One, two, three days passed quietly… Even after five days had passed, Lu Yin still remained trapped within the seal.
Ming Zhaoshu had gathered many people to comb through the imperial library, searching for a way to break the seal, but all of their effort was for naught.
Ming Zhaoshu could not continue to stay by Lu Yin’s side, however, and he left after two full days passed. There were many issues that required his immediate attention from the various departments such as the military, administration, agriculture, and so on. On top of that, the five sealing planets were periodically being attacked as well.
While Ming Zhaoshu had been the one who had contacted the space station and requested that they attack the five sealing planets, he knew that their attack on the five sealing planets was very real. The outsiders wanted to remove the seal and drag Shenwu Continent out into the universe as soon as possible.
However, there was no way that that would happen. Ming Zhaoshu was absolutely confident about that.
Over the span of a few days, Ming Zhaoshu survived seven assassination attempts. All of them were organized and carried out by either Ming Zhaotian’s supporters or cultivators who did not want to cooperate with outside cultivators for one reason or another. Even the survivors of the evil sects had taken part in the assassination attempts.
Most people on Shenwu Continent had no desire to work with the outsider cultivators. They held a deep grudge against the outside universe, and in their eyes, Ming Zhaoshu was a traitor to their continent.
However, killing Ming Zhaoshu was an impossible task. His domain was powerful enough to even envelope the surrounding void, and nothing could escape from his perception.
It took very little time for Ming Yan to find out about the recent turn of events. She was suddenly thrust into a new position as the princess of the Shenwu Empire. However, she was more worried about Lu Yin at the moment. If Ming Zhaoshu had not sent his men to watch over his daughter, then she might have headed out to the capital long ago.
Seven days passed, and during this time, Lu Yin had made several attempts to unlock this seal, but he had only discovered that he had no idea where to even start. He had tried to lockbreak one of the columns, but he had been attacked by the invisible danger zone emitted by the sourcebox within it. While he could perceive the danger, dodging it while simultaneously lockbreaking it wasn’t quite possible for him just yet.
He wasn’t even at the Perceptive Intermediate stage, but he was already attempting to lockbreak something at the Boundless Advanced level. On top of that, even if he managed to succeed, it didn’t necessarily mean that he would be able to comprehend how the array formation worked. There was no way for him to succeed.
“Forget it, I’ll just leave. I’d need to study this for at least a few years before I’d be able to make any sense of it,” Lu Yin mumbled to himself. Then, he protected his head with his arms and charged through the seal and to the outside. There was a massive boom, and a shockwave sent him reeling back, but he did not fight it. Instead, he used this momentum to charge towards the opposite side of the seal, only to be knocked back once again.
He repeated this same routine multiple times, constantly bouncing off of the seal like a rubber ball and pin-balling around the enclosed space. However, every time he was repelled, his momentum increased until, with an explosive speed, he managed to blast a hole in the seal. As everybody outside watched on, utterly confused, he smashed into the ruins of the palace.
Everything hurt. That was the only sensation that Lu Yin was aware of at the moment. The universal armor had blocked the invisible attacks from the sourceboxes, but the shockwaves had still been transmitted through the armor and affected him. While the damage wasn’t too high, he still felt as if he’d been beaten up. His head in particular had been affected, and he felt incredibly sluggish. He couldn’t even remember how many times he’d bounced around the seal.
Bigbeard and a few others hurried over and helped him up. Lu Yin stored his universal armor away and shook his arms. “I finally got out.”
Bigbeard looked at Lu Yin. “The fact that you managed to get out at all is amazing, Lu Yin.”
“Yeah! We all saw how powerful that seal was. It was terrifying! You’re really amazing.”
“Yeah, amazing.”
…
Lu Yin was surprised. “What are you all doing here?”
“We’ve been waiting for you! We came here together, so we need to leave together,” Bigbeard stated matter-of-factly.
Lu Yin raised a brow. It was quite surprising to see this guy’s attitude change so quickly. Beneath that brutish exterior, he seemed to be a rather sensitive person.
“Nightking Changfeng and Beauty Xun are both dead. About fifteen of us died in the battle,” someone mentioned.
Lu Yin nodded. “I understand. It’s an honor to die in a fight against the Neohuman Alliance.”
They were already dead, so he didn’t mind complimenting them.
“Yes, an honor. An honor!” Everybody quickly piped up. They had followed Nightking Changfeng in the past, but now, they would follow Lu Yin.
Lu Yin glanced around. “Where’s Ming Zhaoshu?”
“He left. What an ungrateful person! You helped him take care of things here in the capital, but he didn’t even wait for you to get out!” the bearded man exclaimed in annoyance.
Lu Yin waved a hand. “Enough. You all can head out now. I’m going back to Shanhai City.”
“Let’s go together! We’re leaving too.”
“Yeah, we can…”
Lu Yin was speechless. He was actually planning on visiting the Tower of Resonating Light and investigating what had happened there. “I have some private matters that I need to take care of, and it’ll take me some time to finish. You all can head out first.”
Those people glanced at each other and then left after bidding farewell to Lu Yin.
The biggest secret of Shenwu Continent was the five planets, and the secret of the five planets was likely hidden beneath that tower.
Shenwu Continent had a large number of sourceboxes, and this likely had to do with the bottom of the tower as well.
After Lu Yin managed to escape from everyone, he headed straight towards the tower.
The Tower of Resonating Light had been sealed off and was currently being guarded by a Martial Sovereign. However, if Lu Yin wanted to get inside, then nobody would be able to notice.
With his domain enveloping the entire area, Lu Yin quickly arrived at the bottom of the tower. The lab equipment and corpses left behind by the Neohuman Alliance had all been cleaned up, and even with his domain, Lu Yin could not find any way to continue exploring further underground.
Ming Zhaoshu had said that there was a huge space further underground, but Lu Yin couldn’t find a way in.
He thought it over, and just to be careful, he put his universal armor on and punched the floor. The entire tower swayed slightly, which startled all of the guards. The Martial Sovereign watching over the tower immediately charged straight to the bottom of the tower.
Upon seeing that it was Lu Yin making the commotion, the Martial Sovereign hesitated for a moment. He’d seen Lu Yin standing at Ming Zhaoshu’s side before, and more importantly, he’d seen this person fighting during the battle that had enveloped all of Mingdu. Lu Yin had battled against a monster high in the sky, and the terrifying undulations from their fight had been deeply embedded in this Martial Sovereign’s memory. “Excuse me, sir. The tower has been sealed off, and His Majesty has ordered that nobody is allowed to enter.”
“I’m an exception. You may report this matter to the Reverent King and say that Lu Yin has entered the tower,” Lu Yin stated.
The Martial Sovereign thought it over and realized that he had no choice but to leave. He knew that he was no match for Lu Yin, and so, the only thing that he could do was report this matter to Ming Zhaoshu.
Lu Yin stared at the ground with a deep frown.
His punch had been quite powerful. The ground had not given way as the force had been absorbed by something a hundred meters below where he stood. It felt as if there was a seal there.
He was already growing numb to such a situation. Why were there so many seals on Shenwu Continent? This place was basically made of seal after seal after seal. What if the continent itself had been sealed off? Maybe it wasn’t actually a parallel universe, but rather a space that had been sealed off, and Ming Taizhong had just been lucky enough to undo the seal, causing Shenwu Continent to appear.
It seemed like a viable possibility. Lu Yin punched the floor once more, but he was met with the same results.
This seal was similar to the one that had trapped the trial takers two years before, though its strength was on a different scale. Lu Yin had the feeling that this seal was no weaker than the one in the imperial palace. It was no wonder why Ming Zhaoshu had not been able to get into the hidden underground space.
Lu Yin wandered around at the bottom floor for a while, punching the ground periodically, but he was able to sense the seal every time. The sealed off space seemed to be huge, but Lu Yin could tell that it was round with an open space inside of it.
What could be in that hidden space? Lu Yin was very curious.
He hadn’t been let into Jupiter back in Earth’s solar system, and now, this hidden space in Shenwu Continent wasn’t letting him in either. He was still far too weak.
Before much more time passed, he left Mingdu and headed back to Shanhai City.
Some days later, Ming Zhaoshu officially declared himself the emperor in Shanhai City and ascended to the throne as the emperor of the Shenwu Empire. He also announced that he would join the Great Eastern Alliance. This made the empire the first organization to join the alliance since Lu Yin had first come up with it. Shenwu Continent was quite powerful too, which was one of the reasons why he had come back to this place.
Now that he’d achieved his goal, there was no need for Lu Yin to stay here any longer.
He spent a few more days with Ming Yan, hoping to rekindle the feelings that they had once held for each other.
While the two of them were still drawn to each other, there was an invisible wall between them now that neither Lu Yin nor Ming Yan knew how to get past. When it came to feelings, they were both completely ignorant.
The unfamiliarity that had developed over time could only be overcome with time.
Lu Yin and Ming Zhaoshu discussed the youth’s situation, and the latter decided to send Ming Yan to the Great Yu Empire on Zenyu Star as a diplomatic envoy representing the continent and have her take part in the discussions concerning the creation of the Great Eastern Alliance.
Ming Yan had no objections to this proposal.
Lu Yin was delighted, and he immediately rushed back to the Great Yu Empire. He had his people write up an official alliance contract, and for long as it was effective, Ming Yan would be allowed to travel to the Great Yu Empire. He shamelessly arranged for the foreign envoy of Shenwu Continent to reside inside King Zishan’s palace, which left Ming Zhaoshu at a loss for how to react.
If it weren’t for Ming Zhaoshu succeeding the throne and his status changing, then he would have immediately taken Ming Yan away.
Bigbeard and the rest of the foreign cultivators stayed in the Shenwu Empire, and they became the key point of contact between the continent and the outside universe.
Gazing behind at where Shenwu Continent lay hidden in space, Lu Yin wondered when he would be able to return. The Great Yu Empire would soon send people over to Ming Zhaoshu, but the alliance contract had not been fully settled yet. It was a very complicated task that would affect how the other weaves entered the alliance. While this matter was urgent, Lu Yin also had to be prudent, and the only thing that he could do at this moment was wait. Thankfully, it would not take too long.
While Shenwu Continent wasn’t weak, it was very special. The laws and regulations there were different, and that meant that it was necessary to use different methods compared to when the alliance dealt with other organizations. Power alone could not solve everything since humans were emotional creatures.
“Welcome back, Student Lu.” Madam Meilen smiled at Lu Yin.
The blind monk walked over and quietly stood behind Lu Yin.
Lu Yin glanced back at the five planets and then looked at Madam Meilen. “You’ve worked hard, Madam.”
“You’re too polite. You were in Shenwu Continent for less than a month, but you’ve already taken control of the situation. Your methods are superb,” Madam Meilen exclaimed in praise.
Lu Yin shrugged. “We encountered Corpse Kings, or else it would have been difficult to legally enter the capital. I definitely have to thank the trial takers. By the way, Arikar is pretty pitiful. If possible, please help him.”
Madam Meilen smiled and acknowledged his request.
“The Shenwu Empire has already joined the Great Eastern Alliance that the Great Yu Empire has established. The Daynight clan won’t be welcome here for much longer. I won’t chase you away now, but this is a gentle reminder,” Lu Yin said, giving her a warning as well as a threat. Despite the Innerverse and Outerverse being separated, the Daynight clan still had a sizable amount of power left in the Outerverse. He did not want the Daynight clan to meddle with the Shenwu Empire.
Madam Meilen answered, “We are here on the orders of Nightqueen Qiuyu, so we cannot leave.”
Lu Yin nodded, and after chatting with her for a while, left the space station along with the blind monk.
Madam Meilen seemed to be deep in thought, but there was also a hint of anticipation in her eyes. The Great Eastern Alliance?
“Did anything happen at the space station while I was on Shenwu Continent?” Lu Yin asked as he moved to the hangar where his spacecraft had been stored.
The blind monk simply answered, “No.”
Lu Yin grunted in acknowledgement and boarded the spacecraft with the older man before setting a course for the Great Yu Empire.
