“I greet the general.” The old woman bowed as soon as she noticed Xia Yan.
Xia Yan straightforwardly said, “Exchange the Cloudguard Robes for him.”
The old woman showed no hesitation. “Yes, General.”
Lu Yin let out a sigh of relief. Xia Yan was also a general, and when it came to this matter that was already bending the rules, he stood on the same level as Bai Chi. While Bai Chi could order the logistical team to set an item aside, Xia Yan was just as capable of ordering them to carry out the trade properly, as long as there were enough merit points, of course.
After the old woman finalized the exchange, she reported in a respectful tone, “General, the Cloudguard Robes have been successfully redeemed for, though it will take up to a day for it to be delivered.”
Xia Yan grunted in response and then turned towards Lu Yin. “You’ll only have to wait a day. I’ll have Liu Jing hold off on putting your team together until then.”
“Thank you, General.” Lu Yin felt quite grateful.
Xia Yan smiled. “I’m the one who should be saying thank you. If not for you, Master Zan would have acted even more arrogant than before. I really thought that there were no options aside from using him.”
Since the general was mentioning a matter of conflict between himself and another Lockbreaker, it would not be appropriate for Lu Yin to make any comments.
“Master Deng Guo is a Realm Array Master, and he is an excellent Array Master even within the context of the entire Lockbreaker association. He is only beneath the Array Grandmasters, so if you are able to become his disciple, then you will gain a powerful voice within your own White Dragon Clan. Not to mention your clan, but Lockbreakers are uncommon throughout the entire Perennial World,” Xia Yan casually mentioned before turning away from Lu Yin and walking out of the old woman’s room.
Lu Yin stared at Xia Yan’s back as the man left. He honestly felt grateful towards the middle-aged man. Even though Lu Yin’s background was in the White Dragon Clan, the General was upright in his dealings with Lu Yin. The four ruling powers did not have amicable relationships, but Lu Yin could clearly sense that Xia Yan prioritized the second array base above all else.
The battlefield never lacked for upright characters who could recognise the true enemy on the battlefield. And most of these people could be only found in such battlefields. Regardless of how arrogant Lockbreakers like Master Zan might be, the man was at least still present on the battlefield, which was something that Lu Yin could respect. Because of that, Lu Yin did not hold much of a grudge against Master Zan.
At this moment, all Lu Yin needed to do was wait for the Cloudguard Robes to arrive. He looked up at the sky, feeling rather eager.
***
Each of the five array bases were shaped like a massive, upside-down cone, and the inclined portions leading to the top were absolutely massive. When the endless hordes of corpse kings attempted to assault the array bases, they were forced to either tear through the void to directly attack the headquarters or climb up the slopes. The inclined portions of the inverted cones were practically upside-down continents, and the inside of the cone was actually the center of its respective array base, which meant that they could launch an endless number of attacks to slaughter the climbing corpse kings.
It was the existence of these array bases and their unique layout that had prevented the monsters from directly assaulting the Perennial World even after so many years.
A few corpse kings climbed upwards along an inverted cone while an endless landmass extended above their heads. Suddenly, a massive gear rolled down the slope, followed by many more. As it fell, the first one easily tore through one of the corpse kings, which had possessed the strength of a Hunter, just like its companions. Despite their strength, all of them were destroyed by the various falling gears, but this was a commonplace sight here.
Each array base was capable of releasing countless gears, both large and small. The smaller ones easily shredded apart monsters that had the strength of Cruisers or Hunters while the larger gears were able to tear through corpse kings that had the strength of Enlighters or even Envoys.
After the gears tore through a few corpse kings, a nearby pair of eyes opened. They were underneath an overhanging cliff, and if one looked closely, they would see a tinge of cruelty and excitement lighting up the eyes. “Almost done. I just need to run that again. If I eliminate a corpse king with the strength of an Envoy, I’ll have enough to trade for the Cloudguard Robes, and as long as I get those, my chances of surviving here will increase by at least tenfold. As long as my luck isn’t too bad, I’ll absolutely be able to complete his test and inherit that family’s core battle techniques. With that, I’ll be able to erase my past identity and rise up within the Celestial Frost Sect! I’ll be famous throughout the universe! Soon. Just a little bit more.”
Several hours passed. During this time, a few people passed by, and the occasional corpse king wandered by as well. The corpse kings were all destroyed by the gears, and Bai Zhen had no opening to attack.
Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, and a pair of scarlet eyes with slitted pupils simultaneously opened some distance away. The creature was moving incredibly fast, but a gear suddenly appeared and smashed into the corpse king. In response, the quickly moving creature diverted the gear with an upraised hand.
Bai Zhen’s eyes lit up. This corpse king had the strength of an Envoy! He leaped forward and raised his hand to attack, using a technique that looked like the Celestial Frost Sect’s Gap Between Heaven and Human.
However, unlike the true Gap Between Heaven and Human of the Celestial Frost Sect, this palm attack contained an indescribable energy that even caused the nearby void to wither. A spatial crack appeared in the attack’s wake, quickly expanding.
The corpse king roared and waved a hand, slashing down with a blackened clawed appendage that was clearly highly toxic.
There was a bang, and the void shattered, forcing both Bai Zhen and the corpse king to retreat. The corpse king’s arm had been broken and twisted unnaturally. As for Bai Zhen, black spots had appeared on his hand. He had been poisoned.
He let out a cold snort and stretched out a hand with his palm facing downwards. A moment later, a vortex appeared above the slope of the array base that gradually grew larger. During this time, the Envoy-level corpse king’s twisted arm recovered, and it charged forward once more. At that moment, the center of the vortex condensed into a gray, needle-like object that then shot forward and pierced through Bai Zhen’s palm. The toxin that had been spreading through his hand was instantly drawn out and dispersed into the void.
Bai Zhen waved his hand, causing another needle to appear and shoot towards the corpse king.
The corpse king’s pupils fluctuated, and it swung its hands in an attempt to deflect the needle, but its efforts were completely useless. The needle easily pierced through the corpse king’s forehead, and at the same time, a huge gear appeared above the creature’s head, crushing and obliterating half of its body. Bai Zhen had made his move in unison with the falling gear, and he smashed the creature off by smashing its head to pieces with a palm.
He lifted his head, breathing heavily. He had succeeded. The battlefield merit points that he would get for killing this last corpse king would be just enough for him to trade for the Cloudguard Robes.
Satisfied, he looked up at the vortex overhead. He felt endlessly grateful that he had done his best to learn this particular battle technique, as it had saved his life multiple times.
It was time to return. He looked back and saw a group of corpse kings making their way upwards, but Bai Zhen had no interest in taking action against them. His only desire at this moment was to survive the battlefield and pass that person’s test. As for the war itself, he was completely unconcerned about its outcome.
After a moment’s thought, he moved closer to the landmass of the slope and then slowly merged into it. There was a transmission device that went directly to the general’s office, but only humans could use this device. If a corpse king ever attempted to use such a thing, they would be instantly destroyed by a gear.
In the first array base’s headquarters, Bai Zhen erupted in anger. “What did you say? The Cloudguard Robes are gone? Where are they?”
There was a young-looking woman in front of him, and she fearfully answered, “Someone already redeemed it.”
“Who? The general reserved it for me! Who took it?” Bai Zhen roared.
The woman meekly answered, “Master Xia Yan, the general of the second array base. He approved of the exchange of merit points for the Cloudguard Robes.”
Bai Zhen gritted his teeth as veins bulged across his forehead. He had desperately fought on the slope for so long to get those Cloudguard Robes, and he had even made a promise to Bai Chi. But in the end, the Cloudguard Robes had still slipped out of his grasp.
“It happened just yesterday,” the woman softly muttered. Her words reignited Bai Zhen’s anger, and he charged straight into General Bai Chi’s office.
Bai Chi was also from the Celestial Frost Sect, and he was the general of the first array base. Compared to Xia Yan, Bai Chi was a bit more slender, but he also had a gloomier demeanor. “Xia Yan redeemed the Cloudguard Robes? That’s impossible. He doesn’t have enough merit points for that. The Lockbreakers who work with him drain him dry every time. Don’t worry about this. I’ll look into it.”
On the other side of the room, Bai Zhen respectfully stood in place and waited.
After a while, Bai Chi lowered his communication crystal and sank deep into thought.
Bai Zhen could not help himself. “Sir?”
Bai Chi looked up. “Long Qi redeemed the Cloudguard Robes.”
“Long Qi? Someone from the White Dragon Clan?” Bai Zhen frowned.
Bai Chi explained, “He’s not just a member of the White Dragon Clan, but also a Middle Realm Gate Master from Humility’s Gate. What’s more, yesterday, he helped Xia Yan by repairing the second array base’s defensive sourcebox array, and in doing so, he received the favor of Master Deng Guo, who’s a Realm Array Master, and is likely to become his disciple in the future. In addition to that, Xia Yan also spoke up and demanded that Long Qi be able to redeem the Cloudguard Robes. This kid has a special status, and even though I asked for that item to be reserved for you, no one could have done anything about this.”
Bai Zhen responded in a low voice, “Even if he fixed the sourcebox array, he’s still just a Gate Master from Humility’s Gate. There’s no way that he had enough merit points to redeem the Cloudguard Robes. Most of my own merit points came from back when-”
Bai Chi raised a hand to stop Bai Zhen from saying anything more. “Nothing can be mentioned about that time. That matter is forbidden, or have you forgotten?”
Bai Zhen’s expression changed a bit. “Yes, I remember.”
Bai Chi continued to explain, saying, “Long Qi’s merit points were supplied by Qing Chen, which allowed him to use more merit points than what he personally possesses. As I said, the kid has a truly special status for Humility’s Gate’s Supervisor to regard him so highly.”
Bai Chi’s patience was on full display at this moment. After all, he was the general of the first array base, and yet he was thoroughly explaining things to Bai Zhen.
But Bai Zhen refused to accept the situation. “Sir, you promised me! I’ve been fighting on this battlefield for all these years just to buy the Lu Cloud Clothing.”
Bai Chi asked, “What is the most difficult criterion on that person’s test?”
Bai Zhen gritted his teeth. “Survive on a battlefield slope for twenty years.”
“How long do you still have to go?” Bai Chi asked.
“Eleven years.”
Bai Chi responded, “Surviving for nine years is pretty impressive. Even I wouldn’t be confident in my abilities to survive on the slope for nine years. There are many powerhouses among the monsters.”
The more Bai Chi spoke, the more pain Bai Zhen felt. There were still eleven years left, but how would he spend them? During the last nine years, he had been hiding like a mouse, constantly afraid that he would attract the attention of an extremely powerful corpse king. He had also worked hard towards accumulating enough battlefield merit points to redeem the Cloudguard Robes. He firmly believed that no one had lived a more difficult life than him during these past few years.
“Sir, could you allow me to contact Long Qi? I would like to speak to him,” Bai Zhen solemnly asked.
Bai Chi shook his head. “You know what the relationship between our Celestial Frost Sect and the White Dragon Clan is like. If possible, I definitely would have wanted you to receive the Cloudguard Robes, but this Long Qi is being watched over by Humility’s Gate’s Supervisor, and now, even Xia Yan and Long Laogui are paying attention to him. While I would love to take the Cloudguard Robes from him, that’s not very likely. After all, he traded for it even after I reserved it for you, so clearly he’s unconcerned about me.”
“Then I-” Bai Zhen was truly upset, but he had no idea what to even say.
Bai Chi’s eyes flashed. “Well, I still have an item with me here. While it’s not as good as the Cloudguard Robes, it’s not much worse.”
He then took out a delicate and beautiful red flower.
Bai Zhen was stunned the moment he saw the flower, and his entire body shuddered. He felt as though he was once again seeing that scene of red flowers blooming and the petals raining from the sky. It was a scene that represented both beauty and death. As if dying in a dream, though the family that had once dominated everything had since disappeared.
