Star Odyssey

Chapter 1772: Testing Each Other

Qing Shaohuang laughed loudly. "Everyone wants one! This is a jincan that is a wonderful representation of my Divine Venom Dynasty! Since this is the case, then everyone will get one."

He then gave Attendant Yi an order, and the chief attendant retreated with a smile.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. By the way, Your Majesty, could you also allow me to have one of those jincans that can cause a hundred flowers to bloom?" Wen Qian'er asked hopefully.

Qing Shaohuang smiled. "Of course. If you have an interest in any of the jincans that have been presented, just say the word."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Wen Qian’er was thrilled.

Qing Shaohuang looked over towards Lu Yin. "Was there anything that caught Alliance Leader Lu’s interest? Just say the word."

Everyone turned to look at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin smiled. "My cultivation is already too complicated, and the path of jincans is broad and profound, so they don’t suit me."

Mr. You spoke up, "What? Alliance Leader Lu didn't see anything you liked?"

Lu Yin’s face went completely blank as he turned to look at Mr. You. "One more word comes out of your mouth and I’ll crush it."

Mr. You instantly slapped his table and shot to his feet, furious, only to be pushed back down by the Mt. Microcosms Protector who was escorting him. "Mr. Overseer, calm down."

Qing Shaohuang frowned and looked over at Mr. You. An invisible force had pressed down on the overseer, leaving Mr. You unable to speak or move in the slightest. The overseer was not even able to tell where the pressure came from, and simply assumed that Lu Yin had attacked.

Qing Shaohuang had no desire to help Lu Yin, but also did not want any issues during the banquet. Lu Yin's personality was readily apparent, and he would follow through on any threats he spoke. Lu Yin would absolutely shatter Mr. You's mouth in front of everyone.

Mr. You was being suppressed by Qing Shaohuang.

The Mt. Microcosms Protector did not dare even look at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin just sneered and glanced towards Qing Shaohuang. "After what he just said, it will look like I’m looking down on the Divine Venom Dynasty if I don’t ask for something. In that case, I would like that wireless jincan."

Qing Shaohuang smiled. "Alliance Leader Lu is being too serious. Everyone has a different path of cultivation. You can just play with a jincan, and there’s no need to treat it seriously."

Lu Yin smiled back. "The other jincans aren’t very convenient to carry around, and I don’t want just any jincan. You have my thanks, your majesty, for your kindness."

"Since Alliance Leader Lu has already decided, then it’s fine. This is no problem," Qing Shaohuang replied.

"By the way, Your Majesty, please allow me to have that boy to teach me how to use the wireless jincan," Lu Yin requested.

Qing Shaohuang was caught off guard, as clearly Lu Yin was genuinely interested in the wireless jincan.

On the other side, Taishi Yuan smiled and spoke up, "Since Alliance Leader Lu is interested in the wireless jincan, then why not go visit the town that created it? Miaomiao will be visiting that place soon, so she can just escort you, Alliance Leader Lu."

Qing Shaohuang glanced at Yuan Taishi; it was clear that this old fox was doing his best to pawn off his granddaughter.

Yuan Miaomiao's face blushed as soon as she heard her grandfather’s words.

Qing Longlong stared at Lu Yin, threatening him.

Lu Yin was thrilled. "In that case, I’d be happy to accept! After the banquet, I’ll make the trip to that town with Miss Miaomiao. Thank you, Yuan Taishi."

"Only happy to help, haha!" Yuan Taishi was also very happy.

Prince Qing Li merely watched everything with a cold eye. No one was more clear on the situation within the Divine Venom Dynasty than him. Qing Shaohuang was afraid of Lu Yin and wanted to help the Sword Sect and the other Innerverse powers deal with him. As for Yuan Taishi, he wanted to win Lu Yin over and permanently force him out of Venom Flowzone. This whole production was a great show.

The most pitiful people at this moment were Venom King City’s talented youths who were present at the banquet, as all of them were staring at Yuan Miaomiao. Every year, enough people to form a line that extended out of the city would stop by Yuan Taishi’s estate to propose to his granddaughter, but none had ever succeeded. However, Yuan Miaomiao was actually being given to an outsider.

Yuan Miaomiao was the empire’s top beauty, yet she was being given to someone from outside of Venom Flowzone. Her peers were gritting their teeth, as there was nothing at all they could do about it.

It was not long before one of the Escaping Orbs was delivered to Lu Yin's table. Looking at it, Lu Yin glanced over at Qing Li. The prince’s expression seemed a bit unnatural.

Lu Yin thought of Transience, and the possibility that this Escaping Orb had been laced with Transience. It seemed possible that these Escaping Orbs were part of Qing Shaohuang's plan to deal with Lu Yin.

Transience was highly toxic, colorless, odorless, and did not even have any runes. It was completely impossible to detect, which made it the safest method of dealing with Lu Yin.

Qing Shaohuang kept his eyes on Lu Yin, and showed a satisfied smile when he saw Lu Yin put away the Escaping Orb. "Come, everyone, enjoy your time as guests of the Divine Venom Dynasty."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

…

The wireless jincan was delivered to Lu Yin, as well as the young man Xiao Fa.

The young man was terrified and did not even dare to look at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin just spoke a few casual words before dismissing the young man without paying him too much attention.

The next portion of the banquet was the gift-giving session. One by one, all of the guests presented gifts on behalf of their own force. Lu Yin provided a bottle of medicinal pills. He had not Enhanced them, and they were perfectly common, but it was still better than the slap that he had sent Qing Shaohuang via Attendant Yi as a gift to begin with.

Seeing Lu Yin’s gift, Attendant Yi's eyes flashed coldly. He would never be able to forget that slap.

Soon, it was Balsam's turn, and she gestured for Yan to present their gift.

"Your Majesty, Shamrock Enterprise’s congratulatory gift is another medicinal pill, but this is not one that is ingested, but one that can allow a person to avoid certain crises," Balsam explained with a smile.

Qing Shaohuang became curious. "Avoid certain crises?"

Balsam took another pill out of her cosmic ring and threw it forward. The void was torn open, and another space became visible, It was the true universe.

Qing Li and Yuan Taishi were both startled, and they both exclaimed, "The true universe?"

Qing Shaohuang was truly shocked; a pill could provide access to the true universe? This was unbelievable! This was something that only experts with power levels exceeding 500,000 could achieve.

Lu Yin stared intently; Shamrock Enterprise was no longer keeping their stellular energy pills hidden. Just what were they planning?

Everyone was stupefied by the effect of the stellular energy pill. Not even Qing Shaohuang was an exception, even if his own jincan allowed him a power level of more than 800,000. He was one of the top powerhouses in the entire Innervese, and yet even he was startled by the power of the stellular energy pill.

Everyone had long since known that Shamrock Enterprise was a monster of a company, even the isolated Venom Flowzone, which was why Shamrock Enterprise had been invited to Qing Shaohuang’s banquet. Still, no one had imagined that the pharmaceutical company could actually have developed such a pill.

Yuan Taishi immediately asked, "How difficult is it to make this pill?"

Balsam smiled politely. "They are already ready to start mass production; the technology is being simplified. I believe that very soon the true universe will no longer be just a legend to most people."

Yuan Taishi's expression instantly changed. "What about your current production?"

Balsam maintained her professional smile. "That’s a trade secret."

"Can everyone use them? The true universe is not something that ordinary people have ever had access to," Qing Li interjected.

Balsam replied, "At the moment, a person must have the strength of a Hunter to be able to use these stellular energy pills, as they require that level of strength to activate and open a path to the true universe. However, we are already developing a better version of the stellular energy pills. We are confident that we can improve them so that even an Explorer will be able to activate them."

Everyone was blown away. If this claim proved true, battles in the future would change drastically. The Escaping Orbs merely increased a person’s speed a great deal. On the other hand, these stellular energy pills allowed access to the true universe. These could make it difficult for even a Hunter to kill an Explorer.

Mr. You leaned forward, his eyes dark. "Why is it that not even I have heard about these stellular energy pills before?"

Balsam looked at Mr. You. What the man was really asking was for the Hall of Honor and the council of overseers. It only made sense for the Hall of Honor to be the first to be informed when something unprecedented like these stellular energy pills had been created.

"That is likely because this information has been spread very slowly. We’ve already submitted a report regarding the successful materials from our research and development," Balsam replied.

Mr. You's gaze sharpened. This answer was clearly just an excuse. What was Shamrock Enterprise doing? He took special note of this matter.

Qing Shaohuang was solemn as he looked at Balsam. "Shamrock Enterprise has my deepest thanks for their care for my Divine Venom Dynasty. I accepted your gift."

Balsam slowly bowed. "Your Majesty Qing Shaohuang, I wish you an early breakthrough to reach a power level of a million so that you can stand at the top of this universe."

Qing Shaohuang smiled. "I’ll be counting on your auspicious wishes."

"Miss Balsam, I don't know, but might there be any extra stellular energy pills that can be sold to my Wen family," Wen Yao asked as he stared at Balsam.

Ling Gong, Little Mountain God, and many others all stared at her.

Balsam smiled. "These stellular energy pills will soon become the my Shamrock Enterprise crowning jewel. They will be sent to each organization in batches before official sales begin. They should be on their way to each of your powers, including-" As she spoke, she looked straight at Lu Yin. "The Great Eastern Alliance."

Lu Yin's expression changed; Shamrock Enterprise was sending stellular energy pills to the Great Eastern Alliance?

He suddenly had a bad feeling.

At first, Balsam had tested whether or not Lu Yin had used his stellular energy pills several times in the past as she suspected that something had happened to the pills he had been given, but had made no progress at all. Lu Yin simply handed over the negotiations of a contact with Shamrock Enterprise to Qiong Xi’er, but Lu Yin’s true motivations had remained a secret, as he had not had a chance to say anything at all to Qiong Xi’er.

If Shamrock Enterprise was sending a batch of their stellular energy pills straight to the Ross Empire’s mobile fortress, what could be the consequences? Would Sapling be discovered? Lu Yin had no idea what Balsam might be thinking.

He was certain that this had to be some sort of test that Shamrock Enterprise was conducting, and doing so at this exact moment was too perfect.

Balsam kept her eyes on Lu Yin and saw his reflexive change of expression and a twitch of his finger. There was definitely a problem. The stellular energy pill that they had lost control of was absolutely related to Lu Yin.

Lu Yin and Balsam stared at each other, seemingly able to see each other's intentions.

No one at their level could be stupid, and Lu Yin never believed himself to be more intelligent than others. Still, so long as he had certain advantages, he would be able to take the lead and foresee someone’s future actions like a god. However, Balsam was Shamrock Enterprise’s Innerverse President, and her schemes were definitely not anything that could compare to what Lu Yin usually faced, not even the Purge that the Sword Sect’s Liu Qianjue and the other Innerverse leaders had plotted.

If not for his background and a few lucky opportunities, Lu Yin would have lost his life to others’ schemes long ago. He knew that if he schemed against others, he would absolutely be schemed against in turn and would one day lose out.

Lu Yin was absolutely certain that he had just lost to Balsam’s schemes. No matter what happened at the Ross Empire’s mobile fortress, the moment he had heard Balsam's words, his expression had changed, and Balsam had already determined something from that.

Lu Yin took a deep breath and his gaze directed at Balsam grew much sharper. His expression was completely different from before.

If he had been found out, then he might as well spread out the information and see who played who.

Balsam frowned and stared at Lu Yin for half a minute. Finally, someone coughed. Balsam did not react, but finally returned to her seat.

It was someone else's turn to offer their congratulatory gift.

…

At the Ross Empire’s mobile fortress, the stellular energy pills that Shamrock Enterprise had sent arrived.

The person responsible for the delivery of the pills was Little Leaf King, Shamrock Enterprise’s heir. He had participated in the competition for the Astral Tower, and he had used the Starswitched Leaf battle technique. Still, he had not stood out during the competition.

"I took the liberty to show up uninvited, as I was tasked by my father to deliver a new batch of stellular energy pills to the Great Eastern Alliance," Little Leaf King told Qiong Xi'er.

Qiong Xi'er was startled. "We haven't even reached an agreement with Shamrock Enterprise about purchasing stellular energy pills. What is the meaning of this?"