Chapter 743: The Empire Moves Out

Lu Yin then remembered the Hunter from the Second Grade Hall. “Why’s he with you?”

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

“I’ve spoken to him, and Anfield told me that he was beaten by people from Aegis. If not for the speed of his tamed beast, he would have been dead,” Tianming replied.

Lu Yin’s brows rose. “Aegis?”

“Yes. Ever since the contest on Planet Pyrolyte, the Second Grade Hall has remained in control of Northcastle Weave’s Greatsword Dynasty. In recent days, someone from the Greatsword Dynasty paid an astronomical price to hire Aegis, and that prompted mercenaries to start massacring all the members of the Second Grade Hall in a bid to recapture the Greatsword Dynasty. The person who hired them is Ding Xing,” Tianming explained.

Lu Yin’s gaze trembled. “I got it. Do you know the group that Aegis sent to the Greatsword Dynasty?”

“Anfield gave me a full report: one Hunter, three Cruisers, and ten Explorers.”

Lu Yin felt that something was strange. “Aegis’s Hunter was able to injure Anfield that badly? I want to speak to him.”

“I am- cough cough- Anfield,” Lu Yin heard a feeble voice call out.

Lu Yin coldly ordered, “Explain what happened in detail.”

Anfield stammered, “Aegis- Aegis’s Hunter is an expert with a power level of 150,000. Also, Aegis did not face us directly. Instead, they first released a poisonous gas before taking us out with assassination techniques…”

Anfield did not say much, as the entire process had been rather short, but it still painted a bloody scene for Lu Yin.

Aegis had used the most despicable methods available to them to massacre everyone from the Second Grade Hall, and they had shown no hesitation in their actions.

If the Outerverse was not currently isolated from the Innerverse, or if the Second Grade Hall’s Enlighter, Karthika, had not died, then Aegis definitely would not have had the nerve to make such a bold move. But in this case, they had acted without almost any restraint.

Anfield absolutely hated Lu Yin with every fiber of his being. If not for Lu Yin’s actions, Karthika would not have died, and the Second Grade Hall would not have been thrust into such a desperate situation. Just a single Enlighter was enough to elevate an organization from prey to predator.

Anfield’s hatred towards Lu Yin was also the reason why he had not gone to the Frostwave Weave despite his injuries. He had been afraid that people from Aegis would kill him, but he was even more afraid that Lu Yin would kill him. However, he had never thought that he would indirectly end up delivering himself into Lu Yin’s hands.

“According to you, the people from Aegis are basically assassins,” Lu Yin said seriously.

Anfield replied, “They’re professional killers.”

Lu Yin grunted towards Anfield, and then he gave Tianming certain instructions. He was just about to disconnect when he suddenly thought of something. He screened the Ghost Monkey off and then asked Anfield, “How do you guys capture beasts to tame them? Has there ever been a case where a beast was afraid of death and voluntarily merged into a human’s body?”

Anfield was surprised at this question. “I’ve never heard of such a thing. Our Beast Tamers’ Flowzone imparts a technique to us that allows us to tame beasts, and we use it to stamp the beasts into our bodies.”

“Has there really never been a beast that voluntarily merged into a person’s body? Like a beast that might have grasped the taming technique?” Lu Yin tried to ask again.

Anfield replied, “I’ve never heard of a beast that could comprehend a human technique, just as humans cannot cultivate the astral beasts’ techniques.”

Lu Yin fell deep into thought and then quickly ended the call.

Lu Yin looked at his right arm. Could the Ghost Monkey have really comprehended the astral beast taming technique? Originally, the monkey had told Lu Yin that it had used the Beast Tamers’ technique to imprint himself onto Lu Yin’s body, becoming a tamed beast. Logically, if that were true, then Lu Yin should be able to control the monkey’s movements, and he should also be able to eliminate it at any moment. However, Anfield’s explanation left Lu Yin feeling lost.

The Ghost Monkey had either deceived him, or Anfield had lied to him. Of course, it was also possible that Anfield simply didn’t know the information that Lu Yin was looking for.

Lu Yin exhaled slowly. No matter what, if he wanted some light shed on this matter, he would have to ask a more powerful expert from Beast Tamers’ Flowzone. Anfield was just an initial stage Hunter, so his experience and knowledge were limited, especially since he was also from the Second Grade Hall. Beast Tamers’ Flowzone’s top power was the Divine Grade Hall, which meant that even Kuang Wang might know more than Anfield.

Lu Yin set the matter with the Ghost Monkey aside, as he currently had to consider the situation with Northcastle Weave and Aegis.

Ding Xing had actually requested Aegis’s help, but just where had he gotten the money to do so? He must have used the Greatsword Dynasty’s treasury as collateral, which had already been promised to Lu Yin. However, since he had done nothing to help the Greatsword Dynasty chase the Second Grade Hall away so far, it seemed that they had abandoned the Great Yu Empire and instead sought out Aegis.

Still, from the beginning, Lu Yin had stationed some people around Ding Xing to monitor him. This was to not allow him to leave precisely in order to prevent him from looking for other sources of help.

Lu Yin contacted Zenyu Star and quickly was informed that those who had been monitoring Ding Xing had been injured. His expression sank. How ballsy.

He currently felt as though his own possessions were being stolen away from right beneath his nose. But more importantly, Ding Xing was an important figure that could push Northcastle Weave to join the Great Eastern Alliance. After all, the Greatsword Dynasty was the top power in Northcastle Weave, so if Lu Yin could exert influence over Ding Xing after helping him to recover the Greatsword Dynasty, then he would not have to worry about Northcastle Weave not joining the Great Eastern Alliance.

But now, Aegis had moved first. Not only had Lu Yin suffered a loss of material goods, but he had also suffered the loss of potentially expanding the alliance.

Lu Yin definitely would not take such a loss lying down. He considered his options before quickly contacting Yan Yan and ordering the Seventh Squadron to head towards Northcastle Weave’s Greatsword Dynasty. Their orders were to seize Ding Xing and drag him back to stand trial for the crime of injuring the Great Yu Empire’s cultivators.

At the same time, Lu Yin also warned Yan Yan to remain vigilant, since Aegis had acted in secret. Of course, Lu Yin was not too worried. If Yan Yan could not deal with Aegis’s people in Northcastle Weave with his strength, then he simply did not need to fight against them.

***

Wei Rong was slightly busier than normal during this period, as he had been brainstorming ideas on how to best interfere with the Great Eastern Alliance while also reaching out to contact the various central weaves. His intention was to form an alliance that could withstand the Great Eastern Alliance’s pressure. But he also had to prevent Sourcepeak Weave from being snatched up by Lu Yin, and even with Wei Rong’s capabilities, he felt that he had too much work to do.

But on this particular day, he received a bit of good news. Aegis had actually moved into the eastern weaves after being employed by Northcastle Weave’s Greatsword Dynasty.

Wei Rong was prudent in his tasks, and since he was fated to be enemies with Lu Yin, he had already investigated the myriad matters related to the Great Yu Empire, including the fact that the Greatsword Dynasty had once requested the Great Yu Empire’s assistance. He had paid attention to this situation and had even wanted to use it to cause some issues once. However, who could have expected Aegis to interfere on their own?

There was clearly no bad blood between Aegis and Lu Yin, but Aegis had still acted ruthlessly at this time. Ever since the Outerverse had been isolated from the Innerverse, Aegis had begun acting with less and less restraint.

On the other hand, Lu Yin behaved in a similarly tyrannical manner, and he was definitely not the type of person who would let themselves be taken advantage of. Since Aegis had snatched away something from the Great Eastern Alliance, the conflict between the two had already been set in motion, and Wei Rong was looking forward to watching a good show.

“Young Master, do we have to do anything?” A figure appeared behind Wei Rong and asked in a deep voice.

Wei Rong smiled. “There’s no need. Aegis and Lu Yin are incompatible. Even if we don’t act, they will naturally become hostile towards one another.”

Northcastle Weave was located to the north of Frostwave Weave. Before the events that had occurred on Planet Pyrolyte, Northcastle Weave had been a bustling hub, as anyone from the Innerverse or Outerverse who wanted to enter the Astral Wilderness from the east side had to go through Northcastle Weave, and these people had brought an enormous amount of wealth into Northcastle Weave.

Unfortunately, after everything that had happened on Planet Pyrolyte, Northcastle Weave had become just another Outerverse weave that was cut off from the Innerverse. The Greatsword Dynasty had been one of the strongest powers in Northcastle Weave, but they had been casually taken over by the Second Grade Hall.

Swordian Planet was one of the more special planets in Northcastle Weave. It was not actually accurate to call it a planet, as Swordian Planet was shaped like a broad-edged sword, which was where its name came from. It would be more accurate to call it a floating continent that drifted through the universe, and the Greatsword Dynasty’s history had first started on this Swordian Planet.

In its most flourishing period, the Greatsword Dynasty had ruled over twenty filaments, and it had been the undisputed ruler of Northcastle Weave. But as the dynasty’s successive emperors became more and more muddleheaded, the dynasty’s territories had gradually broken away until the dynasty only controlled twelve filaments during the time of the events on Planet Pyrolyte. The emperor at that time had not even been willing to interact with Frostwave Weave due to him having certain misgivings about Undying Yushan.

At this moment, in the capital of Swordian Planet, within a majestic palace, a group of ministers were kneeling on the floor, trembling. A youth in embroidered clothing was standing in front of them, and next to him stood Ding Xing while surrounding them were mercenaries from Aegis, who were clearly distinct from Ding Xing and the others even at just a casual glance.

These mercenaries hailed from all parts of the Outerverse, and they were all wearing combat suits unique to Aegis as well as carrying firearms. They looked majestic and formidable. Most of them had normal appearances, but there were a few people who had more bizarre body shapes, such as their arms being exceptionally long, their heads being square-shaped, their skin being scaled, and more. Different environments gave birth to different types of people, and although they were all still human, some places had gone through hundreds, thousands, millions, or even tens of millions of years of development, which would lead to various changes in their anatomy.

Aegis’s mercenaries were trained and gathered from all over the seventy two weaves of the Outerverse, and naturally, there were all sorts of people among them.

Of this group, their leader was a thin person who was about three meters tall, though his legs were exceptionally slender, and they looked to be about two meters long on their own. The man also looked slightly out of sorts.

Ding Xing occasionally looked up with terror in his eyes, and he felt very conflicted. He had originally been living comfortably on Zenyu Star, waiting for Lu Yin to rescue the Greatsword Dynasty. However, he had constantly been very anxious there, since he felt like he had been left with no other choice. But then, one day, someone from Aegis had suddenly contacted him and enquired if he wanted to save the Greatsword Dynasty, placing him in a dilemma. He had tried to meet the Royal Regent, even requesting an audience several times, but never managed to do so. Thus, in his nervous state, he had employed Aegis.

Aegis had acted too ruthlessly. Not only had they massacred the members of the Second Grade Hall, but they had even killed off quite a few cultivators who had originally been a part of the Greatsword Dynasty that happened to be in the Greatsword Dynasty’s palace. These mercenaries from Aegis did not care who had been killed, but more importantly, they had no plans of leaving at all.

Ding Xing had thought that by offering the Greatsword Dynasty’s treasury to these people, they would leave, as that had been the originally agreed upon payment. But now, Aegis had reneged on their original agreement, and they wanted to stay in the Greatsword Dynasty in much the same way that the Second Grade Hall had before. Their excuse was that they wanted to establish a training base on Swordian Planet, and it was this request that made Ding Xing realize that he had been duped.

Aegis had wanted to occupy Swordian Planet from the very beginning, which was why they had lured Ding Xing away from Zenyu Star. These people’s final objective had always been the Greatsword Dynasty.

The tall, thin leader was sitting nearby while looking at a star chart on his gadget. Aegis’s objective this trip was to gain control of the Greatsword Dynasty, and this location was vital to the mission. Although the Outerverse was currently isolated from the Innerverse, the search for pyrolyte had not diminished at all, and many people were still entering the Astral Wilderness to find more pyrolyte. The price of pyrolyte on the black market had continuously risen, which pushed the demand to find more constantly higher. The situation had moved away from the few great powers of the Innerverse searching, and now, there were countless independent cultivators from the Outerverse looking to strike it rich.

Before the Innerverse and Outerverse had been separated, Aegis had not dared to scheme for any pyrolyte. It wasn’t just them—no Outerverse power had dared to have any thoughts about it. But right now, since they were separated from those Innerverse organizations, Aegis was no longer afraid of anybody. Their sights had naturally been drawn towards pyrolyte, and if they controlled the Northcastle Weave, then it would be equivalent to them controlling the only passageway between the Outerverse and the region of the Astral Wilderness where pyrolyte could be found. Not only would this be convenient for transport and exploration, but it would also facilitate their plundering.

The more pyrolyte they obtained, the more powerful their weapons would become, and the stronger their organization would become.

This was Aegis’s dream, as they wanted to intimidate the entire Outerverse.