Lu Yin called Di Nuo next. He made it clear that he wanted to talk to an expedition crew captain, but Di Nuo only knew one.
“Alliance Leader Lu, I was told that you’re looking for me,” a gloomy voice said. This was one of Endless Borders’ expedition crew captains, Yang Hai.
Lu Yin courteously replied, “I wonder, how does Captain Yang view the Great Eastern Alliance?”
Yang Hai fell silent for a while. “It’s none of my business.”
Lu Yin replied, “It must be dangerous searching for secret routes. Di Nuo previously participated in Lu’s Grand Auction, and I believe he came to purchase items for Captain Yang. I wonder what the captain might need?”
Yang Hai curtly replied, “Alliance Leader Lu, just get to the point.”
“Very well. I want to purchase undiscovered routes from Captain Yang.”
Yang Hai did not feel that this was unexpected, as this was the only reason why Lu Yin would have reached out to an expedition crew captain. “We’ll have to disappoint Alliance Leader Lu then. All new routes found by expedition crews have to first be sent over to headquarters. If Alliance Leader Lu wishes to buy them, then you’ll have to contact headquarters directly.”
Lu Yin replied, “Captain Yang doesn’t need to be in such a hurry to reject me. Your Endless Borders is not an entirely for-profit organization, and what mitigates the ever-present risks in exploration the most are life-saving items. I have natural treasures that have reached the point of evading danger, poisons that can harm Enlighters, lockbreaking tools, and many other items that you may need but are difficult to acquire.”
Yang Hai did not respond, but he was evidently moved. Deaths occurred regularly in their expedition crews, and nobody knew how many would die whenever they started a new exploration mission. All of the crews were passionate about exploration and happily took on these risks, and they were all cultivators with common goals. It wasn’t easy for Yang Hai to see his companions die, and Lu Yin’s conditions had clearly moved him greatly.
Endless Borders’ headquarters had many life-saving objects, but the majority was given to the expedition crews that worked in the Astral Wilderness, as those regions were more dangerous. Expeditions crews that roamed about the Outerverse would not receive much of those precious items.
“I’m sorry, Alliance Leader Lu, but I can’t agree to your request for now.” Yang Hai considered the offer, but he remained firm in his refusal.
Lu Yin smiled. “That’s fine. There’s no hurry. Captain Yang can consider this offer carefully for now. Of course, an undiscovered route from Captain Yang would have to be beneficial for me, or else I would have no reason to buy it. Isn’t that so?”
Yang Hai’s voice rose a little higher. “The secret routes in my hand are definitely what you require.”
“Alright, then I’ll wait for Captain Yang’s reply. I hope that the next time we talk, it will be to make a deal.” Lu Yin then hung up.
The distant battle continued in an unstoppable manner, and casualty reports constantly flowed in.
This was typical of a war, especially for an interstellar war. Those who had not reached the Explorers realm were unable to protect themselves, and a single attack could destroy a spacecraft and kill thousands of soldiers, not a single one surviving.
The war had already dragged out for a month, and logically, the Dark Phoenix family experts should have arrived by now.
Lu Yin’s gaze trembled, as Wei Rong must have made some preparations from the very beginning of the war.
If not for Endless Borders helping the Wei Family, one month would have been more than sufficient for the Allied Forces to fight their way to the Wei family’s ancestral planet. Unfortunately, they had ultimately failed in their gambit to quickly eliminate the Wei family.
In the distance, dozens of spacecraft were lined up in a row as light beams suddenly descended and swept across everything.
The Wei family, the Umbral Butterfly Tribe, the Shadowsword Sect, and other reinforcements had half of their vessels destroyed by this round of energy attacks, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers were instantly vaporized.
Wei Rong had never visited the frontlines in person, and he had always been giving orders from the backlines. He had seen that their defenses could not hold out for any longer and had immediately given the order to retreat, pulling back the defensive perimeter.
Liuying Zishan ordered the Allied Forces to give chase.
Armament Weave’s defensive line collapsed bit by bit. Their reinforcements were no longer able to arrive quickly enough whereas the Allied Forces’ attacks grew stronger with every wave.
“Send out videos of this war,” Wei Rong suddenly ordered, his face solemn. This war was an ample display of the Great Eastern Alliance’s Allied Forces’ power, and if they had not received reinforcements from the various other weaves, the Wei family would have already been crushed. Any weave that faced the Great Eastern Alliance on its own would also quickly be defeated.
He wanted to show the central weaves and even the western weaves that this was the true power of the Great Eastern Alliance that they had been disregarding all this time.
The Great Eastern Alliance was already a colossal organization within the Outerverse, and it just barely lacked the status to become an unprovokable power on the same level as Neo-Vestige Sect, Millions City, and the Dark Phoenix family. However, in terms of influence, the alliance had already surpassed the other three powers.
The new battlefront collapsed yet again, but this time, the battle only lasted for another half month. By now, the Allied Forces were fewer than five filaments away from the Wei family’s ancestral planet. If everything went smoothly, they would be able to cover this distance in no more than another half month.
Many in the Wei family were starting to panic, and they begged their elders to reach out to the Great Eastern Alliance and find a way to end the war.
The Wei family had governed Armament Weave for a long time, and none of them could recall the last time they had faced such a dire crisis. All along, they had been the ones plotting against others, and it had been too long since someone else had brought a war to their doorstep.
Wei Baichuan had been focused on the war this entire time, and it still had not ended. After all, none of the Lockbreakers were participating in the defense and neither had Yi Feng. Their Wei family had not run out of all options yet.
***
In Frostwave Weave, on Planet Hydrotink, Wei Xin’er desperately pleaded with Felynn, asking her to urge Lu Yin to stop the war. However, Wei Xin’er was emotionlessly rejected by Felynn.
Felynn had not thought that her alternative route would be cut off this quickly, but was there any purpose in pleading for mercy at this point? Would Lu Yin even listen to her? What a joke! At this point, whoever dared to obstruct Lu Yin was an enemy, and Felynn had no desire to die just yet.
Although she was the Outerverse Lockbreaker Society’s Interim President, she was fully confident that Lu Yin still had ways to deal with her.
The various powers of the Outerverse were all focused on this war, but they held differing attitudes towards it. Some were grieving, some ridiculed the two sides, and still others rejoiced at others’ misfortune. However, the vast majority was uncaring. In this war, the Great Eastern Alliance was not in the wrong, as the Wei family had undeniably planted troops within Frostwave Weave. They had brought this war upon themselves.
This indifference was especially prevalent in the western weaves, and many news outlets were completely unrestrained in their mocking comments towards the war, and they treated it as a confrontation between two weaklings. Many of the western powers had never cared about the Great Eastern Alliance.
There were many who believed that the Wei family was about to meet their end when the experts from the Dark Phoenix family finally arrived on the battlefield. By this time, the war had been going on for almost two months. The Allied Forces had advanced until they were only three filaments away from the Wei family’s ancestral planet.
Lu Yin sighed, as these people had still come in the end. Wei Rong had managed to maintain his composure well. He had not even evacuated the Wei family from their ancestral planet. Did he really trust the Dark Phoenix family that much?
A dozen or so experts from the Dark Phoenix family had arrived, and they brought troops from the Dark Phoenix family with them, totaling nearly 10,000 cultivators. Just their appearance caused a black flame to engulf an entire region of space. If not for Lu Yin already being prepared for such an event, the flames would have burned the Allied Forces to a crisp.
Their arrival prompted the Rapid Response Team to finally act, joining the Allied Forces along with the impatient Six-Fingered Tribe experts who had long been eager to join the fray. A total of seven Hunters participated in the next battle, and the Dark Phoenix family alone mobilized five. The battle between the Hunters superseded the skirmishes of all the other troops, and their confrontation caused space itself to rupture and nearby planets to shatter.
A terrifying pressure descended, and the spacecraft that Lu Yin was sitting in cracked. This was an Enlighter’s strength.
Lu Yin was not surprised, as he had noticed Sall Phoenix’s rune lines the moment the Dark Phoenix family had arrived.
Aden leapt out with his thunder shield that was reinforced with nine lined battle force to block Sall Phoenix’s black Undying Bird. Sall Phoenix was surprised to discover that there was a Hunter who could actually stop him and that the Great Eastern Alliance had been holding such an expert in reserve.
Back at Millions City, Yan Yan had also exchanged blows with Sall Phoenix, but he had been easily beaten back. Compared to Yan Yan, Aden’s defense was much more robust since it was his specialty, but it only managed to surprise Sall Phoenix for a moment. The Enlighter’s strength was greater than Lord Egret’s, and he was not someone who Aden could withstand on his own.
“Junior, I’m going to show you the outcome of offending my Dark Phoenix family!” Sall Phoenix barked as his black Undying Bird’s plumes intensified. It was the exact same move he had used back in Millions City.
When he had first faced this black Undying Bird, Lu Yin had been forced to shatter the ground and use the other Enlighters to block the attack. But now, it no longer mattered.
In outer space, as he faced the enormous black flames that swept towards him, Aden raised a hand, revealing the Backlash Pearl that instantly absorbed all of the black flames.
Sall Phoenix was astonished. “How is this possible?”
Lu Yin had upgraded the Backlash Pearl sixteen times, and it had been enhanced to the point of being able to reflect attacks of power levels of 300,000. Sall Phoenix’s power level was infinitely close to 300,000, which was coincidentally within the upper limit that the Backlash Pearl could absorb.
The black flames rolled back towards Sall Phoenix, and he gritted his teeth as he allowed the black flames to descend upon himself. He sneered as he mocked, “I can release my Dark Phoenix family’s flames, and I can naturally absorb them as well. This method cannot do anything to me! Go and die!”
He then tried to maneuver around Aden to directly attack the spacecraft.
Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed, and he quickly donned his set of universal armor as he stepped out of the spacecraft. He then tightly clenched his right fist, and his bracer trembled as he unleashed a punch.
Aden quickly moved aside.
Lu Yin’s punch slammed towards Sall Phoenix, who did not make any attempt to dodge. His black flames crowed as they fiercely plummeted towards Lu Yin in return.
There was a thump as space distorted before it burst open both near and far. Countless people were stunned, as their scalps had gone numb.
The black flames scattered apart, falling in what looked like meteors.
Sall Phoenix was repelled 10,000 meters back by Lu Yin’s punch, and a clear fist imprint could be seen on his chest.
He dared not believe this outcome. Back in Millions City, a single punch from Lu Yin had indeed forced him back, but it had not been able to harm him at all. But now, this person’s strength had actually risen this far; how was such a thing possible?
Lu Yin shook his right fist. He had already completed three cultivation cycles, which improved both his star energy and power level. Naturally, this meant that his strength had risen as well. He was not the same person that he had been back in Millions City, and this old fellow had been knocked silly with one punch.
However, Lu Yin was not in good condition himself, as his universal armor still had cracks in it. Those black flames had hurt him, but fortunately the cracks were not too large, and also, the majority of the flames had been torn apart by the power of his fist. Otherwise, even if it had just been a trace of the black flames, he would have been out of luck.
Just in terms of power levels, there was no way Lu Yin was anywhere close to being Sall Phoenix’s opponent. However, Lu Yin’s physical strength had been amplified and doubled by his bracer.
Lu Yin himself was aware that he had only succeeded due to this item, but it was not readily apparent to the others who were watching the exchange. It was easy to recognize the universal armor as an external item, but the bracer was much harder to notice and recognize.
Not only had Lu Yin’s punch stumped Sall Phoenix, but it had also stumped countless people watching from the battlefield.
Who would have thought that a puny Explorer would be able to directly repel an Enlighter from the Dark Phoenix family?
This entire region of outer space suddenly broke out into cheers, as countless soldiers were cheering for their Alliance Leader.
Lu Yin felt proud, as this was the effect that he had wanted to have. A war was fought with resources and paid in blood, a vital component of which was morale. He did not know how to give inspiring speeches, so he could only raise the troops’ morale through his actions.
He had done the correct thing, as the momentum of the entire battlefield completely shifted to their side. Originally, due to the Dark Phoenix family’s reinforcements, the defenders of Armament Weave had enjoyed a huge boost of confidence. But after the exchange between Lu Yin and Sall Phoenix, they became dispirited again. If even an Enlighter was not able to best their enemies, then what hope did they have left?
Sall Phoenix’s eyes turned blood red. “Junior, die for me!”
He dashed towards Lu Yin as his black flames swept out and formed a giant hand that grabbed at the youth.
Lu Yin’s gaze trembled, but he did not move. As he remained in place, an extreme chill appeared from behind him. Yan Yan had appeared, and he moved to block the black flames.
