Chapter 1856: Officially Started

Xu Qing spat back, "Are you insane? Do you really see yourself as some kind of savior? Can you even save those people? I can tell you right now that if a war starts, your Great Eastern Alliance will be finished! How many people are you willing to send to their deaths? All your efforts will be in vain."

"How much do you know about my Great Eastern Alliance?" Lu Yin retorted.

Xu Qing firmly replied, "There’s no need to know anything at all! My opponent has always been the entire Human Domain! Regardless of how powerful your Great Eastern Alliance may be, can you summon the strength of the entire Human Domain? The Hall of Honor is in no position to pay attention to you or what you’re doing. It’s still not too late—give me that technique, and I will order the invading beasts to leave the ordinary humans unharmed as much as possible.”

"As much as possible?"

"That is already the limit of my abilities. I did not lie to you before. Astral beasts have bestial instincts. On top of that, it’s quite common for planets to be destroyed during battles, and the casualties from such destruction is impossible to even estimate. This is nothing more than a fact of interstellar war. Consider this matter carefully, as this is your last chance! I am already in the Primal Zone, and the only reason why I have not left yet is to give you a chance."

Lu Yin took a deep breath. So Xu Qing had already arrived in the Primal Zone? That meant that the battlefield would be the asteroid field. "There’s no need for you to give me anything. The moment you initiated a slaughter in the Human Domain, it’s either you or I who will perish first."

"Then you will be crushed!" Xu Qing ended the call.

Lu Yin lowered his hand. Both Liu Huang and the Second Nightking stood behind him.

"Tell me, am I doing the right thing?" Lu Yin asked as he calmly stared out into space.

The Second Nightking’s eyes narrowed, but he said nothing. Liu Huang did not have the same reservations. "It is likely that the Great Eastern Alliance will be defeated in this war. Have you thought this all through carefully?"

Lu Yin gave an easy smile. "Of course."

"You are not behaving like a ruler," the Second Nightking stated in an odd tone. His understanding of Lu Yin had constantly shifted and changed. At first, he had found the youth to be a cruel and shameless person, but then he had seen Lu Yin conquer the Innerverse. At that time, the Second Nightking had believed Lu Yin to be ambitious and cunning. He had actually viewed the young man as a heroic figure who was comparable to the First Nightking. However, Lu Yin’s decision to wage a war against the Astral Beast Domain had shown the Second Nightking that Lu Yin was not some hero, but simply an idiot.

There were countless deaths during interstellar wars. This was completely normal. If the Second Nightking were in Lu Yin’s position, he would not care about the deaths of some people in the Outerverse at all. There were simply too many people in the universe, and even the countless deaths in the three weaves over the past month were nothing more than a drop in the ocean. The Great Eastern Alliance would suffer greatly from this war, and it was simply not worth the cost.

Still, Lu Yin had gone ahead with the war regardless of the costs. The Second Nightking had literally not believed Lu Yin’s decision when he first learned of it. Who would be so stupid as to wage a war against the Astral Beast Domain with their own wealth? Even if Lu Yin won the war, the Sixth Mainland would be the one to reap the benefits. On the other hand, if Lu Yin lost, he would lose absolutely everything while the Sixth Mainland would lose nothing at all. There were no benefits to be had from this decision.

Based on the Second Nightking’s understanding of Lu Yin, the youth was not a person to ever put himself at a disadvantage, and yet that was exactly what he had done.

Lu Yin smiled and stretched his waist. "Yeah, I’m not acting like a ruler, but rather like an idiot, haha!"

Liu Huang showed a rare smile. "An admirable idiot."

Lu Yin suddenly turned to look at the Second Nightking. "The Third Nightking’s still in the Profound Void Realm. Maybe this war will provide the chance for him to be freed."

The Second Nightking responded in an indifferent tone, "Don't tempt me. The chances of winning this war are minuscule, and both of us might die. What can we even do to rescue him?"

"That might not be the case. What if there’s a turning point?" Lu Yin’s mouth curled into a smile and his eyes grew bright.

No one could tell what Lu Yin's true thoughts might be. Behind a seemingly impulsive decision lay a set of well-thought-out plans. Regardless of whether this war was won or lost, Lu Yin needed to see it through.

The Envoys who accompanied the Great Eastern Alliance suddenly scattered in all directions.

Liu Qianjue quietly gazed out. He would not benefit from fighting in this war against the Astral Beast Domain. The reason why the sect master was even present was because his Sword Sect had joined the Great Eastern Alliance and therefore needed to participate. On top of that, there was also Liu Hao. Lu Yin had promised to send Liu Hao to the Sword Sect after the war concluded as long as Liu Qianjue participated.

How could Liu Qianjue not be moved by the Perennial World? He was very interested in the Sword Monument, and Liu Qianjue could not allow Liu Hao to slip through his fingers.

Lu Yin had assembled the full power of the Great Eastern Alliance. Even though they were up against the Astral Beast Domain, Liu Qianjue did not think that they were guaranteed to lose.

If loss proved inevitable, then the sect master would simply leave to save himself. There was no way that Liu Qianjue would actually fight to the death for Lu Yin’s sake. This was not only Liu Qianjue's intentions, but also those of Ling Qiu, Mountain God, and the other Envoys. None of them had any desire to die for the sake of regular humans in the Outerverse.

A few days later, the Great Eastern Alliance’s 150,000 strong spacecraft army entered the asteroid field. At the same time, untold numbers of astral beasts roared at the border between the asteroid field and Ironblood Weave. The war would be waged in the asteroid field.

The asteroids in the region varied greatly. Some were small and around the same size as a spaceship while others were massive and could even outclass planets.

A wisp of white smoke drifted through outer space. It wrapped around an asteroid, and the rock started moving towards the northeast. After it went a certain distance, the smoke dissipated briefly before enveloping another asteroid. That one also moved slightly in the same direction as the previous one.

No one noticed the white smoke drifting along.

This smoke was moving through the southern region of the asteroid field, and it was continuously moving to the northeast. Suddenly, an asteroid froze briefly before shattering.

A bit away from the shards, Smoker’s eyes snapped open. "I can't see them. Those Creepers really are hidden beasts—they’re already here."

Smoker then turned around and fled.

Space warped as invisible astral beasts landed on the asteroid and quickly spread out. Further to the northeast, countless astral beasts were making their way southwest. Among them were Void Thunderbeasts, Celestial Ice Phoenixes, soaring firebeasts, and Void Wanderers. There were also many other bizarre astral beasts that humanity had no record of. None of the beasts made a sound as they shot through space, but their eyes blazed with excitement and killing intent.

To the southwest, Lu Yin was waiting within the Great Eastern Alliance’s Fleet. He received Smoker’s report of astral beasts hiding within the asteroid field. “There are creepers, Void Wanderers, and possibly even stranger creatures. Pass down the orders to launch a salvo of attacks."

Since they were facing the Astral Beast Domain and all of their bizarre creatures and abilities, Lu Yin was not willing to gamble with the lives of his troops. His plan was to use the weapons on the battleships to clear a path and to unleash a barrage of endless cannon blasts.

After Lu Yin’s order was given, the battleships all moved to arrange themselves in a specific formation that Shui Chuanxiao had trained them in. As soon as they were all in position: “Attack."

The order was spoken, and beams of light lit up the universe as the asteroid field was relentlessly bombarded.

Boom!

Boom!

…

The entire region was lit up by the attacks, and numerous asteroids were shattered. The Great Eastern Alliance’s fleet started making its way northeast. They spanned a vast area, and they did not allow anything to escape from their assault. Anytime an astral beast approached the fleet, it would be targeted and annihilated by the ships’ weapons.

Each round of fire cleared an area, and the fleet would then continue forward, further to the north.

Up ahead of the fleet, but just outside the weapons’ range, space twisted to reveal a pair of eyes that overflowed with pure fear. The eyes looked as though they were alone and unconnected to a body. They quickly turned towards the northeast and fled.

The fleet continued moving onward, and every time they covered a certain distance, they would fire off another round of attacks. There were 6,000 battleships, so each volley was the same as 6,000 Explorers attacking, and they also covered a massive area. Using this method to attack with so many battleships was unheard of, and the cost was astronomical. Despite that, Lu Yin continued.

The Great Eastern Alliance’s fleet drew closer and closer to the horde of astral beasts. Humans were certainly inferior to astral beasts when it came to things like their senses. For example, Xu Qing knew exactly where the fleet was and their numbers, but the Great Eastern Alliance was ignorant of such information for the astral beasts. Lu Yin knew that the creatures had to be further to the northeast, but anything more precise was impossible.

Space was too vast, and the fleet was only traveling along one of the available paths. If they were forced to cover the entire asteroid belt, the fleet would end up being almost completely scattered.

The lack of intelligence led to the humans being in a passive position.

Xu Qing ordered the astral beasts to stop advancing, as he did not plan to attack the fleet head on.

"Commander Xu Qing, is there any need for us to be so wary of the Great Eastern Alliance? Just a few of us are enough to slaughter the entire fleet,” said one of the soaring flamebeasts with the strength of an Envoy. The Celestial Beast Empire was treating this war as a priority, and almost all of the soaring flamebeasts had been sent out, as well as many creepers, sound monsters, and more. Not even Xu Qing knew the full strength of the reinforcements that had been sent to him to conquer the Outerverse, and this was because many hidden powerhouses had been sent out as well.

This was also why he was so confident in his victory.

"Lu Yin is not the real threat. Even though the Great Eastern Alliance is nothing to fear, we still need to test out their strength. What if this is all one of the humans’ schemes?" Xu Qing replied.

"A scheme? What did you see to suggest that?" Another voice rose from one of the Celestial Ice Phoenixes. The voice was sweet and clear, though it was also full of arrogance.

Xu Qing replied in a low voice, "Just do as I say."

What had happened in Ironblood Weave was too odd. The person who had poisoned Cemetery Keeper had not done so at the behest of the Astral Beast Domain, so why had he poisoned Cemetery Keeper at such a time? It was impossible to do such a thing over something as petty as a personal grudge, so the Celestial Beast Empire suspected that the Neohuman Alliance had been behind the attack, but there was no certainty. This was Xu Qing’s biggest worry.

On top of that, the Great Eastern Alliance had been too decisive in their support for Lu Yin’s decision, which also caused Xu Qing to hesitate slightly.

He did not believe that Lu Yin was an idiot, and it was impossible for him to willingly destroy the Great Eastern Alliance that he had struggled so much to establish and grow. So, why had Lu Yin taken the initiative to start this war?

Xu Qing was afraid that the Fifth Mainland’s Hall of Honor and the Sixth Mainland’s Daosource Sect were actually colluding to trap the astral beasts. Thus, he knew that there was a hidden powerhouse among his troops who had been sent by the empire to do their best to minimize the casualties.

"Lu Yin, if you want to play, then I’ll play with you! Let's see who can afford to take more risks," Xu Qing muttered to himself as his eyes glittered coldly with killing intent.

The Great Eastern Alliance’s fleet advanced to the northeast in an orderly manner, firing a series of attacks every so often to ensure that the astral beasts could not set up any ambushes along the fleet’s path.

Lu Yin frowned. From Smoker’s report, they should have already reached the area with the hidden astral beasts, so why had they not found any yet? Had Xu Qing pulled his troops back?

Suddenly, an alarm blared, and a display popped up in front of Lu Yin. "Master, the back of the fleet was attacked by a huge white skeleton."

Another display appeared. "Alliance Leader, the fleet’s right flank was just attacked."

"Alliance Leader, the left flank was just attacked."

Lu Yin's expression firmed. "Act according to the plan. Let’s go!"

He punched the center of the console, and the war officially began.

Behind the fleet, an enormous white skeleton careened towards the humans. It was completely covered with a species of self-exploding bugs. Once the bugs exploded, their blood would also explode, leading to a series of chain explosions. The skeleton had also been covered with poison, so as soon as the bugs exploded, the resulting poison cloud would envelop the entire fleet in a short amount of time.