Liu Qianjue had a rather amused expression on his face as he looked at Lu Yin. “Fight? Why would there be a fight? That old man thinks too highly of himself, and he does not actually hold that much power. Even if the overseers are used as a checks and balances system against each other, a mere overseer cannot alter the course of the universe.
“No actions were taken back then, but that was simply because it was not time yet.”
“So is now the time?” Lu Yin retorted.
Liu Qianjue shook his head. “No matter if this is the right time or not, the Great Eastern Alliance must be broken up. Alliance Leader Lu, do you know how much damage the Great Eastern Alliance has caused the Innerverse since its establishment? Even if we ignore the other Innerverse powers, just my Sword Sect has already lost millions of star essence.”
Lu Yin frowned. “Is Senior calculating this starting from when the Outerverse was cut off from the Innerverse?”
“This is just the period after the Outerverse reconnected to the Innerverse,” Liu Qianjue said.
Lu Yin remained silent.
“Cultivation is something that lasts for a long time, and a year is nothing. It is normal for any sect to exist for tens of thousands of years, hundreds of thousands, millions, or even longer. With this, you should be able to estimate just how much the Innerverse powers will lose.”
“Senior, there’s no need to make these sorts of calculations. Those resources did not originally come from you. Otherwise, after so many years, Swords Peak would not even be able to exist without the Outerverse’s support. The Outerverse is not so rich that it can support all this.”
“That’s true, but it is still a great loss. What I mentioned was just the star essence. If you include the various other resources, talents, and materials that have also been lost, then our losses are incalculable. The Great Eastern Alliance cannot afford to cause such a loss for the Innerverse.”
Lu Yin looked at the calm water of the pond. “Has Senior ever considered that, when you catch a fish from this pond, there is one less fish on the planet that it came from?”
Liu Qianjue laughed. “So what? Does this old man even need to think about such things?”
“True. Senior has no need to consider such things, as these fish are no different from ants that have no ability to resist. Even if Senior fishes for planets while being frugal and throwing back what is caught, those planets can’t resist,” Lu Yin spoke emotionally as he stood up. “Does Senior think that I, Lu Yin, am one of those ants without any means to resist?”
Liu Qianjue set his fishing rod down and replied, “The reason why this old man is telling you this story is proof that I see you as a human. You even have support within the Hall of Honor, as well as a master and Eversky Island. Without that level of backing, you would have never been able to wreck Daynight Flowzone. I am not treating you as a junior, which is why I am speaking to you. However, everyone has their own bottom line, and that is also true of the Innerverse. You cannot cross this line.”
Lu Yin’s eyes grew dark. “Coincidentally, this is also my bottom line.”
Liu Qianjue sighed. “Few people are able to see something like the flow of time, including that old overseer. You know how to unite the Outerverse and exert a tremendous power, and you were even able to stand up to the Daynight clan, but have you thought of this? If the Innerverse also unites, then just what kind of power would it wield?”
Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed, and he waved goodbye to Liu Qianjue. “Junior bids you farewell.”
With that, Lu Yin turned around and left.
Liu Qianjue did not turn around and continued to calmly fish.
Once Lu Yin was completely out of sight, a person appeared behind the sect master. He was Elder Li, and he was still wearing his crimson robes.
“Sect Master, how should we deal with this?” Elder Li asked without any sign of emotion.
Liu Qianjue felt helpless. “There is someone big standing behind this child, and it’s not as simple as just Eversky Island. Do nothing to him, but reach out to the Blaze Realm and let them take the lead. We will agree to their plan.”
“Yes, Sect Master.”
“Have Shaoqiu escort him as he visits the Swords Peak.”
“Understood.”
After finishing speaking, Liu Qianjue calmly resumed fishing.
Elsewhere, a Sword Sect disciple led Lu Yin to a pavilion close to a waterfall. There was a disciple cultivating beneath the waterfall, and they were enduring the heavy pressure of the waterfall along with the continuous assault of sword qi.
That disciple was not even a Melder yet, but his eyes remained firm and persistent.
Anyone who was able to join the Sword Sect was an elite, and if any one of them was placed on Earth, then they would be able to become the strongest person on the planet.
Upon thinking of Earth, Lu Yin also thought of Jupiter. As soon as he had time, he really needed to visit Jupiter and discover what secrets that planet held.
He expected the situation within the Outerverse to not be very peaceful at the moment. Liu Qianjue’s attitude had revealed that the Sword Sect would soon take action against the Outerverse. The Great Eastern Alliance was too appealing a prize, and everyone in the Innerverse seemed to either covet and want to seize control of it or destroy the alliance in its entirety.
Lu Yin often felt that it would have been better for the Outerverse to have remained cut off from the Innerverse.
“Seventh Bro!” Ku Wei arrived from somewhere far away, and he carefully glanced around before whispering to Lu Yin like a thief, “Seventh Bro, guess who I saw in Swords Peak!”
“Who?” Lu Yin wondered.
“I actually don’t know,” Ku Wei said.
Lu Yin’s expression grew hostile. “Are you messing with me?”
Ku Wei quickly explained, “No! Seventh Bro, listen for a second. I really don’t know who that person is, but I’ve seen him before, and he was at the first alliance meeting of the Great Eastern Alliance that you held on Zhenyu Star. He was also there when you were elected as the leader of the alliance.”
Lu Yin was surprised. “Someone from the Great Eastern Alliance? Are you sure?”
“Absolutely! That guy has too much personality, and he’s also rather ugly. I’ve never seen an uglier person in my life! It might just be his race, but he’s even uglier than your doorman, Kayze,” Ku Wei said.
Lu Yin began to consider the implication of someone from the Great Eastern Alliance visiting Swords Peak. If this was true, then someone from the alliance had already defected to the Innerverse.
This was not a surprise. The Great Eastern Alliance had originally been established after Lu Yin threatened multiple parties into joining. During the Alliance Convention, Tian Shao had easily won over many people, and the prestige of the Innerverse was something that had been ingrained into the denizens of the Outerverse for far too many years. So, a single word would be able to attract an entire group of people from the Outerverse.
The Great Eastern Alliance had never been stable, and the only reason why it had not fallen apart yet was because of Lu Yin’s skills as well as the various bits of sensitive information that he had used to coerce many of the involved parties. Also, there was the ever present threat of Aegis and Leon’s Armada.
Still, despite everything, the Great Eastern Alliance would still easily fall apart at the seams.
Liu Qianjue had said as much just earlier. While it sounded as if the sect master had been attempting to persuade Lu Yin to break the alliance apart, he had actually been warning Lu Yin to not interfere when it naturally collapsed, as the sect leader was concerned about the powers standing behind Lu Yin. However, those powers were not overly concerned with whether or not Lu Yin kept the Great Eastern Alliance, so it could fracture at any moment.
Were these people not concerned about the Hall of Honor? The fact that Bu Laoweng had been ordered to supervise the Great Eastern Alliance by the other nine overseers was enough to prove that the Hall of Honor had already accepted the existence of the Great Eastern Alliance.
Lu Yin grew solemn when he remembered Liu Qianjue’s words: how much power could a unified Innerverse wield?
There were two people from the Innerverse among the Hall of Honor’s nine overseers. Although the Innerverse was not nearly as powerful as the Neoverse, the power of the Innerverse was still something that the Neoverse could not simply ignore. If the Innerverse really did unite and destroy the Great Eastern Alliance, then it would not be easy for the Hall of Honor to intervene.
The situation had become a little tricky.
After thinking about this , Lu Yin turned around to go speak to Liu Qianjue again in hopes of learning some more useful information.
However, before he arrived at the pond, Lu Yin did not find Liu Qianjue. Instead he only saw Elder Li.
“Sect Master said to rest, Alliance Leader Lu. Please come back next time.” Elder Li treated Lu Yin with a completely indifferent attitude.
Lu Yin understood that Liu Qianjue had no intentions of speaking with him again.
“Shaoqiu will arrive soon, and he will show Alliance Leader Lu around our Swords Peak,” Elder Li said lightly.
Lu Yin felt helpless. Looking off into the distance, he seemed to see the old man fishing with his back to Lu Yin. The sect master may have a kind appearance, but he was very overbearing with his actions.
“Elder Li, please share with the sect master that I, Lu Yin, am able of suppressing the old generation without relying on Eversky Island,” Lu Yin said.
Elder Li’s eyes grew sharp. “Are you threatening my Sword Sect?”
In a low tone, Lu Yin replied, “A gambler who’s lost everything is completely fearless. If I was able to overturn Daynight Flowzone, then I can do the same to your First Flowzone.”
Elder Li’s eyes narrowed as he radiated a strong killing intent.
Lu Yin was not afraid. If the Sword Sect was compared to the Daynight clan, then the Sword Sect was more reasonable. The Nightking clan held too deep a hatred for Lu Yin, and no matter who stood behind him, either they or Lu Yin had to die. However, the Sword Sect was different. They could not afford to offend others by killing Lu Yin. There was Yuan Shi and Eversky Island behind Lu Yin, and he was also not that easily dealt with himself.
Elder Li enjoyed a special status within the Sword Sect. Although he did not care about many matters, he was the one in charge of the sect’s war efforts. Whenever the Sword Sect went to war, Elder Li was always the vanguard.
The elder’s thoughts were very pure: if someone threatened the Sword Sect’s master, then he would kill them without mercy. Elder Li truly wanted to kill Lu Yin there and then, but Lu Yin looked back at the older man without any fear.
Elder Li’s expression suddenly changed, as though he had just heard something, and the killing intent filling his eyes disappeared. “Alliance Leader Lu, you should know that the major powers of the Innerverse have their own interests in the Outerverse, especially the eight major flowzones. The Daynight clan, for example, have historically maintained control over no fewer than ten weaves in the center of the Outerverse, and those weaves were only allowed to trade with the Daynight clan. Blazing Mist Flowzone is the same, and there are weaves such as Darkmist Weave and a few others that will only trade with that flowzone.”
Lu Yin grew confused, as he did not know where Elder Li was going.
“When the Outerverse was first isolated from the Innerverse, those weaves had no choice but to join the Great Eastern Alliance. The Innerverse wasn’t able to say anything, but the connection has been restored, and those weaves are still a part of the Great Eastern Alliance. That is no less than a betrayal to the Innerverse. They are our forces in the Outerverse. Since they have betrayed us, then they must be cleaned up. I might as well tell you that there is a purge that has been planned, and it’s called ‘The Purge,’” Elder Li continued to explain.
Lu Yin’s eyes instantly went wide. “So the Innerverse wants to eliminate the top people in the Great Eastern Alliance?”
“This is an internal matter where those leaders who are unwilling to withdraw from the Great Eastern Alliance and resume their relationship with the Innerverse will be eliminated. The list has already been finalized: 409 people,” Elder Li said.
Lu Yin clenched his fist. This was a threat, a blatant threat. 409 people. Each of them was a leader of a major Outerverse power, and they were also all willing to remain as a part of the Great Eastern Alliance. Although this number did not account for too much of the Great Eastern Alliance, it showed that the others had already entered negotiations with the Innerverse.
“I shared this with Alliance Leader Lu just to clarify an issue. The collapse of the Great Eastern Alliance is already in motion. Even without considering the Great Eastern Alliance itself, not even the Hall of Honor can stop this. We can even give this list over to Alliance Leader Lu. Does Alliance Leader Lu have enough experts to protect all of these people? Even if there are, what about the others? They all want to leave the Great Eastern Alliance, so can Alliance Leader Lu force them to remain?” Elder Li asked lightly.
“The entire Innerverse is behind The Purge, though it is mostly being supported by the eight great flowzones. How many people can Alliance Leader Lu handle? The plan has already started, and the execution date is only a few days away. How can Alliance Leader Lu prevent this?”
“Why are you telling me now?” Lu Yin asked.
Elder Li continued, “The Sword Sect has no desire to become mortal enemies with Alliance Leader Lu. Rather, we simply wish to demonstrate the Innerverse’s bottom line to Alliance Leader Lu and show that you have violated this bottom line. Of course, The purge list does not include people from the Great Yu Empire or anyone who is close to Alliance Leader Lu. So, for Alliance Leader Lu, there will be no losses with the exception of the Great Eastern Alliance’s dissolution. This is the goodwill of my Sword Sect.”
Lu Yin felt that this was funny; they were obviously threatening him while presenting it as a kindness.
