Chapter 2423: Report

Lu Yin intended to replace the crippled defenders of the fourth array base with the surviving vassals of the Lu family, as well as the Fifth Mainland’s cultivators who focused on battle force or domains. Their overall power was barely enough to protect a single array base, but there should be no problems, as long as enough Semi-Progenitors were present. After all, the array bases were no longer a battlefield. The final traces of war were being fought down below, in the New World.

Having Wan Zhiyi and Hen Xin present was enough.

Bai Wangyuan and the other three Progenitors from the four ruling powers spent half a month thoroughly combing through the New World, eliminating every Semi-Progenitor Aeternal who was capable of giving the weaker cultivators a hard time.

“What did Lu Xiaoxuan say?” Xia Shenji asked Bai Wangyuan.

Bai Wangyuan replied, “He says that he has the manpower to take care of it. He wants us to continue to allow the Fifth Mainland to protect the fourth array base.”

“The Fifth Mainland has already been crippled. He simply knows that there won’t be another battle fought on the array bases. He’s just going to send a bunch of people to put on a facade.” Xia Shenji snorted contemptuously.

Bai Wangyuan turned to stare at the men behind him. “Regardless, the terms that we agreed to never specified that the array base had to maintain a constant state of being ready for war. We only asked the Fifth Mainland to take over the fourth array base’s defenses. Those conditions remain the same.”

Wang Fan frowned. “Aeternus actually managed to cripple the Fifth Mainland. Right now, we should be most concerned about how they did that.”

“Aeternus has already retreated, and they won’t be able to pull off any tricks in our universe any longer. Even if the Seven Skygods do manage to return, they won’t be able to bring their endless hordes of corpse kings with them. Furthermore, the fact that Aeternus has retreated proves that they must be at a disadvantage in their other wars in different parallel universes. If that were not the case, then there’s no way they would not react to all that we’ve done,” Progenitor Long said.

“Now that I think about it, Lu Xiaoxuan’s guess was absolutely accurate. While his knowledge of parallel universes must be rather limited, his manipulation of the overall war has been exceptionally precise,” Wang Fan remarked.

Bai Wangyuan’s eyes flickered. “Given the current state of the Fifth Mainland, Lu Xiaoxuan can no longer cause us any trouble. So what if we allow him to become a Semi-Progenitor? Right now, our top priority should be to seize complete control of our Perennial World.”

“Agreed,” Xia Shenji concurred.

Wang Fan asked, “Then are we simply going to leave the Fifth Mainland as it is?”

Xia Shenji glanced sideways at the man. “After all these years, what help has the Forsaken Land ever given us?”

Wang Fan said nothing further.

Progenitor Long was still worried. “My only fear is that those effects might spread to our portion of the universe.”

Bai Wangyuan gazed at the Higher Realm. “We will immediately seal the New Corridor. People may leave from here, but no one will be allowed to enter the Perennial World.”

…

After more than half a month passed, the entire Fifth Mainland descended into a state of despair. Most cultivators had suffered heavy injuries, and only a handful of people, such as Big Sis and Lu Yin, had been able to get away with minor injuries.

Lu Yin still had not found a single person who was unaffected or even affected to a lesser degree than other people. He wanted to understand the underlying reason behind the sudden reversal in everyone’s energy flows, as well as identify cultivators in the Fifth Mainland who possessed unique inheritances. Unfortunately, doing this was not easy. Cultivators as a whole were accustomed to keeping a low profile and hiding their cards.

“Dao Chosen, based on my observations, this energy reversal may harm people’s bodies in the short term, but once all energy has dissipated from their body, they will no longer suffer any harm at all. Therefore, the length of this process depends on how much power each person needs to dissipate. Right now, most people have absolutely no control whatsoever over their star or stellular energy, so they are slowly leaking energy while also completely unable to use any battle techniques,” the Progenitor of Bloodlines reported.

Lu Yin felt his headache growing. “I know that much, but the real question is, what exactly is causing their energies to flow in reverse? If we can’t get to the root of this problem, then no one in the Fifth Mainland will be able to cultivate any longer. The consequences of that will be far worse than our previous situation, where there was no stellular energy.”

The Progenitor of Bloodlines said nothing, as he also could not find the reason behind this energy reversal.

A short while later, Herb Immortal arrived. However, he also bore no good news.

Lu Yin also continued to personally search, but all efforts proved fruitless.

Since Aeternus believed that Murkiness could completely end cultivation for the Fifth Mainland, there was no way for there to be a simple solution to the problem.

When the Second Nightking arrived, there was an ugly expression on his face. “Dao Chosen, our casualty rate in the Perennial World has risen yet again. The Fifth Mainland’s cultivators have always been the target of the so-called ‘Forsaken Land Slaying Alliance’ whenever they visit the Perennial World, but they are becoming much bolder in their actions. It’s clear that they’re following the orders of the four ruling powers.”

Lu Yin just listened.

“Right now, more and more of our people want to relocate to the Perennial World. Rumors are spreading that the Fifth Mainland has already fallen to Aeternus’s scheme and that they will soon invade our Fifth Mainland from parallel universes. It’s said that crippling our cultivation is just the first step in their plan. People everywhere are saying that Aeternus is taking their revenge on you. Your incredible accomplishments in the New World granted the Perennial World peace and stability, but they have also placed the Fifth Mainland in jeopardy. This is why everyone wants to leave this place, but the Perennial World has closed their end of the New Corridor.”

Lu Yin tapped a finger in the air. “Find out who is starting these rumors.”

He looked up at the Second Nightking. “Kill them. No trial.”

The Second Nightking offered a respectful bow. “Understood.”

Lu Buzheng was also visiting Lu Yin, and thus he overheard the Second Nightking’s report. A bitter expression appeared on Lu Buzheng’s face. “Just ending the gossip won’t be enough to reassure people. Everyone wants to escape from the Fifth Mainland. What’s more, even if we do get through this crisis, the mentality that Aeternus must be behind every single problem that humanity faces will remain engraved in people’s hearts. We can’t blame them either. No one is willing to stay put and simply wait for death. People are afraid, and what cultivators fear the most is losing our cultivation and having to simply wait for death.”

Lu Yin nodded. “I know. I’m searching for a solution.”

With that, he left the Heavens Sect’s main hall.

He found Sapling, only to see that nothing unusual had befallen the odd tree.

When it saw Lu Yin, Sapling submissively leaned against him and caressed Lu Yin’s face with some twigs and leaves.

“I’m glad that you’re alright, but I want you to stop absorbing stellular energy for a while,” Lu Yin said while stroking Sapling.

Sapling was more than happy to do anything that Lu Yin asked, even if it did not understand why.

Lu Yin stared off into the distance. How had Aeternus managed to enact Murkiness so quickly? How had they managed to influence the entire Fifth Mainland? Such a thing should be impossible without a Progenitor. Well, there was actually another possibility; it could all be pure coincidence.

Murkiness might have been initiated long ago, and it was simply that its effects were only starting to show now. If that was the case, then Lu Yin might have been misled into believing that Aeternus had initiated Murkiness just to protect their cosmic door. Such a coincidence was also quite possible.

Regardless of the motivations behind it, Lu Yin found himself helpless before Murkiness for the time being. The biggest problem was that he had absolutely no idea what was affecting the true universe.

Several days later, his wireless jincan trembled, and Lu Yin was surprised to see that Yu Chen was taking the initiative to send him a message.

“Stellular liquid is about to leak from the crack in the Mother Tree,” Yu Chen reported.

Lu Yin was startled. “Stellular liquid?”

“That’s right. The stellular liquid that is inside the Mother Tree. The Celestial Frost Sect intends to break through the crack on the surface of the Mother Tree to release the stellular liquid. As soon as a hole is made, a massive quantity of stellular liquid will be ejected. Right now, Semi-Progenitor Wu Dao and Semi-Progenitor Bai Qi are standing guard beneath the crack, waiting for the stellular liquid to be released,” Yu Chen sent.

“How do you know about this?”

“I received a report from my jade butterflies. There was a small sect in the Middle Realm that was based directly beneath the crack in the Mother Tree’s trunk. It was known as the Yue Sect, and I had a jade butterfly stationed there. Half a month ago, the Celestial Frost Sect destroyed the Yue Sect. Before his death, my jade butterfly reported personally seeing a trickle of stellular liquid. Only a thin layer of the Mother Tree’s bark is preventing the stellular liquid from spurting out. The Yue Sect had secretly made plans to siphon a bit of that stellular liquid, but they were completely destroyed by the Celestial Frost Sect. There’s no longer any trace of that sect remaining.”

Lu Yin found this rather strange. “Why are you telling me about this? I would have never learned anything about this if you hadn’t told me.”

Yu Chen paused for a moment. “I want to regain the status that I held when my Junior Progenitor was still alive.”

“Aren’t you doing rather well for yourself in the Celestial Frost Sect right now?”

“Without my Junior Progenitor, even someone with Liu Shaoge’s previous position can completely ignore me. The Sect Master also finds me displeasing to his eyes. He says that seeing me reminds him of my Junior Progenitor. I cannot remain in the Celestial Frost Sect any longer.”

“Why don’t you reach out to Bai Xian’er?”

“I don’t dare.”

It was an honest reply, and Lu Yin believed it. The smarter a person was, the warier they would be of someone like Bai Xian’er. Yu Chen had even provided Lu Yin with the means to contact Bai Xian’er. So for all Yu Chen knew, Bai Xian’er was already aware of Yu Chen’s betrayal. How could she possibly ask Bai Xian’er for help?

Yu Chen was hoping that Lu Yin would provide her with a path to survival.

Lu Yin ended the conversation. He was in desperate need of stellular liquid at this moment. People from the Fifth Mainland were facing a dire situation in the Perennial World, and it was also time for Lu Yin to deal with the Forsaken Land Slaying Alliance once and for all.

Lu Yin suddenly remembered Wang Wen. How was it possible that Wang Wen did not have any information for Lu Yin even after such a massive event had occurred? Had something happened to Wang Wen?

The wireless jincan connected, but no one answered Lu Yin’s message. Lu Yin’s face fell. He tried to connect several more times, but there was still no answer.

He immediately left the Heavens Sect, riding on the jiao towards the Perennial World.

The Perennial World had already sealed their end of the New Corridor to prevent anyone from the Fifth Mainland from entering the Perennial World. People were only allowed to move from the Perennial World into the Fifth Mainland.

However, such a seal was useless against Lu Yin. With a single wave of his hand, all of the Semi-Progenitors who had sealed off the New Corridor were knocked back.

The Semi-Progenitors were shocked. They stared at the New Corridor and quickly found themselves staring at Lu Yin, who had just come out of the New Corridor. He had a miniature jiao perched on one shoulder, and the Champions’ Stage was floating behind him.

“Lu Xiaoxuan?” The Semi-Progenitors exclaimed.

Nearby, the cultivators from the Fifth Mainland rejoiced. They had all just arrived, but due to the issue with the Fifth Mainland, not only were they unable to leave, but they were also forced to return. None of them were willing to go back after they had just got here.

Lu Yin’s eyes moved past the Semi-Progenitors and roamed around for a bit before finally landing on the distant form of Wang Yan.

Wang Yan’s expression grew ugly. Why had this guy returned?

“Dao Chosen, I heard that something’s happened to the Fifth Mainland. Are you alright?” Wang Yan greeted Lu Yin in a courteous manner.

At this moment, Lu Yin’s reputation in the Perennial was at an all-time high. He was the person who had taken the initiative to clear a path across the New World. At this point in time, everyone was also aware that Lu Yin had personally destroyed Aeternus’s cosmic door, ensuring that the Aeternals could not easily return to the Perennial World. Such an achievement deserved to be recorded down in history. Furthermore, Lu Yin was already a direct descendant of the Lu family, which meant that there were many voices supporting a return of the Lu family, and they grew louder each day.

Lu Yin’s reputation in the Perennial World had essentially caught up to his reputation in the Fifth Mainland. In fact, if not for the four ruling powers’ constant efforts to suppress word of Lu Yin’s accomplishments, he would have gained a much greater following in the Perennial World.

Lu Yin did not even answer Wang Yan. He instead started trying to get in touch with Wang Wen through a communication crystal. This time, the call went through, and Lu Yin saw Wang Wen’s pale and miserable face on the communication crystal. He was hiding within his transparent coffin. “You finally remembered that I’m alive! If you hadn’t come over here, I wouldn’t be alive for much longer.”

“What happened?” Lu Yin asked. Wang Wen was in a truly terrible situation.