Chapter 577: Hot Pursuit

The human cultivators broke out in raucous cheers, and soon after, the battle was over as the entire beast horde left like a stream. 

This battle had started and ended very quickly, and the one who had ended the battle was Lu Yin.  

Liu Qiuyu and the others all stared at Lu Yin in disbelief. A Limiteer had just ended the battle by defeating Monster Loach. It was like the story from a fairy tale coming true. 

No one could believe it. 

Aden emerged from the ruins, also stunned by Lu Yin’s strength. 

Huo Qingshan looked at Lu Yin, agitated. This was how the Royal Regent of the Great Yu Empire had always been. He always had tricks up his sleeve that no one could possibly expect. 

Liu Zhan, Long Yun and the others all looked at Lu Yin. Lu Yin was now the center of attention in the entire Seasons Fort. 

Elder Viletree, Wen Qichen, and the others all had complicated expressions on their faces. They had all initially been very against this young man, and he had offended many people during his time on Planet Pyrolyte. However, they now had no choice but to thank him, as without his help, it was unlikely that they would have survived the battle. 

Wang Wen opened the coffin lid with a thud and looked at Lu Yin excitedly. “Haha! You really defeated Monster Loach! Impressive! You really are an important pawn! Very good, haha!”

Lu Yin released a long breath and smiled awkwardly as he stored his universal armor away. To defeat Monster Loach, he had been forced to use up the Money Bomb that he worked so hard to upgrade. That Money Bomb had been arduously upgraded with tens of thousands of star essences, and now, it was gone just like that.  

He was hoping that he would receive a significant number of Ironblood Points. However, he was fully aware that he had not killed Monster Loach. 

“Hey, Chesspiece Bro, why don’t you seem happy? You just made history! A case could even be made that you’re now my equal. For a Limiteer to become a determining factor in battle, even if you did use some foreign objects—though there’s nothing wrong with that—you’ll still go down in history.” Wang Wen was overjoyed and was constantly patting Lu Yin’s shoulders. 

Lu Yin grinned. “What do you think my status will become in the Astral Beast Domain after this?”

Wang Wen rolled his eyes. “Even though you won’t be on the same level as me, you won’t be far from it. Anyone who can determine the outcome of a battle will receive such recognition, even if they’re just some useless creature that can be easily killed by some expert. Anyway, you were already on the Celestial Vanquisher’s list from the start, so there’s nothing to be afraid of.” 

Lu Yin was left speechless. 

“Seventh Bro, I feel that this guy is scamming you. You’re even better than him given the fact that you—as a Limiteer—were able to defeat an old monster with a power level that surpassed 300,000.”

Lu Yin shot a glance at the excited Wang Wen. Scam? That was not entirely the case. Even if it had not been for Wang Wen, Lu Yin still would have found a way to attack Monster Loach. He was aware that a personal loss could still be a gain. He was human and would not harm the survival of his species out of selfish desire. If they lost the war, then he would still end up as a stray dog even if he survived. 

And yet, for some reason, while listening to Wang Wen’s boastful excitement, it was possible for someone to believe that Wang Wen had actually been the one who defeated Monster Loach, and this made Lu Yin very unhappy.

“Come on Chesspiece Bro, let’s have a chat in the pass,” Wang Wen said happily as he tried to drag Lu Yin along. 

Lu Yin instead turned around to leave. “I don’t have time for that. I need to rest.”

Wang Wen yelled, “Just one drink! That battle was such a brutal one, so have a drink to gain some courage.”

“I am not as timid as you.” Lu Yin waved him off and left. 

Wang Wen rolled his eyes and mumbled to himself, “I hate it when people turn their back on me.”

Lu Yin had regained control of the situation during a desperate battle. The amount of Ironblood Points that he ended up being awarded was more than what he’d expected. Ironblood Points were given out solely based on how many astral beasts they killed, as there were several other forms of contributions that could give a person points. These included inventing weapons and proposing defensive strategies that would fortify the forts. All such acts were contributions and added to one’s Ironblood Points. 

For his efforts in the most recent battle, Lu Yin had gained 30,000 Ironblood Points, which made his position leap straight to the top ten of the Ironblood rankings. 

Killing an Enlighter beast would usually only earn a person 20,000 Ironblood Points, but Lu Yin was given 30,000 straight away. This showed just how much Lu Yin had contributed to the battle.  

Lu Yin was excited as he looked at the rankings. He was now one of only two people in Ironblood Weave to have reached the top ten despite not being an Enlighter. Since General Fei had died in the recent battles, Cool Sis retained her position in tenth place. Her Ironblood Points stood at 29,000, which was only slightly different from Lu Yin’s points.

Lu Yin looked up the list; the powerful Enlighters who were ranked above him may not have killed any Enlighter beasts, but they had killed many beasts over a long period of time, which was why they were ranked so highly on the list. However, when considering the number of Enlighters that these powerhouses had slain, Lu Yin was confident that there was no one in Ironblood Weave who had killed more than three Enlighters, which was something that he had done.  

Enlighters were hard to kill, as anyone who could reach the Enlighter realm would be hard to deal with. However, it was precisely Lu Yin’s status as a Limiteer that had made everyone overlook him. This advantage had been boosted by the fact that he had Progenitor Wushang’s Hide and could coordinate his attacks with the Yu Secret Art or use bait like Wang Wen. Finally, the astronomical amount of money he had spent to upgrade his weapons had made him a true force to be reckoned with.  

He was just like a small child who could kill adults by using a gun. 

This was why many people claimed that intelligence trumped ability. 

32,000 Ironblood Points was equivalent to 32,000 star essences. Lu Yin’s eyes lit up, as he had money once again. However, he was concerned that Seasons Fort would not have enough star essence to exchange for.

With this worry in mind, Lu Yin contacted Wang Wen. 

Wang Wen had given Lu Yin a means to contact him, claiming that it was for easier communication. However, the Ghost Monkey saw it as Wang Wen taking advantage of Lu Yin.

“Chesspiece Bro, why are you contacting me so soon? Do you need me to share some of my great wisdom with you?” Wang Wen asked happily.

Lu Yin looked at the unpleasant face on his gadget’s screen and unenthusiastically replied, “I want to trade my Ironblood Points for star essence. Is there enough star essence at the fort?”

Wang Wen replied, “Of course! Don’t underestimate Ironblood Weave. Countless resources from both the Outerverse and Innerverse have been gathered here. The amount of star essence here is enough to form a mountain. I do have to ask you though, do you want to exchange for them right now?”

Lu Yin pondered for a moment. “I’ll make the exchange right away.”

Wang Wen was not surprised. From what he had come to learn, this youth from Frostwave Weave was obsessed with money. Even though Wang Wen did not know the reason why Lu Yin was so obsessed, he guessed that it was probably due to Lu Yin’s family background. It was said that Lu Yin had been brought to the Great Yu Empire from Earth. 

Wang Wen flipped through the materials that he had on Earth, and a glint flashed through his eyes.

Lu Yin did not know where Seasons Fort’s star essences were stored, but 30,000 star essences were quickly brought to him by a cultivator. He was rather excited at the prospect of being rich once again.  

Lu Yin had requested the exchange too quickly, so his name only climbed to the top of the Ironblood Rankings for a very brief amount of time, preventing anyone from noticing it. The various strongholds were also all busy with handling their own battles, so no one had the time to browse the rankings. Otherwise, Lu Yin’s sudden leap through the rankings would have been huge news that shook the entire Ironblood Weave. 

Perhaps it was the excitement that came with his newfound wealth, but for the third time now, Lu Yin felt like he was about to break through. 

Lu Yin’s heart stirred as he sat down cross-legged and began to recite the Stonewall Scriptures. He wanted to do everything that he could to suppress this feeling, as he had no confidence in being able to break through.

Suppressing the feeling of breaking through was very tough. As the monkey had put it, it was the same as suffering from constipation. Lu Yin had no choice but to suppress his breakthrough, as if he failed in his attempt, it would have harsh consequences for him.

After half an hour passed, Lu Yin finally let out a heavy breath. He looked at his hands, glad that he had managed to suppress his breakthrough. That being said, this was definitely the last time that he would be able to delay it. If he encountered this situation again, then there was no way he could suppress his breakthrough.

It was unknown whether or not Enlighters would be able to help him breakthrough, and this gave Lu Yin a huge headache. 

Something suddenly came to mind, and he immediately contacted Wang Wen. 

“Chesspiece Bro, what’s the matter?” Wang Wen asked with a smile.

Lu Yin replied, “Can you transfer Wendy Yushan back to Seasons Fort? With the help of her secret technique, my attacks will be able to hit anyone.”

Wang Wen sighed. “I’m getting angry now that you’ve reminded me about this. Who was stupid enough to split you two up? The two of you are unbeatable when it comes to launching sneak attacks on beasts, and yet you two were still separated.”

“Then send her back,” Lu Yin said. 

Wang Wen helplessly replied, “I can’t transfer her back, as the other forts have been completely isolated, particularly the other three middle three forts. They were isolated since the beasts are afraid that the three forts will form an alliance. I would suggest that you drop this line of thought.”

Lu Yin was disappointed. “I’ve been meaning to ask this, but where is Elder Lohar?”

Wang Wen was puzzled. “Why do you ask?” 

“Nothing much. I’m just wondering why he didn’t appear in the last battle,” Lu Yin replied. 

“Elder Lohar went to deal with the Amethyst Beast. That creature has very powerful defensive powers, and aside from Elder Lohar, no one else can contend against it. If it wasn’t for that Amethyst beast, then the old man from the Phoenix clan wouldn’t have died. Do you really believe that that old freak from the Phoenix clan was killed by Monster Loach? The fish was bluffing.”

After ending the conversation with Wang Wen, Lu Yin set his personal gadget down. Mankind was the best at hiding, and there were definitely people from the Hall of Honor hiding in the Outerverse. Since that was the case, then were there also more hidden powerhouses from the Three Dark Hands? 

As far as he could remember, there were several Neohuman Alliance strongholds in the Outerverse. However, the most skilled warriors that the bases held were only at the Hunter realm, and none of them held any Enlighters.  

But against the Astral Beast Domain, which was powerful enough to hold its own against the Innerverse, even the powerful experts with hidden powers would not be of much help. Lu Yin could only rely on himself. 

Lu Yin raised his head and looked at the meteor-like sourceboxes, trying to come up with a way to fix the holes.  

Two days later, another battle started up. This time, Monster Loach was nowhere to be seen. However, there were two other Enlighter beasts this time, and one of them was staring at Lu Yin. 

Lu Yin had a bad feeling about this. He had initially been chasing after a Cruiser beast when the void in front of him suddenly tore open, and his body was sent flying. There was nothing that he could do.

He filled his eyes with star energy and was shocked at what he saw. There was a spider-like creature covered from head to toe with thread that was charging towards him. Its rune lines were no less than what he had seen on either Lei Long or Karthika. It was an Enlighter realm astral beast.  

Without thinking, Lu Yin immediately tried to escape. However, he was easily caught by the threads. The spider-like creature had a human face, and its appearance was revolting. Its face sported a sinister smile as it pulled Lu Yin closer. 

Lu Yin raised his gun and fired a shot, but it missed. His gun was no longer a secret, and any Enlighter could easily dodge its attacks so long as they were aware of it. 

Just when it seemed like he was about to be devoured by the spider-like creature, a row of words appeared in front of him that trapped the spider-like creature. It was a Literary Prison. 

The battle technique known as Literary Prison was something that was passed down solely within the Wen Clan. It had an unparalleled sealing power and required a minimum of sixteen characters to form it. There were seventy two characters sealing the spider-like creature, which even surpassed the number that Wen Sansi had used to trap Yao Gu. 

The spider-like creature let out an angry roar and started frantically attacking the Literary Prison.

Wen Qichen appeared and shot a glance at Lu Yin before saying, “Leave.”

Lu Yin immediately made his escape, but before he could get too far, another terrifying pressure fell upon him.

Wen Qichen’s expression changed drastically, and he took immediate action. Still, his Literary Prison had already been broken. The spider-like creature reappeared and spun its web around Wen Qichen. Wen Qichen hurriedly whirled around to fight the spider-like creature just in time to see the terrifying force smash Lu Yin down into the ground.

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