“Please take me to Zenyu Star, Bronsen. I’d like to meet those extended relatives,” Lu Yin coldly said.

Bronsen was rather worried. “Those relatives have support from various outsiders, and there are Explorers and even Cruisers backing them. You don’t have much in comparison, and you’ll definitely lose if you go alone. Even now, they’re preparing to eliminate you!”

Lu Yin chuckled. “It’s fine. They have the support of other organizations, but I have the most support of them all. Let’s go.”

Bronsen could only nod in response.

Before Lu Yin arrived at this space station, Peach had already told him that there were four captains of the Thirteen Imperial Squadrons on Zenyu star: the Fifth Squadron’s captain, Huo Qingshan, the Ninth Squadron’s captain, Rocky Auna, the Twelfth Squadron’s captain, Ban Jiu, and the Thirteenth Squadron’s captain, Liuying Zishan.

These four did not support any of the extended relatives, but Lu Yin did not know if they would support him. The only thing that he could do was give it a shot. Even if they didn’t support him, the organizations behind these relatives still wouldn’t dare to attack him.

Even if these relatives didn’t understand the full scope of the situation, the connections that they had surely knew what the Lockbreaker Society, the Council of the Astral Academy, and the Outerverse Youth Council were. This was the main reason for Lu Yin’s fearlessness. Any one of those backers was enough to ensure his safety here, and he had all three. There was only so much that a single person could do on their own, but his connections were certainly powerful enough to support what he wanted to do right now.

Initially, Lu Yin only wanted Bronsen to take him to those relatives, after which he would take them out one by one. However, he did not do that. Instead, he had Bronsen take him directly to the imperial palace.

“The palace has been sealed ever since His Majesty died. Besides Princess Wendy, nobody else is allowed inside,” Bronsen told Lu Yin.

Lu Yin approached the palace, but when he arrived at the entrance, he was stopped. The person guarding the palace was Ban Jiu, the captain of the Twelfth Squadron.

When the second prince had turned traitor, Ban Jiu and his vice-captain, Shalosh, had left along with the prince. That meant that he was a traitor to the Great Yu Empire, but Undying Yushan had never deemed him as such. Thus, he was still technically the captain of the Twelfth Squadron.

Many could not understand the rationale behind this move, but Lu Yin knew that Duke Yushan had not turned traitor because he wanted to. Undying Yushan had forced his son to do so in order to shield his son from the oncoming calamity, and thus leaving the Great Yu Empire with a bit of hope.

Rather than saying that Ban Jiu, Batson, Shalosh, and Felut had supported the second prince’s decision to betray the empire, it was actually more accurate to say that they had been sent by Undying Yushan to protect Duke Yushan.

However, now that Undying Yushan was dead, Ban Jiu had returned and was now guarding the palace of his own volition. The other traitor captain, Shaolsh, had stayed at the frontlines of the empire’s war against the Ross Empire. The Thirteen Squadrons had never betrayed Undying Yushan.

“Stop right there. The palace is an important place that nobody is allowed to enter.” At the entrance, the vice-captain of the Twelfth Squadron, Shalosh stopped Lu Yin even though he had a complex look in his eyes. He obviously recognized Lu Yin since he had met him all the way back at the trials on Earth. However, even as King Zishan, Lu Yin was not allowed to step inside the imperial palace. After all, Undying Yushan had never officially announced that King Zishan had the right to inherit the throne.

Lu Yin paid Shalosh no mind, looked up at the huge palace, and then stared introspectively at the Zishan Residence off in the distance that was second in size only to the palace. He sighed. Things had changed, but Undying Yushan had still died.

For Lu Yin, Undying Yushan had been a benevolent old man who had protected, taught, and supported him. He had no idea how others viewed Undying Yushan, but he didn’t care. All he knew was that he did not want everything that Undying Yushan had spent his entire life building up to be destroyed in the blink of an eye.

After his thoughts reached this point, Lu Yin took out a ring from his cosmic ring; it was the ring of authority that Undying Yushan had given him. With this, he had the right to command the Great Yu Empire’s troops. It was a ruling symbol of the Great Yu Empire.

The moment he saw the ring, Shalosh’s eyes changed, and he bowed. Bronsen jolted and quickly followed suit. Right after that, the palace guards and even the captain of the Twelfth Squadron, Ban Jiu, came out and bowed to Lu Yin.

“May I enter now?” Lu Yin softly asked.

“Please enter, King Zishan,” Ban Jiu crisply responded. His voice was cold, and he wore a white garment. If this were Lu Yin’s first time meeting this person, he would have never thought that this captain was a Cruiser.

Among the various captains of the Thirteen Squadrons, Huo Qingshan and the Blind Monk represented strength while Ban Jiu represented technology and wisdom. He had provided the Great Yu Empire with advanced technology that had made it possible for them to contest the various organizations in the Innerverse. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for the empire to stop the Ross Empire’s attack just based on their respective power levels.

When Undying Yushan had assigned Ban Jiu to Duke Yushan, it was apparent that he had been in total despair and believed that he could not protect his empire.

“Announce to the public that the ring of authority is in my hands, Bronsen. If anyone wants it, then they can come and try to take it from me,” Lu Yin declared before stepping into the palace.

Bronsen was shocked and wanted to say something, but instead, he merely watched Lu Yin’s figure disappear into the distance. He then bowed and left.

Ban Jiu eyed Lu Yin’s back with sparkling eyes.

“It seems like something huge is going to happen soon. Should we stop the extended relatives if they come here?” Shalosh asked.

Ban Jiu glanced at his subordinate. “Focus on your own work. This isn’t your business.”

Shalosh grunted in acknowledgment, but his eyes were shining with anticipation.

From the outside, the imperial palace seemed the same as ever. It was solemn, dignified, and filled with bits of storied history. However, as soon as one entered it, one would only see the broken spears left behind, the crumbling walls, and the traces of old battles. This was just where the battle had been fought. The real battle to the death had not taken place inside the palace, or else the stray shockwaves from a battle involving a Hunter would have destroyed the entire palace, or even the entirety of Zenyu Star.

Even so, through the deep fissures in the ground, Lu Yin could tell how dangerous the situation had become over the course of the battle.

He slowly crouched down and closed his eyes as he activated his Cosmic Art. His domain then spread down through the cracks in the ground like dripping mercury. With the Giant Emperor’s third eye in hand, he eventually found a familiar aura; it was Undying Yushan’s. Even after so much time had passed, his aura still managed to shock Lu Yin to the point where he could not stop himself from trembling.

He continued groping at the cracks on the ground until, all of a sudden, an extremely dark and chilling force rushed at him. Lu Yin’s eyes snapped open, and he released a punch, causing star energy to explode in all directions and distort the air. He then took a step backwards while panting hard. This chilling force had come from the enemy who had killed Undying Yushan. The force was very cold and extremely bloodthirsty. Lu Yin had a feeling that no living being could survive such a thing.

It reminded him of the Neohuman Alliance because there was someone in that organization who gave him a similar feeling: Silver. While Silver’s abilities weren’t as dark as this, this energy was eerily similar to Silver’s domain, which had been created specifically for killing.

As he expected, the person who had killed Undying Yushan was not a powerhouse from the Ross Empire. Lu Yin was certain of that.

His gaze swept across the ground. All of these cracks must have come from that singular attack in just an instant. He stepped past them and continued on towards the main hall.

There were no guards inside the palace; they had only been stationed outside. The palace was completely silent inside.

The moment Lu Yin arrived at the hall, news of him possessing the ring of authority and entering the palace spread out, shocking Zenyu Star.

Above the sea, the Explorers continued fighting. In the distance, two young men nonchalantly spoke to each other. “He’s just some random guy who’s not related to the emperor at all, but he’s still vying for the throne. Let’s temporarily set our grudges aside and deal with that King Zishan or whatever first.”

Kelai looked glum. “Fine, but that ring is mine, Andong.”

“Pfft. It’s mine.”

“What did you say!”

…

The two Explorers who were locked in battle exchanged looks of shock. Kelai and Andong might be unaware of some things, but the two Explorers were well aware that King Zishan had shocked the universe during the Astral Combat Tournament; he had an unimaginable status now. Apparently he had even entered the Council of Astral Academy and was now directly subordinate to the Ten Arbiters Council. That meant he was definitely someone powerful. The organizations that had sent them here were afraid of no one except for two people - Wendy Yushan and King Zishan, Lu Yin. Now, the latter had returned.

“Young Master Andong, King Zishan is not to be underestimated. It’s best if you treat him kindly and ask for his support and have him peacefully give you the ring of authority,” one of the Explorers advised Andong.

Andong was surprised by this response. Before the Great Yu Empire had ended up in its current tragic state, he had only been able to become a disciple through his connections. He knew nothing about who was in power and hadn’t even watched the Astral Combat Tournament. This was also why he had been chosen to become the emperor—it would be easy to control him. However, there were problems with that as well. He had no idea who Lu Yin was, and he would be even more brazen than before after his recent activities.

“What, are you saying that King Zishan is very powerful?” Andong nonchalantly asked.

The Explorer had a grim expression. He had no idea how to go about persuading this moron. Sometimes, he hoped that this moron would stay this stupid, but his stupidity became a problem in situations like the current one; the fool always overestimated himself.

Meanwhile, Kelai was suffering from the exact same problem. As the person who had the highest chance of succeeding the throne, there was no way he would treat someone outside the Yushan family with any courtesy. Still, he promised to be polite, just like how he had acted when trying to gather support from the empire’s various ministers.

“Don’t worry. I’ll give him the treatment he deserves. As long as he doesn’t betray me, he’ll continue being King Zishan. Of course, that’s only if he knows his place,” Kelai arrogantly declared.

In another part of Zenyu Star, Luke had an ashen expression. “Long Chu’s dead? King Zishan killed him?”

A powerhouse behind him answered, “Yes, Young Master Luke.”

“Hmph, how dare he touch my men! Does he think that he’ll still be able to complete his arranged marriage with the Auna family just because Undying Yushan used to protect him? Dream on!” Luke was enraged.

“It’s best if you treat King Zishan with courtesy. He holds the ring of authority, and there’s quite a few people backing him. If he supports you, then there’s a very high chance that you’ll successfully ascend to the throne,” the powerhouse whispered.

Luke took a few deep breaths and somehow managed to calm himself down. “I got it. Don’t worry, I’ll win over his support with my sincerity.”

“Good, but I still need to remind you that while he’s King Zishan in the Great Yu Empire, he also has other identities that are far more important than that. For instance, he’s a member of the Council of Astral Academy as well as a Lockbreaker.”

Luke was startled. “He’s a Lockbreaker?!”

“Yes. Before he returned to the Frostwave Weave, we investigated him and just recently discovered that he’s a two star Bright Eyed Junior Lockbreaker. His status is not to be underestimated. He has also earned contributions at the border warfront and has even acquired Honor Points. He also recently joined the Outerverse Youth Council after placing first in the Outerverse trials. He wields a great deal of influence,” the Explorer explained. The more he spoke, the more shocked he himself became. Were these really achievements that a young Limiteer from a fringe Weave could accomplish? Lu Yin had achieved so much that it was unbelievable!