Lu Yin stared at the ball of shadow that the Ghost Monkey had become, and his eyes flickered. He had never really trusted the Ghost Monkey from the very beginning, and Lu Yin had always tried to screen the monkey off whenever he used his innate gift of the die. The primary reason behind all of Lu Yin’s caution was the fact that the Ghost Monkey knew far too many secrets.
A person’s knowledge was related to their environment, and the monkey was too knowledgeable on too many matters. He definitely had not gained all that knowledge by raiding tombs.
Even if Lu Yin had taken precautions towards the Ghost Monkey, the beast had never done anything threatening to Lu Yin. Thus, Lu Yin had never been overly concerned.
However, at this moment, the Ghost Monkey’s strange behavior left Lu Yin feeling completely uncertain.
The understanding that Lu Yin had about Beast Tamers was that, if he died, his tamed beast would also die though the converse was not true. When a tamed beast died, the controller would still be relatively fine. At worst, they would suffer severe injuries.
However, this was the case for when one used the Beast Tamers’ technique. The Ghost Monkey, on the other hand, claimed to have used the reverse technique to forcefully become Lu Yin’s tamed beast. This was also the one detail that Lu Yin doubted the most.
Lu Yin only hoped that no accident would befall the stupid monkey, as who knew what the outcome of a reversed beast-taming technique might be. Even if Lu Yin and the monkey became enemies, it would still be better than Lu Yin being injured if the monkey died at this moment.
Across the Mountain and Seas Zone, figures started to appear atop the golden screens.
While Lu Yin and the others were watching the Ghost Monkey as he shifted between shadows, Shang Qing appeared atop the golden screen at one of the distant mountain peaks. His expression seemed completely unbothered, and three qi streams swirled about him, giving him a deific appearance.
To him, ascending the mountain and stepping onto the screen were both perfectly normal occurrences.
Yuhua Mavis soon followed him.
Subsequently, Lei Nü and Qiu Shi emerged atop the other golden screens.
The Mountain and Seas Zone was very large, but those who had stepped upon the golden screens seemed to be magnified tremendously. Everyone was able to see each one of them.
Yōu Qi looked up and glanced in every direction. His expression grew cold as he looked back at Lu Yin. He thrust his spear forward, as he did not want to waste any more time.
The black spear shot forward, its tip glittering with a black light. While Lu Yin was distracted, the blade pierced his heart, and fresh blood dripped down from the speartip.
Yōu Qi’s eyes grew exceptionally cold. “Don’t blame me—you can only blame yourself for standing in my way.”
The spear suddenly shuddered, and he tossed Lu Yin aside.
Yōu Qi pulled his spear back, about to make his way up the mountain, when he suddenly felt that something was off; had Lu Yin really been struck that easily? He slowly turned around to see that Lu Yin was still standing in the same place with a strange expression on his face.
Yōu Qi’s expression sank as he closed his eyes and pulled at his horse’s reins. The beast whinnied and black flames rose into the sky to form a fiery dragon that covered the surface of the sea. There was a loud bang as the void was torn open; Yōu Qi saw Lu Yin standing through the shattered space, but the Lu Yin that he saw had already drawn close and was swatting down at him with a Vacuum Palm.
Yōu Qi snorted; this was an illusion. Someone was trying to trick him with an illusion.
Lu Yin’s palm passed through Yōu Qi. This time, it was not just his palm—his entire body phased through Yōu Qi as his palm passed through the man, just like before.
Yōu Qi instantly recovered and stabbed forward with his spear. Lu Yin dodged, but as he did so, he raised a hand to grab the spear shaft. When he tried this, it was not as simple as grabbing ahold of the spear like the first time. Yōu Qi was using his full strength as an Enlighter, and regardless of if it was his physical strength or his star energy, all of his abilities had surged in power. He had also been even further strengthened by his warflag, and not even Lu Yin’s physical strength was enough to keep a steady grip on the spear.
However, Lu Yin’s goal was not to actually grab the spear, but rather to simply make physical contact with it.
As one hand held the spear, Lu Yin’s other slapped out with a Vacuum Palm.
Yōu Qi released his hand, and the Vacuum Palm passed through his body yet again, missing.
Lu Yin’s eyes lit up. Sure enough, there was a condition behind Yōu Qi’s ability to turn immaterial, which was that no one could be in contact with his real body. Once contact was made, he would not be able to turn immaterial.
Yōu Qi sat astride his warhorse as its forelegs rose up to smash down on Lu Yin.
Lu Yin stood in place without moving, allowing the warhorse’s hooves to smash him down to the seafloor.
Yōu Qi immediately felt that something was wrong, and he realized that this was yet another illusion. The black flames shrouding his body rose high into the sky, shattering the illusion once again. Then, he suddenly looked over towards the tall mountain, only to see that the Ghost Monkey’s shadow that should have been on the mountain had disappeared.
The Ghost Monkey had been the one who had cast several illusions on Yōu Qi.
In the past, the Astral Beast Domain had sent several individuals to participate in the Tournament of the Strongest, and the Ghost Monkey had been one of those chosen participants. However, he had not been able to participate because he had already become Lu Yin’s tamed beast by then.
As one of the five lords of the Astral Beast Domain’s Spiritual Academy, the monkey’s talent was excellent, and once someone fell under his illusions, few within the same generation could shake them off.
Even if the monkey could not leave others completely oblivious like Night’s End, Daybreak, his illusions were still enough to threaten an enemy.
In the past, the monkey had not been able to help Lu Yin much since Lu Yin had grown far too quickly for the monkey to keep pace. The Ghost Monkey’s cultivation simply had not been able to keep up with Lu Yin’s, and Lu Yin’s opponents had become far too powerful lately. However, the monkey had just consumed the drop of Progenitor’s blood, and he had already broken through to the Hunter realm; he was now strong enough to battle alongside Lu Yin.
Even more importantly, it wasn’t just his illusions that had improved, as the monkey’s innate gift of shadows had also been enhanced.
When Yōu Qi realized that the Ghost Monkey was using illusions, it was already too late as the monkey had already transformed back into shadows and merged into the surrounding.
Once the Ghost Monkey merged with Yōu Qi’s shadow, Lu Yin took action, using the Vacuum Palm once again.
But this time, the palm directly struck Yōu Qi.
Yōu Qi was blasted off of his horse and into the sea. Lu Yin quickly slapped out with another palm, smacking Yōu Qi into the seabed.
Yōu Qi had not expected to be beaten so miserably so suddenly. Lu Yin had various attack techniques, at least two different secret techniques, other strange attacks, and even a tamed beast. The sheer variety was rather unbelievable to Yōu Qi.
Even if Burial Garden was more mysterious than it already was, it could not exceed the mystery that Yōu Qi saw in Lu Yin at this moment.
In particular, Lu Yin’s physical strength was so extreme that he was basically a humanoid monster. Otherwise, Yōu Qi’s earlier spear thrust would have ended the battle then and there.
Liu Tianmu had not been able to stop Yōu Qi’s spear, and aside from the other four Enlighters in the Mountain and Seas Zone, there was nobody else who could stop his spear let alone when he used the Sword Sect’s Eleventh Sword.
But once the Ghost Monkey merged with Yōu Qi’s shadow, Yōu Qi’s ability to turn immaterial had been sealed off. He looked up, only to see another one of Lu Yin’s palm land on him.
Yōu Qi was beaten by one Vacuum Palm after another until he was driven down to the seabed. He was unable to endure the bombardment, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
Outside the Mountain and Seas Zone, Mu En shook his head. “This generation’s Burial Garden’s top disciple is too weak. He can only able to rely on their formless battle technique and their willpower secret technique to fight, so how could he rise to the pinnacle? That innate gift is very powerful, as it allows him to search through and use the innate gifts and battle techniques of the dead. However, there are heavy restrictions on it as well.”
Highsage Shenwei commented, “Actually, it’s not that he’s weak. During the previous contests for the Cosmic Five, only the generation with the four captains of the Dead Regiment could compete against this kid. Unfortunately, there are simply too many geniuses in this era.”
“I’m more curious about that child, Lu Yin. Just how did he cultivate? When you and I were his age, we would have been considered decent if we had obtained even half of his current strength. He actually qualifies to compete for a position in the Cosmic Five,” an elder spoke.
Mu En slowly said, “The Cosmic Five of this generation should truly stand at the pinnacle above all of the previous contest winners. Even the inexplicable Tri-Yang Technique has reappeared even though it is truly unfair to the others. The Ten Arbiters, if any of them were placed in any other generation, would have all become a part of the Cosmic Five. It’s a pity.”
Xia Meng looked over at Mu En. “If the Sixth Mainland hadn’t invaded, then even if they were stronger, they would have never qualified to participate. Besides, this show to determine the Cosmic Five has already ended.”
Mu En did not reply and continued to quietly watch the screen.
Highsage Shenwei had an exasperated expression. The Cosmic Five had been decided upon long ago, and yet he couldn’t help but stare at Lu Yin on the screen. Even if Lu Yin managed to win, so what? All that would await him was an even more overwhelming opponent.
Within the Mountain and Seas Zone, the black flames gradually dissipated from the surface of the sea. In the distance, Ming Yu and the others all nervously watched on.
Lu Yin stood tall on the surface of the sea as he stared down at the seafloor. He could see that Yōu Qi’s rune lines had significantly decreased. Who cared if Yōu Qi was already an Enlighter? His Vacuum Palm was an attack that ignored realms, and once struck, whether or not a person could endure it all depended on their defense.
Yōu Qi was an Enlighter, and his attacks’ power level easily surpassed 300,000. However, his defenses were even more impressive, as he could not be struck by any attacks. But once his battle technique that let him turn immaterial was sealed off, his defenses were insufficient to protect him from a Vacuum Palm.
If Yōu Qi had not become an Enlighter, then Lu Yin guessed that a single Vacuum Palm would be enough to beat his organs out—his physical defenses were actually a notch lower than Lan Si and Nightking Zhenwu’s.
Yōu Qi’s flaws were too clear.
A shadow slowly ascended from the seafloor and then merged into Lu Yin’s arm; it was the Ghost Monkey.
Lu Yin’s eyes flashed. “You really didn’t lie. So you really could have used a drop of Semi-Progenitor or even Progenitor’s blood to raise your strength. You actually broke through and became a Hunter while you were just an Explorer before.”
The Ghost Monkey remained silent for a moment, but then he said, “Seventh Bro, from the very beginning, you’ve never trusted me, have you?”
Lu Yin did not deny the accusation, as there was no need to do so. At this moment, he wanted to clarify the relationship he had with the Ghost Monkey. If Lu Yin could not gain the monkey’s trust, then he would rather erase it.
It was rather terrifying for a creature to step from the Explorer realm straight to the Hunter realm. Who knew if the Ghost Monkey could suddenly rise to the Envoy realm? Then, the guest might even become the host.
Also, the stupid monkey had absorbed a drop of Progenitor’s blood, and it was impossible for the blood to have been fully absorbed in one go. The monkey’s strength might surge again in the near future.
“Seventh Bro, I really am called a Ghost Monkey, but there’s never been a Ghost Monkey bloodline in the Astral Beast Domain. Since ancient times, there’s only ever been one Ghost Monkey: me,” the monkey explained.
Lu Yin silently listened.
“And this name, ‘Ghost Monkey,’ comes from… Progenitor Wushang.”
Lu Yin’s pupils shrank, his expression betraying his shock. “What did you just say?”
The Ghost Monkey let out a long breath. “This monkey knows that it’s difficult for you to accept it, but these are the facts. My appearance was a complete accident, as I was birthed from Progenitor Wushang’s shadow and blood. Ever since I first appeared and became conscious, I was with Progenitor Wushang. In other words, I was created by Progenitor Wushang.”
Lu Yin had a massive frown on his face, and he did not quite dare to believe such a claim. “You were created by Progenitor Wushang?”
“You can’t believe it, can you? That’s why I never said anything about it, as I was afraid that you wouldn’t believe me even if I told you the truth. In fact, if I said anything, you might even view me as your enemy and simply eliminate me. But I can’t stay silent, as it only took this monkey a moment to jump from the Explorer realm to the Hunter realm. If I don’t tell you now, then with your vigilance, you could very well wipe me out of existence. So, I had no choice,” the Ghost Monkey reluctantly explained.
Lu Yin suppressed his shock, and calmly asked, “What are you relying on to convince me?”
“Aside from an organism created by a Progenitor, what else could simply skip over the Cruiser realm? And what else could absorb a Progenitor’s blood while in the Explorer realm? Only this monkey, who has observed history throughout countless ages, can. No other creature can do what I just did—no one else can absorb Progenitor’s blood like me, and that’s because this monkey was born from Progenitor Wushang’s blood. Thus, I can directly absorb a Progenitor’s blood,” the monkey explained.
Lu Yin fell deep into thought and stayed silent.
“Seventh Bro, do you remember when I told you that the Astral Beast Domain’s Celestial Ice Phoenix clan is a part of my harem? That’s actually true. When this monkey was born, Progenitor Wushang was thrilled, and he thus made the Celestial Ice Phoenix my harem. This is something that is only known to Progenitor Wushang, the Celestial Ice Phoenix clan’s ancestors, and me, though it’s recorded down in their clan’s history. If not for the accident that happened later on, then I might have become one of the oldest powerhouses in the Astral Beast Domain right now!” the Ghost Monkey proudly proclaimed.
