San Liang indifferently replied, “Everyone here should still remember the war in the Cosmic Sea. That matter caused a great deal of damage to the Cosmic Sea, and it also had a wide-spread impact. The Longevity Brigade instigated the entire matter, and Mr. You, you are a member of that same Longevity Brigade. Naturally, you are unqualified to hold the post of an overseer.”
Nan Yuan had not expected San Liang to immediately target Mr. You, and of course, Mr. You had not considered such a possibility either. “San Liang, why are you, a new, junior overseer, proposing to dismiss me? You’re overstepping yourself!”
San Liang gave a small smile. “While you’re right in saying that you are my senior, as you indeed joined the council before me, that is an entirely separate matter from whether you are qualified to retain your position. Mr. You, do you still remember the responsibilities of an overseer and the oath that you swore when you joined this council?”
Mr. You glared. “Of course I remember!”
San Liang raised his hand and caused a display to appear in the air. “This is a joint letter from twenty eight islands of the Cosmic Sea, expressing their wish to have Mr. You removed from his position as an overseer. Additionally, nine crews, including Leon’s Armada, have added their signatures to the letter. They state here that they refuse to acknowledge that Mr. You can represent the rights and interests of the Cosmic Sea. Given this, how can Mr. You retain his post?”
Mr. You immediately grew pale. He had assumed that this meeting would be to remove Liu Ran from serving as an overseer, and he had not even considered that he might be sacked first. How did this happen?
Suddenly, Mr. You thought of Lu Yin, and his expression turned grim. This had to be Lu Yin’s doing, as no one else could move so quickly.
Mr. You’s guess was quite right. Lu Yin was indeed behind this attack. He had started making arrangements while on his way to Mt. Microcosms.
There was no way to avoid Liu Ran being removed from his position. This was a basic rule of the overseers’ council. However, Liu Ran being removed would mean one less person speaking for Lu Yin on the overseers’ council. Thus, he had to remove one of his enemies’ pawns as well.
Also, it was indisputable that Mr. You needed to be removed from his office. This was another unavoidable inevitability.
At the moment, Leon’s Armada was the dominant force in the Cosmic Sea. As long as Highsage Leon did not acknowledge Mr. You, any resistance that Mr. You attempted to put up would be useless.
Nan Yuan’s expression fell. He had not expected to suffer the first loss during a meeting that everyone knew was being held to remove Liu Ran from his post.
Mr. You was supposed to represent the interests of the Cosmic Sea to the Hall of Honor, and if the Cosmic Sea did not recognize him as their representative, how could he be accepted?
Mr. You had lost all standing and authority in an instant.
Yang Ji glanced at San Liang, Bu Laoweng, and Liu Ran. Of the Hall of Honor’s nine overseers, how many were working for Lu Yin? How did such a young man accomplish this? Yang Ji could not understand any of this.
It turned out that the rumors were true. The young man had Arch-Elder Zen in his corner. How else could the old man allow someone to control the overseers’ council?
At the top of Mt. Microcosms, Arch-Elder Zen was quietly watching the council with a complicated expression.
Ever since he had learned that Lu Yin was a member of the Perennial World’s Lu family and the Perennial World’s current situation, Arch-Elder Zen’s attitude towards Lu Yin had somewhat changed. This was not because the Semi-Progenitor felt that Lu Yin was a bad person, but rather because the old man did not want to see Lu Yin amass too much influence in the Fifth Mainland. Humanity would not stand to benefit from the Fifth Mainland becoming enemies with the Perennial World’s four ruling powers.
This was why Arch-Elder Zen had agreed to dismiss Liu Ran from his post and had supported Nan Yuan’s proposal. This was supposed to be Arch-Elder Zen’s first step in curbing Lu Yin’s influence. After that, he also intended to remove Bu Laoweng and San Liang in order to return the overseers’ council to a state where the Hall of Honor was in control. This would also prevent Lu Yin from entering the Neoverse.
However, Arch-Elder Zen was quickly realizing that his goals were not as easy to accomplish as he had initially assumed. He had already given Lu Yin too much leeway, which made it difficult to remove Lu Yin’s people and his influence after they had already been put in place. The easiest solution was to erase all of Lu Yin’s rights within the Hall of Honor, but that would be no different from turning his back entirely on the youth.
Lu Yin alone was not worth the Semi-Progenitor’s concern, not even if the youth did have a strong chance of becoming a Progenitor in the future. No matter what, Lu Yin was of no threat at the moment. Besides, regardless of how ruthless and ambitious Lu Yin might be, he also had a bottom line that he would not cross. Even if Arch-Elder Zen one day ended up as Lu Yin’s enemy due to various circumstances, that future was not written in stone.
No, what Arch-Elder Zen was more concerned about were the people behind Lu Yin. First, there was Qing Ping, but far more importantly, there was that other person.
The Semi-Progenitor let out a sigh at the thought of that person. He really did not have the courage to become enemies with that person. He was impossible to see through. No matter what, that person was a complete mystery to Arch-Elder Zen.
“Arch-Elder Zen.” Shang Qing, Lei Nü, and Shu Jing walked up behind the Semi-Progenitor and gave him a respectful bow.
They were the Hall of Honor’s Honor Chosen. They were the future of the Hall of Honor and were already its representatives, to a degree. In particular, Shang Qing was the only person capable of using the Tri-Yang Ancestral Qi Technique. If he matured, he was guaranteed to become a peerless expert like Progenitor Chen. Shang Qing alone was able to suppress all of his peers from the Sixth Mainland.
“What are your thoughts regarding Lu Yin?” Arch-Elder Zen asked.
Shu Jing was surprised by the question. Despite their impressive power for their ages, they were still far too young to have any say or even opinions concerning the Hall of Honor’s decisions. On top of that, this was a question concerning Lu Yin, so why was Arch-Elder Zen asking the three of them?
Wait a second, isn’t Lu Yin the same age as us?
Lu Yin had accomplished so many things and had become so impressive that many people had forgotten that he was still a mere youth. He was actually still one of the Ten Arbiters!
“Lu Yin is truly peerless within his generation,” Lei Nü answered succinctly. She offered a single sentence and then stopped speaking.
Shu Jing considered the matter for a bit before answering. “He’s incredibly ambitious, but he’s not a bad person. He’s able to get along with others, and he’s done great things for humanity as a whole. He’s someone who will stand on the frontlines against the Neohuman Alliance.”
Arch-Elder Zen then looked at Shang Qing. This was the opinion that the old man cared about the most.
Shang Qing remained thoughtful for a bit before looking at the old man. “He saved my life in Burial Garden.”
This information shocked Arch-Elder Zen. “When did that happen?”
Lei Nü and Shu Jing were similarly surprised, as they had not heard about this. Shang Qing had kept the matter entirely to himself.
Shang Qing replied, “It was a few months ago, just a bit after Burial Garden first opened. There was an Envoy chasing me down, and Lu Yin saved me.”
“Where’s your Voidsoul Umbrella?” Arch-Elder Zen quickly asked.
“I still have it.”
Arch-Elder Zen let out a sigh of relief. The Voidsoul Umbrella was a Progenitor-level power vessel that Shang Qing had picked up in the Perennial World.
Truthfully, if Arch-Elder Zen had known that Lu Yin was a descendant of the Perennial World’s Lu family, he would have never given the youth Zenith Mountain. In fact, Arch-Elder Zen still regretted that matter a bit.
“Head on back for now.” Arch-Elder Zen waved a hand to dismiss the youths, who all retreated.
More and more complicated and conflicting emotions emerged in the old man’s eyes as he stared at the display showing the overseers’ council meeting. So Lu Yin had saved Shang Qing? How should the Hall of Honor treat Lu Yin? It would simply be irresponsible to bet the fate of the entire Fifth Mainland on the youth and agree to join him in fighting against the Perennial World’s four ruling powers.
What to do?
The old man felt increasingly confused.
Arch-Elder Zen then remembered the First Protector, and he quickly decided to ask the man about Lu Yin after his return. This was the first time that Arch-Elder Zen had felt so torn.
Regardless of Arch-Elder Zen’s thoughts, the meeting proceeded normally, and Mr. You was relieved of his position. Nan Yuan asked to delay the implementation of the decision, but his efforts were useless as everyone else was in favor of removing Mr. You.
Even though Liu Ran was also about to be dismissed, for the moment, he was still an overseer and was fully qualified to participate in this vote.
Nan Yuan’s teeth itched at how things were progressing, and he was forced to take a step back. If Liu Ran had been removed from his post first, then the balance of the votes might not have been the same. While Mr. You would have still inevitably been removed, there might have been a small buffer that could have allowed Nan Yuan to find a replacement. He had been surprised, and being so caught off guard had forced him to take a step back.
Mr. You left the council meeting trembling. He had lost his status, and his only option at this point was to beg the Seven Courts’ Xia family for refuge. After all, Mr. You had originally followed the captain of the Longevity Brigade, Ji Qiang, who had been one of Xia Ji’s clones.
Leaf King was still waiting outside the council’s meeting room, and he looked at Mr. You in surprise. “Why have you come out, Mr. You?”
Mr. You took a deep breath and softly answered, “Don’t let Lu Yin feel like he’s won, please.”
He then bowed low.
Leaf King was an intelligent person and instantly understood what had happened.
It had only been a matter of time before Mr. You was removed from his post. This was something that many people had been aware of, though Leaf King had not expected Mr. You to lose his seat before he entered the council. Leaf King suddenly became far more wary of Lu Yin.
Had Mr. You been dismissed because of Lu Yin’s arrival at Mt. Microcosms?
Without warning, Leaf King suddenly had a bad premonition.
It was also at this moment that Lu Yin suddenly appeared.
Hatred flared up in Mr. You’s eyes the moment he saw Lu Yin, though he did not dare to express anything. Instead, he dropped his head low and walked in another direction. He did not dare to risk letting Lu Yin seeing the hatred in his gaze, as Mr. You feared for his life. He had no doubts that Lu Yin was capable of killing him even in the Honor Zone.
Lu Yin no longer cared about Mr. You. There was no need to waste time with such a minor character. Instead, his eyes fell onto Leaf King, and Lu Yin looked quite surprised to see the man.
Leaf King was a devilishly handsome man whose appearance even surpassed that of the Celestial Demon, Yuan Xuan. In fact, Leaf King looked even younger than the Celestial Beast Empire’s crown prince, which was something that Lu Yin had not expected. This was because there were no pictures of Leaf King on the Human Domain’s network.
There were many rumors and stories about Leaf King throughout the universe, and even more within Shamrock Enterprise. There were people who claimed that he was the epitome of creativity and healing, or in brief, practically a god.
This was Lu Yin’s first time meeting Leaf King.
“The Great Eastern Alliance’s leader, Lu Yin.” Leaf King and Lu Yin gazed at each other as Leaf King greeted Lu Yin with a gentle voice and a faint smile. It was an appearance that would be very comforting to most people.
A smile crept across Lu Yin’s face. “Shamrock Enterprise’s Leaf King.”
“I’ve long since wanted to meet you, Alliance Leader Lu,” Leaf King said with a smile. To outsiders, Shamrock Enterprise and the Great Eastern Alliance were friendly with each other. Even if people were aware of the incident involving Lu Yin and Yu Mu, everything had seemed to end with Yu Mu’s death.
To date, Shamrock Enterprise had provided a tremendous amount of assistance to the Great Eastern Alliance. Qiong Xi’er and Balsam were still negotiating the purchase of stellular energy pills and the two powers jointly researching immortality.
Lu Yin stepped forward. “I’ve heard of Leaf King far too many times, and I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time. Today, I’ve finally gotten the chance.”
Leaf King was a handsome man with an easy-going temperament who seemed very personable. “Balsam told me that you are interested in researching immortality, Alliance Leader Lu.”
“That’s true. I’ve wanted to research it for quite some time, and that’s also why I’ve gathered all kinds of unique and exotic plants from across the universe as a foundation to research immortality,” Lu Yin excitedly announced.
Leaf King smiled. “Immortality is too elusive a goal. Progenitors might be capable of living forever, but even the most powerful Progenitors have failed to accomplish that. Progenitor Chen, the Rune Progenitor, the Astral Beast Domain’s Progenitor Wushang, and even the Ancient Progenitors—not a single one of them has ever been said to have achieved eternal life.”
“This is precisely why it needs to be studied. Balsam suggested that I visit your Shamrock Enterprise to conduct some research. I wonder, do you have any interest in a collaborative project, Leaf King?”
“Absolutely. My Shamrock Enterprise would be lucky to research such a topic with Alliance Leader Lu.”
“Then it’s settled. After settling things here, I’ll make a point to visit Shamrock Enterprise,” Lu Yin politely replied.
The two chatted very amiably, though internally they were far from friendly.
Even though it was absolutely impossible for Liu Ran to retain his position as an overseer, San Liang and several others still fought to keep him as though there were a real possibility. Even Nan Yuan struggled to overcome the resistance, as the votes were equal.
Liu Ran’s dismissal was supported by Yang Ji, Nan Yuan, Si Hong, and Zi Jing while those who pushed for him to remain were Xin Jiao, Old Man San Shang, San Liang, and Bu Laoweng.
