Star Odyssey

All three people were silent, as Lu Yin’s sentence had stunned not only Nightking Yuanjing, but even the Trialmaster’s attention had been captured. The academy mentor’s pupils constricted, and he appeared in front of Lu Yin as he blurted out in disbelief, “What did you say? You know where the traces of the Third Nightking are?”

“Little brat, what did you say? Repeat yourself,” Nightking Yuanjing hollered anxiously.

Excitement flashed across Lu Yin’s eyes, and he spoke again. “Mentor, Senior, I served at the Human Domain’s border warfront for two months, and during that time, I unexpectedly overheard a mutant beast talking about the tracks of the Third Nightking ancestor.”

“Quick, state the location!” Nightking Yuanjing completely lost himself and was intently staring at Lu Yin like a lunatic.

The Trialmaster also seemed shocked. “Where is the Third Nightking?”

Lu Yin breathed in deeply and then looked at the elder on the screen. “Senior, this junior hasn’t mentioned his conditions yet.”

Nightking Yuanjing forced himself to calm down and then looked at Lu Yin with his scarlet eyes. “Speak! What are your conditions? As long as you can state them, I will be able to fulfill them. However, I must warn you—don’t even think about deceiving me. If I find out that you were spouting nonsense, even then the Astral Combat Academy will not be able to save you. You can ask that old fart next to you.”

The Trialmaster looked at Lu Yin seriously. “Do you really know where the traces of the Third Nightking can be found? Do not attempt to hoodwink them; the Nightking clan naturally has their own methods to validate the information.”

Lu Yin nodded towards the Trialmaster and then looked back at Nightking Yuanjing. “I hope that the Nightking clan can release a person: Zhuo Daynight. She was imprisoned because of this junior’s actions, and I deeply regret it. If Senior can help erase all of her wrongdoings and protect her from your clan’s persecution, then I will tell you where to find the Third Nightkings’ traces.”

Nightking Yuanjing nodded. “It’s just a junior within the clan, so even betrayal can be forgiven, let alone crimes. As long as you can tell me where the Third Nightking’s tracks can be found—and prove that they are real—then not only will I protect her, but I will even adopt her as my daughter. How’s that?”

Lu Yin did not mind whether or not Nightking Yuanjing would adopt Zhuo Daynight as his daughter. He just wanted no harm to come to her. “The Third Nightking is in the Profound Void Realm.”

“That’s impossible. The Profound Void Realm is where the Void Wanderer clan is. Although they are ranked ninth in the Heavenly Beast List, that’s because of their unique nature and their numbers. They cannot obstruct the Third Nightking.”

The Trialmaster similarly had a look of disbelief on his face, and he looked at Lu Yin. He really hoped that Lu Yin was not trying to pull a fast one over Nightking Yuanjing. Otherwise, even Astral-10 would not be able to protect this student.

Lu Yin said, “Does Senior really think that the Void Wanderer clan relies on their numbers and innate gift to be ranked ninth on the Heavenly Beast List? The list is ranked by Skymender, and he would not carelessly arrange it according to such reasoning. The most basic principle in the universe is strength. There’s an old ancestor of that clan who has survived for tens of thousands of years and has gone through multiple evolutions. Its power is groundbreaking, and that is who has trapped the Third Nightking.”

The look on Nightking Yuanjing’s face flickered, evidently unable to accept the information.

“How do you know this?” The Trialmaster could not resist asking.

“At the warfront, I was captured by a Ghost Monkey, and it was one of the five lords of the Spiritual Academy. It accidently let the information slip, though I don’t know how it got ahold of this knowledge in the first place.” He then looked at Nightking Yuanjing. “Senior, I have told you who I wish to be saved. If I were deceiving you, then wouldn’t I be afraid that you would harm my friend?”

Nightking Yuanjing nodded and looked seriously at Lu Yin. “Alright, I’ll believe you this time and search the Profound Void Realm with full force. Still, it will take time to verify your information, though I can assure you that the girl will come to no harm during this time. However, if I find out that you are intentionally deceiving me, then not only will that girl suffer, but you will also die.”

Lu Yin bowed. “If there’s any false information, then Senior may punish me as you wish.”

Nightking Yuanjing looked at Lu Yin intently one last time before ending the connection.

The Trialmaster looked at Lu Yin with a complex expression.l “Little brat, I’ll ask you again. Is this news real?”

Lu Yin nodded. “Yes.”

The Trialmaster was moved, and he lifted his face. “For so many years, we assumed that the Third Nightking had been eliminated. If he’s truly found by the Nightking clan, then the Innerverse’s structure will undergo great changes.”

Lu Yin felt helpless. “Trialmaster, I had no choice. I’m sorry.”

The mentor shook his hand, “This is something completely unrelated to you. The Third Nightking initially attacked the Astral Beast Domain on the human race’s behalf. He is someone honorable and should be rescued. Alright, you can move along now.”

“Mentor, what of my friend?”

“Don’t worry. Nightking Yuanjing is someone who honors his promises. He will definitely protect your friend since he said that he would. He is extremely important in the Nightking clan, and few can suppress him. They would not ignore rescuing the Third Nightking just because of some girl.” The Trialmaster seemed exhausted and his reply was rather absentminded.

Lu Yin bowed, but he did not leave the trial zone entrance. Instead, he went directly to the trial zone mountain.

Once at the trial zone mountain, Lu Yin quietly asked the Ghost Monkey, “Will the Nightking clan really be unable to save the Third Nightking?”

The Ghost Monkey confidently replied, “It’s definitely impossible. That Void Wanderer elder has lived for tens of thousands of years. The Void Wanderers are very special beasts, and once they enter some unknown cycle, they will be able to live on eternally. This is a race that cannot be understood. Even the weakest Void Wanderer, if it lived for tens or even hundreds of thousands of years, would have a complete change in its power. The proof of that ancestor’s strength is its ability to suppress the Third Nightking. Just the existence of that Void Wanderer elder is enough to raise the clan to the ninth position of the Heavenly Beast List.”

“Can the Nightking clan prove that the Third Nightking is actually in the Profound Void Realm?” Lu Yin asked, as this was what the point he was most concerned about. 

“Rest assured. A clan of their strength and history will definitely have their own unique methods. As long as you tell them a specific location, they can definitely verify it.”

“What kind of person is the Third Nightking for him to be able to make the Nightking clan so frantic?” Lu Yin was curious.

“He’s publicly recognized as the third strongest member of the clan ever since the Nightking clan started passing on its inheritance. During his time, the Daynight clan was at its peak, and they even overshadowed the Sword Sect. His arrogance can be seen from the fact that he directly attacked the Astral Beast Domain, although unfortunately for him, he met that mysterious Void Wanderer elder and has been trapped there until now.”

“And that Void Wanderer elder did not kill him either, right?”

“Yeah, it couldn’t kill him and could only trap him. The other powerhouses from the Astral Beast Domain also can’t intervene, as any interference from them would allow the Third Nightking to easily escape. It’s a tricky situation.”

Lu Yin felt that the monkey knew too much and suddenly asked, “How do you know about all this when even the Nightking clan doesn’t?”

The Ghost Monkey had been expecting this question, and he smoothly answered, “Actually I’m an archaeologist.”

“Stop bullshitting me.”

“I’m not.”

“So… you’re a tomb raider!” Lu Yin exclaimed.

The Ghost Monkey fell silent before replying, “... I guess?”

“Are astral beasts also buried in tombs when they die?” Lu Yin was caught off guard by this thought.

The Ghost Monkey felt disgruntled, “Human, don’t look down on us astral beasts! When the universe was first born, humans hadn’t even appeared yet. This region of the universe is actually still considered to be a part of the Astral Beast Domain. In the end, humans themselves are just another species of astral beast, just a degenerated form.”

“We’re an improvement,” Lu Yin was unhappy with the Ghost Monkey’s words.

“Believe whatever makes you feel better, but to us astral beasts, you humans are degenerated astral beasts. You humans can’t freely explore outer space from birth while other astral beasts can. You humans don’t have powerful defensive abilities at birth while other astral beasts do. And you humans have to undergo training to awaken your innate gifts, and even then, the occurrence of an innate gift appearing among you is very rare. Astral beasts are different, and some species can inherit their innate gifts. Even the intelligence that you humans are so proud of isn’t that amazing from our perspective since many astral beasts have an intelligence no lesser than you humans,” the Ghost Monkey replied with a sneer.

Lu Yin couldn’t retort, as the greatest intellectual ability that humans had was their creativity. The Ghost Monkey was right; humans were lacking in many areas compared to the astral beasts. And yet, humanity had relied on their creations to compensate for those shortcomings. If they were truly a regressive form of astral beast as the Ghost Monkey had said, then the human race would not have been able to occupy such a massive astral domain and be able to rival the Astral Beast Domain.

He didn’t feel like mentioning all this to the monkey, and so, he allowed the astral beast to continue living in its dream that humans were lesser than them. Sooner or later, the human race would leave the astral beasts unable to cry even if they wanted to.

“So, astral beasts are entombed when they die?” Lu Yin continued his previous line of questioning.

“Of course. No intelligent creature would be comfortable with its corpse being used by others for their gain and will find ways to bury itself. After countless eons pass, their bodies will naturally turn to dust. Those places are the best ones to go to, since the tombs naturally hold the objects that were buried together with the dead. That beast hide was obtained from a large tomb, and all the information that I know was recorded within that tomb as well,” the Ghost Monkey explained.

This explanation was flawless, and Lu Yin could not argue against it. It should be the truth, as there was no other explanation as to how a Limiteer could possibly obtain such secret information as well as hide the beast hide that Yao Gu was seeking. There was still something that deserved attention, which was how the Ghost Monkey had opened these tombs. If those tombs belonged to powerhouses, then they would definitely not be easily broken into.

But Lu Yin did not ask about this, as he would find out sooner or later. Besides, the Ghost Monkey would only fabricate stories if he was asked about it now, and Lu Yin had more than enough time on his hands.

For now, he needed to wait at the trial zone mountain for a while before seeking revenge.

He was not someone who liked to patiently endure insults, and even though his name contained the “Yin”  [1]  character, his personality was completely different. When possible, he would take revenge on the spot; otherwise, he would wait when forced to.

It was just like how, when Bazeer had humiliated him back in the Great Yu Empire and Lu Yin was unable to do anything against him at the time, he had later destroyed Ghostfire during Astral-10’s examination. That had been his revenge. Nightqueen Yanqing had acted against Lu Yin this time, and now, he had to repay this debt.

Zhuo Daynight would now be protected by Nightking Yuanjing, so she would be fine. Lu Yin had no other concerns, so his retaliation would be wiping the Daynight clan from the trial zones.

Two days later, in the middle of a training ground that had the shape of a green forest in the Dao of Heaven, Rou Daynight slowly opened her eyes. As a child of the Daynight clan, she had been given the green forest and raised into an Area Master, which was already a decent accomplishment. However, she had not even entered the top thirty two during the Astral Tournament and had been harshly criticized by her clan. Even she herself felt that she had been too relaxed in her training.

Still, at least she had done better than Tiankong Daynight. He was also an Area Master, but he had been the first one to be eliminated. How humiliating.

She stood up and scanned her surroundings as many students scattered. The closer one was to the center of the training zone, the more benefits one could obtain. Unfortunately, this green forest training ground was no longer of much help to her, and she wanted to exchange it with another Area Master, but who would be willing?

At that moment, an oppressive aura swept across the area, shocking many as everyone looked up at the sky at the same time.

Rou Daynight looked up as well, as this aura made her feel uneasy. Who could it be?

[1] Yin - hiding/hidden