Lu Yin glared at Shao Yin, openly angry. "Senior, if you had held the Ice Lord back for even a short while, I could have stolen the complete Iceheart! Instead, I only barely managed to grab a piece of it, as I was discovered and had no choice but to break it. There was no way to get the entire thing. If you had just stalled for a few moments more, I would have had it, but you had to give up and run away! You abandoned Qi You, the old woman, and even me! "
Shao Yin stared at Ye Bo. How was this possible? Ye Bo had gone after the Ice Lord, so how could he have possibly stolen the Iceheart? The Iceheart had clearly been in the Ice Spirit Domain.
Shao Yin understood that it was not truly impossible. Given Ye Bo’s strength, as long as he was not frozen, he could have almost instantly entered the Ice Spirit Domain. On top of that, it would have taken very little time for him to steal the Iceheart and escape. Was it possible to have done all that? It was true that Ye Bo’s arm had been frozen, and he had brought back a piece of the Iceheart, but what was really going on? Something felt off about the entire matter.
Shao Yin wanted to carefully go over his own experience and Ye Bo’s story, but at that moment, Progenitor Xi spoke up. "Shao Yin, why was Ye Bo sent to distract the Ice Lord?"
Shao Yin's expression suddenly changed.
Lu Yin shouted, "That’s right! You clearly said that I would be the one to steal the Iceheart, so why did I end up having to distract the Ice Lord? Answer me!"
Shao Yin took a deep breath. He completely ignored Ye Bo and gave Progenitor Xi his full attention. "The Iceheart contains sequence particles, which meant that I was the only participant in the mission who could touch it."
As he spoke, he looked at Lu Yin. "When you touched the Iceheart, your arm was frozen. You can see what happened."
"Then why didn't you warn me from the beginning? That way I could have been prepared. Even if I died, I could have helped you hold off the Ice Lord for a bit and avoided being instantly frozen," Lu Yin snapped back.
Ye Bo was a True God Guard Captain, but Shao Yin’s actions meant that he had been willing to sacrifice one of those captains. This would not be easy to explain to Aeternus.
Progenitor Xi's eyes grew cold. "Shao Yin, you already knew that a True God Guard Captain did not need to cooperate with you or go on this mission, and yet you were still willing to allow him to die during the mission."
Shao Yin wanted to protest, but he could say nothing.
"In the end, he was the one to complete the mission and return alive. Ye Bo, did you ever use your divine energy?" Progenitor Xi asked.
Lu Yin quickly replied, "No."
Shao Yin frowned. "How could you have stolen the Iceheart from under the Ice Lord’s eyes without using divine energy?"
Ye Bo retorted, "You never even asked me where I, Ye Bo, am from."
Shao Yin became confused.
Progenitor Xi calmly stated, "Ye Bo is from the Origin Universe. He killed Progenitors there under the eyes of the Lu family and the four ruling powers. No one was ever able to catch him. In that universe, he is just as infamous as your Sixverse Association’s Cheng Kong. He has the ability to steal the Iceheart."
Shao Yin's expression changed drastically. The Origin Universe? The man stared at Lu Yin for a long moment. This explained a great deal. For someone to become as famous as Cheng Kong in that universe, he had to have the ability to steal the Iceheart.
If Shao Yin had known about this in advance, his plan would have been quite different. If he had tasked Ye Bo with stealing the Iceheart, the mission would not have been nearly so difficult.
This realization made Shao Yin feel extremely regretful.
Progenitor Xi turned back to Ye Bo. "What about the other two?"
Lu Yin sighed. "Dead. I watched them freeze and their bodies shatter. They died frustrated and hating Senior Shao Yin."
The man’s face twitched yet again.
Progenitor Xi remained unfazed. “Good. That means that the Ice Spirit Tribe has no idea that Aeternus was behind this attack, correct?”
Shao Yin stared at Lu Yin, as only Ye Bo could answer this question.
Lu Yin replied, "I can’t say for certain, as there might be a spy within Aeternus."
Progenitor Xi gave a small smile. "There is absolutely no chance of there being any spies among the Aeternals. In that case, this mission has been completed. While the entire Iceheart was not stolen, breaking the Iceheart is even more likely to rouse the Ice Spirit Tribe’s anger. Ye Bo, well done. "
Lu Yin bowed. "I was lucky."
Progenitor Xi then turned back to Shao Yin. "This mission’s success has nothing to do with you. On top of that, you will be punished for your actions. Do you have any objections?"
Shao Yin was unwilling to back down. He was striving for the available position of one of the Seven Skygods. How could he not object to being punished?
Still, there was no denying that he had made a mistake on the mission.
This thought caused Shao Yin to glare at Ye Bo again before turning around and leaving.
Lu Yin stared at Shao Yin’s back with cold eyes.
"Given his high status within Aeternus, I can't really punish him. At best, I can prevent him from receiving credit for this mission’s success. I hope that you don't mind," Progenitor Xi spoke softly as she looked at Ye Bo
Lu Yin replied, "I don't mind, but I refuse to work with such a person ever again. If I do, I won’t even know how I died."
Progenitor Xi’s slight smile never wavered. "I never intended for you to cooperate with him. The True God Guard Captains don’t need to follow that man’s orders."
Lu Yin’s voice turned bitter. "Yes I followed him of my own will.
"Senior Progenitor Xi, what was the point of this mission?"
Progenitor Xi looked at Ye Bo. "Since you performed so well, I can give you some details regarding this mission…"
Progenitor Xi then shared some details concerning the Five Spirits Alliance, the Lord of Lightning, and the Luna Alliance. Lu Yin had already heard this information before, but he made a point of appearing surprised when he heard all this.
"While it appears that the Lord of Lightning has no connection to your universe, when Yu Huo and a few others attacked the Heavens Sect, one of the Lord of Lightning’s people showed up to save them. If not for that, the Heavens Sect would have suffered heavy losses."
Lu Yin's eyes flared. "The Lord of Lightning helped the Heavens Sect?"
Progenitor Xi nodded.
Lu Yin’s voice turned cold. "Then I did the right thing this time. Let the Five Spirits Alliance fight the Luna Alliance to the death and destroy the Lord of Lightning’s strength. This will prevent the Heavens Sect from ever receiving outside help again."
"That was the entire purpose of this mission. Once the True God emerges from seclusion, he will destroy the Origin Universe and the entire Sixverse Association. We must make it very difficult for outsiders like the Lord of Lightning to intervene, which is why our current task is to remove as many of the Sixverse Association’s allies as possible. This mission will permanently weaken both the Five Spirits Alliance and the Luna Alliance, as they will go to war. This will create an opportunity for us," Progenitor Xi continued to explain.
Oh? That was not all. Lu Yin remembered when Ju Ji had attacked Earth. The Aeternals had suddenly attacked the Five Spirits Alliance, which was an indirect attack on the Lord of Lightning. It seemed clear that they were after the three treasures that were in the Lord of Lightning's possession.
After understanding the purpose behind the mission, Lu Yin asked Progenitor Xi for more missions of the same kind. However, Ye Bo was told to first recover. It would take some time to recuperate from his frozen arm, and Progenitor Xi preferred Ye Bo to be at his full capabilities.
In a flash, half a year passed. During this time, Ye Bo had not been assigned any missions. Lu Yin was eager to receive a mission in the Origin Universe, but Progenitor Xi never sought him out, and Ye Bo could not chase after Progenitor Xi, as it would make him appear too eager.
During this half year, Lu Yin spent most of his time absorbing divine energy. The star of divine energy in the universe within Lu Yin had grown multiple sizes larger. It was still far smaller than the other stars, but it was quickly catching up.