Chapter 2346: Officially Taking Over
Lu Yin grew curious. "You didn’t know that? Aren"t you Bai w.a.n.gyuan"s daughter? Bai w.a.n.gyuan can’t recognize Progenitor Smoke"s power?"
"How presumptuous! How dare you refer to Progenitor Bai by his name!" Ru Ying sternly shouted.
Bai Qi glanced over at the woman and then looked back at Lu Yin. "It’s possible that he knows but just never mentioned it to me. The Smokecloud Sect is just a small sect, and it doesn’t deserve his attention."
Lu Yin looked at Bai Qi, and then at Ru Ying. "Your four ruling powers are very skilled at manipulating and altering history. I’m sure that you’ll publicize these events in a way that will work to your benefit."
He then pointed at Ru Ying. "I don’t want to hear comments like that again, or else I’ll make you pay for them.”
Ru Ying glared at Lu Yin, and she wanted to snap back, but she was stopped by Bai Qi.
Ru Ying was just an independent cultivator, which was why she had no idea what had recently taken place regarding Lu Yin. She only knew about the end results, and while she had various guesses and suspicions about what had led up to those results, not everything about Lu Yin was flattering.
In fact, the four ruling powers had already started secretly spreading propaganda that claimed that Lu Xiaoxuan had only been allowed to return because he was being used as bait to lure out more surviving va.s.sals of the Lu family. This explanation seemed to be the most reasonable to the vast majority of people in the Perennial World.
Bai Qi was different, as she had been informed of the temporary truce between the four ruling powers and Lu Yin. She also knew that Xia Shenji and Bai Sheng had been forced to retreat after suffering a terrible defeat in the Forsaken Land against Lu Yin. From this, Bai Qi knew that Lu Yin was not an easy opponent. In fact, offending him was nothing less than asking for trouble.
"What are those beams of light that they’re using to attack?" Bai Qi asked.
Lu Yin clasped his hands behind his back. "Those are weapons that we developed in the Forsaken Land. They’re able to instantly kill a regular Enlighter, but given how tough corpse kings are, those beams are only able to deal with Hunter-level corpse kings."
"Your troops are wearing armor."
"They’re strong enough to withstand attacks from a peak Enlighter."
Bai Qi exclaimed, "That’s so wasteful! Did you use up all of the Forsaken Land’s resources just to defend the fourth array base?"
Lu Yin answered with a smile. "Just a tiny fraction of it. You’ll understand later."
Bai Qi looked back at the battlefield. "In that case, where is all of that sword qi coming from?"
Before answering, Lu Yin pulled out the Void Rip sourcebox array from his cosmic ring, and he tossed it over to Bai Qi. "Does that look familiar to you?"
Bai Qi took the item and examined it. "I feel like I’ve seen it before."
"That belonged to Bai Shaohong. I took it when I killed him," Lu Yin commented indifferently.
Bai Qi’s eyes flared widely, and Ru Ying and the others standing behind Bai Qi were completely stunned by Lu Yin’s words.
While everyone knew that Lu Yin had killed Bai Shaohong, bluntly admitting it to Bai Qi was nothing less than blatant provocation.
Bai Qi"s eyes grew cold as she stared at Lu Yin. "What are you trying to say?"
Lu Yin was unconcerned with Bai Qi’s thoughts at this moment, as he would have said the same words to Bai w.a.n.gyuan himself. "That thing is an instantly-activated weapon that uses a contained sourcebox array. We refer to it as a microarray. Within your Celestial Frost Sect, only Bai Shaohong possessed such a weapon, and it was regarded as a power vessel with a limited number of uses. However, in our Forsaken Land, we’ve developed it into a weapon of war. We’ve produced countless microarray weapons based off of this technology, and those weapons have been distributed to the soldiers. The microarrays contain the sword qi that you see."
Lu Yin raised a finger. "With these weapons, an Explorer can instantly kill an Enlighter."
The expressions of Bai Qi and the others listening to Lu Yin’s explanation changed drastically, and they all stared at him in shock.
"This should adequately show just how useful microarrays are. If your Celestial Frost Sect had discovered their usefulness before, this rear battlefield would have never been suppressed as badly as it has been. Bai w.a.n.gyuan’s an idiot, and you descendants are all also idiots. Really, how dumb can you be?" Lu Yin mocked. He was unconcerned with the possibility of the Celestial Frost Sect being able to copy microarray technology. It had taken Aurora Enterprises so long to do so, so how could the Celestial Frost Sect make up for so much time and effort? Not to mention, the Perennial World had never focused on developing science or technology.
However, no one listening cared at all about Lu Yin’s insults, as they were all dazed and staring at the Void Rip sourcebox array that Bai Qi held.
It was not easy to produce a power vessel that someone like Bai Shaohong would consider useful, so how could such a thing be ma.s.s-produced?
They could not believe it at first, but as they saw the endless sword qi attacks shooting across the battlefield, they were forced to accept what Lu Yin was saying despite their disbelief.
Every single attack made with sword qi was as powerful as an attack from an Enlighter, but how could the Fifth Mainland have so many Enlighters? The only possibility was that they were able to ma.s.s-produce the powerful sword qi attacks, which was an absolutely incredible achievement.
Bai Qi turned to stare at Lu Yin in shock. "How did you do it?"
Lu Yin ignored the question. "Leave the fourth array base. From now on, this place is my responsibility."
He then stepped forward and arrived at the fourth array base’s battlefield, a short ways away from what had been General Bai Qi"s headquarters.
The corpse kings were being repelled, and the Astral Beast Army chased the corpse kings across the array base.
Lu Yin entered the headquarters. Some of the original defenders of the fourth array base were still present, as they had not wanted to leave the battlefield.
Arch-Elder Zen and the other Semi-Progenitors entered behind Lu Yin one by one.
There were nearly a hundred people inside the headquarters, and they all watched as Lu Yin and his entourage entered. The presence of the newcomers stifled the breath of the veteran defenders of the array base, and they bowed as one. "Greetings-"
The people all cut off mid-greeting, as they had no idea how to address Lu Yin. The young man was clearly the one in charge, yet he was neither the array base’s general nor its Array Master. In that case, which of the Semi-Progenitors was the new general?
Lu Yin laughed. "You can call me ‘Dao Chosen.’ My name is Lu Yin, and I used to be called Lu Xiaoxuan."
The fourth array base had already been informed that Lu Xiaoxuan would lead an army from the Forsaken Land to take over the fourth array base’s defenses, so no one was surprised by his statement.
Still, hearing that the young man in front of them really was Lu Xiaoxuan was overwhelming to the veterans.
It was simply too ridiculous for the four ruling powers to allow Lu Xiaoxuan to freely move about the Perennial World.
"Greetings, Dao Chosen." The defenders offered a respectful bow.
Some veterans had stayed behind because they had been worried about handing the fourth array base over to the new defenders, and so they had remained behind to see if they could help protect the place. Most of them had not had high expectations for the strength of the army that the Forsaken Land was sending, and many of the veterans refused to let the fourth array base fall simply because their replacements were inadequate. Some veterans had been ordered to remain behind, while others had done so willingly. After all, there were some people who would not be able to survive if they left the rear battlefield.
Lu Yin did not care what motivations had kept the veteran defenders behind, as it simply did not matter. The fourth array base was part of humanity’s first line of defense against Aeternus, and neither Lu Yin nor any of the four ruling powers would take action on the rear battlefield. It also did not matter if the veterans from the Perennial World learned about Lu Yin from the Fifth Mainland’s armies, as they would only become more amazed at Lu Yin’s accomplishments.
However, there was one person among the veteran defenders who caught Lu Yin"s attention: Jiu Zizai. The man had been one of the fourth array base’s colonels, and he was the only one to have remained behind.
The man also had another ident.i.ty; he was a Redback.
Lu Yin had once Possessed Jiu Zizai when rolling his die, which was how Lu Yin knew that Jiu Zizai was a Redback who had been groomed by Marquis Wu Yi. However, Jiu Zizai had never done anything to harm humanity or the fourth array base. Aeternus’s goal was for the man to retire with honors. Then, when he returned to the Perennial World, they would be able to take advantage of his highly respected status to steal information.
Seeing Jiu Zizai, Lu Yin wondered just how many similar people existed on the rear battlefield.
There were different reasons for people to fight on the rear battlefield. Some were there to defend humanity, while others were there to avoid enemies. Yet others were ambitious for a better future. Regardless of the motivations, there was never a lack of people volunteering to fight on the rear battlefield. Given the situation, it was entirely possible that there were a large number of Redbacks present.
It was understood that a large number of the Perennial World’s Redbacks had been recruited and groomed on the rear battlefield. After all, the rear battlefield was the first line of defense protecting humanity from the forces of Aeternus, and the Aeternals loved to recruit Redbacks from places where human lives were in grave danger.
Everyone quietly waited for Lu Yin to continue speaking.
Lu Yin just stared at Jiu Zizai, which fl.u.s.tered the man quite badly.
He had no fear that he would be exposed as a Redback, as that was simply impossible. Jiu Zizai had never once taken actions detrimental to the fourth array base. No, rather than being exposed, Jiu Zizai was worried that Lu Yin would drive him away.
"Jiu Zizai?" Lu Yin said while looking down at the man.
His heart trembling, Jiu Zizai stepped forward. "Yes, Dao Chosen?"
Lu Yin asked, "Why have you stayed behind? All the other colonels left with Bai Qi. You were her second-in-command and the highest ranking colonel. If you had returned with her to the Perennial World, any number of top powers would have gladly recruited you."
Jiu Zizai was feeling incredibly frustrated, because not only was Lu Yin stating the truth, but he was also voicing Jiu Zizai’s goals. However, because of the man’s importance to Bai Qi, he had been ordered to remain behind and keep an eye on the forces from the Forsaken Land. It was not at all what Jiu Zizai himself wanted to do.
"This- this subordinate swore to protect the fourth array until death. I will never retreat from this place." Jiu Zizai gritted his teeth as he spoke. He was absolutely unwilling to speak such words, but his behavior simply made him look determined to those watching.
Hen Xin and the other Semi-Progenitors all looked at the man with satisfaction. Not everyone was willing to stay behind on the battlefield, and such a person deserved their admiration.
Lu Yin smiled. "That’s a good and proper att.i.tude to have. Since you want to stay here, we won’t treat you badly. When my Fifth Mainland’s armies rotate, you can choose to go to our Fifth Mainland’s Heavens Sect, if you wish. You don"t have to return to the Perennial World. I’ll leave the choice up to you."
Lu Yin waved a hand, dismissing Jiu Zizai and the rest of the veterans.
Jiu Zizai felt rather confused. Go to the Fifth Mainland? Why would he want to go to the Forsaken Land? Only an idiot would choose that.
Lu Yin watched as Jiu Zizai withdrew. Lu Yin had not been offering the choice to Jiu Zizai, but to the Aeternals who controlled the Redback. Lu Yin was curious to see how they would make use of the man.
"Dao Chosen, it"s highly unlikely that such a person will choose to go to our Fifth Mainland," Hen Xin said.
The other Semi-Progenitors also felt that Lu Yin’s offer had been rather odd. Why would he offer to let someone go to the Fifth Mainland when meeting him for the first time? It seemed very strange.
Lu Yin smiled. "Not necessarily. Maybe my charisma won him over, haha."
Everyone was speechless.
"Alright, we are now on the rear battlefield. From now on, this will be your battlefield as well. I, Lu Yin, want to thank you for your contributions to humanity," Lu Yin stated solemnly.
After leaving the fourth array base, Bai Qi turned back to look at the Astral Beast Army that was still cleaning up the battlefield. The astral beasts moved about in a very orderly manner. They looked just like a normal army.
The Forsaken Land was not nearly as weak and backwards as they had imagined. On the contrary, the Forsaken Land was quite powerful. At the very least, on a battlefield at the level of the rear battlefield, not even the fifth array base could compare to the army that the Fifth Mainland had sent to protect the fourth array base.
Also, the manner in which the Forsaken Land’s armies fought had greatly expanded Bai Qi"s horizons. She wanted to report what she had seen to the sect and to her father. She firmly believed that the Perennial World’s manner of warfare needed to change.
Bai Qi was not alone, as w.a.n.g Zheng had the same thoughts. However, w.a.n.g Zheng was a step ahead of Bai Qi, as w.a.n.g Fan had already received a report.
After Bai Qi"s report was sent out, both Bai w.a.n.gyuan and w.a.n.g Fan grew far more wary. The Fifth Mainland was not nearly as simple as they had believed it to be.
On the w.a.n.g family’s floating mainland, w.a.n.g Zheng continued to listen to w.a.n.g Shang as the man reported everything that he had observed in the Fifth Mainland. Progenitor w.a.n.g Fan also sent a message, stating that everything concerning the Fifth Mainland had to be reported to him in full detail. Nothing could be left out, and no mistakes could be made in the information given to him.
It was at this moment that someone delivered another report, "Patriarch, someone else just stepped out of the New Corridor."
w.a.n.g Zheng grew curious. "They sent more people?"
He then immediately went to the edge of the mainland and looked down at the valley. In it, he saw that two people had just emerged from the New Corridor. One of the two was Skymender, while the other was the Progenitor of Bloodlines.