Chapter 2021

Chapter 2021

"Seniors, please settle any matters that you have as soon as possible. When we move against Aeternus, they’ll try everything they can to lure you away from fighting in the battle at the Starfall Sea. They will also do their best to waste your stellular energy, just as they did when they first launched their attack. There are battles raging everywhere right now in the Outerverse, Innerverse, Cosmic Sea, and Neoverse, which does not bode well for our Fifth Mainland. We don't need to completely surround our targeted battlefield. Rather, we just need to split up and strike it from three directions…" Lu Yin explained their current strategy in great detail. It was nothing complicated, but if the Semi-Progenitors deviated from what was proposed, the entire plan would collapse.

Aeternus’s goal was to separate the group of Semi-Progenitors to prevent them from influencing the battlefield at the entrance to the Starfall Sea.

Wang Wen and the others strategists had already understood Aeternus’s intention long before, which was why their plan was to target the passage to the Starfall Sea at all costs.

…

Half a day later, the Semi-Progenitors all left the meeting one after another until only Kui Luo remained. Even the four Semi-Progenitors from the Perennial World left for the Neoverse to help move some of the hidden worlds to the Outerverse and help with transferring some of the troops over. When the Sixth Mainland had fallen from their previous heights and been forced to take refuge in the Fifth Mainland’s Outerverse, they had lost all their hidden worlds or similar treasures. Thus, they were forced to rely on those of the Fifth Mainland. Given the fact that humanity was about to face the endless horde that belonged to Aeternus, they needed to boost their own numbers as much as possible in order to put up a fight. The Sixth Mainland’s forces were indispensable.

"Do you really believe that we can actually win this fight?" Kui Luo asked.

Lu Yin shook his head. "It’s impossible to win given our current strength."

He gazed into the distance. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Aeternus. With the Fifth Mainland's true universe drained, the human Semi-Progenitors are all suffering from a massive drop in strength as they continue fighting. If Aeternus doesn’t take full advantage of this chance to take over the Fifth Mainland, then the plans they’ve prepared for countless years will all come to nothing. Still, I highly doubt that their schemes will be this fragile. There’s no way that they don’t have any backup plans.”

"Then why even bother fighting?" Kui Luo asked quietly.

Lu Yin's expression grew solemn. "Because we must. As long as we fight, we have a chance of winning, no matter how small that chance might be. It’s possible that the Perennial World might suddenly put greater pressure on Aeternus at the battlefield behind the Mother Tree and in the New World, forcing the Twelve Marquises and Seven Skygods to strengthen those areas. Maybe unlocking whatever is unsealed in that frozen place will introduce new variables into the playing field. No one knows for sure. There’s even a chance that Burial Garden will reopen and Progenitor Chen will reveal himself as actually alive after all this time. If we don’t fight, we stand no chance at all.”

Kui Luo sighed. "If you take everything that you have right now over to the Perennial World with you, you just might be able to survive there."

Lu Yin chuckled. "Are you saying thaht I have the power to hold my own against Progenitors?"

Kui Luo said nothing further. No matter how much power Lu Yin accumulated, he would never be anything more than an ant to a Progenitor until he stepped onto that same level himself. If he did decide to relocate his forces to the Perennial World, his enemies would be Progenitors. Such powerhouses stood on a completely different level than Semi-Progenitors. Even if he had Arch-Elder Zen and the other Semi-Progenitors at his side, such support would be of extremely limited use.

Even though the Fifth Mainland had gathered under the Lu surname, there was no longer any place in the Perennial World for the Lu family.

With his remaining time, Lu Yin gathered everyone important to him onto Zenith Mountain, such as Wang Wen and Wei Rong. In just a single day, the Ross Empire’s mobile fortress was emptied, leaving behind only the original residents.

Lu Yin would have taken everyone if possible, but even Zenith Mountain had its limits.

All of his plans depended on the ultimate outcome of this war. If the humans lost a decisive battle, Lu Yin would immediately flee from the Fifth Mainland through Jupiter to hide in the Perennial World.

That was his last resort.

After collecting his people from the Ross Empire’s mobile fortress, he proceeded to do the same at Zenyu Star, and then at Earth.

Apart from their leader, Leon's Armada had also been taken into Zenith Mountain. All of these people would fight in the upcoming battle; as this crisis concerned all of humanity, no one could escape their duty.

This was similarly true of the Astral Combat Academy.

The next day, Lu Yin received word that he could start making his way towards the western flowzones. He proceeded to do so on the back of Ancestor Tortoise.

The entire Mavis family was participating in this battle.

"Is your family really not afraid of being wiped out in this battle?" Kui Luo asked Mavis Yunying.

Yunying Mavis’s cheek twitched. What a terrible way of wording things! "Ancestor Tortoise will protect us."

"Wow! So strong! It can protect this old man too, right?" Kui Luo tried flattering the woman.

Yunying Mavis created a bit of distance between herself and the man. How could a Semi-Progenitor be so shameless?

Lu Yin looked calm. This battle would decide who would rule the Fifth Mainland. Normally, something so important would make anyone incredibly nervous. But given the number of times that he had almost died, Lu Yin was basically immune to getting worked up about such things.

Ancestor Tortoise soon delivered the Great Eastern Alliance’s Allied Forces to the Innerverse’s western flowzones.

Four Semi-Progenitors, including Jiu Yao, made their way towards the Innerverse and the Starfall Sea from the Outerverse, carrying several hidden worlds.

Arch-Elder Zen and the others carried hidden worlds with them from the Neoverse, similarly making their way to the Starfall Sea.

At the passage to the Starfall Sea, the fight between Aeternus and the Technocracy’s mechanical ants was reaching its conclusion. Flesh, blood, and mechanical shards filled this entire region of space.

Marquis Wu Yi remained trapped within the Master Brain’s manifested thoughts. Several corpse kings had also been trapped there due to Aeternus’s experiments in probing the limits of the mental network. They had eventually reached the conclusion that only an attack as strong as an eight-tribulation Envoy would be noticed. As long as attacks were kept at or below that level, there would be no reaction from the mental network.

Anyone who unleashed an attack above that limit would be captured without exception.

Additionally, Semi-Progenitors could no longer utilize their inner worlds. An inner world was the culmination of a Semi-Progenitor's strength, cultivation, and everything that they could produce. Releasing one’s inner world would instantly cause their power level to surpass the limit of an eight-tribulation Envoy’s strength, which meant being instantly captured.

…

It was a day worthy of being recorded down in the annals of human history, provided that humanity continued to exist in the Fifth Mainland.

From the Neoverse, Innerverse, and Outerverse, fifteen Semi-Progenitors led countless cultivators to the entrance of the Starfall Sea to fight a decisive battle against Aeternus. This would be a fight without any strategy, and the participants would have no choice but to fight to the death.

To the north stood Jiu Yao, and countless cultivators emerged from hidden worlds at his location: Qing Hua, Ancestor Sightless, Nong Laohan, the Sword Valley’s master, Master San Cun, Ancestor Lingtong, and many others. Familiar faces could be seen, some of which were enemies. Despite that, everyone marched into battle without any hesitation. Even Fan Shun, the Greenmen Duo, and many youths could be seen fighting corpse kings.

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An array of imprints illuminated the darkness of space, shining as bright as day. Lan Xian’s three-stringed instrument echoed, accompanying the cacophony of battle cries.

To the south, Judicial Commissioner Mu En, Yang Ji, Master Yan, the Cosmic Sect’s Elder Yao Shan, Elder Yuan Ke, and many others stormed the battlefield, meeting the slitted scarlet eyes head on.

"With me, little ones!" Highsage Wudi shouted, still as domineering as he had been atop Mt. Microcosms itself.

Highsage Shenwei was silent, but next to him, Highsage Leon slashed out with his war blade.

Beams of black and white shot across the battlefield, beheading corpse kings one after another. Those beams were Black and White.

Elsewhere on the battlefield, experts from the Seven Courts stepped forward. Hui Kong looked to the west, a complex expression on his face as his eyes were somewhat flushed. He had finally found an answer: the Technocracy was not humanity’s enemy. Instead, it was a special force that Progenitor Hui had prepared to stand against Aeternus.

He had not been mistaken! Their ancestor had never been an enemy of humanity!

Lu Yin stood atop Ancestor Tortoise’s back, studying the passage to the Starfall Sea that lay off in the distance. One after another, powerhouses were rushing onto the battlefield, and thousands of the Great Eastern Alliance’s warships bombarded the enemy. However, a single corpse king that could undergo a Green Eyes Transformation could eliminate all of those vessels. After all, that had already happened to tens of millions of cultivators who had once stood guard at the passage to the Starfall Sea in the past.

Numbers were rather meaningless against true experts.

Liu Huang, Liu Qianjue, Wen Zizai, and the other leaders of the eight great flowzones moved out, as well as the Lost Radiance Academy’s Dean Han. Even the Astral Combat Academy’s mentors moved out. This battle was the Fifth Mainland’s last hope.

Upon seeing the heavy losses suffered by the warships, Shui Chuanxiao sent down an order for all the battleships to pull back. For the humans, anybody who had reached the Explorer realm fought in space while any beneath that level fought on the surface of various planets. This scene could be described with a single word: a bloodbath.

Ancestor Tortoise continued straight towards the battlefield. No corpse king could touch the creature. Although no one knew just how strong Ancestor Tortoise was, its body alone was enough to create a dent in Aeternus’s forces. A Semi-Progenitor corpse king punched at Ancestor Tortoise’s shell, only to be sent flying out of sight from the recoil, which led to a round of cheers from everyone atop the tortoise.

Lu Yin let out a sigh of relief. Although Aeternus had fielded a massive army, the Seven Skygods could not exert a level of combat strength much greater than Xia Ji’s due to the restraints of the mental network. As long as the humans managed to deal with Aeternus’s Semi-Progenitors, the battle was not entirely hopeless.

"Ancestor Tortoise, take him down!" Lulu shouted. A glowing fruit from the sacred tree changed positions, and Ancestor Tortoise’s head snapped around, coincidentally shooting towards Marquis Green Bamboo. The tortoise had already moved into the region where Ni Huang was fighting against Marquis Green Bamboo.

Marquis Green Bamboo quickly moved to dodge the approaching head. "Is this the Lu family’s pet?"

"It’s been a long time, Marquis Green Bamboo!" Lu Yin called out.

Marquis Green Bamboo then noticed Lu Yin. "You? The Lu family’s survivor?"

Lu Yin sneered, "Lulu, have Ancestor Tortoise hit him. Hard."

"Right! Get ‘im!" Lulu moved another one of the glowing fruits. Ancestor Tortoise could not care less about what was happening around it, or even Marquis Green Bamboo since its favorite food was right there. The tortoise shot forward.

Marquis Green Bamboo had no choice but to hurry to get out of the way once again.

"You can't escape!" Ni Huang raised a hand, which then took on the form of a strange claw that tore at Marquis Green Bamboo. Marquis Green Bamboo mused, "It looks like you are determined to end this war. That isn’t a bad idea, but unfortunately, you humans have a weakness: your emotions. I’m going to kill those people from the Perennial World right now, and then we’ll see how hard your determination holds."

He then turned and left.

Ni Huang's expression changed, but he ignored Marquis Green Bamboo’s departure. This was precisely why Lu Yin had so strongly emphasized their goal over and over again, making sure to make things as clear as possible. If Ni Huang pursued Marquis Green Bamboo, not only would the two get bogged down in an extended battle, but such a thing would also consume Ni Huang’s stellular energy and ultimately result in a loss. This was Marquis Green Bamboo’s entire intention.

Ni Huang gave a silent apology to the people who were about to be slaughtered by Marquis Green Bamboo and then rushed forward to the passage to the Starfall Sea. Once there, Ni Huang gave everything he had to slaughter every nearby corpse king.

Even if every single person on the battlefield died during this battle, it would not matter. As long as the corpse kings were also wiped out, it would mean that the Fifth Mainland had managed to defend itself. Humanity would be able to continue moving forward, just like what had happened after the war between the Fifth and Sixth Mainlands.

Ni Huang suddenly felt thankful to Lu Yin for keeping the most important people confined to Zenith Mountain. Otherwise, they would most likely die on this battlefield as well.

Marquis Green Bamboo’s threat had not been an idle one. He chose an area of the battlefield and then waved a hand. Green bamboo stabbed through an entire group of cultivators from the Perennial World. Their deaths were both extremely agonizing and long.

He looked back, only to realize that Ni Huang had not chased after him. Marquis Green Bamboo sighed. "It seems that this won’t be easy.”