Suddenly, Bai Shui froze; a pair of eyes at the bottom of the pond opened and met her gaze. Bai Shui was stunned and collapsed. 

Elder Jiu Shen was the first to realize what had happened, and he reflexively looked at the bottom of the pond. He also saw the pair of eyes, and he was similarly stunned. Clouds of spiritual force appeared around him, and they all erupted at the same time. 

The eruption of ten clouds of spiritual force unleashed an attack comparable to what Yuan Shi was capable of, meaning that it had reached a power level of a million. The number of runes continued to increase as this was not actually a battle technique, but rather a sourcebox array.  

Lu Yin immediately erased some of the runes. 

Elder Jiu Shen was injured by the spiritual force from the sourcebox array, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. He had already been heavily injured on Mount Punishment, and this new attack pushed him to the brink of collapse. He managed to manifest 10,000 stars and retreated just in time with Lu Yin. 

A man stepped out of the pond. His eyes were icy, and he looked determined. He was very handsome, and his white and black hair reached all the way down to his ankles, though there was a streak of gray in the middle of his head. 

Lu Yin’s gaze grew sharp; this man was a Nightking.

Elder Jiu Shen immediately pushed Lu Yin backwards. “Run, boy!”

Lu Yin was thrown into the distance, but the Nightking also disappeared. Lu Yin felt confused; who was this man? He had not entered the Celestial Frost Sect with everyone else, and it seemed that this man had been in the Celestial Frost Pond for a long time. He had to be a hidden powerhouse of the Nightking clan.

This man had to be the reason why Nightking Dijiang had fled into the ruins! The patriarch had not been trying to protect himself with the ruins, but rather trying to reach this man. This man was Nightking Dijiang’s hidden trump card. Since this man had been able to injure Elder Jiu Shen with a sourcebox array, then he had to be at least as strong as Elder Jiu Shen, or possibly even stronger. 

Who was he? 

Blood leaked out of the corner of Elder Jiu Shen’s mouth as he manifested another 10,000 stars to form a Celestial Sword.

The Nightking was startled. “The Celestial Sword? If I remember correctly, you must be Elder Jiu Shen. It’s been a very long time since I’ve last seen you.”

Elder Jiu Shen hesitated and stared at the man in shock. “You know me?”

The man smirked before suddenly disappearing. Elder Jiu Shen spun around, but he only saw cracks in the sky. The man was chasing after Lu Yin.

Lu Yin had finally managed to gain control of himself, and he had just passed Mount Punishment. He was only a short distance from the exit, and he would soon leave the ruins. But how was Elder Jiu Shen doing? 

“Are you worried about Elder Jiu Shen?” A voice rang out.

Goosebumps covered Lu Yin’s body as he slowly turned around to see the Nightking with ankle-length hair. Lu Yin clenched his fists and was just about to take out the Chief Justice’s bell when he remembered that he had given it to Liu Ye and Fei Hua.

“Who are you?” Lu Yin asked.

Many of the people in the ruins, including even Wen Sansi, looked up to see Lu Yin and the man standing high in the sky.

Even though most people were reluctant to admit it, all of them would have to agree that Lu Yin was the master of the Celestial Frost Sect’s ruins.

However, despite what others thought, Lu Yin felt incredibly threatened by the man in front of him. This was the same feeling that he had suffered when he had been chased through the Perennial World. 

Elder Jiu Shen emerged from the true universe and stood next to Lu Yin. “I remember now: you’re the Second Nightking.” 

Lu Yin was stunned. “The Second Nightking?”

The man laughed and turned to Elder Jiu Shen. “It’s been so long since we met in the Neoverse. I still remember that battle very clearly.”

Elder Jiu Shen’s eyes narrowed, and he solemnly replied, “I didn’t expect you to still be alive.”

The Second Nightking laughed again. “I was lucky.”

He then looked at Lu Yin. “Why are you protecting this boy? Who is he?”

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered; did this man not know what had happened in the outside world?

Elder Jiu Shen was about to answer when the Second Nightking looked past the ruins.

Lu Yin immediately shouted, “Elder, attack! He’s already noticed what’s happened to the Daynight clan!”

The Second Nightking coldly asked, “Who dared to destroy the Daynight clan’s ancestral grounds?”

Elder Jiu Shen formed a Celestial Sword and slashed it at the Second Nightking.

The Second Nightking turned around. “Back then, you people from the Neoverse killed the First Nightking in order to stop the Daynight clan from entering the Neoverse. Do you intend to completely destroy the Daynight clan now?”

He pointed a finger, and Lu Yin’s pupils shrank: Nightking Advent Immortal Finger.

Nightking Dijiang watched in delight from within the Celestial Frost Sect’s great hall. He had already noticed the Second Nightking. Their ancestor was still alive! This meant that the Daynight clan would be fine. 

The finger struck the Celestial Sword, but there was no massive collision, as the two experts did not dare to create any large disturbances within the Celestial Frost Sect’s ruins.

The stars coalesced into the Celestial Sword one by one. However, an icy breeze suddenly swept by and froze the sword. 

Elder Jiu Shen exclaimed, “Water from the Celestial Frost Pond?”

Lu Yin became worried. The Daynight clan’s Nightking Advent Immortal Finger was a copy of the Celestial Frost Sect’s Celestial Being Shows The Way, and the Second Nightking had been cultivating within the Celestial Frost Pond for a long time. His attack was nearly identical to the true Celestial Being Shows The Way, and the man was even able to use the pond water to freeze opposing attacks. There was absolutely no way that Elder Jiu Shen would be able to withstand such an attack given his previous injuries.

The Celestial Sword shattered with a clang as nine lined battle force appeared around the Second Nightking’s finger. His finger struck Elder Jiu Shen and froze the man.

“Back then, I was not your opponent, and not even the First Nightking could compare to you. However, I have been training in that pond for many years, and you’re already heavily injured. You are no longer my opponent. Elder Jiu Shen, you should pay for taking the First Nightking’s life,” the Second Nightking declared as cold air appeared around him.

Elder Jiu Shen gritted his teeth before suddenly disappearing. Another man appeared where he had just been standing. The man looked down to see his body freezing before he fell to the ground.

Elder Jiu Shen had used the Cosmic Sect’s secret technique: Star Transference.

The Second Nightking sneered and looked down. He smirked when he found Elder Jiu Shen coughing blood onto the ground. The Nightking suddenly turned to Lu Yin. “Boy, you’re from the Cosmic Sect, right? It’s too bad that you joined the wrong sect and wanted to take the Celestial Frost Pond away. I’m going to kill you.”

Lu Yin was terrified when he heard the killing intent in the Second Nightking’s voice. In desperation, Lu Yin instantly said, “I’m part of your clan!”

The Second Nightking laughed coldly. “Nonsense.”

He unleashed his spiritual force.

There was absolutely no way that Lu Yin could withstand the Second Nightking’s spiritual force, but fortunately, he had already prepared himself by setting up the Inception Array and reciting the Stonewall Scriptures beforehand. As the spiritual force swept past him, his bodysuit armor cracked, and he felt as though his brain was shattering. He collapsed to the ground.

The Second Nightking was caught off guard. “I didn’t expect you to survive. Even though it was just a casual attack, no one below the Envoy realm or with an exceptionally powerful spiritual force should have been able to survive that.”

The man used his spiritual force to attack Lu Yin once again, this time with an even more powerful attack.

Lu Yin was nearly unconscious, and he was completely unable to withstand this attack.

Elder Jiu Shen yanked Lu Yin away just in time, and they barely managed to keep their lives.

The Second Nightking descended and glared at Elder Jiu Shen before pointing a finger. “Die.”

“Second Nightking, do you really want your entire Daynight clan to be destroyed?” Elder Jiu Shen shouted as he stared intently at the Second Nightking.

The Second Nightking hesitated.

“You know that my Cosmic Sect also has Elder Gong, who’s a Semi-Progenitor. He can easily eliminate you no matter how long you’ve cultivated for or how many sourcebox arrays you set up. Moreover, there’s also Eversky Island’s Highsage Grandmaster and Arch-Elder Zen—none of them want to see your Daynight clan enter the Neoverse, so do you want to become a public enemy of the Fifth Mainland?” Elder Jiu Shen threatened. 

The Second Nightking’s eyes grew more focused, and his hand lowered.

Elder Jiu Shen let out a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, the Second Nightking created another cloud of spiritual force that surrounded Elder Jiu Shen and Lu Yin. This was the same sourcebox array that the man had used to ambush Elder Jiu Shen at the Celestial Frost Pond.

Elder Jiu Shen had not expected the Second Nightking to suddenly attack, and he was unable to react in time due to his injuries. In an instant, Lu Yin and Jiu Shen were surrounded by clouds of spiritual force. 

“Do you think that the Hall of Honor and the Cosmic Sect will let me go if I leave this place? I still remember how the First Nightking died, and I will definitely face the same fate as him. I will never forget that grudge! As for the Daynight clan, we can restart elsewhere, be it the Technocracy or the Astral Beast Domain. Anything is better than simply waiting here for death,” the Second Nightking said calmly. “As for you, I’ll kill you to collect some interest on that debt. I’m also curious to see if Elder Gong will chase me to the ends of the universe.” 

“I don’t mind dying, but this boy is someone from your own clan. Are you really going to let him die?” Elder Jiu Shen anxiously asked.

The Second Nightking sneered. “I can’t believe that Elder Jiu Shen would spout such nonsense before his death. How pathetic.” 

Elder Jiu Shen had resigned himself to his own fate; he could die, but Lu Yin had to survive. He had to stay alive since the Cosmic Sect’s greatest treasure was on the bottom of his foot. It was the boy’s own fault. Why would he claim to be from the Daynight clan? Elder Jiu Shen had no choice but to play along with the lie and hope to manage to persuade the Second Nightking.

Hopefully, it would work!

“I know you don’t believe it, but you can just ask him. It’ll only take a moment,” Elder Jiu Shen pleaded as he healed Lu Yin.

The Second Nightking let out a cold laugh. “Stop wasting my time and die.”

At that moment, Lu Yin regained consciousness and used Daynight Praises.

This was the Daynight clan’s greatest spiritual force battle technique, and it far surpassed the Nightking Advent Immortal Finger.

The Second Nightking’s attack stopped the instant he saw Daynight Praises. He glared at Lu Yin. “How do you know Daynight Praises?”

Lu Yin panted for breath while suffering from excruciating pain. He actually had no idea what was happening, as the last thing that he remembered was trying to withstand the Second Nightking’s attack. He had wanted to use Daynight Praises when he saw the incoming attack but had lost consciousness. This was why Lu Yin had used the technique as soon as he regained his senses. 

“Boy, answer him!” Elder Jiu Shen urged.

Lu Yin finally understood what was happening when he noticed the ten clouds of spiritual force surrounding him. He went pale as he remembered how the earlier eruption of ten clouds had gravely wounded Elder Jiu Shen just now. If Elder Jiu Shen had been able to withstand the Second Nightking’s attacks, then they would be in a very different situation.

Translated By: WQ

Edited By: Neshi/Nyxnox

TLC'ed By: OMA