Star Odyssey

Chapter 1779: Merits And Demerits

This shocking turn-about completely stunned Ling Gong and others; the Great Eastern Alliance had actually hidden top powerhouses.

Lu Yin spoke some orders into his gadget, "Finish things as soon as possible."

At his order, sword qi swept through space on a screen. Instantly, Mountain God was sliced badly, Ling Qiu's arm was broken, and Ling Taizu was badly injured. The sword qi had come from Liu Huang’s attack, and he simply surpassed the others on the battlefield too much.

Liu Huang had no peers in the entire Innerverse. His talent was truly extraordinary, and even if the Second Nightking was more powerful, he had required a great deal more time to achieve such a level of strength. If the two were compared at the same age, the Second Nightking would not be able to compare to Liu Huang.

The faces of Ling Gong and the other Innerverse representatives in Venom Flowzone all grew pale when they saw Ling Taizu and the other Envoys all instantly defeated. This was simply unbelievable.

Things had changed too quickly, and they could not process everything fast enough.

Lu Yin closed the displays and turned back to face Ling Gong and the others. "So, was that a good show?"

The imperial palace was completely silent. Everyone present had watched as the Great Eastern Alliance had defeated the Innerverse’s great flowzones to become the new dominant power of the entire Innerverse.

In fact, Lu Yin had not expected to end his fight with the great flowzones in such a manner, and it had truly been a mere coincidence that Yuan Miaomiao's report against her grandfather had allowed Lu Yin to seized control of the Divine Venom Dynasty. Outside, Liu Qianjue's betrayal had left the Lingling clan and the other Innerverse powers feeling powerless, so naturally then had ended up being overpowered by the Great Eastern Alliance.

This battle had shown that the Innerverse did not possess the power to stand up to the Great Eastern Alliance.

While the Innerverse had no power to resist the Great Eastern Alliance, someone from an organization that did possess such strength had also been watching.

Mr. You immediately contacted the other overseers and submitted a report to the entire Hall of Honor.

The Hall of Honor had not cared when Lu Yin had established the Great Eastern Alliance and unified the Outerverse. This was similar to how no one had cared about Lu Yin’s status as the master of the Outerverse when he had been in the Neoverse. However, the Innerverse was different.

There was a fundamental difference between the Innerverse and the Outerverse.

Even if everything else was ignored, there were about ten Envoys in the Innerverse. Not even the behemoth organizations of the Neoverse had so many Envoys, and the Hall of Honor could not risk any other organization having such a level of strength.

The Great Eastern Alliance had just united the Innerverse, which meant that Lu Yin had just gained a level of power that was comparable to the monsters of the Neoverse. This was not even considering the other forces which supported Lu Yin, such as Leon's Armada, or Liu Ye and Fei Hua who had previously protected Lu Yin.

The Innerverse and Outerverse had both become property of the Great Eastern Alliance, which meant that Lu Yin had the qualifications to speak on the level of the entire Fifth Mainland. This put him on the same level as the Three Dark Hands and the Hall of Honor.

No one had ever imagined that Lu Yin would act so quickly and unexpectedly. Mr. You had personally watched the entire thing. There had been no warning or sign of anything from the very beginning, and yet every action Lu Yin had taken had pushed the Great Eastern Alliance closer to uniting the entire Innerverse.

Lu Yin made no attempt to stop Mr. You from submitting his report, and Lu Yin even personally informed Arch-Elder Zen. If the master of the Hall of Honor did not want the Great Eastern Alliance to unite the Innerverse, then all of Lu Yin’s efforts would have been in vain.

Actually, that was not necessarily true…

Lu Yin's expression grew sharper when he remembered that he still had Kui Luo. Lu Yin was not completely without the means to stand up for himself.

"Please, everyone, return home," Lu Yin said as his eyes swept over the crowd.

As his gaze passed over them, everyone lowered their heads. No one, not Little Mountain God, Wen Yao, or even Mr. You dared to look Lu Yin in the eyes.

Ling Gong alone stubbornly stared at Lu Yin, but he just ignored her and she was soon dragged away by Ling Que.

Yuehua Mavis was the first person to leave, quickly followed by Balsam and the others. Soon, only members of the Divine Venom Dynasty remained within the rubble of what had been imperial palace.

Lu Yin pulled his gadget back out to call Arch-Elder Zen.

The old man soon answered, and his voice was heard, "Congratulations."

Lu Yin's expression instantly grew solemn. "If Senior is unwilling to allow the Innerverse and the Outerverse to be united, this junior can immediately dissolve the Great Eastern Alliance."

Arch-Elder Zen’s tone remained light. "The Hall of Honor concerns itself with the Hall of Honor’s affairs. Given its strength, we could have easily conquered everyone in the Innerverse and Outerverse, but it was never allowed to be done because the Hall of Honor cannot be allowed to act in too overbearing a manner. Our Interstellar Supreme Court is the face of our judgment, and it is a cold knife pointed at everyone that could fall at any moment.

"The Great Eastern Alliance is different, as it is merely a loose alliance that has gathered because of aligned goals and interests. They have united not only for your sake, Lu Xiaoxuan, but also for themselves.

"They have joined the Great Eastern Alliance because it is able to provide them benefits; not just because they fear annihilation. The Great Eastern Alliance is not some hegemony, but a true alliance. That has always been the purpose of your Great Eastern Alliance. If they one day learn that you face an invincible enemy, will they still support you so staunchly?"

Lu Yin replied quietly, "Senior, this junior has already said that I will not lead the Great Eastern Alliance against the Perennial World because of my own selfish desires. I will not allow us to fall to the Aeternals."

Arch-Elder Zen sighed. "After ZENITH, the Hall of Honor decided to fully support you, whether you united the Outerverse or the Innerverse. Even the Cosmic Sea and the Neoverse were considered, and as long as you have the ability, I will not stop you. However, this is because you are Lu Yin. Do you understand?"

Lu Yin suddenly spoke up, "Can this junior ask Senior a question?"

"Tell me."

"Did the primeval surnames truly really abandon the Fifth Mainland?"

The call fell silent, but Lu Yin was in no hurry, so he waited patiently.

Some time later, Arch-Elder Zen finally replied, "Why do you ask that question?"

Lu Yin let out a long breath. "Because of the location of the Upper Three Gates. They are located on the battlefield behind the Mother Tree in the Perennial World. That place protects us from being attacked."

The old man said nothing.

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. "While I may have lost my memory, I am still more or less aware of the situation of the Lu family for the time when I lived in the Perennial World. The Lu family was a popular ruler, and at the very least, the Liu family, the Nong family, and Virtue Archives did not betray them. Those powers were willing to become public enemies for the sake of the Lu family. Countless people look forward to the Lu family’s return, and even if they die, they still refuse to join with the four ruling powers. I can’t believe that a Lu family like that would have abandoned their ancestral land.

"I am both Lu Yin and Lu Xiaoxuan, and neither Lu Yin nor Lu Xiaoxuan would ever abandon their ancestral land. Neither would the Lu family."

"The fact remains that the Fifth Mainland was abandoned and our sky was replaced by the Sixth Mainland. The Lu family was the group that took the lead, as only the Lu family possessed power to take the Mother Tree away and truly abandon my Fifth Mainland," Arch-Elder Zen explained in a deep voice.

"If that battlefield was not located behind the Perennial World’s Mother Tree, the Fifth Mainland and the Sixth Mainland would never have been able to endure against the Aeternals, as we would not even have been able to stand up to the Twelve Marquises. Is this junior correct in his understanding that the Perennial World is blocking the Aeternals from targeting the Fifth Mainland?" Lu Yin asked.

"Abandoning their ancestral land in the ancient times is an entirely separate matter from blocking humanity’s enemies. Even if they are holding back the Aeternals on the rear battlefield, that still cannot erase the fact that they allowed the sky of their ancestral land to be replaced. If the four ruling powers’ Progenitors had stayed here, the Sixth Mainland would have been defeated. Progenitor Chen would not have fought alone, and the Rune Progenitor would not have died helplessly while carrying his civilization. My Fifth Mainland would not be lacking any Progenitors all this time," Arch-Elder Zen replied sternly.

Lu Yin realized that Arch-Elder Zen and the others carried a powerful resentment towards the Perennial World. In fact, not only them, but their elders and predecessors had all been Semi-Progenitors as well. Because the Fifth Mainland’s sky had changed, none of them had been able to become a Progenitor. All of those people had died without even having a chance of becoming a Progenitor. Lu Yin could completely understand that they must be feeling incredibly betrayed.

It was true that merits could not balance demerits. No matter what the Perennial World may have done to protect the Fifth Mainland, it was impossible to ignore that the Fifth Mainland had been abandoned and its sky had been replaced.

However, Lu Yin’s conversation with Arch-Elder Zen also made him completely certain that the Perennial World really was blocking the Aeternals from entering the Fifth Mainland. It was possible that the truth of the past was not known to everyone.

In the current era, what was known to be true was the story that had been passed down by those who had stayed behind in the Fifth Mainland, but the passing of so many years could have distorted the truth with their own re-imaginings. This was also true of the Perennial World, as both places absolutely believed that the Fifth Mainland had been abandoned by the Perennial World.

At this realization, Lu Yin suddenly cheered up a great deal and no longer felt any bit of guilt.

Cultivators had to be aware of their own mindsets. Even if Lu Yin eventually became able to force the Great Eastern Alliance to fight against the four ruling powers, if he always felt that he owed the Fifth Mainland an impossible debt, it would eventually become a burden that would permanently affect him. However, that burden had been lifted.

It was possible that the Lu family did not owe the Fifth Mainland a thing. In fact, it was even possible that Lu Yin’s family might have taken the initiative to protect the Fifth Mainland from the Aeternals.

At the moment, Lu Yin needed the Fifth Mainland’s strength in order to bring back his Lu family. This was what he believed in, and also had to believe it as the truth..

As for the fact that Arch-Elder Zen and the others believed that the truth was that their Fifth Mainland had been abandoned, Lu Yin chose to not believe it. He wanted to compensate for his own shortcomings, and this was something he had to do. If he eventually succeeded and the Lu family returned to power, then he would be able to take appropriate actions based on the truth of what had happened all those eons ago. However, in order to do anything at all, the Lu family had to first return.

After clearing the burden from his heart, Lu Yin let out a long breath and stopped debating the matter with Arch-Elder Zen.

"After uniting both the Innerverse and Outerverse, you are qualified to speak directly with my Hall of Honor. This is why I told you this before, and I will remind you again now: do not fight against the four ruling powers. Do not weaken humanity to give the Aeternals an advantage. This is the bottom line of everyone, as it is humanity’s bottom line," Arch-Elder Zen solemnly stated.

Lu Yin's eyes flashed. "What if the four ruling powers send someone here to kill this junior?"

Arch-Elder Zen remained silent for a while. "They are not able to do that."

Lu Yin's eye twitched. He had assumed that the old man would say something along the lines of reassuring Lu Yin that they would do their best to help and protect Lu Yin, or even that they would abandon him to the Perennial World. He had not expected the answer that Arch-Elder Zen had given. Where did such confidence come from? Those were the four ruling powers of the Perennial World.

Lu Yin felt that something was off. Arch-Elder Zen was too confident. The four ruling powers were capable of sending more than a single Semi-Progenitor to hunt Lu Yin down in the Fifth Mainland, and it was even possible that a Progenitor would be sent. Arch-Elder Zen had no qualifications to make such a claim, and yet he had still done so.

Lu Yin thought back to when he had been at the top of Mt. Microcosms and how Arch-Elder Zen had defended him even back then. He thought of the helplessness in the old man’s voice when he had first learned that Lu Yin was Lu Xiaoxuan. Arch-Elder Zen had to be aware of something, and the most likely thing was Mister Mu.

"Has Senior heard of Mister Mu?" Lu Yin suddenly asked.

Arch-Elder Zen fell silent once again, and a long time later, he replied, "I have heard of him and I have seen him."

Lu Yin's eyes went wide. As he had suspected, much of Arch-Elder Zen’s protectiveness was because of Mister Mu. Lu Yin had been let free after being taken to Aeternus Nation to be transformed into a corpse king, and yet there had been no repercussions. This should have been impossible, given the Hall of Honor’s attitude towards the Aeternals.

Sure enough, it had been because of Mister Mu.

"Senior, do you know of this junior’s relationship with Mister Mu?" Lu Yin asked.

Arch-Elder Zen replied, "You should stop with the questions, as I can’t tell you anything. Instead, you should speak to your senior disciple brother when you have the opportunity."

"The Chief Justice?"

"Whether or not he wants to tell you anything has nothing to do with me. Still, even if you are that master’s disciple, that will not change the bottom line of my Fifth Mainland. The Aeternals are humanity’s greatest enemy. You must always remember this." With that, Arch-Elder Zen ended the call.