The falling hand contained a peerless pressure. Due to its incomparable size, everyone felt like it would easily smash the entire headquarters to pieces. It was even possible to see every single pore on the hand due to its size.
Xia Yan shouted fiercely, “Long Laogui, RUN!”
The old man wielding the spear moved back without any hesitation. He grabbed the corpse king that had undergone a red-eyes transformation and then moved to flee.
The ground trembled, and the second base’s sourcebox array activated. Spatial cracks filled the entire area, blocking off everyone’s line of sight. What did the second base of the massive sourcebox array do? Massive amounts of blood spurted out of the hand, though it still maintained a tight grip on the corpse king as it tried to pull it back.
The ground of the entire headquarters was painted red.
The battle had ended, and with the exception of Lu Yin, who was a new arrival, no one seemed terribly surprised.
One by one, the cultivators moved to clean up the battlefield in an orderly manner. They burned the bodies of the corpse kings and cleared the ground, making sure that none of the corpse kings’ poisonous blood was left behind.
Lu Yin put his universal armor away. When the swordsman noticed Lu Yin, he hurried over. “I am Liu Jing. Might I ask for this brother’s name?”
Lu Yin quickly replied, “Junior Ah Qi greets Senior.”
Liu Jing was taken aback, but Lu Yin clearly did not want to reveal his surname, and the Envoy did not particularly care either. Many others were the same. Some had joined the battlefield in order to gain accomplishments, and there were all sorts of different people in this place. Such details did not matter on the battlefield. If one stepped foot onto the battlefield, it proved that they had already passed a background check.
“Brother Ah Qi, there’s no need to call me senior. Rather, I’ll feel like you’re looking down on me. Just call me Big Brother Liu since I’m older than you.” Liu Jing smiled. He wanted to become friends with Lu Yin. Although he was an Envoy, Liu Jing was not confident that he could defeat this talented young Enlighter.
Lu Yin smiled. “Big Brother Liu, thank you for your help just now.”
“I also want to thank you, Brother Ah Qi. Is this Brother Ah Qi’s first time at the second array base?” Liu Jing asked.
Lu Yin nodded. “Yes. Actually, this is my first time stepping onto this battlefield.”
Liu Jing sighed. “The Tree Realm was broken through some time ago when a Progenitor realm corpse king took action. Even though he was forced to retreat, he left behind a great number of terror ants. Brother Ah Qi must be here to deal with those ants.”
Lu Yin replied in a helpless tone, “That’s precisely it. I wouldn’t have come to the battlefield if not for that.”
Liu Jing nodded. “This battlefield is brutal, so Brother Ah Qi, you have to take care of yourself. Even though dealing with the ants means that you won’t fight on the battlefield itself, that task still isn’t any safer than the battlefield. In fact, it can even be considered to be more dangerous, as you’ll need to deal with more than just the terror ants. They’re being protected by powerful corpse kings and traitors.”
This resonated with what Lu Yin had heard from the short man when he had first stepped onto the battlefield. Qing Chen had even ordered Lu Yin to pick out the best defensive treasure, which made it quite clear how perilous clearing out the terror ants was.
That thought reminded Lu Yin—he still needed to redeem that defensive treasure.
“Does Brother Liu hail from the Sword Monument’s Liu family?” Lu Yin asked.
Liu Jing looked around at the people who were busy as he answered, “Yeah, though I haven’t been back there in many years. The family’s probably already forgotten about me.”
“How long has Big Brother Liu been here for?” Lu Yin was surprised.
Liu Jing smiled. “I am staying here at the second array base voluntarily. This place always needs to be protected, and there’s the general, the array itself, the various colonels, and us. All together, we add a bit of power to the second array base.”
Lu Yin admired this kind of person.
There was a boom off in the distance as the huge corpse king’s body exploded. Its blood splashed onto many cultivators, and they quickly received treatment to prevent them from being corroded by the toxic blood.
The cone-shaped sourceboxes also fell out one by one, though they had dimmed a great deal.
Liu Jing frowned. “That sourcebox array was destroyed, which is a problem. We’ll need to look for that bunch of Array Masters again, but all of them are so arrogant, and we’ll have to pay a steep price to get them to move.”
Lu Yin was curious about this. “I heard that the Lockbreakers’ Headquarters voluntarily set up a base here on the battlefield and that they are highly respected for their efforts.”
Liu Jing sneered. “Sure, it’s ‘voluntary.’ They’re saying that because they don’t have a choice in this matter. They can’t wait to leave the battlefield as soon as they can.”
As he spoke, he looked over at a group of people clustered nearby. “Look, those are the Lockbreakers from headquarters.”
Lu Yin saw that the people in the indicated group were dressed in a manner that was completely at odds with the overall battlefield. Every single person seemed to consider themselves a superior creature, and they reeked of arrogance in both their speech and manners. They even had servants waiting upon them.
Seeing such people socializing on a battlefield where someone could die at any moment was truly disharmonious with everything else.
“Those are the Lockbreakers that their headquarters sent to be stationed here on the second array base. Do you see that man in the middle of the group?” Liu Jing asked.
Lu Yin looked. “Which one?”
There was actually a group of people in the middle of the crowd. Everyone at the center was a man, and the only women near them looked to be attendants, which seemed rather odd.
Liu Jing said, “The one pinching his fingers in a dainty fashion.”
Lu Yin blinked and noticed that there really was a middle-aged man who had three raised fingers from pinching his middle finger and thumb together.
“That’s Master Zan. He’s an Array Master. While he’s not that powerful of a cultivator, he’s an excellent Lockbreaker. He must have come out to repair the sourcebox this time, though I can’t even imagine how much the general will have to pay for this,” Liu Jing Shen remarked.
“Doesn’t it make sense to just repair the sourcebox array? Why does the general have to pay a price for it?” Lu Yin found this comment quite strange.
Liu Jing shook his head. “While that’s true in theory, these people take their time and do things slowly if they don’t receive sufficient compensation. For the sake of the headquarters itself, the general is compelled to pay them to get the array repaired as soon as possible.”
Lu Yin frowned. “If they don’t get the array repaired, they’ll be in danger themselves the next time a corpse king attacks.”
“They’re able to keep themselves safe, and no one knows just how many sourcebox arrays are protecting their own residence here.” It was quite clear that Liu Jing did not like the Lockbreakers.
Lu Yin curiously studied the cone-shaped sourceboxes. He was actually able to repair the array himself, and given the number of sourcebox arrays that he had already comprehended, he could actually be considered a Senior Array Master, which was a rank above this Master Zan. However, Lu Yin had only just stepped onto the battlefield, and he could not be too flashy right now. This second headquarters was located at the back of the battlefield, and it would be a problem if Lu Yin became entangled with these Lockbreakers.
“Brother Ah Qi, I’m going to go see the general. You can report in on your own. Good luck,” Liu Jing said after glancing down at his communication crystal.
Lu Yin replied, “Brother Liu, can you take me to see the general? I actually need to report directly to him.”
Liu Jing was momentarily taken aback, but then he said, “That makes sense. Given your strength, you qualify to directly report to the general. Let’s go. I’ll take you to the general’s office.”
The second array base’s general’s office was underground, or rather, it was within the array base itself. Liu Jing led Lu Yin down to the ground, past the ever-vigilant cultivators in front of them, who quickly allowed Liu Jing to pass.
As they descended, they passed by at least several thousand guards.
The underground office was well lit. Lu Yin looked around, but he was not observing the path to the general’s office. Instead, he was studying the internal structure of the sourcebox array.
This sourcebox array was known as Ceaseless Impetus. After descending underground, Lu Yin realized that this formation might not be as simple as a mere sourcebox array. Lu Yin seemed to be looking at a fusion of multiple methods, which even included technology, into an indescribable defense with a sourcebox array as its foundation that protected humanity.
Lu Yin did not know who had designed and set up this sourcebox array, but their understanding of this subject did not seem to be any worse than Progenitor Hui’s.
Wait! Lu Yin suddenly thought of a certain possibility—could Progenitor Hui have possibly been the Array Master behind this?
Progenitor Hui was known to be the greatest Lockbreaker to come from the Fifth Mainland. He was famous for designing seventy two sourcebox arrays, as well as establishing the Technocracy. Both of these legacies shared similarities with this particular sourcebox array.
As Lu Yin’s mind wandered over certain possibilities, Liu Jing led the youth along. They soon met up with General Xia Yan, who was the middle-aged man that had fought against the red-eyed corpse king. Beside Xian Yan was the two people who had eliminated the huge corpse king: Long Laogui and Master Chun.
“Liu Jing greets the general.”
“Ah Qi greets the general.”
Lu Yin did not know what Xia Yan had been discussing with the other old men, as Master Chun had stopped talking as soon as he had noticed that Liu Jing was requesting to speak to Xia Yan. The general’s brows rose when he looked at Lu Yin.
“Liu Jing, give us a moment.”
Liu Jing obeyed and slowly withdrew.
“Chun, you as well,” Xia Yan said.
Master Chun was surprised by this request, and he glanced at Lu Yin before slowly leaving.
After the two left, Xia Yan appraised Lu Yin in a serious manner. “Are you Long Qi?”
The old man next to Xia Yan stared at Lu Yin with a sudden interest.
Lu Yin replied in a respectful manner, “This subordinate is indeed Long Qi. I greet the general.”
Xia Yan nodded. “I know your purpose here, as well as your importance.”
He then took something that appeared to be a token out of his cosmic ring, and he tossed it over to Lu Yin.
Lu Yin accepted it.
“This is a colonel pass, and my second array base has five colonels. Normally, this rank is only given during combat in the battlefield, as it carries no authority outside of combat. From this moment forth, you are one of those colonels,” Xia Yan stated.
Lu Yin was stunned. He had not expected to receive this much support from Xia Yan, let alone become a colonel immediately upon his arrival. “General, this subordinate is new to the battlefield, and I might not qualify for such a position.”
Lu Yin did not want to be tied to the battlefield, as he intended to return to the Fifth Mainland after completing his current mission.
Xia Yan solemnly answered, “I saw how you performed during this last battle, and you directly caused the deaths of two corpse kings at the Envoy level. If not for you, Liu Jing would also have died. Given your personal strength, along with your power vessel, you truly do qualify to be one of the colonels, so there’s no need to try to argue.”
Lu Yin was left in a helpless position. “Understood. This subordinate will obey your orders.”
Xia Yan said no more, and instead, he turned his attention to something else down below. This time, the old man beside him spoke up. “Long Qi, do you know who this old man is?”
Lu Yin answered respectfully, “Long Qi greets the elder.”
The old man smiled gently. “Elder? It would appear that you do recognize me. Did Qing Chen mention me?”
Lu Yin replied, “The Supervisor merely mentioned Elder Laogui’s name, and this junior felt the clan’s energy from Senior’s attack earlier. That allowed me to recognize Senior.”
The old man nodded. “I’ve also heard of you. You showed no timidness down at Cloud Shuttle. Do you know that the goods were originally intended for me? Long Quan called you, but you ignored his call. That was quite bold.”
“Long Laogui, head on back to discuss your family’s affairs. This is the office of the second array base’s general. If the several of you had not left without authorization, the array base would have been able to activate in time, and we would not be in our current situation,” Xia Yan solemnly stated.
Long Laogui smiled in a carefree manner. It was as if the general’s comment did not concern him at all.
Xia Yan then turned to look at Lu Yin once more. “You’re dismissed for now. Liu Jing will arrange a team for you to use to clear out the ants in a bit. At that point, you can also decide whether to reveal your true identity or not. I’ll leave it up to you.”
Lu Yin bowed. “Understood. Your subordinate will take his leave.”
With that, Lu Yin slowly left the office without looking back at Long Laogui.
