Chapter 2542

"That's right! And I warn you, the others are on their way, and they are much stronger than us!" Envy said with her tongue sticking out and her middle finger pulling down her right eyelid.

Star Constellation's gaze steeled, this wasn't the expression Envy was expecting her to make, it gave her chills. 

"W-what you don't believe me?" Despite her best attempts to cover her nervousness, Envy's tone and body language held no secrets. 

Star Constelaltion's gaze never broke, "I believe you alright," 

She turned to Red Lotus, "Do it." 

"*Sigh* What a waste of an opportunity," with a deep sigh of regret, Red Lotus snapped his fingers. 

In an instant, a crack in Reality formed as for the briefest of moments the Endless Void was cut, causing Time and Space to flood in, collapsing the entirety of the Endless Void in on itself, resulting in a swift and silent implosion.

To every observer, it seemed as if a small cut in reality created a tiny blurry disturbance in spacetime, but a mere instant later all that pent-up energy would detonate right in the heart of the Armada! 

"Shi!" before the words could leave their mouths, a glowing mass of energy evaporated the pair, and every Gu Housem of the entire Armada!

Or at least…that's what should be happening. 

In the instant that the blinding white light of pure Spacetime energy began its rampage,

All colours in the world faded.

Red Lotus furrowed his brows, "Time has frozen…who?" 

Suddenly, 

The explosion of Spacetime energy began to condense once again, it rapidly absorbed right back to the centre, and completely condensed onto the hand of a new figure. 

"Who are you?" Red Lotus began weaving his best Killer Moves, but what the stranger did next shocked him. 

"This aura! Impossible!" Red Lotus instantly recognised the aura being released from the Killer Moves on the stranger, he immediately released all the Killer Moves he had at the ready. 

The salvo of Time and Space Path Killer Moves was soon met with a salvo of equally powerful Time and Space Path Killer Moves.

They were identical to the ones Red Lotus had used! 

The resulting crash destabilized the Stasis they were in and Time began to resume.

"Iitttt!????"

Light and sound returned and Daoist Countless Treasure and Envy were sweating bullets.

For the first time in millennia, they were on the brink of true death! 

The pair quickly patted themselves to verify that they were still alive. 

The sound of a pair of feet landing amidst the General Tower snapped them back to reality, 

"Thank you benefactor for savi-ah" As Daoist Countless Treasure turned to greet the mysterious benefactor, he was stunned to silence.

Standing before him was none other than Red Lotus himself! 

He quickly darted back to create space, preparing his best Killer Moves to deal with the intruder. 

But the Red Lotus in front of him just waved his arms in surrender.

Daoist Countless Treasure thought it was a ploy but Envy tugged at his shoulders.

"Shitty Bald monk look!" she pointed at where Star Constellation and Red Lotus 'were' standing, except he was still there!

All the information Path methods at his disposal confirmed to him that it wasn't an illusion nor a clone, it was the genuine article before him, and yet behind him as well.

"Let me explain," instead of Red Lotus's manly voice, a petite feminine one came out of the Red Lotus in front of him. 

"I am…" 

Before the 'Red Lotus' in front of them could speak from behind they heard, 

"Reputation Gu!" 

Right as she heard her name, Reputation Gu dispelled her Red Lotus form and switched back to a petite woman in her 20s with a short frame and an attendant outfit. 

"Let me introduce myself, I am Lord Fang Yuan's assistant Reputation Gu," she gave a small curtsy, "I am also the reason you're both still alive." 

The pair gulped.

Daoist Countless Treasure stepped forth, "Thank you for your assistance." 

He gave a polite bow forward, and Envy gave a small curtsy. 

"Let's skip the formalities, Time is of the essence here." Reputation Gu clapped her hands, and instantly the Myriad Year Flying Warship appeared. 

"Daoist Countless Treasure, I am entrusting this ship to you." Reputation Gu gestured with her hands and Daoist Countless Treasure could feel a connection with the ship. 

"At present, we have no real good use of this ship on its own, but if it manages to integrate with your Armada it would prove a significant tool against Red Lotus." 

"I-"

Reputation Gu cut him off, "Don't worry, we aren't giving you the ship for free, we know you wouldn't trust us if such a good deal presented itself so I will be incredibly blunt." 

"The two of you aren't strong enough." her expression was calm and steeled, as if her words were facts not opinions.

"Wait but we-" Envy wanted to interject but Reputation Gu cut her off and began pointing out their flaws, "You possess great amounts of Dao Marks but no talent regarding how to use them, you're sloppy and amateurish, brute forcing your way through everything without a shred of finesse." 

"" Envy wanted to retort but no words exited her mouth, and she stood agape, with her fingers still up in objection. 

"And you," Reputation Gu pointed at Daoist Countless Treasure, "You possess great shrewdness and a capacity for evaluating situations and coming up with devious plots, but you forget one crucial thing." 

Daoist Countless Treasure listened intently, "What is it?" 

"You're too weak!" Reputation Gu's words fell on him like thunder.

"Schemes in front of strength are like ant trying to outsmart a tsunami."

She went into great detail,

"Your Armada idea is certainly brilliant and would have given you a huge edge against any normal opponent, the keyword is normal, we're facing Venerables right now. Do you know what those are? They are the apex of Humanity, a cornerstone in history, their names will not fade even in a hundred million years, much less you guys who've only been around for a couple of millennia." 

"The only reason you're still alive is that they are weary of what other tricks you have up your sleeves, plus what other tricks Lord Fang Yuan has up his, and believe me, they're more worried about the latter than the former." 

Indeed, Reputation Gu was right, Star Constellation and Red Lotus had been intentionally stalling, part of the reason was indeed to find out more about 7 sins, and another part was also to find out if Fang Yuan had any other plans, but final reason that Reputation Gu did not expect was that they were also checking out Reckless's plans! 

"Good." Star Constellation communicated to the other Venerables, "Reputation Gu's appearance means Fang Yuan still has cards he hasn't played and that the 7 sins are a part of the reason." 

The others telepathically nodded. 

For them, even at their weakest, the combination of Spectral Soul, Qing Chou, Envy and Daoist Countless treasure was more of a significant hindrance than a threat. 

Sure they can be tossed and turned but if push came to shove, all of them wouldn't stand a chance even if they teamed up! 

And that was the reality Reputation Gu lay before Daoist Countless Treasure and Envy. 

But instead of being completely terrified they merely chuckled, 

"While I appreciate you saving us, and for providing some very much needed support, I'll let you in on a little something, in terms of might, me and Envy are mere supports whilst Rage and Gluttony over there are distractions." 

His gaze turned serious, "The real heavy hitters are on their way." 

Reputation Gu raised an eyebrow, "Lust and Sloth?" 

Envy nodded, "They are our two oldest members, while we've only been around since the Late Antiquity Era, Lust's been around since at least the Olden Antiquity, and Sloth's been around since the Remote Antiquity!" 

!!!

This was shocking news to Reputation Gu, 

"I've been around since the Immemorial Era and yet I've never heard of either of these two," she thought to herself, "They must be something to have survived that long and command the respect of these two." 

Envy chimed in again, "Lust has said she could easily solo one or two Venerables by herself and she's not the type to exaggerate." 

"Interesting…" Reputation ponders herself, "I wonder what Master is thinking." 

She recalled the words that he left to her before beginning his ascension, 

"I need you to gather the 7 sins in one spot before I finish ascending, we only have one shot at this." Fang Yuan was standing in front of the last Elemental Gu he had yet to refine as he told this to Reputation Gu. 

"But Master? How will I find them?" 

Fang Yuan shook his head, "You won't have to find them, they'll find you. Just play the situation out so that those ancient fools will stick their necks out, and when the time is ripe I'll settle the rest." 

Reputation Gu knelt on one knee at cupped her fist, "It shall be done."

Fang Yuan nodded in approval and handed her a portion of his Will, a parchment and all the reserves of Immortal Essence he had left. 

"But Master if you give me all your Immortal Essence what will you," Fang Yuan cut her off.

"You'll be facing some of the most powerful and ancient beings that have ever graced this planet, if you don't have at least this much you won't even be able to be a player on this chess board." 

"Besides, I no longer need it." he said with arms behind his back, "Take the Myriad Year Flying Warship it will serve you well." 

Reputation Gu suddenly saw the pieces of Fang Yuan's planing seemingly come together, "O Master, you are too cruel, this lowly one still isn't a player even with all this power, just your measly pawn."

A small grin was on her face.