Lu Yin’s luck on his second roll was not as good, as he rolled five pips: Gift Copy. This was the most useless roll possible in his opinion, as he would not use the die when he was with anyone else, and the time limit to touch someone and borrow their innate gift was too strict—only ten seconds. On top of that, people with valuable innate gifts were too few and far between.
He had wasted one chance, but he still had two more rolls. Lu Yin let out a deep breath and continued to roll.
***
While Lu Yin was trapped within the Technocracy, back in the Innerverse, Nightking Zhenwu emerged from the Sword Sect. There was a faint smile on his face as Starsibyl walked beside him.
“Congratulations. Liu Tianmu has agreed.” Starsibyl also had a slight smile.
Nightking Zhenwu had a carefree mind at this moment. Out of all of the Ten Arbiters, Liu Tianmu was the one who had been the most difficult to deal with, and she was also extremely strong. If she had not agreed to Zhenwu’s proposal, then there would have been no possibility of him becoming the leader of the Ten Arbiters. Fortunately, Starsibyl had helped, and she had used her special techniques to gain Liu Tianmu’s agreement.
He looked over at Starsibyl. “There’s still Xing Kai, Lan Si, Liquor Hero, and Jin He left.”
Starsibyl confidently responded, “There’s no need to look for Xing Kai. He’s already not a member of the younger generation, so whoever becomes the leader of the Ten Arbiters is none of his business.”
“But he won’t give up that easily,” Nightking Zhenwu countered.
Starsibyl smiled. “That’s assuming that the other Arbiters don’t care. If everyone else shows one attitude, then he will have to abdicate.”
“There’s no possibility of them revealing such a stance, as all of them are close to the age limit, even me. Nobody wants to be pushed out of the Ten Arbiters Council due to their age, and Xing Kai is simply the first Arbiter to exceed the age limit. It still remains to be seen how this will be managed, and if done badly, it could provoke a bad reaction from the other Ten Arbiters,” Nightking Zhenwu said.
“That’s none of your business. Just make sure that Xing Kai doesn’t oppose you this time,” Starsibyl said.
Nightking Zhenwu’s gaze trembled. “Lan Si’s in the Outerverse, so we can ignore him. The only remaining ones are Liquor Hero and Jin He. Liquor Hero can be ignored, as that woman’s usually intoxicated to the point where she doesn’t even know what she’s talking about. She won’t oppose anything. Only Jin He will be a little more difficult.”
Upon the mention of Jin He, even Starsibyl grew more cautious. “That person is very scary, and he has hidden himself too deeply, much like Unseen Light. There’s no way to know what he’s thinking, but I have my own methods. I can ensure that he will agree to you becoming the leader of the Ten Arbiters.”
Nightking Zhenwu glanced over at Starsibyl. He was actually rather wary of this woman.
The few Arbiters who had agreed to him becoming the leader of the Ten Arbiters had mostly been won over thanks to this woman. She knew far too much, and since she had knowledge of others, then could she also have such knowledge about him as well? With that thought, the Nightking subconsciously touched his heart. Still, after that, he paid no attention to his trepidation as he proceeded forward.
Starsibyl’s face never stopped smiling, and she followed behind the Arbiter, looking as if she was genuinely following Nightking Zhenwu.
Not long after the two left the Sword Sect, Nightking Zhenwu’s gadget received a bit of news, and his expression grew delighted. “The contest for the Astral Tower is about to begin! There’s only about a year left before it starts.”
Starsibyl looked up at him. “Congratulations. Everything is proceeding in a manner that benefits you. If you are successful, then you will become one of the Cosmic Five, and you will also stand over the other Arbiters. At that time, when you welcome back the Third Nightking, the Daynight clan may very well become the most powerful force in the entire Innerverse, and it will even be able to cast its eyes towards the Neoverse.”
Nightking Zhenwu grew excited at these thoughts, and not just because of Starsibyls words. He was about to learn Night’s End, Daybreak, and when he did so, his strength would basically double. That power, complemented with the Arrow Progenitor’s inheritance, meant that no one within the younger generation would be his match. Once he stepped into the Enlighter realm, he felt confident in sweeping even the Daosource Three Skies.
Everything under the Enlighter realm, which was Hunters and those below, had a different kind of cultivation. The deeper a Hunter’s accumulated foundations, the stronger the Enlighter they would become. Nightking Zhenwu was confident that, if everything went smoothly, the moment he became an Enlighter, he would even be able to fight against powerhouses whose power levels were at 400,000. Let alone the younger generation, even those in the older generation would be overwhelmed by his power. That would be the moment when he, Nightking Zhenwu, truly reigned over the universe.
Since Nightking Zhenwu had obtained this bit of news, then others naturally did as well.
The Ten Arbiters, Xia Tian, Tai Yuanjun, and everyone who had received a title of King or Queen, such as the Neoverse’s Qiu Shi, Gu Xiao’er, and the other elites, also heard about this announcement.
The Astral Tower contest allowed youths to compete for inheritances, and it was considered to be the most important event in the Neoverse. This event would determine the five strongest youths in the entire Human Domain, and those five would be allowed to obtain Progenitor inheritances. Once they obtained that, they would leave all of their peers far behind.
In the Sword Sect, Liu Tianmu looked calm, but there was a certain glint of enthusiasm hiding deep within her eyes. The Astral Tower was a contest for inheritances, and she wondered who would be able to meet her Twelfth Sword. She looked forward to finding out.
***
Ling Que arrived at the Lingling clan’s home, only to be berated by Ling Gong. He looked quite sullen.
“I wasn’t wrong! I’m not allowed to run even when against one of the Daosource Three Skies?” Ling Que was frustrated.
Ling Gong moved forward. “Lu Yin didn’t run, so why did you? How embarrassing!”
Ling Gong gritted his teeth. “How can I compare to him? That fellow’s a total freak! During the battle in the Cosmic Sea, he was the only one who managed to injure Zhi Yi, and not even you were able to do that! Unfortunately, that guy was played to death by Nightking Zhenwu, and even his reputation has been ruined now.”
Ling Gong had a complicated expression. She refused to believe that Lu Yin had colluded with Zhi Yi, even under threat of death. But the universe was too cruel, and even without evidence, Nightking Zhenwu was able to use the Daynight clan’s influence to ruin Lu Yin’s reputation. If not for Leon’s Armada, the Astral Combat Academy, the Lockbreaker Society, and other such powers resisting the Daynight clan, then Lu Yin’s reputation would have been ruined to the point of infamy. However, the situation was barely better than that at the moment. At the very least, the entire Daynight and Blazing Mist Flowzones were cursing his name.
However, that was something to do with Nightking Zhenwu, and Ling Gong decided to ignore it. At most, she would make sure that the Lingling clan did not participate in this affair.
Whenever she thought of Lu Yin, she felt pity. He had truly been too talented, to a frightening degree. If he had been allowed to mature, then he definitely would have become one of the Ten Arbiters, and he might have even surpassed them in the future and become a leader of the Human Domain’s entire younger generation. Such a shame.
There was a beep, and Ling Gong looked at her gadget. She suddenly grew excited, as the contest for the Astral Tower was about to begin.
Ling Gong put away all other thoughts and went into seclusion. She had to seize an inheritance from the Astral Tower and become one of the Cosmic Five.
As for Ling Que, he was simply ignored.
***
A certain pirate port in the Innerverse grew increasingly busier after the Sixth Mainland’s forces retreated. However, its activity was still greatly lacking compared to its bustling nature before the invasion. Even the pirates were feeling the loss in numbers due to the various people who had died, and they cursed even louder after drinking.
Even if they did not know what the Sixth or Fifth Mainlands were, everything would still be fine as long as they could bully others.
“There’ll be a day when I’ll invade the Sixth Mainland and slaughter that bunch of those bastards!” someone shouted, and the others all cheered.
Within the crowd there was a woman who cheered the loudest and raised her glass.
“There’ll be one day when I’ll drink all of the Sixth Mainland’s alcohol!” That led to another loud round of cheers.
The girl had hazy eyes showing that she was drunk, but also very excited.
After a round of commotion, a few pirates approached her in a suspicious manner, and one of them set a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Little sis, do you want a drink? You can follow us back to our ship. We’ve got some good liquor there, and it was all stolen from the Sixth Mainland.”
Her eyes lit up, and she let out a drunken belch. The air that she expelled actually condensed into a drop of alcohol that she then sucked in. “You’ve really got drinks from the Sixth Mainland?”
The pirate was thrilled. “Of course! As long as you follow me, you can drink as much as you want.”
She smiled, stood up, tottered around a bit, and then burped in a drunken manner. Her face was flushed bright red. “That’s what you told me. If there aren’t any drinks, I’ll squeeze all of you dry.”
The small group of pirates all laughed. “We like being squeezed dry!. Come on, let’s go for a drink!”
“Let’s go,” the other pirates echoed.
Quite a few other pirates felt pity for the girl, but they were one step too late.
Before long, the girl was led to a beat up spacecraft by a few pirates, and the entire scene looked like pure chaos.
“Where are the drinks?” the girl slurred as she wobbled around, having to keep herself steady by leaning against the walls while she looked at the pirates through hazy eyes.
They could not wait to get rid of their clothes. “What drinks? Come and join us, and when we’re done, we’ll buy some for you.”
The girl looked confused, but then her face flushed deeper red. “No- no drinks?”
“Quit messing around and come play with us.” One pirate grabbed the girl and was about to force her down when her lips pursed together.
“I thought that you people were lucky enough to come across some good alcohol, but it was a lie. In that case, I’m going to squeeze you all dry.”
“Haha! Bro, this wretch wants to squeeze you dry! Let’s go!” the pirates chortled.
She belched like a drunkard, but then her eyes turned incomparably cold as an indescribably disturbing aura fell upon the group of pirates. They all froze in place, and then, their leader’s body suddenly started to shrivel. First it was his hand, and next was his leg. The process was very slow yet inexorable. He was slowly turning into dust.
That pirate’s face went pale, and he stared at his hand in terror as it turned to dust. Suddenly, his entire body slammed onto the floor; his leg was already gone. “Save- sa- save me!”
The other pirates were so frightened that they fell to the floor, utterly paralyzed with fear. They turned to stare at the girl in dread.
She burped again. “I warned you guys. I told you that I’ll squeeze you dry, keke.”
“Hurry and run,” one of the pirates screamed as he fled towards the door. However, before he made it very far, his legs suddenly turned to dust, and the remaining half of his body slammed onto the floor. The other pirates did not even dare to move, and they simply watched on as their own bodies shriveled up and ultimately vanished.
Before much time passed, the girl walked out of the spacecraft, swaying. Her face was still completely flushed, and her appearance caused many other pirates to look at her with lustful eyes. Nobody knew what had happened within the spacecraft that she had just left, as if they did, all of the pirates here would have already fled.
“What a bunch of trash! Leon’s Armada isn’t any good either. Pirates are all terrible,” the woman slurred in a drunken speech, but no one could understand what she said. She continued on her way, swaying as she walked. Suddenly, her gadget beeped, and she glanced down at it. After a moment of time, she revealed a surprised expression. “So the contest for the Astral Tower is going to start soon? There’s still about a year left. Keke, one more year of drinking, one more year.” The woman paused and then cheered up. “Time to go drink in the Neoverse.”
Then, her figure vanished.
This sight shocked those in the pirate port, as all of them realized that this woman had not been as simple as they had assumed. As for the few pirates who had led her away earlier, nobody knew where they had gone.
***
As the start date for the Astral Tower contest drew closer, quite a commotion was stirred up within the Innerverse, and the Neoverse was the same.
In a foreign part of the universe, a towering peak slowly floated along. There were dozens of stars revolving around it, and a raging inferno blazed at its highest point. From a distance, it looked like it was smoking, but every few seconds, the blaze would go out only to start burning again moments later. The soaring smoke spread across the nearby region of outer space—this was Smoke Eater Peaks, one of the Neoverse powers.
Inside Smoke Eater Peaks, Gu Xiao’er looked bitter. “What’s it got to do with you? I tried my best, but not even that woman, Qiu Shi, was able to seize the Champions’ Stage! Dad, you’re not making much sense.”
“Smelly brat, you still dare to squabble? It’s all because you have no prospects. My Smoke Eater Peaks’ smoke is unrivaled, and from today forward, you will go and absorb the smoke until you can form it yourself.”
“Smoking is detrimental to one’s health.”
“Shut up! I still haven’t settled the score with you for losing the Cosmic Art from before.”
‘I’ve told you, that thing was stolen!”
“Nobody can steal anything from my Smoke Eater Peaks! A little brat like you needs a spanking! I’ll beat you!”
“Save me!”
“Eh, the contest for the Astral Tower is about to begin? Xiao’er, come here. I’ll give you some special treatment.”
“Save me!”
…
