Chapter 3054: A Good Show
Arch-Elder Zen arrived in the Heavens Sect and met with Lu Yin.
"Dao Monarch, why did you suddenly decide to hold this Sixverse Tournament?" the old man asked.
Lu Yin stared off into the distance. "Whether pa.s.sively or actively, humans always need to have something to strive towards."
Arch-Elder Zen smiled. "I thought that you didn’t care about such things anymore, Dao Monarch. After repelling Aeternus, the iron-blooded spirit that infused our cultivation civilization in the past naturally changed. While this appeared to be a good thing, the truth is that it’s the opposite. After all, our enemy has not been eliminated."
Lu Yin turned to face Arch-Elder Zen. "Senior, you once wanted to turn the Fifth Mainland into a place like G.o.d"s Domain. What are your thoughts now?"
Arch-Elder Zen sighed. "Since ancient times, humans have never stopped fighting against each other. Even if we did not have an external enemy like Aeternus, we would still be caught up in endless infighting. There will never be no end to conflict. However, the more that this is true, the more likely it is that we humans will improve and see progress. The greatest invention of humanity is the lie. Everything we see and experience is built on lies. Lies give rise to war, and war serves as the ladder of human evolution. There is no need to forcibly interfere."
Lu Yin clasped his hands behind his back. "War is something that needs to be distinguished. We are fighting a war to protect all of humanity. This conviction will never change. On top of that, preparation is also a part of war."
"You have given everyone in the Sixverse a.s.sociation a new path, Dao Monarch," Arch-Elder Zen commented.
Lu Yin replied, "It’s impossible to truly eliminate war and conflict, which means that all I can do is present a goal to them. When the day comes when humanity needs them, they will be ready to take to the battlefield."
"Will you personally oversee this Sixverse a.s.sociation Trounament, Dao Monarch?"
"There"s no need for that. If I make it so easy for people to see me, what good will the rewards of the tournament be? Senior, I"ll leave this to you."
"Understood."
...
Reinforcements from the Infinity Empire finally arrived in the Astral Beast Domain, and one mecha after another emerged from the spatial rift. The first mecha to arrive was First Prince Shang Tianzong’s Skylord. Its silver color was extremely eye-catching.
Right behind it was a black and white mecha. Everyone in the Infinity Empire knew that this mecha was called Frostfall. It was the Infinity mecha of Liu Ling, the vice-chancellor of the Imperial Academy. Countless people in the empire had been inspired to become a mecha because of Liu Ling.
Behind Frostfall was Ge Shan"s mecha, Skypiercer.
The fourth mecha looked rather average, and it belonged to Hong Nian, the Minister of the Armory for the empire. Behind Hong Nian came more than 20 additional mechas, which the empire had pulled from various locations to add to the ones that had already been dispatched to the Astral Beast Domain.
One-fifth of the Infinity Empire’s mechas had gathered in the Astral Beast Domain. This was an incredibly powerful army for the empire, and neither Shang Tianzong nor Shang Cheng had ever commanded such a powerful group of mechas on their own.
"Greetings, First Prince."
"Greetings, First Prince..."
Shang Tianzong"s voice was round and gentle. "Rise, everyone. You"ve worked hard."
Shang Cheng pouted as he looked away in frustration.
Fei Yan spoke up, his tone respectful. "Report, First Prince: this one is incompetent and has failed to conquer this universe. Please punish me, First Prince."
"Haha, General Fei Yan, you"re too humble. This universe is a special situation, which is not at all your fault," Shang Tianzong replied before stepping aside. "Teacher, do you have any orders?"
Liu Ling replied, "Everything on the battlefield is under the Marshal’s command. Has he not arrived yet?"
Fei Yan replied, "The Marshal will arrive soon.”
Shang Tianzong said, "In that case, we’ll wait."
He then turned to Shang Cheng. "Fifth Brother, it"s wonderful to see that you’re doing fine. In a universe with this threat level, I was quite worried that something might happen to you."
Shang Cheng rolled his eyes. "Thank you for your concern, First Brother. Unfortunately, I"m fine."
Shang An"an quickly asked, "First Brother, what are Father’s thoughts on this universe?"
Shang Tianzong was already used to Shang Cheng"s att.i.tude, so he turned to Shang An"an. "Others have used our Infinity Empire before. As long as we are able to get what we want, such things don’t matter. If we can acquire thirteen ring energy, we will be able to overpower anything."
Shang An"an smiled. "Imperial Father is still so wise. We were intending to retreat."
Shang Tianzong laughed. "It wouldn’t matter if you had retreated. Since we’ve visited this universe, we can return to it whenever we want in the future. Temporarily retreating might even possibly paralyze this Fifth Mainland."
"However, we know nothing about this Fifth Mainland for certain, so we cannot be confident," Ge Shan commented in a heavy voice.
He had previously commanded the empire’s conquering armies, and he had also been the one to mentor Fei Yan. When Ge Shan spoke, everyone paid careful attention.
Fei Yan bowed. "My incompetence prevented us from breaking past the blockade that those two creatures have created."
Shang Tianzong dismissed the apology with a wave of his hand. "That’s also not your fault. You can’t possibly hope to fight against two creatures with a defensive power of eleven rings."
As the small group spoke, they waited for the arrival of the marshal of the empire"s armies: Bu Wu.
When Bu Wu arrived, everyone bowed, including Shang Tianzong, Shang Cheng, and Shang An"an, though they gave half-bows. This was to show their respect for Bu Wu.
Ge Shan went so far as to kneel on the ground, excitement covering his face.
When Ge Shan had been the Marshal, Bu Wu had been a general. During that time, Ge Shan had been saved by Bu Wu on several occasions, and he owed Bu Wu his life.
Bu Wu"s mecha was named Fortress. The name was intended to mean “stop the enemy and win without fighting,” which was the Marshal’s hope every time he encountered a new parallel universe. At the same time, this represented his absolute confidence that he could force an enemy surrender without a fight.
Bu Wu"s eyes swept over everyone, stopping on neither Shang Tianzong nor Shang Cheng. He only paused briefly at Liu Ling, but then he took a step forward. "The Sixth Mainland."
Bu Wu’s arrival meant that the Infinity Empire was concentrating this particular invasion on the Sixth Mainland. All of Aeternus’s forces in the Sixth Mainland would be slaughtered.
One mecha after another moved forward, slaughtering the corpse kings. The battleships moved forward, their beams sweeping out. The Aeternals were powerless and unable to put up any real resistance.
The only two Progenitor-level corpse kings that Aeternus had left in the Sixth Mainland were dealt with by Ge Shan himself.
He piloted an eleven-ring mecha, which was more powerful than an average peak powerhouse, let alone most Progenitor-level corpse kings.
After just half a month, the empire had destroyed five Aeternus Kingdoms across the Sixth Mainland. The Infinity Empire’s mechas were unstoppable, and the Aeternals could not do anything to stop their march forward.
People were released from the Aeternus Kingdoms. The Infinity Empire only wanted resources, not people. They did not care about the prisoners that they freed, and the people were left to fend for themselves.
The Infinity Empire functioned like an emotionless mecha. It took what it wanted, regardless of any people or things that were unaffiliated with the empire.
If the people of the Aeternus Kingdoms tried to stop the Infinity Empire from taking the resources they wanted, those humans would also become the empire’s enemies.
Aeternus simply abandoned the Sixth Mainland.
Lu Yin sat on the back of the jiao, watching as the Aeternus Kingdoms were emptied and destroyed. Even the Aeternus Kingdom that had once been protected by the death energy field and the Progenitor-level corpse king was wiped out.
The mechanical hummingbirds moved forward to inspect the death energy, but none of them ever emerged after entering.
Death energy was not stellar energy. It was not quite as gentle.
There was no way to hide this from the Infinity Empire, and they would undoubtedly return to study the death energy.
The Aeternals had abandoned the Sixth Mainland, but Lu Yin could not allow the Infinity Empire to simply start researching thirteen ring energy utilization. He was not certain just how powerful a thirteen-ring mecha would be.
Lu Yin was prepared to open the cosmic door in his possession and connect the Sixth Mainland to the Fourth Scourge, forcing the Infinity Empire to confront a powerful enemy.
He wondered whether the Infinity Empire was lucky or unlucky. When Lu Yin had been prepared to attack Shang Cheng and the others in order to prevent the Infinity Empire from leaving the Origin Universe, the empire’s forces had happened to discover the possibility of developing thirteen ring energy utilization, which meant that Lu Yin did not have to do anything. The Infinity Empire had not only stayed, but they had also sent reinforcements.
But before Lu Yin could open the cosmic door, the Infinity Empire encountered a powerful enemy.
Lu Yin was startled by the sight of nine ma.s.sive wolf heads in the distance. How could Forgotten Ruins G.o.d be in the Sixth Mainland?
In outer s.p.a.ce in the Sixth Mainland, the appearance of the Sky-Devouring Nine Wolves caused alarms to blare in the Infinity Empire"s mechas and battleships.
A mecha slammed down. It had already been destroyed.
Bu Wu looked up. He saw Ge Shan"s Sky Piercer and Fei Yan"s Blue Mountain both attacking at the same time.
The Sky-Devouring Nine Wolves covered the entire sky, blocking out outer s.p.a.ce from everyone’s vision. The size of each wolf head was unbelievably large.
Even Bu Wu, who had fought in countless invasions across numerous parallel universes and seen all different kinds of creatures, was shocked by the sight of the Sky-Devouring Nine Wolves.
Was this really a level of power that humans could achieve through cultivation?
The strongest cultivators that Bu Wu had ever faced had wielded power equal to ten rings, which was already beyond the understanding of the Infinity Empire. What was going on with the phenomenon before them at this moment?
In outer s.p.a.ce, Forgotten Ruins G.o.d looked at the mechas in surprise. Blue Mountain charged at her. "What an interesting toy. I thought that if anyone found me, it would be Little Lu Yin. Who are you people?"
As she spoke, one of the wolf heads fell, its mouth open as it dropped towards Blue Mountain.
Each wolf head was large enough to swallow an entire mecha.
Around Blue Mountain, a shield at the ten-ring level appeared. The mecha shot upwards, intending to body slam the wolf head.
Bang!
s.p.a.ce shattered. The shield was instantly destroyed, and the wolf head bit into Blue Mountain. There was a snap, and cracks appeared across the mecha’s hull.
Fei Yan was horrified. Was this twelve ring power?
Sharp, spear-like objects shot through the sky from the distance, all aimed at the wolf head. However, before they arrived, another wolf head dropped down, blocking the attack. Ge Shan’s Sky Piercer had launched this attack.
The Forgotten Ruins G.o.d"s eyes lit up. "Rather impressive strength. Your civilization is quite interesting."
The black and white mecha leaped forward. Countless blades flew around it, slicing at the wolf head.
To the side, Bu Wu moved his Fortress forward. This enemy had a strength of twelve rings. This was not someone whom they could fight against.
More and more cracks appeared on Blue Mountain, and the broken pieces started to squeeze against Fei Yan"s body inside of his mecha. He could die at any moment.
Fortress raised its hand, and the mecha"s arm transformed into a cylinder that was pointed at the wolf head biting Blue Mountain. Suddenly, the cylinder shot forward like a fist.
The cylinder slammed into the wolf head, smashing it to pieces.
Blue Mountain took that opportunity to escape. Fei Yan was gasping for breath as Bu Wu threw him to the ground.
Up in outer s.p.a.ce, Forgotten Ruins G.o.d stared at Bu Wu"s Fortress. "A new civilization?"
Bu Wu stared back at Forgotten Ruins G.o.d. There were still eight more wolf heads remaining, and Ge Shan and Liu Ling were no match for this opponent. "Are you the powerhouse who controls the two beasts in the Fifth Mainland?"
Forgotten Ruins G.o.d giggled. "I have no idea what you"re talking about, but it appears that you’ve been played. This feels so familiar, so..."
She rolled her eyes, and then focused on a certain direction. Her smile grew larger, more beautiful, and even more radiant. "Little Lu, are you enjoying watching your big sister"s misfortune?"