Chapter 3186: Second Life
Arch-Elder Zen smiled. "You’re all too kind."
Bai Ni responded enthusiastically, "This is only right. It is an honor for my Hundred Weapons Universe to receive a visit from the Heavens Sect. Please, Arch-Elder Zen."
The Progenitor nodded, and then, with further compliments from the group, he stepped into the plaza.
Someone muttered enviously, "Tch, what\'s the big deal? All of us need to queue up to get in."
Someone nearby gloatingly responded, "Brother, if you could also throw a military declaration that intimidates the entire megaverse, you’d get the same treatement."
"Bah, they were just lucky to unite so many parallel universes. If not for this shocking news from the Hundred Weapons Universe, we wouldn\'t have even known that so many parallel universes were connected."
"Who knew? Back then, I also thought that the entire megaverse was just the few known universes. I was even worried that the Sixverse Association might forcibly annex us. Now, it seems like I was overthinking things. There are plenty of parallel universes."
"There might be more than a few, but none of them can rival the Sixverse Association.""True."
Neither of the two speaking were human. In fact, humans made up less than a tenth of the plaza’s occupants. Most of the cultivators here were astral beasts, which was a general term for non-human species, despite the significant differences between the various types of creatures.
No fewer than five fights had broken out outside the plaza, and all of them had been between astral beasts.
None of the skirmishes were enough to catch Arch-Elder Zen\'s attention, and none of the astral beasts had dared to fight in front of him. All of them regarded the Heavens Sect as a monstrous organization.
Far away, Mr. Daheng had also arrived. He kept his face hidden as he held out an invitation.
For someone with his strength and cultivation, personally receiving an invitation changed little, as such people had plenty of ways to obtain one.
Mr. Daheng watched as Arch-Elder Zen was ushered into the plaza, and the Arborean’s eyes then swept through the crowd before locking onto someone. That person met Mr. Daheng’s gaze and stared back.
It was Luo Shan.
The two had trained under the same master, and they could recognize each other with a glance.
Luo Shan frowned. He had done his best to disguise himself, but Daheng had still managed to instantly recognize him. There was nothing Luo Shan could do about it; his disguises were not able to fool Daheng, just as Daheng\'s couldn\'t fool Luo Shan.
No words were exchanged between the two as they silently entered the plaza.
More individuals were still arriving outside the plaza, and countless eyes stared at the plaza from further away. They belonged to people who did not dare to try to enter the plaza themselves, but who still wanted to see how many different universes’ powerhouses would attend this auction. Also, it was important to find out if anything significant happened during the event.
After all, with the Mirari Realm involved, even the Heavens Sect cared.
Lu Yin arrived, hidden by his mask. Not even the Three Pillars and Six Skies would be able to recognize him at this moment, let alone anyone else.
It\'s really busy.
He followed the crowd and slowly made his way into the dark-red plaza. He glanced around, and easily spotted both Mr. Daheng and Luo Shan, but neither of the two had any idea that Lu Yin was also present.
There were quite a few other experts present as well, but no one noteworthy.
Would Aeternus send anyone?
Across the dark-red plaza, Arch-Elder Zen was being escorted to a tall platform that rose up behind the statue.
"Gentlemen, it will be a challenge for me to participate in the auction from this position," Arch-Elder Zen said with a chuckle. His eyes swept the entire plaza. The platform undoubtedly had the best view.
Bai Ni smiled. "If you wish to reveal your identity and participate in the auction, we’ll accept that, but if you prefer to stay anonymous, we can facilitate that as well. There won\'t be any issues."
Yang Jia apologized, "If it were possible, we\'d happily send all the items up for auction to the Heavens Sect, but we do hope that you can understand our difficulties. We in these parallel universes are also struggling to survive, and sometimes, we need to boost our peoples’ spirits with grand events."
Arch-Elder Zen raised his hand to stop the man. "I do understand. However, I also have a question I’d like to ask."
He looked at Bai Ni. "You don\'t intend to join the Heavens Sect and fight against Aeternus?"
Bai Ni and the other four exchanged glances. They had already anticipated that the Heavens Sect’s representative would pose this question, and they had prepared an answer in advance. "Of course we\'ll participate. If Aeternus shows up, we\'ll fight them to the death. If the Heavens Sect engages in an all-out battle against Aeternus, the Hundred Weapons Universe will not shirk our duty, and we will also send experts to join the fight."
"My Yang Jia Universe as well."
"The same for my Luo Fu Universe."
Arch-Elder Zen smiled. These five knew how to say the right things, but their actions indicated something else entirely.
All these men wanted to do was protect themselves. They were hoping that the Sixverse Association and Aeternus would fight each other to death, and they had no consideration for what might happen to humanity if the Sixverse Association lost.
The five men knew that they were incapable of altering the balance of the war, so they tried their best to simply stay out of it. They did not seem to understand that the war was for the fate of the megaverse, and the outcome concerned everyone in it, even the ordinary humans who knew nothing of the war.
The Sixverse Association had tried to forcibly annex parallel universes to the Endless Frontier before. Some attempts had been successful, such as the Big Stone Universe, but many other attempts had failed. Universes had banded together to resist the Sixverse Association, and those efforts had proven to be somewhat effective.
People could not really be blamed for resisting. Who would want their homeland to become a part of the meat grinder that was the Endless Frontier?
It could be said that the only way to shift the overall situation was to change people\'s hearts.
"Why are they here?" King Luo Fu suddenly shot to his feet in shock, his expression changing dramatically.
Bai Ni asked in confusion, "Who?"
Arch-Elder Zen looked toward the entrance to the plaza. At the moment, there was a small group of people entering, and they instantly caught the Progenitor’s eye due to their striking appearance.
It was not that the people in the group looked strange, but rather that they looked too ordinary. They were so average that there was something odd about their appearance.
Typically, cultivators would carry some sort of defensive equipment when they wandered about universes, and most gave off an aura of a grizzled veteran who had survived many battles. However, the people who were currently entering the plaza looked like a flock of sheep that had accidentally wandered into a pack of wolves. They looked completely unguarded.
However, Arch-Elder Zen already knew that these were the people whose presence had caused King Luo Fu’s expression to change so dramatically. The moment he saw this group, Arch-Elder Zen had felt a strong sense of danger.
Yang Jia stared at the newcomers entering the plaza, and his eyes flickered. "Second Life…"
Qing Du and Zhao Li’s expressions also changed, and Bai Ni recognized the name as well. "Second Life? Why are they here? This is a problem."
Arch-Elder Zen grew curious. "What\'s wrong? Are those people going to be a problem?"
King Luo Fu’s turned somber. "Senior, you might not know of them, but Second Life is a gang that roams across multiple universes. They are extremely powerful and are the most terrifying outsider powerhouses that we know of. They follow no rules and behave like bandits. No one’s ever been able to deal with them.
"The first time they made a name for themselves was when they stole a treasure from the ruling power in a universe, and they did so by slaughtering the entire ruling family. They shocked everyone with that stunt. Outsiders assumed that it was an act of revenge, and they basically ignored it. But then Second Life went crazy, and they started stealing treasures everywhere. They killed everyone they encountered, even astral beasts. They even went after Aeternus. They kill just to plunder, they stand for nothing at all, and they have no morals."
Arch-Elder Zen frowned. "Are they strong?"
King Luo Fu took a deep breath. Fear filled his eyes. "Very. They’ve slaughtered countless people over the years, but we’ve finally managed to figure out their abilities.
"There are five members of Second Life. The leader, Second Gu,[1] is a sequence powerhouse, and just a glance of him induces fear. He has mastered the Three Bone Techniques. It allows him to externally manifest his skeleton as an armor that he claims no one can penetrate.
"Their second member, Second Meng,[2] is another sequence powerhouse, and she’s able to copy other people\'s battle techniques. She\'s extremely difficult to deal with. Normally, Second Gu doesn’t even need to take action because Second Meng is enough to handle even their most difficult opponents.
"The third, Second Gang,[3] isn\'t a sequence powerhouse, but his physical strength is unmatched. No one has ever managed to break through his defenses, not once. There was once a powerful astral beast sequence powerhouse who fought against Second Life, but only Second Gang had to make a move. He alone was enough to wear the astral beast down and kill it. That fight made him famous.
"The fourth, Second Shan,[4] is considered the brains of Second Life. He’s quite clever and is able to quickly counter any crisis they encounter. Multiple parallel universes worked with people from your Sixverse Association once to surround and kill them all, and the Sixverse Association even sent Sovereign Lotus. The goal was to deal with all of them at once, and the plans were meticulous, but that the task force never even caught a glimpse of Second Life. Supposedly, Second Shan sensed danger and led the rest of them away.
"A great deal of time and preparations went into that attack, and it involved a number of universes. Even if there were traitors, they couldn’t have revealed the plans. Second Life only escaped because of Second Shan.
"As for the fifth member…" King Luo Fu glanced at the other four men, but all of them shook their heads at him.
"No one knows what the fifth member is capable of because she’s never had to take action. She’s never done anything at all."
Arch-Elder Zen’s eyes flickered. "Maybe she has, but you just didn’t realize it."
Bai Ni agreed, "We’ve had that same thought, but we’ve never been able to find any evidence of her actions. She’s very difficult to deal with."
"I didn\'t expect them all to come. They’re quite bold," Zhao Li marveled.
King Luo Fu glanced at Arch-Elder Zen, and then he looked back down at the plaza. "Aren\'t they afraid that this could be another ambush?"
"Since they’re here, they must have made preparations. Arch-Elder Zen, what do you think?" Bai Ni asked.
Arch-Elder Zen asked, "When Sovereign Lotus participated in the planned ambush, did she do so on her own, or with the authorization of the Sixverse Association?"
"With the Sixverse Association’s authorization," King Luo Fu confirmed. "At that time, the war with Aeternus was intense, and losing one of their top experts had a big impact on the Sixverse Association. Still, Sovereign Lotus came because Second Life is just too evil. While they have attacked Aeternus at times, Aeternus has never cared about them. They’ve killed far more humans and astral beasts than corpse kings."
"They\'re nothing but beasts!" Qing Du muttered darkly.
Arch-Elder Zen’s gaze swept the plaza. With the Dao Monarch present, he would definitely hear about Second Life. How to deal with them would be up to Lu Yin.
"Let\'s wait and see how things play out," Arch-Elder Zen said. He knew what the others were thinking; they wanted their auction to succeed, but they also wanted to eliminate Second Life. It was impossible to do so if they acted on their own, but if they received the help of experts from the Heavens Sect, such as the Three Suns and Six Rulers or the Eight Inner and Outer Paths, then they might be able to pull it off.
If the Heavens Sect sent people, they would not allow a failure. This could be considered the first battle that the Heavens Sect participated in after their military declaration, and failure would be too embarrassing.
Fortunately, the ones who would benefit would be the Hundred Weapons Universe. If Second Life died during the auction, the Hundred Weapons Universe’s prestige would spike. They had planned things out well.
The members of Second Life had already fully entered the plaza. Since King Luo Fu had been able to recognize them, then naturally, others could as well.
1. Gu = Bone. ☜
2. Meng = Cute. ☜
3. Gang = Steel/Firmness. ☜
4. Shan = Kindness. ☜
OMA\'s Thoughts
Translated By: OMA
Edited By: Neshi/Nyxnox
TLC\'ed By: OMA