Star Odyssey

In a marshy valley, Deng Pu casually waved a hand, causing a gale to tear through the marsh and slay a massive beast. He peeled its flesh apart until a case fell out of its belly. This case contained a sourcebox, and it had been accidentally swallowed by the creature.

Deng Pu grabbed the case, and when he looked up, he saw Ku Wei flying about in the sky. “What a joke.”

He then leaped up and moved on from the swamp. He hurried away in another direction, seemingly very confident in himself. 

Everyone had their own way to search for sourceboxes, and despite Ku Wei’s method being very odd, it turned out to be surprisingly effective. After half a day passed, he had managed to get a sourcebox from another lockbreaker. He then lifted the real sourcebox over his head and even opened the case to show people what was inside it, leaving many utterly speechless. 

This fellow might as well have been using a loudspeaker to announce to everyone that he had gotten a sourcebox. He was incredibly cocky. 

Lu Yin was getting restless, and he was planning to go and rob Ku Wei due to him acting way too arrogantly. 

But just as Lu Yin was about to attack, a huge python that was carrying the Serpent Queen darted towards Ku Wei to snatch the sourcebox from him. 

Ku Wei grew excited, and he slowly lifted his index finger as he watched the python move towards him. “Finger Tap.” 

The python paused in the sky as blood suddenly started to flow down its back, painting the sky red. The Serpent Queen was shocked, and she immediately fled along with her python. Ku Wei grinned. “Don’t run, miss. Give me your sourcebox!”

No one knew what Ku Wei had done, and not even Saul and the few others inside the Hall of Insight could tell what battle technique the youth had just used to instantly injure the ancient python. 

Lu Yin looked at Ku Wei with a grim expression. During Ku Wei’s attack, a terrifying amount of rune lines had condensed at his fingertip, so much so that they had almost been comparable to the power of a Hunter. The python and the woman were both Cruisers, and thus, they had been defeated instantly. 

This was what Lu Yin had observed from the rune lines. He knew that Ku Wei’s attack wasn’t as simple as it seemed and that it was comparable to his own Dream Finger. Ku Wei was very powerful. 

The Serpent Queen and her python fled in Lu Yin’s direction as she glanced back, meeting Ku Wei’s taunting eyes. 

The Serpent Queen was rattled as she hadn’t even been able to defend herself from this Explorer. How could an Explorer be so powerful? Could he be the infamous Lu Yin? It would be troublesome if he really was Lu Yin, as that fellow was rumored to be capable of killing Enlighters. 

“Miss, Brother Wei is asking you to stay!” Ku Wei shouted. His eyes sharpened as the star energy around him condensed. He had unleashed his forcefield.

The Serpent Queen was stunned; this guy had even comprehended a forcefield! She crashed down towards the ground along with her python after losing the ability to use star energy, and she was right above Lu Yin as she fell. 

Lu Yin saw a huge shadow approaching, and he immediately dodged. 

The python and the Serpent Queen fell to the ground with a crash. The python wailed as its enormous eyes locked onto Ku Wei fearfully.   

Ku Wei stood in the sky and looked down at the Serpent Queen. “Give it to me, and I’ll stop attacking you.”

The Serpent Queen laughed bitterly. She had never thought that there would be a time when she would be utterly defeated by a mere Explorer. She helplessly threw a case to the ground. “It’s yours.” 

Ku Wei laughed. This had been a great idea, and he had already gotten his hands on two sourceboxes. He flew towards the case and stored it away. He then turned to look at the man who was watching from nearby. “Brother, it’s fate that we have met each other. Show me your cosmic ring.” 

Lu Yin’s brows rose as he looked at Ku Wei. “I have a sourcebox.”

Ku Wei’s eyes gleamed. “Hahahaha, I’m so lucky! Come on, give me your sourcebox, and I won’t attack you.”

The Serpent Queen gave Lu Yin a sympathetic look.

The people watching from outside looked at Lu Yin with pity. This poor guy was so unlucky.

Inside the Hall of Insight, Mr Jun shook his head. “Sigh, how did a lockbreaking competition deteriorate into a simple battle?”

“Lockbreakers generally have a higher combat strength compared to their peers within the same power level. How can they guarantee their status without a high battle strength? Your thinking is too narrow-minded,” Fiend Li admonished. 

Mr Jun promptly agreed with the older man.

Saul carelessly stared at the screen, as neither the Serpent Queen nor Ku Wei would be able to threaten Deng Pu despite both of them having higher power levels. The two of them weren’t very good at lockbreaking, and the ultimate focus of this competition was to test the competitors’ lockbreaking ability. If one was able to gather a lot of sourceboxes but was unable to unlock them, it would only lead to them ending at a disadvantage. 

Felynn watched the scene occurring below them with a weird expression. Lu Yin was about to be robbed by Ku Wei. Was Ku Wei lucky? Maybe.

Lu Yin toyed with his cosmic ring as countless people watched him. He then smiled at Ku Wei. “Come and get it yourself.” 

The Serpent Queen was astonished at his reaction. Did this fellow actually plan to fight back? He was just an Explorer and was another person she couldn’t recognize.

Ku Wei smirked. “Wow, you’re confident! Fine, I’ll get it myself, but don’t blame me if I’m not able to control my attack.” His body suddenly disappeared as the star energy in the air condensed to exert a large pressure that crushed down upon Lu Yin.

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered, and his forcefield erupted, causing the sky to tremble. The Serpent Queen felt a strong gale blow past her as the star energy in the sky scattered. Ku Wei’s forcefield had collapsed. 

Ku Wei reappeared right after, and he looked at Lu Yin in shock. He had underestimated this person, as Ku Wei realized that Lu Yin was actually quite powerful. Still, Ku Wei didn’t really care since the final result would still end up the same. He pointed his finger at Lu Yin. “Finger Tap.”

Lu Yin’s expression instantly changed. This attack caused him to feel like everything around him, including his own body, was being rapidly depleted. He felt as though his spirit had been exhausted, making him extremely lethargic. The sky and the ground both lost their color and turned grey in his vision as the entire world around him solidified from just one attack. The most terrifying thing to Lu Yin was that he felt abnormally calm and that he had no intention of fighting back. 

This was a battle technique that could affect everything, even the opponent’s determination.

Lu Yin had fought many battles since he had first started cultivating, and he had seen numerous battle techniques. He had even fought against Corpse Kings from the Neohuman Alliance. However, this was his first time encountering such a strange and horrifying battle technique. It was able to change an enemy’s intentions, which far exceeded anything that a normal battle technique was capable of.

At this moment, Lu Yin had no intent to fight back, but the finger was rapidly approaching him. If he were a normal cultivator, he would definitely be heavily injured by the attack, just like the Serpent Queen. However, Lu Yin’s spiritual force was very strong as it had been nurtured by his constant recitation of the Stonewall Scriptures, and he used the last bit of his consciousness to move his Fatesand in front of himself and block the attack. 

Space distorted, and a burst of wind exploded, scattering in all directions as Ku Wei’s attack landed on the Fatesand in front of Lu Yin’s chest. The shockwaves from the collision radiated in all directions and caused the ground to start cracking. 

Ku Wei was surprised. “Fatesand?”

Lu Yin snapped back to his senses and tightly grabbed onto Ku Wei’s arm. Lu Yin lifted his opponent up and then smashed him fiercely into the ground. Suddenly, a shadow appeared in the sky. It was the Finger Tap once again. Ku Wei had manifested the battle technique through his forcefield.  

The mountain was pierced through by the attack, and a gigantic crack spread through the mountains.  

Ku Wei finally managed to regain control of his body, and he stared at Lu Yin in disbelief. How had this person escaped from the control of his Finger Tap? He also had Fatesand and a terrifying physical strength. Ku Wei looked at his arm, where the outline of Lu Yin’s five fingers was clearly visible. Ku Wei’s bones had almost been shattered by Lu Yin’s grip. This person was a complete beast.  

Lu Yin looked over at Ku Wei. They were both Explorers, but this person was comparable to the top twelve of the Top 100 Rankings. However, Lu Yin had seen the pictures of everyone in the top fifteen of the Top 100 Rankings, and this person wasn’t on that list. Could he have changed his appearance as well? It was easy enough to go undetected when using a disguise after comprehending a forcefield, so who could this person be? 

They had only fought for a brief moment, and to many people, it looked like the two youths had separated after trading attacks, which they would think was very normal. However, those who knew how sturdy the ground in the mountain range was had realized how powerful both attacks were. The mountain range had actually cracked apart, which was something that not even a Cruiser could easily achieve.  

The Serpent Queen stared at Lu Yin in shock, as she hadn’t realized that he was another powerful Explorer. Were all Explorers now so terrifying? The huge change in the universe had truly given rise to some geniuses, but those geniuses were already renowned, so where had these two come from? 

The Hall of Insight was completely silent. Normal Explorers definitely wouldn’t have such a high battle strength.  

Felynn was stunned. That young man was actually comparable to Lu Yin. Could he be one of the powerhouses from the Top 100 Rankings who had been stranded in the Outerverse?

Ku Wei rubbed his arm and grinned. “Brother, you’re quite strong.”

Lu Yin smiled. “You too.”

“Ha, not many people can withstand my attack, and you’re even in the same realm as me! What’s your name? I’m Ku Wei,” Ku Wei said.

“Ku Wei? ‘Ku?’ Seventh Bro, one of the surnames in the Court of Seven Names is ‘Ku,’” the Ghost Monkey exclaimed.

Lu Yin’s eyes gleamed. “Just call me Seventh Bro.” 

Ku Wei smirked. “Why? You don’t dare to tell me your name?”

Lu Yin slowly replied, “You actually told me your real name?”

Ku Wei raised his brows and laughed. “It’s just a name. There are many weird names in the universe. Fine, since I can’t rob you, I’ll just take my leave. Good luck in the competition!” And with that, he left. 

Lu Yin asked the monkey, “Are you sure that ‘Ku’ is one of the surnames of the Court of Seven Names?”

The monkey solemnly answered, “I’m sure of it. ‘Ku’ is one of the surnames. I read that before in a powerhouse’s journal that I told you about before.”

Lu Yin was left wondering: was Ku Wei really someone from the Court of Seven Names? It seemed possible that he belonged to the Seven Courts since he dared to tell everyone his name. Apart from the Three Dark Hands, Lu Yin couldn’t think of anyone else who could produce such a powerful Explorer. The Top 100 Rankings didn’t include anyone from the Three Dark Hands, so it was quite possible that this guy was truly from the Ku family.  

“This guy is so reckless. To the Hall of Honor, anyone with the surname ‘Ku’ is someone that needs to be eliminated, even if they aren’t from the Court of Seven Names. If you hadn’t revealed that futon, Shenwu Continent would have been destroyed long ago. That’s just how the Hall of Honor works. This guy is really gutsy,” the monkey muttered.

Lu Yin nodded in agreement with the monkey as Ku Wei moved past him while carrying his case through the sky once again.

Hiss!

The python glanced at Lu Yin with a friendly glint to its eyes.

The Serpent Queen nodded to Lu Yin and moved to leave.

Lu Yin cleared his throat. “Do you still have any sourceboxes?”