Chapter 3079: Above All Else
w.a.n.g Fan and his peers had been cultivating since the Daosource Sect era, but they still had not become Sequence Progenitors yet. The first sequence powerhouse that Lu Yin had ever encountered was Old Mo, and that man had been cultivating since the Heavens Sect era.
Shao Yin and Sovereign Ninth Lotus had also lived for much longer than w.a.n.g Fan and those of his generation.
On the Immemorial Citadel’s battlefield, Chen Laoguai was a powerhouse from two generations before w.a.n.g Fan, and Bai Mu was the founder of the Celestial Frost Sect, which meant that he was from the Heavens Sect era. Even the partic.i.p.ants of the Divine Selection whom Lu Yin were not particularly familiar with, such as Ji Luo and Qi, had undoubtedly lived for a very long time.
Given enough time, w.a.n.g Fan might manage to become a Sequence Progenitor, but it would be an incredible amount of time.
In comparison, Progenitor Chen and Progenitor Ku were both extraordinarily gifted.
Lu Yin understood w.a.n.g Fan"s frustration and helplessness, but neither was any excuse for betraying humanity.
w.a.n.g Fan had to be eliminated.
"Di Xia, you and I should work together to escape from the Immemorial Citadel and this battlefield. We"ve already given up on the selection, so it would be best if we focused on opportunities to stay alive," w.a.n.g Fan suggested. This was the entire reason why he had approached Di Xia.
w.a.n.g Fan was unable to escape on his own.
Death existed everywhere on the battlefield that surrounded the Immemorial Citadel. w.a.n.g Fan had seen the Magician try to escape, only to be struck down by a slipper. No one knew what had become of the Magician after that. w.a.n.g Fan had also seen Lan Lan when she had tried to flee, but she had been pursued and attacked.
It was easy to enter the Immemorial Citadel’s battlefield, but it was very difficult to leave.
Wait, a slipper? w.a.n.g Fan turned to look at a distant point with suspicion. He remembered that Lu Xiaoxuan also used a slipper as a weapon. What was going on?
Lu Yin"s face was still hidden beneath the black robe, but at this moment, his murderous intentions were written on his features. "I will, go to the, southeast corner."
w.a.n.g Fan was taken aback. "You haven"t given up on the Divine Selection?"
"Why, give up? Not confident, but I don’t, fear death."
w.a.n.g Fan frowned. Right, this broken speech pattern... Di Xia is most likely a corpse king. Di Xia had most likely not immediately gone to the southeast corner because of other plans, not because he feared death or wanted to abandon the Divine Selection.
Corpse kings had no emotions, but that did not mean that they were stupid. Di Xia was definitely waiting for something before he went to the battle at the southeast corner.
As far as w.a.n.g Fan could see, there were two ways to pa.s.s the Divine Selection: either follow the Ossis Ark"s orders and join the battle at the southeast corner while also surviving for a month, or make sure that all the other partic.i.p.ants died, leaving only one survivor. While being the sole survivor would make it appear like w.a.n.g Fan had failed the Divine Selection and was unqualified to replace one of the Three Pillars and Six Skies, who else in Aeternus could take that position?
While w.a.n.g Fan believed that he had found a way forward, he lacked the capability to utilize it.
It appeared that Di Xia had planned things out all along. He had intentionally shown weakness when first arriving at the battlefield by using his divine energy.
It was very dangerous to stay close to such a person.
"Since you"re heading to the southeast corner, I"ll take my leave," w.a.n.g Fan said as he decisively turned to leave.
Lu Yin stared at w.a.n.g Fan"s back while preparing to follow the man in secret. w.a.n.g Fan was sure to face various attacks as he attempted to leave the Immemorial Citadel’s battlefield. If an opportunity arose, Lu Yin would strike.
Suddenly, a black line approached from a distance. Bai Mu was attacking again with his Void Rip.
w.a.n.g Fan looked over at where the Void Rip cleaved through s.p.a.ce, and his scalp went numb as he quickly dodged.
"Bai Mu," w.a.n.g Fan muttered with a grim expression.
Bai Mu still held his gourd of wine. "You"re definitely someone from the w.a.n.g family. There’s no question after seeing you use the Forgotten Ruins. It’s no wonder I find you so detestable. Your ancestor, w.a.n.g Miaomiao, already betrayed humanity, and so have you."
w.a.n.g Fan could not escape from Bai Mu. The Progenitor could not compare to a Sequence Progenitor, and he did not hesitate to turn back.
w.a.n.g Fan needed to find Di Xia and shift Bai Mu"s malice towards the corpse king. If not that, then they at least needed to work together to face Bai Mu.
"Di Xia, let"s cooperate against him." w.a.n.g Fan quickly found the cloaked figure he had just left. Lu Yin had already returned to his previous position by the time Bai Mu started pursuing w.a.n.g Fan.
w.a.n.g Fan sought Di Xia’s help, and Lu Yin moved closer to the man.
At this moment, w.a.n.g Fan was in between Lu Yin and Bai Mu, and both men were approaching w.a.n.g Fan from opposite directions.
Lu Yin"s eyes narrowed, and various scenarios of ways to kill w.a.n.g Fan played out in Lu Yin’s mind. w.a.n.g Fan would not be easy to kill. Lu Yin had not forgotten that, during the Lu family’s banishment, while the Great Sovereign had sealed off Ancestor Lu Yuan’s perception and Ancestor Tianyi had been stopped by Wei Nu, something else had also played a critical role: all of the Lu family’s experts, including those from affiliated families, had been affected by the Yellow Springs.
w.a.n.g Fan was a cunning and insidious individual. Even if the man was weakened, Lu Yin still would not underestimate him.
Numerous thoughts raced through Lu Yin’s mind as w.a.n.g Fan drew closer.
The man looked like he was leaving himself completely exposed to Di Xia, but Lu Yin could not make the decision to attack. Any mistake would destroy his ident.i.ty as Ye Bo, and he would shatter Aeternus"s absolute trust in their divine energy.That would make it very difficult for Lu Yin to infiltrate Aeternus again in the future, and it also might make Hui Wu a target.
Lu Yin hesitated: to attack, or to wait?
w.a.n.g Fan was constantly moving closer. Bai Mu raised a hand, preparing to attack again with his Void Rip.
Lu Yin saw what appeared to be panic in w.a.n.g Fan"s eyes. However, based on what Lu Yin knew, w.a.n.g Fan would never be fl.u.s.tered, regardless of the situation he faced.
w.a.n.g Fan had to have a backup plan.
Divine energy surged from Lu Yin"s body, and it transformed into what looked like a rainbow as it shot towards w.a.n.g Fan.
w.a.n.g Fan stared at the approaching divine energy, but it instantly shot past him and attacked Bai Mu, countering the Void Rip.
"Go," Lu Yin commanded.
w.a.n.g Fan let out a breath of relief. "Thank you."
CLANG!
A sudden, overpowering noise causing w.a.n.g Fan, Lu Yin, and even Bai Mu to bleed from various orifices. In the endless expanse of outer s.p.a.ce above them, an enormous, ancient, weathered bell had appeared. It was shrouded with a gray aura that seemed to freeze time.
Lu Yin stared up at the ma.s.sive bell, overcome by a feeling of indescribable awe. This was an incomprehensible power that was far beyond anything human strength should be able to achieve.
CLANG!
Another deafening peal shook the megaverse.
Bai Mu spat blood. "It’s that old monster Yuan Qi!"
He turned and raced towards the Immemorial Citadel.
The second time the bell tolled, the flaming lotus that surrounded the Immemorial Citadel opened, sending fiery tornadoes towards the bell.
These were the same flames that had once burned the Books of Destiny, incinerated Ye Zhang’s corpse, and destroyed the resulting Heaven character that had appeared. At this moment, the flames tried to consume the bell.
However, the flames failed to even approach the bell. As it tolled for a third time, Lu Yin"s mind reeled, and he coughed up blood. What kind of bell possessed so much power? It was terrifying to realize that Aeternus had such a formidable powerhouse. It was no wonder how they were able to a.s.sault the Immemorial Citadel.
Given Lu Yin’s condition, it was certain that w.a.n.g Fan was even worse off.
Lu Yin was still able to at least stay on his feet, but w.a.n.g Fan was about to collapse.
The enormous hand stretched up into the sky from within the Immemorial Citadel. "Yuan Qi Laoguai, you"ve finally shown yourself."
This was the same hand that had captured Qi before, and this time, the hand was moving to grab the giant bell.
An indistinct figure stood near the bell. "Have that old geezer Mu come out to me. You are not worthy."
"Is that so? I"ll take your broken bell and use it as a chamber pot."
"Your words will be your downfall."
CLANG!
With another resounding peal, the enormous hand, as well as the arm it was attached to, cracked and splintered. Even so, the hand continued to reach for the bell.
At this moment, the figure near the bell took a step forward. With a second step, they were already standing on the ma.s.sive hand. Just the figure’s presence caused the hand to bend beneath the pressure.
"As I said, you are not worthy.
"Old Mu, if you don"t come out, I"ll destroy him."
The flaming lotus that enveloped the Immemorial Citadel shot flames into the sky, and they followed along the gigantic hand and moved towards the bell. The vague figure took another step forward, advancing on their own. The flames quickly scattered, seemingly afraid to approach the mysterious figure.
Seizing this opportunity, the giant hand pulled back into the Immemorial Citadel.
"Yuan Qi, when was our last battle?" A voice rang out from within the Immemorial Citadel, and it woke Lu Yin from his stupor. He looked over with great excitement; this was his master"s voice.
The figure just stood there, their hands clasped behind their back after they caused the flames to retreat. They faced the Immemorial Citadel. "It"s been a long time."
"Not that long. You also got involved during the last Divine Selection. This time, things will play out the same way again. None of your Divine Selection’s partic.i.p.ants will escape." As the words were spoken, a figure rose from the Immemorial Citadel. Lu Yin"s long-absent master had appeared; it was Mister Mu.
From the first time Lu Yin had seen his master until the present, had he ever seen Mister Mu use his strength? Lu Yin had thought so, but he had later on realized that that was not at all true.
Mister Mu had shifted the Outerverse’s warfront from Endless Weave back to the Southside Wave, and the entire Sixth Mainland had not been able to do anything to stop him.
Mister Mu had effortlessly killed Blackless G.o.d"s avatar, which had been defenseless against him.
Mister Mu had similarly annihilated Undying G.o.d"s avatar, who had also been unable to defend himself.
Every time Mister Mu took action, it had seemed effortless, but he had often told Lu Yin that there were things he could not do. Regardless of what was or was not possible, Mister Mu"s strength was undeniable. At this moment, he stood in outer s.p.a.ce, above the Immemorial Citadel, high above countless parallel universes and sequence strings, above all else. He directly faced the terrifying bell. He acted as the Immemorial Citadel’s ultimate guardian.
Lu Yin knew that he could not reveal himself at this moment. All he could do was watch as the bell rang and Mister Mu played a wooden flute. The melancholic tune intertwined with the majestic tolling of the bell.
The bell and flute clashed above the Immemorial Citadel. Not even Heaven’s Sight could reveal the details of the conflict to Lu Yin.
Close to him, w.a.n.g Fan was also looking up, his eyes flickering.
Lu Yin noticed this and wondered if w.a.n.g Fan recognized Mister Mu. The Progenitor most likely had not recognized Mister Mu’s name. While the four ruling powers knew that Lu Yin called his master Mister Mu, they were not directly familiar with the man himself.
However, the Sixth Mainland’s three Progenitors had met Mister Mu, and the Perennial World’s four ruling powers had been far more powerful than the Sixth Mainland during the same period of time. They should have met Mister Mu.
Regardless of whether or not w.a.n.g Fan recognized Mister Mu, he would not reveal anything to Lu Yin, who was posing as Di Xia.
"Di Xia, do you still want to pa.s.s the Divine Selection? That man just said that none of us will survive. The previous Divine Selections were all challenged by formidable powerhouses, but very few of them ever pa.s.sed. Don"t-" w.a.n.g Fan was shouting at Lu Yin, but then he suddenly hesitated. He had remembered that he was talking to a corpse king, and corpse kings had no fear.
Di Qiong wanted Di Xia to pa.s.s the Divine Selection, which meant that Di Xia would try to do so, even at the cost of his own life.
Frustrated, w.a.n.g Fan turned to leave. Persuading a corpse king to escape felt like a joke.
"Fine, let"s go, together," Lu Yin said in the halting manner of a corpse king.
w.a.n.g Fan was startled. "You want to leave the Immemorial Citadel?"
Lu Yin looked up at the battle above the Immemorial Citadel. "Can"t force, this."
w.a.n.g Fan was overjoyed. "Then let"s hurry up and leave."
With Di Xia, w.a.n.g Fan’s chances of escaping had increased significantly.
Lu Yin moved closer to w.a.n.g Fan.