“Were you willing to assassinate me even with the risk of being completely annihilated? Who gave you the reassurance to do such a thing? They must have been able to promise your Xun family guaranteed safety and the chance to reach heights that you’ve never touched before, so who was it?” Lu Yin took another drink as he stared at Xun Baitao.
“If you don’t tell me, I’ll immediately erase your entire Xun family.”
Xun Baitao smiled miserably. “If I tell you, will you not attack my Xun family? Lu Yin, I know you very well. Ever since the Innerverse and Outerverse reconnected,the entire family knows about the matter with Xun Qianye, and I knew that you would target us one day. This matter was delayed because you needed to make preparations but I knew that, as soon as you made your preparations, we would not be able to escape.
“And now that we’ve failed to kill you, you will definitely destroy my Xun family. There’s no other outcome.”
Lu Yin lightly commented, “As long as you tell me who ordered my death, I can leave a remnant of your Xun family behind so that your name will at least continue on.”
Xun Baitao laughed loudly. “Do I need that from you? The moment I decided to try dealing with you, I made all of those preparations. I haven’t lived until now just through sheer luck.”
Lu Yin frowned. “So you don’t want to live?”
Xun Baitao shook his head, helpless. “Everyone wants to live, but that’s not in my future.”
“You sought refuge from the Technocracy to raise your family to new heights?” Lu Yin asked.
Xun Baitao closed his eyes. “So was what I saw when I attacked you your creation? Lu Yin, you’re quite clever, and I never even saw how you managed to avoid the poison. However, the brighter you shine, the more people will start targeting you. Sooner or later, you will follow down the same path as my Xun family.”
After he spoke, Xun Baitao’s stomach began to swell.
Lu Yin’s expression changed. This was not good—the Enlighter was blowing himself up!
There was a massive explosion, and the entire planet shattered.
Off in the distance, Wendy Yushan and others looked over with worry-filled eyes.
Lu Yin stood in space, an ugly expression on his face. He had actually intended to take Xun Baitao’s cosmic ring, and he had not expected the man to directly blow himself up. Even the patriarch’s flesh and blood were gone.
Who had ordered the Xun family to take out Lu Yin?
It was common knowledge that the Xun family had a grudge against Lu Yin and that he was eager to take action against them as well. So who was confident enough to go against the Great Eastern Alliance, Leon’s Armada, and even the Hall of Honor, who all stood behind Lu Yin?
Wait, the Hall of Honor?
Lu Yin’s mind flashed, and he suddenly remembered something as he looked to the west.
Xun Baitao had died, and all of the nearby ships belonging to the Xun family had been destroyed, but Xun Jiong had been captured by Lu Yin’s people.
Back inside his vessel, Lu Yin calmly sat down with Ku Wei behind him. In front of them, Xun Jiong was kneeling on the floor with a pale face and his head hung in terror. He was even shaking.
Wasn’t Lu Yin poisoned? How can he be okay? Xun Jiong had believed that the matter had already been settled, but reality had turned out completely different from expected.
“Pick up your head,” Lu Yin slowly said.
Xun Jiong trembled.
“Look up! Didn’t you hear what the Alliance Leader said?” Ku Wei shouted.
Lu Yin was startled.
Xun Jiong’s shaking became worse, though he was still intimidated into raising up his head, and he hesitatingly met Lu Yin’s calm, cold eyes.
“Who ordered your Xun family to attack me? Or, let me rephrase the question, which VIPs has your Xun family recently hosted?” Lu Yin asked.
Xun Jiong was terrified. “No, no, no, I don’t know! I don’t know anything! My father asked me to invite you to an apology banquet! That’s all that I knew about any of this.”
Lu Yin laughed. “You didn’t know that I would be poisoned?”
Xun Jiong opened his mouth, intending to lie, but upon seeing Lu Yin’s cold eyes and smiling face, Xun Jiong laughed in complete despair. “Father… Father told me about that, but I don’t know who ordered it. I thought that this was all because of that list, and I really don’t know about anything beyond that.”
Lu Yin stared at Xun Jiong and saw nothing in Xun Jiong’s eyes aside from fear and despair.
Lu Yin let out a long breath. “Hand over all of the Xun family’s resources and possessions.”
“So can I- I- I live?” Xun Jiong asked in a trembling voice.
Ku Wei shouted, “You still want to negotiate terms?”
Xun Jiong shuddered, terrified, but he gritted his teeth and looked at Lu Yin with a determined expression. “I’ll give you everything that the Xun family has, but you have to promise not to kill me.”
“How bold!” Ku Wei shouted once again. He had fully adopted his self-appointed role as the fox with the tiger’s power.1
Lu Yin raised a hand to put a stop to Ku Wei ranting. “Yes, I won’t kill you.”
Xun Jiong gasped. “I’m not talking about just you, but also everyone following you or related to you.”
Lu Yin’s face fell.
Xun Jiong hurriedly continued, saying, “I’m the only one who can access all of my family’s resources. We have more than 200 million star essence, as well as various power vessels and natural treasures. I only have one condition: no one from your side is allowed to take action against me, and that includes hiring hitmen.”
Lu Yin was surprised; the Xun family had more wealth than the Blaze Realm?
However, after thinking about it for a moment, that made sense. The Blaze Realm had been one of the three major powers of Blazing Mist Flowzone, and they had many disciples and costly expenses. On the other hand, the Xun family needed to spend less, and they also sold many items that they made with their Gear Construction Technique. Their income would not be any worse than the Blaze Realm’s. Thus, with these lower expenses, the Xun family’s wealth would naturally surpass that of the Blaze Realm.
200 million star essence! This was a huge fortune.
At this time, news came in that Xun Jiong’s brother, another direct descendant of the Xun family, had died. This was not related to Lu Yin’s actions, but rather an unexplainable death.
Something stirred in Lu Yin’s heart, and he turned to look at Xun Jiong. “Were you the one to kill your brother?”
Xun Jiong released a heavy breath as he nodded. “I saw Elder Xun Ye die, and so I took care of it then.”
“So you personally killed your brother just to make sure that you would be the only one who could access the Xun family’s resources? Then, you would become the most important bargaining chip during negotiations,” Lu Yin dryly commented.
Ku Wei was surprised; this guy was smart and incredibly ruthless. Why was it hard to see that?
Xun Jiong did not deny anything, as Lu Yin had spoken the truth.