Chapter 2048: The Lu Family’s Dao Chosen
"How long will each of the sixteen Semi-Progenitors need to spend here for their shift?" Hen Xin asked.
The Progenitor of Bloodlines looked at the man for a moment before exclaiming, "You are someone from ancient times! You are one of the masters of the Twelve Heavenly Gates. You fully deserve your reputation. If all of these Semi-Progenitors can break through to become Progenitors, humanity will no longer need to worry about anything."
Bulls.h.i.t! Kui Luo rolled his eyes. Break through to become Progenitors? If it was that easy, the Aeternals would have been eliminated long ago. How can you say something so ridiculous?
At the same time, the Ghost Monkey also rolled his eyes. Bulls.h.i.t!
"Half a year. You’ll each take a half-year shift. What do you think about that?" The Progenitor of Bloodlines clearly had not considered this question before Hen Xin brought it up so casually.
Hen Xin immediately responded, "Yes."
The Progenitor of Bloodlines continued, saying, "I hope that you all will not fight among yourself during this time, or at least, hold off on such things until we are sure that the Aeternals will not invade again. I ask that you all give this old man some face."
After he finished speaking, the old man raised a hand and brought out sixteen dots into s.p.a.ce. Each of the dots represented a number. "Everyone, it"s time to draw lots."
Lu Buzheng arched a brow. This was a show of might from the Progenitor. It was clear to see that the dots were for drawing lots, but no one could see what number was within any of the dots no matter what they tried. The ability to block everyone’s perception was directly proportional to one’s strength. This was a power worthy of a Progenitor.
Hen Xin reacted first, and he randomly grabbed a lot, and was quickly followed by all the other Semi-Progenitors present.
"You don"t need one, Senior Chief Justice! You"re not a Semi-Progenitor!" Lu Yin shouted. He did not want his senior brother Qing Ping to have to partic.i.p.ate in this guard duty. If Lu Yin was completely unlucky, Lu Buzheng, Kui Luo, and Highsage Grandmaster would also be unfortunate enough to draw lots for guard duty at the same time. The Chief Justice was Lu Yin’s reliable senior brother.
"I need one." Chief Justice Qing Ping never said much at all, but he replied to Lu Yin instantly as he grabbed his lot, leaving Lu Yin depressed.
On the other side, Ni Huang bowed to the Progenitor of Bloodlines. "Senior, w.a.n.g Si"s inner world has been shattered, and she will have great difficulty demonstrating any of her true strength. It’s even possible that she will be crippled by this. Does she also need to stand guard?"
w.a.n.g Si’s expression twisted terribly when she heard Ni Huang’s objection, but she did not deny his words.
The Progenitor of Bloodlines replied, "Very well."
With that, the lot disappeared from w.a.n.g Si"s hand. She resentfully glared at Lu Yin once again. She vowed to herself that she would find a chance to kill the b.a.s.t.a.r.d.
Lu Yin was similarly looking at w.a.n.g Si, and he clearly saw the naked killing intent that she made no attempt to hide.
The fifteen Semi-Progenitor level experts were split into four different groups.
"Those whose lots had the number one in them will be the first to stand guard at the pa.s.sage to the Starfall Sea with this old man," Progenitor Xue stated.
Lu Yin quickly glanced around at Kui Luo and everyone else.
Kui Luo looked constipated, and he was muttering something or other. This sight caused Lu Yin"s heart to sink, and it was obvious that the old man had picked this first shift of guard duty. Realizing this, Lu Yin quickly glanced at Lu Buzheng, but the man appeared completely relaxed.
Lu Yin looked back at Senior Brother Qing Ping, but he was unable to see any expression on the man’s face. Looking at Arch-Elder Zen and the other Semi-Progenitors, Lu Yin could not see anything from their faces either.
People who were able to become Semi-Progenitors typically had enough self-control to conceal their anger and other emotions, which made it difficult for Lu Yin to see through them. Very few such experts were as open with their emotions as Kui Luo.
"Alright, the selection has been made, so the four of you can follow this old man to the pa.s.sage to the Starfall Sea." As soon as the Progenitor of Bloodlines spoke, he started moving towards the Starfall Sea.
Elder Gong moved forward, along with Xia De, Herb Immortal, and finally, Kui Luo.
Kui Luo sighed and glanced over at Lu Yin. "Take care of yourself, kid. Just stay on Ancestor Tortoise’s back and don’t leave."
The Progenitor of Bloodlines had asked them all to not fight amongst themselves and to show him at least that much respect. However, it was impossible to know how long this would deter Jue Yi and the others for. As far as Kui Luo was concerned, this deterrent was worth less than a fart, which was why he had told Lu Yin not to leave Ancestor Tortoise’s back.
Lu Yin watched as Kui Luo and the others made their way to the entrance to the Starfall Sea. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him: if anyone had all of these Semi-Progenitors obeying their orders, then they would be in control of an incredibly powerful force. The most important detail was how many of these particular Semi-Progenitors had opened their three meridian points. All the most powerful individuals present had done so, which included the three masters of the Twelve Heavenly Gates, the Semi-Progenitors from the Perennial World, Arch-Elder Zen and the others from the Fifth Mainland, as well as Jiu Yao. All of these Semi-Progenitor had opened their three meridian points.
How many of these people would eventually become a Progenitor? Lu Yin gazed at the various Semi-Progenitors, and he suddenly had a whimsical thought: why not try to take control of these people?
Lu Yin had only been a tiny Explorer when he had first started on his plans to unite the Outerverse, but he had worked towards that and eventually succeeded. By the time he had unified both the Innerverse and Outerverse, he had only been an Enlighter. These accomplishments had made Lu Yin a truly legendary figure to all who heard his story. Accomplishing something that others believed to be impossible was what became known as a legend.
Lu Yin had already created one legend, so why not a second?
He was an Envoy who stood upon Semi-Progenitor battlefields, and he had even helped to determine the outcome of a war that involved Progenitors. Lu Yin had done this much, so there was nothing that he could not do.
The more he thought about this, the more excited Lu Yin became. But at the same time, the sharp pain in his head grew more and more intense.
"It hurts." Lu Buzheng stepped onto Ancestor Tortoise and stared off into the distance. Hen Xin led Ni Huang and some other Semi-Progenitors away with all of them making their way towards the Neoverse. Arch-Elder Zen had just mentioned Team Resolution, and they were followers of Hen Xin, so he planned to collect those people.
Jue Yi also left. At this time, it was impossible for him to deal with Lu Yin without any help.
Lan Xian similarly left along with Jiu Yao, though she made a point to remind Lu Yin that he owed her a drop of blood before she left. She was self-aware and knew that it was impossible for her to demand Lu Yin’s blood at this moment. After all, Lu Buzheng was next to Lu Yin and was keeping an eye on the young man, but Lan Xian would not forget this matter. The day would come when Lu Yin would pay her back.
Arch-Elder Zen and the others from the Fifth Mainland were the last to leave. Before that, Lu Yin was told that his Great Eastern Alliance should use its full power to cooperate with the Hall of Honor to eliminate all the corpse kings that had spread across the universe. This was actually something that Arch-Elder Zen did not even need to mention, as w.a.n.g Wen and the others had already started making preparations to take care of the countless corpse kings.
The battle between the various Semi-Progenitors was over, but some grudges still remained. There was still the matter between the Lu family and the four ruling powers of the current era, the conflict between the Fifth and Sixth Mainlands, as well as various conflicts between the different mainlands from the Heavens Sect era. All of these things would eventually erupt, and this was not even considering of there were any powerhouses from the ancient era who had not yet revealed themselves.
"How many powerhouses were present on that battlefield that was sealed within a sourcebox?" Lu Yin asked as he ma.s.saged his head. Ancestor Tortoise had already turned around and was headed for the Outerverse.
Lu Buzheng thought back for a bit. "A lot. Most of the masters of the Twelve Heavenly Gates were there with us."
Lu Yin arched a brow. Only three of the gatemasters had shown themselves so far. He suddenly thought of another question. "What about the Aeternals? Since you were frozen, the enemies should have been frozen as well, so why haven’t we seen any of the Aeternals’ frozen powerhouses appear?”
"Only a few of the Aeternals’ powerhouses were sealed. The entire battle we were fighting was a hoax, and it was because of a conspiracy. The gatemasters of the Twelve Heavenly Gates were almost all Semi-Progenitors, and we were accompanied by elites from all Six Mainlands, particularly the Dao Chosen. Those youths were all determined at a young age to be talented enough to basically be guaranteed to eventually become Progenitors. When we were all frozen, a generation of future Progenitors was eliminated." Lu Buzheng’s expression was heavy as he shared bleak words.
Lu Yin looked up. "A generation was eliminated?"
Lu Buzheng replied, "No, it was actually two generations. Sky Garan was right. We are one generation, while the youths were the next. Humans reached their peak during the Heavens Sect era, but two generations of top experts vanished, and this created a large gap between cultivation generations, which gave the Aeternals an opening. If humanity had continued to develop normally, then powerful Progenitors would have continued to appear in large numbers. Even if a few of the Dao Monarchs betrayed humanity, it still would not have been enough for a mainland to be destroyed.
"Now that I think about it, the Aeternals plotted against us for far too long. Their schemes can be traced back to earlier periods of the Heavens Sect, back when the universe was still forming."
"If the Aeternals didn’t have any powerhouses in that frozen battlefield, how were you tricked into fighting there?" Lu Yin wondered. The ancient Semi-Progenitors he had met were not stupid, and the Three Realms Six Dao had also been present during their time.
Lu Buzheng sighed. "The Aeternals weren’t the only ones who schemed against us. I’ll tell you more about this in the future, as I won’t be able to say anything about it for a while."
Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. Humans became arrogant because of their intelligence, but the Aeternals also possessed a deep wisdom and an unpredictable intelligence. During humanity’s peak in the Heavens Sect era, Aeternus had been looked down upon like an ant. Who could have imagined that the ant would one day overthrow the giant?
As long as they were intelligent, not even ants could be underestimated.
"What should I call you?" Lu Yin looked over and asked Lu Buzheng.
This question left Lu Buzheng rather stumped. He thought for a while. "Although the Lu family is split between the main and branch families, there have never been any sort of strict splits or divisions between the two like in many other families. The two have always gotten along very well, so what do you think? I was called Third Uncle by my juniors in the past, so why don’t you just call me Third Uncle as well?"
Lu Yin blinked and stared at Lu Buzheng in surprise. "You- who used to call you Third Uncle?"
"Back in the Heavens Sect era, Lu Tianyi used to call me that. He was our Lu family’s Dao Chosen, and he was at the same level as the Sky Garan that you met," Lu Buzheng answered. Suddenly, the man realized something and got very excited. "You should know about Lu Tianyi, right? What happened to him?”
Lu Yin found this amusing. "So Patriarch Lu Tianyi was a Dao Chosen during the Heavens Sect era? Was he one of Sky Garan’s peers?"
Lu Buzheng nodded. "That’s right, they were both Dao Chosen, but Lu Tianyi was much more arrogant than Sky Garan. Well, he also had cause to be that arrogant. How is he?"
Lu Yin blew out a long breath. "The Lu family has completely disappeared, so I don"t know if anyone’s dead or alive, but I did hear the name ‘Lu Tianyi’ from Kui Luo before, and he was an ancient Progenitor from our Lu family. During the Daosource Sect era, he controlled one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas."
Lu Buzheng was not at all surprised to hear that Lu Tianyi had become one of the masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas. He looked westward and sighed. "So my little junior rose up to become a master of one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas? Haha, I said that that kid could do it, but I wasn’t able to see it happen. Honestly, I didn’t think that he would actually rise high enough to control one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas since it requires one to be ruthless to reach that level, but he did it! Hahahaha, I should tell Sky Garan! I want to see what sort of face he makes.”
"Back then, I didn’t have much to do with the interactions between the Fifth and Sixth Mainlands, but Lu Tianyi was always competing with Sky Garan. Now, if Sky Garan meets his old rival, he’ll have to kneel down and call him ancestor, hahahaha!"
Lu Yin also felt that if Progenitor Lu Tianyi met Sky Garan once again, it would be a quite dramatic reunion. He was also very curious to see what sort of reaction Sky Garan would show when he saw Lu Tianyi.
According to Kui Luo, the Lu family had more than one powerful Progenitor in the family, but Lu Tianyi had been the most senior of them all.
Actually, when Lu Yin thought about things a bit further, the fact that Sky Garan had been able to compete with Lu Tianyi, who had clearly been immensely talented, was proof that Sky Garan was far from being someone with common talent. It was no wonder why, when he had revealed himself as a Dao Chosen, no one had looked down on him.
Lu Yin really wanted to see him again.
"Quick! Tell me who else is still in the Lu family? I want to see if there’s anyone else who would recognize me as Third Uncle!" Lu Buzheng asked eagerly.
At this time, the Ghost Monkey approached with two cups of tea, and he instantly started flattering Lu Yin. "Seventh Bro, Senior, I brought you some tea."
Lu Buzheng impatiently waved a hand. "Go away."
Lu Yin took the tea and looked at the Ghost Monkey. "I"ll talk to you in a bit."
The Ghost Monkey hurriedly replied, "If Seventh Bro has anything you want to know, just tell me. This little monkey knows about everything."
"That’s not right, that’s not how you referred to me in Aeternus Nation," Lu Yin said as he arched a brow.