Chapter 2988: Ambushing Jing Zhe
Parallel universes where time flowed at a different rate were almost always under the control of a powerhouse. Lu Yin had even heard that outsider powerhouses used such universes as a form of currency, especially the non-human ones. Many of them were able to live for a long time. Even if they did not have much else, they had a great deal of time, so it did not matter if they spent more time in parallel universes.
"You need to think carefully about this, as once I go searching, I won’t be able to return anytime soon. I’ll be consuming my own life in those parallel universes, and it’s possible that, by the time you return to Whitecloud, several generations might have already pa.s.sed there," Lu Yin warned.
Jiang Chen was unbothered. "Do you know how Whitecloud gained its strength? If we were only relying on my father, then even if nothing happened, he would still be tied up protecting Whitecloud at all times. In order to grow and develop, it’s necessary for others to keep up. Uncle Kong, Ba Shu, and others all visited the Five Spirits Alliance to cultivate, but..."
At this point, Jiang Chen’s mood fell. "Too few of them were able to return alive. All of them were proud and wanted to compete with my father, and so they refused to return unless they reached the same level as him.
"Ever since Whitecloud was first established, nearly every single person from the first generation of powerhouses has died. My father blames himself, because many of those people didn’t receive nearly enough resources. When Earth became completely safe, my father was only an Explorer, and he had only recently started freely traveling about the universe. At that time, he was stronger than everyone else in Whitecloud, as they were only Limiteers. It’s basically impossible for people at that level to improve their strength with nothing but extra time.
"An entire group of people left, never to return. Still, Whitecloud continued to develop. We had already drawn the attention of countless powerhouses across the megaverse, and we needed to strengthen ourselves. One group of people after another left, though only a few ever came back. Still, Whitecloud has managed to steadily increase our number of peak powerhouses.
“I understand my father’s pain. As the young master of Whitecloud, I also have to bear that burden. Why do you think my sister stayed in the Sixth Mainland and cultivated there on her own while it was occupied by the Aeternals? Why do you think I keep visiting this universe? When I’m not here, I’m cultivating and training in other parallel universes.
"The Lord of Lightning is not the only powerhouse in Whitecloud."
Lu Yin stared intently at Jiang Chen. At this moment, the playful young master of Whitecloud City seemed like a completely different person.
Some people were born with a silver spoon and appeared to be quite arrogant, but the pressure that they were forced to bear was also quite different from what ordinary people had to endure. Such burdens could drive people insane.
Lu Yin went through it, and so did Jiang Chen.
"Alright, let me go find a parallel universe, and I’ll take you with me when I go," Lu Yin agreed.
Jiang Chen was grateful. "Thank you.
"Take advantage of this opportunity, and you can get closer to my sister."
Lu Yin was left speechless. The Lu family was impatient to find him a wife, and Whitecloud City could not wait to marry Jiang Qingyue off. It made for an impressive situation.
As long as Lu Yin and Jiang Qingyue gave their consent, they would quickly find themselves with children.
Half a month later, many people sent in reports, claiming to have found a handful of locations that fit Lu Yin’s specifications. Each area was quite similar to the Voidforce Universe’s Deepsea Region. If Jing Zhe intended to attack the Sixverse a.s.sociation again, he would likely go after one of these places.
However, most of them were just ordinary places and would not be a suitable target for Jing Zhe’s attack. Lu Yin believed that there was only one unique location that was close to a water source like the Deepsea Region, and it happened to be the Knowledge Nexus.
"Because of how Jing Zhe is, as soon as he does something, he’ll make sure that it’s as effective as possible. He killed a peak powerhouse in the Deepsea Region, so if that doesn’t intimidate the Sixverse a.s.sociation, he’ll most likely try something different. Brother Lu, where is this Knowledge Nexus that you just mentioned?" Jiang Chen tried to a.n.a.lyze the situation.
Lu Yin replied, "It’s located at the place where the Voidforce Universe collects and disseminates information from the Endless Frontier. It’s their primary connection to the battlefield."
Jiang Chen clapped. "That"s it! If killing a powerhouse doesn’t work, Jing Zhe will need to do something that will have a powerful impact. Also, Aeternus should be concerned about such a location."
Lu Yin shared what had happened with Cheng Feng, and this only made Jiang Chen even more certain that Jing Zhe"s next attack would be the Knowledge Nexus.
"That worm’s mastered sequence particles related to dirt. My father referred to it as dust to dust, soil to soil. Basically, if Jing Zhe makes contact with an opponent, their body will instantly be reduced to dust."
"The power of time?" Lu Yin was surprised.
Jiang Chen shook his head. "This kind of effect can be caused by accelerated time, but it can also be a qualitative change. It’s like a gla.s.s of water—when the surrounding temperature is different, the speed at which the water evaporates will also change. This worm is able to directly transform anything formed from flesh and blood into dust, which is a qualitative change of the flesh and blood.”
Lu Yin feared that this ability would be a terrible challenge.
"His touch can turn flesh into dust, but not blood. Jing Zhe uses this for intimidation, as wherever he pa.s.ses by, blood will stain the dust that appears. However, while it sounds intimidating, it’s just a means for the coward to scare people," Jiang Chen said.
"On top of that, he can also harden his body to an exceptional degree. His toughness will make you question your very existence. If not for this ability, my father wouldn"t have let him escape..."
Jiang Chen shared everything that he knew about Jing Zhe with Lu Yin so that the Heavens Sect could prepare a thorough plan to eliminate the worm.
Lu Yin considered the matter again and again before deciding upon a plan to ambush and kill Jing Zhe.
While Lu Yin believed Jing Zhe would attack the Knowledge Nexus, it was important to protect the other locations as well, and the Sixverse a.s.sociation’s powerhouses spread out to keep an eye on all of the discovered locations.
Lu Yin had also wanted to send people to observe similar locations in the Origin Universe, just in case Jing Zhe attacked there, but Jiang Chen said that there was no need. Even if Jing Zhe had ten times more courage, he would never dare to attack the Origin Universe.
...
In the Voidforce Universe, the Knowledge Nexus sat between two lakes, right where the waters flowed between the two lakes. Because of the different elements present in the two lake’s waters, they were two different colors, and the Knowledge Nexus sat where the two colors met. It was odd, but very beautiful.
Lu Yin led Xu Wuwei, Big Sis, and Qing Ping to the Knowledge Nexus.
Lu Yin had asked Xu Wuwei to inform the Knowledge Nexus of their arrival beforehand, as it would be easy for any activity near the Knowledge Nexus to be misinterpreted. Even if Lu Yin was not overly concerned, he felt that it was best to take precautions and avoid any unexpected situations if Jing Zhe did attack this location.
Once they settled in near the Knowledge Nexus, Lu Yin sent a message to the Cyclic Universe, telling them to proceed with the attack on another outsider powerhouse.
Soon, word was sent of a fierce battle that had erupted beyond the Sixverse a.s.sociation. The report claimed that even Sovereign Dou Sheng had gotten involved, and he had nearly killed an outsider powerhouse with his golden cudgel.
Lu Yin sat atop the Knowledge Nexus, with a fishing line hanging down. This was a common pastime for cultivators who stayed at the Knowledge Nexus. Due to the number of people fishing, Lu Yin did not appear out of place at all.
Quickly, a month pa.s.sed. Lu Yin was still calmly fishing, though his mind was a.n.a.lyzing the newly learned modifications to Inverse Step.
Progenitor Chen claimed to be good at fighting and creating battle techniques, and there was no denying this claim.
Undying G.o.d had lived for far longer than Progenitor Chen, but he had only been able to skip time with Inverse Step. It was not even clear whether the man had created the modification himself. On the other hand, Progenitor Chen had improved Inverse Step to the level where it could allow a person to travel parallel to time, essentially freezing it. This was an ability that Lu Yin had only ever dreamed of.
Progenitor Chen was an incredible genius.
A shadow fell over Lu Yin, and he looked up. "Big Sis, you"d better not show yourself. This worm is incredibly timid."
Big Sis rolled her eyes. "But it’s so boring!"
"Just be patient and hold on for a few more days. If it doesn’t come, we’ll just leave."
"That’s easy to say, but what if it shows up after we’re gone? With how strong this thing’s supposed to be, even a second’s delay would be a disaster."
Of course Lu Yin was already aware of this, as it was the only reason why they were waiting at the Knowledge Nexus.
To travel from the Heavens Sect to the Voidforce Universe, and then to the Knowledge Nexus, not even a Sequence Progenitor could cover the distance in an instant. The time needed to make the journey was enough for Jing Zhe to destroy the Knowledge Nexus.
The worm had taken less than a hundred breaths to destroy the Deepsea Region. Not even Xiu Ci had been able to mount any sort of real resistance, and all that had been left behind was b.l.o.o.d.y sea water.
The Knowledge Nexus did not even have any peak powerhouses, which meant that it would not be able to last as long as the Deepsea Region.
Furthermore, it was very difficult for a lone Progenitor to stop Jing Zhe from escaping. The worm had already survived an attack from the Lord of Lightning and then escaped. Mu Ke alone would not be able to restrain Jing Zhe.
Aeternus did not look down on any species. The first mission that Lu Yin had received as Ye Bo was to destroy a universe. The strongest creature in that universe had been a sequence powerhouse. Even so, the Aeternals had not given the creature a second look, and they had simply eliminated the astral beast. Anyone who was qualified to cooperate with the Aeternals would not be an easy opponent.
"Big Sis, you should head on back. We don’t want you to be noticed," Lu Yin suggested again.
Big Sis was quite irritated as she turned around. Suddenly, she froze in place. At that same moment, Lu Yin felt his hair stand on end. There was someone watching.
He held the fishing rod tightly, not moving at all.
Big Sis lifted her head and continued to walk away.
Beneath the lake, a pair of eyes stared upward. After a moment, the ma.s.sive form of a gigantic earthworm squirmed upwards and emerged from the bottom of the lake.
There was a bang that jostled the Knowledge Nexus. The ground beneath it cracked, and a long, purple worm rose up from the bottom of the lake. It rose high into the sky, connecting the sky to the ground like a pillar as it shouted with a piercing voice that sent ripples across the void, "Humans, you are seeking death!"
Lu Yin looked up. "I"ve been waiting for you for a long time, Jing Zhe."
Big Sis’ head whipped around as her right hand waved. Abyssal Flowers bloomed across the ground, spreading across the region. At the same time, two men appeared: Xu Wuwei and Qing Ping.
The moment that Jing Zhe saw flowers start to bloom, he instantly shot back towards the bottom of the lake. He knew that the situation was bad and that he had run into an ambush. The humans had actually predicted his target, which made the worm extremely nervous, and he fled without a single thought of fighting.
Xu Wuwei sneered. "You want to escape with me right here?"
His sequence particles were from the Law of Jamming. They could jam anything, whether it was an exit or the release of a battle technique. Thus, it was very easy for Xu Wuwei to block the bottom of the lake.
Jing Zhe slammed into the bottom of the lake, where he saw the sequence particles.
The worm was startled, as this meant that there was more than one sequence powerhouse partic.i.p.ating in this ambush. He needed to get away as soon as possible.
Lu Yin raised his right fist, and Infinity appeared, the lines of light merging with his body as Wielder-realm battle force spread across his body. He visualized the Immovable Heavenly King Elephant and used time to contain a hundred punches.
There was a bang, and Jing Zhe"s body twisted and distorted from the power of the impact. The single punch had nearly torn a hole in his long body. If not for his elasticity, the punch would have ripped right through him.
Jing Zhe screamed as he spun around to face Lu Yin and spit out a mouthful of dirt.
Lu Yin quickly retreated. He did not dare to touch the soil. It merely looked like soil, but it was actually sequence particles. If they made contact, whatever they touched would instantly be transformed into dust.
"Humans, do you want to fight me to the death?" Jing Zhe screamed.
"You deserve it!" The sight of the dirt had suddenly reminded Lu Yin of one of his other inner worlds, Dust World. It was nothing more than a speck of dust, and he still had no idea how he was supposed to use it. It seemed useless in a fight.
Jing Zhe viciously swung his body around, lashing out in all directions and instantly destroying the Knowledge Nexus.
Fortunately, the moment the fighting started, the Knowledge Nexus had been completely evacuated. If anyone had remained behind, they would have already died.