After hearing Lu Yin’s comment about his lack of star essence, Mandy chuckled before saying, “This is a gift from us. We’d like to thank you for taking care of our family.”

“Are you talking about Lulu?” Lu Yin asked.

Mandy smiled and nodded. “The Mavis family has always had very few members, and we are well aware that you have been looking after Ms. Lulu all this time. The amount of star crystals that you withdraw today will be rounded up as a bonus from the Mavis family. That's the most I can do.”

“What do you mean?” Lu Yin was confused.

Mandy smiled. “The conversion rate between star essence and star crystals is one to one hundred thousand. Regardless of how many star crystals you withdraw from this branch, we will round that up to the nearest multiple of ten and give you the equivalent in star essence.”

Lu Yin’s heart jumped. “I have 710,000 star crystals.”

“Then we can give you ten star essences. You can also keep ten thousand star crystals for some pocket change,” Mandy said with a smile.

Lu Yin was rendered speechless. He felt like he had judged this woman too quickly. From what she had just said, this woman was going to give him ten star essences even if he only had a single star crystal. She was basically giving him free money. These people were way too rich! And this woman was only the manager of this branch!

“Your gift is too much for me, Manager Mandy. Besides, Lulu doesn’t need my protection anymore. She’s far more powerful than I am. When she was just a Melder, she was already able to tame Explorer level beasts,” Lu Yin gently declined.

“This is a show of goodwill from the Mavis Family. Please do not reject it,” Mandy said with a smile. As she spoke, a staff member briefly took the purple card away before quickly returning. “This is yours now, Mr. Lu.”

Lu Yin accepted it and took in a deep breath. Ten star essences: that was the same as a million star crystals! He had suddenly gained 300,000 star crystals out of nowhere, and this was something that just a mere manager could hand out as a gift! The Mavis Bank was really incredibly wealthy. He even had the urge to start chasing after Lulu with the intention of becoming a son-in-law of this family.

Mandy left after that, as she had only introduced herself to give him the money. Meanwhile, Lu Yin withdrew the ten star essence and placed them inside of his cosmic ring. He also withdrew the ten thousand star crystals for pocket change. Although he still had quite a few Mavis Bank cards on him, he didn’t have any actual money on him.

Star essence and star crystals had an exchange rate that could go as high as one to one hundred thousand. It wasn’t just a matter of quality; more importantly, it was much quicker to absorb star essence than star crystals. Many disciples from large organizations would directly absorb star essence, which greatly lessened any chances they had of encountering obstacles on their path to becoming an Explorer. In addition, getting used to structural forms of energy star essence was very important in the Innerverse. This was because the Astral River was made of pure energy. If one cultivated in the Innerverse, it was impossible to guarantee that they would never fall into the Astral River. No matter if it was a main current or a side tributary, becoming accustomed to high energy structures meant a better chance of surviving in the Astral River. This made the value of star essence especially high, even higher than its direct equivalent of star energy.

Lu Yin had always wanted to get his hands on some star essence before he arrived in the Innerverse, but his funds had been too limited, and he had never found a good way to increase them. To his surprise, the Mavis Bank had suddenly given him exactly what he needed. He’d definitely remember this favor.

He looked back and took a last look at this Mavis Bank. Lu Yin had to tip his hat to the way these people treated money. By using universal currency as trash, they flaunted their wealth while also reducing the risks that they faced. They would sometimes show goodwill to cultivators like him with powerful innate gifts, treating it as an investment. They didn’t lose much money while doing so, and if they ended up benefiting a future powerhouse, then they would reap a huge return. They invested a small amount of money to buy a favor that would be difficult to return. The Mavis Bank had survived for this long in the universe by relying on not only money, but also the manner in which they conducted business.

Just as he left the bank and was about to leave, Lu Yin’s gadget received a call. Lu Yin took a look and saw that it was from an unknown contact. He seemed to remember something and quickly accepted. “Hello.”

“Little Seven.”

“You’re finally contacting me, Uncle Reuben!” Lu Yin was delighted.

“I’m glad you’re fine, Little Seven.”

“I’m fine, but what happened at the pirate port? Why was Da Chong there? What happened to him?” Lu Yin shot out a barrage of questions.

“Do you remember when we escaped from the Innerverse to the Outerverse? We were also pursued in the Outerverse.”

Lu Yin narrowed his eyes and he said in a chilly tone, “You mean… the Leo family?”

“Yes, it was the Leo family that tried to kill us. However, we weren’t certain before that, which was why we sent Da Chong to investigate the pirate port. Unfortunately, he was discovered. The Leo family didn’t want that incident to be exposed, and so, they destroyed the place themselves before going into hiding. That was what happened at the pirate port.”

Lu Yin frowned. “It was no secret that the Leo family ruled the pirate port. Would revealing that matter really affect them in any real way? They’re probably trying to protect someone else.”

“That’s true, or it could even be that someone ordered them to do it. However, we don’t have any clues for now. The Leo family’s gone. Do you know who did it?”

The old man on Driftcharge Planet appeared in Lu Yin’s mind, and he quietly replied, “I don’t know his name, but an old man managed to drag down all the Explorers and other powerhouses in the Leo Family to the planet, where he died alongside them. I was the one who destroyed their spacecraft.”

“I see. I’m glad that you managed to survive! Da Chong was very upset that he didn’t save you back then.”

“I’m glad that he’s fine,” Lu Yin replied with a smile.

“Are you going to the warfront?”

Lu Yin nodded. “Yes, I’ll be there soon.”

The line fell silent for a moment before Uncle Reuben said, “Do your best to survive. Don’t think that having five-lined battle force will ensure your survival. Cruisers and Hunters die all the time at the warfront. Your defenses aren’t nearly strong enough to protect you from the attack of a powerful beast.”

“I know, Uncle.”

“Also, try your best to get some Honor Points if you can.”

“Honor Points? Those are useless to me, I’m a Lockbreaker.”

“I know that you’re a one star, Discerning Junior Lockbreaker, but while that title can save your life, honor is power. I can’t explain too much right now but try to get as many Honor Points as you can. But, as always, don’t overdo it. If the opportunity arises, don’t hesitate to take the points.” Uncle Reuben sounded solemn.

Lu Yin nodded. “Got it.”

Uncle Reuben then hung up without saying another word.

Lu Yin put his gadget down. Many of the questions that he’d been pondering over had finally been answered. However, this call had dredged up some bad memories as well. He shook his head and left, following the Explorer realm soldier back to the space station.

It had taken the warship just fifteen days to travel from the Frostwave Weave’s Astral-10 to the warfront of the Innerverse’s Erudite Flowzone. The speed at which they had crossed this vast distance with the expedited military route was astonishing. It also made it obvious how vitally important the Human Domain treated the ongoing battle at the warfront for them to have created this expedited route for the soldiers.

After crossing the Erudite Flowzone’s Tributary Astral River, Lu Yin saw a spectacular sight from the warship. There was a whole line of planets right beside the Tributary Astral River. This was the Human Domain border, and with so many warships in the area, it was enough to send a chill running down anyone’s back.

A single warship had enough power to kill an Explorer, and there were so many of them here.

The entire region’s space had been sealed off, and there were defensive formations everywhere, all centered around the planets. At times, startling beast howls could be heard off in the distance, resounding throughout outer space.

“The commander of our Erudite Flowzone Allied Troops is Shui Chuanxiao. The strongest astral beast that’s fighting against us is called Emperor Blazewhiz.” The pilot had walked up to Lu Yin’s side at some point and started speaking.

“Emperor Blazewhiz?” Lu Yin was confused.

“It’s an ultra astral beast that controls three different flames: black, white, and red. It’s also one of the seven strongest beings in the Beast Domain’s Desolate Beast Alliance. It has a terrifying power level that’s over 200,000,” the pilot explained.

Lu Yin was surprised. A power level over 200,000? That meant that it was much more powerful than a Hunter. In the human region, reaching that level meant being an Enlighter, every one of which was considered all-powerful. It was a surprise to hear that such a terrifying being was on the other side of the battlefield.

“Did you just say the Desolate Beast Alliance?” Silver asked curiously as he walked up.

The pilot glanced at him and said, “The Desolate Beast Alliance is an organization made up of the seven strongest astral beasts. It’s meant to deal with us humans and is the Beast’s version of the Blaze Realm and Sword Sect. Don’t underestimate them; their intelligence isn’t any worse than ours. In order to invade the Human Domain, they’ve been constantly probing us for weaknesses. They even habitually use star energy to forcibly alter the structure of their bodies to gain a human form. Sometimes, they even imitate humans and set up their own academies to discuss ways to fight humans. They are always evolving.”

It was not difficult to use star energy to forcibly alter one’s body structure, but the pain that one had to endure to do so was intense. If these beasts were actually willing to endure such agony, then the threat that the Human Domain was facing was even worse than what the two students had imagined.

With a loud boom, the warship landed on the barren ground. A huge field had been marked out, and the edges of the field rippled, showing that the space had been sealed off. Not too far away, there was a metallic base with glinting light reflecting off of it.

“We’re here. This is one of Planet Conan’s bases. The boss ordered me to send you two here,” the pilot told Lu Yin and Silver.

Lu Yin was filled with gratitude. “Thank you so much for all your help, sir.”

The pilot smiled and patted Lu Yin on the shoulder. “Remember, you need to be careful if you want to survive here.”

Lu Yin grunted in acknowledgement and slowly exited the warship.

Not long after, it rose and flew away.

Lu Yin looked at his surroundings, but there was only brown earth everywhere and a violent gale blowing through it. There was no greenery to be seen anywhere, and the ground under their feet was incredibly desiccated. As the wind whipped up around them, a layer of fine sand blew away and revealed the dark red soil hidden underneath. It was the color of dry blood. This was the battlefield.

There were quite a few troops patrolling the area. The occasional aircraft came and went from the sky; a bit further away from them, another warship landed. It looked like it had come to deliver some supplies.

Lu Yin and Silver were taken to the bottom of a cliff. There were already people there waiting to receive them, and among them was a veteran who was training new troops.

“Astral-10’s Lu Yin reporting for duty.”

“Astral-10’s Silver reporting for duty.”

Everyone looked at the two of them in awe. They weren’t surprised to see the two students since the Astral Combat Tournament had been broadcast across the universe. Countless people now knew these two.

The veteran nodded. The only expression on his aged face was one of calm. “My name is Gildor, and I’m one of the centurions at this base. From now on, I’ll be your instructor. I won’t be teaching you how to fight, but rather how to survive on the battlefield.”

“Yes, sir,” Lu Yin answered seriously.

“Yes, sir,” Silver answered as well, though there was still a smile on his face.

Gildor nodded. “Go to the barracks over there and change into the clothes on your bunks. You’ve got one minute. All miscellaneous items should immediately be stored in your cosmic ring.”

Lu Yin and Silver immediately entered the barracks and changed into their uniforms.

Gildor looked towards the barracks with a surprised expression. He had assumed that these two would be problematic since they were talented geniuses from the Astral Combat Academy, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

When new soldiers first arrived at the barracks, Gildor did not teach any battle techniques, just as he’d said before. All he did was ask them to stand up, instruct them on various methods to adapt to various scenarios at the battlefield, and introduce them to different kinds of astral beasts.