Chapter 2356: Yin Luo's Struggle Ends in Defeat

Winds Rise Across the Nine Provinces

The Abyss’s invasion of the Starry Sky has always been gradual, a process that often spans hundreds or thousands of years, or even longer.

For instance, the Mechanist Starry Sky took approximately a millennium from its invasion to its ultimate destruction.

During this process, vulnerabilities in the Starry Sky gradually increase, leading to the emergence of numerous Abyss Gates.

However, the situation with the current Starry Sky is somewhat unique. It was invaded once hundreds of thousands of years ago, but the ancient sages managed to resolve that crisis.

Yet, the Abyss Gates that had once opened still left their marks within the Starry Sky.

These marks are all vulnerabilities of the Starry Sky.

Consequently, the Abyss Gates in this Starry Sky open with remarkable frequency and speed.

Otherwise, under normal circumstances, there should currently be only one Abyss Gate in the Starry Sky, instead of six. Lu Ye has been away from the Starry Sky for over a decade now. For cultivators, this is a very short period of time. When he left, the strongest cultivators in the Starry Sky were essentially those who had been brought into the Mechanist Starry Sky by the Ghost Palanquin. Lu Ye was unsure how much they could have grown in ten years.

He could now feel the Abyss’s summons, which meant Lu Ye only needed to follow the direction from which it originated to reach an Abyss Gate.

The journey was uneventful. After several months, as Banlan drew closer to the Abyss Gate, Lu Ye began to slow the vessel down to facilitate subsequent docking.

However, when Lu Ye was still about half a month’s journey from the Abyss Gate, he suddenly felt something and turned his head to look in one direction.

In that spot, a figure seemed to flash by.

Lu Ye, eager to return, initially intended to ignore it, but then felt the figure looked vaguely familiar, as if he had seen them somewhere before.

Suspicion in his heart, he flashed over.

Soon, he intercepted a hurried cultivator.

Their eyes met. The cultivator was startled at first, clearly not expecting that his earlier movement had truly caught Lu Ye’s attention and led to a chase. Then, his eyes burst with surprise and joy: "Fellow Daoist Lu, you've really returned!"

"You are..." Lu Ye carefully recalled the name of the cultivator before him and finally remembered: "Ying Hu?"

No wonder he looked familiar at a glance. This Ying Hu was one of the many human cultivators who had accompanied Lady Qing Yu.

"Why are you alone?" Lu Ye was somewhat puzzled. Lady Qing Yu's group wasn't large back then, but there were over a dozen of them. What happened? Why was only one left?

"Senior Sister Qing Yu and the others are all at Qing Palace," Ying Hu explained.

"So you did come," Lu Ye nodded.

When he parted ways with Lady Qing Yu back then, he had advised them to come here and seek refuge with Yin Luo.

Primarily, because this group of human cultivators were only at the Dao Initiation realm and the Abyss was fraught with dangers. They could easily encounter a Dao Harmonization realm cultivator and be wiped out. So, before Lu Ye left, he told them to come here to find Yin Luo. At that time, the Abyss Gate had already opened. Under the influence of the Abyss's will, the chaotic battles among Abyss creatures had subsided, so their arrival would be free of danger. Moreover, if they simply announced their names, Yin Luo would naturally look after them.

Lu Ye's original thought was that if the Abyss Gate allowed Dao Initiation realm cultivators to pass through, they could also contribute to the Starry Sky. Such a group of cultivators could still play a role in the early stages of the Abyss's invasion.

It seemed now that Lady Qing Yu and her group had indeed taken his advice.

"Since you came, why are you in this location?" Lu Ye was curious. This place was still half a month’s journey from the Abyss Gate. What was Ying Hu doing here? Ying Hu smiled bitterly: "Lord Yin Luo lost the contest for control of the Abyss Gate, so we had to hide over here. Lord Yin Luo said you left from this direction, so you would definitely return from it. I was monitoring that area earlier and suddenly saw a multicolored brilliance drifting over. I couldn't see you clearly, thought a powerful enemy had arrived, and immediately fled."

"Yin Luo lost the contest?" Lu Ye was startled. "What happened?" According to what Yin Luo had told him before, once the Abyss Gate was fully open, no more fighting was allowed there. Lu Ye had originally thought of staying to hunt Abyss creatures to grow rapidly, but it was precisely for this reason that he was forced to embark on a distant journey.

Before the Abyss Gate opened, the convergence of a large number of Abyss creatures would inevitably lead to endless conflicts and chaotic battles.

But after the Abyss Gate opened, the Abyss's will needed these converged Abyss creatures to invade the Starry Sky, so such fighting was no longer permitted.

All Abyss creatures followed this rule, or rather, the dominance of the Abyss's will.

Yet now Ying Hu was telling him that Yin Luo had lost the contest!

"Let's talk as we walk," Ying Hu motioned, leading Lu Ye forward.

As he recounted the events, Lu Ye gradually understood what had happened. Back then, Lady Qing Yu, following Lu Ye's advice, led their group to seek refuge with Yin Luo, and everything went smoothly. But one day five years ago, two cultivators at the peak of the Dao Harmonization realm suddenly arrived here. To seize control of the Abyss Gate, they challenged Yin Luo to a fight.

Ordinary disputes were not permitted, but such challenges were allowed.

Yin Luo could not refuse at all, because the Abyss's will also favored stronger individuals controlling the Abyss Gate.

After one battle, Yin Luo was defeated and retreated.

Under normal circumstances, Yin Luo would surely have left. However, guarding this place was something Yang Qing had instructed her to do back then, so she could not leave.

In recent years, she had repeatedly initiated challenges, but each time returned defeated, and was even severely injured on several occasions.

Lu Ye frowned as he listened. "So, it's not that Yin Luo lacks strength, but that there are two opponents?" Ying Hu nodded: "They are the Twin Demon race, one Red Demon and one Green Demon. This race is extremely peculiar; they are always a twin entity. So, even though they are two individuals, fighting one against two is not considered breaking the rules and will not incur punishment from the Abyss's will."

Lu Ye understood.

He had thought Yin Luo's strength was not weak. How could she be so easily defeated by others?

Fighting one against two, and with both opponents at the peak of Dao Harmonization, Yin Luo was indeed outmatched.

As they spoke, Lu Ye saw the familiar palace ahead.

It was the long-unseen Qing Palace!

A sense of familiarity washed over him.

As if sensing Lu Ye's approaching aura, even before Lu Ye arrived, a small figure flashed out of Qing Palace, still clutching a tattered cloth doll.

Who else could it be but Yin Luo?

She was clearly still injured and her face was somewhat pale, but she cried out in immense joy: "Lu Ye, you're back!"

As she spoke, she launched herself into Lu Ye's embrace.

Behind Yin Luo, Uncle Duan followed silently, like a ghost. An inadvertent glance caused his eyes to gleam brightly, staring intently at Lu Ye, as if trying to peer into the depths of Lu Ye's soul.

Closely following Uncle Duan, a group of human cultivators emerged from Qing Palace, led by Qing Yu herself.

Lu Ye had just caught the crashing Yin Luo when she, like a small dog, began sniffing all over him. Then she looked up, gazing at him with expectant eyes: "Lu Ye, I'm so hungry!"

Lu Ye's face darkened. He suddenly recalled some unpleasant past experiences.

He raised a hand and pinched her by the nape of the neck. Yin Luo instinctively tried to resist, but before she could even react, she was lifted aside. She blinked her large eyes, looking at Lu Ye with some confusion.

She felt that Lu Ye had changed significantly since their last meeting.

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist!" Qing Yu led the group forward to salute.

Lu Ye returned the bow: "After years apart, Lady, your grace remains unchanged. Congratulations on your promotion to Dao Harmonization!"

He could tell at a glance that Qing Yu had already advanced to Dao Harmonization.

Back then, if Qing Yu hadn't been taking care of Ying Wu and the others, she would have long had the qualifications to attempt Dao Harmonization. Her gains from the Dao Pool that time were substantial, but without a legacy, she also lacked a method to advance to Dao Harmonization.

The reason she brought Ying Wu and the others to seek refuge with Yin Luo was partly due to Lu Ye's advice, and partly because Qing Yu herself wanted to consult Yin Luo about the method to advance to Dao Harmonization.

After arriving here, under Uncle Duan's guidance, she successfully advanced, with no complications during the process; it could be said to be extremely smooth.

However, Qing Yu seemed to be only at the first level of Dao Harmonization. Her strength hadn't significantly changed in these past few years.

"Thanks to Fellow Daoist's good fortune, and I must also thank you for your guidance," Qing Yu said with a smile.

As they spoke, Yin Luo ran back over, hugging Lu Ye's leg and looking up at him with pleading eyes, her small mouth pursed in an unhappy pout.

Lu Ye looked down, feeling helpless for a moment.

Ten years had passed, and the world had been turned upside down. The strong cultivators he once had to look up to were now clinging to his leg.

"Two choices," Lu Ye said, holding up two fingers to Yin Luo.

"What, what?" Yin Luo was startled.

"I feed you till you're full!" Lu Ye put down one finger. "Or I help you teach those two a lesson, beat them soundly, and help you get back control of the Abyss Gate!"

Yin Luo hadn't fully processed this, but Uncle Duan's eyes flashed, and he chuckled: "Young Lu, haven't seen you in years, and your tone has gotten quite big! Do you know the strength of those two who defeated my lady?"

"I heard. Two Dao Harmonization peaks, Twin Demon race."

Uncle Duan immediately became surprised and uncertain.

He had vaguely sensed earlier that Lu Ye had advanced to Dao Harmonization, but he thought that even if Lu Ye had indeed advanced to Dao Harmonization, his strength increase would surely be limited in such a short time.

But what was this situation now?

Two Dao Harmonization peaks, and he says he can just defeat them?

Where did this kid get such confidence? Yin Luo was still pondering Lu Ye's words. Being full was undoubtedly very tempting for her, but the Abyss Gate was something Yang Qing had instructed her to guard diligently, so her expression was conflicted, and for a moment she didn't know how to choose.

But her hesitation lasted only an instant. Soon, her expression became resolute, and she said: "Then you help me drive them away!" She didn't doubt for a moment whether Lu Ye had this capability. It could only be said that even after Yang Qing's enlightenment, her mind, as a Star Beast, remained simple.