Chapter 1679: Life Force

Lu Yin rolled Possession on his third attempt, and Gift Copy on the fourth. Finally, he got Enhance on his fifth try.

The two light screens appeared, and Lu Yin started to Enhance the Money Bombs.

The Money Bombs that he had bought from Old Cai had the attack strength of a Hunter, and Lu Yin needed to spend around 3,300 star essence per bomb to raise their power until it was comparable to a new Enlighter’s. If he spent 16,000 star essence, the Money Bombs would become capable of unleashing an attack comparable to that of an Enlighter with a power level of nearly 300,000.

Given the average strength of the members of the Lu Elite Troops, Money Bombs with the strength of new Enlighters were better for them to use. If the Money Bombs were comparable to Enlighters with a power level of 300,000, the soldiers might not be able to control them.

Lu Yin spent quite a bit of time upgrading all 4,300 Money Bombs one at a time, but the amount of star essence that he ended up using was actually negligible.

After quite a while, Lu Yin finally finished Enhancing all of his Money Bombs, and he stored them all away in his cosmic ring. Next, he took out the cube-shaped power vessel that he had picked up in the Celestial Frost Sect’s ruins. This power vessel could be used to trap his enemies, and he could tell that its power level already compared to an Envoy’s just by observing its rune lines.

A power vessel that could deal with an Envoy was probably sufficient in the Fifth Mainland, but Lu Yin still felt that it was not powerful enough.

He started to upgrade the power vessel.

This particular power vessel was comparable to the one that he had taken from Xia Taili, and it managed to reach a power level of 700,000 after just five upgrades, which meant that it would barely be able to trap powerhouses at Cang Zhou’s level. However, it would not endure if someone with Cang Zhou’s strength used any battle techniques.

He continued upgrading the power vessel.

The aquatic plant-shaped power vessel had only been able to be upgraded five times, but the cubic power vessel could withstand more Enhancements as it was made from different materials.

The sixth upgrade cost him nearly fifteen million star essence, and after that, the cubic power vessel no longer dropped down any more, as the materials had reached their limit.

At this point, the power vessel might be able to keep Cang Zhou trapped even if he used a battle technique. However, Lu Yin was not absolutely confident in that estimate, as power vessels were inanimate while humans were alive.

With that done, Lu Yin checked the rest of his various items. He saw quite a few different things that he could upgrade, such as the Skyblaze Stone, but Lu Yin did not dare to upgrade that any further as he was worried that it would suddenly gain a new life. He did not want to lose his cultivation shortcut.

He also had a bit of white smoke, but Lu Yin had no idea how to use it after Enhancing it. He also had no interest in using the smoke.

The bone that he had taken from Crown Prince Gui Qian had probably come from a Semi-Progenitor, but Lu Yin had only used it for the death energy within the bone, and he had already almost completely absorbed it, so there was no point in upgrading it at all.

Oh, there was also the stellular energy pill.

Lu Yin took out the stellular energy pill. He had no idea how the Shamrock Enterprise had developed such a thing, but since it was a pill, he would definitely be able to Enhance it.

Lu Yin tossed the pill onto the light screen and started throwing star essence at it.

Sure enough, the stellular energy pill could be Enhanced, as it started falling down. As it did so, it looked shinier. Lu Yin felt encouraged, and he continued to throw out more star essence.

The stellular energy pill needed nearly the same amount of star essence to be Enhanced as the cubic power vessel. This made sense, as the stellular energy pill was able to break into the true universe, which meant that its power level had to be greater than 500,000.

Even after upgrading the pill five times, it still was able to be further Enhanced. Lu Yin studied the stellular energy pill closely.

The feeling he got from it had changed. Shockingly, there were strands of vitality on the pill. He started to grow curious about what would happen if he continued upgrading the pill. With that in mind, he continued.

After the sixth upgrade, the vitality on the stellular energy pill had become much more noticeable. By this point, Lu Yin had used 300 million star essence, but he still continued upgrading the pill. He wanted to see just how many times the pill could be Enhanced.

The power vessel from the Celestial Frost Sect had had an upgrade limit of six times. Did this mean that the material used in constructing the stellular energy pills was of comparable value to what had been used for the power vessel?

Lu Yin used nearly 600 million star essence for the seventh upgrade, but he gritted his teeth and continued. Eight upgrades altogether had cost him around one billion star essence, and the stellular energy pill had become very strange. Lu Yin actually felt like there was something watching him. It was very uncomfortable, and he felt like he was holding a life in his hand rather than a pill.

He looked at the stellular energy pill and then the light screens. Should he continue Enhancing it or not?

He found it unbelievable that the pill could still be upgraded even further. Not even the power vessel that he had taken from Xia Shenfei had been able to undergo so many upgrades. This thing was just a pill that had been mass produced; how could Shamrock Enterprise have made a large number of these pills?

Lu Yin suddenly felt that he might have underestimated Shamrock Enterprise.

He stored the stellular energy pill away, as he had already spent almost two billion star essence Enhancing it. It was an astronomical amount, and Lu Yin actually regretted his decision. He should not have upgraded that pill at all. He had been too rash, but he still really wanted to find out just how far the pill could be upgraded.

His funds had suddenly decreased by more than half, and he gasped at that realization.

He had only upgraded one stellular energy pill, and he had no idea what it was now capable of after being Enhanced. Could it only help him travel about within the true universe more efficiently? That would be a terrible loss. He absolutely needed to find a way to get his money back. The resources that he had taken from the Ross Empire and the sylvan dragons had not been tallied up yet, and there were also the resources that he had taken from the Daynight clan; all of that belonged to Lu Yin.

He looked up and saw that he still had a bit of time left within the Timestop Space. After thinking about it, he had not seen Long Xi and the others in a long time, so it was time to pay them a visit.

Lu Yin hesitated as he took out Zenith Mountain, but then he finally entered. The first person he went to speak with was Wen Diyi.

Hope flashed in Wen Diyi’s eyes as soon as Lu Yin appeared. “Are you satisfied by the price that the Wen family paid?”

Lu Yin asked, “How many layers of Literary Prison did you teach Wen Sansi?”

“Three.”

Lu Yin nodded. “Wait a bit longer. Things are good right now.”

Wen Diyi asked, “Then why are you here?”

“There’s something I keep forgetting to ask.” Lu Yin looked at Wen Diyi. “What does Virtue Archives have that’s able to encourage major powers to send their disciples?”

Wen Diyi answered calmly, “You shouldn’t ask me this question. Aren’t there other people here?”

“Have you heard of Guo Hai before?” Lu Yin asked.

Wen Diyi’s eyes flashed. “He graduated from Virtue Archives and joined the All-Dao family. He’s currently part of the Star Alliance.”

Lu Yin nodded and asked nothing more. Although this question seemed random, Wen Diyi’s answer had actually changed Lu Yin’s impression of Virtue Archives. The academy was involved in the outside world; otherwise, Wen Diyi would not have known that Guo Hai was a part of Star Alliance.

The people in Star Alliance were considered criminals or enemies of the four ruling powers, and as such, the four ruling powers had concealed that group’s existence from the public. When Lu Yin had been traveling to the Sword Monument with Long Kui, they had seen someone being captured to be sent to Star Alliance, but Long Kui had said almost nothing to Lu Yin about the group. Even Long Kui was reluctant to speak about such things, and yet Wen Diyi, a student from Virtue Archives, was aware of the group. Thus, Virtue Archives clearly had a solid understanding of the outside world.

Lu Yin’s impression of Virtue Archives was that it was a place that the four ruling powers were interested in having their youths join. He believed that they had a clear understanding of the outside world, as well as multiple powerhouses among them.

Wen Diyi frowned. He regretted answering that Guo Hai was part of Star Alliance, though he wondered what Lu Yin had been able to glean from that answer.

After speaking with Wen Diyi, Lu Yin went to go see Liu Hao. The Liu family heir was very calm, and Lu Yin did not say much to him. Lu Yin already knew about the Liu family’s stance, and he had only gone to see Liu Hao in order to not forget about him.

After Liu Hao, Lu Yin visited Yun Tingting. She became very anxious as soon as she saw Lu Yin, and she even promised to give him the Smokecloud Sect’s inheritance to buy her freedom. She was desperate to return to the Perennial World, but Lu Yin would not let her leave at the moment even though he wanted the inheritance that she was offering.

Even if he let her go, she still would not be able to return home.

“Just wait a while more. The Perennial World will probably send someone over soon,” Lu Yin said. He actually expected the Perennial World to have already sent someone after him, as there was no way that the four ruling powers would allow Lu Yin to enjoy a peaceful life. He was confused about the lack of pursuit, and he was constantly on guard against assassination attempts from the Perennial World.

Lu Yin was ignorant of the fact that the four ruling powers had indeed sent someone to the Fifth Mainland, but Hui Kong had chased that person back to the Perennial World.

“Why would the Perennial World send someone here?” Yun Tingting asked.

Lu Yin replied casually, “To start a war.”

Yun Tingting was shocked. “To start a war?”

Lu Yin left without explaining anything. He was simply preparing his captives for the future, as he knew that the people on Zenith Mountain still spoke to each other.

Crown Prince Gui Qian was shrouded in darkness like before when Lu Yin went to meet him. Lu Yin simply stated, “The God of Death’s Domain.”

Crown Prince Gui Qian was startled. “How do you know about that?”

“So you’ve heard of it before.” Lu Yin was actually surprised. He had not expected Crown Prince Gui Qian to know about it.

Crown Prince Gui Qian solemnly replied, “There’s no need for you to test me. I will tell you anything you want to know.”

Crown Prince Gui Qian continued trying to convince Lu Yin while the latter looked at him with evident distrust. “Our people need to cultivate with death energy, so death energy is equivalent to stellular energy for us. Since you are the creator of death energy, we are bound together.”

“So death energy can replace stellular energy for you?” Lu Yin was stunned.

“Yes. Both stellular energy and death energy are higher forms of the universe’s energies. I remember my ancestor saying that after a power reaches the utmost limit, it is able to change the universe. This is why not everyone needs to cultivate with stellular energy, as death energy can replace it.”

Lu Yin suddenly thought of the Rune Technology that the Rune Progenitor had created. Had runes also replaced stellular energy?

“My ancestor also said that stellular energy is a power that was created by an extremely powerful individual. However, the energy was so powerful that it eventually spread throughout the entire universe. If the God of Death had been as powerful as that person, then he might have been able to spread death energy across the universe or even replace stellular energy. Still, that’s nothing more than my ancestor’s conjectures. I personally believe that stellular energy is something natural to the universe and that nobody can create something that is more powerful than stellular energy,” Crown Prince Gui Qian said.

This was the first time that Lu Yin had ever heard of such things. Even though everything sounded ridiculous, it also made sense.

The Rune Progenitor had created Rune Technology, and everyone from that civilization had followed the Rune Progenitor and cultivated Truesight. Even though they also cultivated with stellular energy, their method of fighting was completely different, and they were a completely different kind of cultivator. Thus, it would not be totally out of the question if death energy could also open up another path that cultivators could take.