Wu Yao's gaze was sinister, and he had a strange smile on his face as he looked at Xia Ziheng. "How can the Frozen Immortal Sect not show up?"
Xia Ziheng frowned. "The Xia family didn't invite you. They invited the Sect Master of the Frozen Immortal Sect. Even if someone came, it should be Baisu."
"Hahaha, it's the same no matter who comes." Another voice rang out. It was the Wang family's Half-Ancestor Chai.
After Lu Yin completed the Realm Beyond Heaven trial, the Frozen Immortal Sect and the Xia family weren't the only ones vying for him. The Wang family and the White Dragon Clan were also vying for him.
Xia Ziheng's heart sank. Half-Ancestors had arrived one after another to monitor the Xia family. Unless an ancestor came, nothing could be hidden from them. These fellows were really troublesome.
The Food God suddenly looked in a certain direction, his eyes filled with killing intent. The newcomer was Sir Yu.
Sir Yu's appearance surprised Lu Yin. After all, Sir Yu's enmity with the Food God was too deep. Sir Yu's arrival would only harm Lu Yin by persuading him to join the White Dragon Clan.
Xia Ziheng was astonished when he saw Sir Yu. "You're the Half-Ancestor that the White Dragon Clan has been hiding?"
Sir Yu smiled. "I like to go into seclusion. Perhaps that's why everyone misunderstood."
Wu Yao put on a fake smile. "Sir Yu, I know who you are. Aren't you afraid that the Food God will kill you?"
Half-Ancestor Chai added, "I remember now. So it's you. You're ruthless enough to show up."
Sir Yu's smile was natural, even when he was facing the Food God. "I had a fair chance to fight with Master, so he won't do anything to me. Right, Master?"
The Food God looked deeply at Sir Yu. "You won't live for long."
"It's my honor to die at Master's hands." He then looked at Lu Yin. "Mister Hao Yu, are you interested in joining the White Dragon Clan?
The Dragon Ancestor has said that if you become his disciple, you can use all the resources of the White Dragon Clan as you wish. "
"Sir Yu, this is Shenwu Heaven!" Xia Ziheng shouted.
Sir Yu didn't mind, and he smiled at Lu Yin once more.
"Mister Haoyu, my Wang Clan sincerely invites you to join us. Compared to the Divine Martial Heaven, my Wang Clan is much better. I'm afraid that I'll trip on my feet just by walking here," said Half-Ancestor Chai.
Xia Ziheng was furious. "Haoyu is the son-in-law of the Divine Martial Plane, and he'll only stay there. Don't waste your time." He then led the group from Memory Virtue Academy into the Divine Martial Plane.
Originally, the main focus of Yi Xian Academy's training exercise should have been the students. This training exercise was supposed to be a process where the Four Balance Scales would divide up the students and allocate the slots for the Mountain Sea Realm. However, because of Lu Yin's repeated outbursts and astonishing actions, everyone's attention was now focused on him. They no longer cared about the students.
This was especially true for the White Dragon Tribe, as they knew that it was impossible for them to obtain those students. Young Master Yu continuously offered all sorts of conditions to try and rope in Lu Yin, completely ignoring the fact that Xia Ziheng was nearby. Even Half-Ancestor Chai and Wu Yao were pretending to try and rope in Lu Yin. Xia Ziheng wanted nothing more than to activate his sourcebox array and throw all of these people out of Shenwu Plane.
He was not confident that he could keep Yu Hao here, as it was normal for cultivators to be emotionless. Could Yuchuan really keep Yu Hao here?
He was not confident either, especially since the conditions that these fellows were offering were too generous. Especially Young Master Yu, who had even said that the Dragon Ancestor wanted to take in a disciple. Even Xia Ziheng himself wanted to join as long as the Dragon Ancestor was willing to accept him.
After entering Shenwu Plane, Lu Yin's group was welcomed by Xia Xing. Xia Xing's main body.
Many of the students were shocked to see Xia Xing.
They had all thought that Xia Xing had gone missing.
Not everyone knew that Xia Xing had only lost one of her clones.
Lu Yin also expressed his dissatisfaction. "Half-Ancestor Ziheng, you said that Sect Master Xia Xing went missing, so only you can guarantee that. What's going on now?"
Xia Ziheng replied, "Sect Master cultivated nine clones, and this is only one of them. Don't worry, once you come to Shenwu Plane, the one who can guarantee you is the Sect Master himself."
Lu Yin did not say anything else.
Xia Xing welcomed the group from Memory Virtue Academy into Shenwu Plane. She glanced at Lu Yin and had someone arrange for their accommodations. She then found Xia Ziheng and asked him about the clones.
Xia Ziheng shook his head. "I've tried, but that's the Frigid Immortal Sect. That old bastard Wu Yao has been keeping an eye on Yu Hao, so I can't give him the chance to take Yu Hao away."
Xia Xing continued, "Although I can only sense the direction, I'm ninety percent sure that it's the Frigid Immortal Sect. Aside from them, no one else has acted."
"Through Token Master Lan, we've confirmed that it was the Forgotten Ruins Deity who acted, which is why we gathered the people from the Star Alliance together to lure him out. But now, you've confirmed that it was the Frigid Immortal Sect. Who could it be?"
Xia Ziheng asked. He had thought about this for a long time. If the Forgotten Ruins Deity had acted, then Xia Xing's clone could not have been in the Frigid Immortal Sect.
Xia Xing was also conflicted. "Either it's a coincidence that my clone is in the Frigid Immortal Sect's direction, or …" He paused and looked at Xia Ziheng. "Someone in the Frigid Immortal Sect is colluding with the Forgotten Ruins Deity and hiding my clone in the Frigid Immortal Sect. On one hand, they're luring us into attacking the Frigid Immortal Sect, but on the other hand, they're trying to take away the Star Alliance."
"That's possible," Xia Ziheng said.
"How's Yu Hao?"
Xia Xing asked.
Xia Ziheng felt a headache coming on. "Those fellows are constantly trying to tempt him. I'm afraid that Yu Chuan alone won't be enough to keep him here."
"I'll talk to him," Xia Xing said.
Xia Xing's status in Shenwu Plane was completely different from Bai Teng's status in the Frigid Immortal Sect. He was like Wang Zheng, a direct descendant, and even Xia Ziheng had to listen to him. This was why Lu Yin had asked Xia Xing to give him a guarantee.
Xia Xing's guarantee was even more useful than Xia Ziheng's.
Shenwu Plane's architecture was simple and desolate, and there was no beautiful environment unless one built one's own.
For example, they had arranged a valley for Lu Yin, and it was said that the valley's previous owner had been a legitimate daughter of Shenwu Plane. She had built this place to be magnificent, and there was even a crescent moon in the sky that gave off a halo.
Wu Yao and the other Half-Ancestors surrounded Lu Yin. No matter where Shenwu Plane had arranged for them to stay, they all ran around the valley, one on each side. It was as if they had come to an agreement beforehand. Xia Ziheng gritted his teeth at these shameless people.
Lu Yin felt a headache coming on, as he was surrounded by several Half-Ancestors. Unless he asked the Fog Ancestor to protect him, he wouldn't be able to roll his die. Fortunately, he still had the Fog Ancestor.
However, he still had to wait for close to ten days before he could roll his die. Lu Yin estimated that he wouldn't have an easy time during these ten days, as these Half-Ancestors would annoy him to death.
The first person to come looking for him was Xia Xing, and Lu Yin had been waiting for this person for a long time.
"Long time no see, Yu Hao," Xia Xing said when he saw Lu Yin. There was a strange look in his eyes, as well as confusion. He still couldn't understand how a piece of trash could have changed so much in just a few decades.
He could still understand the Lockbreaking Dao, as Lu Yin was Gu Yan's disciple. Even if Lu Yin's cultivation was extraordinarily high and surpassed everyone in his generation, including the Fourth Young Ancestor, he could still accept it. There was no lack of strange geniuses in human history, but someone who could complete the Frigid Immortal Sect's trial in Heaven's Beyond? That was ridiculous.
Lockbreaking, cultivation, and the Grandmaster's Trial. Any one of these would be enough to draw the Four Cardinal Scales to their side, and Yu Hao actually had all three. Xia Xing had lived for a long time, but he never thought that such a person could appear in this world.
Even the Xia family's taboo, Xia Shang, was only unparalleled in the universe in terms of cultivation and battle prowess. He didn't know much about lockbreaking. No matter how one looked at it, this Yu Hao was perfect.
Before leaving Yi Xian Academy, Lu Yin had sought out Xia Taili and found out that Yu Hao had never spoken to Xia Xing before. He had only seen him from afar, and Xia Xing hadn't even opened his eyes to look at him. Thus, he wouldn't reveal anything to Xia Xing.
"Sect Master, you didn't expect to see me again, did you?" Lu Yin asked calmly.
Xia Xing looked at Lu Yin. "Indeed, I didn't. A person's life needs to be worth something. In the past, you had no value, so no one cared about you. Now, you have value, and you're worth enough to make my Shenwu Plane pay you a huge amount of resources. You even have the qualifications to make demands, so I came to see you."
Lu Yin sneered. "Sect Master, aren't you afraid that I'll get angry and join the other three families?"
Xia Xing clasped his hands behind his back. "The fact that you've cultivated to this level means that you've changed. You know what you want and what you should want. You should also know that Shenwu Plane is your only path."
If Xia Ziheng had spoken to Lu Yin alone, Wu Yao and the others would have definitely tried to cause trouble. However, the person who had spoken to Lu Yin was Xia Xing, the head of the Xia family. They didn't dare to be so impudent in Shenwu Plane.
Lu Yin's eyes narrowed. "Sect Master, are you threatening me?"
Xia Xing was calm. "You can say that. You're the son-in-law of Shenwu Plane. If you join another power, what will happen to the Xia family's face?
What will happen to Shenwu Plane's face?
Sometimes, face is more important than benefits. "
When Lu Yin didn't respond, Xia Xing's tone became more tactful. "What conditions did the Frigid Immortal Sect give you?
This is your current value. Xia Zhitong and the others can be handed over to you in front of everyone after the ancestral ceremony. You can do whatever you want with them. "
Lu Yin's eyes widened, as he had overlooked something. Xia Ziheng had previously agreed to hand over Xia Zhitong and the others to Lu Yin. Lu Yin had only seen how important Shenwu Plane was to him, and how cold and cruel the Xia family was. Now that he thought about it, wasn't this just a show for the Astral Tree?
They wanted to tell the Astral Tree that as long as they had the ability, even the Xia family would be sacrificed, and those who joined Shenwu Plane would be given the best treatment.
Lu Yin looked deeply at Xia Xing. If he executed Xia Zhitong and the others in front of everyone, it wouldn't hurt Shenwu Plane's reputation. After all, he was only an Emissary, and outsiders wouldn't think that Shenwu Plane had given in. They would only think that Shenwu Plane cherished talent and was willing to sacrifice a branch family member for Lu Yin.
This was Shenwu Plane.
Lu Yin now understood the Fog Ancestor's words. No wonder the Fog Ancestor had mocked Shenwu Plane. Shenwu Plane's attitude towards the branch family members was extremely bad. The branch family members were just pawns, which was why Progenitor Chen's parents had died. Even if Progenitor Chen's cultivation talent was extremely high, he still wasn't recognized.
In the eyes of the Xia family's direct descendants, cultivators with different surnames could be roped in at any price, but cultivators from the branch family had to be suppressed.
"How many?"
Lu Yin asked.
Xia Xing looked up. "Twelve."
"That's too few." Lu Yin was cold.
Xia Xing asked, "How many do you want?"
Lu Yin looked at Xia Xing. "Can the Xia family give me as many as I want?"
"Yuhao, Shenwu Plane won't allow another Progenitor Chen to appear," Xia Xing said.