Star Odyssey

Chapter 1641: Three Cards

The news about the Sea King had been leaked on Madam Hong's orders. She had developed a good understanding of the Fifth Mainland's situation, and she had even specifically investigated various important people who were able to affect the entire Fifth Mainland. Lu Yin was one such person.

Of course, she had looked into the relationship between Lu Yin and the Sea King, and she had also studied the relationship between the Great Eastern Alliance and the Innerverse's eight great flowzones. Thus, she deliberately released the news that she had learned about the Sea King being in the Sword Sect just to force Lu Yin to make some trouble for the Sword Sect.

Now that it was public knowledge that the Sea King was in the Sword Sect, the people from the Sea King's Dome naturally would not allow such a thing to slide, and they would demand that the Sword Sect release him. As for Lu Yin, he had been set up to be the Sea King's son-in-law, and he also would not be able to sit by and watch.

Madam Hong had purposely not revealed the fact that Lu Yin had taken control of Chaosgod Mountain and had instead exposed a different matter, as she wanted to force Lu Yin to face off against the Sword Sect.

On top of that, there was an even more important matter that could only be started after Lu Yin and the Sword Sect started to confront each other.

In the Outerverse's Frostwave Weave, on Zenyu Star:

Lu Yin and Wang Wen were facing each other as they stood over a table that had three cards lying on it.

Wang Wen had just explained the current situation in Blazing Mist Flowzone to Lu Yin.

The current war in Blazing Mist Flowzone had been secretly triggered by Wei Rong. The Great Eastern Alliance had left Blazing Mist Flowzone after conquering the Blaze Realm, but this had also perfectly set up the situation for the Ross Empire and the sylvan dragon clan to start fighting. It had not been difficult to incite a war given the already present friction.

Even though the war in the Cosmic Sea had drawn the attention of the entire Fifth Mainland, the war in Blazing Mist Flowzone had never stopped.

"The Sword Sect and the Lingling clan are both supporting the sylvan dragons while Beast Tamers Flowzone and the Wen family are supporting the Ross Empire. With a few smaller flowzones also getting involved now, Blazing Mist Flowzone is very busy." Wang Wen opened a star chart and smiled as he spoke. He seemed to find the situation quite interesting.

Lu Yin asked, "Why is the Wen family supporting the Ross Empire?"

"That's quite simple. The Wen family's Erudite Flowzone borders Beast Tamers Flowzone, and the sylvan dragons would never work with Beast Tamers Flowzone, as a clan of beasts could never cooperate with them. If they did so, they would become nothing more than mounts. This means that the Wen family can only choose to support the Ross Empire."

"But I remember that the sylvan dragons have quite a good relationship with Beast Tamers Flowzone." Lu Yin felt rather puzzled.

"On the surface, maybe, but Beast Tamers Flowzone has always wanted to conquer the sylvan dragons and make the dragons their tamed beasts. The sylvan dragons aren't stupid, so how could they be willing to join Beast Tamers Flowzone? In the past, they betrayed the Astral Beast Domain just to avoid becoming mounts, and they are naturally wary of Beast Tamers Flowzone's battle techniques. It's impossible for the dragons to rely on them even if the alternative is death."

"What about the Sword Sect? Why are they helping the sylvan dragons?"

"Well, they also want the dragons as mounts, but the sylvan dragons are more willing to submit to the Sword Sect than Beast Tamers Flowzone. When we trashed Daynight Flowzone, the sylvan dragon clan tried to help the Daynight clan. It's not that the beasts can't be convinced to become mounts, but rather that they have to choose to do so themselves. Remember Long Yi? He actually wanted to become Nightking Zhenwu's mount, and the entire sylvan dragon clan wanted to become the Daynight clan's mounts. In the end, those dragons are still just beasts."

Lu Yin stared at the star chart. "This makes me very nervous."

Wang Wen nodded. "The Ross Empire is at war with the sylvan dragons, and there is an Envoy on each side. As for places like the Sword Sect, they can't send their powerhouses as long as they want to act surreptitiously. Everyone's trying to stay hidden while simultaneously pushing their own agenda. Things aren't bad for the various elite disciples per se, but the normal disciples keep getting killed as the war has ground their numbers down like a millstone. Now, whenever the regular Sword Sect disciples hear that they're going to be sent to Blazing Mist Flowzone, they do their best to get out of it."

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"Isn't this exactly what you wanted?" Lu Yin asked. Wang Wen had said from the very beginning that he intended to make the war in Blazing Mist Flowzone into a black hole that sucked all of the Innerverse's major forces into it and that it would become a place where people could go to, but never return from.

Wang Wen shook his head. "This is still far from enough. Given the current scale of the war, anyone can pull out whenever they want without paying too much of a price. This means that we should change things up." Wang Wen then gestured forward, indicating the cards on the table. "Your Royal Chesspiece, please go ahead and flip the first card."

Lu Yin had been quite curious about the three cards for some time, so after hearing Wang Wen's invitation, he flipped over the first card and saw that more than twenty names were listed on it.

"These are people who are highly regarded by the Sword Sect, Beast Tamers Flowzone, the Wen family, and the Lingling clan. Most of them are actually descendants of powerful elders. The people that Wei Rong sent into the various Innerverse powers are using their influence to make sure that all of these people are sent to the war in Blazing Mist Flowzone. All we have to do is take them out and start pointing fingers," Wang Wen said in a low voice.

Lu Yin arched a brow. "If these people are so important, then why would the various organizations willing send them to the war in Blazing Mist Flowzone?"

"That part of the plan is on Wei Rong, and I won't interfere in his methods. My job was just to confirm the names on the list and to later on plant the hatred. After these grievances are given time to sprout, it will not be easy to remove in a short amount of time. This will not only prevent the different groups from completely withdrawing their forces from the war, but it will also prevent them from uniting. Your Highness, if I were to be killed by the Sword Sect, would you be willing to work with them? Would you trust them without hesitation?" Wang Wen smiled at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin immediately replied, "That's impossible. Still, the people connected to those on this list might not be the ones controlling things. The eight great flowzones have ruled over the Innerverse for countless years, and they are not led by fools. There's no way to make your plan flawless, as there will always be someone who manages to see through it."

"Flip the second card," Wang Wen encouraged.

Lu Yin casually flipped it only to see yet another list of names.

"I've looked into these people as well, and this is another list of people who need to be taken out," Wang Wen stated.

Lu Yin shook his head. "Just eliminating people is useless. When they're put in a difficult situation, the great powers will have no choice but to unite their forces."

"What if that supposed emergency never appears? Flip the third card," Wang Wen said quietly.

Lu Yin's eyes flickered, and he finally flipped the third card. There were only a few words written on this card: aid from outside forces.

He looked at Wang Wen with curiosity.

A smile appeared on Wang Wen's face. "No matter what we do, will they join forces once they are convinced that an outside enemy is able to overpower us? If someone has an ace up their sleeve, then they'll never be concerned about any other cards. However, what if this outside support is fake?"

Lu Yin slapped a hand onto the table. "I can find them outside support, and it will be the biggest one that can give them the greatest confidence."

"Then?" Wang Wen continued.

Lu Yin looked up at the other young man. "Blazing Mist Flowzone will be officially regained. I want to make that place the Great Eastern Alliance's true launching point from which we enter the Innerverse."

"Yes, Alliance Leader." Wang Wen took a step back and solemnly bowed to Lu Yin.

The next moment, Wei Rong received a message: "Go."

He stood back up and turned to look out at outer space. It had finally started. He had been waiting for this for a long time. Ever since they had defeated the Blaze Realm, Wei Rong had been waiting and preparing for this day. It was time for the Great Eastern Alliance to officially enter the Innerverse.

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In the Innerverse, peace had long since abandoned Blazing Mist Flowzone. Battles occasionally raged in outer space above the flowzone, and there were times when the violence of the sylvan dragons or explosions of technological weapons could be heard.

On one planet, billions of people looked up in terror. Their sun that had been blocked out was suddenly torn apart by a massive dragon that roared and raced about through outer space, only to be attacked by countless beams of light.

The people of the planet stared on in despair as their sun cracked, began to collapse, and then finally exploded. They all knew that they were merely waiting for death at this point.

The impact of a star exploding was enough to destroy a planet even before the destroyed star eventually turned into a black hole.

There were billions of people here, but they were all helpless. The technology on this planet was not high enough for them to escape from their impending catastrophe.

A month before, they had believed that there was no other civilization in the entire universe. However, once a massive sylvan dragon appeared, all of the planet's beliefs had been shattered. They had seen a massive dragon, and then their sun had been destroyed. At this point, not a single one of the people knew what to do.

Suddenly, a beam of light shot by, and it completely destroyed the star that was in the middle of exploding and obliterating the planet. The beam had come from the Ross Empire and was aimed at the sylvan dragon.

The planet's sun had been wiped out of existence, and while this would have a devastating impact on the planet, causing an ice age at the least or an even more serious disaster, it was still better than being instantly erased. Given the planet's technology, the people still had a glimmer of hope of survival, though it was truly just a glimmer.

Some distance away from the planet, a large sylvan dragon let out a roar within the void. It was using its highest speed, and given its cultivation of an Explorer, it was able to produce dozens of clones with its speed.

The Ross Empire's technology surpassed anything that was available in the Outerverse. Their warships' defenses and attack power could not compare to those of the Outerverse, and they also had enough warships to cover the entire sky.

As long as there were no Envoys present, these weapons and ships would put most cultivators into a desperate fight for their lives.

Whenever a warship exploded, all of the Ross Empire's cultivators aboard would die, and there was no chance of any of them surviving.

A large sylvan dragon slammed its body into a warship, only to be struck by countless attacks and have its body turned into a sieve.

Battles were not only fought in outer space, but also on the surfaces of numerous planets. The war had spread throughout every part of Blazing Mist Flowzone that had previously belonged to the Blaze Realm.

Long Ze stared into the distance with his huge eyes. The Ross Empire had sent out another batch of weaponry. While the weapons were small and fragile, they were capable of launching attacks that nearly reached power levels of 10,000, and when they were used in coordinated strikes, they could even threaten Cruisers. Long Ze roared and rushed away, his wings unfurling as he tore through the void and destroyed a great number of the Ross Empire's weapons.

Long Ze was not alone, as there were several other sylvan dragons around him, as well as cultivators that had been subdued by the sylvan dragon clan. All of them charged forward together. In front of them, the numerous scattered warships suddenly merged together and combined to form a monstrous warship that was a hundred times larger than an ordinary one. This vessel was simply terrifying, and it shot out a beam of light that distorted the void for a moment before completely shattering it.

One of the sylvan dragons was instantly blasted into pieces, but the beam continued to sweep through space. Most of the sylvan dragons' conquered cultivators were killed, and only the lucky ones had an intact corpse.

Long Jiu and Long Ba both died in the attack. Neither of them had become Explorers yet, so they were unable to enter the void. They had been hiding in spacecraft that they had confiscated from humans who had surrendered to the sylvan dragons, but they still died during the attack.

Far behind the battle lines, Liu Tang, Liu Ling, and a group of the Sword Sect's disciples stood on a meteorite next to a large sylvan dragon. All of them were observing the battle.

As it stared at the massive warship, the dragon roared, "Despicable! The Ross Empire developed this monstrosity long ago, but they kept it hidden! Despicable! Absolutely despicable!"

Liu Tang glanced at the dragon, but he did not particularly care. He actually believed that the Ross Empire had technological weapons that were even more terrifying than what they were currently seeing.

"In just one round of attacks, five of our outer disciples and two of our inner disciples died," Liu Ling reported with a heavy tone.

Liu Tang casually replied, "One must be prepared for death before stepping into war."