Darkstar Gorge had recently organized some of the other Outerverse powers to resist the formation of the Great Eastern Alliance, but the great power itself had been plucked off just like that. Although its destruction was carried out by the Hall of Honor, it had still been a result of Lu Yin’s actions. Darkstar Gorge had been an enormous power that had existed for countless years, but one youth’s actions had exterminated like a lightning strike from the blue. This sudden change had completely terrified the Vastdearth Sect’s elders, and it wasn’t just them who were intimidated. In fact, all of the allied forces that had been led by Darkstar Gorge were scared.
Nobody knew who Lu Yin’s next target might be. Since the Innerverse and Outerverse were currently separated, the Outerverse was responsible for its own order and governing. At this moment, Lu Yin was the person who was determining the overall order of things.
“Since the gathered elders have all agreed, I as the sect master will not oppose this decision. As such, our Vastdearth Sect will confirm our participation in the Great Eastern Alliance,” Meng Tianlong said.
The various elders revealed ugly expressions. Some looked bitter while others appeared helpless.
Bard Weave was rather close to Darkmist Weave, and it also bordered the Astral River. Additionally, it had 103 filaments and was not too far away from Frostwave Weave.
Evenground Palace was the strongest power within Bard Weave. Back when Lu Yin had first returned to the Great Yu Empire after participating in the Outerverse’s trial, the Great Yu Empire had faced the Ross Empire’s aggression. At that time, Lu Yin had used the promise that he had received from Evenground Palace’s Young Mistress Doro to have Evenground Palace speak out in defense of the Great Yu Empire, which had allowed the empire to resist the Ross Empire’s attack. Also, that had not been the only instance where Evenground Palace had had contact with the Great Yu Empire.
Young Mistress Doro had also reached out to Lu Yin once before.
At first, when the Great Yu Empire had expressed its desire to establish the Great Eastern Alliance, Evenground Palace had not agreed to join the alliance. What’s more, it had even conveniently followed along under the leadership of Darkstar Gorge to oppose the creation of the Great Eastern Alliance. Nobody had expected that Darkstar Gorge would be extinguished in the blink of an eye, and the members of Evenground Palace were now all acting frantic.
“Mistress, please make a final decision as soon as possible.” More than ten women were seated in the main hall of Evenground Palace. Evenground Palace had some similarities to the Innerverse’s Frostmoon Sect, but there was a key difference: the Frostmoon Sect exclusively accepted women whereas Evenground Palace merely had an overwhelming majority of females, though there were also a few men present. Still, both the sect’s Mistress and Young Mistress were female.
Evenground Palace Mistress Mu Nichang was beautiful, and her expression remained calm and cool even in these difficult circumstances, giving off the impression that she considered herself to be above the common populace. “Send Doro in.”
The more than ten elders present exchanged glances.
“Mistress, Doro may be the Young Mistress, but she is not yet qualified to participate in such discussions,” one elder said.
Mu Nichang replied, “Doro has been in touch with Lu Yin before.”
The other elders no longer opposed her request.
Soon after, Doro stepped into the hall. Lu Yin had met this girl once before, but she had not left a deep impression on him. They had met back at the Tower of Resonating Light, but too many trial takers had been trapped there, and although she was indeed one of the people who Lu Yin had saved, she had merely been one of the crowd, and her appearance was not one that had stood out.
“Doro, tell us your impressions of Lu Yin,” Mu Nichang said calmly.
All of the elders looked over at Doro.
Doro respectfully answered, “Your disciple has been in contact with Lu Yin only once, but just that gave me a deep impression of him. To describe him in one sentence…” She paused for a moment to consider her answer before continuing. “He is someone who will act only for his own benefits.”
“What do you mean?” one elder asked.
Doro explained her thoughts, saying, “This person places his personal gains above all else. Back at the Tower of Resonating Light, an entire group of trial takers was trapped, but Lu Yin made everyone sign promissory notes before he agreed to rescue us. Your disciple believes that if the group back then had been unwilling to sign those notes, he definitely would not have saved us.”
“Any other thoughts?” Mu Nichang asked.
Doro thought for another moment and then replied, “He acts ruthlessly, and while he is extraordinarily talented, he is a bit lawless.”
The crowd of elders fell silent, as this description matched up with their understanding of Lu Yin. If not for his extraordinarily high talent, then how could he have become the strongest Limiteer in the universe who could completely crush all his peers in both the Innerverse and the Outerverse. If not for his ruthless behavior, then how would he dare to kill Enlighters? If he was not lawless and out of control, then why would he try to establish the Great Eastern Alliance?
From their perspectives, Lu Yin was someone who possessed extraordinary talent, but at the same time, was a mad junior who had ruthless methods. It just so happened that this insane person possessed an ability that resonated with his ambition, which was most distressing.
“Alright, you may leave,” Mu Nichang said.
Doro respectfully withdrew from the hall.
“Elders, any thoughts?” Mu Nichang asked.
The person to the sect master’s immediate left was an elder called Meiya. “Mistress, Darkstar Gorge has been destroyed, and I do not wish for our Evenground Palace to follow in their footsteps.”
“Elder Meiya, that’s a bit exaggerated. Darkstar Gorge was destroyed because Puyu cooperated with the Neohuman Alliance. Our Evenground Palace does not have any such associations with the Neohuman Alliance,” an elder countered.
Elder Meiya sneered. “Puyu cooperated with the Neohuman Alliance? Let me ask everyone here: who seriously believes that?”
The crowd of elders exchanged glances, and everyone helplessly shook their heads. Nobody believed such a thing, and the Hall of Honor also had not found any evidence to support the allegations that Darkstar Gorge had colluded with the Neohuman Alliance. Even still, Darkstar Gorge had been completely eliminated.
“From what I know, Lu Yin made contact with that Corpse King called Vulture in the past, and that was even a few years ago. Everyone, Lu Yin already knew that Vulture was a Corpse King many years ago, but he never exposed him. This person’s schemes are deep beyond measure, and he was able to use just Vulture to destroy all of Darkstar Gorge. Nobody knows if he has similar chess pieces planted in other organizations that will allow him to topple an entire force,” Elder Meiya said.
After they heard these words, the rest of the crowd felt a chill run down their spines.
Mu Nichang’s eyes flashed. “Does that mean that Elder Meiya favors joining the Great Eastern Alliance?”
“Yes, I agree,” Elder Meiya said gloomily.
Mu Nichang turned to the others. “What about the other elders?”
The other elders looked at each other and then also replied helplessly, “Agreed,”
“Agreed…”
Nobody opposed the suggestion, as the more they came to understand Lu Yin, the more afraid they became of him. This person could not be measured by the standards they normally used for other juniors, as he was a genius who transcended time.
“Very well, since all of the elders have agreed that we should join the alliance, then as the Sect Mistress, I hereby formally announce that Evenground Palace will join the Great Eastern Alliance. Send someone to immediately contact the Great Yu Empire,” Mu Nichang declared.
***
In Flaxen Weave, the strongest power there was the Tri-Banner Federation. The weave bordered the Lars Weave and was situated to its west.
When the news of Darkstar Gorge being destroyed spread to the Flaxen Weave, the former chairman of the Tri-Banner Federation, Gibu, gathered a group of people and approached the area where the people from Northline Flowzone were staying. They then requested to have an audience with the person in charge of Northline Flowzone’s matters in the weave. However, as soon as they arrived, they were informed that everyone from Northline Flowzone had left and that they had also taken the Tri-Banner Federation’s star crystals, star essence, and many other resources with them.
Many members of the Tri-Banner Federation angrily condemned the people of the Northline Flowzone, but they also did not dare to give chase. Despite everything, Northline Flowzone was an Innerverse power, and they also had Granny Chan with them, who was an Enlighter. The people of the Tri-Banner Federation would not dare to make enemies with such a group even if they borrowed courage from someone else.
“Chairman Gibu, since Northline Flowzone’s people have all left, our Tri-Banner Federation hopes that you will reassume the position of chairman and negotiate with the Great Yu Empire.”
“That’s right, Lord Gibu, please start negotiations with the Great Yu Empire.”
…
Gibu looked at the crowd with satisfaction and smiled. “Everyone, the Northline Flowzone’s people have all left, and our Tri-Banner Federation has now regained its freedom, which means that everything is once again democratic. Since everyone wishes for me, Gibu, to negotiate with the Great Yu Empire, then we will first need to vote on our federation’s position. Are we going to join the Great Eastern Alliance or not?”
The gathered members did not hesitate at all. “Yes, we will definitely join them.”
“Definitely.”
“We will join.”
Compared to the other powers such as Evenground Palace or the Vastdearth Sect, the Tri-Banner Federation was much more relaxed, and the members did not really place much importance on concepts like honor or shame. After all, they all came from different places and had only gathered together, so their sense of belonging to the federation was not as strong as what sect members would feel. Surviving was more important than anything else to these people.
Darkstar Gorge had been wiped out, and these people did not want to follow in their footsteps.
Gibu acknowledged their words, which made things too easy for him. He had long since made contact with the Great Yu Empire’s people as his own secrets were held by the Great Yu Empire. Although it was a cooperation born from intimidation, as long as he was able to convince the Tri-Banner Federation to join the alliance, the position of the Tri-Banner Federation Chairman would continue to belong to him. This had been personally promised by the Great Yu Empire’s Royal Regent, and Gibu could already see himself sitting back in the seat of the chairman and the associated scene.
***
On the Great Yu Empire’s Zenyu Star, within King Zishan’s palace, En Ya urgently sought an audience with Lu Yin.
Lu Yin had been in the middle of a discussion with Yue Xianzi. He had originally intended to have this woman teach lessons to the empire’s elites at the Yu Academy, but she was completely unwilling, as she looked down on the Great Yu Empire’s “elites.”
This was not the first time such a matter had occurred, as even Wendy Yushan looked down upon the youths in the Yu Academy. It was very normal for the heirs of the Innerverse’s organizations to have such attitudes, but it still left Lu Yin unhappy. From his perspective, this woman still had not fixed her attitude.
“Have you forgotten that the Innerverse and Outerverse are separated and that you can only stay in the Great Yu Empire for now?” Lu Yin said solemnly.
Yue Xianzi snorted, still as arrogant as a peacock. “When my sect ordered me to go to San Dios and look for you, it was only done to maintain relations between us. Don’t think that I am actually forced to rely on you.”
“You sect is gone, gone forever. You’re just another independent cultivator now.” Lu Yin was not in a good mood.
Yue Xianzi raised her head high. “Our Frostmoon Sect has roots in the Outerverse. I’m no independent cultivator.”
Lu Yin’s head ached.
Kayze saw that En Ya had arrived, and he was about to speak when he suddenly heard Lu Yin’s words in his ear. He gestured for En Ya to enter the palace.
En Ya hurriedly entered King Zishan’s palace and spoke to Lu Yin. “Your Highness, good news! The Vastdearth Sect, Evenground Palace, Tri-Banner Federation, and other various powers, both great and small, have all contacted the empire at the same time. They have each indicated their willingness to join the Great Eastern Alliance.”
Lu Yin was delighted. “Really? That’s great!”
En Ya smiled. “Your Highness indeed has his ways. You were right—these powers are just sheep. Once we took care of the wolf leading them, the rest fell into line to be slaughtered.”
Lu Yin shook his head. “Not anymore. Now, we are the wolves, and we won’t slaughter them, haha!”
“Your Highness is right.” En Ya smiled, and her emotions turned a bit complicated as she looked at Lu Yin at this moment. She could see Shui Chuanxiao’s shadow on Lu Yin.
“Did they all contact the Empire at the same time?” Lu Yin changed topics.
En Ya nodded. “Yes, almost at the exact same time.”
“Could that actually be a coincidence?” Lu Yin muttered.
“These powers must have contacted each other first, which led to this timing,” En Ya replied.
Lu Yin frowned. “That won’t do. Think of a way to break them apart. I do not wish to have an alliance within our alliance.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” En Ya acknowledged his orders.
“Also, since they’ve joined the Great Eastern Alliance, get them to send a list of all the resources that are within their weaves. Send a copy of the list to Ban Jiu to find out what can be used. Of course, our Frostwave Weave’s list of resources must be sent to the other parties as well,” Lu Yin said.
Yue Xianzi rolled her eyes. These two had just mentioned they would not slaughter the other powers, but they were already discussing breaking them apart and getting lists of their resources. If this was not slaughtering them, then was there really a need for such urgency?
“Yes. May I ask, Your Highness, when will the Alliance Conference begin?” En Ya asked.
Lu Yin muttered, “What do you think?”
En Ya hesitated as she looked over at Yue Xianzi.
Lu Yin casually replied, “Don’t mind her, she’s just an independent cultivator.”
“I’m not an independent cultivator!” Yue Xianzi retorted.
