Star Odyssey

"The Neoverse is truly dark. So this is how the Hall of Honor handles things. The so-called "Astral Tower contest" is actually just a massive stage to them, and not even the Seven Courts can change this," Starsibyl mumbled to herself as she stared off into the distance. She hoped that the rest would do as they had said, as only by joining forces could they create a miracle.

Strangely enough, Starsibyl suddenly thought of Lu Yin. That person was the only variable in her plans, as she could not divine anything about Lu Yin.

"I hope that you'll be able to create a miracle," Starsibyl muttered, though she did not even know who she was talking about.

…

Lu Yin led Black and White along towards a tall mountain at a startling speed. As they arrived at the foot of the mountain, they saw Lan Si sweeping out in all directions with Vacuum Palms, beating all of the other cultivators until they could not even move. By this time, quite a few people were already floating in the sea and wailing in agony.

When he saw Lu Yin arrive, Lan Si's eyes lit up. "I knew that you'd come! There's no way you'd miss out on something like this."

Before Lu Yin even had a chance to reply, White spoke up. "Hey, Lu Yin, introduce us to this handsome guy."

Black also looked highly expectant.

Lu Yin was speechless. "This is Lan Si. Is he handsome?"

Black and White both nodded vigorously.

Lan Si looked at the two brats in surprise. He then seemed to remember something, and a strange expression appeared on his face. "Are they from Eversky Island?"

Lu Yin nodded, and helplessly said, "And full of trouble."

Black and White glared at Lu Yin, as though they were signalling for him to shut up.

Lan Si was amused.

Off in the distance, a veiled woman observed the group as she drew closer.

Lu Yin's group looked over at her in turn.

After drawing close, the woman peeled off her veil and revealed her unique features.

The others were all stunned, even Black and White.

"Azure Mansion's Flower Queen Ming Yu?" Lu Yin blurted out, rather surprised.

Azure Mansion's Flower Queen Ming Yu, Ming Yu, was standing in front of them. Lu Yin had seen this woman in the Azure Mansion outside of the Mountain and Seas Zone, and she had left a rather deep impression on him.

She smiled, "Hello, everyone."

"Why are you here?" Lu Yin was puzzled.

Ming Yu smiled. "Although Azure Mansion is a place of entertainment, it's also one of the Neoverse's great powers. The Mountain and Seas Zone is the entire Human Domain's inheritance, and any who know its location are free to enter."

Lu Yin instantly understood.

"Eh? Lu Yin, you went to Azure Mansion? I'm going to tell Master!" Black exclaimed as she glared at Ming Yu.

White was also quite upset. "We definitely need to tell Master and Senior Shenwei as well."

Lu Yin really wanted to interject and say that Highsage Shenwei was the person who had first taken him to Azure Mansion, but he did not dare to say anything after thinking about it. After all, Highsage Shenwei might be staring at Lu Yin right at this moment.

Lu Yin had not guessed wrongly, as Highsage Shenwei was indeed staring at their small group at this moment. Or rather, he was staring at Ming Yu with a readily apparent look of infatuation. What a beautiful lady.

Lan Si had no interest in Ming Yu, and he turned to Lu Yin. "If I'm not wrong, this should be a drop of Progenitor's blood. Brother Lu, if you want it, you can have it."

"Seventh Bro, quit messing around! Go and grab the Progenitor's blood! That's Progenitor's blood!" The Ghost Monkey had lost his patience.

Lu Yin apologized to Lan Si. "I'm sorry, but this Progenitor's blood is very valuable to me, so I'll pay you back when we get out of here."

Lan Si shook his head. "There's no need."

He then muttered, "On our way to Neoverse, Starsibyl told us that we had to join forces if we wanted any possibility of one of the Ten Arbiters becoming one of the Cosmic Five. We have to try our best to break the norm of the Cosmic Five only coming from the Neoverse."

Lu Yin laughed. "If you guys actually listened to her, then you wouldn't be known as the Ten Arbiters."

Lan Si smiled. "She underestimated us. Even if all of us fail to become one of the Cosmic Five and fail to obtain an inheritance, we still won't team up. The Ten Arbiters are ten individuals, though these are just my own thoughts."

"But at the time, you guys still agreed to join forces, right?" Lu Yin was puzzled.

Lan Si explained, "Only so that we could get some more information about the Astral Tower contest. Besides, don't you feel like the Starsibyl Sect is too obsessed with this contest for the Cosmic Five? The Starsibyl Sect has always been pretty much considered supernatural, and yet, they created the Top 100 Rankings while excluding the Ten Arbiters. Now, they're trying to interfere with the Neoverse's Cosmic Five. I have a nagging feeling that they're plotting something."

Lu Yin nodded, as he had the same feeling as well. The Starsibyl Sect had always been exceptionally mysterious, and it was not strange to suspect that they were plotting something.

"Seventh Bro, go get the drop of Progenitor's blood!" The Ghost Monkey was really feeling frustrated.

Lu Yin laughed, as there was no reason to be so anxious. That was because a fearsome strength had appeared long ago from another direction. Both Lan Si and Azure Mansion's Flower Queen Ming Yu were able to sense it; why else would they be idly chatting away at the foot of the mountain?

That terrifying strength definitely belonged to an Enlighter, though they did not know who the powerhouse was.

The others did not speak anymore, and they all made their way towards the tall mountain.

To their right, the sea surged, and the seawater was scorched by a high temperature. At the same time, white fog also appeared.

A warhorse whinnied, and an illusory black fire burned the void. An expert from Burial Garden had appeared at the foot of this mountain: Yōu Qi.

The Yōu family's heir was Yōu Qin while Burial Garden's heir was known as Yōu Qi; their names were off by just a single letter.

Azure Mansion was an entertainment venue, but they had an impressive reputation throughout the Neoverse, especially after the Sixth Mainland's invasion. During that time, one of the Azure Mansions had made its way into the Cosmic Sea, and it had flown through the sky there.

Ming Yu was Azure Mansion's Flower Queen Ming Yu, and she was a super genius who had already become a Hunter. Naturally, she was also able to see the person from Burial Garden.

Black and White were similarly able to see him.

It could be said that, of those who had gathered around Lu Yin, they were all among the cream of the crop within the Mountain and Seas Zone aside from Black and White. However, the two brats were so fast that not even Ku Lei could catch up to them, and nobody could deny that they were among the top in their generation.

As Lu Yin looked at the slowly approaching Yōu Qi, he took a deep breath. The image of this person matched that of the warhorse-riding illusory figure that Lu Yin had once seen in the Outerverse. "An eye of cold indifference" was clearly meant to describe this person.

When Lu Yin saw that figure in the Outerverse, the person had ridden the warhorse through space, and they had almost destroyed his spacecraft. That person had clearly been from Burial Garden.

Of the Three Dark Hands, Burial Garden was the most mysterious.

Lu Yin seemed to have some connection to Burial Garden, as Xuan Jiu had once said that Burial Garden would come to look for Lu Yin.

The illusory black flames spread out, and they burned the base of the mountain before spreading out all over the sea.

The other cultivators hurriedly moved away, as there were some who could not even see Yōu Qi, though those who could had slipped away at the first opportunity.

Lan Si's face turned solemn, and he took a step forward. "Brother Lu, I'll pave the way for you."

Lu Yin frowned. "Be careful."

Lan Si approached Yōu Qi, step by step.

The illusory black flames covering Yōu Qi formed a spear that he raised up to point at Lan Si. "Leave the Mountain and Seas Zone."

Lan Si looked up and boldly charged forward while unleashing a palm: One Hundred Fifty Stacks.

Yōu Qi's black spear shot forward.

A palm and spear collided, and the void shattered in a spiderweb-like pattern. Lan Si's expression immediately changed. He had known that Yōu Qi was very powerful, but the Arbiter had not expected his opponent to be capable of directly blocking One Hundred Fifty Stacks. Was this person's physical strength really that impressive?

No, it was the might of the warhorse.

Yōu Qi was a cavalier, and he had merged his strength with his warhorse, pushing his strength to a level unimaginable to the layperson.

Even so, Yōu Qi was still shocked at the strength of Lan Si's Overlaying Stacks Path. Yōu Qi was confident that very few could actually block his spear; Liu Tianmu had relied on the Thirteen Swords to do so while this Lan Si had relied on his Overlaying Stacks Path.

The warhorse whinnied and screamed at the sky, causing the illusory black flames to shoot forward to swallow Lan Si.

Lan Si fell back, and his palm quivered as he struck out with a Vacuum Palm. Off in the distance, Lu Yin's eyes went wide.

Not only was Vacuum Palm one of Lan Si's trump cards, but it was also his most powerful attack. Vacuum Palm was an invisible palm strike, and even if one was able to sense it, they still might not be able to dodge it let alone withstand its power.

In Lu Yin's experience, only two people had been able to receive a Vacuum Palm head on so far. One was Mu Ziying, who could rely on his innate gift of wood armor, though he had not been able to take more than just a few blows. The other person was Shang Qing, who had resisted it with his Tri-Yang Technique.

Shang Qing was the only person who had been able to take a full force Vacuum Palm, as even Lei Nu had spat out blood after being struck.

The rune lines of each Vacuum Palm were numerous, and Lu Yin could see this palm attack pass through the void before arriving in front of Yōu Qi. Suddenly, the illusory black flames flared up; the Vacuum Palm did not land on Yōu Qi and instead struck the black flames that now enveloped his body. The attack managed to dissipate quite a few of the black flames, but Yōu Qi did not take even half a step back.

Lan Si had a solemn expression, as very few were able to receive his Vacuum Palm like this. This person from Burial Garden was quite terrifying.

Yōu Qi looked at his opponent with admiration. "The Ten Arbiters truly have a justified reputation. Liu Tianmu was very powerful, and you are also very powerful. What a pity."

Suddenly, a desolate and miserable whistling rang out, and a strange book appeared above the cavalier's head.

"There was once a powerhouse in the ancient times known as Dun Jiu, and his innate gift was that of a shield," Yōu Qi slowly stated. As he spoke, the black flames covering him vanished and a shield appeared in front of him instead.

Lan Si's brows rose. Yōu Qi had retracted his black flames, which indicated that those flames were not able to take more than a few Vacuum Palms. Thus, Lan Si should have simply unleashed a barrage of Vacuum Palms, but suddenly, those flames had been replaced by a shield.

Some distance away, Lu Yin's eyes grew sharp; what kind of innate gift was this? Dun Jiu's shield? Could Yōu Qi borrow other people's innate gifts?

At Lu Yin's side, Azure Mansion's Ming Yu turned pale. "Legend has it that Burial Garden is a place where the dead are reborn. It's indeed true that Dun Jiu was a powerhouse who died many years ago, and his innate gift was indeed the shield that's being used right now."

Lu Yin was overwhelmed, as this person was really borrowing someone else's innate gift and a dead person's at that.

Black and White looked panicked, and they stared at Yōu Qi with fearful faces. This person was very strange.

Lan Si did not think much on the matter, and he simply attacked with a Vacuum Palm.

His Vacuum Palms were extremely powerful, and this one shot through the void to arrive right before Yōu Qi. There was a loud bang, and the shield protecting Yōu Qi had a section of it visibly sink in, but it was able to block the Vacuum Palm.

Yōu Qi raised his spear and charged at Lan Si, thrusting his spear forward. The shaft spun in his grip, and the tip pierced through the void.

Lan Si tried to dodge, and the spear that Yōu Qi had thrust at the Arbiter was suddenly forcefully diverted, and it stabbed at Lu Yin instead. Since he was not able to strike Lan Si, Yōu Qi had decided to attack someone else, as he wanted to strike someone.

Black and White screamed and took off.

Ming Yu wanted to dodge, but Yōu Qi's spear had freezed her in place, and she could not move. Although she was a Hunter, how much battle experience could she have accumulated while growing up in an entertainment venue like Azure Mansion? When Lu Yin saw the spear stab towards him, he grabbed Ming Yu, tossed her aside, raised a hand, and then grabbed the spear. Nine lined battle force shot into the sky, and One Hundred Seventy Stacks vibrated from his hand.

The shield protecting Yōu Qi's body grew unstable, and he was not able to hold his spear steady.

Lu Yin barked, "Get down!"

He then used his strength to try to force Yōu Qi to the ground.

Yōu Qi released the spear in his hand, allowing the weapon to be taken away by Lu Yin. The cavalier then grabbed his warhorse's reins, prompting the beast to release a high-pitched whinny as its forelegs rose high into the sky before crashing down onto Lu Yin.

Lu Yin's pupils transformed into runes as he stared at the warhorse's descending hooves and erased some of its runes. At the same time, his left palm lashed out with a Vacuum Palm.

There was a bang, and Yōu Qi was struck. This time, he was truly struck, and he was blasted off of his horse. When the warhorse's hooves slammed into Lu Yin, he only retreated a few steps. Then, Lu Yin raised his hands and converged Twin Suns to attack the warhorse.