Chapter 2807: Arrival
For each of the Great Sovereign’s tea ceremonies, when the bells stopped ringing, it indicated that the time to take a seat had ended.
In the Cyclic Universe’s Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, all of the Sixverse a.s.sociation’s most famous individuals were either attending the tea ceremony or present to listen to the Great Sovereign’s teachings.
For example, there were Sovereign Ninth Lotus’s disciples—Little Lian, Junior Sister Rou, Ling Mu, and more—as well as people such as Sage Jiang’s son Jiang Xiaodao, and Food Sage’s son Snack Sage. From the Transcendent Universe, there was Bai Qian, the powerhouse who protected the laboratory, and the You family. Of the Arboreal Realm, there was Seruzen, and from the Voidforce Universe, Xu Jie and Wu Man were present. Even people from the Lost Clan were listening in. There were even people listening in from the Endless Frontier, which was exactly what Sage Bodhi was doing.
The Great Sovereign’s tea ceremony was the most important event in the entire Sixverse a.s.sociation. Both within the Sixverse a.s.sociation itself and across the Endless Frontier, everyone would focus on the tea ceremonies whenever they took place. While only a limited number of people were allowed to listen to the teachings offered during the tea ceremonies, that group was capable of affecting the entire Sixverse a.s.sociation.
At this moment, even the war on the Endless Frontier had died down.
Everyone listened as the bells slowly slowed their tolling and nearly stopped.
Once the bells fell silent, any who had failed to appear would not be allowed to attend the tea ceremony.
Sovereign Shao Yin glanced back at the ninth seat yet again. Why had the descendant of the Lu family still not arrived yet?
Bai Xian"er turned to look up ahead and to the right at where Xia Shenji had arrived. He had already been qualified to attend the tea ceremony, but he had arrived silently.
Bai w.a.n.gyuan and w.a.n.g Fan were not in attendance, nor had they been invited. Of the four ruling powers, Xia Shenji alone had been invited when he had last seen the Great Sovereign.
Xu Heng and Xu Leng instinctively looked back. The ninety ninth seat was also empty. It should have been occupied by Xuan Qi, but he also had not yet arrived.
Just as they were thinking about it, a huge shadow appeared outside the Heavenly Gate, and a shocking roar echoed. Many faces of Sixverse a.s.sociation cultivators who had gathered outside the Heavenly Gate turned pale, and they all stared at the jiao in a daze. Just what was this beast? It was too terrifying.
The jiao loved the reactions of the people below it, and it could not resist letting out another roar.
"Shut up and get moving!" Lu Yin stomped downwards, cutting off the jiao’s roar.
The jiao was incredibly irritated, but it did not dare to get angry at Lu Yin. All it could do was rush towards the staircase. It could not demonstrate its strength down below, but that did not matter, as it could do the same thing up above. All that mattered to the jiao was for everyone to fear it.
The ma.s.sive jiao shot up the staircase, quickly arriving at the location of the tea ceremony.
Everyone stared in surprise. Just who was arriving at the very last moment before the bells stopped? People always arrived early for these events, regardless of who they were. Even the rulers of universes, such as Lord Xu, would arrive early. Almost no one would arrive at the last moment.
Sage Yuan watched, his eyes cold and his smile cruel. Lu b.a.s.t.a.r.d, you really did come!
Lu Yin arrived during the last tolling of the bells. He looked across the s.p.a.ce at his seat, a smile on his face. He was wearing a set of pure white clothes that gave him a refined appearance while standing atop the jiao, which bared its teeth and claws intimidatingly.
Lu Yin almost never wore white, as the color was too eye-catching. However, this was not a day for him to keep a low profile.
He was officially presenting himself to the entire Sixverse a.s.sociation and was being watched by powerhouses equal to Progenitors.
Under his feet, the jiao prepared to roar, wanting to show off its power again. This was the perfect time. There were so many humans. However, once it took a closer look, it blinked and stared at the humans. It saw a Progenitor. The aura of that human was unquestionably a Progenitor.
The jiao looked again, and found another Progenitor, and then another. There were not just a few, but rather many human powerhouses. Furthermore, many of them possessed auras that indicated that they were very powerful for their level.
The jiao had a keen nose, and it was also very sensitive to threats. At this moment, it felt weak and helpless. It had wanted to roar and flash its fangs, but it instead grew docile and ducked its head. The corners of its mouth curved upward in a humanlike fashion, as though trying to smile and appear friendly.
Lu Yin rolled his eyes at the jiao’s useless behavior. He then hopped off his mount and glanced over his shoulder.
The jiao instantly understood what was required and shrunk its body before landing on Lu Yin"s shoulders and tightly holding on. This was a safe place to be.
"I’m sorry I"m late! I see so many familiar faces!" Lu Yin said as he slowly walked towards the ninth seat.
Everyone was watching him—some out of curiosity, and others with disgust.
Sovereign Shao Yin’s head slowly turned to follow Lu Yin. "Child of the Lu family, you finally came?"
At this moment, the Sovereign’s eyes finally saw Lu Yin’s face.
Time seemed to stand still as Sovereign Shao Yin"s pupils shrank to pinp.r.i.c.ks as he stared at Lu Yin"s face. This- this- this-?
Lu Yin smiled at the Sovereign. It was a bright, happy smile that radiated joy, smiling brightly and happily at him.
Everyone watched the exchange between Sovereign Shao Yin and Lu Yin, finding the situation very odd. They did not understand why Lu Yin looked so happy, nor why Sovereign Shao Yin"s expression was so shocked.
Only a few people were privy to the truth, such as Xu Wuwei, Lord Xu, Shan Gu, and a few more, and the expressions on their faces were as though they were watching a show.
Sovereign Shao Yin’s mind started to race. The moment he recognized Lu Yin as Xuan Qi, he immediately tried to send a message to Bai w.a.n.gyuan and the others from the four ruling powers, letting them know that they had all fallen into the little b.a.s.t.a.r.d’s trap and been tricked.
However, the bells stopped ringing just at the right time, and a supreme power descended. The Great Sovereign had arrived.
Lu Yin had waited to arrive until the very last minute, just because of this.
He took a step forward, arriving at the ninth seat that was in front of the Sovereign Shao Yin, and then slowly sat down.
Seeing the blank expression on Sovereign Shao Yin"s face, Sovereign Ninth Lotus frowned. "What"s wrong?"
There were no words to describe Sovereign Shao Yin’s emotions at this moment. It was as though he had placed an enemy beneath the guillotine, and the blade was primed to fall. However, at the very last second, the condemned had been replaced by the executioner, and now he was instead about to be executed by the guillotine.
Saying that it felt like waiting to die might have been an exaggeration, but Sovereign Shao Yin knew that he would be in ma.s.sive trouble as soon as his plans unfolded.
The more the man thought about it, the paler his face became.
Sage Yuan frowned. He was quite familiar with Sovereign Shao Yin, so what was wrong? What was with that look on his face?
Sage Yuan had not been involved in anything, so he had no idea what plans had been being prepared, let alone that Sovereign Shao Yin had been terribly deceived by Lu Yin. The greatest mistake was that the Sovereign had underestimated Lu Yin and had never bothered to so much as look at an image of him.
The Sovereign had believed that Sage Yuan could deal with the last member of the Lu family, and so he had allowed Sage Yuan to take action and had stopped caring about the matter. Later, Sovereign Shao Yin had a.s.sumed that threatening Wendy Yushan would lead to Lu Yin’s death on the Endless Frontier. He had finally believed that it would be enough to use the four ruling powers to utterly destroy Lu Yin. At this moment, the Sovereign truly regretted his oversights.
If he had known how things would turn out, he would have personally dealt with things, but it turned out that the child of the Lu family was actually Xuan Qi. Just how long had he been hiding within the Sixverse a.s.sociation?
The Great Sovereign’s aura descended, enveloping the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths and suppressing the entire Cyclic Universe.
Both the earth and sky became transparent, and the universe seemed to grow still. Everything slowed down as petals drifted before Lu Yin’s eyes. Through them, he finally laid eyes on the Great Sovereign.
Unexpectedly, the Great Sovereign was actually a woman.
She was wearing a light golden robe and sitting cross-legged. Her image appeared high above everyone and covered the sky.
A thin veil covered her face, making it impossible to get a clear look at her features. All that could be determined was that there was a powerful sense of holiness to the Great Sovereign.
Lu Yin lifted his head to look up at the Great Sovereign, only to be stunned by the sight. A voice echoed in his ears and in his heart, telling him that he could not look, that he did not dare look, that he was not qualified to look. Why should you look? Lower your head! Lower your head, lower your head, lower your head...
Countless voices rang out, as though the world itself was speaking, as though the universe was trying to suppress Lu Yin and take away his breath.
The eyes before him were so beautiful, yet so majestic and devoid of emotion. There was a series of nearly tangible sequence particles tangled together in what almost looked like water flowing behind the Great Sovereign. The sky filled with auspicious clouds that gave off colorful rainbows of light. It was a truly beautiful sight.
There was a bang, and Lu Yin felt as though his head had exploded. Blood dripped from his ears.
He had not even realized that, aside from the people occupying the first nine seats, no one was looking up at the Great Sovereign. Even among the people in the first nine seats, Sovereign Ninth Lotus had her head lowered. Only Mu Shen, Lord Xu, Great Elder Shan Gu, and Lord Wei had raised their heads to look at the Great Sovereign.
The Great Sovereign looked down, and her gaze landed on Lu Yin. At that instant, an explosion erupted in Lu Yin"s mind yet again. He spat out a mouthful of blood and was unable to look any longer. If he looked at the Great Sovereign again, he would die.
The deadly aura of the powerhouse continued to spread out, trying to drown Lu Yin.
The jiao trembled.
Mu Shen glanced over at Lu Yin. Lord Xu, Great Elder Shan Gu, and Lord Wei were all watching him as well.
Tears of blood fell from Lu Yin"s eyes as he stubbornly insisted on continuing to stare at the Great Sovereign. It was clear that he did not need to look, but rather that he was insisting on doing so. He wanted to see the person who had exiled his Lu family and gaze upon the true master of the Sixverse a.s.sociation. Just what did the person who claimed to be the master of all humanity look like?
Lu Yin activated Heaven’s Sight, which relieved a bit of the pressure.
Lu Yin was not able to hear anything that the Great Sovereign said. A roaring sound filled his brain like a tidal wave sweeping over him. His eyesight grew blurry, and soon, he was only looking at the Great Sovereign with Heaven’s Sight. His forehead was in agony, as not even Heaven"s Sight was enough to allow Lu Yin to stare at the Great Sovereign.
Suddenly, his vision grew clear, and the roaring disappeared from his mind. All the pressure had vanished in an instant.
Lu Yin"s body swayed, and he nearly collapsed. More blood leaked from his mouth.
"Young people should limit themselves to what is within their capabilities," Mu Shen stated in a very calm tone.
Lord Xu smiled. "Young people should also be ambitious."
Shan Gu praised, "That was certainly ambitious."
"It was rather foolish," Lord Wei commented, though there was no anger or any other emotion in his voice.
Finally, the Great Sovereign spoke. Her voice still came from everywhere at once, and it was impossible to determine a gender from the voice alone. It sounded as though the universe itself was speaking. "Wu Tian, the G.o.d of Death, and Destiny—child of the Lu family, you have obtained inheritances from all three."
Sovereign Ninth Lotus was startled by this revelation, and she glanced sideways at Lu Yin aside. She knew that those were the names of the Heavens Sect’s Three Realms during the Origin Universe’s peak. They had been second only to the Origin Progenitor himself. Had Lu Yin actually received all three powerhouses’ inheritances?
Sovereign Shao Yin clenched a fist. This brat from the Lu family had actually managed to acquire inheritances from Wu Tian, the G.o.d of Death, and Destiny? If the Sovereign had known this, he would have never underestimated the brat. How infuriating!
As for Chu Jian, his expression remained indifferent. So what if Lu Yin had received those inheritances? Chu Jian would remain undefeated. There was no way for him to lose.
Bai Xian"er remained calm, as she had known about this for a long time. In fact, she knew that Lu Yin had not received inheritances from only those three, but from others as well. She stared at Lu Yin"s back. How high would he rise up in the future?
The Great Sovereign"s words startled everyone who knew of the Three Realms Six Dao.
Sage Yuan"s scalp went numb. Once this child from the Lu family matured, who would be able to stop him? He had to die!
Behind the Sage, the young man blankly stared. He knew nothing about Wu Tian or the Three Realms. All he knew was that if someone sat in the front row and was addressed by the Great Sovereign herself, the man had to be someone of the utmost importance. Despite being so young, the man was so powerful. If I could acknowledge him as a teacher, how great would that be?
Lu Yin gasped and cleaned the blood from his mouth before smiling and sitting straight. While it had only lasted for a single moment, it had been a tremendously significant moment. He had seen sequence particles in the eyes of the Great Sovereign and witnessed the majestic abyss and the monstrous power in those eyes. Even if it had been more than what he could withstand, Lu Yin had been able to see the incredible power of the Great Sovereign. One day, he would reach that same height. It would undoubtedly happen.