Star Odyssey

Lu Yin’s heart sank to an absolute rock bottom.

Tong Zhan left, and the person who had attacked Lu Yin did not stay around to cause any more trouble, leaving as well. Apparently, the news that the Martial Progenitor was about to make a move had left a great impact on everyone here. This heralded the Fifth Mainland’s crushing defeat, and it also implied that there would be an enormous chance at destined encounters. 

Tong Tong moved to Lu Yin’s side and sized him up and down. “Tong Chou, that wasn’t bad. I never thought that you would be so capable. You should be close to comprehending a domain, right?” 

Lu Yin came back to his senses and looked over at Tong Tong. He quickly bowed and respectfully answered, “Perhaps I’ve been influenced by the warfront’s atmosphere and unknowingly ended up like this.” 

Tong Tong smiled coldly at him. “The last time you saw a battlefield, you fell sick for several days. Don’t bother trying to make excuses. Have you always been trying to lay low so that you could find an opportunity to take revenge against me?” 

Lu Yin hurriedly replied, “I wouldn’t dare. The young miss will always be the young miss.”

“It’s good to see that you still know that. Don’t forget that you’re just a Limiteer—so what if you comprehend a domain? Even that is something that I was able to do before you. You’ll only ever be my dog, and don’t you ever forget it!” Tong Tong scolded as she stared coldly at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin simply acknowledged her words. “Yes, mistress.”

Tong Tong was pleased with his response. “I’m actually rather happy to find that you have such strength. If a dog is useless, then the owner also loses face. Now, I will give you a chance to enter the hidden library. Go, find a decent battle technique, and learn it well. Then you’ll have some strength when biting at others.” She then passed Lu Yin a token.

Lu Yin took it, and with Tong Tong’s dismissal, he headed towards the library.

He had not expected to enjoy this large of a harvest this time, as the Tong family’s hidden library contained countless treasures that they had gathered over the years. Although the massive collection that was stored on this mainland was not even a thousandth the size of the Tong family’s full library, and despite it being filled with items of the lowest class, it was still quite decent since Lu Yin could use these records to learn more about the Sixth Mainland.

However Lu Yin’s expectations still turned out to be too high, as he quickly discovered that the books that the Tong family had brought to the warfront were all battle techniques and arts, and all of them were of the lowest grade possible. The majority had been seized from the Starfall Sea, and they were planning on completing their collection for this particular library by looting this warfront and taking everything back as spoils of war. They had not brought along that many books from their own family’s library. 

Lu Yin flipped through a few, but he soon realized that all of these battle techniques were very ordinary. The better ones were likely stored somewhere else, or they might have even been given directly to a particular person. 

He sighed, as these books were absolutely worthless to him. 

He walked around a corner, randomly picked a book, sat down, and started flipping through it. He decided to wait there a while before leaving, as he could not let his star essence go to waste without gaining anything. 

At that moment, some other people entered the library, and Lu Yin overheard their conversation. “In this next battle, I want to fight and obtain some accomplishments. Against those people from the Fifth Mainland, we already innately suppress them, and with our imprints, it’s just too easy to beat those within the same realm. It’s really too easy!” 

“That’s right. Supposedly, this suppression is related to the Mainland. The Fifth Mainland has collapsed, which means that they don’t have their Mainland’s support, leaving them unable to withstand us. In this place, we can be considered invincible within the same realm, haha!” 

“If it was up to me, we should have started this war much earlier, and if that had happened, I’d probably have become a Hunter by now.” 

“It’s no different even now. We’re still young, and we can still come across a windfall during this war. There are actually some from our family who don’t dare to come here. Trash!” 

“Those people must have heard about what happened in the Daosource Sect's ruins and gotten scared. They assume that everyone in the Fifth Mainland is at the same level as those Ten Arbiters, but in reality, those ten are the absolute pinnacle of the entire Fifth Mainland’s younger generation, and there’s a huge disparity between them and those under them. For there to be ten people like that is already crazy, so how could there be more of them? Those people are all fools.” 

“Speaking of which, the battlefield in the Daosource Sect's ruins is even more terrifying than the one in this place. The Ten Arbiters and the Realmlings are stuck in a fierce battle, and it’s even rumored that the Daosource Three Skies will head there to participate.” 

“Then why did I hear that the Daosource Three Skies will be following the Martial Progenitor into battle to gain experience?” 

“I don't know, but that news is spreading everywhere. One thing’s for sure, though—the Daosource Three Skies are about to appear.” 

“Those three are the supreme powerhouses of our Sixth Mainland’s younger generation. I wonder how powerful they really are. I really admire them.” 

…

Innate suppression? Lu Yin pondered this information, as he had fought against people from the Sixth Mainland before, and he had not felt any sort of innate suppression. Could this have been because they were in the Daosource Sect's ruins? 

“Right, did you hear about it from those above? They’re preparing to set up the third warfront.” 

Lu Yin’s focus shifted, and he started listening intently without making a single sound.

“A third warfront? With our Sixth Mainland’s strength, we can do it. After all, this warfront in the Mara River is mainly being fielded by the forces of the Blackblood Realm and Grand Martial Realm. The second warfront is the invasion of the Fifth Mainland’s Astral Beast Domain, and the main forces there are from the Bloodburn Realm and Rock Realm. While there aren’t as many people from the other five realms, those realms definitely have enough strength to sustain another warfront. However, where will the third invasion start? Even though the Fifth Mainland’s big, as long as one of our Progenitors acts, these people will be crushed underfoot and then flanked on both sides. After that, we’ll be able to launch an all-out invasion on their Neoverse.” 

“The Fifth Mainland is divided into the Innerverse, the Outerverse, and the Neoverse. Even our Sixth Mainland doesn’t quite understand the situation in the Neoverse, but according to the average strength of the Fifth Mainland’s combatants so far, those people should be at around the same level. The higher-ups seem to be planning on invading the Outerverse as a third warfront.” 

Lu Yin was astonished. 

“Aren’t the Innerverse and Outerverse separated?”

“That’s just the Fifth Mainland. Our Sixth Mainland has already connected to the Fifth Mainland at the Mara River and the Astral Beast Domain, but we’ve also connected in one other area: the Fifth Mainland’s Technocracy. I’ve heard from some others that the Fifth Mainland’s Technocracy is controlled by a Master Brain. It only has a small territory, but it can stand on equal footing with the Human Domain and the Astral Beast Domain. Our Sixth Mainland has been able to seize a portion of that Master Brain’s authority, and from that, we’ve learned a lot more about the Fifth Mainland.” 

“Are you saying that the higher-ups are planning on passing through the Technocracy to launch an invasion on the Human Domain’s Outerverse?” 

“That’s just hearsay. There are also some saying that the higher-ups are planning on cooperating with the Astral Beast Domain to invade the Human Domain. Anyways, there’s a lot of rumors.” 

“Forget it, we should just remain here at the Mara River. It won’t be easy for us to transfer away.”

“That’s true.”

…

Lu Yin shifted his focus as the conversation drifted off to less important matters. He raised a hand and unhesitatingly slammed his own head with a palm in order to end this Possession. The scenery shifted away, and when he next opened his eyes, he had returned to the secret room in King Zishan's palace. 

He stood up with a solemn expression. The Sixth Mainland had gained some amount of control over the Technocracy’s Master Brain, and although they did not have complete control, this was still grievous news for the Outerverse. The Technocracy was connected to the Outerverse through the Endless Weave, and the Sixth Mainland would be able to sweep through the Outerverse if they pursued this plan. The Outerverse had already struggled to fend off the Astral Beast Domain’s invasion, not to mention one by the Sixth Mainland. 

He wanted to warn Elder Lohar and have the Hall of Honor remain vigilant, but how could he explain where he had gotten this knowledge? It had already been rather far-fetched when he made that excuse about how he had known about the existence of the energy barrier in the Primal Zone. Luckily for him, those battles had been very arduous, which was why nobody had thought much about how Lu Yin had gained such information, and this detail had gradually been forgotten. If he provided news of the Sixth Mainland initiating a third warfront, then Elder Lohar would definitely grow suspicious. 

No, there’s a way. Lu Yin’s eyes suddenly grew bright. The Daosource Sect's ruins. He could use that place as an excuse to give this information to Elder Lohar, saying that he had heard this information from one of the Arbiters. Elder Lohar would have no way to verify this information until the Outerverse reconnected with the Innerverse. And it was impossible to predict what the situation would be like at that time—Lu Yin might even be an Enlighter by then. 

And so, he made his decision. Although the Sixth Mainland might not actually set up a third warfront, the Outerverse still had to make preparations and strengthen their defenses against the Technocracy. 

Right now, Lu Yin wanted to test out his newly improved Skybeast Claw.

Wait, how much star essence did I just use up during Possession? Lu Yin apprehensively opened his cosmic ring for a look, and he instantly felt faint. 150,000 star essence had disappeared. 150,000! Lu Yin felt sorrowful, as he had just burned through quite a considerable amount. When he had Possessed Tian Hou last time, he had only used up about 20,000 star essence. The die’s six pips: Possession burned through far too much star essence.

Lu Yin sighed, as the money had already been used. He then withdrew his gaze from his ring; he could earn that amount back, but for now, he should test out the Skybeast Claw. 

Tong Chou’s comprehension of the Skybeast Claw surpassed Lu Yin’s own 108 forms, though admittedly, it had been many years since he had practiced those 108 forms. Tong Chou, on the other hand, had obtained that claw imprint at a young age, and he had even held it in his sleep, causing his understanding of the Skybeast Claw to reach a different level. 

Lu Yin’s domain swept out of King Zishan's palace, and he quickly found that nobody was looking for him. He then peacefully sat down and recalled Tong Chou’s comprehension of the Skybeast Claw. Unwittingly, his palm turned into a claw, and the original 108 forms of the Skybeast Claw grew numerous as the variations became more and more pronounced in their differences. 

His palm turned into claw, which entered the void as the beast’s howls grew ever louder, eventually shocking his mind. Around Lu Yin’s five fingers, even the void started trembling until, indistinctly, a claw imprint appeared. The moment after it appeared, a palpating and terrifying fluctuation swept out from King Zishan's palace and passed over Zhao Ran. She looked up, bewildered, as she blinked. The fluctuation then swept over Kayze, and his scalp turned numb as he nearly passed out. Then, the fluctuation’s range grew even wider, spreading across all of Zenyu Star. 

Many felt a strange chill crawl down their back, as well as a naturally majestic pressure. However, after they realized that this feeling had originated from King Zishan's palace, they went silent, as they thought that it was a proper occurrence. 

Wendy Yushan looked towards King Zishan's palace. You’ve become stronger. Did you obtain yet another battle technique?

The might that she felt from the fluctuation even contained a sense of changes that had occurred throughout the eons. It was definitely not something that a normal technique could emanate.

Lu Yin himself had not known that Tong Chou’s comprehension of the Skybeast Claw would allow him to display such terrifying power. 

Lu Yin suddenly opened his eyes as he forcefully dispelled all traces of the claw. Then, he released a long breath. Beads of sweat rolled off of his forehead. When he had tested the Skybeast Claw, he had seen the phantom of a giant claw transcend the river of time and descend straight towards him. It might’ve just been a hallucination caused by the battle technique, but he didn’t dare to allow the claw to actually touch him, as his intuition had told him that it was not something to be trifled with. 

He looked at his own palm and pondered what had just happened. He had not even reached the end of Tong Chou’s comprehension of the Skybeast Claw, but it had already become so terrifying. What would happen if he completely unleashed it? Was it possible that its power was not inferior even to the Dream Finger? 

Lu Yin’s eyes lit up, as he had unintentionally discovered another powerful battle technique to include in his repertoire. His vision back at the Stargazing Deck definitely had not been false, and the claw mark that he had seen on that massive battleship must have come from a fearsome powerhouse. Now, he had indirectly mastered their inheritance. 

It was a pity—if Lu Yin had managed to get a hold of Tong Chou’s claw imprint, that would have been the best. After all, Tong Chou was just a Limiteer, and there was a limit to how much he could comprehend. If Lu Yin had the stone on him, then he believed that he would be able to improve the Skybeast Claw even further. 

As for the 108 forms of the Skybeast Claw that he had previously comprehended, he had already merged them into one form. Compared to Tong Chou’s understanding of the Skybeast Claw, the 108 forms were nothing more than a joke. 

If Tong Chou did not have such a timid personality and actually had the courage to fight against others with the Skybeast Claw, his strength definitely would not be as weak as it was. Of course, to completely unleash the Skybeast Claw, there were also strict physical requirements of the body. Tong Chou was not able to fulfill those requirements, which meant that his comprehension of the technique could not help him with that aspect. 

It was no wonder why the ball of light representing Tong Chou had been so bright, attracting Lu Yin to merge with it.