This time, the guns’ rune lines numbered close to Karthika’s. Karthika had been a powerful Enlighter, but most of his power had been embodied in his tamed beast. Despite that being the case, he had still been a true Enlighter.
This gun was already powerful enough to threaten someone at the level of an Enlighter. However, for it to reach the level of the upgraded Money Bomb where it could kill an Enlighter in one shot, further upgrades were required.
The gun had already been upgraded ten times, and the eleventh would cost Lu Yin more than 4,000 star essence. Lu Yin’s blood froze when he realized this, as the expenditure was becoming far too great. 4,000 star essence was the equivalent of forty billion star crystals, and that was at the lowest exchange rate. It was practically impossible to exchange forty billion star crystals for 4,000 star essence.
Such an extravagant amount, when changed into Universal Currency, would be enough to support the entire Great Yu Empire’s military budget for a whole year. In other words, it meant that Lu Yin had just casually spent a year’s worth of the Great Yu Empire’s military budget.
“It’s a good thing that I didn’t place much hope in making money off of the Great Yu Empire. Even utilizing every single cent within the Great Yu Empire wouldn’t be enough for a single upgrade,” Lu Yin mused to himself.
As he looked at the gun’s rune lines, Lu Yin’s only thought was that it was still not enough and that he needed to upgrade it even further. Lu Yin gritted his teeth and tossed more than 6,000 star essence in. Even after this upgrade, its rune lines still weren’t enough. At this point, each attack from the gun could threaten powerful Enlighters, but they still would not be enough to kill in one shot.
On the thirteenth upgrade, Lu Yin had to use more than ten thousand star essence, which was enough to make him start feeling the strain. The gun’s rune lines were now extremely numerous, and even if Lu Yin didn’t channel star energy into his eyes to observe the gun, simply holding it was enough to frighten him. The force behind each bullet was now the equivalent of a fully upgraded Money Bomb. If another Enlighter like Karthika was caught off guard, then such an attack would be enough to kill them.
This power was well worth what he had spent. For a Money Bomb to be upgraded to this level, it needed 3,300 star essence. This gun’s twenty attacks were the equivalent of twenty Money Bombs. If one wanted to upgrade that many Money Bombs to this standard, then it would take more than 60,000 star essence. Upgrading the gun had still cost him 27,000 star essence, but it had saved him a great deal.
Without any more money to conduct any further upgrades, Lu Yin found himself speechless once again. He had become destitute yet again with only about 2,000 star essence left to his name.
When had having 2,000 star essence felt like being poor? Lu Yin could remember when he had robbed the Blackbeard Pirates in the past and had made off with an even smaller sum. However, when it came to the item he wanted to upgrade, this amount of star essence was indeed insufficient.
Having said that, the amount that Lu Yin had left should be sufficient to upgrade his formcast model. When he had upgraded his four-stage formcast model to a five-stage formcast model, he had only spent 30,000 star crystals.
As he thought about this, Lu Yin pulled out his formcast model and placed it on the upper screen and threw out another hundred odd star essence. This was the equivalent of over one thousand star crystals, so it should be enough.
However, reality ended up being the complete opposite of what Lu Yin had expected. The formcast model merely dipped down a tiny bit. There was a barely noticeable change.
Lu Yin’s eyes opened wide. How is this possible? Is it really that hard to improve it from a five-stage model to a six-stage one?
Hai Qiqi had mentioned before that her six-stage formcast model had been created by the Sea King himself. Back then, Lu Yin had already guessed that perhaps only Envoys could create a six-stage formcast model. But even after considering that, the jump in cost to upgrade the formcast model was a bit too much for him to accept. He had thrown out nearly thirty times what it had cost to upgrade his formcast model last time, but it had barely moved at all. Could it be that a six-stage formcast model and a five-stage one were fundamentally different?
It was something that only an Envoy could create, so if a five-stage formcast model was already rare among the various powerhouses, then a six-stage formcast model must be an exclusive item that countless powerhouses could never even get their hands on.
Lu Yin suddenly thought about a seven-stage formcast model. When he considered it now, he suddenly understood why Hai Qiqi’s reaction had been so exaggerated back then. It was possible that even the entire universe might not contain a seven-stage formcast model.
He put the formcast model back. He didn’t have enough money at the moment to upgrade it, and he would need at least 10,000 star essence to upgrade it. This was a scary thought.
After spending so much money upgrading the gun, the universal armor, and the Money Bomb, Lu Yin felt a huge confidence boost, and he suddenly had the urge to challenge an Enlighter. It was about time that he dealt with that hidden danger.
He walked out of King Zishan’s residence, and after deciding where to head to, he stepped out. After one step, his body was floating in midair. After taking another step, he found himself outside the Huo family’s house.
Outside the Huo family’s house, Lu Yin coincidentally saw Huo Xiaoling and her younger sister, Huo Xiaoxiao. There was also a young man there speaking politely to Huo Xiaoling. Huo Xiaoling’s expressions showed that the young man was bothering her, but Lu Yin’s sudden appearance scared all three of them.
“Who are you?” The young man cautiously looked at Lu Yin. He waved his hand, and a dozen cultivators charged forth to encircle Lu Yin.
Lu Yin raised his brows, and he looked at Huo Xiaoling.
Huo Xiaoling stared at Lu Yin, flabbergasted. However, she did not say a single word, and instead, she simply pulled Huo Xiaoxiao back.
Lu Yin felt that this was strange.
The young man stared at Lu Yin. “Kid, who are you? Don’t you know that flying isn’t allowed in the imperial capital?”
Lu Yin’s glance slid past the young man, and he directly spoke to Huo Xiaoling. “I’m looking for your father.”
Huo Xiaoling did not respond, and the young man became angry. “Kid, even I haven’t met Uncle Huo. Who are you to…” But before he was done speaking, a cultivator behind him pulled him back and whispered something into his ear. The young man’s expression drastically changed, and his face was plastered with fear when he looked back at Lu Yin. He slowly bowed and said, “Your Highness, Royal Regent.”
Lu Yin waved his arm. “Leave.”
The young man felt like he had just received a royal pardon and hurriedly left with the other cultivators.
Huo Xiaoling was disappointed. She took a few steps forward and spoke in a low voice, “Your Highness, please follow me into the house.”
Lu Yin nodded his head.
Huo Xiaoling held onto Huo Xiaoxiao, but the little girl looked at Lu Yin curiously with a pair of particularly bright eyes.
As Lu Yin walked along by Huo Xiaoling’s side, he entered the Huo mansion. “Was that guy trying to hit on you?”
Huo Xiaoling seemed nervous, and she had actually deliberately not mentioned Lu Yin’s name in hopes that the man would offend Lu Yin and be punished. It could be said that she had tried to use Lu Yin, so she replied in a soft voice, “I am sorry, Your Highness.”
Lu Yin laughed. “It’s fine. Let’s keep going.”
The minute they stepped into the Huo home, Huo Qingshan had sensed Lu Yin’s presence. He had a puzzled look on his face as Lu Yin had always summoned the Hunter and had never personally visited the Huo home.
The Lu Yin at this moment was completely unlike the Lu Yin from before. When Undying Yushan had passed away and the different factions had been fighting over control, Huo Qingshan had still held the idea that the leader of the Great Yu Empire needed to have good relations with the Huo family. He had already had a good feeling about Lu Yin back then, and he had even wanted to betroth Huo Xiaoling to him. He had wanted to do that to strengthen their ties, but now, such thoughts were nothing more than a mere fantasy. Lu Yin was someone capable of killing Enlighters, and Huo Qingshan’s strength was meaningless compared to Lu Yin’s.
To the current Great Yu Empire, Lu Yin was the equivalent of an Enlighter.
When Lu Yin barely stepped into the mansion, Huo Qingshan had already appeared and bowed to Lu Yin, but he was hurriedly waved off by Lu Yin. “Uncle Huo, I am sorry to disturb you. I hope that I didn’t catch you at a bad time.”
Huo Qingshan laughed. “It is our pleasure to welcome you to the Huo home, Your Highness.”
Lu Yin nodded his head as he observed his surroundings with a smile.
Huo Qingshan instructed Huo Xiaoling to take Huo Xiaoxiao away as he waited by Lu Yin’s side. He made sure to stay one step behind as he asked, “Your Highness, is there a purpose for your visit today?”
Lu Yin laughed. “Nothing much, Uncle Huo. I just have one question.”
“Please, speak your mind, Your Highness,” Huo Qingshan hurriedly asked in a courteous tone. He was not the only one fawning over Lu Yin; throughout the entire Great Yu Empire, no matter if it was a Cruiser or even a Hunter realm powerhouse, they were all no more than ants in Lu Yin’s eyes. This had been established as fact by Karthika’s death, and the experts of the empire held no advantages over Lu Yin. He could no longer be considered their junior.
Lu Yin raised a hand and used his star energy to sketch out an image. It was an azure colored globe with a pair of wings attached to it.
The second he saw this symbol, Huo Qingshan’s face changed drastically. Lu Yin suddenly took out his gun and pointed it at Huo Qingshan’s head as he asked, “Uncle Huo, tell me. What does this symbol stand for?”
Huo Qingshan stared blankly at Lu Yin. “Your Highness, I don’t know the answer to your question.”
“Is that so?” Lu Yin’s gaze turned icy. “If I am capable of killing Karthika, then that means that I can kill you as well. I remember that the Huo family doesn’t have many members, so if you die, there won’t be much of your household left. Do you think that I’ll let them live?”
Huo Qingshan’s face paled, and he could sense the absolute power of that gun. With the gun pointed at him, he felt like he was frozen in an ice block. This gun was absolutely capable of killing him. After giving the matter some thought, Huo Qingshan finally sighed. “Your Highness, how did you learn of this symbol?”
Lu Yin’s eyes turned cold. “I comprehended a domain.”
Huo Qingshan felt his body twitch, and he replied in disappointment, “Oh yes, a domain reveals everything. My apologies for underestimating you, Your Highness.”
Lu Yin did not speak a single word as he continued to cautiously stare at Huo Qingshan. With his current abilities, even Huo Qingshan would not be able to deal with him easily. He didn’t even need to put on the universal armor to threaten Huo Qingshan.
“This symbol represents the Hidden Earth Society. It represents Earth,” Huo Qingshan explained calmly.
Lu Yin was shocked. He had thought of many possible things that the image could represent, and he had been worried that the symbol might represent a powerful force from the Innerverse. He had even thought that the Huo clan might be a force sent by the Innerverse to spy on the Great Yu Empire. However, he had never guessed that the image represented Earth.
An azure globe. That was right. Earth was an azure sphere.
“Your Highness, I don’t know why you changed your surname to Lu, as it’s one of the primeval surnames. Do you know the significance of the primeval surnames?” Huo Qingshan looked solemnly at Lu Yin as he spoke.
Lu Yin’s brow furrowed. “What does this have to do with primeval surnames?”
Huo Qingshan explained, “Earth is home to many people with primeval surnames, and even though they are all legitimate, people with such surnames are still tied down by many of the ancient treaties.”
“Our Huo clan comes from Earth.”
Lu Yin was not surprised. Since the symbol represented Earth, Huo Qingshan being an Earthling was not surprising at all.
“It’s been a long time, but in the very distant past—maybe ten thousand years or maybe even millions of year ago—probably after one of the ancient civilizations on Earth was destroyed. Either way, this image came into existence then. What this symbol represents is an ancient treaty.” Huo Qingshan looked at Lu Yin solemnly before he continued, saying, “The Primeval Surname Alliance.”
Lu Yin’s expression changed, and he stared blankly at Huo Qingshan.
“The civilizations on Earth have been destroyed many times, but no one knows why. This continued on until one generation produced a cultivator who accidentally discovered this symbol on Jupiter. The cultivator also discovered the meaning behind this symbol, and that cultivator went into hiding shortly after. When he appeared again, his generation’s civilization had already been destroyed.”
Huo Qingshan paused again before continuing. “Even though that civilization was destroyed, the burning heart of humankind was not destroyed. Things merely reverted back to how they were before, and those same surnames persisted on and did not disappear. It is almost as if the surnames were branded into the blood—into the soul! This continued on until the primeval surnames appeared once again, and with those surnames came cultivators with powerful innate gifts. Many years would pass after that, but then Earth’s civilization would be destroyed once again. It has continued on in this vicious cycle.”
