Lu Yin only half-believed the Ghost Monkey’s words as he had no time to carefully study the root at the moment.
After putting the root away, Lu Yin looked at Saul. “President Saul, do you remember how, during the Outerverse Lockbreaker Competition, the page of True Insight was stolen by the Neohuman Alliance?”
Saul’s expression changed slightly, as he did not understand why Lu Yin would bring up such a matter. Did he intend to settle those old scores at an opportune moment? Saul had also been a victim at that time. “Of course. Why is Alliance Leader Lu bringing it up?”
Lu Yin lifted a hand, and a box appeared in it. When he slowly opened the box, a golden glow illuminated the area, lighting up everyone’s faces.
Everyone was shocked, and Saul grew emotional. “This- is this that page of True Insight?”
Felynn and the others were all blown away.
Lu Yin nodded. “Some time ago, I coincidentally ran into one of the Neohuman Alliance’s corpse kings. After I killed it, I obtained this. Thus, I want to return it to its rightful owner.”
Saul’s hand trembled from his excitement; not only did this page of True Insight represent his hope of comprehending a sourcebox array, but it was also a means of reducing his punishment.
Felynn and the others could not understand this development. Given Lu Yin’s personality, how could Lu Yin simply return True Insight? He had just become a five star Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreaker, which was just one step away from becoming an Advanced Lockbreaker. If Lu Yin managed to comprehend True Insight, understand how to arrange a sourcebox array, and step into the advanced level, then his status would be completely different from an ordinary Advanced Lockbreaker’s. Additionally, his battle prowess would also qualitatively increase.
How could he possibly be willing to hand this page over to the society?
In truth, Lu Yin was conducting a transaction. He was using this page of True Insight in exchange for the Lockbreaker Society’s headquarters not further investigating the events that had befallen the Outerverse Lockbreaker Society. Or, if they did pursue it, Lu Yin hoped for them to be more lenient towards him.
They would discover Wei Rong’s involvement in the attack sooner or later, and Lu Yin wanted to protect Wei Rong as much as possible. After all, Wei Rong’s assistance made life much more convenient for Lu Yin.
Wei Rong was very intelligent, but unfortunately, he had run into Lu Yin. Otherwise, Wei Rong’s plan on Sourcepeak Planet would have gone perfectly, and he would have remained independent. This was why Lu Yin wanted to find a way to protect Wei Rong. Besides, Lu Yin still had five pages of True Insight, and comprehending even a single page of True Insight was already very good. Thus, it was absolutely worth it for him to trade one page for the Lockbreaker Society’s goodwill.
Nightking Zhenwu had sacrificed twenty Honor Points that had lost their value to him in order to force Lu Yin into dire straits. On the other side, Lu Yin was willing to give up a rather useless page of True Insight to purchase the Lockbreaker Society’s goodwill. The two were actually quite similar in this regard.
Nobody had expected Lu Yin to return any part of True Insight.
When the Lockbreaker Society’s headquarters learned about this matter, everyone reacted in the same manner as Saul: complete confusion.
Regardless of the motivation behind Lu Yin returning True Insight, he had undeniably made a tremendous contribution to the Lockbreaker Society.
The Lockbreakers who had initially supported the Daynight clan suddenly fell silent, and only the Daynight clan’s Lockbreakers still felt unsatisfied. However, even they knew that it would no longer be possible to target Lu Yin through the Lockbreaker Society.
The kid was too smart, and he knew how to handle matters well.
The Daynight clan had passed down their inheritance since ancient times, and it had too strong of an influence in the universe.
Any random sentence from Nightking Zhenwu could force Lu Yin to put forth his full efforts in response, but fortunately, Lu Yin had not wasted his last few years by muddling along. After chancing upon extraordinary opportunities and surviving desperate straights, he could now endure Nightking Zhenwu’s attacks.
This incident with the Lockbreaker Society had helped Lu Yin realize that he had to get rid of Nightking Zhenwu and remove all of the Nightking bloodline’s influence. Otherwise, he would definitely run into more trouble in the future.
***
News of Lu Yin becoming a five star Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreaker quickly spread out, and it was no less astounding than when he had defeated Lan Si.
Lockbreakers were already regarded as superior to begin with, and a five star Perceptive Intermediate was an unattainable goal to the vast majority of Lockbreakers. At such a young age, Lu Yin had already accomplished such a thing, and everyone was quite clear that before long, he would become an Advanced Lockbreaker, at which time his status would rise even further.
Many people had essentially become numb to Lu Yin’s absurd achievements, which had started at the Astral Combat Tournament and the Tournament of the Strongest, and had later continued on when he became a Ten Arbiters candidate and an unrivaled Limiteer. More recently, he had gained fame for his accomplishments in the Cosmic Sea and his eventual victory over the Ten Arbiters’ Divine Fist. Step by step, one by one, his achievements had left people numb in shock, so when many of them heard that Lu Yin had become a five star Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreaker, they were still able to remain rather calm.
Ling Que was one such person.
When he heard that Lu Yin had become a five star Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreaker, Ling Que clutched at his ears. “Freak.”
Ling Gong’s expression grew cold. “In the past, the difference between you and him was not too great, but now, he’s outpaced you by an entire weave.”
Ling Que licked his lips. “It looks like he might soon leave you behind too.”
Ling Gong’s eyes widened. “Despicable! You’re asking for a beating!”
She charged over.
Ling Que was shocked. “No! I’m not fighting you.”
“Retaliate! This is an order.”
Soon after, Ling Gong left Ling Que behind with some bruises on his face. He cried, but no tears came out. “Why do I end up aggravating everyone I talk to? This won’t do. I need to put my cheerleading squad back together. Otherwise, there won’t be any excitement when I fight.”
Then, a wretched smile appeared on his face.
After leaving Ling Que, Ling Gong looked down at her gadget, and her expression chilled. The Daynight clan had announced that they would be holding a Daynight Feast, and they had used Nightking Zhenwu’s name to invite all of the Innerverse and Outerverse’s younger generation’s elites. The guest list included the Ten Arbiters, everyone from the Top 100 Rankings, well known Lockbreakers, and even Lu Yin.
Ling Gong’s eyes narrowed. Since they were convening the Daynight Feast at this time, did it indicate that Nightking Zhenwu wanted to cement his position as leader of the Ten Arbiters? If he wanted that position so badly, then she would let him have it. Hopefully, he would be able to handle the pressure coming from the Neoverse.
***
Wen Sansi similarly received an invitation to the Daynight Feast, as Nightking Zhenwu had specially invited him.
“Arbiter Wen, are we headed to Nightking Planet?” Mira asked. She was standing beside the Arbiter, her figure as alluring as always.
Wen Sansi responded, “Nightking Zhenwu can’t wait any longer, and he wants to verify his status as the leader of the Ten Arbiters as quickly as possible. This is interesting. We’ll go and take a look, but there’s no need to hurry. We’ll show up last.”
“Last?” Mira was puzzled.
Wen Sansi looked at a name on the display of his gadget: Lu Yin. This person might possibly turn out to be the true protagonist of this Daynight Feast.
Many other people had similar thoughts as Wen Sansi.
Everyone was aware of Lu Yin’s relationship with the Daynight clan, and yet he had been invited to the Daynight Feast. Furthermore, he had even been sent a personal invitation from Nightking Zhenwu, which held an entirely different meaning. Nobody knew what Lu Yin’s appearance would bring to this Daynight Feast.
***
Xia Tian calmly looked at his gadget; things were getting interesting.
***
Tai Yuanjun gritted his teeth and stared at Nightking Zhenwu’s name. That scoundrel had to be quite happy at this moment since Starsibyl was following him. He had to be at the peak of his life.
Once more, he resolved himself to work hard for the contest at the Astral Tower and become one of the Cosmic Five. Only then could he win Starsibyl back.
***
In the Outerverse, Lan Si looked at his gadget with a calm expression.
As one of the Ten Arbiters, he was also on the guest list for this Daynight Feast. The Grayweed Continent had been destroyed, but the Sea King’s Dome’s experts were still present, and the Sea King’s Dome represented the Starfall Sea.
With the Sea King’s Dome’s support, Lan Si’s status would not change.
“Since you were invited, are you going to go?” Lan Si asked, talking to Lu Yin.
Lu Yin’s voice came through from the other end of the call. “Yes, of course. This Daynight Feast is going to be amazing.”
Lan Si muttered, “Don’t underestimate Nightking Zhenwu. He has hidden his strength far too deeply, and nobody knows his full power. The Daynight clan is not any different, and they have some deeply hidden strength they can pull out.”
“I know,” Lu Yin answered.
Lan Si laughed in response. “I’d nearly forgotten—you’ve already traded blows with him.”
Lu Yin smiled. “I nearly died, but that incident also allowed me to become better prepared, and I won’t be defeated the next time we meet.”
“I hope that’s true,” Lan Si said. He then ended the call.
Lu Yin lowered his gadget. The Daynight Feast was fast approaching.
What would happen at this event? He did not believe what Nightking Yuanjing had said about how this Daynight Feast was being held to preserve Lu Yin’s dignity.
This Daynight Feast was definitely being hosted by Nightking Zhenwu, and he had specifically invited Lu Yin along with many other proud talents from the Innerverse and Outerverse who were all qualified to enter the Astral Tower. On that day, there would be many celebrities gathered there, so just what was the Nightking trying to do?
Even Wen Sansi, who was known for his intelligence, could not see through Nightking Zhenwu’s true motives.
No matter what Nightking Zhenwu was trying to achieve, Lu Yin continued advancing his own plans, step by step.
On the same day, Lu Yin received some news from the Gasfire Alliance’s Paige. The backup Astral River Ark had appeared, and it was located across the Astral River, directly opposite the Bard Weave.
Before, the Astral River Ark had been connected to Darkmist Weave. Since the ferry location had changed, it was clear that it had been done with the intention to catch the Outerverse off guard.
Paige’s message was simple, and he also mentioned that the people traveling aboard the Astral River Ark for this trip were almost all cultivators from Blazing Mist Flowzone. In fact, a large number of them were from the Blaze Realm and the Ross Empire, both of which held a grudge against Lu Yin.
They were trying to enter the Outerverse from a hidden location, so their goal did not even need to be mentioned.
Unfortunately, Paige was unsure as to how strong the experts aboard the Astral River Ark were.
Without any hesitation, Lu Yin contacted Elder Tie, Black Mask, and some other experts, requesting them to help him greet the cultivators who would soon arrive on the Astral River Ark. In addition to them, Lu Yin also intended to find a few other powerhouses to rope in.
Although Blazing Mist Flowzone was one of the Innerverse’s eight great flowzones with many experts, it was impossible to send all of them to the Astral River Ark. Clearly, only a small portion of experts had been sent out for this mission, but since they were making a move, it showed that the flowzone must be confident in being able to suppress the Outerverse.
At this moment, although Lu Yin’s biggest enemy was the Daynight clan, Blazing Mist Flowzone was still an age-old enemy. The conflict between them and Lu Yin had started far in the past, and it had long since become an unresolvable grudge.
To the various great powers of Blazing Mist Flowzone, their desire to eliminate Lu Yin had grown even stronger than before. Regardless of if it was because of their conflicts in the past or the fact that Lu Yin had united the entire Outerverse, Lu Yin’s existence had infringed upon Blazing Mist Flowzone’s interests.
One of the most important details was that no one seemed to know who was in charge and making decisions aboard the Astral River Ark.
Although the Blaze Realm, the Ross Empire, and even the sylvan dragon clan were all peak powers of Blazing Mist Flowzone, which was the closest flowzone to the Outerverse, it was still the weakest flowzone of the eight great flowzones. But there were many other parties that had a vested interest in this situation. In the past, the Outerverse had provided a considerable amount of resources to the Innerverse, but after the unification, those resources definitely would not come any longer.
The Astral River Ark was about to start moving once again, and it represented Blazing Mist Flowzone’s determination to gain control of the Outerverse. Even if such a thing was impossible, they still were determined to destroy Lu Yin’s control at the very least. If the person controlling the Outerverse was hostile towards them, then that situation would be one of the absolute worst ones for Blazing Mist Flowzone’s interests.
As the energy of the Astral River roiled, strange, unknown creatures moved about within the river. Inside the ark, devices that detected power levels occasionally released alarms before falling silent soon after.
The backup ark was smaller than the original one, and at this moment, there were countless cultivators aboard the ark, all of them with solemn attitudes. These people were mostly from Blazing Mist Flowzone; besides the ones from the Blaze Realm and the Ross Empire, there were also a dozen sylvan dragons. The rest of the gathered cultivators were independent ones who had been hired by Blazing Mist Flowzone’s powers.
Blazing Mist Flowzone had not reported this operation to the Hall of Honor. Logically, the backup Astral River Ark should belong to the Hall of Honor, and any usage of it had to be reported. However, this time, the occupants’ objective was to suppress Lu Yin. Ideally, they would pressure the Great Eastern Alliance into disbanding, which would definitely be in Blazing Mist Flowzone’s best interests.
