After returning to the three universes, Lu Yin told Qinglian Shangyu and the others about Xiang City, but no one could verify anything. The only ones who knew were Red Hero and the others, but how could Lu Yin ask Red Hero?
Right.
There were also unknown rewards.
Lu Yin had specifically asked Eight Colors about Xiang City, but he didn't know anything about it.
Lu Yin could only figure it out himself.
Qinglian Shangyu and the others wanted to enter Xiang City, but Lu Yin couldn't stop them. He didn't want anything to happen to them inside.
If humans didn't even dare to try it themselves, how could they control it?
Lu Yin didn't have any selfish intentions of controlling Xiang City. If Qinglian Shangyu and the others could control it, it would be beneficial for humanity.
But entering Xiang City was also dangerous.
"It's okay. You can save us after you control Xiang City. Don't worry, we're not going in together. We'll do it one by one," Qinglian Shangyu said.
Lu Yin could only agree and take them into Xiang City one by one.
Qinglian Shangyu didn't come out until half a year later. Qinglian Shangyu didn't come out, not because he was afraid, but because human civilization couldn't afford to lose him.
Even though the possibility wasn't high.
In fact, it was often unfair to Qinglian Shangyu. Whether it was going to the Core or entering Xiang City, Qinglian Shangyu couldn't do either.
The only thing he could do was guard the three universes.
As an Eternal Realm, he was deprived of his freedom.
Master Ku Deng and Jiang Feng went in.
Mister Mu didn't go in.
He already had control of the Ninth Stronghold's Treasure.
Lu Yin was glad that Master Ku Deng was here.
Jiang Feng and the others came out.
Especially Jiang Feng, who had turned into an ant. With Lu Yin as an example, he had a smooth time and quickly found the city gate.
Lu Yin and Jiang Feng were actually very similar.
As for what Qinglian Shangyu and Qinglian Shangyu had turned into, they didn't say.
Lu Yin asked, but they didn't say anything. Lu Yin suddenly thought of that slipper.
Master Ku Deng had turned into a candle. Should it be considered an accident?
It wasn't. The world he couldn't see was the Mind Lamp, but candles were easily exposed. No candle could burn for an entire night, so Master Ku Deng ran away after the candle went out at night.
He rushed to the city gate in the middle of the night.
Fortunately, there was only one street in Xiang City. Lu Yin and Qinglian Shangyu confirmed the direction, or Master Ku Deng might not have been able to come out.
They didn't want to go back in again.
Ba Yue.
They still couldn't come out.
A hundred years passed.
Over the past hundred years, Lu Yin had built his mental walls and deduced his Mirrorlight Technique. He had entered Xiang City once, but this time, he had been even closer to the city gates.
That time, he went in mainly to look for other creatures.
Since Clear was trying to take control of Xiang City, he wouldn't just put one or two species inside. Whether it was species or cultivation level, there would definitely be all kinds of species inside. For example, Eternal Realm experts.
If an Eternal Life Realm expert was thrown into Xiang City by Che, then that Eternal Life Realm expert must have a certain understanding of Che. Perhaps through this, they could see some of Che's situation.
Even though the chances are very low.
There was nothing they could do about it. Before they were strong enough, they had to learn as much as they could. If they hadn't learned about Red Hero's strength early on, they would have been at a disadvantage.
As for controlling Xiang City, he had no clue at all.
There was no rush. He could take it slow. It was not easy to control a Turbid Artifact unless he obtained the inheritance from the fifth stronghold and knew exactly how to do it.
Several years later, Ba Yue returned.
Lu Yin visited Xiang City once every five years, and this time, he saw Ba Yue.
Ba Yue stood outside Xiang City, waiting for him.
"You're finally out. What happened?" Lu Yin asked.
When Ba Yue saw Lu Yin, there was still some lingering fear on her face. "I turned into a vine and almost died inside."
Lu Yin raised a brow. Vine?
That really wasn't easy.
"What happened?
Tell me in detail. "
In the past hundred years, Ba Yue had been in Xiang City the longest.
Ba Yue recalled, "I turned into a vine as soon as I entered and clung to the wall of a poor family …"
Ba Yue spoke bitterly, as she had almost been burned several times. "There was one time when I caught fire, but it wasn't man-made. It was just a coincidence. Fortunately, a small dog passed by and extinguished the flames. I was very close to death that time, and I felt like my body was burning."
"That dog was a creature, right?" Lu Yin asked.
Ba Yue nodded. "I communicated with it, but it didn't know how to escape from the city. I told it that it just needed to stick to the city gates, and it cried. It cried so hard that it felt like its heart was being torn apart. A long time ago, it wanted to leave through the city gates, but when it got there, it realized that the gates were closed. It was only ten meters away from the gates, but it was chased down and beaten black and blue. It could have escaped that time."
How sad. It had suffered too much without knowing the rules.
Lu Yin could already imagine how that puppy had managed to survive in Xiang City.
Although the dog was bigger than an ant, it was still no match for an ant in Xiang City. It was chased and beaten everywhere, and it was even eaten as dog meat.
"Wait, where's that dog?" Lu Yin suddenly thought of something.
Ba Yue shook her head. "I haven't seen it again."
Lu Yin's eyes flickered. That dog had probably left Xiang City before Ba Yue, so where was it now?
Because he was afraid of Clear and the dangers of the Core Space, he had not allowed anyone to guard Xiang City. If that dog had left, no one would know.
Xiang City was too far away from the three universes, and he could not keep an eye on it at all times. Eternal Realm cultivators were fine, but it was not as if they had nothing to do.
"Do you know what kind of creature that dog was?"
"I don't know."
"You didn't make a mistake turning into a vine." Lu Yin rubbed his head.
Ba Yue wanted to retort, but her experience in Xiang City made her unable to do so.
"Do you know that the dog might be an Eternal Realm cultivator?"
"How can there be so many Eternal Realms?"
"Then tell me, how long has it been since it left Xiang City?"
Ba Yue thought about it. "More than ten years."
Lu Yin stared at her. "More than ten years. Even an Eternal Realm cultivator cannot escape my sight, let alone a non-Eternal Realm cultivator. But where is it?"
Ba Yue was speechless.
"Do you know that Xiang City will be exposed if an Eternal Realm cultivator escapes? What if it belongs to a fishing civilization?"
"It can't be that coincidental."
"What if it is?"
Ba Yue said, "Maybe it didn't come out at all."
Lu Yin snorted. "You're giving me trouble."
Ba Yue fell silent.
"You rejected my offer to enter Xiang City, and now you're giving me trouble again. What do you think I should do?" Lu Yin said coldly.
Ba Yue looked at Lu Yin. "Just tell me what you want."
Lu Yin placed a hand on Ba Yue's shoulder and brought her back to the Tian Yuan Universe. "Enter the Mirage Domain and explore the forbidden areas. Find Hong Shuang for me."
Ba Yue was shocked. "What did you say?
Hong Shuang? "
Lu Yin said, "The second stronghold's master, Hong Shuang, might be in one of the forbidden areas in the Mirage Domain. I need you to find her."
Ba Yue could not believe it. "Hong Shuang is still alive?"
"I don't know if she's still alive. I need you to tell me," Lu Yin said solemnly.
Ba Yue stared at Lu Yin, dumbfounded. Hong Shuang was someone from the same era as Red Hero. She should have been the second stronghold's master who had been betrayed by Red Hero. Such an existence should have been lost in the river of time.
"Why me?"
"Although you don't cultivate the Heartless Path, you're an Underworld Red Coat, so you're suitable for the search."
"I don't have to be an Underworld Red Coat to find her, do I?"
Lu Yin looked deeply at Ba Yue. "You've caused trouble for me and disobeyed my orders. You're not even willing to find your own stronghold's master. Do you think there's any meaning in keeping someone like you around?"
Ba Yue said in a low voice, "I'm an Eternal Realm. I can protect humanity without hesitation."
"Then go find Hong Shuang. If you find her, you'll have a way to deal with Red Hero. Otherwise, we can only watch as Red Hero continues to live. As a member of the second stronghold, you have an obligation to eliminate him," Lu Yin said.
Ba Yue wanted to refuse, but she could not do so and was brought into the Mirage Domain by Lu Yin.
There was more than one forbidden area in the Mirage Domain. However, other than the forbidden area where one comprehended karma and the forbidden area where Fate had met Maiden, they had not entered the other forbidden areas.
It was the Progenitor's reminder. Now, the more he understood the Mirage Domain, the more he feared these forbidden areas.
The forbidden area had buried Hong Shuang and had an opportunity to achieve immortality. It allowed one to comprehend karma, but Lu Yin did not know what else was in there.
It might be beneficial or harmful to human civilization.
He could only let Ba Yue explore it first.
He remembered the forbidden area that Hong Shuang had entered.
Ba Yue did not know why Lu Yin and the others were afraid of the forbidden area, but the words "forbidden area" were enough to explain everything. However, she had no choice but to enter.
Lu Yin watched as Ba Yue entered, hoping to obtain information about Hong Shuang from there.
The Turbid Red Umbrella of the second stronghold had been lost. It would be great if Ba Yue could bring it back.
Time passed in the Mirage Domain. After a long time, Ba Yue could not help but walk out. She met Lu Yin's gaze with a blank expression.
Lu Yin knew there was no hope for her.
"I didn't find Hong Shuang."
"That's not surprising. What's inside?"
Ba Yue thought for a moment. "It's a red world. It seems like I've entered the world of the Heartless Path. I don't cultivate the Heartless Path, so I came out after walking around inside."
"You only walked around?" Lu Yin was surprised.
Ba Yue nodded.
Lu Yin asked, "How much time has passed in your sense of time?"
Ba Yue thought for a moment. "A day?
Or maybe three days. "
Lu Yin looked at the forbidden area. No, Ba Yue had been in there for a long time. How could she blur her sense of time?
However, this was the Mirage Domain, and the River of Time was right next to it. Time should not exist. The time they sensed in the Mirage Domain actually came from the main River of Time. Now, the time in the forbidden area was blurry, so it definitely came from the main River of Time.
Ba Yue was sure that there was the Heartless Path in this forbidden area. This meant that the red-clothed girl was indeed Hong Shuang.
Could Hong Shuang's power be connected to the main River of Time?
As the second stronghold's stronghold master, it was not impossible for her to do that.
The Shang Yu of the Blood Tower wanted to touch the Master River of Time even in his dreams. Among all the creatures he knew, there was only one old man who could guide the Master River of Time. If Hong Shuang could do the same, then this forbidden land might not be a forbidden land.
If Ba Yue was not in danger, then he should not be in danger either.
Lu Yin walked towards the forbidden area and brought Ba Yue with him. There was no other reason than to lead the way.