Lu Yin had assumed that these captains surpassed their Outerverse peers’ strength due to Undying Yushan’s guidance, but it seemed that these individuals themselves were not simple either.

Undying Yushan had possessed the Yu bloodline’s battle techniques, so why had he not taught them to Frostwave Weave’s cultivators, instead recruiting these people?

Lu Yin felt that something was off about this. There was clearly a problem, but he could not see where the issue lay at this moment.

He had assumed that Undying Yushan had been an unfortunate fallen genius, but after listening to Ku Wei’s words and Aden’s reminiscing, Lu Yin had realized that Undying Yushan had not been as simple as he had appeared to be.

However, he still had not found any evidence supporting the claim that Undying Yushan was still alive. Just Aden’s remarks and the sourcebox array found in the palace were not enough to prove that Undying Yushan was still alive. At most, it simply proved that the Yu bloodline still existed.

The Yu bloodline? Lu Yin muttered under his breath, as that was another annoying topic. The higher he climbed, the closer he approached certain secrets, but the bigger the issues he encountered as well. However, Lu Yin’s eyes remained bright as many of these problems were also interesting.

Bushtree Planet was not a large planet, and it was about the same size as Earth. However, Earth was blue while Bushtree Planet was pure green, and a very brilliant green at that. Its greenness was so dense that it even baffled some people.

There were people from the Outerverse Youth Council stationed around Bushtree Planet to monitor it. Although the Outerverse Youth Council had not declined in terms of numbers, it no longer wielded as much authority. Still, it was well positioned concerning its control of certain areas, and Bushtree Planet was one of them.

Lu Yin entered after announcing his identity.

With a thump, the spacecraft landed on the ground, creating a large crater.

Lu Yin stepped out, and the fresh feeling in the air made him feel rejuvenated, though the odor that came with it was not very pleasant. There were too many plants, and it resulted in the atmosphere smelling a bit astringent.

The soil was damp, as there were hidden streams of water flowing underground all across Bushtree Planet, and it caused the entire planet’s surface soil to be moist.

This planet had a much greater surface area than Earth since Earth was largely covered by oceans, whereas this planet was almost entirely covered in soil, and the soil was also completely covered by plants. There were even carnivorous plants and all sorts of strange plants. In fact, the entire ecosystem was naturally formed from nothing but plants.

After he arrived on the surface, Lu Yin looked through quite a few introductions to Bushtree Planet, and he squatted down to touch the ground. He pressed down against the ground with his palm, exerting enough force to cause it to shatter and the hidden water to splash into the sky.

The air was normal, the water was normal, and so was the soil. Everything was normal, but the plants on this planet were completely abnormal. He could disregard the ordinary details, but he had to pay attention to the fact that any natural treasure from this planet would immediately wilt after ten years.

He released his domain and instantly noticed quite a few natural treasures around him, of which he randomly selected one.

The greatest difference between natural treasures and normal plants was how they absorbed star energy. Normal plants could not absorb star energy and only natural treasures could. Of course, there also existed natural treasures that did not absorb star energy, but any plant that could would be considered a natural treasure, and all of them had unique aspects.

After half a day, Lu Yin exhaled, as he had found more than 100 different natural treasures around him. It was a pity that they had only lived for such a short time, as if they had managed to live for at least 10,000 years, they would be much better. At that point, they would be much more beneficial to cultivators who were in the Explorer realm.

But if that were the case, then this planet would have long since been picked clean.

With a whoosh, the ground shattered, and a strange attack shot towards Lu Yin from below. Lu Yin casually waved a hand, and the underground plant was smashed to bits as it exploded and released a green liquid that then seeped out.

This planet was filled with many plants that would attack, and this was also one of the reasons why it had become a planet that hosted youth trials.

“Seventh Bro, this planet is useless to you, as all of these natural treasures are less than ten years old, which are no different than weeds to you. Even if you take them to another planet where they can grow endlessly, your life won’t be long enough for you to enjoy them,” the Ghost Monkey commented.

“Tell me—these natural treasures can’t live any longer than ten years, but what about their efficacy? If there was a way to accelerate their life, would they still wilt?” Lu Yin asked.

The monkey replied, “Probably not, this Monkey just saw a few natural treasures that were more potent than they should be after only living for ten years, so they seem to be fine so long as their age doesn’t exceed ten years.”

Lu Yin thought that this to be the case as well, but thinking it was one thing. He still had to experiment and verify his thoughts.

As he thought about it, he quickly screened the monkey off and brought out his die. It had been almost a month since he had last rolled it on Shenwu Continent, so he could roll it again.

He was afraid of rolling six pips: Possession, so he placed his cosmic ring aside and tapped the die. It slowly stopped spinning, immediately landing on three pips: Enhance. His luck was amazing this time.

Lu Yin was quite emotional, as he felt like his streak of bad luck was about to end.

Two light screens appeared, which was a familiar scene to him. Lu Yin plucked a random natural treasure, threw it on the top screen, and then tossed a star essence onto it as well. But then, he stopped suddenly. His expression changed, and he stared blankly at the screen, as he felt like he had been mistaken about something.

The natural treasures in the Daosource Sect's ruins had been able to release that much star energy because they had absorbed it for a sufficient number of years, allowing a boundless amount of star energy to appear once they were burned. However, what about these natural treasures? His die’s three pips: Enhance only upgraded their efficacy, as it required time for them to absorb star energy. Even if he upgraded these natural treasures to a level where they instinctively evaded danger, it would still be useless, as they would not have spent enough time to absorb a massive quantity of star energy. Even if they were burned, only their medicinal efficacy would be released, but almost no star energy.

Lu Yin felt helpless, as it really wasn’t easy to find a shortcut. Bushtree Planet could not be used as a tool for his cultivation hack.

The only consolation he had was that these natural treasures were just as he had guessed, and they were fine so long as they did not over-age. They would not wilt despite their efficacy surpassing what they should have after ten years’ worth of growth, and even if they could not help him rapidly upgrade his power, they could still be of use.

He looked around, and he saw quite a few other natural treasures, though he did not know any of their uses. The die’s Enhance screens were still there, and Lu Yin could not possibly stop screening the Ghost Monkey off. Thus, he had no choice but to look for a few of gentler-seeming natural treasures to upgrade.

That white fruit that he had upgraded in the past had been brimming with vitality and it had taken 100 star essence before reaching the level of avoiding danger, and the natural treasures that he had given to Ming Zhaoshu had similarly consumed 100 star essence each. The average natural treasure would probably require that amount to reach the level of avoiding danger.

Lu Yin upgraded twenty two natural treasures to the degree where they were all capable of instinctively avoiding danger and stored them in his cosmic ring before leaving Bushtree Planet.

He would return to this place again in the future, and he did not know how many years those twenty two natural treasures had already lived for. Some of them might already be close to reaching ten years, so they would need to be used soon.

***

In the darkness of outer space, the occasional meteorite streaked past, some striking planets and rising to high temperatures due to the friction as they entered the atmosphere. They would burn red, and some would even continue to fly out from a planet’s atmosphere and into the boundless universe to places unknown.

One large meteorite flew towards the Outerverse’s north at an exceptional speed, though nobody knew where it had come from or how it had started to move.

This meteorite was massive, even bigger than an ordinary planet. If it bumped into some planet at its current speed, the planet would most likely crumble.

Suddenly, the large meteorite split apart at the center, forming two halves. An astral beast released the clarion cry of an eagle as it appeared at one end of the meteorite. Its claws forcefully pushed the two halves of the meteorite apart with its star energy, and they then flew away in opposite directions.

This astral beast looked like an eagle, but it had two heads. Its eyes looked like they contained lightning, and it flew very fast; every time its wings flapped, it caused the void to fluctuate. This was an astral beast that had a power level above 100,000.

In the Outerverse, there were not many astral beasts that were this strong, especially within the eastern weaves. Such strength was enough for a beast to claim control of an entire area, but at this moment, this particular astral beast made for a sorry image. Large amounts of blood occasionally gushed out from its abdomen, and one of its wings was even bent. Some of its originally horrifying claws had been snapped apart, and terror flickered through its eyes like lightning. All the while, it rushed in a particular direction at its top speed.

“No, not there. That’s Frostwave Weave,” a man atop the beast said. He had a pale face, and half of his body was stained with blood. Evidently, he had been severely injured.

The beast chirped, as if asking where to go.

That man feebly lay down on the beast’s back. “East, fly east.”

The beast changed directions and flew towards the east.

After some time, the astral beast seemingly succumbed to its injuries. It collapsed with a moan and crashed towards a planet.

The people on the planet looked up to see an enormous creature crashing down, which incited mass hysteria.

The astral beast fell into an ocean on the planet, causing a tsunami that drowned the entire coastal area and killed many.

This planet had only just recently developed technology, and the natives had not ever encountered such a terrifying astral beast before. Fortunately, there were stronger civilizations monitoring the planet, and they quickly carried the injured bird as well as the person on its back away, leaving nothing on the planet aside from a legend.

***

In space, an Aurora was headed towards Zenyu Star with Lu Yin sitting inside as he silently recited the Stonewall Scriptures and contemplated the next step he should take.

He wanted to finish cultivating all ninety nine stars of the Cosmic Art that his master had given him, and lockbreaking sourceboxes seemed to be the fastest way to proceed in this.

Only by perfectly completing the Cosmic Art would he be able to speed up his star energy absorption rate.

Apart from that, there was also his battle force, domain, battle techniques, and more aspects that required attention and improvement. He had seemingly developed too many tools, and the Great Yu Empire was a massive responsibility as well.

It was no wonder why many cultivators frequently ignored the mundane daily routines and instead focused solely on cultivation.

However, due to Lu Yin’s innate gift, the more resources he possessed, the faster his rate of improvement would be, which was something that he could not help.

When he returned home this time, he would find a way to make as much money as possible, and he had to frequently try to use his die’s six pips: Possession. The Skybeast Claw had given him the sweet taste of success, and the next person he Possessed might be able to grant him even greater benefits. Right, it was not impossible that he would Possess one of the Cosmic Sect’s disciples. Given Lu Yin’s current strength, any disciple of the Cosmic Sect that he could merge with would definitely not be a low ranked disciple, and even if they were not a top disciple, he would be able to at least Possess one of their descendants.

Lu Yin still held that much self-confidence. So what if the Neoverse was even stronger? He was confident that, within the same realm, he was close to becoming unrivalled, just like back when he had still been a Limiteer.

Beep beep beep!

His gadget made a notification sound.

Lu Yin looked down, and he was surprised to see that Tianming was calling him.

Ever since Tianming had been planted as a puppet in Grandtop Weave’s Nine Stacks Sect, the two youths seldom contacted each other. If Tianming had something to report, he would go directly to Huan Sha or En Ya, and he generally did not contact Lu Yin.

He quickly answered the call.

“What’s the matter?” Lu Yin asked.

Tianming’s heavy voice sounded on the other end. “Your Highness, Anfield is in the Nine Stacks Sect, and he’s been severely injured.”

“Anfield?” Lu Yin felt like he had heard this name before.

“Anfield is a Hunter from the Innerverse’s Beast Tamers Flowzone’s Second Grade Hall, and he was one of the experts who was present during the events on Planet Pyrolyte in the Astral Wilderness. He also participated in the defense of Ironblood Weave,” Tianming reminded Lu Yin.