Star Odyssey

Granny Chan frowned, “Little brother, an Enlighter’s not easy to deal with.”

Lu Yin was helpless. “Junior knows this, but Lei Long has clearly set Frostwave Weave as his next target to plunder. If I don’t act, then I will only be waiting for death. On the other hand, we can make a gamble. With Senior’s assistance and the weapon that my Master gave me, I am extremely confident that we can kill Lei Long.”

Granny Chan’s expression changed. “Master? Which powerhouse is your Master?”

Lu Yin smiled bitterly. “I don’t know. I only know that my Master was able to send me from Tempest Flowzone straight into Chaos Flowzone.”

Granny Chan looked shocked, as if she didn’t quite believe such a claim. The distance that Lu Yin claimed to have crossed with his Master’s help was more than half of the Innerverse. This was something that she couldn’t do, and not even Northgate Taisui was capable of accomplishing such a feat. Traveling through the Innerverse was not as simple as traversing the Outerverse. There were countless experts in the Innerverse who could pierce through the void, and to move across half of the Innerverse without being detected by any of the countless powerhouses there indicated an unimaginably terrifying power. 

As she stared at Lu Yin’s ignorant face, Granny Chan was certain that the kid did not know how difficult such a feat truly was. No wonder Lu Yin had a weapon that could instantly kill an Enlighter, as even Enlighters would be ants before such an existence.

Unfortunately, the Innerverse and Outerverse had been separated, so there were no benefits to be had even if Lu Yin’s master was truly that powerful. Of course, the future was impossible to predict, and it was possible that the Astral River would recover in time. 

Granny Chan suppressed her shock, and a smile appeared on her face. “Many secluded seniors are not willing to reveal their names, so that’s quite normal as little brother’s Master might be one of those seniors. However, with the current disconnect between the Innerverse and the Outerverse, it’s a pity that such people are not able to come out.”

Lu Yin sighed. “Exactly, otherwise I would have long since asked Master to act.”

Granny Chan appeared to be deep in thought. A moment later, she looked back at Lu Yin’s expectant gaze and said, “Alright, Granny will join little brother on a walk—but not to deal with Lei Long—only to intimidate him. Granny will force Lei Long to back away after he learns the truth of the situation, but this will also mean that little brother can’t challenge the Dire Barbarian Clan again.” 

She had not forgotten about Lu Yin’s ability to exacerbate matters. During the contest on Planet Pyrolyte, this kid had offended a vast majority of the Innerverse’s great forces. Otherwise, Karthika would not have frantically rushed over to deal with Lu Yin.

Lu Yin hurriedly promised to abide by Granny Chan’s terms, which satisfied her.

The two agreed to go on a trip to Grandtop Weave after one month.

They disconnected from the call, and Lu Yin relaxed. With Granny Chan with him, he would be able to act freely. Even though he would not be able to kill Lei Long, Lei Long would not be able to deal with Lu Yin either. 

With Progenitor Wushang's hide, Lu Yin felt confident in being able to create an opportune moment, just like he had with Karthika. At first, Karthika had been cautious of Lu Yin, but there was no way he could have accounted for Progenitor Wushang's hide. Lei Long would be no different. However, Lu Yin first had to observe how many rune lines Lei Long had. After all, the difference between a power level of 210,000 and 290,000 was incredible. Lu Yin did not know what Karthika’s exact power level was, so he would have to wait a month to find out. The worst outcome would be if Lu Yin could not kill Lei Long, but at least Lei Long would be intimidated by Granny Chan and would give up on taking any action against Frostwave Weave. 

A month quickly passed by, and Frostwave Weave did not let the month pass in peace. The Great Yu Empire’s troops had stormed all throughout the weave, triggering multiple wars. The Thirteen Imperial Squadrons’ captains were invincible. Even if they fought against Hunters, their opponents were thoroughly scared by the news of Lu Yin killing an Enlighter, and so, they had all retreated. 

The war in Frostwave Weave progressed very smoothly.

And one month later, practically all of Frostwave Weave belonged to the Great Yu Empire.

After unifying Frostwave Weave, new problems arose. The Great Yu Empire did not have enough people to manage various places, which made things difficult for Lu Yin. Left with no other choice, he could only temporarily select people from the affected areas with a talent in military supervision to manage those areas, but that was not a long-term solution. Such people did not truly belong to the Great Yu Empire, and it would be easy for rebellions to foment in such a scenario. Not to mention, such people could not be easily controlled. 

Lu Yin tasked his staff to think of a method to remedy this, but they did not have any brilliant ideas for the time being. They did think up a plan, but it  wasn’t actually a plan. They suggested that the empire bring the direct relatives of the various region’s newly appointed governors to Zenyu Star. Those people would then slowly integrate into the empire after being raised on the empire’s way of life. They would also be used as hostages. 

Lu Yin did not want to use the threat of hostages, but Frostwave Weave was truly too large, and unpredictable events could easily occur from poor management. They could only use this method as a temporary measure of control.

This was merely Frostwave Weave, and his future territory might not be limited to only Frostwave Weave. It should be known that, in the past, not only had Undying Yushan formulated strategic plans to unify Frostwave Weave, but he had also cast his ambition out towards the surrounding weaves as well, it was just that he had not had enough time to formulate those plans. 

The Great Yu Empire’s current top priority was to quickly nurture talents for the military and the empire’s bureaucracy. 

Another urgent issue was the economy. Now that most of the empire’s finances had been diverted to the military, the economy had stopped functioning normally. Many of the governmental departments were paralyzed, and if this went on long-term, then it would lead to even greater disorder and chaos. At the moment, many merchants had deliberately raised the prices of their goods to earn massive profits. This situation would only worsen, and the economy had to be reinvigorated to return the prices to normal. 

Lu Yin had contacted Madam Nalan several times, and finally, the Nalan family arrived at Zenyu Star. 

In outer space, above the planet, the Nalan family’s gigantic spacecraft appeared.

Lu Yin personally welcomed the ship, and the finance minister, Gavin, softly commented from behind, “Your Highness, the Nalan family must have intentionally delayed their arrival. They know that the empire is facing an economic crisis, so they intend to use this to increase their value to us.” 

Lu Yin did not reply, as there was no reason why he would not think of such a ploy if Gavin had. This was simply a method to increase one’s importance, and it was similar to how many people would appear at the final moment when rescuing someone. As long as there were no severe repercussions, these trivial methods were harmless in the end. 

“You understand the Empire’s finances better than myself. If we discuss matters later, then you can speak up,” Lu Yin instructed.

Gavin acknowledged his words. 

At Zenyu Star’s space station, all of the other spacecraft had been evicted for the day by Lu Yin as a show of respect for the Nalan family, as well as to specially welcome them. 

Within the giant spacecraft, there was a hint of a smile on the alluring madam Nalan’s lips.

As the spacecraft trembled upon docking, the hatch opened, and a beautiful woman was the first to step out. Lu Yin immediately moved forward. “Madam, did your journey here go smoothly?” 

Behind Lu Yin, the welcoming group was stunned by this woman’s beauty. She never made attempts to be particularly seductive, but her natural charms nonetheless captured everyone. 

She exchanged several pleasantries with Lu Yin and listened to him introduce the several people from the Great Yu Empire accompanying him. After that, she waved a hand, and a family maid stepped forward to hand Gavin an exquisite box. 

Gavin was astonished. 

Lu Yin looked at Madam Nalan and she smiled back at him. “Your Highness Royal Regent, this is my Nalan family’s small gift to the Great Yu Empire as an expression of our gratitude. Please accept it.” 

Lu Yin had not expected the stunning Madam Nalan to be so straightforward, but he did not act pretentious. He nodded to Gavin, who immediately accepted the box. Within it was a silver Mavis Bank card. With the Nalan family’s degree of wealth , once they took action, they definitely would not be hesitant. Moreover, the head of the family had already agreed to help with the Great Yu Empire’s military expenditures in unifying Frostwave Weave. 

Gavin felt excited, as they finally had money again.

Lu Yin did not quite mind, as he was more concerned about whether or not the Nalan family would financially support him personally, which was not something that the expenditures of the Great Yu Empire’s military could compare to.

Although the Great Yu Empire had unified Frostwave Weave, how much would the expedition costs tally up to? Lu Yin still possessed more than 3,000 star essence, which was equivalent to about 3 billion star crystals. That amount was enough to fund the Great Yu Empire’s military, but he would not personally fund the empire unless it was in a crisis.

Lu Yin had become someone who had reached a higher level of wealth, and he had recently spent thousands of star essence. Star essence, not star crystals, which meant that the amount that he had spent would have been enough to fund the Great Yu Empire’s military for decades. It should be acknowledged that the Great Yu Empire’s military expenditures were calculated with universal currency and not even star crystals. 

This disparity between Lu Yin’s personal expenses and those of the empire was extremely wide. 

This was the Outerverse, whereas any Innerverse power’s military expenses would not stop there. Regardless of whether it was the troops’ meals, weapons, or cultivation resources, the quality available in the Outerverse could not compare to the Innerverse’s. 

The Nalan family had expressed their sincerity with this move, and Lu Yin personally brought the beautiful Madam Nalan on a tour of Zenyu Star. Truthfully, he himself had not quite fully explored the planet either. 

They sent the rest of the entourage away. Madam Nalan stretched as they stood atop a cliff beside a sea. Her curvy figure caused Lu Yin to involuntarily swallow his saliva several times, as her image was too captivating.

“How exhausting! I really want to have a good sleep,” she spoke with exhaustion and blurred eyes. 

Lu Yin licked his lips. “Your residence has been arranged to be close to the palace. It was previously the Vice Treasurer’s residence, but it has since been refurbished.” 

She beamed at Lu Yin. “Compared to when I first met you, after becoming the Royal Regent and managing this empire, your disposition has changed greatly.”

“Really?” Lu Yin looked at her. “How so?”

She rolled her eyes and pursed her lips. She smiled and said, “I don’t know quite how to put it. You were a student back then, but right now, you are a leader.” 

Lu Yin shrugged. “It’s just a fringe weave of the Outerverse.”

She stared at him. “I don’t know why, but I have a feeling that the current you has only just begun to take flight.”

Lu Yin laughed. “You’re tired. Go and rest. Don’t worry, as I’ll do all I can to protect you here.”

She looked into Lu Yin’s eyes and suddenly moved closer to him. Her scent flooded Lu Yin’s nose, and he subconsciously tried to back away, but the cliff was at his back. He had no way to retreat, and yet, she continued moving closer to him. Now, she was just a mere ten centimeters away from him. If Lu Yin moved just the slightest bit forward, he would kiss her. 

“Didn’t you know? It’s easy for a woman to misunderstand you when you speak such words.” Madam Nalan’s soft lips moved gently as she spoke. 

Lu Yin’s heartbeat rapidly increased. This temptress was just too seductive. At this moment, he had forgotten everything else; only this beautiful woman existed in his eyes. His breathing grew ragged, and he subconsciously wanted to lean forward to kiss her.

However, right before he leaned forward, she smiled and backed away from him. She had avoided that situation, and she only left Lu Yin with a gentle, beautiful smile before she turned to leave. 

Lu Yin panted heavily as he stared at the fairy’s departing figure. He felt even more exhausted than after battling against an Enlighter. 

What was this feeling? He had felt like he could not restrain himself, and he had felt an impulse to push her down. This feeling had been too overpowering.

“Your Highness Royal Regent, I’ll stay at Zenyu Star for now. Rest assured, I’ll pay for rent, hehe,” Madam Nalan’s voice called out before gradually fading into the distance. 

Lu Yin took a deep breath and then let it out as he smiled bitterly and stared into the distance. What an alluring seductress. 

At this moment, a message from Gavin caused Lu Yin’s gadget to beep. There were five billion star crystals in the silver card that Madam Nalan had given the empire.