Half of the imperial palace had been destroyed by this incident. The two-headed centipede moved high into the sky above the city to redirect the poisonous rain away from Venom King City. The toxic rain left the land surrounding the city completely desolate. No grass remained, and every species there had died. After that, the two-headed centipede returned to the ground and slowly returned to its original size.
At this moment, besides Lu Yin, Yuehua Mavis, Wen Yao, and many others were all staring at Qing Shaohuang with eyes filled with vigilance and fear.
Qing Shaohuang and Lu Yin stared at each other, and the emperor said in a low voice, “Alliance Leader Lu, my Divine Venom Dynasty invited you as a guest, and I have absolutely no malicious intentions. Doing so would humiliate myself and my empire. You should not believe the Second Nightking’s words.”
Lu Yin had a gloomy expression. “Why did the Second Nightking appear in your imperial palace? He actually attacked while I was on my way to your treasury. Qing Shaohuang, don’t try to tell me that this is just a coincidence.”
Qing Shaohuang’s eyes narrowed. “Given the Second Nightking’s strength and the vastness of the universe, how could he possibly be found? He was even able to escape from Gaia’s Swamp, and you were there when it happened, so you should already be aware of his strength.”
“But he was seriously injured by the Chief Justice, and he is no longer capable of utilizing even half of his previous strength. He’s no longer even able to kill me, so how could he possibly hide from you within your own palace?” Lu Yin countered.
Everyone stared at Qing Shaohuang. Yes, the Second Nightking looked incredibly strong, and he gave off the image of a peerless powerhouse. However, he had not even been able to kill a junior like Lu Yin. Just how could the Second Nightking have remained hidden from Qing Shaohuang?
If the Second Nightking had really regained enough power to hide from the emperor, then how had he failed to kill Lu Yin?
“The Second Nightking attacked me. You showed yourself to be strong enough to face him and protect Venom King City, but you didn’t. You also did nothing to stop him when he tried to escape. It looks like you were cooperating with the Second Nightking from the very beginning,” Lu Yin accused.
Qing Shaohuang’s eyes flared, and he wanted to retort, but Lu Yin continued to say, “Your Divine Venom Dynasty was established with the help of the Nightking clan who greatly helped your Qing family. Am I wrong?”
These three consecutive accusations left Qing Shaohuang without any response. Additionally, everything that Lu Yin had said was true. It had never occurred to Qing Shaohuang that the Second Nightking would not be able to kill Lu Yin. Not only had the Second Nightking failed to kill Lu Yin, but he had also exposed his collaboration with Qing Shaohuang.
What’s more, the emperor had not expected the Second Nightking to expose him at the very last moment. Why had he done so? Qing Shaohuang could not understand this part, let alone how Lu Yin had managed to survive the Second Nightking’s spiritual force attack.
No matter how stupid a person might be, everyone here was able to see that there was some sort of connection between the Second Nightking and Qing Shaohuang.
This was another reason why Lu Yin had sent the Second Nightking to meet with Qing Shaohuang.
“Qing Shaohuang, you must give me an explanation for this, or else from now on, the Divine Venom Dynasty will be an enemy of my Great Eastern Alliance,” Lu Yin threatened.
Yuan Taishi quickly stepped forward. “Alliance Leader Lu, please don’t come to any conclusions before this matter is clarified. The Second Nightking excels at using spiritual force techniques, and he could have controlled other people to bring him into the imperial palace. Yes, controlled someone like that.” He then pointed a finger at Attendant Yi, who had already passed out. “It was most likely that slave. He’s been behind everything.”
“He was the one who captured Chang Wu, which forced you to take action, Alliance Leader Lu, and it also forced His Majesty Qing Shaohuang to offer you compensation. The suggestion of compensation from the imperial treasury might also be something that was suggested by Attendant Yi, who must have been controlled by the Second Nightking this entire time.”
These words caused Qing Shaohuang’s eyes to light up. “That’s true. Just a bit earlier, my servant did remind me that your love for resources is exceptional. Alliance Leader Lu, after he offended you, I remembered this comment, and so I offered to give you one item from the imperial treasury. Alliance Leader Lu, now that I think about it, this servant was behind everything.”
Lu Yin sneered. “A servant can influence your decisions? Do you think that I’m an idiot?”
Qing Shaohuang’s eyes grew cold. “Alliance Leader Lu, I have already given you what I should. What more do you want?”
Lu Yin lifted his head. “Venom Flowzone is sealed, and no one is allowed to enter or leave until the truth is uncovered. Everyone is under investigation.” As he spoke, he stared at Qing Shaohuang. “Including you, Qing Shaohuang.”
Qing Shaohuang became furious. “Lu Yin, don’t overstep yourself! This is Venom King City.”
Yuan Taishi quickly spoke up as well, “Alliance Leader Lu, why use such extreme measures?”
Prince Qing Li’s heart skipped a beat. He knew Lu Yin rather well, and he was aware that Lu Yin was not a nice person.
The Little Mountain God was so thrilled by this development that he nearly leaped for joy. His main goal in traveling to Venom Flowzone was to convince the Divine Venom Dynasty to cooperate with the other Innerverse powers against the Great Eastern Alliance. At this moment, it looked like there would be no need to do any convincing at all, as Lu Yin was doing all their work for them.
This guy was so stupid! Even if Qing Shaohuang and the Second Nightking wanted to kill him, Lu Yin would still have to endure their cooperation. Wasn’t he just making enemies for no reason? Just who had claimed that Lu Yin was smart?
Lu Yin coldly replied, “How long has it been since anyone has tried to assassinate me like this without me doing anything in response? Do people really think that I, Lu Yin, am easy to push around? This happened in Venom King City, so the Divine Venom Dynasty needs to give me a satisfactory explanation. Otherwise, starting today, no one will be allowed to leave Venom Flowzone!”
Qing Shaohuang slowly clenched his fists, and Yuan Taishi continued to try to diffuse the situation.
Suddenly, the two-headed centipede returned to the sky, and its body expanded until it wrapped around the entire imperial palace. Its tail touched its head, and then it fell to the ground, trapping Lu Yin within the circle.
Lu Yin quickly attacked, and Vacuum Palms fell down like rain, but it was useless. Qing Shaohuang had a power level of more than 800,000 once he worked with his jincan; how could Lu Yin do anything against this level of strength?
Lu Yin was instantly trapped within the circle formed by the two-headed centipede’s body as though it were a cage.
Qing Shaohuang had actually attacked Lu Yin, and this shocked everyone present, especially the guests from the Innerverse’s great and minor flowzones. They all knew that things were going to get much worse for them if Lu Yin survived. However, it did not seem likely that Qing Shaohuang would be bold enough to kill Lu Yin, as the youth had too much support.
“Your Majesty, what are you doing?” Yuan Taishi was startled, and he immediately tried to convince Qing Shaohuang to change his mind.
Yuan Miaomiao grew pale and covered her mouth.
As for Qing Longlong, Prince Qing Li, and the others, their hearts had dropped the moment Qing Shaohuang had made a move, as his attack meant that there was no longer any room for negotiations. War between the Divine Venom Dynasty and the Great Eastern Alliance was now inevitable.
Qing Shaohuang simply ignored Yuan Taishi and instead turned towards Li Zimo. “The Sword Sect needs to take action against the Great Eastern Alliance now while my Divine Venom Dynasty keeps Lu Yin trapped. Otherwise, my Divine Venom Dynasty will join the Great Eastern Alliance and help Lu Yin unite the Innerverse. Choose now.”
Elder Lianxin had made her way to the Divine Venom Dynasty with the purpose of persuading Qing Shaohuang to enter the fray and work with the Sword Sect to deal with the Great Eastern Alliance. At this moment, because of the Second Nightking’s actions, Qing Shaohuang had been forced to make a choice: either completely destroy his relationship with Lu Yin and start a war, or apologize. Given Lu Yin’s temperament, an apology would have to include the Divine Venom Dynasty joining the Great Eastern Alliance.
Without a third option, Qing Shaohuang’s hand had been forced.?r?e?e?n?vel.?om
Qing Shaohuang’s original plan had been to poison Lu Yin, and it absolutely would have succeeded. The emperor had only agreed to the Second Nightking’s request to attack in order to show favor towards the Daynight clan. If Qing Shaohuang had been lucky, then no one would have investigated the Divine Venom Dynasty after the Second Nightking killed Lu Yin. The emperor had never even considered the possibility of the Second Nightking exposing him. Despite being a peak expert with a power level of more than 800,000, Qing Shaohuang had only been left with two paths forward.
“What does His Majesty Qing Shaohuang intend to do?” Li Zimo asked, as he was representing Elder Lianxin.
Qing Shaohuang glanced around at all of his guests. “Most of the people here are from the Innerverse and are even hostile towards the Great Eastern Alliance. I, Qing Shaohuang, have reached this point because I was forced by Lu Yin. He forced my Divine Venom Dynasty to become his enemy, and since that is the case, then my Divine Venom Dynasty will not be afraid of the Great Eastern Alliance.
“Reach out to Sect Master Liu and tell him to move according to the proposed plan. I want the Great Eastern Alliance to lose every single Enlighter. They will then disappear. Regardless of their numbers, they will no longer have anyone stronger than mere ants.”
“Understood.” Li Zimo quickly agreed.
The Little Mountain God was getting increasingly excited. “I’ve been waiting for this for so long! Don’t worry, Majesty Qing Shaohuang.”
Ling Gong looked towards where Lu Yin was trapped by the double-headed centipede. Lu Yin could not blame anyone else for this. He could only blame himself for being too arrogant. With this development, there would no longer be any Great Eastern Alliance, but with Lu Yin’s background, no one would dare to do anything to harm him personally. He would be able to focus on cultivation.
Too many powerhouses stood behind Lu Yin, but everyone was clear that as long as Lu Yin’s life was not threatened, those experts would do nothing. They would not step forward for the Great Eastern Alliance.
This was also why Elder Lianxin had traveled to visit the Divine Venom Dynasty. She had intended to negotiate with Qing Shaohuang regarding a plan to completely eliminate all the Great Eastern Alliance’s powerhouses who were Enlighters or above. As soon as the alliance did not have any Enlighters, how could they possibly stand up to the Innerverse? It was impossible for the alliance to rely on Lu Yin alone.
The Innerverse’s flowzones were already able to suppress the Great Eastern Alliance. For example, Northline Flowzone had Northgate Taisui who was powerful enough to deal with anyone in the Great Eastern Alliance aside from Lu Yin. What would the execution of this plan entail for the Great Eastern Alliance?
Yuehua Mavis and the other guests not from the Innerverse sat there quietly. The Innerverse’s affairs had nothing to do with them.
Mr. You started gloating.
Balsam stared at the two-headed centipede; just what was Lu Yin thinking at this moment? He did not have a particularly aggressive character, so why had he just deliberately forced Qing Shaohuang to be his enemy? What was it that Lu Yin wanted?
Only people who were incredibly familiar with the Great Eastern Alliance understood that dealing with the alliance was not only dealing with Lu Yin himself, but also his three brilliant advisors.
Qiong Xi’er constantly increased the wealth of the entire Great Eastern Alliance. Not only did the alliance no longer need to rely on loans from Lu Yin, but they had also become capable of economic warfare.
Wei Rong was skilled at schemes and plans that lay outside the battlefield. He had been the mastermind behind the Sixth Mainland getting caught in a war in Ironblood Weave, which had given the Great Eastern Alliance a chance to breathe.
At the moment, the scheme playing out against the Divine Venom Dynasty was something that Wang Wen had designed, as well as Lu Yin’s own hidden power.
Lu Yin possessed both strength and intelligence. However, people tended to ignore his cunning side and only remembered his strength.
…
A few days later, Liu Qianjue, Ling Qiu, and Mountain God appeared just outside Blazing Mist Flowzone’s border along with an unknown Envoy. This man was Abel Phoenix, a powerhouse from the Phoenix family. Finally, a graceful figure appeared. She was the Yōu family’s matriarch, Madam Yōu.
“Everyone, after today, the Great Eastern Alliance will no longer have any Enlighters or other powerhouses. Our Innerverse will be restored to its glorious state!” Liu Qianjue loudly proclaimed. With that, the five Envoys entered the true universe and moved into Blazing Mist Flowzone.
Inside the Divine Venom Dynasty’s imperial palace, all the invited guests had already returned to their individual residences, but none were allowed to leave Venom King City. Qing Shaohuang could not allow anyone to leak out news about what had happened at the imperial palace during recent days. Only after the Great Eastern Alliance was completely dealt with would the guests be allowed to leave.
Not even Li Zimo and the other Innerverse representatives were allowed to leave.
Within the two-headed centipede’s encirclement, Lu Yin was perfectly calm. Everything was proceeding according to his expectations, and he had been waiting a long time for this day. The Outerverse had already been unified, and now, it was time for the Innerverse to follow.
