There was no way for Lu Yin and Shan Pu to ask for help while in the Umbral Universe, and there was also no data center. On top of that, they could not simply leave the Endless Frontier, which meant that their only option was to stay and fight. Of course, Lu Yin would escape if fighting was useless. As long as he was not attacked by someone like Cheng Kong or the eighty-one saber slashes, both of which had left him helpless and completely immobile, he was confident in escaping. A fatal attack would have to surpass the limit of what Lu Yin could survive with Extremes Must Be Reversed, and that was a steep threshold.
As for the need of explaining his actions to the Great Sovereign, that was something to consider if the time ever came. Why worry about such things when his life was on the line?
The Umbral Expanse lay in the furthest depths of the Umbral Universe, and the thick darkness that lay there meant that Lu Yin's domain could not spread out very far, and it would also be devoured very quickly.
In this place, he was quite like a blind man.
"We need a way to find the old monster!" Shan Pu shouted.
Lu Yin stared straight ahead into the darkness. In the past, he had felt like there was only one shade that darkness could take, but after arriving in the Umbral Universe, he had encountered multiple variations. The darkness right in front of him was undoubtedly the most dangerous that he had ever encountered.
Since he was facing darkness, he needed to bring out some light.
Thinking of this, his Investiture of the Gods appeared above his head, and the golden light formed a sharp blade of light that pierced the deep darkness and shone through the Umbral Expanse.
The darkness in this place was able to devour light, but the Investiture of the Gods was the Lu family’s greatest innate gift, and it was not easy to suppress. The golden light was even able to pierce through death energy, and when Lu Yin’s Investiture of the Gods’ golden scroll had first appeared in the Perennial World, it had illuminated the entire place. The light had permeated not only the Higher Realm, but also the Middle and Lower Realms. When Lu Yin brought it out in the Umbral Universe, it similarly illuminated the entire Umbral Expanse and shone upon An Jiu and the other Umbrians.
All the people screamed and fled from the light. They could not bear its touch.
Shan Pu was startled. What sort of power was this? The golden light was bright, though not blinding, and it possessed an incomparable sense of sacredness and supremacy. The Lost Clan’s isolationist nature was in part due to the fact that they looked down on the other parallel universes of the Sixverse Association, but the golden light that had just appeared made Shan Pu very aware of Lu Yin's power.
Regardless of the young man’s level of cultivation, the golden light from the scroll indicated that it was a very powerful inheritance.
The golden light illuminated the entire Umbral Expanse, and Progenitor Nong stepped out. The summoned Progenitor faced the Umbral Expanse, and the land shattered. All of the Umbrians living on the Umbral Expanse fled, wailing.
An Jiu trembled. "Ancestor, please wake up! Ancestor–!"
Underneath the Umbral Expanse, a pair of eyes snapped open. They were ancient and cloudy, but they instantly gained clarity. The eyes turned to stare upwards at the golden light that pierced the ground and illuminated an old face. "The power of the Fifth Mainland’s Lu family."
The moment the old man spoke, the ground before him vanished, and darkness formed an arch that covered the sky. The man who was lying in the ground sat up and released a sigh.
An Jiu and the other Umbrians dropped to their knees, tears filling their eyes. "Greetings, Ancestor."
"Greetings, Ancestor."
"Greetings, Ancestor."
...
Countless Umbrians shouted in excitement, like devoted worshipers.
Lu Yin and Shan Pu glanced at each other. They had found their target.
Shan Pu’s eyes narrowed. The Great Elder had visited the Umbral Universe in the past, and that visit had made him certain that a very, very ancient powerhouse of incredible strength dwelled in the universe. Shan Gu had tried to awaken the sleeping powerhouse several times, but all of those efforts had failed. In order to avoid generating any enmity, the Lost Clan had not tried to force the ancient powerhouse awake.
But now, that person had just awakened.
Lu Yin took a deep breath and stared into the darkness. The golden light was competing with that darkness, but the golden light had come from the Investiture of the Gods and was not Lu Yin’s personal power. Even Lu Yin had not expected the golden light of the Investiture of the Gods to be able to force back the darkness.
Beneath the Umbral Expanse, the ancient individual looked upwards, and for a brief moment, Lu Yin saw the old man’s eyes. He had pupils? He was not an Umbrian?
"Child of the Lu family, you have awakened me." When the man spoke, his voice was dry and grating. It sounded as though he had not spoken for a very, very long time.
Lu Yin's pupils shrank. Sure enough, there was a connection between the Umbral Universe and the Origin Universe. There was a reason why he had discovered Inverse Step in this universe. "You recognize me as a member of the Lu family?"
The old man raised a hand to block a bit of the golden light. "The Lu family's Investiture of the Gods... This light is as oppressive as ever!"
"Who might you be, Senior?" Lu Yin asked.
Shan Pu clenched his card tightly. The very moment this ancient man woke up, Shan Pu had felt an incredible sense of danger that made him feel like he was being observed and completely seen through. The strangest thing was that the feeling of being observed did not only originate from below, but also from above and every other direction. It was as though Shan Pu was being stared at from every part of the Umbral Universe.
It felt as though the universe had woken up with the old man.
Shan Pu had only ever experienced this feeling from the Great Elder. This monster was someone who was at the same power level as the Great Elder. What could Shan Pu do? This was a very, very dangerous situation.
The old man sighed and rose to his feet. "That doesn't matter. In this entire megaverse, very few are able to leave their names behind in eternity. All others are mere passersby.
"Child, tell me, how is the Heavens Sect?"
Lu Yin's eyes flickered. "Senior, how was the Heavens Sect doing when you came to this universe?"
The old man chuckled. "Young people now are so rude. Clearly, by asking you that question, I was indicating that I have an old connection to your Lu family."
"Senior, are you really related to my Lu family?" Lu Yin's heart moved. Was this man someone from the Heavens Sect era?
"That’s right. I had the most interactions with Lu Buzheng, as we were both gatemasters of the Twelve Heavenly Gates. I saw him frequently." The old man gave a small smile.
Lu Yin was taken aback. "Senior, you were a gatemaster of one of the Twelve Heavenly Gates?"
"You seem to understand what that means."
Lu Yin's expression changed. While the gatemasters of the Heavens Sect’s Twelve Heavenly Gates had not been Progenitors, each of the twelve had received their position because they were a Semi-Progenitor who was believed to be guaranteed to become a Progenitor. Even peak powerhouses had been polite to the gatemasters.
The potential of Lu Yin’s third uncle, Lu Buzheng, had even been admired by the Lu family’s ancestor, who had tried to obtain the power of Destiny for Lu Buzheng to use as his first summon for the Tri-Yang Ancestral Qi Technique.
Destina had been Destiny’s disciple, Hen Xin had been Dao Monarch Gu’s disciple, and the other gatemasters had possessed similar backgrounds. It could be said that the gatemasters of the Twelve Heavenly Gates had all been destined to become the most powerful individuals of the next era, provided that they did not encounter any accidents.
Lu Buzheng and the others gatemasters that Lu Yin was familiar with had all been frozen in a sourcebox during the Heavens Sect era, and they had remained in that frozen state until the Fifth Mainland reached a critical point in the war against Aeternus. For that reason, the surviving gatemasters were all still Semi-Progenitors, and regardless of how impressive their cultivation might be, they were not all powerful.
However, Lu Yin could only imagine. If his third uncle, Lu Buzheng, had survived to the present era from the Heavens Sect era, just how strong would the man have become?
With his Tri-Yang Ancestral Qi Technique, he would be able to summon Destiny herself. Who could hope to win against such power?
If Destina had lived for so many years, would another Destiny have appeared?
Could Hen Xin have followed the same path as Dao Monarch Gu?
It was impossible to know for sure, but there was one thing that was undeniable: any one of the ancient gatemasters would be a very, very powerful individual after so many years.