Lu Yin’s gaze turned steely. Someone wanted to use Astral-3 to lure out the Innerverse’s cultivators, which was a cruel plan.
He did not believe that Astral-3 had truly been destroyed, as Astral-9 was an ancient battleship that had been able to withstand Ancestor Autumnfrost’s finger. Still, that had been just one finger. Against the Sixth Mainland’s full invasion force, it was already impressive that Astral-3’s Headmaster had died together with an Imprinter.
Although there was a rivalry among the ten academy branches, they were still all a part of the same school in the end, and Lu Yin could not just ignore this situation.
“Let’s go together.” Lu Yin’s tone showed his determination.
Hai Qiqi did not decline. Although she had not been a student of the Astral Combat Academy, she had certainly heard of its reputation. Now that the people of Astral-3 were being used as bait, she wanted to rescue them as well.
“Really? Thank you, Senior!” Alfonso was delighted, and he bowed deeply to Lu Yin.
“Don’t call me Senior anymore—just call me Seventh Bro,” Lu Yin casually replied.
Alfonso nodded. “Seventh Bro.”
He felt like he had heard this name before.
In the past, Lu Yin had been famous throughout the Innerverse, and many people had recognized his face. Fortunately, he had altered his appearance before coming. Otherwise, Alfonso definitely would have recognized him.
After Lu Yin’s trio left the area, it took about half a day for news of Gui Bing’s death to reach Granny Gui’s ears.
As the Tong family’s Imprinter, Granny Gui was treated very well, but Gui Bing was her only disciple. She had even personally crafted the invisible needles for him, and she had raised him as if he were her own child. When she learned about his death, she became infuriated and left the planet, planning on personally seeking vengeance.
The Tong family’s forces had gathered in the Starfall Sea while the area outside of the Starfall Sea belonged to the Grand Martial Realm’s Flying Horse Manor.
Granny Gui immediately requested for Flying Horse Manor to seal off the route leading towards Chaos Flowzone, as she believed that the other party would attempt to escape in that direction before moving towards the Cosmic Sea. No matter how long it might take her, she was determined to find the person who had murdered Gui Bing.
Not too far away from the exit to the Starfall Sea was a yellow planet. It was colored yellow due to the ubiquitous dull sand, and fierce sandstorms constantly swept across its surface, connecting the sky and ground. These sandstorms had extremely high wind speeds, and the sand that constantly whirled through the air had enough force to pierce straight through an ordinary person. This planet was not very hospitable.
Life here had developed underground, and an entire city had actually been built underground.
This planet was known as Planet Amber.
When the nearby sun illuminated the planet, its temperature spiked.
On the desolate plains of sand that covered Planet Amber, a hundred iron pillars towering into the sky had been erected. Each one of them had a single person bound to it. They were all students and mentors of Astral-3.
There were more than a hundred pillars on the planet, but only around half of them had someone bound to them. The people who had once occupied the other pillars had all been executed, and the fresh blood that stained the sandy expanse was not only from these students and mentors of Astral-3, but also from those who had attempted to rescue them.
These steel pillars had already reaped the lives of hundreds of cultivators.
To the Sixth Mainland, occupying the Innerverse was simple, but unifying it was much more difficult. Countless cultivators in the Innerverse had hidden themselves, and they could attack the invaders at any time.
Even if just one Sixth Mainland cultivator died on each planet every single day, that would add up to a horrifying number of daily casualties.
This was also why the Sixth Mainland had constantly drafted more cultivators to the war effort, since their numbers were dwindling every day.
Of course, the Innerverse suffered similar casualties, and once anyone was discovered, they would be either maimed or killed outright.
The two sides had become locked in a war of attrition.
These metal pillars were constantly baking in the high temperature of the sun and had even become reddened while those who were tied to the pillars had their backs cooked.
Not only did they suffer from the burning heat of the poles, but they also had to face the devastating sandstorms that could appear at any moment. What’s worse, the weather was worsening.
Those who qualified to enter Astral-3 were all talented youths, and each one had impressive backing. However, they were all in miserable states at this time.
On one metal pillar, Chilian Daynight’s eyes had gone hazy, and all he saw was yellow. His body was occasionally scoured by the rough sand, but he had already become numb to such a sensation.
In the distance, a giant stone statue towered over the iron pillars. The statue had the likeness of a pretty, middle-aged woman taking an elegant pose. She appeared to be both graceful and pretty; however, this was the same woman who had massacred Astral-3, killed its headmaster, and destroyed the battleship that was the foundation of Astral-3. She was the one who had thrust all of them into this living hell. She was known as Madam Hong, and she was the head of the Sixth Mainland’s Grand Martial Realm’s Flying Horse Manor. She was a World Imprinter with a power level of more than 900,000.
Before this war, not even the Daynight clan’s elders had ever seen such a terrifying powerhouse before. A power level of 900,000 was an unimaginably astronomical figure. Chilean Daynight did not even know if his clan’s top powerhouse had such an impressive power level.
In the entire universe, as far as he was aware, it was possible that Madam Hong was second only to Progenitors.
As Chilean Daynight slowly turned his head around, he looked at Cang Shi, who was nearby. The young man’s skin was chapped, and his blood had also almost completely dried up.
Around them, there were many other students approaching death’s door, if not already dead, and the mentors were the same.
As a ringing sound rang out in the sky, multiple cultivators rose up from underground and blocked the devastating power of the yellow sandstorms. Soon after, other figures emerged from underground and slowly kowtowed to Madam Hong’s statue.
This was a daily prayer routine. Its meaning was to pray for Madam Hong’s protection and also to bless the Sixth Mainland.
The Sixth Mainland had erected these statues to both wear away at the dignity of the Innerverse’s cultivators and spread the belief that those of the Sixth Mainland were divine. They were attempting to establish this belief in the Fifth Mainland cultivators, and their methods were the most ordinary forms of cultural assimilation and daily brainwashing.
Right as countless people came out to pray, some other figures emerged from beneath the ground and slaughtered the nearby Sixth Mainland cultivators. Others flew towards the metal pillars in an attempt to rescue the survivors from Astral-3.
An Astral-3 mentor bleakly shouted, “Don’t come! Run! Hurry up and run!”
“We Innerverse cultivators are not afraid of death!” One person hollered back as he bravely charged towards a metal pillar and sliced at the ropes binding the student to it. From behind the charging man, a long blade slashed out, which the man quickly tried to block. However, the blade continued on undisturbed, slicing through the defending weapon, cutting three inches deep into the Innerverse man’s body, and causing fresh blood to drip down the pillar.
“You fools! Only you continue to resist us. Those great powers of your Fifth Mainland have all already been wiped out. You idiots, cast your lot in with us, and we will give you a way forward.”
“What wishful thinking—we’d rather die than surrender!”
With a plop, a head was separated and landed on the sand.
The Sixth Mainland cultivator coldly looked down, and the imprint behind him seemed even more like the image of a deity.
The survivors from Astral-3 cracked their eyes open as they cried out in indignation.
The group of people that had tried to rescue the Astral-3 survivors were completely massacred to the last person. Their blood poured out and added another layer of red to the sandy ground, but that was all that they managed to accomplish.
From beneath the ground, two bright eyes opened wide. They belonged to another youth, and although she was pretty, a heavy murderous intent could be seen in her eyes. She was sitting cross-legged, and beside her was a long spear that had been embedded in the ground. It gave off a sharp chill.
“Young Mistress, we killed another group. These cultivators are like locusts, and we just can’t exterminate them all. They’re too stupid.”
The young lady responded in an icy-cold tone. “They are indeed stupid. The Fifth Mainland’s great powers were already preparing to retreat the moment we first invaded, and for some reason, they left these independent cultivators with no background behind to oppose us. No matter whether or not these people emerge victorious or are defeated, they can still whittle away at some of our strength. These people are nothing more than cannon fodder.”