Star Odyssey

Chapter 1324: Top Prize

Liu Qianjue’s mouth had gone dry. He had lived for many years, but this was the first time he had ever met a young man that was this difficult to deal with.

Beside the Sword Sect’s leader, Elder Lianxin sighed. “What a pity. It would have been great if he had joined our Sword Sect back then.”

Upon hearing these words, Liu Qianjue’s eyes lit up as a certain thought entered his mind.

…

Lu Yin had taken first place in ZENITH, which greatly impacted the entire universe. He was not some random independent cultivator, but rather someone with many other powers behind him. It could be said that, by him taking first place, each and every organization related to him would experience fundamental changes.

Lu Yin had previously just been a mere youth, but no one would dare to treat him as such any longer.

It had to be remembered that Lu Yin was still just a Hunter. When he became an Enlighter, his strength would undergo yet another transformation, and he might even be able to challenge Envoys at that time. The more that various people thought about Lu Yin’s future, the more terrified they felt.

No matter what the outside universe’s reaction to Lu Yin’s victory was, at this moment, everyone else had been removed from Zenith Mountain. Lu Yin was the only person permitted to remain behind.

The Chief Justice then appeared and announced to the entire universe that ZENITH’s top ten had been determined to be Lu Yin, Shang Qing, Qiu Shi, Xia Jiuyou, Bu Kong, Yao Xuan, Wu Taibai, Yuhua Mavis, Wang Yi, and Liquor Hero.

Every one of them then received a notice from the Chief Justice, telling them to visit the Neoverse’s Honor Zone within a certain amount of time. When the time came, the Hall of Honor would take them to the place where they would receive their opportunity.

Lu Yin’s heart moved; was their unimaginable opportunity in the Neoverse? After thinking about it, it seemed right. After all, that was where the remnants of the Fifth Mainland lay.

“Child, feel Zenith Mountain!” The Chief Justice’s voice entered Lu Yin’s ears. Lu Yin felt confused. Feel the mountain? What was that supposed to mean?

Without any further explanation, his perspective suddenly shifted, and the scenery changed completely. He saw stars orbiting before him, and there was also a spacecraft off in the distance that was no larger than an ant. He even saw the Chief Justice, though he could not see the man’s face. Whose perspective was this? The statue’s?

Lu Yin lowered his head to look at the statue beneath his feet in surprise. He had been correct—his current perspective was that of the statue’s, but how was this possible? It was just a statue, so how was this possible?

At the same time, in the Neoverse’s Honor Zone, several people were visiting Arch-Elder Zen. These powerhouses had worked together in front of the Stellular Tempest to stop the Neohuman Alliance’s Blackless God, and at this moment, all of these elders had gathered in front of Arch-Elder Zen.

“Arch-Elder Zen, do you really intend to give Zenith Mountain to that child? It should be given to Shang Qing,” an old man protested.

Arch-Elder Zen remained calm. “The reward designated for the ultimate victor of ZENITH is Zenith Mountain. Do you wish to discredit my Hall of Honor?”

“You can change the prize. Zenith Mountain is incredibly important. I have raised Shang Qing within the Hall of Honor, so I am willing to see him receive the mountain. But this Lu Yin-”

The elder hesitated a moment, but someone else picked up where he left off. “This child has an unknown, dark power. He even somehow escaped from the Neohuman Alliance after being captured by them, which is completely unbelievable.

“This child is apparently using death energy, and as long as he has death energy, he can be easily controlled by the Specter clan. Arch-Elder Zen, please reconsider,” the elder pressed.

Arch-Elder Zen let out a long breath as he stared at the gathered elders. “Do you think that, given the state he entered during the finale, the Specter clan can actually control him?”

The gathered elders looked at each other before looking back at Arch-Elder Zen in confusion.

Arch-Elder Zen smiled. “I’m not sure, but have you all heard of the legends of the God of Death before?”

…

In the Innerverse’s Chaos Flowzone, Lu Yin was feeling confused; how was it possible for his perspective to overlap with that of the statue at the top of Zenith Mountain? It was a statue that was made of stone. It was not a person, and he also had not Possessed it through his die.

Lu Yin’s perspective shifted once again, seeing through the statue’s eyes. He unconsciously swayed, and Zenith Mountain shook with his movement. He was able to control Zenith Mountain.

A tiny dot then appeared in front of him. It was the Chief Justice, who was still shrouded in darkness.

Seeing that the Chief Justice had appeared, Lu Yin quickly switched back to his own body’s perspective and slowly greeted the older man. “Junior Lu Yin greets the Chief Justice.”

“The top ten have been confirmed, but there is a special prize reserved for the champion of ZENITH—the Hall of Honor is awarding you with this Zenith Mountain,” the Chief Justice explained.

When Lu Yin had first switched to the statue’s perspective, he had already guessed that this would happen. “Might I trouble Senior and ask what is so special about Zenith Mountain?”

The Chief Justice flatly answered, “Zenith Mountain is one of the most precious treasures that my Hall of Honor has. It is incredibly durable, can turn large or small, and can also be activated with the user’s star energy to protect them from external damage. The more star energy used, the better and stronger the protection will be. In theory, it can protect a person from an attack with a power level of one million.”

Lu Yin was stunned. “One- one million?”

He immediately became short of breath. This mountain was actually a priceless treasure that could block attacks with a power level of one million. This was unbelievable. It was no wonder why Zenith Mountain would be considered as one of the Hall of Honor’s most precious treasures reserved as a prize for the champion of ZENITH.

Lu Yin looked down with excitement before squatting down and lovingly stroking the statue. This thing was truly a treasure.

He had automatically ignored the Chief Justice’s comment about how the degree of protection that the mountain provided was directly proportional to the amount of star energy used.

Zenith Mountain had been the battleground for ZENITH, but no matter how powerful or what methods the youths used to attack the mountain, they had only managed to damage its surface. The deepest damage was when Lu Yin had unleashed an attack with death energy in his transformed state. And yet, when the size of the entire mountain was taken into account, even this was barely a scratch on the surface of Zenith Mountain.

Since the mountain could change size and turn large or small, it meant that, not only would Lu Yin be able to use it for his own protection, but he could also smash people with the mountain.

“Shrink Zenith Mountain and take it with you,” the Chief Justice said as he watched Lu Yin stroke the statue.

Lu Yin saluted the Chief Justice once again. He could tell that this mysterious Chief Justice always seemed to take good care of him. Despite having only met the powerhouse twice, Lu Yin had a strong impression of the man’s kindness.

Then, Lu Yin switched his perspective back to the statue and began to gradually figure out how to control Zenith Mountain.

After all, this mountain was one of the Hall of Honor’s most treasured possessions, and the elders had not actually wanted to give it to Lu Yin as they did not want the mountain to fall into an outsider’s hands.

It was not easy to gain control of the mountain.

After several days, Lu Yin was still only able to shrink Zenith Mountain down to the size of a planet, though that was still too large for him to move. According to what Lu Yin had learned from the Chief Justice, he needed to shrink the mountain down until it was small enough to be stored in a cosmic ring, which was not something that Lu Yin could accomplish in just a few days.

However, because of the Chief Justice’s words, Lu Yin did not dare to leave before he could shrink the mountain down to the necessary size.

Helpless, Lu Yin could only continue with his attempts.

Outside Zenith Mountain, the other contestants all left one after another. Many people wanted to say goodbye to Lu Yin, but they were all unable to reach him.

Xia Luo left soon after ZENITH ended, as he was afraid of being targeted by the Xia family.

Many people had participated in ZENITH, and each one had their own grudges and problems. Naturally, Xia Luo needed to leave as early as possible in order to take advantage of the chaos.

The Mavis family also left shortly. Yuhua Mavis had entered the top ten, but she had ultimately lost to both Wu Taibai and Lu Yin in battles of strength, and she was not happy with these results.

Black and White were also taken away, while Qian Zou hitched a ride with Eversky Island.

Gu Xiao’er also left, but before leaving, he let everyone know that he was friends with Lu Yin.

Everyone eventually left, and after half a month, the once bustling region of space now only had a Zenith Mountain that was the size of a spacecraft. The reporters who had covered the event were now banned and blocked from recording anything, so people were only able to witness the change to Zenith Mountain with their own eyes.

It was magical to watch as the massive Zenith Mountain that had once been so large that multiple stars and planets had revolved around it become so tiny. Even an idiot could tell that this mountain was valuable, and it was clearly a priceless treasure.

At this time, all of the irrelevant people had been driven away by people from Chaosgod Mountain and the Great Eastern Alliance.

After a few more days, Lu Yin finally managed to shrink Zenith Mountain to the point where he could fit it in his cosmic ring. He then looked around but had no idea when the Chief Justice had left.

Lu Yin felt that it was a pity, as he really wanted to get closer to the Chief Justice.

Outer space was quite dark, and all he could see were people from his Great Eastern Alliance, and further away, some people from Chaosgod Mountain.

“Congratulations to Alliance Leader Lu! Invincible throughout the universe!” Thousands of people from the Great Eastern Alliance congratulated Lu Yin in unison, and the sound spread everywhere.

“Congratulations to Alliance Leader Lu for becoming the Pinnacle Youth! Invincible throughout the universe!”

“Congratulations to Alliance Leader Lu for becoming the Pinnacle Youth! Invincible throughout the universe!”

…

Lu Yin waved a hand to stop them as he looked around. “Let’s head back to the Great Eastern Alliance.”

“Yes, Alliance Leader.”

Before Lu Yin left, Cang Zhou, the master of Chaosgod Mountain, went to speak with Lu Yin. This time, he was very emotional. “This old man only managed to reach the Cruiser realm when I was your age. I am truly incomprable to you”

Lu Yin and Cang Zhou faced each other, and Lu Yin responded to the words with a smile. “Senior is the real winner for being able to reach your current level.”

Cang Zhou smiled and replied, “There’s a deeper intention behind your words.”

Lu Yin shrugged in response. “There are many people who seem to believe that I, Lu Yin, have already made such great accomplishments that I will only become a myth the moment I die.”

Cang Zhou looked at Lu Yin. “Die? It’s not good to say such things. Even if this old man harbors any ill intention towards you, it won’t be easy to execute them now when you’ve grown this much.”

“Senior is too kind with your words. This junior knows my strength, and I haven’t reached the level where I can challenge an Envoy yet, let alone a top powerhouse like yourself,” Lu Yin said.

Cang Zhou frowned. “It’s not good to beat around the bush, and since I’m an old man, I’ll just be direct.”

As he spoke, Cang Zhou stared into Lu Yin’s eyes. “How far do you intend to spread your Great Easter Alliance?”

Lu Yin’s gaze grew sharper as he stared at Cang Zhou in silence.

Cang Zhou’s brows rose up. “Can you not answer, or is it that you don’t even know yourself? Let’s change the question then—what do you want from this universe?”

Lu Yin smiled. “Senior is looking up towards this junior too much. With my current strength, how could I even qualify to speak about matters on the scale of the entire universe?”

Cang Zhou shook his head and sighed. “It’s true that others are indeed unqualified. Not even Shang Qing, the Hall of Honor’s first Honor Chosen, would qualify. However, you are different. You have the strength, ambition, opportunity, and talent, and you’re now also invincible within your generation. Winning ZENITH has also won you the full support of the Hall of Honor, and this chance that you have won may give you a chance to become a Progenitor in the future.

“A possible future Progenitor is someone who will draw everyone’s attention, even if you are only a Hunter at the moment. Your current strength is no longer all that you are.”

After hearing Cang Zhou’s words, Lu Yin knew that if he did not respond correctly at this time, he might end up being forsaken by everyone in the future. After all, a potential Progenitor was not the same as a true Progenitor. No one wanted their own interests to be threatened, even if it was by some powerful Progenitor.

Even ants knew how to resist, but Lu Yin was still far from reaching the level where he could view these people as ants.

All people worried for their own futures, and Cang Zhou was simply testing the waters. If Lu Yin had the ambition to unite both the Outerverse and the Innerverse, then he would definitely have to eventually face the Innerverse’s hostility. No matter how much support the Hall of Honor gave Lu Yin, the Innerverse powers could only be forced so far.