Star Odyssey

Seruzen's eyes lit up. "Tranquil like water. Has someone achieved this state?"

"I’ve heard of it."

"Where?"

"I can't recall at the moment."

Seruzen bowed deeply to Lu Yin. "If you ever remember, please make sure to let me know."

Lu Yin nodded. "I’ll do my best. By the way, would you like to take a look at my Hidden Mountain Card?"

"I’ll have to trouble you then."

Lu Yin led Seruzen into the Hidden Mountain card. With a wave of his hand, a massive mountain appeared.

Seruzen was amazed. "The person who created this card is absolutely extraordinary as this card can replicate the pressure of mountains. Jiang Xiaodao must have lost after being suppressed by this mountain."

"How do you know that he lost?" Lu Yin was surprised.

Seruzen calmly replied, "Given Jiang Xiaodao's personality, if he hadn’t lost, he would have never let you off."

Lu Yin smiled, but he offered no further explanation.

Shortly thereafter, Lu Yin left. He could not stay with Seruzen for too long, or else someone would notice. Mu Xinxin had been keeping an eye out for “Xuan Qi,” and Seruzen seemed to hold a significant position within the Arboreal Realm. Lu Yin did not want to attract too much attention.

Ten days went by, and during this time, Little Lian sought Lu Yin out. "Seventh Bro."

Lu Yin felt both warmed and embarrassed by the girl’s way of addressing him. He felt like he was deceiving a small child.

Jiang Xiaodao arrived soon after that, and he immediately started threatening Lu Yin. "You'd better not get any ideas about Little Lian, or I'll never let you go!"

Lu Yin rolled his eyes. "Not interested. I’ll just treat her like a little sister."

"That’s no good either," Jiang Xiaodao growled, though he seemed to be trying to suppress his voice.

Lu Yin felt confused. "You don't seem like you’re threatening me because of some crush."

Jiang Xiaodao's eyes flickered. "I'm warning you for your own good. If you don’t listen, no one will be able to save you, not even the Voidforce Universe."

"Who is Little Lian?" Lu Yin asked. Jiang Xiaodao's warning seemed to hold some special significance.

Jiang Xiaodao took a deep breath. "Since you were willing to admit defeat, I’ll tell you so that you won't be clueless and suddenly die."

After a moment’s hesitation, he solemnly stated, "Little Lian is the youngest disciple of my Cyclic Universe’s Sovereign Ninth Lotus. Little Lian is also the favorite disciple."

Lu Yin's expression changed, and he asked, "Sovereign Ninth Lotus?"

Jiang Xiaodao remained completely somber. "That's right, Sovereign Ninth Lotus. In my Cyclic Universe, there are three Sovereigns, and Sovereign Ninth Lotus is one of them. She stands as one of the four most powerful individuals in the entire Cyclic Universe as a formidable existence who stands just below the Great Sovereign. Even my father is wary of her and doesn’t dare to offend her. She has disciples scattered throughout the Sixverse Association, and provoking Little Lian means provoking all of Sovereign Ninth Lotus’s disciples, which means provoking-" His voice suddenly dropped even lower. "A bunch of overprotective lunatics."

Lu Yin had already known that the Cyclic Universe had three Sovereigns, and he had even heard of Sovereign Ninth Lotus, though he was not familiar with her.

Still, there were some things that did not require any explanation. The comment of the woman being “just below the Great Sovereign” and Jiang Xiaodao's deep-seated fear were explanation enough. After all, even the Voidforce Universe was supposed to be beneath this Sovereign’s concern.

"I'm not interested in any of this. As for Little Lian, I'll just treat her like a little sister," Lu Yin said.

Jiang Xiaodao nodded. "That would be best."

"Let's get started then. Teach me the power of the Cyclic Universe." Lu Yin said.

Jiang Xiaodao gritted his teeth, as he was rather upset that he was being forced to teach Xuan Qi anything at all, but he had made a promise and could not back out. He also took something out from his cosmic ring and threw it to Lu Yin. "Absorb that."

Lu Yin caught the object and looked at it, only to immediately freeze. Is this… a star crystal?

"What is this?" Lu Yin looked at Jiang Xiaodao.

Jiang Xiaodao took out another star crystal and weighed it in his hand. "Absorbing that power will kickstart your cultivation. I’ll teach you a battle technique afterwards. Mastering it will mean that you’ve met the requirements of the Cyclic School."

Lu Yin looked back down at the star crystal. It definitely seemed to be a star crystal, but how was that possible? Star energy was supposed to be the Fifth Mainland's power, no? The Cyclic Universe was clearly knowledgeable about the Origin Universe and its power system, so why would their own power system be a copy? If they were truly the same, then why had Sage Yuan mentioned that the Fifth Mainland was not a suitable place for him to fight?

It had seemed as though the Cyclic Universe looked down on the Fifth Mainland’s unique energy.

Lu Yin held the star crystal and finally started absorbing the star energy within it. No matter what the truth was, he decided to cultivate first without making any judgments.

Star energy quickly entered his body. It felt similar to when he had first started cultivating, and the energy really was star energy.

Lu Yin suppressed his questions and directed the star energy through his body. He expected his stellular energy vortex to absorb the wisp of star energy, but shockingly, the energy was rejected by his stellular energy vortex.

This caught Lu Yin completely off guard. Both energies were the same, so why would his own stellular energy vortex reject this star energy?

He directed the trace of star energy back close to his stellular energy vortex, only to find it be rejected once again. This was too strange. Could it be that the Cyclic Universe’s star energy and the Fifth Mainland’s star energy were incompatible?

"How is it? Have you absorbed it?" Jiang Xiaodao asked.

Lu Yin said, "Give me another one."

Jiang Xiaodao sneered. "Just one more? Do you think that that’ll be enough for you to reach the requirements? Do you think that you're more talented than even the Sovereigns?"

With that, he casually dumped a pile of star essence next to Lu Yin, who was once again stunned. The Cyclic Universe even had star essence.

"This is the good stuff. Before reaching the Demi-Immortal realm, you need to absorb the energy in these to cultivate. This should be enough for you to meet the school’s requirements, and after that, I will teach you a battle technique. After you move on to the Cyclic School, you'll be able to learn the Eight Hands of the Stone Gate in no time at all. With that, your reputation as a genius will soar," Jiang Xiaodao stated as a smile crept across his face, "Watch carefully."

Jiang Xiaodao raised his hands, and his palms moved quickly as he demonstrated an unarmed battle technique. Just a glance was enough to see that it was quite powerful. Just as the man had said, it would be possible for Lu Yin to learn the Eight Hands of the Stone Gate in no time if he mastered what Jiang Xiaodao had demonstrated.

However, suspicions mounted in Lu Yin's eyes. This guy clearly wanted to lay a trap for him. It was clear that the battle technique was part of the Eight Hands of the Stone Gate, even if Lu Yin had never seen these particular moves before. He had seen Mu Mu use the Third Hand of the Stone Gate, and that had been enough for him to partially deduce the movements of the Fourth Hand. While the two were not identical, there was not much of a difference.

Lu Yin was someone who could easily defeat a Semi-Progenitor, and he had spent many years cultivating. On top of that, he had spent years reciting the Origin Progenitor's Sutra and being strengthened by that.

Jiang Xiaodao shared a selection of the moves of the Fourth Hand of the Stone Gate and then told Lu Yin to show what he had learned during a fight. However, the moment these movements were recognized, everyone would accuse Xuan Qi of cheating. The reputation that he had picked up in the Voidforce School and the Lost Clan School would be ruined.

Jiang Xiaodao was quite cunning.

"How is it? Did you see it clearly?" Jiang Xiaodao asked excitedly. His eyes gleamed as he looked at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin shook his head. "I couldn’t make it out clearly."

Jiang Xiaodao felt irritated. "You're so stupid! These moves aren't difficult at all. Don’t you come from a cultivation universe? You should already understand battle techniques. Let me watch you cultivate. With the knowledge that I've received from my father, I'm sure that I can correct any of your mistakes."

"There’s no need for that. I want to practice the palm technique you just showed me. It looks very powerful," Lu Yin said eagerly.

Jiang Xiaodao chuckled to himself. Of course it was powerful. It was the true Fourth Hand of the Stone Gate. If not for his father's status, Jiang Xiaodao himself would have never been able to learn it. Mu Mu and the others were stuck practicing the first three hands of the Eight Hands of the Stone Gate in the Cyclic School, but Jiang Xiaodao had already surpassed them. Still, his mastery of the Fourth Hand was not very proficient, though it was enough to easily fool the person in front of him.

"Do you really want to learn this battle technique?"

"Yes."

"Then watch carefully. I'll show you again."

"Thank you."

Jiang Xiaodao felt proud of himself as he demonstrated the technique again. "How about now? Were you able to learn it?"

"I couldn’t see it clearly," Lu Yin replied.

Jiang Xiaodao erupted in frustration. "I've shown you twice, and you still weren't able to see it clearly?"

Lu Yin answered in a sincere manner, "This battle technique is just too complicated, so it's hard for me to see it clearly. Please show me again."

Jiang Xiaodao snorted and repeated it once more.

"How was it?"

"It’s too complex."

"You must be an imbecile! I've already shown you three times!"

"That only shows how unfathomable and mysterious this technique is."

After Jiang Xiaodao finished his fourth demonstration and Lu Yin claimed to still not be able to clearly see the technique, Jiang Xiaodao seemed to realize something, and he asked, "Are you messing with me?"

Lu Yin shook his head, looking somewhat frustrated himself. "I want to learn it, but I just can't seem to remember the moves. It's strange. Could I lack the necessary talent?"

Jiang Xiaodao looked at Lu Yin, unable to determine if he was telling the truth or not. "You really can’t remember it?"

Lu Yin sighed. "Maybe I really don’t have any talent for this. Forget it, I'll just continue with voidforce energy."

Jiang Xiaodao quickly spoke up. "Don't! I’ll show it to you again."

He had already put in so much effort, if Xuan Qi was unable to learn any of the Fourth Hand at all, how would Jiang Xiaodao get his revenge? Even if he suspected that Xuan Qi might already know his intentions, that seemed unlikely, not unless he had somehow managed to recognize the Fourth Hand of the Stone Gate. However, how could that even be possible?

With this in mind, Jiang Xiaodao continued his demonstrations.

…

After the tenth demonstrations, Lu Yin finally reported that he was able to remember the moves and promised to practice the technique diligently, as he hoped to astonish everyone when he moved on to the Cyclic School.

These words reignited Jiang Xiaodao's excitement. "Very well, Xuan Qi. While I may not like you, we’ve gotten to know each other during that fight. The day you plan to impress the Cyclic School, make sure to let me know ahead of time so that I can be there to cheer you on."

Lu Yin smiled. "I’ll make sure to do that."

Jiang Xiaodao left, gloating to himself, while Lu Yin shook his head. It was good to have a bit of fun every once in a while.

He released his domain to confirm that no one was watching. Then, he started to absorb the star energy from the star essence.

Given his level of strength, the amount of star energy in the star essence that Jiang Xiaodao had left behind was quickly absorbed, strengthening the bit of star energy from the Cyclic Universe that was stored within Lu Yin’s body.

He tried to bring that star energy closer to his stellular energy vortex, but it was repelled once again.

He raised his hand and a wisp of energy appeared over it. It was the Cyclic Universe’s star energy. Why was it being rejected by the Fifth Mainland’s energy? He needed to study this.

Several days later, news spread that Jiang Xiaodao had moved on to the Voidforce School.

The news was not surprising to anyone. The image of Xuan Qi bringing the village down upon Jiang Xiaodao had not only shaken Jiang Xiaodao, but everyone else who had seen it as well.

The Voidforce Universe had its own unique characteristics. Of the members of the Sixverse Association, the Three Monarchs Universe was acknowledged as the weakest, while the Cyclic Universe was recognized as the strongest. Aside from those two, the other four civilizations were unranked. Each of them possessed valuable knowledge and abilities that could be learned from.

Lu Yin also obtained a battle technique from the Lost Clan while in the Lost Clan School. This was something that could only be obtained after a person joined the Lost Clan, and it was called the Third Rampart.

The name was strange, and it sounded more like the name of a location than a battle technique. Lu Yin consulted Little Lian about it, who was happy to explain. "The Third Rampart is the complete collection of the Lost Clan’s entire battle techniques. It includes countless battle techniques, both ordinary and powerful. We’re limited to only the ordinary ones.

"The Lost Clan doesn’t accept outsiders, but they still allow their battle methods to be learned by anyone here. Brother Xuan Qi, setting up your card’s pocket space is one of the Lost Clan’s methods."