Bai Xue was enraged by Lu Yin’s actions. She believed that the scoundrel had been looking for revenge ever since she’d stopped him from seeing what Qingyu had left behind, and had decided to enact his vengeance in this disgraceful manner. She wanted to go look for him and discuss things, but knew that the rumors would only burn brighter if she met him. In the end, she could only tolerate it for now.
Another newcomer descended upon Beijing the next afternoon, the air distorting around him as his powerful star energy swept over the capital’s skies. Zhang Dingtian and the rest rushed out to look up; this was Yan Gang.
“Give me what Qingyu left behind in the capital,” he ordered, gazing down coldly.
Zhang Dingtian gripped his blade and rose to the sky, “Who are you?”
“Yan Gang, from the Fireforge Planet.” The words Fireforge Planet were uttered with an indifferent pride, looking upon Zhang Dingtian with disdain.
It was Gerlaine that cried out from below, “The Fireforge Planet?!”
“What about it?” Bai Xue was puzzled.
“That’s one of the biggest powers in the Frostwave Weave, just as famous as the Great Yu Empire. The entire planet is covered in raging flames, and every being there is very powerful. Their fire-related battle techniques are unmatched.”
Jeraldine added on, “Normal fire battle techniques are useless against them, they’ve evolved to be near-immune.”
“Anyone from the Fireforge Planet who can arrive at the Great Yu Empire is a Melder at the least; this guy should be stronger than Munoor,” Gerlaine remarked.
Bai Xue looked up at Zhang Dingtian with a worried expression; each enemy that came was stronger than the last.
“Let Qingyu come and collect it himself if he wants it,” Zhang Dingtian replied, gripping his new warblade tightly. As his own had been destroyed by Munoor, he had taken to using Qingyu’s.
“A maggot thinks it deserves to talk to me,” Yan Gang sneered, sending a wave of scorching heat down with a flourish. Zhang Dingtian’s eyes went wide as he dodged with Roving Step, charging over and slashing out with his blade. The sword’s body buzzed as it melded with the Shockwave Palm; this was the same attack that had allowed him to wound Munoor.
With a realmbreaker’s might added onto the powerful battle technique, even Yan Gang was astonished. He clapped both hands together and formed a spear of flames, shooting it towards Zhang Dingtian. A rain of fire fell upon the capital as blade and spear collided, igniting panic as it burnt the ground.
Zhang Dingtian was swept away by the spear, crashing down heavily after a single exchange. He simply was no match, but the youth still stared in amazement from up above, “Few Sentinels can survive that spear of mine. You’re pretty good, you can follow me.”
Bai Xue, Zhou Shan, and the rest glared at Yan Gang with irrepressible fury. These trainees always looked down upon earthlings, acting like following them was a blessing. Unfortunately, this was the law of the jungle.
“Is that an innate gift of Fire?” Jeraldine was shocked.
Gerlaine replied, “No, everyone from the Fireforge Planet has a mutated body that can produce flames of high temperatures. I guess you can consider it a sort of innate gift, but not in the same way. This person is really powerful.”
With Lu Yin still fainted, those that opposed Yan Gang were simply powerless. The youth remained arrogant and pointed down with his spear of flames, “Give me what I want, or I’ll burn you all to a crisp.”
“Give him the stone,” Zhang Dingtian spat out blood, leaving everyone aggrieved. Only Gerlaine’s eyebrows lifted up. What stone?
It was at that point that a green figure flashed in the distance, vanishing and reappearing behind Yan Gang, “You’re not bad, help me test the White Flash.”
“What?” Yan Gang’s gaze shrank, a loud explosion ringing out before he could even react. Everyone present stared in shock as a giant pit appeared outside the capital, the conceited man thrown to the ground like a dead dog. Up in the sky, the girl in green clenched her fist and muttered something to herself with an excited look on her face.
“You slut! I’ll tear you apart!” Yan Gang suddenly raged, charging out as flames started spewing from his body like protective armor. His spear of flames pierced through the air towards her.
“Perfect!” the girl squealed with excitement, her body disappearing without warning before Yan Gang spat out a mouthful of blood. His body snapped into an angle at the waist from an invisible blow, sending him crashing into the ground once more. The girl reappeared and stared down, obviously pleased with herself.
The audience was shocked by the huge discrepancy between the two. This second attack made it obvious not only to the onlookers, but now even Yan Gang could see the difference in strength. He climbed back out of the crater and looked at the girl above in shock, “Who are you?”
She lifted her chin, “Lulu Mavis.”
Upon hearing this name, Yan Gang, Gerlaine, Jeraldine, and the rest of the trainees were shocked. Yan Gang asked once more, “Mavis? That Mavis?”
She smiled, “Is there another in the universe?”
Zhang Dingtian, Bai Xue and the other earthlings were puzzled, Mavis? What did that mean?
Yan Gang immediately extinguished the flames around his body and looked up with a serious expression, his voice now filled with respect, “Is this your territory?”
Lulu didn’t answer, simply crooking her finger instead, “Let’s continue; I want to try the power of the White Flash.”
Yan Gang smiled bitterly, “I didn’t come here to fight. Qingyu has captured Huo Xiaoling, the heir of the Huo Family. He said that he will only release her if the object he left in the city is returned to him.”
The girl frowned, “What does that have to do with me? Now are you going to continue or no?”
Yan Gang stood there calmly, with no intention of fighting. His demeanor had changed completely from the moment he’d arrived, and Lulu also lost interest and returned to the city after a twitch of her mouth. He watched her leave before finally rising back into the sky, calling out icily, “Did no one hear what I just said? Who’s in charge here? Send them out to speak with me.”
Zhou Shan immediately headed to look for Lu Yin within the city. The stone belonged to China and thus should have been controlled by Zhang Dingtian, but Lu Yin was the one who’d obviously gained something from it. The Bladesage couldn’t make a decision about this by himself; although some were reluctant to acknowledge it, Lu Yin was now the actual ruler in Beijing.
“Jeraldine, what is Mavis?” Bai Xue suddenly asked.
Jeraldine and Gerlaine looked at each other before the former answered, “The universe is unfathomably vast and holds countless empires and powerful organizations. These great powers each have their own methods of transactions and currency laws, but the Mavis Bank issues the only universally recognized currency. They have branches everywhere in the universe where one can exchange credits; they’re a financial powerhouse.”
No further words were needed; the mere phrase “only universally recognized currency” was sufficient to show people what the Mavis name was worth. Earth was insignificant in the face of the greater universe, but this family owned a bank capable of issuing the only universal currency. That required terrifying power; it was no wonder Yan Gang changed his attitude so drastically. If that girl in green really was from there, her influence completely overshadowed that of Huo Xiaoling, Raas, Jenny, and the rest combined.
Within the city, Lu Yin was still laying on the ground with his eyes closed. His brows were tightly knitted, both fists tightly clenched, and his entire body was drenched in sweat. He was dreaming of a snow-white finger that crushed the void, travelling across time to arrive before him. It stretched past countless stars, approaching closer and closer… “HOW AUDACIOUS!”
He sprang up within his residence, panting for breath after the roar. Eyes glazed over without focus, taking a while to regain some sense of normalcy. He was vigorously shaking his head in confusion when Zhou Shan arrived, “Lu Yin! What happened?”
Lu Yin got up from the ground, looking exhausted and beaten, “It’s nothing, why are you here?”
Zhou Shan was unconvinced and carefully looked over Lu Yin, who looked like something the cat had dragged in, “You sure you’re alright?”
Lu Yin shook his head, “I’m fine.”
“Someone named Yan Gang is here and claims to be representing Qingyu. He wants to take away that stone.”
Lu Yin’s face changed and he nodded, “Alright, let’s go meet him.”
Zhou Shan grunted, “Do you want to change first?”
“I’ll change when I return,” Lu Yin replied and flew out.
Along the way, Zhou Shan described how Lulu had beaten Yan Gang, and the mention of her full name left Lu Yin shocked. He recalled that the entire universe only had one family named Mavis, the controllers of the Mavis Bank. He had wanted to open an account there once, but simply hadn’t qualified. Even the average wealthy family didn’t have the right to transact with them; if she was from there, her background was terrifying.
