Star Odyssey

There were two more days before the competition started, and during this time, Lu Yin stopped monitoring Felynn’s quarters. Instead, he roamed about Sourcepeak Planet. 

This was a very famous planet, renowned even in the Innerverse for being the Lockbreaker Society’s Outerverse headquarters. Most of the planet was covered in foliage, and its cities were also very beautiful. However, Lu Yin was more curious about a certain business: field raffles. 

Most people found sourceboxes out of pure happenstance by lucking upon an area that contained them. Some sourceboxes were buried deep underground and would never be found by blind chance. For those, Lockbreakrers naturally had special methods to analyze their surroundings and determine whether or not there were any sourceboxes nearby, though the accuracy of such methods was very low. 

The field raffles had started because of this situation. 

Field raffles were conducted by dividing up an area that potentially contained sourceboxes. These divisions were distinct, and customers would buy a specific area, and whether or not that area contained a sourcebox depended on the customer’s luck and discernment. 

Field raffles were more of an entertainment service rather than a proper business venture since sourceboxes were very rare, and there were very few places that contained sourceboxes. Thus, it could never become a legitimate business; instead, it was more of a game for Lockbreakers or wealthy individuals to play. 

Lu Yin had never tried to find a sourcebox within a certain area, so he was very curious about how it went.

Looking at the densely packed figures below him, Lu Yin took to the sky. Along with all the other people in the surroundings, one young man could be seen in the distance who was charging towards the mountain range.  

This mountain range was what the field raffles were selling, and there were about a dozen designated regions within the mountain range where sourceboxes could be found. There were mountains, lakes, giant beasts’ lairs, and many other bizarre locations. This young man could spend a certain amount of money to buy the rights to a given region. His choices would increase the more he was willing to pay, and needless to say, it was never cheap. The prices of these area rights sometimes even reached levels that were comparable to those of actual sourceboxes. 

This was a thrill-seeking adventure that people participated in purely for the experience. Finding a sourcebox was of secondary importance.

There were many Lockbreakers who had never attempted to unlock a sourcebox; instead, they would participate in these field raffles in an attempt to increase their knowledge of sourceboxes. However, in reality, it was not very useful. 

Every region that was designated for the field raffles had to have a hidden sourcebox within the region, or else it would be a complete scam. 

The young man flew straight into the mountain range and landed atop a tall mountain that had clearly been moved over. He looked in every direction and even got down on all fours to listen to the ground, which caused many of the onlookers to burst out in laughter. 

Lu Yin’s humor was tickled by this scene as well. Even he could not discern the rune lines of a sourcebox. Before a sourcebox was uncovered, they would look no different from an ordinary object, and discovering one depended entirely on one’s ability. 

After a long while, the young man pointed to a large, strange looking rock. “I choose this.”

The boss of the field raffle lifted the rock and handed it over to the young man, a huge smile spread across his face as he carried the stone. 

“Brother, open it to see if there are any sourceboxes inside.”

“Yeah! Come on, open it!”

On its surface, the rock had numerous veins running across it that even somewhat looked like a picture. The star energy surrounding the rock also seemed to be slightly more dense than the surroundings. These were all telltale signs of a sourcebox. 

The young man shot a glance at a beautiful lady in the crowd and gritted his teeth. He then backed up a little and flicked his finger lightly. His finger created a fierce gale that split the rock apart. Then, in full view of the watching audience, it was revealed that there was nothing inside. 

Everyone present broke out in laughter. 

The young man was embarrassed. He had failed.

The boss of the local field raffles laughed. “This rock was struck by lightning a dozen times in a row, but it didn’t shatter. I personally thought that there would be a sourcebox inside, and so, I brought it back here. You made a good guess, young man, but unfortunately, luck was not on your side.”

The young man shot the boss a dirty look and left.

The boss of the field raffle stifled a laugh and looked at the others in the audience. “Is there anyone else who’d like to try?”

“Me.” A young man who was full of smiles walked forward, dragging behind him a man who had an extremely grumpy look on his face. The grumpy man had a long strand of black hair protruding from one of his nostrils, giving him a very distinctive look. 

The boss of the field raffle extended his hand. “Pay up first, and then you can make your choice.” 

The young man shot a delighted look at the man with the nosehair, who apathetically responded, “I don’t have any more money.” 

The young man blinked in disbelief, and then asked, “What did you say? I didn’t hear you the first time, so please repeat yourself.” 

The nosehair man repeated himself, “I don’t have any more money.”

There was a loud boom, and the ground split open. The young man smiled even more widely. “Say that again.”

“I said that I have no money! No money! NO MONEY! You can kill me if you like, but all of the wealth that I saved up over all these years has been completely squandered by you, you bastard! Kill me, you despicable creature…” The nosehair man’s sudden outburst of abusive language and sinister expression stunned everyone who was present. 

The young man rolled his eyes. “It’s fine if you don’t have any money, but why did you have to resort to scolding me? Some people have no class,” he mumbled to himself as he walked away.

The nosehair man continued grumbling heavily as he glared spitefully at the young man who was leaving. He looked completely pitiful. 

The boss of the field raffle was stunned for a moment before he spoke up again. “Do you still want to participate in the field raffles?”

“I already said that I don’t have any money!” the nosehair man screamed. After that, he also left. 

After this incident, an entire half hour passed without anyone participating in the field raffle. 

Lu Yin started to feel bored, and just as he was about to leave, a man whose body reflected the light around him with a metallic glint walked forward. He tossed a cosmic ring to the boss of the field raffles and flew straight into the mountain range. 

“It’s Straight Metallic Man! He also wants to take part!” someone exclaimed in surprise.

Lu Yin looked over. Straight Metallic Man? What a strange name.

“Straight Metallic Man is a five star Discerning Elementary Lockbreaker, so if anyone can find a sourcebox, then it would be him,” someone else commented. 

“That’s right. Or, this field raffle might not have any sourceboxes.”

“Don’t fret, there definitely are sourceboxes here. They wouldn’t organize a field raffle if there weren’t any.”

…

When the boss of the field raffles watched Straight Metallic Man enter, and his expression changed. It would be difficult for anyone in the entire Outerverse to reach the level of a five star Discerning Elementary. The supervisor of this field raffle hadn’t expected such a high leveled character to show up at his humble raffle. He was afraid that Straight Metallic Man would swipe every available sourcebox in this location, which would cost him dearly.  

Everyone stared intently at the mountain range. 

The boss of the field raffles also appeared to be rather nervous.

However, the imagined outcome of Straight Metallic Man magnificently discovering multiple sourceboxes did not come true. He charged straight into a lake and took out a big piece of metal. And with that, he simply left, and he didn’t even turn around to take a second look.

Everyone stared in astonishment as he left. Thereafter, everyone looked at the supervisor. “Boss, was there a sourcebox inside that piece of metal?” 

Everyone was looking at the man in excitement. 

The boss gulped. “I don’t actually know. All I can tell all of you is that the fixed sourcebox was not in there.”

There was an uproar in the crowd. Someone exclaimed, “I was waiting for something good to happen with bated breath! It turns out that I got excited for nothing!”

“I was certain that his confidence would bring about something spectacular, and yet, nothing happened.” 

“Don’t be too hasty in your judgements. The supervisor simply said that a fixed sourcebox wasn’t in that piece of metal. He never said that there wasn’t a sourcebox inside of it. Straight Metallic Man will only unlock sourceboxes found inside of metal, and seeing how confident he was just now, he must be certain that there’s something inside,” an experienced Lockbreaker spoke up. 

Everyone nodded, agreeing with his astute assessment.

Lu Yin looked in the direction that Straight Metallic Man had headed off in. After pondering for a moment, he followed him. Through the movement of various rune lines, he was able to sense that quite a number of other people were also tailing the Lockbreaker, and it was clear that they were up to no good. It seemed like they were trying to take advantage of the man. 

Straight Metallic Man held the huge metal object as he flew at top speed through the sky, passing by several mountains and cities. Finally, he stopped at a certain mountain and tossed the metallic object onto the ground. He then stood there in silence. 

Three figures descended from the air above him. They landed on the ground and surrounded Straight Metallic Man. 

“Straight Metallic Man, hand over that metal object, and we’ll let you leave unharmed,” one of the three people ordered with a solemn expression. 

Straight Metallic Man opened his mouth and spoke with a voice that was reminiscent of the unbearable noise of grinding metal, “You three are going to try to stop me?” 

“All three of us are Cruisers, and we have team assault techniques. Even if you are a Lockbreaker and a Cruiser like us, you still won’t be able to beat us. I suggest that you leave now, or else you won’t be able to join the competition in two days,” the same man threatened.  

Straight Metallic Man tapped the metal object. “It’s right here, so come and take it.” 

The three assailants looked at each other before all moving at the same time. They each shot out star energy, but instead of shooting it at Straight Metallic Man, they shot it into the air above him. Their star energy weaved together to form a cage that trapped the Lockbreaker. It looked a great deal like Trapper Qin Chen’s net, as this was another battle technique that could trap someone. The difference was that Qin Chen’s net utilized battle techniques and his domain while these three relied on teamwork. 

Straight Metallic Man’s expression turned cold as formless ripples spread out from him, causing the surrounding air to suddenly freeze. Even the cage that the three people had formed suddenly froze in mid air. Following that, traces of metal started pervading the air before ultimately forming a metallic casing that covered the entire region. 

The three attackers felt their spines tingle. “Oh no! It’s a forcefield. Retreat!”

Only top level experts were capable of turning their domain into a forcefield, and it was something that a numerical advantage could not compensate for. The three people fled without any hesitation, but Straight Metallic Man did not intend to let them off. The metallic traces in the air continued to spread out, and they quickly covered the mountain valley, the mountain, and soon after that, even the area around the mountain was enveloped in this metall. The three attackers froze, but the metal continued to spread. “Straight Metallic Man, please let us go! We’ll behave in the future!” 

With a glacial expression on his face, Straight Metallic Man shouted, “Turn to metal!”

After his shout, the metallic casing spread over the three people’s bodies, and despite their desperate and violent howls, they were turned into metal statues that plummeted into the mountain stream down below. 

Off in the distance, Lu Yin’s brows raised high up. That was a very powerful forcefield, and it was of no surprise that the one wielding it was a five star Discerning Elementary Lockbreaker at the Cruiser realm.  

Straight Metallic Man was very vicious in his methods. He had killed three powerful Cruisers as if they had been ordinary humans. After disposing of the three attackers, he picked up the piece of metal and left.  

Lu Yin did not follow the other man any longer. In the Outerverse, there were only a mere handful of people who were able to reach the Cruiser realm. If a single person could kill three Cruisers that casually, it was likely that, even on Sourcepeak Planet, there were no more than a handful of people who could deal with Straight Metallic Man. It was unclear if Saul would make an appearance, as this Cruiser’s presence was a huge threat to Deng Pu. 

After spending a day roaming about Sourcepeak Planet, Lu Yin appeared in a city’s downtown restaurant the following evening night. He was enjoying some delicacies native to Sourcepeak Planet as he looked out a window. 

Sourcepeak Planet contained almost ten thousand Lockbreakers, so Lu Yin would occasionally see a few Lockbreakers pass by and hear their comments mentioned in passing. It had given him a rough idea about who his competitors would be during the competition. 

After only a short while, Lu Yin prepared to leave. As he stood up to leave, a group of people arrived at the restaurant, and their leader was someone who Lu Yin had seen before. It was Angie, a student of Astral-7 and an Area Master who had lost to Tu Bo during the Astral Combat Tournament. The reason why Lu Yin remembered her was because, even before the Astral Combat Tournament, he had visited Umbral Butterfly Weave and had met some people from the Umbral Butterfly Tribe, which had given him a bit of an understanding of their race. 

He had not expected Angie to not be in the Innerverse. 

Angie led a group of people into the restaurant and entered a private room. “Ah Mu, come with me. The rest of you are to wait outside.”

Ah Mu? Lu Yin was shocked. He looked at the man behind Angie with an astonished expression on his face. He really was Ah Mu!

When Lu Yin had been in Umbral Butterfly Weave, Ah Mu had helped Lu Yin get to the giant planet, and by doing so, he had helped Lu Yin obtain the Giant Emperor’s third eye.

But why was Ah Mu here?

From what Lu Yin could remember, Ah Mu was not a powerful cultivator and was a very timid individual. As far as Lu Yin was concerned, Ah Mu was someone who was not destined for great things. That was why Lu Yin was so surprised to see that Ah Mu had come to Sourcepeak Planet, let alone be following Angie. After all, Angie was the heir to the Umbral Butterfly Tribe. 

What shocked Lu Yin even further was the amount of rune lines that he saw on Ah Mu, as they were not much less than what he saw on Angie.  

What a difference just a few years could make. 

That night, Ah Mu closed a wooden door inside of the Forest Hotel. Exhausted, he stood near the top of a tree and muttered to himself whenever he saw passerbys walking along. “I’ll show you people what I am made of tomorrow!”

Knock, knock, knock!

Someone knocked at the door. Ah Mu opened the door to his room and saw a stranger. His eyes glowed with a cautious light as he asked, “Who are you?”

The stranger did not respond. Instead, he walked straight into Ah Mu’s room. Ah Mu’s eyes turned cold, and he mercilessly thrust a dagger at the man’s neck. The man raised a finger, and under Ah Mu’s astonished eyes, tapped the dagger to deflect it. The immense strength of the finger forced Ah Mu to retreat a few steps while his dagger was sent flying into a wall. 

“Why so quick to attack? Do you have that many enemies?”  the stranger asked as he closed the door. 

Ah Mu retreated to the side of the room by the window as he stared at the man, terrified. He asked, “Who are you? What do you want?” 

The man gave a slight smile, and his face suddenly transformed. “Ah Mu, it’s been a long time.”

Ah Mu stood there, frozen in a daze for a moment before he showed an astonished expression. He cried out in excitement, “Seventh… Seventh Bro?”

That stranger was indeed Lu Yin. “I am glad you still remember me!”

Ah Mu was pleasantly surprised. “Seventh Bro, what are you doing here?”

Lu Yin casually replied, “I’m here for the competition.”

“You’re a Lockbreaker?” Ah Mu asked, somewhat surprised. 

“Oh, I didn’t mention it?” Lu Yin asked, puzzled. He had forgotten whether or not he had ever mentioned this during his time with Ah Mu.

Ah Mu replied, “I don’t remember. Seventh Bro, how did you find me?”

“I saw you by chance when you were with Angie,” Lu Yin answered.