Lu Yin stared at the palm of his hand where the two drops of poison had just entered his body.
“Don’t think that you can find someone to get rid of the toxin. It’s something that comes from the Aeternals, and not even the Hall of Honor can help you remove it,” Yang Kong warned.
Lu Yin looked over at Dojo Master Si, and the woman nodded to him.
“Where’s my star essence?” Lu Yin asked.
As soon as the poison entered Lu Yin’s body, a look of relief appeared on Yang Kong’s face as he looked at Lu Yin. In fact, Yang Kong looked as though he was looking at one of his own followers. This was because he was absolutely confident in the poison that he had just given Lu Yin. Yang Kong’s confidence also came from the fact that he had not only given Lu Yin Vitality Poison, but also Samaritan’s Tears. It was impossible to know what would happen when these two poisons combined.
However, regardless of how strong a poison might be, it was impossible for any to surpass a Progenitor’s battle technique. Progenitor Ku had been known as a very powerful Progenitor who had researched the mysteries of aging and immortality. Extremes Must Be Reversed had allowed Lu Yin to recover from injuries that a Semi-Progenitor had inflicted upon him, so this poison should not be an issue.
“Come with me,” Yang Kong ordered as he started moving away.
Lu Yin quickly followed.
Lu Yin actually knew almost nothing about how the Aeternals cultivated and what sorts of resources they used. He had suspected that he might make out well from this deal, but what met him far exceeded his expectations.
He was completely stunned, as he was staring at an endless amount of star essence. “This- this is?”
He had followed Yang Kong deep beneath the Aeternus Kingdom. Lu Yin had expected to find another pit that transformed humans into corpse kings, and he certainly had not expected to instead find a storage area for countless resources. Naturally, there was not as much star essence as what he had seen on the Junior Progenitor Planets, but it was still a very impressive sight. There had to be tens or even hundreds of billions of star essence here!
He blankly stared ahead, and it almost looked as though he was seeing the world for the first time.
Yang Kong was completely unmoved by the sight. “Just take it.”
Lu Yin looked over at the young man. “Are the Aeternals this rich?”
Yang Kong answered solemnly, “This isn’t from the Aeternals. Everything that’s been gathered here is from the Starfall Sea.”
Lu Yin instantly understood why there was such a mountain of resources in this place; it was the total sum of the Starfall Sea’s resources, and if all of the various powers in such a large place pooled their resources together, it would be an astronomical amount, much like if the entire Innerverse’s resources were compiled.
“Can I take all of it?” Lu Yin asked.
Yang Kong became contemptuous. “Do what you want. I’ll wait for you in the West City.”
He turned around and left while still speaking.
Lu Yin was left alone in the storage space.
He could not believe that they were being so casual with such a massive amount of wealth! Could he really just take it?
There was no one watching him! This should be impossible.
However, Lu Yin could also understand Yang Kong’s mindset regarding this matter. It all stemmed from the fact that everyone assumed that Lu Yin was an Envoy. Even if he could use star essence for his battle techniques, there was no need to take too much star essence. After all, taking too much would be pointless, and besides, how much could his cosmic ring possibly hold?
Lu Yin licked his lips, and excitement lit up his eyes. Since this was real, then he would happily help himself! With this thought, he buried himself beneath the mounds of star essence. If he was going to take as much as he could, then he would naturally try to keep anyone from observing his actions.
Ever since Lu Yin had first started cultivating, this was the first time that he had felt this content with his available resources. Everyone hoped for others to be generous, but despite all the time he had spent cultivating, Lu Yin realized that this was the first time that he had been given such a gift. It felt absolutely amazing.
For Lu Yin, acquiring enough resources for all of his various needs was a massive, never-ending struggle.
He continuously stuffed star essence into his cosmic ring, all the time painfully aware of the fact that this was nothing.
There actually was not nearly as much star essence as Lu Yin had assumed, but because the underground space was so sprawling, it had given him the illusion of there being an endless amount of star essence.
He ended up taking more than 30 billion star essence. That was more than 30 billion, not 30 million.
It was an amount that made his heart tremble.
Never before had Lu Yin carried so much wealth in his cosmic ring. In fact, it was questionable if all of the star essence that he had obtained over his entire life so far would amount to what he had just taken.
He had more than 30 billion star essence on him, and Lu Yin was already thinking about how to best spend it.
However, after he had learned that all of the wealth in the Starfall Sea had been gathered by the Aeternals, he realized that this was not enough to account for all that had been taken. There had to be a great deal more elsewhere.
Lu Yin took a deep breath before turning around and leaving. He moved quickly, hoping to avoid attracting any attention.
When Lu Yin saw Yang Kong again, he could not help but feel that Yang Kong was quite pleasing to look at. The young man was truly a god of wealth.
Yang Kong looked at Lu Yin in a questioning manner. “Did you get enough?”
Lu Yin nodded. “It’ll work.”
“Go ahead and take more. As long as you contribute to our mission, you’ll have as many resources as you can dream of when we get back,” Yang Kong said.
Lu Yin clenched a fist and said, “Sounds good to me.”
The truth was that he did not need any more, as he had not left much star essence behind.
Lu Yin did not wander around the West City like he had before, but was instead led to an isolated area where he saw the gate to Burial Garden.
Lu Yin was almost unable to resist charging straight through the gate.
“This is a gate of death. In the Human Domain, they’re also known as Burial Garden’s gates. Passing through a gate will take you into Burial Garden, which I’m sure you’ve heard of before.” Yang Kong looked at Lu Yin as he calmly explained the situation.
Lu Yin answered in a somber tone, “One of the Three Dark Hands?”
“Burial Garden has opened up, and there are many inheritances that can be found inside. Our mission is to hunt down people who have found an inheritance and steal the inheritances. If we can’t, then we need to kill the people, especially anyone with an ancient bloodline,” Yang Kong became very serious as he continued to explain.
Lu Yin was surprised by this bit of news. “Ancient bloodlines?”
Yang Kong shared a bit of information about how people with ancient bloodlines were being chased and killed by desiccated corpses. “There were also some ancient bloodlines in the Starfall Sea, but they’ve already been cleaned up. The existence of people with ancient bloodlines might open up an inheritance that could harm the Aeternals, so make sure you attack and kill anyone you meet with an ancient bloodline. Doing so will earn you merit, and when the Aeternals conquer the Fifth Mainland, such accomplishments might be enough for you to remain human.”
Dojo Master Si had never mentioned any details regarding the mission that she had been given, and Si Xiao’er was not able to ask about such a thing either. But at this moment, Lu Yin was finally learning that all of them were being sent into Burial Garden to hunt down anyone with an ancient bloodline.
The Aeternals’ corpse kings were unable to enter Burial Garden. It was a forbidden place for all corpse kings, as entering would invariably lead to their deaths. Only humans could hunt down and kill the possessors of ancient bloodlines once they entered Burial Garden. This was why the Aeternals needed some human minions.
“Conquer the Fifth Mainland? I heard that there are three Progenitors standing guard at the passage to the Fifth Mainland. How can the Aeternals possibly get in?” Lu Yin suddenly asked.
Yang Kong simply said, “That’s not something that you need to worry about. All you need to know is that the Aeternals will definitely take over the Fifth Mainland in the future. All you need to worry about is completing the mission that you’ve been given and eliminating as many ancient bloodlines as possible.
“Oh, and also,” As Yang Dong continued, he suddenly looked up. “While you’re in Burial Garden keep an eye out for a young man named Lu Yin.”
“Lu Yin? Who’s that?” Lu Yin acted ignorant.
Yang Kong’s voice grew cold. “Don’t worry about that either. Just keep an eye out for him, and also, make sure that you’re careful and don’t get found by him. There’s no way that kid’s any weaker than you.”
Lu Yin showed a face of surprise. “Is he an Envoy?”
“No, but he’s even more terrifying than a regular Envoy.” Yang Kong became very solemn, though excitement danced in his eyes.
Lu Yin also became very serious. “Got it. I’ll keep an eye out for him.”
Yang Kong snorted derisively. “That kid’s the most powerful youth of his entire generation in the Fifth Mainland, and he’s able to fight against Envoys while being an Enlighter, just like me. I must erase the shame of my defeat by finding him again!”
Lu Yin’s eyes focused intently; had Yang Kong been defeated by him before? That confirmed it: Yang Kong was definitely Bu Kong. Lu Yin had never fought against anyone named Yang Kong, but he had beaten Bu Kong before.
Even though Lu Yin had already been confident that he knew Yang Kong’s real identity, this was just more proof that Yang Kong was really Bu Kong.
As he processed Yang Kong’s comment about how the Aeternals would eventually conquer the Fifth Mainland, as well as where he was, Lu Yin suddenly had a terrible guess.
Bang!
He heard a metal chain, and he turned to see what it was. There was a corpse king nearby dragging a group of chained people. The corpse king turned to stare at Lu Yin with its hideous scarlet eyes that blazed with cruelty.
Lu Yin watched as the chained-up people slowly approached them.
“These are people who came out of this gate and were captured. They’re now also candidates to be sent back into Burial Garden with us. If they prove useful, we’ll keep them,” Yang Kong casually commented.
The prisoners quickly arrived.
Lu Yin stared at two of the people in absolute amazement. One was a woman with disheveled hair, fierce eyes, and who wore green clothes. Was that really Lulu Mavis? The other person was Ku Lei.
Could Lu Yin go anywhere at all without meeting people he knew?
There were a total of sixteen prisoners. Some seemed frightened while others remained calm, and there were also some who were angry and cussing.
“Pick out a few and take them with you. Find a way to get them to cooperate, or kill them if they refuse,” Yang Kong coldly ordered.
Lu Yin picked out Lulu Mavis and Ku Lei without hesitation, and he ended up taking four people with him in total.
There were still four days left before it was time to enter Burial Garden.
Lu Yin did not return to Water God Dojo, as it was clear that Dojo Master Si was not happy with him. There was no need to make the situation more awkward.
The West City was massive, and Lu Yin found a random place to toss Ku Lei and the other two aside before taking Lulu away to speak with her alone.
“I won’t help you, you traitor!” Lulu stared at Lu Yin with pure spite. Her eyes blazed as she gritted her teeth.
Lu Yin grinned back at the girl. “Your luck is really terrible to have ended up in the Starfall Sea.”
Lulu snorted. She had no desire to speak to this person.
“It looks like they don’t know you’re a part of the Mavis family,” Lu Yin remarked.
Those words brought about an instant change in Lulu’s expression, and her eyes locked onto Lu Yin. “What did you just say?”
“I said that you’re a part of the Mavis family.” Lu Yin spoke slowly.
Lulu could not believe her ears. “You- how do you know?”
There had been several announcements during the Sixth Mainland’s invasion that all members of the Mavis family were to be captured alive as they held a unique status in both the Fifth and Sixth Mainlands. If Yang Kong were aware that Lulu was part of the Mavis family, there was no way he would have allowed Lu Yin to take her. That was for certain.
Lu Yin moved closer to Lulu, but there was no moisture left within his body. He looked no different from a desiccated corpse, making his appearance both terrifying and disgusting. She reflexively took a step back, and her eyes nervously flitted about as she stared at Lu Yin. “Who are you?”
“We made an agreement that you would lend me some money and that I would then help you get something from Astral-10, remember? Classmate Lulu Mavis.” Lu Yin spoke slowly.
Lulu’s eyes went wide and her mouth fell open in disbelief. “Lu- Lu Yin?”
Lu Yin smiled and spread his arms out wide. “It’s been a long time, Lulu. Come give me a hug!”
Lulu squeaked. Lu Yin truly looked disturbing at this moment, and all the hair on her body stood on end. “You- are you really Lu Yin?”
“There’s no way I’m a fake.” Lu Yin laughed. It was quite entertaining to scare this girl.
Lulu shook her head and blew out a puff of air. “I don’t believe you! How can you be Lu Yin?”
“I am, as who else knows about our agreement? Actually, you never told me what it is that you wanted from Astral-10,” Lu Yin replied.
Lulu felt terribly confused. “Are you really Lu Yin?”
“Absolutely.”
“Then tell me if you paid back the money you borrowed from me!”
“I paid it all back.”
Lulu instantly shouted, “No, you didn’t pay me back!”
Lu Yin rolled his eyes. “You’re a member of the Mavis family’s main branch, so it’s really not good to go back on your word. We agreed that I would let you freely explore the Great Yu Empire’s imperial palace so that you could search for the Undying Manual, which was also why you went to Earth for the trial. You agreed to that instead of money. Are you really going to claim that I never paid you back?”
