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Although Lu Yin had established some animosity with the Northgate family, he had also revealed his strength. Thus, there were still many who showed their goodwill towards him.
“Brother Lu, that pike should be useless for you since you haven’t learned any pike techniques. Why don’t you sell it to my Lily family?” Lily Anne seized the opportunity to ask him a question. She blinked as she looked at Lu Yin expectantly.
But Lu Yin shrugged in reply. “I’m sorry, but I want to keep it as a souvenir.”
Lily Anne rolled her eyes. “Alright, my Lily family is well-off, so Brother Lu can contact me whenever you feel like selling it.”
Lu Yin’s eyes lit up. As long as he agreed, he would receive another hundred star essence. However, for the time being, he wanted to study the pike, as this rare weapon that could attack one’s spiritual force was definitely worth looking into.
“Right, Miss Anna, the Northgate Platform Competition should have ended, right?” Lu Yin asked.
“Yes, the Northgate family has won. Brother Lu can report back to the Ten Arbiters now.”
Lu Yin nodded in understanding and then steered his spacecraft towards Astral-10.
“Seventh Bro, why don’t you sell the pike? You don’t have much use for it, and it’s at most a standard military-issue weapon from ancient times. Didn’t you see that that old fogey, Nightking Yuanjing, didn’t really care about it? The Daynight clan already has these kinds of weapons, and the Northgate family only wanted to buy it to facilitate their research into the centipede. Carrying this thing around is only going to draw the attention of people who are greedy for such things.”
“I got it, and I don’t need your reminders. Right, have you translated those words that were next to the corpse? What did they say?” Lu Yin asked.
The monkey rolled his eyes. “Do you think that I’m omniscient or something? Those are words from an unknown age, and it’s even possible for several civilizations to have risen and fallen since that age. How can such a thing be translated that easily? This actually involves all sorts of secrets about the universe, hidden knowledge, exotic cultures, and…”
“Alright, alright, take your time.”
News of what had happened in the Northline Flowzone quickly spread out. The network that now connected the entire Human Domain allowed the information to spread even faster than before.
News regarding Northgate Taisui, the ancient centipede's body, and the desiccated corpse pinned in place by the five pikes within the centipede’s body all became sensational. Much of the information piqued a great deal of interest from countless other organizations, such as the Blaze Realm, Ross Empire, Sylvan Dragon tribe, the Beast Tamers Flowzone’s First Grade Hall, Second Grade Hall, and more. Many powerhouses from the various great powers started heading towards the Northline Flowzone.
Although Northgate Taisui could suppress many, he still had to compromise with the other great powers since his family did not have the power or influence to monopolize the ancient centipede's body.
And within all of the news, Lu Yin stood out once again. He had seized three pikes and had even used the Nightking clan to back him up. This incident caused Lu Yin’s reputation to climb even higher.
Among the publicly recognized geniuses who were regarded as true Ten Arbiter candidates, Lu Yin had jumped above them all to become the most well-known.
In a study within the Northgate family, Northgate Kong had an ugly expression as he stared at Northgate Lie. “We are very disappointed in you. You couldn’t even handle a single Limiteer junior! All of the resources that this family has invested in you has been wasted!”
Northgate Lie replied in a respectful tone, “Although Lu Yin’s a Limiteer, his power cannot be measured by conventional means. He definitely has the power to challenge experts in the Top 100 Rankings.”
“There’s no need to quibble about such things. You’ll face the family’s punishments for not handling this matter appropriately.” Northgate Kong was impatient.
Northgate Lie raised his head. “Father, during this journey within the centipede's body, Lu Yin was not the only one who obtained something.”
Northgate Kong’s eyes gleamed as he looked at Northgate Lie. “What are you saying?”
Northgate Lie spoke slowly, “I saw a diagram inside the centipede's body and memorized it. No one else saw it either.”
He then used his star energy to draw the pattern of the diagram that he had seen in the centipede's body.”
He had destroyed the pattern himself just before Lily Anne and the others from the Northline Flowzone arrived, so he was definitely the only one who had clearly seen it.
Suddenly, the void distorted, Northgate Taisui walked out, and he took a serious look at the pattern. Northgate Lie lowered his head and stood to the side.
Even after a while, Northgate Taisui and Northgate Kong were not able to decipher anything. Northgate Taisui shook his head and sighed. “It’s too ancient, and all the related information has been long lost in the river of history, so it can’t be ascertained.” His body slowly vanished, but before he left, he said, “Not bad, junior. Come with me and demonstrate the power of my Northgate family at the Daynight Feast.”
Northgate Lie was elated, as the elder clearly wanted to personally mentor him. He looked at Northgate Kong.
Northgate Kong nodded. “Go on. Learn well from our elder. Every day that Lu Yin cannot defeat you is another day that he cannot control our Northline Flowzone’s younger generation.”
Northgate Lie solemnly nodded. He had previously been completely confident in his ability to defeat Lu Yin, and now, he would follow the elder. His goal was no longer limited to just Lu Yin, as he now wanted to target the higher positions of the Top 100 Rankings.
Although the Northline Flowzone was a small Flowzone, it’s area was still about the same as that of a weave from the Outerverse. Thus, it would take Lu Yin about a week to reach Astral-10 with the spacecraft that he had received since it had a normal speed.
If he still had that blackhole-grade Aurora, it would have taken him just a few hours to complete the same trip. Lu Yin once again felt that the fact that his blackhole-grade Aurora had been destroyed was a pity.
While traveling, he studied the pike. He hadn’t had much time to study it before, and he was only now able to earnestly examine it in peace.
It was cold to touch and was not light to pick up either. There were no words or diagrams on it, only darkened bloodstains which had gradually faded with time. The pike was made from unknown materials, and he felt a natural sense of suppression when holding it. Lu Yin exerted some force to bend it and could tell that it was abnormally sturdy. Even with his strength, he found it unexpectedly difficult to break it. He had a feeling that he could only break it if he used Overlaying Stacks.
It was a weapon that was very suitable for Explorers.
“This pike isn’t very useful if you’re facing anyone who’s stronger than an Explorer. Does that mean that the corpse pinned down by the five pikes in the centipede's body was just an Explorer? But how can an Explorer’s body last for so many years without rotting? Even the words on the wall rotted away.” Lu Yin was puzzled.
The monkey replied, “It’s simple. Either these three pikes and those stabbed into the body are different, or an absolute powerhouse transformed something worthless into something extraordinary with their power. It could be that these pikes were used to crucify some powerhouse like pins and that that’s why the corpse didn’t decay through the eons. Think of it like how Seventh Bro can use chopsticks to easily kill an Explorer.”
There were only these two possibilities.
Lu Yin tightly gripped the pike, as the latter option was more likely.
He was not sure what sort of powerhouse one had to be to reach the level where their body would not rot even after countless ages, and what’s more, what sort of person would be able to kill such a powerhouse. The universe was so vast, and more than one civilization had been annihilated before. A great deal of information was tightly controlled by powerful organizations, and suddenly, Lu Yin was very interested in such information.
At that moment, his gadget sounded out a notification. It was one that could not be rejected, and it came from the Ten Arbiters Council.
Lu Yin looked down to see that Wen Sansi had personally sent him a message. It instructed Lu Yin to turn in a detailed report going over everything that he had experienced while in the Northline Flowzone.
Lu Yin knew that the Ten Arbiters wanted to learn more about the centipede's body, as well as Northgate Taisui. Lu Yin didn’t hesitate or make any attempt to hide any information. He wrote everything down and sent it to Wen Sansi.
“Right, Monkey, how long do you think that Northgate Taisui has lived for?”
“No idea. Those old freaks won’t move for ten thousand years and will seal themselves in cryostasis when they have nothing better to do. No one knows in which era they will reveal themselves again, and it’s even possible that he’ll still be around after your grandson is dead.”
Lu Yin frowned, as the beast’s words were vulgar.
“Northgate Taisui or the Third Nightking—who’s stronger?”
The monkey cried out exaggeratedly, “Seventh Bro, how can you compare Northgate Taisui to someone like the Third Nightking? You’re talking about the Third Nightking, someone who stands in the top three among the entire history of the Nightking clan. Although there’s no strict record of his actual power level, it’s safe to say that he definitely surpasses Northgate Taisui. They aren’t even in the same league! Why else do you think Northgate Taisui fears Nightking Yuanjing? If Northgate Taisui could compare to the Third Nightking, then the Northgate family would have long since stepped into the level of a powerful organization.”
From Northgate Taisui, one could sense a strength that could topple the universe. Lu Yin now understood what him revealing the Third Nightking’s existence to the Nightking Clan implied. If the Third Nightking safely returned, then the Nightking Clan would dramatically rise in power.
“Are you sure that the Third Nightking won’t be able to escape?” Lu Yin was feeling nervous again.
“I’m certain and sure. You must put your faith in that Void Wanderer elder and his perverse strength that’s been polished through countless ages. Although his offensive power might not be that high, imprisoning one person is simple enough for him. Even the power of the entire Nightking Clan wouldn’t be enough to haul him out. Also, do you really think that the other powerful clans in the Astral Beast Domain are just decorations?”
Lu Yin was still not reassured. The Daynight clan also had an ancient history, and who knew what strength they kept concealed. However, it was no longer up to him to decide this matter, so he could only leave it up to fate.
If the Daynight clan’s Dayking bloodline knew that he had exposed information concerning the whereabouts of the Third Nightking, they would curse him to death.
Days later, Lu Yin finally arrived at Astral-10.
As soon as he arrived, he heard the news: Big Pao and Little Pao had broken through and become Explorers, successfully graduating from the Astral Combat Academy.
The two had been adopted by Astral-10 at a young age, and they had been the only ones who had stayed behind after the other students had abandoned Astral-10. Actually, given their talent, they could have made their breakthroughs much earlier, but they simply did not wish to leave. Now that Astral-10 had stabilized and had Lu Yin to oversee it, the two had decided that it was time for them to both become Explorers and roam the universe.
An academy was, after all, just an academy in the end. The universe was the soil that nurtured powerhouses.
Lu Yin met Big Pao and Little Pao at the trial zone entrance, as well as Xia Luo, Michelle, Hui Daynight, and the other students of Astral-10.
They were not too surprised to see that Lu Yin had returned, as they had already heard about the major events in the Northline Flowzone. Everyone had been shocked when they heard that Lu Yin had dared to negotiate with an old freak whose power level was in the several hundreds of thousands.
“Congratulations to both seniors for successfully graduating.” Lu Yin smiled.
Big Pao tossed his hair back. “Graduation is a must, junior. Give me a while, and this senior will challenge the Top 100 Rankings. I’ll clear a path for you.”
“Alright, stop boasting. Even if we join forces, we still won’t be able to beat any experts even if they’re at the tail-end of that list.” Little Pao was speechless at his brother’s claims.
Big Pao rolled his eyes. “It isn’t boasting—it’s goal setting. This is important for our youth!”
Lu Yin smiled. “I look forward to the moment you two seniors step onto the rankings.”
“Haha, junior still has good taste! Rest assured, Senior’s Firesoul Gun is good at dominating the top from the bottom,” Big Pao joked.
“Dominating the top from the bottom? Seventh Bro, get away from him, this guy’s got a dirty mind!” the monkey shrieked.
“Where do you two seniors plan to go after graduation?” Lu Yin asked.
Little Pao replied, “The Chaos Flowzone.”
Lu Yin was shocked. “One of the eight Great Flowzones?”
Little Pao nodded, but he did not elaborate further. He smiled at Lu Yin. “Junior, we’ll entrust you with Astral-10. This place is like our brothers’ home, so we hope that you’ll protect it well.”