Star Odyssey

Lu Yin calmly stared out into space. "If you had a choice, would you be willing to become human?"

You Che laughed loudly. "I would not. Why should I become human? Just because humans stand high above others? I am me. What does humanity's strength have to do with me?

"I only feel hate. I hate that I could not accomplish what I wanted. I hate that I could not control Manifest City."

At this point, he seemed to use the last of his strength to let out a scream. "Xiang Xue, you promised me! As long as we completed your mission, we could all enter Manifest City! At that moment, I was happier than anyone. At that moment, I truly believed that I was human!

"Xiang Xue, you were the one who promised me-"

You Che’s voice slowly faded until it became completely silent.

Within Lu Yin's body, the heart power that he had never been able to pinpoint the source of suddenly appeared. Finding it, he compressed it into his inner universe. This universe was both his inner universe and a universe of the cosmos.

At this moment, another star of power had appeared. It was the heart power that had been left behind by You Che.

Lu Yin was not happy. His expression grew complicated as the scenes from the murals once again flashed through his mind. Among those cheering and leaping figures, that little green seaweed had jumped the highest and shouted the loudest. In the end, everyone had been allowed into Manifest City, except for it.

How lonely it must have felt at that moment.

Lu Yin did not think that Xiang Xue had been wrong to forbid You Che from entering Manifest City. On the contrary, given the history of the Heavens Sect and the Nine Ramparts, Lu Yin believed that Xiang Xue had done the right thing. Humanity's inheritance could not be given to other species.

What Xiang Xue had truly done wrong was the promise that he had made at the beginning.

He had given You Che too much, but however much Xiang Xue gave, You Che eventually lost just as much.

Children would be very happy to receive a large number of candies, but taking those candies from their hands would make them far, far sadder than before they received them.

With You Che's death, all past grudges vanished like smoke. The figures of the past had disappeared one after another. Lu Yin did not know what to think at this moment. It was possible that he felt sorrow for You Che, or perhaps he regretted not learning exactly how You Che had intended to seize Manifest City. Or could it possibly be because of Xiang Xue's promise?

After glancing at Void Mountain one last time, Lu Yin left.

There was one question that he had not had a chance to ask: why had Withered Requiem launched a war against Void Mountain?

It was certainly related to the war against the Human Trio, yet it had little to do with that war itself. Even if Withered Requiem had not gone to war with Void Mountain, You Che would have never supported the Trio. He might have even lured Withered Requiem over to the Trio to join the war against humanity. If that had happened, the Trio truly would have had no chance of survival.

Given the circumstances, luring Withered Requiem to Void Mountain had done more to benefit the Trio, so what was the meaning behind Wang Wen’s actions?

Lu Yin was again reminded of Wei Rong's words. He took a long look at Void Mountain and then left.

After leaving Void Mountain, Lu Yin calculated how much time had passed and then made his way to Lu Huai. He should have completed the star chart by now.

"Seventh Bro." When Lu Huai saw Lu Yin, he hurriedly bowed.

Lu Yin nodded. "How is it?"

Lu Huai smiled. "I have not disappointed you. It is already done."

Lu Yin smiled. "Well done. Let’s go home."

He then took Lu Huai back, returning him directly to the Lu Sanctum.

When seeing the Lu Sanctum again, Lu Huai assumed that he would feel rather emotional, but while more than 1,000 years had passed, that was not long for someone at his level of cultivation.

Hm? Is this the Lu Sanctum?

During the war against the Trio, nearly half of the Lu Sanctum had been damaged. The overall visual of the place had changed. While it was not a great change, it still looked different from before, and Lu Huai noticed the change at a glance.

In particular, he sensed a strange atmosphere that he could not describe. The once proud members of the Lu family were all much more silent. He did not know most of them, but he could see this in their eyes.

"Seventh Bro, what happened?" Lu Huai asked.

Lu Yin stared off into the distance. Lu Buzheng had arrived. "Let your father tell you."

Lu Huai saw Lu Buzheng arriving and nodded.

Lu Yin left, but before leaving, he did mention one thing to Lu Huai. "Protect the spirit of the Lu family."

Lu Huai stared blankly at Lu Yin's back as he left and was still staring long after he had disappeared. There were only lingering distortions in the air. What did Seventh Bro mean by those words?

***

After leaving the Lu Sanctum, Lu Yin laid down within the red coffin, and his consciousness entered Vestigium.

"Who’s here?

"Furball? Are you here? Old Man Hehe, are you here?"

No one answered.

"Lu Yin, what is it?" Ba Se spoke.

Lu Yin replied, "Nothing. It’s just that the mission I accepted is nearly complete, so I came to mention it."

"Is it complete?"

"Almost."

"You can only submit a mission after completing it."

"I know," Lu Yin answered casually. He did not care about Ba Se. This being was merely the guardian of Obscura's rules. As long as Lu Yin did not break the rules, Ba Se would do nothing.

Furthermore, Lu Yin currently had a very high status within Obscura. Although he only had one more chance to act, anyone who faced him would feel apprehensive at the thought. As for those around Lan Meng’s level, Lu Yin did not even need to use his last chance.

"Are you about to complete your mission?" Black spoke up.

Lu Yin had come precisely to lure this one out. "Yes. There’s just a little more."

"You move quickly."

"Of course. This mission is far too easy for me."

"When will you turn the mission in?"

"When it’s finished. Though, you know, my Trio was just recently attacked. There are so many matters waiting for me to tend to, so it won’t be easy to finish this mission. You’ll have to wait."

Black was silent for a moment. "Conditions?"

Lu Yin did not beat around the bush. "What can you offer me?"

Without waiting for Black to speak, Lu Yin continued to say, "My karmic chain is close to perfection, and no one dares to provoke my human civilization any longer. I don’t need anything anymore. What conditions can you possibly offer?"

Black spoke slowly. "You will eventually use your final chance to act. I can promise that, after that, I will protect your human civilization."

Lu Yin laughed at that. "I almost died during this last war, yet you weren’t even able to arrive in time. As soon as White disabled the gates, you could do nothing. Why should I believe that you can protect my human civilization? You are far inferior to White."

Black did not argue.

Lu Yin frowned. Was his comment actually correct? Was Black truly a great deal inferior to White?

"What did you say? I just left Vestigium for a moment and did not hear you," Black suddenly spoke again.

Lu Yin paused, but then said, "You need to prove that you are capable of protecting my human civilization. Otherwise, do not bring up conditions to me."

Lu Yin then released his voice to everyone, ending his private conversation with Black. "Old Man Hehe, are you here?"

"Hehe. Why are you looking for me?"

"You really are here every time I come. I’m going into seclusion and won’t come out for some time. Have you considered our transaction?"

"Hehe."

"What does that mean?"

"Hehe."

Lu Yin immediately left Vestigium. Only a ghost would understand what that old thing meant. Since they would not say anything, so be it. In any case, Lu Yin was not the one who was anxious to complete the transaction.

He had already announced that he was going into seclusion, which could be considered giving advance notice.

Wait, they won’t just charge over when they can’t find me, will they?

Old Man Hehe had successfully ignored that White had disabled the gates, so they could clearly move along the River of Aeons’ main stream. If Old Man Hehe could do that once, then they could do it a second time. Lu Yin's expression changed. He did not want that old thing disturbing him while he was acting through his clone.

Thinking of this, he laid back down in the coffin and returned to Vestigium.

"Ba Se, I want to speak with Old Man Hehe alone."

"Please confirm that Purple is present."

"Old Man Hehe, you’re still here, aren’t you?" Lu Yin shouted.

"Hehe."

"Old man, how exactly do you want to do this trade? What are your conditions? Be clear." Lu Yin spoke with Old Man Hehe alone.

"Even I am in no hurry, so why are you?"

Lu Yin was left speechless. "You really aren’t in a hurry?"

"Not in the slightest."

"Why?"

"What can you do at this moment?"

Lu Yin had no argument for that question. It was perfectly accurate. His karmic chain was close to completion, so what could he do?

"Then when do you want to complete our transaction? When my karmic chain is gone?"

"Hehe."

This ancient creature was truly infuriating. They never made anything clear and always sounded like they were mocking others.

"Old man, be careful that Wang Wen doesn’t come around looking for trouble with you." Lu Yin offered a warning and then left.

He was trying to irritate Old Man Hehe in return. Whether Wang Wen would actually cause trouble for them did not matter. There was no harm in offering a warning. Lu Yin could not let go of any chance to sow discord.

He had accomplished many things, so it was next time for him to go into seclusion and send his clone to Joy City.

Wang Wen had said that the one to destroy the Trio would definitely be the Death Megaverse. Lu Yin wanted to see just how strong the Death Megaverse really was.

On the mountain behind the Heavens Sect, Lu Yin and Master Qing Cao sat facing each other.

Long Xi served tea for Master Qing Cao, her expression demonstrating great respect.

Master Qing Cao offered a bitter smile in return. "Miss Long Xi, do not look at this old man like that. I am not used to it."

Long Xi said respectfully, "Senior, please have some tea."

"All right, thank you." Master Qing Cao accepted it and took a sip. Tasting the tea, he praised her, "Miss Long Xi's tea is still the best. Haha."

Long Xi bowed and slowly withdrew.

Many people had visited the mountain behind the Heavens Sect over the years, but Long Xi had not shown such respect even when facing Greater Sancte Green Lotus or Mister Mu. This was not only because Master Qing Cao had schemed across multiple ages to secure a chance of survival for the human civilization, but also because he had gladly walked towards death, intending to sacrifice himself to increase Nan Ling's karmic chain and drive a powerful Plume Immortal away.

Master Qing Cao was not the strongest being throughout the history of human civilization, but he was one who was the most worthy of respect.

"Lord Lu, why have you called this old man here this time?" Master Qing Cao asked.

Lu Yin smiled. "I am going into seclusion. I will send my clone to the Death Megaverse. As for human civilization and Vestigium, I will have to trouble you to look after them, Senior."

Master Qing Cao nodded. "Are you confident?"

Lu Yin shook his head. "This time, I’ll be facing the Death Megaverse. No one can be confident against them, and yet I can only do this. If not, what lies before humanity will be endless walls forming a cage that we will never be able to break."

Master Qing Cao let out a heavy sigh. "Force can be used with strategy, but once force reaches a certain level, strategy will only serve as a lever. Perhaps it can pry something up, but the greater possibility is that the lever will shatter.

"This time, Wang Wen did not have multiple schemes in play. He merely forced over some of the creatures that he had gathered as tools over countless years, and yet he still nearly destroyed my Trio. Lu Yin, you can walk his path."

Lu Yin understood and nodded. "Thank you for your guidance, Senior."

Master Qing Cao gave a rueful smile. "These are only some idle thoughts and cannot be considered guidance. If I were to truly guide you, that will be what comes next."

Seeing Lu Yin's puzzled gaze, the man’s expression grew solemn. "Have you ever heard of the Yan Gate’s Seven Needles?"

Lu Yin's eyes lit up. "Of course. The Seventh Rampart possessed the Yan Gate’s Seven Needles. Senior, you relied on the Second Needle to force Wang Wen to retreat."

Master Qing Cao said, "Strictly speaking, it was not me, but rather all of us. I joined with Wang Xiaoyu and used her proximity to Wang Wen to complete the Second Needle. If not for that, it would have never succeeded. The Yan Gate’s Seven Needles are very powerful, but it all depends on who uses them. My strength is far from enough to deal with Wang Wen.

"It is a pity that that child, Xiaoyu, sacrificed herself."

Wang Xiaoyu's death was Progenitor Chen's pain, but it was also Master Qing Cao's.

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