Lu Yin gave the patriarch a slight smile. “Patriarch Autumnfrost, this is our first time meeting, but I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”
Autumnfrost Chen instantly brought out his imprint while simultaneously activating his bloodline. His body rose into the air, and he wanted to attack, but a slash of sword qi suddenly shot by, and Autumnfrost Chen felt a sharp pain in his leg bones. When he looked down, his pupils abruptly shrank; his legs were gone!
An old man holding a sword of stellular energy had appeared in front of the patriarch, and he looked at the patriarch with cold eyes.
Autumnfrost Chen’s mind could not catch up to what was happening.
His body crashed to the floor as a pool of blood spread out. The man could not stop himself from trembling as he stared at Lu Yin. “Lu Yin, what do you want?”
Lu Yin sat back down. “People from your Autumnfrost family were on their way to Frostwave Weave in order to threaten me, and yet you ask what I want?”
Autumnfrost Chen’s complexion paled even further; how did Lu Yin know about this?! No matter how fast Nan Qi had been moving, it was impossible for him to have already arrived at Frostwave Weave. There was no way for Lu Yin to know about this!
Still, this was not the time for Autumnfrost Chen to be considering such matters. “Where’s Qing’er?”
Lu Yin’s eyes grew sharp, and his spiritual force surged: Night’s End, Daybreak.
It was easy for him to draw Autumnfrost Chen into an illusion. Given the strength of Lu Yin’s spiritual force, unless he was facing an Envoy with a power level of more than 600,000 who had also strengthened their own spiritual force, Lu Yin’s opponents would not be able to resist his technique. While Autumnfrost Chen was an Imprinter with a power level of a bit more than 500,000, the Autumnfrost family did not focus on cultivating spiritual force.
After falling under the illusion’s hold, Autumnfrost Chen was no longer able to keep anything hidden. He not only revealed the locations of all the Autumnfrost family’s resources, but the man also shared the Autumnfrost family’s battle techniques and bloodline secrets.
Lu Yin had no interest in the Autumnfrost family’s battle techniques or bloodlines. Instead, he was keenly interested in their resources and any information regarding Ancestor Autumnfrost.
Unfortunately for Lu Yin, Autumnfrost Chen knew almost nothing at all about Ancestor Autumnfrost aside from the fact that the man was the family’s ancestor. The patriarch was actually ignorant to the fact that the real Ancestor Autumnfrost had already died.
Once Autumnfrost Chen died, the pure descendants of the Autumnfrost family had all disappeared.
No one knew about Autumnfrost Chen’s death, as Lu Yin and the other two came and left without a trace. No one could find any sign of their visit.
Before leaving the Autumnfrost family’s headquarters, Lu Yin made sure to collect all of the resources that he could carry.
He was quite surprised by the amount of resources that the Autumnfrost family possessed, as their treasury held 600 million star essence. Lu Yin had no idea how they had gathered it all.
600 million star essence was not very much for a family with a World Imprinter and multiple Envoys, as it did not even match up to the sylvan dragon clan’s hoard. However, that was only when the Autumnfrost family’s wealth was considered in the context of the Sixth Mainland. They had lost most of their possessions when Aeternus had destroyed the Sixth Mainland, but Lu Yin was quite satisfied with what they had managed to save.
Lu Yin also found a great number of raw materials, as well as the Sky Overlord bloodline, which could be sold for a great deal.
Without any hesitation, Lu Yin took everything. When he left, he did not return the way that he had come, but instead continued on further. He was going to visit the place where Ancestor Autumnfrost had been constructing the tool.
Autumnfrost Chen had also not known anything about the tool, and he had simply followed Ancestor Autumnfrost’s instructions regarding the project.
Lu Yin was not surprised to learn this. Since the real Ancestor Autumnfrost was already dead and the tool was being constructed by an impostor, how could Autumnfrost Chen have been told anything about it?
The construction site was quite close to the Autumnfrost family’s headquarters, so Lu Yin and the two Envoys arrived quite soon.
Lu Yin was stunned as he stared at the endless expanse of metal that stretched out into the distance and connected numerous planets. He could not imagine what this tool that spanned an entire galaxy was supposed to do.
The metals used in the construction were very common, and they did not even qualify to be sent to First Edition City. Just what could it even be used for?
Lu Yin could easily crush this sort of metal without any effort, but the construction was all quite delicate. It was no wonder why it had taken Big Pao and Little Pao three years to learn how to work on this project.
Lu Yin traveled through outer space, crossing through the entire galaxy in order to determine the overall design of the tool.
It was shaped like a pot. It had an incomparably massive concave metal plate in the middle that was surrounded by many other pieces of metal that were connected to the center plate.
There were countless people working on the construction.
While Autumnfrost Chen had not known the purpose of the tool, he had been aware of the fact that the Autumnfrost family had dedicated all of their material and human resources onto this project. Even Imprinters had worked on it.
Lu Yin had no idea what this pot-shaped tool was intended to be used for, so he planned to simply destroy it. The Autumnfrost family was his enemy, and even the fake Ancestor Autumnfrost was an enemy. Lu Yin would never show mercy to his enemies, and whatever they wanted, he would take first or destroy. There was no third option.
“Let’s do it,” Lu Yin said.
Liu Huang raised a hand, and sword qi spread upwards and outwards, tearing through the galaxy and distorting space. The tool was instantly reduced to shattered shards.
The metal plate at the center also shattered, revealing the black energy crystal that Big Pao had mentioned. It truly was the size of a planet. The crystal was much harder than the metal, but it was still destroyed by Liu Huang’s attack.
Lu Yin held a piece of the black crystal fragment, but he could not see what it was supposed to do, so he simply stored the piece away.
Just as he was about to leave, a strange color entered his vision.
Lu Yin turned around to look, and he saw that there had been a bubble in the center of the black crystal, and within it was a reddish liquid. It was a very small bit of liquid that was only the size of a finger, and it floated within the bubble.
It looked as if the bubble would pop the moment it was touched.
Lu Yin quickly asked Liu Huang to stop his attack, and he quickly approached the bubble.
The Second Nightking and Liu Huang were both watching with curiosity.
“Can you tell what it is?” Lu Yin asked.
The two both stared for a long time. “No.”
Lu Yin was able to see that the liquid possessed no runes, but it was also possible that the bubble was concealing the runes. He stretched out a hand, ready to pop the bubble.
Just as his fingers were about to come into contact with the bubble, Lu Yin stopped and reconsidered his actions. Instead, he stored the entire bubble away in his cosmic ring.
“Let’s go.”
The Second Nightking and Liu Huang did not say anything, as neither of them were particularly curious about the bubble. Lu Yin was the only one who knew that the current Ancestor Autumnfrost was a fake, and he also suspected that the imposter had assumed Ancestor Autumnfrost’s identity because of this tool.
Lu Yin simply wanted to see how Ancestor Autumnfrost would react so that he could determine the importance of the liquid within the bubble.
If it was valuable but ended up disappearing because he popped the bubble, he would definitely regret his actions.
From beginning to end, no one discovered that the three men had visited the Autumnfrost family’s territory, killed their patriarch, destroyed the construction project, and stolen the bubble.
In the distant Ironblood Weave, the moment that Ancestor Autumnfrost learned that the tool had been destroyed, he was utterly stunned. He instantly abandoned all the other cultivators from the Sixth Mainland and ran back to the Autumnfrost family’s territory at full speed.
However, how could the massive python from the Celestial Beast Empire simply allow Ancestor Autumnfrost to leave? The serpent’s enormous body wound out, but Ancestor Autumnfrost ignored everything and raced away from Ironblood Weave.
“If you leave, I will slaughter everyone here!” the python roared.
Still, Ancestor Autumnfrost fled without any sign of hesitation. It was as though the man had not even heard the beast.
The abandoned cultivators looked up as the python’s attack fell upon them as they screamed in despair.
…
At the Sixth Mainland’s border with the Great Eastern Alliance, the Cloud Valley Master read a report on his gadget and then suddenly let out a roar of fury.
He had been sent a report regarding Ironblood Weave. With Ancestor Autumnfrost’s sudden departure, the Sixth Mainland had suffered heavy casualties as their people had been slaughtered by the Astral Beast Domain. The astral beasts had instantly routed the Sixth Mainlanders, pressed on through Ironblood Weave, and were now invading the Outerverse.
Even though most of the casualties had come from the Autumnfrost family’s forces, people from the Cloud Valley and other powers had also been slaughtered.
More importantly, the Astral Beast Domain had invaded the Outerverse! There was someone to blame for this matter, and the Cloud Valley Master intended to find them.
The Cloud Valley Master immediately called Ancestor Autumnfrost, but the call was ignored.
“Brother Nong, please head out to visit the Autumnfrosts’ territory and capture Autumnfrost Feng,” the Cloud Valley Master angrily ordered.
Autumnfrost Feng was Ancestor Autumnfrost’s full name.
Nong Laohan felt puzzled. “What happened to Autumnfrost Feng?”
The Cloud Valley Master gritted his teeth. “He abandoned the battlefield and left without permission, which led to Ironblood Weave being captured by the Astral Beast Domain. Also, they’ve invaded the Outerverse!”
Nong Laohan was quite surprised. “Did Autumnfrost Feng go crazy?”
The Cloud Valley Master turned to look at Nong Laohan and solemnly declared, “Autumnfrost Feng must pay for this! The moment that my Sixth Mainland took over the Outerverse, the Astral Beast Domain invaded. This is a humiliation, and we will be laughed at for 10,000 years! I will go now to Ironblood Weave while Brother Sightless will remain here. Brother Nong, I leave Autumnfrost Feng to you. No matter what his reason may be, capture him. The Daosource Sect will be the one to judge him.”
Nong Laohan felt rather conflicted, as he really did not want to do such a thing, but this matter had already gotten far too out of hand. “Understood. I’ll go to the Autumnfrost family’s territory.”
The Cloud Valley Master led a large group of cultivators towards Ironblood Weave while Nong Laohan made his way towards the Autumnfrost family’s territory alone. Ancestor Sightless and the Cemetery Keeper were left at the border.
The shifting battlefront in Ironblood Weave had not only been reported to the Sixth Mainland, but also to the Great Eastern Alliance.
Yuan Shi was solemn as he received the report. The Astral Beast Domain had actually forced the Sixth Mainland out and taken control of Ironblood Weave. There was no chance of the Celestial Beast Empire easily giving up Ironblood Weave after claiming it, and they were sure to send out more true experts to hold the weave.
Even though Yuan Shi had agreed to abandon Ironblood Weave due to the bigger picture, he still ached to see it fall under the Astral Beast Domain’s control.
Lu Yin’s strategy had never been to abandon Ironblood Weave, but rather to have the Sixth Mainland and the Astral Beast Domain fight each other there. According to Yuan Shi’s understanding, the Sixth Mainland was far stronger than the Astral Beast Domain, so it did not make sense for the Sixth Mainland to have been driven out and lose control of the weave.
Lu Yin could never have imagined that his passing whim had led to the Sixth Mainland’s complete defeat in Ironblood Weave.
Lu Yin traveled with the Second Nightking and Liu Huang to Aegis’s former headquarters. Because Aegis had abandoned the planet, nothing remained on the planet aside from a few Sixth Mainland cultivators.
These people were most likely independent cultivators who had been unable to find a better place to train, so they had simply chosen this abandoned planet.
Aegis had chosen this planet as their headquarters solely because of the existence of the Bizarre Sect’s ruins in the pocket dimension. However, the Sixth Mainland had not discovered the ruins, and these cultivators remained on the planet only because they had no other choice.
Lu Yin did not bother these people, and he simply went straight to the entrance to the pocket space. After having the Second Nightking and Liu Huang stand guard outside, Lu Yin entered the ruins.
Both the Second Nightking and Liu Huang were surprised, as they had not expected to encounter a pocket dimension in this place. They were both quite curious as to what Lu Yin was doing inside.
After entering the ruins, Lu Yin looked up at the black sun that was still just as high in the sky as ever, completely unapproachable.
He leaped up and shot towards the black sun. When he could get no closer, he shifted the fatesand within his chest to the side.
At that moment, his body quivered, and the black sun became a bit bigger. He had moved closer to it. While this happened, the black sun released a strand of death energy across the sky that slowly connected to Lu Yin.
Death energy surged into his body.
