“What a powerful background!” the Ghost Monkey exclaimed.
Lu Yin was astonished by his reaction. “Do you know a lot about the Neohuman Alliance?”
“Not much, but I’ve heard of them and seen records mentioning them. They have an incredible reputation, but I doubt that you’d know about it, as it’s something that no one from the Outerverse should know about.” The Ghost Monkey then paused for a moment before going on to say, “the Humans’ Three Dark Hands.”
“Three Dark Hands?” Lu Yin was surprised.
“That’s right. Wherever there’s light, there will also be darkness. If the Hall of Honor is considered to represent the brighter side of humans, then the Neohuman Alliance is the dark side. It represents extreme darkness and evil. If our Astral Beast Domain encounters any members of the Neohuman Alliance, we are required to kill them on sight. Not only are they the enemy of humans, but they are also enemies of the entire universe.”
Lu Yin was stunned. “Their strength scares even your Astral Beast Domain?”
“Any one of the humans’ Three Dark Giants wields a strength that can topple all. I’m not sure exactly how strong they are, but I saw that bit of information recorded down in the burial grounds of an almighty powerhouse.”
“What are the other two Dark Hands?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“This is a human thing, so why are you asking me?”
“Ghost Monkey Zi, don’t lie to me, or else I’ll cut you off again.”
“Don’t call me that. A Ghost Monkey is a Ghost Monkey—why add a ‘Zi’? That just makes it sound crude.”
“Then tell me what the other two Dark Hands are.”
“I really don’t know, Seventh Bro, I’m not lying.”
…
The dark void of the universe was lonely and dull. Lu Yin had already entered the Great Yu Empire, but it would take him another day of travel before he would enter the eleventh filament of the empire. He recalled that this area was under the blind monk’s jurisdiction.
Among the captains of the Thirteen Imperial Squadrons, the blind monk and Huo Qingshan were the only Hunters while the others were all Cruisers. These two captains ranked among the top five strongest fighters in the Great Yu Empire in terms of power level.
While Lu Yin was silently reciting the Stonewall Scriptures, the spacecraft jostled as if it had struck something. A grinding sound that caused his teeth to ache rang out, and then the spacecraft’s internal alarm sounded. Lu Yin felt that something was off and hurriedly checked his surroundings, but found nothing.
Tzz tzzz!
The grinding sound within the spacecraft grew louder, and sparks suddenly showered down from the roof. Lu Yin looked up, but he still could not see anything wrong. However, the feeling that something was amiss grew stronger, so he quickly activated the Cosmic Art and took out the Giant Emperor’s third eye. With the additional support of his domain, he was able to make out a horse formed from an invisible energy extending into the distance. It seemed to be a channel, and the spacecraft had coincidentally bumped into this invisible passageway.
Lu Yin immediately lowered the altitude of his spacecraft, and the grinding sound disappeared.
What was that? Lu Yin was puzzled by this chance occurrence. He could only see this passageway with the support of three sensory boosting aides. Normal people would not be able to even sense this phenomena; even Explorers or Cruisers might not be able to make it out. Was this a natural phenomenon of the universe?
Suddenly, the sound of a warhorse’s neighing rang out across the universe, and the space all around the creature fractured. In the distance, multiple planets exploded in a brilliant flash. Magma erupted from a planet’s core and covered the entire surface.
A fair distance down the formless passageway, the originally pitch black darkness of the universe intensified even further, as if it had been burnt by an extremely dark fire. The flames annihilated everything that Lu Yin could see, but he could barely make out the indistinct image of a black warhorse blazing with black flames. It then began dashing towards him. A black shadow was mounted upon the warhorse, and they carried a giant spear in their hand while a war flag flapped domineeringly on Their back. The shadowy figure rode the warhorse through the void as if it were riding from ancient times to now, penetrating the void.
One person and one horse burned the void, leaving a blackened universe behind them as they traveled through the void. This was what Lu Yin saw. This warhorse had blazed a trail through the universe that the average person could not see.
Suddenly, the figure on the warhorse raised their head, causing their cold, serene gaze to swep over Lu Yin. The two exchanged looks, and Lu Yin felt his entire body turn cold, as if he had been transported to the icy underworld. This was a sensation that was colder than even death itself, and his blood seemed to freeze in his veins while his muscles trembled uncontrollably. Even the nine stars revolving around his body became unstable, and his domain gradually crumbled. This was a gaze of pure, cold indifference.
The effects were not only that, as Lu Yin also felt as if his brain had been directly struck, like when he reached his limits while reciting the Stonewall Scriptures. He immediately started bleeding from all seven orifices.
In the next moment, the mysterious person and warhorse had vanished, and the universe returned to normal. The fractured void gradually recovered, and that invisible passageway vanished. It was as if everything that had just happened had been an illusion, and Lu Yin would have even assumed that that was the case if not for the fresh blood still pouring out from his body.
The spacecraft continued flying steadily along as Lu Yin looked at his palm stained with fresh blood. He felt incredulous. What the hell was that?! One person, one horse, one spear, one war flag, one invisible passage, and one black flame that eradicated everything. And that one eye of cold indifference—was that a person?
“Hey, Seventh Bro, I’m talking to you! Can you hear me?” the Ghost Monkey shouted.
Lu Yin was still stunned, and he slowly wiped his blood away. “What happened?”
The Ghost Monkey felt strange. “I should be the one asking you what just happened! Did the spacecraft crash into something? Why are you bleeding from your seven orifices? Are you sick? You should get it quickly checked out!”
Lu Yin’s gaze was deep and profound. “You didn’t see anything?”
“What did you see? Did you see a ghost?” The Ghost Monkey could tell that something was strange.
Lu Yin grimaced as he replied, “Perhaps I really did.”
In the eleventh filament of the Great Yu Empire, many abandoned spacecraft floated through the darkness of outer space, carrying a number of corpses within them. Some spacecraft even exploded violently, lighting up a portion of the heavens when they did so.
Countless scraps from different machinery floated around the area as well, and it almost looked like a veritable river of machinery when viewed from afar.
“Can anyone tell me how this small empire in a fringe weave has withstood our Ross Empire’s invasion even though we have more than one Hunter overseeing operations? Even a power that controls an entire weave would not be this powerful!” the Ross Empire’s general, Angelo, shouted within a huge warship as he stared at a screen.
The surrounding officers all lowered their heads.
After they had declared war against the Great Yu Empire, the Ross Empire had assumed that things would be one-sided. However, who among them could have predicted that there would be so many experts within the Great Yu Empire? This was especially true for the captains of their Thirteen Imperial Squadrons, where each one was stronger than the last. Even Hunters had appeared! Damn it, how could a powerhouse of that caliber appear in a small empire that only occupied thirteen filaments?
“Marshal, that powerhouse has come back!” someone cried out.
Angelo’s expression became even uglier as a bald, blind man carrying an iron shovel appeared on the screen. The man was only slightly more than a meter tall and looked just like a miner, but this bastard had single-handedly destroyed three of their fleets. Each fleet could rival a Hunter, but they had been destroyed extremely casually. Five Explorers and three Cruisers had also died along with those fleets. This was the greatest loss the Ross Empire had suffered after initiating this war.
Every Cruiser was extremely precious, regardless if one was in the Outerverse or Innerverse. The loss of those three fleets meant that Angelo would have to face a court martial trial when he returned even if he won this war.
The bald, blind man was naturally the blind monk. He towered over the heavens and raised his shovel only to violently smash it down. His brutish movements caused the void to shatter, and the resulting massive spatial crack was like an enormous beast opening its maw wide to swallow the Ross Empire’s fleet whole. One person moved out from the fleet and raised his hand, releasing an intense shock wave from his palm that then collided with the spatial crack.
This entire region of space shuddered.
The enormous impact caused the void to collapse like a breaking wave. It rushed out in all directions and destroyed countless abandoned spacecraft. In that instant, even a few of the Ross Empire’s warships were disabled.
The blind monk slowly set his shovel down. On the other side, the Ross Empire’s Hunter had a pale face. He was no match for the blind monk and felt greatly pressured. This person had a power level of at least 110,000 while his own had only just broken past 100,000.
The shockwave from the collision between the blind monk and the Ross Empire’s expert swept out, and Lu Yin’s spacecraft swayed violently as a result. He hurriedly steadied it and sped up to enter the eleventh filament.
When he arrived, he found that it had already been sealed off and that those who wanted to enter needed to go through a security checkpoint.
Lu Yin’s identity immediately shocked the entire region. The descendants of the Great Yu Empire’s Yushan family had been almost completely wiped out. This had caused King Zishan Lu Yin to become much more politically important, as he now qualified to ascend to the throne of the Great Yu Empire.
Coincidentally, at this time, Peach was also in the eleventh filament, and she was assisting the blind monk in fending off the Ross Empire’s invasion.
“Lu Yin, you’re back!” Peach delightedly cried out as she rushed to Lu Yin’s side.
Lu Yin was happy to see Peach alive and well. He was most afraid that, upon returning to the Great Yu Empire, he would find that all of his friends were already dead. That would be the worst case scenario.
Peach was Lu Yin’s friend, and she had taught him Flash as well as shown him great kindness.
“Peach, are you alright?” Lu Yin asked with a concerned tone.
Peach shook her head, and her face that had been initially happy sank into despair. “The war’s just begun, but many have already sacrificed their lives, including His Imperial Majesty.”
A bitterness rose up within Lu Yin’s eyes. He had even used his innate gift, the die, to save Undying Yushan’s life once. However, the emperor had still ultimately been unable to escape from his fate of death.
“It’s alright as long as you’re fine,” Lu Yin said as he patted Peach’s head.
Peach usually did not like it when taller people approached her, and had therefore taken to standing next to the blind monk. However, she did not mind Lu Yin’s actions right now. Jue Lang is dead and so is Di Ou.”
Lu Yin sighed.
“Also, from the captains who joined the second prince’s rebel army, Patterson and Felut are dead. If you include Dorren Yushan, then five of the original Thirteen Imperial Squadron captains are dead,” Peach said painfully. Her face had become slightly pale, and it made Lu Yin’s heart ache. Although she was not young, she had the appearance of a child, and sometimes even seemed to have the temperament of one.
Lu Yin grew serious. “Rest easy. I’m back now, and I’ll end this battle.”
Peach raised her head and looked at him expectantly. “Really?”
Lu Yin earnestly promised her.
“The extended relatives on the other side of the emperor’s family are trying to usurp authority back on the capital star. You should hurry back or else it’ll be too late,” the blind monk said in a heavy tone as he stepped out of the void.
Peach was shocked. “Right! Lu Yin, you need to hurry back to the capital star. Those extended family members of the Yushan Family are trying to gather officials in an attempt to take over the throne. It’s too much! They can’t even be bothered with this war, and our resources are almost gone. They’re the ones who have cut off our resources in an attempt to force us to acknowledge their right to the throne.”
A chilling coldness seeped into Lu Yin’s eyes. “Rest assured. When I return to the capital, not a single one of them will escape.”
The blind monk turned around. “You’re that confident? All of them have the support of various powerhouses. They’re not just from the Great Yu Empire. Some of them have persuaded the conquered forces of the Frostwave Weave. After His Majesty’s death, all those people leapt out of the woodwork, and someone from the Fireforge Planet even appeared and tried to use the name of the Outerverse Youth Council to command Yu Academy to split apart the families of the academy’s elites.”
“How did the Fireforge Planet manage to use the name of the Outerverse Youth Council?” Lu Yin was astonished.
