Chapter 458: Creeping Shadow

Lu Yin carefully looked at Hai Qiqi. “It’s easy to accidentally lose your friends if you keep talking like that.”

“You’re not worth it,” Hai Qiqi bluntly replied before walking over to the waterfall. Once there, she played with the water in a vexed manner.

Lu Yin pursed his lips and retorted, “Let me tell you something. Even if the Sea King forces me, you still won’t obtain me.”

Hai Qiqi rolled her eyes. “Narcissism is an illness that must be treated.”

“I have the medicine.”

“To treat narcissism?”

“To treat you.”

“My illness is that I was too benevolent when I allowed you to board my boat,” Hai Qiqi spat out between gritted teeth.

“Alright, I’ll give you the medicine to treat your benevolence then.” Lu Yin threw a handful of mud at Hai Qiqi.

Hai Qiqi glared at Lu Yin, furious. “Let me tell you something. Even if Father wants me to marry you, I won’t agree! Just give up and stop dreaming of hitching a ride on the Sea King's Dome.”

Lu Yin replied seriously, “I agree. But how do you think I can get your father to agree to break the marriage contract?”

Hai Qiqi’s eyes brightened. “You want to back out?”

Lu Yin nodded with a serious expression.

Hai Qiqi was delighted. “That’s great!”

Suddenly, she felt that something was wrong, and her face darkened. “You want to back out? That’s got to be a joke! I should be the one who wants to break off this engagement. After all, I came here just to tell you about this.”

“Go on,” Lu Yin casually replied.

Hai Qiqi moved closer. “It’s simple. You just need to make two cuts on your face and ruin your appearance. My father will definitely not allow me to marry an ugly person.”

Lu Yin was astounded. “Are you saying that my attractiveness passes your standard?”

“That’s besides the point, and to be specific, your appearance does not meet my standards.”

Lu Yin sneered. “There’s no need to deny it. Your expression already told me everything.”

“You—stop your nonsense! You’re shameless!” Hai Qiqi was furious.

Lu Yin rolled his eyes. “Fine. Then help me contact Hai Dashao. I’ll think of some way to end this absurd marriage arrangement.”

“Really?” Hai Qiqi was in disbelief. “That’s impossible. You’ve got to be lying. No one would turn down the chance to become the Sea King’s son-in-law.”

“You attach too much importance to the Sea King's Dome. I, for one, don’t care about it.” Lu Yin remained proud.

Hai Qiqi was still in disbelief, but she had no other option. “Alright, but remember what you said.” She then walked away after smacking her own butt.

Although this brat was a noble princess, she did not tend to put on airs. Despite her venomous tongue, she was still better than those fake girls with a holier-than-thou attitude. Only the Sea King could produce such a unique daughter.

Not long after, Hai Dashao arrived at Lu Yin’s residence with a detached expression that contained a trace of arrogance. This was the attitude that an heir of the Sea King's Dome should possess.

“Why are you looking for me?” Hai Dashao asked coldly, as he did not care much for Lu Yin. His disapproval stemmed from the fact that Lu Yin and Mu Rong had tried to slip away before Che Han had tried to pull out the Sea King's Trident. Hai Dashao felt that their behavior was an affront to the Sea King's Dome.

Lu Yin enquired, “Does the Sea King have to make me his son-in-law?”

Hai Dashao’s face sank. “Why? Does the Sea King's Dome’s princess not deserve you?”

Lu Yin shook his head. “That’s not it at all. Since I’m the Sea King’s son-in-law, my personal safety should be guaranteed, correct?”

“You don’t say.”

“Alright, I was hoping that the Sea King's Dome could help me take care of a few people. I came here precisely because I was evading their pursuit.”

Hai Dashao frowned. “You’re speaking of Feng Mo and the Bo Duo.”

Lu Yin did not find it strange that Hai Dashao already knew this. The moment he had retrieved the Sea King's Trident, all the available information about him had been sent to the top members of the Sea King's Dome. Aside from a few secret matters, nothing about him could be hidden.

“They have already left the Sea King's Dome. Also, you can forget about going anywhere before you break through to the Explorer realm, so they won’t be any threat to you at this time. Even if you meet them outside later on, they won’t dare touch anyone from the Sea King's Dome.”

“But I have friends.”

“They don’t have anything to do with my Sea King's Dome,” Hai Dashao responded coldly. He then turned around to leave. “Remember this—I have not recognized your position, and neither has the Sea King's Dome. Unless you truly become the Sea King’s son-in-law, you cannot mobilize any of our resources, not even to protect your friends.” And with that, he vanished.

Lu Yin was helpless, as he knew that it wouldn’t be that easy. At worst, he could have Big Pao and Little Pao stay with him in the Sea King's Dome while the others left. Even if they ran into Feng Mo and the other two, they would still be fine. After all, each one of them had a powerful background.

Within the Starfall Sea, a radiant-grade Aurora sped away from the Sea King's Dome at top speed, charging towards the entrance of the Starfall Sea. This spacecraft was carrying Feng Mo and the Bo Duo.

The moment Lu Yin pulled out the Sea King's Trident, the trio had immediately fled, not waiting around to see if he would be acknowledged by the Sea King's Dome. They had survived in the universe for a long time, and they would not willingly expose themselves to potential danger.

At this point, the trio’s emotions were exceptionally complex, especially Feng Mo’s. He had chased Lu Yin’s group from the Chaos Flowzone to the Starfall Sea, and he had always thought that he had everything in the bag until the very end. Who could have known that something so unexpected would happen out of nowhere? Lu Yin had actually become the Sea King’s future son-in-law! Feng Mo was rather irritated about the entire matter.

The trio had left in a hurry, and they had even left Feng Mo’s personal spacecraft behind, instead boarding the Deep Crimson Hall’s only radiant-grade Aurora to make their escape.

“If we had gotten rid of these people before they made it to the Starfall Sea, we wouldn’t have sunken to such a state,” Bo Junior complained sullenly.

Bo Senior glared at him. “Shut up!”

Not far away from the two, Feng Mo had an icy expression as he stared in the direction of the Sea King's Dome, though it could no longer be seen. He clenched both of his fists. This was a complete humiliation for him! He had actually failed to chase down a group of juniors! This didn’t only reflect poorly on him, but also on his Relentless Slayers. His mood worsened even further when he recalled that Lu Yin had straight up survived one of his attacks. That freakish innate gift made Feng Mo feel uneasy.

Bo Senior walked over next to Feng Mo. “Mr. Feng, this incident can be considered extraordinary, so don’t pay it any mind.”

Feng Mo coldly replied, “The fact still remains that I didn’t complete the task entrusted to me.” He looked at Bo Senior as he continued, saying, “It’s not that easy to become the Sea King’s son-in-law. During that competition, even those who qualified through their looks were tricked by the Sea King. Given that sort of personality, it’s almost impossible for Lu Yin to actually become his son-in-law. So let me ask you once again. Do you want to capture him?”

Bo Senior did not reply, but Bo Junior quickly responded, “Of course! Only by capturing him can we justify ourselves to the Blackbeard Pirates. Otherwise, we won’t be able to survive in the Chaos Flowzone any longer. We’ll be chased down for the rest of our lives.”

Feng Mo’s eyes remained cold. “Then we’ll wait here in the Starfall Sea.”

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

“But we don’t know which direction they’ll leave in,” Bo Senior countered.

Feng Mo replied, “My Relentless Slayers will assign people to monitor the Sea King's Dome’s ports. As soon as they leave, my men will report to me. In the meantime, we’ll head towards the center-most route. That way, we can intercept those brats as soon as my men report back. There should be enough time to chase them down.”

“Alright, we’ll listen to Mr. Feng. Rest assured, as long as you capture Lu Yin, we will immediately give you that item,” Bo Senior answered quietly.

Feng Mo’s eyes flashed with a hint of excitement. He then simply nodded and did not speak again.

Beneath the small spacecraft, there was a black shadow that crept tightly along against the belly of the vessel. Feng Mo and the Bo Duo had not noticed that there was someone hiding right beneath them.

Two days passed, and during this time, Lu Yin had already informed Michelle and the others that the Sea King's Dome would not provide them with any help. They had no choice but to go with Lu Yin’s plan; in the end, Big Pao and Little Pao agreed to remain at the Sea King's Dome while Michelle and the rest of the students decided to leave.

Big Pao could not bear to be separated from Lulu; she was just too rich and generous. With money, everything became simple. Why had he not built up his relationship with Lulu more while they were still in the academy? This was Big Pao’s greatest regret.

Xia Luo reminded Lu Yin about their agreement to travel the Cosmic Sea together again.

However, the youths weren’t able to leave that easily. They had arrived here on the Sea King’s ship, so the only way they could leave was by boarding a merchant ship headed towards the Starfall Sea’s entrance. Their only other option was to buy a boat that had the special seaweed coating.

Lulu was wealthy and did not care about money, but that did not mean that she enjoyed wasting it. They already had a small radiant-grade Aurora, so buying another one would be too wasteful, even for her. They decided to wait and find a merchant ship heading towards the Starfall Sea’s entrance. There was no fixed schedule, but one headed out every few days.

At this time, news of Lu Yin becoming the Sea King’s future son-in-law started to spread throughout the universe.

In the Starfall Sea, seawater filled its entirety, and spacecraft could either travel within the sea or atop its surface.

Feng Mo and the Bo Duo quickly arrived at the middle section of the Starfall Sea. Now, when Lu Yin and the rest left the Sea King's Dome, the three would have enough time to intercept them no matter which direction they headed in.

Three Hunters were working together to capture one Limiteer; as long as the Sea King's Dome did not intervene, no one could save the youths.

The Bo Duo could not think of any other options; the Blackbeard Pirates were like a blade hanging over their heads.

Within the small spacecraft, which was large enough to hold at least a dozen people, Bo Junior stared at the sky and silently cultivated as boundless amounts of star energy was absorbed into his body. He was holding some star essences in his hand.

His power level was 110,000, and for each cycle of his star energy, he had to absorb more than 6,000 star essences to maintain his vitality. Otherwise, he would fall into a period of exhaustion. Given his normal star energy absorption rate, it was impossible for him to absorb enough star energy in a cycle with just his cultivation method, so he needed to use star essence.

This was the same path chosen by many space-exploring powerhouses, because the ambient star energy in the universe was insufficient for them to maintain their vitality.

Fortunately, it took decades for one cycle to take place. Things would be fine for Bo Junior as long as he managed to absorb enough star energy during this period, which was not too difficult for him.

Only certain powerhouses with extraordinary innate gifts would have cycles that passed by quickly and run the risk of not having enough time to complete a cycle. It was easy for such geniuses to fall into a period of exhaustion, so they generally had to work hard and earn money. Feng Mo’s innate gift was much more powerful than the Bo Duo’s, and he also had a power level of over 150,000. Each one of his energy cycles was only slightly longer than a decade, so he had to earn enough star essences to stay alive.

Sometimes, having a weaker innate gift was a good thing. For those who didn’t possess any background, but did have a powerful innate gift, it was easy for them to die after becoming a space-exploring powerhouse.

It should be known that entering this period of decline would cause one’s entire person to change, and no one wished to enter such a state.

Bo Junior collected his thoughts and tried to maintain his sense of calm. Not too far away from him, beneath the spacecraft, the shadow suddenly opened its eyes. Black gas poured into the spacecraft through its cracks, gradually appearing inside Bo Junior’s room.

The next moment, the spacecraft’s alarm sounded. Feng Mo, Bo Senior, and Bo Junior all stood up and looked around, bewildered. This alarm signified that a strong enemy had boarded them.

Suddenly, Bo Junior’s pupils constricted when he saw a cloud of black gas pass through the metal wall just behind him. It had the color of death, and Bo Junior instinctively froze as his legs became tangled and he broke out into a cold sweat. A pale, white face had appeared in front of him. The face contained no color and the eyes were deathly white. It made for a very bizarre scene.