Lu Yin became annoyed. “I’ve answered all your questions, but you have barely answered any of mine. You’re too rude.”

White Knight arrogantly replied. “Did you? ‘Coincidence.’ That was your answer to my question. What’s the difference between saying that and saying nothing at all?”

Lu Yin rolled his eyes. “Women should be cuter.”

A rock smashed into the mountain wall with a bang. Lu Yin got angry and glared at White Knight. “Woman, do you really think that I won’t dare to attack you!? What do you want?”

White Knight coldly answered, “Forget about today’s incident, and forget everything about me. Also, I must have told you not to call me that.”

Lu Yin snorted. “I’ll be smashed to death if i stay with you. See you later—no, goodbye forever!” He then turned around to leave.

“You can’t leave.”

“Why?”

“It’s an order.”

Lu Yin grew so angry that he burst out with laughter. “I’ve already said that nobody can order me about!”

“Anyone who belongs to the Council of the Ten Arbiters, whether they be a member of the Council of Astral Academy or the Outerverse Youth Council, must listen to my orders. You are included among those people,” White Knight coldly reminded him.

Lu Yin’s face twitched. Why does this sound so familiar? She must have said it before!

In the end, Lu Yin didn’t manage to escape.

According to White Knight, if a Realmling appeared, Lu Yin would be a good shield and could help her fight for a longer period of time.

Lu Yin wanted to retaliate, but he didn’t dare to do so as White Knight’s castle could defeat him in less than an instant. Even if he used both the Yu Secret Art and the Dream Finger, at best, he would be able to attack her once. He also didn’t want to use his full strength since they weren’t enemies and could actually be considered comrades; in the end, he didn’t try to provoke her anymore.

The crevice between the mountains where the two of them were hiding was quite well hidden, and Lu Yin was planning on staying in this place until his futon dimmed. He was also determined to never interact with this woman ever again since she was so unreasonable.

***

In Shenwu Continent, Ming Zhaoshu had been struggling ever since he had replaced Ming Zhaotian as emperor. He had to take care of political affairs all day long, each and every day, and he also had to find ways to groom his supporters to take over important positions. Finally, he also had to deal with Ming Zhaotian’s supporters. Furthermore, riots kept breaking out in various regions. The citizens of the Shenwu Empire had always had a bad impression of the outsiders, and forcing them to cooperate with the outsiders had caused Shenwu Continent to descend into chaos.

Ming Zhaoshu had expected this situation to occur, and thus, he had a very simple solution: the empire would completely integrate with the outside universe, and that would resolve the current situation.

During this period of chaos, there had already been 126 assassination attempts on Ming Zhaoshu’s life. Although these people had only been wasting their lives, the large amount of attempts showed that there were still many who wanted their new emperor dead. Over the past few days, various soldiers claiming to support the former crown prince, Ming Hao, had popped up in various areas. However, Ming Hao was already dead, which meant that these people were clearly just taking advantage of his name to attract supporters. Despite reality, only a few people were aware of the truth and that Ming Hao was dead. Thus, a large number of people rushed to join the soldiers.

The army of the Shenwu Empire was kept busy with having to constantly suppress the riots.

The Reverent King's Residence had been rebuilt and had become the new core of the Shenwu Empire as the imperial palace was still undergoing repairs.

Within the study of the Reverent King's Residence, Ming Zhaoshu set down the document that he had been reading and massaged his temples. There was a stack of documents on the table detailing the rebel armies’ movements and activities in the various regions of the empire. There were also some faraway islands that hadn’t recognized his rule and were also attempting to secede from the empire.

Ming Zhaoshu desperately needed some external help to quell the empire’s internal conflicts. The best method would be for him to rely on the Great Eastern Alliance. Ming Yan was already prepared to leave for the Great Yu Empire at any given moment.

As long as he could ally with the Great Yu Empire, he would be able to bring some high technology products from the universe into the empire, which would help him effectively defuse the riots. He believed that the cultural shock these high technology products would introduce would actually be more effective than political violence.

Suddenly, Ming Zhaoshu spat out a mouthful of blood that covered his table as well as the floor. Something had come over him very suddenly, and he didn’t know what was going on.

What’s happening? Ming Zhaoshu clutched at his chest. Nothing seemed to be wrong with his body, and he hadn’t been injured either. There were also no signs that he had been poisoned, so why had he just vomited blood?

“Send for the royal physician,” Ming Zhaoshu ordered.

An elderly man soon entered the study. “Greetings, Your Majesty.”

“Check my pulse,” Ming Zhaoshu calmly ordered. The blood in the study had already been cleaned up, and there was nothing strange about the room except for the smell of blood that still lingered in the air.

The royal physician lifted his head up. His eyes narrowed as soon as he saw Ming Zhaoshu. “Your- your majesty, what happened?”

Ming Zhaoshu’s heart sank the moment he saw the royal physician’s expression of shock. He looked in the mirror, and instead of seeing the majestic and imposing Shenwu Emperor, he saw an old man with white hair and wrinkled skin. He could barely see himself in his own reflection.

Ming Zhaoshu was stunned. “What’s happening? What’s happening!”

The royal physician was trembling in fear, and he didn’t dare to move any closer to the emperor.

Ming Zhaoshu couldn’t believe his eyes. Why do I look like this? This is fake! It’s fake!

He shattered the mirror and took another one out, but he still saw the appearance of an old man staring back at him. He had turned into an old man within just a few minutes.

“Your majesty, let me take a look,” the royal physician requested fearfully.

Ming Zhaoshu sat down on a chair with clenched fists. He was still in disbelief at his condition.

The royal physician approached him slowly and placed his hand to check Ming Zhaoshu’s pulse. He frowned and muttered in confusion after a few moments. “Why would it be like this? This is strange, very strange.”

“What is happening?” Ming Zhaoshu asked.

“Your majesty, your body is fine, but your life energy is draining away extremely quickly. It’s as if something is stealing your life away,” the royal physician explained.

Ming Zhaoshu’s eyes narrowed. “So are you saying that I have been poisoned?”

The royal physician nodded. “That is most likely the case, yes, though I have never heard of a poison that is able to steal life energy while allowing the body to remain healthy. Why would such a poison exist?”

Ming Zhaoshu lowered his head to hide the madness in his eyes from the royal physician. “Is there a cure for this condition?”

The royal physician answered, “We can only use certain medicines that are able to replenish life energy in order to delay the depletion that you are currently suffering from. Your Majesty, please request the outsiders for help, as perhaps they have a means of curing this poison.”

Ming Zhaoshu nodded. “I understand. You may leave.”

The royal physician breathed a sigh of relief. “Then I will take my leave.”

He then walked towards the door.

Suddenly, a tremendous pressure descended and crushed the royal physician into a puddle of blood. Behind the remains of the man, Ming Zhaoshu’s gaze was frosty. He could not allow anyone to discover his current condition.

Depleting life energy… poison. Who poisoned me? It couldn’t be anyone from Shenwu Continent, as they wouldn’t have access to such a strong poison that can deplete the life energy of even a Martial Sovereign powerhouse. Shenwu Continent did not have any method to cure this poison, and Ming Zhaoshu suspected that the outside universe might not either.

At that moment, Tang Si’s voice was heard from outside the study. “Your Majesty, the princess wishes to see you.”

“Ask her to wait for me in the courtyard,” Ming Zhaoshu replied.

“Yes.”

Ming Zhaoshu looked at his aged appearance in the mirror with sad eyes. He had used his entire life to achieve his ultimate goal, but had he already reached the end of his life? No! He wouldn’t give up. The universe was huge, and there might be a way to cure him somewhere out there! He only had a small bit of understanding towards the outside universe, but there might be—no, there had to be a cure!

His expression grew crazed. He had finally reached the point where he could enjoy his achievements, and he didn’t want to die yet. He didn’t even have an heir.

Initially, he hadn’t had a son so as to avoid any gossip, and he had only had a daughter. His current plan was to have a son who could inherit the throne, and Ming Zhaoshu couldn’t die before that.

In a pavilion that lay within the courtyard of the Reverent King's Residence, Ming Yan was looking at the river with an anxious but excited expression.

The fish in the river kept leaping out of the water before falling back into river, causing droplets of water to splash into the pavilion.

“Do you want to leave this lake too?” Ming Yan muttered as she squatted down to watch the fish.

“Yan’er, what are you thinking?” Ming Zhaoshu asked as he arrived at the pavilion. He had altered his appearance with star energy so that he didn’t look old anymore.

Ming Yan was shocked and stood up quickly. Once she saw that the person who had spoken was Ming Zhaoshu, she shyly answered, “I’m- I’m looking at the fish.”

Ming Zhaoshu nodded and took a seat. “Have you prepared everything?”

Ming Yan knew what Ming Zhaoshu was referring to. She lowered her head and softly replied, “Yes.”

“Tell me the truth. Do you want to leave?” Ming Zhaoshu asked Ming Yan wistfully with a complicated expression.

Ming Yan didn’t notice Ming Zhaoshu’s strange tone, and she hesitated for a moment before speaking. “I want to go out from this place and take a look.”

“Do you want to take a look at the universe or take a look at Lu Yin?” Ming Zhaoshu asked.

Ming Yan blushed as she thought that Ming Zhaoshu was merely teasing her. She lowered her head and demurely answered, “Father, don’t say that. I just, I just….”

Ming Zhaoshu sighed when he saw how flustered his comment had made Ming Yan. “I’m sorry, but you can’t leave for now.”

Ming Yan raised her head in surprise. “Why not, father?”

Ming Zhaoshu fell silent. He couldn’t tell Ming Yan that his life might end soon. Although he hoped that there was a cure for the poison in the greater universe, he knew that the chances of that were quite slim. Once he died, the Shenwu Empire would be passed over to Ming Yan. Hence, Ming Yan couldn’t be allowed to leave until he could confirm that there was a cure.

He needed to plan for the worst case scenario.

“I will explain to the Great Yu Empire. You will have to stay here for a while longer,” Ming Zhaoshu said as he stood up. He left the pavilion in a bad mood.

Ming Yan was confused by this turn of events. Her father had been the one who had arranged for her to leave for the Great Yu Empire, and his greatest wish was for her to be together with Lu Yin. Why would he suddenly change his plans?

“Right, starting tomorrow, you need to start learning how to deal with political affairs,” Ming Zhaoshu casually added as he continued to walk away from the pavilion.

Ming Yan became even more confused. “Deal with political affairs? But I have never done anything like that, and I don’t have any intentions of doing so either.”

Ming Zhaoshu frowned and told her, “Just come to my study in the morning.” He then left, leaving behind a completely perplexed Ming Yan.

***

Within the ruins of the Daosource Sect, White Knight rested for an entire day in the cleft between the mountains before opening her eyes again.

Lu Yin had done some calculations, and there were only two or three days left before he would be able to leave this place.

“Let’s go.” White Knight stood up and stretched her body, releasing various cracking noises. Although her wounds were still aching, they had mostly recovered, and her star energy was recovering as well.

Lu Yin asked, “Where are we headed?”

“To the place where I entered this place,” White Knight said coldly.

Lu Yin didn’t understand. “What do you mean, the place that you entered?”

“Just follow me.”

“Do you want to leave this place? The battles outside should still be raging on, and we’ll almost definitely bump into an Arbiter or a Realmling if we go out now. You can’t protect yourself against anyone as you are right now.”

“You’re here.”

“You overestimate me.”

“I meant that you can delay them long enough for me to escape,” White Knight said coldly.

Lu Yin was speechless. “You can just leave on your own. I don’t want to leave. I’m staying right here until my time is up.”

White Knight frowned and then glared at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin glared right back at her. He was definitely not going to leave this hidden place until he was able to return to their universe. The battles in the Daosource Sect were probably the most ferocious right now.