Lu Yin was feeling quite satisfied right now. After all, the Outerverse normally used star crystals, and thirty million star essence was the equivalent of a truly astronomical number of star crystals. This was a massive gift from the major powers of the Outerverse.
Right after the call with Huan Sha, Lu Yin received a call from Wei Rong that had more good news for Lu Yin. The Innerverse’s flowzones had also sent their congratulations to Lu Yin for winning ZENITH—their gifts totaled more than fifty million in star essence.
Lu Yin ended up short of breath when he heard this news. He had suddenly received nearly a hundred million star essence, which was an unimaginable amount. Even if one of the eight great flowzones received this amount, it would still be considered an astronomical sum.
This was also just what the smaller flowzones had sent him, as the eight great flowzones had been even more generous, sending Lu Yin another 200 million star essence themselves.
Lu Yin was not happy about this. He could see what was happening. The Innerverse was trying to buy him off. No matter how much a single person could spend, there would always be a limit, and although Lu Yin was known for his covetous nature, he had never been known to spend almost anything. These people were being quite clever.
Since Lu Yin liked money, they intended to feed him with wealth until he was fully sated. Besides, Lu Yin never spent his money, so sending him such gifts was clearly better than sending him power vessels or battle techniques that could directly increase his strength. What would he do with so much money? Decorate his house with it?
To these people, the most important detail was that Lu Yin never spent his money. Thus, if anything happened to him in the future, the money would still be there, which meant that these people were essentially treating Lu Yin as an alternative bank.
Sending Lu Yin gifts was like opening a savings account.
Wang Wen smiled brightly, but he behaved very humbly. “As far as those people are concerned, this money isn’t enough for them to get excited about, but if it’s able to satisfy you for a bit, then in their minds, it’s money well spent.”
Lu Yin knew that Wang Wen was laughing at him, but how could anyone know how Lu Yin used money?
No matter what people thought of him, it was better if Lu Yin was treated as a piggy bank. The more money he had, the faster his strength would rise.
If any of these people discovered that Lu Yin’s power was directly related to money, he believed that every single one of them would regret their gift even on their deathbeds.
“Get rid of that smile. I’ve got my own uses for this money,” Lu Yin said in a breathless voice.
Wang Wen smiled and replied, “It doesn’t matter. It’s never bad to have more money.”
Lu Yin instantly grew vigilant. “What do you want? I won’t even give you a penny of my money.”
Wang Wen was momentarily stunned, and he looked at Lu Yin oddly. “You don’t really have some weird fetish like everyone is saying, do you?”
Lu Yin did not bother explaining himself. “Before ZENITH, you said that arrangements were being made. How are things going?”
At this sudden change of topic, Wang Wen felt rather helpless. “All of my arrangements were based on you placing in the top three, but then you went and won the whole damn thing. The spotlight’s completely on you right now, so the plans have to be adjusted.”
Lu Yin’s brows rose up. “Before ZENITH, I remember that you were very confident in me and that everything was being set up on the basis of me taking first.”
“That was just us talking. You have to realize that your goal of becoming the champion was just too unreal. So…” Wang Wen was feeling rather embarrassed and a little humiliated. This was the first time that he had been so off in a prediction. Although it was a good thing that Lu Yin had won, Wang Wen’s expectations had been crushed.
Who would have thought that Lu Yin would actually place first in ZENITH?
“Right now, you’re too conspicuous. The entire universe is staring at you, so I plan to have the Great Eastern Alliance withdraw from Blazing Mist Flowzone as a demonstration of our good will. Then, we will slowly infiltrate the Innerverse from another direction without waging war. We’ll use a different means rather than having the entire universe focus on us,” Wang Wen explained.
Lu Yin’s eyes flashed. “What does that means?”
“I’ve already sent out Qiong Xi’er.”
“Economical means?”
“Do you remember Brightstar Corp.? I remember you once speaking to a woman from there, and she explained to you how the large corporations in the Innerverse are run and how they are completely different from Outerverse companies. No matter how rich these Outerverse companies might be, they are still only considered plebeian. They are wealth-gathering tools for the Innerverse forces, and they have no independent rights. In the Innerverse, corporations attract the least attention, which means that they are the most easily infiltrated.”
Lu Yin remembered that Leng Yan had mentioned that Brightstar Corp. was indeed one of the Innerverse’s top companies, and it was a subsidiary of some massive consortium at that. A company’s status in the Innerverse could not compare to the status that the four conglomerates enjoyed in the Outerverse, and it was all because these Innerverse companies were not allowed to have any powerhouses of their own.
The money that these companies earned had to be handed over to the forces behind them, which meant that the Innerverse corporations were miserable existences firmly under the control of others.
Lu Yin had only mentioned this matter to Wang Wen once, and he had not expected Wang Wen to make a note of it and eventually use it as a starting point for their invasion of the Innerverse.
At the mention of Qiong Xi’er, Lu Yin remembered how, when the Tyrannical Weave had finally connected to the rest of the Outerverse during the period of time when the Outerverse and Innerverse had been isolated, Qiong Xi’er had demonstrated her expertise for gathering wealth. Lu Yin suddenly gained confidence in this plan.
Qiong Xi’er, Wang Wen, and Wei Rong were more than qualified to do business with the Innerverse, and if the Great Eastern Alliance pulled out of Blazing Mist Flowzone, then many of the major Innerverse powers would relax. Even the sylvan dragon clan and Ross Empire would lose their motivation for continuing their enmity with the Great Eastern Alliance.
“If the Great Eastern Alliance pulls out of Blazing Mist Flowzone, then where will we go? Retreat back to the Outerverse?” Lu Yin asked.
Wang Wen shook his head. “I finally got into the Innerverse, so how can I just leave? There’s a small flowzone between Venom Flowzone and Blazing Mist Flowzone known as the Fennel Flowzone. This place is referred to as the gateway to Venom Flowzone, and basically all the cultivators who want to enter Venom Flowzone to find poisonous insects or anything else need to pass through the Fennel Flowzone. So even though it’s small, it’s quite busy.
“That place can become the territory of our Great Eastern Alliance. After all, it’s relatively small and unattractive, and you can also return to Blazing Mist Flowzone at any time from there. It’s in a position that flanks Blazing Mist Flowzone with the Outerverse. Also, it’s easily defendable with Venom Flowzone at its rear. If anything happens, it would be very difficult for anyone to defeat Fennel Flowzone, as everything that happens there is at the whim of Venom Flowzone.”
“Will Venom Flowzone give us Fennel Flowzone that easily?” Lu Yin asked.
Wang Wen smiled and explained, “Regardless of where the Flowzone is located, our Great Eastern Alliance is nowhere close to being able to threaten that place, and it’s even more impossible for us to stop their people from leaving. As far as they’re concerned, we’re the best gatekeepers that they could hope for.”
Lu Yin immediately understood that this scheme was trying to take advantage of Venom Flowzone’s power in order to intimidate the Sword Sect and the other top Innerverse powers.
However, while the rest of the universe would see things this way, it was not necessarily true. The real purpose behind this plan was to gradually allow the Great Eastern Alliance’s influence to infiltrate the Innerverse and create opportunities for Qiong Xi’er.
The entire plan was just a distraction.
“In terms of the economical plan, where are you planning to start? That massive consortium?” Lu Yin asked. At this moment, his screen warped and disappeared—the signal had been cut off. Lu Yin was surprised, as this gadget had been specially given to him by CyNet, and it was supposed to have an impeccable reception. It was not anywhere close to being in the same category as a regular gadget, so how could it lose signal?
Suddenly, the entire ship trembled. Lu Yin frowned and looked out into space. His pupils instantly shrank to pinpricks, and his face went pale.
Outside, outer space had completely shattered, and it looked as though they had entered an entirely different pocket of space. As Lu Yin looked out into the fractured sky, he saw a familiar sight that made his scalp go numb: a doll. This was one of Shaman God’s dolls.
Upon seeing Shaman God’s doll, Lu Yin felt as though he had fallen into the abyss. As if he had taken a step over the edge of a cliff.
He immediately put on his universal armor and yelled out, “RUN!”
After shouting, he emerged from the ship with the walnut-shaped power vessel that he had received from Yuan Shi. He also took out the sourcebox array, Desolate Array, that Highsage Grandmaster had given him. Lu Yin stared fearfully at Shaman God’s doll.
Back inside the spacecraft, the others had no idea what had happened, except for Ku Wei. When he looked out and saw Shaman God’s doll, he was also overcome with despair.
Shaman God’s doll floated in space, a strange smile on its face. All of the surrounding space had been locked down along with Lu Yin’s ship, and the ship was unable to move.
Lu Yin gritted his teeth. This was the end. He had no chance. This person was one of the Neohuman Alliance’s Seven Skygods. Each of them was an ultimate powerhouse who stood at the pinnacle of the universe. How could Lu Yin attack such a person? As for Mister Mu, how could he appear? Lu Yin no longer had a jade talisman, and without one, he had no way to call for Mister Mu.
At this moment, numerous thoughts raced through Lu Yin’s mind as he stared at Shaman God’s doll. Lu Yin’s back was soaked with sweat.
Lu Yin had many options and backups for a myriad of situations, but he would always be a struggling ant if he went against this person. What could this old monster’s power level be? A million? That had to be the minimum. At the very least, Lu Yin was confident that Yuan Shi could not challenge this monster.
Who could save him? Who?
The visible universe grew much brighter, and the shattered space around them seemed to open up like dark clouds parting as a beam of light shone down on Shaman God’s doll. He looked like the harbinger of death.
A strange laughter echoed out that made every living thing tremble. There were all kinds of creatures hiding in outer space. No matter if they were a person, astral beast, insect, or some massive space creature, they all cowered in fear and despair as they were overcome with terror.
“Gaga, little guy, it’s time to go home. We’re heading back to Aeternus. That’s where you belong, so let’s go, gaga,” Shaman God had a strange smile as he looked down at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin gritted his teeth. “Old monster, if you take me, the Hall of Honor will definitely do their best to save me and your Aeternus will be destroyed.”
“Gaga, if the Hall of Honor was able to destroy Aeternus, then they would have done so long ago. Kid, are you trying to threaten me?” Shaman God’s voice turned ice cold.
Lu Yin stared at Shaman God’s doll while continuously calling out to Mister Mu in his heart.
“What are you trying to do by kidnapping me? I’m just a Hunter, and not worthy enough for one of the mighty Seven Skygods to act personally and capture me.” Lu Yin asked. He was just stalling for time.
Shaman God’s doll stared at Lu Yin with cold eyes, and Lu Yin shivered as he looked back at them. “Let’s go home. You’re invaluable for our research. After all, you’ve inherited that power.”
Lu Yin desperately wanted to use the walnut-shaped power vessel, but he quickly discovered that he could not move a muscle. He was utterly helpless when faced with one of the Seven Skygods.
He felt even more powerless than a normal person would when facing a cultivator.
Inside the spaceship, no one could move, and they could only helplessly watch on as Lu Yin was taken away.
Suddenly, there was a loud shout, and the shattered region of space trembled. A startled look appeared on Shaman God’s doll, and it immediately raised a hand to grab Lu Yin, but an old man suddenly appeared before Lu Yin. The old man looked up.
“Still playing your tricks,” he said as he raised a hand. “Thousand Rivers Return to Sea.”
This was the secret technique of Eversky Island, Thousand Rivers Return to Sea. It was able to transform an enemy’s attack back into star energy and erase the power of the attack.
Eversky Island’s Highsage Grandmaster was the person in front of Lu Yin.
Shaman God’s doll looked furious. “The little kiddo from back then now has the courage to step up?”
“Old ghost, you should just die!” Highsage Grandmaster shouted back.
An overpowering force was unleashed, and Lu Yin was slammed back into his spaceship. His internal organs were jostled, and he almost spat out a mouthful of blood. When he looked back up, he could only see that the entire universe seemed to be shaking. The galaxy and even the flowzone that they were in were under the effects of their clash, and Lu Yin could not tell how far the influence of these two had spread.
