Star Odyssey

Chapter 2053: Returning To The Daosource Sect

Big Sis clenched her fists tightly. "I don’t need that."

"I am a Semi-Progenitor. In this era, there is no one who is my opponent except for powerful Progenitors. I can teach you the way of Destiny. Become my disciple, and you will never lose," Destina said.

Big Sis sneered. "You’re looking for the wrong person. Destiny? You should go see the Starsibyl Sect. I don't believe in Destiny. All I believe in is the blade in my hand."

"This is just the same as before. This simply doesn't make sense. Come with me. I need to go find the person I'm looking for." Right then, the white cloud wrapped around Big Sis’s head.

At that same moment, a stern shout echoed, "Who is it?"

Arch-Elder Zen appeared, and he glared at the white cloud. "Who are you?"

"This has nothing to do with you," Destina replied indifferently. The white cloud started to disappear.

Arch-Elder Zen became furious. "Release her!"

As he spoke, a stream of ancestral qi shot out and smashed into the white cloud.

The cloud disappeared entirely, though Arch-Elder Zen’s ancestral qi was completely drained.

He stared at the empty room in shock. Who had that been? With the suppression of the mental network, unless someone was able to brazenly resist the suppression like Ancient God, it was impossible to completely outclass another Semi-Progenitor. However, the white cloud had disappeared before Arch-Elder Zen’s face, and he had been unable to do anything to stop or even sense where it had gone.

What was that white cloud? Why had it captured Lei Qingqing?

With this question, Arch-Elder Zen immediately tried to call Highsage Grandmaster. Lei Qingqing was a part of Leon’s Armada, which made her part of Eversky Island.

The Human Domain’s network had become unreliable, so Arch-Elder Zen used his wireless jincan to call Highsage Grandmaster.

After receiving the message from Arch-Elder Zen, Highsage Grandmaster quickly went to find Highsage Leon.

"What? Qingqing’s been captured?" Highsage Leon was shocked, and his face betrayed his anger. His breathing even grew erratic.

Highsage Grandmaster felt rather curious about the matter. "Qingqing was clearly captured by an ancient powerhouse, and not even Arch-Elder Zen was able to stop them. In fact, he never even saw the person’s appearance. How could Qingqing have drawn the attention of an ancient expert?"

Highsage Leon panted heavily for a moment. He eventually gritted his teeth and quietly answered, "Master, do you remember how Qingqing’s appearance keeps changing?"

"You said that it's because of a problem with her cultivation art. I once asked you to bring her to me, but you never did." Highsage Grandmaster took a moment to think back before answering.

Highsage Leon shook his head. "It's not really a problem with her cultivation art, but rather something that Qingqing was born with. I was amazed by it when I first picked her up. Her appearance keeps changing, but I could never figure out why. On top of that, the changes are not superficial, as her entire body changes. It’s as though she becomes someone else entirely.

"The reason I didn't take her to you, Master, is that Qingqing didn't want anyone else to know about it and start treating her like she’s some kind of monster."

Highsage Grandmaster grew solemn. "If that’s the case, then Qingqing may not have a simple background. She might possess some other identity if she’s able to cause even an ancient powerhouse to move against her."

"Master, I beg you! Save Qingqing!" Highsage Leon pleaded as he stared at Highsage Grandmaster.

The older man shrugged. "If I knew where Qingqing is, I would at least try, but I don't even know where to find her. How can I save her?"

Highsage Leon started to get increasingly worried. This was very true; how could Qingqing be saved if they did not even know where she was?

Despite Eversky Island’s influence, no trace of Qingqing could be found anywhere. After thinking about the matter, Highsage Leon felt that his only choice was to tell Lu Yin and have the Great Eastern Alliance also search for Qingqing.

***

In the Outerverse, Lu Yin opened his eyes. Only a few days had passed since he had gone into seclusion, but he had already recovered from his innate gift’s backlash within the Timestop Space. However, Lu Yin could not leave seclusion, as Lu Buzheng would instantly notice the change.

Lu Yin did not yet trust this Third Uncle, as he barely knew the man. What Lu Yin did know was that there had been traitors within the Lu family.

However, even if he was supposed to be in secluded training, Lu Yin had no idea what to train. The Origin Progenitor’s Sutra needed to be recited, so should he focus on that? The Cosmic Art needed to be cultivated with stellular energy, as did the Inverse Step and sourcebox arrays. Without stellular energy, Lu Yin’s options were actually quite limited, and his battle strength had fallen considerably.

Suddenly, Lu Yin's eyes lit up. He remembered something, so he quickly pulled out the yellow futon from his cosmic ring.

He had forgotten all about the Daosource Sect ruins, as well as the Ninesuns Cauldron Transformation. Fortunately, he had remembered it, or else he would have eventually greatly regretted the oversight.

After Lu Yin had received Mister Mu’s teachings about the technique, Lu Yin’s expectations for the Ninesuns Cauldron Transformation had soared. After all, he had abandoned the opportunity to learn a space-time battle technique in order to accept the Ninesuns Cauldron Transformation’s true potential. If he was forced to return to the Perennial World, he might lose the opportunity to enter the Daosource Sect ruins and absorb the rest of the cauldron energy. He needed to use this opportunity to do so.

Lu Yin intended to do just that, so he immediately sat down upon the futon. He then instantly reappeared in futon plaza in the ruins. The entrance to the First Divine Gate was not far away.

Lu Yin’s original goal was to absorb more cauldron energy, but upon his arrival, he was shocked to discover that the Daosource Sect ruins still possessed stellular energy.

The stellular energy in the ruins was not being devoured by the droplets, and the true universe remained quite stable.

This discovery left Lu Yin overjoyed. This meant that as long as humanity’s powerhouses were able to enter the ruins, they would be able to recover their stellular energy reserves.

A person appeared off in the distance after just arriving in the futon plaza as well. They did not notice Lu Yin’s presence and rather nervously raced off into the First Divine Gate, quickly disappearing.

Lu Yin frowned. He had no idea if anyone else was aware that there was still stellular energy in the Daosource Sect ruins. It was possible that things were not that simple. People were selfish, and it was possible that those who had discovered this matter had not said anything to anyone else.

Even though the Sixth Mainland had a great number of yellow futons, it was still a limited number. Even if word of the stellular energy in the ruins spread, it would only spread among a select number of people, and it would not spread from there. In particular, the Fifth Mainland would never learn of it.

Fortunately, Lu Yin had remembered to visit the ruins. As soon as he left this place, he would need to find a way to get more futons from the Sixth Mainland for the Fifth Mainland’s powerhouses to enter the Daosource Sect. Actually, Lu Yin did not know if it was even possible for a Semi-Progenitor to enter the ruins.

He quickly rose to his feet and reached the Budding Terrace after passing through the First Divine Gate. He then made his way straight to the Nine Cauldrons Region.

Lu Yin believed that not many powerhouses would be protecting the Nine Cauldrons at this moment, as there were most likely not very many people from the Sixth Mainland throughout the entire ruins. Even if word of the presence of stellular energy spread within the Sixth Mainland, the people in the Daosource Sect ruins first needed to leave and then spread the word. The Sixth Mainland was in chaos in the Outerverse, and the people who normally entered the ruins were currently occupied with other tasks. However, as time passed, more and more people would return to the Daosource Sect ruins.

Lu Yin approached the Nine Cauldrons Region, and just to be careful, he used the Mask of Death before entering the region.

Looking around, he saw that there were still five huge cauldrons filling the area. Lu Yin had already shattered four of the cauldrons, and he had even started absorbing the cauldron energy from the fifth cauldron.

He glanced around cautiously. One, two. There were only two people present. One was not even an Explorer, but the other was an old acquaintance of Lu Yin’s: Qiu He.

Qiu He acted as a servant to one of the Sixth Mainland’s Daosource Three Skies, Zhi Yi. Lu Yin had fought against the man when the Sixth Mainland had invaded the Fifth Mainland, and at that time, Qiu He had only been a Hunter. Still, he had possessed a level of strength that was nearly comparable to the Ten Arbiters. The man had since become an Enlighter, showing that he was truly a talented cultivator. Unfortunately for Qiu He, Lu Yin had already far, far surpassed him.

Qiu He was moving around within one of the cauldrons, trying to sense something. He did not even notice Lu Yin's arrival.

Lu Yin knocked the man out with a single blow, and he did the same to the Explorer who was present. He then entered the fifth cauldron and continued absorbing its cauldron energy.

Stellular energy had been completely drained from the true universe, but while the Nine Suns Cauldron Transformation was a battle technique, it did not necessarily have to use stellular energy. It could be used with death energy just as well, as long as Lu Yin had sufficient death energy.

No matter what, even if he was unable to use the complete Ninesuns Cauldron Transformation for the rest of his life, Lu Yin still wanted to learn the full technique. That way, he would not feel as if he had given up on that space-time battle technique for nothing.

He still felt quite stressed whenever he remembered that space-time battle technique. All space-time techniques were invaluable, so why had Mister Mu not simply taught Lu Yin both of the techniques?

…

Many of the Sixth Mainland’s people had gathered at the Outerverse’s central weaves, as it had become an oasis for a long time after stellular energy had started being devoured from the true universe. However, after the battle in front of the passage to the Starfall Sea, more of the mysterious droplets had been scattered across the Fifth Mainland, and the entire Outerverse had become deprived of stellular energy. After this development, the Sixth Mainland’s people had instead gathered around their Daosource Sect.

Very recently, a bit of news had started to quietly circulate among a few people: supposedly, there was still stellular energy within the Fifth Mainland’s Daosource Sect ruins.

This information spread out very slowly at first, and it was something that only those with futons knew of. But for some reason, someone without a futon had forcibly stolen a futon and entered the ruins to confirm the rumors. People were only able to remain within the ruins for a month at most, and this depended on their individual strength.

Most of the people who possessed futons were members of the younger generation, so it would be considered impressive if they could remain within the ruins for even half a month.

Because of this, word of the presence of stellular energy within the ruins began to spread, and it had eventually reached the ears of the more powerful cultivators. Hunters, Enlighters, and even Envoys eventually learned of the matter.

Finally, Semi-Progenitor Jiu Yao learned of the rumors.

Jiu Yao solemnly stared at a futon in front of him. "Release this order: lock down this news entirely and gather up all the futons at once."

With a Semi-Progenitor giving the order, the news was completely locked down. Aside from a few cultivators from the Sixth Mainland, no one else knew of this matter. In particular, no one from the Perennial World or the Fifth Mainland had learned of it. Without futons, it was impossible for anyone to enter the Fifth Mainland’s Daosource Sect ruins, with the exception of Lu Yin who had gone into seclusion.

"Can we go there to replenish our stellular energy?" Lan Sian asked Jiu Yao.

Jiu Yao shook his head. "Given our strength, it will take us a very long time to leave after entering. It would not be good if a battle breaks out after we go in."

Lan Xian's eyes glittered. "Don’t you want to take the stellular energy from there?"

Jiu Yao considered the matter for a while. "Don’t release any of the futons, and no one is allowed to enter the ruins anymore. There’s no point in letting Envoys recovering their reserves, so the stellular energy needs to be reserved for you, me and our other Semi-Progenitors."

"I believe that the Fifth Mainland still has a few futons. Even if no one else has one, Lu Yin definitely does," Lan Xian warned.

Jiu Yao was unconcerned. "As long as you hold all the futons, what does it matter even if they learn that there is stellular energy in that place? Can Lu Yin absorb all the stellular energy that’s in there?"

"But he can let the Semi-Progenitors borrow his futon," Lan Xian retorted.

Jiu Yao frowned. If this happened, it would spell trouble for them. Even though the Fifth Mainland did not possess very many futons, if there were enough for their Semi-Progenitors to use, the Sixth Mainland would be instantly out-numbered. It was also unknown if the Daosource Sect ruins held enough stellular energy for any of the Semi-Progenitors to completely restore their reserves. "Prepare yourself. We will go in and recover our strength as soon as possible."

Jiu Yao looked over at Lan Xian. "Why did you save Lu Yin?"

Lan Xian embraced her instrument, and her eyes sparkled as she replied, "I need his blood."

"What about Herb Immortal?" Jiu Yao asked.

Lan Xian answered, "I don't know. You’ll have to ask him directly."

Jiu Yao shook his head. "My Sixth Mainland and the Fifth Mainland have been enemies for generations. Without the threat of the Aeternals, we will be forced to fight again. If you simply want that child’s blood, then it doesn’t matter, but if there’s something else to this, then you can’t blame me for being ruthless."

…