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“What? You don’t want to talk?” The Sea King smiled at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin took a deep breath, but the monkey’s voice rang out in his brain at that moment. “Seventh Bro, watch the attitude! You’ve got to watch your attitude! This is the Sea King! The master of the Starfall Sea! Smile! Hurry up and fix your expression!”
Lu Yin immediately screened his right arm off and faced the Sea King with a respectful demeanor. “This junior does not know what to say.”
The Sea King clasped his hands behind his back and looked out at the Starfall Sea. “Then you don’t need to say anything. Since you have pulled out the Sea King's Trident, then you will become the Sea King’s future son-in-law. It’s fine if Qiqi doesn’t acknowledge you, as you just have to do one thing now.” He then paused and solemnly looked at Lu Yin before continuing, saying, “Cultivate well and quickly break through to the Explorer realm so that you won’t bring shame to the Sea King’s Dome’s reputation. Only then can you truly wed Qiqi.”
Lu Yin’s brows jumped, and he was reminded of Ming Yan. He wanted to reject the Sea King, but he was not some hot-headed youth, and he knew that his own feelings meant nothing to the Sea King. In fact, the Sea King’s wrath could completely destroy Shenwu Continent, and mentioning anything related to her could bring disaster to Ming Yan or even the entire Shenwu Continent.
Lu Yin’s small amount of status might be enough to cause the Daynight clan to hesitate slightly, and maybe even some other powers as well. However, it was not enough to dissuade the Sea King in any way. The Starfall Sea was a very special area, and the Sea King was an Envoy. Regardless of if it was the Lockbreaker Society or the Ten Arbiters Council, nobody had the nerve to make a move against an Envoy. As for Leon's Armada, Lu Yin wasn’t sure, and besides, he still did not want to expose his relationship with Highsage Leon. As for Mister Mu, Lu Yin was uncertain about how much power his master possessed.
The Sea King was a true peak powerhouse who did not care about anything. He was someone who was truly free in this universe.
Lu Yin had no choice in his decision at this time, but there was one detail that seemed very strange to him—just what did the Sea King see in Lu Yin? Lu Yin truly could not understand, as all he had done was pull out the Sea King's Trident. His past battle results shouldn’t be able to draw the Sea King’s notice, and he might not even care about the Ten Arbiters. So, what was it about Lu Yin that the Sea King saw value in?
It wasn’t just Lu Yin who was wondering about this; Hai Dashao and Hai Qiqi could not understand this matter either. Was pulling out the Sea King's Trident really enough to allow someone to become the Sea King’s son-in-law? From many people’s perspective, it seemed too frivolous.
Lu Yin was basically grounded, as the Sea King had thrown him under a waterfall and said, “Don’t even think of going anywhere until you’ve broken through to the Explorer realm.”
Those were the last words that Lu Yin heard from the departing Sea King.
The Sea King’s reaction caused Lu Yin to immediately suspect that there truly was no one who wanted to wed Hai Qiqi and that this really was a forced marriage.
However, right now, Lu Yin really just wanted to get in contact with Zhang Dingtian and chat with him.
The nearby waterfall rumbled loudly and beside the cascade was a wooden house that was Lu Yin’s temporary personal residence.
He sighed and headed into the house.
In another area of the Sea King’s Dome, Hai Dashao sought out the Sea King since he could not understand his father’s actions. “Father, Lu Yin clearly does not wish to wed Qiqi. So why are you forcing him to do so?”
The Sea King raised a hand and brought out the Sea King's Trident. He spun it around one time and then impaled it into the ground. “Come and try yourself.”
Hai Dashao shook his head and said in an agonized manner, “Your son cannot pull it out.”
The Sea King’s gaze was complex. “Do you know why?”
Hai Dashao shook his head.
The Sea King slowly answered, “This trident does not belong to this universe.”
Hai Dashao was shocked. “What do you mean?”
“You don’t need to know the specifics. However, just know that, since Lu Yin can pull this trident out, he will be of immense assistance to our Sea King’s Dome in the future. Though, it’s also possible that he could become a mortal enemy.”
Hai Dashao still could not understand his father’s words, but he did not ask any more questions since it was clear that the Sea King would not explain anything. He could only resort to his backup plan and ask his elder brother, as only that person in the entire Sea King's Dome could possibly know more.
“Don’t ask anyone else about this. You’re not qualified yet. When you achieve the same strength as your brother, I’ll tell you everything.” The Sea King looked at Hai Dashao.
Hai Dashao felt his heart sink, as it seemed like his brother definitely would not tell him anything either. He deferentially replied, “Your son understands. So how should we handle this Lu Yin?”
The Sea King’s lips bent upwards. “He’s already reached the peak of the Limiteer realm and is just one step away from becoming an Explorer. Allow him to cultivate in peace, and after he breaks through, he can take Qiqi to explore the universe. Qiqi really wants to go out, and that’s the entire reason why she agreed to this selection in the first place. She’s going to wreak havoc if she’s never allowed to go out beyond the Starfall Sea.”
Hai Dashao frowned. “Are we really going to have Qiqi marry him? Didn’t Father just say that he might become our mortal enemy as well?”
The Sea King’s expression became complicated. “Future matters shall be discussed in the future.”
“Right. Father, you’ve been in seclusion for too long, and there’s something that I need to report.” Hai Dashao activated his gadget, and a star chart appeared on the display. This chart did not depict the Innerverse or Outerverse. Instead, it showed a part of the Astral Wilderness.
The Astral Wilderness had always been a main target of exploratory teams from the three great domains, and the various powers had their own private star charts of the Astral Wilderness’ explored areas. Although the Starfall Sea did not intervene in the Human Domain’s struggles and other matters concerning the Innerverse or the Outerverse, they had their own ways of acquiring such charts.
“Many years ago, a certain substance was discovered in the Astral Wilderness. It’s a naturally occurring substance that’s been compressed to the absolute limit. It’s known as pyrolyte. This material is extremely volatile, and just one gram of it can cause an explosion with a power level of 10,000,” Hai Dashao explained.
The Sea King’s eyes went wide. “One gram can cause an explosion that has a power level of 10,000?”
“Yes. Ever since this material was first discovered, various powers from the Innerverse and Outerverse have sent people into the Astral Wilderness. The Sword Sect, Divine Grade Hall, Daynight clan, as well as the Lingling clan, Xun family, Yƍu Court, Wen family, and many more. Each group has sent experts into the Astral Wilderness. Should we act as well?” Hai Dashao asked.
At this point, the star chart disappeared from the display, and the image of a strange substance appeared instead—pyrolyte.
The appearance of pyrolyte was far more groundbreaking than what Hai Dashao had indicated. The normal person was not privy to any of the high leveled information that the powers actively exploring the Astral Wilderness had. A single gram of this material could unleash a power level of 10,000. Despite the fact that pyrolyte had a very low density, even a piece the size of one’s thumb would cause even a Hunter to be afraid. How many Hunters were there in the universe? They might seem numerous, but there actually very few in the grand scope of the universe. The Great Yu Empire that had almost unified Frostwave Weave only had a handful of such powerhouses, but a thumb-sized piece of this pyrolyte could match such a person’s attack.
With the technology that the various powers had access to, the more pyrolyte they got a hold of, the greater the destruction they could cause. It had even reached the point where such a weapon could threaten the old freaks whose power levels were in the hundreds of thousands.
This was pyrolyte’s greatest value; there was no upper limit to its destruction. It could be considered a strategic resource.
Of course, this so-called “destruction” did not mean that ten grams would explode with a power level of 100,000 or that a hundred grams was equal to a power level of 1,000,000. Power levels did not increase linearly. Instead, it increased logarithmically, which meant that as the mass increased, the level of destruction increased exponentially.
The Sea King waved a hand to dismiss Hai Dashao before returning to ponder the matter by himself. He did not care about the struggles of the Innerverse or the Outerverse, as there was no one there who dared to provoke the Sea King. However, he needed to obtain that pyrolyte so that he could secure a new path of hope. That path required an incredible amount of destructive power. Something artificial could not accomplish such a thing, but this pyrolyte just happened to be suitable.
The Sea King's Dome needed to act.
Although the Sea King had forbidden Lu Yin from going out, he was not prevented from getting into contact with the outside world.
Beneath the waterfall, Lu Yin called Xia Luo through his gadget.
“Congratulations, Brother Lu,” Xia Luo’s voice greeted through the connection.
Lu Yin could imagine the group’s gloating expressions at his misfortune. He was just supposed to participate in the competition as a mere formality, but he had actually ended up as the victor. This was absurd, and Lu Yin had even become the Sea King’s future son-in-law! They were actually going to force him into this marriage.
“Stop spouting crap. I can’t leave the Sea King's Dome for now.” Lu Yin was helpless.
Big Pao’s voice spoke up. “That much? The Sea King's daughter is that impatient?”
“Shut up, senior! This is the Sea King's Dome, and you’re done for if the Sea King hears you,” Lulu’s voice rang.
“Senior Little Pao, please control him a bit.”
“Sure thing.”
“Hey! You guys can’t do this to me.”
Lu Yin heard a scuffle take place on the other end, and he sighed. “Alright, I'm just letting you guys know. As for Feng Mo and the other two, I’ll try to get the Sea King to take care of them.”
“Don’t bother. Any powerhouse from the Sea King's Dome would be enough,” Xia Luo replied.
“Feng Mo and the rest have already left the Sea King's Dome, but we don’t know if they’ve left the Starfall Sea,” Little Pao said.
“I’ll try to get the Sea King's Dome’s experts to make a move,” Lu Yin said, though he was not certain if he could mobilize anyone.
“Since the Feng Mo and the Bo Duo have already been taken care of, we’ll leave the Sea King's Dome now. We won’t be able to attend your wedding celebrations,” Michelle chimed in.
Lulu’s voice quickly followed up with, “A friendly reminder to you that you spent so much of their money that you won’t be able to leave. Be careful about getting beaten up, hahaha!”
Lu Yin felt a headache when he heard her comment. He had indeed wrongly assumed that he would be able to leave after the Sea King’s son-in-law selection, which had resulted in him freely spending 15,000 star essences without fearing for the consequences. But now, he was currently trapped, and he did not know when those expenses would be delivered to the Sea King. Lu Yin didn’t believe that the Sea King would be stingy, though. It might be an enormous sum for others, but it shouldn’t amount to much for the Sea King.
But at the same time, Lu Yin was rather uncertain, as he had spent 15,000 star essences. He had never had more than 1,000 star essences at any given time, and he had only gotten that much from robbing the Blackbeard Pirates. That incident had resulted in him being chased to the Starfall Sea, but now, he had spent fifteen times the amount that he had stolen. He was starting to feel apprehensive about the entire matter.
“Right, Lulu, how much did you end up spending?” Lu Yin asked curiously.
“Me? Hmph, 30,000!” Lulu was pleased with herself.
Lu Yin’s scalp went numb. He was finished if this bill was also pushed onto him! After all, they were members of the same group and had arrived together.
“Alright, don’t worry. If the Sea King asks you, just say that it’s an investment into you. After all, you’re his son-in-law, so investing a little bit of money shouldn’t be anything difficult,” Lulu said generously.
Lu Yin felt helpless. “No wonder you’re from the Mavis family. You can spend money in such a fresh and refined manner.”
“Of course!”
They chatted for a bit longer before ending the call when they ran out of things to talk about. Lu Yin thought of looking for the Sea King or Hai Dashao, as he would not be able to rest easy for Xia Luo and the others’ sake unless Feng Mo and the Bo Duo were taken care of. Right, there was also Faceless, whom Lu Yin had ordered to destroy Feng Mo and Bo Duo while masquerading as a member of the Specter Clan. He did not know if his orders would be carried out. Speaking of which, if the Sea King's Dome’s experts happened to appear when the Neohuman Alliance was in the middle of destroying Feng Mo’s group, it would be rather interesting.
If such a scenario occurred, would Lu Yin have a role to play against the Neohuman Alliance? Lu Yin thought about this potential scheme.
For two days, no one in the Sea King's Dome looked for Lu Yin.
Lu Yin steadily cultivated by himself under the waterfall. He wanted to leave, but there was an invisible force trapping him there that he could not break through with his current power. His entire situation made him feel very helpless.
On the third day, Hai Qiqi arrived, and she looked at Lu Yin with a seething expression.
Lu Yin felt a little headache appear when he saw her. “What are you doing here?”
“Checking to see if you’re dead,” Hai Qiqi replied.