When the news that Lu Yin had been captured by the Neohuman Alliance spread, it was not some sort of groundbreaking news for the Neoverse. After all, he had only recently visited the Neoverse for the first time.
Eversky Island and the Cosmic Sect were the only ones affected by this news.
However, once this news reached the Cosmic Sea, it was bound to induce a ripple effect.
Young Master Shao was comfortably laying atop a bed within an Azure Mansion as a seductive maid attended to him.
When he heard the madam’s report, Young Master Shao first suppressed his rage, but he soon thought of something else. “The Outerverse… Does this mean that no one controls the Outerverse right now? Hahahaha, luck is on my side! I have to thank the Neohuman Alliance for this, hahahah.”
The madam’s face instantly blanched, as there would be severe consequences if these words ever left this room, even as a joke.
…
In the underground space beneath Aeternus Nation, Lu Yin continued absorbing death energy. Eventually, he shuddered when he reached his limit, so he stopped and began to recite the Stonewall Scriptures. He then looked down at his hands in confusion.
He soon continued to absorb the energy only to stop once again. This time, his expression changed to one of anticipation.
As if he had discovered something, Lu Yin quickly continued to absorb the death energy.
Somewhere in the distance, a corpse king roared and glared at Lu Yin with white eyes. The creature started to approach Lu Yin, and he could hear its ragged breathing as it drew closer.
Lu Yin opened his eyes and faced the pair of white eyes.
This corpse king might have once been a human who had transformed after absorbing the death energy, or it might have been a corpse king that had been modified by the death energy. It was not a strange sight in this place.
Lu Yin’s gaze struck fear into the corpse king, and it did not move any closer after sensing how powerful Lu Yin was.
As for Lu Yin, he was able to tell that the owner of these eyes was a Hunter at the very least.
If a Hunter was in this place, then they must have been a former human who had managed to successfully absorb death energy and then undergone a corpse king transformation. Such beings were what Silver deemed successful experiments. Only the successful ones were allowed in this place.
The corpse king quickly left, and Lu Yin continued absorbing death energy.
Every once in a while, he would open his eyes. If someone was there to see him, they would see his expressions shift between confusion, anticipation, and even trepidation.
Lu Yin’s feelings of unrest persisted until a new person arrived and joined the underground crowd.
Silver had returned, and he had brought another successful experiment with him. This experiment was a man who was a Hunter.
This man had come of his own accord, and he looked at the death energy in the area in excitement. Lu Yin overheard their conversation. The man had come from the Cosmic Sea, and he had once been a member of a pirate crew. However, he had been abandoned by his crew mates and then unintentionally joined the Neohuman Alliance. He sought to obtain greater power in order to obtain revenge against his former crew.
Death energy was seen as a shortcut to increase his powers, so he began to greedily absorb the death energy.
Silver turned to look at Lu Yin, and smiled. “Captain, there’s no reason to stall. Nobody will be able to save you.”
After that, he left.
Lu Yin looked at the man who was absorbing death energy.
The man hastily absorbed death energy, and he did not pause for even a single moment. After just half a day, he had already undergone tremendous changes. First, the man went mad, and he had been overcome by an insatiable bloodlust. His hands started scratching the skin off of his body, and his eyes turned grey. He howled frenziedly, and soon, he combusted in an explosion of flesh that littered the ground.
He had failed.
Silver soon returned, and he commented, “What a pity. A pawn that could have been used in the Cosmic Sea was lost just like that. Captain, I hope that you’ll succeed.”
After Silver left, Lu Yin was extremely bewildered. Even though the man seemed to be in a hurry with the absorption, he certainly had not absorbed more than what Lu Yin had.
Silver thought that Lu Yin had only absorbed a little of the death energy, which would explain why there were no noticeable changes in his physique. However, in reality, Lu Yin had already absorbed a tremendous amount of death energy.
Why had there been no changes to his body? Actually, there had been, as the death energy had entered his body in the same manner as star energy, and it was actually replacing his star energy as it circulated through his body.
This was extremely bizarre, as death energy was not something that should be able to replace star energy. The Specter Clan was the only known group that could utilize death energy, so was Lu Yin actually a member of that clan? Otherwise, how could he display no changes despite absorbing so much death energy?
Death energy was a very aggressive energy, and it was no different than poison to a normal human’s body. However, the energy remained perfectly docile after entering Lu Yin’s body, and actually gave him quite a comfortable feeling. It was as though he had discovered the source of his strength.
Again.
Lu Yin focused his gaze.
Now, Lu Yin began to absorb copious amounts of death energy, much more than what he had taken in before. He also began to drag over more death energy from his surroundings.
However, he still felt extremely comfortable as a flood of death energy entered his body. In fact, it was so comfortable that he nearly panicked.
It would be acceptable if death energy pained him while he absorbed it, but why was the process so comfortable?
What the hell?
Lu Yin started to panic, and he even began to question his existence as a human. No, even the members of the Specter Clan were human; it was just that they cultivated differently. In that case, what was happening with his body?
He thought back to the incident when he had crushed Faceless. At that time, Faceless had assumed that Lu Yin was a high-ranking member of the Specter Clan. Now, Lu Yin was discovering that not only could he suppress death energy, but apparently, he could also absorb it.
Lu Yin was extremely confused, and he did not know what was happening with his body. The only logical explanation that he could come up with was the Arcane Art, Fatal Revival.
He had been a dead person before, and he had actually died three times so far.
The first time had been on Driftcharge Planet, and the second had occurred after leaving that planet. His third death was in the Technocracy. He had already died, so was that why he was able to absorb death energy?
That was the only conclusion that he could come up with.
Of course, the dead used death energy to cultivate. After getting used to this power, Lu Yin realized that using death energy to cultivate was much faster than using star energy. In the Cosmic Sect, he had broken through and become an eighth-cycle Cruiser, but during this time underground, the energy that he had absorbed was the equivalent of a hundred thousand star essence. It was entirely possible for him to use this death energy to reach the ninth cycle, or possibly even become a Hunter.
If his conjectures were right, then his biggest problem at the moment was how he could keep this matter hidden.
He suddenly realized that he had been putting on a show the moment he had entered the Neoverse. He had gone to the Cosmic Sect and pretended to learn their Cosmic Art all so that he could use it publicly, and in this place, he needed to demonstrate that he was being influenced by the death energy.
Lu Yin swallowed a gulp of saliva as he thought of the man who had exploded not too long ago.
Boom!
Boom!
The earth trembled.
Silver appeared, along with Shaman God and the Ghost Monkey who had taken the form of a shadow.
“The kiddo’s started. I’m going to force him if he still doesn’t absorb the death energy. Gagagaga.” Shaman God sniggered.
Silver’s eyes sharpened. “Goodbye, Captain.”
From the ground, the shadow that was the Ghost Monkey watched Lu Yin from afar. The person who understood Lu Yin the best was not Ming Yan, Wendy Yushan, or Big Sis, but rather the monkey. He had spent more than a decade with Lu Yin, and he was perfectly aware of what Lu Yin was doing. He was ten thousand percent certain that Lu Yin was putting on an act.
Seventh Bro, your acting skills really suck.
The monkey panicked, and he was extremely scared that Lu Yin’s act would be discovered. He immediately said, “Lord, this insignificant one wishes to revere the magnificence of the Aeternus Nation and look upon the almighty Tower of Darkness.
Shaman God looked down at the Ghost Monkey with some satisfaction. “Almighty” and “magnificent” were indeed accurate words to describe him. “Go on then.”
“Lord, this insignificant one wishes for you to grant me power,” the monkey spoke up again, getting Shaman God and Silver’s attention.
Shaman God replied, “You need to absorb blood to improve your cultivation. When you were just a Explorer, you were actually able to absorb the blood of a Progenitor. That is truly incredible. Let’s go. I have to take another look at this.”
The Ghost Monkey fumbled around and looked over at Lu Yin. Seventh Bro, I can only help you this much. Good luck!
“Oh almighty, unrivaled Lord Shaman God, you are the figure of worship for even deities. I wish to remain beneath your feet even as a shadow and serve under your radiance.
“Oh almighty, unrivaled Lord Shaman God…”
…
Silver watched Shaman God leave, and then he looked back at Lu Yin. His lips curled up, but then he followed the other two to leave.
…
There was only darkness beneath Aeternus Nation. When Lu Yin counted the time, he realized that he had already spent a month in this place. During this time, he had absorbed a veritable sea of death energy, but his thoughts still remained clear. While this act left him feeling exhausted, he was unable to cause his eyes to change colors.
One’s eyes would change color when they absorbed death energy. The eyes of the man from earlier had turned half-white, which was the trademark of the Specter Clan.
Despite the amount of death energy that Lu Yin had absorbed, his eyes still did not change color, which made his entire act extremely unconvincing. He could not fake this change either, as the eyes of the Specter Clan were able to affect their enemies’ senses. Lu Yin was aware of this, and he knew that these eyes could not be faked.
Now what?
Lu Yin was growing rather frustrated, and he slowed down how quickly he was absorbing the energy. This caused Silver to pay a visit, which left Lu Yin with no choice but to continue.
By now, the death energy had started replacing the star energy that had once circulated through his body.
There were two reasons to absorb star energy after becoming an Explorer: to cultivate and to prevent aging.
Lu Yin did not know if death energy would have the same anti-aging effects. Perhaps! Either way, he already saw himself as a dead man at this time.
Soon, another month passed.
Lu Yin absorbed enormous amounts of death energy on a daily basis, and on this day, he could no longer control himself, and he broke through.
He was extremely exasperated, as he did not want to break through, but Silver had been keeping a constant eye on things. Putting on an act was driving Lu Yin crazy, and absorbing so much death energy had naturally forced him to break through and enter the ninth cycle.
Despite his unwillingness, the death energy was too effective for Lu Yin’s cultivation, and it was far more efficient than star energy. The two sources were in completely different classes, and just two months of absorbing the death energy had allowed him to break through.
Also, there was not one bit of discomfort throughout the entire ordeal. The death energy was like air to him.
Sometimes he wondered if the people of the Specter Clan like Silver would fly into rage if they discovered his secret. Lu Yin was confident that his rate of absorption was faster than theirs; otherwise, Silver would have reached a higher cultivation level by now, and he would not just be an Enlighter.
Lu Yin frequently wondered if he was actually a member of the Specter Clan. After all, he had lost his original memories.
Even if he was one of them, he might as well be their ancestor with the capabilities that he possessed.
While the physical effects of breaking through were not huge, this news still spread throughout Aeternus Nation like wildfire.
Normally, it was a long and arduous process for humans to absorb death energy and cultivate with it. Nobody was capable of making such progress in just two months like Lu Yin.
