Chapter 560: Former Haunt
The inter-domain war concerned everybody—the Daynight clan, the Sword Sect, and all of the powers in the various weaves of the Outerverse as well. Everyone had to send people to partic.i.p.ate, and Ironblood Weave was filled with cultivators from everywhere in the universe. There was only one objective for them, which was to ma.s.sacre all of the astral beasts there and make sure that the battlefield did not spill out beyond Ironblood Weave.
The Human Domain had been split in two, and the Innerverse and Outerverse had been separated due to the changes in the universe. This change did not only affect the Human Domain, but the Astral Beast Domain, the Technocracy, and even the Astral Wilderness were also affected. Things were in chaos everywhere, and only this conflict in Ironblood Weave had remained constant.
The stronghold that acted as the frontline of the war between Ironblood Weave and the Astral Beast Domain was known as Ironblood Fort. It was also the stronghold that was the closest to the Astral Beast Domain, and the war never ended there. This fortress was formed from 1,800 interlinked planets, and there was even soil that connected each of the planets together. Within this stronghold, countless weapons were aimed at the Astral Beast Domain.
Ever since Ironblood Fort had first been established, over 1,000 planets had been stained with blood. The fighting had never stopped even after the pa.s.sage of an untold number of years.
Erudite Flowzone’s border warfront partially followed a tributary Astral River, which determined where the battlefields lay. For that reason, they had not built a ma.s.sive fortress and instead protected the border by lining countless planets up in a defensive formation. Even if this line was breached, the astral beasts would still need to come up with a way to cross the Astral River.
But in Ironblood Weave, things were different. As soon as the invaders breached Ironblood Fort, they would have direct access to Ironblood Weave, which was a part of the Human Domain.
The Astral Beast Domain and Ironblood Weave did not share much adjacent territory, and the place where they did touch was where Ironblood Fort had been constructed. Countless astral beasts snarled as they charged through the void towards the planets of Ironblood Fort. Most of them were swept away by the first wave of weapons while the various surviving beasts were cleaned up by human cultivators. Every day, many died in this place, and many beasts were slaughtered. The war in this place was far crueler than the border warfront in Erudite Flowzone.
The battles repeated day after day, and the routine had gradually reached the point where the cultivators defending Ironblood Fort were no longer simple cultivators; they were soldiers now. They had become the troops that protected humanity.
Countless Void Wanderers tore through the void at Ironblood Fort, releasing numerous types of astral beasts down onto the planets that composed the fortress. Even after the universe had gone through its changes, Void Wanderers were still able to tear through the void since it was their innate gift.
Soldier after soldier fell, only to be steadily replaced one after another. The corpses fell into mounds that grew into hills.
In general, a single battle would last for no more than seven days. After that, there would be a break for a day or two before the next battle began. However, this current battle had already gone on for ten consecutive days, and there were still no signs of the fight abating. The Void Wanderers had even reappeared to deliver more astral beasts.
The closer it was to the center of the stronghold, the more intense the battle became. At the center, Limiteers were nothing more than cannon fodder, and even s.p.a.ce-exploring powerhouses could barely survive.
On the surface of the fortress, various strange weapons were being used to ma.s.sacre the beasts. These devices had been made with the Xun family’s Gear Construction Technique. Xun Chong panted heavily and looked in front of him where the Void Wanderers had appeared. He raised a hand to attack, but he was blocked by another astral beast. “Human, this is the day this fortress will disappear!”
Xun Chong’s face distorted. “Ironblood Fort cannot be destroyed by the likes of you!”
“Human, you are too arrogant. Die!” Then, the astral beast’s mouth gaped open as the creature bit at Xun Chong. The cultivator was a Hunter, but so was the astral beast. Their battle was so violent that the entire planet became unstable.
A battle between Hunters was not uncommon at the center of the battlefield, and at the same time, in the very center of the stronghold, a battle between Enlighters erupted. This place was far more savage than Erudite Flowzone’s border warfront.
Inside the fortress, there was a middle-aged man who was grimly looking at a screen that displayed an Enlighter astral beast locked in fierce combat with a Daynight cultivator who was also in the Enlighter realm. The fight between the two had caused the planet to begin crumbling apart.
The void tore open, and a fl.u.s.tered man emerged. “General Fei, just as you predicted, this battle’s not going well.”
This middle-aged man was Ironblood Fort’s commander, General Fei. He had overseen this fortress for more than a thousand years, and his original name had long since been forgotten. “The Human Domain’s Innerverse and Outerverse have been separated, but the Astral Beast Domain hasn’t been split up. Thus, they’ve started transferring their main forces here. They’re trying to charge into the Outerverse and take control.”
The face of the man who had just arrived turned ugly. “That’s right. The Astral Beast Domain has shredded the peace agreement apart, and they plan to use this as a starting point to infiltrate the Outerverse. n.o.body knows how long the Innerverse and Outerverse will remain separated for, and the Outerverse could very well be entirely occupied by the Astral Beast Domain by the time they finally rejoin. Us humans will only be left with the Innerverse and the Neoverse, which would make it extremely difficult to seize the Outerverse back.”
General Fei looked up with a complex expression. “We already guessed that they would make this move when we discovered that we were cut off from the Innerverse. However, it’s not just the Astral Beast Domain—the Technocracy will most likely invade the Outerverse from the west as well. Unless we can reconnect with the Innerverse, the Outerverse will fall into the hands of the Astral Beast Domain and the Technocracy sooner or later.”
The second man fell silent, as he was unwilling to accept such a fate. However, these were the facts facing them. When there had been nothing separating the Innerverse and the Outerverse, the bulk of the Astral Beast Domain’s forces had been deployed to the Innerverse. Despite the fact that the border warfront in Erudite Flowzone was not as cruel as the warfront in the Outerverse, it boasted many top experts, who made the Astral Beast Domain cautious. However, now that the Innerverse and Outerverse were completely isolated from each other, there was no longer any reason for the Astral Beast Domain to remain concerned about the Innerverse. Thus, they were able to focus all of their attention onto Ironblood Weave. The Innerverse forces wouldn’t even know that the Astral Beast Domain had torn up the peace agreement.
As long as no battle broke out at the Innerverse’s border warfront, the Astral Beast Domain would have nothing to worry about as long as it completely occupied the Outerverse.
It was an ill-timed fate. Right after the peace agreement had been established, the Innerverse and Outerverse had become separated. If the two domains had never agreed upon a truce, then the Astral Beast Domain would have to continue being cautious of the Innerverse, and their main forces would remain stationed there. Then, they would not have the opportunity to divert so many resources to taking the Outerverse.
“Is there really no other choice?” the man asked in a soft voice. He was Meng Ningge, an Enlighter from Beast Tamers Flowzone’s Divine Grade Hall. He was one of the few powerhouses in Ironblood Fort who were second only to General Fei.
General Fei’s gaze trembled. “There’s only one way: request help from all of the Outerverse’s weaves. They will need to unite and resist the invasion of the Astral Beast Domain.
Meng Ningge’s gaze also shivered. “I’ll send out the request now.”
General Fei’s attention returned to the screen. “There are too few experts in the Outerverse. As soon as the Astral Beast Domain sends out those old monsters whose power levels are in the hundreds of thousands, the Outerverse simply won’t be able to withstand it. I only hope that the Innerverse and Outerverse reconnect quickly, or else many more will die.”
“No matter what, even if all the humans in the Outerverse are destined to perish, we will die before them,” Meng Ningge said with steely determination.
...
Shenwu Continent’s s.p.a.ce station was a place that Lu Yin had not returned to since the Outerverse’s trial. He had expected to only return after several more years, and he had never thought that this day would come so soon.
The s.p.a.ce station seemed much bigger than before, and there were also quite a few more experts here. While still aboard his s.p.a.cecraft, Lu Yin could already see that there were at least five Hunters in the s.p.a.ce station.
Ming Zhaoshu had allied with foreign powers, which had led to many powers once again becoming hopeful about capturing Shenwu Continent. At present, the leading organization that was looking to gain control of Shenwu Continent was not one of the forces from the Darkmist Weave but rather the Daynight clan.
Ming Zhaoshu had intentionally released Zhanlong Daynight and formed an agreement of sorts with the Daynight clan. There were many Daynight clan members in the s.p.a.ce station. Some of them had gone directly to the s.p.a.ce station while the others had only gone there after the recent events at Planet Pyrolyte.
No one had expected Lu Yin to suddenly appear. Shenwu Continent was hidden within a strange separate s.p.a.ce, and this mainland was very desirable to many powers. However, it was something that didn’t seem to have any relationship to Lu Yin. His strongest connection to the place was that he had partic.i.p.ated in a trial on the continent, but now, for some reason, he had returned.
Lu Yin’s relationship with the Daynight clan was not the best. If it hadn’t been for Nightking Yuanjing, then Nightqueen Yanqing would have long since used her influence to have the Daynight clan to act against Frostwave Weave. This was something that all the Daynight members at the s.p.a.ce station were aware of.
Now that the Innerverse and Outerverse were separated, there was no way for Nightking Yuanjing to interfere in the Outerverse’s affairs. If possible, all of the Daynight clan members on this s.p.a.ce station wanted to slaughter Lu Yin. However, they didn’t dare to attempt such a thing since Lu Yin had openly killed two Enlighters. Such a daunting battle record had left them all terrified and panicked.
This time, Lu Yin was not greeted by an Explorer, but by a Hunter. It was even the person who held the highest authority in the s.p.a.ce station. He was called Tyrial, and he was also the person who had sent Lu Yin and the others into Shenwu Continent in the past.
Lu Yin walked through the open hatch and exchanged glances with Wendy when Tyrial tore through the void to appear in front of them. He cordially greeted Lu Yin, “Student Lu, welcome back to Shenwu Continent’s s.p.a.ce station.”
Lu Yin smiled. “Senior Tyrial, I’m sorry to disturb you.”
Then, he introduced Wendy to him.
When he heard Wendy’s name, Tyrial became shocked. The weaves in the eastern region of the Outerverse had all become aware of the fact that Wendy Yushan possessed a secret technique, and everyone was currently enviously trying to obtain it, but they were also all afraid of Lu Yin’s methods. He did not expect Lu Yin to bring this girl to Shenwu Continent and parade her around. The youth’s self-confidence amazed Tyrial.
“So it’s Councilor Wendy. It’s an honor to meet you.” Tyrial smiled.
Wendy nodded, but her face remained calm.
Tyrial was not bothered by the young woman’s behavior, as Wendy Yushan was a councilor of the Outerverse Youth Council as well as a senior disciple of the Innerverse’s Myriad Swords Peak. On top of that, she was also known to be someone who was favorably looked upon within the Ten Arbiters Council. Now that she had mastered a secret technique as well, it was totally understandable for her to have such arrogance; she was too qualified.
Tyrial brought the two to tour around the s.p.a.ce station, and he probed around for the objective of Lu Yin’s visit this time.
Lu Yin only casually replied, “I’m bored. There’s too much politics back home, so I wanted to relax.”
Tyrial smiled. There were many powerhouses with their eyes on these two now. Even in just this s.p.a.ce station alone, there were several Hunters who wanted to make a move against them. Only a fool would believe that Lu Yin would come out for a relaxing trip under such circ.u.mstances.
Through his conversation with Tyrial, Lu Yin learned that news of the events at East San Dios and the battle on Shuta Planet had not spread, which left him rather relieved. Topmist had not gone crazy about announcing Lu Yin’s methods, which allowed him to keep some of his secrets. However, Lu Yin had actually been hoping that the details of the battle at San Dios would be publicized, as that would cause the other Enlighters to become even more apprehensive.
“Right, senior Tyrial, I heard that Shenwu Continent’s Reverent King Ming Zhaoshu is cooperating with foreigners?” Lu Yin asked, feigning mere curiousity.
Tyrial nodded. “Ming Zhaoshu’s schemes run deep. He took advantage of the moment when Ming Zhaotian was injured by Arbiter Wen to make a breakthrough in one move. He then proved himself to be a Realmbreaker by drawing with Ming Zhaotian in a battle, and he’s already comprehended a forcefield. That person is very powerful, and he’s silently endured for so many years. Once he finally burst forth, he immediately split Shenwu Continent apart. The Shenwu Empire can’t handle such a person.”
“The smartest move for him is still to cooperate with us. With us providing an endless number of experts, why would he be afraid of the Shenwu Empire?” Lu Yin smiled.
Tyrial felt disgusted by Lu Yin’s choice of words. “Us?” What does this have to do with him? However, Tyrial was also afraid of Lu Yin’s methods, so he remained silent.
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