“You’ll always be welcome to visit the Nalan family, Mr. Lu.” Madam Nalan stopped about a meter away from Lu Yin and naturally stood in such a way that he could view her enchanting figure from a very tempting angle.
She was not deliberately trying to seduce Lu Yin and was only acting normally. Yet despite her intentions, every step she took tested him. If Mira’s beauty was rooted in her physical appearance and movements, then the beauty of the woman in front of him was all natural—no, it was ingrained into her very bones.
Lu Yin forcefully calmed himself down. He was a young and energetic man, so he found it a little difficult to handle this bewitching woman. He quickly said, “May I know who gifted you the pendant on your neck, Madam Nalan?”
Madam Nalan was surprised by his question and smiled. “A good friend of mine.”
Lu Yin nodded as he continued, “It appears that your friend isn’t as good of a friend as you believe them to be.”
Madam Nalan’s eyes glinted and she asked in a confused tone, “Why do you say that?”
Lu Yin sighed before saying, “Since you saved my life, I won’t keep this a secret. I am a Lockbreaker and I was able to detect something that most would not be able to.”
With that, he waved an arm. “I have a minor stomach ache, so I’ll have to excuse myself now, Madam. I’ll see you later.” He then left hastily.
It was truly difficult for him to handle this woman. She had only taken two steps towards him, but just that had flustered him. He suddenly remembered she was a widow. Did this woman tempt her husband into an early grave? It certainly seems to be possible.
Madam Nalan did not mind Lu Yin’s abrupt departure and immediately yanked the pendant off. She had a cold glint in her eyes that seemed capable of freezing the entire universe. It was difficult to imagine how a person who had never cultivated could make such a chilling gaze. “Look into this. I want to know what’s special about the pendant.”
A young girl appeared behind her and received the item politely. “Yes, Madam.”
Madam Nalan did not completely believe Lu Yin, but there was no harm in checking his words as they had the possibility of being true.
Meanwhile, Lu Yin walked into a private lounge and immediately called Old Cai. The Frostwave Weave wasn’t that far away from the Umbral Butterfly Weave, so it was possible to contact Old Cai through his gadget.
“What is it?” Old Cai asked exasperatedly.
“I retrieved the Giant Emperor’s third eye, Old Cai,” Lu Yin said.
“Ok. Are you trying to show off or something?” Old Cai was obviously annoyed by Lu Yin’s call.
Lu Yin answered, “I’d like to know what it does.”
Old Cai made a sound of surprise. “You still haven’t figured it out? You’re so useless! How did you ever manage to successfully unlock a Sourcebox?”
“You know I’m a Lockbreaker?” Lu Yin was astonished.
“Obviously. How could I not know what my student is doing? By the way, the mission this time must have been a little tough. Quite a few people must have been competing for that third eye,” Old Cai said with a sly snicker.
Lu Yin nonchalantly answered, “Not really. There weren’t a lot of people aiming for it.”
“That’s impossible! The news of the Umbral Butterfly Weave’s trial was made public at all of the major planets and should have attracted quite a lot of attention. People definitely would not have missed out on a chance to acquire the Giant Emperor’s third eye. There should have been quite a few talented Melders who joined in to compete for it,” Old Cai said.
“There were just two people who stood out. One was from the Daynight clan and the other from the Outerverse’s Youth Council,” Lu Yin stated blandly. He didn’t mention the Neohuman Alliance. He was planning on concealing the fact that Puyu had a Corpse King under his supervision as a trump card for the future.
Old Cai replied, “That makes sense. So the Outerverse Youth Council interfered and nobody else had the guts to contest it, huh? You’re pretty good if you were able to snatch that third eye away from someone in the Council, haha.”
“You still haven’t told me its uses,” Lu Yin reminded.
“What an idiot. Haven’t you heard of Lockbreaking tools?” Old Cai said sarcastically.
Lu Yin’s eyes lit up and he asked in excitement, “Are you saying that the Giant Emperor’s third eye is a Lockbreaking tool?!”
“Obviously. Once you pour your star energy into it, your vision will be somewhat different. What would it be if not a Lockbreaking tool? Alright, I’ve got more important things to do.” After saying that, Old Cai disconnected without waiting for a response.
Lu Yin stared at the third eye with renewed excitement. He had already formed his own hypothesis after he had tried pouring some star energy in it, and now, Old Cai’s words had verified his guess. It seemed that this third eye was quite similar to Master Wusheng’s two leaves. Lockbreaking tools were invaluable, so it was no wonder why the Daynight clan and the Outerverse Youth Council had both wanted it.
Half an hour later, in the top level lounge, the young girl walked over and deferentially said, “Master Su has inspected all the other accessories that Madam Liv has gifted you. One of them was found to have a substance that is harmful to you. It can cause you to feel fatigued and gradually deprive you of your sight.”
Madam Nalan’s gaze grew cold. “How long has it been there?”
“Three years. Master Su said that there are only traces of the harmful substance and that it would take at least ten years for it to start taking effect. Because of this, he would not have recognized its perniciousness unless he paid special attention to it, and he apologizes to you for this. Also, Master Su would like to meet the young Lockbreaker who saw through the problem in a single glance,” she answered respectfully.
“Tell him that he shouldn’t take this matter to heart and that the young Lockbreaker has already left,” Madam Nalan said.
The young girl replied, “Yes, madam.”
Madam Nalan clenched her fists. “How dare that bitch try to lay a hand on me. She laid a ten year plan to ruin me. How cautious! I’ll make her wish that she was dead!”
A day soon passed, and during that day, Lu Yin did not see Madam Nalan again. A crew member asked him if he had any requests when bringing him food, to which he answered no. Instead, he fixed his eyes on the luxurious meal before him; it was clearly even more extravagant than the meal that he had been given before, and even the quality was a lot higher than before. Lu Yin started to salivate just from looking at it.
After the meal, he went to the pilot and asked about his spacecraft.
The pilot smiled. “Your spacecraft will need seven days to complete its upgrade, Mr. Lu.”
“Seven days? To complete its upgrade?” Lu Yin was shocked. The amount and quality of materials that he’d put in the spacecraft shouldn’t have merited that large of an upgrade.
“This is the madam’s way of showing her gratitude to you. You can discuss it with her in more detail yourself,” the pilot told him courteously.
Gratitude? So Madam Nalan’s pendant really did have a hidden problem. How extravagant! And to show her thanks, she had upgraded his spacecraft for him. Lu Yin was aware that a large amount of resources were needed to upgrade an Aurora spacecraft from the elementary grade to the radiant grade. Of course, this upgrade also came with a similarly large boost to its capabilities, and it would be ten times better than before in every aspect. That was the definite characteristic of a radiant spacecraft—a speed ten times faster than a regular spacecraft’s.
But what did “ten times” really mean? If it took him around a month to travel from the Frostwave Weave to the Umbral Butterfly Weave with an elementary spacecraft, then he could have made the same journey in a few days with a radiant spacecraft. That was the difference.
Lu Yin had originally thought it would take him an exceptionally long amount of time to upgrade his spacecraft to the next grade, but in the end, all it had taken was a comment from him and an order from Madam Nalan.
It was no wonder that Lockbreakers held high statuses; they could see what most couldn’t. If he wasn’t a Lockbreaker and merely a student of Astral-10, Madam Nalan might not have even bothered meeting him despite his position as Astral-10’s leader. Lu Yin was finally getting a taste of the exalted status that Lockbreakers held, and he was delighted to see that he had made the right decision.
Lu Yin straightened his clothes in preparation to meet and thank Madam Nalan. The woman may be extremely seductive, but he still needed to show some basic manners.
Before Lu Yin could even request to meet her, however, someone led him all the way to the lounge on the top level. Everything in front of him was transparent and it seemed as if he could reach out and touch space itself. Before him sat Madam Nalan, smiling at him.
Compared to the day before, Madam Nalan was now wearing a more conservative set of clothing, and her dazzling figure was hidden. Although she was still seductive, Lu Yin let out a quiet sigh of relief.
“Your gift is too generous, Madam Nalan. I’m afraid that I won’t be able to pay you back,” Lu Yin said with a wry smile.
Madam Nalan grinned and gestured for him to take a seat. “Have a seat so that we can talk.”
Lu Yin nodded and did so without a second thought, sitting down opposite her. Like the previous day, the two of them were now less than a meter apart, and a tempting fragrance drifted over from her body.
“You saved me, Mr. Lu. Upgrading your spacecraft cannot quite express the gratitude that I have for you.” Madam Nalan sounded earnest. While her smile was the same as always, Lu Yin could tell there was a hint of sincerity to it now.
The Nalan family depended primarily on trade, and everyone in that industry was cunning to the extreme. No matter what kind of person Madam Nalan had been before, the fact that she had successfully taken control of the Nalan family’s wealth showed that she knew how to maneuver around the industry and that she would unconsciously put on a facade in front of others. If a businessman wanted to get rich, then sincerity was the very foundation of their activity. Putting on a mask was only meant to deal with small fry, but there was no way around it because there were simply too many of them. Madam Nalan rarely ever treated people with complete sincerity, but with Lu Yin, that mask of hers seemed thinner than usual.
“The value of a gift depends on who it is gifted to. For me, an upgraded spacecraft is already an enormous boon,” Lu Yin said earnestly.
Madam Nalan covered her mouth and laughed. Her eyes curved up like bright crescents. “Are you always so formal when you talk to people, Mr. Lu?”
Lu Yin froze and then laughed awkwardly. He had indeed gone a little too far with his words. He had intended to talk with her formally so that he could retain his self control, but he had ended up overdoing it to the point of blatantly exposing his intentions.
Madam Nalan laughed again, personally poured a drink, and then offered it to him.
Lu Yin took it. “Thank you.”
Madam Nalan looked at Lu Yin and the corner of her lips curved up again. “I actually want to apologize to you.”
Lu Yin was about to take a sip, but after hearing her words, he stopped and looked at her in confusion. “What for?”
“I investigated you,” she answered honestly.
Lu Yin’s eyes flashed and he resumed sipping his drink without saying a word.
Madam Nalan stared at Lu Yin and something shone in her eyes. “In just half a year or so, you went from being an ordinary Sentinel in the outer regions of the Outerverse to becoming the leader of Astral-10. You even became a one star Lockbreaker with contributions. You are quite interesting, Mr. Lu.”
Lu Yin put his cup down and gazed at her. He said in a low voice, “I don’t appreciate it when people investigate me.”
Madam Nalan merely smiled.
“But since I’m on your spacecraft, it would make sense for you to do that,” Lu Yin said brightly, his tone changing rather abruptly.
Madam Nalan’s lips arched up beautifully. “That may well be, but I was still in the wrong. I am willing to make up for it.”
Lu Yin shook his head again. “You’re being very kind, Madam Nalan. You’ve already upgraded my spacecraft for me. You really don’t need to do anything else.”
“Not even help you in the Astral Combat Tournament?” she asked enticingly.
Lu Yin was surprised. “The Astral Combat Tournament?”
“The tournament this time will be a little different from the ones in the past. Humanity’s defeat in the border wars of the star expanse region has enraged certain people. As a response, the Astral Combat Tournament is being held to restore morale. However, while some people have higher statuses, they cannot determine everything that happens in the universe,” Madam Nalan said as she poured herself some more fruit juice. She licked her red lips before continuing, saying, “Usually, a gadget can be linked across several regions. However, if the distance is greater than ten regions, then there will be some difficulty. Only specially-made gadgets can connect that far. The upcoming tournament will require a network that covers the entire universe, and that needs money. Hence, the Nalan family is one of the tournament’s sponsors.”
