Chapter 2706 – Preparing To Take Action
Lord Wei had already confirmed that the You family had not freed Cloudflow, and while he had not initially suspected anyone from the Three Monarchs Universe due to their cooperation with He Ran, in the end, Monarch Luo had actually been working with the You family. This naturally caused Lord Wei to suspect Monarch Luo, and he even met with Monarch Luo in person.
Monarch Luo had denied doing anything to the Energy Research Group or any research facility. The only people from the Three Monarchs Universe who had known about the location of that hidden research facility were Monarch Luo and the leader of the Mo Courtyard: Chen Le.
As a Monarch, Chen Le was a peak powerhouse who was capable of breaking into the hidden research facility. Additionally, when Lord Wei had been fighting against the You family, someone had broken into the senior researcher’s personal lab and stolen a black energy converter. That was another attack that could have only been made by a peak powerhouse.
"Monarch Luo a.s.sured Lord Wei that I had nothing to do with either attack, but it’s clear that Lord Wei is still suspicious of me," Chen Le said.
Lu Yin started thinking. Lord Wei did not truly care about the research facility that had been attacked; he might not even care that Cloudflow had escaped and that a black energy converter had been stolen. Rather, Lord Wei was most likely concerned about how everything had happened, including how Xiao Hai had disappeared. Lord Wei was no fool, and he was likely able to infer a great deal about what had happened.
The members of the You family were all highly intelligent, but Lord Wei was just as smart.
With such a person suspicious of him, it made sense for Chen Le to be worried.
"If you aren’t guilty, then just let him investigate," Lu Yin suggested.
Chen Le frowned. "I"m afraid that he’ll learn about the Liberation Palace."
That caused Lu Yin"s heart to sink. While it was true that Chen Le had not attacked the Transcendent Universe, his connection to the Liberation Palace was not something that could stay hidden after any sort of real investigation. As soon as Lord Wei decided to investigate Chen Le, he would undoubtedly find the connection to the Liberation Palace, as well as the attack on the Bai clan.
Monarch Luo had not bothered to look into anything, but Lord Wei was different, as he was already suspicious of Chen Le.
As soon as Chen Le’s connection to the Liberation Palace was discovered, Xuan Qi would have no place to stay in the Transcendent Universe.
Lu Yin rubbed his head. No plan was perfect, no matter how much effort was put into it. Flaws would always appear.
He had always known that his activities in the Sixverse a.s.sociation would eventually be discovered and that Xuan Qi would be connected to Lu Yin, but he had wanted some more time.
At the very least, it should be after he had dealt with the Three Monarchs Universe or the Transcendent Universe.
Chen Le did not disturb Lu Yin. The Monarch also had a headache, as he was unexpectedly and suddenly being targeted by Lord Wei.
Only the bad timing of Chen Le’s breakthrough could be blamed. If he were still a Demi-Monarch, Lord Wei would not have any suspicions, as a Demi-Monarch was incapable of what had happened in the Transcendent Universe.
The Monarch glanced at Lu Yin with a sudden coldness in his eyes. This boy"s wanton behavior had driven Chen Le to despair.
Lu Yin noticed the glance and frowned. "You"re blaming me."
Chen Le stated in a cold voice, "You and I should have taken everything into account when we first decided to work together. If I had known that this would happen, I would have never given you that location."
Lu Yin stared at Chen Le. "Because of you, I’m also being targeted by the Liberation Palace. If not for our cooperation, I wouldn"t have asked my senior brother to help you break through. There’s a price to pay for any cooperation."
"You’re being targeted by the Liberation Palace?" Chen Le was taken aback.
Lu Yin explained, "I"m not entirely sure. I’ve received multiple invitations from the Arboreal Realm’s Bureau branch, and Bureau Director Gan even made a personal visit to see me in the Red Zone. I can’t say for sure whether Mr. Daheng is connected to any of it."
Chen Le was rather irritated. He was being targeted by both Lord Wei and the Liberation Palace, and if either he or Lu Yin made the slightest mistake, Chen Le would be exposed. If that happened, where would he be able to go?
Even if he was not hunted down due to his status as a peak powerhouse, at the very least, his reputation would be completely destroyed.
The megaverse was ma.s.sive, but even the most powerful people could only see the Sixverse a.s.sociation and its a.s.sociated parallel universe. If Chen Le was driven from there, what else was there?
"In that case, what should we do now?" Chen Le felt rather confused. He was not afraid, but just very nervous.
Lu Yin spent some time thinking about the situation. "Right now, Lord Wei is merely watching you as he hasn’t been able to confirm if anything is really connected to you. On top of that, you truly don’t have anything to do with what he’s looking into, so I’m going to go create some trouble for Lord Wei."
"What are you going to do?" Chen Le asked.
Lu Yin replied, "Don"t worry about it, you won"t be exposed. Your status and position here are going to be very useful as I work against the Three Monarchs Universe. Have you forgotten that I’m targeting the Three Monarchs Universe? Neither Monarch Luo nor Wei Lord are able to stop me."
Chen Le exhaled. "There’s nothing I can do."
Lu Yin nodded. "True, you can’t do anything. Since Lord Wei is watching you, I’m quite sure that he has some way to track your whereabouts. It might be something that not even Monarch Luo can detect or see through, so don"t do anything at all.”
“I’ll bring out Cloudflow. It’s time for him to get some revenge.”
Chen Le stared at Lu Yin. He had not known about the connection between Lu Yin and Cloudflow, but it was clear that Cloudflow had also fallen under Lu Yin’s control.
Regardless of anything else, Cloudflow was still a peak powerhouse. Even if he had been defeated and was one of the weakest people at his level, that did not change that Cloudflow was a peak powerhouse.
Lu Yin’s power base was constantly rising, and it seemed quite likely that the Heavens Sect had already surpa.s.sed the Three Monarchs Universe.
Thinking about this, Chen Le felt a bit better.
"I want to remind you about something. Will you listen?" Chen Le’s eyes locked onto Lu Yin.
Lu Yin looked back at the man.
"You can target the Three Monarchs Universe, but you must never even think about trying to go after the Sixverse a.s.sociation," Chen Le stated.
A smile spread across Lu Yin"s face. "Don"t worry, I"m not that stupid. All I want is to replace the Three Monarchs Universe as a member of the Sixverse a.s.sociation."
Chen Le nodded. "Good."
The Monarch was ignorant of Lu Yin’s conflict with the Sixverse a.s.sociation, and he also knew nothing about the fact that the Lu family had been exiled by the Cyclic Universe. The man had only just become a peak powerhouse, and he had spent all of his time in the Three Monarchs Universe. He knew nothing about such matters.
If Chen Le had known of such things in the past, he would have never cooperated with Lu Yin, even if it had cost him his life.
For people like Chen Le who had been born within the Sixverse a.s.sociation, the organization was a true monster. It was impossible for them to imagine even a peak powerhouse becoming the enemy of the Sixverse a.s.sociation.
Lu Yin left and returned to Aeternus Nation before making his way to the Heavens Sect. He sought out Master Shan and took back the black energy converter from the man before going to find Cloudflow. "It"s time to move. I’m giving you a chance to get revenge on the Transcendent Universe."
Cloudflow’s head rose. His crippled limbs were gradually recovering, and the moment he heard Lu Yin’s words, excitement filled the older man’s eyes, concealing an unforgettable hatred. "Thank you, Dao Monarch."
…
The Cloudflow Universe was exactly the same as when Lu Yin had last visited it. It was a parallel universe that had been conquered by the Transcendent Universe, and it was also one of the frontlines in the war against Aeternus. It was the permanent site for one of the three largest bestowal art carriers in existence.
The constant fighting, blood, and death that filled the universe had long left the cultivators from the Cloudflow Universe numb.
As a beam of white light shot out and pierced a Semi-Progenitor-level corpse king, the battlefield slowly ground to a halt.
Battles were constantly being fought in the Cloudflow Universe, but none of them were particularly large, and it was unusual for any true experts to partic.i.p.ate.
Qiu Zhan stood at the center of the bestowal art carrier. His expression was stern as he stared out at the stars with heavy eyes.
Behind him was a blonde woman whose hair covered her eyes. She watched as the fighting died down and voiced her irritation. "Why did you activate the carrier? Lord Wei has asked that more of the Cloudflow Universe cultivators be used up."
Qiu Zhan coldly replied, "I know what I’m doing."
The woman stared at him and clearly wanted to say something, but she refrained from doing so.
She had been sent by Lord Wei to keep an eye on this particular battlefield. Cloudflow had disappeared, and he would most likely return to the Cloudflow Universe at some point in time. The Transcendent Universe had been searching for Cloudflow, but it was extremely difficult to track peak powerhouses. The best method at their disposal was to send out more of Cloudflow’s people to die while constantly capturing more and more of them. The idea was to force Cloudflow to take action.
To the Transcendent Universe, cultivators from the Cloudflow Universe were not worth much, and their greatest value was in drawing out Cloudflow.
Qiu Zhan was fully aware of Lord Wei’s intentions, but Qiu Zhan was the commander of this particular battlefield, and his goal was to defeat the enemy, not to send his own people to their deaths. Even if they were from the Cloudflow Universe, as long as they fought under his command, they were considered his people who fought to defeat the Aeternals. Qiu Zhan would not waste those lives.
The woman turned around and walked away.
The commander frowned; was she going to make another report to Lord Wei? Qiu Zhan was not certain how much longer he would remain in charge of the battlefield.
Lu Yin and Cloudflow appeared in a distant location, and Cloudflow immediately grew excited when he looked around at the familiar Cloudflow Universe. This was his universe, and returning home had been a luxury even in his dreams.
"Right now, we’re only here to make some trouble for the leader of the Transcendent Universe, so I want you to take away some of the captives from your universe. We aren’t anywhere close to strong enough to help you get your universe back, but you should understand how powerful the Transcendent Universe is. If you don’t want to be recaptured, then given our current strength, it would be best if you just listen to me," Lu Yin warned.
Cloudflow took a deep breath and then suppressed his excitement. "Don"t worry, I understand."
The two men soon caught sight of the bestowal art carrier.
As they approached, Lu Yin stared at the distant monstrosity. The last time he had seen it, he had only taken A-mei away, but this time, he intended to take all of the people from the Cloudflow Universe away in order to trouble Lord Wei a bit.
Taking these people would undoubtedly anger Lord Wei, but so what? Cloudflow"s disappearance had already infuriated the ruler of the Transcendent Universe, and capturing these people would not make that any worse.
Lu Yin and Cloudflow quickly snuck onto the bestowal art carrier. Lu Yin had previously infiltrated the carrier with the help of You family, and while they had since revoked his authorization, no one knew that he was fully capable of sneaking onto it without any a.s.sistance.
Lu Yin did not want to attract Qiu Zhan"s attention, as the situation would quickly turn tricky if a peak powerhouse got involved.
Lu Yin had explored this particular bestowal art carrier several times already, so it was easy for him to find the people from the Cloudflow Universe, as that was the place where he had taken A-mei from.
However, when the two men arrived, they discovered that not a single person from the Cloudflow Universe was present. They had been moved elsewhere.
"We should move further in. They’re afraid that I’ll try to save my people," Cloudflow said with a gloomy expression.
Lu Yin had no choice but to lead Cloudflow around the carrier. However, once they started moving in a particular direction, Lu Yin froze. "We can"t go that way. There’s a hyper-a.n.a.lysis mode up ahead."
"That’s where they should be," Cloudflow replied. He had also detected the hyper-a.n.a.lysis mode.
The most important and sensitive locations of the bestowal art carrier were constantly under hyper-a.n.a.lysis mode, and it made sense that the Transcendent Universe would not want anyone to know where the people from the Cloudflow Universe were being kept.
It was no challenge to break the hyper-a.n.a.lysis mode, but that would instantly attract Qiu Zhan’s attention.
"We can just wait for the fighting to restart to take them," Cloudflow said.
Lu Yin shook his head. "The size of the battle determines how many of your people they send out. There’s no guarantee that you’ll get all of them."
After thinking for a moment, Lu Yin decided not to rush things. When the fighting started up again, he would find a way to take advantage of the corpse kings’ a.s.sault to destroy the hyper-a.n.a.lysis mode. If that did not work, then he could only use the brute-force method, though he would still need to determine the location of their targets first.
At this moment, a group of people emerged from the area that was under the hyper-a.n.a.lysis mode’s surveillance. They were being led by a woman with long blonde hair that hung over her eyes. Her face and demeanor were both similarly cold, and a group of more than a dozen women from the Cloudflow Universe followed behind her. Every last one of the women was strikingly beautiful.
Lu Yin watched them, and a vague suspicion appeared in his mind.
As for Cloudflow, killing intent blazed in his eyes.
"Don"t get worked up. We’re just going to follow them and take a look at things. We can get a location from these people. Even if that doesn’t work, we can just take them all," Lu Yin said.
Cloudflow nodded, and the two men followed the women.