Star Odyssey

Right when Lu Yin was about to ask the woman to identify herself, she called out, "Brother Lu!"

Lu Yin was startled, and he blankly stared at the woman for a moment. Did he actually know her? Brother Lu? He could not remember such a person ever addressing him in such an intimate manner. "And you are…?"

When Xiao Shi heard the woman speak up, his head rose, and he appeared pleasantly surprised to see a guest. "Brother Lu, you’re back."

Lu Yin continued to stare at the woman.

The woman blushed, yet she nervously and excitedly forced out, "I- I’m Yaya."

Lu Yin felt confused. Yaya? The name sounded very familiar…

Suddenly, Lu Yin remembered where he knew the name from, and he was surprised by the memory. "Yaya from Starlight Island?"

The woman was thrilled at the question. "That’s me! Do you still remember me, Brother Lu?"

Lu Yin took a few steps forward, carefully examining the woman. "Is it really you? That little girl from Starlight Island?"

The woman nodded.

"Brother Lu, di you two know each other?" Xiao Shi was also surprised.

Lu Yin shocked to learn that this woman was that little girl Yaya who had been saved from Starlight Island.

When the Sixth Mainland had invaded the Fifth Mainland, Lu Yin, Starsibyl, Ku Wei, and a few others had fought in the war in the Cosmic Sea. While in the Cosmic Sea, they had spent some time on Starlight Island. There, they had met a little girl who put on a show of being tough. She had filled her house with the clothes of adults for self-protection. That little girl’s name had been Yaya, and she had been in a truly miserable situation.

At the time, Lu Yin had wanted to return and take Yaya away from Starlight Island after the Sixth Mainland had been driven out of the Fifth Mainland, as he had felt pity for the little girl.

However, Lu Yin had forgotten about the girl, and he had not remembered her at all until she was standing in front of him again.

Yaya stared at Lu Yin. "Brother Lu, I knew that I would be able to meet you here."

Lu Yin was caught off guard. "I never thought that that little girl would grow up so much! Why are you here, Yaya?"

Yaya proceeded to share her story. It was not a complicated one, but it did have some degree of luck.

After the Sixth Mainland retreated, the Hall of Honor had sent out people to help as many survivors throughout the Fifth Mainland as possible. Some of those people had stopped on Starlight Island, and they had encountered Yaya. Not only had the people been surprised to see that a little girl like Yaya had survived, but after speaking to the girl a bit, they had learned about her connection to Starsibyl and Lu Yin. After a brief investigation and confirming the girl’s identity, she had been taken to the Hall of Honor.

However, the Hall of Honor was too vast and had too many people in it. Yaya had spent all of her time training and cultivating, so she had never managed to meet Lu Yin or any of the others until now. Fortunately, Yaya’s talent was quite decent, and she was considered to be somewhat of an elite.

"I saw Brother Lu just outside the library the last time you were here, and I felt certain that you would come back. That’s why I stayed here, met up with Xiao Shi, and helped him out with organizing the books here," Yaya explained.

Lu Yin nodded and then praised the young woman. "Clearly, you’ve worked hard in order to stand out even here in the Hall of Honor."

Lu Yin’s praise only made Yaya grow even more excited.

She had heard too many legends about Lu Yin during her years of training in the Hall of Honor. In her mind, Lu Yin had long since changed from the friendly big brother that she had once met to a legend. That legend had only grown, and Lu Yin had become someone who had saved the Fifth Mainland and even become its sole ruler.

Lu Yin was quite happy to meet Yaya once again. He had come to care quite a bit for the girl during their initial meeting.

"Brother Lu, Yaya is a very talented cultivator, but while there are few people who can compare to her, she simply doesn’t have the resources she needs to reach her potential," Xiao Shi commented.

"Xiao Shi, don't be ridiculous!" Yaya glared at Xiao Shi, but he just laughed.

Lu Yin spoke up, "Resources are just as necessary for cultivation as hard work and talent. Do you have a master, Yaya?"

Yaya shook her head. "I did have several different masters in the past, but all of them died. Now, no one wants to accept me as their disciple."

"What do you mean by that?" Lu Yin demanded.

Xiao Shi spoke up, "Yaya had three different masters before, but all of them died during the war. There are people who claim that Yaya is a source of disaster, so no one wants to take her as a disciple any longer. It’s also become very difficult for her to get any resources for her training or cultivation."

Yaya dropped her head, her face flushed and her eyes growing dim.

Lu Yin was a bit surprised by this news. "Three masters died? How did they all die?"

Yaya pursed her lips. "My first master was obsessed with cultivation, and he ended up dying in an accident while cultivating. My second master pursued his enemies to kill them, only to die instead. My third master was killed by a corpse king."

Lu Yin sympathized with the woman. "Death is all too common for humans in this universe. Still, even if you’ve had three masters who have died, people shouldn’t be blaming things on you. Is someone targeting you?" If there was someone targeting Yaya, Lu Yin would make sure to look into the matter.

Yaya turned pale, and she bit her down hard on her lips. She suddenly offered Lu Yin a bow. "Brother Lu, there’s something that I need to take care of, so I’ll be heading out now. I’ll see you again when I have the chance."

The woman then fled.

Her reaction surprised Lu Yin, and he looked over at Xiao Shi.

Xiao Shi sighed. "It’s not that anyone’s targeting her, but simply that she blames herself. She was actually the one to report two of the deaths, and she also claims that her parents died because of her. Naturally, over time, no one wants to accept her as a disciple any longer. Even if she had nothing to do with what happened to the people around her, if she continues to blame herself like this, then her cultivation will be impacted, and she won’t rise very high."

Lu Yin's eyes flashed. Was that really the case? It certainly did make sense.

When Lu Yin and the others had first found Yaya, her parents had already been dead, yet she had lived on her own while putting on a strong front. She had been unwilling to bother anyone. While she had developed a tough personality, her mentality had developed certain flaws. They had persisted from childhood into adulthood, and it was difficult for her to ever change this part of her.

"Do you know Yaya pretty well?" Lu Yin asked.

Xiao Shi reached up to touch his mushroom head. "I've known her for a bit more than half a year, but she’s stayed here that whole time. I thought that she was sticking around because she admired my mushroom head. I never considered that she was waiting to see you, Big Brother Lu.

"Oh, right. Why did you come to see me, Brother Lu?" As Xiao Shi spoke, he finally noticed the Book of Destiny that Lu Yin was holding. "What’s that?"

Lu Yin handed the book over to Xiao Shi. "Take a look."

Xiao Shi took the book and stared at it in amazement. "It looks exactly like my book."

He then opened the book and started flipping through the pages. Finally, he looked up and stared at Lu Yin in a questioning manner. "There’s no words."

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. "You can't see any text?"

Xiao Shi shook his head.

Lu Yin looked back over at Xiao Shi's Book of Destiny. The two books looked completely identical. "So, you can read that book and see the text, but not this one?"

Xiao Shi nodded. He thought for a moment and then gave Lu Yin a very suspicious look, as though he was accusing Lu Yin of giving him a fake book.

Lu Yin took the Book of Destiny back. "If you can't read it, you can’t read it. Help me out by looking up a few words in your book."

Xiao Shi turned around and picked up his Book of Destiny and then expectantly asked, "What words?"

Xiao Shi was the only one who could read his book, but he could only see what he wished to read, or what was related to what he was currently thinking about. This was completely different from other books. The man spent every day reading books in the library in order to obtain a bit of inspiration so that he could read more from the magical book. Truthfully, Xiao Shi was always excited to have someone ask him a question to look up.

In the current situation, Lu Yin was even providing specific words for Xiao Shi to find.

"Stone Origin technique." Lu Yin only spoke three words.

Xiao Shi quickly flipped through the pages of his book. "Alright, yes. Here it is. Stone Origin technique. This is a really weird technique, as people who cultivate it will be controlled by the creator of the technique. The technique’s sole purpose is to save the user’s life from any kind of disaster, as using the Stone Origin technique transforms a person into a human-shaped stone that-"

Xiao Shi’s eyes grew very large. "Wait, isn't this talking about those humanoid sourceboxes?"

Lu Yin stared at the man. "Is this technique where the humanoid sourceboxes come from?"

Xiao Shi nodded blankly. "Isn't this clearly describing a humanoid sourcebox?"

"So they come from the Stone Origin technique?"

"That's what this book says here."

Lu Yin straightened up. It seemed Skymender really had not lied. Lu Yin had just confirmed that the Stone Origin technique was the technique that created all of the humanoid sourceboxes. "What else is there?"

"It's gone. That’s all that was written." Xiao Shi made a point of rotating the book to show Lu Yin the pages, as if to show that he was telling the truth.

Lu Yin stared at the blank pages, speechless. "Alright, now tell me what you can find about the Stone Reversal Formation."

Xiao Shi snorted before he started flipping through the pages of his book once again. He soon found what he was looking for and read aloud, "The Stone Reversal Formation is a difficult sourcebox array that releases those who used the Stone Origin technique. This is also about the Stone Origin technique. Brother Lu, you should already know this."

"I do, but I’m asking you to verify some things," Lu Yin replied.

Xiao Shi looked back down at the book’s pages. "There’s another bit about the Stone Reversal Formation. It says that the people who used the Stone Origin technique and are rescued by the Stone Reversal Formation can be controlled by something else."

Everything perfectly matched with what Lu Yin had already been told. Skymender had not told any lies. Everything regarding the Stone Origin technique as well as the sourcebox arrays associated with the technique matched up with Xiao Shi’s information.

Skymender really had wanted to use the Reverse Origin Formation to release the people who had used the Stone Origin technique to save their lives during the destruction of the Fourth Mainland long ago. The goal had likely been to fight against the Human Domain.

Skymender’s stated purpose was very likely the truth as well, as the people who had both the opportunity to learn the Stone Origin technique, as well as the time to use it when the Fourth Mainland was being destroyed, could not be normal cultivators. At the very least, each one should at least be an Envoy. This meant that, if Skymender had actually succeeded, he would have gained control of far more Envoys than there were in the entire Human Domain.

Star Alliance had possessed a tremendous influence on the Perennial World. If the four ruling powers had not placed restrictions on all the members of Star Alliance and enforced their control, the united might of Star Alliance would have been far more terrifying. However, not even Star Alliance could compare to the number of humanoid sourceboxes in the Astral Beast Domain.

Lu Yin had also found a large number of humanoid sourceboxes when he had been exploring Burial Garden. There was a truly terrifying number of powerhouses who were at least Envoys, and the number who were actually Semi-Progenitors could only be guessed at.

If Skymender had been secretly preparing to enact such a plan, then just how many others throughout the entire universe had similar plans in play? The universe was simply too vast, and there were too many cultivators to account for.

Shamrock Enterprise had once made a plan to control countless individuals with their stellular energy pills. Undying Yushan had wanted to control people with the Undying Manual. Even Hen Xin had wanted to use the allure of battle force and domains to control cultivators. Too much happened across the universe at once, and all Lu Yin could think was that he was thrilled that he had discovered this particular plot before it was too late. Otherwise, certain things would have become irreversible.

If this was the universe that Lu Yin could see at his current level, then how did those above him see things? How did Progenitors see the universe?

Was there anything beyond the Progenitor realm? The higher one rose, the more their perspective changed.

Lu Yin looked at his cosmic ring. He believed there were only a few days left before the New Corridor was fully repaired, which meant that it would soon be time to talk to Xia Shenji. If Lu Yin was right, then the first person who passed through the New Corridor would be Xia Shenji’s true body.

Lu Yin left the Hall of Honor and returned to Earth’s solar system. He did not return to the Heavens Sect, but to Earth itself in order to recover the Champions’ Stage.

Before Lu Yin left the Neoverse, he left some resources for Yaya to use. While they were not worth almost anything to Lu Yin, they were more than enough to let Yaya to catch back up to some people who had surpassed her.

Once he was on Earth, Lu Yin appeared above the Pacific Ocean. He stretched out a hand, and a Champions’ Stage rose from the ocean to float in the sky in front of Lu Yin.

He stared at the Champions’ Stage. "The first battle is going to be up to you."

...