Chapter 3074: The Selection’s Partic.i.p.ants
Lu Yin appeared to hesitate after hearing Di Qiong"s declaration. "But I’ve already failed."
"No one has ever seen Di Xia"s face," Di Qiong said dismissively.
This was something that Lu Yin had actually considered. The only way he could partic.i.p.ate in the Divine Selection was by eliminating Di Xia and taking his place. Lu Yin understood Di Qiong quite well, and thus he knew that De Qiong would never give up on the Divine Selection. Even if the man knew that it was impossible for his representatives to win, he would still push them to try.
The events had played out just as expected.
"I am willing to serve you, but the results..."
"Just do your best. Luck is also very important during the Divine Selection," Di Qiong stated in a tone that clearly revealed he no longer had any hope for his people to pa.s.s the Divine Selection.
Ye Bo might have mastered a comprehension technique, but that was not enough to change the overall situation.
Di Xia was incomparable to Ye Bo. If a comprehension technique was enough to overcome such a gap, Ye Bo would not have lost to Qiu.
At this point, Di Qiong was only hoping at least one of the Second Scourge’s representative’s had failed the initial a.s.sessment. If they had, he would lose Wu Tian.
Ye Bo soon returned with a very different appearance. He was shrouded in a black robe, impersonating Di Xia.
Di Qiong was very reluctant to have Ye Bo impersonate Di Xia, and he had only gone through with it to avoid an instant and humiliating defeat for his Third Scourge. The man cautioned Ye Bo, "Just try to endure for a few days in the Divine Selection. If things become too difficult, just escape."
Di Qiong had survived a Divine Selection himself, which was how he had obtained his current position. He was fully aware of just how brutal the next a.s.sessment was.
Di Qiong also shared with Ye Bo that the next a.s.sessment of the Divine Selection would take place at the Immemorial Citadel.
Lu Yin worked to suppress his excitement. He was finally going to see the Immemorial Citadel.
Surprisingly, his first sight of the place would not be as a human, but rather as a member of Aeternus.
The Immemorial Citadel was a mysterious place for most humans, as no one who went to that place had ever returned, with the exception of Chu Yi. Even then, he had not returned to his own universe, but rather to the Sixverse a.s.sociation to mediate a disagreement and prevent a war from breaking out between the Lu family and the Great Sovereign.
The Immemorial Citadel was a place where heroes were judged not by their cultivation, but by their willingness to fight to the death.
That was the real Immemorial Citadel.
Being able to go to the Immemorial Citadel meant that Lu Yin would see many human powerhouses who had either gone missing or were presumed dead, as well as Aeternus’s Ossis Ark.
The Immemorial Citadel was where many of humanity’s peak powerhouses had gathered, while the Ossis Ark was the Aeternals’ strongest weapon, and it was used to restrain or attack the Immemorial Citadel.
Lu Yin would soon see all of this.
...
Just a few days later, Lu Yin followed Di Qiong through outer s.p.a.ce to arrive at an unknown Scourge.
It was the Second Scourge, which Di Qiong had informed Ye Bo of before they left the Third Scourge.
They would be led to the Immemorial Citadel by the ruler of the Second Scourge, Xu Jin. He was one of the Three Pillars.
Lu Yin had not expected the ruler of a Scourge to be one of the Three Pillars. The Three Pillars and Six Skies were supposedly Aeternus’s equivalent to the Three Realms and Six Daos. Of the Three Realms and Six Daos, only the Six Daos had ruled over the Origin Universe’s Mainlands, while the Three Realms had not. Aeternus had evidently made some changes.
The Second Scourge did not look very different from the Third Scourge. The ground was the same dark color. Endless rivers of divine energy snaked through the land, Aeternus Kingdoms rose in the opposite direction of the black Mother Tree, and tall towers sprinkled the horizon. Cosmic doors hung above everything, while a ma.s.sive black cloud sat beneath the black Mother Tree.
When Lu Yin and Di Qiong arrived, they saw that some others were already present.
Lu Yin first noticed a couple of familiar faces: Shao Yin and w.a.n.g Fan.
Lu Yin had expected Shao Yin to partic.i.p.ate in the Divine Selection, but w.a.n.g Fan’s presence was a surprise.
It looked like w.a.n.g Fan had been doing well for himself in the First Scourge, if he had enough confidence in himself to join the Divine Selection.
Aside from those two men, there were two other individuals who caught Lu Yin’s attention.
One was a little girl with long, sky-blue pig tails. She was only about a meter tall, and she was wearing a blue princess dress, black leather boots, and white socks. On top of that, she was holding a teddy bear. Everything about her looked like a child.
However, Lu Yin did not dare to underestimate the girl. Appearances were meaningless.
The more harmless someone appeared, the more dangerous they often were.
The fact that this little girl was qualified to represent a Scourge in the Divine Selection meant that she had killed her opponent in the first a.s.sessment. On the other hand, not even Lu Yin’s ident.i.ty as Ye Bo had pa.s.sed that first a.s.sessment.
There was another individual that looked even more bizarre. They were nothing but a black cloth with a rough humanoid form. There were human facial features, but they were nothing but a single piece of black cloth from head to toe.
Unlike Lu Yin, who was disguised as Di Xia and shrouded in a black robe to hide his appearance, this individual was literally nothing but black cloth. Their form was hollow.
Could a piece of black cloth come alive? Lu Yin felt incredibly confused.
"Xu Jin, are these two your Second Scourge’s representatives for the Divine Selection?" Di Qiong was also rather shocked. While the Scourges occasionally communicated with each other, the Three Pillars and Six Skies themselves rarely visited other Scourges, even if there was no restriction preventing them from doing so.
Di Qiong remembered that his last visit to the Second Scourge had been a thousand years before. It had been a relatively long time since, but not enough to mean much to someone at his level. For such a powerhouse, a single round of secluded training could last for thousands or even tens of thousands of years.
Up in the sky, a moving eyeball appeared within the dark cloud. "Hehe, what do you think? They look rather impressive, don"t they?"
Di Qiong scrutinized the little girl with blue pigtails and then glanced at the black cloth. "Each of them is more bizarre than the other."
"Hehe, that"s what makes them interesting, no? Huh? Is that Di Xia?"
Di Qiong’s eyebrow rose, but he said nothing.
The eyeball slowly moved down and moved closer to Lu Yin.
Lu Yin"s heartbeat slowed, and he started to feel quite anxious. He was not sure if the Three Pillars were capable of seeing through his disguise, but he was afraid of being discovered.
The eyeball kept descending, fixed on Lu Yin.
Di Qiong frowned and stepped in front of Lu Yin. "What is this? Are you trying to intimidate my people?"
The eyeball turned to look at Di Qiong. "Who is that?"
"Di Xia."
"Are you sure?" The eyeball seemed skeptical.
Di Qiong’s eyes narrowed.
The eyeball spun a few times. "Fine, if you say so. Di Qiong, don"t forget our bet, hehe. I look forward to having Wu Tian come to my Second Scourge."
"Wu Tian?" Shao Yin and w.a.n.g Fan exclaimed in unison.
The name Wu Tian might not mean much to those who had never heard of the man before, but for people from the Sixverse a.s.sociation, hearing the name was a ma.s.sive shock.
Wu Tian was a legend.
"May I ask where Wu Tian is?" Shao Yin could not hold back from asking.
The eyeball turned to look at Shao Yin. "What? Do you want to join the bet too?"
"What bet?" w.a.n.g Fan asked, puzzled.
Di Qiong spoke up in a cold voice. "They are not qualified."
The eyeball spun. It seemed to be smiling. "Don"t say that. Anyone who can join the Divine Selection has their own abilities. If they pa.s.s, their status will rise up to match our own."
Di Qiong shrugged. "Over the years, just how many have actually pa.s.sed the Divine Selection? How many of those are still alive? Let them return from the Immemorial Citadel alive first."
At that moment, the void warped, and three more individuals stepped out. They were led by Arrow G.o.d. She was the crimson-haired powerhouse who had dominated the battlefield with her archery skills when the Sixverse a.s.sociation had invaded the First Scourge. Only Sovereign Dou Sheng had been able to stand up to the woman, and that was because of the combination of his Triumphant Brawl and Extremes Must Be Reversed. None of the others, including even Lord Xu, had been able to handle Arrow G.o.d’s attacks.
Two other people stood behind Arrow G.o.d. One was an old man with a gloomy expression. His long, narrow eyes made him look rather sinister, and his entire body was emaciated, as if he had not eaten for many days. Everything about the man contributed to his eerie aura.
The other person was the exact opposite. He was a handsome man who was wearing a white suit and top hat. His smile was gentle, and he looked like a very pleasant individual and the perfect gentleman.
Every last person partic.i.p.ating in the Divine Selection looked abnormal.
"Arrow G.o.d has arrived, to no surprise. The two behind you must be two of the Five Elders," the eyeball said with an evident smile.
Arrow G.o.d"s expression was cold, and her eyes flickered past everyone before she finally focused on the girl with the blue pigtails and the humanoid black cloth. "Lan Lan and Q. Aside from those two, your Second Scourge has no experts."
"Hehe, the quality of powerhouses is more valuable than their number." The eyeball spun around.
Arrow G.o.d"s gaze then fell onto Lu Yin. "Di Xia?"
Di Qiong answered in a voice even colder than Arrow G.o.d’s. "When it comes to the sheer number of experts, your Fifth Scourge has the most, aside from the First Scourge. Which of your Five Elders are partic.i.p.ating this time?"
Arrow G.o.d said nothing.
The gentleman in the white suit stepped up from behind Arrow G.o.d and offered a slow bow. "I am known as the Magician. Greetings to you, seniors."
The girl with the blue pigtails excitedly pointed at the man. "What a handsome man! Is your name really the Magician?"
The man straightened back up and gave the girl a warm smile. "Yes, I"m the Magician."
The girl looked thrilled. "Great! There’s finally a normal person! All of these others are monsters. Handsome man, I"m Lan Lan."
"h.e.l.lo, Lan Lan."
"h.e.l.lo, Mister."
The creepy old man stepped up to stand beside the Magician, and he spoke in a low, hoa.r.s.e voice, "Da Huang greets all of you seniors."
Di Qiong stared at the old man. "Da Huang? The leader of the Five Elders?"
The old man bowed, which caused his bones to nearly pierce through his skin. "Greetings, Senior Di Qiong."
Di Qiong turned to look at Arrow G.o.d. "Sometimes I really envy you, having five sequence powerhouses under your command."
Arrow G.o.d replied coldly, "You have quite a few of your own."
The eyeball spun around. "The Fourth Scourge is the worst off of all of us. Blackless G.o.d has stayed in the First Scourge for many years, leaving the Fourth Scourge with only a single sequence powerhouse, who died. For this Divine Selection, the only representative that the Fourth Scourge had was the first to fail and die. It’s pitiful."
"What about the Sixth Scourge?" Arrow G.o.d asked.
The eyeball turned to stare at Arrow G.o.d, and Di Qiong also looked over. "Ji Luo."
Arrow G.o.d frowned. Ji Luo?
"Is he actually going to join?"
"I can’t say for sure. He didn"t join the last Divine Selection."
"Things are different now. Corpse G.o.d nearly died."
As soon as those words were spoken, a figure stepped out of the void in front of everyone.
Lu Yin looked over, and his eyes flickered. So fast!
He had only just seen the person, and they were already right in front of everyone.
Lu Yin was positive that this movement had not been achieved by cutting through s.p.a.ce or by pa.s.sing through the void. This was pure speed, nothing more.
This newcomer was wearing a conical hat with a few red ribbons hanging from it. His clothes were tattered, straw sandals covered his feet, and a pure black sword hung from his waist. He looked like a down-on-his-luck swordsman, but his arrival wiped the smile from the Magician’s face, Da Huang straightened up, and Lu Yin felt a terrible sense of danger. This person was far from simple.
"Sure enough, Ji Luo is here." The eyeball spun around before slowly approaching the newcomer. "Ji Luo, I heard that Corpse G.o.d is dead. Is it true?"
This miserable-looking swordsman was Ji Luo. Di Qiong and the others had guessed that he would attend before he had even appeared.
It seemed that this person was regarded as the most likely victor.