Star Odyssey

Chapter 1223: Exploitation

Monster Chi sighed. “Back in my younger days, I followed my master to attack the Royal Frost Continent. My Blaze Realm and the Royal Frost Continent have clashed several times, but not once have I ever encountered such cold air. It seems that something really has happened on the Royal Frost Continent.” He then walked forward and moved past Si Penghai, stepping closer and closer to the cracks in the void until he finally arrived right next to them.

The cracks in the void were frozen over as the Frost Emperor wanted to prevent Monster Chi or anyone else from seeing inside.

Monster Chi stared at the crack in the void for a time. Then, flames covered the entire area and converged to form a flaming giant that scorched the entire region. “Fire Spirit.”

This Fire Spirit had once fought against Lu Yin in the Outerverse, and it was now appearing once again.

Not only was this Fire Spirit extremely hot, but it also mimicked Monster Chi’s movements, which meant that it was basically the old man’s avatar.

The Fire Spirit’s appearance made everyone from the Blaze Realm grow excited, as this was one of the Blaze Realm’s strongest battle techniques.

With a snort, the Fire Spirit rushed into the crack in the void.

On the Royal Frost Continent, the Frost Emperor had changed his appearance after being persuaded by Lu Yin. His cultivation now appeared to be much lower, and he had also preemptively forced out some blood so that he could spit it out at any time.

When the Fire Spirit raced into the pocket space containing the Royal Frost Continent, it instantly forced the cold air back.

It was not difficult to push the cold air back; rather, the main difficulty came from how it was impossible to completely contain the cold air, which was why the Frost Emperor had been rendered helpless. Even if he isolated the cold air and swept it away from the Royal Frost Continent, the chill would still slowly permeate through the entire continent.

Even a temperature drop of a few degrees would have catastrophic consequences for the Royal Frost Continent.

A high temperature quickly spread across the surface of the continent from the Fire Spirit, and it pushed back the cold air as it glowed red in the sky, looking like a sun on the south side of the continent. This sight quickly drew the attention of Subzero City’s inhabitants, but fortunately, the Frost Emperor stopped the city’s experts from moving out and investigating.

From time to time, the roiling flames covering the Fire Spirit’s body would freeze over, but those frozen flames would quickly melt once again. When the fire giant looked around, it saw the vast white world, and off in the distance, there was Subzero City.

The Fire Spirit was about to race towards Subzero City when the Frost Emperor suddenly appeared with the appearance of an old man. He raised a hand and slapped at the Fire Spirit. Countless people in the distant city watched on, and they also felt what the attack brought with it: warmth.

For the people of Subzero City, a high temperature meant warmth, and they loved it.

“You dare to resist? Can your Royal Frost Continent stand up to the Blaze Realm?” the Fire Spirit spoke with a terrifying voice.

The little old man who was actually the Frost Emperor in disguise replied in a hoarse voice, saying, “Even if everyone on my Royal Frost Continent burns, I will never surrender!”

As he spoke, his clothes burned away, his skin cracked from drying out, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. “Go to hell!”

After that, with the assistance of the cold air, the white ice in the sky took on the shape of five interlocking rings of snowflakes, and it completely froze the Fire Spirit before shattering it.

Lu Yin blankly stared on; that acting had been quite good.

In Subzero City, countless people stared at the scene in shock. Although the high temperature of the flames had brought them a bit of warmth, the name “Blaze Realm” had also incited panic.

People were always afraid of the unknown, and most of the Royal Frost Continent’s residents had absolutely no knowledge regarding the outside world. Many even believed that they were the only people in the entire universe.

Shao Yangxun looked to the south, and his brows furrowed. How could the Blaze Realm have found the Royal Frost Continent? They had attacked the continent several times in the past, and each attack had failed. So why would they try again now of all times?

Shao Yangxun wanted to go investigate, but the city lord had just sent out a message stopping Shao Yangxun as well as all of the other powerhouses in Subzero City from doing precisely that. Just what was the city lord doing? And for that matter, what role had Lu Yin played in the current situation?

Ku Wei was standing just a little ways away from Shao Yangxun, and he felt rather dazed. For some reason, he had a feeling that this entire situation was related to Seventh Bro.

In outer space, outside the continent, Monster Chi went pale when his Fire Spirit shattered. He stared at the cracks in the void and then turned around to approach Leader Hong. “Realm Master, there is no one in the Royal Frost Continent who can resist us. The city lord who was an Envoy should truly be dead. I could not sense him anywhere, and there was only an old man whose power level was slightly more than 300,000 protecting the place.”

Leader Hong’s eyes blazed with excitement. “Did you see any secret technique there?”

Monster Chi shook his head. “I didn’t see any such thing. What did the people from the Gasfire Alliance say about it?”

Leader Hong replied, “They mentioned that it’s in a city.”

Monster Chi said, “There really is a city. The entire continent is not that big, and our army is strong enough to sweep through the entire place.”

Leader Hong nodded. “Look again, and scout it out a few more times.”

Monster Chi acknowledged his orders. “Understood.”

On the Royal Frost Continent, the flames swept through the air once again, but this time, Monster Chi had joined hands with the other experts from the Blaze Realm. Their combined flames swept across the Royal Frost Continent, and not only did they suppress the cold, but they also brought even greater warmth to Subzero City.

The sky itself turned red.

Lu Yin smiled and said, “This junior has some knowledge of the Blaze Realm’s master, Leader Hong. He is a cautious man, and he will most likely observe the situation for a few more days before entering.”

The Frost Emperor responded, “If Leader Hong comes, then I will definitely have to stop him, and he will realize that the whole thing is a trick. This scheme is pointless.”

Lu Yin said, “Not only did this junior make sure that the information was leaked to Leader Hong, but the sylvan dragon clan and the Ross Empire also learned of it. Leader Hong might see through the deception, what about the other two? Each of these three parties are highly suspicious of the others, and even Leader Hong can’t be absolutely certain regarding this situation. There isn’t any secret technique, but the only way to be sure is to destroy the Royal Frost Continent. Senior’s strength is enough to hold back the three masters, and the heat of the flames can stop the cold from spreading, which will buy some extra time for your Royal Frost Continent. Like this, we can simply wait for President Geoffrey to arrive.”

The Frost Emperor looked at Lu Yin, his eyes showing his understanding. “Alliance Leader Lu is quite shrewd. You are actually hoping to use my Royal Frost Continent to eliminate your powerful enemies.”

Lu Yin shook his head. “Is Senior saying that this junior’s idea is bad?”

The Frost Emperor turned to look at the crack in the void. “Alright, it’s quite good. It’s enough to help my Royal Frost Continent while also helping you to eliminate your enemies.”

Lu Yin blinked. “This junior doesn’t understand.”

The Frost Emperor sighed emotionally. “The universe is ever-changing, and not everything can be perfectly predicted. Alliance Leader Lu, have you considered that this plan of yours could cause me to suspect you of deliberately damaging the sourcebox array and risking the survival of my Royal Frost Continent?”

Just as Lu Yin was about to respond, the Frost Emperor cut him off. “Of course, I don’t doubt you, as you are not capable of deliberately breaking that seal.”

“Senior is overthinking things,” Lu Yin said.

The Frost Emperor seriously answered, “But from the very beginning, you could have earned my Royal Frost Continent’s friendship.”

Lu Yin looked at the Frost Emperor’s back. “Using the Blaze Realm like this helps your continent to restrain the cold while the Ross Empire and the sylvan dragon clan are forcing the Blaze Realm’s hand.”

“But when those three forces enter my Royal Frost Continent, they will suffer heavy losses. I have already heard of Alliance Leader Lu’s accomplishments. You have unified the Outerverse, and naturally, the next step is the Innerverse. This scheme is merely to eradicate some of your enemies for you, isn’t it?” the Frost Emperor challenged.

Lu Yin’s expression was not very good at this moment. “If you can kill two birds with one stone, then why not do so?”

The Frost Emperor wanted to refute these words, and he wanted to claim that Lu Yin had used him. However, after thinking for a moment, the Frost Emperor realized that nothing that had been said was worth refuting. From Lu Yin’s standpoint, this approach was too wonderful an opportunity, and from the Frost Emperor’s standpoint, he was unable to find any alternate methods.

“I, Lu Yin, asked a senior to reach out to President Geoffrey, and I also tried to help Senior gain some more time. This all started when Senior kidnapped this junior. If Senior thinks that I am doing something wrong, then this junior will simply leave,” Lu Yin spoke coldly.

The Frost Emperor’s expression changed, and he quickly looked back at Lu Yin with a forced smile. “I’ve been overthinking things, Alliance Leader Lu. Don’t mind my words.”

The Frost Emperor had felt upset that he had been used by Lu Yin, but after thinking things through, why should someone selflessly help his Royal Frost Continent? Since Lu Yin had helped the Frost Emperor, then there was nothing wrong with the Frost Emperor helping him in turn. This was just a matter of equivalent exchange.

Lu Yin coldly snorted. “Senior’s a bit too cold to treat those who help him in this manner.”

The Frost Emperor drily replied, “My tone just now was not very good, but don’t pay any attention to it, Alliance Leader Lu. Since this is how things are, then if you need anything, just say it, and my Royal Frost Continent and I will do what we can.”

Lu Yin pointed at the crack in the void. “I want to let the three armies enter the Royal Frost Continent so that they don’t even have a chance to run away.”

The Frost Emperor’s expression immediately changed. Lu Yin was indeed using the older man to deal with Blazing Mist Flowzone. The Frost Emperor wanted to refuse, but upon seeing Lu Yin’s firm gaze, the older man considered how Lu Yin was the only one who could contact Geoffrey. The Frost Emperor might still need Lu Yin’s help in the future, so he unwillingly responded, “I’ll try my best, but don’t hold onto too much hope. Those three forces are not easy to deal with, and there’s a limit to what I can handle.”

Lu Yin had no intention of forcing things, as he was already very happy with this response. Also, the Frost Emperor was right: Lu Yin did want to make use of the Royal Frost Continent to deal with Blazing Mist Flowzone’s major powers in one fell swoop. Even if Lu Yin forgot about his grudges with the Blaze Realm, he would never forget about how the Ross Empire had invaded the Great Yu Empire or about the contempt that the sylvan dragon clan had shown for the Outerverse.

There were many old grudges within Blazing Mist Flowzone, and even without this seething old hatred, Lu Yin would still have moved against Blazing Mist Flowzone eventually. After all, this was where the Great Eastern Alliance would have to start if they wanted to enter the Innerverse.

Of course, Lu Yin had not deliberately damaged the sealing sourcebox array beneath the Royal Frost Continent as he was not cruel enough to gamble with the entire population of the continent.

Several days soon passed. During this time, the battles between the flames and the cold air resulted in the first sprinkling of rain that the Royal Frost Continent had seen in many years. The downpour was accompanied by a bitingly cold wind, but it was still a unique experience for the many residents experiencing it for the first time.

Although this rain was bitterly cold, it was warm to the inhabitants of Subzero City. Many of them believed that this rain had been caused by the city lord.

Shao Yangxun stared towards the south with a complicated expression on his face. Just what were the city lord and Lu Yin doing? If an explanation was not given soon, the city’s elders might end up hanging themselves out of sheer anxiety.

Ku Wei was very relaxed. His greatest pastime was going out and hitting on beautiful women. He quickly found that the women of this city did not dress overly conservatively. In fact, their fashion was a bit revealing despite the ancient and somewhat wild style to their clothing. As they moved about, he was able to catch glimpses of delicate white flesh. He loved this place.

“Really, Yan Yan, can you really not appreciate happiness when you’re surrounded by it!? Look at how beautiful this place is and how lively the girls are! Look at you! Give Brother Wei a wink, haha!” Ku Wei turned to smile and call out to a girl as she passed by. She smiled at his wink and quickly sped away.

Shao Yangxun glanced over at Ku Wei. “Subzero City’s rules state that, if you have a physical relationship with any of the city’s women, then you must stay here forever, never allowed to go out.”

Ku Wei was stunned. “Can’t you change that?”

Shao Yangxun turned away to stare back towards the south. “No, you’ll have to stay even if you break your leg.”

Ku Wei’s mouth twitched. A girl a ways away from him looked at him playfully, but he just laughed drily before quickly lowering his head. After that, he did not dare to take another look; it would be better to die than be stuck in this primitive city forever.

A few days passed, and Monster Chi used his Fire Spirit to enter several times during these days. Each time, the Fire Spirit was destroyed by the little old man who was the Frost Emperor in disguise. The Frost Emperor’s act was not seen through, and he acted weaker each time, seemingly only defeating the Fire Spirit by taking on greater and greater risks.