“Stay inside the ring and don’t come out!” Long Xi ordered Lu Yin in a low voice before moving to chase after the old woman. The speed of the Roving White Dragon allowed Long Xi to move faster than even the old woman, and she quickly caught up.
Lu Yin looked at where Long Xi had just passed and sighed. “Get up. Stop pretending.”
There was nothing out of the ordinary to be seen. Lu Yin glanced at the dozen-plus corpses lying on the ground and focused on a certain man. Lu Yin then stepped out of the ring and walked over to look down at the man.
The man’s eyes suddenly opened and he stood up, staring at Lu Yin in surprise.
“It’s strange, isn’t it? How did I know you were alive, and why would I dare step out of the ring?” Lu Yin smiled slightly.
The man’s eyes narrowed. A bloodthirsty killing intent flashed in the depths of his eyes, but then he simply turned around and left. It was decisive and instant. The man was an Enlighter, while Lu Yin was only a Hunter. Lu Yin had even left the protection of the power vessel, and yet the man had not even tried to attack Lu Yin.
This surprised Lu Yin. This man was a true-blue professional assassin. Only a very experienced assassin could be so decisive. If such a man missed a single attack, they would flee thousands of miles. If they felt the smallest of doubts, they would not take action. Lu Yin had clearly frightened the man by leaving the ring.
Lu Yin shook his head, and an astral chessboard appeared beneath his feet. He moved, but not himself. Instead, Lu Yin moved the man to stand right in front of himself. As the man stared at Lu Yin in utter disbelief, Lu Yin raised his hand and flicked a finger. The wind from his finger was an attack that instantly pierced the man’s body.
The man had never dreamed that Lu Yin might possess such terrifying strength. It was at a level where the man had not even had a chance to put up any resistance.
Lu Yin tossed the corpse back to where the man had lain when he had pretended to be dead, and then Lu Yin simply returned to the power vessel to wait for Long Xi.
This was the first time that Lu Yin had killed anyone in this universe. He had not expected it to be from such an unsatisfying fight.
A long while later, Long Xi returned. When she saw that Lu Yin was safe and sound, she was relieved, and she looked over at the corpses.
Lu Yin’s heart twitched. “Everything go smoothly?”
Long Xi said coldly, “She was a Realmless.”
A Realmless? Lu Yin was afraid that this was something else that was common sense in this place, so he did not dare ask anything further.
Long Xi looked the corpses over one by one. Lu Yin was afraid that she would notice the one man’s different cause of death, so he walked out of the ring.
Long Xi suddenly shouted at him, “Don’t step out!”
“What’s wrong?” Lu Yin wondered.
Long Xi’s expression grew sharp and she looked around once more before letting out a sigh of relief; these people were all dead.
Long Xi looked at Lu Yin. “Do you know about Realmless?”
Lu Yin pursed his lips as he considered how best to answer. Should he know about this? Be ignorant of it?
However, if he went by Long Xi’s tone, this seemed to be something that he should not know about, so he shook his head.
“Realmless is the largest assassin organization in the Perennial World. That old woman from just now was a Realmless assassin. There’s no telling where she originally came from, but she’s good at suppressing her lifesigns by using a unique method. She has never missed an attack. I didn’t expect Bai Shaohong to hire an assassin from Realmless to deal with you. We underestimated the Celestial Frost Sect and their desire to get the White Dragon to roll over.” Long Xi’s expression was ugly, and she was gritting her teeth.
Lu Yin’s heart sank. “Since this attack failed, they’ll send someone else.”
“Nonsense,” Long Xi said.
Lu Yin was unhappy with her reaction. “I’m being targeted because of you. You could at least be nicer about it.”
Long Xi just stared at him. “That power vessel I gave you will keep you safe. Realmless’s assassins aren’t easy to deal with, so if any trouble comes, immediately use that.”
Lu Yin nodded, but was not happy. A power vessel could not guarantee his life. Just hearing about the Realmless assassins let him know that they would not be easy to deal with. He was still only a Hunter. “Does Realmless have any Envoys?”
Long Xi’s face grew solemn. “More than one.”
Lu Yin gulped. This was not a good thing to hear.
“You’re the White Dragon Clan’s princess, and it can be said that I’m also a member of the White Dragon clan. Is Realmless really so arrogant? They dare to brazenly attack me?” Lu Yin asked.
Long Xi threw out a surprise, “Realmless’s assassins killed the Celestial Frost Sect Master.”
Well, that shut Lu Yin up. These people dared to target even the Celestial Frost Sect’s master, let alone a mere son-in-law like Lu Yin. This led Lu Yin to believe that for the right price, Realmless might have the courage to target anyone.
The last wave of attackers might have all been Realmless assassins. Over the next few days, the two travelers did not encounter any more assailants aside from the Lower Realm’s beasts. There were times when they saw other people, but both parties would grow wary of the other and no fights broke out.
“Your domain is quite impressive. Few of your peers can compare to you,” Long Xi said as she looked at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin had already known that Long Xi would bring this up. “I have a bit of talent for it, but I’ve already reached my limit from my talent, and I don’t know how to cultivate my domain.”
Long Xi said, “A domain has various uses, but the most common use is to use it to form a protective armor, special sort of domain-based attack, or using it to predict opponents’ attacks. Once a person reaches a higher level of mastery, they can form spirits, or even control space like a god. I don’t actually know much about the methods to cultivate a domain either, but once we return, I’ll ask the elders to guide you. If it turns out that you really do have a talent for a domain, then your future won’t be negligible.”
Lu Yin’s eyes lit up; forming a spirit from a domain? Controling space like a god? These were possibilities that he had never even heard of before, as there was no such level of mastery back in the Fifth Mainland. If there were, he would have learned of it. As for the Sixth Mainland, they felt that domains were a lesser path of cultivation, and thus mostly ignored it.
The Fifth Mainland was missing details and certain aspects of the different cultivation paths, whereas the Sixth Mainland had simply taken an alternative path. This universe seemed to be similar to the Fifth Mainland with their cultivation paths, but was a higher level than the Fifth Mainland. Lu Yin could steal the information from this place!
Nearly half a month passed from the time they had first arrived in the Lower Realm. The two were resting when a figure suddenly rushed towards them from behind.
Long Xi had remained on guard. Lu Yin did not say a word, and simply retreated into the power vessel.
A person who they had previously met raced up to them. They had run into the man’s expedition team a few days ago, but the two groups had passed each other by without speaking.
“RUN! Run away! Terror ants are coming this way!” The man shouted in horror. He shot right by Lu Yin and Long Xi and continued on without slowing.
Long Xi’s expression changed the moment she heard the man’s words. She looked back at where the man had come from, and she vaguely heard a rustling sound. She felt a wave of cold rush over her entire body as a wave of black appeared.
She paled and moved to Lu Yin’s side before immediately taking off with the Roving White Dragon.
The scenery flashed by them and rapidly fell behind. There was a flock of strange birds overhead that were also racing away, and they flew in all directions. Down on the ground, beasts fled away while completely ignoring the fleeing humans.
Long Xi quickly shot by the person who had warned them, ignoring his ugly expression.
“What are terror ants?” Lu Yin asked.
Long Xi answered in a low growl, “Shut up!”
Lu Yin looked behind and saw that the black mass was drawing closer and closer. It was moving far too fast, and it was absolutely massive. Even more importantly, behind the black mass, the landscape was completely empty. There were no trees- no, that was not right. The Mother Tree’s roots were all gone. Everything had been removed and nothing had been left behind.
Lu Yin’s expression changed and he released his domain.
“Don’t mess around! Those are terror ants! They can tear through domains and spiritual force, and not even that ring I gave you can stop them since they can even tear their way through the void!” Long Xi scolded.
Lu Yin instantly stopped what he had been doing. By this time he was able to distinguish that the black mass approaching them was not a singular entity, but rather a ball that was formed from countless black ants. The ball was rolling in their direction at an incredible speed, and not even grass remained after the ball passed through an area.
They had seen many creatures that seemed similar to these ants, but this was the first time that Long Xi had shown any sort of fear.
Before too long, the ants caught up to the man who had warned Lu Yin and Long Xi about the ants. There was a scream, and then nothing. The ants had swarmed over him, and not even bones were left behind.
The horde of terror ants not only traveled in the shape of a ball, but would also reform their horde into various other shapes.
Lu Yin’s scalp went numb. “Hurry up! They’re almost on top of us!”
The ants were moving faster and faster, and Lu Yin subconsciously hugged Long Xi. There was a great deal of contact between their bodies, and though Long Xi stiffened up, she did not stop fleeing.
Lu Yin was barely able to resist putting on his universal armor, as there was no way the ants would be able to get through that.
However, suddenly the ants stopped moving and no longer chased the two.
Lu Yin heaved a sigh of relief, and Long Xi also stopped fleeing. She was panting as she turned to look behind.
“Why did they stop?” Lu Yin asked.
Long Xi pointed up above.
Lu Yin looked up and his mouth dropped open. They were under the Python Ancestor’s head. They were so close to it that Lu Yin would be able to touch the beast with the strength of a Progenitor if he flew up into the sky.
No wonder the terror ants did not dare continue chasing them; the Python Ancestor’s breath was able to keep the two safe.
“What would we have done if they hadn’t stopped for the Python Ancestor?” Lu Yin asked.
Long Xi said, “I don’t have time to deal with your crap. Let’s hurry up.”
She then continued forward, completely ignoring how Lu Yin had embraced her a moment before.
Lu Yin turned around to take a good look at the ants. Not even the ring-shaped power vessel he had been given would have protected him from the bugs since they were able to pass through the void. An Envoy might be able to survive the ants, but the Lower Realm was truly too dangerous.
The two people continued on in the direction where the Python Ancestor’s head descended closer to the ground, and two days later, the Progenitor’s head stopped only a few tens of meters above the ground.
Lu Yin was capable of touching the Progenitor’s head by just hopping up, but Long Xi stopped him before he could do so.
They were safe in this place and this close to the Python Ancestor, as no beast would dare get so close to the Progenitor. However, people were still a possible threat.
Another day passed, and then Lu Yin finally met the Python Ancestor.
The moment Lu Yin touched the Python Ancestor, he experienced a sensation he did not know how to describe. It was like a cold that pierced to the bone, but also a vibration that tried to disperse his soul. He did not dare make any sort of move, and he had a vision of the Python Ancestor rising and directing a ruthless glare towards Lu Yin. Lu Yin was instantly overcome with terror.
There was a bang as Lu Yin was knocked back and he struck the ground. The bone-deep cold finally left him.
Long Xi glared at Lu Yin. “I told you not to be rude to the Python Ancestor! Given your strength, you’re lucky that touch didn’t just kill you.”
Lu Yin let out a long breath as he sat on the ground for a moment. He rubbed his waist and looked up at the Python Ancestor. Lu Yin could not even see the edge of the python’s head, and all he could see were scales. He felt that this was a sight that he would remember for his entire life. This was his first time encountering a Progenitor realm powerhouse. If he tried to tell people about this, no one in the Fifth Mainland would believe him.
Also, it was truly terrifying that the Python Ancestor was able to live for so long, not to mention that it was able to push the entire Higher Realm away with just a nudge from its body.
Lu Yin remembered that there was also the enormous eagle up in the Dominion Realm. He really wanted to take a look at that Progenitor as well.
It had taken them nearly twenty days to arrive at the location where they paid their respects to the Python Ancestor from the entrance of the third region.
Lu Yin looked up, but was still not able to see the python’s face. All he could see was a portion of the mouth, and even that extended out of his sight due to the unbelievable size.
Long Xi looked at the Python Ancestor with reverence in her eyes. “This is the only place we can go.”
Lu Yin really wanted to get a look at the Python Ancestor’s full face. However, it was impossible for Lu Yin to see the Progenitor’s full size, as he could not even see all of a single eye.
