Er Gu stared at Lu Yin and stepped in front of Er Meng and the others. "Master Lu, please forgive us if we offended you."
Er Shan felt a chill all over his body. This man dominated this place. He could feel how terrifying the blood-red liquid and the Star Toad were. But this man had dealt with them all. He was indeed the Sect Master of the Above Heaven Sect. Even the extraterrestrials didn't dare to provoke him.
Lu Yin glanced at them. "I've heard about your deeds. You deserve to die."
Er Gu was vigilant. "Master Lu, cultivation is fighting against the heavens and everything in this world. We're just cultivators."
Lu Yin put his hands behind his back. "I don't plan to discuss this with you."
"You're unlucky to be involved in this war. I didn't let you leave the auction because what you did made me think that I could kill you all."
Er Gu and the others became more vigilant. Lu Yin gave them too much pressure.
"But now, I've changed my mind. Everyone has the right to live, and you're right. I have no obligation to avenge those who died at your hands. It's just the law of the jungle. However, since I'm strong and you're weak, I have the final say in your lives. There shouldn't be any surprises, right?"
Er Shan said, "Master Lu, we're at your disposal."
Lu Yin praised, "Smart guy, I heard that you have a strong sense of danger. You've been watching me during the auction. Since you knew it was dangerous, why didn't you run away when we entered the mirage?
You should know that if you followed me in, the chances of survival would be slim, especially you. "
Lu Yin looked at Er Gu. "I didn't notice you. You're here too."
Er Gu's voice was weak as if he was on the verge of death. "The five of us will live and die together."
Er Shan gritted his teeth. "No matter how dangerous this place is, my third brother was caught by you. We had to come in."
Er Gu said, "Master Lu, please let my third brother out."
"What if I say that your third brother is dead?" Lu Yin asked casually.
Er Gu and the others' expressions changed drastically. Their eyes suddenly became vicious as they stared at Lu Yin.
Er Shan clenched his fists. "Master Lu, please kill us. Otherwise, we'll avenge our third brother."
Second Meng and Second Violet both stared at Lu Yin with undisguised killing intent.
Lu Yin laughed. "Killing you is as easy as lifting a finger. There's no rush. Perhaps he's not dead yet."
They knew that their lives would be in this person's hands in the future. It was an unbearable feeling, but they had long since expected it.
They knew that the five of them would die one by one sooner or later.
Lu Yin looked at Second Purple, "Your innate gift is very unique."
Second Bone continued, "Fifth Sister's innate talent is Community of Destiny. In other words, as long as she fixes a person as her template, if that person doesn't die, we won't die either. If that person doesn't get injured, our injuries will also recover."
Lu Yin was astonished. "There's such a talent?
Does it work on anyone? "
Second Purple weakly replied, "Of course not. The greatest limitation of this innate gift is that it can only be used on a specific person. The first person I used it on was Eldest Brother. Soon after, Second Sister, Third Brother, Fourth Brother, and even myself were all targeted. It's very difficult to increase the number of targets."
Lu Yin understood, "No wonder they wanted to protect you even when they were about to die. You also entered the mirage at the last moment. As long as you're alive, they'll be alive. No wonder Second Life is so notorious, but you still haven't died."
The others looked at each other and saw the helplessness in each other's eyes. So what if they didn't die?
Becoming someone else's puppet was no different from death, but they had no other choice.
They had heard the conversation between Lu Yin and Startoad, and even Startoad had been forced not to speak of today's events. They knew then that they had no chance of freedom. They could either completely obey Lu Yin or die. There were only two options, and they didn't have the qualifications to bargain with Lu Yin.
Lu Yin had his uses for these people from Second Life.
These people had killed too many people, and even if they died, it wouldn't make up for anything. Besides, Lu Yin had no obligation to take revenge for others, especially strangers.
Since that was the case, having these people do things for him that were inconvenient for him or even for Elder Chan would be considered a contribution to the human race.
The Above Heaven shouldn't be like the Above Heaven in the past, completely exposed to everyone.
Back then, the Above Heaven had been extremely dazzling, and thousands of races had come to pay homage to it. However, because it had been too bright, it had been destroyed by the Eternals.
Right now, Lu Yin needed the Above Heaven to be dazzling on the surface, but he also needed a blade in the shadows.
Second Life was just the beginning, and he would continue to add hidden experts. He had already thought of his next target.
These hidden experts would have a title: Zong An.
Once they entered the mirage, they wouldn't be able to leave so quickly.
Previously, Lu Yin had regretted that he hadn't been able to cultivate Ruins' consciousness to the point where he could easily use it. Now, he could only hope that time would be able to heal the damage to his consciousness planet.
The Violet Emperor's consciousness had helped his consciousness planet recover quite a bit, but it still hadn't fully recovered, and it still needed time to heal.
After some time, Elder Dan Gu woke up. Although he hadn't died, his injuries had been too severe. The Royal Regent's power had severely injured Tianfa, which had shocked Lu Yin and the others, but it had also exceeded the limits of what Elder Dan Gu could unleash.
"From now on, the Heavenly Emperor Card is considered useless, and I can no longer use any of the statues' power. Otherwise, my fate would be even worse than today's," Elder Dan Gu said bitterly.
Lu Yin comforted him, "It's fine. Once we get out, I'll help you upgrade it to the level of an ancient card."
Elder Dan Gu's mouth fell open. Was it that easy?
He couldn't refute that.
Since when did ancient cards appear as easily as cabbages?
"But I'll say this in advance: you guys will pay for your own resources. The amount of resources I'll use to upgrade your Heavenly Emperor Card is equivalent to half of my wealth," Lu Yin reminded him.
Elder Dan Gu smiled and nodded.
"Then, Daolord, can you upgrade it to a higher level?"
Lu Yin glanced at Elder Dan Gu. "Yes."
Elder Dan Gu's eyes lit up.
"First of all, you have to prepare your own resources. There aren't many, and I'll start with a few quadrillions of star essence."
Elder Dan Gu was speechless. A few quadrillions was a number that made his heart tremble.
"Second of all, do you have any experts who can use this card?
If I'm not wrong, Elder Dan Gu, you'll never be able to step into the Primordial Realm. "Lu Yin's voice was bleak.
Elder Dan Gu couldn't even use the Heavenly Emperor Card, and even if he switched to Aurora, he wouldn't be able to fully unleash its power. Even if he could connect to the primordial universe and breathe in that breath, he wouldn't be able to withstand the third step into the Primordial Realm.
He had no fate with the Primordial Realm.
Elder Dan Gu didn't mind. "I know that I won't be able to step into the Primordial Realm. Actually, ever since I escaped to this spacetime, I knew that the Primordial Realm was out of my reach. But Daolord, you've given me another path. Although I'm not in the Primordial Realm, I can still unleash the power of one. Thank you, Daolord."
Lu Yin nodded. "Recuperate well. You still have to face the remaining three."
Divine Punishment was perhaps the strongest of the four protectors. After all, it represented the heavens, and it couldn't be done without some strength. At the very least, Lu Yin felt that Heaven's Grace paled in comparison to it. Even if the remaining three couldn't compare to Divine Punishment, they wouldn't be too far off. They were all in the Primordial Realm, and if the blood-red figure appeared again after they were killed, Lu Yin wouldn't know how to deal with it.
He had no idea how the crimson figure disappeared. He had only reversed time for one second. He knew how to reverse time for one second, and even knew how to deal with the crimson figure's attack. However, it was too difficult to do so. He only had the power of flowing light, which was beyond the river of time.
If the blood-red figure appeared again, he had no confidence in dealing with it.
This was the most troublesome part.
Second had just been released, and he was currently in a corner with Second Bone and the others. They had also obtained the grass, so they no longer feared the mist.
Hongyan Mavis had suffered quite a heavy blow. She had once been one of the peak powers of the universe, a legendary existence, yet she couldn't even block an enemy's attack now.
She had finally seen the most deeply hidden existence of the universe.
"Little Seven, do you think the ones who attacked Master were really the Protectors of the Four Directions?"
After staying in the mirage for a while, Hongyan Mavis found Lu Yin and asked about it. Her injuries would recover in the mirage.
Lu Yin's gaze was complicated. They could surround and kill Divine Punishment, but with the Progenitor's strength, would the Protectors of the Four Directions be enough to deal with him?
Not necessarily.
Even the current Above the Heavens had the strength to directly face the Protectors of the Four Directions, let alone when the Three Realms and Six Paths had been glorious. Back then, even if the Three Realms and Six Paths hadn't acted, the strongest existences in the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas should have been able to fight against the Protectors of the Four Directions, such as Progenitor Chen and the Desolate Ancestor.
There should have been experts like Progenitor Chen back then.
However, the Progenitor had mysteriously disappeared, and the First Continent had been destroyed. This was a mystery of that era, and it remained a mystery even now.
Lu Yin had met the Progenitor, but he hadn't told him the reason.
It wasn't until Black Wushen told Lu Yin that the Protectors of the Four Directions had surrounded the Progenitor.
But was that really the case?
Lu Yin felt that things weren't that simple.
"Senior, don't think too much about it. Let's take it one step at a time. After I lost my memories, I went from an ordinary person to where I am today. I used to think that the Frostwave Weave was huge, that the Outerverse was huge, that the Innerverse was huge, and that the entire Fifth Continent was huge.
"But with every step I took, these worlds were surpassed. Now, we might think that these countless parallel spacetimes are huge, but there will come a day when we won't think so anymore.
"That day is very close. I feel like we've touched upon the deepest secret of this universe."
Hongyan Mavis didn't say anything else. She wanted to break through to the Primordial Realm, and only then would she be able to face that existence.
Her master had once warned them not to break through to the Primordial Realm unless it was absolutely necessary. Now, Hongyan Mavis felt that it was time.
That blood-red figure had caused her to feel an indescribable panic. It wasn't fear, but the helplessness of seeing an unbelievable secret. This was something that could only be suppressed with strength.
She would break through to the Primordial Realm.