Chapter 2297: Xia Shenji
The Celestial Frost Sect had blamed Forgotten Ruins G.o.d for the disappearance of Xia Xing"s clone, w.a.n.g Zheng, and the other two patriarchs. Their accusation had been further verified by information that Lu Yin had leaked while Possessing Colonel Lan on the rear battlefield. Those two events had led to the current plan of trying to bait the Seven SkyG.o.ds with the members of Star Alliance. It was a plan that had been created through a combination of misunderstandings and scheming.
At the moment, the stone forest was nearly silent. The fact that Lu Yin had fought a battle in Shenwu"s Sky had not yet reached the people in the stone forest, and they were still waiting for the Seven SkyG.o.ds to appear.
What they were greeted with was not any of the Seven SkyG.o.ds, but the huge jiao.
All of the members of the four ruling powers who were around the stone forest felt their mouths fall open as they stared upwards at the jiao, quickly turning pale. "Ji- jiao?"
No one present had expected this jiao to suddenly appear. It was supposed to be glowing in the sky above Shenwu’s Sky, yet it was directly above the forest of stone pillars.
There were people from Shenwu"s Sky present as well. "Don"t panic! That jiao’s the one that’s been chained up in my Shenwu"s Sky. The sect must have noticed that the Seven SkyG.o.ds are coming and sent the jiao here to attack them. The legends claim that the jiao’s as powerful as a Progenitor."
After someone from Shenwu"s Sky shouted out an explanation, the other people present all relaxed.
At the center of the stone forest, all the people from Star Alliance looked up as well.
Some had once been va.s.sals of the Lu family, while others had simply offended one of the four ruling powers, while others were truly terrible criminals. Still, no matter what their background might be, every last person present was at least an Envoy, and there were so many of them. It stood to reason that they should not fear anyone once so many of them had gathered together, yet they all felt an endless fear that rose from the depths of their very bones and overwhelmed their minds. All of them found themselves trembling uncontrollably.
One old man looked up into the sky after seeing the jiao’s enormous shadow shroud the entire stone forest. The man’s name was Zhan Lin, and he was a Semi-Progenitor. There were several Semi-Progenitors within Star Alliance, and he was one of them.
Not a single person present was more startled by the arrival of the jiao than Zhan Lin. the pressure of a being with the strength of a Progenitor smothered him, and he lacked the willpower to even try to resist.
"There are rumors which claim that Shenwu"s Sky managed to suppress a beast with the strength of a Progenitor. I never thought that they were actually true," Zhan Lin muttered to himself.
All of the nearby Envoys swallowed, though none of them were too afraid. It was naturally impossible for the jiao to actually threaten any of the members of Star Alliance, as the jiao represented Shenwu"s Sky. They would not be attacked by Shenwu"s Sky.
Everyone believed that the jiao’s arrival signaled that the Seven SkyG.o.ds were about to arrive as well.
Atop the jiao’s head, Lu Yin had wanted to find the Nine Clones Secret Technique that was supposed to be there, but the jiao had moved far faster than he had expected. The beast had almost instantly arrived at the stone forest. Lu Yin looked down and saw the shocked expressions on the faces of everyone from Star Alliance staring upwards.
Lu Yin did not allow the jiao to simply enter the stone forest. There were no powerhouses nearby, so how did the four ruling powers intend to use this as a trap against the Seven SkyG.o.ds? The only answer was that the stone forest was hiding something.
Every pillar in the stone forest had been carefully carved, and a single glance was enough to tell that the place was not simple. Lu Yin did not want to take any risks, even if he did have two Progenitor level powerhouses with him. It was always best to avoid unnecessary risks.
Below, a man from Shenwu"s Sky offered a deep bow. "Has a senior from the sect come?"
Lu Yin sternly ordered, "Bring all of the people from Star Alliance up here. This old man is here to take you all back to the sect."
The man from Shenwu"s Sky felt terribly confused. "This junior has not received any word from the sect mast-"
"Presumptuous!" Lu Yin roared while smacking the jiao with the broken saber. The beast roared at the sky, and the pressure of a Progenitor fell upon the stone forest, startling everyone nearby.
The man from Shenwu"s Sky quickly gathered everyone from Star Alliance and sent them up to board the jiao.
The people from the Celestial Frost Sect, the White Dragon Clan, and the w.a.n.g family wanted to stop them, but they did not dare to object in the presence of the jiao. Besides, the jiao represented Shenwu"s Sky itself, and that was the sect which had initiated the entire plan. This made everyone hesitant.
Still, one person overcame their hesitation and sent a report back to their sect.
Zhan Lin was the first person to emerge from the stone forest. No one from Star Alliance had been physically restricted at all. They had been ordered to wait for the Aeternals to appear at the stone forest, and then kill them. It seemed that their task had been changed and they were to instead go to Shenwu"s Sky.
Even without physical restraints, none of the four ruling powers had any concerns about the members of Star Alliance trying to escape.
More importantly, at the moment, they were being given a tremendous honor by being ordered atop the back of the jiao that had the strength of a Progenitor. Even a Semi-Progenitor like Zhan Lin had never dreamed of treating a beast with the power of a Progenitor as a mount.
As Zhan Lin stepped atop the back of the jiao, he finally got a clear view of Lu Yin, and the sight startled the old man. He had never seen this youth before, but he should be a direct descendant of Shenwu"s Sky. In that case, where was the powerhouse from Shenwu"s Sky who was controlling the jiao?
When Lu Yin saw Zhan Lin"s calm reaction to seeing him, it was clear that the old man was not one of the Lu family’s former va.s.sals. He waited for the rest of the people to climb up.
One by one, the members of Star Alliance climbed atop the back of the jiao.
Finally, Lu Yin saw the first surviving va.s.sal of the Lu family. It was an old woman, and as soon as she caught sight of Lu Yin, she appeared terribly confused, but quickly grew emotional. Even then, she seemed unable to believe what was happening. Such chaotic emotions were all Lu Yin needed to see to understand, and he immediately confirmed her thoughts. "My name is Lu Yin, though I used to go by the name of Lu Xiaoxuan."
These were the first words that Lu Yin had spoken since the 110 members of Star Alliance had started climbing atop the jiao. His words stunned all who heard them.
"Young master? You’re really the young master?" The old woman still could not believe her eyes.
Beside her, an old man was trembling. "Are you really the young master?"
"Impossible! How could the young master be with this jiao?"
"He certainly looks like the young master. Could he be?"
Several of the 110 members of Star Alliance were excitedly discussing the revelation, though the vast majority were merely surprised. Lu Xiaoxuan? The child of the Lu family? One of the previous Seven Heroes? How was that possible? What had happened? Was Lu Xiaoxuan actually riding atop Shenwu’s Sky’s captive jiao?
No one could understand just what was happening.
Lu Yin said nothing more, and instead simply patted the jiao with the broken saber. "Go."
Lu Yin directed the beast to return him to the Fifth Mainland. He had not rescued everyone from Star Alliance, but the rest were on the rear battlefield and out of his reach. Could he even save the ones that he had found?
He looked up. Why had Xia Shenji and the others still not appeared yet? Lu Yin had a.s.sumed that he would have already been confronted by the four ruling powers’ Progenitors.
Soon after the jiao moved beyond the stone forest, someone from the Celestial Frost Sect shouted, "No! The orders are fake! That jiao followed Lu Xiaoxuan and fled from Shenwu"s Sky! That person’s Lu Xiaoxuan!"
Others also quickly received messages from their own families and sects.
As for the man from Shenwu"s Sky who had spoken to Lu Yin, he actually coughed up blood.?It’s over! It’s all over now!
He had just received a message from the sect master, stating that Lu Xiaoxuan had chased the chained jiao away from Shenwu"s Sky. The person atop the jiao was actually Lu Xiaoxuan! Even if the man had no idea how the jiao was being controlled, the fact remained that Lu Xiaoxuan had stolen all of the members of Star Alliance!
The original orders had disallowed anyone from Star Alliance to leave the stone forest without joint orders from the four ruling powers. The man was shocked to realize that he had lost track of his orders and allowed the members of Star Alliance to leave. The sect would never forgive this crime.
The man looked up, his eyes bloodshot. He wanted to take back the members of Star Alliance, but when he saw the ma.s.sive body of the jiao and relived the terror of seeing it, he realized that it was absolutely impossible to take the members of Star Alliance back.
The jiao turned around and started heading towards the edge of the Higher Realm. Lu Yin was not headed towards the location that he had used to return to the Fifth Mainland the previous time, but a new location that Grandmaster Xiu Ming had shared before sending Lu Yin to the Perennial World.
He needed to hurry.
Instantly, the enormous jiao disappeared.
"I didn"t expect things to go so smoothly," Progenitor Smoke was genuinely surprised, and as she spoke, she turned her head to look back along the jiao’s back. Lu Yin was there, already removing the restrictions from all the members of Star Alliance. Naturally, the surviving va.s.sals of the Lu family were first, but Lu Yin was not in a particular hurry to get to everyone. Most of them could wait until they were back in the Fifth Mainland.
Star Alliance did not only have the Lu family’s former va.s.sals, but also many people who had offended the four ruling powers. There were good and bad people among them, and some who were violent criminals. Such people could not be freed, which meant that Lu Yin needed to take his time identifying the people.
It was a pity that Zhou Tang, Guo Hai, and so many others were still on the rear battlefield and out of Lu Yin’s reach.
The jiao was unbelievably fast, and they soon arrived at the edge of the Higher Realm.
There was no need for them to use the Cloud Shuttle, as they could simply fly straight down.
Progenitor Smoke had already caught sight of the edge of the Higher Realm, but she also caught sight of a person, and it was someone she knew: Xia Shenji.
Lu Yin was still removing some of the restrictions from the Lu family’s former va.s.sals when he suddenly heard an explosion overhead, and the void shattered in all directions as the overwhelming power of a Progenitor descended. Everything in Lu Yin’s vision started to distort.
A Progenitor level battle had broken out in the Dominion Realm, but it was not on the frontlines against Aeternus. It was close to the Higher Realm.
"Kid, Xia Shenji’s here." Progenitor Smoke stated.
Lu Yin opened his eyes and looked forward. He saw someone blocking the jiao’s path with his hands clasped behind his back. Even though the person did not seem to have any sort of aura or energy, the jiao had stopped moving forward and was instead showing its teeth and claws again while constantly letting out threatening roars.
"Even after so many years, your injury still hasn"t healed. I"m curious who gave you such a serious wound. Not even I can do anything about it." A warm voice was heard, and there was no pressure at all to it. To Lu Yin, it sounded just like how he would expect a friendly neighborhood uncle to sound. It was a very gentle voice.
However, Lu Yin would not dare to underestimate the person who had just spoken, as he knew that he was hearing Xia Shenji’s voice. Even if this man was not a master of one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas, a Progenitor should never be underestimated.
The jiao raised its claws up high, roaring louder and louder as it bared teeth and threatened with its claws more and more aggressively as it tried to scare Xia Shenji away.
Xia Shenji smiled indifferently, and then glanced at a figure atop the jiao’s head. Nostalgia filled the man’s eyes. "Xi Wei, it’s been so long."
Xi Wei was Progenitor Smoke’s name, and those who could speak her name so directly could only be her peers.
Progenitor Smoke gazed back at Xia Shenji, clearly conflicted. "Yes, it certainly has."
"I didn’t think that we would be reunited like this after so many years," Xia Shenji lamented.
Progenitor Smoke continued to stare. "Me neither."
Xia Shenji smiled wryly. "Why are you helping him?"
Progenitor Smoke glanced back at Lu Yin. "The kid?"
"That child is Lu Xiaoxuan, a descendant of the Lu family. The greatest enemy of my four ruling powers whom we are determined to see ended at any cost. If you insist on helping him, you will be going against me, Bai w.a.n.gyuan, w.a.n.g Fan, and even the one who once adored you and wanted nothing more than to follow you. You will become Long Er’s enemy," Xia Shenji stated.
Progenitor Smoke sneered. "Since when did the Lu family become the Fifth Mainland’s enemy? Honestly, this whole thing has me terribly confused. You guys worked together to exile the Lu family, so who is supposed to stop Aeternus? Have you forgotten who stood in the depths of the greatest darkness to block the scariest monster? Back then, you and I might have been summoned by Lu Tianyi’s Invest.i.ture of the G.o.ds, but I never noticed that you harbored the thought of overthrowing the Lu family."
Xia Shenji shook his head. "The Lu family controlled the Fifth Mainland for too long. They became aloof and believed that the Fifth Mainland was their possession. Lu Tianyi used the Invest.i.ture of the G.o.ds without restraint! Did he ever ask for our permission?"
"The Invest.i.ture of the G.o.ds does nothing more than create a copy of people that can be summoned. Xia Shang, Old Fu, Hui Wen—which of us didn"t have our copies added to the Invest.i.ture of the G.o.ds and summoned? The Lu family simply borrowed our strength."
"But once summoned, we became forever subject to Lu Tianyi. Who could stand up to him?"
"Why did any of us need to? Without Senior Lu Tianyi, who is going to fight against Aeternus?"
"Aren’t things good as they are now? The Mother Tree blocks the Aeternals."