Chapter 2238: A Book
Lu Yin"s response absolutely infuriated Bai Teng. He hated being called a puppet more than anything else in the world. However, right before he lashed out, he realized something, and the sect master stared at Lu Yin. "Bai Su’s already been made acting sect master?"
Lu Yin nodded. "He’s been cooperating quite well with your Celestial Frost Sect’s Semi-Progenitor Wu Yao. It seems he’s quite happy as the sect master."
Bai Teng clenched his fists. Why should Bai Su be the acting sect master? That b.a.s.t.a.r.d was even more of a puppet than Bai Teng had ever been!
The fact that the Celestial Frost Sect had made Bai Su the acting sect master so quickly showed that they had never even considered rescuing Bai Teng. The more the man thought about this, the angrier and more resentful he became. He stared at Lu Yin. "What did the Dealcut a.s.sociatio promise you? I’ll pay you double to let me go. Not only that, I’ll let you join my Celestial Frost Sect. You should be aware that my daughter is Bai Xian"er. Bai Xian"er."
As soon as Bai Xian"er was mentioned, Lu Yin"s expression changed, and fear filled his eyes.
"No one knew about her when the red flowers rained down, but I can promise you this. If you kill me, Bai Xian’er will never let you go! Why do you think the Dealcut a.s.sociation hired you to do the job? They have so many experts, and Elder Qiu is even a Semi-Progenitor. They could have easily captured me, but they went ahead and hired you because they want you to take the fall. That way, Bai Xian"er"s anger will fall upon you rather than them," Bai Teng said.
Lu Yin frowned. "I can simply tell Bai Xian"er that I was hired by the Dealcut a.s.sociation."
"You"re being too naive! The Dealcut a.s.sociation has incredible influence, and they’ll know when Bai Xian’er leaves seclusion—you’ll never even get the opportunity to target them. What you’re saying is impossible," Bai Teng threatened, "Do you think that you’ll get paid for kidnapping me? They’ll never pay you. Elder Qiu will never let you go."
Lu Yin"s eyes flickered, and he made it clear that he was being convinced. "I might have captured you, but the Celestial Frost Sect hasn’t been able to find anything. How can Bai Xian"er find me?"
Bai Teng’s voice rose. "No one knows that my daughter owns a book that allows her to see the past and the future. That’s what caused the Lu family to be exiled back then-"
The man suddenly let out a scream while in the middle of speaking.
Lu Yin’s pupils shrank, and he reached out to grab the sect master. "Keep talking."
Bai Teng"s face grew pale, and his entire body was constantly trembling. Blood leaked from his eyes, nose, and ears, and a terrifying roar rampaged through his body. He spat out a mouthful of blood and suddenly pa.s.sed out.
Lu Yin stared ahead, dazed. It was clear that Bai Teng knew exactly what had happened to the Lu family, but he had been prevented from ever speaking of it. Just the small bit that the man had let slip had caused him to suffer terrible repercussions.
It had long been clear to Lu Yin that Bai Xian’er was intimately connected with the Lu family’s exile, but Bai Teng"s words indicated that Lu Yin had actually underestimated just how much of a role the woman had played. She possessed a book that could tell the future?
Could it be a Book of Destiny?
Bai Xian"er, the crimson flowers, and a Book of Destiny… Lu Yin knew that he was getting closer and closer to the truth of his family’s exile, but it was impossible to get anything more from Bai Teng.
Lu Yin quietly stood and waited for Bai Teng to wake back up.
The man looked pathetic. His meridians had been destroyed, and his organs had collapsed. He was bleeding everywhere. Still, the man was an Envoy, so even these terrible injuries would not cripple him. He would recover, as long as his stellular energy vortex was not destroyed.
It took a long time for Bai Teng to wake up. He rubbed his head to soothe the pain and instantly resumed coughing up blood.
Lu Yin looked at the man. "Did you say something that you shouldn"t have?"
Bai Teng"s pupils kept fluctuating. Terror filled his eyes. Was he really not able to speak about that matter? Xian’er had mentioned a few matters that she believed were dangerous, but Bai Teng had never dreamed that the consequences of barely mentioning even just one of those things would be so drastic. Did Xian’er even see him as her father? It was clear that she did not mind killing him herself.
This moment of realization caused Bai Teng to feel cold as a powerful fear rose from the depths of his heart.
He knew he was just a puppet sect master, and he would lose even his false position as soon as Bai Xian’er left seclusion. Still, he had always believed that Xian’er was his daughter and that she would take care of him. Bai Teng had been completely certain that he would always stay close to the peak of the Perennial World.
It was only at this moment that he saw that his life or death truly did not matter at all to Bai Xian’er.
"Do you still want to continue your story?" Lu Yin asked.
Bai Teng bitterly replied, "There are certain things that I can"t talk about."
"Like how we can"t remember what happened to the Lu family?" Lu Yin asked.
Bai Teng felt truly helpless. "It"s even worse than that."
Lu Yin stared at the man. "In that case, what can you tell me?"
Bai Teng took a deep breath, and then looked up at Lu Yin. Something had changed about the man. A certain sharpness had left his eyes, though there was something else there as well. "Bai Xian"er has a book that allows her to see the past and the future. If you kill me, no matter what the reason or method you use, she will be able to find out, and she will avenge me. You will die without question. I swear this on my life, my cultivation, and everything else that I have."
Lu Yin frowned. "As long as you give me the restriction method, I won’t kill you and will simply keep you prisoner."
"She’ll still find out about it," Bai Teng replied.
Lu Yin laughed. "I don"t believe you."
Bai Teng cleaned the blood that stained his face, only to smear more scarlet across half of his face. "You only promised to capture me for the Dealcut a.s.sociation because they promised to pay you. I already told you that if you let me go, I will let you join the Celestial Frost Sect. I can swear that nothing will happen to you, and we can even work together. With you helping me, the Dealcut a.s.sociation won’t dare touch me, and I’ll make sure to deal with Elder Qiu as soon as you let me go. You will make out much better by working with me.
"You should already understand what it means to be part of the Celestial Frost Sect in the Perennial World, as well as what it means to become enemies with the Celestial Frost Sect."
The fact that Bai Teng was willing to say so much proved that he had absolutely no consideration for the possibility that he might have been attacked by the sole living descendant of the Lu family. Lu Yin stayed silent for a moment. "You still must give me the restriction method. I promised to deliver that to the Dealcut a.s.sociation, and I will not go back on my word.”
As Lu Yin continued, he squatted down next to Bai Teng. “However, I can release you and allow you to return to the Celestial Frost Sect alive, provided that you do what you said and pay me double what they promised."
Bai Teng"s eyes grew cold. "I’ll swear it."
Lu Yin dismissed the offer with a wave of a hand. "There’s no need to swear anything. Just pay up first. That’s your only choice, even if you run the risk of me just changing my mind and killing you."
Bai Teng let out a shaky breath. "I don’t have any choice but to gamble."
"So, what’s the restriction method?" Lu Yin asked. "I’ll remind you that I’ve already captured Xia Xing, so the Dealcut a.s.sociation has his portion of the restriction method. If you try to give me something fake, I’ll just kill you."
Bai Teng replied, "It doesn"t matter to me. Whoever controls Star Alliance is something for the four ruling powers to worry about. I’m nothing more than a puppet."
Lu Yin did not believe that Bai Teng would try to give him a fake restriction method. The man was in a very awkward position within the Celestial Frost Sect, and thus he had no need to risk his life for the sect. There was no other reason for him to form a long-term cooperative relationship with the Dealcut a.s.sociation and attempt to spread his influence. The man was ambitious, but unfortunately, he lacked the ability to go along with that ambition.
After obtaining the Celestial Frost Sect’s portion of the restriction, Lu Yin let out a sigh of relief. He was only missing the w.a.n.g family’s portion now.
"What did the Dealcut a.s.sociation promise to pay you? What would make you take the risk of kidnapping me?" Bai Teng asked. He was very curious about this.
Lu Yin watched as wei slowly trapped Bai Teng again. "Don"t worry about it. You’ll find out soon enough. I promised to let you go, and I keep my word."
After Bai Teng was re-sealed, Lu Yin went to go see the last person: w.a.n.g Zheng.
w.a.n.g Zheng was different from Bai Teng. To begin with, he was the true patriarch of the w.a.n.g family and was one of Progenitor w.a.n.g Fan’s own children. The man had an una.s.sailable status, and this made him much more difficult to deal with.
Lu Yin restored his true appearance before dispersing the wei that had sealed w.a.n.g Zeng. He was going to face the man directly.
w.a.n.g Zheng looked at the young man who stood before him, and surprise flickered across his eyes. "I truly believed that the Celestial Frost Sect was behind everything. I never thought that it would be you, Lu Xiaoxuan."
Lu Yin responded with a small smile, "It’s been a long time, Patriarch w.a.n.g Zheng."
w.a.n.g Zheng was taken aback. "You’ve regained your memories?"
"No, but we also met on Dragon Mountain," Lu Yin said.
w.a.n.g Zheng nodded. "That was when you managed to escape back to the Forsaken Land. Why have you dared return to the Perennial World now?" He pondered before saying, “Was it because of the army that was sent to kill you that you had no choice but to return here?”
Lu Yin let out a loud laugh. "Isn’t this exactly what your four ruling powers wanted most?"
w.a.n.g Zheng’s voice dropped low, "What we want most is to see you captured or dead, not standing in front of me and plotting against me and the four ruling powers. You’ve clearly turned us against each other. How did you do it all? You’ve captured Xia Xing and Bai Teng, and even controlled Long Ke. What do you want with all of this?"
A smile spread across Lu Yin’s face. "When you believed Shenwu’s Sky’s suspicions that the Celestial Frost Sect was behind everything, you managed to figure out what they were after. Why can’t you do that after learning that I’m responsible for everything?"
w.a.n.g Zheng blurted out, "You want to save the members of Star Alliance?"
Lu Yin nodded. "I don"t want to hide things. Yes, I simply want to save the people in Star Alliance."
"Quit dreaming! I won’t give you my portion of the restriction method, and Xia Xing and the White Dragon Clan’s Long Ke won"t give you anything either," w.a.n.g Zheng stated bluntly.
Lu Yin just shrugged. "I’ll find a way. However, I should tell you that I’m not escaping to the Perennial World from the Fifth Mainland. That place that you all refer to as the Forsaken Land is under my complete control now. I’ve even subdued the army that you sent after me."
"Ridiculous." There was no way w.a.n.g Zheng would ever believe such a thing.
Lu Yin calmly stared at w.a.n.g Zheng, and simply spoke two words. "w.a.n.g Yi."
The patriarch’s expression changed drastically, and he stared at Lu Yin in shock. "What did you say?"
"You heard me right. w.a.n.g Yi."
w.a.n.g Zheng was completely stunned. "How do you know that name? What do you know?"
A smile returned to Lu Yin"s face. "Nothing that I don’t mind making public. She’s the reason why my Lu family was banished. She’s the reason why w.a.n.g Si hated my family so much.
“Now, tell me, do you still not believe that I subdued the army that you sent after me? w.a.n.g Si, Bai Laogui, Xia Yingxiong, and everyone else are my prisoners. I’ve learned many things about your w.a.n.g family and Shenwu’s Sky."
"Impossible… How could you have subdued that army even with the full strength of the Forsaken Land? We know that you have a Progenitor backing you, but we sent an army equipped with Progenitor items, allowing them to also wield the power of a Progenitor. How could you ever manage to deal with that?"
"You people all look down on the Fifth Mainland too much. For example, Progenitor Chen isn’t dead."
Lu Yin’s words sent another shock through w.a.n.g Zheng. Everything that he heard from Lu Yin shattered everything the patriarch knew to be true.
"Back when I broke through and became an Envoy, I was able to peer through s.p.a.ce and see your Perennial World. I started preparing back then, and I was waiting for you to come after me," Lu Yin explained.
w.a.n.g Zheng still could not believe what he was hearing. "The Aeternals destroyed the New Corridor, and they also launched an all-out attack on the rear battlefield in a rare show of force against the Perennial World. We did everything that we could to stop them from breaking through the rear battlefield."
"Thank you for that." Lu Yin lifted his head. "If you hadn’t managed to hold them back, we would have been in grave danger. Fortunately, we’ve already escaped that crisis, and you’ll be able to see for yourselves that I now control the forces that you sent after me when the New Corridor is repaired. I hold the lives of all the Semi-Progenitor and Envoys in my hands, as well as your family’s w.a.n.g Su and w.a.n.g Yi. Their lives and deaths can be decided by me in an instant"