Star Odyssey

After the two had walked for a long time, the sky grew dark. Lu Yin sat on a tree and looked at the sky. Who would have thought that the night sky in this place would be so beautiful. 

“Bro, how long will your source futon allow you to stay here for?” the fatty suddenly asked, but then he became annoyed. “I forgot. You’re deaf and mute.”

Lu Yin’s heart jolted. Source futon? That should be that yellow prayer mat. How long I can stay for? That means that there’s a time restriction, and each one is different.

He paused, but then decided to take out the futon and see what the fatty would say. 

But the next moment, his face changed, as he could not access his cosmic ring.

What the heck? Why won’t my cosmic ring open? Lu Yin tried several times, but nothing changed. He suddenly recalled a specific detail: although the fatty was weaker than Lu Yin, he was still an elite genius compared to others. Such a person would definitely have medications on hand, but the youth’s fist was still swollen even now, and he had not used any medications to treat his wounds. Could that be because the fatty’s cosmic ring was also inaccessible? 

Lu Yin laid down and pondered over the fatty’s words from during the day. Firstly, this place was called the Daosource Sect, and in particular, this was where the Daosource Sect used to test applicants who wished to become disciples, otherwise known as First Divine Gate. The fatty’s cultivation style was unique. He called it an “imprint,” and it seemed to somehow reinforce his personal strength. Also, it seemed that these imprints were symbols as well as a cultivation system. The fatty had mentioned that he was an Explorer, which indicated that this place was somehow connected to the universe. Otherwise, the cultivation realms would be referred to differently. 

Since they were connected, but somehow had another cultivation system, then could this place be in a distant weave of the Outerverse? No, this cultivation system appeared to be very powerful, and the fatty’s power had been increased by an impressive amount when he had used it. This place shouldn’t be in the Outerverse. Then, could it be some flowzone of the Innerverse? Lu Yin kept guessing where he could be. 

“Bro, why do you think Xiaojing isn’t accepting me? Could it be because Fat Bro’s not dashing enough? Actually, Fat Bro was very handsome when I was younger. Back when I was ten…”

Lu Yin looked at the fatty with some degree of admiration. The youth’s narcissism, and his miserable childhood—no, his entire life was miserable. However, the fatty continued to live on, and he was even rather happy-go-lucky. It would be a pity if he died now. 

“Fat Bro’s gonna tell you a secret, one that even Xiaojing doesn’t know about. Fat Bro has publicly proclaimed that I’ve integrated with the bloodline of the Black Cow, and so, the Huang family has backed me up. Actually, the truth is that Fat Bro’s integrated bloodline is the Pompom Pig.” The fatty’s face suddenly became extremely unsightly. “When I think back to that year when I integrated with the bloodline, Fat Bro…” 

Lu Yin did not quite understand this bit about bloodlines, but there was indeed such a method for increasing one’s personal strength back in the Astral Combat Academy, and the Dao of Change in the trial zones had contained some bloodlines. During the Astral Combat Tournament, Liu Yin had once used a bloodline, so it should be a similar concept.

Lu Yin blankly stared at the fatty. The Pompom Pig? Bloodline? This was all really ridiculous! Does this mean that the fatty’s stories about his entire miserable life were all true?

As he considered this, Lu Yin instinctively wanted to distance himself from this fatty, as he did not want the young man’s bad luck to rub off on him!

“Actually, even though the Pompom Pig sounds unpleasant, it’s got a pretty decent potential. Rumor has it that there’s an astral beast called the Sky-Eater Pig, and it’s supposed to be extremely powerful. If I can get a hold of the Sky-Eater Pig’s bloodline, then I could upgrade my Pompom Pig’s bloodline and gain an unequaled bloodline! This is Fat Bro’s dream, and Fat Bro believes that my life will not keep being so miserable. Thus, there’s definitely still hope in the future. If there’s a target and ambition, then life…” 

The fatty’s words never stopped once he started talking, and all sorts of maxims floated about in his brain, which gave Lu Yin the urge to vomit. He leaped down off of the tree and started walking up the mountain path once again. 

“Eh, bro, why are you leaving? Wait for me! Wait for me!” The fatty hurriedly chased after Lu Yin. 

After hurrying along for a day and a night, the two youths had traveled about half of the distance to First Divine Gate, at least according to the fatty. This road was too long, and there were First Divine Gate Guardians all along the way. Lu Yin did not know how this Daosource Sect had accepted disciples in the past, but with the current intensity of the entrance exam, it seemed that even if the entire universe was considered, only the elites who were in the top fifty of the Top 100 Rankings stood a chance of traversing this path safely. This was also after considering the current circumstances, where the Daosource Sect had already been shattered, and more than half of the First Divine Gate Guardians had been destroyed. If the sect was still in its peak period, then perhaps only the first thirty of the Top 100 Rankings would be able to pass through. 

Why was this area so powerful? If a sect only accepted experts with the strength of the first thirty of the Top 100 Rankings, then that seemed rather extreme. 

“Bro, work hard, the Budding Terrace is ahead. As long as we make it to the Budding Terrace, we can search for all sorts of good stuff, and there’s no danger there either. Legend has it that the Budding Terrace not only contains battle techniques, but also bloodlines, natural treasures, power vessels, and even secret techniques!” The fatty was excited. 

Lu Yin’s eyes flashed. Secret techniques? It can’t be!

“Impossible! Even secret techniques? But judging by the standards that this First Divine Gate uses to test potential disciples, it may actually have some secret techniques. In any case, this monkey can’t understand how your Human Domain has such a powerful sect! Fortunately it’s already been destroyed. It should be known that if a sect’s strength is directly proportional to disciples it accepts, then based on this degree of testing, during its peak period, this sect must have had a terrifying powerhouse whose power level exceeded 1,000,000,” the monkey said. 

When he heard that there might be a secret technique ahead, Lu Yin picked up his pace.

A few thousand meters ahead of the pair, a group of young men and women had been surrounded by a dozen First Divine Gate Guardians, and the youths could neither escape nor retreat. They were in a predicament that was quite similar to how Lu Yin had first encountered the fatty. 

Fortunately, the road was narrow, and only a few of the guardians were able to close in on the youths at a time. Otherwise, if all of the constructs had rushed over simultaneously, the people there would have long since been finished off. 

“Brother Lian, replace Brother Qiu and block those two guardians on the right!” 

“Sister Kui, pull back now! Don’t use your imprint and preserve your strength.”

“Little Zhong, stay close to Sister Kui.”

…

A crisp voice rang out constantly, directing the group. The owner of the voice was a pretty young woman who appeared to be delicate and dignified, though not exceptionally beautiful. Still, she had a distinct temperament to her. Even when faced with a dozen First Divine Gate Guardians, she remained calm and collected. All of the members of the group obeyed her commands, and this allowed them to resist the onslaught of the First Divine Gate Guardians, and the youths were gradually able to calm themselves down. 

However, although they were able to temporarily hold off the guardians, their defenses would not last for too long.

The girl continuously glanced around as she tried to think of a way to break out of their predicament attackers, but their only options were to head straight up or straight down. Still, they could not die here. 

Suddenly, the girl saw two figures flash over, and her eyes lit up as she was just about to request for aid. However, when she saw who the two people were, her heart fell, and her brows involuntarily furrowed. 

“Sister Jing, it’s Fatty!” one of her group members cried out, and the others quickly found an opportunity to look down the path where they could see the fatty and Lu Yin approaching them. 

“What’s that dead fatty doing here! We can’t let him disrupt our formation! We don’t want to be killed because of that damn fatty,” shouted a woman who clearly looked down on Huang San.

Quite a few others echoed her comment. They said it out loud for the girl leading them to hear, as they were afraid that she would try to save the fatty, which would cause their formation to collapse.

Lu Yin and the fatty approached the group by head straight up the middle of the path. Lu Yin’s domain meant that he had noticed the struggling group long ago, but he had not revealed anything. This group was not weak by any means, and he even felt a faint ripple of a domain coming from the group, which showed that someone among them had comprehended a domain. 

“Bro, it’s Xiaojing! It’s Xiaojing!” the fatty shouted emotionally as soon as he saw the surrounded group. His eyes were glued to the calm-looking girl directing the defenders. 

Lu Yin looked over; was this the Yan Xiaojing who the fatty yearned for day and night? Not bad. 

“Bro, Xiaojing’s in danger! Let’s go over and help them!” The fatty looked pleadingly towards Lu Yin. 

Lu Yin had a calm expression, not revealing anything on his face. 

The fatty grew anxious, as he had actually forgotten that his companion was supposedly deaf and mute. He continuously pointed at the surrounded group as he gesticulated for Lu Yin to rescue them. 

Ahead of them, the surrounded group grew anxious as well. “What is that stupid fatty trying to do? He can’t be thinking of trying to save us, right?” 

“He better not! If that stupid fatty comes, then not only will it be useless, but he’ll also break our formation!”

“Sister Jing, hurry up and warn that stupid fatty! Get him to scram.”

…

Within the crowd, Yan Xiaojing did not even look at the fatty, and she only stared at Lu Yin who stood beside him. She understood the fatty well, and she knew that he could not save them. His gestures were evidently intended for someone else to see, but was that because the person beside him couldn’t hear? But then what was the deal with that domain from before? As soon as she saw the person with Huang San, Yan Xiaojing felt that he was not simple. Since she was within the scope of Lu Yin’s domain, he gave her an indescribable sensation and felt rather immeasurable. 

The fatty saw that Lu Yin still had not reacted, so he became flustered and stepped forward. “I’ll go.” he said before darting towards Yan Xiaojing and the others. 

The surrounded people became extremely worried at this moment. “Stupid Fatty, don’t come over here!” 

“Stupid Fatty! Go somewhere else! Don’t come here and make problems for us!”

“Are you trying to get killed, Fatty?”

…

Huang San did not bother paying any attention to the shouting people as he was focused only on Yan Xiaojing. A hazy phantom image appeared behind him, and he punched at one of the First Divine Gate Guardians. Perhaps it was due to the force of love or something else, but the fatty’s punch directly destroyed a guardian in one hit, though he was also wounded. His fist swelled and turned a deep red, and his attack had also drawn the attention of a few other guardians, which turned to attack him. 

Within the crowd, Yan Xiaojing frowned, as there were a dozen guardians surrounding them, so defeating just one was pointless. She could choose to not save the fatty, which was what this group wished, but she would not make such a choice since Huang San had voluntarily come to rescue her. Without a better choice, Yan Xiaojing took action, and her tender palm reached past the crowd to land on the body of one of the guardians attacking the fatty, causing a dull thump. It seemed that her attack was actually a trigger to a chain reaction as the construct took several steps back until it eventually ended up backing a dozen meters away due to the force of the air wave. 

Lu Yin’s eyes lit up. What an exquisite palm technique. One palm had turned into three, and the key to that attack was that the might of the second and third palms had been hidden, which was unlike how he used the Shockwave Palm and Overlaying Stacks method. If not for his domain, then Lu Yin might not have even noticed anything, as apparently, the woman who had just attacked the guardian had also comprehended a domain. That woman was definitely more than just a little stronger than the fatty. 

The consecutive blows sent the First Divine Gate Guardians that had been attacking the fatty sliding backwards. In that time, Yan Xiaojing grabbed the fatty and pulled him inside the group. 

“Stupid Fatty! Why haven’t you died yet?” one girl cursed at him.

The others did not look very happy either, as Yan Xiaojing had not acted as they had hoped and instead moved to save someone at a crucial moment. To save the fatty, she had been forced to drain her own physical strength and star energy, which meant that another person might not be saved later on. Nobody wished to be left behind or forsaken, so they all hated the fatty at this moment.

The fatty grinned foolishly as he looked at Yan Xiaojing.

She panted as she glanced at Huang San. “Who’s that person with you?”

The fatty caressed his fist and looked past the guardians over at Lu Yin who was standing calmly in the distance. “I don’t know. We met on the way. He’s a deaf mute.”

“A deaf mute?” Yan Xiaojing’s gaze flashed, but she did not bother with the fatty any further. Their group from the Bloodburn Realm weren’t the only ones walking along this path, as anyone from the Sixth Mainland who had a futon could enter this place. This person might not be from the Bloodburn Realm, and he might not even be a member of the younger generation under Progenitor of Bloodlines.