Star Odyssey

Chapter 2598: Spiral Domain

Lu Yin's voidforce energy had already grown to the point where it was now equal to the strength of a six-tribulation Envoy from the Fifth Mainland, which was equal to his own level of stellular energy cultivation.

Lu Yin was astonished to find himself reaching this level after just half a year. This progress could have only been achieved with the combination of Xu Wuwei's abilities, Lu Yin’s own inherent abilities, the unique nature of the Voidforce Universe, and the timely presence of the vast amount of energy present from the dissipation of the Void Pass.

Given the same circumstances, if any of the Fifth Mainland’s Progenitors tried to cultivate voidforce energy, they should be able to swiftly become Void Morphora with Xu Wuwei's assistance. However, becoming Void Suprema, which was equal to a Progenitor, was definitely not such a simple task.

Lu Yin stopped cultivating. This was not by choice, but rather because the surge of voidforce energy had waned. After looking around, he found that there was no longer any discernible difference between the area that had once been the Void Pass and the rest of the Voidforce Universe. The once overwhelming amount of voidforce energy had vanished. Could Lu Yin have absorbed it all? That should have been impossible. The Void Pass had been powerful enough to force back even Progenitors. If Lu Yin had absorbed all of the energy from that region, then he would have become a Void Suprema.

The most likely explanation was that the majority of the energy had simply dissipated.

The pot started to shrink and then returned to Xu Wuwei.

Lu Yin quickly stepped forward and offered a deep bow. "Thank you, Senior."

Xu Wuwei stared at Lu Yin in awe. "I expected you to become a mid-level Void Brillium at best. Instead, you’ve succeeded in reaching a level equal to your own original cultivation. How did you accomplish such a thing?"

Lu Yin felt genuinely confused. "Isn't it just about absorbing the voidforce energy?"

Xu Wuwei gave a wry smile. "You clearly have some misconceptions about our Voidforce Universe."

Seeing Lu Yin's obvious confusion, Xu Wuwei proceeded to explain. "It may be true that there are no bottlenecks for cultivating voidforce energy. That, along with the assumption that you can absorb as much as energy you can, means that the amount a person can absorb depends on their personal endurance, as well as their compatibility with voidforce energy. Do you truly believe that I can help everyone absorb voidforce energy with the method you just used? Wouldn't that make my Voidforce Universe invincible? Wouldn't we have already produced countless Void Suprema? Our power isn't fleeting, like the Cyclic Universe-"

The man paused for a moment and then quickly changed the topic. "Essentially, every person has a limit to how far they can cultivate voidforce energy. This is why our Voidforce Universe places such strong emphasis on talent. It's why Xu Xiangyin kept such a close eye on you. Not everyone has the potential to become a Void Suprema. The vast majority of people simply cannot reach that level, even if they cultivated for billions of years."

Lu Yin felt some of his misconceptions clear up. While voidforce cultivators did not face any sort of equivalent to stellular tribulations, they were also restricted by their innate talent, which was far more difficult to overcome than stellular tribulations. In the Fifth Mainland, even people with below average talent could use various methods to elevate their cultivation, but to continue to cultivate voidforce energy beyond one’s innate limits, they would need to undergo a complete transformation. Without that, a person would find their cultivation stagnating for their entire life.

Voidforce energy was a cultivation method that had very clear limits.

Understanding some of these limits caused Lu Yin to heave a sigh of relief. Every universe and civilization had their own pros and cons. The people of the Origin Universe were plagued with stellular tribulations, which made every breakthrough a challenge. On the other hand, were stellular tribulations not also a means to push a person’s potential to a higher level? There were no tribulations or bottlenecks for cultivating voidforce energy, but personal breakthroughs were far more difficult, as they relied solely on a person’s inherent talent. In the Cyclic Universe, it was possible for a person to be granted a seat and instantly become one of the Three Sovereigns and Nine Sages, but the seats and the powers attached to them could also be taken back at the Great Sovereign’s whim.

There was no objectively better or worse universe.

"Your talent for cultivating voidforce energy is so exceptional that it breeds envy. It’s no wonder why Xu Xiangyin regards you so highly. You are also highly intelligent and have remained devoted to the Voidforce Universe by choosing not to join the Arboreal Realm with all that they offered," Xu Wuwei praised.

Lu Yin did not respond to the observations, and he instead pulled out the bone pike and sensed the voidforce energy that it contained. "This junior wonders how much power can now be released...”

Xu Wuwei replied, "Xu Xiangyin mentioned that you were capable of controlling a puppet with twenty times more voidforce energy than yourself. If that's true, then you are already capable of fighting Void Morphoras with Xu Xiangyin's level of strength."

The man gave Lu Yin a hard stare as he spoke.

Lu Yin was astonished. "Is that all it takes?”

"As your guide for cultivating voidforce energy, I have now helped you reach your current cultivation level. From this point forward, you will have to walk ahead on your own. I will leave you with a battle technique, which will fulfill my duty and all of my obligations to you. However, if I ever learn that you have exploited my Voidforce Universe and instigated a conflict between us and the Transcendent Universe, or caused other harm to the Voidforce Universe, I will personally take back everything that I have given you. This is the responsibility of a guide."

Xu Wuwei then raised his hand and gathered voidforce energy over his palm. It did not gather in a normal manner, but instead seemed to follow some sort of inexplicable law. The energy spread out in every direction, and not a single trace was left behind.

Lu Yin stared at the man’s outstretched hand. That had not been a simple matter of gathering and condensing voidforce energy. He had watched the energy form into a sphere. Within the sphere, increasing amounts of voidforce energy were constantly connecting to the void. Lu Yin's eyes flickered. What he had felt had been a form of spatial control!

Even with the Ce Secret Art’s board manipulation, Lu Yin would not have been able to sense Xu Wuwei’s spatial control. What had allowed him to do so was his recently acquired innate gift of spatial control. He had been able to see the voidforce energy subtly extend along the lines that allowed him to manipulate space, and the energy had stretched out into an unknown distance. It was like adding color to the monotonous spatial lines.

Lu Yin stared at Xu Wuwei, dumbfounded by what he had just seen. This man was able to manipulate space.

"If you’ve been assuming that our Voidforce Universe only fights with voidforce puppets that we hide behind, you’re gravely mistaken. The truth is that our universe also possesses just as many battle techniques as any other civilization. The amount of voidforce energy that you can control only indicates the strength of the power you can control, not the strength of an attack that you can unleash. The only true way to measure the strength of a person’s voidforce energy is with a battle technique." As Xu Wuwei finished speaking, a sphere of voidforce energy once again gathered in his hand. Within the ball, countless threads of voidforce energy swirled about in a manner that made it impossible for Lu Yin to clearly track them. As this happened, lines of voidforce energy spread out into a grid in outer space.

This grid was invisible to the naked eye, and it was only detectable to people who could observe voidforce energy. However, even voidforce energy cultivators would not recognize that the lines were more than just pure voidforce energy; rather, it was voidforce energy that followed spatial lines.

Lu Yin was stunned. It was only at this instant that he started to comprehend just how powerful the old man before him truly was. This man was able to manifest spatial lines in a manner that ordinary cultivators could observe, and he could also manipulate space. Even with Lu Yin's innate gift of spatial control, he could not do the same. It would take an extremely long period of training and practice, and it was clear that Xu Wuwei had done just that.

The old man had used voidforce energy to trace out spatial lines, providing a visual representation of some of the hidden forces of the universe.

At this same time, in a distant location, Xu Wuji was searching for a new location to relax. Suddenly, his expression changed. He watched as a grid of voidforce energy appeared all around him. He froze in place, not moving a single muscle. He knew that he was surrounded by Senior Xu Wuwei's power.

Anyone who saw such a grid would instantly be deeply shocked. The immediate reaction to the sight of Xu Wuwei's power was to freeze. To move meant to die.

Nervously swallowing, Xu Wuji slowly turned his head to look back at where the Void Pass had once stood. Senior, please don't scare me!

"The concept behind this technique is quite simple. This battle technique is called Spiral Domain,” Xu Wuwei stated in a solemn manner. The sphere of voidforce energy in his hand flickered in and out of existence as voidforce energy retraced back from the grid. "As long as anyone is within the bounds of this Spiral Domain, my attack is unavoidable. I once used this Spiral Domain to kill a peak powerhouse of Aeternus."

Lu Yin was shocked. He was once again speaking to a powerful individual who had killed someone equal to a Progenitor.

"Today, I will teach you this Spiral Domain as a reward for crossing the Void Pass and not forcing me to become your master. Also, as your guide, I hope that you will not disappoint me. I have no desire to one day kill you with my Spiral Domain." After delivering his explanation, Xu Wuwei grabbed Lu Yin and threw him out into the grid. Lu Yin moved through the grid, experiencing Spiral Domain.

Xu Wuwei watched calmly. Teaching someone his Spiral Domain was a unique gift reserved for his own direct disciples. It looked as though he was granting Xuan Qi a truly incredible opportunity, but...

As Lu Yin traveled through Spiral Domain, he felt how the voidforce energy acted upon the spatial lines. While it initially appeared as though Xu Wuwei was treating Lu Yin very well, it was actually completely pointless to show Spiral Domain to anyone at his level. If Lu Yin did not have his newly acquired innate gift, then how could he have ever hoped to comprehend Spiral Domain? This battle technique used the power of space. Even if he could manage to understand the proper way to gather the voidforce energy needed for the technique, how was he supposed to apply it to spatial lines after that? Even if Xu Wuwei held Lu Yin’s hand throughout the entire process, it would not have changed the fact that the technique was simply impossible to learn.

This was very deliberate. By teaching Xuan Qi the incredible Spiral Domain as his final lesson, Xu Wuwei was actually teaching the young man nothing at all. After all, he had not even shared his own cultivation method: the Five Earthly Flavors.

Lu Yin let out a long breath. He could not blame Xu Wuwei. The two of them had very different perspectives, and from Xu Wuwei's point of view, Xuan Qi was a devious man who was helping Bai Qian work against He Ran. Even if Lord Xu did not care about such conflicts, Xu Wuwei was determined to mitigate any impact such a conflict might have on his universe in his own way.

With Xuan Qi “learning” Spiral Domain, others would envy him, and no one would understand Xu Wuwei's true intentions.

The only thing that Xu Wuwei had overlooked was that Lu Yin was already capable of observing the spatial lines, which meant that he had also comprehended the underlying principles of Spiral Domain. Xu Wuwei’s lesson had not simply taught Lu Yin a battle technique; rather, he had revealed the method to properly use the spatial lines that he could observe.

Before this revelation, Lu Yin had only been able to use the lines to teleport around. After learning how to apply battle techniques to these spatial lines, he had found a method to ignore the restrictions of distance when targeting an opponent. This included, but was not limited to, Spiral Domain itself. Lu Yin could apply the same concept with any of the various energies at his command, including sword techniques, death energy, and even battle force. Xu Wuwei had just opened a brand new door for Lu Yin.

Xu Wuwei could never have imagined that he was actually helping Xuan Qi instead of deceiving the youth. Xu Wuwei was perfectly performing his role as a guide.

Lu Yin spent half a month moving about through Spiral Domain before he finally came to a stop. When he next saw Xu Wuwei, all that Lu Yin said was, "This junior doesn't understand."

Xu Wuwei inwardly felt quite satisfied, though his expression remained unchanged. "My Spiral Domain is not a battle technique that is easy to learn. Do you know how many people from the Voidforce Universe have dreamed of learning this battle technique? Whether it is Xu Wuji or Xu Xiangyin, which of them has not hoped to learn it? Unfortunately, neither of them ever received this opportunity, so you should cherish what you just experienced."

Lu Yin thanked the man. "This junior understands."

"I have not treated you any differently than I would anyone else. I’ve merely performed my duty as your guide. Just be sure to remember my teachings."

"I understand, Senior."

With another glance at the youth, a smile spread across Xu Wuwei's face. He found it quite entertaining to tease this youth. "Find a place to meditate, and then reflect on what you felt while moving through Spiral Domain. I'm now headed to the battlefield. When we next meet, I hope to see that you have made some progress."

Lu Yin arched a brow. Progress? If he actually showed progress with this technique, how would this old man not be completely infuriated?

"Senior, you’re heading to the battlefield?"