Chapter 670: Comprehensive Collaboration

Lu Yin had sent people to search for Old Gu De after the Outerverse and Innerverse were separated, but nobody had managed to find him. The Astral River had always separated the Innerverse from the Outerverse, and the cultivators who worked on the ark had insulted many Outerverse cultivators over the years. Thus, these people had instantly become the public enemy of the entire Outerverse after they were cut off from the Innerverse.

There were a lot of people who wanted to find the Astral River Ark’s crew, but Old Gu De was a Hunter, and besides that, it wasn’t easy to find people after they had hidden themselves. But despite that, Hai Qiqi had managed to run into them.

Lu Yin wouldn’t let Old Gu De die easily; the man had to first feel despair.

“How are things at the Astral River?” Lu Yin asked.

Hai Qiqi rolled her eyes. “Bullshit.”

Lu Yin choked, as that response sounded very familiar to him. It seemed like Hai Qiqi was feeling much better, as she had somewhat returned to her old, sarcastic self. It had been almost a year and a half since the universe had changed, so it was normal that she was slowly recovering.

Hai Qiqi didn’t bother chatting with Lu Yin any longer and moved to leave immediately after urging Lu Yin to deal with Old Gu De.

“Hold up. Have you heard of imprints?” Lu Yin asked.

Hai Qiqi shook her head in confusion. “No, why are you asking me?”

Lu Yin casually answered, “Nothing much. Go and take a break.”

Hai Qiqi left.

Lu Yin thought about this matter some more and he eventually came to the conclusion that nobody in this universe knew about imprints. The Sea King was an Envoy whose power level exceeded 500,000, which was equivalent to one of the Sixth Mainland’s Imprinters. If the Sea King’s Dome didn’t cultivate with imprints, then that indicated that the Fifth Mainland had most likely lost this cultivation method.

Lu Yin also recalled the conversation that he had overheard between White Knight and Blood Looney concerning their opinions on each other’s cultivation methods: one had believed that imprints, bloodlines, and the martial prints were better while the other thought that the Sixth Mainland’s cultivation methods were too rigid.

Lu Yin didn’t actually know which side was correct, but the Sixth Mainland had won the ancient war. Despite that, Lu Yin still felt that White Knight was correct. If a cultivation method was too rigid, then it would cause a person to miss out on many opportunities.

Moreover, if one used an imprint to rely on an Imprinter’s power, then would the Imprinter know all of the cultivator’s strengths and weaknesses? If that was the case, then one would never be able to battle against their Imprinter.

This cultivation method was basically a technique that allowed powerful people to control those who were less powerful than them by selling the cultivation method as a way to drastically increase one’s power level. That had to be it—they must be controlling people through this cultivation method.

Lu Yin stood up abruptly and left the manor. He headed over to Wendy Yushan’s home as he wanted to have a chat with her and see what she thought of his theory.

However, when he arrived, he was told that Wendy Yushan had secluded herself for a few days.

Lu Yin was surprised at this news and unleashed his domain, but he still didn’t manage to find Wendy Yushan. Oh no, she must have gone to the ruins of the Daosource Sect!

The Daosource Sect’s ruins had already turned into a battlefield, and any small mistake could cost Wendy her life. Lu Yin had already warned her about the current situation, but she had still gone back there.

Lu Yin suddenly regretted giving her the futon.

“Inform me as soon as the Princess returns,” Lu Yin ordered. He then left Wendy Yushan’s home as the only thing he could do at the moment was wait and hope that her identity wouldn’t be exposed.

Lu Yin appeared in the clouds high above the sky and looked down at Zenyu Star. He could see far into the distance, and the view from such a height was amazing.

He lifted a hand as some clouds floated past, feeling waves of coldness roll over his hand.

“Seventh Bro, it’s time for you to write a journal,” the Ghost Monkey suddenly suggested.

Lu Yin asked, “Why?”

“With what you’ve experienced in your life so far, it wouldn’t be out of place for you to write an autobiography, and it would definitely be extremely popular. However, most powerhouses don’t release their journals, and the books just end up being buried with them when they die,” the monkey said.

Lu Yin frowned. “Just shut up!”

“All you humans are like this! You don’t like the truth and only want to hear something pleasant.”

“I’m not dead yet, and I don’t plan on dying anytime soon.”

“How long do you want to live for?”

“You’ll also be dead if I die. Whatever, I don’t want to talk with you about this. I’ll just screen you off if you spout off such crap again,” Lu Yin huffed. He didn’t like people talking about his death despite its inevitability.

The monkey didn’t answer.

Lu Yin was just about to move on when something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He looked back at the city below him. What had he just seen?

At that moment, a breeze blew the clouds aside, and Lu Yin looked up and saw a transport vehicle with the Nalan family’s symbol on it.

Right, the Nalan family. Lu Yin looked back down at the city and saw that the malls, streets, public facilities, shops, and even some government buildings were all covered with the symbol of the Nalan family. The whole city looked like it belonged more to the Nalan family than the Great Yu Empire.

Lu Yin’s expression turned cold, and he suddenly disappeared. He next appeared inside the transport vehicle that had just passed him.

“How much longer?”

“Not long. We just have to register at the space station. There are three other transports in front of us waiting that belong to the Great Yu Empire’s military.”

“Just ask them to let us go first.”

“That, that wouldn’t be nice. They’re a part of the Great Yu Empire’s military.”

“What’s the matter with that? We provide the military with their rations, pay, uniforms, spacecraft, and everything else. Why shouldn’t we get to enjoy some perks? Go on, ask them to let us go first. Besides, they can go and look for their Royal Regent if they have any complaints.”

“Fine.”

…

Lu Yin leaned against a window in a corner of the transporter, and his eyes flashed.

That very night, Lu Yin met with Gavin.

“Greetings Your Highness.”

Lu Yin nodded at Gavin. “Take a seat.”

Gavin didn’t know why Lu Yin had asked him to come over at such a late hour, but his intuition told him that there was something wrong, which made him very nervous.

“How are our collaborations with the Nalan family going?” Lu Yin asked casually as he fiddled with his gadget.

Gavin carefully answered, “The Nalan family has initiated comprehensive collaboration efforts with the empire, and we project that our economy will recover soon.”

“We still owe them money, right?” Lu Yin asked.

Gavin replied, “Yes, we owe them quite a large debt.”

“Where are all the places we are collaborating with them? I was the one who encouraged the collaboration, but I still don’t really know about the details,” Lu Yin said.

Gavin cleared his throat. “Our collaboration encompasses many different fields, and I can send the proposed plan to Your Highness if you wish to review it.”

“No, I don’t have the time to read it. Just give me a brief summary,” Lu Yin said.

Gavin nodded. As they discussed, Zhao Ran came in and served them two cups of tea. Lu Yin had brought her back to Zenyu Star, and although he had originally intended to have her stay with Wendy Yushan, Zhao Ran wanted to stay close to Lu Yin. Thus, he had arranged for her to work as a servant in King Zishan’s palace.

Gavin took a sip of tea to calm himself down. “Our collaboration encompasses various fields. from technological resources and battle techniques to clothing, food, and alcohol. The family has many businesses, and so, the Great Yu Empire is working together with them in all of these fields.”

Gavin drank quite a bit of tea while talking, and Zhao Ran even had to serve him a second cup.

“In this case, all of the businesses that are teaming up with the Nalan family are making a profit, right?” Lu Yin asked.

Gavin nodded. “The businesses are all connected to the empire, and some of their profits have already been deposited into the treasury.”

Lu Yin tapped his finger on the table. “Technological resources, food, clothing, and even battle techniques. So, they are basically taking care of the needs of the commoners, military, and our cultivators. Minister Gavin, have you considered the fact that this means that the empire’s economy is now completely controlled by the Nalan family?”

Gavin grew flustered, and he sprang to his feet. “Your Highness-”

Lu Yin interrupted the minister of finance before the man could finish his sentence. “I’m not blaming you. Besides, I was the one who initially agreed to this collaboration with the Nalan family. However, I didn’t expect that the Nalan family’s businesses would cover so many different aspects, so this is my own mistake and no fault of yours.”

Gavin exhaled in relief. “Your Highness, I have also been thinking about this. Since the Nalan family holds no malicious intentions towards the empire at the moment and our economy is still in the process of recovering, we must continue with the current arrangement for the time being. However, as soon as our economy is restored, I will cancel these collaborations.”

“It won’t be that easy, will it?” Lu Yin glared at Gavin.

Gavin’s face went pale.

“If you cancel the collaborations, then the empire’s businesses won’t be able to earn a profit anymore. You said that these businesses are all tied to the empire, and since they were able to gain the rights to work with the Nalan family, then they must be supported by powerful people from the empire. In that case, if you try to stop the collaborations, then you’ll end up facing immense pressure from all sides to prevent this. Am I right?” Lu Yin said.

Gavin bowed. “Please look into this, Your Highness.”

Lu Yin hesitated, as the collaborations with the Nalan family had stimulated the Great Yu Empire’s economy. Despite the economic boost, there were disadvantages to this venture as well. A lot of people in the empire were currently making money from the collaborations, but those people would start raising trouble if the joint venture was abruptly ended. Many people were willing to die for money, and thus, these people might cause chaos and negatively affect the empire’s recovering economy.

If Lu Yin asked the Nalan family to cancel the collaboration, then he would be asking them to offend many people in the empire, which would cause troubles for the family’s future business prospects.

This matter was quite troublesome.

Who would have thought that the Nalan family had their fingers in such a wide range of businesses? Lu Yin had been enjoying the benefits of this joint venture, but he hadn’t realized that the empire’s entire economy was slowly being taken over by another party.

The Nalan family might not have any malicious intentions, but it still wasn’t nice to find out that someone else was in control of the empire’s economy.

Gavin was still bowing as sweat dripped down from his forehead.

A few moments later, Lu Yin told Gavin, “Send me a list of the businesses that are currently supported by powerful political figures.”

Gavin paled, and he could tell that some people would be in trouble. However, he didn’t dare go against Lu Yin’s orders, and he immediately gave the Royal Regent the list.

Gavin left King Zishan’s palace soon after, and another person quickly took his place in Lu Yin’s sitting room: Xueshan Auna.

Xueshan Auna didn’t expect that Lu Yin would call for him at such a late hour. He was very excited, as the Royal Regent would only send for him at such a time if Xueshan Auna was in trouble, or if Lu Yin trusted Xueshan Auna. The Auna family hadn’t done anything recently that would land them in any sort of trouble, which meant that this summons must be because Lu Yin was going to give the Auna family a new task.

Xueshan Auna grew excited as soon as his thoughts reached that point.

“Xueshan Auna greets the Royal Regent.”

Lu Yin smiled. “Please sit down, Patriarch Xueshan.”

Xueshan Auna took a seat, and Zhao Ran served him some tea. She was quite curious since there had been a lot of visitors tonight.

Lu Yin was very friendly and chatted with Xueshan Auna for more than half an hour, and he became even friendlier as time passed.

Xueshan Auna had been very excited at the beginning of their conversation, but as the conversation continued, he gradually got a feeling that something was wrong. He had a good understanding of Lu Yin, and the friendlier this youth behaved, the more trouble the other party was in. Of course, Lu Yin wasn’t going to create trouble for the Auna family, but he would definitely send trouble their way.

Xueshan Auna started to panic.