Lu Yin glanced at the man beside him once again and involuntarily shifted away. Poison posed a thorny problem to most cultivators.
Before long, Northgate Lie appeared once again, but this time, he did not display any of his battle techniques. He used only pure star energy to domineeringly overwhelm his opponent, but it was still another instant victory. Northgate Lie was displaying the full terror of someone on the Top 100 Rankings.
Not long after Northgate Lie’s battle, Lu Yin received a message from Lily Anne saying that she wanted to meet him in person. So, Lu Yin left the high platform and headed to the meeting point.
His destination was close, and when Lu Yin arrived, he saw that Lily Anne was there, as well as Northgate Lie.
“Brother Lu, I’m really sorry to disturb you, but Brother Lie wanted to speak with you,” Lily Anne said apologetically to Lu Yin.
Lu Yin nodded and looked at Northgate Lie. “Is Brother Northgate looking for me so that we can arrange the time for our battle?”
Northgate Lie shot a look at Lily Anne, wordlessly indicating for her to leave. With no other choice, she could only comply.
After she left, Northgate Lie looked at Lu Yin with a serious expression. “Brother Lu, there is no animosity between us. There’s really no need for us to fight.”
Lu Yin felt like something was strange. “Did Brother Northgate ask me to come here just to say this?”
“Is Brother Lu confident in emerging victorious?”
Lu Yin muttered to himself and then shook his head. “No one would dare be certain of their victory against someone in the Top 100 Rankings. Also, I’m still just a Limiteer after all.”
“That’s true. Brother Lu represents not only yourself, but more importantly, you represent the Ten Arbiters as well. If Brother Lu is defeated, then the Ten Arbiters will also be embarrassed, which would affect Brother Lu’s position in the Ten Arbiters Council. What are your thoughts on this?”
Lu Yin’s eyes flashed, immediately guessing at why Northgate Lie had called him out to talk. The Northgate family was afraid that Lu Yin’s imminent defeat would embarrass the Ten Arbiters. Honestly, he had truly not considered this possibility, and it was completely normal and almost expected that the Northgate family would have such apprehensions about the fight. Over the past few days, many rumors had circulated through the universe, claiming that the Northgate family was trying to kick the Ten Arbiters Council out of the Flowzone.
For the Northgate family, if Lu Yin was defeated, then the rumors would definitely spread to the Ten Arbiters, and people would treat it as if the Northline Flowzone was challenging the Ten Arbiters Council’s authority. This might also cause the Northgate family to have to directly confront the Ten Arbiters, and that was just too big of a risk for them to take. The Ten Arbiters represented not just those ten individuals, but also the unimaginably enormous powers behind them.
The Northline Flowzone already had to use the Northgate Platform Competition to unite the seventeen families against the other surrounding Flowzones. They obviously did not dare offend the powers behind the Ten Arbiters.
Even the Northgate family was afraid, but the more afraid they became, the more obvious their disdain for Lu Yin’s abilities was. They had clearly never even considered the possibility that Northgate Lie might lose, which showed how much confidence they had in an expert who was in the Top 100 Rankings.
After thinking things through, Lu Yin’s mind became more nimble. It felt like he could see a path to heaven open up before him; he could see a new way of earning money!
Lu Yin coughed twice and then replied in a righteous manner. “Brother Northgate, a man in this universe must establish himself. It’s been my lifelong dream to challenge someone in the Top 100 Rankings, and even a defeat would be honorable.”
Northgate Lie’s face twisted into an ugly expression. “Brother Lu, you must consider this carefully. Once you’re defeated, the reputation that you’ve earned from the Astral Combat Tournament and the Tournament of the Strongest will be damaged. More importantly, you’ll embarrass the Ten Arbiters, which might even ruin your future in the Ten Arbiters Council.”
Lu Yin waved a hand. “No worries, there are some things that a man must do.”
Northgate Lie was rendered speechless, as Lu Yin seemed inflexible and uncaring towards the aftermath of defeat. If they truly battled, then this person would definitely lose and cause the Northgate family to suffer heavy repercussions. However, it was also impossible for Northgate Lie to lose on purpose in order to preserve the Ten Arbiters’ reputation. If he lost, then Lu Yin would replace Northgate Lie on the Top 100 Rankings, which was something that Northgate Lie could not accept no matter what else.
“Brother Lu, I heard that you previously made an agreement with the Sword Sect’s Liu Shaoqiu to challenge the Top 100 Rankings together. If you go back on your word at this time, then it wouldn’t be too good, right?” Northgate Lie tried to probe.
Lu Yin remained proud. “There are some things that a man must do.”
Northgate Lie was once again left speechless; were they even talking about the same thing?
The conversation suddenly entered an awkward lull. One was racking his brains on how he could get his opponent to give up on the battle while the other was trying to bring up the topic of money.
Lu Yin had lost his opportunity with Yue Xianzi and An Shaohua, not receiving any money from either of them because he had been too subtle. Still, he had to preserve some face, and he couldn’t just straight up tell Northgate Lie that he wanted money; that would be too embarrassing.
Both became rather depressed.
At that moment, Northgate Gang walked over. Lu Yin saw the younger sibling, and his eyes gleamed. He intentionally positioned his back towards Northgate Gang and then rubbed his thumb and two fingers together in an obvious motion.
Northgate Gang was stumped when he saw Lu Yin’s fingers. He seemed dazed, but then he seemed to connect the dots in his head. He pulled Northgate Lie aside and whispered to him.
Northgate Lie was incredulous at first, but then, he became skeptical when he glanced at Lu Yin’s hand behind his back. There were three fingers still rubbing together in a movement that was universally recognized.
Lu Yin’s expression was expectant. This should be obvious enough now!
“Brother Lu, are you short on money?” Northgate Lie asked in a probing manner, but Northgate Gang quickly said, “Brother, that’s too blunt!” He then directed a displeased look at Lu Yin. “Brother Lu, since it’s your first time visiting the Northline Flowzone, our Northgate family has prepared a welcome gift for you that we hope you’ll appreciate.”
Lu Yin’s lips rose up, and he gave Northgate Gang an appreciative look. Although this person wanted to oppose him, that had only been because he did not have a clear understanding of the situation. “Well, since your Northgate family has extended such kindness, I’ll gladly accept it.”
Northgate Lie was now completely certain that Lu Yin wanted money, and his respect for Lu Yin immediately dropped by a hundred levels. His internal disdain was almost written on his face; this person was the champion of the Tournament of the Strongest!? The Astral Combat Academy had certainly fallen in standards. He no longer even wanted to speak to Lu Yin.
“Brother Northgate, regarding what you just said about our upcoming battle, I’ve thought it through, and you’re indeed correct in that it’s inappropriate. But given the rampant rumors, suddenly canceling the match would also cause some embarrassment for both myself and the Ten Arbiters.”
Northgate Lie coldly replied, “Don’t worry about that, Brother Lu. I will leave tomorrow, and then no one will be able to blame Brother Lu. Just make sure to remember to announce that our battle will merely be postponed.”
Lu Yin nodded. “That should be fine.”
From a little ways in front, Northgate Gang shot an odd glance at Northgate Lie. The older brother then tossed a cosmic ring to Lu Yin. The ring had an odd design, but its unadorned features gave it its own charm. “This is a cosmic ring that I picked up in the Fallen Star Ocean with an enormous capacity. It would require at least two cubes of star essence for an average person to purchase one like this. Will this gift be enough?”
Lu Yin actually wanted star essence, but then he saw the large space within the cosmic ring, which was several times larger than what he currently possessed. He had wanted to buy such a cosmic ring since a long time ago, but had never been able to justify the cost. After thinking it over for a few moments, Lu Yin nodded. “It’s enough. Thank you, Brother Northgate.”
Aside from a rich, second generation scion such as Lulu, the Innerverse’s heirs generally did not have that much money. The fact that Northgate Lie could give Lu Yin a cosmic ring worth two cubes of star essence was already very unexpected. Lu Yin had actually wanted to chat with Northgate Kong afterwards, but Northgate Lie had resolved the situation with his timely departure, which did not require approval from the family head. Lu Yin knew to quit when he was ahead, and obtaining a cosmic ring of this size was still a pretty decent deal.
Northgate Lie had no further thoughts of being involved with Lu Yin anymore, and he turned to leave. Lu Yin was completely unscrupulous in his eyes. Northgate Gang similarly despised this extortionist.
Lu Yin could not be bothered with either of them. So what if they looked down on him? Improving his own power was the most important thing.
“Seventh Bro, even I’m embarrassed of you. You threw away not only your self respect, but also threw your character,” the Ghost Monkey said with a sigh.
Lu Yin smiled. “Is it really that embarrassing? The initiative of challenging someone within the Top 100 Rankings still lies with me, not Northgate Lie.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I can challenge Northgate Lie at any time I like. History is written by the victors. No matter what happened leading up to it, a victory is still a victory.”
The monkey felt strange. “Seventh Bro, you seem very confident that you’ll win.”
“Perhaps, or at the very least, I will after earning some more money,” Lu Yin casually responded. So what if he was despised by others? After he defeated Northgate Lie, who would still despise him? Money might seem like a crude desire, but who didn’t need it? Lu Yin hoped that the many members of the Northgate family would spread news of his poverty throughout the universe; that way, he would be able to increase his power even faster.
As for his reputation, power was also one’s reputation. Once he reached the level of the Ten Arbiters, and similarly made his name taboo, who would dare to talk ill of him?
Lu Yin suddenly had a wicked thought; had the Ten Arbiters restricted their names because their names were tied to too many evil deeds? Had they forbidden people from mentioning their names to prevent people from talking about such things?
This season’s Northgate Platform Contest winner was almost certain to be the Northgate family, so Duke Blackhawk and the rest were all ready to leave.
Suddenly, on the Barthe Jacques family’s floating platform, the eyes of the Enlighter, Tie Sa, widened as he stared northwards. Then, Poison Flame, Duke Blackhawk, Fayde, Northgate Kong, and all the rest all looked northwards at the same time as the void shuddered.
Lu Yin only felt his scalp turn numb, and he also turned to stare at the north in horror. Was this terrifying sensation coming from a battle between powerhouses?
The Northgate Platform was trembling, and even the air was shaking. Or rather, it felt like the entire universe was quaking.
Tie Sa’s eyes gradually turned scarlet. “Head, there’s a battle between Enlighters nearby.”
Henry dryly replied, “To the north is the Northgate family.”
Northgate Kong had an extremely ugly expression. The power fluctuations were coming from, without a doubt, the same direction as his family’s holdings. And these aftershocks were definitely from a battle between almighty powerhouses whose power levels had reached at least 200,000 units. Otherwise, cultivators of their power level should not have been this fearful of the aftershocks. Fortunately, Elder Northgate was around, so things should be fine.
Everyone could feel the heavy atmosphere. The battles between the juniors abruptly stopped as everyone stared northwards.
Someone had attacked the Northgate family.
Everyone’s expression was different.
Northgate Kong glanced at everyone, as if he was trying to discover something.
In the next moment, an indescribable strength streaked across the Northgate Platform, and the very air seemed to burn to nothingness. Everyone shuddered as they felt an unprecedented, terrifying strength descend upon them.
At this moment, even Tie Sa, the Enlighter, felt horrified. “This, this is-”
The pupils of Duke Blackhawk and the others all shrank. This strength definitely surpassed 300,000, no, maybe even 400,000 units. When had such a powerhouse arrived in the Northline Flowzone?
Northgate Kong’s face paled. Just who had forced the Northgate family to such extremes?
Lily Liana cast a fearful look at Northgate Kong. Legend had it that the Northgate family had an elder who was cryogenically sealed and whose power level was extremely terrifying. When the Northgate family governed the Northline Flowzone in the past, the elder had been alive back then and continued to live on into the present. She had never believed the legends herself, but the show of strength just a moment ago terrified her. She looked at Northgate Kong; did that rumored elder really exist?
The entirety of Northgate Platform fell silent.
