Chapter C.2411C.: Get Out

Countless scarlet eyes glowed in the depths of the Starfall Sea past Mt. Microcosms, all of them staring into the Fifth Mainland. Corpse God’s Semi-Progenitor avatar was the closest one to Mt. Microcosms, and he opened his eyes to find Lu Yin staring straight at him. The Skygod’s mind spun in confusion; had humanity actually removed Mt. Microcosms?

Past the newly opened path was a long, horizontal blackhole that stretched across the Starfall Sea and towards the Sixth Mainland. This barrier was what had caused the Sixth Mainland’s downfall.

There was a small hole in the barrier that led to the Fifth Mainland, and if not for the Sixth Mainland’s three Progenitors protecting it, the Fifth Mainland would have faced the same fate as the Sixth Mainland.

The size of this gap had originally been so small that it had taken a long time for the Sixth Mainland’s cultivators to filter through it when they had evacuated from the Sixth Mainland, but the hold had since expanded to the point where the Fifth Mainland’s entire military forces could pass through at once. Given enough time, the gap would expand even further.

The jiao roared, interrupting Corpse God’s train of thought. It revealed its sharp, deadly claws as it shot through the gap in the barrier, dove into the Starfall Sea, and tore into the horde of corpse kings. Atop the jiao, Lu Yin lashed out with a palm strike towards Corpse God’s Semi-Progenitor avatar.

In the past, Corpse God’s main body had maintained the passage to the Fifth Mainland, and just a single, massive hand had been enough to destroy Lu Yin. This time, only one of Corpse God’s Semi-Progenitor avatars remained in the Starfall Sea, as his true body was busy in the Dominion Realm.

The attack struck Corpse God with a bang, and he was sent stumbling backwards several steps. He looked up and shot a vicious glare at Lu Yin. The Skygod confronted the jiao, fearless. Lu Yin’s attack had done no damage whatsoever.

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. While he felt a powerful desire to test himself against Corpse God’s avatar and probe the avatar’s true strength, this was a battlefield. The people of the entire Fifth Mainland were relying on Lu Yin, thus he needed an overwhelming victory to cement their unwavering faith in him.

“Annihilate them.” Lu Yin’s eyes gleamed with determination. From the Champions’ Stage behind him, Progenitor-level runes pulsed and flowed towards Corpse God. The Skygod stretched his arms out, but Lu Yin never gave him any opportunity to retaliate. This was the moment where he would prove himself worthy of the Fifth Mainland’s absolute trust. The runes slammed into the avatar, and all of Corpse God’s strength was sapped away. At that moment, the jiao’s razor-sharp claws slashed through the body, tearing it to shreds with unbelievable power.

Despite only facing a Semi-Progenitor avatar, the runes from the Champions’ Stage had been insufficient to entirely eradicate Corpse God’s runes in a short time. Lu Yin had been left with no choice but to order the jiao to join the attack. This was testament to Corpse God’s absurd strength.

Not one of the Seven Skygods was a pushover. Lu Yin’s determination to truly kill Undying God only grew stronger.

From behind Lu Yin, the armies watched as Lu Yin instantly eliminated a Semi-Progenitor the moment Mt. Microcosms was removed. Right after that, the jiao tore into the horde of Aeternals, leaving only destruction in its wake. Swaths of corpses littered the horde within the glowing scarlet eyes.

Lu Buzheng roared, “Fifth Mainland, kill! Humanity must defeat Aeternus!”

“Defeat Aeternus!” Master Shan yelled.

The Semi-Progenitors’ shouts stirred the blood of every human present. The scene of utter domination that they had just witnessed stirred up a frenzied bloodlust. There was no hesitation as the human forces charged into the Starfall Sea. A mass of battleships formed a river of metal that opened fire, releasing blasts of light that exploded all across the battlefield. It was time for humanity to reclaim what was rightfully theirs.

Chu Yuan was standing on a spacecraft, a lens in his eye. He was one of the nodes. For a million miles in all directions, all the other people using the Battle Navigation System were connected through him.

There were many other nodes as well, and their presence extended the coverage of the network to approximately a ten million-mile radius. It was not a large area, but it was the limit of what Zi Jing could achieve with her current Battle Navigation System.

Behind the battlefield, the entire Fifth Mainland ran like a well-oiled machine. Materials and resources were being transported to factories where new weapons were being manufactured at top speed.

This was the Fifth Mainland’s battle. Not the Heavens Sect’s, nor that of any individual.

At this moment, Lu Yin carried the will of the entire Fifth Mainland with him.

Seven massive sourceboxes revolved next to Mt. Microcosms. The Fifth Mainland’s cultivators entered and left the Starfall Sea, but all movement went according to Grandmaster Gu Yan’s orders. Not one of the corpse kings beyond the Starfall Sea’s barrier was able to enter the Fifth Mainland. Grandmaster Gu Yan was confident that his Sealing Path could even hold back a Progenitor-level corpse king.

The Sealing Path sourcebox array functioned similarly to Mt. Microcosms, with the primary difference being that humans were still able to traverse the path.

In the depths of the Starfall Sea, what had once been the ruins of the Sea King’s Dome had long since been transformed into an Aeternus Kingdom, which Lu Yin had once visited.

Yang Yi, the city master of the Aeternus Kingdom, as well as the Progenitor of Secret Arts’ disciple, felt a wave of dread wash over him when he saw Mt. Microcosms move away, followed by the sudden death of Corpse God’s Semi-Progenitor avatar.

This is not good! ?He thought. They must have gone insane!

Feeling the sudden pressure, Yang Yi quickly made his way underground.

The region beneath the Aeternus Kingdom was an enormous production plant for corpse kings.

Yang Yi dropped to his knees after arriving underground. “Master, the Fifth Mainland has opened the path to the Starfall Sea, and they have declared war on us.”

From the depths, a pair of eyes flickered open. A man slowly walked out. He was one of the Sixth Mainland’s three Progenitors: the Progenitor of Secret Arts, Yi Ren. “The humans took the initiative to open the entrance to the Starfall Sea?”

Yang Yi raised his eyes, only to be met with a startling sight that caused his own pupils to constrict. The once-human Yi Ren had finished transforming into something unnatural. The iris of one of his eyes had changed to a deep, blood-red color, while the other remained human. His body gave off the pungent odor of a decaying corpse king, and he appeared to have been corroded. At this moment, he resembled a ferocious, malevolent ghost.

.

“I implore Master to take action,” Yang Yi said, his voice tinged with urgency. ??ｅｄｎ????ｅｌ.ｃｏ??

Yi Ren’s gaze turned to gaze across the Starfall Sea.

“Has Xia Shang emerged?” he wondered aloud, “I cannot fathom any other reason for humanity to have gained the audacity to initiate an attack.

“Lead everyone to form a line of defense. I will take action when the time is right,” Yi Ren instructed.

Yi Yang quickly acknowledged his orders and hurried away. Being in the presence of his master, who had become almost completely unrecognizable, left the man’s scalp tingling with unease.

Yi Ren had taken Yang Yi under his wing and raised him, allowing him to enjoy a prestigious status within the Sixth Mainland. When Yi Ren had joined Aeternus, Yang Yi had naturally followed his master’s orders and done the same.

After joining Aeternus, little had changed for the man. He still had a distinguished title and status as the city master of an Aeternus Kingdom, and he had never been forced to stop being human. He felt no remorse or regret regarding his decision.

However, after finally seeing Yi Ren’s grotesque appearance, Yang Yi’s positive attitude had taken a sharp turn. He was instead gripped by fear. If he had known that joining Aeternus would result in his master transforming into a creature that was neither human nor ghost, Yang Yi would have never agreed to it. Sadly, it was already too late for him to turn back.

Yang Yi’s master had once stated that he would always remain human and that he would never become a monster. How had reality turned out so differently?

Underground, Yi Ren clenched his fists tightly, guilt covering his face. He had seen the terror and shock in Yang Yi’s eyes. The Progenitor was well aware of the thoughts that must have gone through his disciple’s mind. But what choice had Yi Ren had? Xia Shang’s blade had slashed through his Progenitor’s world, and half of his body had been crushed when he had helped the Aeternals try to invade the Fifth Mainland. Yi Ren had never wanted to turn into such an abomination, but he had had no other choice.

The only way for him to recover his strength as a Progenitor was to transform into a monstrosity. Otherwise, he would be inferior to even Xue Manzi, and the Aeternals would disregard Yi Ren as worthless.

He wanted to be supreme above his fellow humans and to wield power and status within Aeternus. He refused to be just a mere pawn.

“Xia Shang, Xia Shang,” Yi Ren muttered under his breath. His eyes blazed with intensity and overflowed with killing intent.

Yang Yi quickly started mobilizing all of the forces of the Aeternus Kingdom for war. He concentrated most of his efforts on the eastern portion of the city. As for the western half of the city that was home to the corpse king population, he refused to take even one step into that place.

“City Master Yang, is the Fifth Mainland invading?” Fan Chen asked quietly. Fan Yu stood behind the older man.

More than a dozen years ago, the Fan family had betrayed humanity and taken refuge with Aeternus. During the Aeternals’ invasion, the Fam family had taken advantage of the chaos to establish an Aeternus Kingdom with Fan Chen as the city master, but when the Aeternals had eventually retreated and Mt. Microcosms had sealed them out from the Fifth Mainland, the Fan family had fled.

Bu Kong had also escaped to the Starfall Sea.

Given the former Sixth Mainland’s cultivators’ understanding of things, the entrance to the Starfall Sea should have never been reopened, not unless the Aeternals chose to force Mt. Microcosms out of the way. Why had the Fifth Mainland decided to open the passage and launch an attack? 𝐛𝗲𝗱𝐧𝐨𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝐜𝐨𝐦

Yang Yi’s expression was solemn. “There’s no mistake. The Fifth Mainland has taken the initiative to remove Mt. Microcosms. Corpse God’s Semi-Progenitor avatar has already been killed. Everyone, war is at our door.”

There was a quiver of panic in Fan Chen’s voice as he said, “The Fifth Mainland would only decide to launch a war if they were confident in victory.”

He glanced over at Fan Yu, who appeared even more upset. They had not willingly betrayed humanity, but had been forced to do so. To be exact, Fan Chen’s actions had left the family with no option other than to betray mankind.

In order to learn a powerful sword technique, Fan Chen had secretly kidnapped the Cloud Valley’s master. ?After that, he had even gone after the Higher Temple’s sword techniques. No one knew who had revealed his secret, but the aftermath had been disastrous for the Fan family, and they had been reduced to living as destitute street rats. They had not chosen to betray humanity; rather, they had done so in a desperate attempt to survive.

If Aeternus won, all would be fine for the Fan family, and they would maintain their lofty status. What of the Cloud Valley? What of the Higher Temple? Everyone from those places would be firmly suppressed beneath their feet.

However, due to the fact that the Fifth Mainland was initiating a war against the Aeternals, the various traitors were all feeling rather unsettled.

Bu Kong’s eyes narrowed, and he turned to face the Starfall Sea’s entrance. “Where’s Master?”

Fan Chen and Fan Yu both felt their hearts skip a beat. Right, even though none of the Seven Skygods were standing guard in the Starfall Sea, there was still the Progenitor of Secret Arts.

Yang Yi replied, “Master has his own plans that he will follow. Everyone, prepare to receive the enemy.”

In the eastern city, Si Xiao’er sat on the steps of Water God Dojo. The area was sparsely populated, and there were only a few people around.

In the past, Water God Dojo had enjoyed an impressive status within the eastern city, which had been entirely thanks to Dojo Master Si’s existence and the fact that she had been an Envoy. When Dojo Master Si had died in Burial Garden, the status of Water God Dojo had plummeted, and its size had reduced by more than half.

“Senior Sister, the city master has announced a mandatory conscription. War is coming! What should we do?”

“Senior Sister, the Fifth Mainland won’t believe that we’ve actually turned and joined Aeternus, right? We were forced into this!”

“Senior Sister, you’ve got to help us think of something!”

Si Xiao’er clenched the hilt of her knife as she looked up. “As long as our conscience remains clear, nothing else matters! Sisters, do your best to survive!”

The jiao’s claws slashed down, tearing a path through the endless horde of corpse kings in the Starfall Sea. Behind the beast followed a fleet of battleships arranged in a neat formation, each carrying the members of the Allied Forces and Heavens Corps. The enormous army slaughtered their way through the sea of corpse kings.

The jiao accelerated, vanishing within less than a second. Lu Yin, determined to put as much pressure on Aeternus as possible, forced his way deep behind their lines so that he could eliminate any formidable foes that might be able to resist the army’s progress.

As he approached the Sea King’s Dome, an Envoy-level corpse king charged out to meet him. The monster’s body almost instantly shattered into fragments after a single burst of Progenitor-level pressure.

The jiao’s aura settled onto the Aeternus Kingdom, increasing the nervousness of the inhabitants. As the colossal creature moved closer, a chill spread across Yang Yi’s body when he realized that the might given off by this Progenitor-level beast far exceeded his master’s strength. The most important question on everyone’s mind at this moment was how they were supposed to face the jiao. Where were the forces of Aeternus? Where were the Seven Skygods when they were needed the most?

Fan Chen, Fan Yu, Bu Kong, Si Xiao’er, and many others stared up at the horrifying creature, unable to move or even react. There was no defending against something like this. The beast utterly suppressed everyone and everything in existence. Its mere presence sparked a terror so primal that all the people here were completely paralyzed.

Lu Yin stood atop the jiao’s head as he stared down at the Sea King’s Dome. He spread his domain outward so that it encompassed the entire Aeternus Nation. He could sense Bu Kong, Fan Chen, and many others, but they were nothing more than ants to him. There was only one person who mattered in the entire island. Lu Yin sensed the strength of a Progenitor, and he called out, “Yi Ren, get out here!”

Booming soundwaves swept through the air, creating waves that surged in the Starfall Sea and crashed into planets, drowning them entirely. The humans in the Aeternus Kingdom looked up in terror as all color drained from their faces.

Bu Kong’s eyes grew large. “Lu Yin! It’s Lu Yin!”

Si Xiao’er was similarly startled by the familiar voice.

Yang Yi swallowed his fear and called for his master. This person clearly intended to make trouble for the Progenitor.