Lu Yin stared at the painting for a full hour, and he was able to see many things, but not everything.
He turned to give Wen Zizai a suspicious look. “Senior, are you sure that this is the painting?”
Wen Zizai smiled bitterly. “I understand that Alliance Leader Lu may feel that, but this is the true painting. If Alliance Leader Lu doesn’t believe me, you can also see the records of Han Chong’s fight. He created a star energy drawing and recreated a picture of mountains and seas, which is exactly the same as this painting.”
Lu Yin frowned. He thought back to Han Chong’s battle, specifically the moment when the painting had appeared and defeated Xia Ye. That victory had suggested that this painting was not simple, though Han Chong may have simply found something hidden within the painting. Still, the fight that Lu Yin had witnessed had occurred when Han Chong had not even been an Explorer while Lu Yin was already an Enlighter. How was it that Lu Yin still was not able to make anything out?
Everyone had their own unique opportunities, and although Lu Yin felt helpless, he could not force things. He was still at the beginning of the path of cultivation, and with his ability to enter his die’s Tmestop Space, it was impossible for anyone to know just how long he had cultivated for.
“Alliance Leader Lu, this really is that same painting. The Han family has protected this stone for many years, and Dean Han is here at this time. You can speak with him if you’d like.” Wen Zizai was growing increasingly concerned that Lu Yin would not believe him, so he reiterated the point.
Lu Yin said, “In that case, could Senior ask Dean Han to come here?”
Wen Zi nodded.
A short while later, an old man entered the room and faced Lu Yin. The man nervously looked down at the stone that Lu Yin was holding.
Lu Yin recognized the old man, though they had never met face to face. Lu Yin had seen pictures of this person on the network. After all, the headmaster of the Lost Radiance Academy was considered a public figure.
“Junior Lu Yin greets Dean Han,” Lu Yin spoke politely.
Dean Han nodded and voiced his admiration. “Alliance Leader Lu, it’s been a long time since your name has resounded in my ears like thunder.”
“I can’t compare to the headmaster’s record of teaching and training people. In front of you, Lu Yin is still just a student. I have not even graduated from the Astral Combat Academy,” Lu Yin replied.
Dean Han was caught off guard. “You still haven’t graduated from the Astral Combat Academy?”
Lu Yin smiled. “Unfortunately I’ve been away and busy for a long time, and so I simply haven’t found the time to formally graduate.”
Dean Han laughed. “Given Alliance Leader Lu current strength, you have already surpassed your teachers. It no longer matters whether or not you graduate. By the way, I wonder if I might ask, how did Alliance Leader Lu learn of the existence of this painting?”
Lu Yin’s eyes flashed. “The Han family has protected the painting, but naturally, others can learn of it as well. There is no such thing as an eternal secret.”
“I understand that Alliance Leader Lu doesn’t wish to speak about this.” Dean Han looked down at the stone in Lu Yin’s hand. “That is indeed the landscape painting that Alliance Leader Lu asked for. When Chong’er accidentally saw it, he was drawn to it. After begging for a long time, I finally allowed him to take a look at it. I never thought that looking at it would lead to his death.”
“Just one look?” Lu Yin arched a brow.
Dean Han nodded. “Yes. He was immediately drawn to it. I believe that Chong’er must have formed some kind of a connection with this painting, possibly because of the fact that my Han family has protected it for so many years. I certainly did not expect such a thing to occur.”
Lu Yin looked back down at the stone in his hand. It seemed that some others were able to instantly see the hidden meaning in this painting, but Lu Yin could not see anything at all. He had no connection to this painting.
He had even recited the Stonewall Scriptures, but he was still unable to see anything. In the end, his only choice was to return the stone to Dean Han.
Dean Han took the stone and let out a sigh of relief.
After Lu Yin observed the painting and Wen Sansi had met with Wen Diyi alone, the deal had been completed.
Even though Wen Zizai desperately wanted to have Wen Diyi stay in the Wen family, Lu Yin took the young man away.
Doing so gave Lu Yin an odd feeling, almost as though he was separating lovers.
As he left the Wen family’s ancestral home, Lu Yin saw Wen Qian’er. Although the two of them had only met a few times and had never really spoken to each other, they could still be considered acquaintances, though their previous interactions felt like a lifetime ago.
Over the course of two years, Lu Yin’s mentality had undergone dramatic changes.
Wen Qian’er stared at Lu Yin, but her eyes no longer held any challenge. Lu Yin had reached a level that was simply untouchable to her.
“I didn’t expect you, Wen Zizai, to live to see this day. Someone has visited your home and walked away with what you desire most of all, and yet there is nothing that you can do about it,” President Han commented as he watched Lu Yin’s spacecraft leave.
Wen Zizai answered quietly, “He’s not the first one to do so. Even though my Wen family stands at the top of Erudite Flowzone, the Fifth Mainland is too vast. People from the Hall of Honor or the Neoverse do not even see us, and before them, not even the Daynight clan or the Sword Sect can speak up.”
“What terms do you think the child will propose?” Dean Han asked, very curious about the matter. The Wen family had shown their great willingness to work with Lu Yin, and they had practically offered to meet any conditions that he put forth. Despite that, Lu Yin still seemed to have no idea what he wanted from the family.
Wen Zizai’s mood had been ruined, so he just ignored Dean Han and returned to his home.
…
After leaving the Wen family, Lu Yin deliberately made a detour on his way to Chaos Flowzone. The reason for the detour was naturally a corpse king.
Lu Yin’s particular target was the corpse king that had killed Han Chong. That creature had spent a long time staring at the Lost Radiance Academy and had been determined to get the painting. Lu Yin wanted to remove that hidden danger. The landscape painting might have proved useless to him, but that did not mean that it would be the same for others. He particularly did not want a corpse king to obtain whatever was hidden within the painting.
The Lost Radiance Academy was not a great distance from the Wen family’s home planet, and given the speed of Lu Yin’s vessel, it only took them half a day to reach the planet.
It was a perfectly ordinary planet, though it was unfit for human habitation, so it did not house any form of civilization. There were not even very many creatures here.
The corpse king had a power level of more than 400,000, but it could not compare to an Envoy. This was why the creature had not tried to invade the Lost Radiance Academy itself, but had instead simply remained on the planet and observed the academy while awaiting further orders from the Neohuman Alliance.
Lu Yin hesitated over whether or not he should simply destroy the corpse king. Once it was gone, the Neohuman Alliance might realize that Lu Yin had gotten involved with the mountains and seas painting, and that could bring about new trouble. However, it might also reveal the key to unlocking the mystery within the painting.
Dean Han did not know what was hidden within the painting, but the Neohuman Alliance might.
Lu Yin stopped his vessel while still in outer space and simply stared down at the barren planet in the distance. Further away, he could see a colorful nebula spinning.
Liu Ye grew curious. “Aren’t you going?”
Lu Yin thought for a while. “Let’s go.”
With that, he altered their destination, and the ship continued on towards Chaos Flowzone.
It would be very simple to deal with the corpse king, but once that happened, the Neohuman Alliance would definitely send more over. Lu Yin wanted to preserve the corpse king for now. After all, it was one of the only ones that Lu Yin was able to Possess. It might prove to be of great use in the future.
A few days later, Lu Yin received a message from Starsibyl. “I am not able to divinate anything related to Undying Yushan at all. Are you sure that the name is correct?”
Lu Yin solemnly replied, “It should be.”
“Undying Yushan, the master of the Great Yu Empire in Frostwave Weave. However, he died more than ten years ago. He’s dead,” Starsibyl said.
“I saw him. He’s not dead.”
“That may be true, but I’m unable to determine anything. Perhaps if you have some of his blood it could work.”
Lu Yin thought of Wendy Yushan. “I’ll bring you some.”
“That would be good.”
***
Far away, in the distant Neoverse, on the Xia family’s sword-shaped mainland, Xia Ji had been studying the Skystar Jade Wall for quite a while, but he could not find anything special about it. According to the information he had obtained from Progenitor Chen’s Mausoleum, there should be something special about this treasure that could only be used by those with Progenitor Chen’s bloodline. It was supposed to allow them to sense the stars that had been left behind by Progenitor Chen.
“What’s wrong? Is it necessary to cultivate the Cosmic Art to its peak?” Xia Ji said to himself. There were nine stars revolving around his body, as he had easily learned the Cosmic Art. “If that’s the case, it will take a bit of effort.”
He then took a deep breath and began training in the Cosmic Art.
The Cosmic Sect had recently received the Xia family’s Triple Blade Will, and naturally, the first people to start training in the battle technique were the true disciples and the elders.
However, there were not many elders willing to practice the Triple Blade Will. They had already become entrenched in their own path of cultivation, and learning the Triple Blade Will would not help them. Most of the Cosmic Sect’s disciples were not skilled with the blade.
However, Mu Ziying was very excited. His cultivation of the Cosmic Art had reached a bottleneck, and training in the Triple Blade Will gave him something that would improve his strength. Also, he enjoyed training with blades.
Even though obtaining the Triple Blade Will had temporarily soothed the Cosmic Sect’s rage, when they realized that more and more of the sect’s disciples had no talent for the battle technique, their rage would burst forth once more.
Without the Skystar Jade Wall, their speed at mastering the Cosmic Art would drastically slow down, which was not a good thing for the Cosmic Sect.
The current calm was only temporary.
***
When Lu Yin arrived at Chaosgod Mountain once more, he quickly concealed himself to meet with Cang Yi.
When he saw Lu Yin, Cang Yi quickly bowed. “This subordinate greets the alliance leader.”
Lu Yin nodded calmly. “You were very quick to get started. The deaths of Cang Zhou and the other elites have cost Chaosgod Mountain a great deal of strength. How do you plan to compensate?”
Cang Yi cautiously answered, “Chaosgod Mountain has no shortage of disciples. As long as this subordinate is here, the dark powers of the Innerverse can provide us with a large influx of fresh blood at any time. However, with Cang Zhou dead, we have no Envoy realm powerhouse, which means that we will be an easy target for the other powers controlling the other eight great flowzones. This subordinate can only deal with cultivators from forces other than the forces that control the great flowzones.”
The implication from these words were quite straightforward: matters concerning the eight great flowzones would be left for Lu Yin to deal with. Cang Yi was confident that he could deal with everything else, but Lu Yin would have to deal with the major powers of the Innerverse, which was a very difficult task.
“Are you saying that only the underworld forces recognize your position?” Lu Yin asked.
Cang Yi answered in a respectful tone, “This subordinate has been dealing with those people for too long, so we are all very familiar with each other.”
“Do you know Thousand Eyes?” Lu Yin suddenly asked.
Cang Yi was startled. “Thousand Eyes? I know him—he’s a pirate. He was originally in the Outerverse, but when the Great Eastern Alliance rose to power, he claimed that he was unable to survive there anymore, so he moved to my Chaos Flowzone. Might I ask how you know him? From the surface, he seems to be someone who thrives in this place. Alliance Leader Lu, did he offend you?”
Lu Yin looked at Cang Yi and smiled. “Can you deal with him?”
Cang Yi grew solemn. “Dealing with him is nothing difficult. Although he has formed a connection with many people in Chaos Flowzone over the last few years, such people will never help him.”
“So even you’ve heard of him? It seems like Thousand Eyes is pretty good. He would be a good candidate for someone to replace you in dealing with the underworld powers,” Lu Yin casually commented.
Cang Yi was taken aback, and he quickly paled. “Alliance Leader, what do you mean?”
“Thousand Eyes belongs to me, and it sounds like he isn’t much worse than you when it comes to his connection with Chaos Flowzone’s underworld. Even without you, he can still help Chaosgod Mountain pull in a large number of new disciples. Won’t this be very helpful?” Lu Yin stared at Cang Yi as he spoke, and the look sent chills down Cang Yi’s spine.
His heart shook. “Alliance Leader, Thousand Eyes is only a Hunter.”
“So what? Cang Zhou was an Envoy with a power level of more than 700,000, and yet he also died.”
OMA’s Thoughts
Translated By: OMA
Edited By: Neshi/Nyxnox
TLC’ed By: OMA
