Star Odyssey

Chapter 2454: Death Trap

Xia Shenji agreed to let the two other Progenitors join him. "Since everything has been clarified, this is a good opportunity to bring him back. With our abilities, it doesn’t matter how well-prepared Lu Xiaoxuan is. It won't make any difference."

The three immediately set out for the Fifth Mainland. However, as soon as they arrived at the valley beneath the Wang family's floating mainland, Lu Yin appeared. He saw Bai Wangyuan and the others and curiously asked, "Are you three planning to visit my Fifth Mainland?"

Within the valley, the various members of the Wang family all gave respectful bows. "Greetings, Senior Progenitor."

"Greetings, Senior Progenitor."

…

Wang Fan's expression grew cold upon seeing Lu Yin. "Lu Xiaoxuan, what are you doing here?"

Lu Yin raised his chin. "Just taking a stroll."

"Lu Xiaoxuan, we agreed that you are not to step foot into the Perennial World until the problem with the Forsaken Land’s stellular energy has been resolved. You are violating our agreement," Bai Wangyuan challenged.

Lu Yin indifferently replied, "That agreement only applies to those affected by the issue with the stellular energy. Since I cultivate death energy, I am not affected by the Fifth Mainland’s issue. Besides, I was here just a month ago, so what’s the problem?"

Xia Shenji spoke in a somber tone. "We are about to visit the Forsaken Land in order to help you investigate the issue with your stellular energy. You should return."

Lu Yin was surprised. "You want to help me investigate the problem with our part of the universe’s stellular energy? Go ahead, but I'll be staying right here. I'm taking a break for the moment."

"Lu Xiaoxuan, we're the ones offering to help you right now. Are you seriously telling us to go by ourselves?" Wang Fan frowned, clearly irritated.

Lu Yin shrugged. "If I can’t solve the problem we’re facing, then you won't be able to either. Going with you will just waste my time. If you want to go, you’re welcome to do so. I think that I might be close to a breakthrough. The energy in this part of the universe is really suitable for breakthroughs."

Bai Wangyuan and the other three exchanged glances. Things just became more complicated. Technically, capturing Xia Shenji’s clone would be easier if Lu Yin was not present in the Fifth Mainland, but his timing was unexpected.

"What? Still not going?" Lu Yin arched a brow.

Xia Shenji addressed Bai Wangyuan and Wang Fan, "I'll go capture him. You two stay here and keep watch."

"Something doesn't feel right. This timing is too coincidental. Your clone was exposed, and at the same time, Lu Xiaoxuan chose to visit this place. This can't be pure coincidence," Bai Wangyuan said in a pondering tone.

Wang Fan also felt that something was off about the situation. "Did he find out?"

Xia Shenji replied, "That’s impossible. If he knew, then why would he come here? Only a few of us know about this matter."

"But it's very suspicious that your clone even went to the Fifth Mainland, not to mention that he did so while accompanied by one of the Heavens Sect’s Semi-Progenitors. Something is very suspicious about this whole thing," Wang Fan said.

Xia Shenji's eyes flickered. "Without Lu Xiaoxuan, the Fifth Mainland stands no chance against me, even if they somehow manage to resurrect Xia Shang. Who there can stop me from leaving as I wish? Besides, we have our truce with Lu Xiaoxuan. If he dares to attack me, you can attack him. Since he has come to the Perennial World, there's no way that he can escape."

Bai Wangyuan and Wang Fan looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

Lu Yin glanced at them. Leaving his shoulder, the jiao took flight, instantly casting a shadow over the entire valley. He then took his place atop the jiao's head and immediately headed towards the Middle Realm.

Bai Wangyuan and the other two exchanged glances. Reaching a mutual understanding, they entered the New Corridor and made their way towards the Fifth Mainland.

After the four Progenitors entered the New Corridor, the jiao turned back around and headed towards the center of the Upper Realm. Lu Yin was in the Perennial World to recover the Lu Sanctum’s treasury. With Bai Wangyuan and the others all gone, this was the perfect opportunity for him to take action.

The jiao quickly arrived at Qingshan's original location, which was now the Northern Stone Forest. It was also where the treasury was located.

Lu Yin took out the seal with the spatial coordinates and pushed it into the void. "Open up. I hope that there really is ten trillion star essence in there."

At this same time, Bai Wangyuan and Wang Fan turned around, no longer heading towards the Fifth Mainland. Xia Shenji continued on towards the Shenwu Continent on his own, relying on the information provided by the Wang family.

Bai Wangyuan and Wang Fan soon returned to the mountain valley. "Lu Xiaoxuan really did go there. This time, he won't be able to leave alive."

At the center of the Upper Realm, in the Northern Stone Forest, outer space tore open. Through the rift, Lu Yin could see a vast plain that was completely covered in star essence. His eyes flashed, and the jiao shrank down until it could perch on his shoulder. After that, Lu Yin entered the rift.

Just as Lu Yin passed through, Bai Wangyuan and Wang Fan arrived, quickly followed by Progenitor Long.

"Lu Xiaoxuan already went in? What about Xia Shenji?" Progenitor Long asked.

Bai Wangyuan said, "Starting today, Lu Xiaoxuan will no longer exist."

At the same time that Lu Yin passed through the spatial rift, Xia Shenji arrived at the Shenwu Continent.

"Where is he?" Xia Shenji asked. He stood at the bottom of the Tower of Resonating Light. The person that he was talking to was none other than the tracker that the Wang family had sent.

The man pointed downwards. "That’s where he went."

He was startled to see someone who looked exactly like the man he had been following appear.

Almost immediately, the man thought of Shenwu's Sky's Nine Clones Secret Technique. Could this man be from the Xia family?

Xia Shenji looked down, only for his heart to skip a beat, shocked by what he was seeing. Was that a spatial passage?

He hesitated. Who knew what he might encounter if he entered that passage?

They had set a trap for Lu Xiaoxuan, but could this be a trap that Lu Xiaoxuan had set for him?

The four ruling powers had deliberately released Lu Xun. The fact that Xia Xing had been controlled by Lu Yin had already been exposed three years ago. Xia Xing had helped Lu Yin several times, which had roused Xia Ziheng’s suspicions, and he had reported the matter to the family’s Progenitor. Xia Shenji had sensed the death energy within Xia Xing's body, which had confirmed that Xia Xing was being controlled by Lu Yin.

However, Xia Shenji had not killed Xia Xing, but neither had he saved the man. Instead, Xia Shenji wanted to take advantage of the situation, and he had ordered Xia Xing to take Lu Xun to Lu Xiaoxuan and expose the location of the treasury to him. This would definitely motivate Lu Xiaoxuan to find a way to obtain the key for himself so that he could enter the treasury.

Lu Xiaoxuan had not disappointed them. By using Yu Chen to deliver a message to Lu Gong, he had accused Nutjob Lu of being a Redback and had initiated a confrontation. During that confrontation, Lu Yin had obtained the key to the Lu family’s treasury. All this had been known to the four ruling powers, as well as to Nutjob Lu. It had all been an act so that Lu Xiaoxuan would believe that he was entering the Lu Sanctum’s treasury through his own capabilities. However, as soon as he entered the treasury, he could forget about ever returning alive.

So he loved money? Then he could die for it.

They were not violating the truce, as they would not be the ones to deal with Lu Xiaoxuan.

They had set a trap for Lu Xiaoxuan, but at the same time, Xia Shenji was now certain that Lu Xiaoxuan had similarly set a trap for him. What lay on the other end of the spatial passage? The Progenitor had no ideas.

"Are you certain that they entered this passage?" Xia Shenji asked coldly.

The man from the Wang family trembled under the overwhelming pressure of a Progenitor, and he was forced to the ground. "I- I'm sure."

Xia Shenji's eyes flickered. Just what was Lu Xiaoxuan plotting? Without a Progenitor present, did he somehow intend to deal with him? Or was it possible that Lu Xiaoxuan simply wanted to lure the Progenitor away from the Perennial World? If that was true, then the only possible explanation was that he already knew that there was something wrong with the Lu family’s treasury. Perhaps this was all to divert his attention.

What was Lu Yin thinking? Did he know about the trap that had been laid? Also, what lay on the other side of the spatial passage? Xia Shenji's eyes shifted as he considered the situation. He was a powerful Progenitor, and he even considered himself to be equal to the masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas. He had not hesitated this much in countless years, but at this moment, he had no confidence in his decision, and he was actually growing increasingly uncomfortable.

Such a feeling of unease had only ever appeared when he had faced the Seven Skygods before. Why would a mere Lu Xiaoxuan give him the same feeling? What qualified Lu Xianxuan to make him worry so much?

Determination entered Xia Shenji’s eyes. No matter what, he had to take his clone back. Without it, he would never be whole, and he would remain inferior to Bai Wangyuan and the others for the rest of his life.

He took out his wireless jincan and sent a message to someone. Then, he took a step forward and disappeared into the void.

At the same moment that Xia Shenji entered the spatial passage, Highsage Grandmaster and Xiu Ming appeared. Then, they sealed off the Shenwu Continent by using the five sealing planets. At the same time, the tracker from the Wang family was captured.

While it was true that Lu Yin could not directly deal with Xia Shenji, he could still get rid of Xia Shenji.

The spatial passage led to the Three Monarchs Universe.

It was not easy for people from the Three Monarchs Universe to reach the Fifth Mainland’s universe, but given Xia Shenji’s strength, it was not too difficult for him to traverse the passage and reach the parallel universe. However, after he left, he would find it incredibly difficult to return.

Back in the Perennial World, Lu Yin entered the Lu Sanctum’s treasury. As he looked around, he saw that the ground was covered with star essence as far as his eyes could see. This was not a small bit of star essence. The deeper into the treasury he went, the more star essence that he found. Off in the distance, star essence piled up to form mountains, and the sight caused his heartbeat to quicken.

The amount of star essence here nearly rivaled what had been on the Junior Progenitor Planets, and there was definitely over a trillion star essences in this treasury.

Was there more further in? Lu Yin unleashed his domain, but suddenly, his expression changed. It was gone? Why was there only a thin layer of star essence?

At that moment, Lu Yin spun around and stared at the entrance to the Lu Sanctum’s treasury. At some point in time, a man had appeared there. An aura of violence radiated from the man, as well as madness. A cruel smile decorated his face as he stared at Lu Yin. A platform floated beside the man, and it gradually started to emanate a red glow.

Lu Yin's eyes narrowed. "Nutjob Lu?"

This man was indeed none other than Nutjob Lu. The four ruling powers had set a trap to lure Lu Yin into the Lu Sanctum’s treasury, solely to give Nutjob Lu an opportunity to kill Lu Yin. They had not hesitated to put on a show of confronting Nutjob Lu in outer space so that Lu Yin would have a chance to snatch the treasury’s key. They had even placed trillions of star essence inside the treasury, all for the sake of luring Lu Yin into it.

"Given that you are a member of the Lu family, there’s nothing strange about you lacking sufficient cultivation resources. Throughout history, the Lu family has always had deep pockets. The star essence here is certainly tempting, isn't it? Haha." Nutjob Lu's unsettling laughter echoed through the treasury. He gazed at Lu Yin with eyes that held a mix of insanity and sadism. It seemed as though he wanted to tear the young man apart with just his gaze.

Lu Yin's expression turned solemn. "So it was all an act to lure me in here. If my guess is right, then Bai Wangyuan and the others are already outside to stop my senior brother and Progenitor Smoke from entering."

"It looks like you aren't completely stupid," Nutjob Lu said as his Champions' Stage slowly floated up.

Lu Yin cocked a brow. "It seems that I won't live past today. Before I die, can you tell me why you hate the Lu family so much? Isn't your surname also Lu?"

Nutjob Lu let out a hysterical laugh. "Are you curious? Then go ask that Lu geezer and the others."

The man then launched his Champions’ Stage towards Lu Yin, the movement caused the space within the treasury to tremble from the violent aura that was released.

The jiao perched on Lu Yin's shoulder instantly grew larger, and it stretched out a claw towards the Champions' Stage.

Nutjob Lu suddenly turned his eyes to stare at the jiao. This piercing stare seemed to fill the void itself.

The jiao jerked back, frightened by the violent aura that Nutjob Lu gave off. The beast was afraid of the man, just like when Nutjob Lu had attacked before.

The jiao withdrew its claws, and Lu Yin inwardly cursed the beast’s cowardice. He immediately summoned E Chi and ordered the champion forward.

E Chi lifted his serrated saber and struck the Champions' Stage. There was a metallic clang, and the blade cracked.

Nutjob Lu sneered. "Nothing but trash."

Lu Yin raised a hand and invoked his Investiture of the Gods. Golden light illuminated the entire treasury. After conferring Nong Yi, it was finally time for Lu Yin to put his first Progenitor to use.