The Void Wanderer was so large that not even Lu Yin and Liu Huang were able to see the creature’s end. It could easily swallow an entire planet, and it could also instantly phase into the void. Liu Huang had no way of injuring the creature.
Liu Huang struck out dozens times in a row with his sword, but not a single attack even touched the Void Wanderer.
Liu Huang was a true expert with a power level of over a million. Even if he was not quite as powerful as one of the Sixth Mainland’s Empyrean Imprinters, he could absolutely fight against those powerhouses. Despite that, Liu Huang was unable to touch this Void Wanderer.
The Void Wanderer elder shot through the void and disappeared. When it reappeared, it was already behind Lu Yin and Liu Huang. The astral beast’s passage crushed space and shattered planets. It opened its mouth as it faced Lu Yin. Then, lightning flickered as the Void Thunderbeast appeared and let out a roar as his claws fell. “Lu Yin, you can forget about returning alive!”
Liu Huang used his sword to block Xu Qing, but suddenly, the Void Wanderer swept past Xu Qing like a phantom and continued, moving past Liu Huang. The beast swallowed Lu Yin in a single pass and then completely disappeared again.
The creature really could come and go without a trace.
Liu Huang moved his sword to block Xu Qing’s claws, but the human’s body was suddenly smacked back by an overpowering strength. Liu Huang glanced over at the Void Wanderer elder who had reappeared with a great deal of surprise, as well as other, conflicting emotions.
Xu Qing stared at Liu Huang, who was standing before him. “Lu Yin is already finished. There’s no way for him to escape, so he’ll be taken back to the Celestial Beast Empire. Once he’s gone, you will no longer have any reason to fight this war against my Astral Beast Domain. After all, an Outerverse war is none of your business.”
Liu Huang frowned and glanced over at the Void Wanderer before looking back at Xu Qing. “You intend to just let me leave?”
Xu Qing loudly proclaimed, “The Great Eastern Alliance was formed with Lu Yin as its core. While another person could technically be elected as alliance leader, it’s impossible for anyone else to take that position as long as he is around. It is his organization, not yours. If Lu Yin disappears, the Great Eastern Alliance will be disbanded, but the Innerverse will remain as the Innerverse. Your Sword Sect will likely become the strongest power in the entire Innerverse due to your existence, and it is not impossible for you to lead them into the Neoverse in the future.
“Isn’t that what your Sword Sect has always hoped for? How many humans actually wish to fight this war aside from Lu Yin? If others genuinely wanted to fight against my Astral Beast Domain, then how could you humans have been beaten back again and again?”
Liu Huang stayed silent.
“You are one of the Sword Sect’s greatest geniuses. You’ve created the Fourteenth Sword, and it’s not impossible for you to become a Progenitor in the future. Are you really willing to lower yourself to work under Lu Yin? Are you willing to submit to him? Does this follow the teachings of your Sword Sect?” Xu Qing asked.
From Liu Huang’s perspective, everything that Xu Qing had said was quite accurate. Regardless of whether or not Lu Yin was the strongest, the Second Nightking, Liu Qianjue, and Ling Taizu all listened to him. Why else would they have joined this war? This was something that Xu Qing had recognized, so as long as Lu Yin was captured, the war would be over.
Xu Qing had already known that the deal that Lu Yin had offered would be a trap, but so what? Xu Qing had been willing to take this risk precisely because this was the quickest way to end this war.
***
Inside the Void Wanderer’s stomach, Lu Yin was unable to hear anything in the outside world. He glanced around the massive space, but he could not find Qing Hua anywhere he looked. Lu Yin was not even able to see the Empyrean Imprinter’s runes.
While there was a fast space in the Void Wanderer’s stomach, there had to be a limit. Lu Yin stuck out with a Hollow Palm, but there was no reaction aside from a few spatial ripples.
Even Qing Hua had not managed to immediately escape, so what chance did Lu Yin have?
Unexpectedly, Xu Qing had kept the Void Wanderer elder hidden this entire time. This showed the astral beast general’s ruthlessness and patience.
Back in the outside world, Liu Huang was almost convinced. He had initially listened to Lu Yin because he had wanted to repay Lu Yin’s kindness for getting him out of Gaia’s Swamp, but the Sword Sect had already repaid that debt by joining the Great Eastern Alliance. At the moment, Liu Huang was only participating in this war because he had seen no reason to refuse, and also because he had been confident that he could keep himself safe.
The old swordsman had no confidence that he could rescue Lu Yin. Additionally, this outcome seemed like it would be a better option for the Innerverse. However, Liu Huang had spent a long time with Lu Yin, and after getting to know the youth, Liu Huang questioned whether or not Qing Hua was the only trump care that Lu Yin had kept hidden.
Master Qing Hua was an Empyrean Imprinter, and he was certainly qualified to be Lu Yin’s trump card, but Liu Huang had suspected that Lu Yin had something more planned.
“Liu Huang, Lu Yin has been captured, which means that the Great Eastern Alliance will be disbanded. This war has become meaningless, so just step back!” Xu Qing shouted in a stern tone.
Liu Huang stared at the Void Thunderbeast. “Why didn’t you have the Void Wanderer elder swallow me as well?”
Xu Qing’s pupils flared. “You’re courting death!”
Liu Huang clenched the hilt of his sword a bit tighter. “I want to see if this Void Wanderer elder can swallow me as well. I feel that swallowing Master Qing Hua was already the beast’s limit.”
Liu Huang immediately hefted his sword and attacked the Void Wanderer elder.
Xu Qing became furious, as Liu Huang’s guess was quite accurate. The Void Wanderer elder was truly powerful due to how long it had lived for, and it was right at the cusp of becoming a Semi-Progenitor, but it was also a Void Wanderer, which meant that the ancient astral beast had no means of attacking. It was only able to incapacitate super powerhouses, but the Void Wanderer was already at its limit after swallowing an Empyrean Imprinter like Qing Hua. It had also swallowed Lu Yin, but that did not matter as Lu Yin’s strength was negligible to the Void Wanderer. However, if it also tried to swallow Liu Huang, the swordsman would be able to cooperate with Master Qing Hua, and the Void Wanderer elder would not be able to keep both humans suppressed.
This was precisely why the Void Wanderer elder had avoided swallowing Liu Huang.
There was a loud bang as Xu Qing collided with Liu Huang. “If you don’t let this go, you will die on this battlefield!”
Xu Qing then ordered, “Get back to the Celestial Beast Empire!”
The command was for the Void Wanderer elder. The massive astral beast’s body twisted as he prepared to leave.
Liu Huang’s eyebrows rose high. He wanted to save Lu Yin, but he also did not. The swordsman was truly conflicted at this moment, but it also did not matter. He was completely incapable of stopping the Void Wanderer from leaving, so it did not really matter even if Liu Huang had decided to rescue Lu Yin.
The Void Wanderer drifted into the void and slipped through it as though it were swimming.
After swimming for a bit, the Void Wanderer emerged at the border between Flaxen Weave and Northcastle Weave. After entering the void and swimming around for a second time, it appeared in the middle of the battlefield.
Sword King had a massive body that towered high above as he crushed a spacecraft like an ant and caused it to explode. However, Sword King was nothing compared to the massive Void Wanderer elder who suddenly appeared, as its body dwarfed the entire battlefield.
Elder Jiu Shen, the Second Nightking, and all the other powerhouses stared at it in complete shock.
The Void Wanderer elder was about to submerge into the void a third time to swim away, as this would allow it to reach the asteroid field. Then, a fourth trip through the void would bring it through Ironblood Weave and into the Primal Zone, which would mean that it would be back in the Astral Beast Domain.
Suddenly, the Void Wanderer elder froze and let out a pained sound. At the same time, countless Void Wanderers across the battlefield collapsed and were easily crushed to death.
“What just happened?” Elder Jiu Shen was confused. Everyone stared at the Void Wanderer elder and listened to its wails of agony. Suddenly, the astral beast opened its mouth, and a wooden staff was tossed out at Sword King. He swept his sword out, and although he did not manage to smash the staff, he was able to send it flying.
Master Qing Hua charged out of the Void Wanderer’s mouth. Right after that, a green light appeared, and Lu Yin was seen being carried out of the Void Wanderer’s mouth by a middle-aged woman.
The eyes of Elder Jiu Shen and the others all went wide. “Lu Yin?”
No one had expected Lu Yin to suddenly emerge from the Void Wanderer elder’s body.
Lu Yin was carried along by the middle-aged woman, and he was breathing heavily. He had been quite shaken up from being swallowed, but luckily, he had had a backup plan in place. Without that, he would not have been able to escape.
This middle-aged woman was wearing a leaf-green dress. It was a style of clothing that was unique to the Mavis family. Her name was Ya Mavis, a powerhouse only second to Yunying Mavis with a power level of over a million.
The Mavis family had unfathomably deep foundations, but even they did not have many people with power levels of more than a million.
Xu Qing knew how to hide his strength and trump cards, but Lu Yin was capable of doing the same.
Ya Mavis was a powerhouse that Lu Yin had kept hidden. She had arrived shortly after Lu Yin returned to the battlefield from Earth, but she had not made a single move until saving Lu Yin just now.
The Mavis family had allied themselves with Lu Yin, and there was no way he would forget such a thing during this war.