Star Odyssey

The Sea King tightly grabbed a hold of Lu Yin and forcefully withstood Madam Hong’s power that had sent the two men deep underground. Suddenly, they entered an enormous open space after they descended an unknown depth beneath the Skyblaze Dojo. This underground space had a giant, altar-like structure, and next to it was a youth who looked 90% identical to the Sea King. 

The Sea King threw Lu Yin onto the altar and looked at the youth. “How is it?”

The youth hurriedly replied, “It’s a success. We can leave immediately.” 

The Sea King was delighted, and he pressed a hand down on the center of the altar. Soon, the entire structure began to tremble. Actually, it was not only the altar that was trembling, but the entire Skyblaze Dojo had also started quivering at the same time. After that, the hot magma seemed to be rapidly sucked away by something, and the immense heat of the Skyblaze Dojo also began to vanish. 

Countless combatants on the battlefield were surprised by these changes, and they also all noticed that the originally red soil had started to revert to a normal brown color. 

Madam Hong frowned, and she looked toward the ground as she felt that something was amiss. After that, she disappeared in a flash as she charged underground. 

Suddenly, an overpowering red light shattered the ground and shot into the sky. The light from the underground altar lit up the entire area, and it also isolated the altar itself. When Madam Hong saw what was happening, her expression changed, and she immediately moved to stop the altar. However, she could not break through the radiance surrounding the altar. 

Lu Yin, the Sea King, and the youth all slowly rose up within the red radiance, their bodies out of their own control. At this moment in time, the back of Lu Yin’s hand began to burn. This was the mark that Tian Yanzi had left on Lu Yin’s hand when he first arrived at the Skyblaze Dojo. Right now, that mark was growing hotter, and it was even burning Lu Yin. 

Lu Yin was not the only one dealing with this situation, as nearly 10,000 people around the Skyblaze Dojo felt the backs of their hands begin to burn, after which their bodies were enveloped by the red radiance and then forcibly brought into the altar. After that, they transformed a streak of light that followed along the red radiance before vanishing. 

The entire process lasted for no more than five seconds, which was not enough time for Mr. Yi or the others to even react. Grayweed Continent’s cultivators fighting against them had all suddenly vanished; that red radiance had acted like a bridge between the dojo and another place while also isolating the people who had been branded by that burning mark. 

Madam Hong’s eyes went wide, and she quickly used a hand to suppress the void and even cause space in this area to collapse. She then stepped forward and covered an endless distance with each step as she moved to seize back those escaping cultivators. Shockingly, her hand extended an endless distance until it finally made contact with the red light. 

The Sea King, Dojo Master Lan, and the others were all overwhelmed by this sight. Madam Hong was simply too terrifying. Their plan had seemed flawless, as they had borrowed the might of the Skyblaze Dojo’s ancient altar that had been inherited from ancient times to escape, as it was able to transfer them to other places with similar altars. The altar’s movement was basically at the same level as instantaneous teleportation, but despite that, they were being chased after by Madam Hong. 

Lan Si, Hai Qiqi, Hai Dashao, Zhang Dingtian, and the others were all enveloped within the red light, and they all closely watched the approaching hand. 

At this moment, the fiery dragon wrapped around Tian Yanzi’s body snarled at the sky, and its body quickly dissipated. It then transformed into a flame that merged into the red radiance, causing the color to deepen as the radiance slightly burned Madam Hong’s hand. She would be able to easily stop the fleeing cultivators if she used a bit more of her strength, but that would also cause her to be erased by the cosmic phenomenon’s suppression. Thus, Madam Hong could only reluctantly pull her hand back and allow the red light to carry the crowd away in the blink of an eye. 

Within the fleeing group, Lu Yin remained focused on where he had last seen Madam Hong, as a red stone had mysteriously appeared in that place, but it was not carried away by the red radiance. He could clearly see that red stone, and he had noticed that it had appeared in the same place where the fiery dragon had vanished. 

Lu Yin subconsciously activated the Yu Secret Art and moved the red stone into his hand. 

Back on Grayweed Continent, the Skyblaze Dojo was completely in ruins. The massive area was still filled with numerous Grayweed Continent cultivators who had just been defending the dojo against the Sixth Mainland cultivators, and they all had a dazed expression. They had been abandoned. 

The altar was only able to carry away 10,000 people at the most, and those people had been preselected, as only those who had been branded on the backs of their hands merited being transported away. The rest of them had been ignored by the red radiance. 

This was very cruel, but if the Fifth Mainland’s leaders had not made this decision, then everyone would have died. The Sea King and many others had gone to Grayweed Continent in order to preserve a spark of hope for the Starfall Sea. 

Without the Sea King and the other powerhouses’ support, the abandoned cultivators were completely unable to resist the invading forces, and all of their efforts were completely useless despite them numbering hundreds of thousands more than the Sixth Mainland cultivators. Everyone immediately gave up all thoughts of resistance. 

Madam Hong’s face remained as still as a pool of water, and she coldly ordered, “You will all stay here, and I’ll pursue them.”

After that, she stepped out. With her strength as a World Imprinter, she was able to easily tear through space, let alone do something as simple as travel across the entirety of Grayweed Continent. Even if traveling such a distance only took her a fraction of a moment, the most troublesome thing was that she did not know which direction the Sea King and the others had fled in. That red radiance had not left any trace or remnant of its path within the void, so she needed to spend time searching for the survivors. 

However, she would definitely find them, and it would not even take her too long, as it only took her a few breaths to sweep across every part of Grayweed Continent.

On the coast of Grayweed Continent, in a very windy place, there was a large, peculiar-looking spacecraft parked. 

As the red radiance disappeared, nearly 10,000 cultivators appeared near this spacecraft.

The Sea King shouted out, “Everyone, board the spacecraft within three breaths’ time!”

As the hatch on the vessel opened, the figures of countless people flashed as they quickly entered the spacecraft. 

Lu Yin moved extremely quickly, as he had already realized that this was the Sea King’s backup plan. Thus, he was one of the first to charge aboard the spacecraft. Inside, he saw an old man, and Hai Qiqi cried out in surprise, “Grandpa Shan?” 

After all the refugees entered the vessel, the hatch closed shut. As soon as everything was ready, the spacecraft tore through the void and left the coast.

Just as the spacecraft took off, Madam Hong arrived, and her sharp gaze swept across the area. She then stepped forward once again to give chase.

If the ship was merely a radiant-grade Aurora, then it definitely would not be able to escape from Madam Hong. However, this spacecraft was not a radiant-grade nor even a blackhole-grade Aurora. Rather, it was the most elite spacecraft that could be currently purchased in either the Innerverse or the Outerverse. This was an eonlight-grade Aurora, and it was a thousand times faster than a normal spacecraft and a hundred times faster than a radiant-grade Aurora. 

It only took it a moment to travel so far that Grayweed Continent fell out of sight.

The Sea King, Dojo Master Lan, and Tian Yanzi all moved forward and tore open the void as they traveled, all to disrupt Madam Hong’s pursuit. 

After all, Madam Hong was still restricted by the cosmic phenomenon’s power level suppression, and she was chasing after them all on her own. No matter how powerful the World Imprinter might be, she could not easily pass through the obstructions placed in the void by three Envoy-level powerhouses. Thus, the spacecraft gradually moved further and further away from Madam Hong. 

Madam Hong immediately contacted the people at the Sea King’s Dome.

With the speed of an eonlight-grade Aurora, it took it less than ten minutes to arrive at the Sea King’s Dome. Its speed was simply inconceivable. 

Within the vessel, the gathered cultivators were unable to ignore the pressure caused by the exceptional speed, and most of them found it difficult to talk. Only a few were still able to converse. 

Elder Shan supported Hai Qiqi as he nodded in satisfaction. “I haven’t seen you in four years, but you’ve grown a little.” 

Hai Qiqi was breathing heavily as she emotionally looked at the old man. “I missed you guys a lot, Grandpa Shan.”  

He smiled happily at the girl. “I’ve missed you, too.”

In another part of the ship, Zhang Dingtian placed his blade on the floor. His forehead was dripping with sweat as he stared at the back of his hand with the brand that had dragged him into the red light. If not for this brand, he would have died or become a prisoner of war for the Sixth Mainland. There were only 10,000 people aboard this ship, and the other hundreds of thousands of cultivators were all doomed. 

The atmosphere within the spacecraft was very solemn as the three Envoy-level powerhouses—the Sea King, Dojo Master Lan, and Tian Yanzi—continuously broke the void apart as they worked to delay Madam Hong’s progress. However, the rest of the gathered people remained silent. 

They had abandoned hundreds of thousands of comrades. 

Elder Tong sighed, and he looked back in the direction of Grayweed Continent. After leaving this time, who knew when they would be able to return to the Starfall Sea, or if they would ever be able to return in this lifetime. 

From the corner of his eye, Lu Yin could see the red stone in his hand, and he was able to feel the intense heat contained within the stone. The heat was not visible, but he could clearly see its rune lines, as they had extended up Lu Yin’s arm and covered his entire body, making him feel much hotter. He absentmindedly stored the stone away and then looked towards Tian Yanzi. This stone had been left behind when that fiery dragon had vanished, so could this stone be the source of that dragon’s strength? 

Soon, they arrived at the Sea King’s Dome, but the spacecraft did not stop there. Instead, it directly shot towards the entrance of the Starfall Sea. 

At this moment, an alien force swept out from within the Sea King’s Dome. Although it only contained the strength of an Enlighter, it was still enough to slow the spacecraft’s speed. Even though it was slowed for just an instant, it was still enough to allow Madam Hong to catch up slightly. 

The three Envoys remain aloof, and from deep within the Sea King’s Dome, among the corpses that had been hung up, one of them suddenly raised his head and swept past the Sixth Mainland cultivators attempting to obstruct the spacecraft before dashing into the spacecraft. Those Sixth Mainland cultivators instantly died, even that Enlighter who had once fought against Lu Yin. 

It was another Envoy-level powerhouse, and Lu Yin’s eyes nearly jumped out of his head. It turned out that the Starfall Sea actually had four Envoy-level experts. 

“Elder He?” Hai Qiqi called out emotionally. 

Lu Yin was astonished, as the Sea King’s Dome had four elders: Shan, Tong, Ren, and He. Elder Ren had died, and Lu Yin had grabbed that elder’s corpse while escaping from the Sea King’s Dome. Meanwhile, Elder Tong and Elder Shan had been on Grayweed Continent. The most powerful one, Elder He, had remained hidden at the Sea King’s Dome among the crucified corpses. 

Who had planned all of this? Everything had been revealed to be just one plan overlapping another. Elder He had remained in hiding at the Sea King’s Dome, which must have been planned before the Sea King’s Dome’s defeat. Otherwise, they would not have been able to fool the Sixth Mainland. This meant that someone in the Starfall Sea had arranged for Elder He to back up the other Envoys from the Sea King’s Dome at a much earlier date, and this also indicated that everything that had happened on Grayweed Continent might have actually fallen within someone’s calculations. Throngs of cultivators from all areas had retreated to the Skyblaze Dojo, where they had then used the Skyblaze Dojo to teleport to the coast and board the spacecraft that had been prepared by Elder Shan. 

This plan had been executed flawlessly, and even Madam Hong, a World Imprinter, was only able to watch on helplessly.  

Such a strategy was definitely not inferior to one created by Wei Rong, who was adept at plots and had no bottom line. The person behind this should be someone who was in the same category as Wang Wen; someone who could view the entire situation. 

In the end, the spacecraft managed to successfully pass through the Sea King’s Dome without being held back. 

Elder He and Hai Qiqi spoke a little before the old man moved to stand beside the Sea King, where he also worked to shatter the void and slow down Madam Hong’s progress.

Many cultivators in the spacecraft were inspired, as it looked like they might actually be successful in their escape attempt. 

Behind them, Madam Hong passed through the void with each step, and the space before her tore apart in layers. Her gaze swept across the Sea King’s Dome, and she snorted before continuing on her way. She tore through the void and continued chasing after the ship. 

Not long after, the entrance to the Starfall Sea came into sight, but there were countless cultivators from the Sixth Mainland blocking it. Even though all of them had suppressed their power levels, Lu Yin was certain that there were Imprinters among the people gathered here. 

Right when the spacecraft drew close to the entrance, the Sixth Mainland cultivators blocking it all activated their imprints simultaneously; all the imprints appearing behind them looked like countless deities had descended upon the ground, and it overwhelmed those watching from within the spacecraft. 

The Sea King slowly turned around, and he grimaced as he pulled out a transparent vial from his cosmic ring. It contained a single drop of blood. 

It looked like a very normal drop of blood that did not possess any rune lines, but when it appeared, the cosmic phenomenon manifested in the skies. Everyone inside the spacecraft looked up in unison, not knowing what was happening, but they all felt as though the sky was falling. 

Lu Yin focused his gaze, and he saw that the cosmic phenomenon was warping violently. Shockingly, all the rune lines spread across the entire Innerverse had suddenly started disintegrating, all because of this drop of blood. 

The Sea King did not speak a single word as he removed the cap and lightly tapped on the vial. That droplet of blood then flew towards the entrance of the Starfall Sea, where it hovered in the air. Suddenly, with the drop as the focus point, the horrifying cosmic phenomenon permeating the space around them was sucked into this droplet of blood.