Lu Yin rolled the die twice before getting four pips. His vision changed, and he entered the Timestop Space once more.
This time, he intended to focus entirely on cultivating the Cosmic Art.
He had initially planned to work on reciting the Origin Sutra if he managed to roll Timestop, but he had been badly shocked by seeing Progenitor Chen, and he had been reminded of the long-ignored Cosmic Art. He needed to focus on it once again.
Wait, why not work on both at the same time?
Lu Yin began to practice the Cosmic Art while reciting the Origin Sutra. He was testing this out.
Half a month later, his eyes opened. Stars were revolving around his body, and the Origin Sutra rang in his ears. Excitement lit up his eyes; he had not expected his attempt of practicing both things at once to proceed so smoothly! In fact, he was progressing with the Cosmic Art even faster than before. The Origin Sutra could help with cultivating? Why had Kui Luo never mentioned such a thing?
If Lu Yin had known about this before, he would have continued training with the Cosmic Art a long time ago.
The Origin Sutra was like giving the Cosmic Art rocket boosters.
Lu Yin felt inspired, and he immediately tossed out all of the star essence that he had remaining, which increased his time in the space by nearly a year. That done, he started to train.
Lu Yin had already reached the Cosmic Art’s fifth level, and had simulated 5,700 stars. At the moment, with the assistance of the Origin Sutra, stars were being simulated one by one, and a universe seemed to be appearing around Lu Yin as the stars spread out further and further.
One month.
Two months.
Three months
…
Eleven months. When he only had less than five days remaining in the Timestop Space, Lu Yin’s eyes opened. After nearly a year, Lu Yin’s simulated stars had nearly doubled.
His eyes grew wide as he stared at the stars that surrounded him. Each one was distinct and noticeable. There were 9,300 stars. These were his results after almost a year of training.
The first time he had trained with the Cosmic Art in the Timestop Space, he had only managed to increase his number of simulated stars by about 1,000. He had just increased that speed by nearly four times. This was the benefits of training while reciting the Origin Progenitor’s Sutra, and this was even when Lu Yin was still far from being able to recite the complete text. He had no idea how much his training speed would increase once he reached the point of being able to recite the entire sutra without stopping.
The Cosmic Art was a cultivation art that accelerated the speed at which one could absorb star energy, and the Origin Sutra actually boosted the Cosmic Art. When those two things were also combined with Lu Yin’s Timestop ability, if word of his cultivation speed ever leaked out, it would leave people questioning their very lives.
It was a pity that he had run out of star essence. He needed to get a hold of more in order to continue training with the Cosmic Art. He had to complete the fifth level of the Cosmic Art and see if the pattern on the bottom of his foot would reveal any use.
If Progenitor Chen was still alive, would he appear? Lu Yin was looking forward to finding out what might happen.
The scenery changed in front of him. His time was up. Lu Yin returned to the real world.
So far, he had been in seclusion for more than a month, and yet he had already used up all of the billions of star essence that he had possessed. Lu Yin felt his heart bleed at the realization.
This was also why when Wang Wen was the first person that Lu Yin saw after he emerged, Wang Wen was looked at like Lu Yin was about to mug him.
“What’s wrong? You look a little on edge.” Wang Wen was quite observant, and he became very wary when he saw Lu Yin’s expression.
Lu Yin rubbed his eyes. “I was in seclusion, but I’m too tired to keep cultivating.”
Wang Wen blinked. “Tired? I have to say, I see other people go into seclusion for years at a time, and yet you only went for a bit more than a month. The longest you’ve ever gone into seclusion is a few months, but never more than half a year. How can you be tired?”
“Bullshit, of course I’ve done more than that!”
“I can’t remember any time.”
“Right, so what’s going on?” Lu Yin was feeling rather impatient. It was a feeling as though some secret of his had just been exposed.
Wang Wen handed over a report. “This is the details on the new alliance members’ military. It includes the number of powerhouses as well as overall numbers that can be used in the Allied Forces. Go ahead and look through it.”
Lu Yin went through the report.
At the moment, seven of the Innerverse’s great flowzones had been integrated into the Great Eastern Alliance, and those seven flowzones alone represented about half of the Innerverse. Aside from Erudite Flowzone, all of the minor flowzones were not worthy of any concern.
At the moment, the Allied Forces had ten divisions of the Allied Forces, as well as the three special armies.
The First through Fourth Divisions remained the same as they had been after Shui Chuanxiao had made his rearrangements. Their organization and ranks had all been set up by the former Grand Marshal.
The Fifth Division was mostly made up of the Sword Sect’s disciples, as well as some Outerverse cultivators. The Fifth Division was about as strong as the First Division and had been stationed in Chaos Flowzone.
Lu Yin’s eyes lit up when he saw this bit of the report, as this had been done to separate the Sword Sect from their members who were in the Allied Forces.
The Sixth Division was made up of cultivators from the Divine Grade Hall, as well as some Outerverse cultivators, and they were stationed in Soulseal Flowzone.
The Seventh Division was mostly members of the Lingling clan and some Outerverse cultivators, and it had been stationed in First Flowzone.
The Eighth Division was members of the Daynight clan and Outerverse cultivators, and it had been sent to Erudite Flowzone.
At this point, Lu Yin glanced up at Wang Wen. “Erudite Flowzone?”
“Eventually,” Wang Wen said in a matter of fact manner.
Lu Yin smiled and continued to browse the report.
The Ninth Division was Venom Flowzone cultivators and Outerverse cultivators, and they had been sent to Daynight Flowzone.
The Tenth Division was composed of members of the Wen family and some Outerverse cultivators, and they had been sent to Venom Flowzone.
Not only had the Allied Forces separated the various organizations’ disciples from their power base, they had also sent the various divisions into hostile flowzones to help balance the overall situation of the Innerverse.
“So, who are the candidates for the commanders?” Lu Yin asked.
Wang Wen suddenly revealed a great deal of stress. “That’s a lot more difficult. We don’t have many powerhouses we can trust, and if we give the Innerverse experts positions of command, it will only lead to unnecessary trouble. For example, Beast Tamers Flowzone and Soulseal Flowzone are always at odds with each other, so if an Enlighter from Beast Tamers Flowzone becomes a commander, I worry that the Sixth Division will start making trouble for the Lingling clan.”
This was indeed a problem, and Lu Yin started thinking about it for a moment. “Transfer the captains of the Great Yu Empire’s Thirteen Imperial Squadrons to take command of the divisions. Just leave Peach and the other Cruisers, as they still aren’t strong enough to hold such positions. Instead, pull Duane Daynight and the Lan family’s Elder Tie in.”
“Are they actually qualified?” Wang Wen was clearly uncertain.
Lu Yin glanced over. “You have someone better?”
Wang Wen shook his head. “They don’t have a good enough background, but, well, it’s the only option.”
Lu Yin continued to scan the report. In addition to the Allied Forces ten divisions, it also covered the three special armies, namely, the Giants’ Army, the Lu Elite Troops, and the Redemption Army.
There were no changes made to the Lu Elite Troops or the Giants’ Army, but the Redemption Army had been formed around the sylvan dragon clan and others who had committed terrible crimes in the minor flowzones. Tentatively, the commander was suggested to be Lightning Axe.
The Redemption Army had tremendous growth potential, and Lu Yin’s goal was actually the Perennial World.
The four ruling powers sent Envoys who did not follow them into Star Alliance, and Lu Yin had created the Redemption Army off this same concept. In the future, he planned to aim at the four ruling powers themselves.
With the Innerverse almost fully unified, the Great Eastern Alliance had fourteen powerful Envoys: the Second Nightking, Liu Huang, Ling Taizu, Liu Qianjue, Ling Qiu, Mountain God, Madam Yōu, Abel Phoenix, Elder Lianxin, Chen Huang, Emperor Luo, as well as the Sea King who Lu Yin could call upon at any time. Finally, there was Elder He and the Frost Emperor.
If Erudite Flowzone also joined the Great Eastern Alliance, two more Envoys would be added to their number: Wen Zizai and Dean Han. The Great Eastern Alliance had the potential to have sixteen Envoys.
If Lu Yin was included, they had seventeen powerhouses at that level.
Seventeen Envoys. This was something that not a single one of the monstrous powers in the Neoverse could mobilize. It was possible that the Hall of Honor had that many Envoys hidden, but Lu Yin did not believe they had that many.
Of course, Lu Yin had no idea how many powerhouses the Hall of Honor had hidden within their ranks, or how many Envoy-level androids they had, not to mention their various subsidiary organizations. On top of that, the Hall of Honor’s top powerhouses could easily destroy any of Lu Yin’s experts, as there was an impossible power gap between them. Still, Lu Yin was at least confident to be able to face almost any other organization.
There was just one powerhouse still missing from Lu Yin’s number. He was thinking of Kui Luo, but the old man also made Lu Yin remember Madam Hong. Right, there were two powerhouses still missing.
Lu Yin was in a much happier mood as he approached Sapling’s garden and called the tree to him. Sapling shook its branches at Lu Yin from within the canopy of the large tree. As soon as Sapling’s branches moved, it raced towards Lu Yin, thrilled. On the other hand, the big tree fled without any hesitation.
Sapling jumped right onto the top of Lu Yin’s head. He pursed his lips and grabbed the tree to pull it down. “I’m not that big tree of yours, so don’t sit on my head.”
Sapling happily twined its branches around Lu Yin’s fingers, and he could feel the strange plant’s happiness.
“Your Highness, these are the stellular energy pills Shamrock Enterprise sent.” Qiong Xi’er found Lu Yin and delivered the stellular energy pills to him.
Shamrock Enterprise had publicly announced the function of their stellular energy pills during the Divine Venom Dynasty’s banquet, and the information had sent ripples throughout the universe. Countless powers had wanted to buy the pills, and Little Leave King had visited the Ross Empire’s mobile fortress to make a delivery of the pills.
That had been when Little Leaf King had also found Sapling.
When Lu Yin took the package of stellular energy pills, Sapling’s branches wrapped more tightly around his fingers.
“What has Shamrock Enterprise been up to lately?” Lu Yin asked.
Qiong Xi’er said, “Advertising and promoting their stellular energy pills. Nothing worth mentioning besides that.”
“Anything regarding us?” Lu Yin asked.
Qiong Xi’er replied, “Actually, Little Leaf King mentioned before leaving that he wanted to invite you to visit the hidden world that’s Shamrock Enterprise’s headquarters in the Neoverse.”
Lu Yin nodded. “Got it.”
Qiong Xi’er then left.
Lu Yin stared at the stellular energy pills that he held. The person who had tried to force their way into the mobile fortress only to be stopped by Liu Huang had most likely been Leaf King. He had most likely been after Sapling.
The fact that Leaf King had been able to escape from even Liu Huang meant that the man had a power level of at least 800,000 or more. That was a dangerous person.
Shamrock Enterprise possessed a strength that was no less than that of any of the powers that controlled the eight great flowzones of the Innerverse, though the company was a bit lacking when compared to the Daynight clan or the Sword Sect.
At the moment, their promotion of their stellular energy pills had to involve other plans.
Lu Yin’s eyes lit up. The powers that controlled the Innerverse’s eight great flowzones looked towards raising their members’ strength, and so they were not overly concerned with money. However, Shamrock Enterprise was a commercial power. Even though they had used a considerable portion of their income to develop the stellular energy pills, those funds had only come from their profits. Their profits had to be astronomical! If Lu Yin could get his hands on those funds…
He found himself short of breath.
The branches started squeezing Lu Yin’s fingers tighter and tighter. He looked down, and saw that Sapling seemed to be staring straight at the stellular energy pills that Lu Yin was holding. Even though the tree had no eyes, Lu Yin could sense the plant’s desire and could also tell that it was staring at the pills.
“You want them?” Lu Yin asked. He remembered how Sapling had devoured one of the pills before, and also how Sapling had been able to sense the pills and pull it in order to devour it.
A few of the green leaves at the top of Sapling rubbed against Lu Yin’s chin. They felt pleasant and warm, and the touch also calmed the black and white mist within Lu Yin’s chest.
Unable to resist such cuteness, Lu Yin opened his hand, and the pills shot out one by one. Sapling quickly caught all of them, and the stellular energy pills all disappeared. Sapling grew just a tiny bit, but it was still an amount that was visible to the naked eye.
