“I’m sorry Chief, for bringing an outsider into the sect. I will accept your punishment,” Elder Angio said.
Meng Tianlong waved his hand. “Let’s not talk about this for now. Now that Cheng Yan is dead, the Great Yu Empire will definitely continue to pressure us. How should we handle this?”
Elder Angio frowned. “The Great Yu Empire doesn’t care about Cheng Yan, and he was never more than a messenger for them. Since Cheng Yan is dead, they will definitely send a representative here to personally negotiate with us, and that person will at least be at the Hunter realm.”
“Will Lu Yin come himself?” Meng Tianlong asked worriedly.
This was the key issue currently concerning everyone. Lu Yin was too aggressive, and if he visited the Vastdearth Sect, then he definitely wouldn’t leave until he achieved a satisfactory outcome. However, the Vastdearth Sect was unable to give him the result that he desired, and that could potentially lead to a bloodbath.
“I didn’t expect that a young man who joined the Astral Combat Academy at the same time as my son would be able to cause so much trouble for the Vastdearth Sect,” Meng Tianlong said with a sigh.
A while later, Meng Tianlong arrived at the base of a mountain that lay within the grounds of the Vastdearth Sect. He bowed and respectfully said, “Meng Tianlong requests to meet with the elder.”
There was no response.
Meng Tianlong shouted the same line again, but he still received no response. He sighed reluctantly. “Our sect is facing a major threat. Elder, please help us survive this problem.”
Despite his pleas, there was still no response, and in the end, Meng Tianlong helplessly left the mountain.
This was the place where Meng Qing, the Enlighter realm elder of the Vastdearth Sect, had retreated into isolation. Meng Qing had never appeared since going into isolation a thousand years before, and Meng Tianlong had merely stopped by the mountain to try his luck. As expected, he ended up leaving in disappointment.
***
Lu Yin soon heard the news of Cheng Yan’s death as well as the details leading up to it. The Great Yu Empire had other spies inside of the Vastdearth Sect who had either been bribed or threatened into helping the empire.
Lu Yin immediately tried to contact the Limiteer Mistchild, but she didn’t answer. A few hours later, she contacted Lu Yin herself.
“Your Highness, were you looking for me?” The Limiteer Mistchild appeared on his screen. She looked exhausted, and there was still a slight bit of remnant killing intent in her eyes. Clearly, she had just completed a mission.
“Who else knows about those secrets that you shared with me?” Lu Yin asked right away.
The Mistchild looked confused. “Why do you ask, Your Highness?”
“Haven’t you received the news? Cheng Yan is dead, and his secret was exposed,” Lu Yin told her while carefully observing the Mistchild’s reaction.
She was clearly shocked, and she immediately started checking something. Her expression kept changing, but then, she finally gave a hesitant answer. “I’m sorry, Your Highness. Someone has betrayed the Mafioso Planet and taken away a copy of those records.”
“Who did they deliver those records to?” Lu Yin’s voice turned ice cold.
The Mistchild shook her head. “I’m not sure. The person who betrayed us was a Hunter assassin who was second only to the Hunter Mistchild. I’m not too familiar with them. I’m sorry, Your Highness.”
“Has Mafioso Planet had any dealings with the Daynight clan recently?” Lu Yin asked.
The Mistchild quickly replied, “No, but the mission that I just received was released by someone connected to the Daynight clan.”
Lu Yin thought about it for a moment. She had probably been transferred away on purpose so that the Hunter realm assassin could steal the records and flee. There was also another possibility that this woman was dealing with two parties simultaneously and that she had sold those secrets to both Lu Yin and the Daynight clan.
“Your Highness, are you doubting my loyalty?” The female Mistchild looked at Lu Yin with a pitiful expression.
Lu Yin didn’t answer her and instead ended their call right there. He then contacted another person, Phantom Sting, who was the Hunter Mistchild of Mafioso Planet.
“Who can access the most important records of Mafioso Planet?” Lu Yin asked Phantom Sting.
Phantom Sting answered, “A Mistchild is a status symbol on Mafioso Planet. Even the Sentinel Mistchild would be able to access more information than the average Explorer realm assassin. No matter how powerful an assassin may be, they are still mere assassins with us Mistchildren being the only exceptions.”
“I know that the Mafioso Planet uses metal plates to record secrets related to your clients. Who can access those?” Lu Yin asked.
Phantom Sting fell silent for a moment. “The Mistchildren.”
“Could a Hunter realm assassin access them?” Lu Yin asked.
“They wouldn’t be able to access those records unless they avoided all of the Mistchildren,” Phantom Sting answered.
Lu Yin paused and pondered over this matter for a while. The female Mistchild was the only Mistchild who was currently on Mafioso Planet. The others had either been killed or transferred away. For example, Topmist, the Enlighter Mistchild and the strongest powerhouse from Mafioso Planet, was currently in Ironblood Weave.
Since the Mistchildren weren’t on Mafioso Planet, a Hunter realm assassin would become the most powerful person present, and it was possible that they would be able to steal those records.
After ending his conversation with Phantom Sting, the Limiteer Mistchild contacted Lu Yin once again. Lu Yin didn’t answer her call to show his clear distrust for her.
He wasn’t angry, as the Limiteer Mistchild wasn’t actually his subordinate, and she wouldn’t have technically betrayed him even if she had sold those records to two separate parties. Lu Yin was just demonstrating his attitude in order to pressure her a bit. That way, he would be able to ensure that their future collaborations would go more smoothly.
He instead planned to reach out to Madam Meilan right now so that he could find out what the Daynight clan was planning.
“Student Lu, I have been waiting for your call.” Madam Meilan looked at Lu Yin with a smile.
Lu Yin smirked. “In that case, madam, you should already know why I am contacting you.”
Madam Meilan nodded. “You are most likely looking for the Xun family.”
“The Xun family?” Lu Yin was caught completely off guard; how had the Xun family suddenly come into this conversation?
“The Xun family contacted Elder Qiuyu, who asked us to cooperate with the Xun family and deal with you,” Madam Meilan explained.
“Why would the Xun family want to deal with me?” Lu Yin was confused.
Madam Meilan shook her head. “That, I am uncertain of, and the person who is in charge of the Xun family in the Outerverse is an elder named Xun Qianye. He was left behind in the Outerverse during the contest for pyrolyte ore. Oh, by the way, Xun Qianye had a granddaughter called Xun Meiren, and I believe that you should have met her before.”
Lu Yin narrowed his eyes. “Xun Meiren was killed by a Corpse King in Mingdu. It had nothing to do with me.”
“However, you were the one who initiated the invasion of Mingdu. You are also the one who gathered Xun Meiren, Nightking Changfeng, and the others to participate in that battle. To the Daynight clan, the death of anyone from the Nightking clan is a major incident. Nightking Changfeng and Xun Meiren’s deaths are directly related to you, which is why Elder Qiuyu tasked us with cooperating with the Xun family and dealing with you.”
Lu Yin was curious. “Madam, aren’t you worried that Elder Qiuyu will find out that you told me all that?”
Madam Meilan smiled. “The Daynight clan wishes for the entire universe to know how overbearing we are. So what if I tell you? We want you to die while knowing that we killed you, and this is how most of the Daynight clan’s members feel. Student Lu, what are you going to do?”
“Madam, you don’t seem to have much hostility towards me,” Lu Yin commented.
Madam Meilan answered, “You should know about the internal relations within the Daynight clan. However, I still can’t help you.”
“Does the Xun family really want to deal with me just because of Xun Meiren?” Lu Yin asked. He didn’t believe that one bit. Since the Xun family had been able to take control of a minor Flowzone in the Innerverse, they were definitely very ambitious. Moreover, they were quite secretive, so why would they deal with him just for a Xun Meiren? After seeing Lu Yin’s record, even an Enlighter powerhouse would think twice before trying to deal with him.
“Student Lu, you can contact the Xun family yourself if you don’t believe me, though I’m not sure if your call will connect,” Madam Meilan said. She then passed a contact number to Lu Yin.
Lu Yin thanked Madam Meilan and ended the call. He then contacted the Xun family immediately.
The call went through successfully, and an elder appeared on Lu Yin’s screen. However, he hung up the instant he saw Lu Yin.
Lu Yin’s eyes flashed. It seemed like the Xun family was dead set on becoming enemies with him. Was it really worth it for them to do such a thing for Xun Meiren? Furthermore, Xun Meiren had been killed by a Corpse King, so this line of reasoning felt slightly forced.
However, if the family wasn’t taking action because of Xun Meiren, then why were they opposing him? Even the Daynight clan had chosen to tolerate Lu Yin, so why would the Xun family attack him so boldly? There must be someone supporting them, so who could it be?
Lu Yin considered all of the people who were able to threaten him: there was Nightqueen Qiuyu, Huo Houye, and also Granny Chan. All three of them were Enlighters. The Xun family had already contacted Nightqueen Qiuyu to gain the Daynight clan’s support, and they had probably contacted Huo Houye and Granny Chan as well. Generally, such a secretive family would only take action once they were sufficiently confident. This could be seen by how the elder had ended the call immediately without even saying a single word.
How had Lu Yin offended the Xun family to the point of them being this eager to deal with him?
Lu Yin suddenly thought of his conflict with Xun Jiong when he had been in the Starfall Sea. However, Lu Yin didn’t think that such a minor incident could be the cause of the Xun family’s animosity towards him either as it had been a minor disagreement.
But regardless of why the Xun family was opposing him, the only thing that he could do at the moment was cut his losses.
Lu Yin put a stop to all activities related to the alliance, as the Xun family would not expose the secrets in his hands if he didn’t actually use them. Lu Yin wanted to minimize his losses as much as possible.
That same night, he received a report regarding the Six-Fingered Tribe of Lars Weave. Luke Shamus’s secret had been exposed. Now, everyone knew that the current chief of the Six-Fingered Tribe, Bach Shamus, was actually Luke Shamus’s son and that Luke Shamus had assassinated the previous chief.
This secret shocked all of Lars Weave, and the entire Six-Fingered Tribe became infuriated. Everyone wanted Luke Shamus to take responsibility for his actions, and Bach Shamus’s position as tribal chief also became contested.
A few hours after the news was leaked, Luke Shamus committed suicide. Before dying, he admitted that he had assassinated the former chief of the tribe, but he denied his relationship with Bach Shamus. His death only momentarily halted the intense debate.
At the same time, Luke Shamus’s collaborations with the Great Yu Empire were also exposed. This caused the Six-Fingered Tribe to be furious and wary of the Great Yu Empire, and many of the tribe members thought that Luke Shamus had given the Great Yu Empire monetary benefits. Some even thought that Luke Shamus had delivered the ancestral grounds over to Lu Yin, which infuriated them.
Fortunately, Bach Shamus had already been the chief for several years, and thus, he wielded a certain amount of authority. He managed to suppress the rumors, as otherwise, the alliance would absolutely fall apart, and in the worst case, war might break out.
It was too late for Lu Yin to do anything by the time he received this news. Although he was furious, he didn’t reveal his anger.
He would definitely remember this huge gift that the Xun family had prepared for him.
However, this wasn’t even the biggest present that the Xun family had readied for Lu Yin. The following day, Lu Yin saw Elder Lohar appear on the screen of his gadget screen, and he knew that he was in deep trouble. He had used the Hall of Honor’s influence to initiate the Great Eastern Alliance. That would be fine so long as nobody brought it up as Elder Lohar would not care since such an alliance would benefit the Outerverse. However, it wasn’t good that someone had exposed Lu Yin. He was not allowed to use the Hall of Honor’s name without prior approval.
This was the greatest weapon that the Xun family had prepared to deal with Lu Yin.
