Star Odyssey

Elder Viletree’s eyes went completely wide before shrinking intensely. He watched as the void ahead of him tore open and a Void Thunderbeast stepped out. 

Nobody had known that there was a Void Thunderbeast stationed at the hole in the energy stream, let alone a Void Thunderbeast whose power level approached 300,000. Even Monster Loach had been unaware of its presence, and naturally, since Tian Hou had not known, Lu Yin had been ignorant as well. 

Even with Viletree’s power, he wasn’t even able to react before being stabbed by such a terrifying beast. 

“Human, how did you discover that there’s a gap in this place?” the Void Thunderbeast spoke oppressively. 

Viletree’s face turned pale as the strength drained from his body and he was torn apart.

“It doesn’t matter anymore.” Viletree’s body directly collapsed and shattered as the longsword and pyrolyte that had been in his hands fell. 

The Void Thunderbeast looked in the direction of the distant battle, but it did not move. Its mission was to protect the hole in the energy stream. It didn’t care even if all of the astral beasts in the Primal Zone perished; it was following direct orders from Skymender. 

In another place, Wen Qichen and Topmist were surrounded by three Enlighter astral beasts while another Enlighter beast flew out with the intention of killing Lu Yin. However, it was strangely attracted by the piece of Progenitor Wushang's hide that was draped over the head of the desiccated corpse, almost as if something was beckoning it over. 

The beast changed targets to the corpse, as it wanted the piece of Progenitor Wushang's hide. 

The corpse grew angry, and it stepped forward to appear before the astral beast. It reached out with a withered arm and clashed against the giant claw. Its hand pierced through the claw and almost instantly tore through the beast while Topmist watched on in fear. The enormous beast had just been shredded apart like a piece of paper by the dried out corpse. 

At this moment, the other three Enlighter astral beasts, Wen Qichen, and Topmist were all shocked. 

The corpse had no blatant power, but the strength that it had just displayed was simply awe-inducing. 

One of the Enlighter beasts bellowed and charged towards the corpse. The void was sliced apart in layers, and a terrifying strength completely enveloped the corpse.

The corpse’s eyes were like blackholes. It turned its head and allowed a frightful attack to streak through its body. The thing then shot back with the attack and through the attacker. Yet another Enlighter beast had fallen.

Topmist felt frightened, as this corpse was definitely a freak with a power level of over 300,000, and he wanted to get as far away from it as possible. 

Wen Qichen looked into the distance. Why hasn’t Viletree ignited the pyrolyte yet?

On a dark planet, Lu Yin’s physical body endured an intense pain even as various scenes appeared in his mind. His body started to undergo changes. He was breaking through. 

A brilliant light flowed out from his physical body and illuminated the planet before penetrating the atmosphere and entering the void. The image of a phenomenon vaguely appeared, but it was very fuzzy. 

Phenomena were things that only existed in legends. It was rumored that geniuses with powerful innate gifts were able to produce phenomena when they broke through to the Explorer realm. These people were the favored children of the universe, and they were smiled upon by the heavens themselves. They were people with the potential to gaze right into the very essence of the universe. Since recorded history, there were extremely few individuals in the universe who had produced such phenomena during their breakthroughs, and it was possible that not even all of the Human Domain’s Ten Arbiters had produced phenomena when they broke through in the past. 

A phenomenon was a symbol, one that signified that a cultivator was entering another level altogether. 

A title would be specially bestowed by the Hall of Honor to the powerhouses who produced phenomena. The White Knight of the Ten Arbiters, Ling Gong, had produced a phenomenon. Thus, the name “White Knight” had been given to them by the Hall of Honor, and it had thus become the Arbiter’s title. 

And now, in the Primal Zone, Lu Yin’s breakthrough to the Explorer realm had shaken the universe and birthed another phenomenon. 

Unfortunately, there was no one around to appreciate it, and even Lu Yin himself did not notice the phenomenon. 

On the planet, the phenomenon cleared up bit by bit, and the void rippled like water as a small sapling appeared above Lu Yin’s head. It grew slowly at first, but then it quickly flourished until it covered the entire planet. After that, it continued to grow outwards, and it gradually pervaded the entire local region of space. 

The phenomenon was a tree, but its drooping branches distorted the void and emitted a gas. It seemed as if living things were being created beneath the bows of the tree. Under one branch, a ball was forming, and under another branch, a sword was being created. Under yet another branch, a square object was coming into being, and under still another branch…

Many objects grew out from the tree, but the tree itself was born from Lu Yin. It gradually covered the vastness of space. 

The phenomenon became more and more clear with each passing moment, and as the scope of the phenomenon grew larger, it eventually caught the attention of countless astral beasts from the Primal Zone. However, they did not dare to approach it. 

Outside the hole in the energy stream, the Void Thunderbeast stared in astonishment at the phenomenon. What the heck is that? 

Wen Qichen, Topmist, and the Enlighter realm astral beasts also noticed the phenomenon.

The corpse looked up, and it seemed to feel something because it suddenly began to crazily charge towards the Enlighter beasts in front of it as it dashed towards Lu Yin. As it moved along, it swept Wen Qichen and two more Enlighter beasts aside, reducing all of them to mere pools of blood.

Topmist was stunned. In the blink of an eye, three Enlighters had been wiped out. The corpse had displayed a strength that was incomprehensible to the human Enlighter, and past the corpse, he could see a phantom image that caused him to shudder. 

He had been fortunate that he had not been in the direction that the corpse was charging in.

Off in the distance, the pyrolyte still had not exploded, and Topmist knew that something had gone wrong. It was possible that something had happened to Elder Viletree.

He immediately dashed towards the boundary of the Primal Zone without any hesitation. Wen Qichen was dead, and Lu Yin’s status was unrelated to Topmist. In truth, he hoped that the kid would die. Viletree was likely gone as well, and the mission was now a complete failure. The only good news was that the kid Lu Yin had lied, as Monster Loach had not shown up. Since that was the case, then Topmist merely needed to return to the fortress alive, since what was possible to do had already been done. 

As he glanced at the phenomenon, Topmist was able to deduce some basic facts, but after he saw the corpse dash towards the phenomenon, he knew that Lu Yin was about to face a disaster. 

The phenomenon was still expanding, and the corpse charged towards the phenomenon of the giant, growing tree and appeared on the planet. It looked at Lu Yin and then raised its leg, aiming at him. 

Right at this moment, in the middle of his smooth breakthrough, complex runes appeared on Lu Yin’s back that soon formed the shape of a lock that had pierced into his body. The runes began suppressing the breakthrough process. This was the seal that had appeared in the past during Lu Yin’s breakthrough into the Melder realm, but at that time, the crazy headmaster of Astral 10 had appeared and shattered one layer of the seal. However, there were more layers.

The changes occurring to his physical body, and even the phenomenon, stopped progressing at this moment. In fact, the phenomenon of the giant tree even started gradually vanishing.

If the phenomenon completely vanished, it would mean that Lu Yin had failed to break through, and at that moment, his formcast model would shatter. The next opportunity for him to break through would be after an unknown amount of time passed. 

The corpse appeared and moved behind Lu Yin. It swatted down at Lu Yin with one hand without revealing the slightest trace of sentience. “Ancient bloodline detected. Target acquired: kill.” 

Boom!

The corpse’s strike landed on Lu Yin’s back without any obstruction.

Even the Enlighter realm astral beasts, Liu Qiuyu, and the other powerhouses had been easily driven back by a casual attack from the corpse, and since Lu Yin was currently experiencing a breakthrough, he did not have his universal armor on. It was essentially guaranteed that he would be smashed to pieces.

But as luck would have it, the withered hand landed directly on the seal. Although the seal formed from the complex runes was preventing Lu Yin from breaking through, it was also protecting him from another perspective. This was just like the time when he had been struck by the light beam from the battleship. Back then, this seal had also protected his physical body from being vaporized. 

The corpse’s attack was fruitless, so it swatted at Lu Yin once again. There was another thump, and the ground split open, but the seal on Lu Yin’s back shone brightly and resisted the attack. 

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

…

Strike after strike rained down as the corpse continued its incessant attacks. It seemed to have been agitated by the phenomenon produced by Lu Yin’s breakthrough, and it had no thoughts of giving up. 

As the seal was continuously attacked by the corpse, it caused the suppression of Lu Yin’s breakthrough to become unstable. Every time the seal was about to completely suppress and stop his breakthrough, its resistance would be shattered by a slap from the corpse. 

The impressive tree that was formed from the phenomenon was sometimes massive and sometimes small, and its changes created a strange cycle. 

During this cycle, Lu Yin was plunged into a state of unconsciousness and stuck in a strange state where he was not breaking through, but where his breakthrough had not failed either. In this state, he was staring at that jade finger, and he kept staring… 

The monkey regained consciousness, and he saw the corpse’s slap the moment he opened his eyes, which instantly beat him into unconsciousness once again. This beast was the most miserable one of them all at the moment. 

At the border of the Primal Zone, Topmist charged out while panting heavily. He did not dare to pause for even a moment as he continued flying straight back to Seasons Fort. This damned place, he thought to himself, as he wanted to never return to the stronghold. 

Unfortunately, even though that kid had actually produced a phenomenon during his breakthrough and was an innately gifted genius, he would definitely die without question. 

In the entire Primal Zone, aside from those Enlighters who were attacking Yellowsoil Fort and Giantghost Fort, all of the other Enlighters were dead, with the exception of a single Void Thunderbeast. 

And on a planet within the Primal Zone, a corpse continued its relentless attacks without any signs of giving up. This was completely different from its assault on Wang Wen, as its drive to kill Lu Yin greatly surpassed its previous desire to kill Wang Wen. 

Day one, two, three… even on the tenth day, the corpse still had not given up, continuing to strike at the seal without rest. 

Lu Yin had maintained an unconscious state for ten days, during which he had constantly been staring at that jade finger and observing its various changes. After all this time, he seemed to have comprehended something. 

At Seasons Fort, Topmist informed Wang Wen of what had transpired at the Primal Zone after his return. Wang Wen did not release any announcements, but he had determined that Lu Yin was dead. 

Viletree and Wen Qichen were similarly dead, and Wang Wen did not rush to announce the deaths of the two Enlighters as it would plunge Seasons Fort into chaos. 

Lu Yin’s death was something that could not be concealed. Aside from the young Limiteer, there was no one else who could see the positions of the holes in the sourceboxes’ danger zones, and his loss could not be kept a secret until the next battle. 

Due to Lu Yin’s death, an uproar broke out in Seasons Fort, and Lu Yin’s name vanished from the Ironblood Points rankings. 

Even though he had been given many Ironblood Points, he could not be listed any longer.

Charon learned of Lu Yin’s passing and sighed. He had a conflicted expression.

Wang Wen went to the cliff where he had drunk with Lu Yin and tossed a bottle of wine into the ocean. “Chesspiece Bro, there’s no rush. All of us will join you very soon.”

At Yellowsoil Fort, Wendy Yushan’s heart fell when she saw Lu Yin’s name vanish from the list. She hurriedly scanned the list, hoping that Lu Yin had once again traded all of his points and that the exchange had caused him to fall down the list. 

Only when she reached the end of the list did she put down her gadget. Her face had gone completely white. She closed her eyes. “Did you leave first?”

In the lower five strongholds, Yue Xianzi was also occasionally checking Lu Yin’s ranking, but she could not find his name anywhere. Even if he had exchanged his points away, it was impossible for him to not have a single point. She also guessed that he had died, and a complex expression appeared on her face, just like Charon’s.

An Shaohua was agonized by the news. He had originally wanted to cast his lot in with Lu Yin, but now, his hopes had been dashed. 

Even if the people in the other strongholds learned of Lu Yin’s death, they would at most give a small sigh. Only the people at Seasons Fort knew what awaited them after Lu Yin’s death, but their fates had already been determined. 

There were only two days remaining before Wang Wen’s estimated date of when the astral beasts would invade. 

In the Primal Zone, the corpse continued its unceasing onslaught as countless astral beasts surrounded both it and Lu Yin. However, not a single one of the creatures dared to act. Monster Loach and the Enlighter realm Amethyst Beast had also appeared, but not even they dared to intervene. The corpse did not seem to be more powerful than them, but it gave them an indescribably puzzled feeling, which caused them to be apprehensive. 

Two days soon passed by, and Lu Yin’s giant tree phenomenon was suppressed down to the planet, as it had grown smaller and smaller. This showed that the attacks from the corpse against the seal had weakened, and the seal would finally be able to completely suppress Lu Yin’s breakthrough. 

At this time, the reinforcements from the Celestial Beast Empire had arrived to aid the Primal Zone’s assault.