No one knew when it started; it might have been going on for a long time, or it might have just started. Regardless, everyone’s ears picked up the sound of plucked instruments and vague chants. The music slowly started to speed up.
Jiu Shen was the first to notice it, and the Second Nightking, Sword King, and the other top powerhouses all noticed it a moment later. Lu Yin heard the music right after Yuan Shi.
Lu Yin thought that the music sounded quite pleasant, but when had it started?
Boom!
Sword King’s massive weapon smashed into the wooden staff, and the two retreated in unison. Surprise decorated Sword King’s face, and his head snapped to look to the west.
At that same moment, Elder Jiu Shen, the Second Nightking, the Celestial Demon, and all of the other experts turned to look westward as well.
The sky in that direction was bright.
Outer space was extremely dark, and yet it turned pink at this moment as cherry blossoms drifted through the empty expanse. A woman stepped out. She was wearing a simple, pure-white dress that danced in a breeze. Her bare feet stepped upon the cherry petals, and her long blue hair was tied up in a complicated bun. There was an almost divine quality to her. A delicate cloth wrapped around her upper body, and she was holding a three-stringed music instrument in her hand. She slowly walked through space.
It was impossible to see the woman’s face, as the delicate cloth was embroidered with a cat-like pattern. It gave her both a mysterious and an incredibly wild look that somehow resonated with her ethereal aura.
No one could say how long the woman had been there for, just as no one could say how long the music had been playing. It was only when the tune grew more aggressive and cheerful that anyone had noticed it, though no one could understand why that was the case.
Lu Yin watched as the woman transformed space around her. Cherry blossoms started flying everywhere, and Lu Yin felt his scalp go numb as a terrible sense of danger roused him from his daze. His pupils transformed into runes, but his eyes were instantly overcome by a stinging pain, and he quickly covered them up.
The pain came from the overwhelming number of runes that he had just seen. He had felt this sensation before, but given Lu Yin’s level of strength, he could even see the runes of Empyrean Imprinters without feeling pain. Despite that, this woman was painful to look at. The only possibility was that this woman was even stronger than an Empyrean Imprinter, which meant that she was a Semi-Progenitor.
“The Sixth Mainland’s Lan Xian,” Yuan Shi solemnly stated. He looked utterly serious, and both fear and disbelief could be seen on his face. He seemed to feel as if he should not be seeing the woman before him.
Lu Yin was a bit confused. “Lan Xian? One of the Semi-Progenitors who stays in the Daosource Sect?”
Yuan Shi answered quietly. “That’s right. When the Neohuman Alliance attacked the Daosource Sect, even Jiu San died, and only three Semi-Progenitors survived. She’s one of those survivors, as well as the only woman.”
Jiu Shen’s eyes narrowed. A Semi-Progenitor was a powerhouse at the same level as his senior brother, and encountering one made him feel a terrible sense of danger. This person was on an entirely different level from him.
Across the battlefield, Sword King fell back while staring at Lan Xian as she approached. The astral beast reflexively clenched the hilt of his sword tighter due to the fear that overwhelmed him. Only a Semi-Progenitor could do this to him. “A Semi-Progenitor.”
Xu Qing’s expression had grown ugly. “One of the three Semi-Progenitors who has stayed hidden in the Sixth Mainland’s Daosource Sect has come out, surprisingly.”
He then thought of something and turned to look at Qing Hua. It was no wonder why the Empyrean Imprinter had possessed the courage to face all of the astral beasts; he was being supported by a Semi-Progenitor. However, when had the Semi-Progenitor arrived?
Everything stopped on the entire battlefield the moment the Semi-Progenitor appeared. Everyone stared at her.
Not even the most unruly and arrogant astral beast dared to make the slightest of sounds at this moment, and all of them warily stared at the west as they were overwhelmed with fear. They all watched as the pink sky gradually overtook them.
Master Qing Hua held his staff in his hand as he stepped forward and moved through the void. He appeared a short distance from Lan Xian, already within her pink realm.
“It’s quite rare to see such an impressive battlefield,” Lan Xian commented. She had a gentle voice that had a softness to it like a flowing stream. Listening to it would cause anyone to relax and drift off.
Lu Yin was the same. It was his first time hearing such an intoxicating voice, and he instantly wanted to see the hidden face.
This voice caused all of the aggression in the eyes of everyone present to disappear. This simple sentence completely changed the atmosphere of the battlefield, though there was no hint of a battle technique being used. It was nothing more than the woman’s voice.
There were times when sound itself could be a weapon.
Lan Xian did not look at anyone, and yet she also seemed to be looking at everyone. “I’ll play a song for everyone so that this trip was not made in vain.”
As she spoke, her beautiful fingers slid down the strings of her three-stringed instrument, and sound echoed through space once again. It was the same plucking sound that everyone had heard before, but the very first note ignited flames in everyone’s hearts. No order was given, and yet the battle instantly commenced once again.
Everyone seemed to be hypnotized. The fighting grew increasingly heated, as everyone seemed intent on either killing their enemy or dragging their enemy down with them.
Lu Yin wanted to stop it, but he was stopped by Jiu Shen. “There’s nothing that you can do. This is Lan Xian’s power.”
The Great Eastern Alliance’s fleet started attacking the astral beasts, as only those with the strength of Envoys were able to resist the desire to start fighting.
As the music grew in intensity, Mountain God was finally unable to withstand it, and he charged onto the battlefield. Ling Qiu, the Sea King, Liu Qianjue and the other Envoys also rushed onto the battlefield one after another.
The Envoy-level astral beasts were no different, and they also rushed onto the battlefield.
The fires of war raged within Lu Yin’s chest, and he was nearly overcome by the desire to fight. He needed to release this pressure, but he was suppressed by a trace of reasoning that remained. He was actually held back by Elder Jiu Shen. Without the elder, Lu Yin would have also rushed out onto the battlefield.
Lan Xian was providing accompaniment for a war, and each time she plucked the strings, the individuals on the battlefield felt the flames of war mount higher and higher. Countless corpses decorated the region.
Master Qing Hua stared across the battlefield into the distance, and his eyes met Lu Yin’s.
Lu Yin just stared at the Empyrean Imprinter and opened his mouth to say something.
Master Qing Hua shrugged and then softly said, “Lan Xian, Progenitor Wushang’s hide was offered as a condition for a deal proposed by Lu Yin. In exchange, the Sixth Mainland has to enter the fray with the Astral Beast Domain.”
The man’s meaning was quite simple: Lan Xian was doing nothing less than using the Great Eastern Alliance as cannon fodder. She was forcing them to fight to the death against the Astral Beast Domain, which was not allowed according to the agreement that had been reached with Lu Yin.
Qing Hua had voiced a reminder, but Lan Xian did not stop. In fact, the music grew louder and louder.
Battleships exploded, and the number of corpses increased.
Lu Yin was beyond furious. If things continue in this manner, the Great Eastern Alliance’s fleet would be completely wiped out, and his plan would fail. No, this could not be allowed.
He glanced over at Elder Jiu Shen and the Second Nightking. If the two took action, they might be able to stop Lan Xian’s music, but that would be no different from picking a fight with a Semi-Progenitor. That was supposed to be left to the Astral Beast Domain.
Lu Yin stared at Lan Xian as she stood within her pink world that was filled with blooming cherry blossoms while controlling the distant battlefield. Lu Yin gritted his teeth and opened his mouth. He immediately started reciting the Origin Progenitor’s Sutra. “When the Dao of Heavens is bestowed, devour the hundreds of rivers, and the reflection of the ancient lands is the way of the sage. When the Dao of Heavens is not present, gather the energy inwards… Leap into the cosmos and crouch… Harmonious with the common people… Devour the hundreds of rivers… Leap into the boundless skies and crouch…”1
The sutra cut through the music like a hot knife through butter. Just like how no one had initially noticed Lan Xian’s music with it having seemingly always been there, Lu Yin’s recitation slowly filled the area. Those who heard it started to feel as though they were being enlightened and their spiritual force was being strengthened by this odd rhythm that sounded like something from ancient times.
The sound was not loud, yet everyone could hear it, including Lan Xian.
The sound of her three-stringed instrument suddenly stopped, and a string broke. Confusion filled her eyes as she glanced around. Just what was that sound? It had actually penetrated her inner world, resonated in her mind, and replaced her thoughts. She had actually been dazed for a moment.
Suddenly, the Void Wanderer elder appeared above her head and slammed straight into her. In the distance, Sword King, the Celestial Demon, and Xu Qing all attacked together.
They had no idea whether or not Lan Xian was an enemy of the Great Eastern Alliance, but she was definitely their enemy.
The Astral Beast Domain had invaded the Outerverse, and once the Great Eastern Alliance withdrew, the Sixth Mainland would take over. Lan Xian had wanted to force the Astral Beast Domain and the Great Eastern Alliance to fight each other to the death, which Lu Yin had been aware of. That was why he had tried to stop Lan Xian. Xu Qing had been aware of the same thing, but he had been helpless to stop the Semi-Progenitor.
The moment that Lan Xian showed an opening, Xu Qing had decisively ordered everyone to attack her. He hoped to use the element of surprise to deal with the woman. Even if they could not kill a Semi-Progenitor, forcing her to retreat would be good enough.
Xu Qing had never thought that a Semi-Progenitor would be drawn into this war.
Lan Xian’s arrival on the battlefield had ruined the Astral Beast Domain’s strategy, and Xu Qing had to salvage whatever he could.
The pink world that was filled with cherry blossoms was attacked multiple times as the astral beasts tried to shatter the seemingly peaceful fairyland that had reignited the war.
Qing Hua stepped back.
Lan Xian looked up. Her eyes were beautiful and bright, but they were also unspeakably cold.
When she saw the various attacks approaching her, the cherry blossoms shot up from beneath her feet. The pink world continuously expanded until it enveloped the entire battlefield. Everyone was inside it, including Lu Yin and those with him.
Both the sky and the ground were filled with drifting cherry blossoms. It was a truly beautiful sight, but Lu Yin and everyone else found it terrifying. Each petal gave people the impression that it was a sharp blade ready to strike.
This suspended blade did not fall upon Lu Yin and the other humans, instead attacking Sword King and the other astral beast powerhouses.
The Void Wanderer elder, Sword King’s blade, and the Celestial Demon’s spiritual force were just about to touch Lan Xian, but it seemed as though she was an entire universe away. It was a distance that could not be crossed.
The cherry blossoms tangled around Sword King’s massive sword, and he watched as his sword shattered and his body was wrapped up in cherry blossoms. He let out a roar as his blood spilled and stained the area around him. The cheery petals had sliced his body open, and blood was dripping from every inch of his body. He looked absolutely miserable.
The same fate befell the Celestial Demon. His spiritual force and battle techniques were trapped and frozen by the cherry blossoms before they could harm Lan Xian in the slightest. The blossoms rose up from below, slicing everything apart like sharp blades, and the Celestial Demon was nearly bisected.
It only took an instant for two of the astral beasts’ top powerhouses to be severely injured.
This showed the difference between a Semi-Progenitor and those beneath them. Regardless of how powerful a cultivator was, they would be helpless when facing a Semi-Progenitor’s inner world.
Blood stained the cherry blossoms red.
Lu Yin’s eyes flickered, and he was overcome with shock.
This was not his first time seeing a Semi-Progenitor attacking with their inner world, and he had even been attacked by a Semi-Progenitor himself once. He had also seen two inner worlds clash against each other, but this was the first time that Lu Yin had actually entered a Semi-Progenitor’s inner world and experienced the terror of having someone else control his life.
If Lan Xian wished it, a single cherry blossom could destroy Lu Yin.
Elder Jiu Shen’s hand clenched into a fist, and he barely managed to resist manifesting his simulated stars. He was also a powerhouse, and he similarly could not accept someone else having control over his life or death.
He was much more familiar with the strength of a Semi-Progenitor, and his senior brother had once said that no matter what, Jiu Shen could never allow himself to enter a Semi-Progenitor’s inner world. Once a person entered, their fate would no longer be their own.
Jiu Shen wanted to break free from the inner world and escape, but the fates of Sword King and the Celestial Demon terrified the Cosmic Sect elder. If he reacted at all, he was not certain if Lan Xian would not attack him as well.
However, the chances of her attacking Jiu Shen were very low.
Xu Qing’s expression completely changed, and the fluttering cherry blossoms that surrounded him gave him the chills. He looked up and glanced over at the fleeing Void Wanderer elder. “Use it!”
Right as he spoke, a cherry blossom sliced off his arm.
Lan Xian fixed her bewitching eyes onto Xu Qing. She was curious as to what else these astral beasts could have possibly kept hidden. What could they possess that could be useful against her?
Master Qing Hua watched as Lan Xian easily suppressed all of the powerhouses and shook his head in a helpless manner. A Semi-Progenitor was a Semi-Progenitor, and they were beings that stood at another level. It did not matter that Lan Xian was actually much younger than him.
When Qing Hua had first become a Cosmic Imprinter, Lan Xian had just started becoming famous. She had been one of the Daosource Three Skies of her generation. However, when Qing Hua became an Empyrean Imprinter, Lan Xian had reached the same level as him. At present, Qing Hua was still an Empyrean Imprinter, but Lan Xian was already a Semi-Progenitor.
[1] This is the first time that the Origin Progenito’s Sutra has appeared so completely, and this allowed us to finally be able to accurately translate the various disjointed phrases of the Stonewall Scriptures, so all of the bits from the past have been reworked based off of this “completed” section. ☜
