Star Odyssey

Chapter 538: Cowards

Perhaps the hidden Hunters felt the threat from Lu Yin’s gun, and in the next moment, Jupiter abruptly changed. The gases that covered the surface coalesced into a giant whirlpool, and Lu Yin was shocked to see that the rune lines on Jupiter had started increasing endlessly.

They had greatly surpassed a Hunter’s level now, and they had even surpassed the number of rune lines that Lu Yin had seen on Karthika.

Lu Yin hurriedly retreated and then sized up Jupiter in bewilderment. Just like Huo Qingshan had said, there were some ancient defense systems that remained on the planet. These systems clearly surpassed the power of an Enlighter, and they might even be able to defend against a powerhouse whose power level exceeded 300,000.

Lu Yin could not enter with his current strength.

Lu Yin activated his gadget and contacted Huo Qingshan. “Uncle Huo, I made it to Jupiter.”

Huo Qingshan asked in a low tone, “Can you enter?”

Lu Yin remained silent.

“Your Highness, that underground organization has observed Earth’s civilizations for countless years—from its development to its inevitable decline—yet not once has it intervened. They only wish to preserve the ancient secret. Anyone who leaves Jupiter will never be allowed to return, and this subordinate is the same. It’s not possible for you to enter Jupiter, and it’s also impossible to interact with those people,” Huo Qingshan explained.

Unresigned, Lu Yin stared at Jupiter. The secrets of the primeval surnames were right in front of him. Did he really need to give up like this?

“Your Highness, there’s actually someone on Earth who’s from the hidden organization, and that person is like your subordinate and can never return. That person’s mission is to seek out all the children with innate gifts and send them to Jupiter, so he may know more than this subordinate.”

Lu Yin’s eyes flashed. “How do I find that person?”

“This subordinate does not know. Ever since I left Jupiter, this subordinate has never asked about the Hidden Earth Society, and they won’t contact me either. Although this subordinate still has the organization’s emblem, I have not been a part of them for a long time.”

Lu Yin helplessly stared at Jupiter, which lay ahead of him. This planet was a giant tortoise shell, and this group of people would forever remain holed up within, which presented a thorny problem.

He could not threaten this organization, so should he expose them? Over the countless years, Lu Yin believed that those murderers who had wiped out Earth’s past civilizations knew about this hidden organization’s existence. He did not believe that the Hidden Earth Society would be able to remain hidden forever, so exposing them would not actually be a valid threat. Moreover, even if the murderers knew about this group, they still could not act. This organization seemed to be in an unassailable position.

Lu Yin shouted out, “I’m Lu Yin, someone with a primeval surname. I wish to comply with the ancient treaty. Please allow me in.”

Nobody bothered with him.

The Hunter did not move.

Lu Yin pursed his lips. “Earth’s civilizations have been extinguished so many times. Do you guys really wish to remain hidden forever? I, Lu Yin, am confident that I am an unequaled Limiteer, and I will definitely shake the heavens in the future. I qualify to ally with anyone. You guys must show your sincerity.”

Nobody bothered with him.

“Do you wish to remain cowards forever?” Lu Yin shouted.

Still, nobody bothered with him.

Lu Yin was rendered speechless.

“Seventh Bro, these people have been able to coldly watch on while their home was exterminated. How would you be able to move them with such simple sentences? I think that it’ll be easier to find that person from the Hidden Earth Society who’s still on Earth. Although that’s like finding a needle in a haystack, at least you know that there’s a needle in there somewhere,” the monkey suggested.

Lu Yin shook his head. “If that person has been able to remain hidden on Earth, then it shows that they only have average strength. They might not even know as much as Huo Qingshan.”

“That’s also true. Primeval surnames… Since ancient times, your Human Domain has always been chasing after those with the primeval surnames. It’s very strange.”

Lu Yin’s face twitched. “What do you know?”

“I don’t know much. Although the personal writings of some powerhouses have mentioned these ancient and unique last names, I never found any real secrets. I suggest that you try to proceed with the Lockbreaker Society, as I remember one letter being filled with grudges against those people. That powerhouse had been someone from one of the primeval surnames: Wang. He had no legal identity, but he had an extraordinary talent for lockbreaking. However, he couldn’t join the Lockbreaker Society.”

Lu Yin’s eyes lit up. That was right; he had forgotten about that. The Lockbreaker Society had expressly stated that those with primeval surnames could not enter if they did not carry a legal status. This rule could not be broken by anyone. Since the society had such a rule in place, then that must mean that they had some sort of an understanding about these ancient surnames.

Since it seemed that there was no path forward with this Hidden Earth Society, the Lockbreaker Society was another possible route.

The Innerverse and Outerverse were isolated from each other right now, but the Outerverse had its own Lockbreaker Society division, so perhaps something could be found there.

It seemed that it was time for another wave of lockbreaking attempts. Lu Yin would try to break through and become a Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreaker quickly so that he could enter the higher echelons of the Lockbreaker Society.

Lu Yin turned towards Jupiter. “Then stay as turtles forever. Sooner or later, that murderer will break through Jupiter’s defenses, and at that time, you guys will also be wiped out. Don’t look for my help either.”

And with that, he left.

The Hunter hiding on Jupiter did not move, and it seemed that they had never had any intentions of conversing with Lu Yin.

Lu Yin was just about to return to Earth when the monkey suddenly spoke up. “Seventh Bro, I’m about to break through! Quickly, find a place!”

Lu Yin looked around for a minute before taking out his collapsible spacecraft and flying to Neptune. He put his universal armor on and told the monkey, “Go ahead.”

The Ghost Monkey’s figure floated out from Lu Yin’s right arm. If this scene was seen by someone else, then they would be frightened out of their mind.

The monkey had been stuck as a Limiteer for a long time, and Lu Yin had just been a Melder when they first met. Now, the monkey had finally reached his critical juncture.

Lu Yin watched the monkey with a strange expression. A phantom image that was imprinted onto his own body was actually also able to break through, and he did not even require any star essence, which was certainly odd.

He had forgotten to ask Kuang Wang if the Beast Tamers’ tamed beasts had this same ability.

An astral beast’s breakthrough was different from a human’s. They did not require any formcast models, and some automatically became Explorers as soon as they matured.

It was a simple feat for the monkey to become an Explorer, and the astral beast just had to be released for a while. His breakthrough barely showed any activity, and Lu Yin even started wondering if the beast was actually just fooling around.

Lu Yin felt strange when he saw the monkey’s shadow merge back into his right arm, and his eyes narrowed. “You broke through?”

“Yes! Fast isn’t it?” The monkey was pleased with himself.

Lu Yin frowned. “You really broke through? Why didn’t I feel anything?”

The monkey’s shadow floated back out, and a powerful wave swept across the surface of the planet. He looked at Lu Yin with a pleased expression.

Lu Yin’s eyes filled with star energy and he was able to see the monkey’s rune lines. The monkey had indeed become an Explorer, and he was much stronger than an average one at that. But, how could the breakthrough happen so fast? It had felt like he was just joking around.

Lu Yin was rather envious; if only he could also break through to the Explorer realm that easily.

“Seventh Bro, us astral beasts’ innate gifts are different from you humans. Our constitution determines the limit of our cultivation, but the upside is that we will naturally reach that level unless there are any abnormal factors. You humans are different and are unable to meet our natural-born heights. It’s only by transforming your bodies to harmonize with the universe that you can proceed, which is actually the same thing that we astral beasts do when we mutate. Thus, we astral beasts are the favored ones of the universe, and you humans are but failed products of evolution,” the monkey spoke proudly.

“But there’s no ceiling to our cultivation,” Lu Yin retorted simply.

The Ghost Monkey wanted to dispute that claim, but found that he could not. When humans took their first step on the path of cultivation, it was the same as an astral beast mutating. Such a method of cultivation truly had no limits, and given enough time, they were even able to cultivate to the Progenitor realm. Historically, the number of human Progenitors surpassed those of the astral beasts, which was an undeniable truth.

Lu Yin had been wondering if the monkey’s breakthrough would cause a huge disturbance, and he had never expected that it would be so fast and inconspicuous.

Since the monkey had broken through to the Explorer realm, it meant that, even without any universal armor, Lu Yin could still freely travel through the universe with the monkey’s help. He could be towed through space by the monkey. However, if they visited another place like Planet Pyrolyte, then Lu Yin would have to screen off his right arm to prevent the monkey from getting into contact with the star energy. That would actually be the same as sealing away one of his arms.

Lu Yin activated his gadget and contacted the Great Yu Empire troops that were nearby on Earth and had them start monitoring Jupiter. They were ordered to capture any living creatures that came out of the planet and were also ordered to prevent anyone from approaching.

Lu Yin did not believe that these people could remain as cowards forever.

He looked around, as Neptune still held a special meaning to the people of Earth. This was where Bai Qian had discovered Qingyu in the past, and that discovery had led to the apocalypse on Earth. Bai Qian herself had stepped into the universe because of it, and Lu Yin presumed that she had done so with Starsibyl’s invitation letter, based on what Lu Yin had learned from Liu Shaoge after asking him about Qingyu back at East San Dios. Liu Shaoge had mentioned that Qingyu had stolen the inheritance stone and thus been punished with imprisonment and that he had not stepped out yet.

Qingyu was a hidden danger, as he had been an Explorer back then. But due to his grave injuries, his power had been horribly crippled. Even so, that person had used all sorts of battle techniques to completely suppress the trial takers, and he had never even used his innate gift.

Lu Yin did not know if Qingyu had any innate gifts, but he would rather plan for the worse scenario by assuming that Qingyu had an innate gift and that the Daynight clan member had merely been unable to use it due to certain restrictions.

There was a limit to how long Qingyu would remain imprisoned for, and he would definitely come looking for Lu Yin when he was released.

Unfortunately for Qingyu, now that the Innerverse and Outerverse were separated, he wouldn’t even be able to make it to the Great Yu Empire.

Lu Yin didn’t put his universal armor on. Instead, he had the monkey tow him through space.

The Ghost Monkey was also rather excited. After an astral beast broke through into the Explorer realm, their constitution would naturally change to become suitable to survive in the vacuum of space, so he did not need to adapt at all. He transformed into a shadow and leaped away and Lu Yin was dragged by the shadow and quickly left Neptune to appear in the dark of outer space. action

This feeling was similar to when the spacecraft had previously exploded and cast Lu Yin into space. The difference was that, back then, he had only been able to passively float through space, unable to control his movement, whereas now, he was being pulled along by the monkey, which meant that he could go anywhere he wished. The speed was not that slow either, and others could not see anything since the monkey was a shadow, which gave Lu Yin the convenience of hiding within the shadow.

Just like that, Lu Yin was pulled by the monkey back towards Earth.

Above Earth, the Great Yu Empire troops quickly discovered Lu Yin’s movements, and they dumbfoundedly watched on as Lu Yin leisurely floated through space. Wasn’t the Royal Regent a Limiteer? How was he able to freely move through space? Had he broken through?

Lu Yin did not face any obstacles as he directly entered Earth’s atmosphere, landing next to an ocean to gather his bearings before heading towards Jinlin. He wanted to look for some familiar faces.

Because of Lu Yin, Earth had undergone drastic changes, and many people had stepped onto the path of cultivation. Since Jinlin was where Lu Yin had once cultivated, the Great Yu Empire had set up a school specially for cultivators there, on the outskirts of the city. Surprisingly, the headmaster was Zhou Shan. However, he was more of an honorary headmaster since all of the school’s cultivation resources were controlled by people who had been sent by the Great Yu Empire.

After a few years of efforts, not only had all of the zombies on Earth been cleared out, but Jinlin had also been rebuilt, and now, it was even more bustling than before. Various aircraft roamed through the sky, while on the ground, people who were clearly different from Earthlings could be seen.