Star Odyssey

Chapter 2151: Three Items

"The Impious Sutra is a very strange power," Undying Yushan slowly explained as madness darkened his eyes. He suddenly seemed completely different from the refined emperor that Lu Yin had met years before. "I don't know if it’s conscious, but it is able to alter a person’s subconscious and shift their thinking, guiding them to do things that should have been impossible for them to even consider previously. It can even force someone to unconsciously search for something.”

"I spent many years searching through Frostwave Weave. In fact, the Great Yu Empire was founded because of the Impious Sutra. However, I was unable to find what I sought. In order to draw more attention, I controlled a puppet and called him Undying Zishan. I controlled that puppet and had him risk his life in the Starfall Sea, and then I spread lies that the two of us had found the Undying Manual. While I thought that all of these thoughts and actions were my own, it’s very possible that I was being controlled and guided by the Impious Sutra."

Undying Yushan looked at Lu Yin. "There are too many strange creatures in this universe, and it’s not impossible for the Impious Sutra to have actually gained its own form of life or consciousness. You should ask Progenitor Yōu how she created that technique in the first place."

"How do I know that what you’re saying right now isn’t because you’re being manipulated by the Impious Sutra?" Lu Yin shot back.

Undying Yushan shook his head. "The Impious Sutra inside of me has already been suppressed."

Big Sis spoke up, "I suppressed the Impious Sutra, not only in his body, but also in the bodies of everyone in the Yōu clan. If I hadn’t, it’s quite likely that we’d be hearing a different story from him."

Lu Yin was more than a bit incredulous at the story he was being told. "A battle technique can evolve into a lifeform?"

"Nothing’s impossible," Big Sis replied.

Lu Yin could not stop himself from asking a rather pointed question, "Big Sis, why did you even create such a thing? If a battle technique can gain consciousness and spread from one person to another, then isn’t it no different from a plague that can’t be eliminated?"

Big Sis’s brow furrowed. "Are you blaming me?"

Lu Yin's mouth twitched. "No, of course not. I was just asking out of curiosity."

Big Sis looked back at Undying Yushan. "I'm also curious about something—what did the Impious Sutra manipulate you into unconsciously searching for?"

Lu Yin jumped in, "You started creeping around Earth. Was that because you were looking for something there?"

Undying Yushan nodded. "I can't live any longer, so I’ll just tell you everything that I want to say. All I hope is that you’ll find the Impious Sutra. That thing’s ruined my entire life!"

The injured man’s speech was becoming increasingly clear. The Impious Sutra had indeed been suppressed, and its influence on Undying Yushan was fading. At this moment, the true Undying Yushan was speaking.

Despite that, he still made no mention of Wendy. In the man’s heart, revenge was more important than his daughter.

The fact that the man wanted revenge on a battle technique sounded absurd, but at this moment, no one who heard Undying Yushan’s request felt anything wrong with his words. This battle technique spread like a cancer.

"I don't even know when it started. It should have been right after the Impious Sutra entered my body, or maybe when I became an Explorer. Somewhere around that time, a desire to find something blossomed in my mind. The desire grew and lingered like an addiction that eventually consumed me. I could not wait to leave the region that became the Great Yu Empire, and then I felt an irresistible push to search through all of Frostwave Weave for those things.

"I don't know where those things came from, or even what use they possess. All I know is that I must find them, even if it costs me my life!" As Undying Yushan spoke, his voice grew louder and more manic. It was clear that just sharing what he had experienced was causing his mind to become chaotic.

Lu Yin glanced over at Big Sis, but she just shook her head. "Listen to him—he’s not in control of himself anymore. Even though I was able to suppress the Impious Sutra, my question just triggered its control of him. Listen to everything he says, as he’s about to run out of time."

Lu Yin looked back at Undying Yushan, not sure of his own emotions.

Undying Yushan's eyes had lost all focus as he continued to recount his struggles of searching for something. "I went through Northcastle Weave, Darkmist Weave, and Grandtop Weave. I went through them all, taking control of tens of thousands of people as I searched one planet after another, but I never managed to find it. I eventually realized that the more time passed without being able to find it, the stronger the urge grew. By myself, I was limited in what I could accomplish, so I decided to get more people to help.

"I revealed the Undying Manual, and that drew in many powerful people and organizations from across the universe, and then I used their resources to find everything unusual in Frostwave Weave. Finally, one day-" At this moment, Undying Yushan suddenly looked at Lu Yin once more. "You arrived, and you brought with you information about Earth, a small planet with an unusual history. Not only that, but its history is actually fabricated, a story put together by historians and other people.

"In a strange cycle, Earth's civilizations are wiped out. However, it remains the home of an exceptionally large number of primeval surnames, and a shocking number of cultivators from Earth awaken innate gifts. Nothing is right or normal on that planet, and there’s even a secret organization known as the Hidden Earth Society. Nothing about the place was normal, so I started focusing on Earth.

"But- but I still haven't found anything! Earth to be seems the most likely place, and they should be there, they have to be!…"

"What are you searching for?" Lu Yin suddenly shouted, startling everyone present.

Undying Yushan blurted out, "Three things! A sword, a bead, and another item that I don't even know what it is!"

Right then, the man spat out a mouthful of blood, and the madness faded from his eyes. His eyes grew clear, but the light in them dimmed. It was clear that the man was about to die.

Lu Yin frowned. A sword? And a bead? On Earth? What's so special about Earth? I mean, sure, there’s a lot, but the most unique thing has to be… Jiang Chen!

While at first look Jiang Chen looked to be about the same age as Lu Yin, and even had a similar level of cultivation, the man was able to accurately and quickly travel between parallel universes. If not for Jiang Chen, Lu Yin really would not have been able to deal with the giant astral beast that looked like a praying mantis.

Jiang Chen only appeared on Earth, and he even claimed that Earth was his home, but Lu Yin was certain that the Earth that Jiang Chen was referring to was one in a parallel universe.

The fact that Jiang Chen had also taken that giant praying mantis to be his father’s pet indicated that his father was quite powerful.

It was possible that the three items that Undying Yushan had been searching for were not on the Earth that Lu Yin knew, but rather on one in a parallel universe. Of course, that was nothing more than speculation on Lu Yin’s part. Frostwave Weave was absolutely massive, but since that was where Undying Yushan had focused his search, it seemed that what he had been searching for was likely within that area.

"Find the Impious Sutra and destroy it! Get rid of it!" The light in Undying Yushan's eyes was quickly fading, but his hatred did not dim at all. Even at the moment of his death, all he could think about was getting revenge on the Impious Sutra.

The Impious Sutra had not given Undying Yushan the status and strength he had desired, but had instead controlled him like a puppet just like how Undying Yushan had controlled Undying Zishan. This was what caused the man to absolutely hate the Impious Sutra beyond anything else.

Lu Yin's eyes flickered as he stared at the hatred Undying Yushan spouted even as he died. Lu Yin bent over and leaned in to whisper in the man’s ear, "Wendy has an innate gift of time."

The dying man’s pupils instantly shrank, and he stared at Lu Yin in disbelief. The hatred that had filled his eyes was completely gone, and instead they blazed with excitement and hope. Time was a truly unique innate gift, and Wendy would be invincible once she managed to control it fully. "Really?"

Lu Yin nodded.

Undying Yushan laughed, though it caused him to cough up more blood. He continued a loud cackle, "She’ll be the one to carry out my wish, hahahaha!"

With a final cough of blood, the man finally died.

Lu Yin could not stand seeing Undying Yushan die. He had not wanted the man to die, lost in his hatred, without even thinking of his daughter, as that was just too pitiful for Wendy. No matter what, Undying Yushan had provided Lu Yin with a great deal of assistance and helped him have an easier time when he first started cultivating.

That was a kindness that Lu Yin had to repay.

The saddest thing in a person's life was not revenge itself, but rather how after they got their revenge, their life would be empty. They would find themselves without even family by their side.

Lu Yin already had no intention of sharing what had happened here with Wendy Yushan. It would be better for her to believe that her father had died long ago.

Yōu Lao motioned to Yōu Kexin, and the woman stepped forward to take away the corpse.

However, Big Sis looked over and snapped, "Don't touch it!"

Right then, everyone watched as a mass of energy rose up from Undying Yushan's body. It churned and twisted as it slowly rose further into the air. It looked like a human face, and it even had eyes. It had the exact same appearance as Undying Yushan.

"Little Seven, do you want that? It can improve your spiritual force a great deal," Big Sis offered.

Lu Yin refused. This mass of energy looked like Undying Yushan, and absorbing it would be too disturbing. Even though Lu Yin knew that he needed to improve his spiritual force, he had the time to do that without resorting to this.

He had already seen remnants of spiritual force emerge from Liuying Zishan, which was only to be expected, as that energy was from Undying Yushan’s Undying Manual that was used to control people. This energy that had emerged from Undying Yushan’s corpse was a more complete version of what Lu Yin had seen emerge from Liuying Zishan. Lu Yin suspected that what he was looking at might have already acquired its own consciousness.

Undying Yushan had controlled a multitude of people with the Undying Manual, but his own body had been the host for the Impious Sutra, though the battle technique had no physical form itself. It was something that Lu Yin struggled to understand.

However, just because Lu Yin did not want to absorb the remnant spiritual force did not mean that no one else wanted it. For example, Kui Luo.

The old man had arrived after sensing the surge of energy from Big Sis, and he had been watching everything take place from just beyond the Yōu clan’s territory, just like Destina and Lu Buzheng.

All three of the Semi-Progenitors had heard Undying Yushan’s final words.

After seeing the energy rise up from Undying Yushan's body, Kui Luo quickly appeared and grabbed hold of the spiritual force. "You might not want it, but an old man like me won’t say no."

He then proceeded to absorb the spiritual force that had emerged from Undying Yushan’s corpse with a strange smile.

Lu Yin quickly asked, "Big Sis, he’s not going to be controlled by the Undying Manual, right?"

Big Sis rolled her eyes. "Do you really think that I would offer you something if it was dangerous?"

Lu Yin realized that this was quite true after a moment’s thought.

Kui Luo sneered. "Kid, who do you think I am? Don’t forget that I’ve also trained with the Origin Progenitor’s Sutra."

It was only then that Lu Yin remembered. The entire reason why Kui Luo had become so powerful and been able to get away with so much in the Perennial World was because he had practiced the Origin Sutra. Truthfully, Kui Luo was almost as powerful as the ancient gatemasters of the Twelve Heavenly Gates.

In the past, it had been Lu Yin’s confidence in the Origin Sutra that had allowed him to be so confident about resisting Undying Yushan’s control.

"Speaking of this, I've never even heard of a technique that can control people like this." Kui Luo looked over at Big Sis. This woman was Progenitor Yōu, an ancient powerhouse in the flesh.

Kui Luo then looked at Lu Yin again, and the mirror by his side. That mirror held Progenitor Smoke. Why were more and more Progenitors from ancient eras suddenly popping up? Were there going to be more?

The old man suddenly felt that things were spinning out of control and that he needed to quickly change his ways. If not, he would suffer the same life in the Fifth Mainland as he had in the Perennial World, and he might end up with no way to survive even in the Fifth Mainland.

After Kui Luo left, Lu Buzheng and Destina did the same.

Lu Yin burned Undying Yushan’s body, and Big Sis worked to erase the Impious Sutra from the bodies of everyone in the Yōu clan.

After everything else was finished, the members of the Yōu clan were finally given a turn to speak.

Yōu Lao stared at Big Sis, and respectfully asked, "You- are you really Progenitor Yōu Ming?"

The members of the Yōu clan had not believed it at first, but they had just witnessed everything leading up to and surrounding Undying Yushan’s death. After all that, it became a bit difficult not to believe this woman was Progenitor Yōu. Who else could take away the Yōu Secret Art and have their cultivation instantly rise several levels? How else could this woman have been able to control Undying Yushan so easily?

Big Sis just nodded. At this moment, her appearance should be that of the original Progenitor Yōu. "You aren’t my descendants."

Yōu Lao and the others were astonished, and Yōu Keyan could not stop herself from saying, "But we are Progenitor Yōu Ming’s descendants!"

Big Sis replied, "Even if I don’t have my memories from my time as Progenitor Yōu Ming and am essentially living a new life, I’m still absolutely certain that I didn’t have any children. I have no idea what happened to your family that allowed you to inherit my Yōu Secret Art, but I took that back just now."