Chapter 3168: Finding Out

The droplets that Lu Yin had fished out of the River of Time were actually moments of time that had been separated from the River of Time. They were moments when time had been frozen, skipped, or when someone had moved at the speed of time. Why would this particular scene have appeared from the River of Time? Lu Yin still remembered when the droplet had been absorbed by Lightstream and completely removed from the River of Time.

"Are there any experts in your Nine-Star Civilization who can use the power of time?" Lu Yin asked.

Mimina shook her head. "No."

"What about Mentor Kakawen?"

"Mentor never touched the power of time, I’m certain of that. However, for someone at his level of power, not even the power of time could have easily breached his Supreme Shield."

Lu Yin was not interested in that. He had simply wanted to know if Kakawen had ever touched upon the power of time.

If neither Kakawen nor anyone else from the Nine-Star Civilization had ever touched upon the power of time, then who had stood at the tower’s window and looked out? Why had this scene been a moment that had been removed from the River of Time?

With that question in mind, Lightstream appeared, and it took on the form of a small boat as it moved around the area, revealing the past to Lu Yin.

Mimina watched the glowing boat with curiosity, as she could not understand what she was seeing.

Lu Yin did not move as he observed the past. He was hoping to find some sort of clue.

Someone had stood within the Nine-Star Civilization’s Star Capital and looked out the window in this tower. Who could it have been? Why had they stood there? If they had looked out that window once, then they might have done so a second or a third time, especially if Lu Yin's presence had attracted their attention.

Lu Yin looked back 500 seconds, but found nothing. He continued on to 1,000 seconds, but there was still nothing. He pressed on, reaching 1,500 seconds, 2,000 seconds, and finally 3,000 seconds. At that point, a figure appeared in the scene. Lu Yin continued to observe the past, focusing on the figure. The figure appeared in the room very abruptly and took a few steps, but they did not approach the window. After taking a few more steps, the figure vanished again.

Lightstream returned to Lu Yin’s body, and his expression fell. He had seen the Purple Emperor.

It was completely unexpected for the Purple Emperor to be the one in the room.

Why had the Purple Emperor visited this particular room? That creature was one of Aeternus’s outsider powerhouse allies, and he had no connection to the Nine-Star Civilization. After the battle where several outsider powerhouses had attempted to kill Sovereign Dou Sheng, the Purple Emperor had completely vanished, and he had not been seen anywhere else.

Even when the Heavens Sect had invaded the First Scourge and Aeternus had hired Astral Anura and the Star Devourer, the Purple Emperor had never shown up.

Lu Yin had almost forgotten about the creature, but he had found it in the most unexpected place; it was in the Nine-Star Civilization’s Star Capital, which had no connection to the creature.

Lu Yin lifted a hand and made an image of the Purple Emperor in the air. "Have you ever seen this creature?"

Mimina looked at the image for a moment, but shook her head. "No, never."

Sure enough, there was no connection. The Purple Emperor had to be in the Nine-Star Civilization because of something concerning Aeternus.

What were the Aeternals planning?

If not for serendipitously seeing the Purple Emperor's viewpoint from the windowsill while fishing in the River of Time, Lu Yin would have never suspected such a thing. The Purple Emperor had hidden himself very well, and Lu Yin would never have guessed that he was here.

It could be said that the Purple Emperor was simply unlucky. He had looked out the window through folded time, and doing so had removed that moment from the River of Time. Lu Yin had just happened to fish that exact moment out.

The Purple Emperor definitely knew that Lu Yin was in Star Capital, but the creature would never dare to observe Lu Yin, as he was terrified that Lu Yin would notice him.

Something had to be going on in the Nine-Star Civilization.

The situation had become clear. The Purple Emperor believed that he was hidden while Lu Yin was exposed. But in truth, Lu Yin was hidden while the Purple Emperor had been exposed. The only challenge was locating him.

"Mimina, I remember that you once found me and the others by using Senluo’s Light of Annihilation. Can that technique be used to find anything within its range?" Lu Yin asked.

Mimina nodded. "Yes, you could say it like that."

"Then use it now." Lu Yin's eyes lit up.

He could not search for the Purple Emperor himself, as doing so would cause the creature to instantly flee, but Mimina was different. She could simply use one of her techniques within her own city, which would not be unusual. She often did so when teaching students.

Shortly thereafter, Lu Yin publicly bade the Nine-Star Civilization farewell and left their universe.

Star Capital’s entire population saw him off.

In a dark corner of Star Capital, a figure stood, motionless. It was not watching, and it was frozen like a statue.

This figure was the Purple Emperor. The creature was humanoid, though with antennae and a solitary white eye with a slitted pupil that took up most of his face.

Originally, he had had no connection with the Nine-Star Civilization and had not even been aware of the human civilization, but one day, Aeternus had sought out the Purple Emperor and told him to stay in the Nine-Star Civilization’s universe. The Purple Emperor was to do nothing more than ensure that he was not discovered.

The Purple Emperor did not know what the Aeternals were planning, but there was no one in the Nine-Star Civilization who could pose any threat to him. So, he had not minded agreeing to the task. Besides, after attacking Sovereign Dou Sheng, the Purple Emperor would have died if he had not been saved by the Aeternals, which made it difficult to refuse them.

He had not spent much time in the Star Capital, but he had made it a point to visit many places and to familiarize himself with the civilization and the universe.

In particular, he was fascinated by the clock tower. While everyone else needed to climb to the top one step at a time, the Purple Emperor could simply tear through space and instantly reach the top. This difference gave the creature a sense of superiority. After all, the Aeternals regarded the Nine-Star Civilization quite highly, and this helped boost the Purple Emperor’s ego. Every time he ascended to the top of the clock tower, he felt as though he was trampling on the entire civilization.

He frequently entered the top room, and he sometimes even spent an entire day up there. Occasionally he practiced folding time, and he found it quite pleasant to spend time in the room.

He had not expected Lu Yin to suddenly visit.

The Purple Emperor hated Lu Yin. If not for the young human, the ambush on Sovereign Dou Sheng would have gone very differently. However, without Lu Yin, the Sovereign would have been forced to reveal his true strength, and the Purple Emperor would likely have died. For this reason, the creature could not decide whether he should feel grateful or resentful towards Lu Yin.

But it did not really matter, as Lu Yin was an enemy.

As soon as Lu Yin arrived in the Star Capital, the Purple Emperor had stopped moving, as he was terrified of being noticed. Powerhouses like Lu Yin were extremely sensitive to being observed, so the Purple Emperor had remained as motionless as a statue until Lu Yin left.

Only after Lu Yin had left did Purple Emperor turn and peer into the distance.

He quickly returned to the top of the clock tower and looked down upon the entire Star Capital.

It could see the excited discussions taking place between the students down below, Mimina, Wuwude, and various cultivators from the Nine-Star Civilization.

At that moment, the slitted scarlet eye it carried started to glow; there was a message from Aeternus.

"On the day that the Heavens Sect releases their military declaration, slaughter everyone in the Nine-Star Civilization."

Aeternus had given him a mission, and the Purple Emperor finally understood why he had been sent to this universe.

The Heavens Sect had released the date for their upcoming announcement, and that was the day on which the Purple Emperor was to massacre the Nine-Star Civilization. Aeternus was preparing a gift for the Heavens Sect.

Truthfully, the Purple Emperor did not want to carry out this mission. Doing so would make it a mortal enemy of the Heavens Sect. However, refusing would force him to give an explanation to Aeternus.

The Purple Emperor was trapped. It would either be hunted by the Heavens Sect, or by the Aeternals. There was no third option.

Ultimately, he decided to massacre the Nine-Star Civilization.

The scheduled military announcement was intended to be a day for the Heavens Sect to showcase its power, but for the Nine-Star Civilization, it would be the announcement of their deaths.

The Purple Emperor looked up at the clock. Time was running out.

Mimina walked through the academy, gathering a group of students to whom she would demonstrate the power of Senluo’s Light of Annihilation to. Those who she gathered felt puzzled.

None of them were close to being able to use Senluo’s Light of Annihilation, as it was a six-star technique. Very few people in the entire Nine-Star Civilization had such strength.

Still, Mimina continued her lecture. "It looks like you can't understand simply by listening, so I’ll give you a demonstration."

Her hand rose, and she used a piece of wood to draw a constellation in the air. As six points that represented stars were connected, beams of light shot out from the academy, sweeping across the entire Star Capital.

The Purple Emperor frowned. What was going on?

One beam of light swept over the clock tower. Mimina paused, but she betrayed no emotion whatsoever.

The Purple Emperor grew uneasy and decided to change locations.

Just as it was about to move, another beam of light shot straight at the creature.

The Purple Emperor quickly folded time to avoid the beam, sensing that something was wrong.

Lu Yin abruptly appeared right behind the Purple Emperor, arriving by moving at the speed of time. As the Purple Emperor tried to fold time, Lu Yin took out Evernight.

Instantly, both the Purple Emperor and Lu Yin disappeared, leaving nothing behind but a gust of wind.

Inside Evernight’s pocket dimension, the Purple Emperor was startled. Where was he?

He looked around and saw a shadowy figure shrouded in the darkness. As the figure approached, it became clear: Lu Yin.

"Lu Yin?" The Purple Emperor was terrified.

Lu Yin looked at the creature. "It’s been a long time. I never thought that you would be hiding in the Nine-Star Civilization."

The Purple Emperor tried to break out of Evernight. If he had been captured in Evernight before it was Enhanced, the creature would have escaped.

Unfortunately, the card was powerful enough to even trap a sequence powerhouse like the Purple Emperor without any assistance.

The Purple Emperor could escape, but it would not be easy. If Lu Yin interfered, it would be far more challenging.

Lu Yin spread his hands, and the darkness within Evernight converged. "Dark Palace."

This was Evernight’s trap. It used darkness to imprison and incinerate a prisoner. This was the Dark Palace.

Endless darkness enveloped the Purple Emperor. It was not fire, but was somehow even more intense. The darkness formed a cage that burned. It was like a palace formed from black flames.

The Purple Emperor could not stop this attack. The moment it had entered Evernight, it had been surrounded by darkness. Trying to break free from the darkness was futile.

Even when deprived of its sequence particles while within Evernight’s pocket dimension, the Purple Emperor still possessed enough physical strength to fight against Sovereign Dou Sheng, but it was useless against the burning darkness.

"Lu Yin, you're despicable! You’re using a tool like this to win? Despicable!" the Purple Emperor shouted.

Lu Yin watched as the Purple Emperor burned in the darkness. This was his first time using the Dark Palace, and it was working exceptionally well.

Before the card was Enhanced, Lu Yin would not have been able to pull out such power from the Dark Palace before he reached Great Elder Shan Gu’s level of strength. But after the upgrade, the trap possessed enough power on its own.

Even if Lu Yin was unable to strengthen himself, he could still Enhance his card. He found that his approach was proving to be quite effective.

The Purple Emperor screamed, the burning darkness robbing it of light while lowering his resistance to the flame. His body grew weaker as he suffered unimaginable torture.

Lu Yin did not personally know what it felt like to burn from the darkness, but it appeared to be quite miserable.

"Lu Yin, let me go! I surrender! I'll help you humans fight against Aeternus! I'll help you!" the Purple Emperor pleaded.

Lu Yin was unphased and said nothing. To ensure loyalty, he needed to use the Champions’ Stage to anoint a new champion. The Purple Emperor would be a good addition.

The Purple Emperor's slitted white eye suddenly stared at Lu Yin as the creature tried to take control of him.

In the past, he had used this ability to seize control of Sovereign Dou Sheng. Without Extremes Must Be Reversed, the Sovereign would not have survived.

If Sovereign Dou Sheng was unable to resist this ability, there was no way that Lu Yin could.