Lily Anne suddenly spoke up. “Brother Lie, Lu Yin is also a Lockbreaker.”
Northgate Lie’s eyes flashed, and he nodded. “I know.”
He Zhong and the rest from the Tempest Flowzone soon arrived and also waited silently.
Lu Yin observed the situation for a moment before quickly realizing that the gathered crowd was waiting for Lockbreakers. The monkey spoke up at that point. “Seventh Bro, are you not going to show yourself? A bunch of people will be grateful to you right now.”
Lu Yin unenthusiastically replied, “People will only be grateful when someone appears at the last moment. If I go out now, then they’ll believe that me helping them is expected.”
“You’re actually going to help them get past this?” The Ghost Monkey was puzzled.
Lu Yin was still considering the matter. In his peak state, with his three methods that increased his perception, he could use the Secret Sidestep, which allowed him to avoid all dangers, to enter the centipede’s body, but he had no idea what dangers lay ahead after that. He was actually hoping to have someone carve a path forward for him, but if that happened, he would have to fight them if they found any good stuff. Northgate Lie alone was already plenty to deal with, but now, there were the Blaze Realm people to deal with as well as the possibility of hidden experts to deal with. He might not be able to come out on top.
“Alright, we’ll let them pass.” Lu Yin made his decision.
The monkey could not understand. “Why?”
“If I don’t destroy the pike, then they’ll need the assistance of Lockbreakers to enter as well as to leave.” Lu Yin’s lips quirked up as he explained.
The monkey was stunned. “Making for easy targets, huh? Seventh Bro, you’re evil.”
This was the situation that Lu Yin wanted. People were welcome to leave or try their luck and barge forward on their own, but regardless of what they did, Lu Yin would be able to cause problems for whomever he wanted. This was currently his playing field, and that would only change if a stronger Lockbreaker showed up. His current problem was deciding how he should best take advantage of this opportunity since it would definitely be troublesome if a better Lockerbreaker appeared.
He hesitated for a moment. Then, he returned to his normal appearance and appeared next to Northgate Lie and the others with Flash, startling them quite badly.
“Sorry for being late. I heard that you guys need a Lockbreaker,” Lu Yin announced with a smile.
The crowd was speechless. How could he know that they needed a Lockbreaker if he had just arrived? He had obviously showed up earlier. Still, no one bothered to argue with him about the contradiction. Northgate Lie courteously said, “Brother Lu, you should know what the entire situation is now. How about it? Are you confident?”
Lu Yin looked around and saw the hateful glares from the people of the Blaze Realm, the expectant looks from Lily Anne’s group, and the look of disdain from the other Lockbreaker in the distance. He then started approaching the pike, step by step.
Right when he was a hundred meters from the pike, the other Lockbreaker called out, “Be careful. Don’t disturb its energy or else its attacks will multiply, leading to more casualties.”
The crowd tried to stop Lu Yin upon hearing the man’s words, afraid that a moment of his carelessness would affect them.
Lu Yin frowned; this Lockbreaker was rather sinister and had forced Lu Yin into a corner as soon as he opened his mouth up. If his lockbreaking attempt was unsuccessful, then all of the blame would fall onto Lu Yin. And this wasn’t even mentioning the Lockbreaker’s arrogant manner of speech.
“I didn’t catch your name. You are?” Lu Yin looked at the middle-aged man.
The man was unhappy and refused to say his name. “A four star Discerning Elementary Lockbreaker.”
Lu Yin quietly replied, “What a coincidence. I’m also a four star Discerning Elementary Lockbreaker.”
Previously, on Savage Ape Planet, Lu Yin and the rest had joined forces to unlock the tree-shaped sourcebox, which had raised him to the four star level. He had been just one step from three stars before the Lockbreaker gathering, and the sourcebox had been an intermediate one. If they had not worked together, and Lu Yin had instead successfully unlocked it on his, it would have pushed him to five stars. Still, his current status of four stars meant that he had jumped up by two grades.
The crowd cried out in surprise, as they had not expected for Lu Yin to be a four star Discerning Elementary at his age. There were not many Lockbreakers of his age in the society, and only the Distinguished Five had obtained four stars at such a young age. Even if Dao Bo and Charon were taken into consideration, there were still not that many young Lockbreakers who were as accomplished as Lu Yin.
Northgate Lie was also stunned. Lu Yin had only recently been promoted, so most people were not aware that he had already attained four stars. His talent for lockbreaking was as shocking as his martial prowess.
“What? You have four stars, too?” The man was shocked.
Lu Yin lifted his gadget and activated the screen. When the middle-aged Lockbreaker saw Lu Yin’s Lockbreaker profile with its four shining stars, he was stunned and could only speechlessly stare at Lu Yin. He no longer acted haughtily and instead put on a humble expression, as if he had just encountered a rising star of the Lockbreaker Society.
“I’m truly sorry. I thought that you had no contributions. Instead, it turns out that you’re actually a genius Lockbreaker,” the Lockbreaker spoke apologetically, his attitude experiencing a complete reversal.
Lu Yin did not say anything more and turned to look at the sourcebox catalog section on his page. The number of views on the video of him unlocking the tree-shaped sourcebox was rather high, and it had earned him a bit of money. Although he had to split it with the Lockbreaker Society, his share wasn’t too shabby.
If he had not opened his profile page, then he might have completely forgotten about this method of earning money. As his reputation continued to spread, his monetary gains would similarly increase.
He closed the display, looked at the pike ahead of him, and then stepped forward.
No one stopped him this time. Instead, they all looked on nervously.
Compared to the tree-shaped sourcebox, the pike was much easier to deal with. Lu Yin dodged all of the phantom pikes that occasionally shot towards him. He even warned the people behind him to dodge when necessary, which increased their confidence in his abilities even more.
That middle-aged Lockbreaker gasped in surprise. At best, he could sense the danger before it struck him, but he could not determine the position or direction that the attacks were heading in. This showed the disparity between them.
Lu Yin moved closer and closer to the pike. Soon, he could see that the void near the pike was surrounded by a sharp energy. The phantom pikes originated from this sharp energy, and this sharp energy was also what was currently blocking everyone’s progress.
He reached out to make contact with this fierce energy emanating from the pike. The energy then coalesced into star energy which formed a type of battle technique that had become eternal.
“It’s no wonder why it takes a Lockbreaker to approach this thing. This toy is a simplified version of a predecessor’s strength,” the monkey exclaimed. “However, it’s been here for ages, and the strength has dissipated by a great deal. If you all came here right after this thing was left here, you’d all be dead, Seventh Bro.”
Lu Yin’s palm touched the sharp energy as he tried to resolve the star energy. It was effective, but he progressed at a snail’s pace. It would take him at least several days to open up a path. He turned back to look at the Lockbreaker. “Let’s work together. Follow where I tell you to go, and I promise that you’ll be safe.”
The middle-aged Lockbreaker wanted to reject Lu Yin’s request since he was hoping to work with more Lockbreakers, but Northgate Lie and the others glared at him, drastically increasing the pressure that the man already felt. If he declined, then it would be embarrassing once news of the matter spread.
With no other choice, he slowly moved towards Lu Yin step by step.
Lu Yin gave him clear directions, and the man evaded the occasional phantom pike. Soon enough, he arrived at Lu Yin’s side. “Alright, start unlocking it from this direction.”
The man did not refuse and the two started to work in sync to unlock the sharp energy.
Everyone outside anxiously watched on.
Jared’s face had a sinister expression, and he exchanged looks with the two Blaze Realm elders as he revealed a trace of helplessness. “We can’t act for now. Otherwise, we won’t be able to get out after we enter.”
The other two nodded. “Let’s play things by ear.”
Just as the monkey had said, due to the weathering of time, the sharp energy from the pike had been greatly reduced. Lu Yin and the middle-aged Lockbreaker continuously worked on it for a day. On the second day, another Lockbreaker finally appeared. He was only a two star Discerning Elementary Lockbreaker, but another person helping out was definitely a good thing.
After twenty more hours, Lu Yin finally said, “Alright, you can pass now.”
The two Lockbreakers were delighted. They stepped past the pike and into the centipede’s body, the first ones to proceed.
Northgate Lie and the others’ eyes went wide, and they all turned to look at Lu Yin with expectant expressions.
Lu Yin had not completely removed the sharp energy. It was possible, but there was no reason to do so since he was hoping for the pike to seal the exit for everyone.
“I’ll draw a path on the ground, and everyone will be able to enter by following the path. However, I must let you know that this path will only be effective for one day, and it won’t be usable after that. We’ll have to unlock the pike again in order to exit,” Lu Yin announced.
Someone shouted, “Brother Lu, why don’t you just finish unlocking it? Then it’ll be more convenient for everyone to enter and leave.”
Lu Yin looked up. “You intend to have me stay here and keep unlocking this pike for you while you continue on and explore? Fine, but I want ninety percent of whatever you obtain inside.”
“That’s too much!” That person was astounded.
The crowd didn’t take Lu Yin’s words seriously since there was no way that he would be foolish enough to help all of them by completely unlocking the pike.
Northgate Lie was the first to head towards the body of the centipede, and he had an admiring look on his face. “Thank you, Brother Lu, for the help. Rest assured, when we get out, the Northgate family will reward you.”
That’s more like it, Lu Yin thought to himself, but he still acted very courteously.
The rest moved in one after another. As Lily Anne passed by, she whispered to Lu Yin, “Be careful of the Blaze Realm.”
A clear path had been carved through the sharp energy, but the phantom pikes had not completely vanished and would occasionally appear. Fortunately, Lu Yin would remind people when that happened, which reassured them quite a bit.
However, before long, another person died to a phantom pike, causing Jared to look at Lu Yin with a furious face. “Brother Lu, why didn’t you warn us?”
The person who had died had been from the Blaze Realm, and the rest of the group looked at Lu Yin with burning eyes.
Lu Yin casually replied, “Didn’t see it.”
Jared was pissed, but he was held back by the elder in charge. The old man calmly looked at Lu Yin. “Little brother, to be of service to others is to be kind to oneself. I hope that you will do your best in the future.”
Lu Yin sneered as he replied, “Allowing you to go past is already being kind to you. Anymore nonsense from you, and I’ll just throw you out.”
“What did you say?” Jared was furious, but then, he had an intense coughing fit. His injuries were still too fresh, and his fury had aggravated his condition, causing him to cough up a mouthful of blood.
Lu Yin cast a sidewards glance at him, but then ignored the group from the Blaze Realm as he made his way further deeper into the centipede’s body.
The people from the Blaze Realm could do nothing, but the two elders looked at each other with an icy bloodlust. This person had to die.
The centipede’s body was huge, and the crowd did not know which direction to explore now that they had finally entered the main body through the broken leg. For the first time ever, the many cultivators separated. Some headed left, others right, and the rest continuing forward.
Lu Yin followed behind Northgate Lie’s group and headed to the left. Despite the group from the Blaze Realm’s unknown motives, they also followed behind Northgate Lie, causing the overall group to swell to hundreds of cultivators.
“Strange, were these buildings built before or after the centipede’s death? If before, then what happened to the internal organs?” someone commented.
“Probably after.”
“That can’t be right. This thing was hidden in another dimension after it died. If not for that Northgate elder’s battle accidentally tearing through the void, this thing might have remained hidden there for who knows how many more years.”
