In addition to no longer possessing the qualifications to become the Origin Universe’s ruler, if Bai Wangyuan had left, there would have only been three Progenitors in the Higher Realm, which would have been far from enough to hold back the Heavens Sect’s numerous Progenitors. In the end, the damage might not have been just the Celestial Frost Sect, but also Shenwu's Sky and the Wang family. The four ruling powers had already lost the White Dragon Clan as a true member, and they could not afford to lose anyone else.

If that happened, how would the four ruling powers be any different from the Three Monarchs Universe?

lightsΝοvel "That little bastard dared to attack us, the four ruling powers, just for the chance to become the ruler of the Origin Universe? We can’t let him get away with this." Xia Shenji was beyond furious.

Wang Fan stood atop the Wang family’s floating mainland and stared in the Celestial Frost Sect’s direction. He knew that Bai Wangyuan had always feared him, but while Wang Fan had ignored the other Progenitor in the past, this time, that fear had grievously harmed the four ruling powers.

If only he had said something earlier! Wang Fan clenched a fist. Even if Lu Xiaoxuan was capable of blocking Bai Wangyuan, how could he have also stopped Wang Fan? The Progenitor had not done anything during the Heavens Sect’s attack.

The Heavens Sect was not capable of stopping both Wang Fan and Bai Wangyuan.

It was infuriating!

"The Heavens Sect has pulled back, so it appears that Lu Xiaoxuan was successful," Wang Fan quietly mentioned.

Bai Wangyuan replied, "News of the results of the meeting in the Sixverse Universe will soon reach us. No matter what may have happened, even if he was acknowledged as the ruler of the Origin Universe, that has nothing to do with our four ruling powers. The little bastard can’t do anything to us!"

***

At this same time, in a place within the Celestial Frost Sect, the sounds of singing drifted out from a rather luxurious old mansion as people danced inside. The festivities made for a sharp contrast with the restoration of the construction right after the battle that had just been fought.

The land outside the mansion had been broken and destroyed, and there were many people busy conducting repairs outside. But inside the mansion, people were singing and dancing.

This house was the home of a cultivator from the Cyclic Universe. This person was actually the one that helped the Celestial Frost Sect’s members travel from and to the Cyclic Universe. This was the person that Nutjob Lu had used to deliver messages to Bai Wangyuan.

Despite only having the strength of an Envoy, the man’s status in the Celestial Frost Sect was extremely high.

The joyful singing and dancing were accompanied by laughter that echoed out of the mansion, rousing the envy and jealousy of many of the Celestial Frost Sect’s disciples.

The scene inside the mansion was completely different from what was playing out in the rest of the sect.

A beautiful singer was dancing seductively, her movements both coy and enticing. A short distance away, the cultivator from the Cyclic Universe was smiling, though his expression was clearly forced, and there were even beads of sweat dripping from his forehead.

In his arms was a woman in a very compromising position.

"Who are you? Do you realize who I am?" the Demi-Immortal quietly asked through his forced smile.

The woman smiled flirtatiously as she shifted her position, causing a burst of scent to waft out. "Are you from the Cyclic Universe?"

The man’s eye twitched. "You dare to attack me even knowing that?"

"I came here to look for you. Don't do anything stupid, like shouting for help. Even if you are able to eliminate me, you won’t be able to do anything against a poison this powerful."

The man’s expression turned ugly.

"Smile. Keep laughing, and don't let anyone see anything," the woman whispered into the Demi-Immortal’s ear.

The man gritted his teeth and forced a hideous smile out. "What do you want? Let me go, and I’ll take you to the Cyclic Universe with me. I am Sovereign Shao Yin’s follower, and if you come with me, you’ll reach the heavens in a single step."

"Just enjoy yourself. You don’t need to do anything, as I’ll stay right here with you," the woman replied in a seductive tone.

The cultivator was terribly confused. He could not understand what the woman wanted. All he knew was that he was under her control.

The same scene played out at Shenwu's Sky, the Wang family’s floating continent, and the White Dragon Clan’s Dragon Mountain.There was someone from the Sixverse Association staying with each of the four ruling powers, communication lines to the Sixverse Association.

These people were how Bai Sheng, Xia Qin, and the other Progenitors had traveled around when defending the Sixverse Association, and they were also Bai Wangyuan’s means of communicating with Nutjob Lu and receiving information from the Sixverse Association.

However, all of the people had fallen under the control of others.

***

In the Heavens Sect, Wang Wen toyed with a chessboard. "Come on, let's play a game. It's been so long since we last enjoyed a match."

He was very excited, and he had not played a game of chess with Lu Yin in a very long time. Wang Wen quite enjoyed crushing Lu Yin in the game.

Lu Yin laughed. "How is that any fun? I'm not your opponent."

"Ha, of course it's fun! The majestic Dao Monarch of the Heavens Sect—no, the ruler of the Origin Universe, is crushed by me in a match! Who else can enjoy such an experience, haha." Wang Wen was excited.

Lu Yin shook his head and stretched out his hand.

"Bai Wangyuan is going to be absolutely furious this time. He wanted to use this opportunity to cut off your legs, but you cut off his instead. What a joke." Wang Wen remained extremely excited as he stared at the chessboard, considering how he should crush Lu Yin.

Lu Yin commented, "I didn't expect this to go so smoothly."

"The four ruling powers are constantly scheming against each other. I told you from the very beginning that there wouldn’t be any problems. There was no way that Bai Wangyuan would ever tell Wang Fan or Xia Shenji that he was trying to become the ruler of our universe. Otherwise, Wang Fan would have jumped up a long time ago.

"Even so, I underestimated how much the Great Sovereign hates your Lu family. If you weren't so powerful, even if Bai Wangyuan failed to become the ruler of our universe, you wouldn’t have succeeded either." Wang Wen then grabbed ahold of a piece from the chessboard and gave Lu Yin a mysterious smile. "Your Royal Chesspiece, you’ve made a very difficult enemy this time."

Lu Yin and Wang Wen stared at each other. "The more difficult the opponent, the happier you are."

Wang Wen smiled broadly. "You still understand me."

Lu Yin laughed. "You first told me that you would help me unify the Outerverse, and after you succeeded, we moved on to the Innerverse, and then the entire Fifth Mainland. Next, we are going after the Perennial World. After all your plans succeed, won’t you feel bored?"

Wang Wen's piece landed on the board with a sharp snap. "I’m certainly not bored right now. We’re going against a monster like the Sixverse Association, not to mention how there’s still Aeternus. The game that we’re playing just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Your Royal Chesspiece, you need to work hard to get me more pieces for this game. Otherwise, we might end up in an unwinnable situation."

"Don't worry, you’re about to get a bunch of chess pieces," Lu Yin replied.lightsnovel

The Second Nightking arrived to deliver a report. "Dao Monarch, we successfully took control of them."

Wang Wen clapped his hands. "Perfect timing! Your Dao Monarch was just crushed by me as well."

The Second Nightking's expression remained unchanged. Wang Wen was unique in the Heavens Sect, as he had never once changed the way he treated Lu Yin throughout their entire time of knowing each other.

Lu Yin rose to his feet with a sigh. "I can't take this anymore. Every time we play a game, you completely crush me. I’m better off checking on Sapling."

With that, Lu Yin left.

Once he was alone, Wang Wen stared at the chessboard and muttered to himself, "That Royal Chesspiece seems to have gotten much better at controlling the board."

Lu Yin arrived at the bottom of the Heavens Sect’s staircase and placed a hand on the cauldron. Little Sapling poked out. It really liked the cauldron, and this was the best place to look when searching for it.

A short distance away, He Ran stood arrogantly, though she shot the occasional glance at Lu Yin before immediately looking away.

Lu Yin ignored the woman as he played with Sapling for a bit before leaving again.

***

A few days later, in the Perennial World’s Higher Realm’s Shenwu’s Sky, Xia Shenji’s eyes abruptly snapped open, and he took a step forward. There was a terrifying smile on his face as he left the sect.

I finally found him! He was hiding in the Lower Realm. I’ll need to thank those traitors in Root, as without them, I would have never found him.Bai Wangyuan’s goal was to become the ruler of the Origin Universe, and he felt that the greatest threat to that goal was Wang Fan. Xia Shenji was well aware of this fact, and while he felt that he was just as powerful as the masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas, he also knew that he was weaker than both Bai Wangyuan and Wang Fan, as long as he was missing that clone.

This was also why Xia Shenji had been so reluctant to kill that clone even after so many years.

With everyone learning of that clone’s existence, as long as Xia Shenji could find it, he would fuse with it and regain his full strength.

Soon, soon...

In the Lower Realm’s fifth region, a conversation could be heard from inside a simple thatched hut. "I received word that someone from the Heavens Sect will soon come to pick us up. Do you want to leave together, Ancestor?"

"No, I’m safest here."

"Alright. In that case, I will leave two disciples here to serve you, Ancestor, which will make it easy to stay in touch."

"Mmm."

When the conversation ended, a man walked out of the hut. When the light fell through the branches and leaves onto the man’s face, it was clear that he was Xia Luo.

After Xia Shenji was exiled, Lu Yin had devised a scheme to deal with Xia Qin, which was to have Xia Luo and Xia Xing jointly rule over Shenwu’s Sky, sharing authority between the branch and main lines of the Xia family. This had allowed Xia Qin to vent some of her anger, and for a time, Xia Luo had indeed acted as the co-leader of Shenwu’s Sky, under Xia Qin’s oversight. At that time, not even Xia Xing had dared to do anything to Xia Luo.

However, when Xia Shenji returned, the Heavens Sect had given Xia Luo a bit of advance notice, and he had led the members of the branch families away from Shenwu's Sky to meet up with Xia Shenji’s clone. Everything had been handled by the Heavens Sect.

Xia Luo walked away from the thatched hut and continued on his way.

Once he was out of sight, Xia Shenji suddenly appeared.

Inside the hut, Xia Shenji's clone's expression changed drastically. Not good!

Xia Shenji glared, and the hut shattered to reveal his clone. Two perfectly identical people stared at each other.

Xia Shenji sneered. "I found you."

When Xia Luo heard the commotion, he turned around. When he saw Xia Shenji, the young man’s face turned pale. "Ancestor?"

Xia Shenji glanced over. "As soon as I merge with this clone, I will capture you and the rest of the traitors from the branch families. Anyone who dares to betray Shenwu's Sky is seeking death!"

The clone did not even consider trying to escape. With how close Xia Shenji was, how could he ever escape?

Xia Shenji took one step forward, arriving directly in front of his clone. The Progenitor easily grabbed his clone with one hand.

The clone was terrified. "If you try to do anything to me, I’ll kill myself!"

"Are you even capable of doing that?" Xia Shenji shouted back. He then watched his clone raise a hand to strike his own head, but just as the hand was about to strike, it moved back. This was the Xia family's secret technique: Reversal.

Xia Shenji grabbed his clone's neck and lifted the man up. "I really need to thank those losers in Root. If not for them, I would have never found you."

Xia Shenji’s clone stared at the Progenitor and then suddenly pulled a card from his cosmic ring. An irresistible pull sucked both Xia Shenji and the clone into the card.

The two people appeared in place of perfect darkness. They were inside Evernight.

This was one of the Lost Clan’s seven-star Immemorial cards, which were considered to be on the same level as Great Elder Shan Gu and the Voidlord. Given Xia Shenji's strength, nothing other than an Immemorial card could ever pull him in.

The moment he entered Evernight, Xia Shenji knew that something was very wrong and that he had just fallen into a trap.

He frantically attacked and even released his Shenwu World. A world of swords appeared and tried to break out of Evernight. However, this card represented the Lost Clan’s greatest strength. Why did this appear in the Lower Realm?

An absolute darkness devoured all light and pressed in upon the Shenwu World, continuously suppressing it.

Without any human controlling it, Evernight simply had the power of darkness, much like Old Mo, but far, far weaker.

However, darkness was nothing more than Evernight’s innate power, and if an expert such as Shan Gu was controlling the card, then the power of the darkness would rise to an unimaginable level.

The frantic attacks from the Shenwu World destabilized Evernight, and if there wasn’t someone controlling the card, Xia Shenji would easily escape, let alone a more powerful Progenitor.

At this moment, a small path suddenly appeared. Xia Shenji saw it and shouted, "You? Zen!"

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