Just as the mountain was about to crash into the ground, Lu Yin appeared beneath it and easily held it up.
It was only a mountain, and while it might be durable enough to withstand a Morrow Behemoth’s strength, its weight was not enough to even garner Lu Yin’s notice.
Right as Lu Yin caught the mountain, another person also appeared beneath the mountain, and they similarly reached up to catch it.
The man was bald, had plain gray robes on his body, and was wearing worn-out cloth shoes on his feet. He pressed just one hand against the mountain, but Lu Yin was already holding it.
Lu Yin observed the man, who looked back at him and offered a very strange salute.
He held his hands flat and pressed together, but in reverse as he slowly bowed. “I am Ku Cheng. Thank you for saving them.”
Lu Yin was puzzled. “Saving who?”
Ku Cheng smiled. “The people on this mountain, of course.”
“Do you have some connection to these people?”
“No.”
Lu Yin gave Ku Cheng a strange look. Why was the man thanking Lu Yin if he had no connection to the people on the mountain? The man had rushed over from the Mother Tree, as he had not even been on the mountain himself. Lu Yin certainly had not saved Ku Cheng.
The man looked up at the mountain. “The branch has broken, but these people have not yet reached their destination. Allow me to help them along.”
With that, he grabbed the skyswings and soared up into the Mother Tree’s canopy.
Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. Not just anyone could enter the canopy.
There were a great number of experts in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, and any peak powerhouse was technically strong enough to soar into the Mother Tree’s canopy. However, possessing the necessary strength was one thing, and having permission was an entirely different matter. The Sea of Karma was in the Mother Tree’s branches, as were other locations where the Greater and Lesser Sancti cultivated. Even Dukkhans were required to report their actions before climbing up the Mother Tree.
Despite that, Ku Cheng was allowed to climb right into the branches. Clearly, the man had a powerful backing.
On top of that, the man gave Lu Yin a very odd impression. There was an indescribable sort of heaviness to him. Lu Yin suspected that the heaviness was related to Ku Cheng’s cultivation art.
The man was a Dukkhan.
Ku Cheng... Ku Cheng... could he be someone from the Rift of Suffering?
Dream Dominion stood at the top of the East Domain, Skyveil City in the West Domain, the Scion Spire in the South Domain, the Rift of Suffering in the North Domain, and Deathmound at the center.
The Rift of Suffering was the most powerful faction in the North Domain; there was no question about that. The Skyward Gate’s Luo family, Ruler Garden, Loneswan Island, and many others were also in the north, but none of them could even begin to compare to the Rift of Suffering.
Everyone who was part of the Rift of Suffering had the same surname: Ku.
If Ku Cheng was a member of the Rift of Suffering, it would explain why he was qualified to ascend into the Mother Tree’s canopy.
However, the man did not actually enter the canopy; he simply hooked the skyswings to a lower branch that hung beneath the canopy. While the skyswings were attached to a much lower branch than before, it was still high enough for the mountain to swing into the West Domain.
Ku Cheng stood in front of the mountain, the backs of his hands pressed together. When he slowly spread them apart, an absolute darkness appeared that grew larger and larger.
Light from the nearby area was devoured by the darkness, and space itself seemed to collapse inwards upon Ku Cheng.
Lu Yin was astonished. Is this... gravity? No...
Ku Cheng looked at Lu Yin. “Do you wish to continue to the West Domain, sir? You may climb on now, and I will see you off.”
Lu Yin shook his head. “No.”
He had indeed been on his way to the West Domain, but since he had encountered someone from the Rift of Suffering, especially one with such a strange power, Lu Yin was intrigued.
The Seven Fairies’ tasks could wait. None of them were urgent. On the other hand, it seemed rare to meet anyone from the Rift of Suffering.
It was said that the Rift of Suffering only had about 10,000 disciples.
That was almost nothing compared to the entire North Domain.
To put such numbers in perspective, Everchange Valley, despite how difficult it was for people to cultivate the Heaven and Earth Aura, still had over 100,000 disciples. It was simply that most of their disciples never reached a level of mastery that allowed them to leave the sect.
Each direction of the Four Commands Sword Sect had tens of thousands of disciples, meaning that the sect’s total numbers were several hundred thousand disciples.
In the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, it was normal for even an average clan to have tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of members.
Even the mountain hanging from the skyswings carried more than 10,000 people per trip, and yet they were sparsely scattered across the mountain’s surface.
Despite all of that, the Rift of Suffering, which was undoubtedly the most powerful faction in the North Domain, only had a bit more than 10,000 disciples. Their numbers were far too few.
Such numbers were not enough to make even a ripple in the vast Nine Odysseys Megaverse.
As the profound darkness spread out from between Ku Cheng’s hands to envelop his entire body, he brought his hands together again and again. Each time he spread his hands apart, another burst of darkness emerged. This repeated over and over, and by the eighth repetition, Ku Cheng’s entire body was completely enveloped by the deep blackness.
The space near the man twisted until it collapsed entirely.
Lu Yin continued to watch. It was like seeing a black hole devouring everything that approached it.
Ku Cheng’s eyes suddenly snapped open, and all of the darkness condensed. His hands slammed against the mountain. With a boom, the mountain shot away, as if it had just been thrown by a Morrow Behemoth.
Lu Yin’s eyebrows rose. The man had used about the same amount of force as the Morrow Behemoth. No, it was exactly the same amount of force. With too little force, the mountain would not be able to reach the West Domain, but too much would cause some of the mountain’s passengers to overshoot their destinations. Even a tiny discrepancy could result in a journey of months or even years for the passengers.
Ku Cheng clearly understood exactly the amount of force needed and had perfectly reproduced it. Was he simply being kind to the people on the mountain, or was he deliberately showing off for Lu Yin?
As the mountain flew away, the skyswings also disappeared from sight.
Only Ku Cheng and Lu Yin remained.
Ku Cheng let out a breath as the condensed darkness slowly faded around him. He turned to give Lu Yin a smile. “I must have made a fool of myself.”
Lu Yin praised the man, “Strength that rivals a Morrow Behemoth’s? Is that related to the Rift of Suffering’s cultivation method?”
Ku Cheng was not surprised that Lu Yin recognized him as someone from the Rift of Suffering. Their cultivation method was unique, and it stood out from the reset of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, which made it easily identifiable.