Chapter 2477 – Revenge
Xia Qin stared intently at Lu Yin. This young man was showing himself to be exactly what Arch-Elder Zen had described him as: ruthless, cold-hearted, and completely unlike Lu Xiaoxuan, who had been likened to a ray of sunshine. However, it was precisely this sort of ruthlessness that had allowed him to survive in the universe for so long.
The Lu family was gone, but Lu Yin was flourishing, and it was entirely due to his ruthlessness.
The woman stared into Lu Yin"s eyes, but she did not see any joy from obtaining revenge. Instead, she saw a bit of sadness, which was a relief to her. There was a large difference between someone who was forced to seek revenge and someone who took pleasure in it.
It was no wonder why Arch-Elder Zen was so willing to help this young man.
Arch-Elder Zen had little to say regarding Xia Ji"s death. As a cultivator of his age, he had long since learned to let go of many things.
"I hope that you don"t have any objections to me killing Xia Ji," Lu Yin said as he looked at Xia Luo.
Xia Luo just shrugged. "He had no objections when Xia Jiuyou died. What goes around comes around."
Lu Yin nodded. It was true, what went around would certainly come back.
Xia Ji had been a selfish man with no love for his family. In order to raise a better heir, he had allowed Xia Jiuyou to be killed by Xia Luo, despite being perfectly capable of stopping such a thing.
Xia Yi"s methods of training youths had been cruel, but had Xia Ji not perpetuated the cruelty?
Both men had been far, far inferior to Progenitor Chen, and they had instead more closely resembled the Xia family of Shenwu"s Sky.
"So, Senior, have we reached an agreement?" Lu Yin asked as he looked at Xia Qin.
Xia Shenfei"s heart pounded as he also turned his attention to Xia Qin.
Xia Qin looked at Xia Ji"s corpse and then at Lu Yin. "Yes. It will be interesting to see a direct descendant rule Shenwu"s Sky side by side with a descendant of a branch family."
"Senior Progenitor, this-”
Xia Shenfei wanted to protest, but he was interrupted by Xia Luo. "Senior brother, please guide me in the future."
Xia Shenfei clenched his fists as he glared at Xia Luo.
Xia Luo chuckled. "Dao Monarch, even with the support of Senior Progenitor Xia Qin, I won"t have an easy time of things in Shenwu"s Sky by himself."
Hearing the t.i.tle Dao Monarch mentioned startled Xia Qin, and she looked at Lu Yin in confusion. This was the first time that anyone had formally addressed Lu Yin directly as Dao Monarch, and even he was not used to it yet.
He told Xia Luo, "Take everyone from the Xia family with you."
"Thank you, Dao Monarch," Xia Luo replied with a smile.
Killing intent appeared and quickly filled Xia Shenfei"s eyes as he locked eyes with Xia Luo.
Arch-Elder Zen watched things play out with a smile. Shenwu"s Sky was about to become a lively place in the near future, though they could only blame themselves for offending Lu Yin.
Lu Yin had spent many years in the Fifth Mainland, and he had overcome one enemy after another during his life as a cultivator. No matter how formidable his opponents had been, all of them had eventually met their downfall. Shenwu"s Sky would be no exception.
This was the day that Lu Yin officially extended his influence into the four ruling powers.
Xia Shenji was gone, but the Celestial Frost Sect would not easily allow Lu Yin to meddle with Shenwu"s Sky. However, even after Lu Yin and Xia Qin arrived at Shenwu’s Sky, the Celestial Frost Sect remained silent. Naturally, this made Lu Yin uneasy.
Bai w.a.n.gyuan and the others were not fools. They definitely knew what he was up to, but for some reason, were allowing him to do as he pleased. Part of the reason was that their intervention would be useless, but to Lu Yin, it felt like they were waiting for something.
The Lu family had been in control of the Fifth Mainland for many years. Elder Progenitor Lu Tianyi had even dared to face Aeturnus’s True G.o.d. That level of power was absolutely terrifying, but they had still been exiled by the four ruling powers.
The four ruling powers seemed powerless at times, but they always found the strength to act at critical moments.
Lu Yin reflected on his various clashes with the four ruling powers. It had started with the truce. Then, after that, there had been the confrontation stemming from Liu Yue"s death, Lu Yin’s schemes to take their star essence, his sixth stellular tribulation, their attempt to use Nutjob Lu to kill Lu Yin, and most recently, the moment when he had proclaimed himself as Dao Monarch. Throughout all these events, from an outside perspective, the four ruling powers had constantly seemed completely powerless and unable to stop Lu Yin from doing anything he wanted.
However, the four ruling powers had only taken direct action against Lu Yin once, and that had been when they had attacked the Stargazing Decks.
The Stargazing Decks had been the key reason why the four ruling powers had agreed to a truce with Lu Yin in the first place.
The four ruling powers always demonstrated their strength at critical moments. If the Stargazing Deck that belonged to Astral-10 had also been destroyed, then Lu Yin would have lost his only means of dealing with Bai Xian"er, which was also his means of restraining the four ruling powers. After that, if any conflicts broke out, they would be able to act without holding back.
The four ruling powers had not done much, but the ramifications of their single action had been catastrophic.
This was why Lu Yin was incredibly vigilant.
He could not let himself be deceived by the four ruling powers" facade. The more pa.s.sively they behaved, the greater their hidden schemes.
…
The jiao returned to Shenwu"s Sky.
When the endless disciples of Shenwu"s Sky saw the jiao"s shadow as the beast covered the sky overhead, their first thought was that their Progenitor had taken the beast back.
However, those with positions of some authority already knew that it was impossible for them to ever reclaim the jiao. Shenwu"s Sky simply lacked the means to do so.
Xia Qin, Xia Shenfei, Xia Luo, Xia Meng, and many others landed along with Lu Yin.
The jiao remained in the sky above Shenwu"s Sky, looking around at the familiar scenery. It involuntarily let out a roar, challenging anyone to try to capture it.
"Shut up!" Lu Yin shouted sternly.
The jiao snarled and glared downwards, but the moment it saw Lu Yin, it retracted its claws and transformed its roar into a snarl that was quietly directed elsewhere.
On a mountain range within Shenwu"s Sky’s territory, the disciples and members of the Xia family were stunned to see Lu Xiaoxuan’s presence. Why was he visiting Shenwu"s Sky?
When Xia Qin arrived, Xia De, Xia Ziheng, Xian Su, and an entire group of Shenwu"s Sky’s disciples stepped forward to greet her. "Greetings, Senior Xia Qin."
"Greetings, Senior Xia Qin"
"Greetings, Senior Xia Qin."
Xia Qin nodded to them before ordering, "Summon all the disciples of Shenwu"s Sky here."
"Yes, Senior Progenitor," Xia Ziheng replied. He glanced up and saw Xia Shenfei, Xia Luo, and the other members of the Fifth Mainland’s Xia family, but more importantly, he noticed Lu Yin casually strolling around nearby. The Semi-Progenitor had a bad premonition, and he quickly gathered all of Shenwu"s Sky’s disciples.
In the shadows of the mountains, all the disciples of Shenwu"s Sky gathered and stood respectfully. No one dared to move at all.
Xia Shenfei, Xia Luo, and the others who had just arrived also remained still.
Xia Qin closed her eyes as though resting, though she occasionally let out bursts of a Progenitor’s aura, which shook the hearts of everyone present.
High overhead, the jiao’s ma.s.sive form covered the sky.
The atmosphere seemed grave and serious.
Only Lu Yin continued to stroll about, occasionally climbing to the top of a mountain to admire the view where he would let out an exclamation of admiration.
Xia De"s eye twitched as he watched Lu Yin, but the man did not dare say a word.
Lu Yin was not the same person that he had once been. He was someone who could fight directly against Progenitors and even scold them. He had tricked Xia Shenji into leaving their universe, which had caused Shenwu"s Sky to lose their true master. Lu Yin was a sworn enemy of Shenwu"s Sky, and yet simultaneously someone whom they did not dare to provoke.
There was a loud bang as Lu Yin shattered a stone on a mountain and examined the debris.
The roots of the mountains in Shenwu"s Sky were incredibly tough, even comparable to the stones that Lu Yin had found in Progenitor Guai"s armory. He wondered if these stones could be Disa.s.sembled, and if so, what they might yield.
The noise drew the attention of the people from Shenwu"s Sky, and they all looked over.
Many people from Shenwu"s Sky hated Lu Yin, and their eyes were filled with resentment.
“Lu Yin, what are you doing?" Xia Taili demanded. She was the only one bold enough to confront him at this moment.
Xia De quickly gave Xia Taili a look, indicating for her to remain silent. While he was not afraid of Lu Yin, he was afraid that Xia Taili might trigger Xia Qin’s anger. The Semi-Progenitor knew a bit about the woman’s past, as well as her hatred for the Xia family’s main line.
With the debris of the crushed stone in his hand, Lu Yin glanced over at Xia Taili and retorted, "It"s none of your concern."
Wu Taibai stood a bit away from Xia Taili, and his eyes revealed myriad emotions. He had once been one of the Sixth Mainland’s Daosource Three Skies, but as time pa.s.sed, he was now worlds apart from Lu Yin.
Lu Yin"s disregard for Xia Taili only provided fuel for her rage. Memories of being imprisoned and bullied by Lu Yin flooded her mind, and she shouted, "Leave our Shenwu"s Sky at once!"
Lu Yin laughed loudly. "Ask your brother if he agrees with that or not."
Xia Taili looked at Xia Shenfei.
Xia Shenfei frowned. "Be quiet."
Suddenly growing anxious, Xia Taili pleaded, "Brother, why did you bring him to Shenwu"s Sky? He"s our enemy."
Xia Shenfei thundered, "Enough!"
Xia Taili was about to continue arguing, but Xia Luo spoke up. "He will be Shenwu"s Sky"s benefactor in the future."
Xia Shenfei glanced over.
The people of Shenwu"s Sky were incensed, and Xia Ziheng scolded, "Junior, you have no right to speak here! Get over here and kneel!"
Xia Meng stepped forward. "Old man, keep your mouth shut."
Xia Ziheng was furious. "And who are you?"
On the other hand, Xia De was startled by Xia Meng’s presence. "Aren’t you from the Forsaken Land’s Xia family?"
Xia Luo smiled. "Since I"ve joined Shenwu"s Sky, I should be considered half a disciple of Shenwu"s Sky."
"You’re nothing more than a cast-off descendant of a branch family!" Xia Ziheng shouted.
Finally, Xia Qin opened her eyes, and the aura of a Progenitor surged out, sweeping through Shenwu"s Sky and causing the place to tremble.
Everyone quivered, and no one dared to speak another word.
Aside from the cultivators who were stationed on the rear battlefield and others who were out on missions, every last member of Shenwu"s Sky had gathered here. They formed a ma.s.sive crowd that looked like a sea of black formed from millions of people.
These were the people who qualified to cultivate in Shenwu"s Sky. The number of the sect’s outer disciples and those who aspired to join Shenwu"s Sky was even greater.
This was one of the four ruling powers.
"Are you done arguing?" Xia Qin"s voice was cold.
Her words startled everyone, and no one had the guts to answer.
Xia Qin scanned the crowd. She was not actually angry, but she had achieved the reaction that she wanted. Shenwu"s Sky only regarded direct descendants of the Xia family as being of any worth, and members of the branch families were all oppressed. In fact, people even dared to try to scold and punish members of a branch family right in front of her. In that case…
She would allow the direct descendants and the branch families to jointly run Shenwu"s Sky. She would let their ancestral Progenitors see where the Xia family would end up in the future.
There was another bang, as Lu Yin crushed another bit of rock.
Xia Qin frowned and glanced over, rather irritated at the disruption.
Lu Yin had not done it on purpose. He had merely noticed that the foundation of Shenwu"s Sky consisted of varying levels of hardness, and the materials grew more robust as one moved deeper. The underground prison was located in the furthest depths, so how had Liu Shaoge and Xia Shenji escaped from there?
As he considered this question, he unleashed his domain and started to examine Shenwu"s Sky.
However, just as he started, Xia Qin transmitted her voice to him. "Don"t go too far. While it’s true that I"m dissatisfied with the direct descendants of the Xia family, I have no plans to betray Shenwu"s Sky. I understand the debt that I owe you, but even so, I remain a part of Shenwu"s Sky as well as a member of the Xia family."
Lu Yin retracted his domain and smiled at the woman. "I understand."
Xia Qin averted her gaze. "Where is the current patriarch of Shenwu"s Sky?"
Xia De and Xia Ziheng exchanged glances before respectfully answering, "Reporting to Senior Progenitor, Xia Xing is being held captive. He is suspected of colluding with outsiders and betraying Shenwu"s Sky."
"Bring him here," Xia Qin ordered.
Xia Taili shot to her feet.
"I"ll go," she said as she moved away.
From the moment Xia Xing had been arrested, Xia Taili had been constantly worried about him and had attempted everything to visit him. She refused to believe that her father would betray Shenwu"s Sky, but the order for his arrest had come from Progenitor Shenji himself. With Progenitor Xia Qin’s appearance, Xia Taili felt certain that her father would finally receive justice.