Star Odyssey

“Sister Michelle, what happened?” Coco and Zora walked out of the store behind Michelle, looking at her with puzzled expressions.

Michelle was still stunned. “Why did he come to the Starfall Sea?”

“Who?” Zora asked.

Michelle softly answered, “Mu Rong.”

“Mu Rong?” Coco and Zora were both stunned. Most people in the younger generation would have at least heard Mu Rong’s name since the four unequaled Limiteers in the younger generation were Ye Xingchen, Ling Que, Lu Yin, and finally, Mu Rong.

Previously, their names had not been very well-known, as everyone had been focused on the Top 100 Rankings and the Ten Arbiters. But after the Astral Combat Tournament and the Tournament of the Strongest had taken place, the universe network had gradually connected, and these four names had become more famous.

Of these four, Ye Xingchen stayed in the Cosmic Sea while Lu Yin was generally known throughout the universe. Ling Que had also appeared a while ago at the Daynight Feast, which made Mu Rong the most mysterious of the four. He had joined the Ten Arbiters Council long ago, and even when compared to Ye Xingchen, most people held greater expectations for Mu Rong. This was both because he had joined the council at a very young age and because the Arbiters had asserted his status as an unparalleled Limiteer in the universe. 

They had not even limited their evaluation of him as being unparalleled among the Limiteers of the younger generation; rather, they classified him as unparalleled amongst all Limiteers, even those of the senior generations. 

As such, the confidence that the Arbiters placed on Mu Rong was extremely huge. Even though Lu Yin had matched the Divine Fist’s public record, Lu Yin was only praised as an unequalled Limiteer within the younger generation. There were also many absolute experts in the senior generations, and it was not popular belief that Lu Yin was more powerful than these people. However, for Mu Rong, the Ten Arbiters’ words were the gold standard, and everyone had to accept that he was the unparalleled Limiteer even if they didn’t want to. 

“Why is Mu Rong here in the Sea King's Dome? Is he also participating in this selection?” Zora asked.

Michelle’s eyes flickered, as she was not sure of the answer either. It was rumored that Mu Rong had received an unforgettable scar in his romantic life and had vowed never to wed after that. So why had he appeared at this critical juncture for the selection? If he was here, then that meant that Lu Yin was in trouble. Even if Lu Yin never considered marrying the Sea King's daughter, these two Limiteers had been termed as equals by countless people in the universe, and they would definitely be compared. That’s right, there was also Ling Que present. Lu Yin was in trouble.

“Coco, tell Lu Yin that Mu Rong is here,” Zora said gravely.

Coco acknowledged the suggestion and hurriedly activated her gadget.

Lu Yin was resting within the courtyard of the villa when he was woken up by a notification from his gadget. He glanced at it, and his expression instantly changed. He found it interesting that Mu Rong had shown up, as this meant that the only unequalled Limiteer not here was Ye Xingchen.

Lu Yin wondered if Mu Rong was truly unbeatable, and a trace of competitiveness rose up within him.

Most of the Sea King’s subordinates’ residences were located above the middle of the mountain, and most people were not allowed access to the area.

Beside one of the Skyfall Cascades, a tall youth stood there, silently watching the water roar past. He reached out, and the water splashed onto his hand, giving him a refreshing sensation.

Behind the man, a veiled lady appeared. Though her face was hidden from view, it could not shroud her gorgeous mien. She slowly stepped out of the void, taking a single step to arrive next to the youth. 

“I never thought that this selection would even attract the renowned Starsibyl,” the youth said, his voice not containing even the slightest trace of surprise.

The veiled lady was Starsibyl, just not the Astral-1’s student leader. This Starsibyl was the space-exploring powerhouse. She was the one who had previously sent out the invitations, and she was also someone whom even the Ten Arbiters could not ignore. There was a question that she had asked all of the top geniuses throughout the universe, but she had never heard the perfect answer. Her looks were enough to astound the heavens.

Many would say that the most famous youths in the universe were the Ten Arbiters. Then, below them would not be the experts on the Top 100 Rankings, but rather Starsibyl. Some rumors even claimed that whoever won Starsibyl’s heart would obtain the future, because she herself represented the future. 

The transformation of the universe had birthed ten freaks, and Starsibyl was from the same generation as those ten, and she could similarly be considered a freak.

“Hai Dashao, you still haven’t answered my previous question,” Starsibyl softly responded. Her voice was graceful and gentle, and it even caused the roaring Skyfall Cascade to quiet down significantly.

The youth was the Sea King’s son, Hai Dashao. He was an absolute genius and was 7th on the Top 100 Rankings.

“I don’t want to answer your question,” he casually replied.

Starsibyl’s eyes were indifferent, and she looked up at the screens in the sky. “Who knows who’ll be fortunate enough to wed Qiqi. Hai Dashao, what do you think?”

Hai Dashao put on a disdainful expression. “None of them are qualified.”

Starsibyl smiled. “Is that so? However, I’ve seen a different future, and there might be an unexpected outcome.” 

Hai Dashao’s eyes suddenly went wide, and he stared hard at Starsibyl. “Stop trying to deceive people. Your so-called predictions are all mere deductions. At best, you can see details that others cannot and use them to deduce an outcome. Don’t believe that you actually represent the future. I’m not Tai Yuanjun, and I won’t believe your nonsense.” 

Starsibyl did not mind his words. “Just wait and see.”

He snorted. “I know who you’re referring to in your so-called ‘different future.’ Cheng Wu, ranked sixty ninth in the Top 100 Rankings. He thought that he hid himself well, but no one can hide themselves once they step onto the Sea King's Dome. Indeed, he’s the strongest one out of them all, but so what? He’s still not suited to marry my sister.” 

Starsibyl did not retort, but her lips curled up as her eyes sparkled like stars.

…

The sunlight shone upon the Sea King's Dome again as Lu Yin stepped out of the villa while carrying the Sea King’s token. He headed in a direction that he had already decided upon the night before, and he made a beeline towards his intended destination. 

There were quite a few auction houses around the mountain’s half-way point, and Lu Yin walked into one, only to come out after three hours. He felt rejuvenated, as he had bought quite a few items once again. They would likely be useless to him personally, but he could earn a significant sum if he sold them, so he had soldiered on. 

During the last day before the selection started, Lu Yin spent all of his time participating in auctions, and he ended up buying so many items that the bill totaled more than 8,000 star essence at the end. In truth, he felt a little guilty, but that was because he was afraid that the Sea King might notice him. 

He felt that things would be alright so long as he did not surpass 10,000 star essence, so he definitely could not go over that.

Beep beep!

Lulu’s voice sounded from Lu Yin’s gadget. “Lu Yin, did you buy a bunch of good stuff?”

Lu Yin replied, “How about you?”

“Me? Hehe, I spent more than 10,000 star essence.” Lulu was proud.

Lu Yin was taken aback. Although he had already expected it, he still jumped in shock when he learned that Lulu had actually been so aggressive as to spend more than 10,000. “I’ve spent about that amount as well.”

“Really? I assumed that you’d be afraid to spend since you’re poor. I figured that would cause you to have some misgivings about buying things.” Lulu ruthlessly mocked him before abruptly ending the call.

Lu Yin was speechless. What had she meant with those words? Was she trying to deliberately insult him?

He looked over to the side; this auction house would be his last harvest of the day, so he stepped inside.

As soon as he stepped in, the boisterous atmosphere caused Lu Yin to involuntarily arch an eyebrow. 

He had already finished shopping in the large auction houses. This last one was just a smaller auction house, and it did not seem as high-end as the ones that he had already visited. However, he was not picky, so he entered the private room and casually looked down.

“The next auctioned item…”

…

Bored, Lu Yin yawned as he listlessly drank his beverage as there was nothing in this auction that interested him.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the next item is a bit special. It has a unique origin, as it comes from the Astral Wilderness!” the auctioneer shouted, attracting a great deal of attention, even from Lu Yin.

The Astral Wilderness was the domain that humans had not yet explored.

No one knew how vast the universe actually was. The Human Domain, the Technocracy, and the Astral Beast Domain had been established by intelligent civilizations. Outside of these three domains, there was the Astral Wilderness.

Many individuals spent their lives exploring the Astral Wilderness, and there were often rumors that intelligent civilizations could be found in that place, as well as extremely dangerous celestial bodies. In summary, the humans’ understanding of it could be summarized in the name—the place was an unexplored wilderness.

Humans were afraid of the unknown; hence in everyday society, they tried their best to forget about that region. Lu Yin never would not have thought that he would see something from the Astral Wilderness in this small auction house. 

The auctioneer’s introduction had caught the crowd’s interest, and he pulled out a transparent metal amidst the crowd’s shouting. Within the metal, there was a strange-looking gun. 

“Are you tired of living? Trying to use a broken gun to fool us!”

“It’s just an antique! I think you don’t want to stay in the Sea King's Dome anymore.”

“Isn’t that just a broken gun? What Astral Wilderness? I can easily buy countless guns like this.”

…

Countless curses echoed in the auction house, but the auctioneer paid no heed and raised his hand to quell the furious voices. “Everyone, no matter how brave this auction house may be, we wouldn’t dare to lie to everyone. This gun is indeed from the Astral Wilderness, and…” At that moment, he paused, and his lips rose before he continued. “The attack of this gun has a power level of over 80,000!”

This sentence shocked everyone. 

Lu Yin’s body went taut as he stared down in amazement. Was such a thing even possible? It was just a gun, and the strongest gun in the universe only had a destructive force of about a power level of 20,000. A gun was generally small, and they could only be made with a limited amount of materials. They were unlike warships, which could unleash destructive attacks with power levels of over 100,000.

“I know it’s hard to believe, but our auction has already conducted a demonstration for everyone.” The auctioneer then clapped his hands, and a screen rose up to display the scene of someone aiming the gun. Then, a physical bullet flew out from the gun, which was an ancient style of attack. When the bullet made contact with the target, it instantly exploded and released an enormous destructive force that caused the void to distort.

To the side of the target, the power level reading rose incessantly before finally stopping at 80,000.

Everyone went silent, as this little thing truly possessed a destructive strength of 80,000.

Suddenly, the crowd grew frenzied. The small size of the gun was not enough to attract attention, and no self-respecting powerhouse would bother paying attention to a gun. However, it was different if it truly had an attack power of 80,000. Such a weapon would give them the confidence to confront even peak Cruisers. 

There were not many Hunters in the universe, and such cultivators were not easily run into, but Explorers and Cruisers were different, and it was relatively commonplace to bump into either. This gun was the same as having the personal protection of a peak Cruiser.

“Are you selling the gun or the technique to manufacture it?” someone in the private room above asked.

Everyone looked at the auctioneer. 

He replied, “The gun. We don’t possess the technique, as the powerhouse who provided this gun obtained it in the Astral Wilderness by happenstance. Thus, he does not possess the technique, either.”

“How many bullets can it fire?” someone else asked.

“There are dots of light on the handle, and each dot represents one bullet. There are twenty three remaining,” the auctioneer explained.

Everyone took a cold breath. Twenty three bullets meant Twenty three attacks, each with a power level of 80,000. That was plenty for most people.

“Less bullshit, start selling!” someone eagerly yelled out.