Star Odyssey

Chapter 2486: Question

The jiao raised its claws to block the guillotine blade, howling as it was pushed back.

Lu Yin raised a hand, and the sky and the ground switched places: Flipping the Sky.

The blade trembled, but then the edge abruptly flipped. Lu Yin had intended to make the guillotine fall beneath him, but that proved to be more than what he could manage. It was already terrifying that his Flipping the Sky was able to affect a Progenitor's attack, but controlling a Progenitor's battle technique was still too much to hope for.

Meanwhile, under the scroll of Lu Yin’s Investiture of the Gods, Nong Yi raised a hand high, wielding what looked like a hoe that swept downwards.

The ground shook, and Specter Progenitor was once again forced deep underground.

The guillotine that had been formed from death energy dissipated.

Lu Yin looked down and summoned a Semi-Progenitor from Lu Jian's Champions' Stage. The champion them charged down towards Specter Progenitor.

Under the golden light of the Investiture of the Gods, Nong Yi raised his hoe once more.

At this moment, a snow-white bone sprouted up from the ground. Lu Yin's pupils constricted the moment he saw it.

Nong Yi's hoe descended, delivering the same strike.

From deep underground, snow-white bones covered in dark death energy burst forth, resembling awakened behemoths as they emerged to bear the brunt of Nong Yi's attack. Specter Progenitor stood within the midst of the bones, and he glared at Lu Yin resentfully. "Why did you ambush me?"

Lu Yin stared back at Specter Progenitor. The man was injured, but Lu Yin was not certain how severe the injuries that he had inflicted actually were. "I wanted to test Senior Specter Progenitor's strength."

Specter Progenitor was left speechless. Only a fool would believe anything that this child said. Still, why had he attacked?

"Did you make a deal with Bai Wangyuan and the others?"

Lu Yin replied, "I just wanted to test your strength, Senior. After all, we both cultivate the God of Death’s inheritance, so I am quite curious to see what a Progenitor who cultivated death energy is capable of. That battle technique just now with the guillotine, did you develop that?"

Specter Progenitor said, "Lu Xiaoxuan, I don't want to be your enemy. Let's stop here."

Lu Yin's lips curled up. "But this junior has not yet managed to see just what a Progenitor who cultivates death energy is capable of doing and what sort of unique characteristics there are."

As Lu Yin spoke, E Chi clenched the slipper tighter and swung it downwards.

"Lu Xiaoxuan, you are courting death!" Specter Progenitor roared as the slipper shattered a bone. The Progenitor manipulated a massive bone, and it shot through the void, aiming straight at Lu Yin. The jiao snarled as it lifted its claws to stop the bone. Despite the fact that the bone was much smaller than the jiao's huge body, the two were evenly matched for the moment.

Suddenly, Specter Progenitor emerged from the bone, and he thrust his spear at Lu Yin. The man was a Progenitor, and Lu Yin was no match for a Progenitor in terms of raw power. Even if he wanted to use the Ce Secret Art to dodge, it would not be enough to escape from a Progenitor's strength.

However, Lu Yin also had Inverse Step. He quickly retreated, moving away from Specter Progenitor.

From behind, E Chi lifted the slipper and smashed it down yet again. The slipper had fallen multiple times throughout the fight. Even Undying God had been nearly beaten to death by the slipper, let alone Specter Progenitor.

There was almost nothing in the known universe that could withstand the power of the slipper.

"Lu Xiaoxuan, do you really want to fight me to the death?" Specter Progenitor shouted.

Lu Yin's expression grew cold. "Senior, let me see the power of a Progenitor who cultivates with death energy."

"Fine. If you want to die, I'll grant you your wish. At worst, I'll escape into the Astral Wilderness," Specter Progenitor retorted.

Then, the sky turned dark, and the entire space became devoid of all light. Countless spikes emerged from the void to form a forest. It was a forest created entirely by death energy. This was Specter Progenitor’s Progenitor's world: Black Forest.

"Once you enter the Black Forest, you can never leave. Did you really believe yourself capable of facing me alone? If not for Mu Xie, you would have never been able to face Nutjob Lu at all." Specter Progenitor's cold voice echoed through the void, but Lu Yin could not determine the man’s location.

Lu Yin had never underestimated Specter Progenitor. In fact, Lu Yin was even warier of Specter Progenitor than of Xia Shenji. It was possible to see through Xia Shenji's methods, but Specter Progenitor was different, and that was because he cultivated death energy.

Someone who had managed to become a Progenitor by cultivating death energy could not be taken lightly, even if what Specter Progenitor used was not truly the God of Death's power.

This was also why Specter Abyss had been able to safely exist in the Perennial World for so many years.

Even the Lu family had held high expectations for Specter Progenitor, let alone the four ruling powers.

The man’s unique power was terrifying.

Trapped in the Black Forest, the jiao, E Chi, and Lu Yin all reacted as though they were stuck in mud. They were completely unable to see or touch anything due to being engulfed by endless darkness. It was an unnerving experience.

Lu Yin did not dare to hesitate. The sense of danger was so powerful that his scalp felt as though it was about to explode. Even wrapping his Investiture of the Gods around himself was not enough to make him feel safe. Therefore, he took out the God of Death's left arm.

As soon as the arm appeared, the Black Forest twisted and collapsed.

Specter Progenitor was badly startled. Despite being a Progenitor who cultivated death energy, just like the God of Death, the difference in their strength was so astronomical that even just the appearance of the God of Death's left arm was enough to destroy Specter Progenitor’s Progenitor's world.

Lu Yin also had not expected to see the terrifying Black Forest crumble so quickly after the arm appeared.

Specter Progenitor certainly was not weak; rather, the God of Death had been far too strong.

Despite cultivating similar and related energies, the strength of the two was incomparable to each other.

While holding the God of Death's left arm in one hand, Lu Yin took out the God of Death's scythe in the other. "Senior, you should be able to experience the difference between yourself and the true God of Death."

Specter Progenitor shouted, "Lu Xiaoxuan, why are you attacking me?"

The Black Forest continued to warp and collapse as the death energy was absorbed by the God of Death's left arm. It did not take long for the Progenitor’s world to be on the verge of complete failure, while the power contained within the scythe grew to a truly frightening level. Lu Yin silently stared at Specter Progenitor as the arm and scythe continued to absorb more and more death energy. Not only was the death energy from the Black Forest absorbed, but the death energy from underground was also sucked up; all of it rose up and formed a black rainbow that tore through the sky.

This scene was not unfamiliar to Specter Progenitor. Lu Yin had used this exact same attack against Nutjob Lu. However, just because Nutjob Lu had not died did not mean that Specter Progenitor would be able to survive. The man was well aware of the fact that he was much, much weaker than Nutjob Lu.

"Lu Xiaoxuan, what in the world do you want?" Specter Progenitor shouted again.

Lu Yin still said nothing and merely stared at the man. With the protection of the jiao, E Chi, and his Investiture of the Gods, Specter Progenitor would find it difficult to harm Lu Yin, even if he tried his hardest, at least in the short term.

All Lu Yin needed was just a little bit more time for his attack.

This was the same attack that had severely injured Xia Shenji and made Bai Wangyuan so wary. It had also left Nutjob Lu badly injured.

This was an attack that was capable of intimidating any Progenitor.

"You’re a madman!" Specter Progenitor was equal parts furious and frustrated. He simply could not find any reason for Lu Yin’s actions, and it was proving impossible to communicate with the youth. Without another word, Specter Progenitor launched a surprise attack of his own in a desperate counterattack.

Then, he tore through the void and fled.

Normally, traveling from one universe to another was a matter of almost nothing but luck, unless one had coordinates to guide them. This was why Xia Shenji had essentially been banished.

However, when Specter Progenitor tore through the void, he immediately appeared back in the Fifth Mainland, so he simply fled without hesitation.

Bai Wangyuan and Xia Qin were both startled by the man’s sudden appearance.

In the next instant, Lu Yin opened up the rift back up by using the coordinate seal. He aimed his attack at the escaping Specter Progenitor and released the attack despite the distance.

If he were aiming at anyone else, Lu Yin's attack would have never landed. Even a single moment’s delay could make a huge difference for a Progenitor.

However, Lu Yin was targeting Specter Progenitor, who cultivated with death energy. Lu Yin's attack did not merely contain death energy from the well of energy beneath Aeternus Kingdom, but also death energy from Specter Progenitor's own Progenitor's world. That death energy acted like a homing beacon, even if placed within multiple parallel universes. For this reason, Specter Progenitor’s location was so clear to Lu Yin that he could hit his target even with his eyes closed.

Bai Wangyuan also was not slow to reach. At the same moment that Lu Yin's attack struck, Bai Wangyuan took action. White clouds had already enveloped the Neoverse, which meant that Specter Progenitor had no path to escape.

Death energy formed what looked to be a long black rainbow, and its appearance darkened outer space. The arc instantly connected Specter Progenitor and Lu Yin, and Lu Yin slashed downwards with the God of Death's scythe, attacking Specter Progenitor.

Specter Progenitor bellowed with anger, and his Progenitor's world made another appearance. However, unlike before, this time, the Black Forest started to gather at the center and quickly swallowed up Specter Progenitor himself.

Lu Yin's expression changed greatly. What was that thing?

The next moment, a flower-like object blossomed in space. From a distance, it looked like a dark and rather disturbing lotus, but up close, it was actually a mass of petals covered with sinister thorns. It looked like a man-eating flower that would devour everything.

As the God of Death's scythe swung downwards, the terrifying man-eating flower shattered, only to converge back together to form Specter Progenitor. The man stumbled backwards as he coughed up blood. He was completely covered in injuries.

Then, his head snapped up.

In the distance, Xia Qin's pupils shrank in shock. That’s… Wang Fan?

Xia Qin wasn't the only one who had noticed Specter Progenitor’s altered appearance, as Bai Wangyuan had caught sight of the same thing.

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. Could Specter Progenitor really be Wang Fan? How was that even possible? Was this the Nine Clones Secret Technique?

Everything that Lu Yin had done had been put into play in order to expose the secret connection between Specter Abyss and the Wang family.

Xia Ziheng’s secret regarding the Wang family had been that the harvested Yellow Springs were not stored on the Wang family’s floating continent, or even in the Dominion Realm where Wang Fan resided. Instead, everything was stored in Specter Abyss. However, the exact relationship between the Wang family and Specter Abyss remained unknown.

At that moment, Lu Yin's wariness towards Wang Fan increased by several times.

All along, the four ruling powers’ negotiations with Lu Yin had been led by Bai Wangyuan, and Xia Shenji had been the one to actually fight against Lu Yin the most. Wang Fan and Progenitor Long had never done anything to stand out very much. Who could have guessed that Wang Fan was actually the one hiding the deepest secret?

Lu Yin had believed that Specter Progenitor and Wang Fan were simply cooperating with each other, which was why he had enacted his plan to trap Specter Progenitor. Lu Yin had wanted to expose Wang Fan's accomplice. Not once had Lu Yin ever imagined that Specter Progenitor was actually Wang Fan.

Just what sort of method Wang Fan had used to create an existence similar to a clone from the Xia family's Nine Clones Secret Technique, and then on top of that, nurture it into Specter Progenitor?

Wang Fan was the master of one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas, and yet he was the same person as Specter Abyss’s Specter Progenitor.

Lu Yin had originally intended to have Bai Wangyuan and the other Progenitors from the Perennial World force the truth out, but Bai Xian'er's breakthrough had forced Lu Yin to personally take action.

Fortunately, he had finally managed to expose the truth about Specter Progenitor.

Unfortunately, it was not possible to kill Specter Progenitor. The man was far stronger than Lu Yin had anticipated, and he was not much weaker than Xia Shenji. After all, Specter Progenitor had also managed to survive one of the God of Death’s attacks. In Specter Progenitor’s final revelation, Lu Yin had been able to understand just how terrifying a Progenitor who cultivated death energy was.

That was what Specter Progenitor, a Progenitor who cultivated death energy, was capable of doing.

Nearby, Bai Wangyuan's expression had grown unspeakably dark. He had also just attacked, but at the crucial moment, he had been blocked by Wang Fan.

Wang Fan's face appeared calm as he stared at Lu Yin.

"No wonder you suggested that we swear to not lay a hand on Specter Progenitor. No wonder you were in such a hurry to go in. No wonder you blocked me," Bai Wangyuan quietly commented while staring at Wang Fan. It appeared as though Bai Wangyuan was seeing a stranger.

This man, whom Bai Wangyuan had known for countless years and who was also a master of one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas, suddenly seemed like a complete stranger.

Xia Qin was also warily staring at Wang Fan.

Wang Fan stared at Lu Yin. He had already contemplated an excuse for why he had blocked Bai Wangyuan, but Lu Yin’s one attack had instantly exposed everything. The secret had already been revealed.

But why had the youth been so determined to deal such a devastating attack against Specter Progenitor?

Wang Fan, Bai Wangyuan, and everyone else present was asking the same question.