"Can you still grow bigger?" Lu Yin asked.
The sapling jumped down and wobbled. Its body suddenly grew bigger before shrinking again. It jumped around Lu Yin as if it was dancing, which made Lu Yin dizzy.
"Alright, alright, stop beating around the bush." Lu Yin grabbed the sapling and looked at it seriously. "Can you step into the Astral Source Universe and absorb the astral sources?"
The sapling's two branches shook, not understanding. However, it was still happy enough to jump around. It felt like it had grown bigger.
Lu Yin was speechless. He thought about it for a moment before stepping into the Astral Source Universe and looking at the sapling.
The sapling was stunned. Lu Yin had disappeared?
It panicked, and its branches trembled as it tried to find Lu Yin. It spun around in place and suddenly faced Lu Yin's direction. It jumped up happily and disappeared.
Only Yu Er was not an Emissary. She watched the sapling disappear and her mouth fell open. This thing?
It stepped into the Astral Source Universe?
The sapling jumped into the Astral Source Universe and into Lu Yin's arms.
Lu Yin laughed. "You really can enter the Astral Source Universe. You didn't absorb so much of the Leaf King's matter in vain. Otherwise, I would have raised you for nothing. Hahaha."
The sapling rubbed its leaves against Lu Yin's face happily.
"Learn from me," Lu Yin said as he began to absorb the astral sources.
The sapling swayed back and forth. It did not seem to understand, but it also seemed to find it fun. Gradually, the astral sources gathered, but they were not absorbed by Lu Yin. Instead, they were gathered into the sapling's body.
Lu Yin was ecstatic. It was absorbing the astral sources. That's right, the sapling could absorb astral sources, which meant that it could form Astral Liquid in its body, just like the mother tree.
This was great! He could finally see the dawn of the Emissary realm.
But the problem was how to keep it absorbing astral sources.
He did not know if the Astral Source Universe would notice if it absorbed too quickly. This was a headache.
Lu Yin did not need to worry about this problem.
The sapling seemed to like absorbing astral sources. This was its instinct.
A person's instinct was to absorb nutrients from food and grow. The sapling's absorption of astral sources was equivalent to absorbing nutrients. It needed to grow as well, and this was its path to growth.
Lu Yin had brought the sapling to the Astral Source Universe to absorb half Sirius's astral source, but he did not know how much astral source the sapling had absorbed. From the looks of it, the sapling had absorbed much more astral source than he had, but he did not know exactly how much more astral source it had absorbed.
He decided to place the sapling in a place where it could absorb stellar sources at all times without being disturbed.
Where should they settle it?
After much consideration, he decided to leave the Rossi Empire Fortress with the escaped tree. It would be fine as long as someone kept an eye on it. Actually, he could leave the sapling in the Eternal Kingdom, but that would make it too lonely. It didn't like being alone.
He didn't treat it as a tree, but rather as a child. A child that liked to play and act spoiled.
He allowed the sapling to absorb the astral source in Astral Source Universe as he walked out. Now, there was a problem in front of him: how should he explain King Ye's death to the Hall of Honor?
Although Leaf King was not a member of the Hall of Honor, he had contributed greatly to the Hall of Honor over the years.
"How many honor points does King Ye have?"
Lu Yin asked as he watched Balsam collect King Ye's corpse. He hadn't checked his honor points in a long time, but this was an unavoidable problem. The Hall of Honor had to answer to outsiders, and they couldn't break the rules.
"Thirty," Balsam answered indifferently.
Lu Yin frowned. If one had more than twenty honor points, their death would be investigated by the Interstellar Tribunal.
They would determine the cause of death and punish those responsible.
With his status as a director, he could ignore most people who had more than twenty honor points. However, King Ye was different. Shamrock Enterprises' influence was too great, and they needed to answer to the Hall of Honor.
"Alliance Master Lu, King Ye has been in seclusion for many years. Basically, no one has seen him," Yu Er said weakly. Her innate gift had been absorbed by King Ye's experiments, and she had almost been crippled.
Lu Yin relaxed after hearing Yu Er's words. That was right, King Ye had been in seclusion for many years, and no one had seen him. Who would know if he died?
As long as no one reported it, it would be fine.
Lu Yin looked at Yu Er with admiration. Although this girl was ruthless and unloyal, she was quite quick-witted. When it came to people like her, as long as Lu Yin remained above the masses, she would not betray him. However, she would definitely betray him the moment he fell to the mortal realm.
In that case, there was no need to subdue her. He could just use her.
"You're not bad," Lu Yin said.
Yu Er nervously replied, "It's my honor to serve Alliance Master."
"There are many who want to serve me. What can you do?" Lu Yin asked.
Yu Er had already thought of an excuse. "Shamrock Enterprises is spread across the Fifth Mainland, and their management is complex. Over the years, I've been assigned to many branch companies, and I can help Alliance Master manage them without anyone noticing anything amiss. I've also thought of a way to control Yan. King Ye and Balsam are in seclusion for many years, so Yan is the one who handles the company's affairs. As long as we control him, Shamrock Enterprises' operations will not have any problems."
"Not only that, but I also know of many hidden seedlings that I believe can be of help to Alliance Master."
Lu Yin looked at Balsam. He could not use this woman, but he could keep Yu Er here. Even if a mere Enlighter betrayed him, it would be useless.
Besides the resources that King Ye had left behind, there was nothing else that Lu Yin cared about.
The natural treasures and countless strange plants that could avoid danger had all been absorbed by the tree the moment it had appeared, except for the flower.
Lu Yin looked behind the waterfall and wanted to take the flower away.
His domain swept across the outside world, and Lu Yin brought Yan and the unconscious King Ye over.
Yan's face was pale when he saw King Ye's corpse and Balsam's ashen face. He was in a daze, and panic and apprehension filled his mind. He did not know what was waiting for him.
"Deal with it yourself," Lu Yin said coldly as he looked at Yu Er.
Yu Er panted heavily as she stood up and walked over to Yan's side. She smiled. "Secretary Yan."
Yan looked up and met Yu Er's eyes. He had known this girl for a long time. She had been a pure and innocent girl who did not know much about the world, but now, she was the most vicious and merciless hidden seedling. Yan felt a chill every time he saw her, and he always felt that she would kill anyone she saw.
As the president of Shamrock Enterprises and an expert with a power level of over 400,000, Yan rarely feared anyone, especially if the person was not an Envoy. Their power level might even be lower than his. However, Yu Er was an exception.
He did not know what Yu Er had experienced in the outside world. She looked harmless on the surface, but in reality, she was like a butcher.
"Secretary Yan, do you want to live?"
Yu Er asked, her eyes filled with curiosity. She looked like a girl who was eager to learn.
Yan's eyes flashed, and he subconsciously looked at Lu Yin. The battle just now was beyond his comprehension, and any of the aftershocks would have been enough to kill him.
Of course he wanted to live.
"Yes," Yan replied.
Yu Er rolled her eyes. "The Alliance Master can let you live, but he doesn't trust you. You seem to be loyal to King Ye and Balsam."
Yan gulped. "It's just my job. I'm the president's secretary, and it has nothing to do with loyalty."
"Is that so?"
Yu Er pointed at Balsam, whose back was facing them. "That woman is over there. She's looking at you. Please kill the Young Leaf King."
Yan's eyes narrowed.
Balsam's body trembled, and she slowly turned around. Her eyes were filled with coldness and anger as she glared at Yu Er.
Yu Er looked at Balsam and smiled. "I'm sorry, sister. I want to live too. Look, didn't you also sell King Ye's resources to survive?
The Young Leaf King is just one of them. "
Balsam didn't say anything and just stared at Yu Er.
Lu Yin stared at Yu Er deeply. This girl was truly ruthless, and it was no wonder why Yu Mu had warned him to be careful. If Lu Yin had still been an Enlighter, then he might not have spared her life. But now, no matter how ruthless she was, she couldn't do anything. The more ruthless she was, the fiercer she would bite her enemies, and perhaps one day, she would bare her fangs at Lu Yin.
Yan hadn't expected Yu Er to ask him to kill the Young Leaf King. He suddenly thought of something and looked at Lu Yin.
He had been brought here just now, and so had the Young Leaf King. What did that mean?
Had Yu Er told Lu Yin about it?
Or had Lu Yin thought of this as well?
The more he thought about it, the more his heart sank.
Lu Yin was curious. "Is the Young Leaf King really King Ye's son?"
Yu Er replied, "I don't know, but King Ye is very concerned about the Young Leaf King."
Lu Yin looked at Balsam.
She remained silent and didn't say anything.
Lu Yin didn't say anything either, as he didn't care about the Young Leaf King's status. Perhaps the Young Leaf King really was King Ye's son, and perhaps the Young Leaf King had left behind before absorbing the Mother Tree's essence. After all, King Ye had already become a tree, so how could he have a son?
It was said that the Young Leaf King had been sealed in ice for thousands of years, but that didn't seem right either. Even if he had been sealed in ice, the Young Leaf King couldn't have survived from the era of the Daosource Sect until now.
The Young Leaf King definitely wasn't King Ye's son. If the Young Leaf King truly cared about the Young Leaf King, then it was more likely that the Young Leaf King had adopted the Young Leaf King.
Yan looked at Yu Er and then at Lu Yin. Finally, he glanced at Balsam.
Balsam clenched her fists and stared coldly at Yu Er.
Yan knew that if he tried to kill the Young Leaf King, then he would have to betray King Ye and Balsam for the rest of his life, just like Yu Er.
"What? Secretary Yan, are you unwilling?
Then I'll just have to find someone else. "Yu Er propped up her chin and blinked innocently.
Her appearance made Yan want to vomit, and he wanted to tear her face apart. "I understand."
Lu Yin didn't continue looking at her. Instead, he went to a certain corner of the outside world. King Ye's resources weren't stored in a cosmic ring, but rather underground, just like the Frigid Immortal Sect's secret vault.
Lu Yin had thought that King Ye's collection of resources would be massive, but he hadn't expected it to be this massive.
It was a bit too exaggerated. Lu Yin had a similar feeling to when he had first seen the star essence that had been stored in the Sixth Mainland. At that moment, he had seen an endless mountain range that had been completely formed from star essence.
At the time, he had guessed that there might have been a billion or even ten billion, but now that he thought about it, it was far more than that.
The resources that King Ye had stored underground in this world definitely exceeded a hundred billion.