Chapter 1865: Image
The Karmic Flame Sable became even more furious when it heard Lu Yin’s words. "That"s only because you were able to take those two freaks with you!"
"Even if I couldn’t have done that, I still would have gone to meet Xu Qing," Lu Yin stated.
The Karmic Flame Sable gave a derisive snort. "Human, I won’t believe a word you say! You’re too despicable! I’ve heard of you before, Lu Yin! Greedy, ambitious, despicable, and completely shameless!"
Lu Yin arched a brow before smacking the sable on the head. "Who told you that?"
This made Lu Yin angry. Was this how he was perceived in the Astral Beast Domain? Someone had to be deliberately sabotaging his image! This was terrible! How would he be able to conquer the Astral Beast Domain in the future?
The Karmic Flame Sable"s fierce little eyes flickered with a cold glint. "The entire Celestial Beast Empire knows this much. Let me tell you, I didn’t actually need to fight in this war, but because you reached out to Xu Qing, the Celestial Demon Emperor made a special point to send us in as secret reinforcements. It’s all because of you! He said that you’re a despicable human and that we absolutely cannot afford to be unprepared for this war. He ordered all of us to kill you if at all possible.”
This information surprised Lu Yin, but it also explained why not even Xu Qing had known which powerhouses would be sent as hidden reserves. They had been sent here specifically to take care of Lu Yin. It seemed that the Celestial Demon Emperor knew Lu Yin quite well.
"The Celestial Demon Emperor was right! You really are completely despicable! If not for us, Xu Qing would have completely lost that second battle. Forget keeping control of the asteroid field—we would have been lucky to defend even the Primal Zone. Every detail of these battles is being reported back to the Celestial Demon Emperor. He knows how the two battles have been lost, as well as how you rescued those three Envoys. He won’t give up because of this! Play it smart and leave now, or else you’ll be finished!" The Karmic Flame Sable threatened Lu Yin nonstop, and the creature’s eyes grew more and more fierce.
Lu Yin was actually amused by this. "Your mouth’s so small, and yet you talk so big. I want to see who your Celestial Beast Empire is going to send here as reinforcements next."
The Karmic Flame Sable gritted its teeth and continued glaring at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin"s pure black eyes suddenly locked onto the Karmic Flame Sable, and Lu Yin’s energy spiked as he raised the scythe high.
His movements startled the Karmic Flame Sable, and it was frozen speechless by the fear that blossomed from its very soul. The sable lost all will to resist, and at this moment, its behavior suddenly seemed to match its appearance and size as it started shaking.
Lu Yin seemed to grow taller in the creature’s eyes.
The astral beast was unable to stop itself from trembling. "Wha- what kind of power is this? There’s no way it’s your power! This is not the strength of a human!"
Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. It seemed that the G.o.d of Death Transformation was especially effective against the astral beasts. He remembered the vision that he had seen when absorbing death energy in the Bizarre Sect. In it, the G.o.d of Death seemed to have completely suppressed the astral beasts in ancient times.
The Second Nightking and Liu Huang were waiting for Lu Yin outside the s.p.a.cecraft that he was using. “Second Nightking, come in."
The old man entered and looked at Lu Yin’s G.o.d of Death Transformation. Shock and excitement filled the man’s eyes, as he was looking at something that confirmed the legends as real.
Everyone thought that the G.o.d of Death was nothing more than a legend, and almost no one actually believed that such a powerhouse had ever lived. In fact, the Daynight clan had never believed in the legends, but the entire reason why the Daynight clan had not gone to the Perennial World was because the Bai family had ordered the Daynight clan to remain in the Fifth Mainland and gather fatesand and anything at all related to Destiny. If Destiny had been real, then the G.o.d of Death would have also lived.
The Daynight clan had not believed the legends for their own sake, but rather because of the Bai family’s convictions.
When the Second Nightking first met Lu Yin, Mr. Feng had mentioned that Lu Yin possessed the power of the G.o.d of Death. The Second Nightking had not been in a rush to act at that time, resulting in the Chief Justice acting first.
The Second Nightking had always wanted to see Lu Yin"s G.o.d of Death Transformation.
Lu Yin"s pure black eyes stared back at the Second Nightking for a second. The death energy that filled the air around his body disappeared; the transformation had ended.
The moment the G.o.d of Death Transformation faded away, the Karmic Flame Sable shot away. However, the instant it started to move, its mind went blank, and it fell like a stone.
Lu Yin was amused, and he stepped forward to place his foot on the astral beast. It was only the size of his hand, and a single foot was enough to pin it down. "Where do you think you are? Do you really think that you can run away?"
The Karmic Flame Sable"s eyes were unfocused, and it took a while for it to regain consciousness. When it did so, the beast shot a glance of fear towards the Second Nightking before turning to stare at Lu Yin. "What do you want, human?"
Lu Yin put the Skyblaze Stone by the sable’s mouth once again. "Breathe fire."
The Karmic Flame Sable became furious, just like before. "Human, I’m a powerful Envoy, not your pet! If you think that you can humiliate me and the Celestial Beast Empire with this, you can stop dreaming!"
Lu Yin was stunned. "You’re overthinking. This has absolutely nothing to do with your Celestial Beast Empire. Just hurry up and blow out some fire for me."
The Karmic Flame Sable shrieked and cursed, but it refused to release any fire at all. Lu Yin was helpless to do anything. After all, anyone who was able to reach the Envoy level could not be coerced through intimidation. He had to use other means.
The Second Nightking had to ask, "Why do you need it to breathe fire?"
Lu Yin shrugged. "This Skyblaze Stone stores high temperature flames, and I need it to be filled up. The hotter the flames, the better."
The Second Nightking’s eyes flashed. "I can get that."
With that, spiritual force wrapped around the Karmic Flame Sable.
Lu Yin"s eyes lit up. Right, why had he not thought of that? Illusions would absolutely work, though it was beyond Lu Yin’s capabilities as the sable was an Envoy. Even with Daynight Praises, Lu Yin would only be able to control the beast for a short while, and it would be impossible for him to completely fill the Skyblaze Stone.
A short while later, the still dazed Karmic Flame Sable opened its mouth began spewing fire at the Skyblaze Stone. The more fire the creature released, the more excited it became. Even when the cut from Lu Yin’s scythe opened up and started to bleed again, the creature did not care and continued as though it was incinerating an enemy.
Lu Yin quickly had the Second Nightking stop the creature before giving it an Enhanced pill to treat its injuries. Given the sable"s current strength, the flames were nowhere close to hot enough to actually harm Lu Yin.
***
To the northeast, Xu Qing"s order to retreat had dealt a heavy blow to the astral beasts. The general had expected to either win or lose the war, but he had never expected Lu Yin"s G.o.d of Death Transformation to have such an incredible impact on the astral beasts.
"I have already contacted the Celestial Demon Emperor, and more support is being sent," the Celestial Demon informed Xu Qing. The arrogant astral beast looked quite upset at the moment.
Xu Qing asked, "How bad are things in the imperial city?"
The Celestial Demon hesitated for a moment, but then he replied, "They all feel that this is a war that we must win, and they also believe that the Great Eastern Alliance is something that should be easily taken out. You’ve repeatedly lost and asked for greater support, so many people are condemning you."
Xu Qing sneered. "Allowing such individuals to come here will only make things worse."
The Celestial Demon could not deny that the Great Eastern Alliance’s strength had defied all their expectations. Before the Astral Beast Domain investigated the Great Eastern Alliance, they had thought that the Hall of Honor must have used the Great Eastern Alliance as a disguise to launch a secret attack on the Astral Beast Domain. How else could a mere Enlighter and a power that had existed for barely a decade stand up to the power of the entire Astral Beast Domain?
However, their investigation had revealed how shockingly powerful the Great Eastern Alliance truly was. They had united both the Innerverse and the Outerverse under a single banner, and they had not even sent out all of their Envoys yet. This was something that those back in the Celestial Beast Empire’s imperial city did not know. They were ignorant of the war’s details, and it was impossible for them to believe the truth if it was reported. That was just how things were.
Xu Qing was not wrong.
He had been cautious from the very beginning when going up against the Great Eastern Alliance. It was just that the situation on the battlefield had changed too quickly, and Lu Yin, who was a mere human, had hidden his cards too well.
"How are you going to save the Karmic Flame Sable?" An astral beast approached. It was only the size of a hand, but it quickly took on a human form, and it turned out the beast was a female. However, her human form was rather homely looking.
Xu Qing frowned. "I’ll find a way."
"Reach out to the humans!" the chymifier said anxiously. She had a very good relationship with the Karmic Flame Sable.
Xu Qing growled, "That is my task, while yours is to guard the perimeter and not let any humans launch a sneak attack."
"The battle just ended, and those humans will need to recuperate for a bit. There won’t be any fighting for now. I hope that you can get the Karmic Flame Sable back as soon as possible," the chymifier said anxiously.
The Celestial Demon suddenly shouted, “Leave! This is none of your concern!"
The chymifier wanted to say something else, but the pressure from both Xu Qing and the Celestial Demon caused her to restrain herself. She was much, much weaker than either of these two powerhouses. The chymifier soon left.
Xu Qing became more and more irritated. He had to somehow undo this defeat and rescue the Karmic Flame Sable, but both of those things would be incredibly difficult.
The few interactions that Xu Qing had had with Lu Yin had given the astral beast general what he considered to be an understanding of Lu Yin. Typically, Lu Yin would simply kill the Karmic Flame Sable on the battlefield. Since he had instead captured it, the beast had to have some sort of use to him. There was no point in contacting Lu Yin at this time as Xu Qing was suddenly the one who had been forced into a pa.s.sive state.
Fortunately, the Karmic Flame Sable was without friends or allies within the Celestial Beast Empire aside from the chymifier. If it were a more popular beast, the situation would have been far more complicated. After all, powerful Envoys could directly approach the Celestial Demon Emperor.
…
In the Neoverse, on Mt. Microcosms, the Arbitration World was practically empty at this time, as the Interstellar Supreme Court’s forces had been deployed to eliminate the Neohuman Alliance’s bases. Most of the Guardian Force had also been transferred to the Starfall Sea to prevent the pa.s.s from falling and the Aeternals from entering the Innerverse.
The Neoverse was constantly drafting more cultivators and sending them to protect the pa.s.s in the Starfall Sea, and the same was happening in the Sixth Mainland. Hundreds of millions of cultivators had gathered there, as both the Hall of Honor and the Sixth Mainland feared that the Progenitor of Combat and the Progenitor of Bloodlines would not be able to defend the pa.s.s. If that happened, every single part of the Fifth Mainland would be thrust into catastrophe.
There were two matters that were being focused on: wiping out the Neohuman Alliance and gathering strength in the Starfall Sea. These were humanity’s main priorities at the moment.
Elsewhere on Mt. Microcosms, Zi Jing met with Arch-Elder Zen.
"What’s the general consensus on the network?" Arch-Elder Zen asked. His back was facing Zi Jing as he stared off into the distance.
Zi Jing respectfully replied, "There is a mix of both praise and criticism. The Outerverse praises the Great Eastern Alliance, but the Innerverse, Cosmic Sea, and Neoverse are all condemning them. They claim that the Great Eastern Alliance has secretly colluded with the Sixth Mainland and that Lu Yin has already gone over to the Sixth Mainland and become one of them."
Arch-Elder Zen"s expression remained unchanged. The moment the Great Eastern Alliance had decided to protect the Outerverse, someone had already made such claims. The Sixth Mainland was also praising the Great Eastern Alliance and acting as though the alliance was already part of them.
The more the Sixth Mainland behaved in this manner, the angrier the Great Eastern Alliance’s critics would become. There were very few who could see the current situation clearly.
"Publicize the slaughters that took place in Northcastle, Forested, and Eastly Weaves. Those people need to wake up," Arch-Elder Zen said.
Zi Jing respectfully a.s.sented.
After Zi Jing left, Arch-Elder Zen disappeared. When he reappeared, he was just outside the Lockbreakers World, and he quickly entered the hidden world.
Xiu Ming frowned. "Even if Mt. Microcosms belongs to you, you shouldn"t be so rude. You could easily startle somebody."
Arch-Elder Zen looked at Xiu Ming. "The Lockbreaker Society should take action. Lu Yin may not be able to hold out."
Xiu Ming shrugged. "If I could, I would. I wanted to do so long ago."
Arch-Elder Zen grew puzzled, and Xiu Ming grew solemn. "I’ve lost control of the society."
Arch-Elder Zen"s expression instantly changed. "Lost control? Didn"t you say that that was impossible?"
Xiu Ming shrugged. "Logically, it should have been impossible. Someone took action, and you should already know who it was."
"Whiteless G.o.d," Arch-Elder Zen grumbled.
Xiu Ming and Arch-Elder Zen both looked at each other. "I have always felt that Whiteless G.o.d is the greatest threat of all of the Seven SkyG.o.ds. When they suffered a loss, we were nervous about what they would do for a long time, and yet the Neohuman Alliance did nothing until they attacked Burial Garden. Now that the Sixth Mainland and the Hall of Honor are trying to wipe out the Neohuman Alliance’s bases, Whiteless G.o.d has taken action. What happened in Ironblood Weave should be her doing."