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Aden walked away. Next, Charon approached Lu Yin and looked at him with a complex expression. “Congratulations, you’ve broken through to the Explorer realm.”
“It’s nothing worth congratulating,” Lu Yin commented indifferently.
“I saw Tian Hou,” Charon said. “He was exchanging blows with someone from the Myriad Swords Peak. Even a Hunter can’t deal with that beast.”
Lu Yin did not find that unexpected. Although he had not seen Tian Hou during the battle, that must have simply been because Seasons Fort was too large. However, he was confident that Tian Hou must have seen him. After all, killing an Enlighter beast was too big of a commotion.
“I really admire you. You were able to defeat such a monster!” Charon exclaimed.
Lu Yin laughed. “I’ve already killed five Enlighters.”
Charon was speechless, and just walked away silently.
What was Tian Hou compared to an Enlighter?
Ironblood Weave was not that large, so it didn’t take long to go to Brokenblade Fort from Seasons Fort. The closer the survivors got to the fort, the easier it was for them to panic since it also meant that the astral beasts’ invasion was closer than ever.
This was Lu Yin’s second time seeing Brokenblade Fort, as it was the first place that he had seen upon entering Ironblood Weave, and now, it might end up being the last thing he saw in the weave.
Brokenblade Fort had already made preparations to welcome the survivors.
The scene of Wang Wen and the others arriving at Seasons Fort after the fall of Ironblood Fort was relived here. Everyone at Brokenblade Fort silently watched the arrival.
The commander of Brokenblade Fort was called Han Fei, and he was a nominal mentor from Erudite Flowzone’s Lost Radiance Academy, as well as an Enlighter with a power level of 230,000.
Once they arrived at Brokenblade Fort, Wang Wen watched Lu Yin like a hawk until he returned all of the resources that he had been given to transport from Seasons Fort to Brokenblade Fort’s warehouse. After he made the deposit, he was allowed to take 140,000 star essence from the repository.
Since Seasons Fort had fallen, the battle system had not been able to update Lu Yin’s ranking, but it was pointless since he had immediately exchanged all of his points away.
After he handed the resources over, Lu Yin had intended to find a place to rest and use his newly gained wealth to upgrade something. However, a cultivator appeared to escort him to see Han Fei, who was already accompanied by Wang Wen and Topmist.
Topmist was still shrouded in his black mist, making it impossible to see his face.
Wang Wen’s face was solemn.
Han Fei looked at Lu Yin with a stern expression. “Please be seated.”
Lu Yin sat down without much courtesy. He had gained the qualifications to act in such a manner. After all, not even Han Fei had killed more Enlighters than Lu Yin.
“No matter what methods you employed, being able to kill Enlighter beasts means that you qualify to stand on an equal footing with us. Brother Lu—I’ll call you as such, is that alright?” Han Fei asked. Although he looked stern, he was actually unexpectedly polite.
Lu Yin nodded. “Of course.”
“The astral beasts’ invasion is imminent, and so, I hope that Brother Lu can help us as you did at Seasons Fort and point out where the holes in the sourceboxes’ danger zones are,” Han Fei said solemnly.
Lu Yin nodded. “I understand. Rest assured, Commander.”
Han Fei acknowledged him with a grunt, and then he looked at Topmist. “For now, Brokenblade Fort only has us two Enlighters. I’ll protect Wang Wen and you’ll protect Brother Lu.”
Topmist replied with a hoarse voice, “He does not require any protection.”
Han Fei frowned. “These are direct orders from Elder Lohar. Nothing can be allowed to happen to Brother Lu, and his protection level has been upgraded to the highest grade.”
Lu Yin was stunned to hear that Elder Lohar actually valued him so highly. It seemed that his value had been realized and that he no longer needed to cower in front of Enlighters after his breakthrough to the Explorer realm. With his universal armor and the Yu Secret Art, he was confident in facing off against any Enlighter, which was not as simple as being a Realmbreaker. If the Hall of Honor valued Wang Wen for his monstrous intelligence, then they valued Lu Yin for his monstrous battle abilities. One was combat and the other was strategic.
Of course, Lu Yin relied on external strength to achieve his combat power.
Topmist did not dare to defy the orders of a Hall of Honor Elder.
There was nothing much left to discuss after Han Fei’s announcement, and there was only one thing left to do: fight.
Lu Yin’s current authority was very impressive, and he was allowed to stay at Brokenblade Fort’s command center or even visit any location he wished.
He sent Topmist away, as he wanted to talk with Wang Wen.
“I’ve always wanted to ask—is Wang really your surname?” Lu Yin looked at him.
Wang Wen’s eyes flashed. “You’re surnamed Lu.”
“You should know what I’m trying to ask,” Lu Yin said gravely.
Wang Wen nodded. “Yes, but you’ll unfortunately have to be disappointed, because I know nothing.”
“That’s impossible. Your intelligence is so high, but you’re going to tell me that you’ve never looked into the secret of the primeval surnames even after so many years? How many are there? And why are they being discriminated against? Why do people with such names have to obtain a legal status? You’ve never looked into any of this?” Lu Yin asked.
Wang Wen sighed before helplessly explaining, “I’ve investigated, but I've found nothing. Let me put it this way. The primeval surnames are even more troublesome than the Neohuman Alliance. At the very least, the Neohuman Alliance is able to survive. Meanwhile, the primeval surnames are different. As soon as someone with an illegal status shows up, they are immediately judged. There are many organizations in the universe that don’t allow anyone with a primeval surname to join them, even if that person has a legal status. Carrying a primeval surname means that you carry an unfair burden.”
“I know all this. What I actually want to ask is if you’ve heard of the Primeval Surname Alliance.” Lu Yin stared into Wang Wen’s eyes.
Wang Wen was astonished. “The Primeval Surname Alliance? There’s an organization like that?”
Lu Yin was disappointed, as the shock in Wang Wen’s eyes was genuine, which indicated that he had truly never heard of the alliance. “Do you know which family names are considered to be primeval surnames?”
Wang Wen thought about it. “Wang, Xia, Liu, Lu, Bai. I only know these five, and I’m not sure about any others.”
Lu Yin nodded and left.
Wang Wen looked at Lu Yin’s retreating figure, muttered to himself, and then softly said to the departing Lu Yin, “Chesspiece Bro, don’t discuss the primeval surnames with others ever again. Never mind it. Regardless, you’re legal.”
Lu Yin waved a hand and did not reply, but his eyes turned cold. Legal? When he had been judged in the past, there had been a single piece of paper with seventy two people with the Lu surname, which had represented seventy two lives. His legal status had been bought with those seventy two human lives.
No matter if it was because of his missing memories or for those seventy two lives, Lu Yin had to investigate the secret of the primeval surnames. Why had they been sentenced to such a life, and why did they face such injustice? Also what about Earth and Jupiter?
Unfortunately, there was no use thinking about such things at the moment. If Ironblood Weave could not repel the astral beast invasion, then the humans in the Outerverse would be exterminated without giving anyone the possibility of escaping.
Outside the command center, Topmist had hidden himself in a corner in the form of a mass of black mist.
Lu Yin glanced over at the Enlighter. “I heard that when you defended Seasons Fort, you used a power vessel to kill an old freak with a power level that passed 300,000.”
“That’s right.” Topmist was downcast.
Lu Yin looked at him. “If you had such a powerful power vessel, why didn’t you use it in the Primal Zone? If you had done so, we would have destroyed the gap in the energy stream.”
Topmist fell silent.
“If I’ve realized this, then so will Wang Wen, and many others too. Old fart, you better come up with a good excuse,” Lu Yin sneered.
Topmist grew furious. “Kid, despite everything, I’m still your senior! You’d best be more polite to me. Even if you have that secret technique and that gun, I have no reason to fear you as long as I’m prepared.”
“Old fart, you still owe me for that matter from Shuta Planet,” Lu Yin said coldly.
Topmist was puzzled. “What are you talking about? You plotted to kill Elder Wu on Shuta Planet, and I didn’t harm you at all.”
“Don’t try to tell me that the Hunter from Darkstar Gorge who chased after me wasn’t doing so because of the information that you leaked, which must have included how I killed Elder Wu.” Lu Yin snorted.
“I’m a killer, and I value promises and trust. Your methods were never revealed by me. I didn’t speak a single word about them. It’s up to you whether or not you want to believe me.”
Lu Yin’s eyes trembled, and he looked at Topmist. “You weren’t the one to leak that information? Why would I believe that?”
“Hehe, when you defended Seasons Fort, you used that gun more than once, and now, many know your tools. Is there any point for me to lie to you at this point? It wasn’t me who revealed your techniques.”
Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed, but he still did not believe Topmist. Did killers really honor trust? But then again, what if it really hadn’t been Topmist? Who else could it have been? There had only been a select few who had known what his method for killing Enlighters was, and aside from Topmist, the rest were all from the Great Yu Empire. Hold on. Lu Yin suddenly thought of someone: Granny Chan. She had been around when he had killed Lei Long.
Could it have been her? Or was Topmist lying?
“Eh, aren’t you Lu Yin?” There was a shout from a girl who looked at Lu Yin in amazement. The girl had a fish on top of her head.
Lu Yin looked over at her. “Xi Qi?”
“Hey, familiar two-legged beast,” the fish atop Xi Qi’s head greeted him.
Xi Qi looked excited upon seeing Lu Yin, and she hurriedly walked over. “Lu Yin, is it really you? That’s wonderful! You aren’t dead.”
Lu Yin was similarly surprised. “You’re here too.”
“Two-legged beast, Lord Fish can tell that you’re decent. Come, you can be a mount for Lord Fish,” the fish said.
The Ghost Monkey’s voice rang out in Lu Yin’s head, “Seventh Bro, smack that cheap fish! It even dares to try to make you its mount! Isn’t he insulting this monkey?”
Lu Yin could not be bothered with the fish or the monkey, and he only spoke with Xi Qi. He wanted to learn about the current situation concerning the Outerverse’s Lockbreaker Society.
“Ever since the Innerverse and Outerverse became separated, many people became unreachable, such as Brother Casanova, President Geoffrey, and Master Wusheng. We might never see them again in our lives,” Xi Qi said dully.
“Are there still any Boundless Advanced Lockbreakers in the Outerverse Lockbreaker Society right now?” Lu Yin asked.
“Two-legged beast, Lord Fish is talking to you!”
“Seventh Bro, kick its tail!”
Xi Qi shook her head. “No. From what I know, all of the registered Boundless Advanced Lockbreakers are either in the Innerverse or the Neoverse.”
Lu Yin felt that it was a pity.
“Two-legged beast, you’ve improved! Come over here. Lord Fish will accompany you and train you.”
“Seventh Bro, let this monkey out to ‘train’ with it.”
“The entire Outerverse Lockbreaker Society has come to Ironblood Weave to assist in the defense of the five lower strongholds. The commander hopes that we can mend the holes in the sourceboxes’ danger zones, but that’s something that can only be done by a Boundless Advanced Lockbreaker.”
“Two-legged beast, Lord Fish is growing unhappy.”
“Seventh Bro, this monkey is also unhappy.”
…
After a short talk, Lu Yin and Xi Qi went their separate ways, and Wang Wen urged Lu Yin to start updating the locations of the holes in the sourceboxes’ danger zones.
When watching Lu Yin leave, Xi Qi commented, “He’s strong. Can’t you feel it? After he broke through to the Explorer realm, Lu Yin’s strength has greatly improved, and it doesn’t seem possible to see his limits.”
Atop her head, that fish serenely responded, “His physical strength and domain have undergone a fundamental change, and he’s also gained an unclear strength. Girl, you should follow him. Follow that two-legged beast.”
“Why?” Xi Qi was puzzled.
“Fool! Only by following him will you be able to survive. Lord Fish does not wish to frequently change mounts, so go on. Follow him!” The fish slapped its tail as it urged the girl.
Xi Qi was placed in a difficult position and grew embarrassed. “That wouldn’t be very good.”
“What are you afraid of? Just inform him that Lord Fish is recruiting him as a mount! He’ll be more than elated.” The fish was pleased with itself.
Xi Qi was left speechless.