“Alliance Leader Lu, who the Sword Sect is planning to fight against has absolutely nothing to do with Alliance Leader Lu if it doesn’t affect the Great Eastern Alliance.”
Lu Yin’s tone grew harsher, “What does Senior mean by this? You’ve told this junior that the painting can’t be given to me, and yet now when Senior was asked for a favor from your Wen family, you’ve pushed back on almost every point that this junior has asked for. It really does look like the Wen family isn’t interested in Wen Diyi. To put things plainly, here are my conditions: the Wen family has promised that I, Lu Yin, am allowed to visit the Wen family’s home planet to see the painting, but cannot take the painting away. This has been agreed upon, as if your Wen family did not agree to this, you can forget about ever getting Wen Diyi to your Wen family.”
Wen Zizai grew increasingly upset, as he was being blatantly threatened by a child, given Lu Yin’s tone of voice. “I, Wen Zizai, cannot make unilateral decisions for my Wen family, and moving against the Sword Sect is an important decision for my Wen family. This is no different from declaring war, as it could lead to an all-out war with the Sword Sect. Not to mention, this is merely a condition for Alliance Leader Lu to give us Wen Diyi.”
“I’m merely asking you to put some pressure on the Sword Sect, not go all-out and fight them. How about this: if the Wen family really does end up going to war with the Sword Sect, I will take responsibility for compensating you for any losses. In addition, I, Lu Yin, am able to have two experts with power levels of more than 700,000 to reinforce your Wen family. How about this? Can we not deal with the Sword Sect together?” Lu Yin said sharply.
Hearing Lu Yin’s words and tone, Wen Zizai knew that Lu Yin would not back down any further. “Let me consider this matter and discuss it with the rest of my Wen family.”
“Once the Sword Sect launches a war against anyone, my conditions will expire, and at that time, you can forget ever getting Wen Diyi to join your family. I, Lu Yin, will follow through on my words.”
Lu Yin then ended the call.
He had been left with no choice but to threaten the Wen family into stepping into the mix to act as an obstacle to the Sword Sect.
Naturally, the Wen family was not as strong as the Sword Sect, but they still had the power to stall the Sword Sect. All that Lu Yin wanted was to disrupt Cang Zhou’s plans. Even if Cang Zhou and his allies intended to fight against Leon’s Armada, Lu Yin still needed to gain enough time to allow the Great Eastern Alliance to prepare.
As he considered the situation and the various developments, Lu Yin quickly called Wang Wen and had him recall the military and have them prepare to deploy to the Cosmic Sea. This would likely be the first action that this particular military would have seen since their inception. They had been named the Lu Elite Troops.
Wen Zizai lowered his own gadget and then immediately convened a meeting with all of the senior members of the Wen family to discuss the matter. In the end, they mobilized the entire Wen family as fast as possible and ordered everyone to prepare for war. Their target: the Sword Sect.
Countless members of the Wen family were stunned by the orders. An unexpected and unexplained attack on the Sword Sect? What did this mean? What could have triggered this? Could an illegitimate child of their patriarch have been killed by the Sword Sect?
The members of the Wen family were not the only ones confused by their orders, as the same confusion spread to Beast Tamers Flowzone that bordered Erudite Flowzone. They actually wondered if Wen Zizai’s mental state was stable and if he had given the wrong order and that Beast Tamers Flowzone’s Divine Grade Hall was the true target of the Wen family. However, after repeatedly confirming the information, they became confident that Wen Zizai was really aiming the Wen family at the Sword Sect.
This was incredibly odd.
It did not take long for the Sword Sect to receive the news, and Liu Qianjue felt that he must have heard things wrong. “The Wen family wants to fight with my Sword Sect? Where did you hear this?”
Elder Li’s expression contorted. “People we sneaked into the Wen family are all saying that Wen Zizai personally sent down orders for the entire family to mobilize themselves and prepare for war. Their target is our Sword Sect.”
Liu Qianjue was temporarily speechless. Beast Tamers Flowzone lay between the Wen family’s Erudite Flowzone and First Flowzone. What kind of war were they intending to fight with another force separating them? On top of that, Wen Zizai had given the orders himself, which just seemed wrong.
After thinking about the news, Liu Qianjue quickly called Wen Zizai.
Wen Zizai had no intention of speaking with Liu Qianjue, as the patriarch had nothing to say to the sect master. The Wen family had been forced to put pressure on the Sword Sect, and Liu Qianjue would likely start a fight immediately after hearing such a thing.
Wen Zizai refused to answer the call, but Liu Qianjue kept calling. The Sword Sect had already spent a good deal of time preparing for their assault on the Cosmic Sea, and their efforts could not be stopped just because of an inexplicable attack from the Wen family.
Finally, after two days, Wen Zizai finally answered one of Liu Qianjue’s calls. The patriarch really had no choice; Liu Qianjue had been incessantly trying to speak to the patriarch for two entire days.
“Wen Zizai, why have you declared war on my Sword Sect?” Liu Qianjue asked sharply as he stared straight at Wen Zizai.
Wen Zizai’s eyes snapped wide open. “Liu Qianjue, are you not embarrassed to say such a thing? Do you want to tell me about the situation with Wen Diyi?”
“What Wen Diyi?” Liu Qianjue was confused, as he had no idea what Wen Zizai was talking about.
Wen Zizai sneered. “You can stop the act! Your Sword Sect wants to get Wen Diyi from Lu Yin. Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”
Liu Qianjue was absolutely confused, as he knew nothing at all about Wen Diyi. Liu Tianmu was someone who focused solely on her own cultivation, and she never paid any attention to other matters. Even when she had been made one of the Ten Arbiters, she had not had any interest in overseeing the Fifth Mainland’s young generation, or what happened to other youths. She had never even considered how Wen Diyi’s presence could affect the Wen family and the rest of the Innerverse.
“Still pretending? Lu Yin’s already told me what happened. My Wen family is destined to be the ones to win Wen Diyi, and if your Sword Sect dares try to interfere, my Wen family will not hesitate to go to war.” Wen Zizai hung up as soon as he finished speaking.
Throughout the entire conversation, Liu Qianjue not once understood what Wen Zizai had been talking about. Wen Diyi? Who’s that? Someone from the Wen family? Why haven’t I heard about such a person?
“Go and find out who this Wen Diyi is immediately!” Liu Qianjue ordered.
The confusing conversation had left Liu Qianjue completely lost as to Wen Zizai’s actions and motivations, but the Wen patriarchs actions and attitude did not look to have been faced. Could the Wen family really want to fight against the Sword Sect? Could the family afford the consequences?
Cang Zhou was waiting for the Sword Sect. Chaosgod Mountain, the Sword Sect, and the Ignition Crew all planned to enter the Cosmic Sea at the same time in order to launch a joint attack on Leon’s Armada.
The time they had all agreed upon was fast approaching, but Cang Zhou suddenly received a new report. “The Wen family has declared war on the Sword Sect?”
“Yes. We just received news that the Wen family has declared war on the Sword Sect,” Cang Song solemnly reported.
Cang Zhou felt like he was falling to hell. What sort of enmity did the Wen family have against the Sword Sect? For the family to suddenly declare war, it seemed as though an entire group of their most talented youths had been wiped out. Cang Zhou considered how serious this matter was. If the Wen family launched a war on the Sword Sect at this time, how could the Sword Sect participate in a war in the Cosmic Sea? There was no way that the Sword Sect would be willing to send their forces away in such a situation.
Cang Zhou also quickly tried to contact Wen Zizai, but the patriarch was no longer answering any calls. In fact, Cang Zhou was not the only one to reach out to the Wen family’s patriarch. The Lingling clan, the Beast Tamers Sect, and even the Divine Venom Dynasty that always ignored the outside universe tried to speak with the Wen family. As for Wen Zizai, he did not answer a single call.
Lu Yin had told the patriarch that the Sword Sect was competing with taking Wen Diyi, and Lu Yin had been quite clear. Wen Zizai was not dumb, so how could he mention Wen Diyi’s existence to any outsider? He could not allow anyone to interfere with Wen Diyi joining the Wen family.
However, Wen Zizai had no idea how to justify his declaration of war without mentioning Wen Diyi. This was why he decided to simply ignore any and all calls.
At this moment, Cang Zhou became the most frustrated. Lu Yin’s schemes had repeatedly caused problems for Cang Zhou, and now there was an issue with the Sword Sect sending out their forces, and Wen Zizai would not accept any calls. Cang Zhou was left with no choice but to call Liu Qianjue.
Liu Qianjue had still not learned anything at all about Wen Diyi’s identity, and so his mood was quite bad when he accepted Cang Zhou’s call. “The Wen family has moved against us, and they have already started to send experts against my First Flowzone, and yet you still want to talk to me about us joining your attack on the Cosmic Sea? Should I not care about my own Sword Sect?”
Cang Zhou had to ask, “Why did Wen Zizai declare war on you?”
Liu Qianjue’s mood grew even worse when he heard this question. “I don’t know what a Wen Diyi is, but could they be someone from the Wen family? Look into this.”
Cang Zhou instantly ordered an investigation, but neither Sword Sect nor Chaosgod Mountain could uncover any information at all. In fact, not a single one of the powers that controlled the Innerverse’s eight great flowzones could learn a single thing. This was odd, as most of the powers had spies in the other forces, except for the Divine Venom Dynasty. That was a place that was not easy to infiltrate.
“There is no Wen Diyi in the Wen family. How could we not know about such an important person? What else did Wen Zizai say to you?” Cang Zhou asked.
Liu Qianjue gritted his teeth. “He said that he was told this by Lu Yin.”
Cang Zhou’s eyes narrowed. This told him that Lu Yin had already guessed that the Sword Sect was preparing for war with Leon’s Armada, which meant that the youth was trying to use the Wen family to block the Sword Sect from participating. Just how had the youth pulled this off? How was he directing the entire Wen family? Cang Zhou could not understand anything at all about this matter or how Lu Yin had pulled it off. What could be so important about this Wen Diyi?
“There are no records of any such person in any of the Wen family’s genealogies no matter how far back we go. Talk to Wen Zizai again and get them to wait. Just have them wait until after everything in the Cosmic Sea has been settled,” Cang Zhou suggested.
Liu Qianjue shook his head. “That old fart Wen Zizai is no longer responding and can’t be reached.”
Cang Zhou grew angry. “It’s Lu Yin! He did all of this! He pushed the Wen family against the Sword Sect! While Lu Yin’s had complicated and powerful backing, the only ones who can really help his Great Eastern Alliance is Leon’s Armada. It’s impossible for the Chief Justice or Arch-Elder Zen to step in, so we have to destroy Leon’s Armada before we breaking Lu Yin’s forces.”
Liu Qianjue shrugged. “I truly understand, which is also why I agreed to join you. My Sword Sect actually has no grudge against Leon’s Armada, and I don’t want to offend someone without just cause. Highsage Leon has Eversky Island behind him, but Lu Yin is dangerously ambitious. We can’t move against him personally without suffering unacceptable repercussions, which means we can only remove his claws. However, do not forget that my Sword Sect has our own conditions.”
“Don’t worry, when it comes to Highsage Leon himself, we won’t do anything. All we will do is destroy his forces,” Cang Zhou said. However, he also felt that something was off from this; the Sword Sect was currently unable to participate in the war efforts, so what were these conditions Liu Qianjue was mentioning? “Your Sword Sect will not be able to join the war efforts?”
Liu Qianjue’s voice dropped low. “I will personally visit Wen Zizai in order to determine just what is going on with the Wen family. How has Lu Yin managed to get the entire Wen family to move for him? Also, why does Wen Zizai trust his words?”
“I’ll wait another half a month for you, but if the Sword Sect is still unable to participate in the war after that time, we’ll go alone. No matter if we succeed or not, we must try,” Cang Zhou said before ending the call.
Liu Qianjue frowned. Leon’s Armada was not an easy opponent, so he could not quite understand why Chaosgod Mountain was working so hard to launch a war to eliminate them. Liu Qianjue’s motivation was entirely Lu Yin.
Also, the Cosmic Sea’s Ignition Crew would be joining the efforts.
All three parties’ interests aligned, which was why they were able to launch all of their forces against Leon’s Armada.
This war was incredibly important. If they could not completely destroy Leon’s Armada, all of them would subsequently suffer the Pirate King’s revenge. That was not all. In fact, the sect master was most worried about Lu Yin.
Once Leon’s Armada was destroyed, Lu Yin’s Great Eastern Alliance would no longer be anything to worry about.
Liu Qianjue wanted to join the war if at all possible, for he did not have confidence in the war’s success if only Chaosgod Mountain and the Ignition Crew participated.
The situation in the Innerverse had become quite strange. The war between the Ross Empire and the sylvan dragons in Blazing Mist Flowzone had still not stopped, and many other forces hid in the background of that war. At the moment, both the Sword Sect and the Wen family were preparing for war, and Chaosgod Mountain had also suffered some sort of mishap and was shockingly preparing for war as well. Chaos was about to fall upon the entire Innerverse.
Half a month was as long as Cang Zhou could afford to wait. Lu Yin had already noticed their scheme, and so Leon’s Armada had to be preparing themselves as well. Cang Zhou truly could not give the Sword Sect any more than half a month to settle things.
***
Lu Yin looked out at the 108 tributary Astral Rivers ahead of him. He had finally arrived at the Starsibyl Sect.
The moment that they arrived at the Starsibyl Sect, Liu Ye and Fei Hua both noticed something unusual. “It feels like something is watching us.”
Sister Fei Hua’s expression showed that she was no happy about this, and she spread out her stellular energy to find who was observing them, but she could not find a thing.
Lu Yin suddenly asked, “Seniors, what do the two of you think about divination?”
OMA’s Thoughts
Translated By: OMA
Edited By: Neshi/Nyxnox
TLC’ed By: OMA
