Lu Yin and Starsibyl exchanged glances, as they were both thinking of Yaya. If the climate of this region changed, then they would have to take Yaya away.
Since these two were a part of the Ten Arbiters, although they were not ruthless, cold-blooded monsters, they deeply understood the need to look at the bigger picture. In short, they understood that certain sacrifices were necessary.
At this time, the situation in the thunder region was very strange. In the past, the Sixth Mainland had held absolute superiority over this region, as their forces included two Realmlings and quite a number of heirs from the families of Imprinters, World Imprinters, and even Cosmic Imprinters. When they had first invaded this region, these people had displayed a strength that was terrifyingly superior to their Fifth Mainland peers. Even with the suppression from the cosmic phenomenon, they had still achieved more victories than losses. After that, their forces had been further bolstered by one of the Daosource Three Skies, which meant that the Sixth Mainland should have been practically guaranteed to win this battle.
However, Unseen Light of the Fifth Mainland’s Ten Arbiters had arrived, along with a few other powerhouses who had not really shown themselves. For example, there was the Cosmic Sect’s second true disciple, Mu Ziying, whose strength surpassed Hua Xiao’s despite only having the title of Marquis. There was also that man who had been able to transform into a black blade. However, the ones who had truly changed the balance of the battlefield had been Lu Yin and Starsibyl.
Lu Yin had cooperated with Hua Xiao and Starsibyl to defeat the Realmling, Nan Yanfei, and he had also caused one of the Daosource Three Skies, Zhi Yi, to grow cautious. It could even be said that, without Lu Yin, just Unseen Light’s appearance on the battlefield would not have been enough to defeat the Sixth Mainland.
Although the Sixth Mainland had not sent that much of its strength to the thunder region, they had still been quite ahead even with the arrival of an additional Arbiter.
Zhi Yi had spent a long time thinking about the comparative strength between the two sides contesting over the thunder region, and then about the Fifth Mainland’s overall situation. The moment she had joined this battlefield, she had felt that something was off. She had assumed that the Sixth Mainland’s number of top experts would vastly surpass the Fifth Mainland’s. However, the Fifth Mainland was not actually weak at all, especially the people from the Neoverse. Quite a few powerhouses had appeared from there, and many of them could rival the heirs of the various Imprinter families.
The Fifth Mainland’s Neoverse was home to the powers that possessed the strongest inheritances. The Innerverse had the Ten Arbiters, but the Neoverse definitely had their own elites who could rival the Ten Arbiters. If that was the case, then the Sixth Mainland’s Daosource Three Skies and nine Realmlings might not actually outnumber the Fifth Mainland’s top youths.
But that wasn’t quite right either. The Fifth Mainland’s sky had obviously been covered in the past because the Sea King had restored the Fifth Mainland’s original sky, which was the triggering incident for this invasion. Logically speaking, their invasion forces should have pummeled the Fifth Mainland, but then they had run into that Progenitor’s remnant spiritual force that had unleashed a cosmic phenomenon. And after that, they had moved into the Cosmic Sea, which had led to them confronting one Neoverse powerhouse after another. Zhi Yi had a nagging feeling that the Fifth Mainland would not be as easily defeated as they had assumed.
High in the sky, Zhi Yi stopped in place. Her eyes flickered as she lowered her head, seemingly overlooking the battlefield of the entire Fifth Mainland at this moment.
The conflict between the members of the younger generation would often reveal many hidden details. If the Fifth Mainland’s younger generation was not any inferior to the Sixth Mainland’s, then the older generation should not be much different. If Zhi Yi’s guess that the Fifth Mainland was not inferior was correct, then why had they not broken open the Sixth Mainland’s sky earlier? As long as their sky was covered, the Fifth Mainland would not be able to birth Progenitors. Thus, why had they not mounted any resistance before?
The Progenitor realm was the ultimate goal of all cultivators. If Progenitors could not be born, then everything else was meaningless. Additionally, it was impossible for the Fifth Mainland to not have known such a thing. Could Zhi Yi’s conjectures have been wrong? Had the Fifth Mainland already reached its limit?
After a long time, Zhi Yi’s expression grew determined. Since she did not know the answer, then there would be no harm in trying to find out.
She returned to Starlight Island and ordered all the Sixth Mainland cultivators to gather in an effort to protect the poles in their possession.
These new orders were delivered through the semi-Lifesource tokens, and of the Sixth Mainland cultivators with tokens received this message.
Crimson Servant and Nan Yanfei also saw these orders, but they did not know if this message was genuine or not.
Everyone else noticed the orders as well.
Di Luo and Autumnfrost Qing did not hesitate; they immediately took their pole and sped towards Starlight Island at their full speed. If they had been ordered to go anywhere else, then they would have hesitated. However, Starlight Island was one of the primary bases for the Sixth Mainland’s invasion. If Starlight Island was a trap, then there would be no need to fight for control over the thunder region.
The Sixth Mainland’s cultivators all flocked back to Starlight Island from all five of the battlefields scattered across the thunder region.
On the western battlefield, Lu Yin saw the new order on his Lifesource token, and he turned to Unseen Light. “Zhi Yi wants to protect their poles by entrenching themselves on Starlight Island.”
“That’s to be expected. That’s the only way they can guarantee that this thunder region won’t be lost. However, that’s still not a very realistic victory strategy,” Unseen Light said.
“Let’s gather everyone and organize a group to attack Starlight Island,” White Knight said calmly. After a moment’s pause, she said, “Leave Zhi Yi for me.”
The others all looked at her.
Lu Yin could not help himself from saying, “I feel like it’d be more reasonable to leave her to Unseen Light.”
White Knight shot a fierce glare at him. “Shut up!”
Unseen Light softly urged, “Leave Zhi Yi to me, as it would be better for you to deal with Shang Rong. He’s still a Realmling after all, and aside from you, no one else can deal with him on their own. The destructive potential of his bloodline is absolutely catastrophic.”
White Knight was unwilling. “You can also deal with Shang Rong. I want to experience the power of one of the Daosource Three Skies.”
“Skip the trouble and don’t waste the advantage that we managed to gain after much difficulty,” Lu Yin said.
White Knight grew furious. “I told you to shut up! That’s an order!”
Lu Yin was amused, but he did not continue to bicker with her as the woman was far too stubborn.
Unseen Light felt helpless. “Zhi Yi can trap you, and her Scarlet Pupils are also coincidentally able to burn your innate gift.”
“Trap? Hmph! Have you guys ever seen my Skycastle in its perfect state?” White Knight retorted.
Unseen Light was stumped, Starsibyl’s gaze flashed, and Lu Yin was taken aback.
“Alright, since you are so insistent, then I’ll leave Zhi Yi for you,” Unseen Light said, relenting.
White Knight’s expression was cold. She had struggled to defeat Shang Rong, and Zhi Yi’s sudden ambush had left White Knight injured. If not for Unseen Light and the others’ timely arrival, she might not have been able to escape. As a result, she had formed a grudge that she would not forget. She was White Knight, one of the Ten Arbiters, and what did she care if her opponent was one of the Daosource Three Skies? If Unseen Light could deal with that woman, then so too could she.
“Leave Shang Rong to me. As for Nan Yanfei, Brother Lu, we’ll leave him to you and Starsibyl, alright?” Unseen Light said.
Lu Yin had no objections.
Starsibyl also agreed. “The two of us can deal with Nan Yanfei, but to completely restrict him, we will still need Hua Xiao’s help.”
White Knight said, “Aside from Hua Xiao, there are many other experts here in the thunder region. The Sixth Mainland’s forces don’t really outnumber ours.”
“We’ll rest here for a few days while we wait for everyone to gather and for White Knight’s injuries to heal. Then, we’ll attack Starlight Island,” Unseen Light said, confirming the plan.
Half a day later, numerous experts from the Sixth Mainland began to return to Starlight Island.
Di Luo arrived with the second pole, which improved Zhi Yi’s mood a great deal. However, her good mood disappeared when Nan Yanfei appeared.
She coldly looked at Nan Yanfei. “Why did you leave the battlefield behind?”
In her strategy, each Realmling was very important. After all, they were the strongest experts under Zhi Yi’s command. If Nan Yanfei had stayed at the northeastern battlefield, they would have been able to join forces. If they had acquired one more pole, then the balance of the thunder region would have been completely reversed.
Nan Yanfei knew that he had made a mistake, but he had his own dignity as a Realming. Although they respected the Daosource Three Skies, the Realmlings were not their subordinates. “My opponents included someone who was capable of divination, and it would have been dangerous for me to stay behind. Also, I had no way of knowing that Sky Zhi would arrive.”
Zhi Yi frowned. “With your strength, if you had stayed behind, even if you couldn’t win, you shouldn’t have lost.”
Nan Yanfei was getting frustrated. “Is Sky Zhi intending to use my life in a gamble with unknown odds?”
Zhi Yi coldly stared at the Realmling, but Nan Yanfei showed no signs of fear.
Shang Rong quickly came up to smooth things over, as the Daosource Three Skies and Realmlings were both top experts of the Sixth Mainland. The Realmlings were overshadowed by the Daosource Three Skies, but that also depended on the Realmling. Someone like Nan Yanfei did not really care about his status as a Realmling, so in the worst case scenario, he would simply renounce his position. However, if he chose not to give up his position, then there was no one in the Blood Homage Realm who could take his position away, as the position of Realmling was determined by one’s strength, not their background.
Zhi Yi could find a way to remove Nan Yanfei’s status as Realmling, but it would be extremely troublesome to find someone to replace him.
Hence, even though the Daosource Three Skies were historically able to restrict the Realmlings, they still had a mutual respect for each other, as both had gained their positions through their personal strength.
The Daosource Three Skies mostly wanted to avoid dealing with troublemakers like Nan Yanfei, as threatening him was pointless, it was impossible to kill him, and trying to give him orders was beyong useless.
Zhi Yi let out a deep breath. “I’ll settle things with you after this battle.”
Nan Yanfei did not care about her threat, as he had never really cared about his position as a Realmling, and he would not care even if someone took it away from him, as long as they could defeat him. He was an odd individual, and although he had his pride, he was also unashamed of fleeing and had an impulsive nature. On top of that, he had a cavalier nature, and whether he did things in a proper or devious fashion depended on his mood.
Zhi Yi was frustrated by Nan Yanfei, but the impending battle was very important. The Fifth Mainland was supported by two of the Ten Arbiters as well as experts from places like the Cosmic Sect and Burial Garden. Thus, Starlight Island’s safety was not guaranteed.
She proceeded to ignore Nan Yanfei and used her star energy to create an image in the sky, sketching out Lu Yin’s image. “Do any of you know this person”
The Ten Arbiters were famous throughout the universe, so there was no need to investigate too heavily into the two who they were up against. Thus, Lu Yin was the only person who had piqued Zhi Yi’s interest. Not only was he able to ignore Vitality Qi, but he was also someone who had comprehended two secret techniques even though he was only a Cruiser at five cycles. This was a person who Zhi Yi deeply wanted to understand, and she also wanted to capture him quite badly.
Nan Yanfei stared at the image of Lu Yin and immediately said, “That’s him! That man tricked me, and he has a secret technique.”
Countless were shocked the moment the words “secret technique” were uttered, and they all stared at Lu Yin’s image in envy. Not even Realmlings were guaranteed to have a secret technique. At the very least, Nan Yanfei and Shang Rong did not, as anyone who had obtained such a treasure was blessed.
A secret technique was something that could turn the rotten into the mysterious. Once such a technique was comprehended, challenging higher realms would be child’s play.
In the middle of the crowd, Autumnfrost Qing’s eyes went wide. “It’s him?”
Zhi Yi turned to look at Autumnfrost Qing. “You know him?”
Autumnfrost Qing stepped forward and in a respectful tone, replied, “To answer Sky Zhi, this person’s name is Lu Yin, and he is from the Fifth Mainland’s Outerverse. When my Bloodburn Realm attacked the Outerverse, I traded blows with him. He has been to the ruins of the Fifth Mainland’s Daosource Sect, and I suspect that the reason why my Bloodburn Realm failed to invade the Outerverse is because they made preparations in advance and because this person cooperated with the Huang family.”
Zhi Yi did not care about the latter part of Autumnfrost Qing’s explanation, as the Bloodburn Realm’s defeat was simply a defeat—there had been no conspiracy there. However, she did care about Lu Yin’s experiences. “You said that he’s been to the Fifth Mainland’s Daosource Sect’s ruins?”
Autumnfrost Qing replied, “Yes, I’ve seen him there more than once.”
Shang Rong suddenly cried out, “Yes! I remember now! Back in the Fifth Mainland’s Daosource Sect’s ruins, this person was there when we were fighting for the Sierrasea’s inheritance. In fact, he was the one who destroyed it!”
Zhi Yi muttered to herself, deep in thought. Only the Ten Arbiters could enter the Fifth Mainland’s Daosource Sect’s ruins from the Fifth Mainland, but this Lu Yin person had also been able to do so. He was definitely not one of the Arbiters, so did this mean that access to the Daosource Sect’s ruins was not actually limited to the Ten Arbiters?
After the Fifth Mainland’s Daosource Sect’s ruins were brought up, Zhi Yi was suddenly reminded of Wu Taibai. He liked to disguise himself and wander the land, and the Fifth Mainland’s Daosource Sect’s ruins was one place that he frequented.
