Star Odyssey

Chapter 2604: Exploit

Lu Yin touched his cosmic ring as he looked at Xu Heng and Xu Leng's conflicted expressions. It seemed possible that returning the Yin Yang Sword to them would be the best course of action. However, how was he supposed to do that?

Without the Yin Yang Sword, the people of the Void Yang and Void Yin clans were unable to break through to become Void Supremas. Their combat style and cultivation methods heavily relied on that particular voidforce puppet. One could only imagine how important the Yin Yang Sword had been to Venerable Xuyi. It was no wonder why he had fought against Xiu Ci over their ideological differences so many times.

"If you can get the Yin Yang Sword back, will that give you a bit of confidence?" Lu Yin asked.

Xu Heng and Xu Leng glanced at each other. "Of course it would, but even after so many years, there is no clue as to where the Yin Yang Sword might be. We’ve given up on that long ago."

"I know a method to find it," Lu Yin boldly declared. These two people had treated him sincerely, and they also reminded him of his relationship with Hui Kong. He truly wanted to help them. If he had not already picked up the Yin Yang Sword, he would let things be, but he did have the sword. Keeping it hidden from the two was making Lu Yin feel guilty.

The two were taken aback. "Junior Brother, do you really have a way to find it?"

Lu Yin grew serious. "Do you believe that it is possible to track things through a common source of power?"

Both people looked confused.

Lu Yin explained further, "The Yin Yang Sword was Venerable Xuyi's voidforce puppet, which means that it's connected to Venerable Xuyi's power, right? Both of you cultivate Venerable Xuyi’s power as well, which means that, as long as you are certain that your power stems from the same source, there is a chance of finding the sword. I know a rather unique person."

"Is that so?" Xu Heng seemed skeptical.

On the other hand, Xu Leng nodded in agreement. "In the vastness of the megaverse, there is nothing that is truly impossible. I’m not surprised to hear of powers that you and I can’t understand."

She then looked at Lu Yin with hope on her face. "Junior Brother, how strong is this person you mentioned?"

Lu Yin did a quick comparison. "In the Voidforce Universe, she would be as strong as a Void Morphora."

Xu Leng's eyes lit up. "A Void Morphora? Where are they?"

Lu Yin’s voice took on a troubled tone. "She's currently in my own universe, but she’s also a bit difficult to deal with, which means that there’s no way I can invite her myself. Given her status, I’ll need to first make a trip to the Transcendent Universe to ask Zi Jing to help me. With her influence in the Transcendent Universe, I should be able to ask for this person’s help."

Naturally, Lu Yin was referring to Destina, but he could not take her to the Voidforce Universe himself. While Lu Yin did want to help the two clans, he could not afford to garner any unwanted attention onto himself.

Given his current cultivation level, bringing a Semi-Progenitor to the Voidforce Universe would be rash and make people suspicious, especially since Lu Yin was being monitored by Xu Wuwei.

Lu Yin was taking a rather large risk in order to help the two clans.

"I'll go with you," Xu Heng offered.

Lu Yin laughed. "Eccentric people obviously have quirky personalities. This person is being restrained by the Transcendent Universe, which means that only Zi Jing can help with this. On top of that, they already know each other. Even if a powerful Void Suprema goes, she might not accept the invitation to come here."

Xu Heng grew curious. "Is Zi Jing your...?"

Lu Yin just gave a meaningful smile, which the two instantly understood.

"Hahaha, so that's how it is! Then your senior brother can relax. With our junior brother helping us, we won't even need to owe the Transcendent Universe any debt," Xu Heng chuckled.

Xu Leng glanced over. "We owe Xuan Qi. This has nothing at all to do with the Transcendent Universe."

Lu Yin smiled. "What are you talking about, ‘owe me?’ Are you saying that if your junior brother needs some of your dual-colored soil, I’ll owe the two of you a debt?"

"Of course not! You can have as much as you want," Xu Heng generously offered as Xu Leng smiled at Lu Yin.

"All right, I'm going to head to the Transcendent Universe to speak with Zi Jing. I can probably get that person here within half a month. By the way, how much time do you have left before the challenge?" Lu Yin asked.

"Xiu Ci gave us a year to prepare," Xu Heng replied.

Lu Yin nodded. "Then that's enough time. I'll head out."

"How are you going to get to the Transcendent Universe?" Xu Leng asked, seeming to recall something.

Lu Yin chuckled. "Since Zi Jing lives in the Transcendent Universe, I naturally have a way to get back and see her at any time. I’ll head out now."

With that, Lu Yin tore the void open and returned to Aeternus Nation.

Seeing Xuan Qi leave, Xu Heng sighed heavily. "Regardless of whether he finds the Yin Yang Sword, we definitely owe our junior brother a favor."

Xu Leng agreed, "We owe him more than just one favor, but that doesn't matter. With the number of debts we owe him, one more won't make a difference."

"You..." Xu Heng started to laugh. He did not dwell on the matter too much. He truly cared for Xuan Qi. Calling him “junior brother” had not just been lip service. As for the Yin Yang Sword, Xu Heng did not hold much hope either.

...

As soon as Lu Yin returned to the Fifth Mainland, he headed straight to Gods' Origin.

The Transcendent Universe had established an important relationship with Gods' Origin, and because of this, the Transcendent Universe had sent an ambassador to stay in Gods’ Origin. Officially, it was for protection, in case any emergency arose. However, in reality, the ambassador was there to keep an eye on things. If Lu Yin wanted to visit the Transcendent Universe, his best option was to speak to the ambassador.

However, visiting Zi Jing in the Transcendent Universe was nothing more than an excuse that Lu Yin had given Xu Heng and Xu Leng. He was not actually going to go there. Instead, he would have the ambassador in Gods’ Origin send a message to Zi Jing and Ke Jian. This was a favor for Xuan Qi that the Transcendent Universe would not see any reason to refuse.

It was because of Xuan Qi that the Transcendent Universe was finally able to obtain the dual-colored soil that had eluded them for so long. That, combined with Xuan Qi’s considerable influence that he already held in the Voidforce Universe and the help that he had already provided for the negotiations with the Gods' Origin, meant that he was becoming increasingly significant to the Transcendent Universe. Without the woman even realizing it, the name Xuan Qi was already constantly floating about in He Ran's mind.

At the same time, Xuan Qi was also a recurring name for both the Energy Research Group and the Ruling Council.

No one was more concerned about the materials that Lu Yin was acquiring for the Transcendent Universe than those who understood their purpose. The impact of the cultivation technology research currently underway was all too clear to the people in the know. If they successfully concluded their research, the balance of the Sixverse Association would invariably shift. The more this was understood, the more apparent Zi Jing’s and Xuan Qi’s importance became.

In comparison, Bai Qian had become practically invisible. Not many people even thought of her anymore, and she was only offered a token display of respect.

After delivering his message, Lu Yin took a trip to the Heavens Sect and went searching for Destina.

She had been spending her time searching for Starsibyl and Mr. Zhu.

Back when the Stargazing Decks of the various branches of the Astral Combat Academy had been destroyed, pearls had been discovered within the rubble. After that, strange deaths had occurred at every single place where the pearls had appeared. Lu Yin had then asked Skymender and Destina to perform a divination on Mr. Zhu, and they had eventually learned that Mr. Zhu might still be alive. As soon as that was revealed, Destina had gone to speak with Starsibyl, only to find that the woman could not be found anywhere.

Even with all the time that had passed since then, Destina still had not managed to locate Starsibyl.

The Heavens Sect itself was also searching for both Starsibyl and Mr. Zhu, but there was no news of either of them yet.

"Do we even have any leads?" Lu Yin asked.

Destina was furious. As Destiny's heir, everything was supposed to be within her control, but she had been deceived by Starsibyl and Mr. Zhu, which was something that she had never experienced before. Every time she recalled Starsibyl's submissive behavior, Destina felt her rage return. She hated those two even more than she hated Lu Buzheng. "No."

"You are Destiny's rightful heir," Lu Yin said.

Destina clenched her teeth. "That Mr. Zhu is not simple. He deceived me the first time I visited the Starsibyl Sect. His connection to Destiny is no less than my own."

Lu Yin frowned. The Starsibyl Sect had been an unavoidable topic from the moment he first started cultivating. As he had grown in strength, his perspective had also broadened, but the mysteries surrounding the Starsibyl Sect had only grown deeper. Just what was that sect hiding? Mr. Zhu had most likely faked his death in order to avoid Destina. "Since he wants to avoid you, it proves that you pose a threat to him. Keep looking. We need to find him."

Destina was already completely determined. She had never been so obsessed before. She had targeted Lu Buzheng on a mere whim, and she had created incredible trouble for the man as a result. At the moment, all of her energy was entirely focused on tracking down the Starsibyl Sect.

"The most frustrating detail is that they've been playing me the whole time. From the very beginning, Mr. Zhu pretended to be dead. As soon as I started investigating, I found that everything connected to the Starsibyl Sect was already destroyed. That's the real reason why I can't find them."

Lu Yin suddenly thought of something. "Are you saying that you can find them if you have something that’s related to them?"

Destina’s eyes instantly locked onto Lu Yin, her gaze heated. "Do you have something?"

Lu Yin nodded and smiled. "It just so happens that Starsibyl once gave me an invitation. I've been reluctant to throw it away since then, so it should be useful."

He immediately accessed his cosmic ring to pull the letter out. However, Destina sneered at him. "If you can find that invitation, I'll hand them both to you."

Lu Yin frowned. The invitation was not in his ring. He searched his entire cosmic ring, but he still could not find the letter. That was impossible. He had always kept Starsibyl's invitation in his cosmic ring, so could it have disappeared?

"What's going on?" Lu Yin asked, his expression turning ugly.

Destina replied, "You're underestimating her. If she was able to deceive me, Destiny's disciple, then tricking you would not be a problem at all. Besides, your cultivation was quite low when you first received her invitation, right?"

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed.

"When you were still weak, she gave you that invitation as a means of divining your future. As you grew strong enough to pose a threat to her, that invitation disappeared. How could someone who managed to deceive Destiny's heir leave behind such a big loophole? You aren’t the only one. All of the invitations that she left behind in this universe have disappeared. I’ve already looked into this," Destina explained.

"Some people regarded receiving an invitation from Starsibyl as an honor, but the wise would not dare to accept one. As for the confident, they eagerly accepted the invitations, hoping to take advantage of them. Dao Monarch, you were one of the latter people. Unfortunately for you, that opportunity will never come.”

Never come? Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. When the Sixth Mainland attacked the Fifth Mainland, Lu Yin had once ended up on a continent that the Sixth Mainland had been using to transport pillaged wealth away from the Fifth Mainland. At that time, Lu Yin had only managed to escape because of Starsibyl's invitation. In a way, that could be regarded as taking advantage of the invitation once, but that had been a relatively minor issue. Starsibyl had done nothing at that time, and she had allowed the invitation to remain in Lu Yin’s cosmic ring. After Destina had started investigating the Starsibyl Sect, all of Starsibyl’s invitations had been destroyed, revealing a hint of her true abilities.

Lu Yin had assumed that he could counter Starsibyl with her own invitation, only to find himself one step behind. Starsibyl was no fool, and the actions that she had taken were all designed for her to scheme against others, not to leave herself open to traps.

"Let's ignore this for the moment. I need you to come with me to the Voidforce Universe to put on a little act..." Lu Yin said before sharing with Destina what he intended to do.

After hearing the explanation, Destina just rolled her eyes. "The best I can do is put on an act. Destiny's power is useful in this universe, but as soon as I go to another universe, Destiny’s power might stop working until I I cultivate the energy of that particular universe."

Lu Yin remembered his innate gift of the die and how Possession had not worked in the Sixverse Academy. Was it only possible to Possess people in the Origin Universe?

Suddenly, Lu Yin remembered something else, and he sank deep into thought.

"So, when are we leaving?" Destina asked.

Lu Yin raised a hand to stop Destina from speaking. He had just remembered something important, but what was it? He thought back to various conversations that he had held with people and carefully went through the exact wording. Suddenly, he looked up at Destina. "Did you just say that Destiny’s power is ineffective in other universes?"

Destina said, “Not entirely so. It’s more that it may or may not work there. After all, Destiny cultivated here in the Origin Universe, and there will naturally be issues with her power if I leave this place for a different universe."