Chapter 2676 – Taking Away
Lu Yin wandered around the sixteenth level and looked around. All of the researchers in this facility were among the best in the entire Transcendent Universe. If the information broker was among these people like Lu Yin suspected, then they had to be among the people that Lu Yin was looking at.
"Aren"t you going to go down to the seventeenth level?" A-Mei asked.
Lu Yin replied, "I"m looking for something. You can head on down. I"ve already done everything that I will."
A-Mei’s eyes remained firm. They had never come so close to rescuing Lord Cloudflow before, and they were so close that she was already able to feel the churning power of Lord Cloudflow down below. "Thank you."
With that, she turned and followed the rest of the cultivators from the Cloudflow Universe. She wanted to move on and reach the lowest level so that they could rescue Lord Cloudflow.
Explosions rocked every part of the research facility, and the hyper-a.n.a.lysis mode had already been disabled. The events taking place in the research base were not known to anyone outside.
He Ran and everyone else believed that everything was still under control, and by the time they realized anything, the attackers would be long gone.
There was most likely someone nearby who was capable of using a black energy converter, but they were not actively monitoring the research facility. Even so, it would not take them long to notice that something was wrong, and then they would try to make contact with the facility. As soon as they failed to make contact, that expert would immediately show up.
Lu Yin kept his domain spread out so that not a single detail escaped his notice, and also so that he could finish what he needed as quickly as possible.
As Lu Yin searched, he released Luo Lao"er from a Zenith Mountain. "Call your information broker."
Luo Lao"er did not dare to hesitate, and he immediately made the call.
With Lu Yin’s domain covering everything, he was aware of every detail in the research facility. The moment that Luo Lao’er made the call and a display flickered to life, Lu Yin saw it. It was less than a kilometer away.
He instantly appeared in a dark room and saw Luo Lao"er’s image on the display. This was indeed the location from which the information broker had communicated with Luo Lao’er.
Lu Yin looked around the room and found a picture. Was that the information broker?
He returned to his previous location, walked over to Xiao Hai, and looked down at the man.
"Brother-in-law, is that him?" Luo Lao"er was surprised.
Lu Yin put Luo Lao"er back into the Zenith Mountain, opened Xiao Hai"s hand, wrote something on it, and then vanished.
It was time to meet with Cloudflow.
Down on the seventeenth level, the people from the Cloudflow Universe had already reached Cloudflow’s prison and were attacking the metal door to the powerhouse’s cell. However, none of their attacks had any effect.
Behind the door, Cloudflow stared forward, his eyes bloodshot as he roared in a hoa.r.s.e voice, "Get out! Get out! Get out!"
His voice had no trouble reaching outside the room, as that was precisely what the researchers wanted. It was important that Lord Cloudflow be heard by his people, as it was difficult to have perfect data without despair.
"Lord Cloudflow, we won’t give up! We will definitely rescue you!"
"Lord Cloudflow, we’re here for you!"
"Lord, you will be able to leave soon!"
…
A-Mei gritted her teeth as she continued to attack the metal door. However, no matter what any of their people did, the metal door did not move the slightest.
Within the cell, Cloudflow closed his eyes. He had already grown numb. He had watched one group after another of his people die, but it had all been for naught. Why was this happening? If he had not opened up that connection to the Transcendent Universe, he would have never ended up in his current predicament. He hated the Transcendent Universe, but he hated himself even more. He had a.s.sumed that he no longer needed to fear anything after reaching the peak, but the megaverse was vaster than anything he could have ever imagined, and the future could not be predicted. Cloudflow hated that no one would ever know of his fate.
Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, and he turned to look in a certain direction. As he stared, Lu Yin stepped out. The captive man stared at the newcomer in shock.
"Who are you?" Cloudflow was stunned, as it was impossible to enter his cell by tearing through the void, so how had this person succeeded?
Lu Yin had obtained an innate gift of spatial control, and thus, it was no challenge for him to enter the cell.
"Do you want to leave?" Lu Yin calmly asked.
Cloudflow stared at Lu Yin. The energy that resembled flowing clouds was ma.s.sive but there was a bestowal art carrier that hung downwards to form a cage that looked somewhat similar to a sourcebox array. Lu Yin had seen such things before, as the Transcendent Universe’s Bestowal Art also used something that resembled sourcebox arrays to harvest the matter and energy from sourceboxes. The power that was harvested was used to both charge energy converters and power bestowal art carriers.
Not even Cloudflow could break free from this cage.
Furthermore, there was something corroding Cloudflow"s limbs, while leaving his power that looked like flowing clouds unaffected. The man was bait that lured in others from his universe, but Cloudflow himself was regarded as practically useless.
"Who are you?" The cage of clouds shifted and released a deep sound that resembled gentle waves striking a piece of metal. As the sound echoed out, Cloudflow was knocked back.
Lu Yin slowly walked towards the captive powerhouse. "I’ll ask you again—do you want to leave?"
Outside the metal door, the people from the Cloudflow Universe shouted in despair as they continued to bombard the metal door.
Cloudflow"s eyes were so bloodshot that he was practically shedding tears of blood. "What do you think?"
"Would you still be willing to leave if I placed a control mechanism in your body?" Lu Yin asked again.
"What do you want me to do? Do you want to control me?" Cloudflow snapped.
Lu Yin frowned. "A very powerful person will arrive here soon. We don"t have much time. I’ll ask again—are you willing?"
Cloudflow’s entire body trembled badly. Despite being a peak powerhouse, he had been imprisoned and left helpless, and now, he was about to be controlled. In the entire megaverse, how many times had a peak powerhouse been controlled in such a manner? It was completely unheard of.
"No matter what, it won"t be worse than being locked up here. Listen to their desperate cries. There won’t be any of them left at all soon," Lu Yin commented emotionlessly.
Cloudflow’s head snapped up, and he said, "Take them with me, and I will agree."
A smile appeared on Lu Yin’s face, and he raised a hand, sending a Death Seal towards Cloudflow. The man shouted, "Destroy the barrier first, or else your power won’t be able to reach me."
However, before the man had even finished speaking, the Death Seal had already pa.s.sed through the cage and entered his body.
Cloudflow could not believe his eyes. How was that possible? This cage formed from the Bestowal Art was able to trap even him, so how was it unable to stop this person’s power? Or was it simply impossible for anything to exit the cage, as nothing was hindered from entering the cage?
Naturally, things were not nearly that convenient. Lu Yin’s control over s.p.a.ce, combined with his increasing mastery of Xu Wuwei’s battle technique, he was becoming increasingly proficient in controlling s.p.a.ce. To some degree, he was even able to ignore his opponents’ defenses. This was some of what was possible with the power of s.p.a.ce.
The moment the Death Seal entered Cloudflow"s body, a pair of eyes snapped open in a distant location. "Not good, something’s happening!"
The next moment, black energy pierced through s.p.a.ce as a powerhouse made their way to the research facility.
Lu Yin took out his slipper and smacked the base of the cage formed from the Bestowal Art, instantly shattering the construct. Cloudflow was becoming more shocked as things proceeded. A slipper?
Lu Yin pulled out a Zenith Mountain. "Get in."
The man entered without any hesitation.
Lu Yin then raised a hand and lashed out with a palm strike that instantly shattered the metal door.
Outside the cell, the people from the Cloudflow Universe all stared at Lu Yin in a daze. It had never occurred to them that he would appear from inside.
A-Mei"s eyes went wide with disbelief.
Suddenly, the beam of black energy attacked the facility. "You all came here to die!"
The entire place was shattered as a terrifying power descended. Everyone from the Cloudflow Universe instantly fell into despair.
Lu Yin also privately felt that this was a big problem, as a powerhouse had arrived. He could not fight against a powerhouse, as he would have no way to explain himself to You Fang.
There was no way that Yu Fang would ever believe that Xuan Qi was capable of fighting back against a peak powerhouse, and the man would instantly grow suspicious.
The only option available was to escape.
He tore through the void, and as he did so, the people outside the cell who were still in front of Lu Yin were wiped out, reduced to nothing but ashes before they even had a chance to scream.
Black energy shot through everything, ruthlessly harvesting lives as it continued to spread.
No one could escape. Not one person could endure against a peak powerhouse.
Lu Yin moved to step through the void and escape, when he felt an inexplicable skip of his heart. He looked back and saw A-Mei standing just outside the cell. She was not looking at the beam of black energy that was sweeping towards her, but was rather staring at Lu Yin. On top of that, he did not see despair in her eyes, but a jumble of emotions that was predominated by relief.
Lu Yin did not know why, but he shot through the void, grabbed the woman, and dragged her away from the black beam. He then tore through the void once more, and left the universe.
He could not say why he had rescued A-Mei. All he knew was that he had felt that the woman should live. People should live, right? The scene from the previous night had left an impression on his mind that still lingered.
Lu Yin vanished, though all of the other people from the Cloudflow Universe who had also attacked the research facility were wiped out.
A man arrived, and he stared through the doorway into the cell. He saw that the frame of the Bestowal Art cage had been shattered, and also that Cloudflow was gone.
The man’s expression turned ugly, and black energy surged from him as he searched the area and let out a frustrated roar.
…
In Aeternus Nation, A-Mei fell from high in the sky and struck the ground.
Lu Yin landed beside her, and she looked over at him. "Where is Lord Cloudflow?"
"Have you ever considered your own safety?"
A-Mei answered in a bitter tone, "How can my safety compare to Lord Cloudflow’s?"
Lu Yin shook his head. If something befell the Fifth Mainland and he was captured, there were many people who would do the same for him. Only if there was a chance of him surviving would there be a possibility of the Fifth Mainland eventually being reborn.
There were some powerhouses who were ruthless and did not care if everyone else sacrificed themselves, but Cloudflow was not that cruel.
Lu Yin took out the Zenith Mountain that held Cloudflow. The man was a truly powerful expert, and Lu Yin did not want to risk anyone’s life, so he had made sure to place Cloudflow in a Zenith Mountain without anyone else on it.
As soon as the Zenith Mountain was brought out, Cloudflow emerged.
"Lord Cloudflow!" A-Mei was ecstatic to see the man.
Cloudflow floated in the air. His limbs had all been corroded, which meant that this was the only way he could remain upright.
He first looked at A-Mei, and then at Lu Yin. Cloudflow asked in a hoa.r.s.e voice, "Where are the rest?"
Lu Yin felt helpless. "A powerhouse arrived before I could escape. I couldn’t save the rest."
"You promised me!" Cloudflow roared.
Lu Yin stared at the man. "I have my own reasons for saving you, but it looks like you want to use this as an excuse to cancel your deal with me. What? Do you want to try to remove the power that I placed within you?"
Of course Cloudflow was unwilling to be controlled by another. He may have shown a specific demeanor while imprisoned, but after being released, he naturally revealed a different att.i.tude. After all, Lu Yin was not some powerhouse, though his mysteriousness did leave Cloudflow wary. For the moment, he did not know what to do.
Furthermore, Cloudflow was not in prime condition, and given his injuries, he could only exert about half of his full power.
"Lord Cloudflow!" A-Mei shouted.
Cloudflow looked over. "How is the Cloudflow Universe?"
A-Mei drily answered, “We’ve been conquered by the Transcendent Universe, and they use our people as the vanguard against the Aeternals…”
Cloudflow listened in silence, though he expected all that he heard. The current Cloudflow Universe had nothing more than a single percentage of its peak power in the past. His universe had truly fallen. If Cloudflow could go back there, he would be able to recover much more quickly. However, he looked over at Lu Yin. "Who are you? Why did you save me?"
Lu Yin laughed. "Get it straight. I didn’t save you, I want to control you."
A-Mei shot a fierce glare at Lu Yin. "You want to control Lord Cloudflow?"
Lu Yin replied, "You and I were only using each other. I helped you rescue him from his prison, so whatever I do now is none of your business."
"You used us to stay hidden!" A-Mei was not stupid. Given the strength that Lu Yin had revealed, it was clear that he could have easily invaded the research facility, but despite that, he had cooperated with the people from the Cloudflow Universe. The only possible explanation was that he wanted to remain hidden in the crowd.
Cloudflow waved a hand and pushed A-Mei aside. "Stay back. I refuse to believe that he can control me."
The man stared straight at Lu Yin. "Child, you freed me from that prison, and I’m grateful for that. For that reason, I’ll give you a chance: try to control me. If you can’t do it, then you and I don’t owe each other anything."
The man’s expression then grew fierce, and he tried to eject the Death Seal from his body.