Star Odyssey

Chapter 1836: Test

Lu Yin stared off into the distance. There were more erect pillars that stretched out for as far as he could see, each one topped by a landmass and covered with some sort of natural disaster. He saw storms, flames, tsunamis, and more. There were even some pillars that had black holes devouring everything near the top of the pillars.

Where the hell was he?

He looked down, but he could not see anything below him. The pillars extend deep into the white fog, which seemed to be exactly what it appeared to be: just fog. It was possible that there was land beneath the fog and that he was on a planet, but what planet was this massive?

Lu Yin didn't know where he was. After thinking about it, he flew into the distance. Since he didn't know where he was, he could only go in the direction of the pillars. These pillars were obviously man-made, and perhaps they led to an exit.

***

In the Neoverse, a spacecraft that was packed with people cruised towards the west.

"Is that someone out in open space? Is that- That’s someone from the Interstellar Supreme Court!" One of the occupants exclaimed, quickly drawing the attention of everyone else aboard.

Outside the vessel stood Mu En, Da Qiu, and many other members of the Interstellar Supreme Court. Across from them were the Cosmic Sect’s Yuan Qiong and a seemingly innocuous elder.

The ship’s passengers could not hear a word that was being said.

Outside, an ugly expression painted Yuan Qiong's face. "He had to have been taken by someone who was able to suppress him instantly! They had to at least have been an Envoy, so check into all the possible suspects."

Mu En growled, "They dare to kidnap one of the Hall of Honor’s overseers? This person is clearly not an average Envoy."

Da Qiu was quite anxious. "What could have happened to Alliance Leader Lu?"

Yuan Qiong was actually even more worked up than Da Qiu, as Lu Yin was the sole source of the Cosmic Sect’s greatest inheritance. He had no idea what would happen to the pattern on the sole of Lu Yin’s foot if he died. The sect master glanced over at the old man accompanying him.

Elder Gong’s expression was solemn. It was an expression that Yuan Qiong had never seen before on the man’s face.

"Elder, have you found any clues?" Yuan Qiong asked.

Mu En and everyone else looked over at Elder Gong. Everyone present was aware that the old man was one of the Human Domain’s Semi-Progenitors, which made him one of the most powerful individuals in the universe. They had not expected Lu Yin’s abduction to pull out such a powerful individual.

Elder Gong's eyes suddenly grew more focused. "I can feel the energy from an inner world."

Yuan Qiong's pupils instantly shrank. "A Semi-Progenitor?"

Elder Gong frowned. "I’m not sure."action

He then immediately moved out to visit Mt. Microcosms. Lu Yin possessed a unique status, and Elder Gong needed to discuss this matter with Arch-Elder Zen. This was not only about the Cosmic Sect’s inheritance, but also about the people who stood behind Lu Yin.

Elder Gong somewhat suspected that someone from that place might have come to the Fifth Mainland.

The spacecraft slowly flew by as it continued on towards the west. Many of the occupants were busy discussing what they had seen, as none of them could understand why people from both the Interstellar Supreme Court and the Cosmic Sect had been standing in the middle of nowhere. Regardless, it was fairly obvious that something major had happened.

Within the onlookers, there was an old woman who was staring at her gadget with riveted interest. This woman was Wang Si. She had left the Technocracy, and she had recently learned that Lu Yin had become one of the Hall of Honor’s overseers. This had led her to come to the Neoverse to hunt him down, but she had not found him. Instead, her interest had been drawn to Burial Garden.

Wang Si was browsing through her gadget, soaking up everything related to Burial Garden. "Tea mountains? Could that person be the Eastern Mountains Tea King who used to like raising tea bushes from people? He’s from an incredibly long time ago."

Another video appeared. This one was of a younger girl who kept slapping down on the air with a hand. The video showed her slapping down on a person’s head and smashing it apart. It was a disturbing video to watch.

Wang Si stared at the image of a wandering corpse with a young girl's image. This sight startled the woman. “She seems so familiar! I feel that she might be a powerhouse from the Second Mainland who was mentioned in an ancient record. I believe she had some sort of connection to Progenitor Yōu."

Wang Si continued to browse through the videos and images. There were many posts to go through, and many included information about inheritances that people had found.

There was a video of a massive wandering corpse that pounded the ground, another one of a wandering corpse that made tripod-shaped objects that it then stomped on and smashed, and even a blind wandering corpse that crawled and rolled over the ground. She also saw a video of someone who found a human blood fruit, a strange power vessel, and even an image of a pillar of tribulation crystals.

When it came to mere rumors, there were countless more, and Wang Si even found posts from people who claimed to have seen Progenitor Chen.

This was shocking news to Wang Si. Why would there be anything at all from that particular era in Burial Garden? She was quite certain that she had seen things related to the Second, Third, and Fourth Mainlands in the pictures and videos from Burial Garden, as well as rumors about things connected to Progenitor Chen's time. There were numerous news of things related to the ancient era.

Of everything that Wang Si saw, the Eastern Mountains Tea King was one of the oldest.

When Wang Si closed her gadget, she was far more subdued than before. She had believed that the Forsaken Land was a worthless place, but it looked like the truth was far different from that. This Burial Garden was clearly hiding some secrets, and if there were any inheritances related to those legendary figures, it would be a waste to leave them for the residents of the Forsaken Land.

It was time for the four ruling powers to descend upon the Forsaken Land. The primeval surnames may have abandoned the place, but the hatred and hostility that this place carried for the primeval surnames was something that could not be allowed to continue. On top of that, how could such trash deserve those ancient inheritances? After thinking for a bit, Wang Si suddenly vanished.

…

In another place in the universe, the master of the Starsibyl Sect, the man who Lu Yin referred to as Senior Zhu, wrote the word “Murkiness” in the air in front of himself.

"I’m supposed to perform a divination on this word?" Senior Zhu muttered to himself as he stared at the character and his eyes grew unfocused.

Before long, his body trembled, and the word “Murkiness” burned into the void. “Why did I see that one?"

…

Lu Yin had no idea how long he traveled for, but he finally landed atop a pillar that was riddled with spatial cracks. Each one was dangerous enough to slice through an Enlighter.

He had no idea how many pillars he had passed by, but there was still no end in sight. All he could do was grit his teeth and continue on.

His body flew through the air as he stepped forward, continuing in the same direction that he had been traveling.

Suddenly, a blurry figure appeared up in front of Lu Yin. His expression changed drastically, and he instantly froze. "You- you’re all right?"

The blurred figure stood facing Lu Yin and replied in a cold tone, "That was a potent poison, but still too weak. So, one of the glorious Lu family’s descendants fell so low as to use a method as despicable as poison. You’ve disgraced your ancestors."

As the figure spoke, they raised an arm and dropped it down in the exact same manner as before. Also as before, there was no attempt to suppress Lu Yin’s star energy.

Lu Yin dodged as he shouted, "What do you want? Who are you?"

There was no way his attacker was actually someone from the Perennial World despite them repeatedly referring to Lu Yin as Lu Xiaoxuan. It was clear this person wanted Lu Yin to believe that they were from the Perennial World, but they clearly had no idea that Wang Si was already in the Fifth Mainland. Since a Semi-Progenitor had already been sent to hunt Lu Yin down, there was no reason for the Perennial World to send anyone else. Of course, it was still possible that this blurry figure was someone from the Perennial World, just not from one of the four ruling powers, but that possibility was beyond remote.

Kui Luo had used Wang Yun to get to the Fifth Mainland, and after that, it was guaranteed that the four ruling powers had locked down the passage that led from the Perennial World to Sky Creation Academy. It was practically impossible for anyone not from one of the four ruling powers to have made it to the Fifth Mainland.

However, if Lu Yin’s attacker was not someone from the Perennial World, but they still knew of his identity as Lu Xiaoxuan, then there was only one explanation. They must have learned of this through Arch-Elder Zen.

Lu Yin believed that the First Protector would not say a word without Arch-Elder Zen’s consent, and Arch-Elder Zen would only tell his peers about Lu Yin’s identity, which were the Fifth Mainland’s other Semi-Progenitors.

Any Semi-Progenitor could easily suppress Lu Yin, and it would also take them no more than a few days to deal with a poison as potent as Samaritan’s Tears. In fact, that was something that only a Semi-Progenitor could possibly do.

At the moment, the Human Domain had six Semi-Progenitors: Arch-Elder Zen, Highsage Grandmaster, Elder Gong, Tombkeeper, Xia Ji, but Lu Yin didn’t know the last person. He had forgotten to ask about the final Semi-Progenitor’s identity, but could his attacker be that person? Was this the Semi-Progenitor that Lu Yin had never heard of?

Actually, there was also another possibility. Lu Yin stared at the blurry figure. Could this person actually be Xia Ji?

Out of the Human Domain’s Semi-Progenitors, the only one who viewed Lu Yin with any sort of hostility was Xia Ji. While others might not know precisely when Lu Yin left the Honor Zone, Xia Ji absolutely could have known, as he could have found out from Nan Yuan.

In fact, as Lu Yin and Director Zhi had been leaving the Honor Zone, Director Zhi had been speaking to Nan Yuan.

Lu Yin’s heart fell as his mind raced. If he was really facing Xia Ji, then Lu Yin’s luck was much worse than he had believed. He had no idea where he was, and no one would even know if he died. A Semi-Progenitor could easily deal with Lu Yin, and there was absolutely nothing that Lu Yin could do about it.

The blurry figure clearly had no intention of speaking with Lu Yin, and they merely raised a hand and swung it down.

Lu Yin again evaded the attack. If his attacker truly was Xia Ji, then why attack at all? Because of the overseers’ council? That was impossible. What else could there be?

Lu Yin’s mind raced as the sharp attack shot out once again.

Why was this person not simply killing Lu Yin? Why were they letting him resist?

Suddenly, Lu Yin figured it out: the Cosmic Art. Xia Ji was trying to force Lu Yin to use the Cosmic Art.

The war that had ravaged the Cosmic Sea was the result of countless years of Xia Ji's planning. He had succeeded in stealing the Skystar Jade Wall, but the man’s ultimate goal was the pattern that had originally been a part of that treasure. That pattern was the most vital part of Progenitor Chen’s inheritance. However, despite all the time that Xia Ji had possessed the Skystar Jade Wall for, he had received nothing from it at all. During this same time, Lu Yin’s status within the Cosmic Sect had completely transformed, and his progress in cultivating the Cosmic Art had been exceptional.

The Xia family had always kept an eye on Lu Yin. Also, Xia Ji had escaped from the Great Eastern Alliance. Before that, he had attacked Lu Yin within Burial Garden, and Lu Yin had attacked by using the Celestial Sword Technique to unleash the Fourteenth Sword. Xia Yi had definitely noticed the attack, and he had most likely reported the matter to Xia Ji after returning home. This would have piqued Xia Ji’s curiosity and sparked some questions in the Semi-Progenitor’s mind.

This was what had most likely led to Lu Yin’s current situation. Xia Ji was trying to force Lu Yin to use the Cosmic Art so that the old man could determine whether Lu Yin possessed Progenitor Chen’s inheritance.

Lu Yin kept dodging the blurry figure’s attacks. If this person really was Xia Ji, then Lu Yin could not allow himself to use the Cosmic Art. Wait, that was not quite right. If Lu Yin refused to use the Cosmic Art, wouldn’t that just prolong the current situation? If Lu Yin wanted proof that he was being attacked by Xia Ji, then he could find out by using the Cosmic Art.

Lu Yin kept avoiding the attacks as he slowly retreated. If this person truly was Xia Ji, then he would never actually kill Lu Yin. The fight had suddenly become a battle of patience.

Lu Yin continuously retreated, and the blurry figure never let up on their attacks. Lu Yin kept moving along the pillars that continued out of sight.

The blurry figure was in no hurry, as there was no way for Lu Yin to escape from the current situation.

One day. Two days. Three days… Ten days.

Lu Yin was breathing heavily. He had managed to evade the blurry figure’s attacks for ten days, but he was reaching his limits. Fortunately, the last stone pillar was finally in sight, and past it, Lu Yin saw buildings.

He became excited and he rushed towards the buildings.

The blurry figure suddenly appeared in Lu Yin’s path. "All of your efforts mean nothing. Why don’t you start again."

Lu Yin's eyes suddenly widened, and 10,000 stars instantly appeared around his body, covering a vast area as they started to revolve around his body.

The blurry figure froze and stopped moving for a bit while staring at Lu Yin’s Cosmic Art.

This person had never once stopped attacking Lu Yin no matter what Lu Yin had said or done, but at this moment, they finally stopped.