Star Odyssey

Chapter 2012

"It’s possible. He personally took action in this matter, which is why even I am unable to counter it. If we want to survive this crisis and eventually defeat Aeternus, then we can only rely on a source of power other than stellular energy,” Mister Mu said

"He?" Lu Yin’s mind was filling up with unanswered questions.

Mister Mu continued as though Lu Yin had not even spoken. "I've been your master for some time, and yet I have not taught you a single one of my own battle techniques. I’ll offer you two battle techniques to choose from: one is Ancient Origin Tracing, while the other is the Ninesuns Cauldron Transformation."

"The Ninesuns Cauldron Transformation?" Lu Yin had never imagined that one of his choices would be that technique.

Mister Mu looked a bit amused. "The same as you’ve already started learning: the Ninesuns Cauldron Transformation."

"So, is there some difference?" Lu Yin was puzzled.

Mister Mu did not answer, and he merely calmly gazed at Lu Yin while patiently waiting for a decision.

Lu Yin had come to know his master rather well. While Lu Yin had already learned the Ninesuns Cauldron Transformation, the fact that Mister Mu would still choose to offer the battle technique proved that there had to be some key distinguishing factor.

Lu Yin considered the legend of the Ninesuns Cauldron Transformation that had been kept in the Daosource Sect. It had been regarded as an invincible battle technique hidden within the Nine Cauldrons. The Sixth Mainland desperately wanted to acquire the technique, but they had failed to succeed after countless years. Unexpectedly, the technique was one that belonged to Mister Mu.

Lu Yin had not used the technique for quite some time. As his strength improved, it had outgrown the power of the Ninesuns Cauldron Transformation. However, just a few words from Mister Mu had caused Lu Yin's confidence in the battle technique to surge once more.

"Master, what kind of battle technique is Ancient Origin Tracing?" Lu Yin asked.

Mister Mu gazed directly at Lu Yin. "It’s a space-time battle technique."

Lu Yin's pupils shrank in shock. Space-time?

"You have already experienced Ancient Origin Tracing. Back then, it was the Ancient Origin Tracing technique that allowed you to learn the Ce Secret Technique. If I had not used it to let you learn the Ce Secret Technique, but instead offered to teach it to you as a battle technique, you would have become able to attack your enemies across a certain period of time. It’s a technique that can allow you to cross both time and space to attack," Mister Mu explained.

Lu Yin almost instantly picked Ancient Origin Tracing after hearing such a thing. This was a miraculous space-time battle technique that could allow a person to strike down their enemies across both time and space!

While Lu Yin did not know just how strong the battle technique’s attacks might be, it had to be something comparable to the Ninesuns Cauldron Transformation, seeing as Mister Mu was offering the two as equally valuable options.

Lu Yin was faced with an excruciating dilemma. Ancient Origin Tracing was incredibly tempting. Throughout the Fifth Mainland, he only knew one person who had anything close to a technique related to time and space: Wendy Yushan. Her innate gift was Rewind, and it gave her the power to rewind time. However, it was publicly stated that her innate gift was nothing more than the ability to heal injuries.

Wendy had been able to use Rewind to overcome Zhi Yi's Vitality Qi during ZENITH. One needed to remember that when the Sixth Mainland had invaded the Fifth Mainland, Zhi Yi had easily overwhelmed all of the Ten Arbiters with her Vitality Qi.

This showed the power of time.

"Master, your disciple has actually already learned the Ninesuns Cauldron Transformation. As for the Ancient Origin Tracing…" He felt a powerful urge to ask to be able to learn both techniques.

"You can only choose one," Mister Mu affirmed.

Lu Yin maintained a straight face, though he was internally in turmoil. Ancient Origin Tracing, Ninesuns Cauldron Transformation, Ancient Origin Tracing, Ninesuns Cauldron Transformation… Which should he choose? He was torn.

Finally, Lu Yin let out a breath that he had not realized he had been holding. "This disciple chooses the Ninesuns Cauldron Transformation."

Despite being greatly tempted by Ancient Origin Tracing, Lu Yin already possessed too many battle techniques, not to mention several secret techniques and sourcebox arrays. Even if he used his die’s Timestop to accelerate his training, he lacked the energy to master everything. This led to his decision to ultimately choose the Ninesuns Cauldron Transformation, as he was already familiar with it.

Half an hour later, Mister Mu left.

Lu Yin stared off into space with a complicated expression on his face. So was this the true form of the Ninesuns Cauldron Transformation? What he had learned to date had only been the technique’s most primitive form. Unfortunately, Mister Mu had only taught Lu Yin the attacks of the Ninesuns Cauldron Transformation, but he had not provided him with any cauldron energy. If Lu Yin wanted to obtain more cauldron energy, his only option was to return to the Daosource Sect ruins and absorb it from the remaining cauldrons.

As for the Ninesuns Cauldron Transformation, Lu Yin had only one thought after the Mister Mu’s lesson: there was no limit to the power of the technique’s attack.

That was not only Lu Yin’s opinion, but also what Mister Mu had confirmed.

According to Mister Mu, no one could find any limits to how powerful this battle technique could become. It could uncover space and unravel the universe itself. In other words, it could change the sky.

"Where's Undying God?" Kui Luo exclaimed once the region returned to normal. "Huh? Roots of Intelligence?"

Lu Yin put away two Roots of Intelligence that were floating in front of him. They were a gift from Mister Mu before the man had left. The jade talisman was gone, which meant that Lu Yin would no longer be able to contact Mister Mu. If he had understood correctly, Lu Yin would only meet his master again once he reached a certain level of strength.

"Where did you get those Roots of Intelligence? It’s not just one, but two of them at that! Those things are invaluable!" Kui Luo's eyes were bright. "Also, where did Undying God go?"

Lu Yin kept a straight face. "I don't know."

Kui Luo studied Lu Yin’s expression. "You don't know?"

Lu Yin replied casually, "If even you don't know, then how could I?"

Kui Luo’s eyes narrowed sharply. "Something’s not right. This is the same sensation that I felt when we mysteriously got out of that trouble back in the Technocracy. Something must’ve happened. Are you hiding something from me?"

Lu Yin replied nonchalantly, "If even a Semi-Progenitor like you has no idea what happened, how would I have any clue?"

Kui Luo rolled his eyes. "Two Roots of Intelligence show up right in front of your face, and Undying God’s gone. Only an idiot would believe that it has nothing to do with you. Forget it, if you’re not willing to say, then I won’t force you. It’s for the best if Undying God is dead.

"Let's get to the Perennial World. This old man will figure out a way to keep you from being found."

Lu Yin glanced at the ruins of what had once been Black Street, as well as the wreckage of the Azure Mansion. Ming Yu and the others were all already dead. His mood was terrible. There were times when human life really held no value at all. Well, corpse kings never cared about the value of human lives, and there were some people who had the same mindset.

***

The southern region of the Neoverse was where the Seven Courts were located. Yōu Lao, Ku Rong, Hui Kong, Ce Yue, and several other experts with power levels of over a million protected the area. Space was littered with the still bodies of corpse kings. This area had also been attacked by the Neohuman Alliance, but it had been easily protected.

A droplet of the mysterious liquid was also in the southern region of the Neoverse, which meant that there were a total of four droplets absorbing stellular energy from the Neoverse.

At this moment, the patriarchs of the Court of Seven Names were locked in a heated discussion. Each of them looked incredibly serious, and arguments kept erupting.

"My Xie family doesn't have many cultivators, so I can't send that many!" Xie Ahua said in frustration.

Xia Yi retorted, "This isn’t the time to be selfish! Cultivators from both the Fifth and Sixth Mainlands are desperately trying to hold back the invaders at the border of the Starfall Sea right now. Our Semi-Progenitors and Envoys are already fighting on their own battlefields, so once the defenses fail, Aeternus will flood in, and our Fifth Mainland will be done for. Everyone will die."

Hui Zhi added, "That's true. Even Senior Xia Ji has already moved out. Based on what I know of the Fifth Mainland, our only way out of this predicament is for us to completely rout Aeternus and drive them out."

Ce Laoyan jumped in as well. "In the past, the overall strength of the Sixth Mainland far surpassed that of our Fifth Mainland. However, they have already been defeated, and they were forced to retreat here. Now, our stellular energy can no longer be replenished, which means that in a battle between Envoys, we will automatically lose. This situation is much worse than what the Sixth Mainland faced. I insist that we unite the Neoverse to drive Aeternus out.”

"You want to abandon the rest of the Fifth Mainland?" Ku Pu questioned.

Ce Laoyan gave the other man a hard look. "Do you have a better idea?"

"Ce Laoyan's proposal has merit." Yōu Kexin’s eyes swept over everyone present. "The Starfall Sea will soon be lost, and forcing Aeternus out of the Starfall Sea is an unrealistic goal. Everyone already knows that the reason why we were able to maintain a stalemate so far is in large part due to the Perennial World’s army that was sent here to kill Lu Yin. That army can return to the Perennial World at any moment, and the Fifth Mainland and Sixth Mainland cannot deal with all of Aeternus’s Semi-Progenitors on our own.”

"It looks like I need to thank Lu Yin," Xia Yi snorted disdainfully.

Hui Zhi glanced sideways at the man. "I won't pin my hopes on the Perennial World saving us, but it's also a bad idea to stay here in the Neoverse. Right now, the only regions with a stable true universe are the Innerverse’s eastern flowzones and the Astral Beast Domain. Even if we do manage to establish a stronghold, it has to be within one of those areas. Otherwise, our defenses will eventually fail as well.”

Ce Laoyan had no objections to this proposal, and neither did any of the other patriarchs.

With the stellular energy quickly draining from the true universe, humans would only get weaker with each progressive battle. None of the patriarchs held much hope of defeating Aeternus, and most felt that the only possibility of survival was self-preservation. With the help of the Fifth Mainland’s five Semi-Progenitors, it might just be possible to protect a single region.

"Then, what about the Sixth Mainland?" Xie Ahua asked.

Everyone’s expressions shifted. They could defend a region against Aeternus, but that was on the premise that their enemy only sent out Semi-Progenitors. However, Aeternus did not lack mighty Progenitors. The only reason why those powerhouses had not appeared yet was because the Sixth Mainland’s two Progenitors were holding them off. If the Fifth Mainland abandoned their support for the Sixth Mainland and prioritized self-preservation, those two Progenitors could just as easily abandon the Fifth Mainland.

The Sixth Mainland was even more likely to choose to protect just itself than even the Fifth Mainland.

As everyone considered the possibilities, the mood grew gloomy.

The Cosmic Sect, Gods' Origin, Aurora Fortress, and the other Neoverse behemoths were all facing similar dilemmas at this moment. If they sent reinforcements to the Starfall Sea, there was a high possibility that those people would never return, which would lead to their own strength falling. However, if they did not dispatch any reinforcements, it meant that they were basically giving up on the war against Aeternus. The Fifth and Sixth Mainlands would then both be taken over by Aeternus.

The people in charge of these organizations were not stupid. If the true universe was in a normal condition, then they would spare no expense in their fight against this enemy. Doing so otherwise would mean abandoning the Fifth Mainland and surrendering without a fight. The main problem that everyone was facing was that even if they all joined forces, they would not be able to alter the final outcome of the war. Simply put, no one believed that they could defeat Aeternus.

Given the current circumstances, everyone’s first thought was to protect themselves alone.

While the Seven Courts were continuing their negotiations, Aurora Enterprises was busy preparing to travel to the Innerverse.

When you're just trying to make great content at .com.

Even if they wanted to protect themselves, they needed to first move to a safe location.

At the moment, only the true universe in the eastern region of the Innerverse could be considered stable. This was due to Lu Yin preemptively discovering the droplets that had been hidden in the Chroma and Venom Flowzones. His actions allowed the Innerverse to avoid the worst-case scenario of having four droplets devouring all of its stellular energy, which would have made the Innerverse no different from the Neoverse.

At the moment, the Innerverse’s eastern flowzones were the only places where humanity had a possibility of survival and protecting themselves.

Relocating from the Neoverse to the Innerverse was a monumental task. In addition to the major powers’ cultivators, they also needed to move their cities, ordinary humans, and many other items and resources.

Mt. Microcosms could not be easily moved, and the same was true for the Cosmic Sect and Gods' Origin.

Once the corpse kings that the Neohuman Alliance had hidden within the Neoverse started to appear, countless people had begged Gods' Origin for protection. Truesight remained as powerful as ever, and Gods' Origin proved itself able to meet people’s expectations.

However, Gods' Origin was only a single, relatively small force. It was impossible for them to protect the entire Fifth Mainland. If they were capable of doing so, humans would not have anything to fear even if the true universe was sucked dry.

…

A roar echoed through the Starfall Sea, inducing panic and trepidation in all who heard it.

The roar came from Corpse God, who had expanded the passage connecting the Starfall Sea and the Fifth Mainland even wider than before.

With that, a veritable tsunami of corpse kings surged through, and any semblance of an organized defense collapsed. Mountains of human corpses piled up in moments, and the resulting sea of blood stretched all the way to Chaos Flowzone.

Corpse God tore the sky apart and shattered the ground, widening the entrance to the Fifth Mainland. Instantly, humanity was cornered and faced with a truly desperate situation. With this, no one could stop Aeternus.