Star Odyssey

Chapter 2502: Nie

The edge of the sword sliced into the corpse king's body at three different locations, though none of the wounds were fatal.

The monster lost its right arm, but it just strengthened its grip on the sword with its left hand in response. It looked up at the girl, and its eyes changed colors from grey to green, indicating that its physical strength had just increased tenfold.

The girl was shocked. "Corpse King Transformation?"

The sword shattered with a loud bang, and the corpse king thrust the broken blade back at the girl. Blue energy formed a shield in front of her, and she used more energy to propel herself away from the corpse king.

The Corpse King Transformation had increased the corpse king’s strength to the point where it was able to withstand the girl's sword, but it was still unable to endure the attacks that she released with her blue energy converter. These attacks were equal to a fourth or fifth-tribulation Envoy.

As the corpse king was forced to retreat, the girl clenched the hilt of her broken sword. She took a step forward and vanished. The broken blade stabbed into the corpse king from an odd angle, and while the corpse king reached out to grab the sword, it failed. Instantly, the blade pierced through the monster’s forehead.

When the blade was removed from the corpse king's forehead, the girl finally reappeared. She rose up, lifted a hand, and tossed the corpse king off of the platform.

By that point in time, there was no sign of life from the corpse king.

Everyone on the platform was gaping at the girl in amazement.

"Sister Hong?" Zuo Yu exclaimed.

The girl turned to look at Zuo Yu and smiled. "Little Yu, we finally meet again."

Zuo Yu was taken aback. "Sister Hong, didn't you go missing?"

The girl smiled and looked at the rest of the gathered crowd. "Is everyone alright?"

Mu Duo coughed. "Sister Hong, I'm not alright."

"Your injuries are minor. You only need to rest for half a month, like Zuo Yu," the girl retorted.

Luo Lao'er called out, "Sister Hong, it's me! Luo Lao'er! Do you still remember me?"

The girl turned to face him. "Of course I remember you. You always have quite reliable information."

"Hehe. Sister Hong, where have you been these past few years?" Luo Lao'er asked.

The girl looked up. "Let's catch up later. This battle isn’t going to be an easy one."

She then leaped off of the platform, blue energy shrouding her body. She made her way towards a distant platform where another corpse king had appeared.

Lu Yin watched as the girl left, impressed by her final sword attack. It had been truly powerful, as it had unleashed the full potential of an Envoy's power; the technique had even rivaled the Sword Sect’s battle techniques. Did the Transcendent Universe really have sword techniques that were this sophisticated?

"Isn't that Shi Hong, the genius?" someone whispered.

"Yes. I met her once. They say that she was able to use a yellow energy converter by the age of ten and a green one by thirteen, which is impressive. Her family is also a part of the Ruling Council. She must be blessed by the heavens."

"Didn't she go missing? I never expected her to suddenly appear out of nowhere, let alone use a cultivator's battle technique," someone else commented.

The comment about a cultivator’s battle technique caused many people to look over at Lu Yin, as none of them knew much of anything about such things.

The people of the Transcendent Universe focused almost entirely on their Bestowal Art and energy converters.

"Brother-in-law, did you see Sister Hong's battle technique? Wasn’t it amazing?" Luo Lao'er asked excitedly.

Everyone else present, including even Zuo Yu and Mu Duo, was staring at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin replied, "We can talk about that after this battle. Keep an eye out around us. We can’t let any corpse kings catch us off guard."

By not saying anything, everyone got the impression that Lu Yin was too embarrassed to say anything. It might be possible that Shi Hong's battle technique far surpassed his own, or maybe he was unable to even comprehend how impressive her attack had been.

Blue light continued to flash across the various platforms. In addition to Shi Hong, there were also two young men using battle techniques to eliminate corpse kings. Their performances stunned the crowd of onlookers.

The number of corpse kings steadily decreased, and after a few more days, Shi Hong returned to the platform with Lu Yin and the others. No more corpse kings were approaching the carrier anymore.

"Sister Hong, that was amazing!" Zuo Yu praised.

Shi Hong smiled. "You're not bad yourself. I saw you kill a corpse king with a blue energy converter."

Zuo Yu blushed. "I still can’t come even close to comparing to you, Sister Hong. I was only able to use it to kill a single normal corpse king with a sneak attack, and even then, I need to rest for half a month afterwards."

Shi Hong smiled. "Don't worry, you'll soon be like me."

"What do you mean?" Zuo Yu did not understand.

Shi Hong looked back, and when she saw that Luo Lao'er was blatantly eavesdropping on their conversation, she snapped at him, "If you want to listen, then get over here and stop sneaking around!"

Luo Lao'er laughed awkwardly. "Sister Hong, I didn’t want to disturb you two."

Shi Hong said, "You'll learn about this soon enough, but some changes will be taking place soon. We're paving the way for you."

A boy approached the platform. "Sister Hong, we’ve dealt with the rest of them."

Shi Hong nodded. "Get ready. After this battle is over, we'll meet with Commander Qiu Zhan. He should be satisfied with what we've accomplished here."

"Of course! We've eliminated at least ten corpse kings," the boy answered proudly.

Lu Yin silently listened. It was quite evident that Shi Hong and the boys had used cultivators’ battle techniques, and they also possessed physical strength that was comparable to Enlighters, which was no easy feat. Lu Yin’s curiosity was growing stronger and stronger.

Just when everyone believed that the battle was about to end, a powerful force shook the nearby stars, and the Bestowal Carrier came to a sudden stop. Even the energy converters suddenly dimmed.

Everyone looked around, as they could sense an incredible and terrifying power off in the distance.

Lu Yin's expression changed. This was a Progenitor-level corpse king!

On the carrier, Qiu Zhan's pupils shrank as the numbers on the green lens in his right eye continued to flicker. His eyes went wide. "We're in trouble."

To the people of the Transcendent Universe, cultivators with certain levels of strength were nothing more than legends. The power to alter the universe was something beyond their comprehension.

And yet, that was the power of a Progenitor, even if such powerhouses were known by various names in different cultivation civilizations. The only constant was that reaching such a level was the ultimate goal of all people.

The floor of the platform crumbled from the horrifying pressure that had fallen upon the area. Bits of debris broke apart and flew off into space. The massive carrier was collapsing.

"Activate all platforms now! Again: activate all platforms!" Qiu Zhan roared. The next moment, a figure suddenly appeared next to the carrier, close enough to touch it with an outstretched hand.

Everyone stared in shock. It was nearly impossible to travel through the void within the radius of an energy converter, as any energy used would be absorbed and refined. This was precisely why Aeternus had failed to approach the Bestowal Carrier thus far.

However, this figure had managed to appear without any warning.

Qiu Zhan licked his lips and rolled his shoulders. "It looks like I’ll need to put in a bit of effort."

The figure’s head hung low, and it was wearing ragged clothes. Slowly, a hand rose up.

Qiu Zhan's eyes flashed. "Attack!"

The carrier fired a black beam of light. Everyone was able to remember seeing the nigh infinite beam that was seemingly capable of ignoring space that had fired before. Several powerful corpse kings had already been killed by these black beams.

However, countless eyes widened in shock as the black beam of light that should have fired out of sight was intercepted and severed when it reached the figure's waist.

The right hand slowly reached out towards the Bestowal Carrier while the left hand blocked the black beam. The figure looked like a towering mountain, an insurmountable obstacle.

As the right hand pressed forward, there was a loud bang. Cracks spread out from the point of impact, and the nearest platform instantly shattered. The people atop it scrambled to escape, but they were reduced to blood and flesh in less than a moment.

The figure lifted its head, revealing scarlet eyes that flitted to the front. "My name is Nie."

As soon as the corpse king’s voice rang out, the void in the area started warping. Everything that came into contact with the twisted void was dissolved into nothingness.

On the carrier, various energy converters emitted a deafening noise as the beam of black light tightened and narrowed. It shrank to a diameter of just ten meters, fully encompassing the figure. Only then was the carrier barely able to resist the Progenitor-level power that was attacking it.

For the moment, a stalemate had been reached.

Lu Yin’s eyes grew wide in disbelief. This carrier was actually able to contend with a Progenitor-level powerhouse. Cultivation technologies were completely different from both cultivation and technology. It was essentially a combination of the two and was technology that provided cultivation.

Lu Yin’s eyes lit up. This was something that he wanted.

The energy converters shrank their effective range and focused on the corpse king, though this meant that they were no longer absorbing any energy from any of the other corpse kings.

A sea of scarlet eyes appeared, and countless corpse kings raced towards the carrier from all directions. The people of the Transcendent Universe suddenly found themselves thrown headfirst into battle.

Luo Lao'er's legs lost strength. "Monsters… Monsters are coming…"

Zuo Yu's face had gone pale. Neither she nor Mu Duo were able to fight at all. They needed at least half a month to recuperate. She stared out at the endless horde of corpse kings, unable to understand how things had deteriorated so far.

Given her background and her family's status, she should have never ended up in such desperate straits.

Mu Duo was feeling exactly the same at this moment.

The platform with Lu Yin was full of noble heirs, but regardless of their statuses, they were also trapped and wallowing in despair at the moment.

Faced with an endless tide of corpse kings, their survival was uncertain.

"Sister Hong!" Luo Lao'er hurriedly called out. "Sister Hong, you have to protect us!"

People retreated further and further, until their backs were pressed against the metal wall of the carrier. They stared outwards as the scarlet eyes drew close. The entire group was praying for Shi Hong's protection. Only a blue energy converter could provide them with any sense of safety.

Shi Hong's expression was grave. She had not expected a Progenitor-level corpse king to appear. This had forced absolutely everyone on the battlefield to fight against the Aeternal monsters. Even she had no confidence in surviving this battle. There was no way to even estimate how many corpse kings would be in this next wave.

"You two, don't leave. We’ll work together," Shi Hong whispered.

The two young men beside her nodded. The only chance that they had for survival was if all three of them worked together. They were not natives of this universe, nor were they part of the military sent to protect the carrier. They had only been sent there to gain a bit of practical experience. Even if they escaped, no one would say anything, but that had to be their very last resort.

"Kill!" a command echoed through the region.

Countless cultivators charged out from the carrier towards the sea of corpse kings. Then, following the natives of Cloudflow Universe, the people of the Transcendent Universe surged out into outer space, each fighting to their last breath.

Battle raged like an unstoppable tsunami, and everything was instantly inundated.

Corpse kings surged onto the carrier, and they stormed into the corridors. This was the first time since Lu Yin had arrived in the Cloudflow Universe that Aeternus had put serious effort into an attack. He was already accustomed to fighting in the war against Aeternus, but the people with him from the Transcendent Universe clearly were not. They had no experience in fighting against the Aeternals in close combat.

This led to a one-sided massacre once the fighting broke out. More and more people from the Transcendent Universe fell, and blood ran through the carrier and into outer space as multiple platforms were destroyed. A cacophony of cries for help and desperate screams blended together into a symphony of horror.