Dojo Master Si’s expression changed, as she realized that Yang Kong was attacking her unknown guest.
At an unseen point within the void, flames churned and swept across the sky, pushing back the darkness that covered Aeternus Kingdom.
A fierce orb that looked like the sun rose high into the sky while scorching the earth.
Yang Kong emerged from the true universe, and Lu Yin did so at the same time. However, Lu Yin’s aura was much more composed when compared with Yang Kong’s.
The blazing sun that scorched Aeternus Kingdom was then shattered by an invisible force that was truly terrifying.
Lu Yin looked around in shock. “Who was that?”
“That was my father,” Yang Kong replied as he stared at Lu Yin in surprise. “Who are you?”
Lu Yin and Yang Kong stared at each other, and fear filled Lu Yin’s eyes. “I’m Lie Yanzi, from Skyblaze Dojo.”
Yang Kong frowned. “Skyblaze Dojo? Wasn’t that place destroyed? Who’s Lie Yanzi?”
He glanced at Dojo Master Si in a doubtful manner. “Do you know him?”
Dojo Master Si answered solemnly, “I’m not sure if he is who he claims to be, but he is indeed using Skyblaze Dojo’s battle techniques, and he also possesses their unique treasure, the Skyblaze Stone”
Yang Kong looked back at Lu Yin and carefully observed him. “What’s the deal with your body?”
Lu Yin grew upset at this question. “You attacked me for no reason, and now you’re questioning me? Do you think you’re above everyone in this Starfall Sea?”
Yang Kong sneered. “You’d better answer, or else my father will step in, and he’s not as polite as me.”
Lu Yin lifted his head. “Then I’d better ask the East City Master to come out!”
“Lie Yanzi, the East City Master won’t show himself for such a trivial matter. At the moment, the Aeternals control the entire Starfall Sea, and regardless of who you are or where you come from, your past means nothing. You should answer Yang Kong’s question,” Dojo Master Si said, offering a warning to Lu Yin.
Yang Kong stared at Lu Yin. He did not care whether or not this person was actually Lie Yanzi, as that meant nothing to Yang Kong. His only concern was this person’s strength. As for his body, it seemed somewhat special and rather bizarre.
Lu Yin clenched his hands into fists. “I was burned during my stellular tribulation.”
This answer caught Dojo Master Si off guard.
Yang Kong was similarly confused. “Burned during your tribulation? To become an Envoy?”
Lu Yin’s voice dropped low as he explained, “That’s right. Since I’m someone from Skyblaze Dojo, during my tribulation to become an Envoy, my stellular tribulation was flames. However, the heat far surpassed even the flames beneath Skyblaze Dojo, and it evaporated all of the water from my body, cooking me. I was dried up and almost burned to ash. Even though I eventually survived and became an Envoy, my body has never recovered.”
There was no one who could prove that Lu Yin was lying, as there had been countless different stellular tribulation from the beginning of time, and no one knew what they would encounter during their tribulation.
Yang Kong stared intently at Lu Yin for a moment. “Lie Yanzi, as someone from Skyblaze Dojo, how did you manage to survive when the Sixth Mainland attacked the Fifth Mainland and Tian Yanzi died?”
“I’ve always been in seclusion in the deepest flames beneath Skyblaze Dojo,” Lu Yin explained.
Si Xiao’er butted in, “I can verify that I met this senior in the heart of the flames beneath Skyblaze Dojo.”
Yang Kong glanced over at Si Xiao’er before indifferently stating, “Everyone, leave.”
Dojo Master Si waved a hand to dismiss everyone from Water God Dojo, and many of the disciples left to receive treatment.
Given the destructive power of an Envoy, the disciples were not able to endure even the aftershocks from such a battle. In fact, it was not only Water God Dojo’s disciples who had been injured, as many nearby humans had also been affected. Fortunately, almost all of the humans in the city were cultivators.
Soon, only Yang Kong, Lu Yin, and Dojo Master Si remained.
“Join me on a mission,” Yang Kong said bluntly.
Lu Yin frowned. “Are you talking to me?”
“Who else do you see here?” Yang Kong’s tone remained as arrogant as ever, and Lu Yin thought that he sounded like he needed a beating.
“No.” Lu Yin instantly refused.
Yang Kong sneered. “You’re in no place to refuse! This is a mission given by the Aeternals, and if the mission is successfully completed, you’ll return to a reward of unimaginable resources! If you try to refuse, I’ll just force you through other means. Just ask Dojo Master Si. She didn’t want to go either, but she eventually agreed.”
Lu Yin looked at Dojo Master Si, who shrugged. “I lost and was forced to admit defeat.”
“In other words, I don’t need to go if I beat you?” Lu Yin asked Yang Kong.
Yang Kong raised his chin. “You can’t beat me.”
“Why?” Lu Yin became upset.
“Just based on our exchange just now, I can promise that you can’t beat me,” Yang Kong proclaimed arrogantly.
Lu Yin lifted a hand, and a flame appeared over his hand that quickly took on the form of a sword. “Let’s give it a try.”
Yang Kong shook his head. “I just want you to join me on a mission. Why be so stubborn? Isn’t cultivation all in order to grow stronger and live longer? As long as this mission’s successful, you’ll get enough resources from the Aeternals to last you until you reach a power level of a million.”
Lu Yin was shocked. “Resources to allow me to reach a power level of a million?”
Yang Kong clasped his hands behind his back. “Not only you, but also Dojo Master Si and everyone else who participates in this mission. You’ll all receive endless resources from the Aeternals as a reward when we complete our mission and come back. As long as you have enough talent, you won’t just be able to reach a power level of a million—you can even become a Semi-Progenitor!”
Lu Yin’s hand dropped, and the flames dispersed as excitement filled his eyes.
Dojo Master Si stared at Yang Kong, as she had been given the same promise when he had first approached her, but she had not been deceived. Endless resources? So what? No matter what this mission was supposed to accomplish, as long as it was for the Aeternals, it could only be something that harmed humanity. It would lead to a future where she would only be accompanied by corpse kings; why would she desire to reach a power level of a million if that was going to be her future?
She was only going because it was her last resort. However, it looked like this Lie Yanzi had already been won over.
At this thought, Dojo Master Si’s eyes grew cold as she stared at Lu Yin, and contempt could clearly be seen in her eyes.
She had already looked into everything that was known about Lie Yanzi. He had been known as a talented individual who had competed to become Skyblaze Dojo’s dojo master, but he had eventually lost. However, he had actually almost been expelled from the dojo because of the despicable methods that he had used during the contest to become the dojo master.
Everything that Dojo Master Si had learned about Lie Yanzi’s history lined up with the reaction of the man in front of her when faced with Yang Kong’s proposal. Maybe he really was who he claimed to be.
“I’ve reached a bottleneck in my cultivation, and I’m also short on resources since Skyblaze Dojo has been destroyed. I actually don’t have any source of cultivation resources anymore. Can you provide me with some?” Lu Yin asked as he stared intently at Yang Kong.
A smile spread across Yang Kong’s face. “Of course.”
“I mean right now. I’ll promise to join you on your mission, but I need you to provide me with some resources so that I can strengthen myself and be of more help during this mission after completing my breakthrough,” Lu Yin said.
Yang Kong considered this proposal for a bit. “Alright. What do you need?”
Lu Yin answered without any hesitation, “Star essence.”
Yang Kong felt confused. “You’re an Envoy. What do you need star essence to accomplish?”
Lu Yin shrugged. “The battle technique that you just saw me use is called Skyblaze Sun. Theoretically, there’s no limit to the temperature that it can reach, but it takes way too much stellular energy to use, and it’s easy to push too far and suffer backlash from the true universe. That’s why it’s better to use star essence for the technique, and the more star essence that’s used, the more powerful the attack and the hotter the flames. With enough star essence, I can create a flame that’s powerful enough to even burn an Envoy with a power level of over 700,000.”
Yang Kong was taken aback. “This technique can even affect those with a power level of 700,000?”
Lu Yin confidently replied, “That’s right, and that’s why I can help you.”
Yang Kong spent some time thinking about this matter. “Alright, deal. Just tell me, how much star essence do you want?”
“How much do you have?”
“We still have a bit of time before the mission, about five days. How much star essence can you use up in five days?”
“How much do you have?”
Yang Kong’s eyebrows started to climb. “Are you that confident of being able to use whatever you’re given?”
Lu Yin’s hands clenched into tight fists. “Absolutely confident.”
Yang Kong nodded. “Alright, just wait.”
He then disappeared.
Lu Yin started to become short of breath. Money was coming! Money was coming! Money was finally coming! He had a hunch that he was going to be given a huge sum this time around.
Yang Kong could not be blamed for being deceived. There were real, similar battle techniques to what Lu Yin described that were cultivated. For example, the Hui family’s golden meteors were able to be cultivated without limit. The Sixth Mainland also had similar techniques, and Lu Yin had actually just used the technique that he had described.
However, Lu Yin had not used the Skyblaze Sun, but rather the Blaze Realm’s Blazing Sun.
After conquering the Blaze Realm, Lu Yin had perused their battle techniques, and he had seen their Blazing Sun, Karmic Sword, and even their Poison Flame technique. Given the fact that Lu Yin was impersonating someone from Skyblaze Dojo, the Blaze Realm’s battle techniques were his best options at this moment.
Blazing Sun was indeed a technique that theoretically had no limit to the temperature that the flames could reach, so it was perfectly normal for Yang Kong to be tricked.
Dojo Master Si stared at Lu Yin. “Skyblaze Dojo doesn’t have a battle technique called Skyblaze Sun.”
“I created it,” Lu Yin indifferently replied.
Dojo Master Si quietly responded, “No matter what your motives might be, don’t think that you can take advantage of them! Since you’ve agreed to join this mission, they will definitely force that poison onto you. It’s something from the Aeternals, and only they can remove it from your body.”
After giving her warning, Dojo Master Si turned away.
None of the people present were fools, and Yang Kong was far from stupid. It was absolutely impossible for him to provide Lu Yin with resources without having some means of controlling him, and poison was the most effective means of control available.
However, Lu Yin had no choice. He wanted to leave the Starfall Sea through Burial Garden’s gate, which meant that this was his only option. Without doing this, his only other path would be to force his way into the West City and fight his way to the gate there. This was also why he had gone to visit the West City to attract attention; he wanted to see if it was even possible to get to the gate without attracting any attention, but the scarlet eyes that he had seen had dissuaded him from that path.
As for poison, if they really did infect him with Vitality Poison, he would just go and see Ming Yan, and the white-haired Ming Yan would see it as a powerful tonic. If it were any other poison, then it was impossible for it to be stronger than Vitality Poison. If that were a real possibility, then the Aeternals’ poison research was beyond terrifying. Even if all of Lu Yin’s expectations were off, no poison could exceed the limits of Extremes Must Be Reversed, and therein lay his true confidence in proceeding forward. Not to mention, Shaman God would never allow Lu Yin to die from poison.
Still, it would be optimal if Lu Yin could avoid being poisoned in the first place.
Yang Kong quickly returned, and Lu Yin watched with great expectations as the young man stretched out a hand. Yang Kong held two drops of transparent liquid in his hand, and one of them was clearly Vitality Poison. Lu Yin instantly recognized it due to his extensive interactions with the poison. As for the other one, he blinked, as he recognized it as well. Was that Samaritan’s Tears?
Lu Yin had bought a vial of this poison from the ninth floor of Yi’s Emporium when visiting the Divine Venom Dynasty, and he had been told that the poison was powerful enough to even kill powerful Envoys. He had also been told the poison was known as Samaritan’s Tears and that while it was incredibly toxic, it was not undetectable like Transience.
Lu Yin had not expected Yang Kong to bring out a poison like Samaritan’s Tears.
“Open your hand,” Yang Kong indifferently ordered.
Lu Yin instinctively opened his hand.
The two drops of liquid were wrapped with a gentle force and pushed into Lu Yin’s palm.
“This is a poison that the Aeternals developed, and once it erupts, it can even kill an Envoy. Since there is no way to maintain control while we’re out on our mission, and since you even wanting to receive payment in advance, this is our guarantee,” Yang Kong explained, “However, there’s no need to worry. As long as you don’t betray us, the poison won’t erupt.”
