Man Li was gasping for breath as he had been seriously injured. The Amethyst Beast had not been weak, especially in its amethyst form. If Man Li had not managed to gain a bit of distance, he would have died.
Man Li did not continue killing more astral beasts after slaying the Amethyst Beast. Instead, he found a desolate planet to collapse onto and avoid the raging battle for a spell.
Lu Yin took this opportunity to visit the Amethyst Beast’s corpse. “By my name, I anoint a Champion.”
He became ecstatic when he saw the image of the Amethyst Beast appear on the side of his Champions’ Stage. This Amethyst Beast was the fourth Envoy that Lu Yin had managed to anoint as a Champion. He fully believed that if he continued to strive forward, he would one day be able to summon many Envoy-level Champions. It would be amazing if his number of Envoy-level Champions surpassed the Great Eastern Alliance’s number of Envoys.
Dozens of Envoys would fight for him!
“We were noticed,” the Second Nightking said quietly, “By the giant.”
Lu Yin looked at a barren planet, and he happened to look straight at Man Li.
Man Li was staring at Lu Yin in utter shock. He had never expected Lu Yin to appear on the battlefield, let alone anoint the Amethyst Beast as a Champion.
It was very normal that when someone defeated a powerful opponent, they would gaze at the corpse, especially on a battlefield. Man Li had just happened to be staring at the Amethyst Beast’s corpse when Lu Yin had anointed it as his Champion.
Man Li froze stiff when he noticed Lu Yin staring at him, and the giant instantly nocked an arrow and loosed it. The arrow pierced through space, shooting straight for Lu Yin.
Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed and killing intent surged. He did not want to attack Man Li, as this was still a war between humans and astral beasts. However, Man Li had first attacked Lu Yin before in the Daosource Sect’s ruins, and word that Lu Yin was anointing Champions from the fallen on the battlefield could not be leaked. Lu Yin’s hesitation evaporated. “Kill.”
The Second Nightking looked over and then took Lu Yin straight to the desolate planet.
The battlefield that the Sixth Mainland and Astral Beast Domain were fighting upon was massive, and it encompassed countless planets as it spread across several galaxy clusters.
An envoy’s strength was enough to destroy a region of space that an ordinary human could not cross in their entire life, which was one reason why Envoys typically restricted their fights to the true universe. However, the Envoys’ standard battlefield was almost empty at this moment.
Still, Envoys were able to observe the entire battlefield without much difficulty.
The planet that Man Li had found had a few creatures living on it. They looked like lizards, and they lived in the sand. The largest of them were as large as a mountain.
That largest lizard’s tongue shot out as Lu Yin and the Second Nightking appeared, and it moved towards them. Suddenly, the animal froze and fell to the ground. It was already dead. Instantly, countless smaller lizards appeared, and they all rushed forward to devour the massive lizard. It was a disturbing sight.
Man Li saw this happen, and his pupils constricted. He glanced back at Lu Yin, clenched his fists, and then immediately fell to one knee and dropped his head.
The Second Nightking had been ready to kill Man Li, but he hesitated when he saw the man’s actions, and he instead turned back to look at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin was similarly stunned. Was Man Li surrendering? This was an Imprinter with a power level of over 700,000. In the past, when he had possessed an imprint from the Arrow God of Wilderness, Man Li had been powerful enough to even fight against experts like Liu Qianjue. Man Li had lost his imprint, but his power level still surpassed that of both Ling Qiu and the Frost Emperor. While it was unlikely he could defeat either of those people, if power level alone was considered, Man Li surpassed both Envoys.
How could an Envoy with a power level that exceeded 700,000 surrender so easily?
“What do you want to say?” Lu Yin asked. The Second Nightking stood behind Lu Yin, and the old man twisted space around them so that no one could clearly see what was happening. At the very least, no one on the battlefield would be able to observe what happened.
Man Li lifted his head and looked at Lu Yin. He simply stated, “I hope that you can accept me as a follower.”
Lu Yin’s expression became far more focused as he stared intently at Man Li.
Man Li stared straight at Lu Yin. The man’s eyes did not dart about, but rather remained firm. He looked to be begging. If his situation were not terribly dire, how could he beg a former enemy for mercy?
“Just because you fear death?” Lu Yin asked indifferently.
Man Li knees smashed onto the ground as he growled out, “For revenge!”
“Speak clearly,” Lu Yin ordered.
Man Li gritted his teeth. “My Arrow Sect descended from the East Realm’s lesser giants. The Arrow God of Wilderness was not originally the Neohuman Alliance’s Corpse God, but the Skygod killed the Arrow God of Wilderness and impersonated him. After Master Jiu San killed Corpse God, the Daosource Sect has been constantly monitoring us lesser giants, especially after the Progenitor of Secret Arts betrayed humanity. Since then, we’ve been targeted and eliminated.”
“We once had a population of 100 million, but now there are less than 10 million of us.”
Lu Yin was shocked. “Were you cleared?”
Man Li’s voice remained low. “After this war with the Astral Beast Domain started, almost every cultivator from the Progenitor of Secret Arts’ Territory was sent here to fight to the death. It’s not only us lesser giants, as countless other cultivators have been sentenced to the same fate. People from the Brahman and Rock Realms have also suffered countless casualties. The Daosource Sect is worried that all of us will chase after the Progenitor of Secret Arts and betray humanity as well, so we’re all being treated as cannon fodder on this battlefield. If we can’t find a path forward, we will have no future.”
At this moment, hope glinted in the giant’s eye as he stared at Lu Yin, and he continued on in a more excited manner. “Alliance Leader Lu, please accept us! Please! You’ve already taken in the colossal giants, which shows that you are not one to hold to racial prejudices. Please, take us in and give us a future! I beg you!” As Man Li spoke, he lowered his head and banged it onto the ground with enough force to leave the planet shuddering.
Lu Yin indifferently retorted, “If you’re so willing to follow me, why did you just attack me?”
Man Li looked up and immediately apologized, “That wasn’t intentional! I’ve been fighting on this battlefield for almost a month. It’s been nothing but battle this entire time, and it’s become a reflex to attack an enemy. I simply acted on instinct when I saw you, and there was no thought behind my actions. I’m sorry, Alliance Leader Lu. Please, take us in!”
The Second Nightking frowned. If not for the Sealed Cage Technique, his Daynight tribe would have suffered the same fate as Man Li and his people. The Great Eastern Alliance had already formed the Redemption Army from those who had been defeated, and the Daynight clan would have absolutely become the primary soldiers in the Redemption Army and been sent out to serve as cannon fodder in the war against the Astral Beast Domain.
When Lu Yin had first defeated the Daynight clan, the Second Nightking had been sent to Gaia’s Swamp. At that time, he would not have known anything even if the entire Daynight clan had been wiped out.
At this point, the Second Nightking even felt a bit of gratitude towards the Celestial Frost Sect for creating the Sealed Cage Technique.
As soon as the thought occurred to the Second Nightking, he no longer knew whether to feel gratitude or hatred. All he knew was that he could fully sympathize with Man Li. If this man had not been forced into a corner, he would have never sought refuge from an enemy.
Lu Yin could also sense Man Li’s helplessness and despair. “How many of your clan members are on this battlefield?”
Man Li grew excited. “Less than 10 million. Some of us were sent elsewhere to fight.”
Lu Yin faced a dilemma. “Even if I’m willing to accept you, it’s impossible for me to take you off of this battlefield.”
Man Li’s face froze, and the light dimmed from his eyes. This made sense. While the Great Eastern Alliance was willing to accept Man Li’s people, they had to first find a way to reach the Great Eastern Alliance’s territory. Man Li’s strength was far from enough for him to evacuate all the lesser giants from the battlefield, and even if Lu Yin was willing to help, it still might not be possible to accomplish such a task with the three of them. The Sixth Mainland’s powerhouses would not be willing to simply let their cannon fodder flee.
“Actually, there is a way.” Lu Yin stared at Man Li. “Bring your people here, and I can put them all into Zenith Mountain and store them in my cosmic ring to smuggle them out.”
“Put them in your cosmic ring?” Man Li was taken aback. Since when could living people be stored in a cosmic ring?
Lu Yin took Zenith Mountain out and entered it along with Man Li in order to demonstrate it for the man.
“Alliance Leader Lu, I will notify all the members of the Arrow Sect to gather here!” Man Li excitedly declared. There was finally a trace of hope for them to leave this battlefield. Without this opportunity, the entire race of lesser giants would perish.
Lu Yin replied, “Make sure you consider this carefully. I might not be able to take all the lesser giants away. I’ll collect as many of them as possible before their movements are discovered. Those who are left behind won’t only have to deal with the stigma of the Progenitor of Secret Arts’ betrayal, but also the fact that they will be considered traitors to the Sixth Mainland who defected to the Fifth. They will have no chance to survive.”
Man Li clenched his fists as he bitterly stated, “We’ve already lost our path to survival! All we need is a path forward for a remnant of our lesser giants to survive. Thank you, Alliance Leader Lu!”
Lu Yin nodded and then watched as Man Li left. Lu Yin did not care what method Man Li used to tell his people to gather at Lu Yin’s location. Regardless, Lu Yin would simply flee if he was discovered, though he would also take as many of the lesser giants with him as possible.
“Aren’t you afraid that some of them will betray you? They are people from the Progenitor of Secret Arts’ Territory, and Corpse God was hiding in their sect as the Arrow God of the Wilderness for who knows how long. On top of that, they’ve been your enemies up until now,” the Second Nightking inquired.
Lu Yin casually replied, “As cautious as you are about them, the Sixth Mainland can only be worse. Still, they were sent to the battlefield instead of simply being executed. If there were any traitors among them, they would have been weeded out and killed long ago. No traitor could have survived long enough to even stand on this battlefield. After all, traitors could simply seek refuge with the Aeternals through the Astral Beast Domain, and the Sixth Mainland cannot afford to take such a risk.
“The fact that these people were sent to this battlefield is proof that they are innocent, but the Daosource Sect still needs to provide a demonstration for the Progenitor of Bloodlines Territory and the Progenitor of Combat Territory as a warning. These people are nothing more than victims of the Sixth Mainland’s internal conflicts.”
The Second Nightking’s eyes flickered. Victims?
Lu Yin glanced over at the old man. “They’re much the same as the Dayking’s descendants.”
The Second Nightking’s eye flickered again, but he remained silent.
In truth, the Dayking clan’s fate had been even more pitiful than that of the residents of the Progenitor of Secret Arts’ Territory. Not only had the members of the Dayking clan been treated as cannon fodder, but they had also been enslaved. In contrast, it was impossible for all the cultivators from the Progenitor of Secret Arts’ Territory to be sent to the battlefield. Even though all of the people were being suppressed and discriminated against, they were still able to live normal lives, which was much better than what the Dayking clan had dealt with.
The Arrow Sect was nothing more than the starting point. After all the turmoil that the Progenitor of Secret Arts’ Territory suffered through, the survivors would not harbor a small amount of resentment for the treatment they had suffered. The Sixth Mainland had already passed its peak and was slowly declining.
It was time to add some fuel to the fire.
As time passed, Lu Yin continued to move around the battlefield under the Second Nightking’s direction and protection, gathering Champions as the Arrow Sect’s lesser giants congregated on the desolate planet.
There were many tens of millions of combatants from the Astral Beast Domain and the Sixth Mainland fighting on the battlefield. The scope of this war had already exceeded that of the war between the Great Eastern Alliance and the Astral Beast Domain, and more fighters were constantly entering the fray. The departure of the lesser giants did not attract much attention with so many individuals fighting on the battlefield. However, it was unavoidable that some of the lesser giants failed to make it to the designated planet, as they were simply too far away.
Half a month passed, and more than two million lesser giants had been gathered on Zenith Mountain. However, many of the lesser giants had also perished while trying to get to the meeting point. Man Li nervously watched everything, but he could not make a move. As soon as he took action, he would definitely be targeted by an astral beast with the strength of an Envoy.
Lu Yin managed to anoint more than a dozen Enlighter realm Champions during this time, as well as a single Envoy from the Sixth Mainland’s Rock Realm.
The Rock Realm was different from the Sixth Mainland’s other realms. All of the realms from both the Progenitor of Bloodlines Territory and the Progenitor of Combat Territory had massive populations, and even the Progenitor of Secret Arts Territory’s East Realm and Brahman Realm had large powers. However, the Rock Realm did not.
