Chapter 2348: Questioning
Ultimately, Mu Shang stepped out of the sourcebox array and stared at Skymender. "I don"t remember an Array Grandmaster like you."
Skymender answered from within the sourcebox array, surrounded by the Undying Bird and the Dark Undying Bird’s flames. "I’m from the Fifth Mainland. I am the imperial advisor of the Celestial Beast Empire. Skymender is here on behalf of the Heavens Sect."
Mu Shang felt puzzled. "The Heavens Sect?"
He glanced over at Xia Ziheng and the others in bewilderment.
The expressions of Xia Ziheng and the others turned ugly. "Lu Xiaoxuan is involving himself in Virtue Archives’ affairs? Why would he do that?"
The Progenitor of Bloodlines casually replied, "We have nothing to do with Virtue Archives. We simply came to deliver a list of applicants from the Fifth Mainland who wish to take the entrance exam to join Virtue Archives."
The man then raised a hand and sent a sheet of paper floating towards Headmaster Wen .
Headmaster Wen took the page and glanced at it. It was truly a list of applicants. "Are these people the Fifth Mainland’s elites?"
The Progenitor of Bloodlines replied, "We have heard that Virtue Archives teaches talented youths and that this place even houses Progenitor Wen’s inheritance. I wonder if the children of my Fifth Mainland can enroll here?"
Headmaster Wen laughed. "Of course! They can take the entrance exam at any time. Where are these children?"
The Progenitor of Bloodlines smiled. "They are still on their way, and they should arrive within a few days, though I’m not sure how many will be able to pa.s.s the exam."
Ce Donglai was ecstatic, and he straightened up. "Don"t worry about that. If they were able to receive Senior’s acknowledgement, they will definitely be able to pa.s.s the entrance exam. I must thank you, Senior, for regarding our Virtue Archives so highly."
The Progenitor of Bloodlines just smiled. The truth was that, before receiving Lu Yin’s request, the old man had never even heard of Virtue Archives. He was now realizing that the academy was quite famous in the Perennial World, and he genuinely did not know if the Fifth Mainland’s geniuses would qualify to join.
On the rear battlefield, on the fourth array base, Lu Yin was waiting to receive news regarding Zhou Tang and the other va.s.sals of the Lu family.
Since Lu Yin had already taken over the fourth array base, Zhou Tang and other surviving va.s.sals of the Lu family were supposed to be released into his care. He had remained at the fourth array base just to receive them.
The Lu Elite Troops, the Redemption Army, and the Astral Beast Army had already spread out across the fourth array base, and their presence had drawn the attention of all the other array bases.
The five array bases were the defenses that protected the rear battlefield, and they each helped each other. However, they also competed with each other. The most obvious way in which they competed was in the amount of territory that they were able to claim in the New World. This had long since been a standing contest between the five array bases.
The compet.i.tion on the rear battlefield was different from how the various powers of the Perennial World competed with each other. The compet.i.tion between the five array bases had nothing to do with families or affiliations. All that mattered was which array base one belonged to.
However, such compet.i.tion had vanished for a long time. Ever since the Lu family had been exiled, the Perennial World had lost the ability to enter the New World. At best, they had been able to keep control of a single city.
Even with the compet.i.tion to retake control of the New World gone, there remained a certain rivalry between the five array bases. This was further aggravated by the fact that the fourth array base had been taken over by people from the Forsaken Land. Knowing that, none of the other array bases wanted to fall behind the outsiders.
"Those four Semi-Progenitors are certainly ruthless enough." On the first array base, General Bai Chi looked over with cold eyes. There were corpse kings everywhere on the first array base, and the defensive sourcebox arrays were never deactivated.
A colonel beside the general respectfully commented, "There isn’t a single corpse king anywhere on the fourth array base. Those four Semi-Progenitors came from the Forsaken Land itself, but given their strength, as well as the presence of the Xia family’s jiao, the Aeternals won’t be able to touch that array base unless a Progenitor arrives to help them. Any a.s.sault on the fourth array base will only result in death."
Bai Chi responded in a contemptuous voice, "For the Forsaken Land, those four Semi-Progenitors must be more than half of their strength, if not all their strength. Once those four fall, I want to see just how the Forsaken Land will continue protecting the fourth array base. Keep an eye on things, and let me know the moment anything at all happens to the fourth array base."
Despite Bai Chi’s dislike for the people of the Forsaken Land, as a general, he could not allow anything to happen to any of the array bases.
Nothing could be allowed to happen to any of the five array bases. If one fell, the other four would not be able to remain standing for long.
On the second array base, Xia Yan took personal action. There were no corpse kings anywhere at all on the fourth array base, while they filled the sky around the second array base. This was basically proof that the second array base could not measure up to the strength of the fourth array base, which was completely unacceptable to General Xia Yan.
Glancing around, the general suddenly noticed Luo Fang, the second array base’s Array Master. The sight of the Lockbreaker made Xia Yan feel ill. It was information from Luo Fang that had convinced Xia Yan to confirm to the Xia family that Yu Hao was Grandmaster Gu Yan’s apprentice. After it had been revealed that, not only was the information that Xia Yan provided false, but that Yu Hao himself was an imposter, Xia Yan had been scolded by the family’s Progenitor himself!
Xia Yan was the general of the second array base on the rear battlefield. Given his status, he had never once been reprimanded by a Progenitor. Recalling the humiliation caused Xia Yan’s face to twist, and he even wanted to attack Luo Fang. This Array Master had actually helped Lu Xiaoxuan.
Luo Fang also happened to see Xia Yan, and the two men looked at each other for a moment. Then, the Array Master panicked, turned around, and left.
Xia Yan let out a disdainful snort, and he suddenly tore through the void to instantly appear directly in front of Luo Fang. The shockwave from the warp struck Luo Fang, and it knocked the wind out of the man.
"Master Luo, why did you run away after seeing me?" Xia Yan demanded in a cold voice.
Luo Fang held his head, as he had just fallen. He looked up at Xia Yan with an offended and indignant expression. "Why did you just attack me, General?"
Xia Yan"s eyes flickered with a cold glint. "Do you really think that I don’t know what you did?"
Luo Fang looked up. "You are the general and a Semi-Progenitor, so while there is nothing wrong with you attacking a junior like me, you do need to have reasonable cause. Even if I, Luo Fang, am not from a powerful family, I am still an Array Master. Have you considered how you will answer to the other Lockbreakers for your actions against me?"
"Do you actually dare to threaten me?" The pressure from Xia Yan increased yet again, rising to a level that Luo Fang could not endure. He spat out a mouthful of blood as he crumpled to the ground.
At this moment, Master Deng Guo happened to pa.s.s by, and he saw what was happening. He quickly appeared in front of Xia Yan. "General Xia, might I ask what Luo Fang has done to offend the general and anger you so?"
Xia Yan replied in a glacial voice, "He helped Lu Xiaoxuan deceive the four ruling powers. Such a crime is enough to warrant his death 10,000 times over!"
Master Deng Guo was taken aback, and he turned to stare at Luo Fang. "You aided Lu Xiaoxuan?"
Luo Fang remained laying on the ground, and he struggled to even speak. "No."
Master Deng Guo looked back at Xia Yan.
Xia Yan then proceeded to recount his previous conversation with Luo Fang, word by word. "If this man hadn"t verified that Grandmaster Gu Yan had accepted an apprentice and had even said that the apprentice was good-looking, my Xia family would never have believed that Yu Hao was Grandmaster Gu Yan"s apprentice! How could you allow Lu Xiaoxuan to deceive us?"
Luo Fang coughed twice and then wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "Might I be so bold as to ask the general, throughout that entire conversation, did I ever once mention that the Grandmaster Gu Yan’s apprentice was named Yu Hao?"
Xia Yan was taken aback.
Deng Guo stared at Xia Yan. "General, was that ever said?"
Master Deng Guo was a Realm Array Master, and as such, he enjoyed a status on par with Semi-Progenitors. There was no need for the man to show any deference to Xia Yan.
Xia Yan took a deep breath. "No."
Luo Fang continued, "Then, might I be so bold as to ask the general if I ever said that Grandmaster Gu Yan’s apprentice was part of the four ruling powers?"
Master Deng Guo stared at Xia Yan.
The general’s eyes narrowed. "Not once."
"In that case, why is the general convinced that I helped Lu Xiaoxuan deceive the four ruling powers? I merely visited Grandmaster Gu Yan and overheard a bit of news. Could it be that the person who spread that news elsewhere should be responsible for what people interpreted? I, Luo Fang, admit that that I heard rumors being spread, and while I heard them, how can the general accuse me of trying to deceive the four ruling powers?
"Everything about me, Luo Fang, has been recorded from the first moment I began cultivating. Not once have I had any sort of contact with any member of the Lu family, so how could I have helped Lu Xiaoxuan? How could Lu Xiaoxuan have contacted me? I didn"t even know that Yu Hao was actually Lu Xiaoxuan!" Luo Fang angrily stated.
Xia Yan frowned. This was indeed a problem. Luo Fang had stayed on the rear battlefield ever since he had started studying lockbreaking, and he had not once had any interactions with Lu Xiaoxuan. There was no question about this at all.
Furthermore, how could Lu Xiaoxuan, who had been in the Forsaken Land for so many years, make contact with Luo Fang? Why would Luo Fang be willing to take such a huge personal risk by lying? Nothing about the matter truly made sense.
Was it possible that Luo Fang had been completely honest the entire time? Was it possible for such a coincidence to take place? That was also impossible, as every word that Luo Fang had said during that first conversation had clearly been directing Xia Yan to a single conclusion, which was that Grandmaster Gu Yan’s apprentice was Yu Hao. The timing and description that he had provided were too precise to be a coincidence.
"You told me that Grandmaster Gu Yan personally asked you about the Celestial Frost Sect. Is that true?" Xia Yan suddenly asked.
Luo Fang replied, "It is true. If you doubt me, you can speak with Grandmaster Gu Yan himself, and he will tell you the same."
"What do you say, General? Why don’t you go speak with Grandmaster Gu Yan," Master Deng Guo spoke up.
Xia Yan let out a long breath. "It appears that I truly did misunderstand you. In that case, why did you flee the moment you saw me just now?"
Luo Fang bitterly answered, "With so many corpse kings attacking the array base, why should I, an Array Master, head out into combat? General, if you are here, then you must be facing Semi-Progenitor level opponents. How can I survive anywhere near a battle at that level?"
There was no flaw in anything the man said, and Xia Yan hesitated.
"General Xia, is there anything else that you would like to ask Luo Fang? If not, I"ll be taking him to receive treatment." The Lockbreakers on the rear battlefield had a mentality of simply plodding along while doing the bare minimum and enjoying life to the fullest. Their situation caused them to be far more united than they would otherwise be.
Xia Yan had openly attacked Luo Fang without cause or even first questioning the man, which left Master Deng Guo quite irritated.
Xia Yan looked down at Luo Fang, and his voice was much gentler when he spoke again. "I misunderstood you this time."
The general then pulled out a power vessel that he handed to Luo Fang. "This is to compensate you."
Only then did Master Deng Guo’s expression improve.
Luo Fang did not dare to make trouble for Xia Yan. After all, the man was the general of the second array base, as well as a powerful Semi-Progenitor. "If the misunderstanding has been resolved, then I’ll take my leave now."
Xia Yan nodded. He stared at the backs of the two Lockbreakers as Master Deng Guo led Luo Fang away. Something flickered across his eyes, but it was impossible to tell what was going through the man’s mind.
w.a.n.g Xun was the general of the third array base, and while his att.i.tude towards the new defenders of the fourth array base mirrored that of Bai Chi, w.a.n.g Xun was more preoccupied with why the Progenitors had allowed Lu Xiaoxuan to go free. Just why had the four ruling powers agreed to a truce?
No one had even considered the possibility that Lu Yin was capable of fighting against the Progenitors of the four ruling powers, as that was simply impossible. After all, the four ruling powers’ Progenitors were equivalent to half of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas. Who in the current era could stand up to such powerhouses?
Even if the Liu family, the Nong family, and Specter Abyss had an equal number of Progenitors as the four ruling powers, it would still be impossible for the four ruling powers to be challenged, as their Progenitors were simply too powerful.
How had Lu Xiaoxuan pulled off a truce?
The general commanding the fifth array base was Kuang Yan, who was also known as General Kuang. Kuang Yan did not have many thoughts about what had happened. All he knew was that the defenders of the fourth array base had changed, and he had also felt the pressure of the jiao that had the strength of a Progenitor. However, not only had Kuang Yan not been scared by the jiao, but its arrival had also actually stimulated his battle force.
Unlike the people from the four ruling powers, Kuang Yan held no prejudice against the Forsaken Land, especially after he felt the strength of the jiao. He wanted to move closer to the beast to try to bear the pressure of its presence.
Only by directly facing such power could he truly come to terms with it.
Kuang Yan intended to do as he wished. After all, the fifth array base was not suffering from a difficult attack at the moment, and the former Array Master of the fourth array base, Ru Ying, had relocated to the fifth array base, which gave them three Semi-Progenitors. Given the current situation, Kuang Yan could leave his post for a bit.
The general stepped off of the fifth array base and entered the open sky. Instead of moving to the top of the array bases where they joined together and then moving over to the fourth array base along that route, the general had opted for a different route. He was going straight towards the fourth array base by moving directly across the rear battlefield.