Star Odyssey

Chapter 2584: Endless Frontier

Lu Yin replied, "Since the Great Sovereign made these arrangements, I'm certain that there are good reasons for what happened. This junior simply wishes to know how Senior Sage Stone died in battle."

Gaining a better understanding of Aeternus's power was one of the primary reasons why Lu Yin had infiltrated the Sixverse Association, so his words were completely reasonable.

Other than the Seven Skygods, he knew that Aeternus had other Progenitor-level powerhouses as well. The Sixverse Association, as well as a number of other parallel universes and the Origin Universe itself, were home to a number of Progenitor-level figures. And yet, Aeternus was able to suppress them all, which was an ample demonstration of their formidable strength.

The light dimmed from Shi Jiao's eyes. "Senior Sage Stone died at Cheng Kong's hands."

Lu Yin was surprised, "Cheng Kong? The one famous for Bubble Fantasy?"

Shi Jiao nodded. "The same one behind your capture. Tu Shuangshuang is a disciple of Cheng Kong. That person is incredibly mysterious, as no one knows their true identity, nor even their gender. They are a master at pinpointing people’s weaknesses, and Senior Sage Stone was the closest to death of the Cyclic Universe’s Three Sovereigns and Nine Sages, so Cheng Kong targeted him. Sovereign Nine Lotus tried to offer some support, but she arrived just one step too late.”

"Over the course of countless years, no fewer than three peak powerhouses have fallen to Cheng Kong."

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. Cheng Kong had killed at least three Progenitors? What did that say about Cheng Kong? Lu Yin had to join forces with both Elder Mu Xie and Arch-Elder Zen just to deal with Monarch Mu. Experts at the Progenitor level were formidable opponents, especially if they were trying to escape. In even the worst-case scenario, such individuals could simply tear the void open to escape. Despite that, Cheng Kong had successfully killed three such experts.

"Not even the Great Sovereign can find Cheng Kong?" Lu Yin felt rather confused.

Shi Jiao explained, "The Great Sovereign's opponent is True God Wei Yi. The one pursuing Cheng Kong is Sage Hua. Unfortunately, even after many years, there has been no progress in finding Cheng Kong. Instead, Tu Shuangshuang betrayed us and joined Cheng Kong, which has made Sage Hua the laughingstock of the entire Cyclic Universe. Speaking of which..." The woman’s eyes suddenly lit up. "Xuan Qi, are you interested in Sage Hua’s seat?"

Lu Yin was taken aback. "Sage Hua’s seat?"

Shi Jiao’s voice dropped to a whisper, "Tu Shuangshuang betrayed us, joined Cheng Kong, and then even captured Shao Qingfeng and many other students from the Sixverse Academy. This has made many universes and powerhouses upset, including even Shao Qingfeng's master, Sovereign Shao Yin, who reported the matter to the Great Sovereign. There are rumors that Sage Hua might be stripped of his seat. If that happens, someone will need to inherit it.

"There are many people currently trying to join Sage Hua's faction, as if Sage Hua is stripped of his seat, his most likely successor will be someone else from that faction."

Lu Yin shook his head. "This junior still wishes to join the Voidforce Universe."

With the opportunity to receive Sage Stone's seat no longer available, Shi Jiao was no longer able to use the same motivations to persuade Xuan Qi.

"Your deep sense of loyalty and righteousness is commendable," she said, "but in the world of cultivation, such qualities can sometimes be deadly flaws. Xuan Qi, Xu Xiangyin has indeed shown you kindness, but he is very limited in his ability to help you. Even if he recommends you to a peak powerhouse, your chances of acquiring a good voidforce puppet are much lower after the Voidchaos Territory has been plundered."

Before Lu Yin could respond, Shi Jiao interrupted him. "Or, if I put things another way, you could instead help Xu Xiangyin."

Lu Yin grew puzzled. "Help senior Xu Xiangyin?"

Shi Jiao replied, "Are you familiar with the Endless Frontier?"

Lu Yin went stiff. "Yes, it's supposed to be the battleground for the war between the Sixverse Association and Aeternus."

Shi Jiao nodded, and a somber look clouded her eyes. "That’s right. The Endless Frontier is a meat grinder. It’s where the Sixverse Association has connected numerous empty parallel universes in order to resist Aeternus. Everyone needs to periodically serve on that battlefield, including peak powerhouses. Since ancient times, no less than twenty pinnacle powerhouses have died on that battlefield, including Sage Stone. Xu Xiangyin will soon need to head there himself. As soon as he enters the Endless Frontier, he will no longer be in control of his own life or death.”

"If you truly wish to help him, reach the peak as fast as possible and go to the Endless Frontier so that you can protect him. Otherwise, given his strength, he is not likely to survive.”

"Don't be mistaken in thinking that the higher one’s cultivation, the greater their chances of surviving. There are battles that can only be fought by people at our level. Xu Xiangyin was lucky enough to have survived the last time he served on the battlefield, but he may not be so fortunate this time."

Lu Yin dropped his head. The Endless Frontier was also known as the Hundred Alliances Battlefield. It was composed of sixty two parallel universes, all of which were either allied with the Sixverse Association or had been conquered by them. The Endless Frontier was far more dangerous than any other within the universes of the Sixverse Association's members, and the entire Endless Frontier was filled with various civilizations participating in endless combat.

Lu Yin had learned about the Endless Frontier from Luo Lao'er shortly after arriving in the Sixverse Academy. According to Luo Lao'er, "It’d be better to die than go to the Endless Frontier. If you go there, you’ll never come back."

The Endless Frontier was the Sixverse Association’s equivalent of the rear battlefield in the Perennial World. The Perennial World had the Mother Tree and Ceaseless Impetus keeping Aeternus at bay, while the Endless Frontier was the Sixverse Association's equivalent of the Mother Tree and Ceaseless Impetus. The association had sacrificed too many people on that battlefield during their costly clashes with Aeternus. That battlefield was the only thing keeping most of Aeternus's forces out of the Sixverse Association's universes, and without it, none of the association’s members would have been able to develop to their current state.

When Undying God had been trapped by the Python Ancestor and the Seven Skygods had appeared to rescue him, the Sixverse Association had pushed hard against Aeternus to recover many lost territories. This was why Aeternus had eventually withdrawn from the Perennial World. Aeternus could not afford to lose territories within the Sixverse Association's parallel universes, as it would be difficult to recover any territory that was lost due to the Endless Frontier.

If not for being held back by the Endless Frontier, Aeternus would not have been nearly so concerned about losing a few regions.

Truthfully, the Perennial World's ability to keep the war against Aeternus almost entirely isolated from the rest of the universe with the Mother Tree and Ceaseless Impetus placed it in a much better position than the Sixverse Association.

Few people ever returned from the Endless Frontier, which meant that only sparse and infrequent bits of information were available. Most people only knew of the battlefield as a land of death.

"Of my Cyclic Universe’s Three Sovereigns and Nine Sages, five are currently fighting on the Endless Frontier, not to mention the powerhouses from other civilizations in various parallel universes. You can only imagine just how horrifying that place is," Shi Jiao continued.

Lu Yin lifted his head, his eyes determined. "I understand. If possible, I will try to inherit Sage Hua's seat."

Shi Jiao gave a small smile. "That would be good."

She was not without personal motivation for pushing Xuan Qi to attempt to inherit Sage Hua’s seat. Based on what Shi Jiao had seen of the youth, she had a fairly good impression of him. If such a person became a peak powerhouse, she would gain additional support. Gaining the support of such a powerful figure was worth more than a proactive stance on her part.

"By the way, who inherited Sage Stone’s seat?" Lu Yin asked, curious about this detail. While he had never had any intention of inheriting that seat, he still felt rather annoyed to learn that someone else had stolen the opportunity.

Shi Jiao frowned. "I don't know."

This surprised Lu Yin. "You don't know?"

Shi Jiao replied somberly, "The person is not someone from my Cyclic Universe. My Stone Gate doesn't know where they come from, and their background is completely unknown. I suspect that only the Great Sovereign and a select few know anything."

Lu Yin grunted to acknowledge what was being said, but he was no longer concerned about the matter.

"The Eight Hands of the Stone Gate and the Stone Cudgel battle techniques will soon be removed from the academy’s Cyclic School, and they’ll be replaced with the Harmonious Heavens Technique." Shi Jiao gave Lu Yin a heads-up. "You should already understand the importance that my Cyclic Universe puts on the Sixverse Academy. Any of the seats which will soon have their occupants replaced will find their techniques showing up here, which will effectively inform everyone that a given seat can be inherited by someone from the Sixverse Academy. This is also why I initially believed you would very likely inherit Sage Stone’s seat.”

“Things will be essentially identical to before, so practice the Harmonious Heavens Technique diligently so that you can attract the Cyclic Universe’s attention. It is even possible that the Great Sovereign himself may look this way one day."

The woman’s last sentence gave Lu Yin goosebumps. The Great Sovereign may look at the academy? That would simply not do. Lu Yin’s Mask of Death might be able to deceive Bai Sheng, but there was no way the Great Sovereign would not see through such a technique. Lu Yin had no idea how many peak powerhouses in the Sixverse Association could see through his Mask of Death, but he was particularly wary of any such individual.

Shi Jiao soon left.

Her warning was soon proven accurate, as the Cyclic School changed its requirements for its students to assessing their mastery of the Harmonious Heavens Technique. Both the Eight Hands of the Stone Gate and Stone Cudgel techniques were removed.

The change created a commotion throughout the Sixverse Academy, and countless eyes filled with longing as they looked at the Cyclic Universe.

News that Sage Hua could be replaced had already started to spread. People already understood that whoever managed to successfully cultivate the Harmonious Heavens Technique stood a chance to become the next Sage Hua.

While Sage Hua’s seat would become available, no one knew when that would happen. Since the Harmonious Heavens Technique had been made available in the Cyclic School, many people believed that they had ample time to practice the technique and master it.

People instantly started flocking towards the Cyclic School, including even the students in the Central School.

The Harmonious Heavens Technique was Sage Hua's ultimate technique. It was capable of dissolving all forms of energy, absorbing them, and then transforming them into a person’s own strength. This meant that a cultivator would become stronger when facing more powerful opponents.

Tu Shuangshuang had been able to fight against opponents like Shao Qingfeng and overpower Jiang Xiaodao because of the Harmonious Heavens Technique. This was a perfect example of the technique’s formidability.

Even Xu Xiangyin was drawn to the Harmonious Heavens Technique. According to the old man, with the Stone Gate no longer fighting for Xuan Qi, the youth could be regarded as practically a citizen of the Voidforce Universe. Xu Xiangyin advised Lu Yin to cultivate diligently, and he also promised to find the earliest opportunity to take him to meet Senior Xu Wuwei in the Voidforce Universe.

Lu Yin was intrigued by Xu Wuwei's strength, and he was also curious to discover if Xu Wuwei would be able to see through the Mask of Death.

"Senior Xu Wuwei," Xu Xiangyin said as he lifted his head, revealing a reverent expression, "Is one of the oldest and most powerful individuals in my Voidforce Universe. As for his age, it’s possible that only Lord Xu himself is older."

This comment made Lu Yin immediately decide that there was no way in hell he would meet Xu Wuwei. Doing so would be nothing more than a death wish. Such a person was undoubtedly at least equal to Bai Wangyuan and the others, and Lu Yin had no confidence in his Mask of Death when dealing with such a powerhouse.

The simplest way to avoid Xu Wuwei would be to master the Harmonious Heavens Technique. The more skilled he revealed himself, the more different parties would want him. If the Stone Gate was able to fight back against Xu Xiangyin for Xuan Qi, then so too would Sage Hua's faction.

This thought caused Lu Yin to end his seclusion with a bit of anticipation, and he quickly headed outside. As soon as he did so, a jade slip fell towards him, and he scanned it to learn the basics of the Harmonious Heavens Technique.

Lu Yin’s level of cultivation meant that he could easily comprehend the Cyclic Universe's battle techniques and master them at a mind-boggling speed. With the Eight Hands of Stone Gate, once he had put his mind to mastering it, his learning speed had been enough to frighten even Sage Stone. Lu Yin assumed that the same would be true for the Harmonious Heavens Technique.

However, upon learning the basics of the Harmonious Heavens Technique from the jade slip, Lu Yin was briefly stunned. Even if he did not possess his current strength, he felt confident that he could be able to master this technique quickly. Isn’t this basically lockbreaking?

Lockbreaking was a method of neutralizing congealed energies in order to release the precious treasures trapped inside sourceboxes. It was a process that required precise control and discernment while evaluating the ever-shifting energies that made up the sourcebox until all of those energies were unraveled and the sourcebox was fully opened.

The Harmonious Heavens Technique operated on the same principles. Its user needed to swiftly analyze an opponent's power, as well as have the ability to counteract or even absorb that power before transforming it into their own strength.