Star Odyssey

Chapter 2511: Void Grounds

The stones had been imbued with voidforce energy. As long as a person made contact with a stone, they would be enveloped by voidforce energy, much like an ordinary human being submerged in water. On average, people were only able to endure for around half a minute when they first encountered voidforce energy. After that, they would need to repeat the process until they could endure it for over three hours. At that point, they would most likely undergo Awakening, which would allow them to observe voidforce energy with the naked eye.

Awakening was also the only way for a person to step past the threshold and begin cultivating with voidforce energy. Without Awakening, they would never be able to succeed no matter how long they tried for.

"Get back!" a nearby woman in green robes shouted fiercely at Lu Yin and Luo Lao'er.

Her hair was long enough that it draped over the stone that she sat on, and each strand emitted a hazy glow. She stared at Lu Yin with sharp eyes.

Lu Yin was puzzled. "Are you talking to me?"

The woman coldly answered, "That stone already has an owner."

Lu Yin nodded and walked towards another stone of similar size.

"Get back! That one is taken as well."

Luo Lao'er found a stone that was not particularly large, but was at least big enough for him to sit on.

"Get back! That stone has an owner."

Luo Lao'er then approached an even smaller stone, only to be yelled at again. "Get back! That one has an owner."

Luo Lao'er finally lost his patience. "This one has an owner, and that one has an owner. Are there really that many people here? These stones can't all be taken, right?"

Someone sneered. "The ones on the edges don’t have owners. Go take one of those."

Luo Lao'er’s brow furrowed. "There must be at least eighty to a hundred stones here, and I know that the first class to enter the Sixverse Academy only had a few hundred in total, which means that no more than a few dozen people were assigned to each school. Most of your class went to the Cyclic School, so how could all of these stones already be taken?"

"I’m saying that they’re taken, so they’re taken," someone replied in a derisive tone. The youth’s attitudes did not stem from anything like a grudge against the newcomers; rather, but it came from a sense of superiority that they had developed as the first class of students to attend the Sixverse Academy. Bullying the newcomers like Lu Yin was nothing more than a means of demonstrating their seniority.

Luo Lao'er glanced at Lu Yin, but Lu Yin was looking at the woman who had spoken to him first. He glanced at the stone that she was sitting on and then raised a hand to point at the stone. "I want that one."

The statement stunned the woman. Everyone sitting on the stones stared at Lu Yin for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"Xiao Fei, a newcomer just challenged you, hahaha."

"Xiao Fei, he thinks that you're an easy target."

"Teach him a lesson."

Luo Lao'er reverently said, "Brother-in-law, you're truly fearless."

Xiao Fei's expression fell, and she jumped off of her stone and approached Lu Yin. "Newcomer, you've got guts. I can see that you're from the Transcendent Universe. Xie Wu, you won’t mind if I teach him a lesson, will you?"

A man in the back calmly answered, "Do as you wish. A little lesson won't hurt."

There were a few people from the Transcendent Universe who were also part of the first class of students, but all of them in the Voidforce School acknowledged this young man as their leader.

Xiao Fei nodded. "Good."

She then looked back at Lu Yin. "I won't make things difficult for you. Kneel down and apologize, and I'll act like none of this ever happened."

Luo Lao'er walked behind Lu Yin and whispered, "Brother-in-law, Xie Wu is here. He's not some nobody. Be careful."

Lu Yin looked at Xiao Fei. "If you kneel down to me, and I'll treat this as though it never happened."

A hush fell over everyone present, and eyes grew wide. After a moment of silence, a raucous laughter erupted.

"Xiao Fei, if I were you, I wouldn't let this go so easily."

"Crush him, Xiao Fei!"

The truth was that, even if trouble had not come for Lu Yin, he had already intended to stir some up. He wanted to experience the fighting style of the Voidforce Universe, and even more so, he wanted to face someone who had already comprehended the power of the Lost Clan.

"Which noble family are you from?" Xie Wu suddenly asked Lu Yin from afar.

Lu Yin indifferently responded, "You waste so much time."

Xie Wu frowned. "Xiao Fei, cripple him. I'll be heading back soon enough, and when I do, I’ll take him away with me. I won't allow his presence to continue ruining your vision."

Xiao Fei smiled. "Many thanks, Xie Wu."

"Xie Wu is certainly quick."

"Xie Wu, make sure you tell his family that he was crippled here. We’ll see if anyone comes back to help him. We'll look forward to it."

"Haha."

Xiao Fei moved away from the stones, directing a playful smile towards Lu Yin. "Go ahead and make your move now."

Lu Yin curiously asked, "Why aren't you wearing a lens to detect power levels?"

Xiao Fei grew puzzled. "Why would we wear those?"

"Without those, how can you be certain that you’re up against someone weaker than you?"

Xiao Fei's smile faded. "This isn't a normal school. This is no ivory tower—this is the Sixverse Academy! Death isn’t forbidden here."

Her eyes then grew unfocused, and an intangible power spread out into the sky. Most people were not able to even sense this energy, but there was a huge disparity between Lu Yin's strength and most of the students in the academy. Even if he was not able to directly see the power being used, he could still sense it. It felt quite similar to the power that the woman beneath the stairs had tried to use to control Lu Yin on his way to the Voidforce School from the mountain peak. Even then, he had effortlessly broken free of the woman’s efforts.

"Brother… Brother-in-law!" Luo Lao'er shrieked as he pointed up at the sky.

Lu Yin looked up to see a massive shadow fall upon him. It was being cast by a gigantic ship.

He had noticed this exact ship while descending from the peak after passing through the clouds. There were all kinds of items floating in the sky above the Voidforce School, and there was more than one ship.

The enormous ship crashed down towards Lu Yin.

Sweat glistened on Xiao Fei's forehead as she controlled the ship with her voidforce energy. Since they were in the Voidforce School, she had decided to attack with the power of the Voidforce Universe, hoping to attract a bit of attention from certain people.

The ship plummeted down, and it reached Lu Yin's head in a blink of an eye.

There was a deafening roar, and the ground shook. It was indeed just a ship, but it was still impressively robust. The force of the impact was comparable to a peak Hunter’s attack.

Xiao Fei heaved a sigh of relief and swayed on her feet after seeing the ship crash into the ground. She had succeeded.

Someone off in the distance started cheering. "Not bad, Xiao Fei! You're already able to manipulate that ship? That’s one of the top twenty voidforce puppets in the entire academy!"

"Xiao Fei, when did you surpass me? No, I need to get serious."

"That kid's probably dead. Xie Wu, do you want his corpse?"

Xie Wu stared at Xiao Fei. "In a real fight, no one will just stand there and let you smash them. That guy was an idiot, and he was unworthy of being your opponent."

Xiao Fei felt exhausted. "Who could have guessed that he wouldn't even have the guts to fight back? How useless."

However, when she looked over at Luo Lao'er, Xiao Fei’s expression faltered a bit. The man appeared completely unfazed, and he was even looking at her in a mocking manner.

Something was wrong.

"So is this how the Voidforce Universe fights? It's similar to how Shi Hong and the other two fought, but a bit weaker." Lu Yin stepped out from behind the fallen ship, and he studied the vessel as he moved around it.

Xie Wu and the other senior students were all astonished. Had the newbie not died?

Xiao Fei stared at Lu Yin. "You’re better than I thought."

Lu Yin circled the ship before finally looking at Xiao Fei. "All of you seem to enjoy bragging. Since that's the case, I'll use a bit of my power."

With that, he vanished. He moved at a speed that an Enlighter was capable of.

The expressions on Xie Wu's and the others' faces changed to shock. This was bad.

Lu Yin instantly appeared behind Xiao Fei and reached out to grab her. She spun around, surprising Lu Yin. How was she actually able to keep up with an Enlighter’s speed?

As Xiao Fei whirled around, her hand flew out. She released dozens of palm strikes in an instant that merged together to create a single attack. It was a battle technique.

Bang!

Xiao Fei's hand slammed into Lu Yin's, but she felt like she had just struck a rock. Her palm broke open, shocking her. How could this be?

She could not put up any resistance as Lu Yin pressed a hand to her head. At that moment, she completely froze. If the exchange were observed from a distance, she looked like a well-behaved girl receiving guidance.

"Are you from a cultivation civilization?"

Xiao Fei stared at Lu Yin in shock, her eyes flickering. Lu Yin's hand felt hot, yet her body was covered with chills. "You aren’t from the Transcendent Universe. Are you from a cultivation civilization?"

Lu Yin did not bother answering. His hand darted downwards, and he grabbed hold of Xiao Fei's collar. He picked her up and threw her at Xie Wu.

The woman’s body flew through the sky like a shooting star, passing by the floating rocks and people before she slammed into Xie Wu.

Xie Wu's eyes went wide, and he hurried to dodge, but he could not move quite fast enough. Just as he was moving, Xiao Fei brushed his right shoulder, and they both went flying.

How embarrassing.

The rest of the people present stared at Lu Yin with various expressions. There were some people in the distance who had not done anything to antagonize Lu Yin, but this scene still caused their expressions to change. This man was strong.

Xie Wu coughed a few times. Next to him, Xiao Fei had been knocked unconscious.

Xie Wu clutched at his right shoulder as he stood up and glared at Lu Yin. "Who are you? There’s no way you’re from the Transcendent Universe."

Lu Yin gave a slight smile. "Guess."

Xie Wu gnashed his teeth in anger. "Do you know who I am?"

"Don’t care." Lu Yin then looked at the others. "Does anyone else want to challenge me?"

The people who had been provoking him when he had first arrived at the Void Grounds remained silent. Xiao Fei might not be the best at cultivating the Voidforce Universe’s power, but she was still someone from the Main Universe and thus had an impressive level of strength. Despite that, she had been easily defeated by Lu Yin. How could anyone else hope to challenge him?

Lu Yin felt that it was a pity that no one from the Lost Clan was willing to make a move. He was incredibly curious about their fighting method that employed cards.

The stones in the Void Grounds came in all different sizes, but the one that Xiao Fei had occupied was among the largest.

Lu Yin touched the stone and felt a surge of power envelop him. Just as the jade slip had described, the first step in cultivating voidforce energy was very similar to what an ordinary person felt when drowning in water. Being able to endure for even a few minutes was already quite an impressive accomplishment.

Lu Yin sat down, curious to find out just how long he could hold out for.

Xie Wu left. He was too embarrassed to stick around. He had stated that he would punish Lu Yin for his arrogance, but Lu Yin had completely ignored Xie Wu’s mere existence. Xie Wu did not have the courage to attack Lu Yin directly, as it was already very clear that he was not Lu Yin's match.

Everyone else in the Void Grounds remained silent. Some of them grew curious and watched Lu Yin, while others continued their own cultivation.

Luo Lao'er also found a stone to use. No one dared to provoke him any longer either.

Complete silence filled the Void Grounds.

Cough cough!

Luo Lao'er jumped off of his stone while coughing violently.

A short ways away, someone laughed. "Not bad. You managed to endure voidforce energy for three minutes on your first try."

Luo Lao'er coughed and sputtered. "You timed me?"

"It's not just me. It’s normal to time people during their first attempt to check their aptitude for voidforce energy."

Luo Lao'er's eyes lit up. "You just said 'not bad,' so does that mean that I’m pretty good?"

"Just a bit worse than me."

A nearby woman spoke up as well, "A little worse than me."

"I did a bit better."

Luo Lao'er could not tolerate the mockery. "Knock it off! You’re clearly messing with me!"

The woman smiled. "I lasted four and a half minutes."

The first man who had spoken commented, "I lasted three and a half minutes."

"I almost made it to four."

Luo Lao'er rolled his eyes. "What? So I'm the worst one?"

"Not entirely. There are actually many others out there who are even worse. Some can't even last two minutes, which just proves that they have no talent for cultivating voidforce energy and that they should switch to another school as soon as possible."