The current universe was divided into four simple divisions that consisted of the Human Domain, the Astral Beast Domain, the Technocracy, and the Astral Wilderness.
No one knew how large the Astral Wilderness was, or whether there were any other civilizations that were more advanced than the currently known ones. Of course, the civilizations from the three established domains were actively searching the Astral Wilderness for other civilizations.
The Astral Wilderness was like a black fog that covered the entire universe, and all forms of intelligent life wanted to remove this layer of fog, but they did not know how big it was or what dangers it might contain. There was even a possibility that the three large domains combined only amounted to a hundredth, a thousandth, or even less of the Astral Wilderness.
The universe followed the law of the jungle. Every intelligent civilizations could be seen as a hunter, and they preyed upon other civilizations in the darkness of the jungle
In the Astral Wilderness, humans were at a disadvantage. They could only explore a small portion of the wilderness, but they had already made countless astounding discoveries. One example was the substance called pyrolyte. It was a rare substance, but when found, there would be a substantial amount of it in each location. It was incredibly destructive, and just one gram had a destruction potential that rivaled an attack with a power level of 10,000. Once a large amount of pyrolyte was set off, the unleashed destruction was inestimable. This was a strategic military resource, and also something that all powers would fight over once they learned about it.
However, the amount of pyrolyte that had been discovered was too little. Even though humans had come up with various methods to find more, there was a limit to how much area they could cover. No power would give up on any pyrolyte, and they were certain that, in some region of the Astral Wilderness, there should be an extremely large amount of pyrolyte. Additionally, this substance seemed to only be found in a specific area of the Astral Wilderness which lay close to the Outerverse’s Northcastle Weave.
Northcastle Weave was not famous in the Human Domain, but that did not mean that it was unknown. It was one of the seventy two weaves of the Outerverse and it bordered the Astral Wilderness and lay to the north of Frostwave Weave.
In the dark sky, two enormous astral beasts calmly moved through it. One looked like a praying mantis and the other a python. Atop the head of each beast stood a person, and they were both wearing uniforms that did not belong to Frostwave Weave. They proudly looked ahead at a sorry figure that was attempting to escape.
“There’s no need to struggle. Your entire empire will be destroyed, so there’s no reason to leave just you alone alive. On account of your power level of 60,000, Commander Anfield can make an exception and allow you to join my Second Grade Hall. Why are you still not showing some gratitude?” The man atop the mantis beast head shouted, the sound waves from his voice spreading across the universe.
Ahead of them, the pathetic escaping figure had a venomous gaze. “Second Grade Hall, I, Ding Xing, will one day avenge the hateful act of destroying my empire!”
“What a joke! You wouldn’t be able to deal with my Second Grade Hall even if your entire Northcastle Weave united together, let alone you by yourself, a puny Cruiser of Northcastle Weave. Since you can’t appreciate our kindness, then just die!” The man exerted some strength through his leg, unleashing a strange ripple. At the same time, beneath him, the giant mantis beast raised its sickle-shaped forelegs and sliced out. This attack caused sharp winds to tear through this area of outer space. Its might surpassed a power level of 50,000 and was enough to even tear apart a planet, which caused an eruption of light and an enormous shockwave.
A planetary eruption was a significant event, and Ding Xing borrowed the power of the explosion to charge forward with renewed determination, even as he spat out blood.
The sickles of the mantis beast danced about and tore through all of the ripples coming from the explosion. Then, the beast charged towards Ding Xing as it raised its forelegs and sliced down.
Ding Xing’s eyes narrowed, as he finally realized that this Second Grade Hall’s expert had been toying with him all along. With the speed of this mantis, there was no way for him to dodge its attacks. “I can’t accept this! My Greatsword Dynasty cannot be destroyed like this!”
The Second Grade Hall male merely sneered in response. “Insignificant creatures!”
The sickles sliced downwards and were right about to land on Ding Xing’s head. However, at an unknown point in time, grains of sand had appeared in the heavens, floating in front of Ding Xing’s eyes. His face was ashen; was he dead? Was this a hallucination? Was there sand in the underworld?
Bang!
An enormous impact sent both the mantis and Ding Xing flying backwards. Fine grains of sand were now floating between the two parties.
Ding Xing had survived this desperate situation, though he was still dazed at what was happening. Meanwhile, the Second Grade Hall expert who had attacked fell sullen and looked to his right. In that direction, there was a floating silent figure with a single hand raised. The sand had come from this person, as it was his innate gift.
“Who are you? How dare you meddle in the affairs of the Second Grade Hall!” the expert atop the mantis coldly questioned. In the next moment, the giant python beast appeared, and the man standing atop its head also stared coldly towards the right.
The sand separated and then gradually shrank to merge back into the figure’s body. The newly arrived person looked up. “Great Yu Empire, Eighth Captain of the Thirteen Imperial Squadrons, Shalosh.”
Ding Xing was ecstatic since the Thirteen Imperial Squadrons had appeared. Right, he was already in Frostwave Weave.
The two experts from the Second Grade Hall exchanged glances, though they remained arrogant. “Someone from Frostwave Weave? Let me give you a word of advice: scram! We are from the Innerverse’s Beast Tamers Flowzone’s Second Grade Hall, and you are not qualified to interfere in our affairs.”
Shalosh’s face sank. “This region belongs to the Great Yu Empire, not the Beast Tamers Flowzone.”
The man atop the python sneered. “You still dare to talk back, huh? It looks like the Innerverse has not shown its might to the Outerverse in a long time since even these fringe natives dare to oppose us! Fine, I’ll just slaughter you, bring your head to your so-called ‘Great Yu Empire,’ and show it to the person in power. We’ll see if they have the gall to take revenge for you!” Then, he gave an order to the python, which snarled at Shalosh.
Shalosh’s hand spun and the sand particles split from one into two, then into four, until it grew into a sandstorm that enveloped the entire area and swallowed the expert from the Second Grade Hall.
This was no ordinary sandstorm, but rather one that contained Shalosh’s star energy. Every grain of sand in it was powerful enough to pierce through an Explorer’s body. This technique had been developed when Undying Yushan personally coached Shalosh, and it had become the captain’s trump card.
The man atop the python’s expression dramatically changed when he sensed the terror of this sandstorm, and he hurriedly retreated. However, the mantis beast charged forward and lashed out with its sickles in an attempt to cut through the sandstorm. However, when the sickles moved through the sandstorm, they raised sparks that tore through the void, but they could not slice through the sand.
Such a result astounded the two beast tamers; when had Cruisers in the Outerverse become strong enough that they could face off against the two of them by themselves?
No one was able to understand the power of the captains of the Thirteen Imperial Squadrons. They had inherited Undying Yushan’s dominating determination and ambition to conquer the surrounding weaves. Their power levels were not that impressive, but each captain had been personally chosen by Undying Yushan. He had roamed the Innerverse in years long gone and had even reached the top thirty of the Top 100 Rankings. Such a person’s insight could not be measured by the Outerverse standards. Also, Undying Yushan had passed down battle techniques inherited from his Yu family down to the captains.
It could be said that the Thirteen Imperial Squadrons captains had transcended the common standards for the Outerverse’s powerhouses and were capable of rivaling the Innerverse’s elites. Of course, if not for the Neohuman Alliance’s intervention in the past, then Jue Lang, Di Ou, Bertson, Felut, captains of the Third, Fourth, Seventh and Tenth Squadrons, respectively, would not have died.
The blind monk had been able to suppress the Ross Empire’s Hunters all by himself, and just this single occurrence illustrated the terror of these captains.
The Second Grade Hall sat on the lowest rung of the Beast Tamers Flowzone, as there was the First Grade Hall and the most powerful Divine Grade Hall above them. Cruisers from the Second Grade Hall could only be at the general standard of the Innerverse, not the standard of the Innerverse’s elites.
The two Second Grade Hall experts glanced at each other and then split up to attack Shalosh from two different directions. He remained indifferent; one hand spun as the sandstorm split from one into two, one of which then enveloped himself and Ding Xing within it. The other then swept outwards in all directions to encompass a larger area, confronting both the mantis and the python.
The two astral beasts simultaneously howled in anguish before backing away and staring at Shalosh in fear.
“This is the territory of the Frostwave Weave’s Great Yu Empire. Leave immediately.” Shalosh’s tone was cold, and there was killing intent radiating from his eyes. The giant sandstorm made for an intimidating image that was exceptionally terrifying.
At this point, Shalosh alone was enough to cause the nearby planets to tremble.
The two Second Grade Hall experts could not accept such results, and they looked at each other before looking at Shalosh. “Great Yu Empire, our Second Grade Hall will remember the name!”
With that, they both turned to leave.
Ding Xing relaxed. There was a trickle of blood flowing down from the corner of his mouth. However, he disregarded his own injuries and instead hurriedly moved in front of Shalosh to respectfully bow to the captain. “Ding Xing of the Greatsword Dynasty pleads for an audience with the Great Yu Empire’s emperor, Undying Yushan.”
Shalosh frowned. “His Imperial Majesty has already passed away. He has been replaced by the Fifth Princess, Wendy Yushan as well as the Royal Regent, Lu Yin.”
Ding Xing was shocked. “His Imperial Majesty has passed away?”
Shalosh nodded.
Ding Xing was shocked as he began reminiscing about that assertive emperor. When he had coincidentally crossed paths with the emperor in the past, those eyes definitely had not only held Frostwave Weave within them, but they had also included his Northcastle Weave in their sights. It had precisely been because of that that Northcastle Weave’s powers had never established friendly relationships with Frostwave Weave; they had been afraid of Undying Yushan. They had never imagined that on the day they came seeking help from that overbearing emperor, he would have already died.
Since Northcastle Weave was located quite close to the Astral Wilderness, and since the weave’s central powers were located in the northern section of the weave, they had ended up developing a bustling network connected to the Astral Wilderness. However, this had also led them to gradually neglect the nearby weaves’ situation. It had reached the point where they no longer sought to discover what was happening in the universe. To a certain degree, they had been sealed, as they had not even heard about Undying Yushan’s death in a nearby weave. If not for this unexpected encounter, the weave would have continued to seal itself off.
“I wish to seek an audience with the Fifth Princess, Wendy Yushan,” Ding Xing said.
Shalosh replied, “Her Highness is in Adonis Weave’s East San Dios, though I can try to help you contact her.”
He immediately activated his gadget.
Lu Yin was still in the distant Starfall Sea and was completely unaware of the developments in the Great Yu Empire. From the moment he left that separate dimension with the golden ocean, Lu Yin had instructed Huo Qingshan and the others to not contact him unless there was something vitally important.
To them, the developments in Northcastle Weave were still considered “nothing important,” or at least, not as important as the matter of the Great Yu Empire unifying Frostwave Weave.
However, nobody knew that the current Northcastle Weave had already undergone a complete change. On the surface, the same powers still were in place and maintained control, and the Greatsword Dynasty was still there on the star charts. However, in reality, all of these native powers had already vanished. All of these changes stemmed from… pyrolyte.
A few days passed, but Michelle and the others still had not left the Sea King’s dome. There had been a delay in the cycle of merchant ships going back and forth between the entrance of the Starfall Sea and the Sea King’s Dome due to an order by the Sea King’s Dome. This was a regulation and not related to wealth, so for once, Lulu could not pay her way out of this situation and leave early.
Fortunately, before they could leave, an astounding battle rocked both the Sea King’s Dome and the universe: Mu Rong vs. Ling Que.
The Sea King’s Dome forbade fighting, but not in all areas. Some spaces had been specifically reinforced so that even Hunters who could tear through the void could not cause too much damage. Such areas permitted fighting.
Mu Rong and Ling Que stood beneath a cliff and faced each other. From a distance, countless people from the Sea King’s Dome surrounded the area as they watched on in excitement. Some people in the audience even started recording the confrontation.
