Chapter 2942: A Fishhook  

The enormous eagle soared across the sky of the Lower Realm.

Python Ancestor had not woken up yet, but after it was struck by the Divine Eagle, it stopped pushing up towards the Middle Realm. Instead, the python wrapped back around the Mother Tree’s trunk, returning to its previous position.

Lu Tianyi let out a breath as he quietly watched.

By the time Lu Yin arrived, the Divine Eagle had already returned to the Dominion Realm.

"Ancestor, what happened?" Lu Yin was shocked.

Lu Tianyi waved a hand, opening the void and allowing Long Xi, Long Tian, and the other surviving members of the White Dragon Clan to emerge. Great Elder Ni Huang had torn through space, sending the clan’s youths to the Higher Realm, rather than a parallel universe.

The White Dragon Clan had lived in the Higher Realm for many years, so they had naturally prepared some back-up plans.

When Long Xi saw Lu Yin, her eyes flushed red.

Lu Yin stepped forward. "Are you alright?"

Long Xi shook her head. "My White Dragon Clan is gone!"

Lu Yin silently listened to Long Xi. At the side, a terribly gloomy expression covered Long Tian's face.

A short time later, a group of people descended to the Lower Realm, and they saw where the White Dragon Clan had tried to fight against Yu Huo. Blood and flesh covered the ground, giving everything a red tint and filling the place with the pungent stench of blood.

Long Xi and the others slowly walked across the blood-stained ground, overcome with sorrow.

Lu Yin had not expected the White Dragon Clan to do such a thing. They had chosen to fight an enemy to their death, rather than turn and join the enemy.

Lu Tianyi sighed. "The White Dragon Clan has fully redeemed themselves."

Conflicted emotions filled Lu Yin's eyes. The White Dragon Clan had eliminated any possible grudges with the Lu family by paying with the lives of nearly the entire clan. There was no longer any reason for the White Dragon Clan to remain in the Lower Realm. This had been Great Elder Ni Huang’s intention. He had never wanted to free the White Dragon Clan by joining with Yu Huo. Instead, he had guaranteed that the Lu family and Lu Yin would forgive the White Dragon Clan's past mistakes.

Long Xi and the others were seeds left behind by the White Dragon Clan. As long as the youths did not die, the White Dragon Clan would one day rise again.

Everything from the past had disappeared with the blood spilled across the battlefield.

The White Dragon Clan no longer owed the Lu family anything at all.

"Why didn't Python Ancestor help the White Dragon Clan?" Lu Yin was surprised by this. Given the White Dragon Clan’s abilities, as long as they remained in the Lower Realm, not even Progenitor-level powerhouses from Aeternus should have been able to deal with the clan so easily. Even the Aeternals were wary of Python Ancestor. They should not have been able to get so close to Python Ancestor without kicking up a fuss.

Long Tian and the other survivors could not provide any answer. The only person in their entire clan who had known about Yu Huo’s existence had been Ni Huang.

Great Elder Ni Huang had not had any opportunity to share anything with Long Xi or the others, because he had constantly under Yu Huo’s monitoring. The only way he had successfully earned the fish’s trust had been by summoning all of the White Dragon Clan’s elites. Without doing that, it might have been impossible to send Long Xi and the others to safety.

The White Dragon Clan had lost all their usefulness, though that was not true of Long Xi. Her relationship with Lu Yin alone was enough to ensure the future of the White Dragon Clan. On top of that, Long Tian was their most talented member of the generation.

"The one who slaughtered the White Dragon Clan should be one of the Aeternals’ Progenitor-level powerhouses, but this time, it wasn’t a corpse king. It was very strange, and it was actually a fish," Lu Tianyi told Lu Yin.

Lu Yin was taken aback. "Yu Huo?"

"You know the creature?" Lu Tianyi was surprised.

Long Tian approached Lu Yin and stared at him. "Who was that?"

Lu Yin shared what he knew of Yu Huo. "The True God Guard Captains are a level above most Progenitors. They’re the most difficult opponents we face beneath the Sequence Progenitor level. If you want to get revenge, you’ll need to cultivate to the level of a Sequence Progenitor first.

"Still, was he able to survive after being struck by your finger, Ancestor?"

Lu Tianyi was completely certain about that. "The beast’s still alive. My finger wasn’t able to kill it."

Lu Yin frowned. Aeternus had always enjoyed the advantage in the war against humanity. Lu Yin had managed to overturn that advantage with his recent crusade, and that had solidified his reputation. The Aeternals had quickly retaliated by directly attacking the Perennial World. If not for the fact that the White Dragon Clan had been willing to fight to the death, there was no telling what Yu Huo might have accomplished.

How many times had Lu Yin warned people to be wary of the Aeternals? Even so, they had managed to sneak through.

Lu Yin raised his head to look at Python Ancestor. "Yu Huo is able to make Python Ancestor roll over. Is he related to the White Dragon Clan?"

Lu Tianyi was also curious about that. "About that, the fish transformed into a seven-colored python."

"The White Dragon Clan came to be by using Python Ancestor's blood for their cultivation. If Yu Huo is also able to cause Python Ancestor to roll over, could he be from the same species as Python Ancestor?" Lu Yin guessed. Given that Yu Huo had turned into a seven-colored python, it was hard to avoid drawing a connection to Python Ancestor.

"It's possible. That would explain why it could move about the Lower Realm and get close to the White Dragon Clan," Lu Tianyi replied.

Long Tian clenched a fist. "No matter what it is, our clan’s genocide must be avenged!"

Lu Yin glanced at Long Tian. He did not want to shatter the man’s hopes, but it would be far too difficult for Long Tian to reach the necessary level of strength to get revenge.

Long Tian was extremely talented, and he would very likely become Progenitor some day, but there was a vast difference in strength among Progenitors. The True God Guard Captains were some of the strongest powerhouses beneath the sequence powerhouse level, and even if a Sequence Progenitor wanted to kill one of the captains, it would be a challenge. All of the captains had bizarre innate gifts.

"All of you can move up to the Middle Realm," Lu Yin stated, officially removing the restrictions that had been placed on the White Dragon Clan.

Long Xi looked at Lu Yin. "Find me a master. Someone very powerful."

Lu Yin's heart moved. "Alright."

He could not deny her request. The relationship between the two of them was unusual.

However, Lu Yin would have to think carefully about who could be Long Xi’s master.

***

Cultivators flew across the sky above the Middle Ocean, all of them searching for something. They were there at the orders of the Lu family and were searching for the seriously injured Yu Huo.

Because Lu Tianyi had to deal with Python Ancestor, he had only been able to attack Yu Huo with a single finger strike. The Progenitor was certain that Yu Huo was not dead, but he did not know where the fish had ended up.

Every cultivator in the Perennial World who was stronger than an Envoy had been drafted into the search, and all of them had been ordered to report any odd fish that they discovered.

No one had actually said that Yu Huo had ended up in the Middle Ocean, but because people were searching for an odd fish, most of them automatically headed for the Middle Ocean.

At this moment, a strange scene was playing out on the bottom of the Middle Ocean. A huge sea beast was thrashing about crazily. It was gigantic, nearly as powerful as a human Envoy. It was regarded as an overlord in the Middle Ocean, but at this moment, fear and helplessness filled the sea beast’s eyes, and it was all because of a fish.

There was a fish attached to the sea beast’s belly. Every so often, the fish would flap its fins twice. Every time that happened, the sea beast would slam to the bottom of the sea from the agony. Each time, the beast needed to spend a long time to recover. The fish on its belly was Yu Huo.

He had been badly injured by Lu Tianyi's single finger, and the attack had smacked Yu Huo back into his original form. If not for the protection of the divine energy in his body, that finger strike might have instantly killed him. Even so, Yu Huo lacked the strength to protect himself, even from an Envoy. It was a pathetic level of power to the fish.

He did not have enough power to use his second or third forms, let alone maintain his more human form.

The biggest problem was that Lu Tianyi’s attack had knocked Yu Huo’s cosmic ring away, and he had no idea where it might have ended up. That ring contained a cosmic door that could allow Yu Huo to return to Aeternus’s territory, which was his only option. If he returned to his own people, given his current state, there was no doubt that he would be devoured. That place was even more dangerous than the Origin Universe.

Desperate, Yu Huo had decided to stay in the Middle Ocean. He was still a fish, and no one paid attention to fish, not even one that could control sea beasts. With time, Yu Huo would be able to start communicating with Redbacks, and then he would be able to send word back to the Aeternals. After that, someone would arrive and take him back with a cosmic door.

"Did you find it?"

"Of course not! Just how many fish are there, and how many of them look strange? I just wanted to use this opportunity to try to get closer to the Lu family by doing a bit of fishing."

"Relax. This isn’t just an order from the Lu family. I heard that this is connected to what wiped out the White Dragon Clan. Even Lord Lu is paying personal attention to this, so be careful that no one knows of your intentions."

"I won’t do anything. Who knows? Maybe one of these fish is the one that Lord Lu is searching for."

"I hope so. I heard that Lord Lu is furious this time. Whoever manages to find that fish will definitely be promoted to a new level."

"That’s why the entire Perennial World is so worked up. Even people from the Fifth Mainland have shown up to search for the fish. The Middle Ocean is about to get much busier."

…

From the bottom of the Middle Ocean, Yu Huo listened to the cultivators’ conversations and sneered at them. They wanted to find him? They were dreaming.

However, the sea beast that Yu Huo had attached himself to was a bit too noticeable. After thinking it through, he broke away from the sea beast and shifted his appearance slightly. This made Yu Huo look like a common species of fish in the Middle Ocean, which should prevent anyone from trying to catch him. He had no idea how many cultivators might start searching the Perennial World for him.

Disguised as a common fish, Yu Huo would be able to relax and live freely in the Middle Ocean. He would only need a bit more than ten years to recover his cultivation and return to Aeternus.

A few days later, sword qi sliced through the sea water and brushed across Yu Huo's body, startling the fish. Had he been discovered?

He stared upwards.

"The Heavens Sect has announced that the reward’s been doubled! Whoever finds that fish will immediately become the disciple of a Semi-Progenitor! They can chose any of the masters of the Twelve Heavenly Gates!"

"Start attacking and force that fish to reveal itself."

"Yes, force it out! As long as it is in the Middle Ocean, I don’t believe that it can stay hidden."

More and more attacks struck the sea water, and Yu Huo secretly cursed his bad luck. He carefully restrained his aura and moved into the depths of the Middle Ocean. He did not want to be struck by any of these attacks. He lacked the strength of even an Envoy, and these attacks would be incredibly dangerous at this point in time.

Half a month quickly passed, and more and more cultivators started searching for Yu Huo. The Middle Ocean was divvied up into sections for people to search through, and there were even cases of people trying to steal other people’s territories.

Yu Huo felt that things were getting increasingly difficult for him. These madmen were desperate for the rewards of his capture, and greed filled their eyes.

Yu Huo had no idea how much longer he would be able to last. The chaos had filled almost the entire Middle Ocean.

Yu Huo's eyes lit up and he headed towards a distant region. No cultivators were attacking the Middle Ocean in that area, and there was only a single island.

He swam to the bottom of the ocean and then let out a sigh of relief. Finally, he no longer needed to try to escape.

He glanced back. Those losers would be overcome with despair when the Aeternals destroyed the Heavens Sect!

Just as Yu Huo was thinking about that future, his tail stung. He glanced back and found that a hook had pierced his tail. Was that a fishhook?

He was startled, and he tried to break free, but then he heard a raucous laugh from above the surface. "You still want to escape after I caught you? Hahahaha, you’re all mine tonight!"

There was a powerful yank on the fishhook, and Yu Huo's body was dragged back.

He was startled, as this person was clearly a Progenitor. The fish spun around to bite the fishhook and get free, but just as he was about to make his escape, the fish line wrapped around him as though it possessed its own consciousness.

"Hey, you're pretty smart! You know how to bite off a fishhook? The smarter you are, the more I want to eat you! Let’s go."

Yu Huo watched helplessly as the water flowed away from him, the irresistible force dragging him back. He wanted to reveal his real strength so that he could escape, but since the fisherman was a Progenitor, Yu Huo would be in even greater danger if he revealed his strength. He would struggle to escape from most cultivators of reasonable strength, let alone a Progenitor.

It was no wonder why this part of the Middle Ocean had been empty. None of the fish wanted to be eaten by this guy.

A large hand grabbed Yu Huo, and the fish was held before the man’s eyes.

Yu Huo stared blankly at the large face before him. Was this Lu Qi? Had he been caught by Lu Yin's father?