Chapter 1776: A Clear Sky
The Innerverse’s fate had been sealed the moment that Lu Yin took Liu Huang and the Second Nightking out of Gaia"s Swamp.
Lu Yin was sitting calmly within the two-headed centipede’s encirclement as the creature slowly moved. It released an oppressive pressure that would have left most cultivators trembling.
Spots of light illuminated the ground as they reflected off of the two-headed centipede’s carapace slowly condensed, and a familiar cold appeared in the air.
Lu Yin’s eyes suddenly opened, but he could not see any runes at all. Still, he remembered this particular sensation. This was the same thing that he had felt each time he met one of the Seven SkyG.o.ds.
"Did you have something to do with what happened in the Horned Galaxy?" asked a gloomy voice. It was impossible to determine if the voice belonged to a man or a woman.
Lu Yin did not even bother looking for the speaker, as he already knew that he would not see anything at all. "The Horned Galaxy? I had nothing to do with that."
"Where were you when Autumnfrost Chen died?"
Lu Yin"s eyes flickered. "Who are you?"
"I ask, and you answer. You do not get to ask questions."
Lu Yin sneered. "So, what will happen if I don"t answer?"
"Then you die."
Lu Yin laughed. "You don"t care about Shaman G.o.d’s plan? Which of the Seven SkyG.o.ds are you? You clearly aren’t Shaman G.o.d or Blackless G.o.d, as he’s on the other side of the Fifth Mainland."
"I am Forgotten Ruins G.o.d."
Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed sharply. "Forgotten Ruins G.o.d? Why are you here?"
"Did you have anything at all to do with what happened in the Horned Galaxy?" Forgotten Ruins G.o.d asked once again.
Lu Yin coldly replied, "That had nothing to do with me."
"Where were you when Autumnfrost Chen died?"
This question was repeated again, but this time, Lu Yin chose to answer. "In seclusion."
"Where?"
"Planet Aegis."
"Why did you go there?" Forgotten Ruins G.o.d clearly hesitated a bit before continuing their questioning, as they had not expected Lu Yin to actually answer. The Neohuman Alliance had already looked into the matter and learned that Lu Yin had not been anywhere near the border between the Sixth Mainland and the Great Eastern Alliance. Thus, Forgotten Ruins G.o.d had not believed that Lu Yin would answer. Refusing to answer showed that Lu Yin had something to hide, but a ready admittance proved the opposite.
Lu Yin took a deep breath before quietly responding, "Anyways, I had nothing to do with what happened in the Horned Galaxy. As for why I was in seclusion on Planet Aegis, that has nothing to do with you. Stay away from me."
"The Great Eastern Alliance has already been attacked. The Innerverse is going to kill all of your powerhouses that have the strength of Enlighters. You will have no one at all to rely on, not even w.a.n.g Wen and the others," Forgotten Ruins G.o.d suddenly said.
"So what? Do you want to help me?" Lu Yin mocked.
"That’s not impossible."
"And then I will become an enemy of the entire universe."
"We have our own means, as long as you give us that thing back."
Lu Yin frowned. "What thing?"
"The thing that was in the Horned Galaxy."
Lu Yin laughed. "I already told you that I had nothing to do with that incident."
"Your ident.i.ty as Lu Xiaoxuan has already been exposed. While it is possible that they will not oppose you, they will never help you. Besides, even if the Neoverse wanted to help you, they would be too late. The Great Eastern Alliance will be destroyed. Do you want to see it disappear? How will you possibly put up a fight against the four ruling powers in the future?" Forgotten Ruins G.o.d pressed.
"As long as you return that item to us, we can help you to keep all that you have built up and obtained. We can even help you quickly conquer the entire Innerverse."
Lu Yin"s voice turned nasty. "How many times do I have to tell you before you actually believe me? I had nothing to do with what happened in the Horned Galaxy. I don’t have anything at all to give you."
"Tell me the real reason why you went into seclusion on Planet Aegis. You already know that we can find out even if you stay silent," Forgotten Ruins G.o.d threatened.
Lu Yin fell silent for a bit, and then he shrugged. "There’s an entrance to the Bizarre Sect’s ruins on Planet Aegis."
Forgotten Ruins G.o.d was completely confused. "The Bizarre Sect?"
"They’re an ancient sect. The ruins contain death energy," Lu Yin said. He was not afraid that the death energy would be discovered by the Neohuman Alliance, as there was still Gaia"s Swamp. Also, if the Neohuman Alliance started to make things difficult for Lu Yin, he could start stirring up even more trouble for them.
This was not even considering the fact that the Neohuman Alliance’s Aeternus Nation already had their own source of death energy. For them, gaining access to another one would not really make much of a difference.
However, this information caught Forgotten Ruins G.o.d completely off guard. "Death energy? There’s death energy in the Bizarre Sect’s ruins? I remember the Bizarre Sect now…"
Lu Yin"s eyes lit up. "Was it a famous sect?"
Forgotten Ruins G.o.d did not answer. "Your answer receives three points of trust."??e??e???v?l.??m
Lu Yin"s face twitched. "Why not ten?"
"As for the other seven points, I need to personally verify what you’ve said."
Right after the voice stopped speaking, a chill ran down Lu Yin"s back; Forgotten Ruins G.o.d was about to attack!
Lu Yin did not know what Forgotten Ruins G.o.d was capable of, but they were still one of the Seven SkyG.o.ds.
Suddenly, the two-headed centipede’s body shattered, and it did not even have a chance to release so much as a whimper before it was destroyed. Behind Lu Yin, a figure condensed from the spots of light, and a set of scales appeared beneath the figure’s feet. Forgotten Ruins G.o.d was lifted by one side of the scales while an endless darkness appeared on the other side.
Some distance away, Qing Shaohuang coughed up blood. The two-headed centipede’s death had caused him to suffer a backlash. He stared at the endless darkness in shock, his eyes flickering.
Jingle jingle!
Lu Yin whirled around and saw the scales holding up a figure formed from condensed light, as well as the endless darkness. He was thrilled to see this. "Senior Chief Justice."
These scales represented judgment.
Forgotten Ruins G.o.d spoke up in a somber and cold voice. "You are not even a Semi-Progenitor, and yet you want to judge a Semi-Progenitor? Qing Ping, you are too arrogant. Do you really believe that you can face my Seven SkyG.o.ds?"
A calm voice spoke up from within the darkness. “Inner world - Judgement."
As the voice spoke, the darkness suddenly vanished, only to be replaced by a clear sky. It was empty and pure, and it looked like the natural sky. It replaced the sky above the Divine Venom Continent, and it even replaced Venom Flowzone’s sky. It was as if the entire region of s.p.a.ce had been moved.
Lu Yin"s face showed his absolute shock, This- this is changing the sky!
Forgotten Ruins G.o.d slowly started rising as the scales tipped in favor of the Chief Justice.
"You aren’t even a Semi-Progenitor, and yet you’ve already cultivated an inner world? No, this is not an inner world, but rather merely a manifestation of your cultivation. Still, it is comparable to a Semi-Progenitor’s inner world. Qing Ping, I can"t let you leave you alive today." Forgotten Ruins G.o.d was in utter disbelief, and as they shouted, the sky changed once again. Lightning ripped apart the clear sky, only to transform into cracks that shattered the sky.
With that, countless faint sounds appeared, and as they fell from the shattered sky, they pushed down upon the scales.
They tipped once again, this time dropping Forgotten Ruins G.o.d down while raising up the Chief Justice.
Lu Yin watched anxiously. The Chief Justice was not a Semi-Progenitor, and yet he was fighting against a Semi-Progenitor with an inner world. Not only that, but he was fighting against one of the Seven SkyG.o.ds. Those seven powerhouses seemed to be more than just mere Semi-Progenitors.
Even if Lu Yin had faith in the Chief Justice’s strength, Lu Yin had no confidence at this moment. His senior brother seemed to be a bit rash.
Bang!
The scales were pressed down, lowering Forgotten Ruins G.o.d more and more, and yet the scales were not destroyed.
Forgotten Ruins G.o.d startled. "If I can’t destroy it, then I will simply judge you according to your own rules."
After that, Forgotten Ruins G.o.d’s side of the scales started dropping quicker and quicker, until they were eye-level with the Chief Justice.
Lu Yin’s fists were clenched tightly, and a blood-red bell appeared in his hand as he considered ringing it.
Some distance away, Qing Shaohuang was just as nervous as Lu Yin. One of the two people fighting was the Interstellar Supreme Court’s Chief Justice, who was also rumored to be one of Lu Yin’s supporters. As for the Chief Justice’s opponent, they were actually one of the Neohuman Alliance’s Seven SkyG.o.ds. Qing Shaohuang would lose out regardless of the victor, so he actually preferred for them both to lose.
"Qing Ping, you are going to die today! You’ve brought this upon yourself!" Forgotten Ruins G.o.d arrogantly pushed down on the Chief Justice.
On the other side of the scales, the Chief Justice retorted, "Your weakness is too clear. Given the inner world that your current body possesses, how could you possibly resist my judgment?"
This was the day this phenomena was recorded into the history of Venom Flowzone. The dark starry sky was replaced by a bright sky.
Suddenly, the Chief Justice started to slowly descend, and the scales tipped back out of Forgotten Ruins G.o.d’s favor.
The figure formed from the condensed spots of light that was Forgotten Ruins G.o.d slowly dissipated. "If I were you, I would have never exposed myself. Today, because of your karmic intent, your karmic cause will mean your death in the future.”
With that, there was nothing left behind at all.
Lu Yin heaved a sigh of relief. Forgotten Ruins G.o.d was gone. Lu Yin had no idea if the SkyG.o.d had actually lost or been driven away, but if Forgotten Ruins G.o.d had actually lost, then that indicated that Lu Yin’s senior brother was just too powerful! The Chief Justice had actually judged one of the Seven SkyG.o.ds that only Semi-Progenitors could stand up to.
The scales disappeared, and the bright sky vanished as well. All that was left was the portion of darkness that looked very familiar to Lu Yin.
He quickly stepped forward. "I greet the Chief Justice."
Qing Shaohuang also hurried over, but his voice sounded weak when he said, "I greet the Chief Justice."
Everyone who had been in the imperial palace—Yuan Taishi, Qing Li, Qing Longlong, and more—came to greet the Chief Justice. After that, Wen Yao, Balsam, and the others also arrived to do the same.
Everyone was quite surprised, as none of them could understand why the Chief Justice had appeared in Venom Flowzone.
Qing Shaohuang was the most nervous out of everyone, as there had long since been rumors that Lu Yin was supported by the powers who truly ruled the Human Domain. There were mentions of the Hall of Honor, the Interstellar Supreme Court, the overseers’ council, and even several Semi-Progenitors. This was why so many people were so hesitant to attack Lu Yin himself. This was also the reason why Qing Shaohuang had not dared to kill Lu Yin.
Everyone believed that regardless of who was supporting Lu Yin, they would do nothing at all as long as Lu Yin himself remained untouched. No one had expected the Chief Justice to suddenly appear and protect Lu Yin. What was their relationship? Just how big was Lu Yin"s backing?
"Why did one of the Seven SkyG.o.ds appear?" the Chief Justice asked. Although no one could see him, everyone understood that he was speaking to Lu Yin.
Lu Yin replied, "Forgotten Ruins G.o.d wanted to know if this junior had anything to do with the incident in the Horned Galaxy."
"Did you?" the Chief Justice continued.
Lu Yin showed no sign of hesitation. "No."
The Chief Justice fell silent.
Qing Shaohuang could no longer hold himself back. "Lord Chief Justice, you honor my Divine Venom Dynasty with your presence, but unfortunately, the imperial palace is currently in ruins. This junior apologizes for showing such a rude welcome. Might I ask why you are here?"
The Chief Justice lightly replied, "The Neohuman Alliance."
"You already knew that one of the Seven SkyG.o.ds would appear?" Qing Shaohuang felt quite confused.
Lu Yin spoke up to explain, "He did not come for the SkyG.o.d. I asked the Chief Justice to come here."
Lu Yin stared at Qing Shaohuang, and a smile appeared on the young man’s face. "You should already know why."
Qing Shaohuang"s eyes instantly filled with rage. "The Interstellar Supreme Court represents the Hall of Honor and is the highest judicial authority in the entire Human Domain! The Chief Judge is the representative of human fairness and justice. It is impossible that he came to Venom Flowzone just to help you."
Lu Yin laughed. This person was trying to use righteousness as a means to bind the Chief Justice’s hands from being able to make any moves. However, others’ perception of righteousness meant nothing at all to the Chief Justice. Even if the Chief Justice openly dealt with the Innerverse powers for Lu Yin, who would be able to say anything?.
The smile left Lu Yin"s face. "This junior did not ask the Chief Justice to come here for personal matters, but rather for a report that the Divine Venom Dynasty is suspected of colluding with the Neohuman Alliance."