Chapter 2016
After hearing Yunying Mavis’s words, Lu Yin replied, "There’s something that I could never understand before now: the Mavis family doesn’t act like businessmen, so how were you able to control the Fifth Mainland’s entire economy with only one Semi-Progenitor?"
Without even waiting for a response, Lu Yin continued, saying, "Bu now I understand." He stared at Yunying Mavis. "That was all an act. The truth is that you’re the most shrewd businessmen of them all.”
Yunying Mavis looked confused. "I believe Alliance Leader Lu has misunderstood my Mavis family."
Lu Yin sneered. "Senior, you can drop the act. Ancient G.o.d already made it quite clear that your Mavis family is my Lu family’s purse. Furthermore," He paused as he pointed at his feet, "Your Ancestor Tortoise is something that my Lu family left to you. I finally understand why you were so eager to form an alliance with me. Not with the Great Eastern Alliance, but with me alone. The reason was to alter the relationship between our families by taking advantage of me.”
"You are my Lu family"s purse, yet you sought to ally yourselves with a direct descendant of the Lu family. Your motives are crystal clear."
Yunying Mavis coughed a few times before softly saying, "Alliance Leader Lu, that line of thinking means that you’ve fallen into Ancient G.o.d’s trap. He’s trying to incite conflict between us."
Lu Yin laughed in disbelief at the woman’s shamelessness. "At this moment, humanity is in a truly desperate situation. Why would he need to incite any conflict at all?”
"We’re talking about Aeternus. All of them are incredibly cunning," Yunying said with a somber expression.
Lu Yin let out a disdainful snort. He would have never known that he was a victim of the Mavis family’s scheming without Ancient G.o.d. It was no wonder why they had been so generous, giving him five billion star essence at their first meeting. That had been Lu Yin’s first time witnessing the generosity of a truly wealthy power in the Fifth Mainland, and it had left him awestruck. On top of that, they had even given him the authority to freely borrow 20 billion star essence at his convenience.
When he had asked to borrow money from the Mavis family, the transaction had proceeded very smoothly, quick and ha.s.sle-free. When he had asked them for manpower, they had sent Ya Mavis, who possessed a power level of over a million, to help him without asking a single question.
Before this moment, Lu Yin had been particularly grateful to the Mavis family for their generosity with both their wealth and their manpower. However, he had finally learned that there was no such thing as pure generosity without any hidden motives. There was a good reason why the Mavis family had treated him so well. If Ancient G.o.d was telling the truth, then they were trying to make amends.
The Lu family had given the Mavis family their Ancestor Tortoise while also allowing them to remain in the safety of the Fifth Mainland where they eventually became the monstrous ent.i.ty that controlled the Fifth Mainland"s entire economy. They had no worries and lived in complete comfort. While no Progenitors had risen from their clan, they also had not needed to fight on the battlefield behind the Perennial World. And how had they thanked the Lu family? They had plotted against a direct descendant of the Lu family and attempted to alter their relationship from a subservient clan to allies that stood on equal footing.
The more he thought about it, the angrier Lu Yin became. More than once, he had dreamed of having the Mavis family as his financier to funnel endless resources to him. His dream had finally come true, though too late.
"Ahem, Alliance Leader Lu, this isn’t a good place to talk. Let’s first get to Blazing Mist Flowzone." Yunying Mavis quickly changed the subject.
Lu Yin suppressed his displeasure and had Kui Luo land on Ancestor Tortoise. They then continued on towards the Innerverse along with Smoke-Eater Peaks.
Yunying Mavis did not try to remove Lu Yin.
The luminous fruits of the sacred tree were used to lure Ancestor Tortoise to move in the desired direction.
Another thing that Lu Yin finally understood was why Ancestor Tortoise had stared straight at him when he had visited the Mavis family. It was because Ancestor Tortoise could sense that Lu Yin was a part of the Lu family.
What a fantastic bodyguard! Even Ancient G.o.d had been helpless before the tortoise, and it could even travel around. Lu Yin could not understand why the Lu family had chosen to leave this creature to the Mavis family.
"Hoho, there are treasures everywhere", Kui Luo exclaimed as he roamed about the sacred tree.
There were several members of the Mavis family who followed behind Kui Luo. They stared at him in disgust, as though watching a thief wander about in their own backyard.
Kui Luo eventually sat down beside Lu Yin. "What"s going on? You seem very upset."
"Have you heard of the Mavis family?" Lu Yin asked.
Kui Luo replied, "I"ve heard them mentioned several times in that place, but never any details.”
"Did anyone from the Lu family ever say anything about them?" Lu Yin asked.
Kui Luo said, "I don’t think so. They might have mentioned them to others, but not to me. Like I said before, although the Lu family took care of me, we did not communicate with each other much. My knowledge of the Lu family is not very extensive.”
Lu Yin felt a bit of stuffiness in his chest. That alliance agreement had shattered one of his dreams. When was the last time that he had suffered such a terrible loss?
Yunying Mavis approached the two men.
Kui Luo turned around.
Yunying Mavis slowly bowed to the old man. "Greetings, Senior Semi-Progenitor."
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Kui Luo dismissed her greeting. "There’s no need to stand on ceremony. By the way, can I have one of those fruits?"
"My apologies, but that won’t be possible," Yunying Mavis said in an apologetic tone.
Kui Luo rolled his eyes. "How stingy."
"Senior, could this junior have a moment with Alliance Leader Lu?" Yunying Mavis asked politely.
Kui Luo glanced at Lu Yin before turning around and leaving.
Yunying Mavis thanked the old man as he left.
Once Kui Luo was no longer in earshot, Yunying Mavis spoke to Lu Yin"s back. "The All-Dao family, Qiming family, and Mavis family were the three subordinate families under the Lu family back then. When the war between the Fifth and Sixth Mainlands broke out and the Fifth Mainland’s Daosource Sect fell, the Lu family worked with the primeval surnames to uproot the mother tree and transplant it into the Perennial World. This place then gradually became the Forsaken Land. The Lu family took the All-Dao and Qiming families with them while leaving my Mavis family here on our own. My Mavis family has never had any interaction with the Lu family since then."
Lu Yin turned around to face Mavis Yunying. "Did the Lu family abandon you?"
Yunying Mavis replied, "No. My Mavis family was willing to stay behind."
Lu Yin arched a brow. "If that"s the case, then why did you break away from the Lu family if they didn"t abandon you?"
"Instead of saying that we broke away, it would be more accurate to call it a dissolution of cooperation," Yunying Mavis solemnly stated.
“What is that supposed to mean?" Lu Yin was puzzled.
Yunying Mavis explained, "My Mavis family is different from the All-Dao and Qiming families. The Lu family gave those two families everything that they possessed, which led them to becoming entirely dependent on the Lu family. That was not the case for my Mavis family. My Mavis family has a long and ancient past, but we eventually experienced a decline because of Aeternus. However, we were able to not completely fade away thanks to the Lu family, who saved us. In order to repay that kindness, the Mavis family willingly served the Lu family for hundreds of millions of years, and we were even treated as the Lu family"s purse. However, both sides had acknowledged from the very beginning that the Mavis family would one day break away from the Lu family.
"Although it"s not exactly an alliance, we are still allies. My Mavis family never betrayed you or your Lu family."
Lu Yin laughed mirthlessly. "You deliberately hid this from me from the very beginning. Even when Ancient G.o.d mentioned it, you tried to cover it up. How can you expect me to believe your story now?"
Yunying Mavis sighed. "If you didn’t suffer from amnesia, there would be no need for me to explain anything, but given your memory loss, all we can do is offer you as much support as is possible for us. However, we can"t become your subordinates, nor become subservient to the Lu family. That string of fate between my Mavis family and the Lu family has already reached its end. If we meet again, it will be as friends or allies."
Lu Yin had no idea if Yunying Mavis was being truthful or not. "What about Ancestor Tortoise? If you were eventually separating from my Lu family, why would the Lu family place Ancestor Tortoise under your care?”
Yunying Mavis chuckled. "The Lu family did not voluntarily leave it to us—rather, they didn’t have a choice. Ancestor Tortoise loves to eat the fruit of our sacred tree."
Lu Yin peered up at the luminous fruits that shone like stars. "Are you talking about those?"
"That"s right. Those fruits are Ancestor Tortoise"s favorite food, and the tree is also my Mavis family’s ancestral home. The Lu family actually wanted to take Ancestor Tortoise with them, but Ancestor Tortoise refused to go. They were left with no choice but to leave Ancestor Tortoise behind. It now carries the sacred tree wherever it goes,” Yunying Mavis said with a hint of pride.
Lu Yin felt stifled. So the tortoise was nothing but a glutton. The Lu family back then had really been completely useless. If he had been in their position, he would have seized control of the sacred tree. He would have liked to see how the Mavis family would refuse to follow his family in that situation.
"Alliance Leader Lu, I’ve already explained everything. Regardless of what our relationship may have been in the past, you and I are currently allies, and this will remain true in the future. The support that our Mavis family will provide you will not be reduced at all," Yunying Mavis said sincerely.
Lu Yin looked the woman in the eye. "Can I trust you?"
Yunying Mavis solemnly replied, "If my Mavis family had betrayed the Lu family, we would not have lasted until now."
After thinking things through, Lu Yin felt that her last answer made sense. Given the Lu family’s strength, as well as the pa.s.sing of so many years, they would have long exacted punishment if they had deemed it necessary.
"There’s one thing that I"m still curious about." Lu Yin stared at Yunying Mavis. "Just how much money does your clan have?"
Yunying Mavis’ face twitched. She gave Lu Yin a pained look. "Not much."
Lu Yin pursed his lips. "If we’re still allies, then it won’t hurt to satisfy my curiosity."
Yunying Mavis gave a bitter smile. "The Lu family’s direct descendants are all bottomless pits when it comes to consuming money. My Mavis family did not originally generate any profits. We were once very similar to the Cosmic Sect and the other forces and were simply regarded as a family of cultivators. However, your Lu family forced us to become your purse."
"So, your family knows a lot about the Lu family?" Lu Yin"s eyes lit up.
Yunying Mavis answered, "Our Great Elder knew them very well, but my generation does not have much of that knowledge. Most of what we know comes from what our Great Elder pa.s.sed down orally, or from our ancient records. If you would like to learn more about the Lu family, you can take a look at our family’s ancient records. We are still allies, so please feel free to browse through them at your leisure."
As they spoke, Ancestor Tortoise had already crossed the Cosmic Sea and entered the Innerverse. At this moment, they were somewhere between First Flowzone and Beast Tamers Flowzone.
Hordes of corpse kings had popped out from hidden worlds, and their numbers caused them to cover the entire Fifth Mainland. Still, there were noticeably more of them in the Cosmic Sea and the Innerverse.
Lu Yin stood on Ancestor Tortoise’s back and watched as planets engulfed in flames gradually disappeared behind them. A solid black s.p.a.ceship carrying corpse kings sped off into the distance.
Ya Mavis released an attack, casually crushing the vessel and eliminating all the corpse kings aboard.
Any corpse kings that they encountered on their way were destroyed.
Some distance away, outside First Flowzone’s Sword Mountain, numerous corpse kings were crushed and killed beneath the sword array.
In Beast Tamers Flowzone, the Second-Grade Hall and First-Grade Hall both retreated to the Divine Grade Hall, gathering their forces together to fight against the corpse kings.
The entire Innerverse was working to eliminate all the corpse kings that had appeared.
As the corpse kings were being slowly eliminated, it appeared that peace would soon return. Only a few were aware that the true crisis had yet to come. Once the situation at the defensive lines in the Starfall Sea shifted, the trajectory of the invasion would completely change.
Apart from the defensive line in the Starfall Sea, the battlefields that received the most attention at this time were the various Semi-Progenitors’ fights.
Arch-Elder Zen, Jiu Chi, Ni Huang, w.a.n.g Si, the Sixth Mainland’s Jiu Yao and Lan Xian, as well as a few others, each faced their own opponents. Ordinary cultivators had no knowledge of these battles. Even organizations like the Sword Sect remained ignorant.