Star Odyssey

Chapter 2175: An Incomprehensible Finger

The next moment, a huge gate appeared, and it blocked the sight of both Qing Ping and the vortex for his stellular tribulation. Right after that, another gate appeared, followed by a third.

Three massive gates separated the man from the rest of the world.

The white-robed old man and Kui Luo both shouted at the same time, "The Wan family’s Triple Gates?"

"Is that another one of Wan Zhiyi's battle techniques?" Kui Luo wondered.

The white-robed old man replied, "Possible, but not for sure. The Triple Gates are one of the Wan family’s inherited techniques, which means that all the family members are allowed to learn it. They’ve had more than one Semi-Progenitor arise from their family.”

"While the Triple Gates have impressive defensive capabilities, it’s completely incapable of releasing any attacks. A terrifying attack must be building behind the gates, about to attack."

No sooner had he finished speaking, than five fingers appeared behind the Triple Gates. It was impossible to determine through its appearance if it was Qing Ping’s hand.

Lu Yin's expression changed, as this was a battle technique that he was exceptionally familiar with.

"Kui Luo, that’s the Wang family’s Four Arts: Pearl. That man’s about to have one of his powers sealed." The white-robed old man grew exceptionally serious.

As soon as the Four Arts: Pearl was used, a person appeared.

The sight of a humanoid stellular tribulation caused everyone's expressions to change.

It was common knowledge that humanoid tribulations were the most dangerous and terrifying, as it indicated that the true universe had detected that the person facing the tribulation was powerful enough to surpass all other tribulations.

Lu Yin's heart dropped. Triple Gates, Four Arts: Pearl, and finally a humanoid stellular tribulation. Would his senior brother be able to survive this? This tribulation was too shocking.

The white-robed old man was stunned. "Just who is that man attempting this breakthrough? He actually triggered such a transformation in the tribulation! From the records that I’ve seen, even when the Liu family’s Progenitor was facing his Semi-Progenitor tribulation, he did not deal with anything this terrifying. He’s already faced manifestations of a battle technique and an inner world, and now there’s a humanoid tribulation as well? If this man succeeds, he’s going to be an absolutely terrifying Semi-Progenitor. Just who is he?"

Lu Yin was in no state to bother listening to the old man’s ranting. All Lu Yin wanted to know was who was being manifested by this stellular tribulation. This manifestation had to be a peak Envoy or a newly risen Semi-Progenitor. And yet, had the true universe determined that this manifestation could defeat Qing Ping? Could it be a manifestation of Progenitor Chen as a peak Envoy?

The Triple Gates started to drop down, and reality began to warp; it felt as though the entire world was flipping over as a tremendous amount of pressure fell upon the Middle Realm. Countless people saw the Triple Gates, as just like the Mother Tree, these three gates were too large to miss. Each one could easily crush a hundred cities.

Qing Ping looked solemn, but he simply raised a hand. The dark world around him changed color and became blue. The bright blue color erased the darkness, and it pressed the stellular tribulation’s pressure back.

Lu Yin had witnessed this scene once before. Back when Forgotten Ruins God had used her inner world to suppress his senior brother, the man had reacted with this same ability. This blue color was not an inner world, but it was comparable to an inner world. This was the ability that had managed to put an end to the fight with Forgotten Ruins God’s Semi-Progenitor avatar.

Lu Yin had never seen the technique again until this moment.

The old man in white robes was startled by the sudden reversal. "A power similar to an inner world? This person’s talent is absurd. It’s no wonder his stellular tribulation is so terrifying."

The light-blue sky shattered the Triple Gates. No one had any idea which of Qing Ping’s abilities the Four Arts: Pearl had sealed, as his combat power showed no signs of decreasing.

After the Triple Gates shattered, Qing Ping was left to face the humanoid stellular tribulation.

Everyone watched as the manifested human suddenly attacked, pointing a finger at Qing Ping. However, the man responded in kind, a solitary finger pointing straight back at the manifestation.

No one understood what was happening. Neither of the two Semi-Progenitors present could see through what was happening, so, naturally, Lu Yin was incapable of doing so as well.

All that Lu Yin knew was that his senior brother Qing Ping’s finger collided with the finger of humanoid tribulation, and after that, something very odd occurred. The void shattered, and countless images and scenes started to flicker constantly. It seemed like space could not withstand the forces present, and it shattered as well, enveloping everything in a darkness that started to devour the entire nearby area.

Lu Yin felt an abrupt warning: this darkness was extremely dangerous.

The next instant, the consuming darkness abruptly vanished, along with Qing Ping.

Lu Yin stared blankly out over the Middle Ocean. Where was his senior brother? What had happened to Qing Ping?

He looked over at Kui Luo, but the Semi-Progenitor was rubbing his eyes. "Where’d he go?"

Lu Yin then looked over at Progenitor Smoke, but the woman was clearly still shocked and in a daze. She said nothing.

"Senior, what did you see?" Kui Luo had not been able to see what had happened, and Lu Yin felt that the other old man would not have managed to see anything either. The only person present who could have seen what had happened was Progenitor Smoke. Even if her strength was suppressed to the Semi-Progenitor level, her perception was still on a different level. After all, she had instantly been able to see through the Progenitor of Bloodlines’ injuries and weakness.

Progenitor Smoke let out a slow breath. "That was such a familiar power. I can’t help but feel like I’ve felt it before, but I just can't remember…"

"Senior, what about my senior brother?" Lu Yin asked anxiously. He did not care about the power that had been felt or used. All he cared about was what had happened to Qing Ping. It did not matter if Lu Yin could not see the man, as long as he was not dead.

Progenitor Smoke replied, "Don't worry, he passed. The darkness that you just saw was actually his inner world."

Lu Yin heaved a sigh of relief. This was good. Qing Ping had succeeded.

After being reassured, Lu Yin finally registered what Progenitor Smoke had just said. "Senior, what was that about a familiar power?"

Progenitor Smoke’s voice dropped low as she replied, "That humanoid stellular tribulation used a power that felt incredibly familiar, and yet I can’t remember where I encountered it before."

"Did it belong to one of the masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas? Or some other old Progenitor?" Lu Yin asked.

Progenitor Smoke rolled her eyes at the suggestion. "How would I not be able to remember it if it was one of them? Regardless, that power gave me a very bad feeling."

"But my senior brother’s fine, right?"

"He’s fine, though I’m very interested in your senior brother's last attack. It contained the power of both time and space, which is quite odd. The power of time and space were exceptionally rare even during my era, so how could it appear so frequently in this era where humanity is so weakened? Strange…" After speaking, Progenitor Smoke returned to the pocket dimension within the mirror.

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. Unless his guess was wrong, a battle technique that used the power of both time and space should have come from an ancient era, and it should also be one of the techniques that Mister Mu had offered Lu Yin. Lu Yin had chosen the Ninesuns Cauldron Transformation while his senior brother had chosen the other: Origin Tracer.

A bit to the side, the old man in white robe lamented. "Such a pity, he must have failed. Truly, such a pity."

The man then glanced over at Kui Luo, as if to suggest that Kui Luo had made the wrong bet.

The old man had not heard any of the conversation between Lu Yin and Progenitor Smoke, but Kui Luo had.

On top of that, Kui Luo knew who Progenitor Smoke was. Since a Progenitor had said so, then Qing Ping must have passed his stellular tribulation. Seeing the provocation from the old man in the white robes, Kui Luo instantly lost his temper and wanted to start arguing. However, he was preemptively cut off by Lu Yin, "Senior, he might not have failed. Were you able to clearly see what happened at the end?"

The white-robed old man replied, "I could not see anything clearly at the end, as something strange was taking place. In fact, there was something very strange about the final attacks used by both the humanoid tribulation and the man facing the tribulation. Still, even if I can’t understand what happened, if he successfully passed his tribulation, then where is the man now? For him to have completely vanished, he must have failed."

"You’re the failure! Old man, if you couldn’t see anything, then just admit it! Why do you need to pretend to be so profound?" Kui Luo was still upset.

The white-robed old man did not bother arguing with Kui Luo. Instead, he lifted a hand and tossed a slip of paper over to Lu Yin. The man smiled as he said, "Young man, this old man is known as the God of Food, and I officially represent Virtue Archives in inviting you to join as an instructor to help educate the talented youths of humanity and strengthen the future of the Perennial World. Cultivation is a path that broadens one’s horizons, and it also improves with experience."

Lu Yin took the paper, and saw that it was an invitation that had been signed by “God of Food.”

Lu Yin found it quite interesting to learn that the old man was known as the God of Food. He seemed to deserve the title as the master of Hope Restaurant.

"Does this junior have to go?" Lu Yin asked.

The God of Food smiled. "Of course not. My invitation is freely given, and your refusal is perfectly acceptable, though I would find it a pity. Those girls would be so excited to have such a handsome young man come and teach at my Virtue Archives, haha!

"Of course, the person standing next to you should not go, as he would completely ruin the atmosphere."

Kui Luo once again lost his temper. "Old man, who are you saying ruins the mood? You’re the one ruining the mood! Your whole family ruins the mood!"

The God of Food gave a small smile. "If the famous Kui Luo came to my Virtue Archives, my Virtue Archives would probably disappear within a day, as all the students would be scared away, haha."

Kui Luo got increasingly worked up. "Old man, I’ll go anyways! Your Virtue Archives is important to you? Then I’m going to go there and ruin things! I’ve always been the best at stirring up trouble! Who needs to bother with stealing and fighting? It’s all about intimidation! I’ll scare your teachers, and then take some girl from the Wang family and slip her into the bed of a kid from the Xia family. You’ll wake up with a little girl from the Celestial Frost Sect warming your bed!"

Despite the God of Food’s general aloofness, even he could not tolerate Kui Luo’s threats, and the old man could not help but turn to look at Lu Yin. “Young man, I might not have any idea what your relationship with this man is, but I strongly suggest that you put some distance between the two of you. That man is a stain on this entire universe."

The God of Food then turned and left without giving Kui Luo any openings to say a single word.

Kui Luo started ranting and swearing, his face flushed red from anger.

Lu Yin looked down at the invitation he held. Virtue Archives? Did he want to go there?

"Alright, I’ve decided! Let's go to Virtue Archives!" Kui Luo shouted angrily.

Lu Yin blinked. "Did you ever consider that that old man might have been trying to trick you into joining Virtue Archives?"

Kui Luo rolled his eyes. "You’re overthinking things. That old man’s just an asshole."

Isn’t that you? Lu Yin nearly said those words aloud, but fortunately, he restrained himself. "I don't know where my senior brother is. Old man, let’s look for him."

"What the fuck? This old man is going to Virtue Archives! Are you going to go, kid? If you do, I promise that I’ll grab at least eight to ten girls to keep your bed warm," Kui Luo offered in an odd tone of voice.

Even without Kui Luo’s encouragement, Lu Yin was very tempted to go to Virtue Archives. He let out a cough. "Let’s look for my senior brother first. Finding him is important. Do you think that Senior noticed our relationship with Senior Brother?"

"He's too stupid to notice anything like that," Kui Luo answered grumpily.

Lu Yin pursed his lips. The fact that the God of Food was able to get such a strong reaction from Kui Luo showed that the man had an amazingly skilled tongue, but Lu Yin also felt a bit bad for the robed old man. It was impossible for anyone to remain unaffected by Kui Luo’s vicious tongue.

Despite searching for some time, Lu Yin was not able to find any trace of Qing Ping. Still, with Progenitor Smoke’s assurance that the breakthrough had been a success, Lu Yin was no longer worried.

He did not return to the Bei family’s home, and he did not intend to have any further interactions with the family. Instead, Lu Yin needed to go to the Bifrost and Yu City.

Since he was pretending to be Young Master Yu, he needed to deliver a convincing performance. Revenge had to be taken upon the people who had crossed Young Master Yu in the past, and those who had kept their actions a secret needed to be exposed. If Lu Yin did not do at least this much, how would he be able to attract the attention of Shenwu's Sky?

As for Virtue Archives, he had no plans to visit the place just yet.

Kui Luo was eager to go to Virtue Archives, but Lu Yin wanted to first get revenge for Young Master Yu. So, Kui Luo silently followed behind Lu Yin.

While Kui Luo had said that he did not care much about Young Master Yu and claimed that the man had gotten what he deserved, his actions said otherwise. There was no other reason for Kui Luo to have shared so much information with Lu Yin, let alone follow him without protest.

Since Lu Yin was acting as Young Master Yu, then Young Master Yu should take revenge on those who had crossed him.

The Bifrost connected the Lower Realm, the Middle Realm, and the Higher Realm, and the entire thing was under the control of Shenwu's Sky.

The sight of it would shock anyone who saw it for the first time. It was a massive bridge that looked like a rainbow, and it was beyond massive. There were numerous cities, and the various stripes of colors indicated if the Bifrost was moving up or down

Red moved down, orange moved upwards, and yellow did not move at all. This pattern repeated itself: green moved down, blue moved up, and indigo did not move. These six colored stripes made up the Bifrost, but all of the cities were found on the yellow or indigo sections. Yu City itself was on the yellow stripe.

Anyone who stepped onto the Bifrost and saw the yellow rainbow stripe beneath their feet would be amazed by its beauty for a time.