The purple star was a spherical purple plant with an appearance as resplendent as the stars. Unfortunately, it was slightly shriveled from being improperly stored, which had caused the plant to lose some of its medicinal effectiveness.
Lu Yin could not help but marvel at the depths of Duke Yushan’s calculations. He had been preparing for this day for a hundred years, and his betrayal had been impeccably timed as well. How vicious.
Lu Yin didn’t know how many star energy crystals he would need to upgrade the purple star. All he had on him was 160,000 crystals, so he hoped that that would be enough. Otherwise, he would have to go back to Undying Yushan and ask for more.
He took the purple star and reserved the private lounge next door, but Jue Lang followed behind Lu Yin, staring at him the entire way. Lu Yin grimaced as he explained, “Captain Jue Lang, since the purple star’s efficacy has diminished for His Majesty, I’m going to do my best to restore its effectiveness. That won’t be possible if you continue staring at me.”
Jue Lang was shocked. “You can restore its effectiveness?”
Lu Yin nodded as he replied, “There’s a chance. Although it’s extremely unlikely, I must still try.”
Jue Lang gave Lu Yin a long look, turned around, and then closed the door without another word.
Lu Yin took a deep breath. As the proverb says, the prudent man foresees evil and hides himself. However, people could be swayed away from the prudent choice. Lu Yin had lost his memories and forgotten where he came from, but he had been saved and thus accepted his saviors as his family. Undying Yushan had cared for him like family, and thus similarly deserved to be treated like family, which meant that Lu Yin would take this risk for his sake.
Lu Yin retrieved his die which had not been touched for nearly twenty days. It had almost completely recovered to its peak luminescent state, and Lu Yin was pleased to discover that he could roll it four consecutive times today. He tapped the die lightly and it began to spin. It finally stopped at four pips: Time Stop.
Time Stop was a common roll. Lu Yin entered the Time Stop space and relaxed for three days while he continued trying to simulate the ninth star of his Cosmic Art.
When the three days were up, Lu Yin left the grey space. The ninth star was still nowhere to be seen, but he felt like he was pulling closer and closer to the sensation that he had felt when the crazy director had shown him the ninth star. He was in no hurry and could always try again.
The second roll was two pips.
Five minutes later, the Blackhole Disassembly vanished. Lu Yin rolled the die for a third time, hoping for success. It was a pity that fate seemed to be against him as he rolled five pips: Gift Copy.
Lu Yin didn’t move. While there were certainly experts outside like Huo Qingshan and Jue Lang who possessed innate gifts, he had no way of touching them in time; Gift Copy was thus wasted.
He breathed in deeply; he was already at the fourth roll, and after the fifth, he would no longer be able to handle the die’s mental strain any longer and he would be forced to fall asleep. After that, it would take at least ten days before he could recover enough to roll the die again. This fourth roll was vitally important.
He watched the die grind to a halt and land—five pips. Another wasted roll.
Lu Yin clenched his fists, and his gaze hardened. Enhance and Possession were the rarest rolls from the six possible results. Again.
He tapped the die and his eyes never left it. Then, the scene changed before his eyes as he reappeared in the grey room. Time Stop again. He had failed to roll Enhance. He immediately began to grow dizzy and was seconds away from fainting. Right before he lost consciousness, he threw five hundred more star crystals towards the time to ensure that he would still be within the Time Stop space when he woke up. Then, he collapsed.
The excessive mental strain brought unconsciousness crashing down upon him, and Lu Yin ibce again saw the jade finger penetrating through the heavens to crush him. Just as before, he exploded in anger. “Outrageous! Audacious!” He awoke with a loud howl and his entire back drenched in sweat.
It had taken him two days to recover from his comatose state. He looked around and saw that he still had ten days of time left on the counter.
Lu Yin rested for a while, and then reached out his arm and brought out the lifeless die. He could use his innate gift even while in the Time Stop space, but its energy consumption was multiple times higher than what it would be in the real world. In other words, he could shake the die four times just like outside the Time Stop space, but he had to rest for ten days after every die roll. Otherwise, he would suffer even more drastic consequences than if he had rolled it five times in the outside world.
Fortunately, he was in the Time Stop space, which allowed him to be more extravagant. It all depended on whether or not he had enough star crystals. Hopefully, they would be enough!
Lu Yin lavishly spent nearly six thousand star crystals at once to increase the duration of Time Stop by thirty days. He now had over forty days of time in the ashen space, which gave him four more opportunities to roll the die. He refused to believe that he could not roll Enhance within these four rolls.
Ten days quickly passed, and then Lu Yin took out the die and tapped it. One dot: Pilfer. Useless. He was alone in the Time Stop space, so he couldn’t retrieve anything. Pilfer was completely useless. His solitude also made Gift Copy and Possession worthless. The only rolls that would mean anything were a two or three.
He still had more than thirty days to spend in this space. When he looked around at the dull surroundings, he really wanted to change it, but that would cost him a few crystals… Forget it. Who knows how many crystals it’ll take to enhance the purple star, so I’ll just leave it alone for now.
He tried to simulate the ninth star while waiting for ten more days to pass.
The die recovered. He tapped it. Pilfer again; useless. Lu Yin was left speechless by the outcome. It was truly difficult trying to roll Enhance.
Another ten days later, and Lu Yin tapped once again. While he didn’t hold much hope when he tapped the die, he became so emotional when three pips revealed themselves that he nearly kissed it. Finally, he had rolled Enhance.
He saw the two light screens, one above and one below, and let out a heavy sigh. Fortunately, Enhance could be used in this Time Stop space.
He retrieved the purple star and placed it on the upper light screen. He then took out star crystals and threw them in. As the light screen absorbed more and more crystals, the purple star slowly sank into the upper screen; its descending speed was even slower than the formcast model’s. Lu Yin’s heart sank. From what he could tell, the formcast model would require almost 300,000 crystals to completely upgrade, and this small purple star would require even more than that.
The purple star had come from the Innerverse’s Fallen Star Ocean and could be used to preserve lives. It was absolutely worth an exorbitant sum, but Lu Yin did not nearly have that many crystals. Thus, he could only try to upgrade it as much as possible with the crystals he had left.
Lu Yin took a deep breath before he threw his remaining 150,000 crystals in and watched them be slowly absorbed by the screen. The purple star slowly descended and the shrivelled surface seemed to regain some of its luster. Lu Yin’s eyes shone; the doctor had said that the medicine just needed to have double its effectiveness to save Undying Yushan’s life. If the purple star was upgraded, then its effectiveness would undoubtedly be more than doubled. That also meant that it did not have to be perfectly enhanced.
After the 150,000 crystals were consumed, the purple star had moved in between the two light screens. The shrivelled portion of the plant’s surface had completely recovered, and Lu Yin even saw the luster shifting as the colors were on the verge of changing.
Lu Yin grabbed the purple star. “Even the color’s changed. This should be of some use now.” He was still nervous, but even if there was no improvement, he had given his all.
There were still more than twenty days remaining in the Time Stop space, and Lu Yin didn’t want to waste his time. He used a hundred crystals to increase the gravity of the space to a hundred times and then checked his cosmic ring. He still had around three thousand crystals left. This could be considered a large sum in the Great Yu Empire, but it was way too little for his current needs. Luckily, his Mavis Bank card held another 100,000, so he still had some emergency funds.
The twenty days quickly passed by, and while Lu Yin could sense the ninth star much more clearly than before, he still could not make even a shadow appear. This was going to be a long journey.
From Lu Yin’s point of view, he had been gone for nearly two months, but it hadn’t been more than a moment for Jue Lang and the rest.
When the pale-faced Lu Yin seemingly returned a moment later and handed the purple star over to the doctor, the doctor’s pupils shrank to pinholes and he stared at Lu Yin in shock, “What- what’s going on?”
Jue Lang and the rest had cold looks. “Speak clearly. What happened?”
The doctor was in disbelief as he stammered, “The pur- purple star has turned into a billowing star.”
Everyone was stunned by his evaluation. They had heard of the billowing star before. When Undying Yushan had been severely injured all those years ago, everyone by his side had been his most trusted subordinates. They had heard countless doctors sigh wistfully about the billowing star that could completely heal Undying Yushan’s injuries. Huo Qingshan had made multiple visits to the Fallen Star Ocean and had nearly lost his life searching for it, but he had been unable to find any billowing star or even purple stars. Fifth Princess Wendy Yushan had done the same, but both the purple star and billowing star were objects that could only be found by chance. The billowing star was much rarer than the purple star, and was a dozen times more valuable. It was considered extremely precious even within the Innerverse.
How did Lu Yin do it? They all turned to look at him in shock.
“Hold on. This isn’t actually a billowing star,” the doctor explained as he continued to examine it, “It’s still a purple star, but is on the verge of becoming a billowing star.”
“Is it of any use to His Majesty’s injury?” Lu Yin asked.
The doctor nodded as he delightedly answered, “Yes, it’s definitely useful. King Zishan, Your Highness, how did you do it?”
Lu Yin shook his head, declining to answer. “Give it to His Majesty for treatment first. I’m tired, and will rest first.” And with that, he returned to the lounge and fell into a deep slumber. Huo Qingshan and the rest did not attempt to stop him, and instead urged the doctor to start the treatment right away.
Lu Yin and the rest’s conversation couldn’t be overheard, but the people in the surrounding area had heard the doctor’s shouts. One soldier who had been standing guard outside heard the cries. His expression changed as he slowly left.
An hour later, multiple figures appeared in the skies above the palace, each releasing a terrifying pressure. Huo Qingshan and Jue Lang looked at each other, but refrained from making a move.
From within the palace, Fourth Captain Di Ou, Sixth Captain Peach, and Ninth Captain Rocky Auna rose into the sky together and stared at the outsiders floating above the palace. “This is the Great Yu Empire’s palace. All unrelated persons must leave immediately.”
Outside, an elder had a contemptuous attitude. “A mere empire of the Outerverse dares to try to intimidate us. Undying Yushan has already died and you will move aside if you are sensibile. Otherwise, Zenyu Star will be washed in blood today.”
Di Ou had a stern expression as he replied, “The Innerverse has never meddled in the Outerverse. You are violating the universe’s rules.”
A woman outside the palace with a charming smile said, “Rules? You Outerverse denizens can only obey, but the rules are written by us. Scram immediately. If we act, then this entire palace will be turned into dust.”
At least ten people had appeared outside of the palace. Though the Innerverse powers felt that Undying Yushan most likely had not obtained the Undying Manual, they didn’t care. Hence, various powers had sent representatives. When they all gathered together, there were so many of them that their pressure was almost unbearable for Di Ou and the rest.
Suddenly, the skies turned red. Countless eyes turned towards Zenyu Star as a scorching heat covered the skies and enveloped all of Zenyu Star, the three rings of land around it, and even stretching into the vastness of the universe beyond.
This was the strength of a Hunter; Huo Qingshan had stepped out.
As someone who had journeyed through the Innerverse and as one of the Great Yu Empire’s few Hunters, Huo Qingshan’s appearance made the crowd outside the palace slightly wary. These people were just Explorers, and while a few of them might be Cruisers, none of them dared to belittle a Hunter even if he came from the Outerverse. This was a terrifying cultivator whose power level had surpassed 100,000 units.
Not far away, Huo Xiaoling’s face paled as she stared into the sky from the Huo clan’s courtyard, worry etched into her face.
In the opposite direction, the Auna clan was in a similarly somber atmosphere. The great clans of the Great Yu Empire would all share the same fate; they would either bask in glory or be crushed in defeat. When faced with the intense pressure of the Innerverse, they had all chosen to stand strong. Everything would be fine if they succeeded, but if they failed, then everyone’s lives would be forfeit.
