Star Odyssey

“So it’s a senior from Aegis. For what matter have you come looking for this junior?” Lu Yin asked.

The Black Mask had not completely emerged from the shadows, but he was less than a hundred meters away from Lu Yin. He replied in a low voice, saying, “I heard from Starfox that you caused great difficulties for my Aegis. Thus, I was curious and came to have a look.’ 

Lu Yin’s eyes flashed. “Does Senior have any malicious thoughts?” 

“What thoughts?”

“Such as trying to assassinate me,” Lu Yin replied.

The assassin fell silent for a while. “Can’t kill you.” 

Lu Yin was surprised by this admission. "Is Senior that uncertain of his own strength?”

The assassin remained calm. “When the calamity that targeted the Outerverse’s assassins struck, I was the one who led Starfox and the others into hiding, and I was the one who founded Aegis. I cannot see any possibility of me successfully killing you.” 

Lu Yin’s lips curled upwards. “It seems as though Senior is truly only here to take a look at Junior. Since that’s the case, I will take my leave.” 

The assassin did not stop Lu Yin, and he merely calmly watched on.

Lu Yin’s heart suddenly twitched, and he looked back at the assassin. "Senior should already know that Junior is a member of Aegis’s second level managers. In that case, how can I join the first level?” 

The killer from the dark silently stared at Lu Yin. Lu Yin did not say anything either, and the two simply continued to stare at each other for a while. 

After a while, the assassin turned to leave, though before he left, he said, “If you want to join us, it’s fine to do so at any time.” 

Lu Yin was stumped; was it that easy? 

“In that case, is Junior on the same level as Starfox now?” Lu Yin asked loudly.

The assassin left, though he did not admit nor deny anything.

Lu Yin felt a little strange. Aegis’s first level managers were the old assassins who had survived the original calamity targeting the Outerverse’s assassins. Could he really join that easily? Was this for real? 

He could not figure out what this old killer was wanting. But one thing was for sure: it was not that the old monster feared Smoker. Smoker was not strong enough to make this hidden assassin nervous. 

Being puzzled was one thing, but Lu Yin did not give the matter too much thought. He would simply go back and chat with Starfox to see if he could truly become one of those who controlled Aegis, since it should not be some trifling matter. 

Lu Yin did not stop when he arrived at the Endless Lavazone, and he quickly crossed through it. He saw Gong Ling as he passed by, but did not greet the sect leader. 

Following that, Lu Yin arrived in the Tri-Platform Lavazone. There, he saw Yu Mu’s boundless rune lines. Lu Yin’s expression turned cold, but he did not stop, not until his second night of traveling, which was when he arrived at the Honor Lavazone. 

The Honor and Ironblood Lavazones had suffered the fewest casualties out of the six lavazones. Ancestor Autumnfrost’s attack had not extended as far as the Honor Lavazone, which was why Astral-9’s headmaster had summoned the academy to help defend the Endless Lavazone rather than let it remain unused. 

When he arrived in the Honor Lavazone, Lu Yin saw a few tremendous groups of rune lines, and there were even two groupings that surpassed a power level of 300,000, which was very impressive. 

Lu Yin sought out Elder Daggs according to the rune lines he observed. 

Elder Daggs was very curious as to how Lu Yin had found him, as he was not found in his normal location. However, Lu Yin could only try to pass it off as a coincidence.  

“Coincidence? Then forget it. Why are you looking for me?” Elder Daggs asked. 

Lu Yin said respectfully, “Junior wants to exchange his military contributions.”

Elder Daggs nodded. “Follow me.”  

It did not take long for Elder Daggs to lead Lu Yin outside, to the Honor Lavazone’s warehouse, where he then passed the youth a list. There were all sorts of items and materials on it that could be purchased with contribution points, such as battle techniques, cultivation arts, raw materials, power vessels, star essence, and more. The listed items were plentiful, and Lu Yin even saw the poisons that he had sold to the Hall of Honor, though they had already been diluted. 

Lu Yin had 120,000 contribution points, and if he exchanged all of them for star essence, it would similarly amount to 120,000, which was not a small sum. However, he did not want any star essence at this time. 

“Elder, Junior wishes to exchange my contributions for Honor Points,” Lu Yin respectfully informed the commander. 

Elder Daggs expressed his approval for the request. “At this time, there are very few who are willing to exchange for Honor Points. You are pretty decent. Alright, how many?” 

“One point,” Lu Yin replied. 

Elder Daggs was stumped, and he assumed that he had heard wrong. “How many?”

Lu Yin repeated, “One point.”

Elder Daggs was not happy, as 120,000 contributions was enough to purchase six Honor Points, but this youth was only exchanging for one point. If Lu Yin truly respected the Hall of Honor, then the number of points that he was purchasing was too few. If Lu Yin did not respect the Hall of Honor, then there was no reason for him to throw away 20,000 contribution points for nothing. 

Could this kid be about to reach a certain number of Honor Points?

As he thought about this possibility, Elder Daggs had Lu Yin open up his status so that he could check how many Honor Points the youth had. 

Lu Yin showed his status, which revealed that he had eleven Honor Points attributed to him. Yuan Shi had promised Lu Yin three points, but that change would only be reflected once Lu Yin returned to a place where he could connect to the network. The dark lava that was ubiquitous along the defensive line blocked all such signals and sealed off all technological transmissions, so Lu Yin’s Honor Points had not been updated yet. 

Elder Daggs was gloomy; What was the difference after adding one more to eleven points? He tried to remember, and although there were differences, there were not very many.

“Elder, Junior wants to exchange for one point,” Lu Yin urged. 

Elder Daggs felt that something was off, but he could not think of anything. “Alright, you have successfully exchanged your contribution points for one Honor Point. Your status will be refreshed when you receive a signal.” 

Lu Yin was delighted. Whether or not Yuan Shi had intentionally stopped Lu Yin’s Honor Points at fourteen, he now had one more, which would fulfill the requirement of fifteen points. 

For his remaining contribution points, Lu Yin traded them for all sorts of precious raw materials, which amounted to quite a large number. 

At this moment, he realized that his cosmic ring did not have enough space. 

He realized that, all this time, he had forgotten something. Could a cosmic ring be upgraded by his die’s three pips: Enhance? He had not thought about it before, but perhaps it would be worth a try. It would be perfect if his rings could be upgraded. 

Finally, Lu Yin returned to the Ironblood Lavazone, as that was where he had been stationed for this two month long period. 

He met with Aden and Wendy Yushan and then relaxed as he waited. If the Sixth Mainland did not invade within the next two months, then the likelihood of an impending invasion would drop significantly.

With the Sixth Mainland’s arrogance, they would not show any sort of weakness to their enemies. If they decided to invade the Outerverse, then they would do so with the intent of complete destruction. 

Two months was not a long time to cultivators. During this time, Lu Yin occasionally met with Liu Yin and the others, and he was also scheduled for patrol duty in outer space. These two months quickly passed by. 

Then, with Elder Daggs’s announcement, the mandatory service at the border was canceled. Anybody who had been drafted were allowed to leave, though they could also stay if they desired. 

Lu Yin heaved a sigh of relief, as he was finally able to leave. 

The border war had lasted for around ten months from start to finish, and the Outerverse had suffered bitter casualties in the process, losing experts such as the Arrow Mountain Elder, the Dark Phoenix family’s ancestor, and Lord Egret. Those cultivators who had once roamed through the universe unhindered had fallen during these cruel battles, and in Lu Yin’s experience, this was the longest and most tragic war so far. Fortunately, the Outerverse had ultimately managed to pull through. 

The greatest credit should have been given to Mister Mu. Without him, the border would have long since collapsed, but Mister Mu’s contributions were destined to never be revealed. Similarly, the act of Lu Yin summoning Mister Mu was known to no one. 

In just four more months, the separation of the Innerverse and Outerverse would reach its fourth anniversary. During this period of separation, Lu Yin had changed greatly, as he had gone from being a junior whom many youths admired to the Great Eastern Alliance Leader, and his authority had grown by an almost exaggerated degree. Once the Innerverse and Outerverse reconnected, his new status would astonish the various great powers of the Innerverse. 

With the end of the war, there was one expected matter. Elder Daggs warned everyone that, at least for the next year, no internal wars were allowed to occur within the Outerverse and that everyone could be mobilized at any moment. 

Wei Rong heaved a sigh of pure relief. With the pressure from the border warfront, not even the Hall of Honor would side with Lu Yin. As long as no armed conflicts occurred, Wei Rong would have enough time to unify the weaves of the Outerverse’s central region. 

During the last two months, he had already met with quite a few leaders of the central region’s powers, and he had also met with quite a few of the western weaves’ guiding powers in an attempt to unite and resist the expansion of the Great Eastern Alliance. 

“Your Highness, we’ve received news from Meng Tianlong. During the last two months, Wei Rong has been in frequent contact with the leaders of various power organizations, and it seems as though they have come to some sort of an agreement,” Aden reported. 

Lu Yin frowned. “That’s expected. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be Wei Rong.”

“Just one year should be plenty of time for Wei Rong to win over quite a few powers, and it will be much more difficult for us to take down Armament Weave after that time.” Aden was frustrated. The Armament Weave was the first military opponent they had faced since the establishment of the Allied Forces, and everyone had been hoping that they would be able to achieve a beautiful victory, but alas. 

Lu Yin’s lips curled upwards. They had already boarded a spacecraft and were headed back towards Frostwave Weave, and their gadgets had reconnected to the network. He activated his gadget, and right next to the rest of the information concerning his status, his Honor Points had been updated: fifteen. 

“It doesn’t matter. Let him play his games. We’ll see who’s faster in the end,” Lu Yin commented indifferently.

Aden did not understand Lu Yin’s attitude. Obviously, Wei Rong would be faster. There would be no opportunity for them to wage war during the next year, and compared to Wei Rong, Lu Yin was not as adept in crafting scheming machinations. Thus, Aden did not expect Lu Yin to be able to stop Wei Rong’s efforts in unifying the weaves of the Outerverse’s central region. 

Lu Yin did not explain any further. 

Twenty days later, Lu Yin was sitting in a spacecraft as it headed towards Zenyu Star. 

When he arrived at Zenyu Star, there was already a pile of matters awaiting him. After being gone for ten months, since it was to defend the Outerverse’s border, there had not been many changes to the rest of Outerverse. However, the Technocracy’s sneak attacks had caused quite a few casualties among the Great Yu Empire. 

Lu Yin waved a hand and sent these matters over for the Lu Ministry of Staff to settle.

Huan Sha’s innate gift of analysis had proven very useful here. Although it was not of much help to her during battles, she was quite adept at handling administrative affairs. 

Many older officials of the empire had already experienced a change in their attitudes towards the Lu Ministry of Staff, going from initial dissatisfaction towards one of acceptance. In fact, Huan Sha’s ability to manage administrative affairs could speak for itself, and the various officials could not point out any shortcomings. 

Furthermore, Lu Yin had not behaved as they had expected, and he had won them over one by one. The Lu Ministry of Staff operated within its purview, and the Imperial Cabinet similarly carried out its own duties. Each department of the empire operated in an orderly fashion. 

The Lu Ministry of Staff had not monopolized all authority for itself.

In fact, at the start, Lu Yin had planned to make the Lu Ministry of Staff the department with the greatest authority. Then, the Ninth Squadron began its purge of the corrupt government officials without any restraint. The Auna family had completely established their loyalties by wholeheartedly embracing the role of Lu Yin’s knife. Many of the empire’s officials had also changed their ways, and they were no longer as negligent as before. These people could remain in their current positions, but they were no longer merely relying on their connections or their families’ influence to maintain their status, and they all actually had some degree of personal ability. Once they became serious, each could act professionally, and it had reached the degree where Lu Yin could not even find his next target. 

This made him very satisfied. As soon as these officials began to work seriously, he no longer had to clean up after them, which saved him a great deal of trouble. 

Within the empire, there was a dark prison that was constantly permeated with an unpleasant smell. No matter how far the empire progressed, or how much technology developed, a place like this prison would never change, as it represented the empire’s darkness and authority. 

Xun Qianye’s four limbs had been bound, and his head hung low. His lips were parched and cracked, and countless scars of varying sizes crisscrossed across his entire body. His spirit had clearly been completely broken, and he looked as though he was already dead. 

Ever since he had first been captured, he had been interrogated without end, constantly being tortured. However, despite the endless torment, he had not spoken a single word from beginning to end.