Lu Yin arrived near Earth and stood beside Kong Tianzhao. "Uncle Kong, are you okay?"
Lu Yin called Jiang Feng ‘Uncle Jiang.’ Since Kong Tianzhao was from the same generation as Jiang Feng and was even Jiang Qingyue’s master, it felt natural to Lu Yin to call the man ‘Uncle Kong.’
Kong Tianzhao nodded and relaxed his hand. After being released, the sword flew back to Earth.
In Whitecloud City, Jiang Feng was sitting in place, not moving at all. The sword quietly landed in the man’s arms. He held it, completely unaware of the world around him.
Lu Yin watched, and the sight left him incredibly sad. The once mighty Lord of Lightning had fallen into a catatonic state.
What might happen to Ancestor Lu Yuan in the future?
When the gate opened again and Spirit Nidus arrived with a full-scale invasion, there was no chance that Ancestor Lu Yuan would be able to hold them off.
Three behemoths clashed in outer space, becoming entangled. The Pridebeast and the Megalith were covered in black marks from the multiple lightning strikes. However, the Ancient Lightning Locust was not in much better condition, as the Pridebeast’s terrifying punches were taking their toll. Every time the Ancient Lightning Locust tried to counterattack, the Megalith would body slam it and drain the bug’s energy.
The Pridebeast occasionally gave the Megalith a nod of approval, and the Megalith returned the gestures. Their coordination was growing increasingly smooth.
Liu Pianran arrived and admired the two beasts. "Little Seven, are those your two pets?"
Lu Yin nodded. "They're rather dumb, but they’re still useful."
Liu Pianran laughed. "Jiang Feng used to have his own pet. During our Earth's apocalypse, it was known as the Lightning Eagle. Sadly, it wasn’t able to keep up with him, and it died during one of his battles out in the universe."
Kong Tianzhao interjected, "Whitecloud City has lost too many people. The bottom line is that Earth reached out to join the greater universe too soon. If those people had waited until now to show themselves, things would have turned out very differently."
"Aunt Liu, how is Uncle Jiang?" Lu Yin asked.
Liu Pianran shook her head. "Just the same."
Jiang Chen and Jiang Qingyue also arrived. When they saw the Pridebeast and the Megalith fighting against the Ancient Lightning Locust, Jiang Chen went bug-eyed. "Brother Lu, are those two yours?"
A smile spread across Lu Yin’s lips. "Yep."
"That’s awesome!"
Jiang Qingyue’s eyes lit up. She was immediately reminded of the statue of the Origin Progenitor that stood in the Heavens Sect. The statue depicted the Origin Progenitor with the Divine Eagle perched on the man’s shoulder and the Ancestor Python wrapped around his waist. With his own two beasts, Lu Yin bore an increasingly uncanny resemblance to the Origin Progenitor.
As Lu Yin watched the Ancient Lightning Locust continuously release lightning, he suddenly thought of something. "Given Uncle Jiang’s current state, why did the Ancient Lightning Locust still come after him?"
Jiang Feng had been found at the megaverse’s boundary in front of the stone gate. At that time, he had been severely injured by lightning. When the Ancient Lightning Locust arrived, it had not even had a chance to attack before it sensed Master Qing Cao’s presence. With that, the bug had fled, and Jiang Feng had been left alone, drifting in outer space.
The man had not been attacked by the Ancient Lightning Locust, and there was no way Master Qing Cao would have used lightning against Jiang Feng. That meant that there was only one possible source of the lightning that had wounded Jiang Feng: himself.
Progenitor Ku had lost a portion of time that he had experienced. According to Mister Mu, when time was taken from someone, all of their opportunities related to that time, as well as any cultivation stemming from it, would be lost forever. With the karmic cause removed, the karmic resulting effect would also disappear.
That means that Master Qing Cao took away Jiang Feng’s lightning-related cultivation, which was how he was injured by his own lightning. He lost all control of his power.
But in that case, if he no longer controls lightning, why did the Ancient Lightning Locust still show up?
Could the bug be holding a grudge? Did it remember where to find Whitecloud City? Does this mean that, regardless of whether Jiang Feng has his power of lightning, the Ancient Lightning Locust is still going to attack? Or could there be some other reason?
"Go on! Hit it! Hit it!" Jiang Chen shouted excitedly as he waved his arms.
In the distance, the Pridebeast punched the Ancient Lightning Locust hard enough to make the bug scream. However, its fist was met by golden lightning, and the Pridebeast was electrocuted badly enough to blacken its whole body and force it back. The Megalith swung its tail and struck the bug, but the same lightning zapped the Megalith through its tail, wounding that beast as well.
Even so, the Ancient Lightning Locust had suffered much worse damage than the other two creatures. It was against two powerful astral beasts, and its golden lightning started to dim. The bug turned to flee.
The Pridebeast and the Megalith were about to chase after the Ancient Lightning Locust when the bug whirled back around and shot vicious glares at both of its attackers. At the same time, lightning flashed, lighting up the sky and giving the Ancient Lightning Locust a menacing appearance.
The Pridebeast and the Megalith both stopped as one. They glanced at each other, but they did not move again.
The Ancient Lightning Locust instantly escaped.
Lu Yin raged at the two beasts, "Go get it and capture it! If it gets away, I’ll zap you both with lightning every day!"
The Pridebeast and the Megalith turned back to look at Lu Yin, and they almost reflexively gave him a thumbs-ups.
Lu Yin glared at them. "Now!"
The Pridebeast grimaced. It was clear that the ape did not want to go after the bug, but the Pridebeast still moved quickly. It leaped onto the Megalith’s tail, and the Megalith swung its tail to fling the Pridebeast straight after the Ancient Lightning Locust.
The bug looked back and released a terrifying blast of lightning.
The Pridebeast clenched its fists and simply pushed through the lightning to deliver a heavy blow to the Ancient Lightning Locust. The bug shrieked, and its lightning struck the Pridebeast, causing the ape to also let out wails of agony.
That delay let the Megalith arrive, and a swing of its tail knocked the Ancient Lightning Locust unconscious.
With that, the battle between the three massive beasts was brought to an end.
Not once had Lu Yin needed to even lift a finger. The Pridebeast, the Megalith, and the Ancient Lightning Locust were all incredibly powerful beasts, and each of them far surpassed the jiao or Ancestor Tortoise. As for the Divine Eagle and the Python Ancestor, they were likely on par with Lu Yin’s two pets, given their age and the fact that they followed the Origin Progenitor.
Even when the Ancient Lightning Locust was unconscious, the lightning that covered it did not dissipate.
The Pridebeast gave the Megalith a thumbs-up while flashing its big white teeth. The ape pointed at the Ancient Lightning Locust, indicating that the Megalith should drag the unconscious beast back.
The Megalith opened its mouth, revealing even bigger white teeth. Its tail rose up, and it made the equivalent of a thumbs-up at the Pridebeast. You do it.
The Pridebeast frantically gave more thumbs-ups. No, you do it.
The Megalith smiled even wider, and its tail thrashed so wildly that it nearly smacked the Pridebeast in the face. You do it! You do it!
The two massive beasts kept giving each other thumbs-ups.
Lu Yin’s mouth twitched as he watched. This was just embarrassing.
Kong Tianzhao remained calm. After living for so long as a cultivator, there was little that he had not already seen.
Jiang Chen’s jaw dropped, and his eyes lit up. "That’s awesome! Those two are so cool!"