Star Odyssey

Chapter 1911: Skyraiser City

Worried that Lu Yin would not believe him, Qian Zou quickly shared the tale of how he had been chased by someone, hidden in an auction house, and then picked up Inverse Step.

However, Lu Yin did not believe the story. If this Inverse Step that Qian Zou used was the same as what Progenitor Chen's clone had used, then it was as priceless as a secret technique. Naturally, it would also be difficult to learn. Lu Yin had learned Extremes Must Be Reversed from a jade slip as well, and he was similarly unable to teach anyone else the technique.

However, just because Lu Yin could not learn the technique from Qian Zou did not mean that he would give up on obtaining the movement technique. One of Progenitor Chen’s clones had only used this movement technique, but it had been able to bypass Lu Yin’s Knowing realm of Truesight by creating a chaotic area of time and space with the technique. The application of a movement technique in this manner had stunned Lu Yin, and he would not abandon his attempts to learn it.

"Take me to that auction house," Lu Yin ordered.

Qian Zou was caught off guard. "Seventh Bro, Inverse Step really isn’t anything special. It just looks weird while allowing a user to move faster. Is that really worth going all the way to the Neoverse?"

There was no way that Lu Yin would answer truthfully. "There are some other things that I need to take care of in the Neoverse, so this just happens to coincide with my plans.”

Lu Yin suddenly glanced over at Sapling. There was no way he could take the tree with him. Maybe it would be best to send it back to the big tree, as the big tree could at least keep Sapling safe.

It was not long before Lu Yin and Qian Zou were on their way towards the Cosmic Sea while being escorted by the Second Nightking. As for Sapling, Lu Yin had put it back in the big tree’s canopy before leaving.

Only Semi-Progenitors were more powerful than the Second Nightking, so the trio flashed through space with a speed that left Qian Zou doubting himself.

Back when Lu Yin had been taken across the Cosmic Sea by Highsage Shenwei, he had had the same reaction.

This was the strength of a top powerhouse, and distance lost all meaning to such experts.

Mister Mu had instantly sent Lu Yin from Tempest Flowzone to Zhengyang Flowzone, which was a distance that spanned half of the Innerverse. Such an accomplishment was mind-blowing to ordinary cultivators.

Qian Zou's understanding of the universe was being rewritten as they traveled.

…

There was a roaming city in the Neoverse that was known as Skyraiser City, and it was home to thousands of auction houses, which made the city famous throughout the Neoverse.

Skyraiser City was the metropolis with the most auction houses in the entire Fifth Mainland. Every day, countless people brought items to the city to be auctioned off. Regardless of whether one was trying to sell items openly or on the black market, anything could be sold. Additionally, the prices there were also the highest while the commissions were absurdly low. This was because of the fierce competition between the numerous auction houses.

At the moment, Lu Yin and Qian Zou were wandering about Skyraiser City, taking in the city’s unique atmosphere.

Skyraiser City was bigger than any of the other drifting cities that Lu Yin had seen before, filled with densely packed buildings, and also had an impressive population. When Lu Yin first arrived, he had discovered that there were no less than twenty Enlighters present with most of them in the tallest buildings in the city. On top of that, in the city’s center, there was actually an Envoy.

Envoys were rare powerhouses even in the Neoverse. While this particular Envoy did not appear to be overly powerful by the runes that Lu Yin saw, they were still an Envoy. Given that such a powerhouse was in charge, Skyraiser City absolutely qualified to rank among the top few drifting cities in the Neoverse.

Countless people were on the streets trying to hawk something or other, and it was not long before a small auction was being held. It was quite normal to see this happen in the streets of Skyraiser City, as the city had a unique affinity for auctions.

"The largest auction house in the city is known as Gazemore Auction House. The owner is City Master Qing, who’s also the city master. It’s said that City Master Qing’s extremely powerful and that even the masters of the 3,000 hidden worlds in the Honor Zone view him with a great deal of respect. Any powerhouse who visits Skyraiser City makes sure to show him respect and visit him personally." Qian Zou gave an introduction to the city, as he was quite familiar with the place.

"Look, Seventh Bro, that’s Gazemore Auction House, the tallest building in Skyraiser City!”

"Seventh Bro, that’s Skyraiser City’s restaurant alley. You can find countless, unimaginable ingredients there, many of which have been bought from soldiers who fight at the border warfront against the Astral Beast Domain.”

"Seventh Bro! Seventh Bro! Look quick! An Azure Mansion!" Qian Zou excitedly shouted.

Lu Yin was surprised. What? Azure Mansion?

Off in the distance, a building constructed in an antique style descended from outer space. It was an Azure Mansion. These buildings drifted through the Neoverse were another major attraction, and each one of them drew in countless stares wherever they went. The most attractive feature of each building was their Flower Queen.

Lu Yin had not expected an Azure Mansion to appear at Skyraiser City.

There were only six Azure Mansions in the entire Neoverse, and this one should be the building that roamed about the Neoverse’s northern regions since Skyraiser City also belonged to the northern regions.

The Azure Mansion’s arrival instantly caught the attention of countless people who turned to watch. In particular, they were hoping to see the Flower Queen appear. The sudden commotion that broke out was so intense that the city guards appeared in order to maintain a sense of order.

"We’re so lucky, Seventh Bro! Why don't we go visit the Azure Mansion?" Qian Zou looked quite eager. If he was on his own, the best that he could manage was sneaking into an Azure Mansion to obtain a bit of information, but he would never try anything in one of those places. Someone like him could not afford to offend such a powerful organization in the Neoverse. However, at the moment, an incredibly influential person was standing next to Qian Zou. Forget Azure Mansion—if Lu Yin revealed himself, even the master of Skyraiser City would make a personal appearance to greet Lu Yin. How could the Flower Queen herself not appear to wait on Lu Yin if he visited the Azure Mansion?

Qian Zou grew more and more excited the longer he thought about this. He really wanted to convince Lu Yin to make the visit.

Lu Yin pursed his lips. Azure Mansion actually belonged to him, and Ming Yan already passed all of the profits from all six buildings onto Lu Yin. "I’m not going."

Qian Zou was crestfallen. "Seventh Bro, Azure Mansion’s not a filthy establishment. They’re actually quite virtuous! Visiting that place can cleanse the soul and improve one's morality. It’s also possible to meet with many influential people in there.”

"Are you saying that you can run into Envoys there?" Lu Yin asked.

Qian Zou was left speechless.

"Hurry up and find the auction house. I don't have much time to waste on this," Lu Yin urged.

Qian Zou shrugged. "The auction house has already closed down, and I have no idea who bought it, so I need to go check into that."

"Hurry up!" Lu Yin was getting annoyed.

Azure Mansion’s arrival at Skyraiser City drew even more visitors than normal to the drifting city. The arrival of an Azure Mansion could lure people anywhere, let alone a popular destination like Skyraiser City.

At the center of Skyraiser City stood two large buildings that occupied a massive portion of the city. One was the city master’s estate while the other was the Gazemore Auction House. They both belonged to the same person.

There was one person in the city master’s estate who was absolutely ecstatic at this moment. "The northern Azure Mansion is here? That's great! Help change this young master’s clothes! I haven’t seen the northern Azure Mansion’s Flower Queen Luo Mei for a long time. I must have her serve this young master today, hahahaha!"

The person speaking was a pale young man who looked exceptionally excited. There were five girls nearby who were waiting upon him, though each one appeared to be quite anxious. It looked as if they were all afraid of offending the young man. His name was Qing Yu, and he was the son of the city master, City Master Qing.

Suddenly, the door was thrown open and a strong wind blew in. A furious looking woman stood at the door. Although she had a beautiful face, her expression made her look evil and vicious.

Qing Yu’s expression changed completely the moment he saw the woman. "Hong- Hong'er! You- why are you back?"

The five girls who had been attending Qing Yu all grew terrified, and they dropped to their knees. Their eyes turned bloodshot, and not one of them dared to look up.

The woman’s eyes narrowed as she took in the room and glared at Qing Yu. Then, she lifted a hand, causing five red flowers to magically appear in her palm. She waved that hand, and the necks of all five girls were sliced open. Before long, the scent of blood filled the room.

Qing Yu's legs grew weak, and he nearly collapsed to the floor.

"I've only been gone for a few days, and yet you already have the balls to fool around? Have you already forgotten what I told you?" the woman snapped.

Qing Yu swallowed and then cautiously approached the woman while smiling in a flattering manner as he embraced the woman's shoulders and spoke to her softly. "Hong'er, I didn't do anything. I just had them wait on me and take care of dressing me. You shouldn’t get jealous of something like that, but you’ve already killed them all."

The woman glared at Qing Yu, and when she spoke, her voice was cold. "I already heard that you’re heading to Azure Mansion to see that bitch Luo Mei."

"Nope. Absolutely not, Hong'er." Qing Yu was startled, and his face grew pale.

Space then twisted in the room, and a middle-aged man appeared. He was City Master Qing, Skyraiser City’s master. This man was the Envoy that Lu Yin had noticed earlier.

As soon as they noticed City Master Qing, the woman and Qing Yu both quickly bowed. "Father."

City Master Qing let out a small sigh, and a small frown appeared after he glanced at the room, and he looked over at Qing Yu. "Have you been playing around again? I told you that you are not allowed to touch any woman aside from Hong'er! Did you not hear me?"

The woman snorted and glared at Qing Yu.

Qing Yu bowed again. "Father, I didn't! I just had them here to wait on me and dress me. I didn't do a thing!"

City Master Qing then looked over at the woman, and his tone instantly softened as he smiled. "Hong'er, there’s no need to worry. Father will keep an eye out for you. He won't do anything."

The woman nodded. "Thank you, Father. I came back because I forgot something, so I need to leave again. I’ll have to ask you to look after him for me."

City Master Qing nodded.

The woman soon left.

After Hong’er was gone, Qing Yu heaved a sigh of relief, though his expression fell. He turned to his father, and rage blossomed in the young man’s eyes. "I’m going to kill that bitch sooner or later!"

"Shut up!" City Master Qing shouted as he glared at Qing Yu. "As long as Gods’ Origin exists, she will remain your wife! If you dare to do anything to her at all, I will kill you myself."

Qing Yu became upset. "There’s something wrong with that woman! How many powerful men don’t have a few extra women? She’s too possessive! Not even the maids are allowed to touch me! Father, I’ve had it with living like this."

City Master Qing’s eyes remained locked onto Qing Yu, and the Envoy coldly stated, "You agreed to this marriage, and you were even the one who first pursued her. You need to treat her well, unless you want to see Skyraiser City to be wiped out by Gods’ Origin. If you do anything at all, you will have no chance of surviving. Remember that she is one of Gods’ Origin’s eighteen gods. She holds a high status there, so you need to remember that."

"I understand, Father." Qing Yu had no choice. Compared to a monster like Gods’ Origin, Skyraiser City was simply a bigger ant.

Qing Yu had only chased after Yao Hong because he had wanted to get the protection of Gods’ Origin, but who could have known that the woman would be so unreasonable?

Whenever Qing Yu wanted to have a bit of fun, he needed to wait for his fiancée to leave. There were times when he felt the woman would actually kill him.

Still, that did not matter at the moment. The crazy broad was gone, so Qing Yu would be able to go out to play for a bit. He needed to use these days to win over Luo Mei as he was determined to get a taste of the northern Flower Queen.

…

Elsewhere in Skyraiser City, Qian Zou had spent half a day before finally finding who was behind the auction house that he had acquired Inverse Step from.

"Yadoor Auction House is where I picked up Inverse Step. It was bought by Silverjoss Auction House more than a decade ago, but the address is the same. In fact, the owner of Atour Action House stayed with it after it was bought, and he now works for the owner of Silverjoss Auction House for some reason. He’s in a meeting with the current owners, and it’ll be a few days before he gets back." Qian Zou reported the results of his investigation to Lu Yin.

"So, in a few days, we’ll be able to meet the previous owner of Yadoor Auction House?" Lu Yin confirmed.

Qian Zou nodded. "That’s the plan. However, Seventh Bro, you need to remember that these auction houses handle a few hundred items every single day, and some of the larger ones can go through tens of thousands of items. The fact that they didn’t come after me shows that they didn’t care about the technique that I picked up, so it’s unlikely that they’ll know anything about where the Inverse Step came from."

Lu Yin already knew all of this, but he was determined to do whatever it took to track down this particular movement technique. This was not a task that he could leave to anyone else. If Inverse Step was found, but someone else learned it instead, Lu Yin would suffer a terrible loss.

62d67767f92eb560e77c9100