In Darkmist Weave, above the primitive planet, Lu Yin reappeared.
“Your Highness, five Explorers have already died,” Yan Yan reported.
Since he was killing one person every hour, and after including the person who had died in the beginning, it meant that four hours had passed since Lu Yin had given the order. Old Gu De had pleaded to speak with Lu Yin on multiple occasions during this time, but Lu Yin had disregarded him every time. However, he had always been watching as Old Gu De fell into the pits of despair.
As soon as he saw Lu Yin appear, Old Gu De shouted out, “What the hell do you want? Any grudge can be settled, and I have accumulated many treasures over the years, enough to buy all of our lives!”
“Then let’s see them,” Lu Yin said calmly.
Old Gu De grew cautious. “Let us out first.”
Lu Yin did not bother uttering another word. and he simply left. No matter how desperately Old Gu De shouted, it was all for naught.
Very soon, two more hours passed, and another two Explorers were killed.
There had been seventeen Explorers initially under Old Gu De, and seven of them had already died, causing the remaining few to start panicking. They all looked at Old Gu De with strange expressions, as they had evidently been dragged into this mess because of him.
Lu Yin reappeared, and he only said the same thing as before: he ordered Old Gu De to reveal all of his various treasures that he had gathered.
Old Gu De had spent many years at the Astral River, and he was as wily as a fox. Thus, there was no way he would trust Lu Yin so easily. “What exactly is your grudge against me?”
Lu Yin looked at Old Gu De. “After all these years, do you remember how many enemies you have made?”
Old Gu De frowned, and he stared at Lu Yin. “If you tell me, then I’ll at least know what hatred you have against me, and what was so important that it motivated you to leave Frostwave Weave to come after me.”
Lu Yin smiled and then left. He couldn’t be bothered to speak any further with the older man.
Time passed quickly, and the Explorers on the spacecraft steadily died one after another. The spacecraft was shrouded with a desperate atmosphere, and the looks directed towards Old Gu De had become even stranger than before.
Finally, twelve hours had passed, and thirteen Explorers were dead. One Explorer flew out and shouted at Yan Yan, “Release us! We’re willing to hand over everything we own. Spare us!”
Yan Yan coldly answered, “Old Gu De’s belongings must be handed over.”
The Explorer seemed to despair at these words. “Old Gu De is a Hunter, and we have no choice in this matter.”
Yan Yan did not reply again.
Lu Yin stood within his spacecraft and stared at the frozen planet, his gaze calm.
Behind him, the female Mistchild was rather curious by how the events had developed. “Your Highness, what sort of hatred do you have against Old Gu De? Did he stop you from entering the Innerverse before?”
Lu Yin looked out the window at outer space and muttered, “What do you think Old Gu De cares about the most?”
The Limiteer Mistchild answered without hesitation, “His son, Gu Er.”
Lu Yin nodded. “That’s right, Gu Er.”
On the primitive planet, after another Explorer was frozen to death. After that, the final three Explorers and five Cruisers could not take the pressure anymore, and they all went to Old Gu De, begging him to hand over his life savings.
Old Gu De’s expression turned sinister. “Do you think that that man will let you guys over once I hand over my wealth? Impossible! His hatred for me runs too deep, and there is no way he will allow you to leave this place alive.”
“How will you know if you don’t at least try? Captain, please, hand over your savings,” one of the Cruisers pleaded.
The others also moved to encircle Old Gu De.
Inside the spacecraft, Gu Er trembled and looked out in fear.
Old Gu De grinned coldly. “What’s this? Are you trying to force me? Just you all by yourselves?”
The few powerhouses exchanged glances, and although they appeared to be absolutely terrified, there was a firm sense of resolve in them as well. “Captain, we don’t want to die.”
Old Gu De moved suddenly, a long knife tearing through the void and easily decapitating a Cruiser, causing fresh blood to spurt out from his neck splatter across the others’ faces. They turned pale and were overwhelmed by what had just happened.
“I’m your captain, as well as a Hunter! You guys must be looking for death, with just the few of you trying to rebel against me!” Old Gu De bellowed. He then looked up at Yan Yan, who was still standing outside the sturdy ice. “I know that you want to force them to rebel against me and see how desperate I become. I will fulfill your desires!”
The remaining seven people could not withstand Old Gu De at all, and fresh blood quickly stained the white ground red as he slaughtered them all. The remaining 3,000 odd cultivators who were still in the spacecraft looked down in desperation as their terror rose without end.
Old Gu De clenched his knife and exchanged glances with Yan Yan. “Satisfied now? I want to see Lu Yin.”
Lu Yin slowly appeared from behind Yan Yan, and he looked at Old Gu De with admiration on his face. “You are certainly ruthless enough. Those people were all subordinates who followed you for years. Don’t you feel anything after killing them like that?”
Old Gu De glared at him coldly. “Even if I didn’t kill them, they still would have died at your hands. Isn’t this what you wanted to see? The thrill of vengeance? I’ve already fallen into despair, so you’ve achieved your goal.”
Lu Yin’s lips curled upwards. “From the very beginning, you never actually wanted to save their lives. To you, they were nothing more than resources to spend in an attempt to assuage my resentment. You’ve done well, and your actions just now have indeed improved my temper. Now, you can hand over your savings, and I may still spare you.”
Old Gu De’s eyes flashed, and he hesitated for a moment. However, he grabbed the cosmic ring that was on his finger and placed a drop of his blood into a bottle. He then pressed these two items against the barrier of ice. The ice moved as though it were alive, carrying the cosmic ring and the bottle through the barrier and depositing them in Lu Yin’s hands.
Lu Yin used Old Gu De’s fresh blood to open the cosmic ring, and he then scanned through its contents. He was astonished to discover that there was actually a veritable mountain of star crystals within it.
Old Gu De’s cosmic ring had a massive capacity, and it was much larger than any cosmic ring sold on the open market. It was actually nearly as large as the cosmic ring that Northgate Lie had given Lu Yin, the one from the Starfall Sea that was valued at around 20,000 star essence. Old Gu De had been able to obtain such a ring with his position as the Astral River Envoy, which was beyond Lu Yin’s expectations.
There were many items stored in the cosmic ring, and the most eye-grabbing ones were the almost 60,000 star crystals, thousands of star essence, some Mavis Bank cards, various medications from Shamrock Enterprises, and some weapons. Among the equipment, there was even a bracer that boasted an exceptional amount of rune lines nearly equivalent to a Hunter’s.
Lu Yin took the bracer out and looked at Old Gu De.
Old Gu De saw the bracer that he treasured greatly. “That’s a power vessel. Anyone who wears it will be able to display doubled physical strength so long as the power does not surpass that of a peak Hunter.”
Lu Yin’s eyes lit up, and he looked at the bracer fervently. This was a good item, and it coincidentally suited him very well.
As for whatever peak Hunter strength that he had just been told, that was all nonsense. He could simply upgrade the bracer until it could handle doubling an Enlighter’s strength or even more. Just thinking about doubling the strength of one of his punches was a scary thought.
“I’ve given you everything I’ve gathered through all these years, so please, let us go,” Old Gu De pleaded.
Lu Yin casually threw the young Mistchild one million star crystals as her reward. Phantom Sting’s starting rate was three million star crystals, and paying the Limiteer Mistchild one million was already way above market rates.
However, she did not want the crystals. “I only want poisons.”
Lu Yin did not give her any. “This task was not worth those poisons. Those were made by the Enlighter, Elder Wu.”
Her lips twisted.
“Lu Yin, please, let us go!” Old Gu De screamed.
Lu Yin stared at Old Gu De. “How can I believe that you’ve really given me all of your savings? You’ve roamed the universe for so many years. Don’t think that I’m that naive.”
Old Gu De’s face went pale, and he pointed at Yan Yan. “Ever since this planet was frozen, I’ve never left that person’s sight. Just ask him!”
Lu Yin sneered. “Someone like you would have hidden your most important objects long ago. For example, on your son.”
Old Gu De’s expression changed in an instant as explosive sounds suddenly rang out from the spacecraft below him. An inferno rose up, carrying Gu Er’s cries along with it for all to hear.
Old Gu De immediately charged over to save Gu Er, but he was blocked from moving by the deadly frost. He screamed in anger, “Lu Yin, what the hell do you want?”
“Hand over all your savings. Then I can allow you to save him,” Lu Yin responded calmly.
Old Gu De slashed out with his knife continuously, desperately trying to cleave through the ice as he arduously made his way towards the spacecraft.
But below him, Gu Er’s cries rang out even louder until it broke out into a full on wail.
Old Gu De’s eyes went wide, and he looked at where Gu Er was desperately screaming. His son’s skin had already been burnt off. He then tore his jacket apart, retrieved a cosmic ring that had been hanging around his neck, and quickly threw it at the ice.
Lu Yin did not find this unexpected, as it would be strange if this type of person did not keep a trick or two hidden up their sleeves—not having one would actually be more strange. This might not even be Old Gu De’s final stash, but that was alright. The man’s wealth was not Lu Yin’s true objective.
“Lu Yin, let me save him!” Old Gu De screamed even as he continued to slice at the robust ice blocking his path.
Lu Yin waved a hand at Yan Yan. “Alright, let him go.”
Yan Yan felt rather helpless. “I’m sorry, Your Highness, but he’s already dead.”
As the solid ice gradually dissipated, they all saw that Gu Er had already been reduced to dust, his body completely gone.
Old Gu De’s pupils shrank, and his entire body trembled as he returned to his spacecraft. He stared blankly at the ashes on the floor before whirling around to glare vehemently at Lu Yin. His expression was so bitter that it looked as though he wanted to devour the youth alive.
Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. “Late to come to the rescue—does that ring any bell? About eight years ago?”
Old Gu De’s eyes went wide as he stared at Lu Yin. Suddenly, he started to laugh maniacally. Gu Er’s death had caused him to lose control of his emotions. “So that’s how it is! Hahaha! Now I remember—you were one of those people. Eight years ago, there was a group of homeless dogs that were being pursued and chased out of the Innerverse, and I intentionally stalled them for a while to make sure that they would suffer heavy losses. So that was you! Hahaha!”
Lu Yin had Yan Yan remove the barrier of ice. He stood high in the sky as he looked down at Old Gu De. “Since you remembered it, then you know that your son did not die unjustly.”
Old Gu De’s eyes flashed red as he stared at Lu Yin. “I never thought that one of those homeless dogs from eight years ago would be able to reach such a level. If I had known back then, I would have listened to that person and slaughtered all of you before throwing your remains into the Astral River as fish food!”
Lu Yin’s eyes went wide, and he suddenly vanished, only to reappear right beside Old Gu De. He kicked out and sent Old Gu De flying and crashing onto the ground. Old Gu De wanted to resist the blow, but his four limbs were being restricted by the terrible frost, so his body was like a loose sandbag that was flung into the ground.
Lu Yin pressed his foot upon Old Gu De’s body and looked down at the old man. “Who was it that gave the order?”
Old Gu De spat out a mouthful of blood. His hair was a mess, and his eyes were completely bloodshot. “Do you think that I would have intentionally stalled without someone else’s orders? Do you think that you bunch of homeless dogs were casually being chased? Do you have any idea how strong the person who was chasing you is?”
Lu Yin’s eyes flashed, as he actually did not know. Ever since he learned that Big Sis was from Leon’s Armada, he had realized that this matter was not as simple as he had initially thought.
Leon’s Armada was a dominant force in the Cosmic Sea, and it was even one of the undisputed chiefs of that place. Any random member of that crew was not someone who could be provoked. The fact that Big Sis and the others had been allowed to safely leave Leon’s Armada was enough to prove that their status in the crew was extremely high, and that also indicated that they were very powerful. Not many people in the Innerverse, let alone the Outerverse, were able to chase down and kill that group of people.
That pursuit had directly resulted in seventy two deaths, and Lu Yin had not dared to watch the battle back then as he had been nothing more than a commoner. However, with his current outlook, he could imagine how bitter that battle must have been, and also how powerful their pursuers must have been. It was not some Leo family like what Uncle Youling had told him. That family might have participated in the pursuit, but they were undoubtedly not the driving force behind the chase, as even Old Gu De had taken part.
The true pursuer had used quite a few powers from both the Innerverse and the Outerverse, so they definitely held a high position. Their position might actually be so high that even the Ten Arbiter who had condemned the people surnamed Lu on that paper might have been nothing more than another pawn.
