Chapter 2385: Search
In the Outerverse, outside Earth’s solar system, dozens of cultivators were staring blankly at the jiao and Ancestor Tortoise as they swallowed their saliva.
"My brother told me that the jiao from Shenwu’s Sky is here and that it’s ma.s.sive, but I didn’t believe him. I didn’t think that it’d really be here."
"That"s your Shenwu"s Sky"s jiao? It"s absolutely terrifying. Your Shenwu"s Sky lost too much."
"Lu Xiaoxuan will be forced to pay the price sooner or later."
…
From what he overheard, Lu Yin knew that this group of people were from the Perennial World, and he wondered how they had gotten past Chu Yuan and the others.
Lu Yin had paid a price to have Chu Yuan, Heluo Mavis, and the others block everyone from the Perennial World trying to leave the area around the New Corridor and prevent all of them from reaching the Tower of the Fifth. However, since the four ruling powers were only letting their own people access to the Fifth Mainland for the time being, Chu Yuan alone was enough to stop everyone.
However, even if Lu Yin did not know how these people had managed to get through the blockade, that was all that they had accomplished. Sky Garan was already on their tails.
"Run! It"s him!" The group from the Perennial World were shocked and startled when they saw Sky Garan suddenly appear, and they raced towards Earth’s solar system as fast as they could. They knew that the Tower of the Fifth was in this solar system.
In truth, a group from the Perennial World had already entered the Tower of the Fifth. Chu Yuan and the others were indeed able to block most people, but they were unable to take action against people younger than them. As long as there was no one of comparable age in the Fifth Mainland who could stop the people from the Perennial World, they could only be allowed to enter the Tower of the Fifth.
However, there were very, very few who were able to reach the tower, and they were also all extremely young. Even the most powerful was barely an Enlighter. Chu Yuan was able to block all of the Perennial World’s Envoys, as long as they had not pa.s.sed their sixth stellular tribulation. For those powerhouses, there were others in the Fifth Mainland who could stop them, and there were also too many restrictions for Envoys that wanted to enter the Tower of the Fifth.
This meant that the only people from the Perennial World who had entered the Tower of the Fifth so far were very young.
"Hey, you can"t attack us!" someone yelled at Sky Garan.
Sky Garan glanced around. "That"s why I chased after you."
He then waved a hand, and someone stepped forward. Lu Yin did not recognize the young man, but he should belong to the Sixth Mainland. He was a Hunter and possibly one of the new Realmlings.
"He will be your opponent," Sky Garan stated.
The expressions of the youths from the Perennial World fell. With the pa.s.sing of time, they had come to understand the Fifth Mainland had some absolutely freakish cultivators. After all, not even the Junior Progenitors could defeat some of the Fifth Mainland’s geniuses. However, there were only a few such monsters, and the rest of the people from the Fifth Mainland could not stop the Perennial World’s cultivators. Still, the gap in strength was not very large.
If this confrontation had taken place more than twenty years earlier, there would have been a huge gap in strength between the people of the Fifth Mainland and their peers from the Perennial World. The four Junior Progenitors would have easily swept through all of the finalists from the Fifth Mainland’s ZENITH, but things had since changed. Hen Xin, Lu Buzheng, and other powerhouses from the Heavens Sect era had appeared, and they had brought some of the Heavens Sect era’s cultivation methods with them. That information had greatly reduced the gap in strength between the Fifth Mainland and the Perennial World
At the least, the Fifth Mainlanders would not suffer too much in a contest of peers with the Perennial World. If they cooperated with a Void Wanderer as well, the youths of the Fifth Mainland would not find it hard to achieve victory.
However, at the moment, it was a fair duel.
The Sixth Mainland’s Realmling that Sky Garan had brought along was able to defeat half of the people from the Perennial World by relying on his battle force, domain, and battle techniques that he might have directly learned from Sky Garan. The man also used a visualization technique, but he was unable to stop about half of the youths and had no choice but to let them enter the Tower of the Fifth. Still, the Realmling had done his best.
Sky Garan watched as the people from the Perennial World entered the Tower of the Fifth. He was not bothered that some people had gained access. Lu Yin had only asked them to stop as many people as possible. If they were unable to stop someone, then there was nothing to be done. Sky Garan could not personally take action against people that young. All of the people in this group had only been in their twenties or thirties.
Lu Yin did not show himself. The Fifth Mainland alone was still unable to stop all the people from the four ruling powers. This issue also needed to be addressed in the Perennial World. Lu Yin was not sure exactly what w.a.n.g Wen was doing, or whether he had already started to take action.
…
It was undeniable that the four ruling powers relaxed a great deal as soon as Lu Yin left the Perennial World. However, when Xia Shenji received a report, he instantly became completely furious. He then personally visited Shenwu"s Sky, disregarding the safety of the Dominion Realm.
In Shenwu"s Sky, a man was kneeling on a patch of dark ground. His face was pale, and his head was hanging low. Fear and despair filled his eyes as he stared at the ground.
Xia Ziheng and Xia Xing were both standing behind the man, and the atmosphere was eerily quiet.
Xia Shenji stepped out of the void and approached the kneeling man. The pressure of a Progenitor fell upon the place, which caused the ground to collapse and the man to cough up blood.
The man on his knees was a Semi-Progenitor. He was a hidden Semi-Progenitor of Shenwu"s Sky who remained deep underground to guard their prisoners. He would never reveal himself, no matter what happened to Shenwu’s Sky. Even if the sect faced complete annihilation, this Semi-Progenitor would not show himself. There was only one purpose to his existence, which was to focus on the underground prison.
"Say it again." Xia Shenji"s voice was frigid as he stared at the man.
The man closed his eyes and answered in a tone full of despair, "That person escaped."
Xia Shenji was beyond furious, and he instantly sliced the man"s arms off. Despite being a Semi-Progenitor, the man could do nothing to resist. Blood spilled all over the ground, and both Xia Ziheng and Xia Xing were terrified. They had never seen their Progenitor so angry before.
"I ordered you to watch the prison. You never needed to do a single thing, and in return, you could enjoy Shenwu"s Sky’s resources. I told you that, even if Shenwu"s Sky fell, you were not to show yourself. However, now you’re telling me that that person escaped?" Xia Shenji squatted down to stare at the man. There was no hint of a Progenitor’s dignity visible. "Lift your head and look at me."
The man"s eyes flickered, but he forced himself to look up at Xia Shenji.
Xia Shenji"s eyes betrayed his fury. "How did he escape?"
"I don"t know," the man answered helplessly. Fortunately, he was a Semi-Progenitor, or else there was no way he would be able to summon the courage to speak to Xia Shengji at this moment.
"Then how did you discover that he had escaped?" Xia Shenji continued to ask. His eyes were filled with murderous rage as he stared at the kneeling man.
The Semi-Progenitor knew that he would not survive the day. "Progenitor Xia, can you not go after my clan members?"
"All I want is that man found! Your people are worthless to me!" Xia Shenji shouted.
The man sighed. He had no idea what would happen to his clansman, but he was forced to answer the Progenitor’s question. "I discovered that a disciple who collects corpses had gone missing, so I immediately went underground to search myself. At that time, I found that that person had disappeared. At the same time, the man known as Liu Shaoge had also disappeared."
Xia Shenji frowned. "Liu Shaoge?"
"Liu Shaoge is dead," Xia Ziheng interjected. When Xia Shenji looked over, the Semi-Progenitor nervously explained, "Ancestor, Liu Shaoge was the person whom Lu Xiaoxuan abandoned here. We captured him and had him imprisoned. He impersonated Yu Hao in order to buy time for Lu Xiaoxuan, but we did not discover the deception until after Lu Xiaoxuan was on his way back."
"He’s one of Lu Xiaoxuan’s people?" Xia Shenji"s eyes flared.
Xia Ziheng quickly explained further. "He was abandoned here by Lu Xiaoxuan, and he shared everything that he knew about Lu Xiaoxuan’s time in the Fifth Mainland. I killed him myself. If I spoke a single lie, then this junior is willing to die a terrible death."
Xia Shenji’s eyes narrowed as he listened. "Are you absolutely certain that he died?"
Xia Ziheng rea.s.sured the Progenitor, "This junior killed him myself. There is no chance that he survived."
"What if Lu Xiaoxuan helped him? How can you be absolutely sure that he was not deliberately left here by Lu Xiaoxuan?" Xia Shenji said through gritted teeth.
Xia Ziheng instantly became terrified, as he could feel the Progenitor’s mounting killing intent. "Ancestor, Liu Shaoge is definitely dead. If he is not, this junior is willing to suffer any punishment at all. I swear not to improve my cultivation for the rest of my life and accept my death instead."
Xia Xing did not say anything at all. This entire matter was beyond his authority. In fact, neither the patriarch nor Xia Ziheng knew anything about who was in the underground prison. In truth, even the kneeling Semi-Progenitor had no idea who the man that had escaped was.
Xia Xing could not understand why their Progenitor was so furious, but fortunately, this matter had nothing to do with him.
"What do you think of all this?" Xia Shenji suddenly looked over at Xia Xing and asked.
Xia Xing was badly startled. While he had not interacted with Progenitor Shenji that often, Xia Xing was aware that the Progenitor seldom asked for other people"s opinions. This indicated that the Progenitor was a bit perplexed.
Not even everything that had happened with Lu Xiaoxuan had prompted such a reaction from Progenitor Shenji.
Xia Xing"s mind raced, and he cautiously replied, "Ancestor, Lu Xiaoxuan should not have anything to do with this matter."
Xia Shenji continued to calmly look at the sect master.
Seeing that Progenitor Shenji had not said anything yet, Xia Xing took a deep breath. Then, as Xia Ziheng and the Semi-Progenitor who guarded the underground prison nervously watched on, Xia Xing explained, "Even if we don’t consider Lu Xiaoxuan for the moment, not even I, the Xia family’s current patriarch, know anything about the situation beneath Shenwu’s Sky, and that is also true of Semi-Progenitor Ziheng. Only Semi-Progenitor Heng and you, Progenitor, know about the person imprisoned down there."
At this point in time, Xia Xing glanced over at the Semi-Progenitor who was the guardian of the underground prison.
"It is simply impossible for Lu Xiaoxuan to know about this matter, which also means that there is no way for him to have made any plans regarding this. Furthermore, Semi-Progenitor Ziheng is a Semi-Progenitor, which means that it is impossible for someone who is not even an Envoy to fake their death in front of him. Semi-Progenitor Ziheng was very cautious, and he even personally killed Liu Shaoge, which suggests that he should have no connection to this other matter."
Xia Shenji asked, "Are you suggesting that this is nothing more than a coincidence?"
Xia Xing"s face turned pale. "When observing all that Lu Xiaoxuan did here in the Perennial World, all of his actions only served a single purpose: rescuing the surviving va.s.sals of the Lu family. He ordered Liu Shaoge to pose as Yu Hao and stay in Shenwu’s Sky to buy some time so that he could infiltrate Crimson Garden. There’s no connection between his motivations here and the people in the underground prison. I beg the Progenitor to find an answer to this matter."
Xia Ziheng hastily spoke up as well, "I beg the Progenitor to find an answer to this matter."
The Semi-Progenitor guardian of the underground prison also spoke up, "I beg the Progenitor to find an answer to this matter."
Xia Shenji thought for a while, and the killing intent that had filled his eyes faded a bit. "Find that person for me. I’ve done all that I can, but I have not been able to find any trace of him."
Xia Xing and Xia Ziheng glanced at each other, as they had no idea who the escaped prisoner was.
Xia Shenji slowly spoke something, and his words shocked Xia Xing and Xia Ziheng so badly that all thoughts fled their minds. "Hi- him?"
"Find him for me, and then I"ll personally capture him and drag him back," Xia Shenji said in a low voice before disappearing.
As soon as Xia Shenji left, the Semi-Progenitor who was kneeling on the ground heaved a sigh of relief. While he had lost his arms, they could still be reattached. The only reason why he had not been executed was because he had been given a task to complete.
Xia Xing and Xia Ziheng looked at the man. "You knew about this?"
The Semi-Progenitor bitterly answered, "Yes, but logically speaking, unless I become a Progenitor myself, I should have never been allowed to leave the underground prison. I never thought that I would be allowed to leave because of this matter."
Xia Xing looked away. Become a Progenitor? If this Semi-Progenitor had any chance of becoming a Progenitor, then Progenitor Shenji would have never treated the man in such a manner. No, this man had already reached his limits.
Very soon, Shenwu"s Sky sent out a ma.s.sive number of people, and they moved across the Higher Realm, Middle Realm, and even the Lower Realm. They were all secretly searching for someone, and while nothing was said about the matter, even Sect Master Xia Xing had been sent out. This clearly showed that whatever was happening was more important than everything that had happened with Lu Xiaoxuan.
Xia Shenji"s clones moved out one after another. They avoided Bai w.a.n.gyuan’s attention, as well as the other Progenitors, and they quickly scattered throughout the Perennial World to search.