of the agreement between the two universes and recklessly started a war, the Cyclic Universe would have to respond in kind. The problem was that, even without the Lu family, Lu Yin could sway or lead enough peak powerhouses to his cause to fight against the Cyclic Universe’s current strength.
Lu Yin clasped his hands behind his back. "Is everyone here? Alright then."
He looked at Jiu Zizai. "Jiu Zizai, tell me."
Everyone turned to stare at Jiu Zizai, and Nutjob Lu’s violent aura instantly enveloped the man.
With a wave of a hand, Lu Tianyi’s law of Undoing dispersed the tyrannical aura, which caused the expressions of both Sovereign Lotus and Nutjob Lu Madman to change. They could not discern Lu Tianyi"s strength.
Jiu Zizai had never felt the focus of so many powerful individuals on him before.
When the man heard Lu Yin’s orders, he gulped and bowed low to Lu Yin. "Dao Monarch, I have stayed close to Sage Stone for several years, and I am absolutely certain."
Everyone stared as Jiu Zizai continued to say, "I can say with absolute certainty that Sage Stone is not a spy.
"You asked me to frame Sage Stone as a spy, but this subordinate could not bear to do it. Sage Stone fought against the Aeternals on the Endless Frontier and only narrowly escaped death. A person like him who fights to protect humanity should not die because of a false accusation. I beg the Dao Monarch to let Sage Stone go."
There was silence all around.
It lasted for a long time.
Finally, Nutjob Lu let out a laugh and turned to glare at Lu Yin. "Child, you actually wanted to try to frame me? How ridiculously stupid!"
Chu Jian, Sovereign Lotus, and Yao Lan all looked at Lu Yin with conflicted expressions. What was happening felt like deja vu. During the Tea Ceremony, Sovereign Shao Yin and several others had tried to do this exact thing and portray Lu Yin as a spy by using a man named Jiu Yao. Xuan Qi had been asked to verify the evidence, but the matter had turned into a joke when it was revealed that Xuan Qi had actually been Lu Yin himself. That incident had become the biggest joke the Sixverse a.s.sociation had seen in recent years.
However, the exact same scenario was playing out again, but this time, the person being mocked was Lu Yin.
He had sent someone to get close to Nutjob Lu in hopes of arresting the man as a spy. How ridiculous was it that Lu Yin’s hidden agent had not followed through on his orders, but had rather exposed Lu Yin’s scheme?
The people present were not stupid, and they understood perfectly well that Jiu Zizai would have never helped Nutjob Lu just because of some sense of human righteousness. The only possibility was that Nutjob Lu had discovered Jiu Zizai’s intentions and had bought his services in order to bite back against Lu Yin. This made it clear that Nutjob Lu was even more capable than Lu Yin.
Sovereign Lotus sneered as Nutjob Lu laughed mockingly. Jiu Zi had such a sincere expression on his face, but all eyes were focused on Lu Yin"s face. He had just been made a fool of, and he had been humiliated in a shocking manner.
However, Lu Yin calmly asked, "Jiu Zizai, what are you talking about?"
Jiu Zizai bowed low once more. "Dao Monarch, for the sake of all mankind, please let Sage Stone go. I beg Dao Monarch to consider the bigger picture."
Nutjob Lu sneered. "What? Does the brat from the Lu family still want to threaten me?"
Sovereign Lotus spoke up with open contempt. "Enough, this ends here. Lord Lu, if there’s nothing else, please leave. We will keep today’s matter quiet."
Chu Jian also spoke up. "Lord Lu, return."
Lu Yin looked over at Sovereign Ninth Lotus. "Have you misunderstood something? I am here to prove that both Jiu Zizai and Lu Crazy are spies."
Sovereign Lotus’s expression changed drastically, but down below, Jiu Zizai"s face underwent an even greater transformation. What?
Nutjob Lu was startled by Lu Yin’s words, and he stared at the young man.
Lu Yin looked down. "Jiu Zizai, you were already a spy of Aeternus when you were the commander of the Fourth Array Base on the rear battlefield. I specifically invited you to join my Heavens Sect so that I could keep an eye on you, and then I purposely tasked you with getting close to Nutjob Lu and framing him as a spy. In the end, you decided to help him. Spies really work well together."
Jiu Zizai was stunned. "Dao Monarch, while I am guilty of disobeying your orders, you shouldn’t malign your servant. I am absolutely not a spy. I spent many years fighting against the Aeternals on the rear battlefield, and I led the Fourth Array Base, accomplishing many great things on the rear battlefield. Dao Monarch, you cannot betray your people like this."
Lu Yin sneered. He had first learned that Jiu Zizai was a spy because the man had been Possessed with the use of Lu Yin’s die. However, without Possessing the man again and forcing him to announce that he was a spy, Lu Yin had no way of proving anything, as there was no evidence. On top of that, Jiu Zizai had not been anyone of great importance who needed to be dealt with swiftly.
However, for the many years that the man had been part of the Heavens Sect, he had been under surveillance, and he had not gone the entire time without making contact with the Aeternals. With enough time, they had gathered proof of the man’s true nature.
The proof was also quite simple, as it was simply a recording of a conversation that had taken place between Jiu Zizai and the Aeternals.
When the evidence was revealed, Jiu Zizai felt terribly confused. How could he have possibly been under tight observation for so many years? When had it started?
He looked up at Lu Yin, dazed. Had Lu Yin always known that Jiu Zizai was a spy? How was that possible? How could anyone possibly have known?
Lu Yin had falsely asked Jiu Zizai to join the Heavens Sect, and he had even falsely given the man the task of framing Nutjob Lu. From beginning to end, the man had never been anything more than a p.a.w.n, and he had been used as such.
The expressions of the experts from the Cyclic Universe all fell. This person was startlingly cunning.
However, since Jiu Zizai was a spy, why had he helped Nutjob Lu?
This question caused everyone to turn and stare at Nutjob Lu.
Nutjob Lu was unconcerned with the attention. "So the little b.a.s.t.a.r.d turned out to be a spy? You’re quite impressive, Lu brat. But even if he is a spy, that doesn’t mean that I am as well."
Lu Yin shook his head. "If you still won"t admit it even now, then I"ll force you out."
Lu Yin’s hand then rose, and he pointed it at a random corner of the Stone Boundary. A palm strike shot out, and a mountain shattered, revealing a scarlet stone eye with a slitted pupil.
"A Cosmic Door?" Sovereign Lotus and Yao Lan exclaimed in unison.
They were not the only ones startled by this revelation, as even Lu Tianyi was taken aback. He had followed Lu Yin to the Cyclic Universe simply because Lu Yin had said that there was a reason to take Nutjob Lu back to the Origin Universe. Lu Tianyi unconditionally trusted Lu Yin.
Jiu Zizai"s performance had made Lu Tianyi think that Lu Yin had failed, but things had suddenly been reversed yet again. This was also not simply a reversal of logic and words, but rather irrefutable evidence.
Lu Yin had revealed one of the Aeternals’ Cosmic Doors.
Nutjob Lu stared blankly. Naturally, he understood what a Cosmic Door was, but why was there one in the Stone Boundary?
Aside from Lu Yin, everyone else present was completely stunned.
Of course, Lu Yin had been the one to plant this Cosmic Door in the Stone Boundary. Because he had already known that Jiu Zizai was a spy, how could Lu Yin allow one spy to frame another? Not even an idiot would try to do such a thing. Lu Yin’s true purpose had been to expose Jiu Zizai while in the Stone Boundary. As for planting the Cosmic Door, that was an unexpected opportunity that had come about due to the bubble that Lu Yin had enhanced. That bubble was a mask that not even Lu Tianyi could see through. Of course Lu Yin had to take advantage of such a perfect disguise, and without any concrete proof against Nutjob Lu, Lu Yin had to find other means of accomplishing his goals.
This was the Cosmic Door that Lu Yin had obtained from the Six-Fingered Tribe.
The Six-Fingered Tribe had been one of the ruling powers of the Lars Weave. When the Innerverse and Outerverse were separated from each other, Lu Yin and Wei Rong had fought for control of the Outerverse. Wei Rong had nearly destroyed the Six-Fingered Tribe, but luckily, they had joined Lu Yin to save themselves. At that time, they had given Lu Yin a Cosmic Door.
Back then, Lu Yin had not known what a Cosmic Door was, but he had since learned the truth. For that reason, he had planted the Cosmic Door in the Stone Boundary as proof that Nutjob Lu was a spy.
Lu Yin knew that Nutjob Lu was guilty, but he was unable to prove it. Also, Nutjob Lu was not stupid enough to expose himself.
Since there was clearly no straightforward solution, Lu Yin had found an alternative.
To deal with cunning people, it was necessary to either be smarter or more cunning than them.
With the revelation of a Cosmic Door in the Stone Boundary, as well as proof that Jiu Zizai was a spy who had been trying to protect Nutjob Lu, it was impossible for anyone to believe that Nutjob Lu was innocent.
Mu Xie shouted, "Nutjob Lu, how do you explain yourself?"
Nutjob Lu glared at Lu Yin through bloodshot eyes. "Child, was this you?"
Lu Yin looked down at the man from high above. "I suggest that you give up now. Ancestor Tianyi, this person has betrayed our family and all of humanity. I’ll leave him to you."
Lu Tianyi"s expression grew cold. "You cannot escape."
Nutjob Lu laughed angrily. "So, after so many years, the Lu family has finally produced someone decent? Child, you’ve proven that you have the ability to frame me, and I’m convinced of that. However, if you think that you can deal with me, you must be dreaming!"
The golden scroll of an Invest.i.ture of the G.o.ds appeared above the man’s head, and to his side, his Champions’ Stage spun into existence. At the same time, a vicious aura exploded. "With my blood, I summon a champion."
One after another, dozens of figures appeared. Most of them only had the strength of Semi-Progenitors, but they were led by three Progenitor-level corpse kings.
Lu Yin was taken aback. He had never even tried to anoint any Progenitor-level corpse kings as a champion. The Lu family"s ancestral rules forbade that anyone ever anoint a corpse king, and yet Nutjob Lu had just summoned three of them. It was clear that the man had thrown away all of the Lu family’s precepts.
Lu Tianyi took action and pointed a finger forward. His law of Undoing caused the void to warp.
In front of Nutjob Lu, the three Progenitor-level corpse kings and dozens of champions rushed forward to meet Lu Tianyi"s attack.
Instantly, all of the figures were eliminated with but one finger.
The sight of this left Sovereign Lotus and many others present numb. While the Sovereign herself was capable of defeating three ordinary Progenitor-level corpse kings, she could not do so with just one finger. She was rather frightened of Lu Tianyi’s strength.
Nutjob Lu"s pupils constricted, as he was also startled by Lu Tianyi"s power.
Nutjob Lu had been imprisoned in the Lu Sanctum for many years, and thus he only had a very vague understanding of the family"s strength. When the Lu family had been exiled, Nutjob Lu had attacked Lu Tianyi, but Lu Tianyi had not revealed such terrifying strength at that time.
Destroying three Progenitor-level corpse kings with one finger revealed a shocking level of strength and proved that Lu Tianyi wielded a terrifying kind of law.