Lu Yin had not spread his domain too far out, so Yan Xiaojing caught sight of the man shortly after Lu Yin, and her expression suddenly changed. “Quickly, hide!”

The crowd immediately scattered and scrambled up some nearby trees. Once hidden, they looked into the distance.

Soon, the person who was running on all fours approached them with a dozen First Divine Gate Guardians in tow, shaking the ground wherever they passed. It was a magnificent sight.

That person soon arrived at the group’s previous position. He smiled sinisterly at them before suddenly charging into the forest, right beneath the trees that held Sister Kui and quite a few others.

The guardians dashed into the forest and unintentionally knocked the trees over, instantly leading to Sister Kui and the others being discovered. They were then targeted by the automatons’ attacks a moment later.

“Haha, take care, everyone! Enjoy my gift to you all!” The person escaped with a laugh, his speed a bit faster than when he had arrived.

Yan Xiaojing’s expression turned ugly. “It’s him! He’s from a clan that was wiped out by my Yan family before.”

“Is that the family with the Devouring Rat bloodline?”

Yan Xiaojing nodded. “That guy must have known where we were long ago, and he intentionally gathered a bunch of guardians before drawing them here. Everyone! Listen to my commands!”

The number of guardians that had appeared this time were nearly twice what had surrounded them before. Even with Lu Yin’s assistance, the group did not think that they would be able to escape from this situation unscathed, especially since some of them had already been beaten to the point of vomiting blood and nearly died.

Lu Yin’s eyes grew cold. If not for the fact that he did not want to expose too much of his strength, he would have chased down the guy who had just fled and slaughtered him. However, their current situation was still alright. These people’s survival was not his concern, and at most, he would rescue the fatty and Yan Xiaojing. These First Divine Gate Guardians were not enough to pose a threat to him.

Yan Xiaojing took on the position of commander again and coordinated the group’s efforts to fight off the guardians. Fortunately, the road here was not too wide, so the constructs’ attacks were limited, and there was no way for them to swarm the cultivators despite their greater numbers. Lu Yin was also eliminating them from outside of the group, and after half an hour of battling, a small gap opened up in the guardians’ encirclement, giving the group an opportunity to flee.

Three people died during this battle, which caused their mood to fall.

Yan Xiaojing clenched her fists. “I vow that I’ll find that rat and get revenge for everyone.”

The fatty had also been injured, though not severely. However, were it not for Lu Yin’s intervention, Huang San definitely would have died during the fight. He was grateful to Lu Yin from the bottom of his heart, and he continued to jabber on endlessly.

Lu Yin’s gaze swept across the crowd, and he could see resentment in their eyes.

Some blamed him for the deaths since he had clearly not given his all. In fact, they had all seen that he had not used his imprint. Lu Yin did not bother trying to justify himself, and he simply continued to pretend to be deaf and mute.

The fatty jumped forward to quarrel with the others, and Yan Xiaojing only barely managed to get them all back under control.

“That person has no relationship with us and isn’t even a friend. The fact of the matter is that by staying behind and helping us, he has already shown us a great deal of benevolence. We can’t expect outsiders to do their best for our sake. Relax, we will join up with Brother Autumnfrost soon enough, and then we’ll be safe,” Yan Xiaojing said softly.

Nobody else said anything more.

“Bunch of ingrates,” the fatty sneered.

“You should also talk less!” Yan Xiaojing glared at the fatty before shooting a quick glance over at Lu Yin, after which she fell silent.

She felt resentful towards him just like the others, but as she herself had said, there was no obligation for Lu Yin to do his best for their sake.

Lu Yin simply did not care what they thought, and he curiously explored the area by himself. If he didn’t have the intention to eavesdrop on them and learn some more useful information, he would have left them long ago. The only worth that these people had in his eyes was the information that they could provide him.

But on that note, if these people were all blaming Lu Yin for not using his imprint, then did that mean that all cultivators in this place had imprints? Where did these imprints come from? He had heard them mention an Imprinter’s family before, and the term Imprinter seemed to reference a powerhouse who had reached a certain level. In that case, what relationship did these powerhouses have with these people’s imprints?

Things were getting more interesting, and Lu Yin was growing increasingly excited.

The person who had run past them and led a bunch of First Divine Gate Guardians to them seemed to have gathered them all up, as the group barely ran into any more automatons on their way to the Budding Terrace. At most, they saw one or two.

They finally arrived at the end of First Divine Gate, which was another large door. Once they passed through that door, they would arrive at a light pillar, and entering that pillar would teleport them to the Budding Terrace.

“It feels like I’m dreaming, passing through the Daosource Sect’s gate examination.” The fatty sighed in relief.

Someone nearby immediately ridiculed him, saying, “The Fifth Mainland’s Daosource Sect has already been destroyed. Why else would it be so simple? The final section of our mainland’s Daosource Sect’s gate is simply absurd, but with your strength you wouldn’t even be able to get to the mountain gate.”

The fatty did not retort, as he had also previously mentioned to Lu Yin that the degree of difficulty for this current examination had dropped drastically.

Lu Yin had not taken those words seriously, but his expression changed slightly when he heard all the others mention the same thing as well. This was the difficulty in getting inside a sect after it had already been destroyed? How difficult must it have been when the sect was in its prime? The Fifth Mainland’s Daosource Sect had been destroyed, but one of them had just mentioned their mainland’s Daosource Sect, so did that mean that there was more than one Daosource Sect? And for that matter, what was the Fifth Mainland?

There were too many parts that Lu Yin still did not understand.

He passed through the mountain door, and Yan Xiaojing and the others relaxed greatly, though the fatty’s face became more unsightly. At this point, he finally stopped pestering Yan Xiaojing and instead moved next to Lu Yin’s side, where he mumbled something incomprehensible to himself.

The teleportation light pillar that they came across was not something foreign to Lu Yin, as he had encountered a similar thing back during Astral-10’s entrance exam.

He moved forward, and the scenery quickly changed before his eyes. When Lu Yin next opened his eyes, he did not see the mountain or the gate anymore. Instead, he saw a completely different scene.

The sky was still the same sky, but the clouds seemed to be much closer together, and the air was also much thinner here. When he looked around, he saw that the ground was still shattered everywhere and also stained with blackened blood. There were many strange marks scattered about, which must have been left by battles in the past. There were many strange plants sprouting out from crevices in the ground, and the air also carried a certain fragrance that had a strong calming effect.

Lu Yin filled his eyes with star energy once again, but he still could not see any rune lines.

He stepped away from the pillar of light, and that feeling of peace became even more intense.

“This is the Fifth Mainland’s Daosource Sect’s Budding Terrace. Who knows if it’s the same as our Sixth Mainland’s Daosource Sect’s Budding Terrace.”

“Nonsense! Of course not. This place has already been destroyed while our Sixth Mainland is still in its period of glory. It even has three Progenitors existing at the same time. That Budding Terrace is thriving much more than this place.”

“Unfortunately, we can’t pass that examination since only those who are at Brother Autumnfrost’s level of strength can enter the Daosource Sect to cultivate. Only they even have a chance to meet the three ancestors.”

…

Lu Yin silently listened to their conversations, though his eyes sparkled. The amount of information he had about the Fifth Mainland and Sixth Mainland was increasing.

“Autumnfrost Qing, Autumnfrost Qing. These idiots only know to think about Autumnfrost Qing. They just can’t realize that, no matter how they network, they still won’t be able to develop any sort of relationship with that person,” the fatty mumbled next to Lu Yin with an unhappy expression on his face.

Lu Yin glanced at him and then looked over towards Yan Xiaojing.

Yan Xiaojing was staring off into the distance. Then, she looked both westwards and eastwards. “Everyone, follow me. I know where Brother Autumnfrost is.”

“Alright, we can finally join up with Brother Autumnfrost’s group!” Everyone in the crowd grew excited.

Lu Yin was curious, as he heard of Autumnfrost Qing’s name countless times during their journey. These people all seemed to worship him, and not just because of his background either. The fatty loathed him since Autumnfrost Qing was chasing Yan Xiaojing, but no matter what disparaging words he said, the fatty had never denied Autumnfrost Qing’s strength. It seemed that this person was very powerful, and he might be a good measure of this place's standards for Lu Yin.

“Why is that deaf mute still following us?” someone asked as they turned to look at Lu Yin without any of the wariness that had been present before.

Sister Kui mocked Lu Yin, saying, “I think that he’s been listening to us and knows that we’re about to meet back up with Brother Autumnfrost. Thus, he’s deliberately following us so that he can also obtain Brother Autumnfrost’s protection.”

“That’s true, Brother Autumnfrost is one of the most powerful experts in our Bloodburn Realm’s younger generation, and he is second only to Di Fa. With Brother Autumnfrost’s protection, we might even be able to seize some fortune here.”

The fatty couldn’t hold himself back anymore. “You bastards are still underestimating him! Brother Deafmute’s strength isn’t too low, and he doesn’t need Brother Autumnfrost’s protection. It’s just- It’s just- It’s just that he doesn’t know the way!”

Pfft!

The crowd mocked the fatty, and Yan Xiaojing quietly scolded them. “Stop bickering! There’s no danger from the Budding Terrace itself, but that doesn’t mean that we won’t encounter attacks or ambushes from others. Our Bloodburn Realm and the Blood Homage Realm have never stopped fighting throughout all these years, so we all need to remain cautious.”

The crowd immediately stopped speaking.

Lu Yin observed his surroundings, rather curious about this place. This Budding Terrace seemed to be rather large, but it had unfortunately been smashed to pieces. He could not find a single intact surface, which indicated that the battle that had destroyed this sect must have been extremely bitter.

Before long, Lu Yin suddenly felt a fluctuation through his domain, which meant that there was a powerhouse nearby. He hurriedly withdrew his domain, and his face grew solemn.

In the distance, at the edges of where Lu Yin’s domain had spread to, a youth’s eyes suddenly went wide, and he looked in Lu Yin’s direction. He was puzzled, as he had felt like someone was just spying on him. This feeling was from someone else’s domain, and while he had not comprehended a domain himself, his senses were still quite sharp. It had been just a peep, and there had been no hostility within the probe.

But this domain had given him a strange feeling, and it even caused him to feel a small quiver. His many years of battle experience meant that he fully trusted his instincts, but there should not be many youths in the Sixth Mainland who could make him feel anxious. Just who could it be? He stood up and leaped into the sky, heading in the direction where he had felt the domain come from. This place was the ruins of the Fifth Mainland’s Daosource Sect, and it was fraught with danger as well as fortune. He could not allow someone with such strength to remain near him, so he had to verify who this person was.

Lu Yin and the others continued walking forward when a cry suddenly sounded out. “Brother Autumnfrost!”

Everyone looked up at the sky and saw a youth who had suddenly appeared. He similarly saw the group and immediately descended.

Yan Xiaojing and the others hurriedly rushed over excitedly while the fatty’s mouth twisted bitterly.

“Brother Autumnfrost, did you come to find us?” Sister Kui asked excitedly.

This youth was indeed Autumnfrost Qing, and he had actually traveled in this direction to find the powerhouse whose domain he had just felt. Although he had not expected to run into this group, he quickly responded, “That’s right. You guys were a bit later than I expected, so I was afraid that you had fallen into some trouble.” He then looked over at Yan Xiaojing. “Xiaojing, are you alright?”

Yan Xiaojing smiled and nodded her head. “I’m fine. Thank you for your concern, Brother Autumnfrost.”

Autumnfrost Qing nodded, but then, his attention shot past the youths who had gathered around him and focused on the fatty. His lips curled up into a strange smile. “I never thought that you would dare to come here, Fatty San.”

The fatty’s expression changed, but he forced out a smile. “I tagged along to take a look.”

He dared to mock Autumnfrost Qing in private, but he did not dare to directly say such things to his face.

“Why Fatty, weren’t you being all high and mighty on our way here? Are you scared now that you’re meeting Brother Autumnfrost?” Someone sneered.

Sister Kui also mocked him. “Fatty, what do you intend to do now? Are you going to follow Brother Autumnfrost or Sister Jing? You better pick one, as otherwise, there’ll be no one left to protect you. Oh, right, I forgot. Sister Jing is definitely going along with Brother Autumnfrost, keke.”

The fatty’s face became extremely ugly, and he had no response.