Star Odyssey

Chapter 1555: Return

In the Middle Realm, at the place where Lu Yin disappeared, Wang Si and other powerhouses from the four ruling powers appeared one after another. Ugly expressions could be seen on all of their faces.

"It's this same scene again! After every single Yuanlun Festival, we send youths to explore the Dominion Realm, and those trespassers always manage to escape with the sourcebox array that Progenitor Hui gave them. It's despicable!" Wang Si ranted.

Ni Huang stared at the ground. Out of everyone present, he was the person who held the greatest hatred for Lu Yin. Lu Yin had toyed with the entire White Dragon Clan and had made them nothing more than a joke in the eyes of the universe.

"We need to rescue Shenfei and the others as soon as possible so that we can ask them what happened in the Forgotten Ruins," Xia Xing said.

Bai Teng quietly said, "Shaohong was killed by that Lu family trash and made into a champion! This deed must be avenged!"

"Avenged? How are you going to do that? He escaped back to the Forsaken Land!" Wang Si asked in an angry voice.

Bai Teng replied, "Xian'er is still in seclusion. As soon as she comes out and learns that Lu Xiaoxuan is still alive and that he killed Shaohong, she will never give up. Everyone, do you prefer to keep your promise, or do you want to eliminate this scourge? Never forget, if Lu Xiaoxuan has children in the Forsaken Land, then they may very well inherit the innate gift of the Champions' Stage, and that innate gift could even allow an idiot to become a supreme powerhouse.

"As soon as Lu Xiaoxuan establishes himself in the Forsaken Land, he will become the master of that place."

Ni Huang looked up. "I cannot let this matter go."

"We need to report this matter to the Progenitors, as only they can make such a decision," Xia Xing cautioned.

Wang Si's voice grew cold. "There is also that Kui Luo. I can't let him go free. And the Lu family's former retainers as well. Some in the Star Alliance can't be left alone."

Xia Xing frowned and shot a glance over at Wang Si, but he said nothing.

A great distance away, the old man laid on the ground, exhausted. He had no thought for his image. He had finally managed to escape from that crazy old woman Wang Si who had wanted to keep fighting him. After getting a moment to think, the old man had to admit that he had never expected the kid to end up being Lu Xiaoxuan. "God willing, I hope that you told me the truth. No, regardless, I need to go to the Forsaken Land to see for myself, but how can I get there?"

He then remembered Wang Yun. If that child could find a way into the Forsaken Land, Kui Luo could do the same.

***

In the Fifth Mainland, in a certain corner of the Honor Zone, Lu Yin, Liu Ye, and Fei Hua all descended to the ground.

Lu Yin was unconscious due to his severe injuries. Because of them, he had not been able to withstand the power of the sourcebox array when it pulled him back to the Fifth Mainland, though Liu Ye and Fei Hua were both fine.

The moment the couple appeared in the Honor Zone, they instantly felt that something was wrong; the space was too delicate in this place.

In the Perennial World, only Envoys or experts above that realm were able to tear open the void, but in the Fifth Mainland, even a Hunter could do so. This was also because the sky had changed. Before that, even Explorers had been able to tear open the void and travel through it. Even though space was more stable around the Honor Zone, it only took an attack with a power level of a bit more than 300,000 to tear through the void, which was far less than the Perennial World.

For Liu Ye and Fei Hua, the Fifth Mainland was too fragile.

This was their first impression of the Fifth Mainland, but their second was the five people surrounding them.

"Where are we?" Sister Fei Hua demanded as she stared at an old man who looked like he had crossed the river of time itself. The man's eyes were half-closed, and he looked ready to die at any time.

"So was it that child?" Not a single person paid any attention to Sister Fei Hua. All five people were focused on Lu Yin, and one of them had spoken up.

"It would seem that the child went there early and then met with the other finalists. He's been seriously injured and needs to be treated," another person commented.

"There's no need to hurry. Rather, look at this odd technique. It's drying up his entire body. It seems a bit familiar. Brother Xia, what do you think?"

"It's similar to the Ku family's technique."

Sister Fei Hua was furious when she saw that not a single person present paid her any attention, and it caused her already bad temper to flare. "I asked you something!"

She fully released the force of her stellular energy, but the moment she did so, an immeasurable power fell upon her. It was almost more than she could bear, and she nearly knelt on the ground.

Mr. Liu Ye quickly tried to help her, but his face was also pale. "Semi-Progenitors."

"Child, don't be in such a hurry. Take your time." The old man right in front of them who looked like he was about to drop dead spoke up and gave them a slight smile.

Sister Fei Hua had gone totally white: five! There were actually five Semi-Progenitors here! She suddenly remembered a certain detail regarding Lu Yin. "We're in the Forsaken Land."

***

In the middle of a desolate plain that held almost nothing aside from some gravel, a bit of tough, withered grass swayed as the wind blew.

There were some people who said that they did not wish to be like grass that bent with whichever direction the wind blew, but there were also others who appreciated the resilience of the grass.

A gust of wind blew and rose up into the sky, picking up a cloud of dust as it swept across the ground. A wooden house stood in the plains, and as the wind struck, a gentle noise rang out. The building looked like it could collapse at any moment.

Inside the shack, a young man's eyes suddenly snapped open. He sat and glanced around himself in a wary manner as confusion clouded his eyes.

Where was he?

This young man was Lu Yin, and he had returned to the Fifth Mainland from the Perennial World.

Given that he had just awoken in an unknown place, Lu Yin subconsciously released his domain to get a better picture of his surroundings.

As he did so, the door to the shack was pushed open, and an old man entered and gazed upon Lu Yin with a fond expression.

Lu Yin was delighted to see the old man. "Arch- Arch-Elder Zen!"

"You're awake," Arch-Elder Zen replied with a smile.

Lu Yin quickly moved to his feet and bowed. "Junior Lu Yin greets Arch-Elder Zen."

The old man sighed. "There's no need for you to be so formal. Just relax. You just came back, but your injuries have already recovered quite quickly."

Most of Lu Yin's injuries were the ones that he had suffered from the five-tribulation powerhouse who had been protecting the Cloud Shuttle, followed by the arrow that had attacked him at the rendezvous point. However, even though all of his injuries were from Envoys, he had also unlocked the miraculous healing power of Extremes Must Be Reversed. Thus, his injuries had all recovered.

Lu Yin was excited, as he had finally returned. He was back in the Fifth Mainland, though he still raised a hand to sense the spatial stability of his location. He was in the Honor Zone.

Arch-Elder Zen observed Lu Yin. "You've changed."

Lu Yin replied, "This junior has managed to greatly improve his cultivation base."

Arch-Elder Zen nodded. "I did not expect you to go to the Perennial World one step ahead of the others. How are they?"

Lu Yin then remembered, and he quickly took out Zenith Mountain and let Shang Qing and the others out.

Arch-Elder Zen was first surprised but then delighted. The meeting point that he had told everyone about was something that could only be used once, which meant that if Lu Yin had returned alone, Shang Qing and others would either die or be trapped in the Perennial World forever. Many people had been trapped in the Perennial World since ancient times, stuck there until they died of old age, but not even death would bring them back.

Arch-Elder Zen and the others had actually already given up on the other youths, and the elder had not expected to receive such a welcome surprise from Lu Yin.

Eleven people had been placed in Zenith Mountain, and besides the five Perennial World natives—Long Xi, Wen Diyi, Crown Prince Gui Qian, Yun Tingting, and Liu Hao—the rest were all released.

Shang Qing, Liu Tianmu, Unseen Light, Yao Xuan, Yuhua Mavis, and Luo Shen.

Several youths appeared, and they all understood that they had returned to the Fifth Mainland when they saw the old man looking at them. However, none of the youths looked too happy. Their entire purpose for traveling to the Perennial World had been to get ahold of Origin Matter and open their three meridian points. While they had survived, they had returned with nothing except their lives.

Outside the shack, Highsage Grandmaster and several other people noticed that Shang Qing and the others had returned safely, and they all heaved sighs of relief.

One of the old men could not help but ask, "Didn't that girl Qiu Shi make it back?"

Lu Yin answered in a respectful tone, "She was trapped, and this junior was powerless to save her."

The old man who had asked was an elder from the Cosmic Sect, and he was one of the Fifth Mainland's seven Semi-Progenitors.

The old man shook his head. He was very upset at the news, but he did not say anything more. There was no reason for him to even ask where Qiu Shi had been trapped. If she was in the Perennial World, then no one would be able to save her even if they fully understood her situation.

"Didn't Xia Luo come back?" the Xia clan's Elder Xia Ji asked as he stared at Lu Yin with burning eyes.

Lu Yin answered in a helpless tone, "This junior never saw him."

Xia Ji was different from the other Semi-Progenitors present, as he was more conniving. He found Lu Yin's answer to be somewhat questionable, but so what?

"Liquor Hero didn't return either."

Lu Yin said, "I never saw or heard anything regarding Liquor Hero or Zhi Yi, though I did meet with Wu Taibai."

Arch-Elder Zen looked back at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin glanced at Shang Qing and others. The truth of Wu Taibai had to be made clear, and even if Lu Yin did not say anything, Shang Qing and others would not keep anything hidden. "Wu Taibai is actually from the Perennial World's Shenwu's Sky."

Arch-Elder Zen was taken aback. "Shenwu's Sky? Isn't that one of the most powerful forces in the Perennial World's Middle Realm?"

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. "Things have completely changed in the Perennial World. Right now, Shenwu's Sky is one of the four ruling powers."

Lu Yin then slowly proceeded to share the information regarding the contemporary circumstances of the Perennial World.

After half an hour, Arch-Elder Zen and the others finally recovered from their shock.

"That Lu family was actually exiled!" Elder Gong was shocked.

Xia Ji drily commented, "The Lu family, that invincible family, has been exiled. That's unbelievable."

"How did the four ruling powers accomplish such a thing? Even if they had the help of the White Dragon Clan, it's no easy feat to get the Ancestral Python to turn over," Highsage Grandmaster said.

Arch-Elder Zen spoke up. "No matter what the situation in the Perennial World is like right now, neither Zhi Yi nor Wu Taibai have returned. We need to explain what happened to the Sixth Mainland's three Progenitors."

This was a task for Arch-Elder Zen and the others to handle, so Lu Yin did not worry about it. He had already said everything that he could. Naturally, there were some things he did not mention, such as how he was a member of the Lu family.

Even though he had the Lu surname, there was absolutely no way for Arch-Elder Zen and the other Semi-Progenitors to make a connection between Lu Yin and that Lu family, as it was simply too absurd.

Lu Yin had no intention of revealing his identity either. Wang Yun had been able to come to enter the Fifth Mainland, and Shaman God had also told Lu Yin that the Perennial World's four ruling powers would hunt him down even if he escaped to the Fifth Mainland. That meant that the Perennial World was not without the means to enter the Fifth Mainland and pursue Lu Yin.

Given those facts, Lu Yin could not risk exposing himself. Who knew if Arch-Elder Zen and the others were capable of resisting the pressure of the four ruling powers without surrendering? While such a possibility seemed unlikely at the moment, anything could change with the circumstances. It was even possible that the Sixth Mainland might eagerly submit to the Perennial World.

Nothing was determined, and Lu Yin had no desire to entrust his fate to others. At this moment, his greatest concern was what Liu Ye and Fei Hua would say.

Over the course of several days, Arch-Elder Zen and the others questioned Shang Qing and other youths, mostly to learn as much about the Perennial World's situation as possible, as well as what had happened in the Dominion Realm. The Semi-Progenitors would not fully trust Lu Yin's words alone.

Shang Qing and the others answered well, and only Yao Xuan mentioned the existence of Long Xi and the others on Zenith Mountain.

Xia Ji went and found Lu Yin to tell Lu Yin to turn over Long Xi and the other youths. He wanted to interrogate them to gain a greater understanding of the Perennial World, but Lu Yin refused.

"Kid, I'm not asking! Hand over those people!" Xia Ji' growled. The way the Seven Courts handled things was not gentle. Xia Ji had let Xia Jiu go after Xia Luo in order to raise the strongest heir possible for the clan, and the elder did not care when Xia Luo had replaced Xia Jiu. That showed Xia Ji's manner of handling things.

OMA's Thoughts

Translated By: OMA

Edited By: Neshi/Nyxnox

TLC'ed By: OMA