Chapter 3012: The Fourth Scourge
Lu Yin felt a formidable force appear around Da Hui that had a powerful suction effect. Lu Yin raised his hand and lashed out with a palm strike while merging with Infinity. The attack pierced straight through the Progenitor’s world and slammed into Da Hui, sending him flying.
The man spat out a mouthful of blood as he tumbled towards the Aeternus Kingdom.
There was a deafening impact that shattered the Aeternus Kingdom. Corpse kings shot out of the rubble, roaring as they charged at Lu Yin.
“Leave them to me.” Arch-Elder Zen descended. There was no need for Lu Yin to eliminate the corpse kings.
Lu Yin looked beneath the ground and saw that Da Hui was struggling to get back up, and he had also pulled out a cosmic door. Lu Yin stepped forward, moving parallel to time. Everything around him froze, including the Aeternus Kingdom, Arch-Elder Zen, Da Hui, and the distant jiao.
Lu Yin arrived in front of Da Hui and stopped using Inverse Step.
When Lu Yin stopped using Inverse Step, Da Hui stared at him in shock. “You?”
Lu Yin reached out to grab the other man, and Da Hui’s pupils shrank. Once again, he released the same vortex as before, but this time, it produced a repelling force that pushed Lu Yin and Da Hui apart from one another.
Just as Lu Yin was about to make another move, Da Hui whirled around. “Returning Spear!”
That one move caused the spear to pierce through s.p.a.ce. While it looked like it was moving forward, the tip suddenly appeared directly in front of Lu Yin.
This attack succeeded in catching Lu Yin off guard, as it was extremely unexpected. However, with Inverse Step, even a completely unexpected attack would be useless unless Da Hui attacked faster than Lu Yin’s reactions.
Lu Yin brushed past the spear and grabbed hold of Da Hui’s shoulder. At the same moment, the Returning Spear stopped moving, and a black light propelled it forward. This attack shattered the void and revealed the Hollow.
It was an incredibly powerful attack.
Lu Yin squeezed Da Hui’s shoulder with a hand, and the man screamed in agony as half of his body shattered. Blood streamed down to the ground, and his spear fell.
“That Returning Spear is quite impressive,” Lu Yin praised.
Da Hui dropped to knee to the ground as he coughed violently. Each time he coughed, he spat out blood.
Inside the Aeternus Kingdom, Arch-Elder Zen was busy wiping out all the corpse kings. At the same time, Jiang Qingyue, Dragonturtle, and Ghost Monkey moved underground to release all the humans who were waiting to be transformed into corpse kings. These people should also be from the Totem Civilization, and while they were freed, their civilization had already fled.
“Cough, who are you?” Da Hui struggled to look up at Lu Yin as the man tried to make sense of what was happening.
Lu Yin stared down at the man. “Where are you from?”
Da Hui stared back at Lu Yin. “Where are you from?”
Lu Yin’s brow furrowed, and he squeezed again. The pressure spread across Da Hui’s body and tore him apart.
After an initial scream, Da Hui stopped making any further noises. He endured the pain while staring at Lu Yin. The man’s eyes grew bloodshot.
Lu Yin was surprised. “You’re quite tough.”
He had met many peak powerhouses who feared death, though there had also been some who faced death without fear. Lu Yin believed that Da Hui had most likely betrayed humanity and joined Aeternus. As the man was not a corpse king, it was odd for him to not fear death.
“You should understand that, now that you’ve fallen into my hands, there is no chance of escape. You’ve betrayed humanity and joined the Aeternals, so I’ll give you this chance right now: betray Aeternus and tell me everything you know, and I can let you live,” Lu Yin promised.
Da Hui laughed, despite the agony he was suffering. A mocking expression covered his features. “I never betrayed anyone! I was raised in an Aeternus Kingdom. This place is my home.”
Lu Yin’s expression changed drastically. Had Da Hui grown up in an Aeternus Kingdom?
“I can admit to being both a human and part of Aeternus, but I’m no traitor. In fact, answering any of your questions would make me a traitor,” Da Hui continued.
Lu Yin stared down at Da Hui. He was a human who had grown up in an Aeternus Kingdom. This was Lu Yin’s first time encountering such a person. While there were precedents, he had never paid attention to such things, as no human from an Aeternus Kingdom had ever managed to become a peak powerhouse. Da Hui was the first that Lu Yin had ever heard of.
“Humans and corpse kings are two different races. Can you accept that?” Lu Yin asked, his brow furrowing.
Da Hui sneered. “Humans can be transformed into corpse kings, so what is there to not accept? Rather, you want me to become a traitor? Impossible.”
“If Aeternus chose to transform you into a corpse king, would you be willing?” Lu Yin pressed.
“Hahaha, I’ve been waiting for that moment for a long time!” Da Hui laughed.
This man truly felt like he belonged to Aeternus. It was clear to Lu Yin, and it terrified him.
While betraying one’s race might be shameful, sincerely feeling an innate sense of belonging to Aeternus was completely different. It seemed possible that the Aeternals had established the Aeternus Kingdoms not simply to target the captured humans, but also to raise individuals like Da Hui, who were born there. These people were fundamentally different from people who had been forced into an Aeternus Kingdom.
At this moment, the threat of Aeternus Kingdoms in Lu Yin’s heart escalated infinitely.
Lu Yin suddenly realized that he had been overlooking the Aeternus Kingdoms all along. He had a.s.sumed that they were nothing more than facilities where the Aeternals could transform humans into corpse kings. He had treated the idea of a.s.similating humans and corpse kings into a unified civilization as nothing more than a fantasy. However, it seemed that the Aeternals’ motives were far deeper than what Lu Yin had thought.
If a peak powerhouse like Da Hui possessed such loyalty to Aeternus, then what of others who were born in an Aeternus Kingdom?
They would wholeheartedly accept Aeternus and would even willingly become corpse kings. This was a lethal threat.
Against an enemy, humans could unleash an unprecedented level of strength to fight back when they knew that they were outnumbered and in dire straits. However, if what they faced was an opponent who was not truly an enemy, would they still put up such resistance?
Aeternus looked too far into the future, and every step they took held more meaning than what met the eye.
Lu Yin’s mind raced as he stared off into the distance.
Arch-Elder Zen was still eliminating the corpse kings. There were many humans in the Aeternus Kingdom, and some had been imprisoned underground where they had been waiting to be transformed into corpse kings. Others, such as Da Hui, had been born in this place. Such people were also enemies.
However, could Lu Yin really make himself deal with such people?
Not dealing with them would be no different from leading a group of corpse kings into human civilizations, and the threat might easily go unnoticed.
While Lu Yin became lost in his own thoughts, Da Hui’s eyes flashed, and he suddenly attacked. A short spear appeared in his hand, and he thrust it towards Lu Yin.
Lu Yin flicked the spear away with a finger. He turned to meet Da Hui’s determined eyes. Lu Yin hesitated; should he kill the man or continue interrogating him?
While Lu Yin was considering his options, the short spear that he had flicked away suddenly reversed directions, as Da Hui had used Returning Spear.
However, this attack was not particularly powerful, so Lu Yin did not even consider dodging.
However, the spear slid past Lu Yin’s neck and shot towards Da Hui’s.
Lu Yin’s foot moved as he used Inverse Step and moved parallel to time. Everything froze, including the short spear that was about to pierce Da Hui.
Lu Yin grabbed the short spear and stopped using Inverse Step, allowing time to resume. Da Hui stared in shock at the short spear that was now frozen inches from his neck.
Again, he had failed. First, he had failed when he tried to escape, and at this moment, even his suicide attempt had failed. Could this human possess the ability to freeze time? No, that was impossible. Not even Da Hui’s master was capable of doing that.
“It seems that interrogating you is pointless. You really don’t fear death at all.” Lu Yin squeezed the spear, shattering it. Even if Da Hui died, he would still ultimately betray Aeternus, as Lu Yin would anoint the man as a champion.
Da Hui stared at Lu Yin. “The Fourth Scourge.”
Lu Yin’s expression grew sharp. “What was that?”
Da Hui clenched his fists. “I come from the Fourth Scourge.”
Lu Yin frowned. “I thought that you said that you wouldn’t tell me anything?”
Da Hui let out a breath as he dropped his head, as though thinking about something.
Lu Yin watched the man.
Spurt!
Suddenly, blood sprayed out of Da Hui’s mouth, startling Lu Yin. He instantly grabbed Da Hui’s hair and lifted his head, only to discover that the man was already dead. That spray of blood had been the man’s life leaving him.
Thud. The corpse fell to the ground as Lu Yin released his grip.
The shattered remains of the spear were also dropped.
Soon, Jiang Qingyue and Arch-Elder Zen both arrived.
“Dao Monarch.”
Lu Yin was still staring at Da Hui’s corpse. “He chose to kill himself. He didn’t even give me the chance to end things for him. He was completely fearless, even in death.”
Arch-Elder Zen was taken aback. “He betrayed humanity and joined Aeternus, yet was unafraid of death?”
Lu Yin’s voice dropped low. “We’ve been underestimating the Aeternus Kingdoms.”
He then explained where Da Hui had come from, which caused Arch-Elder Zen’s expression to turn unusually serious. “A weak power level can be compensated for, but a sense of belonging like this can never be removed. They’ve undermined these people’s very ident.i.ty as humans. This is very serious.”
Jiang Qingyue’s expression fell. “It’s no wonder why Aeternus builds Aeternus Kingdoms wherever they go. I need to tell my father about this. The people we’ve rescued from Aeternus Kingdoms might be a grave risk.”
Lu Yin’s eyes flashed. Who would have thought that the people they had rescued from Aeternus Kingdoms at great risk to their forces might be a threat to their rescuers? These people appeared to be perfectly normal, but their hearts might very well belong to Aeternus. That was the utterly terrifying part.
All of the Aeternus Kingdoms had to be destroyed. Not one could be left behind.
Lu Yin used Da Hui’s blood to access the man’s cosmic ring. In it, he found a few resources, but nothing special. The man had taken out a cosmic door while underground in an attempt to escape. It most likely led to the Fourth Scourge.
This cosmic door had belonged to Da Hui, and since the Fourth Scourge was connected to this universe, there should be another cosmic door somewhere else.
If Lu Yin had not spent time in the First Scourge, he would be ignorant of such things. Instead, he had the jiao take Arch-Elder Zen to search for the cosmic door. Lu Yin wanted to pa.s.s through it and explore the Fourth Scourge.
Aeternus should have six Scourges, and Lu Yin intended to investigate the strength of the Fourth Scourge.
Unfortunately, this universe was not connected to the Third Scourge.
The cosmic door was not far from the Aeternus Kingdom, and it was quickly found.
Lu Yin had already decided to go through the cosmic door and visit the Fourth Scourge, which worried Arch-Elder Zen. “Dao Monarch, are you sure about this?”
Lu Yin replied in a low voice, “I don’t know anything about Aeternus’s other Scourges, and that makes me very nervous.
“Don’t worry, I’m certain that I’ll be fine, as long as I’m not instantly discovered the moment I arrive.”
Jiang Qingyue warned, “Be careful.”
Lu Yin smiled to rea.s.sure the two and then looked back towards the cosmic door as he approached it.
If possible, he would prefer to not take such a risk, but there were certain things that only he could accomplish, such as infiltrating Aeternus.
If anyone else tried to go on such a mission, there was no question that they would be caught. Lu Yin was the only one who could succeed, as he possessed divine energy.
He simply hoped that there was no one like Progenitor Xi in the Fourth Scourge. If there was, then it would be quite difficult for him to return.
This thought filled his mind as he stepped through the cosmic door and disappeared.
A cosmic door connected two universes.
As soon as Lu Yin emerged from the other side, he went straight towards the ground. He could already tell that the Fourth Scourge was similar to the First Scourge that Progenitor Xi was in charge of. There was a dark ground with rivers of divine energy flowing across it. Far away, the towering black Mother Tree could be seen, just like in the First Scourge. The ground was littered with strange rocks.
Corpse kings wandered around, and tall towers that belonged to peak powerhouses could be seen scattered about. Further away, a ma.s.sive mountain range was shrouded in black clouds. The mountains were exceptionally tall and were also filled with a deep darkness.
Everything appeared to be very quiet.