Chapter 994

Back at the edge of the Astral River, the transport continent that had been transporting resources back to the Sixth Mainland was actually a specific type of a miniature mainland. Additionally, the Sixth Mainland invaders had been carried to the Cosmic Sea by a miniature mainland. The Whitecliff Region also had its own miniature mainland that specifically transported Sixth Mainland cultivators to and from the Whitecliff Region. 

The Sixth Mainland was now withdrawing all their forces, and they directly fled to the miniature mainland, activated it, and then took off towards the Innerverse. 

With the abnormal change in the cosmic phenomenon, everyone knew that unless a Progenitor took action, the Sixth Mainland would no longer be able to conquer the Fifth Mainland. The Empyrean Imprinters and Cosmic Imprinters did not even dare to come to this place anymore, so how could they achieve victory? 

The Sixth Mainland’s World Imprinters openly and directly led everyone to retreat. The best outcome would be if they successfully invited the Progenitors to act, but there was absolutely nothing that could be done if the Progenitors refused. 

Even Empyrean Imprinters had died there, though no blame could be put on those powerhouses.

The Champions' Stage fell to the surface of the miniature mainland with a rumble, and the ground began to split apart. 

Atop the Champions' Stage, Bu Kong stared to the south with a reluctant expression on his face. They had fought all the way to the border of the cosmic phenomenon’s suppression, and they had been just one step away from allowing their Empyrean Imprinters to unleash their full strength without any limitations. They could have had a decisive battle with the Fifth Mainland’s forces at that time, but in the end, the situation had played out very differently from what they had expected. 

He was unwilling to accept this outcome, and all of the Sixth Mainland’s cultivators were the same. However, they had no choice but to do so.

Zhi Yi looked up at the sky. Who knew which Progenitor’s remnant spiritual force had taken action? Not only had they injured the Progenitor of Combat, but they had also protected the entire Fifth Mainland. 

Off in the distance, one World Imprinter stared at the sky without blinking, terrified that the phenomena would descend and end his life. 

The miniature mainland trembled as it started to fly towards the Innerverse. If no more mishaps took place, this invasion would soon come to an end, not only in the Cosmic Sea, but also throughout the entire Fifth Mainland. 

The Sixth Mainland would not risk sacrificing their Empyrean Imprinters to continue this war. Although Empyrean Imprinters were not on the same level as Progenitors, even Progenitors had to give such powerhouses a certain degree of respect. If such experts were unwilling to participate in the war, then nobody could force them. However, if they did not participate, then the war could not be won, as the Sixth Mainland would simply incur more and more casualties. 

Qiu He moved over next to Zhi Yi and in a sullen tone, said, “If we don’t eliminate this Fifth Mainland, then they will only become harder to deal with in the future. Just what are the three Progenitors thinking? What are they waiting for?” 

Zhi Yi turned around and raised a hand. Vitality Qi burst out and slammed against Qiu He’s body, launching him nearly a hundred meters away. His entire face flushed red, and his organs trembled. He nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

“How dare you criticize the three Progenitors! If you are so impudent in future, then I will slay you on behalf of the three Progenitors.” 

Qiu He hastened to apologize.

Zhi Yi’s mood was terrible. They had only just joined the war efforts, and everyone had confidently assumed that they were guaranteed victory. However, just what was their current situation? They had been forced to flee with their tails between their legs!

The crux of the matter was that Wu Taibai had not arrived, and Zhi Yi felt annoyed whenever she thought of that man’s smiling face. That was right—there was also that Lu Yin. When Zhi Yi thought about Lu Yin, everything about her grew more serious. He had been able to ignore her Vitality Qi, which was even more intriguing than his secret technique. Even though their invasion was over, she still wanted to find a way to capture him and take him away if an opportunity presented itself. 

Perhaps reporting the details to the higher ups of the Daosource Sect would be a good method, as there was no way that this cosmic phenomenon would last indefinitely. Once the cosmic phenomenon disappeared, a Daosource Sect expert could simply make a move and directly capture Lu Yin. 

The sound of enraged voices having a heated discussion could be heard some distance away; everyone was in a bad mood. Although the invading forces had not been truly defeated, they had not been victorious either as they had sacrificed two Empyrean Imprinters for this outcome. If one looked solely at the results, the Sixth Mainland could be considered as having been defeated. 

Zhi Yi turned to look at the Champions' Stage. Fortunately, at least they had stolen this thing. The name of the Champions' Stage had spread across the Sixth Mainland, and there would be some merit for bringing it back. As long as the Champions' Stage was taken back, the Fifth Mainland would eternally suffer from the shame of its loss. 

Even further away, Miss Qing stared towards the south. “A desolate battlefield, but things have finally ended. Your true enemy isn’t even us.”

The weather in the Cosmic Sea constantly changed, but the miniature mainland continued to soar through the sky as the sea roiled below them. Then, the entire sea suddenly surged into the sky like a reverse waterfall. 

It was absolutely horrifying to see the sea flow upwards, but in reality, there was not much power behind the surge, and it merely smacked the bottom of the miniature mainland, resulting in a light shower of rain landing on the miniature mainland.

Fortunately, this strange event had not occurred in the Whitecliff Region. Otherwise, if that white water had surged upwards, it would have been enough to corrode the entire miniature mainland. 

As the seawater fell down, quite a few cultivators who were already in bad moods became even more upset when they were drenched by the water, and they cursed aloud. However, they stopped their exclamations midway when they looked to the south. There, a bunch of black dots had suddenly appeared. Then, the alarms started blaring. 

Zhi Yi also looked to the south and realized that the black dots were actually Fifth Mainland cultivators chasing after the miniature mainland. Her pupils shrank, as there was actually a group of people who dared to pursue them. 

Although they might not have any Empyrean Imprinters or Cosmic Imprinters with them due to the cosmic phenomenon’s effect, none of the Fifth Mainland’s old monsters whose power levels were greater than 1,000,000 dared to appear either. In other words, the strongest experts on both sides were roughly the same. As they continued to fly further north, more experts from the Sixth Mainland would join the brawl as they had already taken over the Innerverse. Were the people in this group all unafraid of death? 

A battle broke out once again, and this time, the older generation of the Fifth Mainland confronted the powerful experts from the Sixth Mainland. The Ten Arbiters went up against the Realmlings while Liu Tianmu sought out Zhi Yi, just as she had said. Zhi Yi had been left to the powerful Arbiter. 

Lu Yin did not really care about the others, as his current opponent was Shi Zhongjian.

As the Rock Realm’s Realmling, Shi Zhongjian had also been present for the battle in the Daosource Sect’s ruins where everyone had been fighting for the jade talisman. Back then, he had launched multiple sword qi attacks at Lu Yin. If not for Wen Sansi and the White Knight, Lu Yin might have died to this Realmling. 

Shi Zhongjian rarely spoke, and he always carried a stone sword that he would use to sweep through the void. The sword qi covered everything in sight, and even with Lu Yin’s speed, he was still not fast enough to dodge the sword qi. Fortunately, he was able to weaken the power level of Shi Zhongjian’s attacks, which allowed him to barely dodge them. Still, Lu Yin was pushed around by the sword qi without any way to retaliate. 

The people chasing after the Sixth Mainland had preemptively discussed amongst themselves how they would team up to fight against their enemies. However, the massive surge of seawater had scattered the crowd. Lu Yin had bumped into Shi Zhongjian by himself, and the Realmling had also sought out Lu Yin while ignoring the others. 

Those who were adept with swords were all quite powerful, such as Liu Tianmu. Although she was one of the Ten Arbiters, she was still capable of going against one of the Daosource Three Skies on her own, and she was even strong enough to make Zhi Yi nervous. Although Shi Zhongjian did not have any exquisite sword techniques that could compare to the Thirteen Swords, his sword qi was incredibly destructive, and it also contained a tearing property.

If Lu Yin had access to that white smoke, then that would be the best defensive option. But when Lu Yin looked around, Gu Xiao’er was nowhere in sight. 

“I remember you,” Shi Zhongjian suddenly commented as the tip of his stone sword sliced through the void and crashed down towards Lu Yin. 

Lu Yin reinforced his palm with his eight lined battle force as he tapped out with a finger, causing the Dream Finger to appear and the void to congeal. Shi Zhongjian paused upon seeing this attack before the tip of his sword struck the finger, but the solitary finger could not overpower the stone sword. Shi Zhongjian took advantage of this to turn around, his sword spinning out and slicing at Lu Yin’s head. Lu Yin gathered his star energy over his palm, and the First Sun emitted a pulsating light as it collided with the tip of the sword. 

There was a crack as the ground of the miniature mainland split open, prompting the two youth to retreat at the same time. The destruction released by the First Sun had warped the void, which caused spatial cracks to radiate outwards in all directions, though they were all successfully repelled by Shi Zhongjian. However, Shi Zhongjian had sliced open Lu Yin’s palm with the tip of his sword, and a drop of fresh blood fell to the ground. 

Lu Yin kept a wary eye on Shi Zhongjian, as Lu Yin was still a bit weaker than the Realmling at this moment. The Realmlings were just as famous as the Ten Arbiters, and this stone sword was difficult to defend against. 

“You had the courage and resolve to crush an inheritance item that came from the Sierrasea, and I admit that I admire you. To cause one of the Daosource Three Skies to place a bounty on your head actually amazed me even more,” Shi Zhongjian growled as he stared at Lu Yin. 

Lu Yin frowned. “I thought that you didn’t really speak.”

“There’s no need to talk to worthless people,” Shi Zhongjian said as he slowly raised his stone sword with the tip pointed down. “Actually, there’s no need for a sword to be sharp—it can also be heavy.”

He then moved the sword as if he were slapping with it. It clearly was not a slice, as he had swatted out with the flat of his sword. The Realmling’s body then passed through the void to directly appear before Lu Yin. 

Lu Yin’s expression instantly changed. The stone sword was not very large, but this swatting motion left Lu Yin’s entire body petrified. It felt as if the sword was unendurably weighty, and Lu Yin hurriedly used the Yu Secret Art to divert the path of the stone sword. It passed dangerously close to his body before smacking into the ground. The void distorted slightly before the entire ground was crushed into tiny fragments as an indescribable weight emerged from the void. 

Now that an entire area of the miniature mainland had simply disappeared, fierce gale winds blew in every direction, even affecting the cultivators who were fighting far away from Lu Yin and the Realmling. One such group was sent flying, and the bodies of the weaker cultivators were practically crushed to death. 

Lu Yin’s eye twitched, as that slap carried more than just physical strength; it was actually a sword technique that he could not understand, a very heavy sword technique. 

Shi Zhongjian was similarly astounded. “A secret technique?”

Lu Yin glanced at the stone sword before striking out with a palm, unleashing One Hundred Stacks. Shi Zhongjian raised his stone sword to block the palm, but a thump rang out as the Realmling was sent flying 10,000 meters back. A shockwave rippled out, each ring containing the power of the Overlaying Stacks Path. Additionally, the further the ripples traveled, the greater the strength they contained, until space was finally torn apart.

In the distance, many cultivators hurriedly moved to different areas. In their eyes, this was a battle between Realmlings. 

Shi Zhongjian stared at Lu Yin with astonishment as bloodlust appeared in the Realmling’s eyes. “It’s no wonder why the Daosource Three Skies are so concerned with you—you have a secret technique, and you also use the Overlaying Stacks Path. You really are qualified.”

He then held his stone sword in a reverse grip and swatted out again. The invisible heavy sword technique swept forth once more, targeting an enormous area. Lu Yin’s pupils transformed into runes, and he weakened the rune lines in Shi Zhongjian’s arms as the Realmling swung out with his sword. This actually affected the heavy sword technique so much that Lu Yin did not even need to dodge it. 

Shi Zhongjian looked at both of his hands with a strange expression before looking back at Lu Yin. “Another secret technique.” 

Lu Yin’s brows rose. Against a Realmling, aside from his secret technique and One Hundred Stacks, he did not have any other attacks that were strong enough. Even his One Hundred Stacks would not be able to injure Shi Zhongjian unless it landed on his body head on, but the presence of the stone sword made it impossible for Lu Yin to land such a hit. 

However, it was not easy for Shi Zhongjian to defeat Lu Yin either.

Right at this moment, a middle-aged man tore out of the nearby void, looking quite dishevelled as he emerged. When he turned around, horror was etched across his face.

He coincidentally appeared around 100 meters away from Shi Zhongjian, and the Realmling lifted his stone sword as he slapped out with it once again. The middle-aged man was stunned; he was already injured, and there was simply no way for him to defend against this heavy sword technique, which caused him to lament his unluckiness. He was an Enlighter with a power level of several hundred thousand, but he was being casually overpowered by a child. 

Lu Yin’s pupils transformed into runes once more as they flickered, weakening Shi Zhongjian’s arms and influencing the heavy sword technique. This time, Shi Zhongjian seemed to have been prepared. Even though he was still affected, he was able to complete his attack, and he forced the middle-aged man to the ground. 

Lu Yin’s figure flashed, and he attacked with a palm from the side. A seemingly gentle strength with One Hundred Stacks struck out, pushing the middle-aged man away from the sword attack, which smashed straight into the ground and shattered it. 

Suddenly, Shi Zhongjian appeared before Lu Yin. He had attacked that older man purely to force Lu Yin to save the man and reveal an opening for Shi Zhongjian to take advantage of.

However, Lu Yin had not deliberately rescued the man. Rather, he had purposely revealed an opening.