Lu Yin looked up, as that was enough funds, but only for the Great Yu Empire’s military expenditures. He needed to obtain more money from the Nalan family’s hands in order to increase his own strength.
In another place, Shalosh was accompanying Gavin to a branch of the Mavis Bank one filament away from Zenyu Star, as all the money from the Mavis Bank on Zenyu Star had already been withdrawn. Many people were trying to build their own personal reserves right now.
The two had just left the branch when Shalosh’s face changed. He quickly pulled Gavin to his side and dashed into the sky. The next moment, a man in front of the two people raised his head and suddenly charged furiously into the Mavis Bank and slammed his hand against the floor.
Gavin’s face went pale, and he stared downward in shock. “What’s this?”
“He’s a Hunter, and he’s trying to rob the bank,” Shalosh said in a deep voice.
When he heard that this man was a Hunter, Gavin trembled. There were not even ten such powerhouses in all of Frostwave Weave, and only a meagre two or three of them serving the empire. Neither of them had expected to bump into a Hunter who was robbing a bank at the same time of their visit. This person had to be someone from the Innerverse who had been left behind in the Outerverse.
The same instant that the Hunter acted, the entire planet quivered, as an ordinary planet could not withstand the might of a powerhouse whose power level had reached o 100,000 or higher.
The Great Yu Empire’s troops on the planet were immediately deployed, but they were stopped by Shalosh. Their opponent was a Hunter, and even Shalosh himself was not confident of dealing with such an expert.
But this Hunter was too foolish if he was actually dreaming of robbing a Mavis Bank.
Mavis Banks could be found throughout the Innerverse and Outerverse, and they would not have continued to exist if they could be robbed so easily. Even if this place was a branch on an ordinary planet in the Outerverse, it still was not someplace that could be easily breached.
The floor of the Mavis Bank shattered, but not even half a minute passed before the Hunter dashed back into the sky. He looked excited as he had evidently reaped some benefits. However, the moment he left the planet’s surface, the great tree that was littered with universal currency in front of the bank branch started to move. The tree’s branches shot through the void and wrapped around the Hunter.
He bellowed, pulled out a long knife, and attempted to slice through the branch, but his efforts were all in vain. The branch was not chopped off, and it continued to twine around the Hunter as its strength increased.
The Hunter howled in agony. “Spare me! I don’t dare! I don’t dare anymore.”
From within the bank, the branch manager coldly watched the scene unfold, disdain and loathing in his eyes. Over the course of countless years, many people had plotted to steal from this Mavis Bank, but how many of them had actually been able to succeed? This person had assumed that, just because the Outerverse had been cut off from the Innerverse, that the Mavis Banks would lose their power. However, the truth was that the bank had considered such events long ago.
With a crack, that Hunter was snapped into two, and fresh blood spattered onto the ground along with the universal currency, staining everything red.
Outside the bank, many people witnessed this scene. They had a terrified look, but then they looked back at the bank. Their attitudes had completely changed at this moment, as this place possessed the power to easily kill a Hunter.
Gavin was stunned. Truthfully, ever since the Innerverse and Outerverse had been separated, he had considered the idea of robbing a Mavis Bank whenever the Great Yu Empire’s military funds were strained. However, he was thrilled at this moment that he had never voiced his thoughts, as he had just seen how ridiculous such an attempt would be.
Shalosh looked solemn, as that tree was rather frightening. But even more scary was the fact that there had been no energy fluctuations, and he hadn’t been able to sense a power level even when the tree killed the Hunter. That was extremely crafty, and it must be insider information exclusive to the Mavis Bank.
Even if the Outerverse had been isolated from the Innerverse, its Mavis Banks were still capable of protecting themselves.
It didn’t take long for news of the matter to spread, and Lu Yin was one of the first to learn of it. He had not expected that the Mavis Banks would have such hidden power, and this had even happened at a very ordinary branch of the Outerverse. In that case, what about the branches in the Innerverse? How terrifying were those places?
The Mavis Bank indeed lived up to its reputation of being a strong power that controlled the human race’s currency.
However, now that the Outerverse was isolated, could the Mavis Banks’ reserves last? The star crystals and universal currency that were held in the branch on Zenyu Star had already been essentially all withdrawn, and it looked like the branches on the other planets weren’t far behind.
Lu Yin instructed Gavin to initiate a conversation with the manager of Zenyu Star’s branch of the Mavis Bank in order to explore the bank’s intentions.
Lu Yin then went to look for Hai Qiqi, as he had not seen her in some time.
The lively Hai Qiqi had once made others feel helpless and had given multiple people headaches. But the current Hai Qiqi made others pity her.
Lu Yin looked at her, huddled over and staring at the ocean. This was how she had spent her recent days.
“Based on some information that we’ve obtained, the powerful energy that separates the Outerverse’s weaves is already declining, as is the Astral River. One day, it will return to its original state,” Lu Yin spoke as he walked over to Hai Qiqi.
Her eyes lit up as she looked at him with hope. “Really?”
Lu Yin nodded.
“How much longer will that take? How much longer before I can return to the Sea King’s Dome?” Hai Qiqi asked urgently; her expression was both nervous and expectant.
Lu Yin considered his answer. “Around ten years.”
When she heard his response, it seemed as if her soul had fled her body, and she went pale.
Lu Yin sighed. “Ten years is already pretty decent. It’s much better than never being able to return.”
She nodded and sat back down. “I got it. Thank you.”
Lu Yin patted her head and turned to leave. He sighed inwardly, as he had actually been lying to her. The energy that had separated the Outerverse was indeed dwindling, but it was doing so very slowly. At the current rate, forget ten years—not even 100, 1,000, or even 10,000 years would be enough for the Astral River to return to its original state. Lu Yin had told the girl that it would be ten years so that she wouldn’t lose hope and could use this time to accept reality.
She missed her hometown, and Lu Yin himself had many people who he missed: Big Sis, Uncle You Ling, and his fellow students from Astral-10. Even those such as Mu Rong, Ling Que, Liu Shaoqiu, and Zhanlong Daynight occasionally appeared in his mind. After the events on Planet Pyrolyte, all of those people had returned to the Innerverse, which meant that he may not ever meet them again in his lifetime.
Lu Yin could also be emotional at times. In the old universe, the great powers had constricted him like pythons, and it had been difficult to breathe at times. In the current universe, Lu Yin was completely free, but he often found himself reminiscing about that feeling of restriction, the battles of wits that he had fought with Nightking Yuanjing, as well as his days of fighting against those genius Limiteers.
Unfortunately, those days would not appear again unless the Astral River recovered. And at that time, things would no longer remain the same.
The greatest pity was that Lu Yin would not be able to make any progress on who his mortal enemy actually was. It would be extremely difficult to collect the debt of those seventy two lives whose surname “Lu” had been written down on that paper.
To the east of the Frostwave Weave lay Grandtop Weave, which the Nine Stacks Sect had once ruled. But about three months ago, the Dire Barbarian Clan had appeared in Grandtop Weave and completely destroyed the Nine Stacks Sect. Most of the sect’s experts had suffered serious injuries or been killed, with only a few managing to escape.
The Nine Stacks Sect had been established on a giant meteorite with an extensive size that even surpassed Zenyu Star’s. The meteorite could not be found in a fixed location, as it was purposefully controlled by the Nine Stacks Sect in such a way that it roamed all throughout the weave. This had been one of the key reasons why the sect had been able to maintain control of Grandtop Weave.
Historically, the Nine Stacks Sect had coveted Frostwave Weave, and there had been many clashes with the Great Yu Empire. The sect had been repelled each time, and the two forces had been enemies ever since.
There was no sunlight or life on the floating meteorite’s surface. Instead, the Nine Stacks Sect had hollowed out the meteorite’s interior and constructed an ecosphere within it.
Within the roaming meteorite, there was a city with mountains and rivers. Everything that was needed could be found in this place.
Lei Long sat cross-legged in a dark, secret room within the city. As an Enlighter, he did not intervene in the clan’s issues. Instead, he had passed all matters to his subordinates. Ever since the Innerverse and Outerverse had been separated, he had only stepped out once, which was to destroy the strongest expert from the Nine Stacks Sect, whose strength had almost reached that of an Enlighter.
Thousands of miles away from the Nine Stacks Sect’s headquarters, there was a group of people who had gathered together. They were the lucky survivors of the Nine Stacks Sect. Two of them were Hunters, and Tianming was also among the group.
“Tianming, is what you say true? There’s someone willing to help our Nine Stacks Sect deal with Lei Long?” One of the Hunters stared at Tianming.
Tianming spoke in a deep voice. “This is because of a favor left behind by our sect’s ancestors. Even if you don’t believe me, you can trust in the ancestors.”
“That’s right. Tianming has inherited the sect’s Nine Stacks and has even selflessly passed the Nine Stacks on to everyone here. Everyone should understand his kind intentions,” another Hunter spoke. The woman had average looks and appeared to be rather delicate. Her face revealed a different expression when she looked at Tianming.
The male Hunter’s eyes flickered, and he nodded. He then surveyed the people who had gathered. “Since that’s the case, we’ll wait for that Enlighter to appear and deal with Lei Long.”
Tianming did not speak any further as he turned to face the headquarters of the Nine Stacks Sect with a complex expression on his face. After this day, there would no longer be a Nine Stacks Sect in the universe.
At that moment, the female Hunter walked over beside Tianming and softly said, “As a sect elder, I usually refrain from asking about details concerning disciples, but I do know of your matters.”
Tianming’s body trembled, and he looked over at her in surprise.
She continued, “The girl who you once favored is my niece.”
Tianming lowered his head and suppressed the astonishment that had appeared in his heart.
“If the sect had truly given their inheritance to you, then they would not have sent you undercover to the Great Yu Empire, and they also would not have split you and my niece up. However, that matter caused you to hate the sect. You are no heir of the sect.” Her tone grew harsher as she stared at him.
Tianming retorted, “I’ve inherited the Sect’s Nine Stacks.”
“Nine Stacks is nothing more than a method of applying strength. That’s not the only inheritance. From what I know, the Great Yu Empire’s Royal Regent, Lu Yin, is able to display Thirty Stacks, so I expect that passing Nine Stacks over to you wouldn’t be too hard.”
Tianming’s eyes flashed, but he had no way of refuting her words.
She looked behind and then moved closer to Tianming and quietly asked, “What’s your objective? Or rather, what is it that the Great Yu Empire’s Royal Regent wants?”
Tianming stared at her, and his fist slowly grew clenched tighter.
The woman sneered. “You want to act against me?”
Tianming’s gaze trembled. He quickly realized that despite the woman’s youthful appearance, she was still a Hunter while he was only a Limiteer. The disparity between them was far too great.
“What do you want?” Tianming asked.
She looked towards the Nine Stacks Sect. “The Nine Stacks Sect has already been annihilated. I want to cast my lot in with the Great Yu Empire, and you can help by recommending me to the Royal Regent, Lu Yin.”
Tianming had already guessed her intentions. This woman had her own schemes, or else she would have exposed him long ago. “Alright.”
She nodded in satisfaction. “So what are we currently waiting for?”
“The Dire Barbarian Clan,” Tianming said.
She was shocked. “You intend to use the Dire Barbarian Clan to eradicate us?”
Tianming nodded. “Those are His Majesty’s orders.”
She pondered this new piece of information. Even if she had already abandoned the Nine Stacks Sect, she had still built up a sense of camaraderie with these other people since they were from the same sect. It was a bit much for her to send them to their deaths.
