Chapter 2066: Hero
The sound of a miserable wail spread throughout the entire Daosource Sect, and then throughout the nearby area.
Everyone watching from within the main hall felt stunned as they watched a powerful Progenitor be obliterated. And yet, not a single Progenitor from the Sixth Mainland dared to do anything at all. This was because of Xia Shang’s threat to burn down the entire Daosource Sect if anyone interfered.
Throughout all of human history, who had been bold enough to threaten to burn down the Daosource Sect? Progenitor Chen, Xia Shang, had been invincible throughout the universe, and he had defied Progenitors, which was shocking both in the past and the present.
Jiu Yao and Lan Xian had not witnessed this scene before. They had not been born at the proper time, but seeing it now, both of them looked as intimidated as the rest of the people from the Sixth Mainland. Not one person from the entire Daosource Sect had the courage to step forward, as they were all nothing more than ants to Progenitor Chen, and no one wanted to antagonize him.
Lu Yin felt the man’s boundless arrogance. This was Progenitor Chen, the man who had dared to burn the Daosource Sect to the ground.
Heluo Mavis swallowed as she stared at Progenitor Chen"s back. Such a madman had been rare even during the Heavens Sect era.
Chu Yuan had not expected such a person to have been born after the Heavens Sect era. This man had blatantly and openly destroyed a Progenitor, and not even other Progenitors dared to interfere. Who could match such arrogance?
Lu Yin and the others watched as a powerful and dignified Progenitor was reduced to ashes before their very eyes.
No one could say if it took a long time or only a few brief moments for the process to finish. Everyone simply stared at Heavens’ Furnace and watched as Progenitor Nan was destroyed. It would be impossible for anyone to forget his miserable wails. He was the first Progenitor throughout all of human history to be publicly executed.
It was no wonder why Sky Garan had been reviled by the people from the Sixth Mainland when he had pretended to be a member of the Nan family. He had been quickly told that Progenitor Nan was viewed as a hated figure by the entire Sixth Mainland. Lu Yin completely understood that reaction after seeing this scene play out.
Sky Garan had been quite unlucky to choose to pretend to be a member of the Nan family.
However, just what had Progenitor Nan done to make Progenitor Chen so angry? While Progenitor Chen was relieving his own anger, it was also clear that his actions would trigger an unquenchable hatred from the Sixth Mainland. It was no wonder why the Sixth Mainland had launched a war against the Fifth Mainland. The Sixth Mainland had even changed the Fifth Mainland’s sky, making it impossible for another Progenitor to rise from the Fifth Mainland.
A tremor shook the main hall once again, and the next moment, it left that point in s.p.a.ce and time and resumed traveling through the river of time.
Lu Yin stared at the statue with conflicting emotions. It was showing them human history.
History was something that humans could never forget, though various details would always be lost. How many people in the current era were aware that Progenitor Chen had obliterated Progenitor Nan? How many understood just why he had done so?
It had been the incident that had instigated the war between the Sixth and Fifth Mainlands, and many people had cursed Progenitor Chen for his actions. They accused him of selfishly starting a war, but only those of that actual era had any idea of just why Progenitor Chen had done so.
While Lu Yin was similarly ignorant to the true reasons, Progenitor Nan had succeeded in infuriating Progenitor Chen so much so that he had been willing to endure the entire Sixth Mainland’s endless wrath. In other words, Progenitor Nan must have done something rather serious.
It was possible that the Aeternals had been the ones instigating the entire affair, but Lu Yin was more inclined to believe that it was all Progenitor Chen, even if for no other reason that it had been done by the Fifth Mainland’s Progenitor Chen.
Chu Yuan and Heluo Mavis remained silent. They had looked down on the current era and had firmly believed that the Heavens Sect era had been the absolute pinnacle of human civilization. However, how many people with Progenitor Chen’s boldness had existed even during the Heavens Sect era?
"Was the person that we saw just now a hero of your era?" Heluo Mavis asked Lu Yin.
Lu Yin looked over. "His name is Xia Shang. Progenitor Chen, Xia Shang. During the Daosource Sect era, he controlled two Mountains and one Sea. He created the Cosmic Art, and he was able to fight against multiple Progenitors on his own. He killed several Progenitors throughout his life."
Chu Yuan found this amazing. "He must have been an absolutely outstanding person from the Fifth Mainland’s Xia family for him to have managed to monopolize two Mountains and a Sea. It’s such a pity that we are unable to face him ourselves. Truly a pity."
A pity? No one knew if Progenitor Chen was truly dead or not. Some time ago, when the Progenitor of Secret Arts had betrayed humanity and attacked Burial Garden, Progenitor Chen had released a knife slash in retaliation. Once, when Lu Yin had used his die’s Possession ability, he had seen Progenitor Chen inside Burial Garden. Lu Yin was quite convinced that Progenitor Chen was still alive.
Lu Yin suddenly remembered something and turned to look at Forgotten Ruins G.o.d.
There was a gloomy expression on Forgotten Ruins G.o.d"s face at this moment. In fact, her expression had grown worse and worse after laying eyes on Progenitor Chen.
Lu Yin"s eyes flickered. "That mark on your face was left there by Progenitor Chen, wasn’t it?"
Forgotten Ruins G.o.d turned to stare at Lu Yin. "So that’s how you saw through me back then."
"Progenitor Chen"s mark is on your face, so what’s your relationship with him?" Lu Yin asked.
Forgotten Ruins G.o.d suddenly gave Lu Yin a flirty smile. "What? Are you jealous?"
Lu Yin’s eyes instantly narrowed. He had heard a few things about Progenitor Chen, and thus he was aware that one of the reasons for Progenitor Chen to kill Progenitor Nan had likely been related to a woman. However, Lu Yin had never heard anything about who that woman might have been. The details regarding that incident were known only to the people from that era. Not even Arch-Elder Zen knew much about it, as he had only been a weak cultivator at the time.
Lu Yin had wanted to ask the w.a.n.g family about the incident, but he had never had the chance. He felt that w.a.n.g Si had to know about it.
Forgotten Ruins G.o.d looked up, and a cold glint flickered through her eyes. "If you want to know about our relationship, it is deep. Very deep. I’m the person Xia Shang hates most, and he’s also the person whom I hate the most."
As she spoke, Forgotten Ruins G.o.d suddenly went stiff, and tears filled her eyes, as well as an endless hatred. "I absolutely want to return this mark to him."
"Is Progenitor Chen dead or alive?" Lu Yin asked.
Everyone else turned to look at Forgotten Ruins G.o.d at this moment, even Chu Yuan and Heluo Mavis. Progenitor Chen would be an outstanding powerhouse in any era, and it would be a true tragedy for such a person to die.
Forgotten Ruins G.o.d smiled, but she said nothing. At that moment, stellular energy in the area surged once more, and it poured into everyone"s bodies.
Heluo Mavis"s expression instantly and drastically changed. She was very worried that she would not be able to endure this time, but she was unwilling to break through. She had not yet established a deep enough foundation to proceed further with her cultivation. Everything would work out fine if her breakthrough succeeded, but how could she possibly pa.s.s a stellular tribulation in her current circ.u.mstances?
Still, Heluo Mavis’s thoughts meant little, as she was indeed unable to stop the flood of stellular energy this time. The energy was even more aggressive than before, and she could do nothing but clench her teeth and let out a dull groan as the stellular energy in the main hall surged further and further. There was a sudden fluctuation in the energy, and it gathered together. A knife appeared out of nowhere, and it slashed at Heluo Mavis.
Leng Qing was caught off guard; this attack that was manifesting was his. Was this a stellular tribulation?
A stellular tribulation was an event that was triggered when a cultivator stole stellular energy from the true universe and stored it within their own body. Each breakthrough after a person became an Envoy was accompanied by a stellular tribulation, and those minor breakthroughs would occur every time their power level rose by an additional 100,000.
A stellular tribulation was an attack from the true universe itself. For example, Lu Yin"s initial stellular tribulation had seen him facing a punch reinforced by aurelian force, as well as a replica of Progenitor Chen.
The tribulations triggered by the minor breakthroughs as one’s power level increased by 100,000 were not overly oppressive, and people could even use power vessels against them.
Logically, since the stellular energy that the people in the main hall were absorbing did not come from the true universe, they should not face any stellular tribulations for their breakthroughs. But right within the main hall they faced Leng Qing"s attack, though naturally not his attack with his strength as a Semi-Progenitor, this attack approached the power of a five-tribulation Envoy.
This stellular tribulation was almost exactly like what a person would face from the true universe while in the normal universe.
Everyone present felt rather puzzled, as how could there be a stellular tribulation while they were inside this main hall? On top of that, they were still traveling through time and s.p.a.ce.
Heluo Mavis had no time to consider such details. When the blade struck, she reflexively pulled out a power vessel to block the attack. The slash was stopped, and it shattered. The stellular energy from the attack then washed over her body, and it reinforced her stellular energy vortex.
Heluo Mavis was taken aback. It really was a stellular tribulation, and she had just become a three-tribulation Envoy.
Everyone stared at the young woman in amazement. How had she managed to pa.s.s through a stellular tribulation in this place where there was clearly no true universe?
"How do you feel?" Lu Yin asked as he stared at Heluo Mavis.
The woman blinked. "Really good."
"Normal?"
"What"s that supposed to mean?"
"I"m asking if there was something different from a regular stellular tribulation."
"No, that was definitely a stellular tribulation."
Lu Yin was stunned. Could he also pa.s.s his stellular tribulations in this place? Truthfully, he had started to despair when the true universe had been drained of stellular energy, as his first thought had been that he would no longer be able to achieve any breakthroughs in his cultivation. After all, Lu Yin used stellular energy to cultivate, so how could he progress when that energy was gone? All that he would be left with was death energy.
He had later on found a stable source of stellular energy in the Daosource Sect ruins, which had given him a bit of hope, but then he had realized that the amount of stellular energy in that place was rather insufficient. On top of that, it had already been noticed by the Sixth Mainland. Lu Yin had felt even greater despair at that moment, and he had not expected to receive a sliver of hope at further breaking through from the main hall.
Heluo Mavis had managed to break through, so Lu Yin could do so as well. Especially since the statue forced stellular energy into his body at a rate that far exceeded Lu Yin’s normal absorption rate while cultivating. If he cultivated in tandem with the surge of stellular energy, just how quickly would his cultivation rise?
This thought triggered Lu Yin’s excitement. It was possible that he might be able to use his current situation to achieve a breakthrough and improve his strength while in the main hall.
The main hall trembled, and everyone’s expressions changed again. They were about to arrive at another destination in time and s.p.a.ce.
Everyone looked out from the main hall, and they saw a huge waterfall.
Everyone wondered if this was the same waterfall as before.
However, unlike the waterfall in front of the Three Upper Gates, this waterfall was flowing in reverse.
Lu Yin was caught off guard, but then he realized that this waterfall should be the one that rose up from the Starfall Sea and led to the Sixth Mainland.
This was the site of the Sixth Mainland’s invasion.
Many people from the Fifth Mainland had grown curious about what the top of this waterfall looked like, and Lu Yin and the others were seeing just that at this moment.
There was an endless sky above the waterfall. In the same manner as how the Astral River could be split apart into countless Tributary Astral Rivers, the inverted waterfall split into countless rivers that spread across the Sixth Mainland.
From the Fifth Mainland’s perspective, the waterfall was inverted, but from the Sixth Mainland, the waterfall fell downwards in a normal fashion.
Everyone looked at the waterfall, and then out at the Sixth Mainland. They saw someone step out from behind the waterfall. He waved a hand, and instantly, countless people appeared and charged into the Sixth Mainland.
Lu Yin looked at the back of the person who had first appeared. Despite the fact that it was impossible to clearly see this person, he instantly felt that this person had the same appearance as the statue that he had been forced to kneel before in Burial Garden. Unless Lu Yin’s guess was completely off, this man was the Rune Progenitor.
After the war between Daosource Sects, the Rune Progenitor had traveled upstream to challenge the Sixth Mainland with the rune system he had created and an entire civilization that had cultivated with it.
Lu Yin had heard references to this matter multiple times, and he could sense the magnificence of the event, as well as the peaceful acceptance of death. However, the actual event unfolded in a completely different manner from what Lu Yin had imagined.
Under the Rune Progenitor’s lead, countless people rushed into the Sixth Mainland, and at the same time, powerhouses started to appear from within the Sixth Mainland and they all made their way towards the Rune Progenitor. This was a clash of two civilizations, and it resulted in rivers of blood and mountains of corpses.
In an instant, countless corpses fell into the waterfall, and some of them were carried off along the tributaries into various parts of the Sixth Mainland. Others fell to the Fifth Mainland.
Lu Yin stared blankly, as the waterfall itself was dyed red from the countless corpses that fell into it.
The Rune Progenitor continued forward without hesitation, accompanied by tragic and unwilling roars.