Chapter 2798: Browbeaten
Yao Di’s expression turned grim, though he still managed to force out a smile despite the heavy pressure emanating from both Lu Yin and Leng Qing. "The Celestial Beast Empire no longer exists, only disciples of the same Heavens Sect. Dao Monarch, you shouldn’t joke like that."
Lu Yin smiled. "It’s no joke. The Heavens Sect is indeed a human sect, but that doesn’t prohibit you from privately developing personal power as well."
At Lu Yin’s gesture, Yao Di took a seat across from Leng Qing.
The astral beast did not want to sit there, as Leng Qing had a sharp edge to his aura, and it was far sharper from when he had been a Semi-Progenitor. The Progenitor typically restrained his aura after his breakthrough, but Yao Di currently felt like Leng Qing might attack at any moment.
"The astral beasts are unruly and difficult to train. They have even mimicked humans to create various cities, colleges, and other such signs of civilization. While I was in the Astral Beast Domain, I needed to destroy a great many things and slaughtered a number of the beasts. I hope that they will become more obedient." Leng Qing’s voice was cold and burning with bloodlust.
Yao Di’s eyes glinted, but he forced himself to lower his head to prevent Leng Qing from noticing.
Leng Qing was not comparable to his previous strength, as he had become a powerful Progenitor.
Lu Yin glanced at Yao Di and smiled. "Don’t say such things. Humans and astral beasts are both intelligent creatures of this universe, and they also deserve to pursue intelligent civilization."
Leng Qing bluntly replied, "Humans will always remain masters of every universe. Even though our intelligence or strength might not be any better, humans are creative and innovative, and we will also use deception to improve our civilization. These are things that are beyond the abilities of astral beasts. The Origin Progenitor once said that we should never give the astral beasts an opportunity to surpass mankind, as that would only cause them to become more ruthless and cold-blooded than when they enslaved humanity."
Yao Di listened in silence.
Leng Qing stared at Yao Di. "Dao Monarch, I am willing to follow in the footsteps of the God of Death and cast enough fear upon the astral beasts that it becomes a part of their very bloodlines."
Yao Di’s head snapped up, and he saw the blazing killing intent in Leng Qing's eyes as the Progenitor stared at him. Yao Di felt forced to say what he had wanted to bring up, due to the cold chill on his back. He was certain that if he showed any sign of impropriety, he would be instantly cut down by Leng Qing.
If that happened, the Heavens Sect would never say anything to the Progenitor in defense of Yao Di.
Leng Qing’s blatant display of power and aggression left Yao Di feeling as though there was a knife to his throat, and a tremor ran through his body. This was not due to fear, but an innate reaction from confronting death. Astral beasts naturally had stronger instincts than humans.
After the two stared at each other for at least half a minute, Yao Di finally lowered his head, no longer able to meet Leng Qing’s gaze.
Lu Yin was satisfied with this. "There’s no need to go to such extreme measures. In our current era, the astral beasts are different from those in the Heavens Sect era. Isn’t that right, Gatemaster Yao Di?"
Yao Di let out a breath and stood to offer a respectful bow. "Dao Monarch, as the years have passed, astral beasts have learned about the ideas of civilization from humans, as well as many other principles. In the future, we will continue to learn more from humanity, so I merely ask the Dao Monarch to have the Heavens Sect oversee our development."
With those words, the sharp edge that Leng Qing had been giving off instantly dulled and faded.
Yao Di clearly understood that he had been summoned to be browbeaten, but why? There was no longer even a single Semi-Progenitor in the Astral Beast Domain, so why was Lu Yin targeting them? Could it be...?
Yao Di’s face grew pale. Could the humanoid sourceboxes have been discovered? No, that was impossible. Only Skymender and Yao Di himself knew of that matter, and it was impossible for anyone else to have learned anything about it. Not even Yao Xuan knew anything about that matter, let alone Lu Yin. The Astral Beast Domain had carefully kept that matter hidden for countless years, and Skymender had only ever informed the current emperor of the Celestial Beast Empire. It was all to ensure that no more than two people knew of the secret at any given moment. At the moment, those two were Yao Di and Skymender.
It was impossible for Lu Yin to know anything about that particular matter.
Then why was Yao Di being treated this way? This was not merely being browbeaten, but rather openly threatened.
Yao Di had no doubt that if he disobeyed in the slightest, he would be cut down by Leng Qing.
Lu Yin looked at Yao Di. "When will you attempt to break through and become a Progenor?"
Yao Di replied in a bitter tone, "I cannot even see a time when I will be able to attempt that."
Lu Yin stared at Yao Di and activated Heaven’s Sight. At that moment, Lu Yin saw an enormous Celestial Demon, which was Yao Di's true form.
The Celestial Demon appeared to be formed from condensed spiritual force. They were indeed astral beasts, but no matter how Lu Yin looked at Yao Di, all he saw was condensed spiritual force. It was no wonder why no other astral beast species could compare to the Celestial Demons.
"With the Celestial Demon's affinity for spirit force, you will be very powerful after you become a Progenitor," Lu Yin stated. He did not give Yao Di any opening to speak and instead looked at Leng Qing. "Was there a Progenitor among the Celestial Demon’s lineage?"
Yao Di could not help but look over at Leng Qing as well, as he also wanted to hear this answer.
The Celestial Demons could be traced back to the Fourth Mainland, but as the various Mainlands were destroyed, fragments of the Fourth Mainland had merged with the Fifth Mainland to form the Astral Beast Domain. This also meant that the astral beasts had lost portions of their history, and if not for Skymender, Yao Di would have never even heard of Wilderness God.
However, he did know that there had been a Celestial Demon Progenitor, and Leng Qing could answer questions about that era.
Leng Qing’s and Yao Di’s eyes met. "Yes."
Lu Yin was not surprised, as he had heard from Kui Luo long ago that the Lu family possessed ancient records that mentioned that the Celestial Demons were the most powerful race of astral beasts on the Fourth Mainland, which had meant they had had a Progenitor. Lu Yin had wanted to confirm that information, but he had simply never remembered to ask.
Yao Di's eyes blazed. "Did you meet that Progenitor?"
While the Celestial Demons had passed down knowledge that there had once been a Progenitor of their race, Yao Di had no idea how to reach that realm himself. The history that he did know did not mention the Celestial Demon Progenitor, so it was hard for him to truly believe such a thing.
Leng Qing replied, "I’ve visited the Fourth Mainland before. The Celestial Demon Progenitor was the powerhouse who resolved the crisis brought about by the devouring metal."
Yao Di’s breathing grew ragged. So it was true! Celestial Demons were indeed capable of becoming Progenitors! Leng Qing had just confirmed what he had once regarded as legend.
Astral beasts were different from humans. Humans needed to open their three meridian points in order to be able to become Progenitors, but due to astral beasts’ special characteristics, some of their races did not need to open the three meridian points to reach that level, and the Celestial Demons were one of those species. They were essentially an amalgamation of spiritual force, so Origin Matter would not benefit them as much.
Every generation of the Celestial Demons had dreamed of becoming a Progenitor, but they had never known how to go about pursuing that level. For that reason, they had sought to open their three meridian points, as they felt it was better to follow the known path to the peak rather than wander about aimlessly in their cultivation.
Generations of Celestial Demons had passed away, and the Progenitor level had practically become a myth to them. But now, Yao Di could finally see a glimmer of hope for reaching that level himself.
As long as there was assurance that they could become Progenitors, the Celestial Demons would have a path to walk with in their cultivation.
"However, the Celestial Demon Progenitor did not have a good ending," Leng Qing stated indifferently, "He was beheaded by the God of Death."
Yao Di was startled by this information, and he blankly stared at Leng Qing.
Lu Yin’s eyebrows rose. "He was beheaded by the God of Death?"
Leng Qing’s eyes focused on Yao Di. "Anyone who hoped to go against the Heavens Sect or disobeyed the Origin Progenitor needed to be put down. The Celestial Demon Progenitor openly slandered the Origin Progenitor, believing himself invincible with his spiritual force. He even tried to convince Wilderness God to join him and break the Fourth Mainland away from the Heavens Sect. He was ultimately executed by the God of Death, but there’s no reason to pity his death.”
"At the time, the matter was a huge scandal, and it even led to the God of Death cleansing the entire Fourth Mainland, which resulted in a battle between the God of Death and Wilderness God. I can’t say what happened during that battle, but I do know that it was during that time that the Celestial Demon Progenitor disappeared forever.”
Yao Di remained silent.
Lu Yin could not help but be impressed. The God of Death had truly been a legendary powerhouse.
Lu Yin had seen the God of Death on several occasions when he was absorbing death energy. He had witnessed the scene of the God of Death facing countless powerful astral beasts, and filling the universe with their blood. The God of Death had been the Heavens Sect’s executioner, and he had suppressed the astral beasts entirely. However, to humanity, the man had been a protector.
The man had been powerful enough to slaughter all the astral beasts, implanting a fear of the God of Death into the beasts’ very bloodline that it was passed down to future generations. That was the God of Death.
Lu Yin still clearly remembered the suppression that he had produced when he attacked the Astral Beast Domain. The death energy’s suppression had triggered a fear imprinted into the very blood and bones of the astral beasts.
Looking at Yao Di, Lu Yin knew that his goal for the meeting had already been achieved. Leng Qing's threats and the fear of death were enough to force Yao Di to behave for some time.
If not for the fact that Lu Yin wanted the Astral Beast Domain to remain stable, he would have simply executed Yao Di. However, Lu Yin had other plans in mind, and the possible return of Wilderness God was a variable that might come into play one day.
Just a short time later, Yao Di was dismissed.
Leng Qing stood and walked to the main hall’s entrance to stare off into the distance. "If that beast has other intentions, allow me to kill it."
Lu Yin replied, "I have uses that require it to stay around."
Leng Qing turned to give Lu Yin a somber stare. "While we don’t know why the Origin Progenitor kept the astral beasts around, there were always rumors during our era that Wilderness God was the Origin Progenitor’s mount. It was believed that the Origin Progenitor took pity on Wilderness God because of his talent and could not bear to kill him. In the end, Wilderness God was raised up to become one of the Three Realms Six Dao and made the guardian of the Fourth Mainland to protect the astral beasts. Ultimately, the God of Death was forced to take action and rein the beasts in.
"Dao Monarch, that cannot be allowed to happen again."
Lu Yin nodded. "You don’t need to worry about that."
...
In a certain parallel universe of the Endless Frontier, lines could be seen everywhere. Even the planets were linear, and they rolled around like cylinders. From a distance, they looked like long lines. Even the stars in this universe were drawn out into lines.
One of the linear planets was home to hundreds of nations, both large and small, that constantly waged war with each other. This planet was not touched by the Aeternals, and the natives did not even know what Aeternus was. Even their most powerful cultivators were weaker than Explorers.
One day, darkness enveloped the planet, shrouding every continent and the hundreds of nations.
Within that darkness, a pair of eyes opened, exploding with anger and killing intent. "Wu Xing, you can't kill me! Once I get Heaven’s Sight, I will surpass you and let you have a taste of being devoured by darkness.
"As for that brat from the Lu family, just wait! I will find you soon. You are unable to truly use the power of Heaven’s Sight! Neither you nor Lu Buzheng will be able to escape!"
...
In the Three Monarchs Universe, the rainbow wall had already disappeared entirely, leaving behind nothing more than a bit of monarch essence that lingered in the universe. The only things that could be found were countless broken spaceships that drifted through outer space.
The Three Monarchs Universe had become nothing more than a stomping ground for Aeternus. Aeternus Kingdoms had been established, one of which was very close to the spatial passage to the Fifth Mainland. In fact, the two were right next to each other.
While it was said that there were Aeternus Kingdoms in the universe, there were no humans in any of them, as Lu Yin had ensured that all humans had been evacuated from the Three Monarchs Universe.
These Aeternus Kingdoms were essentially empty cities, but they had been reserved for the people of the Fifth Mainland.
The Three Monarchs Universe was just too close to the Fifth Mainland, and only a single seal separated them.
Sooner or later, that seal would be opened.
Far away, Luo Shan stood quietly in space, staring at the seal with cold eyes.
He would not allow the Origin Universe to have an easy time. Even if the Aeternals did not break the seal open, Luo Shan would do his best to unravel it. He would not let anyone from the Origin Universe, the Heavens Sect, and especially not Lu Yin or Chen Le escape. All of them had plotted against the Three Monarchs Universe, destroying the universe and betraying Luo Shan. All of them, even Monarch Xing, deserved to die.
...
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