Liu Tianmu tried to force the female Envoy back with her sword, but the Envoy dissolved Liu Tianmu’s star energy the moment the attack touched her. That showed the absolute suppression that stellular energy had over star energy.
There was a bang. Liu Tianmu was struck in the abdomen, and blood splattered to the ground.
Lu Yin used a hand to shove Liu Tianmu behind himself while raising his other hand to release a Vacuum Palm.
The female Envoy raised a clawed hand to block the Vacuum Palm. There was a violent crash, and the void shattered. Lu Yin was forced back a few steps, but the woman was also forced back.
She was shocked. A Hunter could actually force an Envoy back?
Just as she was about to resume her attack, the ground beneath her feet took on a life of its own and pushed her up. At the same time, countless sharp swords filled the air around her.
The Envoy snorted derisively, and her bizarre weapon swept out, knocking away all of the attacks. At that moment, a horrifying domain spread out, and the pressure made the woman feel as though the sky was falling.
The woman let out a low shout as she broke free of the ground and disappeared. She had entered the true universe.
When she reappeared, she was right in front of Shang Qing, the sallow-faced young man, and the middle-aged man. She attacked Shang Qing, who raised the Voidsoul Umbrella to block the Envoy’s attack.
Her hand slapped against the umbrella, but she was the one who was forced back.
The woman was an Envoy, but she was far from possessing enough strength to overpower a power vessel that was as powerful as a Semi-Progenitor.
“Long Qi, it really is you!” There was a loud shout as Guo Shan appeared. He was the one who had momentarily blocked the Envoy with his domain.
Uncle Kuang and a vast number of the Smokecloud Sect’s disciples gave chase from behind Lu Yin and the others.
Lu Yin had no time to catch up with Guo Shan. “Hurry up and block those people! They’re trying to rescue these traitors!”
Guo Shan was left speechless. “Is the Smokecloud Sect trying to rebel?!”
Several more figures appeared in the area, each of them a member of the Fourteenth Gate. They worked together to stop the Smokecloud Sect disciples from advancing, but there was no one who could stop Uncle Kuang.
At this moment, Lu Yin no longer wished to hide anything. He was being attacked by two Envoys, so he returned to a method that he had not used in a long time. The power vessel that looked like an aquatic plant appeared the moment the Envoy emerged from the void and bound the man’s legs. Uncle Kuang roared in annoyance. Even though Lu Yin had Enhanced the power vessel several times, it was still just a power vessel, and it was being controlled by a Hunter. It was impossible for it to defeat Uncle Kuang.
However, Lu Yin had never intended to use that power vessel to defeat an Envoy. The instance the Envoy was restricted by the power vessel, Lu Yin pulled out the sourcebox array that he had taken from Bai Shaohong—the open sky formation.
It was an original treasure formation which had been incorporated into the Celestial Frost Sect’s ultimate combat technique: Void Rip.
Lu Yin instantly attacked, and two dots connected to form a black line that swept out. The sight of this attack terrified Uncle Kuang, and for the first time in this battle, he pulled out his own power vessel for protection. However, Lu Yin used the Yu Secret Art to shift the power vessel the slightest bit away. It was just enough for the Void Rip to bypass the power vessel and slash through Uncle Kuang’s neck.
No one nearby saw what happened. Uncle Kuang’s attack had disrupted the nearby star energy, and it had also distorted the void. All anyone saw was a vague image of Lu Yin and Uncle Kuang fighting, but there were no details to be seen.
The moment Uncle Kuang died, the star energy in the area returned to normal, which allowed everyone to see the fresh corpse.
Elsewhere, Shang Qing had summoned Progenitor Hui to stall the female Envoy by taking advantage of Progenitor Hui’s As If Closed sourcebox array. However, their fight did not drag out. Shang Qing could only use star energy, and the same was true of the Progenitor Hui that he had summoned. His star energy was quickly dissipated, and the Envoy set a hand on Shang Qing’s chest. However, she quickly discovered that Shang Qing was unharmed.
“Impossible!” The woman was startled.
Shang Qing raised a hand. “Banishment.”
The secret technique instantly forced the woman a thousand meters back. At the same time, Lu Yin killed Uncle Kuang and rejoined the other youths.
The woman saw Uncle Kuang’s corpse, and her pupils shrank. She turned to stare at Lu Yin in utter disbelief. How in the world had a Hunter managed to kill an Envoy?
Uncle Kuang’s death left the woman terrified of Lu Yin.
Lu Yin seized this opportunity to lead his group further east.
He had already known that his actions would kick up quite a fuss, but the full reaction had exceeded all expectations. Lu Yin had touched upon the four ruling powers’ bottom line, and even worse, some of the people within the four powers already held grudges against Long Qi.
An old woman had descended from the Higher Realm the moment she had learned that Lu Yin had arrested two mules.
Simultaneously, many other powerhouses descended upon the Middle Realm, and all of them were Envoys. Lu Yin had shaken the four ruling powers themselves.
At the White Dragon Clan’s Dragon Mountain, Patriarch Long Ke’s expression was terrible. There was an old man in front of the patriarch, and the old man said, “A son-in-law from a mere branch family dares to disobey the main family? This is simply outrageous.”
“Long Qi doesn’t know that one of the people transporting the stellular liquid is from my White Dragon Clan,” Long Ke said cautiously.
The old man shouted back, “Yun Mubai already told him!”
Long Ke replied, “He is certain that those two are traitors. There should be a reason for this.”
“Hmph! Patriarch, why would he dare to not even answer this elder’s call? He clearly has no respect for his elders. If we suffer a loss of stellular liquid because of him, then who can take responsibility? Even more importantly, the loss won’t come from outside the clan! We’ll be seen as a joke,” Long Quan sneered.
“That old woman, Wang Si, has already headed out. There’s no way that child will be able to survive. You know her temper—no one can change her mind. I just hope that we won’t suffer a loss of stellular liquid. If that is lost, then that old woman will definitely place the loss on our heads and come here to collect.” The old man shook his head in a helpless manner.
Long Ke’s expression grew even worse after hearing about Wang Si.
The four ruling powers had dispatched top experts to the Middle Realm from the Higher Realm, but they had other means of traveling between the realms and did not need to use the Cloud Shuttle like others. In short, they were able to travel much faster.
Everyone became absolutely certain that Lu Yin and his group would soon be trapped by the four ruling powers’ experts and that the youths would suffer a miserable end.
However, Lu Yin was of a different mind. Uncle Kuang’s death had made the female Envoy scared of Lu Yin, and she did not dare to push the youth too far.
The woman had been surprised to see that Long Qi had comprehended a secret technique, but it was only a mild surprise. After all, Lu Yin came from the White Dragon Clan, and naturally, such a powerful organization was capable of retaining one or two secret techniques.
While it was impossible for Lu Yin to escape from the Envoy’s senses with the Ce Secret Art, he was still rapidly approaching the rendezvous point that Unseen Light had mentioned. Lu Yin estimated that he only needed another half hour to arrive.
“Are you sure that we’ll be able to return from there?” Lu Yin asked.
Shang Qing was confident. “Absolutely.”
“If we can’t go back, then we’ll be in huge trouble,” Lu Yin solemnly warned. He had used his walnut-shaped power vessel, the Ce Secret Art, and a sourcebox array to kill Uncle Kuang. Lu Yin could not return, as he had no way to explain any of this.
Cai Shu and Yun Mubai were still stuck in a stalemate below the Cloud Shuttle. After almost thirty minutes passed, Qing Chen finally arrived. A wave of his hand forced Yun Mubai back, and the sect master did not dare to move again after seeing Qing Chen.
“Where are the ones being arrested?” Qing Chen asked as he looked at Cai Shu.
Cai Shu was somber. “They were headed east, but I don’t know if they were captured. People from the Fourteenth Gate are doing their best to stop the Smokecloud Sect.”
Qing Chen glared at Yun Mubai with frosty eyes. He was just about to head east himself, but he suddenly stopped and turned to look in a certain direction. The void twisted before Qing Chen’s eyes, and an old woman emerged.
Yun Mubai was thrilled when he saw the old woman. “Senior.”
The old woman was Wang Si, a Semi-Progenitor from the Wang family. She was also the person who had ordered Yun Mubai to grab the two mules.
“Where are they?” Wang Si stared at Yun Mubai with a stern expression.
Yun Mubai’s face twisted as he answered, “They headed east.”
Wang Si sneered. “A son-in-law from one of the White Dragon Clan’s branch families dares to become an enemy of the four ruling powers? Where did he gain such courage?”
“Elder Wang, it’s been a long time,” Qing Chen said.
Wang Si had already noticed Qing Chen, and she had meant for him to hear everything that she had said. “Qing Chen, your Humility’s Gate is growing more and more audacious. People even dare to stick their fingers into something like this.”
“My Humility’s Gate’s Commander established this organization to find and arrest traitors. Why do you want to stop one of my people?” Qing Chen asked.
Wang Si sneered. “Don’t try to trick this old woman. Neither of those two are traitors.”
Qing Chen frowned. Wang Si’s appearance had already led him to this assumption. If either of the transporters were traitors, then the Wang family would have never sent out this elder. Without arresting a real traitor, it was possible that the mess that Long Qi had created would make it impossible to keep the youth alive.
Even though Qing Chen and Wang Si were both Semi-Progenitors, Qing Chen was well aware of Wang Si’s strength. Everyone in the four ruling powers was wary of this old woman, and she had the direct backing of a Progenitor. People could not afford to offend such a powerhouse.
“Alright, let’s head out. This old woman needs to see how a mouse grew so bold as to mess with my business.” With that, Wang Si headed east.
Qing Chen let out a silent sigh while making his way east as well.
At this time, Lu Yin finally arrived at the rendezvous point with Shang Qing. It was beneath a perfectly normal mountain. This was the place that Unseen Light had told Lu Yin would take them back to the Fifth Mainland.
“It’s right beneath that mountain,” Shang Qing said. They were finally going back home. This trip to the Perennial World had been a long one.
Lu Yin turned around, and he saw the female Envoy staring at them. She was the only one who had managed to catch up.
He felt that he should thank her for not blocking their path too much. She had merely stared at Lu Yin and the others. If she had wanted to make things difficult, then it would have taken them double the time to arrive at the rendezvous location.
It was not that the woman did not want to stop Lu Yin and the other youths, but rather that she was afraid of them. She was a bit weaker than Uncle Kuang, and even he had died. Thus, she felt that she stood no chance at all.
She was not someone who sought out danger and adventure, which was why she had remained at a place like Cloud Shuttle. If she was different, then she would have joined the Star Alliance long ago.
The best that she could do was keep her distance while keeping an eye on Lu Yin and the others.
“It’s time to go back.” Lu Yin sighed emotionally. He was not worried about Cai Shu, but Qing Chen was someone else to consider. The Supervisor was a Semi-Progenitor, and although Arch-Elder Zen and the others who had sent the youths to the Perennial World were also Semi-Progenitors, Lu Yin was still very nervous. As for the female Envoy, Lu Yin was completely unconcerned.
He turned to Shang Qing and Liu Tianmu and led them towards the mountain.
Suddenly, the small group stopped, and everyone’s expressions changed.
None of them could determine when a smiling old man had appeared in front of them.
It was nothing strange to run into other people on a mountain like the one that they were on, but this old man stared at the youths with a smile that made them all feel incredibly uncomfortable.
Lu Yin and Shang Qing glanced at each other. They both intended to simply ignore the man and leave.
The old man opened his mouth and spoke with a smile. “Children, where are you headed? This old man is very familiar with this place, so I can guide you.”
Lu Yin’s expression grew sharp. “There’s no need to go out of your way, old man. We know where we’re headed and can find it ourselves.”
“Go alone? That won’t do. This old man’s favorite pastime is helping others. Come now, tell me, where are you headed? This old man will lead you to it.” The old man had a strange smile, and the atmosphere only grew more uncomfortable as time passed.
