Star Odyssey

After hearing Xu San’s words, Lu Yin and Starsibyl exchanged glances of surprise. 

Ling Que was furious. “You bastard, you just said that you didn’t know when the Daosource Three Skies would show up!” 

Xu San rolled his eyes. “Might, might! Don’t you understand?”

Lu Yin quietly asked, “Is this pre-war meeting being convened by Shang Rong or Zhi Yi?”

Xu San shook his head. “I’m not sure, but most likely, it’s Zhi Yi. That woman is one of the Daosource Three Skies, and according to the rumors, it’s not combat that she’s the most skilled at, but rather strategy. Little Xiang also mentioned that Zhi Yi has been obsessed with war strategies since a young age. She enjoys schemes, is proficient at defeating a large force with a smaller one, and is extremely gifted at just about anything involving strategy. This time, the fight for the poles will be very important, so it wouldn’t be strange at all for her to show up.” 

Starsibyl’s expression grew cold. “You just told us that you didn’t know anything at all about the Daosource Three Skies.” 

Lu Yin glared at her. “Let him finish.” 

Starsibyl averted her gaze. 

Xu San swallowed his saliva. “There are certain things that can’t be said, and you have to understand them intuitively.” 

“Cut the bullshit! What you’re really saying is that one of the Daosource Three Skies, Zhi Yi, will come here, that she’ll be overseeing this fight for the poles herself, and that she will also be participating in the battle herself, correct?” Lu Yin asked. 

Xu San’s eyes flitted about, and he carefully scanned the area. “That’s just your guesses. I didn’t tell you anything.” 

Lu Yin muttered to himself. This was very disturbing news—nobody knew just how strong the Daosource Three Skies truly were. Even worse, the woman who was likely to show up was gifted at strategy, and Lu Yin had already learned how difficult it was to go against such people. For example, the Great Eastern Alliance had had an overwhelming advantage over Armament Weave, and logically, Armament Weave should have been easily bulldozed over. However, Wei Rong had actually managed to stall the attackers for two years. In another case, Wang Wen had overseen Ironblood Weave, and his deep strategies had propelled him to the top of the Astral Beast Domain’s must-kill list. This was the influence that strategic geniuses had. 

Such people were many times more frightening than powerful cultivators, and they were also more difficult to deal with due to their intelligence. 

Why did it seem that he bumped into such people wherever he went? Lu Yin felt helpless.

“Take us to the strategy meeting,” Starsibyl ordered. 

Xu San blinked awkwardly. “I’ve already told you everything I should.” 

Starsibyl stared at him. “I don’t want to repeat myself.”

“We won’t be discovered, right?” Ling Que felt uneasy with this plan.

Starsibyl’s eyes flickered. “No. There are quite a few people who will be attending this event, so we won’t be discovered as long as we don’t attract too much attention. The outcome that I’ve divined is actually pretty good.”

Lu Yin glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Divined outcome?

Xu San looked at Lu Yin in a pleading manner. “Boss…” 

Lu Yin looked over at Starsibyl, who calmly said, “Starlight Island is surrounded on all sides, and it will be extremely difficult for us to force our way out. But if we join this war meeting, then we might be able to escape by joining the fight for these poles.”

That sounded quite reasonable, and Lu Yin let out a breath as he looked at Xu San. “One last thing: help us finish this since you’ve already started helping us.” 

Xu San was about to cry. It had not been easy for him to obtain his current status, and he had suffered quite miserably in the process. The moment these three people were discovered and taken in for questioning, even Xu San’s master, Ancestor , would flay him alive. Xu San did not dare to do such a thing. 

Ling Que leaned over and quietly threatened Xu San, saying, “If you don’t take us, then we can just go ourselves, but only after we rip off your face and use it as a mask, hehehe.” 

Xu San was both furious and terrified.

Lu Yin also had no choice in this matter. The Sixth Mainland had sent their younger generation to Starlight Island, though members of the older generation would still be around as well. Thus, it was impossible for these three youths to escape from this island without confronting the island’s full strength. They could only join the teams that would be fighting for the poles if they wanted to leave. Also, Lu Yin wanted to see for himself just how terrifying these Daosource Three Skies were.

In fact, regardless of whether he had to face the Daosource Three Skies or the Realmlings, Lu Yin was not too concerned. He had even exchanged blows with an Imprinter before, so no matter how powerful the Daosource Three Skies were, in Lu Yin’s mind, they could not possibly surpass the strength of an Imprinter. 

After confronting the various threats leveled against him, Xu San was left with no other choice. He could only agree to take the three with him into the strategy meeting. 

Truthfully, calling it a strategy meeting was just a social nicety. It was actually a gathering of the young elites who were on Starlight Island. Youths were often competitive, and they liked to fight to gain an advantage against each other. Also, many of them wanted to look good in front of one of the Daosource Three Skies, especially since there was a chance that the only female of the Daosource Three Skies might attend, and she was obviously someone whom countless men longed for. 

To prevent Xu San from betraying them partway through, Starsibyl used some of her techniques on him to guard them against any possible betrayal. 

Xu San had already resigned himself to his fate. Once the other Sixth Mainland cultivators who had been knocked unconscious came to, he easily placated them before escorting Lu Yin’s trio to another island that was close to Starlight Island. 

Of the three youths, Lu Yin and Ling Que did not draw too much attention, but Starsibyl was just too attractive, and her face easily caught a great deal of attention. 

However, Starsibyl had her own mysterious techniques. Although they did not know what she did, and despite her face looking the same, she had somehow lost her bewitching beauty. At first glance, people would feel that she was not very attractive, and her countenance would actually seem more average the longer one looked at her. 

Lu Yin was really taken aback by the woman’s methods, and he suddenly thought of the Starsibyl Sect. He decided to take another look at it when he had the time.

Divination was already very mystical to begin with, and when the various strange methods that they used were added on, the Starsibyl Sect only became more and more interesting to Lu Yin.

The only thing that left the three feeling uncomfortable was Yaya. Although the little girl had acted strong and told innocent lies about how she was waiting for her parents to return, that innocence only made them care for the girl even more. 

Lu Yin, Ling Que, and Starsibyl—all of them had decided that, if there was even a small possibility, they would return to take the little girl away. A person would be lonely if they lived on Starlight Island by themselves, even if they had inherited great wealth from their parents. Yaya was living in such a difficult situation that normal people could not even imagine what she had to deal with. 

The sea was calm as they traveled along, and the passing Sixth Mainland cultivators would occasionally respectfully bow to Xu San once they saw him. 

All of the Sixth Mainland cultivators that Lu Yin had met thus far had either been visiting the Daosource Sect’s ruins or been a part of the Outerverse invasion force. Thus, those who had fought against Lu Yin thus far were about as strong as Autumnfrost Qing, which meant that most of the Sixth Mainland cultivators who Lu Yin had seen so far were elites despite the fact that the average cultivator from the mainland was much weaker. 

They walked across the surface of the sea, but every cultivator who they encountered bowed to Xu San without exception. These people were all bottom-rung cultivators, and the procession met more than a thousand such people, none of whom could even compare to Sixteen’s noble status. 

The higher one stood, the further they could see. In other words, what one saw was largely determined by the heights from which they viewed things. It was a matter of level and perspective. 

Lu Yin followed along behind the sedan with Ling Que and Starsibyl beside him. The old Enlighter who was protecting Xu San would occasionally glance at the three, but he did not say much since Xu San had already settled things with the powerhouse. 

Sixteen continued to flatter Xu San, but Xu San was not as stimulated as before, which left Sixteen feeling quite lost. 

Sixteen was ranked sixteenth within the Swifteyes Clan, and he definitely was not someone who could be considered weak. He actually held a position that was not much lower than the Swifteyes Clan’s primary heir, and Sixteen could even be considered a genius among the elites of the Sixth Mainland. Regarding his personal strength, Sixteen could compare to the top few rankers of the Innerverse’s Top 100 Rankings, and the youth naturally had his own arrogance, such as when he had slapped that Cruiser while traveling to Starlight Island. However, Sixteen wanted to climb even higher, which was the motivation behind his ingratiating attitude towards Xu San, as he was absolutely ready to give and take. 

Another burst of lightning exploded in the sky, much to Xu San’s annoyance. The presence of Lu Yin’s trio traveling behind Xu San also left him feeling quite agitated, so he simply decided to close himself off. 

Sixteen felt that something was strange, as he did not know what was going on with the person whom he was planning on following. 

Rather close to where Xu San’s procession was making its way, two strange-looking silhouettes slowly walked across the surface of the sea. No matter what angle the two were viewed from, it was clear that they were very odd. One was exceptionally fat while the other was skinny to the point where he could have been the rotund figure’s arm. 

Quite a few nearby people saw the two young men, and everyone either felt afraid or amused when they saw the contrasting pair. However, not a single person spoke to the duo, and some even blatantly showed their revulsion. 

“The lighting up above is too jarring, and it’s even a bit frightening. Fat Bro, are you scared?”

“No, we aren’t even afraid of Realmlings, so why would we be scared of some mere lighting? Skinny Bro, are you afraid?” 

“A little.”

“Actually, I’m also a bit scared.”

“Fat Bro, you must protect me.”

“Rest assured, Skinny Bro. We are brothers forever, and Fat Bro will be your shield.”

“Thank you, Fat Bro. Right, Fat Bro, it looks like you got even fatter recently.”

“Is that so? Hahaha, thanks, Skinny Bro! Actually, you seem to have gotten skinnier as well.”

“Really? Thanks, Fat Bro! We really are brothers.”

“Brothers forever.”

…

As the fat and skinny duo approached, Xu San’s group also overheard their conversation.

Lu Yin’s expression grew rather strange; was this some kind of joke?

Xu San looked over, but he rolled his eyes when he saw the two youths. “Stupid Greenmen Duo.”

Ling Que moved over next to Lu Yin. “No matter how I look at them, those two seem like idiots. Still, that skinny one kind of looks like Mu Rong to me.” 

Lu Yin glanced at Ling Que. “You seem to have quite the grudge with Mu Rong.”

Ling Que sneered, but he did not answer. The truth was that he still could not let go of what had happened with his cheerleaders.

“Eh? Fat Bro, look. Isn’t that Wretched Xu?” The voice in the distance grew louder, as if the speaker was afraid that Xu San’s group would not hear him. 

“Sure is. Wretched Xu’s here.” 

Xu San grew furious. “Studid Greenmen Duo, I didn’t do anything to you!”

“Haha! Fat Bro, Wretched Xu has spoken, but he seems to only become more wretched by the minute.”

“Skinny Bro, we can’t insult others when they’re already so wretched, so don’t add any more scars to such a person’s soul. Come on, apologize.” 

“Oh, okay. Sorry, Wretched Xu, we shouldn’t tell the truth.”

“Yes, Wretched Xu, speaking honestly is our shortcoming, so we’ll work on that. Actually, you don’t really look that wretched, just a bit embarrassing.”

“Fat Bro, your words are too subtle. Can he understand?”

“Maybe not. Given his looks, he can’t be very smart.”

…

The group of people furiously glared as the fat and skinny youths continued to saunter off into the distance. The two spoke non-stop from beginning to end, and they never gave anyone else the slightest opportunity to interrupt them. 

Even though Xu San wanted to retort, he had not been able to.

Ling Que stared at the two men with admiration. He suddenly recalled the time when he had convinced that Sixth Mainland cultivator to commit suicide. That had been the most glorious moment of his life, and he only felt that it was a pity that he had not been able to repeat that feat.

Xu San had become so angry that his entire body started trembling, but there was nothing he could do against those two youths. Although the fat and skinny pair seemed stupid, anyone who assumed that they were weak would end up encountering terrible misfortune. On their own, the two idiots were not very impressive, but when they worked together, even a Realmling would have a difficult time. 

“Blargh, what bad luck.” Xu San glared fiercely at the departing duo.

Starlight Island was not just a single island, as the thunder region endlessly spread out around Starlight Island, and there were another dozen islands within the region. The strategy meeting had been arranged to take place on one of the other islands, and the closer the group drew to the meeting location, the more people they met, and every single person they saw was a youth. 

Quite a few of the people called out to Xu San, and it was clear that his position was quite high.

Although most people could not determine others’ strength by observing their rune lines, there was still a very clear distinction in status between people. The stronger the person was, the higher their position would be. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that, the higher the position, the stronger one would be. This was because a large portion of the Sixth Mainland cultivators’ strength came from their imprints, and the stronger their Imprinter was, the stronger their imprint would be. Thus, the strength of one’s Imprinter was indicative of their importance. 

With Xu San leading the way, nobody dared to investigate the identities of the people in his group. This allowed Lu Yin’s trio to successfully infiltrate the strategy meeting despite Xu San’s guards being left outside of the island.