Star Odyssey

Chapter 1758: Local Produce

The Second Nightking laughed at Qing Shaohuang's response. "Are you trying to say that you wouldn’t do anything to Lu Yin without my request?"

Qing Shaohuang's expression twitched slightly, but he just stared at the Second Nightking. "What are you trying to say, Senior?"

"The current situation of the Innerverse is clear at a glance. The Sword Sect has been trying to work with you for some time, and you would not have invited Lu Yin here for no reason. Since you have invited him, you must have some sort of plan. While I might not know what exactly you hope to do, it has to be related to poison. Making your position clear is your best option here, as you want to show that your Divine Venom Dynasty has no intention of getting involved with the outside world," the Second Nightking coldly stated.

Qing Shaohuang felt embarrassed, and his mind started racing. He was already aware of the Second Nightking's hatred for Lu Yin, as the youth had destroyed the Daynight clan, ruined their ancestral grounds, and released the Dayking clan from their enslavement. In truth, even if the Second Nightking had not been imprisoned in Gaia’s Swamp, he still would have possessed enough motivation to kill Lu Yin a million times over.

However, Lu Yin could not be killed while he was in the Divine Venom Dynasty, and neither could the Second Nightking be allowed to move against the youth. Even though the Divine Venom Dynasty had isolated themselves from the outside world, they were not completely cut off. Not to mention, the powerhouses supporting Lu Yin could easily deal with all of Venom Flowzone by themselves.

If the Divine Venom Dynasty did not feel fear, they would have never considered cooperating with the Sword Sect and the other Innerverse powers, but it was precisely because of the threat that Qing Shaohuang felt from Lu Yin that he was considering joining the Innerverse in working against Lu Yin.

Qing Shaohuang stared at the Second Nightking, unsure of how to refuse the ancient powerhouse’s request. The only option was to agree as much as possible. "Senior, this junior will help you."

The Second Nightking nodded. "Good. I don't want Lu Yin to live to see the outside of Venom Flowzone."

"If Senior takes action, you will be exposing yourself. This-"

Qing Shaohuang tried to bring up an objection, but the Second Nightking just sneered. "Given the size of the Fifth Mainland, it's not difficult to find somewhere to hide."

"Senior can hide within my Divine Venom Dynasty," Qing Shaohuang offered.

The Second Nightking shot the emperor a cold look. "We’ll talk about it later."

…

A few days later, Lu Yin finally saw the Divine Venom Continent from his spacecraft.

From a distance, the Divine Venom Continent looked like a monster lying in space that was emitting a strange gas. He stared at the landmass as he thought of the rumors claiming that there was a terrifying poison beneath it.

Lu Yin was still very interested in poison. Long ago, Elder Wu’s poisons had been a great deal of help to him. There had to be a poison in the Divine Venom Dynasty that Lu Yin could Enhance to a level where it would threaten even experts with power levels of more than a million. Like that Transience poison… Lu Yin felt that he would need to pay the king a visit.

Given Lu Yin’s status, he was welcomed by King Qing Li, who was Qing Shaohuang's younger brother. In other words, Qing Li was among the top three people in the entire Divine Venom Dynasty. Even if Qing Longlong, the first princess, saw Qing Li, she would only refer to him as uncle. He was one of the few people in the entire empire who was qualified to know about Transience and use it.

Qing Li did not want to be the one to greet Lu Yin, but Qing Shaohuang had ordered the king to go. Given the fact that either Qing Li or Qing Shaohuang would have to greet Lu Yin, there was no way for Qing Li to refuse.

Lu Yin smiled when he saw Qing Li appear to welcome him.

The king despaired when he saw Lu Yin's smile, as he could still remember how much he had suffered when he had last seen Lu Yin; he had almost confessed to wetting the bed as a child at that time. Still, Qing Li forced out a smile. "Welcome, Alliance Leader Lu, to the Divine Venom Dynasty. You’re a welcome guest to my Venom King City."

Lu Yin smiled back and said, "So it’s Qing Li. This isn’t our first time meeting."

Qing Li smiled back. "Of course not, Alliance Leader Lu. Please, follow me."

Lu Yin followed Qing Li towards the Divine Venom Continent. The sky was overcast and misty, but it was still possible to make out the outline of the continent from a bird’s eye view.

The Divine Venom Continent actually looked no different from an ordinary landmass, as it had mountains and rivers, but there were also strange patterns that covered the land, and some places actually contained poisoned corpses that could easily be seen.

As they moved along, Qing Li shared information about the land with Lu Yin. The visiting Lu Yin was quite interested in this place, and he already saw it as something that would eventually belong to him. In his mind, learning more about it would never hurt.

"Your Highness, do you still remember what I said back then?" Lu Yin suddenly asked as the two of them were wandering about the sky above the Divine Venom Continent. At this moment, they were close to Venom King City.

Qing Li's eyes flickered. "I don’t really have any interest in the outside world, but thank you, Alliance Leader Lu, for your kindness."

Lu Yin expressed his disappointment. "Regardless of how beautiful the scenery in Venom Flowzone might be, it’s just one place, and it’s honestly too small. Even the outside world is like that—there’s just the Innerverse, the Outerverse, the Cosmic Sea, the Neoverse, the 3,000 hidden worlds, and the rest of the Fifth Mainland. However, the massive region beyond the Fifth Mainland is truly fascinating. With Your Highness’s strength, it really is a pity that you aren’t able to go out and explore."

"A place beyond the Fifth Mainland? Are you referring to the Sixth Mainland?" Qing Li asked. Before the Sixth Mainland had invaded them, not even Qing Shaohuang had known about the existence of the Sixth Mainland. But afterwards, almost every cultivator in the entire Fifth Mainland had learned of them.

However, there was only the Fifth and the Sixth Mainlands.

Lu Yin shook his head. "Aeternus took over the entire Sixth Mainland. I'm talking about another place."

Qing Li was stunned. "Another place?"

Lu Yi was surprised. “Did your brother not tell you about this? There’s another place where people can still become Progenitors."

Qing Li’s expression grew sharp, and he instantly froze in place. Every cultivator’s greatest dream was to one day become a Progenitor. Even someone who had only just started cultivating would dream about reaching the apex as a Progenitor, even if they knew that their chances were not even one in ten billion. Qing Li was no different. He was the closest person to the threshold of the Envoy realm in the Divine Venom Dynasty, and he naturally also dreamed about one day becoming a Progenitor. Still, he knew that his dream was too far out of reach.

Lu Yin continued moving along without pausing, and Qing Li hurried to catch back up. "Alliance Leader Lu, where is this place where one can become a Progenitor?"

Lu Yin indifferently replied, "Go ask your brother. If he hasn’t told you yet, he must have a reason."

Qing Li's eyes flashed; was Lu Yin trying to instigate something between them? Seeing Lu Yin's serious expression, the king felt confident that Lu Yin was trying to sow doubt into his relationship with Qing Shaohuang. Still, the desire to become a Progenitor was too strong. Was it possible that Qing Shaohuang really did know about such a place? If so, why would he have never told him about it?

"Is that Venom King City right in front of us? Your Highness, could you show me around?" Lu Yin asked, and Qing Li hurried to catch up once again.

"Yes, that’s Venom King City, Alliance Leader Lu."

Venom King City was surrounded by high walls, and water poured down from them like waterfalls. Mist shrouded the river, but this mist was not the normal white color, but rather iridescent as it was actually spat out by giant toads that crouched along the walls.

Lu Yin observed the wall surrounding Venom King City in surprise.

He stared at the wall as the enormous toads spat out rainbow-colored balls at regular intervals. Each of the orbs would strike a pillar above the city, and then shatter. Rainbow colors then rained down upon the city.

With the number of giant toads contributing to the mist, the iridescent mist was able to cover the entire city.

"What are those toads?" Lu Yin asked in surprise.

Qing Li proudly answered, "Those are not just any ordinary toads but rainbow toads. While they aren’t aggressive, they are an extremely poisonous species that our Divine Venom Dynasty has bred. The rainbow-colored balls that they spit out strike the poisonous heart pillar of Venom King City, and the mist that is produced by that combination is something that even Envoys fear."

Lu Yin entered the true universe and tried to move into the city through that method, only to be caught off guard when he discovered that the iridescent fog also surrounded the area in the true universe that corresponded to Venom King City.

"While Envoys are able to enter Venom King City through the true universe, their bodies will still be contaminated by the iridescent mist’s poison, which means that they will be discovered the moment they enter the city. Only peak experts are strong enough to avoid the mist, and those powerhouses are strong enough to easily enter the city without needing to sneak in, as my Venom King City would welcome such powerhouses with all the respect that they are due," Qing Li explained.

Lu Yin nodded and then praised, "This is the first time I’ve ever seen such a defensive method."

Qing Li smiled. "This is not a means of defense, but rather just a warning system. Anyone weaker than an Envoy can’t force their way in while even Envoys will be discovered."

"How do ordinary people enter?"

"They just need to have a token from Venom King City. Those tokens naturally repel the rainbow mist, so they allow anyone can enter."

"What if an enemy grabs a token?"

"Each person’s token is unique," Qing Li said as he lifted a hand to show a common-looking token that had the character for venom on it that he handed over to Lu Yin. "This is yours, Alliance Leader Lu."

Lu Yin took the token and then saw a series of nine digits on it.

"The number entered the first time must precisely match the number entered after in order to open the token’s compartment and release the substance that repels the iridescent mist. Without that, the tokens are useless. By the way, there’s only one chance to enter the number," the king explained.

Lu Yin was left speechless; was this any different from a password? With something as ancient-looking as these tokens, he had assumed that they would be bound to a person by blood or some other method, though he would not have been willing to bind it with his blood.

While Venom King City’s defenses seemed quite impressive at a glance, Lu Yin’s opinion of it dropped substantially after he learned how the tokens worked.

Qing Li led the way, so Lu Yin easily entered the city.

Venom King City was quite lively, and the clothing style of the Divine Venom Dynasty was quite unique. Lu Yin's eyes lit up when he saw what the local people were wearing.

No matter what sort of impression the outside world had of the Divine Venom Dynasty, the people that Lu Yin saw seemed very happy, and everyone had a sincere smile. He understood why Yuan Taishi was so determined for the Divine Venom Dynasty to remain uninvolved with the matters of the outside world.

For better or worse, such a thing would disrupt the peaceful lives of all the residents in the Divine Venom Dynasty.

Not long after entering the city, Lu Yin ran into an acquaintance.

"One million star crystals. Deal or no deal?" Wen Qian'er's voice drifted out of a shop in the city while Wen Sansi was standing beside her.

All kinds of poisons were being sold in the store, and it was the most common kind in the Divine Venom Dynasty as everyone here needed poison.

"No, this is a highly venomous snake! How can such a creature be bought for just a million star crystals? A million and a half, minimum," the shop owner flatly replied.

Wen Qian'er shouted, "I’ll give you 1.2 million star crystals."

"It has to be a million and a half."

"1.3 million."

"One and a half."

"Boss, is something wrong with your head? This isn’t how negotiating works! You have to at least give in a little bit."

"The listed price is 3 million! You got me to lower it to 1.5 million, and yet you still want me to lower it further? That’s just too much!"

"Cough, 1.4 million. Show me some face."

"Who are you? Why should I give you any face?"

Wen Qian'er grew furious, and her eyes flared.

Lu Yin then walked in, attracting the attention of the small group of people.

Wen Qian'er looked over and was surprised. "Lu Yin?"

Lu Yin nodded to Wen Sansi before looking at Wen Qian'er. "You like poisonous snakes?"

Wen Qian'er retorted, "Of course not! Still, since I’m here, I need to get some local produce to take back."

Lu Yin found this quite funny.