Star Odyssey

Chapter 2503: Voidforce

Lu Yin grabbed a corpse king's shoulder. A green light flashed out from his palm, and half of the corpse king’s body was crushed. He watched the corpse king fall and then looked around to see blue light constantly flashing around the platform. It all came from Shi Hong and the two boys who were guarding the platform on three different sides, creating an impenetrable defense.

However, their strength only drew even more corpse kings to the platform.

Corpse kings fell one after another, only for more to rush in before the humans could catch their breaths at all.

The adjacent platforms had all gone silent. All that remained on any of them was fresh gore.

"Sister Hong, we can't keep this up. We’re only going to keep attracting more monsters. As soon as some with power levels of over a million start showing up, we won't be able to hold them off any longer," one of the boys warned.

Shi Hong's face was grim. "We'll rotate. You keep using a blue energy converter while we switch to green. When you run out, we'll each take a turn using a blue energy converter."

"Got it."

With only a single person using a blue energy converter, the number of corpse kings drawn to their platform decreased noticeably.

Lu Yin and the others on the platform had not been lazing around either. They had been working hard to make sure that there were no gaps in the platform’s defenses while the corpse kings swarmed them. Fortunately, no Envoy-level corpse kings had appeared yet.

In the past, only Envoy-level corpse kings had successfully broken past the carrier's energy converters and weapons, but right now, corpse kings of all levels of strength were attacking them. Most of them were not particularly strong, and the corpses started to pile up.

"Brother-in-law, slow down. Use your energy more sparingly, or else we'll run out," Luo Lao'er cautioned Lu Yin. At some point in time, Luo Lao'er had equipped a piece of armor that was only about the size of a palm onto his chest. It shone colorfully.

"Is that an armor that uses the power of your Three Monarchs Universe?" Lu Yin asked as he glanced at it.

Luo Lao'er was surprised. "You can tell? You really are a cultivator. Others can't see it."

Lu Yin looked at the battle armor on his chest again. "So that power works on equipment. It’s pretty good."

"Alright, brother-in-law, this is no time to chat. There’s another one coming—kill it!" Luo Lao'er shrieked.

Lu Yin's hands were already clenching a rod, and he swung out, sending a corpse king flying.

The corpse kings kept coming. From a distance, the entire platform appeared to be swarmed with the monsters.

"This is the end! We had so many platforms, but they’re all being slowly taken out. We’re already down to less than half, and the beams aren’t able to keep that monster back any longer. We're all going to die!" Luo Lao'er wailed. He was seriously considering tearing through the void and returning to the Three Monarch Dimension. He could certainly do it, but it would also be very troublesome. He would definitely be sent back to the Transcendent Universe, and he would also be labeled as a deserter. His life after that would be miserable.

This was the reason why the rest of the people on the platform did not dare to escape either. It was not that they did not want to, but rather that none of them dared do so.

Escaping meant certain death. Not even someone like Zuo Yu would have any chance of survival, as the Ruling Council did not spare any deserters. As long as the defenders remained on their platforms, they would have at least a glimmer of hope.

This was the most torturous part. Even if it was possible for them to avoid dying immediately, the path before them still led to death, just later on.

There were times when waiting for death could be even worse than death itself.

Lu Yin stepped back and others took his place. Everyone staggered their use of their energy converters in order to last for just a bit longer.

"Unless someone who can use a black energy converter shows up, we're all doomed," Mu Duo said as he looked at the distant Progenitor-level corpse king with terror in his eyes. The monster was just as strong as the carrier’s black beams.

Zuo Yu looked at Lu Yin. "Actually, you can leave."

Lu Yin's eyes flickered as he met Zuo Yu and Mu Duo's gazes.

"You're not from our Transcendent Universe, and everyone knows that Zi Jing has escaped from our universe before. If you leave, no one will say anything. On top of that, since Zi Jing is necessary, the Ruling Council might not even investigate your desertion," Zuo Yu explained.

Mu Duo remained silent. Compared to everyone else, Lu Yin was truly lucky. Even if he deserted the battlefield, he would still have a chance to survive, as long as Zi Jing remained irreplaceable to the Transcendent Universe.

"Brother-in-law, take me with you!" Luo Lao'er begged as he ran over.

Lu Yin said, "If I take you with me, you'll be a deserter too."

"That’s fine. I’ll just say that you kidnapped me and that I never wanted to leave, but would have rather died with everyone else. However, I couldn't beat you, so you took me with you," Luo Lao'er excitedly explained the excuse that he had already come up with.

As time passed, more and more of the carrier’s platforms went dark as they deactivated.

Qiu Zhan panted heavily as he stared at the Progenitor-level corpse king. The corpse king stood calmly where it was and looked up to meet Qiu Zhan's eyes. The monster’s lips curled up to form a strange smile.

With a loud bang, one of the platforms exploded. An entire row of platforms went dark, and a corpse king emerged from the center of the explosion. Sharp, blade-like flames blazed across its body. It took a single step to instantly appear on the next platform. The moment the corpse king appeared, flames engulfed the platform and blades slashed through it, creating another explosion. The corpse king methodically continued on to the next platform.

This corpse king possessed a power level of over a million. With Semi-Progenitor-level corpse kings holding back Qiu Zhan and the other powerhouses, this one was practically invincible on the battlefield.

Each platform that exploded moved the corpse king closer to Lu Yin's platform.

Shi Hong assessed the approaching corpse king with a stare. It was getting close.

"Sister Hong, let's leave. We're no match for that thing," one of the boys suggested, a trace of panic in his voice.

The other boy urged the same, "Sister Hong, we can't just throw our lives away. Madam spent so much time and energy having us trained. And besides, at the academy—"

"I know!" Shi Hong snapped in annoyance. She clenched her fists as she watched another platform go down. "Let's go."

The two boys were overjoyed.

No one heard their conversation, aside from Lu Yin.

Are they planning to escape? He arched a brow. That won't do. If they leave, who will protect this platform?

He looked out into space. Given their current situation, Zi Jing would be extremely hard-pressed to protect Lu Yin, and the Transcendent Universe might not even have the ability to do so.

Normally, this would mean that Lu Yin’s death was basically guaranteed, and if he did not die, it would indicate that there was something abnormal about him. If he drew the attention of the Transcendent Universe’s powers, they would most likely uncover his secrets. He had only just infiltrated the Transcendent Universe, and he was not ready to leave just yet.

"Let's go," Shi Hong softly stated. She raised a hand to tear the void and lead the two young men back to the Transcendent Universe.

Lu Yin's eyes flickered as he froze the void with an unseen power. As long as these three were within his void god realm domain, they could forget about tearing through the void.

Shi Hong waved her hand, but nothing happened at all. Puzzled, she tried again, but all of her efforts were completely futile.

"Sister Hong, hurry up! They're coming!" one of the boys urged.

The blazing corpse king had already shifted its attention to their platform.

Shi Hong's face flushed red, and blue energy shone as she waved her hand again. However, the void remained whole. She spluttered in disbelief, "What's going on?"

"Sister Hong!" the other boy yelled.

Shi Hong was furious. "We can't leave. The void has been forcibly stabilized."

Her words startled the two young men, and they each quickly made their own attempts to tear through the void, but they were unable to produce even a single ripple in it. They could not escape.

The same thought came to the minds of all three people. "It's over."

The burning corpse king charged at their platform. As it raised a hand, raging flames descended. Compared to the battle technique from Blazing Mist Flowzone that Lu Yin had faced in the past, these flames were on an entirely different level. Even the Karmic Flames were but a tiny spark compared to this blaze.

The sight of these flames sent chills down the spines of everyone on the platform. There was no way to escape.

Shi Hong and her two companions now had no choice but to fight back with everything that they had. They desperately released their blue energy in an attempt to resist the flames.

To their surprise, they actually managed to block the flames.

Not only did this shock Shi Hong and her companions, but even the corpse king was astonished. Blue energy converters should not have been able to stop its flames.

The corpse king suddenly appeared in front of Shi Hong and the two young men. It stretched out its arms and instantly absorbed all of the flames into its hands. They transformed into two suns that put incredible pressure on the three people. These two suns lit up half of the carrier, and they burned so hot that the metal started to melt. As soon as they made contact with the platform, it would be completely destroyed.

"Voidforce," Shi Hong spat out through gritted teeth. No one knew what the three people did, but a whalebone, a meteorite, and a huge shield suddenly materialized on the platform and slammed into the corpse king.

Unbelievable heat collided with the three massive objects. The shield and meteorite both melted in a single moment, but while the whalebone melted as well, it also released a loud cracking sound. With the combination of the blue light, the bone was able to force back the corpse king and fling the monster back into outer space.

Lu Yin was shocked. What in the world had just happened?

"The power of the Voidforce Universe?" Luo Lao'er exclaimed.

Everyone felt amazed, and they all wondered just where those three items had come from.

After the corpse king was pushed away, Shi Hong stumbled. Burns covered her body, but the two young men were in even worse conditions. They fell to the floor of the platform, unable to even stand.

Despite their best efforts, their attacks had only managed to push the corpse king away from the platform.

The corpse king quickly stabilized itself. "Void- force…"

Flames erupted once again.

"Ants," the corpse king mocked the defenders as it raised a hand. Its palm held a light so bright that everyone instinctively closed their eyes.

Shi Hong felt bitter. All of their efforts were futile. Their voidforce power was completely unable to harm this corpse king.

The two boys felt their hearts plunge into despair. They both regretted coming to this battlefield.

Suddenly, the blazing light in the corpse king's hand started to dim, and then it disappeared entirely. Its scarlet eyes grew dull, and its head slowly slumped. No one had any idea when it had happened, but a deep wound had appeared in the monster’s chest, right where it had been struck by the whalebone. Cracks spread out from the wound, and the corpse king finally shattered.

This sudden turn of events stunned everyone. Even Qiu Zhan was surprised. He carefully appraised Shi Hong from where he was fighting. Had she really just used the power of the Voidforce Universe to do that? Was the fusion of the Sixfold Alliance’s different powers truly that powerful?

No one had expected the corpse king to die.

As they stared out into the suddenly empty space, everyone was momentarily unable to come to their senses.

Finally, Luo Lao'er managed to recover first. "Sister Hong, you're amazing! Sister Hong, I love you!"

The shout jolted Shi Hong back to her senses. Had- had she really done it? Was the combination of her voidforce puppet and a blue energy converter truly that powerful? The woman was completely confused by what she had accomplished.

The two boys both fell backwards so that they were lying flat on the platform. "Madam is truly wise. The complementing powers of different civilizations is indeed the right path forward. This is how we will defeat Aeternus!”

"Madam’s foresight is incredible.”

"Sister Hong, the voidforce puppet you chose was incredibly powerful. It's a shame that it's gone now."

Shi Hong finally averted her eyes.

"I'll go back and choose another." As she spoke, her brow furrowed. She stared down at her own hands. The power of that voidforce puppet should have been far from enough to kill that corpse king. How had things turned out like this?

A short distance away, Lu Yin observed Shi Hong and the two young men. Naturally, he had killed the corpse king himself, but he had given credit for the death to the strange objects that had pushed the monster back.

Still, what had that power even been?

"Luo Lao'er, what was that power that they just used?" Lu Yin asked. The three had used a power that exceeded their own, and Lu Yin was very curious about that.