Lu Yin nodded and glanced around at everyone else. The moment he saw Michelle, he became a little awkward. “Um, I’ll help you comprehend battle force.”
Michelle frowned. “It’s fine. I already did that.”
As soon as she said that, battle force appeared around her body. It had a similar appearance as Lu Yin’s when he first comprehended it. While it wasn’t enough to be considered one-line battle force quite yet, it was still undoubtedly battle force.
Comprehending battle force and not comprehending it were two completely different states, and this meant that Michelle was now much more powerful than before.
Recently, Lu Yin had improved by an exceptional amount, but the others had also seen progress of their own. Them entering the Astral Combat Academy indicated that they were talented, and most of them had already become Limiteers.
Among the various Astral Combat Academy branches, Astral-10 was one of the stronger ones overall. However, this was only thanks to their current students. The new students entering Astral-10 might not be lucky enough to receive guidance from the mentors.
After talking to everyone, Lu Yin was about to go look for Old Cai, but he was stopped by Xia Luo.
“Do you know where Silver is?” Xia Luo asked.
Lu Yin shook his head in denial.
Xia Luo could only reply, “It seems like he’s really gone missing.” As he spoke, he glanced at Lu Yin. “Will you go to the Cosmic Sea in the future, Lu Yin?”
Lu Yin was surprised. “Why?”
“Just curious,” Xia Luo answered.
Lu Yin thought it over. “It’s possible.”
“If possible, please take me along when you do. I’d love to tag along,” Xia Luo said.
Lu Yin nodded. “Sure. I’ll let you know if it happens.”
That was all Xia Luo wanted, and he walked away as soon as he received an answer from Lu Yin.
Lu Yin had no idea what the other youth was thinking, but Xia Luo had never shown any malicious intent towards Lu Yin nor harmed him in any way. More importantly, Xia Luo also had an ancient surname, but he was able to move around freely in the universe and had even entered Astral-10. That meant that his surname was legal. However, Lu Yin had researched his surname on the network before and had not been able to find any mention of any powerful Xia clan.
But that wasn’t as important, as there were all sorts of organizations in the universe, and Lu Yin had no idea what kind of organizations actually existed in the universe. It would be impossible for him to guess at what Xia Luo’s true identity was.
Lulu had not returned yet, but Lu Yin had already gathered enough money to pay off his debt. He hated owing people money, but since she wasn’t back yet, he could only postpone it for later and return the money whenever he saw her again. It was only fifty star essence, and Lu Yin had recently discovered a new method that made getting rich just too easy.
“I’m back, Old Cai,” Lu Yin respectfully called out as he entered the treasury.
Old Cai looked up. “You’re even better at causing trouble than I thought.”
Lu Yin was confused. “Causing trouble? I didn’t do anything like that.”
“Is that so? Unfortunately for you, I already heard about everything you did in the Northline Flowzone.” Old Cai rolled his eyes.
Lu Yin was confused. “But I didn’t really do much.”
“Do you know what it means for Northgate Taisui to show himself?” Old Cai asked in a laid back manner as he stared intently at Lu Yin. “Unless there’s a specific incident at a specific place, monsters whose power level is over 400,000 like him won’t appear. However, once someone like that appears, they will be able to take complete control of the situation. Within the Northline Flowzone, there’s only a single Northgate Taisui. He’s the pillar of that flowzone, and the moment he appears, even organizations like the Blaze Realm and the Sword Sect have to concede to him, but you managed to make a profit off of him. That’s even more amazing than you taking first in the Tournament of the Strongest.”
Lu Yin had been aware that Northgate Taisui’s appearance was cause for huge commotion, but he had been completely clueless as to just how big the commotion would be. “I just used my connection with the Nightking clan to stop them from threatening me. I didn’t really do much.”
Old Cai seriously replied, “The ‘how’ of the matter isn’t important. What’s important is the outcome. The guts, methods, and connections that you currently have are far above what a student is normally capable of. Right now, you are no longer some mere student in everybody’s eyes. Instead they see you as comparable to geniuses with great connections, like Nightqueen Yanqing. Do you understand what that means?”
Upon seeing Lu Yin’s confused face, Old Cai snickered. “It means that if someone attacks you, they won’t be attacking just you, but also everything that you represent. If someone makes the decision to attack you, you’ll definitely die without any chance of survival. Your enemies will approach the task of killing you with the same mindset they would if they were trying to kill Nightqueen Yanqing. They’ll take all kinds of unexpected variables into consideration.”
Lu Yin frowned. On his way to the Northline Flowzone, he’d been ambushed by a Hunter. Now, if someone attempted to kill him, it wouldn’t just be the average Hunter coming after him. Instead, peak Hunters such as Poison Flame might be sent out. Sending such people would basically guarantee that Lu Yin would not survive and that he would die without ever knowing what had killed him. He wouldn’t even have the chance to leak information about who or what had killed him.
Lu Yin had done everything he could, and he had even used Nightking Yuanjing to establish that he was not someone to be threatened. In other words, he’d actually been the one to push himself into a corner. If anyone chose to attack him now, then it was guaranteed to be fatal.
However, Lu Yin did not regret his actions in the slightest. The power that he had displayed went beyond the protection that his various statuses gave him. After word of what he’d done in the Northline Flowzone spread out, small-scale attacks on him would probably completely stop. There were pros and cons to everything!
Right now, what he lacked was absolute power, such as that rabbit’s lightning.
When he saw Old Cai’s bored face, Lu Yin’s eyes flashed, and he respectfully asked, “I’m from Astral-10. Might I ask, is there any way for the academy to protect me?”
Old Cai’s brows rose. “What do you mean? Are you asking us old folks to be your bodyguards?”
“Of course not. It’s just that this is the treasury, and I’d like to find some items to protect myself.” Lu Yin explained with anticipation.
Old Cai’s eyes narrowed as he licked his lips. “Items, eh? There are some in the treasury, but…” Old Cai started tapping the table with his right hand as his voice drawled off. With each tap, his thumb brushed against his index and middle finger. He’d then tap the table again and repeat the movement. It was so obvious that he wanted money, but he wasn’t doing it in an in-your-face way. Also, the light tapping sound had some sense of unpredictability to it.
Lu Yin stared at Old Cai’s fingers and grew excited; that movement was too cool! He remembered how he had asked for money in the past, but his attempts had all been incredibly uncouth, inelegant, and petty. Old Cai’s movements were incredibly sophisticated, but easily understood without appearing too crude. This way of asking money must have come from years of practice.
Lu Yin stared at him in a daze, already knowing what his greatest profit today was. It was this movement—this almighty movement that blatantly showed that he wanted money.
Old Cai was confused when Lu Yin kept staring at his right hand. He coughed. “Why are you zoning out, kid?”
Lu Yin froze. When he regained his senses, he could not help but say, “There’s so much that I need to learn from you, sir.”
Old Cai was completely lost.
It was only then that Lu Yin realized that Old Cai had been using what had happened in the Northline Flowzone to scare him. His words had all been said for the sake of coaxing money from him. The old man’s desire for money was no less than Lu Yin’s own.
“I managed to earn some money by selling the pike to the Northline Flowzone, and I’d like to donate it to the academy. Would you be willing to accept it, sir?” Lu Yin asked, speaking very carefully, as if he was afraid of destroying the sophisticated aura that Old Cai had established with the way he was asking for money.
Old Cai smiled, and his face became kind as he looked at Lu Yin. “So you’ve grown up now and know that you should repay your school? Good. Very good. Hand it over to me. The academy is planning on taking in new students, so we do need the money.”
Lu Yin grimaced and took out a Mavis Bank card even as he felt his heart bleeding. “There are one million star crystals in this card. Please accept it on behalf of the academy.”
Old Cai’s eyes lit up, but he did not act very excited. He continued to tap the table in a leisurely manner.
It was not enough, that was obviously what his actions meant.
“Is that your grandpa, Seventh Bro? It seems that greed for money must run in your family,” the monkey commented.
Lu Yin grew annoyed and blocked the monkey off before taking out another card. “There’s a million star crystals in this card as well. Please accept it.”
Old Cai started breathing faster as he grinned. However, he didn’t reach out and instead continued staring into the sky.
Lu Yin gulped, his expression becoming even worse than before. This old man must know that he had received a hundred star essence from the Northgate Family. Was this old fart trying to take it all from him? That was a hundred star essence! That was the same as ten million star crystals! What a jerk.
Still, Lu Yin was willing to part with money if it was a good investment. Since this old man had brought up the kind of troubles that Lu Yin might face in the future, that meant that he was already prepared to help him. However, the money that Lu Yin was offering Old Cai simply hadn’t met his expectations yet.
Lu Yin decided to throw caution to the wind. He took out thirty star essence and two million star crystals and offered them to Old Cai.
Old Cai grinned and looked over at Lu Yin in praise. “You’re so loyal! What a good kid you are! The academy did well in nurturing you, and now, you’ve contributed back to the academy. It doesn’t make sense for us to not treat you well. Take this.” Old Cai tossed Lu Yin a strange-looking item. It was a cube about the size of a fist. It had a strange, jade-green bamboo frame, and there was a black metallic ball floating in the middle. The frame had three seals on it, as well as one that was open.
Lu Yin was rather surprised as he held the box. “What is this?”
“That’s called a Money Bomb. Don’t underestimate it, kid. Hold it tightly and open up that side while aiming it at your enemy. That thing has the ability to kill a Hunter in one shot. Of course, that’s only if nothing goes wrong,” Old Cai said in a mysterious manner.
Lu Yin’s pupils shrank as he looked at the item in his hands. “This thing can kill Hunters in one blow?”
Old Cai proudly answered, “But of course! This is a special weapon of my own design, and I’m the only one who makes them in the universe.”
Lu Yin suddenly had a feeling that he had been cheated.
“What, don’t you trust me?” Old Cai became annoyed.
Lu Yin studied the Money Bomb. He really didn’t trust this old man, but that was because this box was supposed to be something that could save his life. He had spent nearly fifty star essence on it. This was all? Lu Yin was a bit annoyed.
However, the money had already been spent, and from what he knew of Old Cai, there was no way he was getting his money back. Lu Yin had no choice but to stow the box away and bitterly say to the old mentor, “Thank you for this gift, sir.”
Old Cai stroked his mustache. “A Money Bomb costs fifty star essence. Two would cost eighty star essence, and three for a hundred… You can have as many as you want. Make sure to buy them from me in the future, kid. Hahaha!”
Lu Yin skulked off in annoyance.
He had used up fifty star essence just like that, and Lu Yin couldn’t help but aggrieved. He had expected that Old Cai would give him something to scare his enemies away, but he’d just gotten was this stupid little box.
As he walked around, Lu Yin felt increasingly frustrated, but he didn’t dare to ask the old man for a refund. Still stewing in anger, he headed to the Sand Ocean.
