Chapter 155: Invisible Aura (1/2)

This was a plot that had been carefully laid over the course of multiple centuries, and even if it were revealed to its intended victims, not a single one of them would believe it. They would definitely search through every inch of the palace regardless of the risk.

They would not dare destroy the palace, either, because they had no idea exactly how the Undying Manual might be recorded down. What if they accidentally destroyed the manual as a result of their actions? Even though the chances of the Undying Manual being in the palace might not even reach 1%, they still did not dare to take this risk. Undying Yushan was taking advantage of their greedy nature to trap everyone and bring them all down with him.

“What do you think?” Undying Yushan asked as he looked at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin respectfully answered, “You’re very courageous, Your Majesty.”

“Do you have any questions?” Undying Yushan asked with a faint smile.

Lu Yin’s eyes shone. “Aren’t you afraid that those Innerverse organizations might destroy the Great Yu Empire in a fit of rage?”

Undying Yushan answered with a question of his own. “Why do you think that unfilial son of mine, Duke Yushan, did what he did?”

Lu Yin was initially confused, but then he remembered something. He gazed at Undying Yushan in surprise.

Undying Yushan placed his hands behind his back and indifferently said, “Everyone in the universe knows that Duke Yushan betrayed the empire. Even if the empire is destroyed, he will still survive. He will be the surviving bloodline of my Great Yu Empire.”

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed as he recalled the bitter look in Duke Yushan’s eyes that night and how he had reacted when he learned that Dorren Yushan was planning on stealing the first prince’s place. Everything made sense now. It wasn’t that Duke Yushan didn’t want to do it, but rather that he had been forced to by this dying emperor. All so that the Great Yu Empire’s imperial bloodline would be passed on. Or, perhaps, even the prince didn’t know that he was being used. This was actually true for both of the princes.

Undying Yushan was very vicious. In order to kill the plotting Innerverse powerhouses, he did not even mind forcing his own son to go against him. Had he machinated for centuries, just to kill these people? Was it really worth it? Duke Yushan had tried to destroy Violet Planet a hundred years ago so that Undying Yushan would die earlier. However, he never expected that Undying Yushan would have planned for this as well. He just genuinely didn’t care about his life and just wanted to take more people down with him.

“Why are you telling me all this, Your Majesty?” Lu Yin was nervous when he realized who he was dealing with.

“You shouldn’t be looking for me,” Lu Yin said.

Undying Yushan smiled gently. “You’re King Zishan, which makes you the fourth person in line to inherit the throne, and you’re obviously the person I’d choose. Don’t worry. I’m not making you the emperor, but I do want you to inherit my resolve. When the day comes and you have sufficient power, I’ll be happy as long as you rebuild the Great Yu Empire and protect Zenyu Star. That’ll mean I haven’t completely disgraced my ancestors!”

Lu Yin didn’t understand. This was a huge responsibility that he simply could not bear. Besides, he wasn’t even the real King Zishan, but the man before him was bearing his soul and putting his complete trust in Lu Yin. He didn’t want to betray this man’s expectations; Lu Yin had his own integrity.

He could also tell that the emperor was using a psychological trick on him. After all, Undying Yushan had resorted to all kinds of tricks to secure a path of survival for his bloodline. He had gone so far as to force his children to go against him, make siblings fight against each other, and disregard human lives. Lu Yin didn’t want to become that kind of person.

Undying Yushan sighed. “I know that it’s hard for you to accept all of this right now. Take this.” After saying that, Undying Yushan took a ring and passed it to Lu Yin.

Lu Yin curiously asked, “What’s this?”

“It’s a ring of authority of the empire. If something happens to me, Dorren, and Duke, then you can use this to command all the armies of the empire,” Undying Yushan said.

Lu Yin wanted to return the ring, but after he saw Undying Yushan’s hopeful gaze, he knew that he had no choice but to keep it. He knew what Undying Yushan was thinking. Given the current circumstances, Undying Yushan was in the most danger as he had been targeted for centuries. Next was Dorren Yushan, followed by Duke Yushan, and lastly, Wendy Yushan. While it wasn’t likely that she would fall into the line of danger, it was still a possibility. Thus, Lu Yin was Undying Yushan’s last hope because nobody paid any to him. Besides, he was currently in the Astral Combat Academy.

When Undying Yushan saw that Lu Yin had accepted the ring, he smiled. “That’s how King Zishan should be! Responsible! From now onwards, you’re the fourth official successor to the throne. And for becoming a successor, I’ll give you a present.” As he spoke, he produced a crystal card.

Lu Yin’s eyes brightened. This had been his entire goal! Since the Zishan clan treasure didn’t exist, Undying Yushan was obviously giving him something else as compensation.

“There’s a hundred thousand cubes of star crystals here. Treat it as a reward for becoming a Melder,” Undying Yushan said.

Lu Yin expected to receive a lot more, but to his disappointment, it was only a hundred thousand. His appetite for star crystals was growing larger and larger, and a hundred thousand cubes was no longer enough to warrant his excitement. When he had defeated Craynor, he had received almost ninety thousand cubes of star energy crystals from just that. Of course, he was aware that the Innerverse and Outerverse produced different amounts of star crystals. The Innerverse produced nearly a hundred times the amount of the Outerverse. The hundred thousand that Undying Yushan had just gifted him was akin to ten million in the Innerverse. So, relatively, it was actually quite a large sum.

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Lu Yin answered gratefully.

“The production of star crystals is very low in the Outerverse. A hundred thousand isn’t much, but it should be enough to meet your needs for some time. When you become a Limiteer, I’ll gift you something else if I haven’t died yet.”

“The empire seems to be quite rich, Your Majesty,” Lu Yin stated, as if trying to sound something out.

Undying Yushan burst into laughter. “What are you trying to ask?”

Lu Yin recalled when various officials had tried to bribe him back at the capital star. Those officials had given him a pitiful amount of star crystals, and there was a huge difference between what he had received then and what Undying Yushan had given him now. It didn’t make any sense. No matter how wealthy the imperial family was, there shouldn’t be this large of a difference.