Star Odyssey

Chapter 2499: That Man

Lu Yin did not move a muscle. At the last moment, a beam of black light swept past his head, grazing his scalp. It continued forward, striking the corpse king's head and instantly destroying it. The body slowly collapsed to the floor of the platform.

It was an attack from the carrier.

Lu Yin looked up. He was fully aware that the Transcendent Universe would never allow him to be in any real danger, as how would they deal with Zi Jing then?

However, Lu Yin also needed to stand out a bit so that the people of the Transcendent Universe would accept him.

After the corpse king was killed by the beam of black light, Lu Yin patted his chest and looked at the terrified young woman. "Let me handle it."

Finally, the woman snapped out of her dazed state. She retracted her arm from the cube, her eyes bloodshot, and she moved to cower in a corner. She did not dare to let anyone see her tears. This experience had truly frightened her.

At this point in time, no one laughed at Lu Yin. These noble heirs had never experienced such a horrifying situation before.

The platform that Lu Yin was on was almost entirely occupied by the heirs of various noble families. They must have only ever been sent to specific battlefields where the strongest enemies around were at the Envoy level. In those places, they only had to worry about surviving, not facing corpse kings that could easily sweep them away.

Lu Yin pressed his arm into the cube and wiped his forehead.

Zuo Yu and the others stared at him as though he was a stranger. "Just who are you?"

The speed and agility that Lu Yin had just displayed was extremely abnormal. None of the people present were capable of such dexterity.

They were able to use their energy converters to release powerful attacks, but their physical abilities were greatly inferior to their energy converters. Lu Yin’s movements were impossible for any of them to replicate, and it would even be impossible for them to ever learn it.

"A cultivator!" Luo Lao'er blurted out.

The others were surprised. "Cultivator?"

"Yes! He must be a cultivator."

"From which civilization?" someone asked.

"Xuan? I've never heard of that surname before," someone else commented.

Mu Duo stepped forward and stared at Lu Yin. "Who are you?"

Even an idiot would understand at this point in time that Lu Yin should not have been bullied by the muscular youth's group. The fact that Lu Yin had not acted as a bully towards others was already a blessing.

There was a loud bang as a nearby platform shattered. Shrapnel flew away in all directions.

"Let’s talk about this after the battle’s over," Lu Yin answered firmly.

Mu Duo gave him a long look. "You better give me an explanation."

After giving the warning, Mu Duo walked away.

The others all stared at Lu Yin, but their attention was quickly drawn back to the ongoing battle. They were all terrified that another powerful corpse king would appear.

Fortunately, after several more days, the battle ended. No more corpse kings reached their platform. The closest one had been destroyed by the Bestowal Carrier. It appeared that their platform had somehow been protected.

The space around the carrier was filled with drifting corpses, and the once-dark sky had been dyed red. The Bestowal Carrier resumed moving forward, still moving towards the south.

Each of the damaged or broken platforms were repaired, and the casualties were tallied.

The vast majority of the Transcendent Universe’s losses in external wars were purely material, but they still suffered many casualties after that last battle.

A crowd of people completely surrounded Lu Yin. Everyone was staring at him intently.

"Brother, come on, tell us your background," someone asked.

Mu Duo demanded, "Speak."

Zuo Yu held a long whip in her hand as she stared at Lu Yin.

Some distance away, the muscular youth's group craned their necks to look over.

Lu Yin pursed his lips. "Let me introduce myself. I am Xuan Qi. I arrived in the Transcendent Universe less than a month ago with Zi Jing."

Jaws dropped, and Luo Lao'er's fell especially low. His mouth opened so wide that an energy converter could fit inside. "You- are you Zi Jing’s man?"

Lu Yin gave him a meaningful smile. "That’s me."

Luo Lao'er blinked.

Many people found this rather strange. Before being sent to the Cloudflow Universe, they had discussed this particular matter quite thoroughly, and everyone had claimed that they would find Zi Jing’s man and then steal her from him. Unexpectedly, the man had been right beside them the whole time.

Zuo Yu blinked several times. "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Lu Yin replied, "I didn’t know any of you. Also, I was captured and sent here. As far as the Transcendent Universe is concerned, I'm basically half an enemy."

Mu Duo gritted his teeth. "You've been playing me this whole time."

Lu Yin seriously answered, "Of course not. Since I’m completely unfamiliar with the Transcendent Universe, I was hesitant to provoke anyone, so I was truly being bullied, and you did save me. Those two slaps felt great. Thanks a lot."

Zuo Yu’s eyes narrowed. Seeing Lu Yin's smile gave her the feeling that this guy was not nearly as innocent as he appeared to be on the surface.

"That’s the only reason?" Mu Duo did not believe Lu Yin.

Lu Yin nodded. "Who likes being bullied?"

Mu Duo thought about it for a moment. This did sound quite believable.

"How strong are you?" Luo Lao'er asked.

This was the question that everyone wanted to hear the answer to. All of them wanted to know more about cultivation civilizations.

There were an untold number of civilizations that had risen from the various universes. There were the cultivation technologies of the Transcendent Universe, more rudimentary technological civilizations, cultivation civilizations, and even mythological civilizations. The Sixverse Association had more than one or two civilizations among its members, and it was impossible to learn about all of them through studying. Luo Lao'er had been allowed to join his current group of friends precisely because he had come from a cultivation civilization which many people were curious about. At this moment, the same thing was happening to Lu Yin.

No one reacted negatively to learning that Lu Yin had been hiding his identity. No one would reveal themselves in unfamiliar surroundings. On top of that, Lu Yin had just saved them.

Qiu Zhan had ordered the platforms to remain active at all times. If not for Lu Yin saving the girl who had been charging the energy converter and stalling the corpse king, their platform would have been deactivated, which would have been a violation of their military orders.

This alone was enough to cause the people on his platform to accept Lu Yin.

"Brother, you're too cautious. The Transcendent Universe is very open-minded towards foreign civilizations. Even monsters like Aeternus would be warmly embraced if they surrendered." Luo Lao'er patted Lu Yin on the shoulder.

Mu Duo snorted and walked away. He was still unhappy about being deceived. He clearly knew now that he was no match for Lu Yin in a fight, which made him feel rather uncomfortable.

Zuo Yu bombarded Lu Yin with questions about his civilization.

Given the power that Lu Yin had revealed, there were certain things he should not be aware of. He presented himself as an Enlighter, so he should not know anything about the Origin Universe. For this reason, Lu Yin only provided Zuo Yu with answers that included information that was readily accessible in his own universe.

But even that basic information excited Zuo Yu. From Lu Yin, she learned about the Top 100 Rankings, the Ten Arbiters, ZENITH, and all kinds of incredibly exciting battles that could only exist in a cultivation civilization. This sort of excitement was something that their Transcendent Universe lacked.

Humans everywhere loved the thrill of combat. Qiu Zhan always charged into the front lines of a battle on his own because of his insatiable thirst for battle.

As Lu Yin spoke, Mu Duo’s ears perked up in the distance. The more he listened, the tighter his fists clenched. He also wanted to compete for a place on the Top 100 Rankings. He wanted to be regarded as a genius of the younger generation like one of the Ten Arbiters.

Luo Lao'er exclaimed, "Brother, your universe sounds incredible! What’s it called?"

All eyes were glued to Lu Yin.

"No idea."

Just as Luo Lao'er was about to say something else, someone descended and landed on their platform with enough force that it trembled.

Everyone instinctively pulled back, only to relax once they saw that it was Qiu Zhan.

"How many died?" Qiu Zhan's gaze swept over the crowd before finally stopping on Luo Lao'er.

Luo Lao'er's smile faded as he muttered, "One."

Qiu Zhan looked at the corpse of the boy whose head had been smashed apart by the corpse king and then laughed. "Just one? Not bad! How was the experience? Exhilarating, no? Hahaha!"

The crowd fell silent as they were reminded of how close they had come to death. They wanted to hear more of Lu Yin's story partly to distract themselves from their fear.

Qiu Zhan then addressed Zuo Yu, "You did well, taking the initiative to save someone."

Zuo Yu's face was still pale. "It's what I should have done."

Qiu Zhan looked at Lu Yin. "I heard everything that you said."

The older man then turned to face the crowd. "Just because you don't know about something doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. All it means is that you aren't at a high enough level to know about it. Once you reach a higher level and meet more people, you'll understand that what he told you isn't anything special.”

“Listen to me carefully: this platform must remain active. This is a military order that won't change. This task is assigned to every single one of you. Even if you have to die, you must complete it. Understood?"

"Understood," the crowd replied.

Qiu Zhan sneered. "What a bunch of weaklings! Say it again! Do you understand?"

"Understood!" The crowd shouted.

Qiu Zhan left, and the Bestowal Carrier resumed its journey south. Various metal tools were delivered and loaded onto the carrier as they moved along.

…

After Lu Yin revealed himself as a cultivator, Mu Duo had stopped asking Lu Yin to take his place charging the platform. Instead, Mu Duo actively took his own turn.

Zuo Yu seemed almost fixated on Lu Yin, and she asked him an endless stream of questions about his civilization and universe. She was even eager to spar with him.

After Lu Yin finally managed to get rid of Zuo Yu, Luo Lao'er approached him. "Brother, what sort of cultivation technology is Zi Jing working on? Can you tell me?"

Lu Yin remained calmly sitting on the floor as he replied, "I don't know."

Luo Lao'er retorted, "How can you not know? You're her man!"

Lu Yin stared at Luo Lao'er with a serious expression and said, "Tell me about your Three Monarchs Universe. I'm curious about it."

Luo Lao'er pursed his lips. "There's not much to tell."

"I'm curious," Lu Yin repeated.

"Then why don’t we do an exchange? I'll ask you a question, and then you'll ask me a question," Luo Laer suggested.

"Sure. I'll go first."

Luo Lao'er did not mind. "Ask away."

Lu Yin pondered for a moment before asking, "Compared to the Transcendent Universe, which is stronger, yours or theirs?"

Rolling his eyes, Luo Lao'er replied, "Let me put it this way. I was sent here by the Three Monarchs Realm to be a hostage for the Transcendent Universe. The Transcendent Universe hasn’t sent any hostages to the Three Monarchs Universe."

Lu Yin understood.

"My turn. What’s the cultivation technology that Zi Jing’s researching that’s making the Transcendent Universe put out so much effort? I'm guessing that the carrier launched that attack in the last battle to protect you. None of Qiu Zhan’s troops ever get that sort of treatment. Even members of the Ruling Council don't receive that kind of protection," Luo Lao'er pressed.

Lu Yin smiled. "I don't know."

Luo Lao'er was stunned. "Brother, that's not fair! I didn't hide anything from you."

Lu Yin truthfully answered. "I really don't know what she’s researching. Well, to be precise, I don't understand it."

Luo Lao'er felt his teeth ache. "Just tell me everything that she told you."

Lu Yin thought for a moment. "Qiu Zhan heard our last conversation, which means that this platform is being monitored. Your question is something that could easily get us into trouble."

Luo Lao'er's cheek twitched. He had gotten too excited. If a hostage was discovered asking about an important cultivation technology that the Transcendent Universe was researching, it could turn into a major issue.

He burst into laughter and patted Lu Yin on the shoulder. "I'm just kidding! Why are you so nervous? There's nothing that I can do to hurt you, Brother. Hahaha, don't be making any wild assumptions. I'm just curious."

Lu Yin said, "I really don't know. I'll ask Zi Jing the next time I see her."

"That’s not necessary. I'll ask a different question."

"It's my turn now."

"But you didn't answer!"

"I did. I told you that I don't know."

"How does that count?"

"Then forget it."

"It doesn't count!"

"Does it count or not?"

Luo Lao'er gritted his teeth. "It counts…"