The Innerverse’s eight great flowzones each had their own unique characteristics. Blazing Mist Flowzone had high temperatures and cultivators with hot tempers. Chaos Flowzone was full of death and darkness. Daynight Flowzone was arrogant. First Flowzone was sharp and peerless. Venom Flowzone was full of poisonous creatures. In comparison, Erudite Flowzone was a very comfortable place to visit.
When Lu Yin and Liu Ye and Fei Hua finally arrived, everyone from the Wen family appeared to greet them, including their patriarch, Wen Zizai.
“Welcome, Alliance Leader Lu, guest of my Wen family. Patriarch Wen Zizai has come to welcome you.” A loud voice spoke up, greeting Lu Yin the moment he exited his vessel.
Wen Zizai was the patriarch of the Wen family, which naturally meant that he was a powerhouse from the older generation. Him personally greeting Lu Yin was a show of great respect.
Lu Yin quickly stepped forward and smiled. “This junior took the liberty of showing up to your home. It is my honor to visit the Wen family’s home.”
Wen Zizai smiled. “The fact that Alliance Leader Lu is able to visit my Wen family’s home is an honor to my Wen family.”
The man spoke politely to Lu Yin before turning to Liu Ye and Fei Hua and addressing them. “You two must be Liu Ye and Fei Hua. Welcome, both of you. You are our Wen family’s guests.”
Liu Ye smiled as he responded, “The Wen family’s behavior is worthy of respect.”
Wen Zizai laughed. “Alliance Leader Lu, please, come inside.”
“Senior, please lead the way.”
Wen Zizai proceeded along with everyone else from the Wen family who qualified to speak to Lu Yin, no matter if they were elders or juniors.
Wen Sansi was situated rather close to Wen Zizai, as were Wen Qian’er, Wen Yan, and the others that Lu Yin had met before. As for the elders, he saw Wen Yao, as well as experts such as Lu Jing, who was a guest of the Wen family.
Among everyone present, Lu Yin also saw Wen Zhaocheng, the traitor to the Fifth Mainland who had been named on the same list as Cang Yi. Lu Yin merely glanced at the man and did not show any noticeable interest
Given Lu Yin’s present status, neither Wen Sansi nor Wen Zhaocheng qualified to speak to him as a peer. In fact, there was no one in the entire Fifth Mainland who still treated Lu Yin as a junior.
The members of the Wen family merely greeted Lu Yin as a matter of courtesy. After he and Wen Zizai entered the Wen family’s home, the others all took their leave with only Wen Sansi remaining behind to accompany the two.
The Wen family favored an antiquated architectural style. Lu Yin had seen this style quite frequently, so he did not find it surprising. However, what did surprise him was seeing a broom at the steps to the entrance to the house, as the broom possessed a number of runes.
Lu Yin did not hesitate to use Truesight in the Innerverse to observe the quantity of runes that anything and anyone possessed. He had never expected to see a broom that possessed runes. Even though there were not very many, it was already bizarre for a mere broom to possess any runes at all.
“I heard that Senior often sweeps the family’s grounds. I wonder, do you do that in this place?” Lu Yin asked.
Wen Zizai replied, “That’s right. How was Alliance Leader Lu able to tell?”
Lu Yin smiled. “Just a guess. The rest of the grounds are spotless, and this is the only place where I can see fallen leaves and dust.”
Wen Zizai nodded. “That’s true. This is the only place that’s left uncleaned. Just like a human heart that is full of greed, such things can never be clean.”
“I’m not sure what Senior is talking about. Are you referring to this junior?” Lu Yin asked slowly.
Wen Zizai laughed. “Of course not. The fact that Alliance Leader Lu has come to my Wen family’s home at this time indicates that a fair deal has been reached and that our agreement has come to an end.”
Lu Yin hesitated, as he was surprised. “An end? When?”
Wen Zizai’s eyes flashed, and Wen Sansi spoke up from behind. “During the war in the Cosmic Sea, my Wen family prevented the Sword Sect from taking action. Additionally, we agreed to allow Alliance Leader Lu to visit and view the painting that he requested. With these tasks accomplished, Alliance Leader Lu will deliver Wen Diyi to us. Does this not mean that our deal is complete?”
Lu Yin looked over at Wen Zizai and laughed. “Senior, those two details were merely stated to start negotiations, not complete the deal. Has your Wen family made some mistake?”
“Brother Lu, my Wen family paid a steep price to stop the Sword Sect, and at the same time, we also paid a high price to obtain the mountains and seas painting from the Lost Radiance Academy. Are these two matters still not enough for us to gain just one Wen Diyi?” Wen Sansi quickly asked.
Lu Yin clasped his hands behind his back. “You merely intimidated the Sword Sect and are allowing me to only look at a painting, and yet you want to acquire what will allow your Wen family to dominate the Innerverse. Isn’t this a rather laughable price?”
Wen Zizai calmly replied, “Let’s continue and discuss this matter inside. Otherwise people will see that I am not acting as a proper host.”
While Lu Yin was being escorted by Wen Zizai, some distance away, the Lost Radiance Academy’s Dean Han and several of the academy’s teachers arrived, including Han Chong’s younger brother, Han Kui.
“That person is Lu Yin. From the moment he first appeared, his legend has never stopped growing. Everything he does is worthy of being recorded down in history,” Ying Tang praised. He was one of the academy’s teachers.
“As for his age, he’s even younger than Wen Sansi and the other Arbiters. He was Han Chong’s classmate, but it’s impossible to know just how high he has reached by now.”
“It’s said that he’s able to fight against Envoys.”
“That child is truly terrifying, though what might be the scariest of all is his ambition. Unifying the Outerverse certainly is not his final goal, and all of the eight major flowzones are wary of him.”
Dean Han stared at Lu Yin from a distance as he entered the Wen family’s home. The old man sank deep into thought. Just how had this child ever learned about that particular painting?
In a sitting room in the Wen family’s home, everyone took a seat.
Wen Zizai said directly, “Mr. Lu, you already know the importance that Wen Diyi has to my Wen family. Please give us your terms.”
Lu Yin smiled. “The Wen family indeed stopped the Sword Sect from entering the war in the Cosmic Sea, and I am extremely grateful for your efforts. I came here this time to show you my sincerity.”
Wen Zizai’s eyes lit up. “How are you going to prove that?”
“I want to take a look at the landscape painting. As for Wen Diyi, I can allow him and Wen Sansi to be alone for an incense stick’s worth of time, but I will take him away after that. As for Wen Diyi remaining with the Wen family, I haven’t come up with a proper price. I wonder, does Senior have any suggestions?”
Wen Zizai frowned. “Alliance Leader Lu, Wen Diyi is a member of my Wen family.”
“He’s not from the Fifth Mainland’s Wen family,” Lu Yin countered.
Wen Zizai stared at Lu Yin. Even though they were currently in the heart of the Wen family’s home, the old man was not confident that he could forcefully let Wen Diyi stay behind. Even without anything else, Liu Ye and Fei Hua alone left the Wen family completely helpless. As for Lu Yin, the child was famous for uniting the Outerverse and the strength that he had revealed during ZENITH that made him renowned as invincible among his peers, even without his power vessels and various items.
Also, the youth seemed to have an infinite supply of powerful equipment and tools, and many of them were absolutely terrifying.
The Wen family could not restrain Lu Yin and his two protectors, which meant that they also could not take Wen Diyi from Lu Yin. The number of top-tier powerhouses who had gotten involved in the war in the Cosmic Sea because of Lu Yin had horrified countless people.
“Alliance Leader Lu, have you truly not considered your terms, or do you still have other plans?” Wen Zizai asked. Even in the peace of his own home, he was still close to losing his temper. There were many skills needed for negotiations, and while patience was indeed an important one, the old man was increasingly suspecting that Lu Yin was not being patient, but rather had truly not considered the conditions that he wanted.
That was the most frustrating type of person to deal with. Wen Zizai would much prefer Lu Yin to put forth absurd conditions, as that would allow negotiations to proceed forth. But as things stood, Lu Yin was stalling indefinitely.
Lu Yin shrugged. “I really haven’t considered my terms.”
He looked over at Wen Sansi. “Given brother Wen’s talent that allowed him to become one of the Ten Arbiters, he should be able to gain a great deal from speaking with Wen Diyi. Though, does the Wen family perhaps not want this opportunity?”
Wen Zizai frowned. If he agreed to this, it would negate the price that he had already paid. His family had stalled the Sword Sect and agreed to allow Lu Yin to study the mountains and seas painting, but had they done all of that just to exchange an incense stick’s worth of conversation? No, Wen Zizai was even more concerned that he would gain nothing at all.
He had not expected such honesty from Lu Yin. Should they attempt to offer a price for Wen Diyi or agree to a short meeting first?
One other detail had made the patriarch even more hesitant; given the time constraints that Lu Yin was placing on the meeting, would Wen Diyi be able to share anything useful regarding the Literary Prison? If they could not gain anything from the meeting, then everything would have been in vain.
From Wen Zizai’s perspective, Wen Diyi would most likely refuse to teach anything regarding the Literary Prison in hopes that their desire for improving the technique would motivate the Wen family into rescuing him. If Wen Diyi taught Wen Sansi what they wanted, Wen Diyi would become worthless, and then it would be very difficult for him to ever escape from Lu Yin’s control.
It was only a single moment, but countless thoughts ran through Wen Zizai’s mind.
Lu Yin was in no hurry, as he was enjoying the taste of the Wen family’s tea.
Liu Ye and Fei Hua glanced at each other. They had spent quite a bit of time with Lu Yin by this point, and they were fully aware of just how cunning the youth was. When it came to understanding human nature, the kid was becoming more and more adept every day, and he was gaining initiative with every step he took. Going against him would be very difficult.
The people who managed to make each step they took count as three were the most difficult to deal with.
In the end, Wen Zizai agreed. An incense stick’s worth of time was still a bit of time. After all, they had lost nothing by stopping the Sword Sect, and the painting actually belonged to the Han family, so the Wen family was still not taking any loss. While they had spent a great deal of energy on these matters, that was something that could be easily recovered. A short meeting was still good enough.
Lu Yin took out Zenith Mountain and sent Wen Sansi in. He then raised a hand and burned a stick of incense in the air. It was just a normal stick of incense that was neither long nor short, and even the speed at which it burned was perfectly normal.
Wen Zizai also sipped his tea while quietly waiting. No one in the room spoke, as Lu Yin also waited quietly.
The incense soon burned down, and Lu Yin waved a hand to pull Wen Sansi back out of Zenith Mountain.
Wen Zizai stared at Wen Sansi, and the younger man nodded back, allowing Wen Zizai to let out a sigh of relief. Even though it had not been for very long, Wen Sansi had apparently gained something from the meeting.
Lu Yin noticed the exchange. As expected, Wen Diyi had been able to share a bit with the time they had been given, though it was also impossible for him to share everything regarding the Literary Prison in such a short amount of time. If it were possible, the Perennial World’s version of the Literary Prison would have long since spread to the Fifth Mainland.
“Senior, where is the painting?” Lu Yin asked.
Wen Zizai asked Wen Sansi to excuse himself, and he then looked at Liu Ye and Fei Hua.
Lu Yin similarly asked Liu Ye and Fei Hua to leave.
Now, only two people remained in the room.
Finally, Wen Zizai took out a very broken stone that was only a half-meter square. It really was stone. Lu Yin stared in amazement, as the stone clearly lacked any runes, and yet it felt incredibly ancient to him, much like the Daynight clan’s stone of inheritance. It was as if the stone had existed for an eternity.
Stars could exist in the universe for countless years, and for much longer than how humans had existed. This stone gave Lu Yin the same sensation as a star, as though it had existed forever.
Wen Zizai’s expression grew solemn. “I borrowed this stone from the Han family. The painting is on this stone. Alliance Leader Lu, go ahead and take a look. In fact, even I amenable to see anything.”
Lu Yin carefully took the stone, fearful of shattering it, as it seemed quite fragile.
The impression that he received of the stone was that it was beyond ancient, and yet it felt like perfectly ordinary stone. There was a painting on it, but the stone only showed a corner of the image. It seemed that the stone was a shard of the full painting.
There were no runes to be seen, and there was also nothing that stood out when Lu Yin touched the stone. He stared at the painting but could not feel anything at all, which was quite odd.
He continued to study it, and his eyes moved closer to the stone.
Suddenly, he noticed something unusual. It was not a typical landscape painting, but rather a painting that seemed to contain the entire universe. There were stars and entire civilizations in it, similar to the Perennial World. There were many mountains and lakes among the stars, as well as multiple universes and civilizations in it.
OMA’s Thoughts
Translated By: OMA
Edited By: Neshi/Nyxnox
TLC’ed By: OMA
