Star Odyssey

Butcher slaughtered nearly a hundred Neo-Vestige Sect disciples, leaving a bloody sea of corpses all around him. However, his bloodlust still was not sated, and he continued to chase after Qiong Xi'er and the others who had fled. 

Zhu San wailed, “Why’s this lunatic chasing us?” 

Qiong Xi'er’s heart immediately sank. Butcher’s bones were streaking towards them, even tearing through the void as they did so. She dodged one deadly attack after another, and when she looked back, she saw Butcher gradually getting closer. 

Further ahead of them, Wei Rong stepped onto the ubiquitous dark lava in the Greatwood Lavazone. The reinforcements from the Outerverse came from this direction, so his only option was to escape in this direction and hope that he would run into someone who could stop this lunatic. 

Butcher licked his lips and leaped up. He then raised a hand and pointed it at Qiong Xi'er and Zhu San. His palm split open, and white bones fell down like raindrops that enveloped the two people. 

Zhu San was desperate, as they were doomed. 

Qiong Xi'er’s pupils shrank, and she tightly clenched her fists.

Even further ahead, Wei Rong’s heart was racing wildly.

Suddenly, a gale streaked past the two fleeing youths. The surrounding star energy suddenly took the form of a claw that blocked the attack from striking Qiong Xi’er and Zhu San in midair before counterattacking at the sky. The claw shattered all of the bones and continued to slash at Butcher. 

Butcher’s brows rose, and his white bones extended back out to form a bone dagger that he then used to slash out. The knife shattered the claw, but Butcher was also forced back by the claw’s enormous power. 

He was surprised, as an expert had appeared.

With a whoosh, another person suddenly appeared in front of Qiong Xi'er and Zhu San. “What a coincidence.”

Qiong Xi'er stared at the figure’s profile and was shocked at who she saw. “Lu Yin?” 

Zhu San was moved. “Brother Lu, is that you? That’s great! You’re finally here!” 

Further ahead, Wei Rong similarly heaved a sigh of relief that he had indeed fled in the correct direction. If he had escaped in any other direction, then even if Lu Yin had arrived on the battlefield, he might not have been in time to save them. 

Lu Yin did not bother with Qiong Xi'er’s trio, and his attention was focused solely on Butcher. “So it’s you.” 

Butcher squinted and took out a pill that he tossed into his mouth, causing the injuries on his body to quickly heal. “You know me?” 

“Butcher: an expert second only to Di Fa in the Bloodburn Realm,” Lu Yin said indifferently. 

Butcher was puzzled. “How do you know me?”

“We’ve crossed paths before, though you may not remember,” Lu Yin replied.

Butcher stared at Lu Yin and then smiled. “No matter who you are, you can die.”

He then pressed a hand against the ground, causing bone spikes to erupt out and stab at Lu Yin, who stomped fiercely on the ground in return. The strength that he had exerted caused visible waves to sweep across the ground that shattered all the bone spikes. Lu Yin’s body suddenly vanished before reappearing at Butcher’s side with a hand raised that had been formed into a claw. This time, his Skybeast Claw was completely different from his first attack, and the howl of an ancient beast roared out as it transcended through time. 

Butcher was surprised, and all of the bones in his body extended out, making him look like a white hedgehog, as he punched out. The Skybeast Claw slammed heavily against Butcher’s body and forced him underground. However, the Skybeast Claw also dissipated after colliding with the bones. 

Lu Yin pressed a hand against the ground. “Thirty Stacks, Hundredfold Shockwave Palm.”

With a tremendous boom, the dark lava of the mainland shattered, and an overpowering force seeped into the ground that crushed everything beneath the surface. Butcher had been about to leap out, but his internal organs were shaken by this sudden attack, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. He felt like something was amiss, as this person was terrifyingly powerful. But all he could do was hurriedly pull out another pill, toss it into his mouth, and leap out. 

As Butcher leaped out of the ground, Lu Yin suddenly appeared before the man’s eyes and tapped out with a finger that caused the void to congeal. This was Lu Yin’s Dream Finger. 

The Dream Finger tapped at Butcher’s forehead. Compared to Autumnfrost Qing, Butcher’s recovery rate was far more potent. After all, he had an innate gift of absorption, which greatly increased the efficacy of any medication he consumed, making them thousands of times more potent. However, as a tradeoff, his offensive and defensive abilities were much lower than Autumnfrost Qing’s. 

In the past, Fatty Bro had told Lu Yin that Butcher was an expert second only to Di Fa and that he was able to stand side by side with Autumnfrost Qing. However, from Lu Yin’s perspective, this person was inferior even to Autumnfrost Qing, though only by a little. 

When Lu Yin’s finger connected with Butcher’s forehead, the imprint behind Butcher grew even clearer, which caused the man to awaken from his daze. His bones formed a large hand that pushed him to the side just in the nick of time. As a result, Lu Yin’s finger did not strike the young man’s forehead and instead brushed past, which blew apart Butcher’s ear and mutilated half of his face. 

From a distance, Qiong Xi'er and the others stared on, dumbfounded. They had already known that Lu Yin was very powerful and that he had killed Enlighters. However, they had thought that his combat prowess was a result of relying on foreign objects. But at this moment, Lu Yin had proven himself capable of fighting against this madman head on and even crushing the man. This was rather unbelievable, and it caused them to recall what had happened at the Qiong Forest Banquet and the scene of Lu Yin defeating Taylor Phoenix in a single move. 

Butcher continuously stepped back, constantly devouring pills to recover from his injuries. He stared at Lu Yin in surprise. “Who are you exactly?”

Still, he could not remain unfazed, as the person fighting against him was definitely not a Hunter or even a Cruiser. Although Butcher could tell that this person’s star energy had only been through a few cultivation cycles, this person was already able to crush him. This should be impossible, as in the entire Bloodburn Realm, only Di Fa had reached such a stage. At their level, only Di Fa was capable of completely overpowering Butcher, which indicated that this person could actually rival the Realmling. 

Lu Yin’s voice was apathetic. “You’re almost at Autumnfrost Qing’s level.”

He then raised his right hand as his star energy converged in preparation to unleash the Ninesuns Cauldron Transformation. “First Sun.”

A burning sun appeared in his palm and harshly careened towards Butcher. 

Butcher’s eye twitched, as this attack was powerful enough that his scalp went numb. Every bone in his body suddenly exposed itself before merging to form a white casing that enveloped his entire body. 

The sun slammed heavily into Butcher’s bone shell, and the void fluctuated before it cracked open. Butcher’s white bone shell began to shatter, and a golden radiance shone out in all directions. Next, his body was flung underground as the earth trembled. An intense gust whooshed up from the newly created fissure that was actually a berserk rush of star energy that shocked everyone nearby. 

Qiong Xi'er and Zhu San were almost sent flying by that burst of star energy. 

In the distance, many people warily looked at the exchange; they could sense attacks being launched with a strength that rivaled that of a peak Hunter. Another expert had arrived on the battlefield. 

Lu Yin floated up high and looked at the ground. Butcher’s rune lines had become quite feeble by now. This was quite expected, as even Autumnfrost Qing had been severely injured by this particular attack of his, only escaping after using his power vessel. Butcher had not been able to withstand the attack either. 

Meanwhile, underground, Butcher was incomparably miserable, and he felt as though his body had been shattered into several pieces with a large portion of his skin being directly torn off. His blood stained the earth red, and his bones had been scattered in all directions. If it had been someone else, then they would have already died from these grievous injuries. However, he was Butcher; he had integrated with the dismemberment bloodline, and he also had the innate gift of absorption. His mouth opened and closed as he swallowed all of the pills in his possession. 

The next moment, the shattered bits of his body suddenly merged back together, and his injuries recovered at a visible rate. Ancestor Mojiang’s imprint also hazily appeared behind him, and it gradually grew clearer as more time passed. 

High above, Lu Yin’s expression changed. Butcher’s rune lines were actually restoring themselves? Lu Yin aimed a single palm downwards and exerted a great deal of his strength. The palm turned into a claw, and another Skybeast Claw violently slammed into the ground. 

Butcher grinned and took out a wooden carving that looked like a spider; this was a power vessel. 

The wooden spider jumped up, opened its mouth, and actually began absorbing the Skybeast Claw before finally vanishing. The next instant, the spider reappeared above Lu Yin with a swollen abdomen, looking like it was about to explode. The might of this explosion would not be inferior to Lu Yin’s own Skybeast Claw. 

Lu Yin had not thought that Butcher would have such a power vessel, but he merely casually waved a hand and caused the wooden spider to vanish. When it reappeared, it fell next to Butcher. 

Butcher was stumped; what was going on? Had that been a secret technique just now? 

There was an explosion, and the ground shattered once again as the dark lava mainland was pierced through. Butcher spat out a mouthful of blood, and he was left in an even more miserable state than before. This time, even his head had been broken. 

Ever since he had successfully received an imprint from Ancestor Mojiang and become famous in the Bloodburn Realm, Butcher had never been forced to such a pathetic state before. Although he enjoyed creating massacres and acted rather insane in battle, he was not a fool. He made sure to keep his distance from existences like Di Fa, and he would not approach the direct descendants of Imprinter families like Autumnfrost Qing or Mojiang Xiao. On this day, he considered himself to be unlucky. 

Nobody could have imagined that the Fifth Mainland could produce such a monster. This person was actually able to crush Butcher while being nothing more than a mere Explorer. His final sneak attack had not been successful, and he had even received a counterattack. That could only be a secret technique, which meant that this Explorer even had a secret technique. He had to be one of the Fifth Mainland’s top geniuses. 

Butcher weakly opened his eyes, and his vision was covered by a layer of blood as he looked at Lu Yin’s indifferent face. Butcher grinned again and then retrieved a sourcebox from his cosmic ring. 

When the sourcebox appeared, the sourcebox’s formless danger suddenly covered a region that extended for thousands of kilometers. However, it somehow did not harm Butcher. 

In Lu Yin’s eyes, the sourcebox’s formless danger’s rune lines were coincidentally absent in Butcher’s position, which was why he was able to carry the sourcebox and escape. 

“I admit defeat, so tell me. What’s your name?” Butcher looked at Lu Yin with a feeble expression. He was feeling exceptionally down at this moment. 

Autumnfrost Qing, Butcher, and other such pinnacle geniuses would all have a variety of life-preserving methods available to them, and Lu Yin had long since anticipated such a thing. However, when compared to Autumnfrost Qing, this Butcher was horrendously unlucky. 

Lu Yin smiled viciously, stepped into the region of the sourcebox’s formless danger, and began to leisurely approach Butcher. 

The injured man was stunned. “You- how are you...?” 

Lu Yin coughed. “Sorry, but I’m a Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreaker.” 

Butcher spat out a mouthful of blood, as he really was infuriated this time. This tough opponent was actually gifted in both combat and Lockbreaking. Even that would be alright, but this freak was actually a Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreaker as well. 

Butcher’s sourcebox had just reached the Perceptive Intermediate level, though it could hold back Hunters for a period of time. Thus, it was intended to give him a window of opportunity to escape into outer space and retreat from a battlefield. 

Who could have expected this fellow to actually be a Lockbreaker capable of unlocking this sourcebox? The sourcebox’s formless danger zone was effectively useless against this person since he was clearly able to easily traverse the sourcebox’s danger zone. Actually, this was something that the average Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreaker shouldn’t be able to do! 

Lu Yin arrived in front of Butcher and looked him up and down. 

“Release me! You guys can’t possibly stop our invasion, but as long as you let me go, I can guarantee your life. I’ll even recommend you to the Mojiang family, and in the future-” But before Butcher could finish speaking, he was stomped to death by Lu Yin. 

Although Butcher had been gifted with a powerful innate gift and was rather famous, he was not able to make decisions for the Mojiang bloodline on his own. Moreover, even if the Outerverse was ultimately defeated, that did not mean that the Sixth Mainland would be able to wantonly massacre the residents of the Outerverse without restraint. 

Humans were humans because they had a baseline. The Sixth Mainland would, at worst, plunder the Outerverse’s resources and slaughter many of the people living there. However, they would not massacre too many. 

Moreover, Lu Yin still had Mister Mu, so there should be no problem with him surviving through this battlefield. At worst, he would escape into the Astral Wilderness. Regardless, a Cruiser was not someone who could determine Lu Yin’s fate. 

Butcher had killed so many people, and he needed to pay for his debt. 

Unfortunately, the dead man’s cosmic ring did not contain much money. Butcher had also used up all of his live-saving items, with the sole exception of the sourcebox. 

After thinking about it, Lu Yin stored the sourcebox away. 

Lu Yin and Butcher’s battle had not lasted long, but it had stupefied countless spectators. 

Butcher had practically been the strongest powerhouse in this area. He had even killed a Hunter from Neo-Vestige Sect, but this formidable Sixth Mainland cultivator had still died to Lu Yin. 

Wei Rong stared at Lu Yin in shock. He suddenly felt as though he had neglected a huge problem. In this part of the universe, powerhouses reigned supreme. Sometimes, a single, absolute powerhouse was enough to change the entire situation.