Chapter 1556: New Follower
After visiting the Perennial World, Lu Yin was no longer a frog at the bottom of a well when it came to Semi-Progenitors. Semi-Progenitor? He had met too many of them.
"Senior, this junior will not give those people to you. They are this junior’s prisoners to handle. Not only did I capture those people, but I also opened my three meridian points, and I have an Origin Matter seedling within my body. Will Senior demand that this junior also deliver those things to you?" Lu Yin retorted.
Xia Ji was startled. "You opened your third meridian point?"
Mister Mu had concealed Lu Yin’s strength far too well. Not to mention a Semi-Progenitor—not even Progenitor Long or Humility Gate’s Commander had been able to see through Lu Yin’s true cultivation realm atop Dragon Mountain.
"That"s right. This junior has opened his third meridian point," Lu Yin loudly announced.
Highsage Grandmaster suddenly appeared. "Xia Ji, what are you trying to do?"
Xia Ji hesitated, but he ultimately retreated. Those captured youths would not really be of much use. In reality, he had wanted to take them away from Lu Yin so that he could try to extract the four ruling powers’ battle techniques or cultivation arts from them. However, after learning that Lu Yin had opened his three meridian points and that he was actually the only youth in the entire Fifth Mainland to do so, Lu Yin’s importance had risen to a level equal to the Semi-Progenitors despite his lacking strength.
Xia Ji could not force things at this moment when it came to Lu Yin. More importantly, the youth was able to hide the fact that he had opened his three meridian points so well that not even Xia Ji had noticed anything. A true powerhouse was supporting Lu Yin.
Lu Yin only revealed his value when he fully understood his importance. Ignoring the Fifth Mainland, even in the Perennial World, someone who had opened their third meridian point would become one of the most important cultivators around. The value of the Junior Progenitor Planets aptly demonstrated the status of a cultivator who had opened their meridian points.
Upon learning that Lu Yin had opened all three meridian points, everyone was shocked, as this was the first time that anyone had heard of this news.
The only person who was unfazed was Yuhua Mavis, as she had only recently learned of Lingzhi Mavis’s death.
One of the Fifth Mainland’s seven Semi-Progenitors, Lingzhi Mavis, had died. Five of the surviving Semi-Progenitors were present, though there was one other Semi-Progenitor whose ident.i.ty Lu Yin still did not know. He was just about to ask when he suddenly saw the captured Liu Ye and Fei Hua, and Lu Yin"s heart lurched when he saw them.
Both of the two were miserable. The Cosmic Sect’s elder had captured them both and then tossed them behind the wooden shack. Not only had their limbs been tied, but their mouths had also been gagged for some unknown reason, and neither was able to speak.
Lu Yin removed their gags.
Sister Fei Hua angrily demanded, "Release us! Why have you restrained us?"
Lu Yin laughed. "I"m sorry to offer you such a late welcome, but welcome to the Fifth Mainland."
Liu Ye felt helpless. "I never expected you to drag us to this place."
"The Forsaken Land is the Forsaken Land." Sister Fei Hua’s temper was as bad as ever.
Lu Yin just stared at her. "You’re surrounded by five Semi-Progenitors. You really should watch what you say."
Fei Hua sneered in response. "So what?"
Lu Yin frowned. This woman was rather unreasonable, and why did she have such a bad att.i.tude towards him?
He then remembered that, when his ident.i.ty had been exposed and while he had been fleeing from Dragon Mountain, old man Kui Luo had saved him multiple times. Some time ago, when rumors of Lu Yin receiving Kui Luo’s inheritance had first spread, Fei Hua had shown a similar hostile att.i.tude towards Lu Yin. At this point, it no longer looked like Lu Yin was merely the hated Semi-Progenitor’s heir, and the old man’s treatment made it look more like Lu Yin was his grandson.
"Long Qi—no, I should call you Lu Xiaoxuan," Liu Ye said, but Lu Yin"s eyes instantly flashed
"Call me Lu Yin."
Liu Ye was a bit surprised, but he replied, "Lu Yin. A good name. Means to conceal."
"Cut the nonsense! Just ask him!" Fei Hua scolded.
Liu Ye acted as though he was forced as he asked. "Lu Yin, what is your relationship with Kui Luo?"
Lu Yin shrugged. "I met him by chance, though there’s no way that you’ll believe that."
Fei Hua sneered.
Lu Yin had grown curious as well. "You’ve asked your question, but I would like to know how you were able to figure out my location so accurately. You found me right after I left the Cloud Shuttle, but how did you know that I would show up at that place?"
Liu Ye replied, "That’s actually quite simple: you’ve visited the Cloud Shuttle several times in the past, and in particular, when you were exposing Yun Mubai as a Redback, you fled to the east. We’ve been watching you for a long time, so we were naturally able to determine that much."
Lu Yin"s eyes flickered. "No, you found me because of the Flying Blossom Willow Leaf power vessel."
Liu Ye was caught off guard. "What do you mean?"
Lu Yin answered in a low voice, "I"ve actually been wondering why you gave me that power vessel from our very first meeting, even though I didn’t answer your questions. Now that I look back, that’s how you were always able to find me."
Liu Ye fell silent.
Fei Hua was actually the one to respond. "You"re pretty smart. That’s right, we are able to sense faint traces of people who have come in contact with a Flying Blossom Willow Leaf power vessel. When you showed up, we were already close by, so we immediately rushed over."
Lu Yin nodded. These people had been plotting against him.
"Lu Yin, you should be glad about what happened. Without us, you would have died," Liu Ye said.
Lu Yin asked, "Who attacked me at the end?"
He needed to get revenge for that attack, as it had almost killed him. It had been an incredibly close call. Liu Ye had been absolutely correct when he called him Lu Yin’s savior even though the man had also been chasing after Lu Yin.
"That person should have been one of Realmless’s a.s.sa.s.sins," Liu Ye said.
Lu Yin’s gaze grew sharper. "How did an a.s.sa.s.sin from Realmless know that I would go to that place?"
"Do you really think that you were sneaky? Anyone who closely observed you for some time would have noticed a pattern to your actions, and Realmless has been watching you for far too long," Fei Hua replied with a sneer.
Lu Yin then understood. After thinking about it, there was no one in the Perennial World who had spent more time observing him than Realmless. The a.s.sa.s.sins followed a credo of seizing the most opportune moment, and that a.s.sa.s.sin had likely hid at the rendezvous point for a long time just on the off chance that Lu Yin would return.
"Lu Yin, we saved you, and while we don"t expect you to save us in return, we simply want to know the truth to our question." Liu Ye stared at Lu Yin as he spoke.
Lu Yin had grown increasingly intrigued about their motivations. "You can ask, but I can promise you that I won"t know the answer."
Fei Hua grew angry again. "Your idea of repaying kindness is with malice?"
Lu Yin pursed his lips. "I honestly don"t know, I swear to you. However, I should be able to meet with Semi-Progenitor Kui Luo again in the future, so just ask me whatever questions you have."
Liu Ye’s voice grew bitter, "If we die now, does it even make sense to seek an answer to our question?"
Lu Yin stared at them intently. "Actually, I can try to save you, but since you’re from the Perennial World, you can"t be allowed to roam free in the Fifth Mainland. Do you understand what I’m saying?"
Fei Hua glared at Lu Yin with cold eyes. "You want us to follow you? You’re dreaming."
Lu Yin grew serious. "Don’t think of it as following me, but rather as waiting for Semi-Progenitor Kui Lou."
His answer startled Fei Hua.
Lu Yin then continued, saying, "I’ve already agreed to meet up with Semi-Progenitor Kui Luo again, and the location will be here in the Fifth Mainland. Follow me, and you’ll be able to see him. Don’t, and you might die. After all, our Semi-Progenitors will not allow any news regarding the Perennial World to spread through the Fifth Mainland."
Fei Hua fell silent as she stared at Liu Ye.
Liu Ye also carefully studied Lu Yin. "Alright, we promise to follow you."
Lu Yin smiled. "Then we have a deal."
The information that Liu Ye and Fei Hua knew about the Perennial World was practically invaluable to the Fifth Mainland. If they were willing to speak, then it was highly unlikely that Lu Yin would be allowed to take them away. However, neither of the two would submit, not even when Xia Ji threatened to kill them for not speaking.
After all his accomplishments, Lu Yin believed that he would not have too much difficulty in obtaining permission to take the two Envoys away.
"Dead people are worthless. With what we have, if they are willing to follow Lu Yin, then just let him take them away," Arch-Elder Zen said.
Xia Ji asked in a solemn voice, "The Perennial World’s mere existence is a secret within my Fifth Mainland. What if they let word of it leak?"
Elder Gong interjected, "Who will even know the truth from a lie?"
Xia Ji frowned.
Burial Garden’s Tombkeeper, who had yet to speak, spoke up now. "The entire Fifth Mainland is changing, and the Perennial World will not simply stand by. Wu Taibai’s appearance during ZENITH is the best proof of this. Speaking of which, there was also that w.a.n.g Yi."
"Are you saying that the Perennial World will contact us soon?" Arch-Elder Zen asked.
Burial Garden’s tomb-keeper remained silent.
"If that is true, then those two’s value are even less. Just let Lu Yin take them away. After all, the child did bring back Shang Qing and the others. Regardless of everything else, he has saved many of our most talented youths," Highsage Grandmaster said.
Xia Ji raised no further objections.
Even though Lu Yin was allowed to take Liu Ye and Fei Hua away with him, the Semi-Progenitors did not believe that Lu Yin was able to force the two to submit. Thus, Highsage Grandmaster placed a sourcebox array within their bodies. Lu Yin’s mastery of lockbreaking meant that he could activate either array with just a thought, which essentially meant that he held Liu Ye and Fei Hua’s lives in his hands.
"I’m sorry, this isn’t what I wanted," Lu Yin apologized.
Liu Ye"s expression remained calm, as he did not care. Such precautions were to be expected, though Fei Hua"s expression was not as good. "If you had let them know that we had already made an agreement with you instead of saying that we would rather die than speak, I wonder what expression those Semi-Progenitors would have made?"
Lu Yin revealed a slight smile. "I, Lu Yin, have opened my three meridian points. Just what sort of status do you think I have in this place?"
Fei Hua was left speechless. Even an idiot knew what it meant to open all three meridian points. Back in the Perennial World, not a single person had known that he had opened all three meridian points, but even without that, he had been talented enough for the White Dragon Clan to issue invitations throughout the Perennial World to boast about Long Qi. The Fifth Mainland was far behind the Perennial World, which meant that Lu Yin’s achievement counted for far, far more. He stood above all others, and he could basically be treated as a future Progenitor.
Lu Yin was happy to have Liu Ye and Fei Hua following him; he had suddenly found a pair of very strong bodyguards. However, there was another motivation—he did not want either of the two to expose the fact that he was a member of the main Lu family until he was absolutely certain of some various details.
Zhi Yi and Wu Taibai had not returned to the Fifth Mainland with the rest of the finalists from ZENITH, so Arch-Elder Zen and others needed to quickly explain the situation to the Sixth Mainland’s three Progenitors.
Arch-Elder Zen did not hesitate, though he first took Lu Yin back to Honor Mountain before visiting the Starfall Sea with Highsage Grandmaster and the other Semi-Progenitors.
Honor Mountain was as breathtaking as ever, though it paled in comparison to the Mother Tree.
Lu Yin suddenly wondered if the Honor Zone’s Honor Mountain could possibly be the place where the Mother Tree had once sprouted from. After all, the visuals matched.
After he arrived at Honor Mountain, the first thing that Lu Yin did was to have Luo Shen settle in.
This woman was too easily satisfied. As long as she could be close to Lu Yin, it was enough. Luo Shen even suggested that she could simply stay on Zenith Mountain, but how could Lu Yin possibly agree to such a thing?
After setting Luo Shen down somewhere, Lu Yin repeatedly ordered Liu Ye and Fei Hua not to leave his quarters. Finally, he went to visit CyNet World.
Although news of Lu Yin’s return had not been publicized yet, he had no intention of staying hidden. Thus, he openly visited CyNet World.
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