/
Ah Mu explained, “Angie’s the young mistress of the Umbral Butterfly Tribe, and she is also a student of the Astral Combat Academy. Do you know her, Seventh Bro?”
“I know of her but I’ve never interacted with her. I didn’t expect that she would have already become an Explorer, and I also didn’t know that she was still in the Outerverse. However, you’ve given me an even greater surprise.” Lu Yin looked at Ah Mu with a serious expression. “You’re almost as strong as Angie.”
Ah Mu’s gaze shifted, and he smiled reluctantly. “Seventh Bro, don’t tease me. I was just lucky enough to become an Explorer. Young Mistress Angie can’t only bring females along when she travels, which is why I was able to tag along. I’m not powerful at all.”
Lu Yin stared at Ah Mu for a while. “Really? Then I guess I might be wrong.”
Ah Mu sighed in relief.
The two of them had only spent a few days together in the past, and they weren’t very close to each other. However, they had survived several deadly situations together and had formed a certain bond as a result. Lu Yin had actually mainly sought Ah Mu out after seeing him to ask him how he had become so powerful so quickly, but it was clear that Ah Mu was reluctant to say anything. Thus, Lu Yin planned on leaving after catching up for a bit.
“Seventh Bro, are you really going to join the competition?” Ah Mu hesitantly asked Lu Yin before he left. It sounded as though Ah Mu was having some kind of internal struggle.
Lu Yin nodded. “Yes. I’m a Lockbreaker, so what’s the problem?”
Ah Mu replied, “If possible, you should leave Sourcepeak Planet.”
Lu Yin’s eyes flashed. “What do you mean?’
Ah Mu frowned and slowly answered, “I can’t explain everything to you, but this competition isn’t as simple as it seems, so you should leave while you still can.”
Lu Yin stared at Ah Mu and asked, “Ah Mu, have you heard anything about me recently?”
Ah Mu shook his head. “Umbral Butterfly Weave is very far from the eastern weaves, so I haven’t heard much of anything.”
Lu Yin smiled and patted Ah Mu on his shoulder before leaving. “Thank you for your advice. I’ll remember it.”
Ah Mu shut the door, and a complicated expression covered his face. He hadn’t expected to meet Lu Yin here.
It was due to Lu Yin that Ah Mu had been able to get a hold of that item and upgrade his strength to his current power level. Although they weren’t close, Ah Mu was nonetheless very grateful to Lu Yin, and this was why Ah Mu had given him a warning. However, Lu Yin’s reaction had been very strange, and so, Ah Mu switched on his gadget to look up some information about Lu Yin.
Information concerning Lu Yin’s achievements soon showed on Ah Mu’s gadget, and he lowered his gadget in a daze. He might have created some trouble.
If Lu Yin were nothing more than a normal Lockbreaker, then he wouldn’t be able to disrupt their plans, and he wouldn’t be able to do anything no matter how much he learned. However, Lu Yin wasn’t a normal person; he was the master of Frostwave Weave, the founder of the Great Eastern Alliance, and even a killer of Enlighter realm powerhouses. Even the major forces of the Innerverse didn’t dare to provoke such a person. All of these achievements showed that Lu Yin held a very high status that far surpassed Angie’s. This person had the power to change the entire situation on Sourcepeak Planet.
Ah Mu laughed bitterly. It was no wonder why Lu Yin’s expression had been so weird after he heard Ah Mu’s warning. Ah Mu was now in trouble.
Lu Yin was still calm after he left the hotel. It seemed like the Umbral Butterfly Tribe was also working with the Wei family and Felynn to deal with Saul.
Who else might be involved in addition to the forces from Armament Weave and Umbral Butterfly Weave?
Lu Yin guessed that an Enlighter would be needed to deal with Saul, and so, Lu Yin rose into the sky and searched around for a large number of rune lines.
He searched for half an hour, but he couldn’t find anything in that time. He wasn’t disappointed as he had expected to find nothing.
This was Sourcepeak Planet, and there were Lockbreakers everywhere on the planet. Lockbreakers were very sensitive to star energy, so if an Enlighter did arrive on the planet, they would do their best to hide their presence, and they might even remain off planet to avoid being detected by Saul or any other Lockbreaker.
There was no way for Lu Yin to know how many people were involved, but he also didn’t need to know. He and Aden had been able to survive through the turmoil of Ironblood Weave, let alone this place.
Wang Wen’s suggestion had been for Lu Yin to do nothing, and that was exactly what he planned on doing.
On the second day, Lu Yin continued his aimless roaming about Sourcepeak Planet.
An increasingly large number of people arrived on Sourcepeak Planet, and the unique Forest Hotel was packed to the brim. Many restaurants had long queues outside, and any place related to lockbreaking or sourceboxes became incredibly crowded. A few conflicts broke out within the crowds, but nobody dared to escalate things.
There were also many deals taking place in dark corners, but everything was being calmly observed by Lu Yin with his domain.
Multiple spacecraft with the same symbol descended from the sky. They were all from Endless Borders, which was one of the Outerverse’s four major companies. It was a transport company based out of Endless Weave, and it had monopolized the transportation industry in the Outerverse.
Lu Yin thought of Madam Nalan when he saw the Endless Borders symbol. She was probably here as well, seeing how she had been the one who had told him about the competition.
Just as he was thinking of Madam Nalan, he received a call from her.
Lu Yin picked up. “Madam, you’re here at Sourcepeak Planet?”
Madam Nalan smiled. “Your Highness probably arrived some time ago. Was everything ok during your trip?”
Lu Yin raised a brow. “Why would you ask that?”
“Your Highness, the competition this year is not normal, so you must be careful,” Madam Nalan warned.
Lu Yin was stunned; why did everybody seem to know about what was happening? How many people was Felynn working with? How could Saul not know that something was about to happen?
“Madam, how did you find out about this?” Lu Yin was curious.
“It seems like Your Highness already knows something. I’m not sure of the details, but I know that there’s going to be a major incident on Sourcepeak Planet. Both Endless Borders and Aegis are a part of what is about to happen, and since the Nalan family is also one of the four major companies, I of course am also privy to certain details concerning their activities,” Madam Nalan answered cheerfully.
Lu Yin looked up, and his heart sank as soon as he saw the countless number of spacecraft belonging to Endless Borders.
Lu Yin could ignore Armament Weave and Umbral Butterfly Weave, but the four major companies were different. These four companies’ businesses spanned the entire Outerverse, so they held a massive influence over everything. At first, Madam Nalan had asked for protection from the Great Yu Empire because the Enlighter who supported the Nalan family had been trapped within Tyranical Weave. If the Nalan family had an Enlighter supporting them, then the other two companies probably had at least one as well.
This was especially true for Aegis, as they were weapons dealers and mercenaries. With their participation, the situation on Sourcepeak Planet was more serious than Lu Yin had previously thought.
It was no wonder why Felynn had been so confident during their meeting. She was collaborating with two major corporations, and thus, she wasn’t afraid of any consequences.
“Thank you for your advice, madam. I now understand the situation,” Lu Yin said.
“You’re welcome. I’m on Your Highness’s side,” Madam Nalan casually replied.
Lu Yin coughed. “Why didn’t the Nalan family participate?”
“Sigh, our elder is trapped in Tyranical Weave, so they wouldn’t even consider us.” Madam Nalan sighed.
Lu Yin didn’t believe her excuse, as all four of the Outerverse’s major companies possessed vast amounts of resources, and nobody would dare to underestimate any one of them. The reason why the Nalan family wouldn’t take part was either because they didn’t want to or because they actually were participating, but in another manner.
“Are you currently on Sourcepeak Planet, madam?” Lu Yin asked.
Madam Nalan smiled. “Your Highness, are you looking to meet me? I just bathed.”
Lu Yin pursed his lips. “I’ll meet with you after the competition.”
“That’s fine. Be careful, Your Highness,” Madam Nalan said.
Lu Yin agreed and hung up.
At this time, Lu Yin knew that Armament Weave, Umbral Butterfly Weave, Endless Borders, Aegis, Felynn, and possibly even more people were involved in the plan, which should be more than enough to deal with Saul.
It also seemed like Saul didn’t even know that he was being monitored, as otherwise, Sourcepeak Planet wouldn’t be so calm.
This old fellow had been so blinded by his power and ambition that he didn’t even realize that people were plotting against him.
After Saul was defeated, the Outerverse Lockbreaker Society would teeter on the edge of collapse. Felynn was truly ruthless, but she also wasn’t capable of gathering this many people to her side, which meant that the collaborations had most likely been organized by Wei Rong.
Fortunately, Lu Yin hadn’t stuck his neck out for Felynn. She might not even be able to deliver on her promise considering that each of these forces had their own Enlighters and that they wouldn’t feel threatened by Lu Yin. Thus, if he had followed her original plan, then he would have ended up offending both the Lockbreaker Society and Saul for nothing.
Still, would Felynn be able to achieve her goal? Were all of these people really working together just to help her become the society president? Lu Yin didn’t believe it for a moment, but if that was the case, then just what were these people’s goals?
***
In an estate on Sourcepeak Planet, Wei Xin’er tried to sneak away, but she was stopped by a vague figure. She raised her head, and her face fell. “Brother.”
The young man in front of Wei Xin’er was a charming gentleman with a gentle, yet firm expression on his face. He was Wei Rong. “Xin’er, you’re too mischievous.”
Wei Xin’er bit her lip. “Brother, I want to participate in the competition.”
“No,” Wei Rong objected.
Wei Xin’er remained stubborn. “Why?”
Wei Rong calmly replied, “You’re not even a one star Discerning Elementary Lockbreaker yet, so why would you join the competition? Are you trying to embarrass our Wei family?”
“I won’t! People will compliment the Wei family for our courage if I dare to compete against Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreakers without being even a one star Discerning Elementary Lockbreaker. I’m making the Wei family proud!”
“You’ll embarrass us.”
“I’ll make you proud!”
“Embarrassed.”
“I’m gonna tell Grandpa that you’re bullying me!,” Wei Xin’er glared at Wei Rong and turned around with great reluctance.
Wei Rong laughed, his eyes shining with affection.
On the other side of Sourcepeak Planet, Felynn attempted to meet with Fiend Li, but she failed. He merely delivered a simple reply, “The competition is starting soon, so don’t attract gossip.”
Felynn helplessly left and bowed before leaving. “I hope that you will judge fairly in accordance with the Lockbreaker Society’s rules, Senior. Thank you.”
After two days, Lu Yin received a notification, prompting him to leave his quarters. He took Aden with him as he made his way towards the Hall of Insight, which was where the competition would take place.
At this moment, there was a huge crowd outside of the Hall of Insight. Multiple screens in the sky displayed projections so that the competition could be seen from all over, even by people in outer space, above the planet.
Lockbreaking was a respected profession, and all lockbreakers would have their actions closely watched by others. Many forces would watch the competition and then later on try to recruit talented Lockbreakers.
Lu Yin was surprised once he reached the outer perimeter of the Hall of Insight. There were way too many people here, and he was surrounded by rune lines. He could even see that there were five Hunters in the audience, and this was not even taking into account any Lockbreakers.
“So that’s the Hall of Insight. I’ve heard a lot of people mention it over the last two days, and it truly is majestic,” Aden commented.
Lu Yin looked over and saw four towering trees protecting a hall. The four trees rose high into the sky, and the hall was in the middle of the trees. There were mountains to the north of the hall that started where the Lockbreakers’ living quarters were located, rising in three directions.
This was the scenery that common people saw, but Lu Yin saw something completely different. He saw a square shaped rune bordered by the four trees that shot high into the sky. There were no runes outside the trees, but there were countless runes filling the area within the trees, and the Hall of Insight was also covered in runes.