Starsibyl seriously said, “Nightking Zhenwu was able to become the leader of the Ten Arbiters because of his promise. He said that he would be able to receive an inheritance from the Astral Tower the fastest, and after that, he would help the rest of the Arbiters deal with the people from the Neoverse.”
“And they believed him?” Lu Yin was puzzled.
Starsibyl replied, “They had no other choice but to do so. This is an opportunity, but to grasp it, they need to go up against numerous top-tier experts from the Neoverse. Even if the Ten Arbiters are actually unrivaled in the universe, they still would not be able to endure an endless battle.”
“How many people from the Neoverse will be competing for the Astral Tower?” Lu Yin asked.
Starsibyl replied, “Many. All of the great powers qualify, so they will all send people. At one point, the number of people who could participate was restricted, but those restrictions are not being applied this time. Thus, anyone who wants to go from those powers can do so. This is an opportunity to glimpse the Progenitor realm, and the most important factor this time will not be strength but rather destiny.”
Lu Yin understood. Some people were simply blessed by fate, and there were also those who were weaker but still fated to receive an inheritance. These people would have an easier time becoming a Progenitor.
However, even if there were no restrictions on the number of participants allowed to enter, not just anyone could compete. At the very least, they needed to be part of the Neoverse’s great powers that are qualified to send people to the Astral Tower. Otherwise, how could they join the competition?
Lu Yin glanced around the area. “Everyone, there’s a question that’s been weighing me down for over ten years that I want to ask you all.”
He paused and then looked around. “Fourteen years ago, someone from the Ten Arbiters Council targeted the Big Sis Mercenary Group based off of a list of people surnamed Lu. I wish to know, who did this?”
After hearing this question, all of the Ten Arbiters had different expressions; some looked stunned, some seemed to be at a loss, and others remained calm.
Lu Yin had not asked this question when he defeated Lan Si, mainly because Lan Si could have been the person who Lu Yin had been searching for. Instead, Lu Yin had waited ten years for this day, when he could ask all Ten Arbiters this question at the same time.
When Lu Yin’s question was spoken out loud, Highsage Leon’s gaze trembled from where he was floating above the planet. He knew who this person was, and it was also why the Cosmic Sea had not been peaceful during these past few years. However, Highsage Leon had never mentioned anything to Lu Yin, as the youth needed to find out for himself.
Finally, Lu Yin would obtain an answer.
War King Xing Kai rubbed his head. “Passing judgement upon a paper listing people surnamed Lu? That sounds rather familiar, and I seem to remember this happening. I remember-” He paused as he looked at Jin He. “It seems like you were the one to suggest it.”
The others looked at Jin He as well.
Jin He gave a shrug and a slight smile. “I follow through with what I was entrusted to do.”
Lu Yin had long since guessed that Jin He was the one behind the massacre. In fact, Lu Yin had already inferred this after reading through Amethyst Exchange’s intelligence on the Ten Arbiters.
Also, Old Gu De had told Lu Yin that the entire matter was related to a regiment from the Cosmic Sea. Out of all the Ten Arbiters, Jin He was the only person from the Cosmic Sea, as he had been a part of the Ignition Crew, one of the four major pirate crews.
Lu Yin had also made other inquiries, and as a result, he had discovered that Jin He deeply hated people with primeval surnames, which had resulted in him having a very bad relationship with Liu Tianmu; the two almost never spoke to each other. Jin He’s relationship with Wen Sansi was also poor because the Erudite Flowzone had the highest population of primeval surnames.
“You follow what you were entrusted to do. It sounds so simple, but seventy-two human lives were sacrificed.” Lu Yin’s voice had become exceptionally cold as he stared at Jin He. Lu Yin hated this person not one bit less than Nightking Zhenwu.
Jin He smiled at Lu Yin. “Only seventy-two lives? Didn’t they all die? Or are you a survivor?”
As the Arbiter spoke those words, Lu Yin’s eyes went wide, and he moved forward as his pupils transformed into runes as he stared at Jin He. The Arbiter’s eyes also went wide, and his pupils similarly transformed into runes as he exchanged glances with Lu Yin.
The two of them erased each other’s runes as their star energy collided.
Suddenly, a sword light burst out from Liu Tianmu as she took action, cutting through the colliding star energy. “Enough.”
Lan Si also moved forward, stopping in front of Jin He. Meanwhile, Serati Phoenix stepped out and faced Lu Yin. The sides were distinct.
The entire situation was on the verge of exploding.
Wen Sansi suddenly had a headache. “Brother Lu, just how many battles do you want to fight today?”
Lu Yin’s finger twitched. He was still suffering from the aftereffects of his battle against Nightking Zhenwu. As a result, when he contested Jin He’s star energy, some of Lu Yin’s wounds had opened up and started bleeding again.
“The most important thing right now is the competition at the Astral Tower. When it comes to a Progenitor’s inheritance, everything else can be set aside,” Ling Gong said.
Jin He spread his hands. “I’m alright.”
Everyone turned to look at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin averted his eyes. “This debt will be collected sooner or later.”
Jin He smiled even more brilliantly, and it reminded Lu Yin of Silver. “I dislike problems, so I prefer to remove the source of trouble directly.”
Lan Si spoke up in a gloomy voice, “You’re spouting a lot of nonsense.”
Jin He merely smiled and stopped speaking.
Serati Phoenix suddenly spoke up, “Those who qualify to participate in the contest at the Astral Tower are those who received a title of King or Queen during the Sixth Mainland’s invasion. Brother Lu, are you qualified?”
Everyone seemed to wake from a dream, including Lu Yin.
He had defeated Nightking Zhenwu, and everyone had logically expected him to replace Nightking Zhenwu by becoming one of the Ten Arbiters. Naturally, he should then be able to go to the Neoverse to participate in the events at the Astral Tower. However, Lu Yin was his own person while Nightking Zhenwu had been himself. Defeating Nightking Zhenwu did not mean that Lu Yin could simply replace Nightking Zhenwu.
He had never been given the title of King while defending against the Sixth Mainland’s invasion, and neither was he a disciple from one of the Neoverse’s great powers. On top of that, his status as an Honor Chosen had been temporarily revoked as well. In that case, how would he qualify to go to the Astral Tower?
Starsibyl’s eyes flashed, as even she had forgotten about this issue. Rather, it was not that she had forgotten, but that she had simply grafted everything that she had predicted about Nightking Zhenwu onto Lu Yin since she had never been able to calculate anything about Lu Yin. She had done so much to achieve her goals, but she had forgotten about the most basic detail: Lu Yin was not qualified to join the contest at the Astral Tower.
Lu Yin immediately reached out to Yuan Shi to ask about his qualifications.
Soon, Lu Yin’s face sank, as his status as an Honor Chosen was unable to be reinstated for the time being.
Nightking Zhenwu was dead, and thus, he could not retract his accusations. Thus, Lu Yin was still under suspicion of being a traitor to the Fifth Mainland.
“Seventh Bro, this can’t be! You’ve destroyed your only chance of competing at the Astral Tower!” the Ghost Monkey shouted in an exaggerated manner.
Lu Yin’s face turned ugly, as this was not completely his fault, but rather something that had simply gone out of control. By the time Lu Yin could properly react, he had already started fighting Nightking Zhenwu.
Before everything had taken place, Lu Yin had agreed to return the Daynight clan’s stone of inheritance so that Nightking Zhenwu would revoke his accusations. However, Nightking Zhenwu had never once mentioned getting the stone of inheritance back, as he had been certain that Lu Yin would die on Nightking Planet.
However, Lu Yin had not expected Nightking Zhenwu to move so quickly, and thus, he had been unprepared for Zhenwu to suddenly start killing all the members of the Dayking bloodline.
Everything had occurred too suddenly.
Jin He’s smile grew even more brilliant. “It looks like Brother Lu doesn’t qualify to join us at the Astral Tower in the Neoverse for this opportunity. Well then, I’ll head out first. Everyone, let’s meet in the Neoverse.”
He then turned to leave. “What happened to Nightking Zhenwu is a pity, as he would have been able to help us deal with those people from the Neoverse. Really, what a pity.”
Nobody stopped him from leaving.
After Jin He left, Liu Tianmu followed suit, as did Xing Kai, Ling Gong, Wen Sansi, and the others.
They had come here as they had been invited by Nightking Zhenwu to discuss the experts from the Neoverse as well as to confirm Nightking Zhenwu as the leader of the Ten Arbiters. Now that Zhenwu was dead while Lu Yin could not go to the Neoverse for the Astral Tower, everyone had left.
In the end, Lan Si was the only one who remained behind. He was still qualified to go to the Neoverse, as he had received his title of Arbiter when the Starfall Sea’s Grayweed Continent had still been a prominent power. That title did not only refer to the Ten Arbiters, but it also applied to the titles given out by the Champions’ Stage during the war. Only the Ten Arbiters had achieved merits enough to be titled Arbiter.
In the past, Lan Si had wanted to take over Lu Yin’s position as an Honor Chosen because he wanted to seize the opportunity to go to Neoverse and compete at the Astral Tower. At that time, the Ten Arbiters had not qualified to participate in the contest, and only the disciples of the Neoverse’s great powers were permitted to do so.
Who could have known that, in the end, those who had received a title of King or higher would all qualify? In fact, during Lan Si’s battle with Lu Yin, Lu Yin’s status as an Honor Chosen had actually lost its attractiveness to Lan Si, and he had purely wanted to fight with Lu Yin.
“There’s only one way for you to participate in the Astral Tower contest.” Lan Si looked at Lu Yin and continued in a solemn manner, saying, “Go to the Neoverse and join some power there before the Astral Tower contest begins. Then, you’ll be able to represent that power during the contest.”
Lu Yin’s eyes lit up, and the first thought that came to his mind was the Cosmic Sect.
“However, there’s also a problem with that. Even if you prove yourself to be stronger than their top disciple, as long as you haven’t gained their trust, you’ll never be allowed to represent them at the Astral Tower. On top of that, there are always internal competitions within such organizations, and receiving the chance to go to the Astral Tower is not only about personal strength. Still, Brother Lu, this is your only chance,” Lan Si said. And with that, he left as well.
Lu Yin felt a bit lost. There were less than five months until the Astral Tower opened. Could he really possibly get to the Neoverse, join some power, and then represent them at the astral tower, all within five months?
Without even considering the competition at the Astral Tower itself, whether or not Lu Yin could get to Neoverse was a problem in and of itself.
“Has this been frustrating for you?” Lu Yin asked. He had turned around to speak to Starsibyl.
Her eyes flickered. “Although I can’t calculate your actions, I’ve tested things several times, and I’m quite certain that you won’t lose very easily.”
“Tested things several times?” Lu Yin was curious and he looked at Starsibyl. “When?”
Starsibyl smiled and turned to leave. “Brother Lu, I’ll wait for you in the Neoverse.”
Lu Yin stared at her in amazement. “You also qualify to go to the Astral Tower?”
Starsibyl simply replied, “Yes.”
Since she was also able to go to the Astral Tower, it suddenly made sense why Starsibyl had been relying upon Nightking Zhenwu. Had she intended to make him one of the Cosmic Five so that he could then help her rise up?
Everyone had believed that Nightking Zhenwu would receive an inheritance from the Astral Tower and that he would definitely become one of the Cosmic Five. However, were things really that simple? If a Progenitor’s inheritance could be given away so easily, then it would not be a Progenitor’s inheritance.
Lu Yin’s deepest impression of a Progenitor was actually the Ce Secret Art. If not for the Root of Intelligence, he likely would have never comprehended that secret technique throughout his entire life. Actually, he had also relied on Qiong Xi’er’s innate gift to succeed.
The events on Nightking Planet had been blocked off from the Innerverse and the Outerverse, and the last thing that the viewers saw was the Ten Arbiters leaving one by one.
No one knew what had happened, but it seemed that the Ten Arbiters had come to some sort of an agreement.
Many were concerned about whether or not Lu Yin had replaced Nightking Zhenwu and become an Arbiter.
If Lu Yin became an Arbiter, then his influence would be simply too astounding. He was already capable of toppling the Daynight clan, or any power from the Innerverse for that matter. He could even topple a flowzone.
Nightking Dijiang had not prevented Nightking Zhenwu from being killed during the fight, and Blazing Mist Flowzone’s forces had stood down as well. The various experts from the Outerverse was in the process of withdrawing.
The pirates scattered throughout Daynight Flowzone had also withdrawn, and peace and calm soon returned.
Lu Yin moved over to Zhuo Daynight and held out a hand towards her.
She grabbed his hand, and her white hair drifted by, giving her a gentle look.
“Everything has almost completely fallen apart, hasn’t it?” Lu Yin smiled as he spoke.
Zhuo Daynight seemed quite relaxed, and she looked over at where Nightking Zhenwu had died. “Not almost—everything has already collapsed.”
Lu Yin moved his hand to pat her head, and although this was a rather intimate gesture, Zhuo Daynight did not pull away.
“Am I completely ugly now?” Zhuo Daynight asked.
Lu Yin replied, “Your white hair is quite pretty to look at.”
There were quite a few people around Lu Yin with completely white hair.
