Upon hearing this question, quite a few people looked over.
Jin He shrugged. “Those were personal grievances, and there’s nothing much that can be said about that.”
“Lu Yin smothered one of the Innerverse’s best hopes at becoming one of the Cosmic Five. Don’t you feel that it’s a pity? After all, Lu Yin isn’t able to go to the Astral Tower himself,” the girl asked.
Jin He smiled. “You’ve been talking about it for quite a while, but do you know what the contest at the Astral Tower actually is?”
She shook her head, and her eyes lit up. “Are you willing to tell us?”
Jin He smiled teasingly. “I’m not saying.”
The girl was rendered speechless.
“Who said that the Cosmic Five would surpass the Ten Arbiters?” Jin He finally said. His long hair swept up and blew about by itself without any wind.
The girl really did break down at that moment. This person was actually the strangest one out of them all, as he was too brazen and mocking. By now, she just wanted to go home.
At that moment, the crowd suddenly looked up in another direction. In outer space, a man tore through the void, emerged, and made his way toward the rendezvous point with an icy expression.
“Who’s that?”
“Does he also qualify to go to the Astral Tower?”
“He shouldn’t.”
…
The man’s expression was cold, and he did not say a single word while standing there in silence.
Jin He encouraged the girl to go interview the newcomer.
The girl had learned from her previous experiences, and she had decided that she would not speak to this person, not even if she was beaten to death. Besides, she had interviewed everyone that she needed to, and most people would have stopped watching by now.
“You’re Little Leaf King! You were in cryostasis for thousands of years. Were you waiting for today?” Starsibyl appeared and spoke to the cold-looking man.
The crowd felt puzzled for a moment, but then someone remembered.
Liquor Hero pulled out a wine barrel. “Little Leaf King? I remember that name. He’s an absolute genius from thousands of years ago.”
“Another old fart,” Tai Yuanjun commented in an unhappy tone.
Xia Tian took a serious look at Little Leaf King. This person was from Shamrock Enterprises.
Many people would enter cryostasis and wait for a certain moment before awakening. In truth, some of the Ten Arbiters had already exceeded the younger generation’s age limit, but they bypassed this by frequently freezing themselves in cryostasis to stop their bone-age from surpassing the limit.
War King Xing Kai and Serati Phoenix were the only ones who had completely exceeded the age limit of the younger generation, and they were simply testing their luck in going to the Neoverse’s Astral Tower. There was no guarantee that they would be allowed to participate.
Little Leaf King was someone from thousands of years ago who had undergone cryopreservation. However, his bone-age was no different from someone under forty years of age.
“Strange, why does he qualify to go to the Astral Tower?”
“Shamrock Enterprises moved their headquarters to the Neoverse long ago, so he can be thought of as someone from the Neoverse.”
“That actually works?”
…
Half an hour later, another vessel arrived. This time, it was from the Cosmic Sea. The ship was enormous, and there was an ancient character etched on the hull. Someone quickly recognized it and called out, “The Longevity Brigade?”
Each of the Cosmic Sea’s four pirate crews were extremely powerful in their own right. The Ten Arbiters’ Jin He was even from one of them—the Ignition Crew.
This time, the Longevity Brigade had arrived. There was someone else from the four great pirate crews within the crowd, and they stepped forward. It was Zi Jun. He was from the Longevity Brigade, and he had participated in the Tournament of the Strongest.
As the Longevity Brigade’s warship arrived at the shore, an immature-looking man jumped off and approached the crowd. “Ple- please, everyone. Bo- board the war- warship to go- go to the Neo- Neoverse.”
The crowd was puzzled; a stutterer?
The man grew nervous as the crowd’s attention was focused on him, and he blushed bright red. “I- I’m from the Long- Longevity Brigade. Everyone, let’s- let’s go together.”
“Alright, cut the nonsense. Let’s go.” Tai Yuanjun had grown impatient, and he leaped aboard the warship as the rest quickly followed suit.
They had long since received notice that the Longevity Brigade would escort them through the Cosmic Sea and lead them to the Neoverse.
The stuttering man’s face was still red, and he looked at everyone once he returned to the warship. “Ex- excuse me. Who- who is Lu- Lu- Lu Yin?”
The crowd gave the man odd looks.
Xia Tian was puzzled. “Why are you looking for Lu Yin?”
The man swallowed his saliva. “ Ma- master said that i- if I follow Lu Yin, I- I’ll have meat to eat.”1
The crowd was rendered speechless.
Tai Yuanjun frowned. “Lu Yin’s not here. He didn’t qualify to go to Neoverse and the Astral Tower. Set sail.”
The stutterer’s mouth fell open. “Then wha- what should I do? Who do I follow?”
“You know Lu Yin?” Lan Si asked.
The stutterer shook his head.
Nobody bothered with him any further.
Starsibyl looked at the stutterer, and her eyes flickered as though she was calculating something.
Before long, the warship set sail for the Neoverse, carrying with it the expectations of countless people from both the Innerverse and the Outerverse. All the aspirations towards the Astral Tower were focused on this ship, and it was the start of a new adventure.
***
Within the Daynight clan’s ancestral grounds, Nightking Dijiang gloomily stared at the stone plaque. Once, three stones of inheritance had circled around the plaque, but one was still in Lu Yin’s hands, leaving only two here.
However, after the Daynight clan’s calamity, only one stone of inheritance remained. The other one had suddenly gone missing.
An elder appeared behind Nightking Dijiang. He was one of the elders responsible for guarding the stone plaque. “Patriarch, we’ve scoured the ancestral grounds, but we’ve found nothing.”
Nightking Dijiang clenched his fists. “There’s no way those androids would have taken away the stone of inheritance, so who else could have done it?”
The elder wanted to say something, but he hesitated.
Nightking Dijiang looked at the man. “Does Elder have some clue?”
The man nodded. “Patriarch, do you remember, around ten years ago, when a stone of inheritance first went missing?”
Nightking Dijiang’s eyes narrowed. “You’re referring to Nightking Qingyu?”
The elder replied, “I cannot be sure, but if someone has deceived us and made off with a stone of inheritance, then Nightking Qingyu is certainly one possibility. His innate gift is very mysterious, and he also disappeared again several years ago. It’s as if his body simply evaporated.”
“At that time, who was the last one to see him?” Nightking Dijiang asked.
The elder checked. “Someone called Liu Shaoge.”
At the same time, at the place on Nightking Planet where Nightking Zhenwu had died, a man crouched down and carefully recovered a bit of dirt. His lips curled up. “I got it.”
…
In the Neoverse, swathes of soil formed countless lines that covered the sky.
Lu Yin looked outside of the spacecraft curiously. He could see that there really were cultivators sitting on the soil.
Although there was a tremendous amount of the dirt, it was not dense or sturdy, and it did not obstruct the vessel’s passage at all.
After a spacecraft broke apart a line of soil, the scattered dirt would quickly return to their original state. It was as though some inexplicable force was preserving the very structure of the soil.
“Don’t underestimate this dirt. Although it might seem sparse at times and easily scattered when struck, if it gathers in larger amounts, then you can simply forget about charging through it with a spacecraft. Even experts with power levels in the several hundred thousands might not be able to shatter it. The various great powers of the Neoverse are all built upon this sort of dirt, as is our Eversky Island. In fact, the entire island is made from this kind of dirt,” Highsage Shenwei introduced.
Lu Yin raised his hand, grabbed some of the fine, loose soil, and focused his rune eyes on it.
There were no rune lines to be seen from the dirt, and it seemed to be nothing more than ordinary soil. However, the moment Lu Yin opened his hand and released the dirt, it would fly back into outer space, attempting to return to where it had been taken from.
There was simply no explanation for this phenomenon.
“Don’t think about it. Even the Hall of Honor doesn’t understand it, let alone someone like you. Rest for a bit. It’ll take us about one more day to arrive,” Highsage Shenwei said.
Lu Yin was amazed. “We’ll arrive at Eversky Island in just a day?”
Highsage Shenwei did not reply.
Lu Yin looked at his gadget, and found that it could not scan the nearby region to create a basic star chart. The Neoverse was indeed different from the Innerverse and the Outerverse.
Without anything else to do, Lu Yin rested quietly inside the ship. Although his injuries seemed severe, they quickly recovered after being treated with certain medications.
One day later, the spacecraft arrived outside a city floating in outer space.
Lu Yin stared at the far off city. It’s foundation was on the soil, which rather surprised Lu Yin.
He could see spacecraft constantly coming and going from the city, and the city’s architecture looked complicated with it boasting both classic and more modern styles.
“Is this Eversky Island?” Lu Yin was puzzled.
Highsage Shenwei rolled his eyes. “Is that what you think?”
“Then where are we?”
“Just a city in space. There are a lot of cities like this in the Neoverse. In fact, wherever the dirt floating in space converges, a city can be built.”
Lu Yin did not ask any more questions.
The spacecraft did not dock at the city’s space station. Instead, they directly flew above it. Many people watched as Highsage Shenwei led Lu Yin out after they landed.
Flight should have been prohibited throughout the entire city. However, it seemed that such rules were not enforced for people like Highsage Shenwei.
Lu Yin looked towards the center of the city, and his brows furrowed oddly.
He could not see rune lines belonging to an especially powerful expert within this city. Logically, this place was in the Neoverse. Thus, even if the streets were not filled with Hunters, it should still be relatively common to see such experts. However, Lu Yin did not even see a single one as he walked along.
There was only one possible answer: the cultivators from the Neoverse were all rather adept at hiding their aura and concealing their strength.
Lu Yin wanted to ask Highsage Shenwei, but he ultimately remained silent. The city opened up at its center, and the dirt floated up as if it had its own consciousness. It formed a small landmass that rose above the city center, looking like a giant mushroom that covered the entire city.
There were quite a few people atop the soil platform, and among them there was a middle-aged man who was wearing white clothing. He beamed at Highsage Shenwei.
Highsage Shenwei landed on the platform, and the white-clothed man hurriedly approached in a respectful manner. “Westgazing City’s master pays his respects to Eversky Island’s Master Shenwei.”
“Greetings, Eversky Island’s Master Shenwei,” the other people on top of the platform spoke in unison.
Down below, countless people from throughout the entire city chorused, “Greetings, Eversky Island’s Master Shenwei.”
Lu Yin was startled and jumped; why were these people so passionate?
Highsage Shenwei was obviously used to this response, and he casually waved a hand. “Alright, don’t put on such a show. I say, Swindler, are the people behind you the elites who want to join my Eversky Island?”
The city master who had been called Swindler shook his head, and from behind him, three men and two women lined up in a row and bowed respectfully. “Juniors pay their respects to Eversky Island’s Master Shenwei.”
Highsage Shenwei looked at the five people and marveled. “Not bad. Their quality is pretty good. They’re all Cruisers, and peak Cruisers at that. How are their foundations? Do they intend to break through to the Hunter realm before the contest at the Astral Tower?”
Swindler was thrilled by this response. “Is Master Shenwei agreeing to let these juniors represent Eversky Island at the Astral Tower?”
Highsage Shenwei lazily replied, “That’s not up to me. You’ll have to ask him.”
He then pointed at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin was confused, and he looked at Highsage Shenwei.
Everyone stared at Lu Yin in complete confusion as well.
Only Swindler smiled at Lu Yin, “Little bro, please.”
Highsage Shenwei continued on, saying, “You, go. Go play with them.”
He then looked at Swindler. “Let’s make things a bit clearer: one bout. If any of your elites can last one bout with this kid, then I’ll agree to give them a chance. However, if they can’t even last for one bout, Swindler, then you can’t blame me.”
Swindler solemnly replied, “The contest at the Astral Tower is of the utmost importance, and if they aren’t able to last for even a single bout with this little brother, then there’s no need for them to go and lose face for Eversky Island.”
Highsage Shenwei nodded. He threw a meaningful glance towards Lu Yin, and softly said, “Deal with them. If you can’t finish them in one round, then there’s no need for you to go to Eversky Island.”
[1] In Chinese, by saying that there’s meat to eat, it means that if he follows Lu Yin he will be able to live life in abundance, because meat is a symbol for the wealthy.
