Star Odyssey

The battle taking place over the city was still growing even more intense as the fighters were using more and more powerful battle techniques. All of the cultivators stared at the battlefield in excitement, studying the battle techniques that the grey humanoid figures used.

The cultivators did not immediately leave, as they intended to get as much out of their stay in the tablet world as possible. Some of them even held desires of possibly comprehending one of the battle techniques even if it was nearly impossible.

The great battle over the city lasted for an entire day, and during this time, there were as many different battle techniques as there were countless stars in the sky. Even some secret techniques appeared.

However, the secret techniques were not that attractive to the watching cultivators, as they could not learn those techniques through observation.

After a whole day passed, the city's appearance had completely changed compared to the beginning of the battle when the city master had been torn apart by a Skybeast Claw. The cultivators outside the city continued to watch the events unfold.

Lu Yin watched as the Dream Finger crushed another corpse king, and he tried his best to see the person behind the Dream Finger, but the attack had taken place too far away.

After thinking about it, Lu Yin turned and whispered to Black and White, "You two wait here and don't go anywhere. I'm going to head into the city to take a look."

Black grew curious. "What're you going into the city for?"

Lu Yin's expression grew complicated. "To look for the truth."

He then leaped towards the city.

Lei Nu and Qiu Shi also raced towards the city from another area. At this time, only experts at their level would dare to enter the city and observe the battle more closely. Only such people were confident of avoiding the battle's aftershocks.

The other cultivators could only watch on in envy.

Even God Taiyi did not dare to enter the city. After all, this was the tablet world, and he could not see any runes here, which crippled his strength. This was why he did not want to take such a huge risk.

Lu Yin effortlessly avoided the battle's shockwaves after entering the city, and he made his way toward the place where the Dream Finger had crushed the corpse king. There, he silently waited, hoping to see the person hidden within the void.

Aside from Lu Yin, there were a few other cultivators who had moved back inside the city.

Tai Yuanjun had survived the first day of the battle, and when the cycle caused the battle to repeat once more, he raced forward to escape from the city. At that moment, the stutterer suddenly appeared behind Tai Yuanjun. "Ta- ta- take me!"

Tai Yuanjun harshly whispered, "Shut up! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

The stutterer leaped up, grabbed a hold of Tai Yuanjun's clothes, and dangled behind him like a kite. "G- go!"

Tai Yuanjun wanted to kick this bastard aside, but he was afraid this stutterer would shout out and draw the attention of the grey humanoids. Thus, Tai Yuanjun had no choice but to reluctantly drag the man along as he raced out of the city. His hatred for the stutterer was overflowing by now, and he planned to slaughter the man as soon as they left the city.

The stutterer was clinging tightly to Tai Yuanjun's back when he happened to turn around and see Lu Yin. Excited, he started shouting, "Me- meat!"

Tai Yuanjun's expression abruptly changed, and he slapped the leech's face. "Shut up!"

The stutterer grew sullen, but he could only point at Lu Yin and mouth, "Meat."

Lu Yin blinked when he saw Tai Yuanjun dragging the stutterer away. Lu Yin was confused, Meat?

"Seventh Bro, get out of the city! What are you doing here? Don't let those ghosts find you!" The Ghost Monkey was terrified, as this place was indeed quite frightening.

Lu Yin took a deep breath and looked around. He made sure to avoid every aftershock of the battle, but he was focused on the void.

Before much more time passed, the grey corpse king figure charged forward in the exact same position as before.

At this moment, Lu Yin's eyes opened wide, and he clenched his fists as he carefully watched.

The void split open, a finger descended and directly shattered the corpse king, and then immediately vanished.

Lu Yin had not seen the figure behind that finger, and he felt frustrated. He was still too far away, and it had not worked. He would try again.

The next day, Lu Yin carefully watched the same scene take place once again.

The corpse king crashed forward, the finger tore through the void, and it fell onto the grey figure. A solitary finger shattered the corpse king.

This time, Lu Yin was standing much closer to the corpse king, and the shockwaves from the finger attack almost touched him. But despite how close he was, he still could not see anything clearly, though he had seen a bit of long hair.

Lu Yin's breath quickened; it was a woman! The person who had used the Dream Finger was a woman!

His eyes grew feverish. Again! He had to see it clearly.

This time, he moved even closer, basically standing right next to the corpse king.

Off in the distance, Qiu Shi was staring at the sky. This entire time, she had been observing the ancient powerhouse using the Cosmic Art, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw where Lu Yin had positioned himself, and her gaze trembled. "Move further away. You'll get caught up."

Lu Yin did not seem to hear her as he ignored her.

Qiu Shi frowned, "You'll die if that attack even glances at you. Move back. You can't handle an attack on that level."

Lu Yin looked over at her. "Mind your own business."

Qiu Shi's eyes grew cold. "Don't drag us down if you want to die! Move back."

Lu Yin growled, "Shut up!"

Qiu Shi's expression froze over, and she wanted to make a move, but there were grey humanoids locked in intense battle all around her. She would be easily discovered if she attacked. "This is the only opportunity you'll have. Don't make this mistake."

According to Lu Yin's estimations, the scene should be taking place soon.

The next moment, the corpse king rushed forward.

Just like before, the void split open, and the Dream Finger fell.

Lu Yin could personally feel the power of that finger from where he was standing next to the corpse king. This finger carried an unimaginable coldness along with a power capable of destroying heaven and earth. It felt as though the sky had frozen over and been sealed by this power. It was a strength that normal people could not withstand.

Even if Lu Yin was capable of unleashing attacks whose power level exceeded 300,000, in front of this finger he was no stronger than a commoner.

As the finger descended, Qiu Shi's expression changed even though she was observing it from some distance away.

A chessboard suddenly appeared beneath Lu Yin's fee; it was the Ce Secret Art, Astral Chessboard. He repositioned his body and instantly vanished as the corpse king was crushed by the finger. Lu Yin reappeared beside the shattered void, and he looked within to see a grey humanoid hiding there. There was a carved, grey symbol on the figure's chest, and it seemed to be shaped like a cloud.

The shattered void would have normally restored itself, but Lu Yin's sudden appearance attracted the attention of the hidden grey humanoid. The figure in the void actually raised a finger once again, this time aimed at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin felt his hair stand on end, and he felt his heart skip a few beats. He reflexively used the Ce Secret Art again to try to escape, but the Dream Finger shot past his side, shattering his shoulder along with half of his body. Fresh blood splashed down to the ground.

Lu Yin's entire body crashed to the ground, and he spat out a mouthful of blood; half of his body had practically disappeared.

Due to the sudden change in this area, the grey humanoids that had originally been locked in intense battle were all drawn over, and they all attacked Lu Yin.

Off in the distance, Qiu Shi's expression grew ugly. That idiot!

Lu Yin looked up and saw numerous grey figures ready to attack him from all sides. These remnant spiritual force figures had all been quite powerful in their life, and there were even corpse kings among them. Lu Yin struggled to stand up as he gritted his teeth. Being surrounded meant death.

He then glanced over at Qiu Shi.

Qiu Shi's heart fell, and a bad premonition washed over her.

Lu Yin used the Ce Secret Art again, this time repositioning his body in front of Qiu Shi. "Sorry, I'll make this up to you in the future!"

He then shot out of the city. He was hoping to use Qiu Shi as bait to distract his attackers.

The grey humanoids that had been lured over suddenly rained their attacks down, targeting both Lu Yin and Qiu Shi.

At this moment, Qiu Shi felt nothing aside from an overflowing hatred towards Lu Yin. This scoundrel had actually dragged her down, and if she had known that this would happen, she would have defeated him back in the Cosmic Sect.

However, Lu Yin had truly been left with no alternatives, as there was no way for him to escape on his own. However, if it was with Qiu Shi, then things were different.

This was the same situation as when Lu Yin and the others had been found themselves on the Sixth Mainland's transport continent. Lu Yin had only managed to save the Outerverse cultivators after dragging the people from the Innerverse down along with them.

They would either live together or die together.

Qiu Shi had light feet, and she instantly shot past Lu Yin. She looked back at him with cold eyes. "If we survive, I'll make you pay for this."

She then left him far behind.

The Astral Chessboard reappeared underneath Lu Yin's feet. "If that's the case, then I won't be polite any longer. Grand Senior, I'm sorry."

Lu Yin disappeared, and he reappeared far in front of Qiu Shi.

She snorted as hundreds of stars appeared around her. A faint halo was emitted from her body as the stars all revolved. This light then formed a sword of stars, and it slashed down at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin's expression changed, and he quickly waved a hand and used the Yu Secret Art to divert the sword slash. The attack streaked through the void and sliced open the earth, attracting the attention of even more grey figures.

At this moment, the surrounding stars suddenly vanished, and more swords formed and slashed at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin was horrified; what sort of sword technique was this?

The sword qi covered the sky, and in Lu Yin's current situation, there was no way for him to endure such an attack.

Qiu Shi did not launch any fatal blows at him, as she was instead merely using the sword qi to trap him as she shot past with a cold glint in her eyes.

Lu Yin attempted to use the Vacuum Palm to break up the starry sword technique, but half of his body was still numb, which left him unable to use the technique.

The two traded several blows within the span of just a few breaths. Lu Yin had been trapped by Qiu Shi's sword technique, and although he wanted to use the Ce Secret Art to escape, he had already used it several times in a row. Thus, his body would not be able to take another use. Countless grey figures had appeared and surrounded him from all directions.

As he watched Qiu Shi leave, Lu Yin was left with no choice. His die appeared in his hand, and he tapped it with a finger. The die spun as Lu Yin dodged the various attacks from Qiu Shi's sword technique.

The die eventually stopped on three pips: Enhance. Lu Yin waved a hand, instantly dispelled the two light screens, gathered some star energy, and formed a star energy crystal that instantly restored the die.

He tapped out again.

All around him, the grey humanoids were drawing closer, especially from above. A grey figure smashed down at him, and it seemed to be another corpse king.

The die stopped again. Four pips: Timestop.

The scenery changed before his eyes, and he appeared in a grey-white space.

Lu Yin heaved a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the die had finished in time. Otherwise, it would have been very difficult for him to escape.

Lu Yin endured his suffering as he collapsed to the floor. His cosmic ring had been taken away upon entering the Mountain and Seas Zone, so he did not have anything to treat himself with. All he could rely upon was time.

Fortunately, he was a Cruiser, which meant that he could forcefully converge star energy to form star crystals. There was no star energy in this grey-white space, but the amount of star energy that revolved within his own body was enormous.

Lu Yin screened the Ghost Monkey off and began to revolve the star energy within his body and gather it over his palm. The process was not fast, but was enough to maintain the timer in the Timestop Space.

Lu Yin's star energy reserves could rival those of an Enlighter, so it would be no problem for him to form star energy crystals equivalent to hundreds of star essence. As he did this, his injuries slowly recovered.

He looked around the space and then thought of the design that he had seen within that spatial tear. Lu YIn was certain that he had never seen a design like that before and decided that he would not think of it any further for the time being.

As he recited the Stonewall Scriptures, he continued to form star energy crystals.

A month soon passed, and he had recovered to where half of his body was no longer numb, though that also meant that he was now forced to suffer the full force of the pain.

Lu Yin gritted his teeth and slowly exhaled. Continue.

Without any medications, he could only slowly recover through his body's natural ability.

Another month passed, and then another. Soon, two months had gone by.

He had spent more than four months in the Timestop Space now, and the shattered half of his body had recovered about half way. Continue.

…

As the scenery changed before his eyes, Lu Yin emerged from the Timestop Space to see Qiu Shi fleeing into the distance. Above him, there was still the grey figure that had been a corpse king in the past, and it was descending with an attack. Also, he was surrounded by the blades of Qiu Shi's sword technique.

The Astral Chessboard appeared beneath his feet, and he repositioned himself.

The next moment, Lu Yin appeared outside of the encirclement formed by the sword technique, and he was not too far away from Qiu Shi.

Qiu Shi turned around, surprised. Impossible!

Lu Yin could not possibly use a secret technique that many times in a row. Even if he had several secret techniques, he had already used this one several times before, so how could his body endure the stress?