Chapter 2022

Chapter 2022

The same scene played out in many areas across the battlefield. Aeternus had fewer Semi-Progenitors than humanity, so they attempted to use all sorts of tricks to distract the human Semi-Progenitors and force them to expend their stellular energy. However, no matter what happened, the human Semi-Progenitors paid no heed as they continued to simply exterminate as many corpse kings as possible.

Semi-Progenitor attacks swept the area, each one killing entire swaths of corpse kings. Still, Aeternus’s Semi-Progenitors seemed unconcerned.

“Aeternus’s Semi-Progenitors are trying to buy time,” Wang Wen said. Shui Chuanxiao, Wei Rong, and Wang Wen were in the safest possible location on the entire battlefield: Ancestor Tortoise’s back.

Lu Yin looked around at the raging battle taking place in every direction. “Tell me, do you think that they know about our plans?”

Wang Wen’s eyes narrowed, but he said nothing.

“You already know the answer in your heart, don’t you?” Lu Yin said.

Wang Wen quietly replied, “If they do know, it proves that there are traitors among the Semi-Progenitors.”

Lu Yin clenched his hands into fists. “I always plan for the worst-case scenario. Victory is determined by the side that’s better prepared.”

All of the human Semi-Progenitors charged towards the passage to the Starfall Sea. However, there was only one Sky Pillar. Only Lu Yin knew who was carrying the Sky Pillar. Not even Arch-Elder Zen or Wang Wen had any clue about this detail. This had been done to prevent any human traitors from leaking the plan to Aeternus.

If there were traitors within the human forces, they would definitely take action and try to prevent the Semi-Progenitors from reaching the passage.

Lu Yin kept his eyes peeled open, but they had not yet seen any clues. He truly hoped that Aeternus was still in the dark about their plan.

…

The Semi-Progenitors who did not face any opponents with the strength to block their path were able to smoothly proceed to their destination.

At the moment, Highsage Grandmaster and several other Semi-Progenitors were facing enemies who essentially possessed strength equal to their own. However, because the Aeternals had fewer Semi-Progenitors than the humans, Marquis Green Bamboo and Forgotten Ruins God did not try to engage Ni Huang or Jiu Yao in one-on-one matches. Instead, those two did their best to buy more time. This allowed the two human Semi-Progenitors to simply shoot straight to the passage to the Starfall Sea.

Suddenly, six human Semi-Progenitors—Jiu Chi, Ni Huang, Jiu Yao, Xia Ji, Kui Luo, and the Chief Justice—raced towards the passage in unison.

Forgotten Ruins God smirked. “I don’t believe that you humans are able to control your emotions.”

She had found her targets: the people from the Sixth Mainland who had come from the Outerverse. Pressure started to build as she brought a hand up, before it was suddenly slammed down.

Everything within range of her attack was completely flattened. Planets collapsed, corpse kings disintegrated, and everyone from the Sixth Mainland was squished. There was no discrimination between allies or enemies. Most notable among the countless casualties was Ancestor Sightless.

Ancestor Sightless had never expected to meet his end while serving as nothing more than cannon fodder. He was unable to put up even the slightest bit of resistance when facing Forgotten Ruins God’s attack. He did not even have the time to consider escaping before his life was taken.

White Silkworm, the most talented descendent of the Sightless Clan, also died in this attack. He had been a proud cultivator who had been bold enough to even fight against Realmlings head-on, and he had been second only to Blackblood Realm’s Realmling, Shang Rong. But on the current battlefield, White Silkworm was less than an insignificant speck of dust.

Jiu Yao witnessed this tragedy, but he did not turn back. He resolutely continued striding towards the passage to the Starfall Sea.

Forgotten Ruins God was taken aback. “Hmph! Let’s see just how many of you can survive my attack.”

She casually flicked in a different direction. The master of the Cloud Valley sensed that he was being directly targeted, and he shouted, “RUN!”

Sword Scholar turned towards the shout. He had just cut off the head of an Enlighter realm corpse king when everything went black and disappeared.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from.com.

The next moment, space shattered and all of the lifeless corpses were sucked in, including the ones belonging to the master of Cloud Valley, Sword Scholar, and numerous others. Every single person from the Cloud Valley had disappeared in an instant.

That included a certain sword attendant who had been secretly acting as Lu Yin’s spy.

Forgotten Ruins God massacred people from the Sixth Mainland en masse while the Sixth Mainland’s Semi-Progenitors decimated corpse kings in retaliation.

Due to the Semi-Progenitors’ wholehearted efforts, the number of corpse kings on the battlefield had significantly decreased.

The first Semi-Progenitor to draw close to the passage to the Starfall Sea was Kui Luo. The moment he approached his goal, the old man felt that something was off. If he continued forward, he would face the Progenitor standing in the entrance. He glanced at Corpse God’s towering figure, and a chill ran down the human’s spine. He froze in place and nervously swallowed. “This isn’t right. What about the others? Why am I the only one here?”

At this moment, the Chief Justice appeared. “Let’s go.”

Kui Luo grinned toothily. “What’s the rush? Let’s wait a bit longer.”

The Chief Justice, who was shrouded within black mist as usual, made his way towards the passage to the Starfall Sea without any hint of hesitation.

In the distance, Lu Yin’s eyes froze.

A figure appeared in front of the Chief Justice, blocking his path. It casually pointed a finger at the man, and a black rope shot out from the void and tangled into the darkness, binding the Chief Justice in place. This was the Wang family’s secret technique, Restriction.

Lu Yin was stunned. The person who had stopped the Chief Justice was wrapped up within a white cloth from head to toe that made them look like a mummy, though they possessed a feminine figure. He had not expected this female to use the Wang family’s secret technique.

The darkness was blown away, and the Chief Justice’s true body was revealed. His limbs were bound tightly with rope, rendering him completely immobile.

This was Lu Yin’s first time seeing the Chief Justice’s youthful appearance, and he was slightly stunned.

“That should be the Twelve Marquises’ Marquis Wang,” Wang Wen spoke up.

Earlier on during Aeternus’s invasion, Marquis Wang had appeared in the Outerverse, and she had single-handedly overpowered three Semi-Progenitors, including Lan Xian. The similar characteristics between the individual who had just appeared and Marquis Wang made this person’s identity quite clear.

Despite being bound with Confinement, a pair of scales appeared beneath the Chief Justice’s feet, and Marquis Wang rose up. “Judgment, criteria: race.”

From behind, Kui Luo was left speechless. Could this man actually conduct a judgment based on race? The Chief Justice was human, so as long as his opponent was not human, they would suffer a cruel punishment.

Everyone who heard the Chief Justice’s judgment criteria was left stunned. With such ridiculous rules, it was better to simply eliminate any rules.

Despite the onlookers’ expectations, the scales did not shift.

The Chief Justice addressed Marquis Wang. “You are human.”

Marquis Wang raised a hand, and it moved through space to slap the Chief Justice. His eyes grew slightly unfocused. “The Wang family’s Sit and Forget.”

Suddenly, the area was plunged into darkness. The Chief Justice had used his battle technique Skyless, which crushed everything nearby, including Marquis Wang’s Sit and Forget.

“Why are you still here?” the Chief Justice yelled.

Kui Luo gritted his teeth and shot forwards towards the Starfall Sea.

From a different direction, Xia Ji and Jiu Chi had also arrived and were continuing on towards the Starfall Sea at this time.

All of Aeternus’s Semi-Progenitors were preoccupied. Aside from Marquis Wang, there was no one else who was able to block their path to the passageway.

Marquis Wang had intended to stop all three Semi-Progenitors, including Kui Luo, by herself, but surprisingly, she was held back by the Chief Justice.

Lu Yin carefully watched these events unfold.

Suddenly, a figure that was similarly wrapped up in white cloth stepped out from behind Marquis Wang. This individual moved to stand in Xia Ji and Jiu Chi’s path.

“The Nine Clones Secret Technique?” Lu Yin was shocked.

Xia Ji handled this revelation much worse than Lu Yin. “The Nine Clones Secret Technique? How is that possible?”

He stared at Marquis Wang. “How do you know my Xia family’s Nine Clones Secret Technique?”

Marquis Wang said nothing, instead simply bombarding the entire area with a flurry of attacks. Invisible ripples of power spread out as her Sit and Forget technique permeated the battlefield.

Many fell into confusion and completely forgot what they had been doing. Even Ni Huang and Arch-Elder Zen were affected, and their movements slowed.

Forgotten Ruins God looked over in surprise. “This girl, her mastery of Sit and Forget is able to affect even me. She’s rather gifted.”

Marquis Wang’s abilities were not limited to just Sit and Forget. When the three Semi-Progenitors—Lan Xian, Herb Immortal, and Xue Laogui—had fought against her, no one understood what had happened, but all of the Semi-Progenitors had found their senses confused. At this moment, she sent out five palm strikes in a row, and all five of her opponents were pushed back.

Lu Yin watched on in awe. He had already known that the difference in strength between different Semi-Progenitors could vary drastically. One only had to compare Yao Di to Herb Immortal to see this discrepancy. Still, regardless of how great the difference might be, Lu Yin had not thought it possible for Marquis Wang to overpower five Semi-Progenitors by herself. This was completely inconceivable to Lu Yin until he witnessed it for himself.

Under the restriction of the mental network, Marquis Wang’s attacks could not exceed the power of an eight-tribulation Envoy. The other Semi-Progenitors, including even Herb Immortal, could easily exert a level of power at that limit or even higher, which meant that the current restrictions forced both sides to have similar levels of brute strength. Despite that, the humans were still being easily suppressed.

This was the power of the Twelve Marquises.

A Semi-Progenitor’s true strength depended on their inner world, but none of them could activate that power during the current battle. In this regard, Marquis Wang held an advantage; she knew secret techniques from both the Wang and Xia families, and her mastery of her techniques clearly surpassed that of the Semi-Progenitors from the Fifth and Sixth Mainlands. If the Semi-Progenitors were able to release their full strength, then it might be impossible for Marquis Wang to suppress five opponents. After all, Jiu Chi and Xia Ji had both opened all three of their meridian points.

Five Semi-Progenitors, including Xia Ji, had been stopped by Marquis Wang, but no one had managed to stop Kui Luo.

Kui Luo continued to approach the passage to the Starfall Sea unobstructed.

The closer he got, the greater the sense of dread that filled his heart. Just a short bit of time passed, and the man stopped again. He looked conflicted.

Lu Yin’s expression fell. There were only two possible reasons for Marquis Wang to not have tried to stop Kui Luo. She had either been certain that Kui Luo would not be able to seal the passage to the Starfall Sea on his own and had allowed him to go past because of that. Or, their plan had been leaked, and she was confident that the Sky Pillar was not being carried by Kui Luo.

Kui Luo’s expression made things painfully obvious. The closer he moved to the passageway, the more he hesitated. There was no hiding the fact that he did not have the Sky Pillar.

Kui Luo arrived at the passage to the Starfall Sea, but he had no way to seal it. He could only shift about in place awkwardly, clearly embarrassed. Corpse God simply took a single glance at the man, and Kui Luo retreated in terror. That was one of the Seven Skygods, a powerhouse firmly in the Progenitor realm, and one of the Ancient Progenitors at that. Even though Corpse God was fully occupied with holding the passage to the Starfall Sea open and appeared to be completely immobilized, Kui Luo did not dare to get too close.

“Senior Yunying, get Ancestor Tortoise over there!” Lu Yin ordered.

Yunying Mavis nodded and gave Lulu an order. The young woman immediately waved at a glowing fruit, and it moved in the direction of their desired destination. They suddenly shot towards the Starfall Sea atop Ancestor Tortoise.

Ni Huang moved forward, and he swiftly left the Chief Justice behind as he continued on to the passage to the Starfall Sea. Marquis Wang was already holding back five Semi-Progenitors, so it was utterly impossible for her to take on another opponent.

The Nine Clones Secret Technique did not mean that a person actually had nine clones, nor that each clone had the same level of power. Otherwise, the Xia family would have become invincible long ago.

The four ruling powers had a good understanding of each other’s abilities, and Ni Huang had fought against many opponents who had learned the Nine Clones Secret Technique, so he did not bother with Marquis Wang at all.

The marquis’s figure flickered, and another clone appeared. This one raced towards Ni Huang while walking in an odd manner. She was using Inverse Step.

Lu Yin’s eyes instantly locked onto this sight. It was Inverse Step again! Was this movement technique actually quite common?

After Lu Yin had seen Progenitor Chen’s clone use Inverse Step during his stellular tribulation, this was the third individual that he had seen use Inverse Step. There was Progenitor Chen, Undying God, and finally Marquis Wang. What was the connection between these three?

Marquis Wang used Inverse Step to block Ni Huang’s path. He retaliated by raising his right arm up high. Vicious barbs materialized on the arm, and the man lunged at his opponent.

Marquis Wang struck out with a palm. The void exploded as the two clashed against each other, and Marquis Wang was thrown back.

Ni Huang possessed a level of strength that was on the cusp of becoming a Progenitor. He was much, much stronger than a Semi-Progenitor like Jiu Chi. He stood on the same level as the Twelve Marquises themselves.

“Do you think a mere clone can stop me? Dream on!” Ni Huang snorted and continued on his way.

Marquis Wang did not move to stop the man, but simply watched as Ni Huang’s figure gradually grew more distant. “Are you fit to hold the royal scepter?”

This was the first time that Marquis Wang had spoken. Her voice was clear and pleasant to hear, which contrasted wildly to her appearance.

Ni Huang did not hear Marquis Wang’s words, and neither did anyone else.