Star Odyssey

Chapter 2109: Blood Alchemy

Arch-Elder Zen’s voice grew contemptuous. "I’d sooner believe that Junior Lu will become a Progenitor before me than you."

The man quickly gave Lu Yin an odd look. "You won’t actually get there faster than us, right?"

Lu Yin rolled his eyes. "I'm not that fast. If I were to guess at who’ll be the fastest, I’d put my money on Brother Qing Ping."

Arch-Elder Zen sighed in agreement. "Yes, Qing Ping will reach that level very soon."

Kui Luo grinned. "He’s a monster who came out of absolutely nowhere. An Envoy who can go against Semi-Progenitors… When he actually becomes a Semi-Progenitor, I’d assume that even Hen Xin and the other gatemasters might not be his opponents."

"Definitely not!" Lu Yin affirmed. While the ancient gatemasters from the Heavens Sect, like Hen Xin, were incredibly powerful and ranked at the very top of the Semi-Progenitor realm, Lu Yin felt confident that when he became a Semi-Progenitor—no, even before that—he would be capable of fighting against such experts. As for his senior brother, Qing Ping, the man’s talent was at least equal to Lu Yin’s own, as both of them had been acknowledged by Mister Mu and accepted as his disciples. Lu Yin was eager to see how powerful his senior brother would become when he became a Semi-Progenitor.

It was truly a pity that all the stellular energy had been stolen from the true universe. Even if Lu Yin’s senior brother wanted to break through and become a Semi-Progenitor, it was impossible to know when that would even be possible.

Arch-Elder Zen left, but before leaving, he mentioned to Lu Yin that the final four cauldrons had been placed in front of the Heavens Sect’s gate.

Lu Yin was thrilled, as these four cauldrons were all that he was missing to complete learning the Ninesuns Cauldron Transformation. He had already been thinking about searching for the last four cauldrons, and he had not expected them to already be collected.

"Where is Lan Xian? Is she still here?" Lu Yin asked Kui Luo. Before Arch-Elder Zen had come to speak with him, Lu Yin had asked Kui Luo to bring Lan Xian to him.

Kui Luo gave a creepy smile. "I'm here, and I personally delivered the invitation to the old man, and old Jiu Yao won’t dare to refuse."

He winked and continued to say, "Are you sure that you don’t have a thing for that girl? She’s quite the looker, and even if she is a good bit older, that’s not that important for cultivators. There’s no denying that the girl’s a good catch."

"Don't even think about it. I just want to talk to her about something." Lu Yin then drove Kui Luo away as Lan Xian approached.

Upon seeing Lu Yin, Lan Xian's emotions grew complicated. She had only met Lu Yin a few times before, but every single time they met, she was stunned. Their latest meeting had been far more terrifying than the previous ones; Lu Yin was clearly just an Envoy and was much, much weaker than Lan Xian, but he had instantly leaped into the sky and far surpassed her. Suddenly, she felt rather guilty.

Lu Yin faced Lan Xian and casually stated, "Give me back my blood."

Lan Xian looked confused. "What blood?"

Lu Yin's eyes grew cold as he continued to stare at the woman. "The blood that spilled onto the pillar in the Daosource Sect’s main hall."

Lan Xian shook her head. "I didn't take it."

Lu Yin frowned. "I’ve already had all five Semi-Progenitors from the Perennial World captured, and there is nothing I don’t dare to do. What is one less Semi-Progenitor? To be frank, it doesn’t matter who it is in the Fifth Mainland—I can deal with them on my own.

"Last chance: give me my blood."

Lan Xian stared at Lu Yin, not doubting his words for a moment. "I can't give it to you, as I already used it."

Lu Yin was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

He had always wondered why Lan Xian had been so determined to acquire his blood, though he had also learned that her desire was not limited to Lu Yin’s, as she also craved Chu Yuan and Heluo Mavis's blood. What was the woman working on? Apparently, it was something that even Jiu Yao had no knowledge of.

Lan Xian thought for a moment before gritting her teeth and explaining. "I used it. I’ve been working on extracting the blood of powerhouses for a long time, and it’s because there are too many bloodline inheritances, many of which require blood to even access the inheritance. You should already know that there are certain people who struggle to produce children. Additionally, the stronger the parents’ cultivation base, the greater the talent of the children often is. It’s even possible for newborns to already have some level of cultivation at birth, and I’ve been studying this phenomenon."

Lu Yin stared blankly at Lan Xian, looking into her eyes. She calmly met his gaze without any fluctuations of emotions.

"I’ll have to admit that you make a very convincing argument. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, actually, ever since you first asked for my blood. Jiu Yao knew that you wanted blood, but not why. This is pretty much a perfect explanation you’ve concocted," Lu Yin slowly replied.

Lan Xian shook her head while looking bitter about the matter. "I knew that you wouldn’t believe me, but it’s true. If you really don't believe me, I can make an oath that this is all true."

Normally, Lu Yin would believe an oath, but he did not believe Lan Xian’s explanation at all.

There was no way that she had been after his blood for something as simple as research, as she would have never helped and saved him so many times. The most extreme example was when she had acted against Jue Yi and protected Lu Yin after the massive battle against the Aeternals. Then, there was also the time when she had made sure that he survived the dangerous standoff in the Daosource Sect’s main hall. She had repeatedly reminded Lu Yin that he owed her favors, and such clear greed and desperation made it readily apparent that Lan Xian’s motivations went far beyond simple research.

Lu Yin stared off into the distance. "While I understand that it’s not a good idea to use force to suppress people in a recently united group, that’s exactly what I’ve always ended up doing.”

"You should already know my family’s history, so you should understand that killing a Semi-Progenitor or two isn’t a problem. Even if Senior Progenitor of Bloodlines needs an explanation for my actions, I already have justification by the fact that you have my blood." He looked back at Lan Xian. "I'll give you one more chance to tell me the truth, or I’ll kill you."

Lan Xian's eyes flickered. "I just told you-"

Lu Yin took a step, and a terrible bloodlust emanated from him. This was no act. While Lan Xian had indeed helped Lu Yin before, this was a matter that concerned his blood. This was not a joking matter, and if the woman did not give him a satisfactory explanation, he would not hesitate to kill her.

Lan Xian stopped in the middle of her sentence and stared at Lu Yin in horror. She could sense that he was ready to kill her at any moment without any regard to the potential consequences. After all, there was no one in the entire Fifth Mainland who could stop Lu Yin from killing whomever he wanted. At this moment, Lu Yin wielded the power of a Progenitor, and it would not be a problem for him to kill a Semi-Progenitor.

Lan Xian’s heart started racing faster and faster as Lu Yin’s killing intent grew stronger. He was just about to attack-

"I can give you back the blood!" Lan Xian blurted.

Lu Yin’s head whipped around to stare at her. "You couldn’t use it?"

"It was useless." Lan Xian ground out between her gritted teeth. Her face was pale, and her veil had fallen away to reveal her exquisite features. She held her three-stringed instrument in her arms.

"Was it useless, or did you not have enough time to use it?" Lu Yin demanded.

Given the current situation, Lan Xian had no choice but to honestly answer all of Lu Yin’s probing questions. "I didn’t have enough time. I'll give you back your blood, and we can settle the debt for the various times I’ve helped you some other way."

Lu Yin shook his head. "You’ve already had my blood for over ten years since you got it in the main hall, and yet you’re claiming that you didn’t have enough time to use it? I don’t believe that at all, and who knows how the blood might affect me if I take it back. I won’t take that risk, so tell me why you didn’t have time, or die."

Lan Xian grew angry. "Now I can't even give it back to you? I swear, I never touched it!"

"Last chance." Lu Yin's voice was like ice from the rampant killing intent that filled it.

Lan Xian’s breathing grew ragged as she felt the pressure from Lu Yin. He slowly started resonating with the stars of the universe with the Cosmic Art, and the pressure of a Progenitor descended. Lan Xian was terrified, and she had no doubt that Lu Yin had the power to end her life in an instant, just like how he had killed two of Aeternus’s Twelve Marquises. Desperate, she asked, "But what if you don't believe me?"

"That's your problem! Make me believe you—if you can’t, you will die!" Lu Yin roared. Lan Xian’s mind trembled.

She had never considered facing such a dilemma. She was a powerful Semi-Progenitor, and even if Jiu Yao tried to press her for an answer, she could have simply used the first explanation that she had given Lu Yin. Who in the universe could force the truth from her lips?

Unexpectedly, Lu Yin had crossed her path. If she had known of this risk, she would not have antagonized him before. Despite risking herself to help him on multiple occasions, all of Lan Xian’s efforts still proved insufficient for her to keep her secret.

"Blood Alchemy!" Lan Xian only managed to force out two words.

However, Lu Yin was confused by her answer. "Blood Alchemy? What’s that?"

Lan Xian deliberately put her veil back in place. "It’s a technique that I happened to stumble across when I was young. It’s a truly miraculous technique, and it allows a person to extract some of a person’s abilities and inherited powers through refining their blood."

Lu Yin frowned. Could such a technique be real? No matter how he thought about it, it sounded too weird. He stared at Lan Xian. Should he believe her, or not?

"It's all here! There’s no need for me to lie to you," Lan Xian’s voice grew weak.

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. "Why would you want to extract the inherited powers of a person?"

"In a fight, such a thing can save your life," Lan Xian replied.𝘧reewℯ𝚋noѵ𝒆l. cｏ𝙢

Lu Yin stopped believing her at this point. "I'm just an Envoy, so what would be the point in using the power of my Champions’ Stage?"

"Of course that would be useless, but your Lu family's inherited power encompasses far more than your Champions’ Stage! Your strength is truly peerless, so if I can extract a bit of that power and incorporate it into my own strength, I could potentially defeat opponents far stronger than me. With Sky Garan’s blood, I can use the Garan family’s unique power," Lan Xian explained. Still terrified that she would not be believed, she removed a drop of blood from her cosmic ring. As she did so, she clenched her jaw as though in physical pain. These were secrets that not even Jiu Yao was privy to.

"Watch." Lan Xian stared at the drop of blood in front of her face and lifted her hands. As delicate, snow-white fingers circled around the drop, the blood was consumed, and only a pale blue light remained behind.

Lu Yin's pupils transformed into runes as he stared at the pale blue glow. Sure enough, it was indeed the Garan family’s unique power. Lan Xian was actually telling the truth about being able to extract inherited abilities from blood.

This was a really odd technique.

The blue light only persisted for a few breaths before disappearing, and once it vanished. Lan Xian’s voice sounded exhausted. "Blood Alchemy isn’t an easy technique to master, and it’s even harder to actually use. The power that can be extracted from the blood is also not predictable, and it’s even possible to gain nothing at all. Sky Garan is a member of the legendary Garan clan, which has a powerful bloodline. On top of that, he’s a direct member of the family from the Heavens Sect Era, so his blood has the highest chance of unlocking that power. If I had used another person’s blood, I might not have been successful."

"Where did this technique even come from?" Lu Yin was curious.

Lan Xian answered bitterly, "I only picked it up by accident from the Mara River."

"Endless River?" Lu Yin was surprised.

Lan Xian nodded. "That's what you call it here in the Fifth Mainland, but in our Sixth Mainland, we call it the Mara River."

The Mara River was what fed the reverse waterfall that fell upwards from the Starfall Sea in the Fifth Mainland to the Sixth Mainland.

Since the river was directly connected to the Starfall Sea, it meant that the technique might have drifted from the Starfall Sea into the Mara River where Lan Xian had found it.

There was no way for Lu Yin to not consider this possibility, as various oddities and treasures had always appeared in the Starfall Sea. Some were from the Sixth Mainland, others from the Perennial World, and still more from ancient eras. All were washed in by the rivers.

This was also why Undying Yushan and Undying Zishan had risked their lives to visit the Starfall Sea all those years ago. There were always people searching the Starfall Sea for treasures.

Lu Yin was amazed. "There are too many weird things in the universe. Your Blood Alchemy technique is really amazing."

Lan Xian was still staring at Lu Yin. "It’s not something that you need to learn. Your heritage from the Lu family is incomparable, and you won’t get any benefits from extracting abilities from other people's blood."

"That's what I was thinking, but that doesn’t mean that it might not be useful in the future," Lu Yin answered. What was left unsaid was very clear: he was interested in Blood Alchemy.

Lan Xian shook her head. "I can teach you the technique if you really want, but you really don't need it."

Lu Yin ended his resonance with the stars of the universe while studying Lan Xian. "Honestly, is my blood that tempting to you? You’ve helped me again and again to the point where even Jiu Yao found it weird. Just the explanation that you’ve given so far seems a bit far fetched."