Lu Yin took the Peaks and Rivers Rock from his cosmic ring. "This is what you’re really after."
Mr. Daheng’s head rose, and his eyes lit up when he saw the stone. He made no attempt to conceal his desire. "If you are willing, Lord Lu, that is indeed what I want."
"The Mirari Realm. Immortality is truly attractive," Lu Yin muttered to himself. He looked over at Mr. Daheng. "Help me deal with Chen Le. As for Luo Shan, if he dares to do anything against me, he will die a harsh death. I’ll send people to help you take care of him, but this matter cannot be known to anyone else. If the Sixverse Association learns of this, my Heavens Sect’s reputation will be tarnished. Do you understand?"
Mr. Daheng’s excitement started to mount. "I understand, Lord Lu. You don't need to worry. We will be sure to deal with that traitor Chen Le and that poisonous snake, Luo Shan."
"If you can handle this properly, I will give you the stone, but I also want to go to the Mirari Realm," Lu Yin calmly announced.
Mr. Daheng promised, "Once all of the stones have been gathered, I will definitely inform you, Lord Lu, so that we can go to the Mirari Realm together."
In the Endless Frontier’s Three Monarchs Universe, Chen Le was standing on a planet far away from the spatial passage that connected to the Fifth Mainland. He was not far from the ruins of the rainbow wall. Evidence of the Aeternals' destruction was visible everywhere, though ever since the crusade’s battalions had swept across the Endless Frontier, no Aeternals had appeared in the Three Monarchs Universe.
The Aeternals had reappeared in many of the parallel universes across the Endless Frontier, but the Three Monarchs Universe remained quiet.
It was possible that the peace was due to the spatial passage and that the Aeternals feared antagonizing Lu Yin.
Investigate the spatial passage? How long was that supposed to last for?
Chen Le warily looked into the distance, in the direction of the Emperor Domain. He was terrified that Luo Shan might discover him.
Chen Le had completely concealed his cultivation, hiding like an ant. Luo Shan should not be capable of finding him, and even if that did happen, Luo Shan would not be able to do anything about it. Was he unafraid of the Heavens Sect’s threat?
Chen Le was one of the Heavens Sect’s Progenitor-level powerhouses who had been personally invited into the sect by Lord Lu during a massive ceremony.
The more he thought about things, the more confident Chen Le became. While he had initially been very nervous regarding following Lord Lu, Lu Yin had since gained the strength to control the entire Sixverse Association.
Chen Le could not help but feel proud of his original decision.
Suddenly, severe pain swept through his nerves. A deep crevice opened up before him, and it swept past his body and slammed him against the side of a mountain.
It all happened so suddenly that Chen Le was badly injured before he could even react.
"Who?" He was startled. Could it be Luo Shan?
Mr. Daheng stepped out of the void and looked down. "It’s been a long time, Chen Le."
Chen Le's pupils constricted. "Mr. Daheng?"
"Thank you for remembering me," Mr. Daheng said as he clasped his hands behind his back.
Chen Le was stunned. "Mr. Daheng, how dare you attack me! I am one of the Heavens Sect’s Progenitor-level experts who has been acknowledged by Lord Lu himself! Do you intend to antagonize the Heavens Sect?"
Mr. Daheng sneered and then promptly ignored Chen Le to look off into another direction. There, Luo Shan suddenly appeared.
Mr. Daheng had not hidden his attack on Chen Le, so Luo Shan had naturally noticed it.
Luo Shan arrived to find both Mr. Daheng and Chen Le.
How could the traitor be in the Three Monarchs Universe?
"Luo Shan, your reputation precedes you." Mr. Daheng instantly attacked.
The Arborean’s power surged and shot straight towards Luo Shan. Beneath the energy was a fishing rod, and it moved along with the overwhelming attack, heading for Luo Shan.
Luo Shan was taken aback. "Daheng, I gave that stone to Lu Yin. Why are you still here, making trouble for me?"
"Hahahaha, Luo Shan, Luo Shan, how many years have you and I known each other? Do you still think that you can deceive me with such a petty trick? Chen Le is nothing more than a pawn that you sent into the Heavens Sect, and that was after you placed him in my Liberation Palace. From him, you learned that I was collecting certain stones, which is why you must have started collecting them as well. During the crusade, you discovered that I was already going after you, which is why you gave that stone to Lu Yin. However, you still have another!" Mr. Daheng shouted.
As the man finished speaking, the fishing rod arrived directly above Luo Shan, and then it fell straight down.
Luo Shan was furious. "You idiot! If I sent Chen Le to your Liberation Palace, why would I ever have let you know that he gave the stone to me?"
Tri-colored monarch essence shot upwards, and the fishing rod’s string twisted. However, it continued towards Luo Shan.
Mr. Daheng sneered. "That's because you knew that I had another stone and that you wouldn’t be able to get it from me. That’s why you used that stone. It was to lure me out to negotiate with you in the future. Back then, you didn’t consider completely hiding your actions, but you also never expected the Heavens Sect to appear in the middle of everything, which caused your Three Monarchs Universe to be added to the Endless Frontier. Later, you yourself were injured from the battle between Lord Wei and Shaman God, and because you were afraid that I would come after you, you had no choice but to give the stone to Lu Yin.
"Luo Shan, Luo Shan, you tried plotting against both the Liberation Palace and the Heavens Sect at the same time. Do you really believe yourself to be a complete mastermind?"
"Shut up! We agreed to never speak of that!" Luo Shan snapped. He looked up and saw the fishing line falling towards him, and he suddenly vanished, only to instantly appear far away.
Mr. Daheng kept his eyes on Luo Shan and continued to use the Arboreal Realm’s battle techniques. However, none of them did anything to Chen Le.
Mr. Daheng frowned. Why were the Heavens Sect’s people not taking action?
"Daheng, I'll give you one chance! Leave now, or else you can’t blame me for what I’ll do." Killing intent blazed in Luo Shan's eyes. As soon as he spoke, his monarch essence filled the area. "No matter whether you are right or wrong, even if I did put Chen Le in your Liberation Palace, that stone has been given to Lu Yin, and there is no point in you fighting me."
A vicious glint flickered across Mr. Daheng’s eyes. "Give me the rest of the stones!"
Luo Shan was losing his patience. "I don't have any!"
Mr. Daheng did not believe a word of it. "If you didn’t have more than two stones, you would have never allowed me to learn about the stone that Chen Le gave you. You also would have never given a stone to Lu Yin, which means that you must still have it! Give it to me! With this, we can write off all of our past grudges.”
Luo Shan was so angry that a smile appeared on his face. "What an idiot! Since you want to die, I will help you."
The Three Monarchs Universe trembled. Both Chen Le and Wu Heng were horrified by the distant battle between the two sequence powerhouses. Only at this time did the two men understand just how powerful Luo Shan really was. Mr. Daheng, whom they had believed to be invincible and peerless, was clearly not Luo Shan's opponent as the monarch essence continued to overpower Mr. Daheng’s energy. Even when the Arborean used his sequence particles, he was unable to land a single hit on Luo Shan. In stark contrast, Luo Shan's monarch essence was pressing in on Mr. Daheng. The fishing line finally snapped without Mr. Daheng ever managing to even touch Luo Shan.
"Even when we were children, you had your unrealistic dreams of being free and at ease. You idiot! How can freedom be found in this megaverse? The more you pursue such things, the dumber you are! Daheng, you will cause your own death!" Luo Shan raised a hand. "New World."
One step forward caused the Monarch’s body to disappear into the Hollow that had opened up before him. Slowly, the Hollow recovered.
Mr. Daheng's pupils shrank. "You’ve actually mastered the second move!"
Splat!
The Arborean spat out a mouthful of blood as Luo Shan stepped out from behind him with a lowered hand. He had struck Mr. Daheng with a palm strike, causing monarch essence to infiltrate the man’s body, dispersing his own energy reserves. The fishing rod snapped. It was Mr. Daheng’s Progenitor’s world.
Luo Shan looked over at Chen Le in the distance and frowned. Why was Chen Le in the Three Monarchs Universe? Daheng acted as though Chen Le’s presence was proof that he had been controlled by Luo Shan, but that was not true at all. This was all a trick, and it felt quite familiar…