Star Odyssey

Chapter 2498: Bestowal Art

It took about two hours for Lu Yin to fully deplete his green energy converter, after which someone replaced him at the cube. Following the instructions that they had been given, he went to the designated location to recharge his energy converter.

He had initially been planning to study the recharging tool, but he found that he could not understand it at all. So, he decided to leave it alone for the moment. When he got a chance, he would steal the entire thing and send it to the Technocracy for them to research.

Lu Yin did not know just how large the Cloudflow Universe was, but since Luo Lao'er had mentioned that the Transcendent Universe wanted to fully reclaim it, it should not be too large. Otherwise, given the carrier's speed, it would take an eternity for them to accomplish their goal.

Days passed before Aeternus’s forces reappeared. This time, there were even more powerful corpse kings, as well as more of them. As the corpse kings approached the carrier, the energy of their attacks was absorbed.

Eventually, the humans won this battle as well, and then resumed their journey.

After several battles, a massive corpse king appeared. Seeing it caused everyone's expressions to change.

Although the corpse king was not as large as the carrier, it was still large enough to crush stars.

Luo Lao'er was completely stunned. "Where did this huge monster come from?"

Zuo Yu had also turned pale. "Some legends say that there are universes home to colossal giants, and the largest of them are so big that the stars revolve around their bodies while a single hand can cover outer space. Not even this Bestowal Carrier might be able to withstand a single punch from such a thing."

Luo Lao'er exclaimed, "That's insane!"

The massive corpse king punched at the carrier, and since this was a purely physical attack, the energy converters were unable to absorb it.

Qiu Zhan bellowed, "Come on!"

He intercepted the incoming punch and released a white light that was so bright that it illuminated the entire region. Then, he threw a counter-punch that contained as much force as the corpse king’s.

Despite the absurd difference in size, the strength of the two punches was very similar. They collided with an explosive bang while countless spatial fractures snaked out, swallowing many of the attacking corpse kings. Even a portion of the Bestowal Carrier was damaged.

The massive corpse king lifted its head and raised its fist to release another punch.

Qiu Zhan prepared to retaliate with another punch as well, but then, a cold voice suddenly entered Lu Yin's ears. "Bestowal Attack. Power: level three. Fire."

As the voice finished speaking, a beam of darkness appeared and pierced through the corpse king's body before continuing to shoot into the distance. The monster had had no chance of dodging the attack.

Lu Yin's pupils shrank at the sight. That attack had clearly contained the strength of a Semi-Progenitor. The speed was shocking and the range incredible. Was this the Bestowal Art?

Countless people from the Transcendent Universe cheered.

Zuo Yu's eyes shone brightly. "This is the power of our Transcendent Universe! So what if we’re up against Aeternus? We'll annihilate them all!"

Mu Duo clenched his fists. In order to control that terrifying level of power, he needed to join the Ruling Council. Otherwise, even if he cultivated for an entire lifetime, he would never possess such strength.

The black light slowly faded away.

Qiu Zhan was irritated. "Who fired? I haven’t had enough yet."

Cheers rang out.

Everyone believed that the corpse king was as good as dead.

The huge corpse king wobbled, and its arms hung weakly as it toppled forward.

Lu Yin suddenly felt a chill. The monster was not dead yet.

Halfway down, the corpse king suddenly charged forward. It forced its way past Qiu Zhan with its full might and slammed its massive body into the carrier.

Luo Lao'er lost his balance and fell down, and many others tripped as well.

Lu Yin looked up as the corpse king raised its left fist, ready to attack again.

Qiu Zhan's face flushed crimson, and fury blazed in his eyes. He instantly appeared behind the corpse king and kicked its raised arm.

As a brilliant white light flared, Qiu Zhan's attack shattered the corpse king's raised arm into countless pieces, showering the area with flesh and blood. Clearly upset, he then leaped onto the corpse king's head and yelled, "Die!"

The sound of the impact reverberated through outer space, but another series of cracking sounds rang out from the carrier.

This time, the enormous corpse king was truly dead, but many cracks had appeared across the carrier, and most of its energy converters had been extinguished as well.

Scarlet eyes suddenly appeared in every direction. This time, there was not just one, but several enormous corpse kings charging at the carrier.

"Fire!" Qiu Zhan commanded.

Beams of black light shot out, but these were a great deal weaker than the first one.

The enormous Bestowal Carrier had more than just one cannon, but each one’s power depended on the size of the energy converters connected to them.

Lu Yin stared at the black beams of light streaking across the sky, parting the cloud-like energy that filled this universe’s outer space. Each attack shattered the void.

An endless horde of corpse kings continued to surge forward.

Just as someone had predicted earlier, Qiu Zhan moved to the front and charged towards the frontlines in a brilliant flash of white.

Countless native creatures of the Cloudflow Universe rushed into outer space, both strong and weak. Lu Yin even spotted an expert with the strength of a Semi-Progenitor. The creature’s horns absorbed the cloud-like power of the universe before it unleashed various attacks.

These creatures, which looked practically identical to humans, had also come from a cultivation civilization.

Corpses rained down from outer space. Some belonged to the natives of the Cloudflow Universe, while others belonged to Aeternus’s corpse kings. There were even human corpses from the Transcendent Universe’s people.

The Bestowal Carrier possessed a huge energy converter that was able to absorb the energy of any nearby creature and convert it into the carrier’s own attack power. This energy converter was the target of the Aeternals’ horde, who were all eager to destroy it.

However, only the enormous Semi-Progenitor-level corpse king had managed to even get close to Aeternus’s target. All of the other corpse kings had been eliminated before they could even approach the carrier.

"Are you scared?" Luo Lao'er shouted, and many eyes looked over at him. He raised his chin as he continued to say, "I've seen more than one battle at this scale before."

"Would it kill you to stop bragging?" Zuo Yu asked with her back to him.

Luo Lao'er chuckled. "Sister Yu, I've seen such battles in my own universe. After all, one of my own brothers died on a similar battlefield."

Zuo Yu finally turned to look at Luo Lao'er, astonishment covering her face.

Mu Duo and many others gave Luo Lao'er odd looks. Was that really something to be proud of?

Luo Lao'er raised his head and puffed out his chest. "For us of the Three Monarchs Universe, dying on the battlefield is an honor!"

He then added on, "Of course, now that I'm part of the Transcendent Universe, I have nothing to do with the Three Monarchs Universe."

"Bullshit," Mu Duo retorted.

Lu Yin had half a mind to snap back as well.

Corpse kings swarmed the edges of the Bestowal Carrier. Nobody knew how many there were, but they did know that the battle would never end until all of the corpse kings were eliminated.

Everyone onboard had assumed that this would be a war of attrition, but once a corpse king appeared on a platform and slaughtered everyone on it, their expressions contorted into masks of horror.

"It- it's coming!" someone shrieked.

Luo Lao'er quickly covered that person's mouth. "Don't talk! Do you want to die?"

Mu Duo's face blanched. That corpse king had managed to force its way to the other human defenders. It had not succeeded because it was more powerful than the Semi-Progenitor-level corpse king, but rather because it had managed to avoid the black beams of light while only using its physical strength to move about. Thus, its attacks had not been absorbed by the energy converter.

The Bestowal Carrier could not destroy every single corpse king, and it was bound to miss a few. The corpse kings’ goal was to slaughter all of the people on the platforms, as they knew that they were powering the carrier’s energy converters.

As soon as the first corpse king broke through, a second followed.

Powerhouses from the Cloudflow and Transcendent Universes attacked one after another, but the number of platforms that were destroyed and had their defenders slaughtered continued to increase. Each destroyed platform reduced the capacity and range that the carrier could absorb energy into its energy converters.

Lu Yin's platform was completely silent. No one dared to make any noise, lest they attract the attention of a corpse king. Even so, they ultimately could not escape detection.

One youth stared blankly at a corpse king that was climbing up behind the platform. His pupils shrank, and he let out a scream. Lights flickered on as the lens that covered his right eye activated, pointing out a path of escape for him. This was the battlefield navigation system, and it was identical to the one that Zi Jing had developed for the Fifth Mainland.

However, the battlefield navigation system could not make up for the difference in strength between the corpse king and the youth. The corpse king swung a hand, easily smashing the boy's head before he could use his energy converter. The monster then turned towards Mu Duo, who was the closest, and attacked. The green energy converter on Mu Duo's chest lit up, and the light covered his arms and hands. It then swept forward, but the corpse king effortlessly evaded the attack. Mu Duo's attack was as powerful as a peak Enlighter’s, which meant that the corpse king must have the strength of an Envoy.

The fact that Mu Duo was not scared stiff and had managed to fight back was quite impressive, even if it was ultimately meaningless.

The corpse king took a step forward, its scarlet eyes reflecting the fear and despair that filled Mu Duo's eyes. This was the first time that he had ever stared death in the face. Was he going to die here? He was a member of the Mu family, which might soon join the Ruling Council. He should not be dying in this place.

The corpse king's palm fell, creating ripples in the void. This attack was meant to not only kill Mu Duo, but also destroy the platform.

At this critical moment, another green light twined around Mu Duo like a whip and pulled him away.

Zuo Yu had taken action.

"Attack together, or else none of us will survive!" Zuo Yu shouted.

Others joined her, most of them unleashing their yellow energy converters. However, the people in Zuo Yu's group revealed green energy converters. A total of six attacks with the power of a peak Enlighter crashed into the corpse king. Even if the attacks were all exactly the same, the sheer number of attacks was rather surprising to Lu Yin.

Was this the Transcendent Universe's way of fighting? Even if energy converters gave each individual a power comparable to the raw strength of a cultivator, these people were far from able to fight against cultivators one-on-one.

Ultimately, the Transcendent Universe relied on its Bestowal Art and energy converters.

It did not matter how many Enlighters might be present; their efforts would be utterly futile against an Envoy, much less a corpse king. After all, corpse kings were stronger than cultivators.

The corpse king's strike did not manage to destroy the platform, but it simply ignored the various attacks striking it and instead set its sights on the girl who was keeping the platform activated.

This girl had not removed her arm from the cube yet, even with all that was happening around her. More accurately, she was completely paralyzed by fear.

When the corpse king's scarlet eyes locked onto her, every trace of color drained from her face, and her body started to tremble uncontrollably.

"Luo Lao'er, aren't you from the Three Monarchs Universe? That’s a cultivation civilization, so why don't you do something?" Zuo Yu demanded through gritted teeth.

Luo Lao'er appeared pained. "Cultivators’ strength can vary greatly. I'm only a Servant, which is weaker than all of you guys."

Right when the corpse king raised its hand again, Lu Yin took action. He used a movement technique to rapidly approach the corpse king, and then he struck the back of the monster’s head with a palm. A surge of green energy erupted from his chest as he released an attack comparable to a peak Enlighter’s. Even an Envoy-level corpse king would suffer injuries from such an attack at that close a range.

No one on the platform had expected Lu Yin to take action. He had moved so quickly that they had barely been able to follow them.

They all believed Lu Yin's attack to be successful, but the corpse king was even faster, and it easily sidestepped the attack. The monster then instantly appeared behind Lu Yin, its arm raised high and already falling.