Rocky Auna could not help himself from continuing to speak further. “If things continue on like this, our Auna family’s foundation that’s been built up over so many years will be washed away. It’s clear to everyone that our Auna family is being gradually sidelined. In the past, there were visitors here every single day, but now, no one comes. They’re all afraid to have any dealings with our Auna family. Patriarch, why has this happened?”
Xueshan Auna’s eyes flickered. Why? Of course he knew why. Before the Royal Regent had taken his current position of power, the Auna family’s attitude towards him had flip-flopped multiple times. Although they had never completely turned on Lu Yin, they had not been decisive enough when dealing with the matter regarding Jenny Auna. Although the matter had been resolved and they had given their all to support Lu Yin when he rose to power, the scars of the past were difficult to forget.
The Auna family had managed to survive so far, and Xueshan Auna had even joined the Lu Ministry of Defense since their family had managed to adjust their attitude towards Lu Yin fast enough. Otherwise, the family might have even ceased to exist.
Still, to the Royal Regent, the Auna family was no longer considered reliable.
“Is it all related to Jenny?” Rocky Auna suddenly said.
Xueshan Auna glared at him sharply. “Jenny’s matter has been completely concluded, and she isn’t even allowed to exit our front door. What more do you want?”
Rocky Auna silently hung his head.
Before the Royal Regent assumed power, nobody had cared much about Jenny Auna’s behavior. However, after he assumed control of the Great Yu Empire, and especially when his influence began to spread throughout the Outerverse, dissent towards Jenny Auna had risen among the members of the Auna family. Many people had secretly mentioned that if she had married the Royal Regent when they were first engaged, the Auna family would presently be the most influential family in the entire Great Eastern Alliance and that they would be enjoying even greater authority than what they had ever wielded in the Great Yu Empire.
These discussions had grown more frequent until they had eventually reached Xueshan Auna’s ears, which made him furious. He had immediately executed several people, and no one in the Auna family had dared to discuss the matter any further.
Now that Rocky Auna brought the matter up again, Xueshan Auna subconsciously recalled all those rumors, and his mood immediately became very poor.
“Where’s Millie?” Xueshan Auna suddenly asked.
Rocky Auna’s face grew unnatural. “She went out to play.”
Xueshan Auna snorted and stared into Rocky Auna’s eyes. “Haven’t I told you to have Millie stay at home as much as possible? The family will arrange for her to meet with the Royal Regent and hope that she catches his eye. However, you still allowed her to go out and play? What if something happens to her?!”
Rocky Auna was in agony, but he could only nod helplessly. Millie was his daughter, and she was still rather young.
“I will request an audience with the Royal Regent within the next few days, and will attempt to change our Auna family’s current plight. Maintain control of our family during this time, and do not allow anyone to cause trouble,” Xueshan Auna ordered.
Rocky Auna nodded. “I understand, Patriarch.”
“Head on out then,” Xueshan Auna said lethargically.
Rocky Auna stood up, but suddenly, the chair that he had just been sitting on shattered as a shockwave burst forth from underground, shooting towards the sky. The energy from the shockwave froze the shattered chair.
Rocky Auna was astonished. “Patriarch!”
Xueshan Auna instantly rose to his feet to stare at the ground. “Not good! That person has awakened!”
He then pressed both of his hands to the floor, causing solid ice to spread out as he attempted to seal the raging energy away. However, the underground cold seeping out could not be suppressed by Xueshan Auna’s ice seal, and the chill started to spread through his ice, and it even caused Xueshan Auna’s hands to become rigid and start to pale.
Xueshan Auna was stunned at this turn of events, and he loudly shouted, “Get the family out of here! Hurry!”
Rocky Auna raced to send all of the Auna family members out.
The ground froze rapidly, and Xueshan Auna’s sturdy ice shattered within mere moments before white frost rushed through the cracks in his seal. These white crystals were cold enough to even cause the void to freeze.
Lu Yin was in King Zishan’s palace when he felt the temperature suddenly plummet. He stepped out of the palace and looked in the direction of the Auna family. He then quickly moved forward and disappeared.
At this same time, many experts from all across Zenyu Star started to congregate towards the Auna family’s estate.
With a crack, the ground beneath the Auna family home completely shattered. Xueshan Auna’s face was solemn, as both his arms had been frozen through.
A few members of the Auna family were frozen in place, and they looked on in despair as the chilliness continued to spread across their bodies and completely envelop them.
In a room within the mansion, Jenny Auna stared out of her window with a calm demeanor even as the frost spread beneath her feet and started to climb upwards.
Xueshan Auna’s eyes went wide, as he could not stop this frost. Not even his power was able to penetrate this frost, and once it covered the rest of his family, they would all die without question. The Auna family would be finished.
At this moment, Lu Yin arrived in the sky above the Auna family’s property, and he looked down to see that the Auna family’s large holding was being enveloped by an icy energy that formed a wreath of five interlocking plum blossoms. His eyes flashed, and he quickly recalled that when Firesmelt Planet had been annihilated in the past, someone called Yan Yan had survived the planet’s destruction by sealing himself within ice. This person had been someone from the Royal Frost Continent.
Because this person had an extremely dense ice energy, it had been arranged for his body to be kept by the Auna family. Still, nobody had ever expected the man to bring such disaster upon the family.
Suddenly, Lu Yin exchanged glances with someone from the Auna family. Those eyes were just as numb and dead as ever, and they looked like they belonged to a corpse. It was Jenny Auna.
When he saw her gaze, Lu Yin suddenly felt her suffering, as well as a certain sense that she would be better off dead than alive. Even the frost that was about to envelop her was not enough to affect her expression of despair.
Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed, and he stopped hesitating. He quickly put on his universal armor and charged downwards to crash into the ground, where the chilliness that he encountered was severe enough to leave even him trembling. What’s more, his armor began to freeze over, and it seemed that he was going to be sealed in ice.
Lu Yin released a shout as his seven lined battle force burst forth and shattered the creeping ice. He then raised a hand, and his Fatesand rushed in front of him as he charged underground. It took almost no time for Yan Yan’s body to appear before Lu Yin, and Yan Yan was still sealed within a layer of ice. However, the ice was nearly depleted, and the moment Lu Yin appeared in front of Yan Yan, the man’s eyes snapped open as the icy energy in the air instantly formed into a spear in his hand that he hurled at Lu Yin.
At that moment, Lu Yin could feel a terrifyingly intense cold that even froze the void, and it caused his limbs to go numb. Everything within his vision had turned into five rings of snowflakes.
Lu Yin did not hesitate to tap out with a finger, and his eyes glazed over as his Dream Finger froze the void before transcending space to approach the ice spear and shatter it. Lu Yin’s finger continued moving on past that, aimed at Yan Yan’s forehead. Lu Yin held nothing back in this finger, as he had unleashed it with killing intent.
Yan Yan’s eyes narrowed, and his expression suddenly changed to become much more solemn, almost as if he had suddenly become someone else entirely. He raised a hand. “Iceburst Flames.” A dense blue ice that was enveloped by a red fire flickered as it charged forth and collided with Lu Yin’s Dream Finger.
The Dream Finger struck the Iceburst Flames, and in the blink of an eye, a terrifying pressure wave burst forth that caused the void to distort. Lu Yin realized the level of crisis that he had suddenly encountered, and he subconsciously waved his left hand to activate the Yu Secret Art. The secret technique redirected the force from the collision of the two battle techniques into the sky, aimed at a gap between the three continental rings that circled Zenyu Star. The energy then tore through the void and traveled some distance into outer space before exploding. Countless spatial cracks radiated outwards from the explosion, and an unbelievable inferno of frost and flame accompanied the explosion.
Although Lu Yin’s Dream Finger had collided against the Iceburst Flames, the power that had converged onto that solitary finger had not been completely dispersed yet, and it heavily injured Yan Yan. However, due to the man’s Iceburst Flames, he had managed to divert the finger away from his forehead, and Lu Yin had only succeeded in injuring the man’s shoulder.
An intense pain exploded out from Lu Yin’s finger, and he curled his index finger as he stared at Yan Yan.
Half of Yan Yan’s body was now covered with blood, and he was lying on the ground as he looked at Lu Yin in a daze. It appeared as though he was not entirely sure of what had just happened.
Xueshan Auna charged into the underground area at this moment, and he rushed over when he saw Lu Yin. “Your Highness! Are you alright?”
Lu Yin waved a hand as he stared at Yan Yan. “What’s your name?”
Yan Yan looked at Lu Yin, confused and still dazed. He didn’t possess even a single trace of the imposing might he had radiated when he unleashed those terrifying Iceburst Flames. It should be known that Lu Yin had subconsciously felt like he had encountered a crisis, even after he had donned his universal armor. According to the rune lines that he had observed, that attack had been able to rival one from an ordinary Enlighter, but Yan Yan was merely a Cruiser. How had he been able to unleash such power? Lu Yin could not understand this matter.
“Can’t you speak?” Lu Yin asked another question.
Yan Yan held his injured shoulder as he glanced around the underground space. “Where am I?”
Xueshan Aun growled, “This is the Great Yu Empire.”
Yan Yan looked like he was in a daze as he stared at Lu Yin. “Great Yu Empire? Where’s that?”
Xueshan Auna snorted. “You don’t know where the Great Yu Empire is located? Don’t try to tell me that you lost your memory.”
Yan Yan’s head dropped, and he looked like he was in pain. He glanced at his shoulder and removed his hand as he looked at the blood covering his hand. “How did I get injured?”
He then grabbed his forehead and groaned in agony as Xueshan Auna stepped in front of Lu Yin with a cautious attitude.
Lu Yin stared at Yan Yan in amazement, as the amount of rune lines that he saw on this person were constantly fluctuating. At times, there would be so few that it was only comparable to an Explorer’s, but the next moment, the amount would explode and reach an astonishing amount that could rival an Enlighter’s. It was truly bizarre.
“Your Highness, to prevent any unexpected events, your subject will just kill him,” Xueshan Auna suggested.
Lu Yin waved a hand. “Let’s wait and see how things play out.”
After a while, Yan Yan’s agony started to fade, and his rune lines stabilized at approximately the level of a Cruiser, but they were very close to the level of a Hunter.
“What about Firesmelt Planet? Where’s Firesmelt Planet?” Yan Yan looked up at Xueshan Auna.
Xueshan Auna frowned. “The Firesmelt Planet has been destroyed by the Great Yu Empire. You are now a captive of our Great Yu Empire.”
Yan Yan bent over and thought for a while. After a moment, he started to breathe heavily. “I remember now, Firesmelt Planet was destroyed by Yan Wujiu. He destroyed it to temporarily boost his own power. But then why am I still alive?”
Lu Yin pushed Xueshan Auna aside and moved in front of Yan Yan. “We saved you.”
Yan Yan was confused by this. “Why did you save me?”
“You can treat it as a coincidence, or maybe as fate. Now that Firesmelt Planet has been destroyed, I’ll give you a choice: stay here in the Great Yu Empire and work for me. How about it?” Lu Yin asked.
Xueshan Auna’s eyes flashed as he watched Yan Yan.
Yan Yan was still a bit dazed. “I’m from Firesmelt Planet, but you’d still trust me?”
Lu Yin laughed. “Firesmelt Planet is already gone. Even if you were loyal to Yan Wujiu, he’s also dead.”
Yan Yan smiled bitterly. “That’s right, he’s already dead.”
“Stay here and join the Seventh Imperial Squadron as a temporary captain. That’ll be your role.”
“What if I refuse?” Yan Yan asked.
Lu Yin’s expression instantly turned to ice. “Then you can either remain as a prisoner or just die.”
Yan Yan nodded silently. He endured the throbbing pain in his shoulder and bowed to Lu Yin. “Yan Yan wishes to follow you.”
At the present moment, the Great Yu Empire was far too lacking in talented powerhouses, as not even the positions of the Thirteen Imperial Squadrons’ captains had been filled out. Once Yan Yan’s power was completely released, he would be no weaker than Aden. He was a powerhouse, and now that Firesmelt Planet was completely gone, Lu Yin had no fear of being betrayed by this man.
And even if he did betray them, so what? There was no place in the Outerverse where Yan Yan could hide from the empire. Lu Yin was absolutely confident about that.
In reality, deep in Lu Yin’s heart, he felt that the greatest value that Yan Yan held was not as a potential captain of the Thirteen Imperial Squadrons, but rather his connection to the Royal Frost Continent. This person had been severely injured, and his memories clearly had some holes in them. Lu Yin would find a way to cure the man and then use him to further his understanding of the Royal Frost Continent. The Innerverse and Outerverse would eventually be rejoined, and so long as the Innerverse was not conquered by the Sixth Mainland by then, Lu Yin would eventually have to face the suppression of various forces from the Innerverse, so it would be wise for him to start making preparations as soon as possible.
