Lu Yin had known for a long time that the Innerverse could not allow the Great Eastern Alliance to remain. No actions had been made for a long time, and he was now finding out that it had been peaceful while this list was being determined. There were 409 people on this list, and with the strength of the Innerverse, all who were sent out to assassinate the people on the list would be powerhouses. Lu Yin did not have so many experts who he could field, not even with the assistance of Leon’s Armada, the people from the Sea King’s Dome and the Lan family, or even with the Dayking clan. There was no way to create a lineup that could protect 409 people.
Even if everyone was sent out, it would still be useless. The Innerverse could send out enough experts to assassinate twice that number of targets. The Purge was also not considered something top secret, which actually meant it was an even greater threat.
Compared with the assassinations themselves, the knowledge of them produced even greater fear. This fear could cause people to change their positions or choose to leave the Great Eastern Alliance, and this was something that Lu Yin could not stop.
No one wanted to live under a butcher’s knife.
This Purge could easily destroy the Great Eastern Alliance. It was no wonder Liu Qianjue had said that even if Lu Baoweng had taken over the Great Eastern Alliance, it would not have mattered.
The only way out was if the Hall of Honor stepped forward to restrain the Innerverse.
“How bold! You dare to threaten Alliance Leader Lu like this? Your Sword Sect doesn’t want to make enemies? Sure, and all of these swords are rusted. Forget something small like your Sword Sect, even the Seven Courts have to bow low before our Alliance Leader Lu! Do you know…” Ku Wei started making pompous threats.
Elder Li completely ignored Ku Wei, and even ignored Lu Yin.
He had simply been ordered to tell Lu Yin about The Purge. This was the Sword Sect’s attempt to demonstrate their good will towards Lu Yin, as they were wary of the forces behind Lu Yin and did not want to sever all cordiality with Lu Yin.
“Alliance Leader Lu, the sect master asked me to tell you that if you wish, you are welcome to be a friend of my Sword Sect at any time. If you need help, you can directly reach out to the Sword Sect. I have a connection with you, which you should be aware of,” Elder Li said.
Lu Yin stared off into the distance. There was a certain fate to things, and this connection between Lu Yin and Elder Li was likely Madam Nalan, as her given name was Liu Fuxue. She was a member of the Sword Sect’s Liu family, and she had given Lu Yin quite a bit of assistance.
It had taken Lu Yin 12 years to go from being the lowest of cultivators to his present level. Even the revered master of the Sword Sect had taken the initiative to express his goodwill towards Lu Yin. It had only taken Lu Yin 12 years to reach such a height. This was something to be proud of, but Lu Yin did not feel the slightest bit proud, as he was still being threatened.
Ku Wei continued to spout venom at Lu Yin’s side, and threatened Elder Li non-stop.
At this moment, Liu Shaoqiu arrived and gave Ku Wei an odd look. “Brother Lu, the sect master asked me to show you around Swords Peak.”
Lu Yin nodded, and then led Ku Wei to follow Liu Shaoqiu away without saying another word to Elder Li.
Elder Li’s eyes were locked on Lu Yin’s back as the youths left. The elder’s character pushed him to kill the youth right away. Although The Purge did not target the Great Yu Empire, there was no way that Lu Yin did not harbor some resentment for the Innerverse’s actions, and that could hurt the Sword Sect in the future.
Still, the master of the sect had his own thoughts and concerns on these matters.
The Sword Sect’s master, Liu Qianjue, remained calmly fishing, but he began to grow uncomfortable. How many years had it been since he had felt such a sensation? How should he describe it? Fear of potential damage, yes, that’s exactly what it was.
Liu Qianjue was afraid of a child.
Laughing, Liu Qianjue emotionally sighed. “Times have truly changed. The appearance of the Ten Arbiters symbolizes the future, yet this child has already surpassed the Ten Arbiters, which also shows the trend of the times. The children of today are really incredible.”
Swords Peak was famous throughout the universe. Star revolved around it, and it was a famous sight.
While walking along Swords Peak, Lu Yin remained thinking about The Purge.
Liu Shaoqiu did not speak, but simply walked up ahead. He was considering whether or not he should challenge Lu Yin to learn of the difference in their strength.
Lu Yin thought about calling Wang Wen to brainstorm options to deal with The Purge, but despite considering the call, Lu Yin did not do so. Wang Wen was highly intelligent, as were Wei Rong and Qiong Xi’er, but when it came to facing the united front of the entire Innerverse, their intelligence would not mean much.
They possessed the courage to go against the Innerverse, but they were not capable of seeing past the Innerverse. This was an important difference, and with the Sword Sect’s position and attitude, what they could consider far exceeded what the three geniuses from the Outerverse could come up with.
Lu Yin suddenly thought of the Root of Intelligence, as drinking that tea again would greatly boost his intelligence and would make it easier to find a path forward.
It was not that Lu Yin did not consider asking Eversky Island or Leon’s Armada for help, but this was the desire of the entire Innerverse. Eversky Island could threaten the Sword Sect, but not the entire Innerverse.
The hatred between the various powers of the Innerverse ran deep, but when it came to the Great Eastern Alliance, the opinions were surprisingly consistent, which made it difficult for Lu Yin to deal with.
“Brother Liu, where is Arbiter Liu? Why haven’t I seen her?” Lu Yin asked suspiciously.
Liu Shaoqiu said, “Training in isolation.”
“Preparing ZENITH?” Lu Yin asked.
Liu Shaoqiu nodded.
“Brother Liu, I’m not sure if it’s proper to ask you something.” Lu Yin hesitated.
Liu Shaoqiu looked over at him. “You can at least ask.”
Lu Yin was curious. “How old is Arbiter Liu?”
Liu Shaoqiu was taken aback and thought for a moment. “Almost forty.”
“Almost forty?” Lu Yin wondered.
Liu Shaoqiu nodded. “Very close. Actually, there’s not much of an age difference among the Ten Arbiters, and they’re about ten years older than us. Talent combined with resources to create the Ten Arbiters, and if we had been born just ten years earlier, they might not be any better than us, but they are still powerful.”
After saying this much, Liu Shaoqiu returned to his senses. Despite the fact that Lu Yin was about the same age as Liu Shaoqiu, Lu Yin had become one of the Ten Arbiters, and even more impressive was that he had defeated two of the Ten Arbiters in one-on-one fights.
After this realization, Liu Shaoqiu lost all desire to challenge Lu Yin. After all, Liu Shaoqiu already had a reasonable comparison; if he challenged Liu Tianmu, what would the result be? It would be a miserable defeat. Lu Yin was someone on the same level as Liu Tianmu.
“Brother Lu, you are a real freak,” Liu Shaoqiu finally choked out that much.
Ku Wei grew arrogant. “Of course! My Seventh Bro is a genius! Don’t you know that in the Neoverse, Seventh Bro stood alone against many heirs of the top powers? He was absolutely invincible while in Progenitor Chen’s Mausoleum…”
Lu Yin interrupted Ku Wei. He was looking into the distance where sword qi shot high into the sky, and each strand resonated with the rest of the sword qi to form a strange battle technique.
Lu Yin has seen a similar type of battle technique before. This was a combined battle technique, which could also be referred to as a battle formation. What he was looking at should be from a sword formation.
Swordsmen would combine their skills to form a sword array to multiply the power.
Lu Yin, Liu Shaoqiu, and Ku Wei arrived at the top of a mountain that was near the impressive sword qi, and they looked down.
They saw hundreds of Sword Sect disciples gathered in a massive square. They were training together to combine their sword techniques. Each person would walk in a different direction and would use their sword qi in a different direction as well, yet it all worked together to form a powerful formation. They let out a roar, and the sound waves were powerful enough to distort the void.
These Sword Sect disciples were not very powerful individually, yet Lu Yin could see that the formation they were executing seemed to be powerful enough to threaten even a Cruiser.
“What a powerful combination technique. As expected of the Sword Sect, the individual technique of the Thirteen Swords is invincible, and the sect’s formation techniques are even more exquisite,” Lu Yin praised.
Ku Wei was surprised by what they were looking at. “I didn’t expect the Sword Sect to have this kind of a sword formation. I’ve only seen similar combination battle techniques in the Neoverse, and I don’t think they exist in the Outerverse.”
“There are some. The Neo-Vestige Sect has some combination techniques for their archery, but the power is not this impressive, and they also need more people,” Lu Yin commented.
Liu Shaoqiu said, “The power of a sword formation depends not only on the strength of the individuals setting it up, but also on their coordination with each other. My Sword Sect has a formation for hundreds of people to execute. They are powerful.”
Lu Yin’s heart moved. “Where could I see that? Or are outsiders not allowed to see it?”
Liu Shaoqiu replied, “Anyone can see it. The Sword Sect tries to be open-minded and also has its own training methods. Even if outsiders see the formation, they can’t learn it.”
After saying this, Liu Shaoqiu led Lu Yin somewhere else.
Before long, they arrived at the foot of another mountain. There was another square at this place, but it was ten times larger than the previous one, and there were hundreds of Sword Sect disciples sitting cross-legged across the square.
Lu Yin was surprised to see that most of them were Cruisers.
This was the strength of the Sword Sect. Originally, only the captains of the Great Yu Empire’s Thirteen Squadrons had been Cruisers, yet in the Sword Sect, Cruisers were ordinary disciples, though they were a bit older.
The disciples of the Sword Sect were elites, and Cruisers from the sect were capable of challenging average Hunters. Though the Cruisers might not be able to win, they at least stood a chance. This was the strength of the Sword Sect.
If hundreds of elite Cruiser realm disciples united, it would not be impossible for them to challenge an Enlighter if they used a sword formation.
Just outside the square, there was a massive slab of stone with some writing engraved on it: Those who succeed in entering the Hunter realm can make requests.
Lu Yin grew curious. “Brother Liu, what does that mean?”
Liu Shaoqiu answered, “There’s a rule in my Sword Sect that’s been passed down from ancient times. Anyone who’s a Hunter can challenge the sword formation, and if they succeed, they can meet with the sect master and make a reasonable request.”
Lu Yin’s eyes lit up. “Has anyone succeeded?”
Liu Shaoqiu nodded. “If I remember correctly, Senior Sister succeeded, as did Nightking Zhenwu when he climbed Swords Peak, and so did Wen Sansi.”
Lu Yin’s eyes flickered and he looked towards the square.
Liu Shaoqiu glanced over at Lu Yin. “It looks like Brother Lu is interested.”
Lu Yin smiled and raised a hand to pat Ku Wei on the shoulder. “Give it a shot.”
Ku Wei was momentarily stunned, but did not respond.
Lu Yin grabbed Ku Wei’s shoulder and tossed him straight into the square.
Ku Wei was shocked, and a majestic flow of sword qi crashed down towards him. He wailed, and his body flickered as he evaded the sword qi. It attacked his back, his head, and from every single direction, including even the soles of his feet. Every attack was from the sword formation, and it was not ordinary sword qi.
Ku Wei, as a member of the Seven Court’s Ku family, was powerful enough to fend against someone of a stronger realm than himself, but his hair stood on end even after using his abilities as a three star Intermediate Lockbreaker. The attacks were dangerous and unavoidable, and his scalp was almost sliced off.
There was no time at all to react once within the sword formation. The endless sword qi was like the sky suppressing everything beneath it. Ku Wei successfully evaded a few times, but his arms and thighs were stabbed by the sword qi, and he began bleeding. He grew enraged, and shouted, “I will go all out now!”
After shouting, he pointed a finger and attacked the sword qi head-on.
The sword qi suddenly transformed and disappeared into the void. This was the power of the Ku family’s Finger Tap. It was able to give a person a feeling of tranquility and cause them to lose all desire to fight.
Despite the success of his Finger Tap, Ku Wei was not facing a single opponent, but hundreds of them, and they were all elite, Cruiser realm disciples from the Sword Sect. Ku Wei’s face went pale. “Seventh Bro, help!”
In a flash, Lu Yin appeared beside Ku Wei. Looking at the surrounding sword qi, Lu Yin raised a hand and flicked his fingers. There was a popping sound, and an overwhelming power shatter the sword qi as Ku Wei was tossed away by Lu Yin with a single hand. The sword qi then converged and cut off the void before enveloping Lu Yin.
