Right after speaking, the two Semi-Progenitors froze as a feeling of panic seeped from their hearts. They had been enveloped by a power that covered the entire world.
This power could easily destroy them at a whim, and they would not be able to retaliate in the slightest. This was the power of a Progenitor.
Neither of the Semi-Progenitors knew which Progenitor had moved out at this time. All of the Perennial World’s Progenitors were stationed far away, as they normally stayed on the far side of the Dominion Realm in order to stop Aeternus from entering the Perennial World. The human Progenitors could not risk letting Aeternus know that one of them had left, so they would let any of the humans know either, due to the threat of Redbacks leaking such information.
The Forgotten Ruins trembled, and Wang Su, Xia Shenfei, and Long Tian all instantly opened their eyes as one, their minds already clear.
“Leave now!” commanded the Progenitor.
Just as the three youths were about to leave, the void tore open with a loud bang. All that anyone heard was the Progenitor shouting, “How dare you enter so deeply into the Withered Glory Region?”
“Since we set this trap, how can we allow you to destroy it so easily?”
“How long do you think you can stop us for?”
“That all depends on how many people you humans can send to rescue these youths. Between the Dominion Realm, and the five array bases. Just how many of your powerhouses can you spare for this? Hahahaha!”
The human Progenitor had encountered powerful enemies in the form of Aeternus’s own Progenitors, which meant that this attempt to rescue Wang Su and the other Junior Progenitors had failed. However, at this exact moment, the two Semi-Progenitors who had been standing guard over the Forgotten Ruins did not care about rescuing the Junior Progenitors, and neither were they concerned about the Progenitors’ battle. As the fight raged on around them, the two Semi-Progenitors were simply staring at Bai Shaohong. He was lying slack on the ground.
The two powerhouses turned to stare at each other in shock before looking back at Bai Shaohong. They stared a bit longer and then finally caught their breath. “This- he’s dead!”
“This is going to shake the entire Perennial World.”
At the top of the Higher Realm, at a place where the earth met the sky, there was a sect that had been built around an icy pond. This mountaintop sect had an ethereal appearance that made it look like a land of fantasy, and the white clouds in the sky above radiated a soft light that illuminated the world below. The light given off by each cloud was comfortable and made people feel relaxed and at peace. Below the pond, there were more mountains, as well as clear lakes of water. Some planets revolved around the mountains, but not a single one of them rose above the peaks.
This was the Celestial Frost Sect.
The word “frost” in the sect’s name represented the icy pond while the word “celestial” represented not only the sect itself, but also the goal of every single member of the sect. Celestials lived in a realm above mortals, and they were untouchable. Mortals could only look up to such beings.
No matter what sort of image the Celestial Frost Sect had in the outside world, the atmosphere within the mountain sect always remained peaceful, though this peace was rudely disrupted by the intrusion of some news.
Bai Shaohong was both the Celestial Frost Sect’s Junior Progenitor and also Bai Xian’er’s little brother. His death rattled the entire Celestial Frost Sect, and the ripples of this matter spread out and shook the entire Higher Realm before rippling out and sending tremors throughout the entire Perennial World.
“Are you absolutely certain that Shaohong is actually dead?” Inside the sect’s main hall, a deep voice came from a middle-aged man. This man was Bai Teng, who was the current sect master of the Celestial Frost Sect.
“Yes, Sect Master. His death has been confirmed.”
Bai Teng’s eyes grew cold. “Lock down the news to stop it from reaching the Middle Realm. Reach out to the Xia family, the White Dragon Clan, and the Nong family immediately and have everyone who was a part of the expedition to the Dominion Realm’s Withered Glory region be sent to my Celestial Frost Sect for questioning.”
“Sect Master, Xia Taili is the Xia family’s princess, and Wu Taibai, the White Dragon Clan’s Long Qi, and the Nong family’s Nong Sanniang are all direct descendants of their respective powers. No one will agree to allow my Celestial Frost Sect to take and question such people.”
Bai Teng’s voice dropped low. “Then find a way to capture them, especially the people from the Xia family. When they first left the Withered Glory region, no one mentioned that Shaohong had died. Shaohong was the strongest of the Junior Progenitors, so how could no one have noticed his death? The person most likely to have been able to keep everyone else silent is the Xia family’s princess, Xia Taili.”
“Understood. I’ll initiate negotiations immediately.”
Bai Teng quickly received responses from the Xia family, the White Dragon Clan, and the Nong family. All of them refused the Celestial Frost Sect’s demands while simultaneously sending their condolences. The messages were full of regret for Bai Shaohong’s death, but everyone also firmly stated that they would not allow their children to be interrogated by the Celestial Frost Sect.
In particular, Shenwu’s Sky’s response was worded particularly harshly.
Bai Teng was not surprised by the uniform reactions. “Was there anyone else who joined the excursion?”
“There were six people who returned from the Dominion Realm: Xia Taili, Wu Taibai, Nong Sanniang, Shang Qing, Long Qi, and Liu Tianmu. Of them, if we disregard Xia Taili, Wu Taibai, Nong Sanniang, and Long Qi, there are only Shang Qing and Liu Tianmu. At the moment, both of them are at Humility’s Gate’s Huaiyuan Gate in the Middle Realm. We started negotiations with Humility’s Gate, but they would not allow any of their people to be sent and questioned by our Celestial Frost Sect.”
“Then capture all of them,” Bai Teng sharply demanded.
“Sect Master? Just capture them openly?”
Bai Teng hesitated. His character meant that he typically went with the direct approach and simply grabbed those that he wanted to question, but these particular targets were youths from the other four ruling powers, as well as the Nong family and Humility’s Gate. Not a single one of these forces were easy to deal with, and while the Celestial Frost Sect was overbearing and capable of overwhelming any individual power, they could not deal with all of these powers at once. This was beyond the sect’s ability.
At that moment, someone informed the sect master that Yu Chen wished to see him.
“Yu Chen greets the sect master.” Yu Chen was dressed in plain clothes as she presented herself before Bai Teng. Her face was pale, and her eyes were bloodshot as she bowed to Bai Teng.
Bai Teng sighed. “Why are you here instead of mourning over Shaohong’s death at his funeral?”
Yu Chen lifted her head and replied firmly, “This disciple must uncover the murderer who killed our Junior Progenitor.”
“Do you have any clues?” Bai Teng asked.
Yu Chen quietly answered, “Long Qi is the most suspicious person.”
Bai Teng was taken aback at this statement. “Long Qi?”
Yu Chen shared everything that she knew regarding Long Qi, especially her schemes that she had implemented against Long Qi and how they had all failed. She listed everything that she knew, bit by bit. “Sect Master, Long Qi is definitely not as simple as he appears to be at first glance. He should have been finished back in the Yinshan District, but instead, he steadily climbed to a glorious status step by step. He is now a Gate Master within Humility’s Gate, and he has even received the attention of their commander. That powerhouse wishes to accept Long Qi as a disciple, and the White Dragon Clan even intends to add his name to their main family’s genealogy.”
“These are not accomplishments that some mere son-in-law can pull off. His performance has been too perfect. He has already caught up to the four Junior Progenitors despite all of them starting off at a much higher level. His talent for lockbreaking has even drawn the attention of an Array Master. As for his combat ability, he has evenly fought against Envoys and is said to have an innate gift that allows him to see through people with a glance. He has been even more successful than Semi-Progenitor Qing Chen at rooting out Redbacks.
“Everything about this Long Qi is perfect, but the more perfect something is, the more likely it is nothing more than an illusion.”
“But wasn’t Long Qi only a Hunter when he accompanied the Junior Progenitors to the Dominion Realm? He couldn’t have possibly been a Junior Progenitor’s opponent, right?” someone asked.
Yu Chen gaze grew more focused. “If he accompanied the Junior Progenitors to the Dominion Realm with his current strength, then would he be able to stand up to the Junior Progenitors?”
“Of course he could. Not only has he become an Enlighter, but he has also fought on the rear battlefield,” someone replied.
Yu Chen retorted, “Then who can guarantee that he did not hide his strength or cultivation when they made the trip?”
Bai Teng immediately ordered, “Go negotiate with the White Dragon Clan again. Long Qi must be questioned.”
Yu Chen quickly spoke up, “Sect Master, the White Dragon Clan is already sending out invitations to everyone precisely because of Long Qi. He has become their new poster child. Even if it starts a war, they will never willingly deliver Long Qi to my Celestial Frost Sect.”
“So what?” Bai Teng’s expression grew ferocious. “Is my Celestial Frost Sect still afraid of that failure of a White Dragon Clan?”
Yu Chen frowned. Although Bai Teng had been promoted to be the current sect master, he was still both too impulsive and too powerful. Even though she could still control him, it took a great deal of time and effort. “Sect Master, since starting a war would be the worst possible outcome, why not just capture Long Qi?”
Bai Teng’s eyes lit up. “That’s true! I’ll immediately send someone to capture Long Qi.”
Yu Chen respectfully interjected once again. “This disciple will ask her jade butterflies to closely monitor both Shang Qing and Liu Tianmu while also confirming Long Qi’s whereabouts.”
Yu Chen trained her jade butterflies in the Jade Valley, and that was also where Yu Chen hatched all of her plans.
Upon returning to the Jade Valley, Yu Chen once again reviewed all of the information that she had on Lu Yin. Her face was extremely gloomy. She had always asked her people to separate out Long Qi’s information for ease of access, and it became extremely helpful at this moment.
Her heart told her that Long Qi was indeed Bai Shaohong’s murderer.
“Junior Progenitor, don’t worry. Yu Chen will definitely catch Long Qi and expose your true murderer!” Yu Chen muttered to herself.
Liu Shaoge approached from behind, and he handed Yu Chen another stack of information.
She glanced up at Liu Shaoge. “From now on, please keep an eye on Huaiyuan Gate, and also stay in contact with my jade butterfly there. If Long Qi appears at Huaiyuan Gate, inform me as soon as possible.”
“Understood.” Liu Shaoge remained very respectful. Yu Chen had always been satisfied with this person, as he was both intelligent and thorough with his work.
After Yu Chen left, Liu Shaoge glanced at the gathered information. A smile spread across his face. Honestly, rumors and stories crop up wherever you go. But this time, this is big trouble for you…
The Celestial Frost Sect desired to capture Lu Yin more than anything, and it was absolutely impossible for him to escape. I’ll have one less friend in the future…
Lu Yin once again stepped onto the Bifrost in order to travel up to the Higher Realm. He was still unaware that Bai Shaohong’s death had been discovered, and he was also unaware that Yu Chen had painted him as the Celestial Frost Sect’s number one suspect in the case of the Junior Progenitor’s death.
That is, he was ignorant until the White Dragon Clan’s patriarch, Long Ke, called him.
“Bai Shaohong is dead?” Not only Lu Yin, but even Qing Chen was shocked to hear this news.
Long Ke was somber as he stared at Lu Yin. “You really didn’t know?”
Lu Yin shook his head. “No, I didn’t. The Four Junior Progenitors were fighting inside the Forgotten Ruins, and I didn’t see anyone grab the Origin Matter, much less their battle.”
Long Ke frowned. It actually made sense that Long Qi had not been able to see the Junior Progenitors’ fight, as all four of them had been capable of briefly entering the true universe while Long Qi had only been a Hunter when he had gone to the Dominion Realm.
“Regardless, due to Bai Shaohong’s death, the Celestial Frost Sect is demanding that everyone who visited the Dominion Realm accept their questioning. However, that is not something that we can agree to,” Long Ke stated. At this moment, he turned to look at Qing Chen. “I wish to ask to trouble senior to escort Long Qi to my Dragon Mountain. I expect that the Celestial Frost Sect will act against him, and this is also why my clan has already sent people to meet you on the way, Senior.”
Qing Chen grew solemn. “There is no need to worry. I will safely deliver Long Qi to Dragon Mountain.”
“Thank you, Senior,” Long Ke respectfully showed his gratitude.
Lu Yin’s eyes flashed as he lowered his arm. He had not expected Bai Shaohong’s death to be discovered so soon, and this would make his life quite difficult. The Celestial Frost Sect would gnaw on this matter like a mad dog.
“Let’s go. We will need to pick up our pace. We can’t give the Celestial Frost Sect any time to act,” Qing Chen solemnly stated. He was also feeling the crisis facing them.
It was at this time that Cai Shu called Qing Chen to report that the Celestial Frost Sect had demanded that Shang Qing and Liu Tianmu be sent to the Celestial Frost Sect for questioning.
“Refuse,” Qing Chen replied.
“This disciple has already done so, but the Celestial Frost Sect is not letting up. Bai Shaohong death is something that they will not leave alone until they are satisfied with their investigation,” Cai Shu stated.
