At this point, the number of rune lines within the gun was close to Karthika's own. Karthika was an Enlighter, and his power was mainly reflected in his tamed beasts. Even so, he was still a bona fide Enlighter.
This gun already had the power to threaten an Enlighter, but it still needed to be upgraded to the same level as the Money Bomb, which could instantly kill Enlighters.
It had already been upgraded ten times, and the eleventh upgrade had consumed more than 4,000 star essence. Lu Yin's scalp went numb, as it was too expensive. 4,000 star essence was equivalent to four billion star crystals, and this was only the most basic exchange rate. Four billion star crystals could not even be exchanged for 4,000 star essence.
If this amount of money was converted into universal currency, it would be enough to cover the Great Yu Empire's military expenses for an entire year. In other words, Lu Yin had casually used up an entire year's worth of the Great Yu Empire's military expenses.
"Fortunately, I didn't count on the Great Yu Empire to make money. Otherwise, even if I emptied the entire empire, I wouldn't be able to upgrade it even once."
Lu Yin sighed as he looked at the number of rune lines within the gun. No, it still wasn't enough. He needed to upgrade it even more. Lu Yin gritted his teeth and threw in another 6,000 star essence to upgrade the gun once more, but it still wasn't enough. Each attack was definitely powerful enough to threaten an Enlighter, but it still wasn't enough to instantly kill Karthika.
The thirteenth upgrade cost Lu Yin more than 10,000 star essence, and his hands were trembling. At this point, the number of rune lines within the gun had already reached an enormous level. Even if his eyes weren't filled with star energy, Lu Yin still felt terrified when he touched the gun. Each attack's power was equivalent to an upgraded Money Bomb, and if he caught Karthika off guard, he would be able to instantly kill him.
This was the most cost-effective upgrade. A single Money Bomb had cost 3,300 star essence to upgrade to this level, and twenty attacks were equivalent to twenty Money Bombs. If he wanted to upgrade all of them, he would need more than 60,000 star essence. At this point, he had spent a total of 27,000 star essence to upgrade the gun, which was a huge savings.
He had no more money to upgrade the gun. Lu Yin was speechless when he realized that he was out of money again. He only had 2,000 star essence left.
Since when had 2,000 star essence become the standard for being poor?
He remembered that he hadn't even earned that much when he had robbed the Blackbeard Pirates, but it was still too little for what he wanted to upgrade.
However, this money should be enough to upgrade his formcast model. When he'd first upgraded his four-stage formcast model to a five-stage one, it had only cost him 300,000 star crystals.
He took out a formcast model from his body and placed it on the upper screen. He then tossed in a hundred star essence, which was equivalent to ten million star crystals, which should be enough.
However, reality was completely different from what he had expected. The formcast model had only dropped a little, and it was almost invisible.
Lu Yin's eyes widened. How was that possible?
Was it that difficult to raise it from five times to six times?
Hai Qiqi had mentioned that the Sea King was the one who had created the six-stage formcast model. At the time, he had guessed that perhaps only an Emissary could create a six-stage formcast model, but the difference was too great. The difference was already more than thirty times that of a normal formcast model, yet the difference was so small. Could it be that there was a fundamental difference between a six-stage formcast model and a five-stage formcast model?
Only Envoys could create them. If a five-stage formcast model was considered a rare treasure among the major factions, then a six-stage formcast model was considered a peerless item that many factions did not possess.
Lu Yin suddenly thought of the seven-stage formcast model, and now that he thought about it, it was no wonder that Hai Qiqi's reaction had been so exaggerated. There might not even be a seven-stage formcast model in the entire universe.
He put the formcast model away, as he did not have enough money to upgrade it. He would need at least 10,000 star essence to upgrade it, which was too ridiculous.
After spending so much money to upgrade the gun, the universal armor, and the Money Bomb, Lu Yin's confidence had swelled to the point where he felt like he could challenge an Enlighter in a one-on-one battle. It was time to deal with this hidden danger.
He walked out of King Zishan's palace and took a step forward. His body appeared in midair, and with another step, he was outside the Huo family's residence.
Outside the Huo family's residence, Lu Yin coincidentally saw Huo Xiaoling and her younger sister, Huo Xiaoxiao. There was also a young man who was politely speaking to Huo Xiaoling. Huo Xiaoling was annoyed, and Lu Yin's appearance startled the three.
"Who's there?"
The young man stared at Lu Yin warily, and with a wave of his hand, a dozen cultivators immediately surrounded him.
Lu Yin's brows rose as he looked at Huo Xiaoling.
Huo Xiaoling looked at Lu Yin in astonishment, but she did not say anything. Instead, she pulled Huo Xiaoxiao back.
Lu Yin felt strange.
The young man glared at Lu Yin. "Who are you, kid?
Don't you know that flying is prohibited in the capital? "
Lu Yin looked past the young man and said to Huo Xiaoling, "I'm looking for your father."
Huo Xiaoling did not say anything, which angered the young man. "Kid, I haven't even seen Uncle Huo yet. You-" Before he could finish speaking, he was pulled back by a cultivator behind him and whispered into his ear. The young man's expression changed, and he looked at Lu Yin in fear. He slowly knelt down. "Reg- Your Highness."
Lu Yin waved a hand. "Go."
The young man felt as if he had been pardoned, and he quickly led the other cultivators away.
Huo Xiaoling felt that it was a pity, but she still took a few steps forward and whispered to Lu Yin, "Your Highness, please follow me into the residence."
Lu Yin nodded.
Huo Xiaoxiao was pulled along by Huo Xiaoling, and she looked at Lu Yin curiously with bright eyes.
Lu Yin followed beside Huo Xiaoling and entered the Huo family's residence. "Is that your suitor?"
Huo Xiaoling was apprehensive. She had purposely not exposed Lu Yin's identity in hopes that the person would offend Lu Yin and be punished. She had also used Lu Yin, so she whispered, "I'm sorry, Your Highness."
Lu Yin was amused. "It's fine. Let's go."
The moment they entered the Huo family's residence, Huo Qingshan sensed Lu Yin's aura, and he had a strange expression. Whenever Lu Yin had matters to attend to, he would send Huo Qingshan to meet him instead of coming to the Huo family's residence himself.
The current Lu Yin was completely different from the Lu Yin of the past. Back when Undying Yushan had died and several relatives were fighting for power, Huo Qingshan had thought that whoever wanted to control the Great Yu Empire would have to have a good relationship with the Huo family. At that time, Huo Qingshan had taken a liking to Lu Yin and even wanted to marry Huo Xiaoling to strengthen their relationship. Now, however, he no longer dared to harbor such thoughts. Lu Yin had even killed an Enlighter, so Huo Qingshan's strength was not even worth mentioning.
To the current Great Yu Empire, Lu Yin was equivalent to an Enlighter.
Not long after they entered the residence, Huo Qingshan appeared and bowed to Lu Yin. Lu Yin raised a hand to stop him. "Uncle Huo, please forgive my intrusion."
Huo Qingshan smiled. "Your Highness is too serious. It's an honor for the Huo family to have you personally visit us."
Lu Yin nodded and smiled as he looked around.
Huo Qingshan had Huo Xiaoling take Huo Xiaoxiao away while he stayed by Lu Yin's side. "Your Highness, may I know why you've come?"
Lu Yin smiled. "It's nothing. I'm just curious about a question that I'd like to ask Uncle Huo."
"Please ask, Your Highness," Huo Qingshan hurriedly replied, his attitude extremely respectful. It wasn't just him; in the entire Great Yu Empire, whether it was a Cruiser or a Hunter, was nothing more than an ant in front of Lu Yin. This was something that had been decided the moment Karthika had been killed. They no longer had an advantage in terms of cultivation, and facing Lu Yin was no longer like facing a junior.
Lu Yin raised a hand and used his star energy to draw a symbol. It was an azure sphere with a pair of wings.
The moment he saw the symbol, Huo Qingshan's expression changed. Lu Yin suddenly pulled out his gun and pointed it at Huo Qingshan's head. "Uncle Huo, tell me. What does this symbol mean?"
Huo Qingshan stared blankly at Lu Yin. "Your Highness, this … this subject does not know."
"Is that so?" Lu Yin's gaze was icy. "I can kill Karthika, and I can kill you as well. I remember that the Huo family has very few members. If you die, then there won't be many people left in the Huo family. Do you think that I'll let them off?"
Huo Qingshan's face went deathly pale, as he could feel the power of the gun. The moment it was aimed at him, he felt as if his entire body had been encased in ice. This gun had the power to instantly kill him. After thinking about it for a while, Huo Qingshan sighed. "Your Highness, how do you know about this symbol?"
Lu Yin's gaze was piercingly cold. "I comprehended a domain."
Huo Qingshan's body trembled, and he dejectedly replied, "Yes, a domain allows you to see everything. I underestimated Your Highness."
Lu Yin did not speak, and he merely stared at Huo Qingshan cautiously. With his current strength, even Huo Qingshan would not be able to kill him easily. He did not even need to wear his universal armor to threaten Huo Qingshan.
"This symbol is called Hidden Earth, and it represents Earth," Huo Qingshan said.
Lu Yin was stunned. He had thought of many possibilities, and he had even considered the possibility that this symbol represented some power in the Innerverse. The Huo family had been sent by an Innerverse power to monitor the Great Yu Empire, but he had never imagined that this symbol actually represented Earth.
An azure sphere. Yes, Earth was an azure sphere.
"Your Highness, I don't know why you changed your surname to Lu, but Lu is a primeval surname. Do you know what the primeval surname carries?" Huo Qingshan looked at Lu Yin seriously.
Lu Yin frowned. "What does it have to do with the primeval surnames?"
Huo Qingshan's response was complicated. "There are many people on Earth with the primeval surname. Even though it's already legal, this surname still carries heavy shackles and an ancient agreement."
"Our Huo family originates from Earth."
Lu Yin was not surprised. This symbol represented Earth, so it was normal for Huo Qingshan to originate from Earth.
"I don't know how much time has passed, but in the distant past, perhaps tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years ago, this symbol already existed when a certain civilization on Earth was wiped out. What accompanied this symbol was an ancient agreement." Huo Qingshan solemnly looked at Lu Yin and continued, "The Primeval Surname Alliance."
Lu Yin's expression changed, and he stared blankly at Huo Qingshan.
"Earth's human civilization was wiped out several times, and no one knew why. It was only when a cultivator from one of the erased civilizations accidentally saw this symbol on Jupiter that he realized what it meant. That cultivator went into hiding, and by the time he reappeared, that civilization had already been wiped out."
Huo Qingshan paused for a moment before continuing, "Even though the civilization was wiped out, the spark of humanity did not disappear. It was just that the civilization was pushed back to the primitive era, and the surnames did not disappear either. They were branded into the blood and soul, until one day, the primeval surnames reappeared, accompanied by cultivators with extremely high innate gifts. Then, countless years later, the civilization was wiped out again, and the cycle continued endlessly.