Chapter 1859: Guess My Bottom Line

The Envoys’ battle caused the asteroid field to start collapsing, especially the shockwaves that spread out from the battle between Liu Huang and Xu Qing. Their fight not only affected the asteroid field, but also Eastly and Northcastle Weaves.

As long as nothing else happened, Ling Taizu and the other two Envoys would be able to wipe out countless astral beasts.

Lu Yin had been waiting for this opportunity. If the Great Eastern Alliance was going to eke out a victory, then the only way to do so was by using their greater number of Envoys to surprise the Astral Beast Domain.

However, the humans’ advantage did not last for very long. A horrendous scream soon echoed through the region. Space was pushed back, and asteroids shattered. The fighting paused everywhere as the various combatants were forced to cover their ears. Not even Liu Huang was exempt from this.

Ripples spread through space, and the soundwaves rose and fell like a tsunami as everyone started to hallucinate. They saw an enormous Celestial Demon descend to crush and subdue everyone. It was trying to leave an imprint on their very souls.

Liu Qianjue, Ling Taizu, and even Liu Huang were unable to endure this terrifying spiritual force.

Lu Yin tightly clenched the console in front of him and began to recite the Origin Sutra. His face grew pale despite reciting the sutra. Most people on the battlefield had already lost consciousness, and those who remained conscious were little better than living corpses.

Celestial Demons were born with the strength of a Hunter, and they devoured spiritual force. They looked like humans, but with bat wings. They were the imperial family of the Celestial Beast Empire.

Throughout the eons, during all the wars between the Human Domain and the Astral Beast Domain, the creature that humans feared encountering on the battlefield the most were Celestial Demons. Their peerless spiritual force had slaughtered countless humans throughout history.

The Second Nightking stepped out. His eyes were cold, but his aura surged as he stared into the distance.

Two spiritual forces clashed, and the impact created a true, physical explosion. A sound like thunder swept out in a shockwave, as if a star had exploded.

Vessels shattered, and cultivators passed out one after another. Astral beasts also lost consciousness, though many wailed as they were knocked out.

These two spiritual forces fought each other for ten breaths’ time, but it ended with the defeat of the Celestial Demon.

Even though the Celestial Demon had been defeated, the Second Nightking had not come out unscathed.

The Daynight clan excelled at techniques that required spiritual force, but that did not provide them with any sort of advantage against the Celestial Demons. These creatures fed on spiritual force itself, and if the Second Nightking had not surpassed the Celestial Demon in strength, it would have been difficult to determine who would have won.

"Retreat! Now!" Lu Yin yelled. The fleet quickly pulled back to the southwest, and Liu Qianjue and the other Envoys also retreated. Unfortunately, Ling Taizu, Abel Phoenix, and Elder He were unable to retreat. They had charged into the depths of the Astral Beast Domain’s forces, and although they slaughtered countless beasts, the three were eventually caught.

Xu Qing had greatly underestimated Lu Yin, but Lu Yin had also greatly underestimated the Celestial Beast Empire.

Lu Yin had not expected his enemies to just sit back and watch as Liu Huang had attacked and slaughtered two Envoy-level astral beasts. He had also assumed that the astral beasts had kept some powerhouses in reserve, which was why he had sent Ling Taizu and the other two out into the depths of the astral beast horde; Lu Yin wanted to forced out the hidden powerhouses. With the Second Nightking as his own hidden reserve, Lu Yin had been unafraid of anything that the astral beasts might have kept hidden.

Yet, even after so much careful analysis and calculation, Lu Yin had not been able to determine the depths of the astral beasts’ hidden strength. Shockingly, it had turned out to be a Celestial Demon. The creature’s overwhelming spiritual force meant that Ling Taizu and the other two Envoys had not been able to even mount any resistance before they were stunned and captured.

The human fleet withdrew, but the loss of Ling Taizu and the other two Envoys was a crushing defeat for the Great Eastern Alliance.

If those three Envoys were killed, the alliance’s losses would exceed what the Astral Beast Domain had suffered.

Lu Yin's expression grew downcast. Ling Qiu instantly approached, and she nervously asked, "Lu Yin, what happened to my great-grandfather?"

Lu Yin remained silent.

Ling Qiu shouted angrily, "Lu Yin, I asked you a question!"

Lu Yin looked up and quietly replied, “He’s been captured, but he’s not dead yet."

"Being captured by those animals could be a fate worse than death! We need to resume fighting right now so that we can rescue Grandpa!" Ling Qiu anxiously declared as she glared at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin glanced over. "Even if we resume fighting, we can’t save them. I’m more bothered by this than you."

Ling Qiu ground her teeth. She looked positively furious. "We agreed to participate in this war because of you! If my great-grandfather dies, then we, the Lingling clan, will never forgive you!"

Lu Yin turned to look to the northeast. Ling Taizu was not the only one who had been captured, as the same thing had happened to the Phoenix family’s Abel Phoenix and the Sea King’s Elder He. Every single one of the Envoys was important. No, this battle was far too important.

Lu Yin had been not worried at all as he had thought that keeping the Second Nightking hidden in reserve would be enough. It had been Lu Yin’s own mistake to send Ling Taizu and the other Envoys to attack in the middle of the enemy's forces.

Shui Chuanxiao arrived. "Alliance Leader, we need to calculate our wins and losses from this battle as quickly as possible, and the astral beasts will soon contact you. You need to consider what your bottom line will be in negotiating for the three captured Envoys."

Ling Qiu heard his words and snapped, "What bottom line? There isn’t a bottom line! We must get my great-grandfather back!"

Shui Chuanxiao calmly stated, "This woman is in no condition to be here right now"

Ling Qiu was enraged by this. "What did you just say?"

Lu Yin frowned and turned to glare at Ling Qiu. "I'm the commander on this battlefield. You did not join this war because you wanted to protect the humans of the Outerverse, but because what I offered to pay you was enticing enough. You’re part of a war, and every war will have casualties. Were you treating this as just a game?"

Ling Qiu started breathing heavily. Her fists clenched tightly, and her eyes grew colder and colder.

After staring at the woman for a moment, Lu Yin waved a hand to dismiss her. "Leave now. I promise that I’ll deal with this and do my best to save them."

Ling Qiu took a deep breath and then let out a derisive snort before turning and leaving.

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. He turned to look at Shui Chuanxiao. "What sort of terms do you think they’ll ask for?"

Shui Chuanxiao’s voice dropped, "From what I know about Xu Qing, he won’t just provide us with terms. Instead, he’ll use these negotiations as a weapon against us."

"What do you mean?" This did not make sense to Lu Yin.

Shui Chuanxiao explained, "Xu Qing is the Celestial Beast Empire’s General because the empire is constantly at war. In order to completely defeat an opponent, one must be able to defeat them both on and off the battlefield. Xu Qing is someone who uses methods that normal people won’t even think of, but they are also very difficult to deal with."

"So what do you think he’ll do?" Lu Yin frowned.

Shui Chuanxiao thought for a bit. "You would be better off asking Wei Rong that question."

Lu Yin immediately ended the call with the commander and called Wei Rong instead.

Wei Rong was currently at Zenyu Star. As the Great Eastern Alliance had gathered forces to fight a war, Wei Rong had also traveled back to the Outerverse at this time. "Alliance Leader Lu, do you need me for something?"

Lu Yin shared all that had happened on the battlefield and finished by asking, "If you were Xu Qing, how would you go about taking advantage of the captives when speaking to me? How would you deal with the situation?"

Wei Rong was caught off guard. "Me?"

Lu Yin grew solemn as he explained, "Commander Shui Chuanxiao tells me that Xu Qing is someone similar to you, and he is a scheming individual. So, if you were in Xu Qing’s position, what would you do?"

Wei Rong took a moment to consider the matter, and he quickly looked back at Lu Yin and quietly said, "I’d give the three Envoys to the army. First, have them kill the one with the least importance, and then start slowly torturing the others to death. This would instill my army with an understanding of how ruthless I am while also provoking my enemy into trying to rescue the captives."

Cutting flesh with a blunt knife. This was the phrase that popped into Lu Yin's mind at Wei Rong’s response. "It’s not particularly brilliant, and it’s actually a very common response."

It could be said that many people would use this method.

Wei Rong smiled. "True, it is quite common. That’s why I would next transmit a video of Ling Taizu being tortured to the Human Domain. I would make sure that it was sent to the Lingling clan and many others. At the same time, I’d start spreading rumors that if the Great Eastern Alliance didn’t save the captives, the Lingling clan would get upset with the alliance. I’d even go so far as to spread rumors that the Great Eastern Alliance was doing this in order to eliminate internal instabilities.

"Just think about it: the Great Eastern Alliance has unified the Innerverse, but the Envoys who lead the eight great flowzones are far more powerful than the actual alliance. In fact, why did the Great Eastern Alliance make a move when the Astral Beast Domain invaded the Outerverse? Why is the Innerverse fighting in this war and sacrificing their powerhouses, when it’s the Outerverse and not them being invaded?

"Most cultivators are both ruthless and only concerned for themselves. Put bluntly, they’re selfish. Who will believe that the Great Eastern Alliance really went out of its way to start this war just to save a bunch of ordinary people living at the fringes of the Human Domain?"

The furrows in Lu Yin's brows grew deeper and deeper. This was playing the hearts of the factions involved. The Great Eastern Alliance had left the Innerverse to protect the eastern weaves of the Outerverse, and many people found this reason both ridiculous and unreasonable. They could not understand why the alliance was fighting against the Astral Beast Domain.

If Xu Qing really did enact Wei Rong’s plan, Lu Yin had no idea how things would turn out on the battlefield, but the Innerverse would absolutely erupt. The Lingling clan would be the first to revolt, and even the Hall of Honor would get involved.

Lu Yin would then be forced to fight a very protracted war. Mountain God and the other Envoys had already expressed the desire to leave, so something like this would end up having an adverse effect on the entire army.

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. "Is there any way to counter this?"

Wei Rong’s eyes grew hard. "Either find a way to rescue them or find a way to eliminate them. Either way, we can’t let Xu Qing use the captives against us, or else we will absolutely be defeated in this war, and our Great Eastern Alliance will even lose the Innerverse and be sent to the absolute bottom."

Wei Rong left the fact that he had never once been optimistic about the Great Eastern Alliance’s chances against the Astral Beast Domain unsaid. His pessimism was precisely because it was too easy to shake the alliance’s foundation. The Sixth Mainland was in no hurry to occupy the Outerverse, but the Great Eastern Alliance was eager to move into the Innerverse. If Wei Rong were facing the Great Eastern Alliance, he would absolutely make sure to create as much chaos in the alliance’s homeland as possible.

The fact that the Astral Beast Domain had captured three of the alliance’s Envoys was a heaven sent opportunity. As long as Xu Qing was not an idiot, then the war was already won, as it was simply too easy to take advantage of this situation.

Lu Yin started thinking. Neither saving nor killing the Envoys would be an easy task.

"Alliance Leader, there’s actually another way, but it involves a great deal more risk," Wei Rong said.

Lu Yin looked at him. "Tell me."

Wei Rong spoke calmly, "The leaders of most of the eight great flowzones are currently in the asteroid field with you. If you want to take over those flowzones completely, get rid of those people. Capture them, kill them—do whatever it takes to force the great flowzones to silence them. As for what happens in the asteroid field, lock down all news. When the war’s over, no one will know how many people were killed during the battle or how many survived. As long as the Innerverse’s influence over the fleet is removed, it won’t matter what the Astral Beast Domain does, as it will accomplish nothing at all."

Lu Yin immediately hung up. Wei Rong's suggestion was far too ruthless, and it was essentially no different from forcing the Great Eastern Alliance into a dead end. If Ling Qiu and the other Envoys all died, Lu Yin would indeed have total control of the Innerverse and would be able to command it with a simple word. However, was he willing to kill Ling Qiu, Liu Qianjue, and the others to accomplish that? Impossible. While the Astral Beast Domain was an enemy of humanity, Aeternus was an even greater enemy, and Lu Yin had further goals for this war.

"I'm in a completely passive position," Lu Yin muttered to himself as he stared to the northeast. Just what would Xu Qing choose to do? After thinking the matter over a bit more, Lu Yin smiled wryly. Regardless of Xu Qing’s decision, Lu Yin had already been given the worst case scenario by Wei Rong. Lu Yin knew his bottom line, so he just had to wait for Xu Qing to contact him.

Lu Yin did not need to wait long. His gadget soon beeped, and Lu Yin looked over to see that Xu Qing was calling.

Lu Yin’s face was calm as he accepted the call.

Xu Qing appeared on Lu Yin’s display, and he stared at Lu Yin with clear interest. The Void Thunderbeast was in an excellent mood at this moment. He had lost his frustration from his previous loss, and he was even chipper enough to crack a joke when he saw Lu Yin. "Alliance Leader Lu, you don’t look so well. Tell me what’s wrong."