Lu Yin lifted his head to look up at the Higher Realm. If things proceeded according to plan, he would soon visit that place, the Higher Realm. The place where the rulers of the Perennial World lived. He wondered what he would see up there.
Lu Yin waited for more than an hour before his communication crystal vibrated and an image of Qing Chen reappeared. The Middle Realm’s Supervisor looked somber. “I will take you to the Crimson Garden to search for the traitor and let you make your judgment there. I will accompany you throughout the entire process, and we will search together.”
Lu Yin nodded. “Okay.”
“I’m going to head right over to pick you up and take you to the Higher Realm.” Suddenly, the image disappeared.
Lu Yin casually said, “Supervisor Qing Chen is on his way. Are you certain that you won’t be discovered?”
The old man emerged. “Of course not. He’s no better than me, so as long as he just stays here, he won’t be able to find him.”
Lu Yin picked up his feet and walked away.
“Little guy, make sure you look at everyone in the Crimson Garden. Don’t miss a single person,” the old man solemnly ordered.
Lu Yin turned around and shot a teasing look at the old man. “Old man, your actions are completely different from before. Aren’t you worried that I’ll start to think that you’re particularly invested in this matter?”
The old man’s strange smile made a comeback. “This old man knows how smart you are, so maybe you can answer a question for me: is it fun in the Forsaken Land?”
Lu Yin’s face twitched. Sure enough, this old man knew that they were from the Forsaken Land.
“We’re conducting business, and both of us are aware of this. As long as you earnestly help me resolve this matter, this old man will never mention your personal affairs,” the old man promised.
Lu Yin frowned. “The person you’re looking for might not be in the Crimson Garden, so don’t blame me if I can’t find him.”
“This old man already knows how many people there are in the Crimson Garden, as well as some of their characteristics. You’ll just need to answer a few questions when you get back, and if you answer properly, this old man will know that you’re serious about helping me. Who could ever imagine that the most brilliant genius in Humility’s Gate’s history, an acting Gate Master, is actually a trespasser from the Forsaken Land? If I remember correctly, you went to the Dominion Realm with the four Junior Progenitors, and a group of people disappeared there. Do you really believe that the four ruling powers think that those people disappeared? That they have nothing to do with you? That they believe that the four Junior Progenitors being trapped there has nothing to do with you?” the old man asked with his odd smile.
Lu Yin instantly grew completely focused. This old guy was rather brazen with his guesses. The group of missing people were actually all in Lu Yin’s cosmic ring right now. “Don’t worry, senior, I’ll complete this task properly.”
“Don’t worry, kid. I promise that uncovering this Redback will make you one of the most important people in this universe,” the old man promised.
Lu Yin did not believe the old man’s words, but he had no choice but to follow along. At least up until now, the old man had shown no indication of wanting to harm Lu Yin, and Lu Yin also wanted to know the identity of that grandpa from Driftcharge Planet.
While most people in the Perennial World were clearly hostile to trespassers, there were others who truly did not care. Wu Taibai was one such example, and the Semi-Progenitor in front of Lu Yin seemed like he was in hiding as well. Clearly, this was not the same opinion that the primary powers of the Perennial World held, but Lu Yin chose to believe that this old man truly did not care about Lu Yin being a trespasser.
If the absolute worst happened, Lu Yin could always use his trump card: Master Summoning. Lu Yin was actually looking forward to seeing Mister Mu’s strength.
Lu Yin said goodbye to Luo Shen and walked out of Huaiyuan Gate. Qing Chen soon arrived, as he had been traveling at top speed. He then quickly escorted Lu Yin over to Cloud Shuttle.
Lu Yin had not returned to Cloud Shuttle since Yun Mubai’s arrest, so his arrival drew a great deal of attention from the Smokecloud Sect disciples. They all looked at Lu Yin while hiding complicated emotions. They did not know whether to feel hatred or gratitude towards this person.
Lu Yin and Qing Chen soon arrived on a cloud platform that was drifting up from the ground. Lu Yin looked down and saw the ground grow smaller and smaller. He then looked upwards towards the Higher Realm.
“Is this your first time going to the Higher Realm?” Qing Chen asked.
Lu Yin grunted. “Yeah. Isn’t it a bit of an embarrassment that this is my first time there despite being a member of the White Dragon Clan?”
Qing Chen laughed. “Those who have humble origins will grow unbelievably arrogant once given the opportunity. The four ruling powers are a perfect example, as they all used to be based in the Middle Realm.”
Lu Yin commented, “I heard that the four ruling powers worked together to exile the Lu family and replace them as the rulers of the Perennial World.”
Qing Chen quickly said, “Don’t think about the Lu family, or else the restrictions within your mind will activate. Those restrictions are from a sourcebox array that was set up by the Progenitors of all four ruling powers, and it affects the entire Perennial World. Not even Envoys can remember the Lu family, so even if you reach that level, I still won’t be able to say much about the Lu family.”
“Understood,” Lu Yin replied. This finally explained why the man whom he had Possessed had died from his head exploding when he had tried to glean information regarding the Lu family. It had been because of this sourcebox array that the Progenitors from the four ruling powers had cooperated to arrange. They had clearly been determined to eliminate everything in the Perennial World that was related to the Lu family in order to complete their takeover.
“You don’t seem to be worried about the four ruling powers. Is it because of your status as a branch family member?” Qing Chen asked.
Lu Yin replied, “Maybe. They’re all the way up there, and to them, I’m no different from a regular person.”
Qing Chen sighed. “Long Ke, the patriarch of the White Dragon Clan, has the typical attitude of a ruler. On top of that, you’re from a branch family and are only the main family’s son-in-law. There’s no disputing this, so don’t get angry with him. Just be patient and find the Redback in the Crimson Garden. I will then personally accompany you to Dragon Mountain in order to apologize to him. In the end, your roots lay with the White Dragon Clan, and you will need their support in the future.”
Lu Yin understood and was not surprised by Qing Chen’s words. After failing to get through to Lu Yin, Long Ke must have contacted Qing Chen.
“My deepest thanks, supervisor, but your subordinate only wants to remain with Humility’s Gate. If I visit Dragon Mountain, it will be hard for me to ever leave,” Lu Yin said.
Qing Chen smiled casually. “You underestimate my Humility’s Gate. You are Huaiyuan Gate’s acting Gate Master, and you have accomplished great things. Even the commander’s eye is on you. While it’s true that the White Dragon Clan is one of the four ruling powers that looks down upon all others, the truth has always been and always will be that the Progenitors are the true masters of the universe. The commander is a Progenitor, and when he speaks, not even the White Dragon Clan’s Progenitor will refuse to give him face. You’re nothing more than a son-in-law, and you’re not worth two Progenitors fighting over.
“As far as the White Dragon Clan is concerned, you are nothing more than a son-in-law. On the other hand, to my Humility’s Gate, you are a man of great value. The commander will step forward for you, and the White Dragon Clan is already aware of the situation. Thus, they will not embarrass you.”
Lu Yin felt helpless. He absolutely did not want to go to Dragon Mountain, especially since he was afraid that they would want to verify his bloodline, which would lead to no end of trouble. However, after seeing Qing Chen’s response, there was no way the supervisor would not take Lu Yin to see the White Dragon Clan.
Qing Chen’s intention was to do this for Long Qi’s own sake, as the supervisor knew that, even if Long Qi stayed with Humility’s Gate in the future, he could not completely cut off ties from his own clan. Qing Chen was trying to resolve the distance between Lu Yin and the White Dragon Clan’s main family. However, Lu Yin was absolutely certain that Long Ke would not react as Qing Chen expected, as the patriarch had already mentioned that he wanted Lu Yin to frame Elder Long Quan.
As Lu Yin was thinking about this matter, he was shrouded by a shadow from above. They were getting closer and closer to the Higher Realm.
The closer one was to the Higher Realm, the more suffocating the pressure that they would suffer. This pressure was given off by the entire Higher Realm.
It felt like the pressure represented the difficulty of ants trying to ascend to the Higher Realm. This pressure seemed to carry authority, repression, and supremacy.
Lu Yin looked up once more to stare at the unreachable base of the Higher Realm. Suddenly, a strange thought popped into his head: what would it be like to shatter this landmass?
There was a whistle as a gust of wind swept by the two men. It was not weak, and even a Hunter might not be able to endure this gust. However, it had no effect whatsoever on Lu Yin and Qing Chen.
Everything grew dark, and they began to pass by the rock formations that made up the base of the Higher Realm. Before long, they passed through the whole section, and a ray of light entered their eyes.
Lu Yin had finally entered the Higher Realm.
Against expectations, the Higher Realm was not bright, but rather quite dark. There was no sun, and the bit of light that he did see shone across the ground from an infinite distance away.
“The Higher Realm has no light source. The light from above is blocked by the Mother Tree’s canopy that covers the entire Dominion Realm, and there are no stars between the Higher Realm and the Dominion Realm. Finally, the four ruling powers do not allow anyone else to establish stars above their territory, and everyone else can only accept these rules within the Higher Realm. This is why the only distant sources of light that we see is from one of the ruling powers, as they are the only ones allowed to have a source of light here in the Higher Realm.”
Lu Yin found this quite entertaining. This was the ultimate abuse of authority.
The cloud platform came to a stop, and Lu Yin and Qing Chen stepped off. Lu Yin had officially stepped onto the Higher Realm. Off in the distance, he saw a burst of stellular energy sweep by, but it instantly retreated after detecting Qing Chen’s aura.
Due to being a part of Humility’s Gate, as well as because he was accompanying Qing Chen, Lu Yin’s cosmic ring was not inspected. Normally, everyone who entered the Higher Realm had to let their cosmic ring be inspected, as no weapons were allowed to enter the Higher Realm.
Qing Chen placed a hand on Lu Yin’s shoulder and guided him into a tear in the void and made their way towards the Crimson Garden.
Since they were traveling through the void, Lu Yin was unable to ask any questions.
The Higher Realm was massive, though most of it was under the control of the four ruling powers, and there were not many public areas.
As Qing Chen and Lu Yin traveled through the void, they encountered no fewer than five bursts of stellular energy, and one was even enough to force Qing Chen to stop and speak to someone.
“You’re able to endure the pressure of the true universe much better than I expected,” Qing Chen suddenly commented.
Lu Yin’s heart skipped a beat. He had completely missed the fact that Qing Chen had entered the true universe through the tear in the void. It was practically impossible for most Enlighters to even touch the true universe, let alone show no effect after such a long exposure.
“The members of the White Dragon Clan really do have impressive physiques,” Qing Chen said with a sigh before saying no more about it.
One day later, the two stopped.
“Qing Chen, the Supervisor of Humility’s Gate’s Middle Realm’s Nine Gates and Huaiyuan Gate’s Gate Master ask to enter the Crimson Garden,” Qing Chen opened his mouth and spoke to an empty region in front of the duo.
Lu Yin stared at the area before them. There was nothing but empty space. Was this the Crimson Garden? If that was the case, then it meant that there was a pocket dimension here, just like the 3,000 hidden worlds on Honor Mountain.
Up in the sky, a delicate and beautiful flower appeared from the void, appearing out of nowhere.
Lu Yin stared at the beautiful bright red flower in surprise. This was the same type of flower that had appeared in the last image that he had seen in the Possessed Enlighter’s mind when searching for information regarding the Lu family. It was also the same flower that Lu Yin had discovered in Bai Shaohong’s cosmic ring. Was this flower from the Crimson Garden?
Qing Chen watched as the red flower appeared, and fear manifested in his eyes. He reached up to touch the flower with a finger, and the two people instantly disappeared, along with the flower. It was as though the flower had never even existed.
Lu Yin had long since become accustomed to sudden changes in scenery, so when he regained his senses, he immediately looked around. However, a startled expression instantly appeared on his face when he saw the Crimson Garden.
He saw delicate red flowers falling everywhere in the sky. It seemed like it was raining flowers endlessly, just like what he had seen in the memory of the man that he had Possessed long ago. The red flowers filled the world, each one delicate and beautiful.
He saw even more of the red flowers blooming on the ground. There were burbling streams off in the distance, and there were more flowers floating in the water. They covered the paths in bamboo forests that were quiet and secluded, and all of the distant mountains were covered in red. The entire world was red. This was the Crimson Garden.
No one could be seen, as the place was empty.
