Lu Yin’s eyes lit up when he looked at the inventory that Yan Yan sent him. He hadn’t expected the treasury of the Greatsword Dynasty to provide such a pleasant surprise to him.

Most treasuries held valuable items that weren’t easily traded, but the Greatsword Dynasty’s treasury was very simple; it was straight up star crystals and star essence, as well as a bit of savings in universal currency.

The Greatsword Dynasty’s treasury consisted of three billion star crystals and twelve thousand star essence, the total value of which was more than forty thousand star essence. This was a large sum that could even pique the interest of Enlighters.

Lu Yin felt as though he had struck gold.

He commanded Yan Yan to transport all the star essence to King Zishan’s palace while the three billion star crystals were to be delivered to the Great Yu Empire’s treasury. He had sent the Seventh Squadron over this time, so he couldn’t keep all of the loot for himself.

Nonetheless, he still went ahead and quietly increased the amount that the empire owed him to 80,000 star essence. He was treating these star crystals as a loan to the empire.

The treasury was just an unexpected bonus, as what Lu Yin truly wanted was the Greatsword Dynasty’s influence over Northcastle Weave.

Northcastle Weave had been on the verge of collapsing during the battles on Planet Pyrolyte, and the Greatsword Dynasty had long been the most powerful force in Northcastle Weave for many years. Therefore, once the Greatsword Dynasty joined the Great Eastern Alliance, all of Northcastle Weave could be considered theirs as well.

But when he thought about Aegis, Lu Yin’s face fell. According to what Ding Xing had just told him, the mercenaries had actually been planning on occupying the Greatsword Dynasty, which was not as simple as merely taking over Lu Yin’s employment contract.

It seemed that Aegis had grown much more ambitious; it wanted to imitate the Innerverse powers and obtain its own pyrolyte stash. That was just looking to die. If it was possible, then Lu Yin would have long since taken action to gather pyrolyte. However, Elder Lohar had once said that pyrolyte was a strategic resource, and whoever tried to take it would die. Lu Yin did not dare to cross that line.

Now that the Innerverse and Outerverse were separated, Aegis had grown more confident, and they also had their own Enlighters, which was why the mercenaries dared to act without inhibition.

A power that was domineering to begin with had acquired an inflated ego, which was very disturbing, as they were completely fearless.

Lu Yin had already been making preparations to wage war against Aegis, as he would not abandon roping Northcastle Weave into the Great Eastern Alliance.

However, even if Lu Yin had made preparations for war, he had never expected Aegis to actually act this quickly.

Only two days passed, and Lu Yin was currently lockbreaking on a desolate planet that was close to Zenyu Star. Zenyu Star was densely populated, and the sourcebox that he was currently unlocking was at the Perceptive Intermediate level. He had been worried that the sourcebox’s formless danger might leak out and cause deaths on Zenyu Star, so he had decided to conduct his lockbreaking session in a more isolated place.

This planet had been swept clean of people by some of the empire’s troops, and he had decided that this place would be his personal hideaway for any future lockbreaking or cultivating. That way, no one else could possibly get caught up in anything if an accident occurred.

Many space-exploring powerhouses tended to cultivate in places where there were no other humans. This was because if an accident occurred during cultivation, the range of the potential disaster would be devastating.

In the past, Lu Yin had practiced the Skybeast Claw, and Wendy Yushan had warned him about the potential danger to normal people and weaker cultivators as an effect of such training sessions. This was what had prompted him to leave Zenyu Star for this lockbreaking session.

The sourcebox that he was currently working on was one that he had gotten from the Lockbreaker Society. When Felynn had relocated the Outerverse Lockbreaker Society’s headquarters to Planet Hydrotink, they had also taken everything remaining on Sourcepeak Planet with them. The Hall of Insight’s treasures had been plundered during the attack, but fortunately, many of their sourceboxes had been stored elsewhere.

Lu Yin did not know exactly how many sourceboxes the Lockbreaker Society possessed, but any time he wanted to do some lockbreaking, he would send people over to Planet Hydrotink and buy some sourceboxes.

A one star Perceptive Intermediate sourcebox had a starting price of 500 star essence, but Lu Yin had spent just 300 star essence to buy this one, which was not too expensive.

It took a long time to successfully unlock a Perceptive Intermediate sourcebox, and even though Lu Yin had done so before, this one was a little more difficult since it was not harmless. Additionally, it also constantly emitted a suffocating stench.

Lu Yin was left speechless by the unique way this sourcebox’s formless danger manifested, and he felt like Felynn had intentionally chosen to sell this particular sourcebox to him. This sourcebox did not hold any special danger, but it was just horribly smelly, to the point where the smell was unbearable. Even if one did not breathe it in, the smell would still penetrate straight to one’s brain, and there was no way to avoid it.

It was precisely because of this smell that, even if this sourcebox held no danger, no Lockbreaker would willingly touch it. Thus, Felynn had taken advantage of this opportunity to rid herself of it.

Lu Yin was very curious as to what was inside this sourcebox.

The stench even had a visible sheen and form to it, which showed just how strong this smell was. Lu Yin was utterly surrounded by it as he approached the sourcebox, and he had to constantly fight the urge to vomit. He was sure that Felynn had purposefully chosen this sourcebox to disgust him.

As he began lockbreaking, oddly enough, Lu Yin felt his heart palpitate as though someone or something was staring at him. He unleashed his domain, not to observe the sourcebox, but rather to check his surroundings. He trusted his intuition, even if he couldn’t see any rune lines nearby.

The next instance, a deathly pale radiance streaked by, and Lu Yin saw multiple cutting edges fall down towards him. An assassin.

Without hesitation, Lu Yin stopped lockbreaking and pulled back from the sourcebox as he watched the blades fall before him. This was a Hunter realm assassin. Lu Yin’s gaze trembled as he retreated step by step. This attacker was extremely fast, as he was causing multiple blades to appear from all directions, each one of them tearing through the void towards Lu Yin. The knives cut the land and the sky apart, and black spatial tears spread out in all directions.

This was a blitzkrieg attack that did not give Lu Yin a single moment to catch his breath, especially since there was always a blade that continuously chased after Lu Yin’s right hand, preventing him from retrieving anything from his cosmic ring.

External items were not unbeatable, as if a person could not access them, then they might as well not have them.

Lu Yin realized this detail at this moment. He had a set of universal armor, but at this moment, it was nearly impossible to put it on since he had not found an opportunity to do so since the battle began. This assassin was an experienced veteran.

But Lu Yin had never planned on taking out his universal armor. If he actually wanted to take it out, then this person could not stop him. So why hadn’t he grabbed it?

He lightly stepped forward and shifted his body with Secret Sidestep. He then raised a hand and punched out in a direction where there was seemingly nothing. A spiritual force attack swept out in all directions, and Lu Yin heard a dull groan. From close by, a person suddenly appeared. Unexpectedly, this person had been lying on the ground the entire time. The blades that were flying around had to be controlled by a person, but they had appeared without any visible cause. Thus, they could only have been the innate gift of an assassin hiding nearby.

Although Lu Yin did not know how to specifically unleash a spiritual force attack, the Daynight Punch was able to unleash his raw spiritual force, which was able to rival the Ten Arbiters’. The hidden assassin could not withstand such an overpowering spiritual force, and he had been forced out after being caught off guard.

With a single finger, Lu Yin tapped out, and this attack caused the killer to feel dizzy. He could not understand how Lu Yin could unleash such a terrifying spiritual force attack. Still, as an assassin, he had firm willpower and was a Hunter. Thus, he had been able to forcibly endure the pressure and had not fainted.

With a bang, Lu Yin tapped on the assassin’s body, but it felt more like he had struck a weapon. It felt as though his fingertip had not touched a human body, but rather an icy cold weapon.

With a whoosh, the assassin fled, and all of the killing intent withdrew like the tide. He fell back a thousand miles, which was typical of an assassin.

Still, Lu Yin would not let him leave that easily, and he pressed down in the direction that the killer had fled with a Skybeast Claw. An ancient beast howled from across the ages as a claw descended and covered an area of a hundred miles, causing the planet to tremble. The attack was so terrifying that even the planet started rupturing, and lava shot up into the sky that had temperatures so scorching hot that it burned the void.

However, the assassin had already vanished, and even with a wide area attack, Lu Yin was not able to find any trace of the man.

Lu Yin’s face fell. Where were the rune lines? This person was a Hunter, and he should have rune lines, so why couldn’t he see any? This assassin had been difficult to find to begin with, but rune lines had long since allowed Lu Yin to predict many things in advance. If someone was able to completely hide their rune lines, then it would be extremely disadvantageous for Lu Yin as he had already come to heavily rely on them.

The universe was filled with mysterious things, and there would always be something that surpassed one’s understanding. However, Lu Yin had never thought that this situation would arise so quickly.

However, in the Daosource Sect's ruins, there were also no rune lines. Could the two events be related?

Lu Yin immediately contacted Phantom Sting and described the attack to the assassin. On his screen, Phantom Sting quietly replied, “That was Feng Zi, who’s ranked ninth among the Outerverse’s assassins. He should be the one who just tried to assassinate you.”

“Where’s he from?” Lu Yin asked.

Phantom Sting answered, “I don't know, but according to some rumors, he should be connected to Aegis. Six of the Outerverse’s top ten assassins are from Aegis, and this person should be one of them.”

Lu Yin had already guessed as much. Aegis was the only group that was both desperate to see him dead and had the means of deploying such an assassin.

He had not thought that Aegis would seek revenge this quickly. This was not a simple warning, but an act of war. Aegis had acted too ruthlessly this time. They had not even made an attempt to negotiate, instead opting to immediately send an assassin. Lu Yin had not experienced such ruthlessness in a long while. In fact, he had not felt this since he had killed several Enlighters. After returning from the Ironblood Weave, aside from the people in the Daosource Sect's ruins who could make him miserable, he had ascended to practically the top in this part of the universe.

Aegis’s behavior reminded him of how the Daynight clan had treated him before. This was a complete disregard, and they had an attitude that overlooked everyone else.

“What does Aegis use to train so many assassins? And what’s your rank?” Lu Yin asked curiously.

Phantom Sting seriously replied, “Twelfth.”

“That low?” Lu Yin was surprised. “Your innate gift is pretty decent, and you’re also a Hunter who’s comprehended a domain. But despite that, you’re not even in the top ten?”

“Assassins are ranked by efficiency, not strength. My innate gift gives me a powerful survival ability, but it cannot compare to the top ten in terms of efficiency. As for Aegis, it’s rumored that their top assassins all have the ability to completely hide their auras, but I don’t know any specific details. The success rates of Aegis’s assassins far surpass those of other assassin organizations. Thus, for countless years, Aegis has long been the Outerverse’s largest assassination organization, and it has even reached the point where the Innerverse fears it,” Phantom Sting explained.

Lu Yin mulled over this new information. If they were able to completely restrain their aura, then it was no wonder why he had not been able to see any rune lines. Dealing with Aegis was going to be a little troublesome.

Lu Yin finally managed to unlock the smelly sourcebox after great difficulty, and when it opened, it revealed something that looked like a fruit. He casually picked it up and then left the desolate planet.

Lu Yin returned to Zenyu Star and received a call request from an unknown ID. He was instantly suspicious, as not many people had his contact details. Regardless, he accepted it anyways.

“Your Highness Lu Yin, did you like our gift?” A sinister voice was heard that could make people shiver in fear.

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. “Who are you guys?”

“You should have already realized. We are from Aegis.” The sinister voice laughed strangely.

Lu Yin softly replied, “Feng Zi was the gift you sent?”

“We do not wish to become enemies with Sir Lu Yin, and so long as Your Highness does not intervene in Northcastle Weave, Aegis is willing to compensate you. Throughout history, few people have been able to receive such treatment from us. Sir Lu Yin, we wonder, would you be willing to accept our goodwill?” The sinister voice sounded like the person was smiling, and Lu Yin could hear arrogance and self-satisfaction in the voice’s tone. This was not going to be easy.

“If nearly succeeding in an assassination attempt is showing me Aegis’s goodwill, it’s difficult to accept such a gift,” Lu Yin mocked the voice.

“Your Highness has experience in both the Innerverse and Outerverse, and you are not a simple person either, so why bother dancing around? If you were able to survive our assassin’s attack, then it demonstrates that you are worthy of our respect. To put it bluntly, Feng Zi is only the ninth ranked assassin, and there are certainly people who are more powerful than him. You should have heard a little about our strength, and just because Feng Zi wasn’t able to succeed doesn’t mean that others cannot. Your Highness, it’s best to consider things carefully.”

Lu Yin’s expression turned gloomy. “Are you threatening me?”

“If Your Highness wants to take it as such, then that’s not entirely wrong. Lord Egret has asked me to send his regards,” the sinister voice indifferently responded in the same saccharine, smiling tone.

Lu Yin fell silent, as Aegis indeed possessed numerous assassins, as well as Lord Egret, who was an Enlighter. Their strength was very impressive. In the past, when the Outerverse had still been connected to the Innerverse, they had remained low-profile. However, now, they were baring their fangs.

“Why must you guys gain control of Northcastle Weave?” Lu Yin asked.

“This is none of Your Highness’s business. Please give us an answer, as the people above don’t like to wait.”

Lu Yin coldly answered, “Get your boss to talk to me.”

“I am enough. If Your Highness has anything to say, then please feel free to speak to me.”

Lu Yin replied in an even colder voice, “You aren’t qualified to speak with me.”

The voice fell silent. “Your Highness, Lu Yin, it seems that you haven’t understood the situation of the current Outerverse. When you are able to more clearly understand things, we’ll speak again. At that time, I hope to see how you are able to remain this arrogant.”

The person then immediately ended the call.