Lu Yin solemnly replied, “Regardless of whether it works or not, I still have to at least try. Before this, I managed to fix the second array base’s defensive sourcebox array when everyone believed it to be impossible, including Master Zan and even Master Deng Guo. Despite that, I still succeeded. I want to give this array a try as well. It was already fixed once during that last battle that took place at the second forward basecamp.”
“You’re an Array Master?” Mr. Guo was completely shocked, and even Zhou Tang and the others had not expected Lu Yin to say this. He had already demonstrated a combat prowess that defied all common sense, so who could have imagined that he was also an Array Master on top of everything else?
“Oh, right. Your movements during your fight with that last corpse king were based off of a sourcebox array, weren’t they?” Che Zhen, who stood nearest to Lu Yin, exclaimed in understanding.
Lu Yin just nodded.
“Can we really get back alive?” someone asked, suddenly overflowing with hope. No one wished to die, and the mere prospect was painful to consider despite how all of Lu Yin’s comrades had been forced to face such prospects head on.
His eyes resolute, Lu Yin was the one to answer. “I don’t know, but we have to at least try.”
Mr. Guo voiced his hesitation. “Master Song and his disciples were able to successfully repair the sourcebox array before that portion of the second forward basecamp was abandoned, but it all broke down again. Given the state of the second forward basecamp’s remnants after it fell down here, the sourcebox array is likely even more damaged than before, and there’s also a possibility that some of the sourceboxes are completely missing.”
“I still have to try,” Lu Yin said decisively.
“That’s right! Brother Long Qi, give it a try.”
“Brother Long Qi, we’re counting on you! It’s at least better than waiting here to die.”
“Brother Long Qi, if we really do make it back alive, I’ll spend the rest of my life repaying you for this peerless favor.”
…
“Long Qi, you go do whatever you need to. Leave this place to us,” Brother Hong spoke up as he glanced over at Mr. Guo and the others.
Mr. Guo nodded. “Give it a try.”
Che Zhan laughed. “Why didn’t you consider this possibility earlier, Brother Long Qi? Go, the sourcebox array isn’t far.”
Lu Yin pulled out the knife that he had taken from Xia Shenfei as well as his universal armor before throwing both items over to Che Zhan, who caught them with surprise on his face.
“Don’t die before I get back,” Lu Yin ordered. With that said, he immediately turned and left.
Che Zhan held the two items that he had just been given in a daze. He looked rather confused. These two things were practically invaluable, and more importantly, they represented life in the New World.
Che Zhan looked over at Zhou Tang.
A smile creeped across Zhou Tang’s lips. “Do as he says.”
Mr. Guo could not help himself from singing Lu Yin’s praises. “That boy has got spirit, righteousness, plots, but most importantly, a burning determination that never dies. If he survives this adversity, he’s sure to take the universe by storm in the future. If I manage to return alive, I have to witness the day his power allows him to rule over the universe.”
Even though no one else verbally expressed their thoughts, the glint in their eyes was enough. Their feelings were all on the same wavelength. Lu Yin’s actions had impressed them far too much, and it had reached the point where they struggled to put words to their emotions. Additionally, all of them had entrusted their lives to Lu Yin, so the favor and gratitude that they felt towards him was overpowering.
In contrast, Lu Yin felt quite relaxed as he made his way towards the sourcebox array. The New World had become somewhat like his backyard garden. With Shaman God protecting him, who would dare to lay a hand on him?
As he scanned his surroundings, Lu Yin confirmed which direction he needed to take. He could sense the danger field of a sourcebox, which made him certain that the sourcebox array lay in that direction. Was it the defensive sourcebox array? Yet another new sourcebox array, though who knew just how much Shaman God had helped in its repairs.
The defensive sourcebox array emitted a red light that consumed everything with its power. Once the sourcebox array was activated, earth, sky, and even the void would be enveloped by red beams, and anyone who made contact with them would instantly die. For the monsters, the red beams were fiercely hated, as countless corpse kings had died to this sourcebox array. If possible, Shaman God definitely did not want this array to be fixed, but if that did not happen, then how could Lu Yin and the others join the human army stationed in the New World?
Without working together with that army, how could Lu Yin’s group escape? The sourcebox array was their only hope.
Lu Yin observed his surroundings as he carefully approached the danger zone. What he found was not a sourcebox array that had been broken and shattered, but rather a deactivated array. Shaman God had actually left Lu Yin with a fully repaired sourcebox array.
Although the array had already been fixed, it would still take Lu Yin some time to activate it and learn how to smoothly operate it. Understanding such things took time, so this was where his die would come into play. All Lu Yin had to do was remember the structure of the sourcebox array’s danger fields before entering the Timestop Space and continuing his research.
A great distance away, Marquis Green Bamboo was observing Lu Yin as the youth investigated the sourcebox array. The marquis’s scarlet eyes that were touched with a green hue showed his clear distaste for this entire matter. To think that a human was allowed to run about so freely in the New World to the extent where he was even given as much time as needed to comprehend a sourcebox array. On top of all of that, the youth was trying to comprehend a sourcebox array that had been specifically designed to deal with corpse kings. Marquis Green Bamboo was completely disgusted by what he was forced to witness and allow.
To make things worse, that sourcebox array had actually been repaired by one of the Seven Skygods themself! No one would ever believe such a thing if word of it ever leaked. Even the marquis himself could not help but think that if someone ever tried to accuse Long Qi because of this matter of cooperation, there would not be a single person in the entire Perennial World who would believe it!
The marquis grew more and more upset, and his finger twitched as he sent out another corpse king with the strength of an Envoy to attack Lu Yin’s companions that had been left back in the underground space.
At this moment, Che Zhan was the person on guard against the corpse kings.
Lu Yin looked up and back in the direction that he had come from; were the battles resuming back at the underground crevice? The monsters really had no intention of allowing him to rest for even a moment. If he did not move quickly, then Che Zhan and the others would face terrible danger. After all, Shaman God was completely unconcerned with the fates of the other humans. Still, Lu Yin had left them with his universal armor and the dagger, so they should be able to endure for some time given their strength.
Lu Yin continued to stare at the sourcebox array for several days without stopping even once. With that time, he managed to memorize the arrangement of the sourceboxes’ danger fields. It was very complicated, but fortunately, he had already comprehended several other sourcebox arrays along with the defensive sourcebox array up at the second array base, all of which helped him with his current efforts. Without his previous experiences, Lu Yin would have been completely lost.
He settled down on the ground in a cross-legged position as the void twisted around him. With a raised hand, the Champions’ Stage appeared. Right after that, Lu Yin’s die appeared within the Champions’ Stage. With the Champions’ Stage blocking all lines of sight, not even Shaman God would be able to see Lu Yin’s die. Also, even if Shaman God was not currently watching Lu Yin, it was not bad to be a bit more cautious.
Even though Shaman God was not actively observing Lu Yin, Marquis Green Bamboo had not once looked away.
Upon seeing Lu Yin manifest the Champions’ Stage, Marquis Green Bamboo felt shocked; so this kid was someone from the Lu family? The marquis’s mind raced, and he quickly understood Shaman God’s current plot. So that was how things were. The boy was from the Lu family. In that case, it was no wonder why Shaman God had said that this person could incite chaos throughout the entire Perennial World. How could the four ruling powers possibly sit back and do nothing when a direct descendant of the Lu family reappeared? How could the Lu family’s former retainers be willing to abandon their struggle?
Marquis Green Bamboo gasped. “Who would’ve thought that a member of the Lu family still lived. Every single person from the Lu family presents a threat, but with this single direct descendant who just happens to have an even more impressive natural talent, he really is the perfect pawn for stirring up matters within the Perennial World.”
As the marquis was contemplating everything that he had just realized, he never noticed the die hidden by the Champions’ Stage.
Lu Yin stretched out a finger and tapped the die, making it spin in the air. One pip: Pilfer. Lu Yin’s lips pursed when he saw that nothing at all appeared, but he quickly restored the die and rolled it again.
His second roll was a success, as it landed on four pips: Timestop.
The scenery changed before Lu Yin’s eyes, and he entered a gray and white space where he formally began his research on the sourcebox array.
…
Some time later, the scenery changed yet again, and Lu Yin reappeared in the New World. In the outside world, only a moment had passed, so Marquis Green Bamboo had not noticed anything at all.
For Semi-Progenitors, a second was a very long time, but if they were not paying particular attention, it could also be a negligible amount of time. The marquis had been considering Lu Yin’s identity and the future chaos that would erupt in the Perennial World. Thus, he had not noticed anything about Lu Yin changing within that second.
Still, Lu Yin would not be particularly concerned even if someone did notice. While his innate gift was incredible if he explained it to someone, it was practically impossible for anyone to understand the truth from simple visual observation. Lu Yin had even entered the Timestop Space during his last battle on Earth to recover from his injuries. Mira had actually seen what had happened, but had merely assumed that Lu Yin possessed some kind of healing-related innate gift.
The gap between Lu Yin’s strength and Mira’s back then was quite similar to the gap in strength between Lu Yin and Marquis Green Bamboo at the present time. In both cases, an insurmountable difference of strength separated the two.
Elsewhere, Che Zhan was struggling to fight off the corpse king. The swordsman was no match for the monster, and if not for the universal armor’s impressive defenses, the Envoy would have long since died. Halfway through the battle, Brother Hong replaced Che Zhan, and then Matriarch of the Eastern Mountain took a turn, followed by Mr. Guo. Each of them took turns fighting against the corpse king. In the end, they managed to hold out for several days under a terrible struggle, lasting until Lu Yin’s return.
The moment that Lu Yin appeared, in a huge surprise, the corpse king fled, which caused Che Zhan and the others to stare in stupefaction.
“Even monsters can be scared?” someone asked in shock. Everyone turned to look at Lu Yin oddly. Truly, this youth was continuously shattering everything that they had known to be true in the past.
“Long Qi, how are things with the sourcebox array?” Brother Hong asked.
Everyone nervously stared at Lu Yin. They struggled to even breathe, as what they were waiting to hear would determine their lives or deaths.
Lu Yin took a deep breath and then smiled. “It worked.”
Every single person present was stunned, and some were actually unable to believe Lu Yin’s response. The silence stretched out.
Zhou Tang stared at Lu Yin in utter shock before finally exclaiming, “You managed to fix that sourcebox in just a few days?”
Lu Yin explained, “It wasn’t me. Thanks to the efforts put in by Master Song and the others, the sourcebox array was already repaired, and it was actually barely damaged. They were only forced to abandon the sourcebox array because a massive portion of the second forward basecamp fell down here, but fortunately, the fall and the impact didn’t damage it much further. I was lucky enough to figure out how to make the minor repairs that were necessary without much trouble. I was really lucky.”
Everyone let out sighs of relief. Lu Yin’s explanation made sense. After processing this news, everyone started to get excited, as they had just received a new lease on life. Their eyes were filled with gratitude and respect as they stared at Lu Yin.
“Now we can use that sourcebox array as we search for the Ever-Victorious Army,” Mr. Guo said, relaxing a bit.
The Ever-Victorious Army was humanity’s only army in the New World. Everyone here knew that the army was just a group of cultivators, but they were legends in the Perennial World. There were rumors that claimed that there was a human city in the New World, and that it was an eternal symbol of human hope. This city was known as New City, and the troops stationed there were often referred to as the Ever-Victorious Army. However, in truth those who actually knew the Ever-Victorious Army would only ever consider them by another name: the Forsaken Soldiers. The “army” was nothing but a ragtag group of soldiers who had been left behind.
No one would ever ask to be deployed to the New World of their own volition, as it was essentially a death sentence. The Forsaken Soldiers were no different than the Star Alliance, and all of the soldiers had been sent to the New World as a part of their penal punishment. Very few willingly took such a post, and the vast majority of the soldiers were people who had offended the four ruling powers in some way or another.
“In which direction will we find the Ever-Victorious Army?” Brother Hong asked as he looked over at Mr. Guo.
“Let me think about it,” Mr. Guo replied.
Zhou Tang raised a hand and pointed towards the east. “That way.”
“How do you know?” Che Zhan asked in confusion.
Zhou Tang looked up, regret evident on his face. “If we Star Alliance members didn’t die here, we would have eventually been sent there as well.”
Lu Yin’s eyes turned cold. “Are the Lu family’s former retainers stationed there?”
Zhou Tang met Lu Yin’s eyes. “Some of them.”
An irrepressible fury ignited within Lu Yin’s heart. The Lu family had been exiled by those four groups, and then the family’s former retainers had been forced to either join the Star Alliance or the Forsaken Soldiers, not to mention those that had likely been directly sentenced to death. The four ruling powers were more than vicious, so how could he not ache for revenge against them?
However, no one could see through Lu Yin’s calm facade to his raging emotions. He simply said, “Then let’s go. We’ll look for the Ever-Victorious Army as I can control the sourcebox array.”
Everyone grew excited at the prospect of this journey. Dying in battle was much better than sitting around and waiting to die.
Far away, Marquis Green Bamboo remained silent as he watched Lu Yin and the others leave the underground crevice and move towards the sourcebox array. He already knew what would happen soon, so he immediately ordered, “Eliminate those people.”
The moment this command was given, the horde of corpse kings surrounding the underground space suddenly charged towards Lu Yin and all of the others.
Lu Yin’s face turned grim, and he shouted, “Go! Get inside the array!”
