Chapter 1184: A Familiar Stranger

Chapter 1184: A Familiar Stranger

Grand Marshal Shui Chuanxiao had deliberately setup Endless Weave to suffer a defeat in order to create an opportunity for the proposal for a universal network to be resubmitted. CyNet had eventually won the bid for the project, becoming the largest network company in the entire universe in one fell swoop.

The reason behind their success was not just the high price that they had paid, as over the many years, they had also set up networks for various powers throughout the universe. Thus, they were able to instantly merge all of the various networks together. It could even be said that they had predicted this turn of events long ago and that they had merely been biding their time.

When Lu Yin asked En Ya about this matter, she had said that many people from CyNet had reached out to Grand Marshal Shui Chuanxiao, and the two parties had come to an agreement. As a result, Shui Chuanxiao had deliberately lost in Endless Weave.

Lu Yin had always been curious about CyNet. This company had seen a possibility and then found the right person. This was not merely a matter of vision, as what could have possibly convinced them that Shui Chuanxiao had the abilities to help them? What was the source of their belief that, one day, the entire universe would be connected by a single network? These questions had triggered Lu Yin’s curiosity.

“By the way, how many Honor points do you have?” Highsage Wudi suddenly asked.

Lu Yin replied, “Twenty.”

Highsage Wudi nodded. “That’s enough. Average people aren’t even allowed to enter the CyNet Great World, but twenty Honor points will get you in.”

After saying that, the man set a hand on Lu Yin’s shoulder as their two figures flickered. Lu Yin did not move, but when he looked around, they were in an enclosed space, and there was a human figure close by them.

Highsage Wudi said, “Head on in—just walk straight through there. I’m going to go and pressure the nine overseers a bit.”

Lu Yin nodded and walked towards the figure. Before long, the space in front of Lu Yin rippled, and he kicked off before disappearing.

Lu Yin had initially assumed that the CyNet World would be a technologically advanced realm. After all, it was the headquarters of the universe’s premier network company—it made sense for it to be full of cutting edge technology. But upon entering, Lu Yin found that his assumptions were completely wrong, as he was greeted by a beautiful scenery reminiscent of a verdant paradise.

Right after he entered this world, a vertical curtain of light swept past him, which then turned green. Lu Yin passed through the light curtain without any problems and moved on.

He was surrounded by beautiful mountains and surging rivers. The only building in sight was a tower off in the distance that rose high into the clouds.

The Arbitration World had only contained a starry sky, but the CyNet World had both a ground and a sky. Lu Yin instantly felt the difference, as it was a difference between worlds. According to his estimation, the CyNet World was only about as large as a single star in the Arbitration World.

He did not immediately unleash his domain to better observe his surroundings and instead simply flew towards the tower.

As Lu Yin made his way forward, other people occasionally passed him by, and although they looked at him with clear curiosity in their eyes, no one asked him any questions.

Instead of a large world, CyNet World seemed to be more like a confined space. Neither the Arbitration Great World nor the CyNet Great World had very many people in them. Thus, it did not seem accurate to call either one a world.

Suddenly, a white figure appeared off in the distance that flew past Lu Yin, shooting towards the south.

Lu Yin had not seen that many people in the CyNet Great World, but he had still seen around ten. He had not been overly concerned at first, but after seeing the white figure, his attention snapped onto that person. There was an extremely suspicious gnawing at his heart, as that person felt very familiar.

The white figure was a veiled woman, and even though Lu Yin was unable to see her face, he felt that her eyes were familiar. For this reason alone, he was unable to stop staring at her.

With his cultivation level, Lu Yin was very confident in his exceptional memory, so he was certain that he had seen those eyes somewhere else before. They looked familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time.

Lu Yin trusted his intuition, and he felt that he must have seen the woman before.

With this thought, he chased after the woman, but not by flying, as that would be too conspicuous. Instead, he followed after the woman on the ground

She was quite strong, and she was even a Cruiser. However, she could not compare to Lu Yin and was completely unable to sense him.

The woman in white flew through the sky for more than half an hour before she eventually landed in some nearby mountains, where she instantly disappeared.

Lu Yin passed over the mountain peak with a single leap. He looked down as he passed over, and the sight caused his pupils to shrink as his expression became quite interesting.

This mountain peak was a caldera, and in the center of the depression, there was a hot spring. As Lu Yin passed by overhead, there were two women within the hot spring, and despite the thick steam, Lu Yin could still see a great deal of white skin and black hair. The tantalizing scene filled Lu Yin’s mind for a moment, but then he saw the woman’s face. Bai Xue?

Lu Yin froze. Is that…?

Within the hot spring, one of the women’s expressions became terrifying, and her face snapped over to look at the peak of the mountain. “Impudent!” she shouted before slapping a hand into the water of the hot spring and sending a flurry of droplets shooting through the sky at Lu Yin. The water froze in midair, taking on the form of an ice-white sword that stabbed at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin was surprised by the sheer viciousness of this sword technique, and he raised a hand and flicked a finger in response, his overwhelming power shattering the ice sword.

Despite its keen edge, the sharp ice sword was not able to get close to Lu Yin.

“Sorry! It’s just a misunderstanding!” Lu Yin hurriedly tried to explain himself as he turned around.

The two women who had been in the water emerged and dressed themselves while standing above the water. One seized a long sword formed from ice condensed out of the air. The sword was then swung towards Lu Yin. As the attack approached him, the void froze over as ice flowers bloomed and spread out. Lu Yin was surprised yet again. This sword?

Bang!

The woman’s sword was stopped by his domain, and despite her exceptional sword skills, she was unable to push through Lu Yin’s domain. However, Lu Yin had never expected his domain to actually start freezing.

The woman’s ice possessed such an unfathomable strength that it was actually able to freeze his domain.

Lu Yin’s expression changed, and he unleashed the power of his domain, shattering the ice.

The woman wielding the sword stared at Lu Yin with cold eyes, but then, surprise suddenly spread across her face. “It’s you?”

Lu Yin also stared back at the woman. As he looked at her, she did indeed have a familiar look. Although he had initially thought that she was Bai Xue, her appearance was merely extremely similar, not identical. Bai Xue was cold, but she also possessed a soft beauty. This woman was even colder than Bai Xue, though her appearance was also more stunning.

Suddenly, Lu Yin thought of someone. “Are you Bai Qian?”

The woman put away her sword, her expression still cold. “Why are you here?”

“Are you really Bai Qian? Bai Xue’s sister?” Lu Yin was surprised.

While staring at Bai Qian, the other woman spoke up, asking, “Is this someone you know?”

Bai Qian indifferently replied, “I’ve seen him before, but I don’t know him.”

Lu Yin was surprised, as she really was Bai Qian. This woman was a legend, as she had been the first Earthling to reach Neptune, and she had also discovered Nightking Qingyu and had then taken him back to Earth. If not for her, Earth might never have suffered through its apocalypse, let alone everything that had followed after.

It could be said that this woman had changed the lives of countless people.

Lu Yin still remembered when Bai Xue had told him that while her sister, Bai Qian, had a face that could cause a rainbow to lose its color, she was also a woman who had a strong heart and possessed a burning ambition to rule.

This woman should have left Earth towards the end of its apocalypse after receiving an invitation from Starsybil. At that time, she had already become an Explorer, and she had surpassed all of her peers from Earth.

Lu Yin had actually forgotten about this woman, and he had merely assumed that she had most likely died among the stars. He had never expected to run into her at all, let alone in this place. The was the CyNet Great World located within the Neoverse’s Hall of Honor. How had this woman actually managed to reach this stage?

“Why are you here?” Lu Yin asked once again. His curiosity was too strong, and he wanted to find out what this woman had been through.

Bai Qian stared at Lu Yin with cold eyes. “This is not a reason for you to peep.”

Lu Yin felt embarrassed. “It was an accident, an accident!”

“You have a domain, so how was this an accident?” The woman next to Bai Qian looked at Lu Yin with an inquisitive expression. Her voice was questioning, but her eyes were not as harsh as Bai Qian’s. Instead, this woman looked toward Lu Yin with an intense curiosity and some ineffable intention.

Lu Yin explained, “A domain can’t be used indiscriminately, as that would be rude.”

“But it’s not rude to peep?” The woman smirked.

Lu Yin pursed his lips.

“Why did you come here?” Bai Qian asked coldly, still staring at Lu Yin.

“I was captured by the Neohuman Alliance. After I escaped, I was judged by the Chief Justice, and I was judged to be a free man. After that, I wanted to come here to CyNet to call the Outerverse,” Lu Yin explained.

Bai Qian became calm and no longer asked any questions.

“Lu Yin—I know you,” the woman beside Bai Qian spoke up.

Lu Yin looked at the woman, curious. “And you are…?”

The woman smiled. “Zi Jing. You’ll need to remember this name.”

“Why?” Lu Yin was stunned.

The woman’s brows rose. “You need to know who you’ve seen. If I’m unable to get married in the future, I’ll have to come looking for you.”

Lu Yin let out a dry laugh. This was not his first time being in such a situation, as he had once fallen into Ming Yan’s bathtub, and he had also seen Wendy Yushan once when using his domain. That experience had caused Wendy to warn Lu Yin not to use his domain to look for others, particularly so that he would avoid another such situation. However, he had not expected to repeat such an experience due to heeding her warning, and he did not know if his luck was good or bad.

This thought made him recall what he had very clearly seen back then. It had been a very beautiful sight…

No—the more he thought about it, the more he would be unable to resist the thought. Lu Yin quickly changed the subject and looked over at Bai Qian. “Why are you here? There’s been no news from you for so many years that Bai Xue even thought you were dead.”

Bai Qian’s expression twisted as complicated emotions appeared for a moment, but her icy demeanor quickly returned. “Is she okay?”

Lu Yin shook his head. “She hasn’t been doing well. First, she was manipulated by some people, and then she disappeared. No one even knows where she is now.”

“Where did she go missing?” Bai Qian felt puzzled.

Lu Yin looked at Zi Jing and stayed silent.

Zi Jing smiled. “This seems to be some sort of secret. You two talk.”

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she looked back at Lu Yin. “I can read fortunes.”

Lu Yin was confused. “What do you mean?” His first thought was of the Starsybil Sect.

Zi Jing laughed. “I predict that you’ll need to ask me for something soon.”

Lu Yin was taken aback, but Zi Jing just smiled at him and left.

Lu Yin’s eyes flashed and looked over at Bai Qian. “What’s her relationship with CyNet Network?”

Bai Qian indifferently replied, “The boss.”

“The boss? Her?” Lu Yin exclaimed.

Bai Qian frowned. “Where did Bai Xue go missing?”

Lu Yin casually answered, “Jupiter.”

He was still looking in the direction where Zi Jing left, as she had gone towards the high tower.

That woman was the boss of CyNet? At such a young age? How could she have built up such a mammoth company that it actually needed to be overseen by the Hall of Honor itself?

Perhaps she was not actually that young and just had a youthful appearance. There were many such people throughout the universe.

Bai Qian stared at Lu Yin. “Jupiter? She went to Jupiter?”

Lu Yin nodded. “She and Zhang Dingtian were both sucked into Jupiter. I wanted to bring them out, but I couldn’t get in.”

Bai Qian fell deep into thought.

Lu Yin temporarily put his doubts regarding Zi Jing’s position aside, and he looked straight at Bai Qian. “Where the hell have you been all these years? From what I was told, you left with Starsybil’s invitation, right?”

Bai Qian lightly replied, “I went to the Astral Combat Academy.”

Lu Yin was surprised by this. “The Astral Combat Academy? Which one?”

“Astral-1,” Bai Qian indifferently replied.

Lu Yin had to ask, “Then why did I never see you?”

“I had poor grades, was weak, and blended into the crowd,” Bai Qian said indifferently. She then returned to the ground. “I want to keep enjoying the hot springs. Do you plan to keep watching?”