Chapter 968: Battle News

Naturally, Sixteen was also qualified to attend the strategy meeting. He gave Lu Yin’s trio a strange look, and he seemed to want to ask something, but after seeing Xu San’s expression, he ultimately decided not to speak.

The island where the meeting was taking place was extremely busy, as the gathering had been called in Shang Rong’s name on top of it being the strategy meeting for the battle for the poles. Thus, all of the elites in the nearby region had flocked to this island. However, there were bound to be conflicts when so many people gathered in one place.

For example, there was that fat and skinny duo. On their way to the island, they had instigated a great deal of resentment, as the two idiots continuously shot their mouths off, saying anything that they wanted. They had even caused Xu San to be disgusted, let alone others.

In some sense, they could be seen as quite awesome due to the fact that they had not been beaten to death yet.

Xu San led Lu Yin’s trio and Sixteen to the center of the island, where there was a tall obelisk towering high into the sky.

“The top of that obelisk is where the true elites will gather, and basically, only the heirs of Imprinter families can participate. These people who we’ve passed by so far can all just be ignored,” Xu San loudly explained as he led the way.

Quite a few people in the area had just been aggravated by the Greenmen Duo, and when Xu San passed by, stirring up more trouble, many of their faces turned purple once again.

Sixteen immediately moved over to flatter Xu San while also conveniently remembering to mock the nearby people a little.

Lu Yin quite admired the fact that Sixteen had also managed to not be beaten to death yet, not to mention the fat and skinny pair.

“Little Xiang!” After their group had walked quite a ways across the island, Xu San suddenly hollered out, startling Lu Yin and the others quite badly.

Quite a few others around them also jumped in surprise.

A bit away, a group of people had appeared around the corner, led by a petite girl who had a beautiful smile. There were quite a few youths in the group, and the girl was obviously from a powerful family.

All of the people in the group had been walking along and minding their own business, but when Xu San shouted, the face of the girl in the lead darkened. When the rest of the group members looked over, all of their expressions changed as well.

Xu San jogged over to the group with a pandering smile plastered on his face as he moved next to the girl in the least. “Little Xiang, where’ve you been all this time? Brother Xu has been looking for you.”

The girl’s face became extremely ugly, but she replied in a gentle voice, saying, “I went out for a stroll.”

“Stroll?” Xu San maintained the same cajoling tone. “Do you know how dangerous this place is? There are enemies everywhere as well as a bunch of guys who are happy to take advantage of their family’s influence. It’s very dangerous for you to wander around like this! Little Xiang, please promise Brother Xu that you won’t walk around by yourself next time. You should know…”

Xu San’s saliva sprayed everywhere as he talked, which caused many of the nearby people to glance over. The girl’s expression grew uglier by the second, but she refused to allow herself to blow up.

The people around her felt equally helpless, though they also seemed accustomed to this situation.

Lu Yin and the others walked over closer, where they stood silently at the side, watching Xu San speak and looking like nothing more than his henchmen.

After speaking for a while, Xu San finally wound down. “Little Xiang, let’s go! We’ll go to the strategy meeting together.”

The girl did not answer him, and she instead silently started walking ahead. Xu San licked his lips and continued to talk as he walked by her side. All of the handsome young men in the area thought that Xu San was thoroughly irritating to see, but they all held their tempers back, and no one spoke up.

As Ancestor Swifteyes’ disciple, Xu San enjoyed an extremely high status, and there were very few who dared to speak out against him.

Ling Que quietly commented, “Just one bad apple spoils the whole bunch.”

…

The obelisk could be seen from a fair distance due to how high up it shot into the sky. It did not seem very large, but as one approached it, they would quickly realize that the obelisk was actually quite thick and that there was an entire courtyard at the very top.

This courtyard had once belonged to the island’s master, but during the Sixth Mainland’s invasion, the former master had died. The courtyard, however, had been perfectly preserved, and it was currently occupied by Shang Rong.

Lu Yin and the others followed Xu San as he ascended the obelisk, but then, Xu San chased after Little Xiang and ignored the three people following him.

The courtyard was massive, and there was exquisite food and liquor scattered all about as well as quite a few servers shuttling about to and fro.

Cultivators sought out one another to chat, and the atmosphere was completely identical to that of a wine reception.

Sixteen followed behind Xu San, as he was determined to stay close to him.

Starsibyl also went her own way.

Ling Que’s eyes lit up, and he went off on his own as well.

Lu Yin had no particular goal in mind, and so he decided to simply enjoy the food.

Actually, he had always had a bit of an interest in gourmet food. He still remembered how Silver’s ambition had been to be a gourmet, and that thought suddenly made Lu Yin wonder where Silver was at the moment, or if he was even still alive.

Lu Yin still felt uncomfortable whenever he recalled Silver’s detestable, sly smile.

When Lu Yin thought of Silver, he also recalled Xia Luo. Opposed to Silver, Lu Yin really did not know much about what Xia Luo might be doing.

Lu Yin had been separated from his old friends for several years, and he did not even know when he might meet them again.

“Did you hear? The Fifth Mainland’s Champions' Stage granted Hua Xiao the title of King Xiao, and he is currently fighting against our Starlight Island,” someone discussed, as people were exchanging rumors all around.

Lu Yin calmly listened to the surrounding conversations as he ate.

“The Fifth Mainland doesn’t amount to much, but those who were given the title of King or Queen are all very powerful. Hua Xiao is reportedly a true disciple of the Neoverse’s Cosmic Sect, and he’s extremely powerful. He’s even able to fight on par with the Realmlings.”

“It’s a bit strange to talk about this. The Fifth Mainland has been suppressed by us all this time, but they’re never been short of experts, especially their Neoverse. That place has way too many people who’ve been given a title of King or Queen. Each of them are strong enough to go up against a Realmling, and their strength is not inferior to a heir from an Imprinter family.”

“We have more powerhouses than them, so we can deal with however many of them show up. Besides, only around half of our younger generation has joined the invasion so far with the other half not having even shown up yet. Rumor has it that Wu Taibai of the Daosource Three Skies still doesn’t intend to come over.”

“It’s not just Wu Taibai—many disciples from our Daosource Sect don’t intend to come out, and the main force of the invasion is still the nine realms.”

…

Lu Yin’s gaze flickered, and he suddenly remembered that the Sixth Mainland had its own Daosource Sect, which naturally had its own disciples. At this moment, the Innerverse was fighting against experts from the Sixth Mainland’s Nine Realms, as the experts from their Daosource Sect actually had not even appeared yet. However, even if the Daosource Sect’s disciples did show up, they would not be able to surpass the strength of the Realmlings, and at best, they would only be on the same level.

Still, it was terrifying to realize that the Sixth Mainland was still holding back. The number of heirs of Imprinter families in the Nine Realms combined with the Daosource Sect’s disciples definitely surpassed the number of elites that the Innerverse could send out, and any more reinforcements from the Sixth Mainland would crush the Innerverse.

The strength of the Sixth Mainland surpassed the Fifth Mainland’s by far too much.

There were various discussions taking place all around, most of it was regarding the thunder region, and listening to them allowed Lu Yin to gather a great deal of information. The main forces opposing the Sixth Mainland in the contest for the thunder region was a former crew from the Cosmic Sea, a few other crews that had come together, and the reinforcements from the Soulseal Flowzone who had withdrawn to the Cosmic Sea, such as members of the Lingling clan.

The Ten Arbiters’ Ling Gong was actually going to be fighting against Shang Rong.

When Lu Yin heard the news about Ling Gong, his expression became rather strange. These two people really seemed to share some sort of fate; even in the Daosource Sect's ruins, Ling Gong and Shang Rong had fought against each other several times. Now, they were going against each other in the Cosmic Sea once again. Would they fight until they fell in love?

“Speaking of which, the Fifth Mainland’s Ten Arbiters are really ruthless. They don’t have any imprints or bloodlines, but they can match up to the Realmlings.”

“Shh, don’t talk about that! Realmling Shang Rong always gets upset when people say things like that. In fact, he’s always been the one to hold the disadvantage.”

“No way?! The Realmlings can actually be overpowered?”

“It seems like it. Someone personally confirmed that Realmling Shang Rong was beaten by the Ten Arbiters’ White Knight. What’s more, it did not seem like they were evenly matched, as one of them was just stalling, and apparently, it was Realmling Shang Rong who was trying to delay White Knight.”

“Wha- that’s just too fierce! Where did these freaks come from in the Fifth Mainland?”

“Haven’t you heard? The Fifth Mainland’s Champions' Stage’s highest title that it can grant is Arbiter, but even until now, nobody has received that title. Whoever gets that title will be able to challenge the Ten Arbiters. Not even those crazy experts from the Neoverse can openly challenge the Ten Arbiters. Those ten are just freaks.”

“It seems like only the Daosource Three Skies can keep them under control.”

“Not necessarily, as the Ten Arbiters also has stronger and weaker members, just like the Realmlings. Realmling Shang Rong might not be able to compare to them, but that doesn’t mean that the other Realmlings are the same. Let’s just wait and see.”

…

“Bro, I heard that you were trashed by some guy called Avery from the Fifth Mainland? Hahaha!”

“Bullshit! I’m the one who beat him up!”

“Stop playing, a bunch of people saw it all. If not for your power vessel letting you escape, your body probably would have already turned cold.”

“Don’t worry. Next time I meet him, I’ll definitely take care of him.”

…

“It seems like someone issued a bounty for people from the Mavis family. Have you guys bumped into any of them?”

“Once. That woman’s strength is just scary. Honestly, it wouldn’t be too bad if it was just her, but when we fought, she actually brought out a tamed sea turtle from the Cosmic Sea, and it nearly swallowed me whole!”

“The Mavis family is really strange. Supposedly, no one has killed anyone from the Mavis family so far.”

…

“Actually, this thunder region is comparatively peaceful. I’ve heard that quite a lot of strange powerhouses have appeared in the other regions. Some call themselves deities, others drive around spacecraft, knocking people around, and there are even some bastards who keep releasing smoke. There have even been rumors of a brothel flying through space.”

“I’ve heard about that too. Apparently, there are also some places that even have dead people riding skeletal horses.”

“Right? There are also some who know secret techniques, and it’s not just one or two people at that. The Fifth Mainland is getting stranger and stranger.”

“Not exactly. Those people are basically all from the Fifth Mainland’s Neoverse, which is where their strongest cultivators have gathered. When the Progenitor of Combat acted, it was to deal with the Neoverse with one strike,” someone explained.

“Unfortunately, the Progenitor failed, and that fight even caused the cosmic phenomenon to show up.”

"No matter how powerful the Neoverse is, if our Nine Realms act together, then we’d be able to easily take care of them. Even if we don’t consider the other powerhouses, if each realm just sends out one Cosmic Imprinter each, then that would be nine powerhouses who each have a power level of more than 1,000,000. Beyond them, we also have Empyrean Imprinters and our Progenitors. All evil monsters would be slain before them. What a pity.”

…

“I believe that the first one that should be dealt with from the Fifth Mainland is the Starsibyl Sect. There are reports that those people can even divine the future, and apparently, they have a bunch of blind people.”

“Just because they can divine things doesn’t mean that they’re blind.”

“If they aren’t blind, then how can they do any divinations?”

“That’s reasonable.”

…

Lu Yin leisurely sipped a drink. Listening to all the various conversations taking place around him allowed him to gain a better understanding of what was happening in the Cosmic Sea. He also felt that everything he was hearing was completely bizarre, even without listening to the opinions of these Sixth Mainland cultivators.

Spacecraft that bumped into people, others who referred to themselves as deities, people who released smoke, flying brothels, and blind people who could perform divinations. It all sounded like something from a chaotic dream.

However, the overall situation did not sound too terrible for the Fifth Mainland, and Lu Yin also did not have a clear understanding of what lay within the Neoverse. Ah, that was right—he could try asking Starsibyl.

After thinking about it, Lu Yin looked around for Starsibyl, but he could not find her. If that woman did not want others to find her, then very few would be able to.

Lu Yin did not find Starsibyl, but he did see Ling Que scolding some people.

Lu Yin suddenly felt a headache develop.

Xu San immediately moved over and did his best to persuade Ling Que to back down.

“You’re trying to set me up!” Xu San barked.

Ling Que rolled his eyes. “Whoever’s got the moves can win the women. Who is that guy? He actually dared to snatch my woman!”

“His father’s an Imprinter,” Xu San fiercely retorted.

Ling Que pursed his lips; an Imprinter was an Envoy. He grudgingly responded, “It will take a very long time for me to realize my dreams of reforming my cheerleader squad.”

As Lu Yin casually picked up a plate of delicious food to munch on, he glanced at the door. Then, he immediately whirled back around and ducked his head as low as he could.