Yong Heng raised his hand to stroke the woman’s face. “What’s your name?”
She gave no answer.
Yong Heng smiled. “Don’t worry, you can speak.”
The woman’s pupils shrank. “I... can?”
Yong Heng nodded. “Of course. Be good, and tell me your name.”
The woman hesitated and then softly replied, “Cheng Xue.”
As soon as she spoke, she clenched her fist, seemingly waiting for something to happen, but even after a bit of time, nothing happened. She was thrilled. “Nothing... There really was nothing! You really helped me suppress the Bone Script.”
Yong Heng’s lips curled upwards. “That’s right.”
Cheng Xue stepped back a few paces so that she could offer a respectful bow. “Thank you, Senior. Thank you for helping me.”
Yong Heng replied, “Helping you? Have you ever thought that perhaps... I am also able to control your Bone Script?”
Cheng Xue’s expression changed dramatically, and she stared at Yong Heng in disbelief.
The man met her stare. The next second, completely outside of her own control, Cheng Xue raised her hand, and her smooth, pale palm suddenly split open. The bones within burst out of her skin, and blood splattered everywhere, staining her incredibly pale face red.
She was horrified. “How could you possibly know about my Bone Script?”
“You don’t know? Given the vast gap between us, I can control you. Now, tell me the current situation.”
Yong Heng spoke slowly, his voice as gentle as ever, and yet it was the most terrifying voice Cheng Xue had ever heard.
She had no choice but to tell the man everything he wished to know.
After half an hour had passed, Yong Heng sighed. “You really have been busy. You’ve progressed much faster than I had imagined. You’re from the Skyveil City’s Cheng family, aren’t you? So you did find him.”
Cheng Xue’s voice grew bitter. “That is my father’s greatest regret in his entire life. Baisha Tiancheng’s branch ruled the Cheng family, while our branch was tasked with searching. My father found him, only to end up being branded by the Bone Script and forced to fake his own death and go into hiding. Everyone from our branch of the family has suffered the same fate.”
“So, when Cheng Gong slaughtered the descendants of the Cheng family and forced Baisha Tiancheng to face off against Lu Yin, which ultimately led to his own death, was that also your doing?”
Cheng Xue did not deny it. “The Cheng family needed to disappear. If Cheng Gong had succeeded, the family would have been reborn in another form. Even in failure, our branch could still produce new descendants who could eventually revive the clan. Baisha Tiancheng was too stupid to notice when Cheng Gong was wiping out the members of the family. Of course, we had a hand in that as well. We led Cheng Gong to think of the method that he employed, and we also provided him with the locations of the family members that Baisha Tiancheng had hid.
“No family can guarantee that their members won’t be exterminated, so it’s natural for them to hide some of their direct descendants. Baisha Tiancheng was able to deceive everyone, except us.
“If those hidden family members hadn’t been killed, how could Baisha Tiancheng have risked everything to face off against Lu Yin?
“However, we never interfered with Cheng Gong’s actions. He did it all on his own, which led his family to perish.”
Yong Heng was quite impressed. “What a strategy. Even at his dying breath, Baisha Tiancheng never suspected that the Cheng family’s downfall was orchestrated by you. You were also cautious enough to not interfere with Cheng Gong’s actions, as that would have left tracks that Lu Yin would have followed to you. After all, he has comprehended the power of karma.”
Cheng Xue was badly shaken. “Lu Yin has comprehended karma?”
Yong Heng clasped his hands behind his back. “Yes. You can say that he’s a worthy opponent.”
Cheng Xue felt a sliver of fear. She had once suggested to her father that they should provide a bit of assistance, as she had feared that Cheng Gong would be discovered. If he had been caught, there was no doubt that Baisha Tiancheng would have captured the man, and the entire plan would have failed. Fortunately, her father had been cautious and had not intervened.
To the cultivators of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, karma was a power that could accomplish anything.
Lu Yin had already displayed a level of power that placed him second only to the Immortal Greater Sancti, and yet that had not been enough to frighten Cheng Xue. She understood all too well what was hidden behind her. However, that had just changed. Lu Yin had actually comprehended karma. Would he really be easy to deal with?
As for Yong Heng who was right before her, the man had already betrayed them once before, and yet he had just returned. Not only had he been freed from the Bone Script’s control, but he had even suppressed her own Bone Script. What was he planning?
“Come with me. I’ll help you break free of all control.” Yong Heng smiled at Cheng Xue.
She stared at him in a daze. Did she even have a choice?
“What do you want me to do?”
“Go back and watch him. Tell me about everything that he controls. I’ll take it all. I’ll be sure to thank him for preparing everything for me.
“The lofty Immortal Greater Sancti, the Nine Odysseys, the Temporal Heavens, Deathmound at the center of it all... All of them are focused on the Aevum Inch, to the point where they never once even glance down. Ah, what a nostalgic feeling.
“Aeternus... it’s time to revive.”
...
Two years passed, and four universe-class battleships had already passed through the second springboard. They had spent two years flying through the Aevum Inch.
E' Nan sat at the prow of the vessel, staring into the depths of outer space. He had already calmed down from his previous excitement. He could not stop himself from wondering how the Tianyuan was faring. Boundless had already returned, so perhaps that had been enough to alleviate a bit of the Nests’ threat.
“How long has it been since Boundless left the Tianyuan?” Lu Yin suddenly asked.
E' Nan stood and turned to bow. “Lord Lu.”
Lu Yin lowered his hand, and E' Nan straightened to reply, “117 years.”
Lu Yin sighed. “117 years? That really is a long time.”
For a cultivator, 100 years could pass in the blink of an eye, and yet Lu Yin’s entire life was not much longer than that. For him, 100 years was indeed quite long.
It was important to remember that Blackless God had once offered Lu Yin an opportunity for 100,000 years of peace.
Who could have imagined that, in just a few hundred years, Lu Yin would bring about such extensive changes to the Tianyuan, the Spirit Nidus, and even the entire human macrocosm?
The person whom E' Nan admired most was Lu Yin. This was a man capable of doing what others could not. That was why he was Lord Lu, the one who carried the faith of the entire Tianyuan Megaverse.
E' Nan could not even imagine what kind of excitement would break out in the Tianyuan upon Lu Yin’s return.
When Boundless had departed, everyone on it had carried the resolve to die in the Spirit Nidus. Even so, people had already harbored wild dreams that Lu Yin would one day return to the Tianyuan, his strength unmatched. At that time, he would sweep away all of humanity’s enemies.
That once-outlandish dream was finally becoming reality.