Star Odyssey

Chapter 2020

Kui Luo gave a wolfish grin before turning to meet the furious eyes of various Semi-Progenitors one by one before throwing his hands up. "Fine, I get it! This old man isn’t welcome here. You guys can just decide things for yourselves. I’m heading off.”

"Every human Semi-Progenitor in this part of the universe is already here. Who will represent you if you leave?" Jiu Yao asked sternly.

Kui Luo rolled his eyes and then gestured for Lu Yin to move over. "Get over here and listen to them for me. Just pass on anything important to me later."

He then spoke louder to address everyone. "Happy now? I can fight for humanity, but I don’t have any interest in wasting my saliva on you lot.”

He then turned and left.

All the Semi-Progenitors present then shifted their attention onto Lu Yin.

Even an expert with a power level of over a million would start trembling when placed in such a position. After all, Lu Yin was currently facing an entire group of Semi-Progenitors.

However, Lu Yin merely sauntered over with a carefree attitude and took Kui Luo’s place. "Carry on.”

"How is this little thing qualified to join this discussion? Is he also able to fight against a Semi-Progenitor?" Wang Si’s voice dripped with contempt.

Lu Yin gave the woman the stink eye. "Old bitch, you really are full of bullshit."

He then turned to Bai Laogui and continued in the same contemptuous tone, "Are you actually attracted to something like that?”

Bai Laogui's anger flared up even more intensely than before. No matter how much he might hate Kui Luo, they were at least peers from the same generation. However, this child, who was nothing more than a mere Envoy, dared to mock him.

Wang Si also started to see red.

Ni Huang quickly shouted, "Alright! That’s enough nonsense from all of you!"

He then turned to look at Lu Yin. "Lu Xiaoxuan, I’m not saying this because of our own issues, but objectively, you are not qualified to join this discussion. Right now, we need to choose a commander to lead all of humanity’s forces. Kui Luo wasn’t qualified to begin with, so there’s no need for you to be here as his replacement. Please leave."

Lu Yin raised his chin. “I see. In that case, there’s no need for any discussion. I’m the best candidate.”

Ni Huang and everyone else present just stared blankly at Lu Yin. For a moment, they simply could not process what he had just said.

After that moment passed, Xue Laogui doubled over in laughter. “Juniors these days are really bold! They even dare to try to command Semi-Progenitors! How absurd!"

Arch-Elder Zen also stared at Lu Yin in shock. He had already intended to have Lu Yin command a portion of the army, but certainly not the Semi-Progenitors.

"Arrogant! Some Lu bastard wants to command us? You’ve lost your mind," Wang Si mocked.

Lu Yin laughed. "Why do you all believe that a commander must have equal or greater strength than you?"

He looked at Xue Laogui. "During the war in the Outerverse, I, Lu Yin, took back the eastern weaves from your Sixth Mainland. You people sent out three Semi-Progenitors, and yet you were still unable to take those weaves back with brute force. We ended up signing an agreement for both of us to compromise. Tell me, Senior, did that happen or not?"

Xue Laogui derisively answered, "That’s merely because we were having trouble with Yao Di. Without the Astral Beast Domain’s interference, how would we have ever signed an agreement with you?"

"Without the Astral Beast Domain, there wouldn’t have even been a war. Can you even hear your own words?" Lu Yin’s voice was thick with sarcasm.

Xue Laogui’s eyes suddenly blazed with killing intent. "Our enemy is right in front of us. I won’t bicker with a junior."

Lu Yin sneered. "And yet this junior is exactly the one who stood up to the Astral Beast Domain in the Outerverse after your Sixth Mainland retreated from them. You planned to have the Astral Beast Domain fight a bloody war against us so that you could eventually reap the benefits after both of us were weakened. I was the one who saw through your plans and even included it in my calculations. Please tell me, just what did any of that have to do with my cultivation realm?”

Xue Laogui had no answer for that.

Lu Yin then turned back to Wang Si. "Old bitch, I, Lu Yin, acted as Long Qi in the Perennial World and played all of you like a fiddle. If not for the strange coincidence of Wang Yun recognizing me from meeting me in the Fifth Mainland, I would be calling a Progenitor ‘Master’ right now. I did all of that right under your noses as well. To be blunt, I outmatch all of you when it comes to intelligence.”

Wang Si’s eyebrows rose high. "You’re just sly and cunning."

Lu Yin moved on to look at Ni Huang, Xia De, and Bai Laogui in turn. "Just now, you said that Kui Luo isn’t qualified to be the commander. That’s true. But looking at the overall situation, not one of you four qualify either."

Ni Huang responded in a challenging manner. "Who here dares to claim to surpass my strength? If you’re speaking of qualifications to command, I fought in the final war between the Fifth and Sixth Mainlands. On top of that, I have the knowledge accumulated from fighting against Aeternus for countless years. I’ve more or less met every last one of the Twelve Marquises as well. How am I unqualified?”

Lu Yin’s gaze remained steady as he met Ni Huang’s eyes. "Like I just said, strength has nothing to do with one’s ability to command an army. Senior, did you ever command any troops during that last war with the Sixth Mainland? If so, you are unqualified because you lost that war. If you didn’t, then your lack of experience makes you even less qualified to command. This junior has met many seniors who have lived since the Daosource Sect era until now. You are not the only one. As for your knowledge of the Twelve Marquises, that’s just knowledge, unless you intend to hide such information from us?"

Ni Huang frowned. "Regardless, a junior has no right to command us."

Lu Yin suddenly gave Arch-Elder Zen a meaningful look. "Senior, may I ask who is the most famous person in the Fifth Mainland?"

This question left Arch-Elder Zen and the other Semi-Progenitors completely stunned. How did one even quantify fame? Despite their status as Semi-Progenitors, none of the people present would consider themselves the most famous person in the Fifth Mainland. After all, people usually interacted the most with those at similar levels of strength, which meant that average cultivators, and even Hunters, knew almost nothing about Semi-Progenitors. In fact, many people had most likely never even heard of those who were present at this meeting.

A decade ago, there would have been no answer to such a question. Even if Arch-Elder Zen was the master of the Hall of Honor, how many people in the Fifth Mainland actually knew about him?

The more powerful the cultivator was, the lower a profile they would keep. action

However, at this moment, Arch-Elder Zen answered without any hesitation, "Of course that would be you, Lu Yin."

Ni Huang’s eyes narrowed.

Lu Yin smiled and confidently raised his chin before turning to look each and every Semi-Progenitor in the eyes. "That’s right—me, Lu Yin. My name has become universally known since the Astral Combat Tournament. ZENITH proved that I am peerless. I founded the Great Eastern Alliance and united the Outerverse. On top of all of that, how could anyone forget that I created the Tower of the Fifth to raise up the Fifth Mainland? Is there a single cultivator anywhere who doesn’t know of me, Lu Yin?”

Lu Yin then spoke to Ni Huang and the others from the Perennial World, "In this Fifth Mainland, if I, Lu Yin speak, how much influence do you think it holds? Go and ask anywhere. Even before the seniors here, I am confident claiming that this Fifth Mainland has come under my Lu name."

Not to mention Ni Huang’s group, but even Jiu Yao and the others Semi-Progenitors were stunned by Lu Yin’s words. Without them realizing it, Lu Yin had already reached the peak. He may not have caught up to them in terms of cultivation, but his influence far surpassed anyone else’s.

Could even the Sixth Mainland’s Daosource Sect or the Fifth Mainland’s Hall of Honor dare to claim to have greater influence on the universe than Lu Yin?

Without any outside assistance, this youth had stopped the Astral Beast Domain, forced the Sixth Mainland to compromise with him, and altered the decisions of the Hall of Honor. He was someone who was known to everyone in the entire Fifth Mainland.

"If you’re choosing a commander, then who else is better suited for the role than me, Lu Yin?" Lu Yin asked his audience.

Jiu Chi was the first to speak. "I agree."

He had personally watched the war in the Outerverse between the Great Eastern Alliance and the Astral Beast Domain play out. He understood the type of people that Lu Yin had commanded and controlled in the past. The youth’s cultivation was absolutely not an obstacle in the least. Let alone Semi-Progenitors, Lu Yin was someone who would dare to even command Progenitors.

"I agree as well," Highsage Grandmaster said.

Elder Gong said, "I agree."

Ni Huang and others looked at Arch-Elder Zen.

Arch-Elder Zen nodded and wistfully said, "In regards to commanding, no one can compare with this child."

Xia Ji did not speak, but Lan Xian did, "I agree."

Jiu Yao was caught off guard.

Herb Immortal added, "I agree."

The Chief Justice said, "I agree."

Lu Yin smiled. "Adding in Kui Luo’s vote, more than half the people here agree. Of course, you can still suggest someone else for the role, but I doubt that their qualifications will surpass my own."

Jiu Yao shook his head. "Forget it. Leave it with him."

He looked at Lu Yin. "Tell us your plan, and we’ll determine whether we will follow it. In case you don’t already know, we can use the Sky Pillar to seal the passage to the Starfall Sea. You don’t need to know many details, and it’s enough if you are aware that we have something that can seal that passage.”

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. He was not naive enough to believe that these Semi-Progenitors would obey his orders without question. The reason why he had fought to be the commander was simply because he refused to give control of his life to anyone else.

Not to mention, none of these Semi-Progenitors were qualified to give him orders.

Lu Yin raised a hand and tapped to open his gadget. "Wang Wen, how’s the plan coming along?"

"We already completed it a long time ago. The current plan is very simple, so I'll send it to you now." Wang Wen hung up after saying his piece.

Lu Yin soon received the battle plans that had been drafted by Wang Wen, Grand Marshal Shui Chuanxiao, and Wei Rong.

"You need someone else to design your plans for you? Then why fight to become the commander? Just have that person take it," Wang Si asked contemptuously. If any chance arose, she would gladly kill Lu Yin. His death would not make much of a difference to this war.

Lu Yin snorted derisively. "Just shut up and listen, or is even that too difficult for you?"

Wang Si’s killing intent spiked.

Lu Yin drew an outline of the border between the Starfall Sea, the Innerverse, and the Technocracy in the air between them. "Right now, this is the region where most of Aeternus’s monsters are fighting against the Technocracy. Honestly, there’s no grand strategy for this next battle. We have just one goal: fight until they pull back. No matter what happens, we simply need to jump into the fight already taking place, clear out the corpse kings, and then seal the passage to the Starfall Sea. This is our one and only goal for this battle.

"This means that you shouldn’t bother with the Semi-Progenitor corpse kings, the Seven Skygods, or the Twelve Marquises. Just focus on getting to this location." Lu Yin pointed to the passage to the Starfall Sea. "Even if Semi-Progenitor corpse kings rush towards the Daosource Sect or the Hall of Honor, it doesn't matter. As long as we can reseal the Starfall Sea, we can deal with everything else later.”

Ni Huang looked unconvinced, "This is your plan?"

Lu Yin replied, "Like I said, our strategy is simple. Were you expecting me to come up with some grand scheme that would remain famous for eons to come? That’s just not realistic. I just want everyone to follow this plan and remember our one goal: to get to the entrance to the Starfall Sea and use that Sky Pillar or whatever to seal it. We don’t need to worry about anything else before that.”

"This is everyone’s mission. As for the countless corpse kings that will be rushing in, we’ll transport our troops with hidden worlds."

"Hidden worlds?" Arch-Elder Zen had not expected such a topic to come up.

Lu Yin nodded. "I know that the Hall of Honor doesn’t allow any hidden worlds to leave the Honor Zone, but given our time constraints, our only option is to use hidden worlds to move our troops around. Even if my Great Eastern Alliance starts rushing forward right now, they will still need several months to reach the Starfall Sea. That’s enough of a delay that corpse kings could spread across all the western flowzones, which will cause countless casualties."

Arch-Elder Zen let out a long, heavy sigh.