Star Odyssey

Lily Anne was not surprised by Lu Yin’s response, and she could only reluctantly reply, “Then, I’m sorry to have disturbed you, Brother Lu. After this battle, the Barthe Jacques family will still head to Frostwave Weave to observe the situation and will try to help the Great Yu Empire’s economy recover in the process. This is how my Northline Flowzone will demonstrate its care for the Great Yu Empire.” 

Lu Yin expressed his gratitude once again and then ended the call.

Mira had also promised that Arbiter Wen would protect the Great Yu Empire, but the credibility of her promise was still uncertain. Also, Lu Yin dared not guarantee just how far Arbiter Wen would go for the Great Yu Empire. Just like how the Second Grade Hall had been able to enlist independent cultivators to deal with the Great Yu Empire, other powers could employ all sorts of tactics to undermine the Great Yu Empire. Even something as straightforward as hiring the Relentless Slayers to assassinate the Great Yu Empire’s strongest cultivators would be enough to destabilize the empire. 

Lu Yin felt powerless; even an empire that had nearly unified an entire weave was still so helpless. 

He fell sullen once again, feeling helpless, just like how he had felt when he was in danger of becoming white meat. Such a feeling made him resentful and furious; he was about to explode. 

There were two sides to every matter. Lu Yin could gain many statuses and titles that would cause his enemies to be apprehensive, and his enemies could also use the Great Yu Empire to restrain him, which were the two sides of the same coin. 

If the Great Yu Empire was more powerful, then things would be better. For example, it could then unify not just one weave, but two, three, or even four or five. It would be just like Endless Weave, the strongest out of all seventy two weaves. At that point, he would no longer need to be so heavily involved in its protection. 

Lu Yin’s eyes gleamed, as something seemed to ignite in his heart once again.

Not long after Lu Yin disconnected from his call with Lily Anne, another communications request came through. This time, it was through the internal system of the Astral Combat Academy, and the caller was Xi Yue. 

Lu Yin was shocked, as he had once teased this brat by calling her a washboard, and they had never interacted again since then. He never thought that she would contact him now, but he seemed to recall that she was from the Souldream Tribe.

Lu Yin accepted the request, and an elegant voice came from the other side, “Is this Student Lu?” 

Lu Yin’s eyes flashed. “Aren’t you Xi Yue?”

“I’m Lan Yue, from the Souldream Tribe. Xi Yue has gone down to Planet Pyrolyte and is currently unable to contact the outside world for now. Thus, I’m contacting Student Lu in Xi Yue’s place.”

Lu Yin acknowledged the explanation and then asked, “Is Miss Lan Yue looking for something?” 

“I’ll get straight to the point. The Souldream Tribe wishes to enlist the help of Student Lu to compete for pyrolyte mines.”

Lu Yin directly declined. “I’m sorry, but I won’t help you.”

“Student Lu can listen to my Souldream Tribe’s conditions first,” Lan Yue said, and then she immediately continued without waiting for Lu Yin to reply. “My tribe is willing to establish marital connections with the Great Yu Empire, and we will also go all-out to help the Great Yu Empire join the Innerverse.”

Lu Yin was amazed, as this proposal was extremely attractive. Countless powers in the universe wished to marry a member of the Souldream Tribe since they were all beauties. Also, their tribe was offering to help the Great Yu Empire enter the Innerverse. This was not just hot air, as this was something that even Northline Flowzone could not attempt. 

“Miss Lan Yue, are you saying that you represent the Souldream Tribe?” Lu Yin asked. 

Lan Yue smiled. “Of course. These are my Souldream Tribe’s most sincere conditions. Does Student Lu still need to hesitate?”

Lu Yin frowned. “When will the marriage occur? Can it be with anyone from the Great Yu Empire?”

“Of course, as long as it’s someone designated by Student Lu.”

“When?”

“Our tribe has many regulations, and the timing could be delayed further, but the initial preparations can be made at any time.” Lan Yue did not elaborate any further.

Beside him, the originally sleeping Hai Qiqi suddenly reached out to disconnect Lu Yin’s call.

Lu Yin was startled. “What are you doing?”

Hai Qiqi pursed her lips. “This woman is obviously just stalling. She wants a marital connection not to the Great Yu Empire, but to my Sea King’s Dome.”

Lu Yin laughed. “I can’t see how you came to such a conclusion.”

Hai Qiqi rolled her eyes. “I’m superior to you in both looks and intelligence. Something like this is nothing for me.”

Hai Qiqi was right; Lan Yue’s objective was simple. The Souldream Tribe would delay any possible marriage until Lu Yin became the Sea King’s son-in-law, and only then would they be willing to marry one of their members with the Great Yu Empire and form a relationship with the Sea King’s Dome. Otherwise, the Souldream Tribe would not be willing to pay such an extravagant price to establish marital relationships with just the Great Yu Empire; such a relationship would not be worthwhile even with the gains they would achieve from the pyrolyte mining. 

It should be known that bringing a power into the Innerverse was not simple.

Of course, the Souldream Tribe knew that Lu Yin could guess as much as well, but it was still a win-win situation. If the Great Yu Empire became connected to the Souldream Tribe, then Lu Yin’s power would increase once again, making this deal personally beneficial for Lu Yin as well. They were not worried that Lu Yin would decline their offer.

Of course, even if Lu Yin didn’t become the Sea King’s son-in-law in the end, the Souldream Tribe still would not be at a disadvantage. Their main objective was to have Lu Yin help them fight for the pyrolyte mines. After that, they would have all sorts of reasons to delay the proposed marriage. 

Lu Yin activated his gadget and contacted Lan Yue once again. “My apologies, Miss Lan Yue. There was a Hunters’ battle just now, and it disrupted the signal.” 

“No worries, Student Lu. How do you find my Souldream Tribe’s offer?” Lan Yue said with a confident expression. No one in the Outerverse would be able to decline such conditions, as entering the Innerverse was the dream of countless Outerverse powers. Lu Yin would not decline either, because this would be something that would also bolster his personal power. 

Unfortunately for her, Lu Yin still declined.

Lan Yue was shocked. “Student Lu, you disapprove of these conditions?”

“Miss Lan Yue, the premise of your conditions should be for me to become the Sea King’s son-in-law, and for the Sea King to appear and protect the Great Yu Empire. However, I’m sorry to disappoint you, as the Sea King will not appear. If I act, then the odds of the Great Yu Empire being destroyed will be just too high, and I cannot take such a risk.” 

Lan Yue was unconvinced. “The Sea King isn’t willing to appear to protect the Great Yu Empire? But you’re the Sea King’s future son-in-law.”

Lu Yin apologized again before ending the call.

The Souldream Tribe longed for the Sea King to appear. It was none of their business who the Great Yu Empire ultimately belonged to, as they merely wished to build a relationship with the Sea King’s Dome and to have Lu Yin help them compete for the pyrolyte mines. As for Lu Yin, he wanted freedom. If the Great Yu Empire fell under the Sea King’s Dome’s influence, then he would no longer have a home. This was because he had never planned to become the Sea King’s son-in-law, and he was constantly searching for a way to break away. 

Intimidating his enemies under the guise of other’s banners was his main plan. He would not forget that, on Shenwu Continent, there was still a girl waiting for him, as that lock of hair was still in his cosmic ring. 

He did not know why, but Lu Yin suddenly thought of Zhuo Daynight and her grieving and helpless expression. 

He subconsciously looked at Hai Qiqi’s eyes: mischievous, crafty, and full of annoyance.

“What are you looking at? Haven’t you seen a beauty before? Your looks cannot match up to Miss Qi’s.” 

Lu Yin turned back around as he had learned that he just had to ignore her no matter what she said. He could not allow her venomous tongue to have any effect on him. 

Three powers had already sought his aid, and he was rather looking forward to finding out who would call him next.

Defeating Mu Rong had crowned him as the pinnacle of all Limiteers. Perhaps to other Limiteers, he was a monster. 

Five days later, Huo Qingshan contacted Lu Yin on his own accord in order to inform Lu Yin that Enlighters had appeared one after another. The Blaze Realm’s Huo Houye, Northline Flowzone’s Granny Chan, Souldream Tribe’s Elder Qing Han, and Second Grade Hall’s Karthika had all come. There were already quite a few Enlighters who had entered the Astral Wilderness. 

As more and more Enlighters joined the fray, the Outerverse powers such as the Nine Stacks Sect were forced to back away, no longer daring to approach Northcastle Weave anymore. However, they still secretly wanted to unite, and they were planning on inviting the Enlighters overseeing the various Outerverse powers to act together and charge into the Astral Wilderness. Of course, they also asked the Great Yu Empire to join in, but their proposal was rejected by Lu Yin. 

Against the enormous powers of the Innerverse, it was useless even if the Outerverse powers invited one or two Enlighters. It should be known that the top elites of the strongest powers, like the Sword Sect, the Daynight clan, and the Wen family, had not even appeared yet. Their Enlighters greatly outclassed the Outerverse’s, and it was not just as simple as how a cultivator in a higher realm could restrict the power level of those beneath them. It was more like the difference between Xi Yue and Lu Yin; they were both Limiteers, but the difference between them was wider than the heavens. 

When Northline Flowzone’s Granny Chan arrived in the Astral Wilderness, she brought her flowzone’s Limiteers along with her, like Northgate Gang as well as some Limiteers from the older generation whose battle power surpassed even Northgate Gang’s. Ah Fan, who had initially reported to San Dios, had also been brought along since Northline Flowzone had gathered all of its strength to compete for the pyrolyte mines. 

Lily Anne was already an Explorer, so she was unable to enter Planet Pyrolyte. She could only accompany Granny Chan and the rest as they waited above the planet.

Northgate Lie was also rushing over.

The other powers were investigating methods to see if they could somehow safely send their Explorers down to the planet. Even if they did not know whether or not their research would bear fruit, the various powers were still assembling their Explorers in preparation.

The Wen family arrived soon after Northline Flowzone, and they brought hundreds of Limiteers of all ages with them, and they had even prepared personal spacecrafts for all of them to quickly dash down to the planet. Wen Qian'er was also among those gathered, and she was very excited, as she had long wanted to cross paths with the other powerhouses of the universe. This was her best opportunity to do so, and she was hoping for the ones known as the unequaled Limiteers to come so that she could experience their strength as well. 

In another area, the Second Grade Hall’s Limiteers also rushed down onto the planet. It was no longer just the Second Grade Hall’s experts, as people from the First Grade Hall and even the Divine Grade Hall had come along, Kuan Wang included. He had a helpless look, as he had been pulled out from the Astral Combat Academy in order to participate in this contest for the pyrolyte mines. 

He actually did not want to participate, but the Divine Grade Hall’s orders had been simple: fight.

Although Kuang Wang was arrogant, he readily admitted that he had principles and a bottom line, so he could not quite bring himself to do such things. He was planning on keeping a low-profile and being a bit less brazen. 

“Don’t be so arrogant! We obviously discovered this place first, so why should we give it to you?” 

Kuang Wang had just landed on Planet Pyrolyte when he overheard this. He looked over unhappily at the group of Limiteers arguing, and when he heard the term “arrogant” being thrown about, he frowned, rose into the skies, and looked down on the groups. “You guys can argue, but don’t mention my name!”[1]

“Who’s that, being so arrogant?”

“Scram!”

…

Kuang Wang was furious, and he raised an arm, allowing his azure dragon to snarl at the world and shake the sky. Before many terrified faces, Cang Long shook its tail and sent everyone flying away. Some were even directly crushed underground, and they were all as miserable as could be.

Kuang Wang proudly stood tall. Just a bunch of trash!

A dozen cultivators behind him wanted to cry. “Lord Kuang Wang, our own people are also in that group!”

Kuang Wang rolled his eyes.

More descendants from the various powers appeared, but the most dazzling were still those from the Eight Great Flowzones, particularly the Wen family’s Wen Qian'er, the Blaze Realm’s Jared, and the Divine Grade Hall’s Kuang Wang and Hui Chuan. These few people used their overwhelming strength to dominate and take over pyrolyte mines that had previously been occupied by others. 

Under these circumstances, Xi Yue unfortunately ran into Jared.

[1] Just a reminder, but "Kuang Shuang" sounds the same as "arrogant."