The Progenitor of Bloodlines stared out at the shattered region of space. "Why would I not come with a Progenitor here?"
The old man looked over at Lu Yin. "While this old man might have nearly fallen from the Progenitor realm, I can still manage to stall him for a bit. If anything happens, leave me and immediately escape."
.
"Senior-"
Lu Yin tried to reply, but he was cut off by the Progenitor of Bloodlines’ raised hand. "You may be able to use the power left behind by Progenitor Chen, but do you understand that even Progenitor Chen would not have an easy time against another one of the masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas? You are merely using his remnant power, and you are not Progenitor Chen himself. Lu Yin, you are the most talented human I have ever seen, and I firmly believe that you will at least rise up to the same level as Progenitor Chen. You might even reach the same level as the ancient Progenitors. You have given humanity hope again.”
"I am not here for you, but for all of mankind. Do your best to live as long as possible. If an old cripple like me can do something to help save humanity, then all I can hope for is to leave behind some good fortune for the Sixth Mainland."
Lu Yin was touched. "This junior truly admires your determination, but this junior still has more that can be used against Xia Shenji."
The Progenitor of Bloodlines was taken aback. "Is there someone else who can help? Or do you have some sort of power vessel?"
Of course Lu Yin would not use a power vessel. Xia Shenji had been constantly on guard against Lu Yin pulling something out, such as the slipper. While Lu Yin did want to launch a sneak attack with the slipper, if he failed and the slipper was instead stolen, Lu Yin would suffer a truly catastrophic loss.
There was a wail, and the jiao's massive body crashed down. It was bound by several chains, and they rendered the beast unable to move. E Chi’s saber shot upwards in a slash, releasing an invisible attack. It seemed to be some sort of Progenitor-level battle technique. A bone staircase appeared, and each time E Chi climbed up another step, his strength rose further.
Xia Shenji's eyes grew somber, and he allowed E Chi to release his attack. The moment his attack was released, E Chi vanished, and then abruptly reappeared in exactly the same location.
The sight caused Lu Yin's heart to skip a beat. This was the power of time.
Xia Shenji's palm fell, wrapped about with Divine Martial Armor. This attack had the power to change the universe, and it crushed E Chi, shattering half of his body.
The Progenitor of Bloodlines’ face twitched. "That is the power of a supreme Progenitor from the Daosource Sect era. Boy, no matter who follows you, just run first and talk later."
The old man then prepared to release his full strength, despite knowing that he was not Xia Shenji’s opponent at all.
Lu Yin had already known that Xia Shenji was incredibly powerful, and he was supposed to be comparable to the masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas. Even so, the man’s strength was a bit shocking to Lu Yin, though it did allow him to gain a greater understanding of just how strong Senior Brother Mu Xie actually was.
When attacking Lu Yin in the Perennial World, Xia Shenji had not released many attacks. His first attack had been blocked by Progenitor Smoke and Lu Yin himself, using various methods available to him. However, a Progenitor’s world possessed unmatched power. Lu Yin could not understand any of it, and even Progenitor Smoke had no chance of stopping such a thing.
Mu Xie’s arrival had literally saved Lu Yin's life.
At that point in time, Lu Yin could not get even an intuitive feel for how powerful Xia Shenji was, as he had never been exposed to another Progenitor to be able to make any sort of comparison. All that Lu Yin had had to go off of was the strength that Xia Shenji and Mu Xie had revealed.
However, Lu Yin finally had a bit of a comparison. E Chi was also a Progenitor, but he had just been crushed by Xia Shenji. E Chi was completely helpless against the power of time that Xia Shenji possessed, so how had Mu Xie fought against the man?
"I'm going to go all out now," Lu Yin murmured. He turned to look at the Champions’ Stage beside him, and his pupils once again transformed into runes. God of Flames’ wax figurine appeared on Lu Yin’s shoulder.
He needed to find a way to utilize the countless runes that belonged to the Champions’ Stage in the same manner that he did with God of Flames’ figurine.
God of Flames had cultivated Truesight to the Manifestation level, and his cultivation art had then transformed him into a candle. From this, Lu Yin believed that the Champions’ Stage that had been left behind to protect the Fifth Mainland was the transformed Lu Jian. Since it was possible to use God of Flames’ runes freely as a boost to his own strength, Lu Yin should theoretically be able to do the same with the Champions’ Stage. At the very least, it should not be impossible to do so. He needed to at least try it.
Lu Jian and God of Flames had not been even close to the same level of strength. God of Flames had become a peak Envoy by cultivating Truesight, and then he had transformed into a candle. That transformation had somehow allowed the candle to possess the same number of runes as a Semi-Progenitor. However, Lu Jian had already been a Semi-Progenitor who had cultivated Truesight and attempted to become a Progenitor with it. It was at that point that Lu Jian had transformed into the Champions’ Stage, which had allowed him to obtain the same number of runes as a Progenitor. Lu Jian had been the greatest expert of Truesight aside from the Rune Progenitor himself. If Lu Yiin could use the runes of the Champions’ Stage, then would that allow him to access the power of a Progenitor who had cultivated with Truesight?
Even if Lu Yin was working off of guesses and assumptions, it was definitely something that he had to try.
Progenitor Chen's power was his absolute last resort. So far, only Xia Shenji had come to the Fifth Mainland, but if Bai Wangyuan or Wang Fan arrived as well, then how well would Lu Yin do if he exposed everything that he could do here?
Truesight, Infinite level. Lu Yin held the Champions’ Stage and used God of Flames’ runes as an aide to try to mobilize the runes of the Champions’ Stage.
He did not actually know how to even use the runes from the Champions’ Stage, so he just attempted what he believed to be the best method.
Far away, both the jiao and E Chi were being one-sidedly beaten. Xia Shenji seemed to be growing impatient. He turned, and another Xia Shenji stepped out and moved towards Lu Yin. The clone waved his hands, and chains appeared from the void that shot towards Lu Yin to bind him.
The Progenitor of Bloodlines stepped forward, ready to fight with his life on the line.
Lu Yin immediately tossed the slipper over to the old man. "Senior, use this!"
The Progenitor of Bloodlines reflexively grabbed whatever Lu Yin had thrown to him, raised it up, and smacked at one of the incoming chains.
The Progenitor of Bloodlines had been crippled by his wounds, and he no longer even possessed his Progenitors’ World, which meant that he was likely not even as strong as Qing Ping. Given the man’s strength, how could he possibly block an attack from Xia Shenji? Even if the Progenitor of Bloodlines was only facing a clone, this clone was still a Progenitor.
It was far from easy to become a Progenitor, and not only was Xia Shenji a Progenitor, but he was also someone from the Daosource Sect era. There had been a large number of powerhouses in that era, and yet Xia Shenji had been able to compete with the greatest of them. He was someone who could stand out in every era, and if he had not been completely overshadowed by Progenitor Chen, Xia Shenji would have stood out as one of the most powerful Progenitors since the Heavens Sect era.
There was a bang, and the chain shattered, reverting back to Divine Martial Armor. Xia Shenji's clone stared at the slipper in the Progenitor of Bloodlines’ hand with fear. The wary eyes turned onto the Progenitor of Bloodlines himself as well. "Was it you?"
Xia Shenji recognized the Progenitor of Bloodlines. During Lu Yin’s breakthrough to become an Envoy, a resonance had occurred, and he had been able to look into the Perennial World, and they had been able to see him as well. At that time, the Progenitor of Bloodlines had appeared behind Lu Yin. If not for seeing the Progenitor of Bloodlines at that time, Xia Shenji and the others would not have been so wary of the Fifth Mainland. After all, none of them had recognized the Progenitor of Bloodlines, nor had they been able to determine his strength. But at this moment, it was clear to Xia Shenji that the old man behind Lu Yin was a cripple.
As for the Progenitor of Bloodlines himself, he was completely shocked by the power of the slipper that was in his hand. There were so many questions that he wanted to ask, but this was not the time.
Lu Yin had no idea how many of Xia Shenji’s clones had reached the Progenitor level, or how many more the man could summon. All that Lu Yin knew was that Xia Shenji could not compare to Progenitor Chen, who had had nine Progenitor-level clones. However, if three of Xia Shenji’s clones were definitely Progenitors, then it meant that one more could appear.
As Lu Yin was thinking of this, the number of runes from the Champions’ Stage started to spike higher and higher. The other people present could not see it, but Lu Yin could.
At the same time, far away in the Neoverse, God of Mirrors was standing in Gods’ Origin and staring towards the Technocracy. He immediately noticed the shocking number of runes that had suddenly appeared. The man watched as the runes surged and quickly spread across the entire Fifth Mainland. Was it the power of the Rune Progenitor?
The Champions’ Stage was not the Rune Progenitor’s power, but Lu Yin’s guess had been quite accurate. Lu Jian’s cultivation of Truesight had transformed him into his own innate gift, just like what had happened to God of Flames. God of Flames had been a peak Envoy, while Lu Jian had been a Semi-Progenitor. His transformation into the Champions’ Stage had increased Lu Jian’s number of runes to the point where they were comparable to a Progenitor’s.
Lu Yin’s eyes instantly grew large, and he started laughing in a crazed manner. In front of him, Xia Shenji grew horrified, as his Shenwu World was being pushed back by some unknown power that clearly belonged to a Progenitor. What was going on?
Xia Shenji stared at the Progenitor of Bloodlines. Was he the one responsible for this? No, the cripple was not even using a Progenitor’s world, and he seemed to be about to fall from even being a Progenitor.
In that case, where was this strange power coming from?
Never in his dreams would Xia Shenji have ever thought that the power he was sensing was coming from the Champions’ Stage before him. He was already amazed that the Champions’ Stage had been able to summon a Progenitor, but how could it contain two Progenitors? That was, not unless Xia Shenji was sensing the power of the owner of the Champions’ stage.
Regardless, the power had somehow appeared.
As Lu Yin sensed the unimaginable number of runes that belonged to the Progenitor realm, he suddenly turned his attention back to Xia Shenji’s clone before him. Lu Yin raised a hand and clenched a first. The clone’s expression changed drastically. He could not see the runes that were being used against him, but he could feel a threatening power press down from every direction. It felt so dangerous that the clone instantly disappeared, merging back into Xia Shenji’s main body.
With a roar, the jiao flailed and slammed into Xia Shenji while E Chi charged forward. E Chi was a summoned construct rather than a true person. So, as long as Lu Yin supplied an endless flow of death energy, E Chi would be able to recover again and again. The resilience of the monster infuriated Xia Shenji.
The Progenitor’s expression turned ugly. While the jiao was a stupid beast without a Progenitor’s world, it was extremely difficult to fight against, even if only because of its robust defenses. As for E Chi, the champion’s existence reminded Xia Shenji of how difficult it was to fight against members of the Lu family and how infuriating they were. Facing even a single person became a nightmare, and even Aeternus’s monsters grew frustrated when fighting against members of the Lu family. It was basically impossible to kill someone who had summoned a champion. Still, despite the Lu family’s disgusting energy reserves, Xia Shenji could not even begin to understand how Lu Yin had managed to summon a Progenitor champion. Was it because of that broken scythe?
In addition to everything else, Lu Yin had also used the endless runes from the Champions’ Stage to create an opening in his Shenwu World. Even if it was only a small area, the fact that his Progenitor’s world had been broken remained. With the presence of E Chi’s blood-red Progenitor’s world, Xia Shenji had been forced into a difficult situation.
For Xia Shenji, the final power that had appeared and created an opening in his Shenwu World was the most troublesome thing, as he could sense that it was Old Fu’s power.
Of the masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas, Hui Wen had been cunning, Xia Shang had been a battle freak, Xi Wei had been contemplative, Ku Jie had been lazy, but Old Fu had been completely unfathomable.
In the face of Old Fu’s power, the jiao, and E Chi, as well as the fact that the Forsaken Land had absolutely no stellular energy, Xia Shenji decided to retreat for the moment.
If one person was not enough to defeat Lu Yin, then two would be sent.
At this thought, Xia Shenji suddenly backed up. He stared over at the distant form of Lu Yin and then vanished after releasing a surge of killing intent. When the Progenitor disappeared, so did the Shenwu World.
The jiao flew through the sky, brandishing its fangs and claws as though it had achieved victory.
Lu Yin let out a massive sigh when he saw Xia Shenji retreat. He canceled his summoning, which caused E Chi to disappear. The Progenitor of Bloodlines kept a tight hold of the slipper in his hand. "Did he leave?"
Lu Yin nodded.
"Are you certain?"
"Yes."
The Progenitor of Bloodlines heaved a sigh of relief. He squatted down, completely disregarding the dignity that a Progenitor should possess. He lamented, "Even with a beast as strong as a Progenitor, a Progenitor-level summon, a cripple like me, and the Rune Progenitor’s power that you managed to use there at the end, we could only force him back. Xia Shenji deserves his reputation as a peak master, even during the Daosource Sect era."
Lu Yin looked towards the depths of the Technocracy. If Xia Shenji had grown truly desperate, all of Lu Yin’s cards might not have been enough to stop the man. However, Lu Yin was not Xia Shenji’s only enemy. He also needed to remain on guard against the forces of Aeternus, and even the other three ruling powers. Xia Shenji would never go all out unless he was forced into a corner.
He had only retreated so that he could find a more stable means of defeating Lu Yin. He would definitely return again.
Lu Yin took out a wireless jincan and sent an order: "Assemble."
He wanted to gather the full power of the entire Fifth Mainland to show the Perennial World the true strength of the Forsaken Land. This was not some abandoned place—it was the Fifth Mainland.
The forces of the Fifth Mainland would gather a few weaves away from where Lu Yin had faced Xia Shenji. They were to be a demonstration for the Perennial World, but Lu Yin did not want them to get caught up in the actual battle. He could not allow that many people to die.
The battle between Lu Yin and Xia Shenji had already nearly overturned the Fifth Mainland. Even though no one had been harmed and no damage had been caused, the entire Fifth Mainland had sensed the strength of a Progenitor.
People were starting to worry, and many were terrified of the final outcome.
Finally, they received a single word informing them of the results: assemble.
That solitary word informed everyone that Lu Yin had successfully driven back a powerful enemy, and not just any powerful enemy at that, but a true Progenitor.