Chapter 2754: An Old Monster

At the very center of the Umbral Expanse, Lu Yin used his domain to watch as An Jiu and the others demonstrated their various battle techniques while he tried to find any possible clue that might reveal a connection to the Origin Universe.

It was impossible to determine any specific connection between the two universes with just Inverse Step, as Progenitor Chen had clearly not been the first person to master the movement technique. He had merely been one of the people to learn it.

Each universe had its own unique characteristics. The Umbral Universe was certainly not a weak universe, and its people had developed many battle techniques, all of which were reliant on the ever present darkness.

The universe’s darkness was a unique form of power, much like stellular energy, and Lu Yin could even start cultivating the power if he chose to.

While contemplating the matter, Lu Yin failed to notice that, as An Jiu demonstrated his battle techniques, the Umbral Expanse was growing darker and darker.

At the beginning, it had been impossible to see anything clearly on the continent, as it was even darker than outer space in the Umbral Universe, but that darkness was growing even more intense.

An Jiu deliberately slowed his breathing so that he did not reveal any sign of abnormality. He was indeed demonstrating a battle technique, but this particular battle technique only had a single purpose: to awaken their ancestor.

The Umbral Universe had once had a truly impressive peak powerhouse, who was the ancestor that had survived for an unknown number of years. Inverse Step had not actually come from the Tome of Darkness, but rather from the Umbrians’ ancestor.

Only their ancestor could deal with Lu Yin.

Their ancestor had left behind teaching instructing the Umbrians to kill any foreigner who threatened the Umbral Universe without mercy, regardless of their identity.

This was why the Umbrians freely attacked both the Aeternals and any cultivator from the Sixverse Association. They were following their ancestor’s teachings.

Lu Yin did not notice anything. He knew nothing about the Umbrians, and even the Lost Clan, which was the most familiar with the Umbral Universe, were unable to understand all of the Umbrians' battle techniques. Not until Lu Yin felt danger from some unseen source did he raise his guard.

His eyes suddenly turned downwards, as that was the direction of the source of the danger.

Why was his domain suddenly being devoured so much more quickly than before?

While the darkness had been constantly devouring Lu Yin’s domain, he had barely been able to maintain it forcefully. However, without him noticing, the darkness had started to intensify, and it was currently devouring his domain faster than what he could handle. On top of that, he had lost all perception of anything underground.

There was no hesitation as Lu Yin fled from where he was standing, and as he moved, he attacked An Jiu. It seemed clear that the man was the source of whatever was happening.

Unfortunately, Lu Yin was too late.

An Jiu suddenly dropped to his knees, muttering to himself. All of the nearby Umbrians mirrored the man’s behavior.

Darkness bound Lu Yin’s feet in place, and he was unable to move.

"What did you do?" Lu Yin asked as he glared at An Jiu.

The Umbrian simply continued to mumble something to himself, sounding as though he was praying or cursing, though Lu Yin was unable to understand anything that the man said.

On top of that, the sense of danger that Lu Yin felt was constantly growing stronger and stronger.

He wanted nothing other than to escape from this place and get as far away as possible.

Lu Yin was capable of fighting against Progenitors, which meant that the darkness should not be able to restrain him. Despite that, he was trapped by the darkness that had twined around his legs. Furthermore, the darkness was continuing to spread, as though it wanted to devour him whole.

He abandoned his hesitation and attacked the darkness, only for his attack to pass right through it.

Starting from his legs, the biting cold and numbness spread upwards to encompass his entire body.

The danger that Lu Yin was feeling indicated that this was a true peak powerhouse, which meant that the Umbrians really did have a peak powerhouse. This person was also clearly not average, but exceptional for their level.

The power of this darkness was enough to trap Lu Yin’s legs. Had he been cursed recently? First, he had been slashed eighty-one times while visiting the Lost Clan, with absolutely no way to fight back or escape. Fortunately, none of the eighty-one attacks had harmed him, and he had even received a small saber from the ordeal. After that, he had been ambushed by Cheng Kong and had nearly died. If not for the small saber, Lu Yin would have lost his life at that time.

This time, he was being attacked by an irresistible peak powerhouse.

Lu Yin understood why people claimed that the Endless Frontier was a meat grinder and that not even peak powerhouses wanted to be sent here.

Lu Yin’s cultivation might only be that of a six-tribulation Envoy, but even so, he had the combat strength to fight against Progenitors. On the Endless Frontier, he should actually be safer than a true Progenitor, especially with his various means of protection. Even so, Lu Yin had nearly died on several occasions. The Endless Frontier really was a killing ground.

Lu Yin took out the slipper and attacked, but even that did nothing.

The slipper was extremely powerful, but Lu Yin was facing an opponent who could not be struck, which made him feel just as helpless as when he had tried to attack Undying God.

Lu Yin lashed out several times, but nothing worked. The slipper simply could not strike the darkness. The darkness was like fog or wind even though it was restraining Lu Yin and holding him in place as he grew cold and numb. If this continued, the darkness really would devour him completely.

Some distance away, An Jiu looked up. While his eye had no pupil, he appeared to be staring at Lu Yin with growing excitement. Their ancestor had taken action, which meant that no one could escape.

Lu Yin grew solemn, and he shifted along the spatial lines. At that moment, he vanished from within the darkness.

An Jiu was startled. How was he gone?

The darkness instantly erupted, as though Lu Yin's escape had angered it. It then took on the shape of monsters that shot off into every direction.

Lu Yin fled without stopping. He did not know if this darkness was at the level of using sequence particles, but it had clearly not incorporated the power of space yet. If it had, he would have never been able to escape.

Space and time were the most mysterious powers, and as long as Lu Yin could create an opening, he could escape from just about anything.

His domain touched the darkness, and it reacted as though it had found its quarry, as it instantly shot straight at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin frowned as he raced away. He could not allow himself to be surrounded by that darkness again. Where had this power even come from? Lu Yin could not find any Progenitor-level experts.

At this moment, he turned around and noticed a peak powerhouse approaching.

Shan Pu was moving straight at Lu Yin. While the man had never cultivated a domain, he was still a peak powerhouse equal to a Progenitor, and his perception could not compare to that of ordinary cultivators. He could clearly sense both Lu Yin and the deep darkness pursuing him.

"Are you Lu Yin?" Shan Pu called out.

Lu Yin was taken aback. Did everyone on the Endless Frontier know about him?

"Who are you?"

Shan Pu anxious said, "Hurry up and get away! There’s an old monster in this place."

Lu Yin already knew that, and he never stopped fleeing towards Shan Pu.

The two men moved quickly, but the darkness spread even faster. Not only was it chasing the two men, but it also radiated from the center of the Umbral Expanse in every direction. It acted like a prison, trapping everyone who was in the Umbral Expanse.

Shan Pu's expression twisted horribly. "Why did you have to provoke this old monster?"

There was a very solemn expression on Lu Yin’s face, as the sense of danger that he felt was only growing stronger. It felt as though something terrible was about to wake up.

Very rarely did he feel such intense danger, and the last time he had faced it was when he had been attacked by Cheng Kong. This meant that there was a peak powerhouse in the Umbral Universe who was comparable to Cheng Kong. This was someone who could truly threaten Lu Yin’s life.

"I didn’t do it on purpose! I didn't know that there was such a monster here. Who are you?" Lu Yin asked.

As the two men raced towards outer space in their bid to escape, they were constantly being forced to drive the darkness back. "The Lost Clan’s Shan Pu."

Lu Yin had not expected that answer. "How do you know about me?"

"My Lost Clan sent me to find you." Shan Pu did not conceal the matter and answered bluntly. He looked around in every direction. They were in big trouble. The darkness was thick, and it had spread overhead. This old monster was going to be even more difficult to deal with than Shan Pu had expected. He should have known better than to visit this cursed place.

This Lu Yin was not worth Shan Pu sacrificing his own life.

Lu Yin kept attacking the darkness, and he was able to see that it had spread overhead. He stretched out a hand to grab Shan Pu, but the man instinctively avoided it, asking warily, "What are you doing?"

Lu Yin said, "I’ll get us away from here."

Shan Pu was dubious, but he could only trust Lu Yin. Since the Lost Clan had asked Shan Pu to protect this young man, there had to be a reason for that, and Lu Yin should have a good relationship with the Lost Clan.

Shan Pu did not want to be surrounded by this darkness and trapped in the Umbral Expanse until his death.

Lu Yin placed a hand on Shan Pu's shoulder and then traveled along the spatial lines. Two bodies instantly disappeared before reappearing outside the spreading darkness.

Shan Pu let out a sigh of relief. They had really broken free, which was surprising. "How did you do that?"

The man had not been able to realize what Lu Yin had done. They had seemed to travel through the void, but it had been somehow different.

"We need to move quickly. That old monster hasn't completely woken up just yet. If he does, we really won't be able to escape."

As Lu Yin followed Shan Pu, he looked back at the Umbral Expanse that had been swallowed by an even greater darkness. "What in the world is going on back there? Who is that old monster?"

Shan Pu was genuinely afraid. "The Great Elder once mentioned that there is an ancient powerhouse in the Umbral Universe who has isolated himself and is sleeping. I can’t say what his purpose might be, but my Lost Clan has been watching for many years. I didn’t expect him to wake up while you were here. Just what did you do?"

"Nothing much. I just threatened to wipe out the Umbrians," Lu Yin answered casually.

Shan Pu was shocked. "That’s all?"

"Does it need to be more than that?" Lu Yin grew puzzled.

Shan Pu was speechless. The Lost Clan had considered trying that method, but Great Elder Shan Gu did not want to become an enemy of the sleeping powerhouse. No one wanted to face the wrath of someone forced out from hiding, so they had refrained from threatening the Umbrians.

The Lost Clan had spent many, many years trying to communicate with the Umbrians and had gathered additional information about the sleeping powerhouse as a result, but they had never succeeded at all.

This kid had been incredibly rude. "Why did you threaten to destroy the Umbrians?"

Lu Yin said, "I didn’t really threaten the entire race. I just attacked their leader. This powerhouse is being summoned by that leader."

"I understand now. The leader of the Umbrians has always known how to wake the old monster, but no one has been able to threaten him for many years, which is why he never attempted to do so before. No wonder this power appeared, though that old monster is still not really awake. If we had known that this would work, we would have done this long ago,” Shan Pu regretted.

Just as the two were about to escape, they suddenly froze. While they were unable to see it, they could clearly sense that the darkness had somehow managed to get in front of them, and it had formed a barrier that trapped them.

Beyond that barrier, the darkness had formed an even stronger barrier.

There were multiple layers of barriers, and neither man could determine just how many there were.

They had successfully escaped from the Umbral Expanse, but they were unable to flee from the Umbral Universe in time. For peak powerhouses, it was possible to alter space in a place the size of the Umbral Expanse or the entire Umbral Realm with just a thought.

Shan Pu smiled bitterly. "There’s no way out unless we leave the Endless Frontier entirely."

"That’s not against the rules, if we encounter a life-or-death crisis. After all, we aren’t up against Aeternus right now," Lu Yin said softly as he turned back to look at the Umbral Expanse.

Shan Pu sighed. "That’s not an easy rule to exploit. Even the two of us will need to explain our actions to the rulers of the six member universes of the Sixverse Association and will likely even need to face the Great Sovereign. We’re in the Umbral Universe, which means that we can't even ask for help."

Give an explanation to the Great Sovereign? Lu Yin did not want to meet the Great Sovereign at this point in time. When meeting the Great Sovereign, Lu Yin would also most likely see Sovereign Shao Yin, and Lu Yin could not afford to be recognized just yet. "Then we can only fight."

Shan Pu took out his card as he considered the matter. His headache was growing. "I’m fine with fighting, but who do we fight against? If my Lost Clan wants to set a trap, we need to at least have a person to deal with."

Lu Yin frowned. Their opponent? He was also unable to determine the person’s location.

As they spoke, the deep darkness drew closer and closer.

Lu Yin's eyes firmed with determination. "If they want us to go back to the Umbral Expanse, then they must be there as well."

Shan Pu nodded. "I’ve heard that you are very bold, despite your youth. I just hope that your strength isn’t too bad. As long as I can find where that old monster is, I can put up a fight."

With that said, the two headed back towards the Umbral Expanse.