Chapter 2959: Target: Qing Ping
It had already been three years since Lu Yin had officially become one of the True G.o.d Guard Captains, and this was the fifth parallel universe that he had been sent to destroy.
He had not yet encountered a parallel universe occupied by humans, and all of them had been filled with either astral beasts or bugs, like the current one. Lu Yin had also encountered a parallel universe that had only recently produced life. He had no idea why the Aeternals wanted to destroy such a universe. In addition to Ye Bo, all the other True G.o.d Guard Captains were carrying out similar missions.
As for the Sixverse a.s.sociation, the Aeternals did not seem to care at all. Lu Yin had heard a lot of rumors concerning the Sixverse a.s.sociation, all of which were related to the Aeternals" defeat.
On both the Endless Frontier and the border warfronts of the various member universes, the Sixverse a.s.sociation had gained a strong advantage, and Aeternus was unable to hold its head up high anywhere within the Sixverse a.s.sociation’s domain.
This news was not enough to cheer Lu Yin up. The Aeternals possessed an unimaginable foundation and strength. The reason why they had not fought a decisive battle against the Sixverse a.s.sociation yet was simply because they were waiting for their True G.o.d and the Seven SkyG.o.ds. As soon as the True G.o.d emerged from seclusion, he would descend upon the Sixverse a.s.sociation with the terrifying Ossis Ark. At that moment, the Sixverse a.s.sociation would be destroyed.
For three years, Lu Yin had searched everywhere for more information, and he had become increasingly convinced that this Ossis Ark was the exact thing that Yu Huo had mentioned. This made Lu Yin quite anxious. As soon as the Ossis Ark entered the Sixverse a.s.sociation, everything would be destroyed.
Lu Yin needed to find some way to get close to the Ossis Ark. It would be best if he could actually destroy it.
Unfortunately, such a task would undoubtedly be far more difficult than killing one of the Seven SkyG.o.ds.
The Five Spirits Alliance and the Luna Alliance went to war. Lu Yin understood that the Five Spirits Alliance was aware that the Aeternals were instigating the war, but this war was still allowed to proceed. Lu Yin hoped that the entire thing was nothing more than a farce, as a real war would do nothing more than waste strength that could eventually be turned against the Aeternals.
The universe continued to collapse. Lu Yin turned around and stepped through a cosmic door, leaving the universe.
That parallel universe was already done for.
Shortly after returning to the Scourge, Lu Yin was absorbing divine energy when a stone fell from the sky. This stone was none other than Stone Ghost, one of the True G.o.d Guard Captains.
"What are you doing here?" Lu Yin asked in an emotionless voice. During his time in the Scourge, other than his interactions with Progenitor Xi or Yu Huo, Ye Bo had been indifferent to everyone else. The Chiliagonist had tried to get to know Ye Bo better, but he had been given the cold shoulder every time.
The less contact there was with others, the less likely Lu Yin was to reveal any flaws in his disguise. On top of that, Ye Bo was known to be a cold and indifferent person.
However, his indifference did not make anyone uncomfortable as they were all part of Aeternus. In the Scourge, smiles were a foreign concept, whereas Ye Bo’s behavior was considered normal.
"Progenitor Xi is calling us." Stone Ghost sounded strange when he spoke, like a vibrating rock. It was unpleasant to listen to.
Lu Yin continued to absorb divine energy. He had frequently mentioned that he used divine energy in all of his missions, as this gave him an excuse to always be cultivating more divine energy.
Over the past three years, the divine energy that had originally only been a small red dot in Lu Yin’s universe had grown a great deal. Now, it was the size of a walnut.
Soon after, Da Hei arrived, appearing nearby.
Right after that, Progenitor Xi arrived. "I"m sorry, you three. You’ve all just recently completed a mission, but a new one has already been a.s.signed to you. This one is both urgent and very important, so I hope that you three will do your best to complete it.
"It must succeed at all costs."
Lu Yin stared at Progenitor Xi. Even his first mission, which had been the attack on the Five Spirits Alliance, had not caused the woman to be so solemn.
Progenitor Xi looked at Ye Bo. "Ye Bo, have you heard of Qing Ping, the Interstellar Supreme Court’s Chief Justice?"
Lu Yin"s expression did not change at all, but his heart dropped. "I"ve never heard of him before."
Progenitor Xi was not surprised. "You spent all your time in the Origin Universe’s Perennial World, so it makes sense for you to not have heard of him before. Qing Ping is the Chief Justice of the Neoverse’s Hall of Honor in the Origin Universe’s Fifth Mainland. He was always in the Fifth Mainland until the Dao Monarch of the Heavens Sect, Lu Yin, appeared and entered the Perennial World. As time pa.s.sed, more and more news regarding the Fifth Mainland spread, but by that time, you had already disappeared.
"After Lu Yin became the ruler of the Origin Universe, Qing Ping only visited the Perennial World a few times, so there was never much of an opportunity for you to have heard of him.
"While Qing Ping is only a Semi-Progenitor, he is extremely important. He is Lu Yin"s senior disciple brother, and he is also your target for your next mission. I want you three and your teams to work together to capture Qing Ping. He needs to be kept alive, as we need to transform him into a corpse king."
Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed, flickering with killing intent. They wanted to go after Senior Brother Qing Ping?
"Where is he?" Lu Yin asked.
Progenitor Xi replied, "In one of the Endless Frontier’s parallel universes."
Lu Yin had known that Qing Ping was training on the Endless Frontier in preparation for his breakthrough to become a Progenitor, but he had not known that Qing Ping had never left the Endless Frontier. It was also unexpected for the Aeternals to target the man.
However, it also made sense. They were not able to directly deal with Lu Yin, so it was not unreasonable for Aeternus to start targeting those close to Lu Yin. His senior brother, Qing Ping was the best target.
Fortunately, Lu Yin had managed to infiltrate the Aeternals, as otherwise, Qing Ping would have been in grave danger. There would have been no warning that the man was being targeted.
However, this line of thinking also seemed wrong. If Aeternus really wanted to get rid of Qing Ping, they should have done so long ago. It should have been impossible for them to leave the man on the Endless Frontier for so long. They had attacked him on several occasions in the past, but after failing, no true experts had gone after the man. This did not align with the Aeternals’ typical methods.
Could there be a different reason for targeting Qing Ping? Something that did not involve Lu Yin? Could there be a connection to someone else?
This possibility instantly made Lu Yin think of their master, Mister Mu.
The Sixverse a.s.sociation had no contact with the Immemorial Citadel at the moment, but the Aeternals were different. Over the last three years, Lu Yin had learned one very important detail; the Aeternals were fighting on an absolutely terrifying battlefield, which was against the Immemorial Citadel.
It was possible to reach the Immemorial Citadel through the Aeternals’ territory.
This was something that Lu Yin was very interested in.
If Qing Ping was indeed being targeted because of Mister Mu, then this mission had to be related to the Immemorial Citadel.
Lu Yin’s mind started racing. He had no idea if his suspicions were correct or not, but regardless, he would not allow anything to happen to his senior brother.
"You three must capture Qing Ping. This mission is of the utmost importance. I hope that you understand." Progenitor Xi"s expression grew ugly as she became far more serious while staring at the three True G.o.d Guard Captains.
Lu Yin was the first to reply, "Don"t worry, Senior Progenitor Xi. We will make sure to capture Qing Ping."
Progenitor Xi was satisfied with this response. All of the True G.o.d Guard Captains had weird personalities, and in comparison, Ye Bo was relatively normal.
While the Sixverse a.s.sociation had coordinate seals to all the various parallel universes of the Endless Frontier, the Aeternals had even more. After all, all of the Sixverse a.s.sociation’s coordinate seals had been taken from the Aeternals.
The three captains and twenty-seven Progenitor-level corpse kings entered the Meter Universe with the goal of capturing Qing Ping. Their numbers were a bit exaggerated, considering their task. As long as there were no sequence powerhouses, this would be enough to eliminate one of the Sixverse a.s.sociation’s member universes. These numbers also indicated just how important this mission was to Progenitor Xi.
The Meter Universe was a perfectly ordinary universe.
As soon as Lu Yin and others entered the universe, they dispersed to search for Qing Ping.
Da Hei and Stone Ghost stood guard at the spatial portals to cut off any possibility of Qing Ping moving to another parallel universe without tearing through the void.
As for that possibility, the Aeternals were also prepared, as they had brought along a sourcebox array.
Lu Yin had not expected to discover that Stone Ghost was an Array Master, and actually an Array Grandmaster at that. It seemed impossible for a piece of stone to be an Array Grandmaster.
It was no wonder why Progenitor Xi had sent Stone Ghost along on this mission. His task was to prevent Qing Ping from escaping by tearing through the void.
The Aeternals were truly well prepared, but regardless of their preparations, they could not outwit a traitor.
Once Lu Yin moved away from Da Hei and Stone Ghost, he immediately sent a message to Qing Ping with a wireless jincan. However, even after sending multiple messages, there was no response.
It was possible that Qing Ping was cultivating.
While searching through the universe, Lu Yin deliberately allowed his aura to leak a bit, even as he continued to send messages with his wireless jincan.
Trying to find a single person in a universe as large as the Meter Universe was little different from looking for a needle in a haystack. The Meter Universe was quite large, and it was at least as large as the Outerverse. While Progenitor-level cultivators could move quickly, that did not mean that they could also find people quickly. On top of that, if any of the Aeternals released their aura, they were afraid that Qing Ping would be startled into instantly escaping.
A few days later, the wireless jincan trembled, causing Lu Yin"s eyes to light up with joy. His senior brother was contacting him.
"Why are you here?" the message came through with the vibrations of the wireless jincan.
Lu Yin sent back, "Aeternus has sent three True G.o.d Guard Captains to capture you. Hurry up and leave."
"I can"t. There’s someone watching me."
Lu Yin"s heart dropped. "Who’s watching you? Someone from Aeternus?"
"I don"t know. I"ve felt eyes on me for several months, and the feeling has been growing stronger and stronger. I have a premonition that I wouldn’t be able to escape even if I wanted to."
"Have you contacted Senior Brother?"
Qing Ping stayed silent for a moment. "That might be what the person watching me wants."
Lu Yin understood what Senior Brother Qing Ping meant. The man was worried that he was being used as bait. How could someone who could make Qing Ping feel that escape was impossible accidentally reveal their presence? It was clearly a trap.
"Where are you?"
"I don’t want you to come over here."
"I won"t, but I can lure the Aeternals over."
"What does that mean?"
"Senior Brother, just tell me where you are."
Qing Ping again fell silent for a moment before he shared his location.
Lu Yin sent one of his Progenitor-level corpse kings forward, acting as though it was just a random sweep of the area.
There was still a bit of fighting taking place within the Meter Universe. After all, it was still part of the Endless Frontier, though the most powerful combatants were only as strong as Semi-Progenitors.
Because of the level of the battlefield in the Meter Universe, Lu Yin sent one of his corpse kings over towards Qing Ping to draw the attention of whoever was watching Qing Ping. Lu Yin’s senior brother was being used as bait, which meant that whoever was targeting him was not from Aeternus, and most likely not from the Sixverse a.s.sociation either. The only possibility was that this person was targeting the Origin Universe and people who were close to Lu Yin.
Such a person would never allow a Progenitor-level corpse king to wander about the Meter Universe, as they would not want to alert Proximity to what was happening in the Meter Universe.
Just as Lu Yin expected, he lost contact with the corpse king, and it vanished shortly after it arrived close to where Qing Ping was hiding.
Lu Yin had been keeping his aura restrained while watching from a distance with Heaven’s Sight. He saw a deep darkness swallow the corpse king. It was Old Mo.
Old Mo was actually targeting Lu Yin’s senior brother, Qing Ping.
Lu Yin"s expression fell. While the Aeternals might be going after Qing Ping because of the Immemorial Citadel and Mister Mu, Old Mo could only be doing so because of Lu Yin. That old monster kept making trouble at the worst moments.
After thinking about the current situation, Lu Yin sent a message to Proximity while simultaneously sending his own Progenitor-level corpse kings over to capture Qing Ping. At the same time, Lu Yin also sent a message to Da Hei and Stong Ghost. "I’ve found Qing Ping."
Da Hei and Stone Ghost hurried over. To avoid making too much of a commotion, the other twenty-five corpse kings scattered in every direction to surround the entire area.
"Where is Qing Ping?" Stone Ghost asked.
Lu Yin pointed up ahead. "In that area."
Stone Ghost immediately started setting up the sourcebox array.
Given their distance, it was very unlikely that Old Mo would find them, not unless he was deliberately looking for them.
However, as the sourcebox array was being set up, Old Mo discovered it.
Old Mo suddenly looked up from the planet that he had been hiding on. After staring into the distance, he tried to take a step forward, but the void that should have casually torn through continued to warp. The sourcebox array had already been completed.
At this exact same time, Stone Ghost was startled. "Watch out! There’s a true expert here."
‘Ye Bo’ was taken aback. "Why would there be an expert here?"
Da Hei quietly replied, "I knew that this mission wouldn"t be easy. This person might be Qing Ping"s protector. We need to kill them."