There were more than ten cultivators standing guarding at the clan’s library, and one of them was even a Hunter.
Upon seeing Lu Yin approaching them, the Hunter opened the door without a word.
Lu Yin entered the library alone. The entire building was dozens of stories tall, and it looked like an entire city. There were hundreds of millions of books scattered all over, and there were also some dedicated librarians.
Besides Lu Yin and the librarians, there was also a smattering of other people reading inside the building.
Lu Yin glanced around, seemingly randomly selected the book closest to him, and flipped through it.
At the top of one of White Mountain’s peaks, Long Kui was looking down. He saw that Lu Yin was reading only the most common of biographies, not the training manuals of martial techniques. It was a pity that the princess really did not have good luck.
Lu Yin was unaware that Long Kui was watching, though it did not matter, as Lu Yin had already guessed that there had to be someone observing him. He had purposefully not picked up a book about this universe. Instead, he had chosen a biography because these kinds of books would still give him an introduction to this strange new land.
Slowly, Lu Yin began to gain an understanding of where he had ended up.
He learned that he was in a place known as the Perennial World. Also, the wall off in the distance that blocked off his sight was actually an incomparably huge tree that everyone called the Mother Tree. This entire universe, including the Middle Realm where Lu Yin had landed, as well as the landmass above his head, was all held up by this Mother Tree. Below, down at the base of the tree, was the most dangerous place in this universe, and it was known as the Lower Realm.
Lu Yin also realized that every realm was huge. Although he was able to see the Mother Tree, that was only because of the Mother Tree’s sheer size, which allowed it to act as a barrier that blocked off a portion of the universe. Lu Yin was also able to see what was known as the Bifrost, which was a rainbow bridge that spanned the three realms.
Even an Envoy needed a great deal of time to traverse an entire realm. If Lu Yin’s comparisons were accurate, then the Higher Realm, Middle Realm, and Lower Realm were no smaller than the Fifth Mainland’s Outerverse. In fact, they might even be larger as each realm also had a cosmos above them.
Lu Yin also learned that the rainbow off in the distance was the path that connected the three realms, and he also learned that there was a huge python that had wrapped itself around the Mother Tree several times. This universe had always had Progenitors since ancient times, and the human civilization had also received inheritances from these powerhouses and established themselves around the Mother Tree in order to survive. The python was deep in slumber most of the time, but it would occasionally rouse from its sleep.
Lu Yin also found out that, at the top of the Mother Tree, there was the legendary Dominion Realm. There were several powerful Progenitors in that realm, as well as a huge eagle. The eagle apparently came from a similar era as the Python Ancestor, and it had been alive since the dawn of human civilization. The eagle spent most of its time sleeping, but it was treated more as a legend than anything else, and many ordinary people were not even aware of the creature’s existence.
Lu Yin had already known that this universe also used power level to measure strength, and the metric was no different from what he was familiar with in the Fifth Mainland. The difference was that the Fifth Mainland used gadgets to measure power levels while this land used communication crystals.
He also learned that there were many people in this universe with the surname Liu, Wang, Xia, Bai, and Nong. The four ruling powers were the White Dragon Clan, the Celestial Frost Sect, Shenwu’s Sky, and the Wang family.
The family of the Celestial Frost Sect’s master was surnamed Bai, and the Xia family oversaw Shenwu’s Sky.
The Middle Realm had the Seed Garden that was overseen by the Nong family, and the Sword Monument was guarded by the Liu family.
However, there was no Lu family. None. Not anywhere. Why? Lu was also a primeval surname, so why was there no Lu family?
Lu Yin read through many biographies, only to find that there truly was no family with the surname Lu. It was as if the surname had never even existed.
That should not be the case; how could the Lu surname not even exist? Was it that the Lu surname had only ever existed during ancient times? No, that was not the case. The Fifth Mainland clearly recognized the surname Lu as one of the primeval surnames, so why did it not exist in this place?
This was too strange. Lu Yin continued to flip through more biographies, but he still could not find any mention of the Lu surname.
Closing a book, Lu Yin fell into deep thought.
This universe seemed to show great respect to the primeval surnames while the Fifth Mainland was hostile towards those same surnames. There had to be a connection.
Could this universe be the Fifth Mainland’s enemy?
There were many things that Lu Yin was unable to understand, but he needed to stop reading. He had already gone through many books, and this did not match his typically lazy behavior. However, the more abnormal things appeared to be, the more cautious he became.
He began to feel that this universe was far more dangerous than the Fifth and Sixth Mainlands combined. This was because there were an unknown number of Progenitors in this place, and there were also a large number of powerhouses who had not reached that level of strength yet.
This place was quite dangerous.
He became curious; just how old was the Python Ancestor? How many times could it wrap around the Mother Tree? Did that mean that the ancient python was so long that its body could run through all seventy two of the Outerverse’s weaves? That was unimaginable.
Just this thought gave Lu Yin a wave of dizziness, and he shook his head and walked out of the library. Just as he was about to leave, the Hunter guard raised his weapon to Lu Yin and ordered, “Go back.”
Lu Yin frowned. “What do you mean?”
The guard stiffly answered, “Miss Xiao Qian told us before leaving that uncle should not leave the library.”
Lu Yin froze for a moment. “Is this Princess Long Xi’s order?”
The guard did not respond.
Lu Yin was furious. He did not want to act out too much, but he could not allow a mere guard to order him around. It would be suspicious if Lu Yin was too weak-willed.
After thinking for a moment, Lu Yin reached out, grabbed the spear with a hand, and sent 150 Stacks through the weapon in the form of vibrations.
Although the guard was a cultivator who was a part of the White Dragon Clan, he was not a member of the White Dragon Clan as he was just an ordinary cultivator who had been recruited by the clan. How could an ordinary Hunter endure 150 Stacks from Lu Yin? The Overlaying Stacks Path had been enough to bring Lu Yin to firmly within the top ten of ZENITH, and not even Enlighters with power levels in the 200,000 could stand up to this attack.
In the past, Lan Si’s Vacuum Palm had been powerful enough to deal with Enlighters whose power levels had been at 300,000.
The long spear trembled as 150 stacks traveled along its length, shaking the guard backwards. The hand that he had used to hold the spear was injured, and his wrist was twisted into a position that left him with no choice but to release his weapon. He stared at Lu Yin in awe.
Lu Yin grabbed the long spear and thrust it forward with a hand. The spear shot through the void, and a fierce shockwave swept out, forcing all of the nearby cultivators back and causing them to vomit blood. The Hunter quickly reached out to grab the spear, but the overwhelming force behind the weapon threw the man back thousands of meters, where he smashed into the ground at the same time as the spear.
Everything had happened in a mere instant, and no one inside the library had even been able to react.
The nearby guards were all shocked, and they looked at Lu Yin in surprise. They had not expected this new son-in-law who was rumored to be a weakling to have such a powerful side. This strength was strong enough to challenge an Enlighter, right? Who had said that he was a piece of trash!?
Lu Yin walked out of the library with his hands clasped behind his back. His eyes swept over to the Hunter in the distance. “Can I now leave?”
The Hunter was still frightened. He stood up, blood still at the corner of his mouth, and he quickly kneeled. “This one was reckless. Thank you, young master, for being merciful.”
“Thank you, young master, for your kindness.” The surrounding cultivators all saluted Lu Yin in unison.
Inside the library, many people were looking outside at Lu Yin’s back. No one had expected this youth who had been so immersed in his reading to also have a tough side.
In the distance, Long Kui’s cold and stony expression softened slightly; the youth still had a bit of a spine. Weak cultivation could be made up for, but without courage, the princess’s future life would be too miserable.
Xiao Qian arrived at this time, and she looked at the guards kneeling down to Lu Yin in surprise. “Young master, what happened?”
Lu Yin shot a cold look towards the maid. “Did you order them to disallow me from leaving the library?”
Xiao Qian shook her head. “I told the guards to ask you to wait for me if you wanted to leave so that you could leave with me. There were no specific orders given to keep you here.”
Finally, Xiao Qian understood what had happened, and she shot a cold look at the nearby guards.
Recently, many people on White Mountain had been secretly mocking Lu Yin and claiming that he was weak, incompetent, and that he would be completely submissive for the rest of his life.
Xiao Qian was also quite surprised at what had happened, as she had also believed Lu Yin to be a weak and impuissant person who could only be bullied. She had not expected him to stand up for himself.
“Young Master, this lowly one will tell the princess of this matter, and the princess will handle this,” Xiao Qian said, her tone much improved from before.
Lu Yin nodded.
“Young master, please go with me. The princess has received an invitation, and the Junior Progenitor wishes to see you,” Xiao Qian said.
Lu Yin’s brows rose. Junior Progenitor—this was a term that he finally understood. It was a term reserved for a select few people who were young powerhouses recognized by the Perennial World as having the potential to become Progenitors. These youths were also the ones who received the lion’s share of the Mother Tree’s resources. This was why they were called Junior Progenitors.
The particular youth who was longing for Long Xi was Bai Shaohong, the Junior Progenitor of the Celestial Frost Sect. The White Dragon Clan also had their own Junior Progenitor, Long Tian. He was Long Xi’s brother.
Lu Yin was now meeting his older brother-in-law.
In this Perennial World, the Mother Trees also aged. Just like how ordinary trees were measured by their annual rings, the Mother Trees also had their own growth rings. But rather than years, these rings measured epochs, and each epoch would grant the Mother Trees another ring. The current era was known as Yuanlun, and there was a day known as the Yuanlun Festival. It was called that because it was the day that all of the Perennial World would determine the youths who were candidates for the title of Junior Progenitor.
Junior Progenitors were not determined every year, every hundred years, every thousand years, or even every 10,000 years. The only way to receive this title was to win the competition of a Yuanlun Festival. As for why this was the case, there were no specific reasons recorded in any of the books, but it seemed likely to be related to the Mother Trees.
A Junior Progenitor would receive unimaginable resources.
The current era’s Yuanlun Festival had ended a long time ago, so there was no way for Lu Yin to compete even if he wanted to, as the timing had not worked out.
Before long, Lu Yin saw Long Xi. There was a young man standing in front of her with a handsome mien, his face so perfect that it looked as though someone had sculpted it. There was also a bit of a resemblance to Long Xi.
The man had obviously just been in a fight; his clothes were tattered, and he sported several visible wounds. However, the man was nothing but a projected image, and he was not truly present. Lu Yin could not determine a person’s strength from such a projection.
He subconsciously glanced at Long Xi’s wrist. In the Fifth and Sixth Mainlands, people used gadgets, but in the Perennial World, people used a flat round stone that looked very ordinary. Lu Yin had noticed them before, but only after reading through the biographies had he learned that these things were called communication crystals and that they functioned similarly to a gadget. However, these stones were actually even more convenient than gadgets because there was no need for a network, and distance also did not affect them.
These stones were unique to the Perennial World, but Lu Yin did not know where they came from. If possible, he hoped to take some back to the Fifth Mainland.
