After leaving Shenwu Continent, Lu Yin had En Ya contact the Great Eastern Alliance and command them to send a radiant-grade Aurora to Ironblood Weave’s Brokenblade Fort, as Lu Yin intended to take a trip there.
Before the Outerverse reconnected to the Innerverse, Lu Yin needed to unite the entire Outerverse. This was no longer simply a mere desire of his, but rather the general trend of the Outerverse’s situation. Once the two regions were reconnected, the various great powers of the Innerverse would never allow the Outerverse to be united in this capacity, and a conflict would inevitably break out.
Lu Yin had not thought of a way to resolve this impending conflict yet, but he could not delay any of his dealings with the Daynight clan as the contest for the Astral Tower would start soon. If possible, Lu Yin needed to deal with Nightking Zhenwu before the Nightking became one of the Cosmic Five, as attempting to take any sort of revenge after that would be extremely difficult.
There were still a large number of Daynight clan members in the Outerverse, and he intended to chase all of those people away. Many of them had earned military contributions from fighting in Ironblood Weave, so he could not do anything to them. Still, he could not allow them to simply remain in the Outerverse.
Since he had become enemies with a colossal organization like the Daynight clan, any loophole that he left open could lead to his death.
Some days later, when Lu Yin saw the humongous Brokenblade Fort off in the distance, he felt rather moved. Who would have thought that when he returned to this place just a few years later, he would no longer be some casually drafted nobody. Even Ironblood Weave’s Elder Lohar had to treat Lu Yin with respect now.
Traces of that great battle that had taken place during Lu Yin’s last visit here could still be seen, as it had only been several years since then.
The commander of Brokenblade Fort was Han Fei, an Enlighter.
Lu Yin’s arrival stunned Brokenblade Fort, but only a portion of the people present were shocked as the majority did not care much. After all, the fort was in Ironblood Weave, and even if the weave had joined the Great Eastern Alliance in name, it was merely that.
Both Ironblood Weave and Southside Weave held special statuses in the current Outerverse, and nobody dared to act recklessly in either place.
Nightqueen Qiuyu was in Ironblood Fort, and Lu Yin headed straight there.
Elder Lohar had never expected Lu Yin to suddenly appear here, and he quickly contacted the youth. When he discovered that Lu Yin’s objective was to take away Nightqueen Qiuyu and the rest of the Daynight clan, the elder’s expression instantly changed. “Alliance Leader Lu, regardless of whatever grudge you hold with the Daynight clan, Nightqueen Qiuyu has made enormous contributions to Ironblood Weave, and she cannot be taken away by you at a whim.”
Lu Yin replied, “Elder, rest assured, I don’t plan to do anything to these people, as I only want to limit their freedom.”
“That’s Impossible,” Elder Lohar replied sternly. From the moment he had seen the blood-red bell, he had always maintained a respectful attitude towards Lu Yin, but Lu Yin’s actions this time had crossed the elder’s bottom line.
Lu Yin frowned. He had already known that it would be difficult to take Nightqueen Qiuyu and the other members of the Daynight clan away from Ironblood Weave, but he had never expected Elder Lohar’s attitude to be so firm.
“Alliance Leader Lu, you should fully understand Ironblood Weave’s rules: no external grievance can be brought within its borders. Anyone who acts against their allies here will be treated as betraying the human race, and that is a crime that you cannot possibly wish to bear,” Elder Lohar said gravely.
Lu Yin’s eyes flashed, as he had forgotten about this rule that was still valid in Ironblood Weave. This was quite troublesome. He could not take anyone away, but if a war broke out between him and the Daynight clan, these people might create a great deal of trouble for him.
On average, the cultivators from the Innerverse were much stronger than their Outerverse peers, and these people were even from the Daynight clan. And that wasn’t even mentioning how there was a powerhouse like Nightqueen Qiuyu among their numbers.
Lu Yin thought about his situation and then looked over at Elder Lohar. “Can Elder promise Junior one thing? This is something that is within Elder’s authority, and I will not ask for anything that would require you to overstep any boundaries.”
Elder Lohar saw that Lu Yin had stopped going through with his initial plans, and the elder secretly heaved a sigh of relief, as he truly did not want to offend Lu Yin. “Alliance Leader Lu, please tell me.”
Lu Yin went on to say, “Since the invasion of the Innerverse ended with the Sixth Mainland’s failure, they might very well shift their focus over to the Astral Beast Domain. Moreover, since the Outerverse is isolated from the Innerverse, the Sixth Mainland can still invade the Outerverse from the Astral Beast Domain and occupy the entire Outerverse.”
Obviously, Elder Lohar thought. But if the Sixth Mainland wanted to invade the Outerverse again, why would they need to go through the Astral Beast Domain? They can just attack straight from the Technocracy, which would save them both time and effort.
“The people from the Fifth and Sixth Mainlands are not too different, so in order to prevent the Sixth Mainland from sending spies to gather intelligence from the border, I, Lu Yin, as the Outerverse Allied Forces’ Commander, will seal off Ironblood Weave. People can henceforth enter, but none are allowed to leave. Additionally, no information can be sent out beyond the vital messages used to relay the situation of the battle.
“Elder, this request is not too much, right?” Lu Yin asked.
Elder Lohar nodded. “Correct. After all, the safety of the border is critically important.”
“Thank you, Elder.” Lu Yin smiled. His goal had always been to tie down Nightqueen Qiuyu and the other Daynight clan members and prevent them from moving about freely. Naturally, one way to do this was to seal off the entire weave.
Elder Lohar knew about Lu Yin’s objective, but that was fine as sealing off the weave would not affect the elder. Besides, with Lu Yin’s authority as the Outerverse Allied Forces’ Commander, he was perfectly qualified to issue such an order, and the elder did not even need to carry the burden of any repercussions.
Still, why does Lu Yin feel the need to limit Nightqueen Qiuyu and the others’ movements? Could it be…? Elder Lohar’s expression changed at this thought; such a possibility was simply too bold. Did this youth even have the qualifications to do so? Did Lu Yin actually have a clear grasp of the Daynight clan?
Not long after Lu Yin left Ironblood Fort, Elder Lohar sent out the orders to seal off every part of Ironblood Weave.
This order raised a great commotion within Ironblood Weave, especially from Nightqueen Qiuyu and the others who had realized that the Innerverse was about to reconnect with the Outerverse. Didn’t sealing off Ironblood Weave at this point in time equate to removing their path home?
Nightqueen Qiuyu immediately contacted Elder Lohar, but his response was firm.
“An invasion attempt from the Sixth Mainland concerns the very survival of the Human Domain itself. Once the Outerverse reconnects to the Innerverse, the Innerverse will need to reinforce Ironblood Weave, so you can all just remain in Ironblood Weave for the moment,” Elder Lohar calmly replied.
But Nightqueen Qiuyu was not satisfied. “We’ve already protected Ironblood Weave for several years; it’s time for replacements to come.”
However, no matter what Nightqueen Qiuyu said, Elder Lohar would not agree.
Nightqueen Qiuyu was left helpless. “Elder can seal off Ironblood Weave, but why must all communications be sealed off as well?”
Elder Lohar grew disgruntled. “The Sixth Mainland left people in the Outerverse, and if they steal information, how can I account to the Hall of Honor for such an oversight? That’s enough, I have no need to explain things to you. If you’re truly not satisfied, then you can send an application to the Hall of Honor directly through your clan.”
And with that, he ended the call.
Nightqueen Qiuyu was enraged, but there was nothing that she could do.
A similar scene occurred in all of the great forts in Ironblood Weave. The Ross Empire’s Duke Blackhawk, the Blaze Realm’s Poison Flame, the Xun family’s Xun Chong, Graceful Feiyu of the Graceful Mercenaries, and more all complained. All of these people were forcibly detained within the weave, and they would have to wait for Ironblood Weave to rescind the seal before they could leave.
Even in their dreams, these people could have never imagined that this lockdown was due to Lu Yin’s command. That nobody whom they had once disregarded and had been able to casually crush at a whim could now change their fates with just a single sentence.
Aside from the important people who were stuck in Ironblood Weave, there were also many others who were trapped, such as Long Yun, Charon, and some others who had simply intended to gather some more contribution points while Ironblood Weave was not being attacked. Instead, they were forcibly detained, and they could not even shed tears as they cried.
Lu Yin could not touch those who were in Ironblood Weave, so he had no other option but to come up with a way to seal them within the weave. Meanwhile, the Allied Forces were ordered to capture the Innerverse cultivators who were mining pyrolyte in the Astral Wilderness, and all the pyrolyte ore was confiscated by the Great Yu Empire.
When Lu Yin left Ironblood Weave, he did so within a radiant-grade Aurora where En Ya had been waiting for him.
Shortly after leaving Ironblood Weave, someone called Lu Yin: Ah Mu.
Ever since the Umbral Butterfly Weave had joined the Great Eastern Alliance, Lu Yin had not interacted with Ah Mu much.
“Greetings, Alliance Leader Lu,” Ah Mu respectfully greeted Lu Yin with a reserved expression.
Lu Yin smiled. “There’s no need to be so courteous. Ah Mu, what’s the matter?”
Ah Mu hesitated and then slowly said, “Seventh Bro- No, Alliance Leader Lu, do you remember what you promised me in the past?”
Lu Yin recalled. “You mean about Angie?”
Ah Mu’s eyes grew bright. “Yes.”
Lu Yin’s expression grew strange. “You really like her?”
Ah Mu answered without hesitation, “Yes, I really like her.”
Lu Yin laughed. “Ah Mu, how many times have you been around Wei Rong?’
Ah Mu was stumped, as he could not understand why Lu Yin had suddenly brought up Wei Rong. “I was usually together with Mistress Angie whenever she interacted with Wei Rong.”
“Then, if you really liked Angie, don’t you think he would have been able to tell?” Lu Yin spoke slowly.
Ah Mu’s expression instantly changed. “Seventh Bro, I hid my feelings well. If Wei Rong knew that I liked Angie, he would have definitely killed me.”
Lu Yin stared at Ah Mu with a bit of interest. Who would believe Ah Mu’s story? He claimed to have allowed Angie to be taken by Wei Rong. If this youth truly had feelings for Angie, then like any other person, his emotions would have fluctuated, and Wei Rong would have definitely noticed any such emotional ripples. If Wei Rong had not been able to see through Ah Mu, then that could only mean one thing: Ah Mu had never held any feelings for Angie in the first place.
However, Lu Yin did not plan to expose Ah Mu. “The Umbral Butterfly Weave is an unstable factor. Ah Mu, I need you to keep hiding and not reveal yourself. I promise that Angie will not belong to anyone else.”
Ah Mu became ecstatic. “Thank you, Seventh Bro! Seventh Bro, during this time, the Umbral Butterfly Tribe-”
“Alright, I got to go.” Before Ah Mu could even finish his sentence, Lu Yin had already disconnected from the call, and he looked at his gadget with a gloomy expression. He had received a message from Luo Shen, but there were only a set of coordinates and two words: Save me.
Lu Yin immediately tried to call Luo Shen, only to find that he could not reach her. Then, he called Smoker. The bodyguards assigned to protect Luo Shen were the responsibility of the Second Squadron.
“Get in touch with those who are protecting Luo Shen,” Lu Yin ordered.
After a minute, Smoker replied, “Cannot reach them.”
Lu Yin’s heart fell. He set the spacecraft that he was using to continue traveling to Zenyu Star before exiting and using his collapsible spacecraft to make his way towards the coordinates that Luo Shen had shared with him. That location was not very far from where he had been just now, so he would be able to arrive within a couple of hours.
There was a planet that lay to the east of Ironblood Weave, close to where the Human Domain and the Astral Beast Domain bordered each other. From space, this planet seemed to have been split down the center into two pieces. Additionally, there was an unknown white object melting everything around it, and its influence was spreading across both halves of the planet.
On this planet, Luo Shen panted heavily as she tried to flee. Occasionally, a sharp blade light would streak past her. Her white legs were stained with blood, and the star energy surrounding her was unstable.
On both sides of her were abandoned plazas, and occasionally, the wails of people in despair could be heard.
Just one day ago, this planet had been fine, but then the apocalypse had suddenly descended. Everything had changed too suddenly, and most of the hundreds of millions of people living on this planet had turned into zombies and massacred the remaining humans while the few remaining survivors fled for their lives.
Luo Shen was a Melder, so she could easily dispatch these zombies. However, for whatever reason, more than a hundred corpse kings had suddenly descended from the sky.
Each one of them was a corpse king, which were bizarre existences that had the ability to evolve. They could swallow energy crystals, and by doing so, obtain innate gifts and even gain sapiance.
