Chapter 2674 – Proposal
The majestic voice did not answer immediately. There was a lengthy pause before it responded, "You want the Origin Universe to become part of the Endless Frontier?"
"Isn’t that only right? They’ve defeated the Aeternals and driven them out of their universe, but now they want to remain safe and protected while forcing our Sixverse a.s.sociation to bear the full brunt of Aeternus. It’s absurd! If not for us, how could they have ever exiled the Lu family? Where would the four ruling powers have come from?" Sovereign Shao Yin spat out contemptuously.
"I’ve heard that the one unwilling to rejoin the war with Aeternus is a member of the Lu family."
Sovereign Shao Yin retorted, "That’s nothing more than an excuse! How could the four ruling powers possibly be willing to accept being thrown back into the war if there is any other option? They are merely using that descendent of the Lu family as an excuse to refuse us. They don’t know how to show grat.i.tude at all! Sage Yuan told me everything, and the four ruling powers are maintaining a balance with this descendent of the Lu family while leaving our Sixverse a.s.sociation to deal with the Aeternals for them. It’s absurd! When did it become their turn to make the decisions?
"It’s only right to make the Origin Universe part of the Endless Frontier, or even the primary battlefield against Aeternus."
"Very well, I can agree to this."
Sovereign Shao Yin was satisfied. "In that case, I will not hold your Transcendent Universe accountable for what has happened to my disciple. However, the culprit must be found.
“It’s not easy for you to move out, so return. I will do nothing to your people."
Some time later, Uncle Mo awoke, and he looked up to see a man in a golden robe standing with his back to Uncle Mo and the other two. This man was none other than Sovereign Shao Yin.
Uncle Mo’s expression changed dramatically, and he quickly bowed low. "This junior greets Senior Sovereign."
"Wake the others," Sovereign Shao Yin calmly commanded.
Uncle Mo hurriedly woke up both He Ran and He Shu.
When He Ran opened her eyes and saw Sovereign Shao Yin before her, terror filled her eyes. This was someone who could kill her without fear of any repercussions.
This was her first time facing the risk of death in the Transcendent Universe, and she was instantly cast down from her lofty status and into the shoes of a mere mortal. For the first time, the woman understood that, even in the Transcendent Universe, she could still die.
Sovereign Shao Yin turned around to face He Ran. "What happened to Qingfeng?"
He Ran"s face grew pale. "We are still investigating."
Sovereign Shao Yin frowned and looked at He Shu.
The young man gave a respectful bow and proceeded to share all that had happened, "If Xie Wu hadn"t used his own Lotus Artifact to take both of us back to the Sixverse Academy, I would have been pulled into the Lost Clan’s card that was used against us."
Sovereign Shao Yin was stunned; was the Lost Clan involved in this matter? That was not necessarily the case. The truth was that, over the years, many people had acquired one of the Lost Clan’s cards, as they were incredibly useful. Many people had collected the cards even before the founding of the Sixverse Academy, so the mere appearance of a card indicated nothing at all.
White energy converters and the Lost Clan’s cards were powers that were known to all, and just the fact that both methods had been used made it impossible to know who had attacked Shao Qingfeng.
The attack had been performed cleanly and without any mistakes. Sovereign Shao Yin even personally investigated the location of the attack, but not a single clue had been left behind.
The Sovereign was aware of the plan that He Shu and the others had been concocting, and he also knew that they had most likely wanted to pin the blame onto the You family. However, even if the You family had wanted to sabotage the plan, they would have simply killed He Shu and Tu Ke. They would not have bothered with Shao Qingfeng at all. Monarch Luo had already attacked the Ziyou Realm, and the family would not be trying to provoke Sovereign Shao Yin as well.
Sovereign Shao Yin soon left. What had happened to Shao Qingfeng had actually worked to the Sovereign’s benefit. As for who had attacked Shao Qingfeng, Sovereign Shao Yin would continue to investigate the matter, but it was no longer important. He did not truly care about Shao Qingfeng’s fate at all.
However, while Sovereign Shao Yin did not care, He Ran certainly did. She had almost been scared to death by Sovereign Shao Yin’s arrival. How could she allow such an offense to pa.s.s without retaliation?
He Ran used her full influence to investigate the matter, and for some time, the Transcendent Universe was quite busy.
You Fang, Xuan Qi, and Bai Qian had confirmed their alliance, and the first thing on their combined agenda was that You Fang wanted to find out exactly what kind of cultivation technology Zi Jing was researching.
This research had been kept strictly confidential, and You Fang had not been able to find anything, despite his best efforts.
If he was not even aware of what was being researched, then how could he hope to deal with his opponents? This was the reasoning that You Fang used to convince Xuan Qi. However, this only confirmed to Lu Yin that You Fang was not really trying to deal with He Ran, but rather the ruler of the Transcendent Universe.
Zi Jing was performing her research for the ruler of the universe. After all, how could He Ran be the one behind researching something like sequence particles?
The man’s priorities made his intentions all too clear to Lu Yin.
Also, You Fang was not afraid of revealing such information to Xuan Qi, as the young man had killed Shao Qingfeng, which gave the You family incredible leverage to use against the young man.
This was exactly what Lu Yin wanted You Fang to believe, as this would allow them to truly cooperate with each other. After all, Lu Yin was also targeting the ruler of the Transcendent Universe.
"If you want to know exactly what cultivation technology the Energy Research Group is studying, your only option is to visit their old base and look around," Lu Yin told You Fang.
The man frowned. "That place is in a state of constant hyper-a.n.a.lysis, which means that not even peak powerhouses can sneak in. While I could just turn it off, that would be no different from telling He Ran that I’m responsible.
"I was hoping that Zi Jing would have told you something. She never said anything?"
Lu Yin shook his head. "There were always people watching when we met, and the only time we’ve seen each other outside of the Transcendent Universe’s surveillance was in the Sixverse Academy when Senior You Teng brought her to see me. You can ask Senior You Teng if he heard her mention anything about the cultivation technology."
How could Lu Yin simply give You Fang the information about the sequence particle research when he needed the You family to carry out various tasks for him?
You Fang felt helpless. He knew You Teng all too well, and the man would never eavesdrop on other people"s conversations. However, the fact that Xuan Qi had made this offer meant that the youth most likely knew nothing about Zi Jing’s research.
"We’ll create an opportunity for you to do some great accomplishment for He Ran so that you can ask to see Zi Jing again."
Lu Yin said, "That won’t work at all. Uncle Mo was keeping an eye on us the last time we met."
You Fang pondered.
Lu Yin then said, "I have a way for us to get into that place."
You Fang was taken aback. "What can you do?"
"There’s a group of cultivators from the Cloudflow Universe who have been trying to save Cloudflow. Are you aware of that?" Lu Yin asked.
"I do. They’re always being observed by the hyper-a.n.a.lysis mode. There’s nothing that they can do to escape that surveillance."
Lu Yin explained, "We can use them and have them rush into that place. After all, everyone in the Transcendent Universe already knows that they’ve been trying to free Cloudflow for forever, so we can just let them attack the place. With them there, no one will know if I also sneak in. If I can destroy the hyper-a.n.a.lysis mode as soon as I get there, then even if it’s discovered that someone else was also present, it will be a.s.sumed that its a Cloudflow Universe cultivator trying to remain hidden. No one will guess that I’m responsible, and there won’t be any evidence pointing to your You family."
You Fang"s eyes lit up. "How do you want to go about using them? They aren’t idiots."
Lu Yin looked up. "Send me to the Cloudflow Universe."
…
When Lu Yin had first arrived in the Sixverse a.s.sociation, his first, brief, stop had been the Transcendent Universe. There, he had almost immediately been sent to the Cloudflow Universe.
After arriving in the Transcendent Universe, as soon as Zi Jing had agreed to continue her research, Lu Yin had been sent to the Cloudflow Universe. There, he had seen the bestowal art carriers and had been stunned by the power of the Transcendent Universe. However, he had also witnessed the cruelty of the universe.
While defending a bestowal art carrier, Lu Yin had met a woman who was a native of the Cloudflow Universe. From her, he had learned what the Transcendent Universe had been doing to the Cloudflow Universe. His current trip to the universe was to find that same woman.
The only way that Lu Yin could get the natives of the Cloudflow Universe to break into the research site was by convincing them to do so.
Before making the trip, Lu Yin had asked You Fang to check which people from the Cloudflow Universe were fighting on the bestowal art carriers in the Cloudflow Universe. Fortunately, the woman had not died.
The people of the Cloudflow Universe were always sent as the vanguard, and it was practically guaranteed for them to die in battle. It was surprising to learn that the woman was still alive, as several years had already pa.s.sed. It could only be said that she was a talented individual.
A black beam tore through outer s.p.a.ce, and the misty energy that filled the universe was churned into chaos. As Lu Yin looked out into the Cloudflow Universe, he saw a group of cultivators be sent to their deaths.
With the help of the You family, Lu Yin arrived at a specific bestowal art carrier, and he made his way to the section where the Cloudflow Universe natives could be found.
In this place, despite the number of people, it was silent. Not a single person spoke, and the atmosphere was filled with utter despair.
These people knew that they would soon die, only to be replaced by more people from their universe. The same thing repeated day after day.
Before long, the fighting died down, and the natives of the Cloudflow Universe who had gone out to fight returned, most of them injured.
Lu Yin saw the woman he had been looking for. She was much stronger than when they had first met, though her eyes were now devoid of emotion. She sat alone in a corner, simply zoning out.
"Why don"t you help them?" Lu Yin asked as he took a seat next to the woman.
She was startled by his sudden presence and reflexively pulled back, warily regarding her unexpected visitor.
The people nearby did not seem to even see the young man, as they all continued to sit in silence.
The woman stared at Lu Yin. "Is it really you?"
Lu Yin smiled. "It’s been quite some time."
The woman could not believe who she was seeing. "Why are you here?"
"I came to see you."
"To see me?" The woman felt lost.
Lu Yin raised a hand and briefly set it on the woman’s shoulder. She had reached a level comparable to an Enlighter, but she was still completely unable to resist this young man. The void opened, and she was dragged away by Lu Yin. They arrived in Aeternus Nation.
Once she was released, the woman pulled back and moved away from Lu Yin while staring at him in terror. Chills covered her body, and spots of light appeared around her.
"Have you already forgotten the first time you met me?" Lu Yin teased.
The woman was startled, and the lights disappeared. It was true, attacking this man would be pointless, as she was no match for him at all.
"Who are you? Why did you come find me?"
"I want to work with you."
"Work with me?" The woman was confused.
Lu Yin clasped his hands behind his back as he calmly explained, "There is a forbidden area in the Transcendent Universe. Due to an accident that occurred when they were mining resources there, the place has become completely inhospitable, and it’s no different from a death trap. However, there’s a research facility hidden there, and I want to get into it and find something.”
"What does that have to do with me?" The woman was even more confused.
Lu Yin answered with a smile, "I can"t go in there on my own. I happened to discover that there is a group of people from your Cloudflow Universe hiding in the Transcendent Universe, and they periodically attack this facility. They’re trying to save Cloudflow."
The woman"s pupils instantly shrank, and she stared at Lu Yin for a moment before taking a step forward. "Lord Cloudflow?"
Lu Yin nodded. "That"s what they called him, Lord Cloudflow. He should be an extremely powerful expert who’s been imprisoned in that place by the Transcendent Universe. Unfortunately, your people never succeed in freeing him."
The woman grew excited. "Where is Lord Cloudflow being held? Is this really true?"
"If you don"t believe me, I can take you to meet with the other people from your Cloudflow Universe. While they fail every time they attack the research facility, more of your people continuously join their efforts. I believe that you must already know something about this, as everyone in their group is from your Cloudflow Universe," Lu Yin said with a smile.
The woman said nothing. She did not know if she was being lied to or not, but it was true that, before she had been sent to the bestowal art carrier, the people of the Cloudflow Universe had been internally separated. One group had been sent to obey the orders of the Transcendent Universe, while the other group had been hidden away. The goal of the hidden group was to sneak into the Transcendent Universe and rescue Lord Cloudflow.
There were powerful people from the Cloudflow Universe who were able to freely enter and leave the Transcendent Universe. This was one of their greatest secrets.
This woman could have gone to the Transcendent Universe with the other group, but she had wanted to protect her family, so she had hidden her talent and innate gift so that she could stay with them.
However, her entire family was already long dead. She had not been able to protect them.