Chapter 1588: Return
After a while, Yun Tingting went and found Wen Diyi. There were very few people on Zenith Mountain, and she was only able to find Wen Diyi.
"Have we already made it to the Forsaken Land? In that case, we should be allowed out of here soon," Wen Diyi said with a sigh.
Yun Tingting then shared everything that she had recently experienced. Wen Diyi was surprised, and his expression quickly fell. "If Progenitor Yan’s inheritance can be found here as well, then does that mean that there might also be an inheritance related to my family’s?"
"That seems quite likely," Yun Tingting solemnly agreed.
Wen Diyi felt stifled. "Did you come find me just to tell me this?"
Yun Tingting helplessly replied, "I want to know what to do about it."
Wen Diyi shook his head. "You people are the knives, while I am just a fish on the chopping block. I can listen, but you must be the one to decide what to do."
"Can I believe his words?" Yun Tingting asked.
Wen Diyi thought about it. "While I was still at Virtue Archives, I heard about Long Qi. He personally exposed the three Guan brothers who led Huaiyuan Gate as Redbacks."
Yun Tingting"s eyes flickered. She had thought of something, and she looked up at the sky above Zenith Mountain. "Long Qi, I want to speak to you!"
There was no response. Yun Tingting shouted again, but nothing happened.
"You’ll just have to wait for him to come back on his own," Wen Diyi said.
At this moment, Lu Yin was helping Gu Xiao"er practice the first layer of the Cosmic Art.
Given Gu Xiao"er"s cultivation realm, it was not difficult for him to understand the first layer of the cultivation art, unlike Lu Yin who had started cultivating with it from the very beginning. For Lu Yin, each and every star had been a challenge to simulate, especially the ninth star that the mad master of Astral-10 had helped him deduce.
"The only thing missing from this first layer is the ninth star, but that one isn’t included in the manual that I received," Gu Xiao"er lamented.
Lu Yin was once again relieved that he had become an exchange student of Eversky Island at the Cosmic Sect. If not for that, Lu Yin would have never had the opportunity to learn the higher layers of the Cosmic Art. Well, at least not openly. Mister Mu had given Lu Yin the second layer of the art.
"Hey Bro, has that woman still not agreed?" Several days pa.s.sed, and Gu Xiao’er could not stop himself from bringing the matter up. He had already simulated eight stars, which was quite fast.
Learning the Cosmic Art would not help Gu Xiao’er increase his strength, but he had wanted to learn it in order to become a Lockbreaker, which was also what Gu Laogui was hoping for.
If Gu Xiao"er had not said anything, Lu Yin would have completely forgotten about Yun Tingting. He had actually been planning on finding Elder Gong to ask about the fifth layer of the Cosmic Art.
Avoiding Gu Xiao"er’s eyes, Lu Yin brought Yun Tingting out of Zenith Mountain.
Yun Tingting glared at him. "Did you falsely accuse my father of being a Redback?"
Lu Yin instantly became upset. "Of course I wouldn’t do that!"
Yun Tingting did not believe him, and she continued to glare at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin spoke sincerely, "Honestly, I wasn’t even the one to uncover the fact that your father’s a Redback. Qing Chen, the Middle Realm’s supervisor, was the one who made the arrest. You’ll know the truth whenever you get back to the Perennial World."
Lu Yin really had not been the one to discover the truth about Yun Mubai, and the man had not been falsely accused.
Old man Kui Luo was the person who had actually discovered that Yun Mubai was a Redback. Of course, after the battle on Dragon Mountain, Lu Yin had developed a new understanding of the Semi-Progenitor’s personality. It was not entirely impossible for the old man to have deliberately framed Yun Mubai for Qing Chen to arrest. From start to finish, Lu Yin had only acted as the messenger.
"Really?" Yun Tingting remained suspicious.
Lu Yin frowned. "I’m only an Enlighter. How could I have possibly uncovered any evidence that your father’s a Redback? I couldn’t have even sneaked into the Smokecloud Sect, and how long was it that Long Qi left the White Dragon Clan’s Dalian Mountain branch? If Redbacks were that easy to find, they wouldn’t be Redbacks. At best, I could have only found a few traitors."
Yun Tingting felt there was merit to his words. “Then what about the three Guan brothers?"
"Those three were simply unlucky, and it was actually just a matter of time before they were discovered. I happened to have a friend who was able to expose them. Actually, you’ve met her: Yuhua Mavis," Lu Yin explained.
Yun Tingting felt that something was off, but she really did not know what else to say. As far as the Perennial World was concerned, both Redbacks and trespa.s.sers were universal enemies. A Redback had actually been found by a trespa.s.ser, and then another trespa.s.ser had joined in on the plot to expose them. Those three really had been unlucky.
"Have you made up your mind yet? I"m about to go into seclusion, so if you haven’t made a decision yet, it might be a very long time before we see each other," Lu Yin said impatiently.
Yun Tingting gritted her teeth. "I have conditions."
"Tell me."
"Since you were able to sneak into the Perennial World, it means that there has to be a way to go back. Promise to send me back, and I’ll share the inheritance that the Smokecloud Sect"s received from Progenitor Yan with you."
Lu Yin laughed. "How often do trespa.s.sers go to the Perennial World? Do you not know? If it were as easy to go to the Perennial World as you’re saying, then how could the Perennial World forget about us so easily? Why aren’t there any rumors about the Fifth Mainland in that casce?"
Yun Tingting"s eyes nervously darted about.
Lu Yin opened his gadget, and the display popped up to show a picture of w.a.n.g Yi during ZENITH. "Do you know him?"
Yun Tingting was startled. "The w.a.n.g family’s w.a.n.g Yi?"
"I can tell you how he got here, and then you can figure out the exact path for yourself. Basically, while I won’t help you, I won’t stop you either."
Yun Tingting considered the offer. "Alright, as long as you’re telling me the truth."
"Long Xi can vouch for me. She knows me quite well, and she can speak for how trustworthy I am," Lu Yin stated matter-of-factly.
It was not much later that Lu Yin shared a method to improve the quality of Gu Xiao’er’s white smoke with him. Of course Lu Yin also knew the method, but he did not cultivate the white smoke, and he also did not have any interest in Progenitor Yan’s inheritance. However, the Nine Clones Secret Technique was an entirely different matter.
Gu Xiao"er happily shared the information with Gu Laogui. The agreement that had been made between Lu Yin and Gu Laogui stated that Smoke Eater Peaks would deliver enough smoke to protect 10,000 people after they improved the quality of their smoke. After that, Lu Yin would provide them with the Smoke Incarnations technique.
Yun Tingting also needed to wait for the agreement to be completed before she would be allowed to leave.
Lu Yin was naturally concerned that Yun Tingting would manipulate the battle techniques that she shared with him.
With the matter momentarily settled, Lu Yin went to find Elder Gong to ask him to learn the fifth layer of the Cosmic Art.
Elder Gong no longer refused, and he even personally guided Lu Yin’s training.
A bit more than ten days later, Lu Yin bade farewell to Da Qui. Then, Elder Jiu Shen helped Lu Yin pa.s.s through the Cosmic Sea and reach the Innerverse.
Out of the entire Fifth Mainland, Lu Yin had spent the least amount of time in the Cosmic Sea. He had only fought there once during the Sixth Mainland’s invasion, and he had not returned since.
The Cosmic Sea’s climate was extremely temperamental, so whenever Lu Yin crossed it, he was helped by a powerful expert. The first time, it had been Highsage Wudi, and this time, it was Elder Jiu Shen.
"Boy, take this." Elder Jiu Shen tossed something over to Lu Yin. It looked like a token.
Lu Yin grabbed it, and filled his eyes with star energy. He saw that it contained a ma.s.sive number of rune lines. This token could actually compare to his upgraded bodysuit armor.
"That"s a Cosmic Token, and it’s a power vessel that I made to hold the Cosmic Art. This one contains the Celestial Sword Technique and Cosmic Palm, and it’s for you to use as protection. Be careful, and don"t die," Elder Jiu Shen ordered. The juxtaposition of his youthful appearance with his voice filled with the vicissitude of age was very odd.
Lu Yin did not dare to underestimate Elder Jiu Shen as he was a powerhouse who was at least as strong as Highsage Wudi. "This disciple understands. Elder, this disciple would like to make a request."
"Speak," Jiu Shen said. Even though his opinion of Lu Yin had fallen again and again because of the pattern on the bottom of Lu Yin’s foot, the elder forced himself to be patient. Even Elder Jiu Shen had to admit that there was a very good chance that this child would eventually become a Progenitor. Then, the Cosmic Sect would have to rely on this child if they wanted their treasure to be returned.
Lu Yin coughed. "I understand that the sect has the Star Transference Secret Technique."
Elder Jiu Shen angrily replied, "So it really is like Yuan Qiong thought—you’re l.u.s.ting after Star Transference."
Lu Yin revealed a mocking smile.
"No."
Lu Yin was caught off guard. "Why?"
Elder Jiu Shen grew solemn. "What do you think a secret technique is? A cabbage? Something that just anyone can learn? That there are no limitations to them? It requires one’s comprehension. While it’s fine to learn one or two, learning too many will leave your body useless.”
"That’s true. Learning too many secret techniques will do more harm than good," Liu Ye agreed.
Lu Yin felt disappointed, but it did not particularly matter. Star Transference was a secret technique that focused on evasion, and he already had a similar secret technique, as well as the Teleportation Formation.
Elder Jiu Shen returned to the Neoverse, and Lu Yin looked to the north. Finally, he had returned. The Innerverse looked quite welcoming in this place.
If Lu Yin was correct, they should have arrived in First Flowzone.
He took out his collapsible s.p.a.cecraft. Lu Yin and Luo Shen boarded one while Liu Ye and Fei Hua used another. Lu Yin led the way to Fennel Flowzone.
Even though traveling in a s.p.a.cecraft was rather slow, it allowed Lu Yin to calmly handle a few matters.
There were several unanswered messages on his gadget after leaving the Cosmic Sect.
It did not take long for his gadget to start beeping; Wen Sansi was calling him. "Brother Lu, how would you like to visit my Wen family?"
"This is about the seven-layered Literary Prison, right?" Lu Yin said bluntly. The benefits to keeping Wen Diyi and the others confined to Zenith Mountain were gradually appearing. He had spent significant resources to keep them all trapped there, and he needed to be compensated for those costs. The first was Smoke Eater Peaks, and the next would be the Wen family.
"Brother Lu’s manner of speech is quite refreshing. I wonder, what price my Wen family would need to pay for Lu Yin to be willing to share that method with us?" Wen San asked.
"Show your sincerity by speaking to me face to face in Fennel Flowzone," Lu Yin said. He instantly ended the call, completely unconcerned about offending the Wen family, as such things no longer worried him.
Someone else called Lu Yin the moment he hung up on Wen Sansi: Madam Yōu.
When Luo Shen heard Madam Yōu"s voice, her expression instantly changed, and she nervously looked at Lu Yin.
"Ye"er was taken away by the Sword Sect. Alliance Leader Lu, I heard that you’ve returned. Can you help my Yōu family?" Madam Yōu"s voice sounded bleak and exhausted. She was clearly begging.
Lu Yin replied, "If you want to join the Great Eastern Alliance, then you can go to Fennel Flowzone to talk to me."
Once again, he hung up as soon as he finished speaking.
The Yōu family had broken away from the Yōu clan, but in truth, the Yōu family was still a valid part of the clan. Lu Yin had noticed that something was wrong when Madam Yōu had first approached him.
Since the fact of the Yōu family possessing the clan’s secret technique had been exposed, why had the Yōu clan not pursued the matter? Why had the Yōu family not returned to the Yōu clan after the Sword Sect made their threats? It seemed that they were facing some sort of unknown threat, and even if Lu Yin was not afraid of such a thing, he did not want to deal with it.
There was nothing in the Fifth Mainland that he needed to fear.
Of the surviving six Semi-Progenitors, three were actively supporting Lu Yin. The Chief Justice was his senior brother, and if this relationship was ever revealed, Lu Yin would basically become the Fifth Mainland’s crown prince.
The vessels continued traveling towards Fennel Flowzone, and Luo Shen unthinkingly leaned against Lu Yin"s shoulder. She knew that it would be very difficult for her to spend any time with Lu Yin after they returned to the Outerverse.
These moments were truly precious to her, especially the times when she had sat next to Lu Yin while he had raced within Aurora Fortress. Those times had become beautiful memories.
Lu Yin was completely unaware that something ma.s.sive had happened in the Outerverse while he had been in the Cosmic Sect: Shamrock Enterprise had stopped all of their transactions with the Great Eastern Alliance, and they would not sell even when they offered more than enough funds to purchase their goods. It was a blatant move to suppress the Great Eastern Alliance.
Lu Yin had blocked their attempt to move their hidden world that contained Shamrock Enterprise’s headquarters to Mt. Microcosms, and naturally, the company wanted to retaliate.
At the moment, Qiong Xi’er was the one dealing with Shamrock Enterprise.
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