Chapter 264: Lu Yin And Ming Yan (2/2)

Lu Yin curiously observed his surroundings and looked up. The giant gates towered above him with an ancient style to them. Above them, there was a glassy, lamp-like object emitting a faint fluctuating radiance that constantly emitted sweeping beams of light. This was a Heavenly Sphere, and it used martial power to constantly scan the city. The sphere would react the instant it detected star energy.

During the time after the great battle a thousand years ago, many trialtakers had arrived at the Shenwu Continent, which had left the Shenwu Empire with no choice but to develop this Heavenly Sphere, which had resulted in the deaths of countless trialtakers.

The heavenly globe’s martial power scanned Lu Yin, but it had no reaction. He had dispersed all of his star energy and replaced it with martial power, so there was naturally no rejection.

He had used some random person’s ID to enter Taicang City. The place was bustling, and he could see that the Shenwu Continent had developed significantly since the great battle from a thousand years ago, and there were almost no traces of that war. Peddlers were selling their wares on the streets, and a hotel that was almost as tall as the city walls proudly stood in the distance. Lu Yin was in no hurry, and he slowly sauntered along the main street.

Troops charged past him, letting out a harsh aura.

“Did you hear? Someone is targeting the tributes and five shipments have already been plundered. The king’s residence is furious and has ordered the soldiers to thoroughly investigate and seal off the territory from the neighboring cities. Even the king’s household has been searched! I even heard that there was a battle.”

“Shh, speak softer. The plundered tributes have nothing to do with the king’s household. There was an alien that peeped at the princess while she was bathing, and I even heard that he was discovered in the same bath as the princess. That’s what caused the battle to break out.”

“What? So isn’t that princess’s reputation gone now? Who would dare to marry her after that?”

“Right? It’s such a pity. One of the empire’s twin beauties has been ruined just like that. No matter how pretty she is, this incident is more than enough to dissuade countless suitors.”

…

Lu Yin was stumped; was the incident really that extreme? He had only taken a look, though he frowned as he tried to sift through Wu Xia’s memories. It seemed that the Shenwu Continent placed great importance on a girl’s reputation, which was troubling. Did this mean that he had harmed that girl?

Lu Yin absent-mindedly walked into the hotel. He chose a position near a window and sat down before ordering some dishes. The news that he had just heard upset him greatly, and the girl’s countenance kept appearing in his mind. He felt rather apologetic now.

The Shenwu Continent’s war technology had advanced extremely quickly, and it could even rival an Outerverse weave’s, but the continent was much more conservative in its social ideology. This matter must have left an unerasable scar in the girl’s heart.

“Your food is here,” a waiter said politely as he poured some wine for Lu Yin before turning and leaving.

Lu Yin looked at the troops dashing by outside the window as they kicked up a cloud of dust. He frowned and reached over to close the window.

“Friend, don’t close the window,” a voice sounded from behind Lu Yin.

Lu Yin paid no heed to the voice and continued moving to close it.

Behind him, the man raised his hand and pushed against Lu Yin’s arm. “Let me repeat myself—don’t close the window.”

Lu Yin finally glanced at him. The man was in his thirties and had an experienced air, though he had a beaten expression as well. His entire body gave off a rebellious attitude, and he did not seem like a good person.

At this point, the dust had settled, so Lu Yin no longer cared about the window. He withdrew his hand and went back to minding his own business.

The man similarly withdrew his hand and did not cause any more trouble.

Suddenly, a glaring light reflected off of something and into Lu Yin’s eyes. He curiously looked out into the distance. Is that an arrow?

Whoosh! The arrow sped quickly through the air. It was aimed not at Lu Yin, but rather the man behind him.

The man lunged towards Lu Yin, wanting to use him to block the arrow. Lu Yin was infuriated by his bold maneuver, and he immediately raised his fist to block the man’s palm. A soft echo rang throughout the room as the shockwave split the table and caused all the railings on the second floor to splinter. The man was pushed back by Lu Yin’s palm, leaving him startled. At that moment, the arrow streaked past the man’s shoulder and into the second floor of the hotel, where it was embedded straight into the floor, causing it to split apart.

“Heng Luoshun, surrender,” a loud voice sounded out from outside. From above, outside the window, and from everywhere else, many people charged at the man, who was apparently named Heng Luoshun.

Heng Luoshun gave a deep look to Lu Yin before he leaped out the window. “What a joke, the Shenwu Court Guard’s lackeys want to catch me, Heng Luoshun. Dream on! I’m not seventeenth on the List of Tempering for nothing.”

Not long after, a battle could be heard off in the distance.

The hotel had met with an unexpected disaster, and there had been a great deal of damage to the building. The boss had to come out and offer his apologies to the customers with a forced smile.

“I’m sorry, sir. I hope that you weren’t too startled,” the boss apologized to Lu Yin.

Lu Yin was curious. “What’s this List of Tempering?” He recalled no such list from Wu Xia’s memories, though those memories had been very extensive, and Lu Yin had only had a limited amount of time to review them. Hence, he had missed this bit.

“You don’t know?” The boss was shocked.

Lu Yin smiled. “I was raised in the wilderness from a young age, and this is my first time here.”

“It’s no wonder why you don’t know about the List of Tempering. It’s a list compiled by the Crown Prince Ming Hao using information from the Demon Hunters Society. It includes everyone under the Martial Emperor realm regardless of age. It ranks them according to their level of cultivation, and that Heng Luoshun from earlier is ranked seventeenth on the list,” he explained.