Star Odyssey

Chapter 2508: Enter

The screening exam lasted for a total of twelve days. Of the roughly 100,000 people, only 1,700 were ultimately allowed to enter the Sixverse Academy.

Lu Yin was leisurely drinking tea when he received a notification, soon after which someone arrived to collect him.

"What the… Brother-in-law?" Luo Lao'er exclaimed.

Zuo Yu, Mu Duo, and the others who had fought with Lu Yin on the Bestowal Carrier in the Cloudflow Universe were all struck dumb by the sight of Lu Yin walking out from the spacecraft. None of them had expected him to be present.

Lu Yin greeted them all with a smile.

"Brother-in-law, why are you here?" Luo Lao'er asked.

Lu Yin was similarly surprised to see Luo Lao'er. "How is a hostage like you allowed into the Sixverse Academy?"

"Have you been here for a while?" Zuo Yu asked.

The conversation attracted a small crowd. Most of the people did not recognize Lu Yin, and when they saw him walking out from the spaceship, many of them grew dissatisfied. They had worked hard to pass the selection exam, while someone else had entered through a back door.

However, no one dared to make any trouble for Lu Yin. The fact that he was able to enter the academy through such means was proof enough of his background and status. The people who had passed the selection process were not fools, and none of them wanted to recklessly make an enemy.

A few people tried to strike up conversations with Lu Yin, but he had no interest. At the moment, he was mostly curious about the Sixverse Academy, and Luo Lao'er was naturally the best person to ask.

Despite only just passing the selection process, Luo Lao'er was already quite well-informed. Furthermore, the fact that he was allowed to enter the Sixverse Academy despite being a hostage made him quite unique.

"Brother-in-law, what do you know about the Sixverse Academy?" Luo Lao'er and Lu Yin were standing in a corner as they waited to be sent to the academy.

"I have the feeling that it's a place where the people of different universes all interact with each other," Lu Yin replied.

"That's exactly what it is," Luo Lao'er whispered. "The Sixverse Association has always struggled to deal with Aeternus, and they’ve usually been on the defensive side. However, a few years ago, the Seven Skygods inexplicably left, which gave the association an incredible advantage. They used that to reclaim their lost territory and gain an opportunity for greater collaboration. That's how the door to integrating different civilizations was opened.

"The people of the Transcendent Universe do not cultivate, so as soon as their energy converters are drained, they’re done for. That's why they want to cultivate. It’s not only to protect themselves, but also so that we can adapt to more powerful energy converters. This has already been proven effective, and they can even use their energy better through battle techniques. The power of the Voidforce Universe is especially useful for protection."

Lu Yin interrupted, "Did you say this all happened just a few years ago?"

"That’s right. The Sixverse Association has almost always been on the back foot in the war against Aeternus, while Aeternus controlled many parallel universes that the association had access to. Because of this, the members of the association weren’t able to cooperate with each other, even if they wanted to. However, a few years ago, all of the Seven Skygods left one after another, and the Sixverse Association took advantage of that opportunity to take back a few universes. The Sixverse Academy is in one of those parallel universes."

Things clicked into place for Lu Yin. A few years ago? Isn’t that when we tried to kill Undying God?

It appeared that Lu Yin had helped the Sixverse Association a great deal.

"Brother-in-law, did you get selected early because of your relationship with my sister?" Luo Lao'er was curious.

Before Lu Yin could even answer, Luo Lao'er continued on in a sympathetic tone. "Then I really pity you."𝑓𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸𝘦𝒷𝑛𝘰𝑣𝘦𝘭.𝑐𝘰𝘮

Lu Yin’s eyebrows rose. "What do you mean by that?"

Luo Lao'er glanced around in a sneaky manner before whispering, "Do you know how many people are going to show up when civilizations from multiple universes gather together? Do you know how many geniuses are going to be there? Too many! According to my intel, some of the top geniuses from each of the different universes will be there, and that’s on top of the people from the Transcendent Universe. There were only a few hundred people in Shi Hong's class at the academy, and that number is growing by more than ten times with our class. On top of that, we’re only the first expansion. Many of the other universes in contact with the Sixverse Association's members are also going to start sending their own people over.”

"There are all kinds of civilizations, and the Transcendent Universe is considered to be pretty normal. There are some civilizations where people call themselves gods. Just think about it! How great would it be to marry a goddess? If any woman from the Main Universe, Wood Realm, Voidforce Universe, or any other at that level takes a fancy to you, then it's an instant jackpot! Unfortunately, Brother-in-law, you won't be able to get any of those opportunities.”

"By the way, Brother-in-law, which of the academy’s schools do you plan to join?" Luo Lao'er asked.

Lu Yin did not understand the question. "What do you mean?"

Luo Lao'er became confused. "Didn't my sister tell you?"

"I wasn’t even able to tell Zi Jing that I gave her a little brother," Lu Yin retorted.

Luo Lao'er wailed, "Brother-in-law, you can't do this to me! I've called you Brother-in-law so many times that you have to get my sister to accept me. I don't intend to return to the Three Monarchs Universe for the rest of my life. I've already decided that I’ll follow my sister forever. Brother-in-law, you can't go back on your promise!"

Lu Yin felt his head hurt. "What do you mean by the academy’s schools?"

Luo Lao'er explained, "In the Sixverse Academy, there are a total of six schools, one for each member universe of the Sixverse Association. Anyone who attends the academy has to choose a school to join. After gaining mastery of the power possessed by whatever civilization is in charge of the school, a person is allowed to move on to the next school. Don't think that the Sixverse Academy is easy. They’ll kick out anyone who can’t keep up."

He held up a finger. "If you can master the power of a civilization other than your own within a year, you’re allowed to remain in the academy and continue studying. If you can’t, you’re expelled."

Lu Yin started to wonder. "Where did you learn all of this?"

Luo Lao'er replied, "Everyone knows this much. The Sixverse Academy isn’t a secret anymore. Why else would so many people be clamoring to get in?"

Lu Yin looked around. There were over a thousand people present, and most of them were discussing the academy and different schools.

He had been taken to see Zi Jing as soon as he left the battlefield, and then had been delivered to the exam location without ever being given the opportunity to learn anything about the situation in the Transcendent Universe.

Although the Transcendent Universe was similar to a technological civilization in that they had a network, he still hadn’t connected to the network. Therefore, he couldn’t utilize it to increase his understanding of certain matters.

"Brother-in-law, which school do you want to join?" Luo Lao'er asked curiously.

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. The Sixverse Academy’s six schools were run by the six members of the Sixverse Association, which was led by the Main Universe, also known as the Cyclic Universe. Below that was the Transcendent Universe, the Three Monarchs Universe, the Arboreal Realm, the Voidforce Universe, and the Lost Clan.

Attendant Wu had provided Lu Yin with a rough outline of the Sixverse Association, but the man did not know much due to his low status. Zi Jing's explanation was what had truly opened Lu Yin's eyes to the development of the different human civilizations.

The Main Universe was a standard cultivation civilization, and it was led by the Great Sovereign. Below the Great Sovereign were the Three Sovereigns and Nine Sages, all of whom were Progenitor-level experts. No one knew how many powerhouses at the Semi-Progenitors or Envoy level were in that universe.

The Three Monarchs Universe had Monarch Luo, Monarch Mu, and Monarch Xing. By working together, the three were able to stand up to Forgotten Ruins God. Attendant Wu had mentioned that his universe cultivated something known as monarch essence, which was very suitable for usage with weapons and equipment.

The Arboreal Realm was a unique civilization where all life could be transformed into trees. Zi Jing had told Lu Yin that cultivators from the Arboreal Realm were able to obtain power from the trees by undergoing a certain transformation. In other words, every cultivator from the Arboreal Realm possessed an innate gift, which was truly bizarre.

How many cultivators in the entire Fifth Mainland had an innate gift? Anyone with an innate gift was automatically qualified to join the Universe Youth Council without any questions. This was evidence of just how rare innate gifts were. In contrast, absolutely every cultivator from the Arboreal Realm had an innate gift, which made the universe incredibly powerful.

Zi Jing had not known much about the Voidforce Universe, which was why he had been so confused when he saw Shi Hong and the two young men using the power of the voidforce puppets in the Cloudflow Universe. Zi Jing thought that the Voidforce Universe used a method that was similar to puppetry, but Luo Lao'er's explanation revealed that they actually cultivated a form of control. Truly, they were a very odd civilization.

As for the Transcendent Universe, Lu Yin had already learned a great deal about it.

The last of the six members of the Sixverse Association was the Lost Clan. Zi Jing knew almost nothing about them, other than a common saying that was used to describe the Lost Clan: every Lost Clan warrior would carefully plan a crafted game of death that best suited themselves. That was the full extent of the knowledge that most people from the Sixverse Association had of the Lost Clan.

Lu Yin could not make any sense of the description, which left him very curious about the Lost Clan.

"Which school do you want to join?" Lu Yin asked.

Luo Lao'er replied, "The Voidforce School."

"Why?"

"The Voidforce Universe is extremely well versed in self-protection, and they always fight with humans standing at the very back, which means that they stay relatively safe."

Lu Yin said, "Voidforce? That does sound rather mystical. I’ll join the Voidforce School too."

"Great! Brother-in-law, let’s work together in the Sixverse Academy! We’ll snatch goddesses, fight geniuses, and prove ourselves as the best!" Luo Lao'er proclaimed loudly. His shout drew a number of strange stares.

Lu Yin quickly distanced himself from Luo Lao'er, greatly regretting speaking to the young man.

After a while of waiting, someone appeared who gave all of the gathered youths a cold look. The person waved their hand, enveloping everyone with white-colored energy that pulled everyone to a parallel universe.

After arriving in the Transcendent Universe, Lu Yin felt that his concept of distance had completely changed.

In the Fifth Mainland, distance was something that could be measured as a way of quantifying space, but at this moment, Lu Yin realized that distance could not only be a measurement of space, but also of positions and dimensions that humans were unable to calculate. What Lu Yin knew as reality had been expanded endlessly in a single instance.

No matter how advanced humans became, it was impossible to escape the unknown. Even for Progenitors, there were endless parallel universes waiting to be explored. It was impossible for anyone to explore all the countless universes in a single lifetime.

The Astral Wilderness and the endless parallel universe reminded Lu Yin of how vast everything really was, as well as how insignificant individual creatures were.

In this short amount of time, Lu Yin had already traveled from the Fifth Mainland to visit both the Transcendent Universe and the Cloudflow Universe. Already, Lu Yin was visiting his fourth universe.

No matter how many parallel universes there might be, entering one always felt the same. Space was dark, profound, and filled with various revolving planets, stars, and astral phenomena.

However, Lu Yin was caught off guard when they arrived at their destination. This universe felt extremely pure.

"This universe has been named the Singularity Universe because it hasn’t been altered by any sort of power. This is the most primitive type of universe." Their escort stared off into space. "Many universes have been altered or developed by unique civilizations due to the appearance of extremely powerful individuals, though they may do so by using technology, cultivation, or other various extraordinary astral phenomena. However, this universe is different, as there are no unique power systems here. This place is completely clean, which is what makes it a suitable location for the Sixverse Academy."

When this explanation was finished, everyone suddenly found themselves at the top of a mountain peak with clouds surrounding them. The clouds spiraled up toward outer space. It looked like they were standing at a gateway that led down from the darkness of outer space.

Apart from clouds and stars, no one could see anything at all.

"This mountain rises from the surface, yet it reaches the edge of outer space. This is the starting point of the Sixverse Academy. You will enter from this place, and you should dream of leaving from here as well one day. Unfortunately, very few people are ever able to do so."

Many looks of confusion appeared in the listening crowd. They were supposed to enter and leave the academy from this location?

No further explanation was offered, and their escort waved a hand. Six enormous displays appeared above the crowd, each one showing a video of different people fighting battles.

"Each image represents a different civilization. Choose the civilization that you wish to learn from, and that choice will be the school that you enter. I’ll remind you now that if you do not meet the minimum requirements of your chosen civilization within a year, you will be expelled and will never be allowed to return to the Sixverse Academy again. You will only receive one chance."

Everyone stared at the six displays. This was their opportunity to choose their school and enter it to learn a new power.