Star Odyssey

Chapter 3769: Catching Specks Of Light

Emperor Slayer beamed. “You flatter me, Senior! Serving you would be the greatest honor of Xiao Wu’s life! Since the moment of my birth, I’ve been waiting for this exact moment! This one moment proves my value and will be my greatest glory! This moment is bright enough to illuminate the entire Aevum Inch. Please, ask anything you will of Xiao Wu! I can only thank you.”

Che stared at the earnest expression on the beast’s face while listening to the verbal torrent. For a moment, he was taken aback. The beast was so enthusiastic that Che felt embarrassed to speak.

“Ahem, you’re much too polite. There’s no need for any of that.”

“Please, Senior, don’t be polite.”

“Well, it’s just... I came here to retrieve something of mine, if that’s convenient.”

“Of course it’s convenient! Anything you want!” Emperor Slayer revealed his cosmic ring and instantly handed it over to Che.

The man looked down at the proffered ring. “There are so many good people...

“I just need the sword fragment. It’s from my weapon.”

Emperor Slayer’s eye twitched. The sword fragment? He did indeed have one. It had broken off from the shattered Starforged Sword, and he had later picked it up. His weapon... his weapon.

Emperor Slayer swallowed again. So, he really is an Immortal. Who but an Immortal could wield that thing as their weapon?

The beast quickly brought out the shard and offered it to Che, who accepted it with a smile. “Thank you.”

Emperor Slayer ducked his head again. “You’re welcome. Serving you is Xiao Wu’s lifelong fortune, Senior. I should be the one thanking you. Every second in your presence is another moment that I’ll savor forever.”

Che was not very good at dealing with such people. This sort of warmth and subservience made him uneasy. The sight of Emperor Slayer being so deferential caused the man to hesitate. “Thank you very much for returning my property to me. Should I perhaps offer you something in return?”

Emperor Slayer looked overjoyed by the suggestion. “To receive a gift from you, Senior, surpasses anything that Xiao Wu has ever even dreamed of! May I be allowed to carve a statue in your likeness, Senior, to worship it throughout my life?”

“That won’t be necessary.” Che glanced at Emperor Slayer’s right index finger, and the beast’s hand rose of its own accord. He had lost control of his own body.

This realization terrified him, though he had already been controlled by Yue Ya once before and was therefore somewhat familiar with the experience.

"I’ve left a strand of my power on that finger. Should you encounter any danger, you may use it. Now, I shall take my leave," Che spoke gently, his smile still warm.

Emperor Slayer slowly lowered his right hand and immediately kneeled to Che. "Xiao Wu thanks you, Senior, for granting me this power. Though this may be a bit presumptuous, might I be allowed to become your disciple? Xiao Wu will serve at your side for the rest of his life, Senior. So long as I am allowed to behold your face every day, I can die without regrets."

There was no reply, but the beast’s body abruptly flew into the distance, completely outside of his control. It was a familiar sensation, as it was the same as being launched by a springboard. Was it really possible to duplicate such force?

Emperor Slayer looked around, but Che was already gone.

He licked his lips and let out a long breath. The monster’s finally gone! Not only did he catch up to me, but he was also able to replicate a springboard’s power. He must be an ancient Immortal.

I’m lucky I reacted so quickly and only spoke flattering words. If not for that, I’d be dead.

His back was soaked with sweat, and he cleaned yet more sweat from his brow before looking down at his right index finger. The power that he left there has to be Immortal-level... Excellent!

Finally, Emperor Slayer had a trump card that could threaten even someone like the High Seraph. At last he had something that could give him a bit of confidence.

He did not know when it had started, but despite being a powerful Dukkhan, he had started to feel completely vulnerable.

He had first fled from the Spirit Nidus to Beacon City, only to be forced from Beacon City to the Consciousness Megaverse. His experiences in that place still gave him nightmares.

Che took the sword fragment that I picked up, but the rest were left in the Consciousness Megaverse. Che will definitely go after those as well. Lu Yin, oh Lu Yin, tragedy never ignores you. I pray you survive. It’s better that you survive than the High Seraph.

A year soon passed. During that time, Lu Yin collected more than 200 specks of light.

The meteorite took roughly five days to find a speck of light in even the smallest Broken Realms, whereas Lu Yin needed less than a day to do so. Still, this did not mean that he could dedicate all of his time to searching for specks of light.

He needed to stimulate the madness in order to even see the lights, and while experiencing such intense emotions once in a while was fine, doing so repeatedly left him mentally exhausted. During the year, he had started by constantly searching for the spots of light, but then had needed to rest for half a day. Later, he had needed to rest for a day, and eventually, he had needed to take two or even three days of rest, simply because his mind could not endure the stress.

Over the course of an entire year, he had only managed to gather a bit more than 200 specks of light.

Having gathered so many specks of light meant that he could use the Tri-Azure Sword Intent at the Immortal level more than 200 times. While this sounded quite impressive, the truth was that anyone who warranted such an attack would either be someone like the High Seraph, who would be badly hurt by just one or two strikes at most, or a true Immortal. Against such an expert, 200 attacks would mean little more than just one or two attacks, as an Immortal could unleash such powerful attacks without such limits.

It would be no different from challenging an adversary with an infinite number of chances with just 200 chances. On top of that, Lu Yin was limited to only the Tri-Azure Sword Intent and Heaven and Earth Lock when it came to techniques at that level. Anyone who had managed to become an Immortal would instantly see Lu Yin’s limitations.

For this reason, the number of specks of light that Lu Yin had gathered did not matter nearly as much as how he used them.

Unfortunately, Lu Yin had not found any better methods yet.

His only comfort was that even someone as strong as the High Seraph would not be able to withstand even a few such attacks, which arguably meant that Lu Yin was the strongest being beneath the Immortal realm.

Throughout the year, whenever Lu Yin was not catching specks of light, he had been extracting karmic bricks. It was impossible to have too much karma. While he did not know if Greater Sancte Green Lotus would notice the theft, Lu Yin simply had no choice. He had done the same in the Spirit Nidus, and nothing happened there, despite its closer proximity to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. He felt that the Consciousness Megaverse should be safer, so he proceeded to focus on extracting bricks and catching specks of light.

Neither Yue Ya nor the High Seraph revealed themselves, though Lu Yin did see the meteorite on several occasions. He greeted it each time, but he was always ignored.

...

Inside the Tianyuan’s boundary gate, music rang out within an enormous fortress. The entire structure was extravagant and luxurious, and countless cultivators standing guard at the boundary stared at the fortress in stunned amazement.

They had been maintaining a silent watch on the boundary. Never before had they witnessed such a scene.

The colossal fortress had been constructed across multiple planets, and it was the home of the Scourge Occupation.

Every member of the Scourge Occupation lived within the fortress. Due to the unique way in which they acquired power, their lifespans were extremely short, averaging no more than 200 years, which completely contrasted with their formidable combat power.

In the past, Lu Yin had realized that it was possible to free the Scourge Occupation’s ancestor from his rampant power, but due to the fact that it was impossible to predict if the man would regain his sanity or not, Lu Yin had left the decision to the chief, E' Nan, who had decided not to alter the Scourge Occupation’s situation. Instead, they decided to first use E' Jia’s power to increase the number of peak powerhouses present in the Tianyuan Megaverse.

More than sixty years had passed since Boundless had left for the Spirit Nidus. It was little more than a blink for cultivators, but for the people of the Scourge Occupation, an entire generation had already died of old age. Even their current chief, E' Nan, was not far from the end of his natural lifespan.

E' Nan was E' Ji’s son, and he had inherited the position of chief after her death. As the years passed, E' Nan’s own son, E' Kai, had grown and matured. He had repeatedly accepted increasingly stronger power from E' Jia, and E' Nan was able to rest assured of his clan’s future.

As he stepped away from the fortress, E' Nan glanced back with a conflicted expression.

He had been given a task to help the Tianyuan Megaverse: deliver a Nest to the Spirit Nidus.

It was Jiang Feng’s idea. Since Master Qing Cao wanted to use their megaverse as a shield to protect the Spirit Nidus, they could not afford to sit idle. If war broke out, so be it, but if not, the Tianyuan had plans of its own.

The decision was unanimous, and after much deliberation, E' Nan had been assigned the task.

The man was nearly as strong as a Progenitor, which was enough for him to deliver a Nest to the Spirit Nidus. The endeavor was practically suicide, so since the man was rapidly approaching the end of his life, he was seen as the perfect candidate.

In addition to transporting a Nest, he was also instructed to gather any news he could regarding Boundless. After that, if at all possible, he was to return, alive.

At the boundary’s gate, E' Kai’s eyes flushed red as he looked at his father. “Father, you will return, won’t you?”

He stood beside Jiang Feng, Lu Yuan, and the other powerhouses, all of whom were present to see E' Nan off.

The man smiled at E' Kai. “Of course. Your father still has decades of life left. I won’t go down easily. Lad, live well. What is the foremost duty of our Scourge Occupation? To continue to endure. Don’t forget that.”

The more members of the Scourge Occupation who were born, the more they could share their ancestor, E' Jia’s, burden. At the same time, the more powerhouses the Tianyuan gained.

Lu Yin’s advice had been for the Scourge Occupation to increase their numbers, and there were currently a great number of young people living in their fortress. Some had been born in the Mirari Realm and had gained their strength there as well.

E' Kai clenched his fist. “I understand, Father.”

E' Nan nodded, complicated emotions swirling in his eyes. “Don’t worry about me. The Aevum Inch isn’t an inherently dangerous place. I’ll be safe at least until I meet Spirit Nidus cultivators. Even then, your father’s strength nearly matches a Progenitor, which isn’t something that just anyone can handle.

“The truth is that our megaverse is currently more dangerous.”

E' Kai’s voice dropped low. “I will be sure to protect our clan.”

E' Nan exhaled deeply, and his gaze passed from E' Kai to the Scourge Occupation fortress.

While the fortress looked like an endless party of unlimited luxury, the people there suffered more than anyone else. Anywhere in the megaverse, even the most average cultivator could live for centuries or more. As for those who became Envoys, Semi-Progenitors, or Progenitors, while they could not live forever, their lives were extremely long.

What of the Scourge Occupation?

What good was power that was so easily gained?

“All of our people are watching you,” E' Kai commented.

E' Nan nodded. “I know. Let them continue celebrating.”

He smiled. “I will come back aboard Boundless.”

E' Kai immediately brightened. “I’ll wait for you, Father.”

Within the fortress, the eyes of every member of the Scourge Occupation turned to look at the boundary gate. There was an underlying atmosphere of mourning to their energetic party.

E' Nan exchanged brief farewells with Jiang Feng and the others. All that had needed to be said had long been exchanged.

He took a Nest with him and stepped onto the springboard, almost immediately disappearing.

The onlookers dispersed, and the massive Scourge Occupation fortress also left.

Jiang Feng remained in place, still staring at the lonely springboard as he muttered to himself, “I hope that I didn’t make the wrong choice.”

A graceful figure appeared behind him. “What are you worried about?”

Jiang Feng did not reply or even turn around.