Madam Hong was a graceful woman who possessed a charming voice. Lu Yin had expected to hear the woman’s voice, and he certainly had not expected to hear a burst of coarse laughter the moment he had answered the call, which was why he had been startled so badly.
“Who is this?” Lu Yin was confused, but he almost immediately exclaimed, “Kui Luo?”
“Hahaha, it’s me, the old man! This was quite the accident, haha!” Kui Luo laughed.
Lu Yin felt completely lost. “Why do you have Madam Hong’s gadget?”
Kui Luo smiled. “I accidentally came across a woman who was trapped, and I rescued her. In her—um, this thing is a gadget, right?—Anyways, your name was listed, so I thought I’d give it a try.”
“Where’s Madam Hong?” Lu Yin quickly asked. “Who captured her?”
“Hey, girl! You hear that? Who trapped you?” Kui Luo asked in a very rude manner.
Lu Yin soon heard a weak voice speak up. “Lu- Alliance Leader Lu.”
Lu Yin immediately turned on the call’s video option, and the display popped up. The first thing that he saw was Kui Luo’s wrinkled face, blatantly showing a proud expression. After that, Madam Hong appeared. She was pale, bleeding from all seven orifices, and she was even missing both of her arms. Clearly, she had endured unimaginable torture.
The woman was a World Imprinter, and she was a very powerful one at that. She had a power level of over 900,000, which put her far above countless people, and she was also a protector of the Daosource Sect. She was someone who was qualified to promise five weaves to Lu Yin, and yet she had been reduced to such a state.
“What happened?” Lu Yin was curious.
Madam Hong glared at Lu Yin, deep hatred and confusion filling her eyes. “Bluedome Elder!”
“Bluedome Elder captured you? Why?” Lu Yin wondered.
Madam Hong’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know! He demanded that I give him Progenitor Wushang’s hide, but I don’t have anything like that!”
Lu Yin was momentarily stunned, but he quickly understood. In order to force Madam Hong away from Flying Horse Manor and save the colossal giants, he had told Qing Tan a story about how he had traded Progenitor Wushang’s hide to Madam Hong for a promise that the Great Eastern Alliance would be given five weaves. At that time, Bluedome Elder had looked into the matter, and he had discovered that Madam Hong really had promised to give Lu Yin five weaves in exchange for Lu Yin’s help in dealing with Qing Hua. However, from Bluedome Elder’s perspective, the real exchange had already been completed, and it had been for Progenitor Wushang’s hide, not for Lu Yin to act against an Empyrean Imprinter’s disciples.
Lu Yin’s request for five weaves had just been randomly said, and he had never anticipated his careless words to cause such a terrible fate befall Madam Hong. He had never even considered the possibility that Bluedome Elder would covet Progenitor Wushang’s hide so much that he would attack Madam Hong. Things had greatly exceeded Lu Yin’s expectations.
Lu Yin has always wanted to force Madam Hong to pay back the debt she owed for her actions against the Fifth Mainland; she had captured the Sea King, the colossal giants, and even nearly killed Lu Yin in the Starfall Sea. This was why Lu Yin had schemed against the woman.
When Bluedome Elder had interrogated Madam Hong about Progenitor Wushang’s hide, she had also figured out what had happened, and she had realized that Lu Yin had tricked her. She hated Lu Yin even more than Bluedome Elder, but at this moment, she could only keep her emotions hidden. She was in Kui Luo’s care, which did not seem to be much different from falling into Lu Yin’s hands.
“Hey, kid. What do you want me to do with this chick? Do you two know each other?” Kui Luo asked as his face filled the display.
Lu Yin smiled. “Senior, she is one of this junior’s enemies.”
Madam Hong’s expression instantly changed.
Kui Luo’s eyes narrowed, and his voice instantly chilled. “Well, in that case-“
“Wait!” Madam Hong screamed. She stared at Lu Yin, begging him with her eyes. “We aren’t enemies! Lu Yin, I’ve never hurt you.”
“In the Starfall Sea.”
“We were on opposite sides of a war, but I’ve never held any personal grudge against you, and I never did anything to harm you!”
“You captured the colossal giants.”
“I didn’t even know they were yours when I captured them, and I tried to speak with you after I found out.”
“Pitting me against Master Qing Hua?”
“That was simply a deal!”
Lu Yin stared at Madam Hong and slowly smiled. “You don’t think that we’re enemies? Honestly, we aren’t enemies as far as I’m concerned, just friends. However, what kind of friend are you?”
Madam Hong swallowed dryly and reflexively glanced over at Kui Luo. Kui Luo arched a brow, but he otherwise continued to glare at her fiercely. She trembled when she saw it. This old man’s strength was incomprehensible! The way that he wandered around wherever he wanted meant that he was at least as strong as an Empyrean Imprinter.
“Friend! We’re friends!” Madam Hong tasted ashes as she claimed to be friends, as she already understood that she had become Lu Yin’s subordinate.
Lu Yin felt quite satisfied. “Yes, we are friends, but while I like to treat my friends very well, we’re too far apart for me to entertain you. Senior Kui Luo is also one of my elders, so I’ll have to ask him to take care of you for now.”
“Hey, kid, I don’t have time to babysit this girl!” Kui Luo instantly became upset.
Lu Yin simply spoke two words. “Origin Matter.”
Kui Luo grinned and rolled his eyes. “I want to uncover the mysteries of the universe.”
“Madam Hong knows a great deal about the Sixth Mainland, especially since she’s one of the Daosource Sect’s protectors, so she should be able to help you with that,” Lu Yin urged. What was Kui Luo’s greatest strength? Uncovering people’s secrets. However, this was also the man’s greatest weakness, as it was why he had become wanted and hated by the entire Perennial World. Still, this was a great boon for Lu Yin.
Lu Yin had no idea where Madam Hong had been held, but it had definitely been a secret location. After all, one of the protectors of the Sixth Mainland’s Daosource Sect had been captured, and if this matter were exposed, even Bluedome Elder would have had a difficult time. Despite the protections that the Empyrean Imprinter must have taken, Madam Hong had still been discovered and rescued by Kui Luo. This was absolutely amazing, and it amply proved that the old man had a unique gift for digging into other people’s secrets.
Lu Yin held high hopes that he would be able to uncover the Sixth Mainland’s classified information through the old man.
“The Daosource Sect?” Kui Luo’s eyes instantly lit up. In ancient times, the Daosource Sect had ruled over all of humanity, but the only branch of the Daosource Sect that still remained was the Sixth Mainland’s. Truthfully, he was very interested.
“It’s not just Daosource Sect—the Sixth Mainland also has imprints, bloodlines, martial prints, and more. Almost all of their cultivation methods are completely different from what my Fifth Mainland uses, and they’re very interesting,” Lu Yin continued.
Kui Luo took a long look at Lu Yin. “That Origin Matter isn’t enough to hire this old man as your workhorse!”
Lu Yin’s expression grew solemn as well. “What is Senior saying? Doesn’t Senior love all of these things?”
Kui Luo laughed when he heard Lu Yin’s words as his eyes filled with eagerness.
Madam Hong’s heart dropped; what had she just overheard? Bloodlines, martial prints, imprints, and the Daosource Sect? This whole thing felt quite surreal. She glanced over at the old man; just what was it that this old man wanted to do?
“Alright, I won’t mess around with you anymore,” Kui Luo said, and he was just about to end the call.
Lu Yin quickly spoke up, “Wait! I have one more question for Madam Hong.”
“Hurry up. The expert who captured her is about to get back,” Kui Luo pressed.
Lu Yin just pursed his lips; just how frequently did this old man spout off lies? “Don’t worry. Bluedome Elder’s dead.”
Kui Luo was instantly confused. “What do you mean?”
“Bluedome Elder’s dead?” Madam Hong could not believe her ears, and her eyes went wide.
Lu Yin explained, “The master of wherever you are was Bluedome Elder, but he died. I don’t know how he died, but he’s already dead, so no one will be going back to that place anytime soon.”
Kui Luo became upset. “I just lost all feeling of accomplishment…”
“How did Bluedome Elder die?” Madam Hong eagerly asked. She felt both excited and sad. She had been tortured for so long that her hatred towards Bluedome Elder had already reached the sky. She had actually intended to report him to the Daosource Sect and have Bluedome Elder’s reputation be smeared throughout the entire Sixth Mainland. She had never even thought he would have already died.
“I already said that I don’t know how, but he’s dead. Now, let me ask you: did you take anything away when you destroyed Astral-3 during the Sixth Mainland’s invasion? Like the Stargazing Deck?” Lu Yin asked.
Eight of the Astral Combat Academy’s Starmasters had left their posts, and when Lu Yin had asked about it, he had realized that they were out looking for the missing Stargazing Deck that had been lost with Astral-3.
When Lu Yin had returned to visit Astral-10 and visited the Stargazing Deck, a strange event had occurred His fatesand had reacted, and he had seen a strange vision. This was why the Stargazing Deck was still on Lu Yin’s mind, as he had triggered Destiny, which had shown that the Stargazing Decks were connected to Destiny.
Madam Hong thought about it for a bit. “After we destroyed Astral-3, we dragged the whole thing back to the Sixth Mainland. After all, when our two Mainlands were at war, the Astral Combat Academy’s warships were devastating. When Aeternus invaded, we used Astral-3 to fight back. When we retreated, we couldn’t bring it with us, so it was left in the Sixth Mainland.”
“It was left in the Sixth Mainland? The Stargazing Deck too?” Lu Yin frowned.
Madam Hong nodded. “Back then, I couldn’t bring anything at all from Astral-3.”
Lu Yin mourned the fact that Astral-3 had been lost, as well as its Stargazing Deck. Eight of the Starmasters were out searching for it, which was why Lu Yin had thought to ask about it.
“Alright, that’s enough. Don’t keep holding me up. I’ll talk to the girl about her goals in life.” Kui Luo was impatient.
Lu Yin nodded. “Sounds good.”
As Kui Luo was ending the call, Lu Yin was able to see Madam Hong’s terrified expression, which left Lu Yin speechless. He did not want to even think about what Kui Luo considered the “ideals of life,” but he already knew that they involved digging into others’ secrets. The old man was going to brainwash Madam Hong, and Lu Yin firmly believed that the Sixth Mainland would witness a difficult period in the future, as no one would be able to keep any secrets hidden.
Also, it was pretty clear that Madam Hong must have misunderstood something.
Lu Yin stared at his gadget in a daze. Madam Hong was under Kui Luo’s control, which provided him with a great amount of maneuverability. Lu Yin needed to think about how to use this.
A few days later, someone from Venom Flowzone sent Lu Yin an invitation.
After glancing at it, Lu Yin put it away. Sure enough, Qing Shaohuang had sent him an invitation.
“Alliance Leader, the Divine Venom Dynasty has invited many different powers, not only from the Innerverse, but also from the Cosmic Sea and the Neoverse. Even people from the Hall of Honor have been invited,” Wei Rong reported.
“Do you think that I should go?” Lu Yin asked.
Wei Rong replied, “At least some people feel that you shouldn’t. I just received a message from someone else in Venom Flowzone, and they specifically told me not to let you go.”
“One of Master Yuan Taishi’s people?” Lu Yin asked.
Wei Rong nodded. “Seems to be.”
“Then I’d better go. I want to find out just what Qing Shaohuang is planning.” Lu Yin was quite intrigued. After all, he had dared to enter even the Technocracy, so there was no need to mention Venom Flowzone. Besides, while the Second Nightking’s strength was still recovering, he was already a match for Yuan Shi, so there was no one in Venom Flowzone who could stop the old man.
When the Sixth Mainland had invaded the Fifth Mainland, they had not been able to enter Venom Flowzone because the entire flowzone had a unique environment. While Qing Shaohuang was far from weak, the most important detail was how the flowzone’s very space was quite different, and this detail had stopped the Sixth Mainland’s invasion. It had never been because they had not been able to enter Venom Flowzone. After all, a Cosmic Imprinter could freely enter and leave Venom Flowzone without any issue.
With the Second Nightking at his side, Lu Yin truly did not believe that Qing Shaohuang could do anything to harm him. Lu Yin himself was not weak, and Qing Shaohuang was not dumb enough to target Lu Yin.
After considering everything, Lu Yin felt that he might as well go visit Venom Flowzone. It was still one of the eight great flowzones, which meant that it would eventually become part of Lu Yin’s territory.
