Star Odyssey

Chapter 1972: Karmic Cause, Effect And Kindness

Lu Yin blinked. "Are you talking about the person in that spaceship just now?"

Xuan Jiu quickly nodded and agreed, "Yes!"

He then put on a show of being both sad and angry. "That damn kid didn’t offer any compensation after running into me with a spaceship! It’s despicable! Hurry up and have the Second Nightking release me! I want to chase them down!"

Lu Yin replied, "There’s no need for that. That vessel’s from the Light World. I recognize the emblem on it, so let me just contact Yang Ji. Actually, let me call him right now and find out who it was for you."

Xuan Jiu's face grew pale. "Don't! Lu Yin, you don't understand! When it comes to matters involving divination, it’s absolutely forbidden to let others intervene, as that will mess with the karmic cause and effect. I need to go by myself."

"By yourself? Can you even handle this? We’re talking about the Light World, and Yang Ji has a power level of over 700,000. Don’t worry about it, I’ll give you a hand. We’re friends, and we have a good relationship." Lu Yin smiled at the old man as he enthusiastically offered to help out.

Xuan Jiu really felt like he was about to break down into tears. "Lu Yin, quit messing around! Don’t get involved with my business, I’m begging you! Just let me go—I really don't want to get involved with you, so why don’t we just pretend that we never saw each other, alright?"

Lu Yin pursed his lips. "What’s wrong? We’ve known each other for a long time and have a decent relationship. If I’ve done something to offend you, just tell me so that I can fix things. There’s no need to pretend that we don’t know each other."

Xuan Jiu’s voice grew bitter. "When we last spoke, I clearly told you that anyone who gets involved with you is going to suffer terribly. Their future will be horribly unlucky. You’ve already established a great connection with Destiny, and you’re being watched.”

The old man actually retreated a few steps. “Just telling you about that caused me to vomit blood!"

Lu Yin was left speechless. "What does you vomiting some blood have to do with me?"

"Destiny caused me to vomit blood! You must have drawn Destiny’s attention onto yourself!" Xuan Jiu shouted through gritted teeth.

Lu Yin was somewhat convinced, as this reminded him of what had happened in Astral-10. The Starmaster there had also mentioned that Lu Yin had likely triggered Destiny. Was that what Xuan Jiu was talking about?

"Lu Yin, just let me go! Just act like we don’t know each other at all!" Xuan Jiu was actually begging. He was genuinely afraid, and the more he came to understand Destiny, the more afraid of them the old man became.

Lu Yin could see Xuan Jiu's fear, and he sighed. "Given the fact that we’re friends, if my future’s really so terrible, don’t you want to help me out?"

Xuan Jiu could only say one thing, "I can't help, or else I wouldn’t try to run away from even seeing you."

"When we last spoke, you told me that, even if I don’t give you my fatesand, I absolutely can’t give it to Starsibyl. You also mentioned that some people aren’t what they appear to be. What did you mean?" Lu Yin asked.

Xuan Jiu was momentarily taken aback before being completely stunned. “I actually said that?"

"That’s what you told me."

Xuan Jiu shook his head. "You’re remembering things wrong. There’s no way I would say that. I couldn’t. I’m Starsibyl’s ninth grandpa—how could a grandfather speak of their granddaughter in that way?"

Lu Yin was rendered speechless by this response. It seemed that Xuan Jiu really did regard himself as a grandfather. "Either clearly explain what you said to me, or you can forget about leaving. I’m quite happy to reunite with an old friend, and maybe you can help me figure out something regarding my family, or something like that."action

Xuan Jiu literally trembled at Lu Yin’s response, and a long-forgotten fear welled up in his heart. Anger appeared in the old man’s eyes when he looked at Lu Yin. "Don't try to threaten me! I won’t divine anything of that sort."

Lu Yin placed a hand on Xuan Jiu's shoulder. "My friend, you don’t get to decide if a divination is going to be performed or not."

Xuan Jiu flushed red, and he stared at Lu Yin for a moment before finally dropping his head in a helpless manner. "I should have known that running into you wouldn’t lead to anything good. Boy, you’re building the Tower of the Fifth, which will help hundreds of millions of people, which should improve your karma a bit. However, your personality is still as rotten as ever.”

Lu Yin's eyes lit up. "What do you mean? Will building the Tower of the Fifth make my future less miserable?"

Xuan Jiu looked towards the Cosmic Sea before answering in a conflicted manner, "People talk about karma, but what really is karma? Who can actually calculate karma? It's simply too mysterious. By normal people's understanding, you reap what you sow, and that is karma.

"You’ve managed to conquer both the Outerverse and the Innerverse. You’ve acted on your ambitions and defeated powerful enemies. You’ve become very powerful, but you previously demonstrated no kindness or righteousness. If you faced a dilemma, who would step forward to help you?" Xuan Jiu stared at Lu Yin. "However, things have recently changed. By building this Tower of the Fifth, the entire Fifth Mainland now sees you as a benefactor, and if you face difficulties in the future, many people will be willing to help you. This has practically eliminated the disaster looming in your future."

"Is this from a divination?" Lu Yin was stunned.

Xuan Jiu shook his head. "That’s unnecessary. People will help someone who helps the common man. After all, kindness is relative. While I don't know your real reason for building the Tower of the Fifth, your actions will help many people in the future, and there will be rewards for that."

After delivering these mysterious and profound-sounding words, Xuan Jiu turned around and moved to leave.

Only to be ruthlessly dragged back by the Second Nightking.

An ugly expression appeared on Xuan Jiu’s face as he shot a dirty look at the Second Nightking. "Your future is completely miserable."

A dangerous glint flickered in the Second Nightking’s eyes, and Xuan Jiu's legs went weak from fear. He silently chided himself for being petty, and a hideous smile returned to his face.

Lu Yin stared at Xuan Jiu. He could not tell if the old man was trying to be deceptive or honest, but it sounded that building the Tower of the Fifth would grant Lu Yin even more benefits than he had anticipated.

Educating people was inherently good. Elder Zen was willing to help lay the foundation for the fifth tower, and to a certain extent, he approved of the increase in Lu Yin’s reputation. This was the effect of the Tower of the Fifth. Before, Lu Yin had been worried about the Outerverse being slaughtered, so he had taken the initiative to bear the burden of the war against the Astral Beast Domain, allowing Zen Lao to resolve his grudge against Lu Xiaoxuan's identity.

People should be kind to each other, but as Xuan Jiu had just said, kindness was relative.

Naturally, this did not mean that Lu Yin would change his mind regarding his enemies. He would still kill them all as soon as possible. Still, these recent experiences have given him a sense of righteousness, and he wanted to do his best to act in a more moral manner.

It did not matter what Xuan Jiu said, as Lu Yin simply wanted to live up to his own standards.

"You still haven't answered my question—what did you mean when you mentioned Starsibyl?" Lu Yin’s eyes were fixed onto Xuan Jiu as he repeated the question.

The corner of Xuan Jiu's mouth twitched. "You misheard me."

"I already told you that you can forget about leaving until you answer me," Lu Yin replied. He then suddenly smiled. "You just said that my future isn’t as bleak as it was before, so it shouldn’t be too bad for you to stick with me, right? You just said so yourself."

Xuan Jiu felt quite aggrieved. "Saying so is one thing, but that still doesn’t mean that I want to get involved with you. More importantly, I don’t want to get tangled up with Destiny. Destiny is the most terrifying person to have ever existed."

"Worse than the God of Death I got my inheritance from?" Lu Yin countered.

Xuan Jiu sighed. "You don't understand. Honestly, I don't understand it myself, but only those who explore the same mysteries as me can have any idea of how terrifying Destiny is. How can I explain this? The God of Death was a powerful warrior while Destiny was an inescapable force. You can’t really fight against Destiny, but at the same time you can”

Lu Yin understood nothing that the old man said. "That still doesn’t change anything. You won’t leave until you’ve explained things clearly."

Xuan Jiu was trapped. “Fine, I’ll tell you.”

He let out a long breath, and his voice dropped low as he asked, "Do you know why I left the Starsibyl Sect?"

"You were driven out," Lu Yin answered automatically.

Xuan Jiu glared at him. "I left on my own! There’s something wrong with the Starsibyl Sect."

"What?" Lu Yin asked, instantly solemn.

"I don't know the exact reason, but I do know that they’ve always had a single goal, which is to get in contact with Destiny."

Lu Yin arched a brow, but he remained silent.

Xuan Jiu frowned. "The more one practices divination, the more they’ll come to fear Destiny. It’s impossible to know for sure if Destiny ever truly lived, and I’d guess that Starsibyl told you that she doesn't believe in Destiny."

There was a short pause. "The truth is that the members of the Starsibyl Sect believe in Destiny more than anyone else. In the same way that each of the Seven Courts descended from different Progenitors, the Starsibyl Sect believes that they are Destiny’s inheritors, which makes them incredibly dangerous."

Xuan Jiu was incomparably serious as he stared at Lu Yin. "Destiny’s mere existence is incredibly dangerous, and things can end in an instant if you aren’t careful."

"Don’t you trigger Destiny whenever you perform your own divinations?" Lu Yin felt quite puzzled.

Xuan Jiu rolled his eyes. "When have I ever performed a divination?"

Lu Yin was stunned. While there was nothing wrong with these words, it sounded strange no matter how the old man worded things. Was this any different from damning his own reliability?

"Hey, where's my signboard?" Xuan Jiu suddenly remembered something, and he started panting for breath as he frantically looked around. "It's gone again!"

"You still haven't said why you want me to be so careful of Starsibyl," Lu Yin reminded the old man.

Xuan Jiu answered, "They believe that Destiny chooses their heirs, and you have fatesand. What do you think?"

Lu Yin instantly understood. This was the same as the Specter clan and the God of Death. Even if the Specter clan had made a show of submitting to Lu Yin and treating him as their lord, he did not believe for a moment that an ancient power like the Specter clan would accept some random outsider as their leader. If the Starsibyl Sect similarly believed that those who possessed fatesand were Destiny’s heirs, then it was clear how they would view someone like Lu Yin who possessed so much fatesand. The Starsibyl Sect likely regarded Lu Yin’s fatesand similarly to how the Specter clan viewed Lu Yin’s God of Death’s inheritance.

Xuan Jiu looked up. "Don't overthink things. I don't really know what the Starsibyl Sect’s goal is, as how else would I have been able to survive this long if I did?"

The man looked back at Lu Yin. "I've told you everything that I needed to, so let me go. I won’t see you ever again in my lifetime.”

A smile spread across Lu Yin’s face. “It was very difficult to meet you this time, and yet you want to leave this quickly?"

Xuan Jiu’s mouth fell open, and then he completely lost his temper. “Lu Yin, you said that you’d let me go! Kid, don’t be a fool! Watch out, or else Grandpa Jiu will curse you to death!"

Lu Yin wrapped an arm around Xuan Jiu's shoulders. "Don't say that! Just do me a favor and do a divination on a location. Then, you can leave."

Xuan Jiu glared at Lu Yin. "Don't mess with me!"

"Do you not want to leave?" Lu Yin arched a brow.

Xuan Jiu's heart dropped, and he let out a long sigh. All he could do was agree. “Where is this place? Hurry up and tell me about it. There are some things and places that I can’t see, but I can try if you want me to find your future wife or something like that."

Lu Yin lifted a hand and created an image out of star energy. It was an image of the place where Xia Ji had taken Lu Yin after kidnapping him, the place with the massive pillars. "Find out where this is for me."

Xuan Jiu looked at the image. "Why do you want to know about this place?"

"That’s where Xia Ji took me when he captured me," Lu Yin answered openly.

Xuan Jiu was immediately taken aback. "The Seven Courts’ Semi-Progenitor? He’s actually connected to Gods' Origin?"

"Gods' Origin?" Lu Yin was shocked.

Xuan Jiu nodded. "That place is God’s Origin’s Platform of Trials. You didn’t know?"

Lu Yin stared at the image that he had created for a long time. “Are you sure?"

Xuan Jiu replied, "I've been there before. Each of those pillars is huge, like the size of a mainland, and the situation on top of each one is different, right?"

Lu Yin was surprised. Trials in sects and the wild were pretty common, which meant that they were easy to learn about. Xia Ji should not have taken Lu Yin to such a place, unless being exposed was not a problem for the Semi-Progenitor. However, if that was the case, then why had he knocked Lu Yin out when he was bringing him to and from that place, eventually dumping him in the Cosmic Sea? Xia Ji obviously did not want people to know that he had a connection with Gods' Origin.

In fact, according to Lu Yin’s basic reasoning, Xia Ji should have never exposed his connection to Gods' Origin.