Upon hearing Lu Yin’s words, the Cloud Valley Master anxiously spoke up. “Alliance Leader Lu, the entire Outerverse belongs to my Sixth Mainland. It’s inappropriate for you to do this at this time.”
Lu Yin left without so much as turning his head. He was completely unconcerned by the Cloud Valley Master. In fact, he was unconcerned about all four powerhouses who had been sent to meet with him.
The Sixth Mainland had been invaded and overrun by the Aeternals, and after they had arrived in the Outerverse, they had also been attacked by the Neohuman Alliance. Their Progenitor of Secret Arts had betrayed humanity, and the Progenitor of Secret Arts’ Territory had been purged. At this moment, the Sixth Mainland was in a very fragile state, and Lu Yin wanted to gain an unassailable position over them.
When Lu Yin showed his back to the four Imprinters, it meant that unless one of the Sixth Mainland’s Progenitors suddenly appeared, there was absolutely no one in the entire Sixth Mainland who could sway Lu Yin’s decision. At this time, the Great Eastern Alliance’s fleet had proven that it was powerful enough to stand up to the a nearly full powered Astral Beast Domain. Even though the months of fighting had weakened the Great Eastern Alliance, the deaths of the astral beasts’ top powerhouses like Sword King meant that it was impossible for the astral beasts to force their way through the Great Eastern Alliance. At this moment, the Outerverse had already entered a three-way balance, though many people, such as the Cloud Valley Master, were unable to see the new circumstances and were naive enough to want to take back control of the Outerverse’s eastern weaves.
These four powerhouses did not know Lu Yin, but he understood their situation better than anyone.
The Cloud Valley Master felt incredibly offended. He was a glorious Cosmic Imprinter! When had he ever suffered such humiliating treatment before? However, when he looked at the Great Eastern Alliance’s experts stopping him and the other Imprinters, he realized that he was helpless to do anything.
Master San Cun also stared at Lu Yin’s back. He was similarly helpless at this moment. So what if he was an Empyrean Imprinter? He was not even qualified to speak up on the current battlefield.
Lu Yin’s behavior concerning the possession of the Outerverse’s eastern weaves did not make any sense, but the Cloud Valley Master’s only option was to reach out to the Fifth Mainland’s Hall of Honor. Naturally, it was impossible for the man to contact Arch-Elder Zen himself, but he was at least able to contact the overseers’ council.
Lu Yin would also be informed when the Cloud Valley Master spoke to the overseers, but the Cosmic Imprinter did not care about that.
Anyone who knew of the Hall of Honor also knew that the overseers’ council wielded a great deal of power as they were able to influence the wars within the Fifth Mainland. Still, the Cloud Valley Master did not believe that the overseers could actually sway the Great Eastern Alliance. Lu Yin himself was an overseer, and the Sixth Mainland had learned through Qing Tan just how thoroughly Lu Yin controlled the overseers’ council.
The overseers’ council had opposed the Great Eastern Alliance’s actions against the Astral Beast Domain from the very beginning, but their opinion had meant nothing to Lu Yin. The Cloud Valley Master was only reaching out to the overseers’ council as a means of contacting Arch-Elder Zen.
The man did succeed in obtaining the Semi-Progenitor’s contact information, but he was unable to get through to the man no matter how many times he tried calling. The Cloud Valley Master soon learned that Arch-Elder Zen had gone into seclusion.
The Cloud Valley Master was furious. Seclusion? Now? Who would believe that?
It was clear that Arch-Elder Zen simply did not wish to speak with the Cloud Valley Master, and the Cosmic Imprinter was left with no choice but to reach out to Herb Immortal and ask the man to personally speak to Arch-Elder Zen.
The Sixth Mainland’s Four Empyreans were predominantly Empyrean Imprinters, but one of the four had always been mysteriously powerful: Herb Immortal.
Logically, Herb Immortal should have been another Empyrean Imprinter like the other Four Empyreans, but the Cloud Valley Master knew that Herb Immortal had been able to speak with Semi-Progenitors like Jiu San and Mr. Lifeview as equals. Even Bluedome Elder had never shown any disrespect towards Herb Immortal, which meant that Herb Immortal was most likely another Semi-Progenitor. There was no way to know the old man’s strength for sure, but at the very least, Herb Immortal clearly enjoyed a higher status than the other Four Empyreans.
Also, while Herb Immortal typically refrained from participating in any of the Four Empyreans’ decision-making, the current situation was different. The Progenitor of Secret Arts had betrayed humanity, and Herb Immortal was from the Rock Realm, which had been part of the Progenitor of Secret Arts’ Territory. Master San Cun was another powerhouse from the Progenitor of Secret Arts’ Territory, and both powerhouses were trying to help the Sixth Mainland after their Progenitor had betrayed humanity. Still, Herb Immortal was no longer one of the Four Empyreans.
The Cloud Valley Master was forced to wait a long time, but Herb Immortal finally sent a message, though it was merely a single word: wait.
“Wait?” The Cloud Valley Master felt confused.
Herb Immortal spoke in a relaxed tone. “Arch-Elder Zen said that he will speak to Lu Yin and ask the Great Eastern Alliance to withdraw from the Outerverse, so you just need to wait.”
The Cloud Valley Master arched a brow. Was Herb Immortal actually ignorant, or was this all just an act? Being told to wait was no different from being told that nothing would happen. When the Hall of Honor had contacted the Sixth Mainland and asked them to immediately send people to Northcastle Weave to stop the Astral Beast Domain’s invasion, the Sixth Mainland’s answer had been to tell the Hall of Honor to wait. The tables had turned.
The Cloud Valley Master wanted to say something more to Herb Immortal, but at this moment, his gadget beeped to inform him of a call request. He was shocked when he looked down to see that Semi-Progenitor Lan Xian was calling!
The Cloud Valley Master quickly answered the call, and he respectfully greeted the woman on the other end. “Semi-Progenitor Lan Xian, what orders do you have?”
“Don’t take over the war with the Astral Beast Domain,” Lan Xian said. Her voice was cold, much like the indifferent tone that Lu Yin and the others had heard when she first appeared on the battlefield before them all.
The Cloud Valley Master was taken aback to hear that even Lan Xian was helping Lu Yin. Were the rumors true? Did the Progenitor of Bloodlines really intend to take Lu Yin on as a disciple? The Cloud Valley Master had heard that Lan Xian had been present when Lu Yin had passed his stellular tribulation, and she should have therefore seen the Progenitor of Bloodlines and spoken with him, making her the clearest on the Progenitor’s attitude towards Lu Yin. Why else would a Semi-Progenitor from the Sixth Mainland try to help Lu Yin?
After receiving orders from a Semi-Progenitor, the Cloud Valley Master had no choice but to give up. While the Outerverse’s eastern weaves were important, they were not worth offending Semi-Progenitor Lan Xian. The woman was not the Sixth Mainland’s most powerful Semi-Progenitor, but she was the most talented.
The Cloud Valley Master was utterly clueless that Lan Xian’s orders to leave the war with the Astral Beast Domain to the Great Eastern Alliance were motivated entirely by a desire to suppress Lu Yin and force his Great Eastern Alliance to suffer further losses, not to help Lu Yin. According to Lan Xian’s understanding, Lu Yin had used the information regarding Progenitor Wushang’s hide to coerce the Sixth Mainland into taking over the war against the Astral Beast Domain because the Great Eastern Alliance was losing ground and could not stop the astral beast invasion any longer.
In this situation, threatening Lu Yin with the very survival of his Great Eastern Alliance would be the most effective means of moving against the youth, but none of them knew that Lu Yin had outplayed them all. He had never intended to use Progenitor Wushang’s hide to force the Sixth Mainland into joining the war, but rather as an excuse to justify his actions.
Lu Yin was inside a flagship within the Great Eastern Alliance’s fleet, and the news that he received surprised him. “The Sixth Mainland completely pulled back?”
Shui Chuanxiao nodded. He sounded wary as he continued to say, “It’s quite odd. They were too decisive in giving up.”
Lu Yin started mulling over this new development. How could the Sixth Mainland give up so easily when it came to controlling the Outerverse’s eastern region? If they were going to give up so easily, then why had the Cloud Valley Master even bothered contacting the overseers’ council? Was there a reason behind this waste of time?
Was there some sort of scheme behind all this?
This sudden change left Lu Yin feeling rather uneasy, so he contacted Xu Qing. “When do you plan to start fighting in the central weaves?”
Xu Qing was stunned, as it was odd for Lu Yin to be pushing him for this. It was normal for a general to be pressured into moving quicker during a war, but this was Xu Qing’s first time being urged forward by an enemy. “We’re waiting for reinforcements.”
“If you don’t start soon, it will be too late. I’ll tell you now that the Sixth Mainland has already sent over several Cosmic Imprinters, and they have even sent an Empyrean Imprinter to put some pressure on me, but I stopped them for now. They’ll be going after you next, so be careful,” Lu Yin said before promptly hanging up.
Next to Lu Yin, Shui Chuanxiao was left utterly speechless by what he had just heard. This must be a first in the endless war that had been fought between the Human Domain and the Astral Beast Domain for countless years. It looked as though Lu Yin was eager for the astral beasts to attack the Outerverse’s central weaves.
Back when the Sixth Mainland had first started threatening the Great Eastern Alliance to leave the entire Outerverse, Lu Yin had used Ironblood Weave to create a new battlefield for the Sixth Mainland. At the moment, Lu Yin had taken over defending the Outerverse’s eastern weaves, but he had actually opened up a path in Armament Weave for the astral beasts to attack the central weaves so that they could fight against the Sixth Mainland. He was actually giving free passage into the Human Domain to an enemy domain.
As far as the Astral Beast Domain was concerned, the Sixth Mainland was an enemy that had to be fought. On the other hand, they would only fight the Great Eastern Alliance if victory was possible. If the astral beasts were not assured of a win, then there was no need to go to war with the alliance to gain control of the Outerverse’s eastern weaves.
This was the current three-way balance that Lu Yin had established in the Outerverse, and this was why he had specifically made sure to force the Sixth Mainland to fight a war, which was the same thing that he had done when initially leaving the Outerverse to their control.
Things were developing in a beneficial direction to Lu Yin, and he was getting the results that he had been after, though everything was going smoother than he had anticipated, which left him terribly nervous. This was why he continued to press the Astral Beast Domain to take action.
In the end, ten days passed and the Astral Beast Domain finished assembling their forces and began making their way towards Flaxen Weave. They were determined to attack the Outerverse’s central weaves.
Xu Qing’s reputation in the Celestial Beast Empire had been spiraling out of control, so he had not hesitated to keep his agreement with Lu Yin a secret while asking for more reinforcements from the empire. His only goal was to attack the central weaves; as long as he managed to accomplish that, his success or failure would no longer matter, as simply reaching that deep into the Human Domain would be enough for him to earn a place in history.
Each step he took deeper into the Outerverse was another historic achievement.
The Great Eastern Alliance became a spectator when the Astral Beast Domain began their attack, and the Sixth Mainland was forced to take over the war.
The Cloud Valley Master confronted Xu Qing, and the swordsman’s expression was ugly. He had assumed that the Astral Beast Domain would attack the eastern weaves to continue their war against the Great Eastern Alliance, and he had never expected them to move past Flaxen Weave to launch a surprise attack on Armament Weave. On top of that, the Great Eastern Alliance’s fleet that was stationed in Flaxen Weave had done absolutely nothing to impede the astral beasts’ passage through the eastern weaves.
Even the greatest idiot would recognize that something was going on.
The Cloud Valley Master was furious, and his sword swept out at Xu Qing. “Has your Astral Beast Domain made a truce with the Great Eastern Alliance?”
Xu Qing was no fool. How could he admit to such a thing? If he admitted to such, the Celestial Beast Empire would have proof of his scheme, and that would defeat his entire purpose in agreeing to work with Lu Yin. “How could you humans qualify to negotiate a truce with us?”
He instantly raised a paw and started attacking the Cloud Valley Master.
Bang!
Massive spatial cracks spread across the region.
Ancestor Sightless and Nong Laohan had their own opponents. The Astral Beast Domain’s forces had received many reinforcements this time, and their strength matched what they had fielded at the peak of the battle against the Great Eastern Alliance. Xu Qing had no confidence that these forces would be enough to break through the Great Eastern Alliance in a short amount of time, but the Sixth Mainland was different. Despite the fact that the Sixth Mainland had more powerhouses than the Great Eastern Alliance, the Sixth Mainland was not a unified front, but rather various scattered powers.
Everything had started when Cemetery Keeper had abandoned his post in Ironblood Weave. He had ignored the overall situation in order to save himself, and that had caused the Sixth Mainland to lose control of Ironblood Weave along with the deaths of countless cultivators from the Sixth Mainland. It was a decision that perfectly demonstrated the Sixth Mainland’s fractured state.
The Great Eastern Alliance was completely under Lu Yin’s control. Even if Liu Qianjue and the other powerhouses were unwilling to give their best, they had still stayed on the battlefield, which had ensured the Great Eastern Alliance’s survival. The Sixth Mainland was different. Upon facing a difficult situation, many of the Sixth Mainland’s powerhouses would do the same as Cemetery Keeper. They would favor their personal safety above all else. Unless the Sixth Mainland managed to gain the upper hand in a manner where they could absolutely crush the Astral Beast Domain, the situation would continue to shift in the astral beasts’ favor.
Besides, Xu Qing had no actual intentions of truly conquering the central weaves. His only goal was to accomplish an unprecedented feat for the Astral Beast Domain and have his name go down in history. Even if he had to quickly abandon whatever weaves he conquered, the brilliance of invading the Outerverse’s central weaves would not be diminished.
Xu Qing was practically crazed at this time. For the sake of leaving behind a legacy, he was desperate to achieve his goals. The fighting did not abate a single moment for half a month, and many of the Sixth Mainland cultivators doubted that they would be able to survive.
Within the Great Eastern Alliance’s fleet, Elder Lohar observed a battle report regarding the war between the Astral Beast Domain and the Sixth Mainland. He emotionally commented, “This is no different from the war in Ironblood Weave! The fighting there never stopped for a moment, and this war will similarly never let up. This is no different from a border warfront.”
“Being passive in war is never the path to victory,” Lu Yin replied.
Elder Lohar quickly bowed when he saw Lu Yin arrive. “I greet Alliance Leader Lu.”
Lu Yin quickly helped Elder Lohar back up and smiled at the older man. “Senior, you took good care of me when I was in Ironblood Weave back then. There’s no need for you to be so formal before me.”
