Chapter 2899: Battle

In the distance, Yōu Ye'er, Ce Jiu, and many others had arrived as well. All of the people who had once been part of the Court of Seven Names had gathered in the same area.

Further away, two figures were happily racing about, one black and one white. They were Black and White from Eversky Island. Behind them were Highsage Shenwei and Highsage Wudi.

Elsewhere in the plaza, Wen Sansi had returned from the Sixverse Academy, wanting to fight in the crusade. Xing Kai, Ling Gong, Liquor Hero, and all the former Ten Arbiters also arrived, one by one.

None of them wanted to miss out on this battle.

This crusade was going to be a massive excursion, and the battles to be fought would definitely be extraordinary.

Time flowed by. In the blink of an eye, the 100 days were nearly gone.

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All of the armies gathered in the Origin Universe. The members of the Lu Elite Troops, Heavens Corps, Astral Beast Army, as well as new equipment from Backyard all constantly streamed in. Occasionally, the aura of a powerful, Progenitor-level figure would sweep through as another peak powerhouse arrived at the Heavens Sect.

At the bottom of the Stairway to Heaven, He Ran stared down at the plaza in shock.

This scene was so shocking that she had never even imagined she would ever see anything like it. There were countless impressive cultivators, many of whom were extremely powerful. Even cultivators as strong as Semi-Progenitors kept arriving. If He Ran had not known any better, she would have thought that she was witnessing the gathering of the entire Sixverse Association, not just the Heavens Sect.

For the full 100 days, Lu Yin did not reveal himself.

At the deadline, a truly terrifying host of cultivators had assembled in the Heavens Sect. Many people stood along the Stairway to Heaven, all quietly waiting for something.

At the top stood peak cultivators as powerful as Progenitors. Beneath them stood Semi-Progenitors, then Envoys, and so on.

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At the very top stood Progenitor Lu Tianyi and Yōu Ming, followed by Mu Ke, Xu Wuwei, Mu Xie, Arch-Elder Zen, Shao Chen, and more. One by one, powerful peak powerhouses gathered at the top of the stairs, their auras suppressed as they waited out the 100 days.

Finally, the awaited day arrived.

It was heralded by the deafening ringing of a bell.

Atop the Stairway to Heaven, Lu Yin emerged from the void directly in front of the statue of the Origin Progenitor.

Everyone turned to face Lu Yin and slowly bowed. "Greetings, Dao Monarch."

"Greetings, Dao Monarch."

…

An impressive sound resounded throughout the entire Origin Universe, pushing back the void in waves that could be readily seen.

Countless people on every planet watched with bubbling excitement. Together with the people present in the Heavens Sect, everyone greeted the Dao Monarch.

At this moment, even Lu Tianyi and Lu Qi had to bow to Lu Yin. They were not actually bowing to Lu Yin, but rather to the Dao Monarch. They were acknowledging the ruler of the Origin Universe.

Lu Yin stood at the very top of the Stairway to Heaven and looked down at everyone.

Not one person was looking up at him, but he could see everyone.

"Be at ease," Lu Yin said.

"Thank you, Dao Monarch."

…

Everyone stood back up and gazed at the top of the stairs where Lu Yin stood. At this moment, even He Ran was stunned. Lu Yin looked absolutely brilliant at this moment, and he seemed to be the ruler of all humanity.

"I have been told that I should not lead this crusade," Lu Yin stated as he looked out at the gathered crowds.

These words shocked many people.

Xu Wuwei's expression changed, and he looked over at Lu Yin. What did the young man intend to say?

Everyone remained silent as they stared at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin's expression seemed completely indifferent. "There are people who claim that humans are not as powerful as the Aeternals and that Aeternus possesses unfathomable strength. If a true war erupts, we humans will suffer terribly.

"Some people say that with the fighting on the Endless Frontier has reached a temporary lull, so we should not be the ones to provoke matters and launch a campaign against Aeternus.

"People claim that I want to see immediate results, that I am seeking fame and fortune, which is why I announced this crusade.

"Some people say that this crusade will initiate humanity’s ultimate fall.

"So many people have tried to convince me to give up this crusade, and so many are begging for this war to be abandoned. They have given reasonable arguments. It is true that the Aeternals have always held the dominant position on the Endless Frontier. If the Aeternals want to fight, then we fight. If the Aeternals don’t wish to fight, then battles are put on hold.

"The warfront between the Sixverse Association and Aeternus has always been determined by the Aeternals. If they don’t attack, then our borders are peaceful. When the Aeternals attack, our borders see bitter fights to the death.

"The Aeternals attacked the Great Sovereign’s Tea Ceremony, which was something that no one ever anticipated. After all, humanity has never invaded the Aeternals’ territory, and yet the Aeternals ruined humanity’s greatest event.

"It's quite interesting, isn't it? The Aeternals are always the ones to decide when we fight or when we are at peace. In that case, should we fight? Should we launch this crusade?”

No one spoke. Everyone remained completely silent.

"I don't think we should," Lu Yin declared in a loud voice.

Everyone stared at him, dazed. They should not launch the crusade? Then why had they all gathered?

"Why fight when we know it's useless?

"Can a mere crusade destroy Aeternus? Impossible.

"Can a crusade eliminate humanity’s disadvantage in the war against the Aeternals? That’s also impossible.

"This crusade will very likely cause many of you to die. I am afraid of dying. Everyone fears death. In that case, why should we fight? It would be better to just wait until the Aeternals want to restart the battle, and then we’ll fight again. We should wait for the Aeternals so that we have some time to recuperate. If the Aeternals want to fight, then we fight. If the Aeternals say that they won’t fight, then we won’t either. What’s wrong with that?”

As Lu Yin spoke, his voice grew louder and louder until his shouts rang in everyone’s ears.

What he said frustrated everyone who heard him. If the Aeternals wanted to fight, then humans would fight, but if the Aeternals did not wish to fight, then humans should not instigate anything. How infuriating was that?

"Are we fighting a war of subjugation? No! We are fighting for our very existence!" Lu Yin shouted. His finger rose up to point at a specific person. "You might die the moment you step onto the battlefield."

He pointed to another person. "You might be the next to die.

"You, you, you, and you will all die as well. If you know that you will die, why bother fighting?"

Massive displays suddenly appeared in the sky all throughout the entire Heavens Sect. One by one, they activated, showing countless scenes.

One display showed the darkness of outer space where tens of thousands of cultivators charged forward, only to be entirely wiped out by corpse kings.

Another display showed an old man weeping tears of blood atop a mountain. Below him, a young man shouted, "Father, we will be father and son again in our next lives."

"I will see you in the next life."

"Father, I’ll be your father in our next life, and I will help you stand at the frontlines."

"Hahahaha, alright."

At that moment, the mountain shattered, and a pair of slitted scarlet eyes replaced everything on the display.

Another showed a planet cracking, and dozens of people crowded together. "This is good enough. We drew away most of the corpse kings, and the rest of them are no match for Senior Zhang and the others. They’ll definitely win, so this is good enough, hahahaha."

…

"Daughter, take good care of your mother."

…

"Lin'er, do you regret it?"

"Why would I regret it? Meeting you is enough for this life."

"I hid my sword after killing Aeternals for my whole life. The thing I regret least is dying on the battlefield, but the thing I regret most is meeting you."

"My, Li Lin'er’s, luckiest moment was meeting you, Brother Jian. It was living and dying together with you."

…

"Brothers, today is the end. The Aeternals won’t kill us because they want to transform us into corpse kings. Will you agree?"

"Never!"

"Then what should we do?"

"Fight until our bones shatter!"

…

Every display showed a different scene of people dying, of their final words echoing across the Origin Universe.

Everyone stared in a daze as the various scenes played out, watching as one corpse after another fell, though many people died without even leaving a corpse behind. The final sight in every scene were the cold, emotionless eyes of a corpse king as it slaughtered humans.

The people who died all had parents, spouses, and children. Even so, they all died valiantly, fighting for mankind, ready to be reborn as humans once again. They died with a powerful fighting spirit, and their roars and laughter at the moments of their deaths shocked the people watching.

Lu Yin clasped his hands behind his back. "Look at them all and how pathetically they died. If we launch this crusade, you will also die."

"We are not afraid of death!" someone yelled, his face flushed red.

"Dao Monarch, I’m not afraid of death!"

"Even if we die, we won’t regret it!"

"Fight for humanity, and die for humanity! Dao Monarch, please help us."

"Lord Lu, we are willing to die!"

"Lord Lu, please start the crusade!"

"Lord Lu, please start the crusade so that we can fight the Aeternals!"

"I don't care about the results of the crusade, damn it! Of course there will be heavy casualties, but I don’t believe that the Aeternals have three heads and six arms!"

"Even if I die, I’ll take a bite of their flesh!"

"Fight!"

…

Countless people shouted, "Fight!" while even more stared at Lu Yin with blazing vigor in their eyes. The unending scenes of people showing valor and courage on their deathbeds had ignited the determination of the entire crowd, creating an indescribable, unified will. Even Lu Yin was shocked by the people’s determination. "This will be a battle of conquest, and we may not win.”

"We don’t need victory, just a fight with the Aeternals!" countless people screamed back.

Lu Yin lifted his head. "We will suffer heavy casualties."

"Then we will fight to the death!"

"Won’t you regret not waiting?"

"We will fight to the death! No regrets!" countless people roared. Their united voices broke past the stars. At the bottom of the stairs, He Ran's face grew pale from the shock of this declaration to fight to the death.

Lu Yin's eyes suddenly flared, and he shouted, "Very well, then let's fight to the death! Regardless of success or failure, of life or death, I, Lu Yin, will definitely lead humanity to conquer the Endless Frontier as we fight the Aeternals to the death!"

His Champions’ Stage appeared, and the golden light of the Investiture of the Gods erupted, illuminating the entire Fifth Mainland.

Lu Yin was bathed in the golden light as he looked down upon the Heavens Sect. "I, Lu Yin, as Dao Monarch of the Heavens Sect and the ruler of the Origin Universe, do hereby declare that this crusade on the Endless Frontier has officially begun!

“Yōu Ming! Step forward to receive your command!"

Big Sis stepped forward and looked up at Lu Yin. "I am here."

Lu Yin looked down at her. "I appoint you as the commander of the crusade’s first battalion. You will be assisted by Arch-Elder Zen, Xia Shenji, Cloudflow, and Shan Pu."

Big Sis’ twitched. She did not like the sound of being appointed as a commander. She was a powerful Sequence Progenitor, and yet she was being ordered about like a minion. Such a thing had not happened even during the Heavens Sect era. Back then, Gu Yizhi had treated her as an honored guest. How could an honored guest ever be ordered about like a minion?

Even so, she had no choice, and at least she was being ordered about by her little brother. "Yōu Ming accepts her orders."

"Mu Ke!"

"Present."

"I appoint you as the commander of the second battalion, to be assisted by Mu Xie, Wang Jian, Chen Le, and Director Gan."

"Mu Ke accepts his orders."

"Xu Wuwei!"

"Present."

"I appoint you as the commander of the crusade’s third battalion, to be assisted by Shao Chen, Xu Heng, Xu Leng, and Bai Sheng."

"Xu Wuwei accepts his orders."

"Lu Tianyi!"

"Present."

"I appoint you to remain in the Origin Universe to guard against any of the Aeternals’ sneak attacks. You will be assisted by Lu Qi, Monarch Xing, and the Ancestor Tortoise."

"I, Lu Tianyi accept my orders."

"I, Lu Yin, will serve as the field marshall of the crusade, as well as the commander of the fourth battalion. I will be assisted by Shan Zheng, Leng Qing, Xia Qin, and the jiao.

"The crusade to conquer the Endless Frontier crusade begins now! Battalions, move out!"