Chapter 678: Power Struggle Within Sourcepeak Planet
Lu Yin sneered, as his attacker had turned out to be physically weak. He struck out again without any hesitation, but the assassin hurriedly evaded, causing Lu Yin’s palm to miss. The tremendous power of his attack distorted the void, which caused the assassin’s scalp to turn numb.
Then, one palm after another flooded the area: Shockwave Palm, Spacerender Palm, and other battle techniques that could be used with pure physical strength. The unending barrage prevented the assassin from approaching Lu Yin at all.
However, Lu Yin could not hit the Hunter either, and even though his opponent was within the increased range of the Cosmic Art’s scope, all of Lu Yin’s attacks were being detected and avoided. This Lockbreaker was too sensitive to star energy, and not even Lu Yin’s domain could lock onto this person.
“You wanted to kill me with just this?” Lu Yin barked.
The attacker’s eyes trembled, and a round sticker appeared on their palm that they quickly slapped onto their forehead. Then, the assassin looked closely at Lu Yin, which caused the youth to tremble.
Lu Yin’s heart lurched; was that a lockbreaking tool?
The assassin suddenly disappeared before a single hand appeared next to Lu Yin out of nowhere, attempting to grab him. Lu Yin turned around and unleashed a punch, using nothing but his physical power. The assassin remained close to Lu Yin’s arm and continued advancing, their right hand grabbing at Lu Yin’s neck. Lu Yin grunted, and he barely dodged the Hunter’s hand. The two continued simultaneously attacking and dodging the other’s attacks, leaving them pressed up against each other.
Lu Yin used Secret Sidestep while the killer used their lockbreaking tool to reach a movement speed that was similar to Secret Sidestep. This person was extremely difficult to deal with.
“You’re definitely not some unknown person. Who are you? Why do you want to kill me?” Lu Yin shouted as he stared at the Hunter who had hidden their appearance. This assassin was clearly afraid of being recognized, so they were likely some famous character.
With such an impressive lockbreaking ability, it was even possible that Lu Yin himself would be able to recognize his attacker.
Suddenly, there was an explosion in the distance that was quickly followed by the crash of thunder. The two Hunters delaying Aden were blown back simultaneously, and they each spat out a mouthful of blood. Nine lined battle force shrouded Aden’s form.
“Retreat,” growled the peak Hunter who had attacked Lu Yin. Then, that person tore through the void to escape.
The other two Hunters also escaped without hesitation.
Aden wanted to give chase, but after looking at Lu Yin, he held himself back from chasing after the assassins.
“Anything happen to you?” Aden asked as he floated up to Lu Yin.
Lu Yin shook his head and removed his universal armor, though his face was gloomy.
“They’re Lockbreakers, and not just average ones at that. They were even able to dissolve my thunder shield, so they should at least be at the Perceptive Intermediate level. If not for my nine lined battle force, it would have been extremely difficult for me to take care of those two,” Aden said in a low voice.
Lu Yin stared off into the distance. “This one-off operation involved three Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreakers. Who has that kind of resources? Even the entire Outerverse Lockbreaker Society doesn’t have very many Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreakers, or could it be-” Lu Yin suddenly stopped what he was about to say.
Aden patted his shoulder. “Let’s head back to the spacecraft for now. We’ll know when we get to Sourcepeak Planet.”
Lu Yin nodded.
Although Lu Yin had only been ambushed by three Hunters this time around, the attack had been far more dangerous than the past one with five Hunters. If not for Aden, the battle would have continued on for some time. Neither Huo Qingshan nor the Blind Monk would have been able to single-handedly face off against a Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreaker, and they would have been badly outclassed.
Lu Yin returned to the spacecraft and fell deep into thought. Did the Lockbreaker Society and Lockbreaker Competition have any relation to this attack? Or could there be someone in the eastern weaves who had invited these three Lockbreakers to assassinate him? That shouldn’t be the case, as Lockbreakers were generally not assassins. Unless it had been the Daynight clan who had hired them…
Lu Yin’s eyes grew cold, as it was certainly feasible for the Daynight clan to send out three Lockbreakers to deal with him.
Three Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreakers moving out together was a huge scale attack. Back in the battles in Ironblood Weave, not a single stronghold had been able to boast having a Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreaker.
Humans could be very shrewd at times, but they were also very selfish. The Outerverse was not as weak as Lu Yin had once imagined.
Not long after the three Lockbreaker assassins left, another spacecraft appeared nearby. This time, it was a personal spacecraft, and the number of rune lines in it were not too high, so Lu Yin paid no heed to the vessel.
That spacecraft flew towards Lu Yin’s spacecraft’s control center and sent a request to dock with the larger ship. When Lu Yin heard this news, his heart jumped. “Let them in.”
Before much time passed, a familiar figure appeared in front of Lu Yin: Tong Mi’er. This person had been present on Savage Ape Planet during the lockbreaking trial. Tong Mi’er had been heralded as a lockbreaking genius of the Outerverse. He was an Explorer as well as a four star Discerning Elementary Lockbreaker.
“Tong Mi’er greets Mr. Lu,” Tong Mi’er appeared before Lu Yin and looked at him respectfully, the arrogance that he had displayed back on Savage Ape Planet completely gone.
Lu Yin stared at Tong Mi’er. “What’s the matter?”
“During Mr. Lu’s journey, I expect that things haven’t gone smoothly,” Tong Mi’er said as he studied Lu Yin’s reaction.
Lu Yin gestured for the other youth to sit and had someone serve two of the fruit juices from Lars Weave. “Try this, the taste is decent.”
Tong Mi’er’s gaze shifted. “Doesn’t Mr. Lu wish to know who attacked you?”
Lu Yin set his glass of fruit juice down on the table with a clang and looked at Tong Mi’er coldly. “We were attacked just a short while ago. Barely any time has passed. You couldn’t have possibly seen anything with the speed you were traveling, so how did you know that I was attacked?”
Tong Mi’er replied, “Mr. Lu, please don’t be mistaken. The people who attacked you were not related to us.”
“‘Us’? Who’s ‘us?’” Lu Yin asked. Tong Mi’er had apparently met with him to explain the situation that had led to him being attacked by other Lockbreakers.
“‘Us’ includes me and the Outerverse Lockbreaker Society’s executive, Lady Felynn,” Tong Mi’er answered solemnly.
Lu Yin’s brows rose, as he had heard of the name Felynn before. There were three executives in the Outerverse’s Lockbreaker Society, and they were the four-star Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreaker, Yi Feng, three-star Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreaker, Mr. Jun, and three-star Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreaker, Felynn. All of this was information that could be easily obtained from the Lockbreakers network.
“The people who attacked you are actually from the Lockbreaker Society as well, and they attacked you on the orders of Vice President Saul,” Tong Mi’er said.
Lu Yin frowned. “Vice President Saul? He isn’t trapped in the Innerverse?”
“It’s true that there are many rumors claiming that, but in reality, he never returned to the Innerverse and has actually always been in the Outerverse. To avoid being drafted to defend Ironblood Weave, he spread rumors saying that he had taken several Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreakers back to the Innerverse. We only learned the truth of the matter after the battles in Ironblood Weave had ended,” Tong Mi’er explained.
Lu Yin laughed grimly. This Saul actually turned out to not be very far-sighted; if Ironblood Weave had lost the war, then the Astral Beast Domain would have invaded the entire Outerverse, and Saul would have died alongside everyone else. No, it was also possible he would have cast his lot in with the Astral Beast Domain in that case.
“Saul has always wanted to wield power in the Outerverse’s Lockbreaker Society, but President Geoffrey has always suppressed him. Now that the Innerverse and Outerverse have been separated, President Geoffrey is truly stuck in the Innerverse. Thus, Saul has begun to push his schemes forward, and he has managed to capture multiple Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreakers in a short period of time. He wants to use this Lockbreaker Competition to allow his disciple, Deng Pu, to publicly win the True Insight. Your participation threatens him, and so he sent some people to capture you,” Tong Mi’er explained.
Lu Yin felt that the whole matter was rather strange. “As the vice president, can’t he just take the True Insight if he wants to? Why does he have to scheme around the Lockbreaker Competition?”
“Of course he can’t do that, as the Lockbreaker Society is too important. President Geoffrey has always been on guard against Saul, and he has laid down quite a few rules. So long as Saul doesn’t want to rile up the masses, he has to follow these rules. Moreover, there’s also the Honorary Vice President, who people call Fiend Li. He’s the one who counters Saul,” Tong Mi’er said.
“Then what kind of strength does his disciple, Deng Pu, have?” Lu Yin was curious.
“One star Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreaker,” Tong Mi’er solemnly replied.
Lu Yin frowned. “He’s a Perceptive Intermediate while I’m only a Discerning Elementary Lockbreaker. Does someone of my level really require him to send three Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreakers to kill me?”
Tong Mi’er shook his head. “You’re different, as you are the person who wields the true power of the Great Eastern Alliance, and you’ve even killed Enlighters before. Your existence itself is something unexpected, and even if you were only a one star Discerning Elementary Lockbreaker, Saul would still want to eliminate you.”
Lu Yin felt strangely honored when he heard this. If he was truly such a threat to others, then it seemed likely that this Saul had been the one pulling strings to make sure that Lu Yin hadn’t received any notifications about the Lockbreaker Competition. “Why are you telling me all of this? What does the Lady Felynn who’s behind you wish to gain from me?”
Tong Mi’er seriously answered, “Lady Felynn wishes to cooperate with you to deal with Saul.”
Lu Yin laughed. “You just said that I have the strength to kill an Enlighter. If I find proof that this Saul sent someone to kill me, then I’ll just deal with him myself. Why would Felynn want to meddle in this? Wouldn’t sitting back and reaping the benefits be better for her?”
Tong Mi’er smiled bitterly. “You really don’t understand Saul’s power. He’s a peak Hunter, as well as a Boundless Advanced Lockbreaker.”
Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed: Boundless Advanced. That was a level that even sounded intimidating. Reportedly, once one reached the Boundless Advanced level, they would have grasped an unimaginable lockbreaking ability, and their personal strength would also undergo a fundamental change. A Boundless Advanced Lockbreaker was equivalent to an Enlighter, let alone when that person was already a peak Hunter like Saul.
“Saul has been able to break through and become an Enlighter for a long time, but he’s always been biding his time for the True Insight. Once he obtains and studies it, he’ll most likely use it to become a very powerful Enlighter. Then, he’ll have the strength to rival President Geoffrey. This sort of person is not someone who can be compared to those Enlighters you killed in the past,” Tong Mi’er explained.
He paused for a moment, but he quickly continued once he saw Lu Yin’s calm expression. “Let me put it this way: President Geoffrey once fought and killed five Enlighters from the Technocracy by himself, and not a single hair on his head was harmed.”
Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed as a chill ran down his spine. A person capable of killing five Enlighters and leaving unharmed was truly a freak.
Even in the cruelest battlefield of Ironblood Weave, no one had been able to simultaneously kill five Enlighters, as each powerhouse at that level would be targeted, just like what had happened to Elder Lohar. Despite his strength being sufficient to kill multiple Enlighters, it had been useless as he had been constantly held back by the other Astral Beast experts. If Geoffrey could kill five Enlighters under those circumstances, then that was simply terrifying.
“You mean True Insight can give Saul the strength to rival President Geoffrey?” Lu Yin asked.
Tong Mi’er nodded. “That’s what Lady Felynn said. The contents of True Insight are useless for us, and it’s not even effective for Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreakers. It’s only useful for Boundless Advanced Lockbreakers, and any one of them who can comprehend it will have their power multiplied several times over. President Geoffrey was able to understand the contents of True Insight, and that is why his power is so terrifying. In Lady Felynn’s own words, we can not allow Saul to ever obtain the True Insight, as if that actually happens, then not even the Hall of Honor will be able to stop him.”
Lu Yin considered all of this information, as just that peak Hunter realm Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreaker had been incredibly hard to deal with, and this Saul would definitely be even more fearsome. This was not just a difference of a single level, and Lu Yin realized that he would not be able to take on Saul even after utilizing the entire Great Eastern Alliance. It seemed like the only way to deal with this man was for Lu Yin to cooperate with Felynn after all.
However, Tong Mi’er’s words might not be entirely true, and Lu Yin had to be careful about differentiating between friend and foe.