Chapter 168: Lu Yin’s Backing   Even though the Umbral Butterfly Weave was a relatively smaller weave, its younger generation’s abilities were, overall, greater than the Great Yu Empire’s.

This was not something surprising. After all, the Great Yu Empire only controlled a third of the Frostwave Weave. However, if the peak powerhouses of the younger generation were to be compared, then the Umbral Butterfly Weave was definitely lagging behind. A single Wendy Yushan was more than enough to dominate the entire Umbral Butterfly Weave. Lu Yin refused to believe that the Umbral Butterfly Weave had anyone who could contest a monster like Wendy Yushan; there were very few who could compare to her in the entire Outerverse.

“The further we encroach upon the giant tribes’ territory, the more Limiteer giants will appear. It seems that the Giant Emperor isn’t far away,” Lu Yin muttered to himself when he saw four Limiteer realm giant corpses on the path ahead.

Ah Mu was shocked by this sight. “The cultivators who’ve come this far are really terrifying. They are powerful enough to kill four Limiteer giants.”

Lu Yin shook his head. “It is not that impressive. Even though the giants have the strength and star energy of a Limiteer, they can’t properly use it. Power level is nothing more than a numerical reading; these giants aren’t even as strong as a regular Melder realm student from the Astral Combat Academy.”

Ah Mu was stunned speechless. Isn’t it a bit too unfair to compare the primitive giants to the students of the Astral Combat Academy!?

After barely travelling past the tribe, Lu Yin’s expression suddenly changed. The ground started to rumble, and he quickly took to the sky to see what was happening. What he saw made his face turn pale. “Quick! Fly up! An ant colony is approaching.”

Ah Mu was astonished. An ant colony?

“Come into this tree now!” Lu Yin barked.

Ah Mu looked into the distance, and in stark contrast to when he had seen the giants earlier, he felt no fear at the thought of the impending ant colony. Lu Yin assumed that the young man had simply been frozen by fear, and he reached out to grab Ah Mu and drag him into the sky.

“It’s fine, the ant colony won’t harm me,” Ah Mu calmly replied.

Lu Yin stared at Ah Mu like he was an idiot. “They won’t hurt you? Are you a queen ant or something?”

Ah Mu laughed as he responded, “It’s my innate gift. Ant colonies and other similar creatures won’t harm me.”

By then, the rumbling sensation coming from the ground had become deafening. In the distance, a huge tree fell over as the ant colony covered the barren earth. After all, this was a planet where everything was gigantified, causing the ants to be even bigger than humans. The majestic colony of ants turned the entire horizon black, sending chills crawling down Lu Yin’s spine. He immediately flew into the skies as he could no longer afford to care about Ah Mu; the Umbral Butterfly Tribe male could die if he wished. Though, a part of Lu Yin was also secretly eager to witness Ah Mu’s proclaimed innate gift. There were countless innate gifts that had all sorts of fantastical abilities; there was no shortage of strange ones.

When the ant colony arrived, they surged into the forest like a sea of black waves. Lu Yin watched Ah Mu closely; the normally craven man had a completely calm demeanor.

When the ant colony reached Ah Mu, Lu Yin was shocked to see the colony suddenly stop in front of him. They truly did not harm Ah Mu.

The huge ant colony was something that even Lu Yin would find difficult to confront. Even though each ant was individually no stronger than a Sentinel, there were just too many of them. Sometimes, an overwhelming numerical advantage could fundamentally change the army’s strength, though creatures like ants did not normally challenge humans.

“Seventh Bro , the ant colony told me that the Giant Emperor has run away. He isn’t in the central region anymore,” Ah Mu shouted from down below. “Seventh Bro” was the name that Lu Yin had given Ah Mu; he liked to be called Seventh Bro.

Lu Yin was astonished and he flew down until he was about a hundred meters above the ant colony. He looked at Ah Mu with an expression of disbelief. “What did you say? The Giant Emperor escaped?”

Ah Mu reiterated, “The ant colony said that the Giant Emperor escaped a few days ago.”

But Lu Yin was unconvinced. “How would the ant colony know? Besides, how can you understand ants?”

“I can understand them because it’s part of my innate gift. The Giant Emperor possesses something that is of great importance to the ant colony. More importantly, the ant colony has senses that that object is now in the northwest. Thus, the emperor has definitely escaped,” Ah Mu confidently explained.

Lu Yin was at a loss at this development. Ah Mu wouldn’t make all this up just because he’s afraid to go to the central region, right?

Ah Mu knew that Lu Yin was skeptical of this news, so he said, “Seventh Bro , I am telling the truth. Even if we headed to the central region now, it would be pointless. The Giant Emperor is really not there.”

Lu Yin made a decision. “Alright, I’ll trust you this once. But if I discover that you’re lying to me, I will throw you straight into a giant tribe”

Ah Mu was frightened by the threat, and he hurriedly replied, “I am telling the truth! I didn’t lie.”

Ah Mu’s ability to communicate with the ants truly surprised Lu Yin. What shocked him even more was that Ah Mu had managed to convince the ants to bring them there. They no longer had to run along the ground; now, they were able to ride the ants directly to the Giant Emperor.

Lu Yin reevaluated Ah Mu; he was actually a rare talent!

Back at the entrance of Astral-10’s trial zone, Darkvoid walked past the Trialmaster and into the realm mountain. He had accumulated a hundred victories, and had thereby accomplished the first task that Shamrock Enterprises had given him.

After sitting down on the realm mountain, Darkvoid chose the Dao of Heaven of the Six Daos without any hesitation. He had been instructed to make this selection by the Shamrock Enterprises as one of the Area Masters within the Dao of Heaven was one of their members.

After Darkvoid’s hundred victories, the next to meet that criterion was Hui Daynight. Those from the Daynight clan could be considered absolute talents no matter where they were. With the combination of their natural talents and the Daynight clan’s battle techniques, they were virtually undefeatable. And yet in Astral-10, Hui Daynight was considered average at best. This placement would be unthinkable in any other Combat Academy, and the humiliation that Hui Daynight felt due to this placement was not something that others could understand.

Of the Six Daos, Hui Daynight chose to enter the Dao of Slaughter. One of his clan members was an Area Master there, and he intended to surpass the other Astral-10 students to become the strongest. The Daynight clan’s members did not fall behind anyone.

There were already six people who had entered the trial zone after Lu Yin left. Except for Lu Yin, everyone who entered the Nine Trial Zones had the backing of an Area Master. Needless to say, having proper backing was very important.

Everything within the Dao of Slaughter was tinged bloody red, and it was blanketed in an oppressive vibe. After Hui Daynight entered the realm, his distinctive black and white hair made everyone steer clear of him. While he was looking for the training ground of his fellow clan member, Tiankong Daynight, he heard a bit of news that made him unhappy; Area Master Charon from the Dao of Purgatory’s Whitebones Gorge had declared that Lu Yin was hereby under his protection.

Lu Yin was the leader of Astral-10, and he was much stronger than Hui Daynight, but he had no backing. He was a target of much scorn within the trial zones, which was also the main reason why Hui Daynight was confident that he would be able to surpass Lu Yin. Aside from his displeasure at hearing the news, Hui Daynight was even more puzzled as to why Charon would send out word that Lu Yin was under his protection.

Hui Daynight quickly found another student in the Dao of Slaughter and demandingly asked, “Tell me. Why does Charon want to protect Lu Yin?”

The student who was stopped saw Hui Daynight’s hair, and a glint of fear flashed through his eyes. “I am not sure. Someone said that Charon is Lu Yin’s elder brother.”

Hui Daynight approached another person and asked the same question, to which the person replied, “I heard that Lu Yin and Charon have been good friends since childhood. Because of their friendship, Charon sent out word that anyone who harms Lu Yin will face his wrath.”

“Rumor has it that Lu Yin is a disciple of a superior race in the Innerverse and that Charon is his guardian.”

“Lu Yin? Who? The one who took advantage of Xi Yue? That bastard, I’ll kill him for daring to take advantage of Xi Yue! What? Charon said that he is under his protection? Oh, there must be some misunderstanding. Lu Yin is an upright man, and he would never take advantage of Xi Yue.”

“Lu Yin? He is the son of Kiel Rolf, the chairman of the Lockbreaker Society. Of course Charon is protecting him.”

…

Hui Daynight felt his head throb from all the rumors. He heard so many different answers, but not a single one was reliable. However, there was one thing that was certain; Lu Yin was no ordinary Outerverse citizen. Charon was a gifted Lockbreaker and Dao Bo was his backer. Could Dao Bo also be backing Lu Yin?

Hui Daynight’s expression turned more sour the more he thought about it. He felt that it would be very difficult to catch up to Lu Yin at this rate and that the man was not some simple character.

Lu Yin, who was currently seated on an ant’s back, was not aware that he was once again a hot topic due to Charon’s announcement. While the resurgence of his name also came with the old news of him taking advantage of Xi Yue, no one dared to touch Lu Yin now, as they feared Charon's retribution. No matter if it was for good or evil, Lu Yin wouldn’t be able to use his old methods of making money anymore.

The ants travelled very quickly, and their backs were so sturdy and comfortable that Lu Yin, who was seated upon one, was about to fall asleep.

After an unknown period of time, he opened his eyes and turned his head around to look behind him. To his surprise, he saw a woman seated on the back of another ant. She had white and black hair that flowed behind her figure, making for a striking image. There was no telling when she had started following them.

Lu Yin’s pupils contracted in shock; this woman was the same woman who he had seen in space who, the Daynight clan member who had killed an entire spacecraft of interstellar pirates. What was she doing on this planet?

Furthermore, the woman gave off no aura of any kind. If not for Lu Yin’s intuition, he would not have sensed this woman’s presence.

“Ah Mu, when did this woman start to follow us?” Lu Yin said with a low growl.

Ah Mu was puzzled. “What woman?”

Lu Yin was speechless; Ah Mu couldn’t sense her even though she was this close to them.

Ah Mu turned around to look and was shocked. “Se-Seventh Bro, there is a lady from the Day-Daynight clan right over there.”

“I know,” Lu Yin said quietly before turning to look at the woman again.

The woman looked up and met Lu Yin’s eyes. This time, Lu Yin did not see the depressed and remorseful eyes he had seen in the past; instead he saw a calm and indifference set of eyes.

Ah Mu was badly shaken. The Daynight clan was renowned throughout the entire universe, and they were a powerful clan from the Innerverse. The appearance of any one of their clan members was enough to cause wide scale panic, and he had never imagined that, one day, such a person would sneak up behind him while he slept. The long sword with the red handle frightened him so badly that he almost wet himself.

“Seventh Bro, what should we do? This woman is here to kill us! Let’s escape!” Ah Mu said fearfully.

Lu Yin’s brows unconsciously knit together. “Ask your ant how she came to be here.”

Ah Mu whimpered in acknowledgment and lowered his head to communicate with the ant.

Very soon, Ah Mu raised his head, stole a scared glance behind him, and then softly said, “Seventh Bro, the ant doesn’t know either.”

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed and his expression turned serious. This woman had perfectly concealed her aura, and her concealment even extended to her power level. She was so stealthy that even the ant below her had not realized that she had gotten on top of it. What a terrifying skill to possess!

Lu Yin was suddenly reminded of a similar experience when he had been cultivating back on Earth. Zhang Dingtian had once been attacked by Silver and almost died. Back then, they had been under the impression that Zhang Dingtian could not sense Silver because Silver had concealed his power level. But in reality, that was not the truth of the matter. Zhang Dintian possessed the keen intuition of a powerful warrior, but he still had not been able to sense Silver’s presence. He had only managed to narrowly escape due to his quick reflexes. Silver had concealed not only his power level at that time, but also his entire being. Just like what this woman was doing right now.

Lu Yin turned around to stare at the woman. “Who are you? Why are you following us?”

The lady from the Daynight clan didn’t respond, maintaining her indifferent expression as she sat on the ant without moving.

Lu Yin raised his brows and said, “You’re from the Daynight clan. I know Hui Daynight.”

The woman still didn’t respond. She apathetically continued to stare straight ahead, not caring about Lu Yin or anything else around her.

Lu Yin turned back around. Even though she was ignoring him, he had still ascertained one important thing. Despite her advanced concealment skills, this woman was unable to see through Lu Yin’s abilities. Her apathetic response had just confirmed this for Lu Yin.

Lu Yin was confident that only a few Melders were capable of defeating him. He was among the top Melders in the entire universe and not someone to overlook. The woman’s indifferent attitude proved that she could not determine Lu Yin’s true strength. This suited him just fine since Lu Yin did not want to reveal his strength anyway.

The ant colony continued on their way northwest.