The big tree seemed to have taken root, and it remained unmoving for several days.
Up within the tree’s canopy, Sapling had made a new friend, the man who had hidden in the big tree’s branches.
At the moment, that man had succumbed to despair. The big tree was simply too terrifying! The man had just watched as the tree had overpowered an Envoy, and he was feeling quite depressed about his situation. As for Sapling, the man assumed it to be part of the big tree. Because of this, regardless of anything Sapling did, the man was determined to accompany Sapling without any resistance, as he was scared of accidentally offending the tree.
The old Enlighter remained near the big tree on the same planet. The old man did not dare do anything that might disturb the man in the tree in any form. At the same time, the Enlighter hoped to gain the favor of this Envoy and receive something for his efforts that might allow his cultivation to take a step forward.
The entire street had been sealed off. There were cracks in the ground that radiated from where the big tree had settled, and it stood alone in the street with its branches swaying in the breeze.
It then began to rain.
The old Enlighter hastily waved a hand to disperse the clouds in order to ensure the sun continued to shine down on the tree.
Suddenly, space twisted next to the old man, and Lu Yin stepped out.
He had rushed over as soon as he had received news about Sapling, and he had just arrived.
“This tree’s stayed here the whole time and hasn’t moved?” Lu Yin asked.
The old Enlighter answered, “Yes, that’s the tree…”
He suddenly twitched and his head snapped around to stare at Lu Yin in astonishment. “You- you…”
He wanted to ask who Lu Yin was, but still was too stunned by how Lu Yin had managed to arrive so close without the old Enlighter sensing anything at all. On top of that, the longer he looked at Lu Yin, the more he felt this young man looked familiar. The Enlighter’s thoughts were a complete mess as he struggled to find any words to say.
Lu Yin simply ignored the man and casually commented, “There are signs of a fight.”
He reached out and pinched his fingers. “Are there any videos of the Envoy’s fight? Show any you have.”
The old Enlighter continued to stare blankly at Lu Yin. Finally, realization hit him and he nearly jumped in fright. “Lu- Lu Yin? No, Alliance Leader Lu!”
Lu Yin looked at the man and gave him a slight smile. “Do you have any videos of what happened?”
The old Enlighter’s mouth was hanging open. This was Lu Yin, the Alliance Leader of the Great Eastern Alliance! The person who had unified the entire Innerverse! The old man had never dreamed of getting close enough to speak to such a person in his entire lifetime. He had only ever seen Lu Yin as someone who stood upon a shining stage. The Tournament of the Strongest, ZENITH, and most recently, the war in the Outerverse. It was said that there had been dozens of Envoys on that battlefield. Though the fact that the old man was an Enlighter made him a powerhouse in the universe, he could only dream of interacting with such a prestigious person.
He had heard that hundreds of Enlighters had participated in the Outerverse war.
The old man completely forgot his words when he realized that such a powerful person was standing right next to him. He quickly bowed low. “Fraser Planet’s Zang Nan greets Alliance Leader Lu.”
Lu Yin repeated his question, “Are there any videos of the battle that took place?”
Some time passed, as Zang Nan could still not gather his wits for a bit after being spoken to by Lu Yin himself. Finally, the man hurriedly replied, “No there aren’t. The battle happened too suddenly. Not to mention any monitoring equipment, even I wasn’t able to see anything clearly, and I was right there when it happened.”
“Oh? What did you see?” Lu Yin grew curious.
The Innerverse was truly impressive. Even small flowzones were able to give rise to Enlighters. When the Outerverse had been cut off from the rest of the Human Domain, Lu Yin had only rarely come across any Enlighters. At that time, he had considered Enlighters to be powerhouses.
An Enlighter could be considered a top expert in the Outerverse, but in the Innerverse, even every minor flowzone had at least one.
Zang Nan answered respectfully, “I really was not able to see any details. It all happened far too quickly. The only thing I managed to see was a shadow rushing toward the big tree, and then it was sent flying away. I never managed to see what form the shadow actually took.”
Lu Yin’s eyes grew cold. “Did the figure rush towards the big tree, or its canopy?”
Zang Nan considered the question carefully while biting his cheek. “The canopy.”
“Are you sure?” Lu Yin pressed. His voice sounded casual, but given Lu Yin’s status, Zang Nan knew his answer would determine whether or not he would survive this encounter, as well as his future.
He firmly stated, “I’m sure, because the shadow was thrown away from the tree’s canopy.”
Lu Yin turned back to look at the big tree. That person who had attacked had to have been Leaf King again. Who else would pay any attention to the big tree other than that man? On top of that, Leaf King was an Envoy.
It seemed that there was something more to the big tree than met the eye. It was able to send even Leaf King flying, and he was someone with a power level of at least 800,000. With such strength, how was it possible that the Ordnance Mercenaries had managed to capture the big tree in the first place? Lu Yin would never forget the scene when Qi Jin had entered the botanical garden with the big tree. At that time, Lu Yin had assumed it was just a big, ordinary tree.
He casually tossed Zang Nan a natural treasure that had reached the level of avoiding danger. As Zang Nan expressed his gratitude, Lu Yin approached the big tree one step at a time. He was soon only 100 meters away from the big tree.
Up in the tree’s canopy, Sapling seemed to sense something and it suddenly raised its branches. It slowly turned towards Lu Yin, and then happily leaped down.
Lu Yin hugged Sapling, stroking its branches and leaves with a grin on his face. “You rascal.”
The cheerful little tree radiated a warm light and tightly wrapped its branches around Lu Yin’s fingers. It looked incredibly content.
A short distance away, up in the big tree’s canopy, a man’s eyes went wide as he stared down at Lu Yin. It’s him?
Lu Yin looked up. He initially focused on the big tree, but then caught a glimpse of a person up in the canopy. “Qian Zou?”
The man who had been chased for stealing and who had hidden in the big tree’s canopy was none other than Qian Zou, who Lu Yin had previously met in the Neoverse. During Lu Yin’s stellular tribulation, he had faced Progenitor Chen, and one of the eight clones had used Inverse Step. Lu Yin had first seen Qian Zou using Inverse Step, and while he had been impressed by the technique, he had not cared too much about it. However, Progenitor Chen’s clone which had had the same level of cultivation as Lu Yin had used the movement technique to circumvent Lu Yin’s Knowing realm of Truesight. That incident had left Lu Yin stunned, and it had also reignited his interest in Qian Zou.
After he had passed his stellular tribulation, Lu Yin had ordered a search for Qian Zou. He never expected to meet the young man on this planet.
Qian Zou strained his neck towards Lu Yin, his face the picture of misery. “Um, brother? I mean Seventh Bro. Save me please, I’m scared…”
Lu Yin laughed. He had expected he would need to expend a great deal of time and energy tracking down Qian Zao. Who could have expected that Lu Yin would find the man without any effort at all? “What are you doing in the Innerverse?”
Qian Zou answered, “I’ve just been traveling around. I’d heard about the Innerverse and the Outerverse long ago, and I also had a bit of interest in exploring the Cosmic Sea, so I came over.”
“You mean you got caught stealing something in the Neoverse, so you came here because you had nowhere else to hide,” Lu Yin bluntly countered.
Qian Zou coughed in embarrassment. “So, erm, Seventh Bro, can you save me?”
“How did you get up there?”.com
“I climbed.”
“Then climb back down.”
Qian Zou was about to have a mental breakdown. “Uncle Tree’s an Envoy! I don’t dare try to leave!”
Lu Yin used a reassuring tone, “Don’t worry. Uncle Tree won’t attack anyone who doesn’t threaten it.”