Star Odyssey

Chapter 2537: Disrupting The Rules

In the Singularity Universe, Lu Yin submitted an official application to the Lost Clan School to request a transfer to the Arboreal School.

Zhi Bing made a personal visit to acknowledge “Xuan Qi’s” achievements in the Lost Clan School. "Out of all of the people from the various foreign universes who have visited our Lost Clan School, you undoubtedly have the greatest talent. The Hidden Mountain card won't be wasted in your hands."

Lu Yin felt grateful and replied, "Although I've only recently come into contact with the Lost Clan Universe, I feel that it is a civilization with vast and profound knowledge. Given the opportunity, I would like to visit the Lost Clan Universe so that I may gain a deeper understanding of your methods."

Zhi Bing chuckled. "Young man, you are insatiable. There's no point in you visiting our Lost Clan Universe. That Hidden Mountain card is enough to last you until you grow old."

"Old Zhi, that's not how you should talk to someone," Xu Xiangyin interjected as he appeared out of nowhere. He had come to prevent Zhi Bing from poaching the Voidforce Universe’s genius, unlikely as though it may be. However, the moment he arrived, he had heard such words.

Lu Yin was pleasantly surprised. "Senior, you're here too."

Xu Xiangyin smiled. "You've made quite the name for yourself in the Lost Clan School over the past two and a half months."

Lu Yin answered humbly, "It was just luck, Senior."

Xu Xiangyin shook his head and then looked back at Zhi Bing. "Old man, you're getting more and more shameless. You've even started deceiving the younger generation now."

Zhi Bing frowned and retorted. "Don't be ridiculous."

Xu Xiangyin sneered. "Even though that Hidden Mountain card is excellent, it's still nothing more than an Ancient card. Such a card won't last him for his entire lifetime. I mean absolutely no disrespect to your Lost Clan's cards, but that's the truth."

Zhi Bing remained calm.

"Even a Primordial card might not last Xuan Qi for his entire lifetime. Only a Prehistoric card could possibly qualify," Xu Xiangyin continued.

Lu Yin's eyes brightened. The lower limit of the strength of a Primordial card was the strength of a Semi-Progenitor, while a Prehistoric card could reach the strength of a Progenitor. As for Ancient cards, they could only measure up to Envoys.

Thus, Lu Yin's current strength allowed him to fully unleash the power of the Hidden Mountain card, but so what? It was impossible to trap even a Semi-Progenitor, as they would escape, just like how Mu Mu had incinerated Jiang Xiaodao's card. There was no need to even mention a Progenitor.

Zhi Bing sneered in turn, "Now you're just being delusional. I’ve already made a huge exception by allowing someone from a foreign universe to take a seven-star Ancient card. Unless he joins our Lost Clan Universe-" The old man suddenly looked at Lu Yin and smiled. "What do you think, Xuan Qi? Would you consider joining our Lost Clan Universe?"

Xu Xiangyin immediately jumped in. "Old man, you promised you wouldn’t try to poach him!"

"You’re the one who’s trying to get him a Prehistoric card. Do you think that any outsider can be given a Prehistoric card?" Zhi Bing said as he rolled his eyes.

Xu Xiangyin looked upset. "Just forget it, Xuan Qi. Let's move on to the Arboreal School."

Zhi Bing smiled at Lu Yin. "Just think about it."

Xu Xiangyin quickly led “Xuan Qi” away. Why bother arguing with that old man? Xu Xiangyin was genuinely afraid that the young genius would be stolen away before his very eyes. If that happened, he would not be able to offer any explanation to the Voidforce Universe.

He also would have no explanation to give to Senior Xu Wuwei.

Lu Yin had expected Xu Xiangyin to take him straight to the Arboreal School, but instead, they arrived in outer space. Before them was the same man who had escorted Lu Yin from the Transcendent Universe to the Sixverse Academy. The man’s name was You Teng.

"I'll leave him to you. Zhi Bing truly is despicable for trying to poach him right in front of me!" Xu Xiangyin complained.

You Teng was taken aback. "Zhi Bing tried to steal him from you? That seems unlikely. The Lost Clan is very closed off, so it's highly unlikely that they would ever accept any outsider, no matter how talented they might be."

Xu Xiangyin would never admit to You Teng that he had been the one to bring trouble upon himself. Instead, he just grumbled a bit before allowing “Xuan Qi” to continue on to the Arboreal School with You Teng.

The old man soon left.

Lu Yin gave You Teng a curious look.

You Teng said, "There's someone who wants to meet you."

The first thing that came to mind was the image of that perfect woman atop the staircase.

However, instead of that woman, Lu Yin saw Zi Jing.

The two had been separated almost as soon as they arrived in the Transcendent Universe, and over half a year had passed since that time. Unexpectedly, they were reunited in the Singularity Universe.

"Take your time." Yu Teng smiled at the two before disappearing.

Lu Yin gave the man a grateful look. "Thank you, Senior."

Once Yu Teng was gone, Lu Yin released his domain to confirm that no one was observing. Only then did he look at Zi Jing.

As for Zi Jing, she was looking at Lu Yin with a strange expression.

"What's wrong?" Lu Yin asked.

Zi Jing stared at Lu Yin for a long moment before asking, "Is it a powerful temptation to have a Progenitor kneel to you?"

Lu Yin arched a brow. "Not really."

Zi Jing felt puzzled by the answer. "Why not?"

Lu Yin's expression grew meaningful as he leaned closer to Zi Jing. From a distance, it looked as though he was embracing the woman, but the truth was that he was whispering in her ear, "It will cut your life short."

Zi Jing went stiff, and she gave Lu Yin a confused look.

Lu Yin smiled. "Just kidding. Did someone try to tempt you with this?"

Zi Jing nodded and shared what had happened.

Lu Yin was caught off guard. "They’ve imprisoned a Progenitor-level expert? No wonder it affected you so much. Even I wouldn’t be able to resist such temptation. The human mind weighs things like a scale, with conscience and self-interest on either side. There’s no absolute balance, and things depend on which side gains more weight. The Transcendent Universe just placed a truly heavy weight on you."

Zi Jing felt puzzled. "Why doesn't the Dao Monarch ask me for my thoughts?"

Lu Yin said, "I'm still safe here, which proves that you haven’t been crushed by the weight."

Zi Jing sighed. "Truthfully, I hesitated. A Progenitor is the pinnacle of human power. Anyone who reaches such a realm is undoubtedly one of the strongest beings in existence, and yet such a person can still be imprisoned. The power of the Transcendent Universe is beyond terrifying. They can even force Progenitors to kneel before me. The temptation of such power is too great."

"Then why did you resist that temptation?" Lu Yin asked.

Zi Jing’s eyes met Lu Yin’s. "If I tell you that I'm waiting for a more opportune time, will you believe me, Dao Monarch?"

Lu Yin raised a hand and gently placed it on Zi Jing's forehead. She stood still and just looked at him.

He proceeded to stroke her hair. "I can see that something’s changed in your eyes. It's quite obvious. Once something like that appears, it will never go away. Since that's the case," he paused as he smirked, "Let it sprout and grow."

"Aren't you afraid that I will one day betray you, Dao Monarch?" Zi Jing asked, confused.

Lu Yin laughed heartily. "Even if they make a Progenitor kneel to you, it won’t change the fact that you still will have to kneel to that woman. However, I can change that."

Zi Jing's eyes flickered as she took a deep breath and revealed a bitter smile. She turned to stare into a distant point in outer space. "I never imagined that the day would come where I would be governed by ambition. I escaped from the Transcendent Universe because I didn't want to do their bidding and didn't want to be bound. I wanted to live freely, but in the end, I still couldn't avoid it."

Lu Yin said, "You should be grateful to be used. Not everyone is qualified to have their ambitions awakened. They even exposed something as confidential as the fact that they have Cloudflow imprisoned just to spark your ambition."

Zi Jing nodded. "I understand."

"Enough, let's get to the point. What exactly happened that made the Transcendent Universe go to such lengths to awaken your ambition and alter your very personality?" Lu Yin felt very curious about this. There was nothing more difficult than changing a human heart. The Transcendent Universe had clearly spent a tremendous amount of effort to change Zi Jing.

In the past, they had done nothing at all to change anything about Zi Jing, which made things rather strange. Something must have happened to cause Zi Jing to force them to try to change her character.

Zi Jing's finger twitched. "I visualized- I visualized sequence particles."

Lu Yin frowned, "What does that mean? You mentioned the same thing to me back in the Fifth Mainland, but I never understood what that actually means."

Zi Jing solemnly explained, "I didn't understand it before, either. Despite grasping the technology to visualize the particles, I didn't know how such a technology could be used. All that I knew was that it could eventually allow for entire universes to be destroyed. That's why I fled. However, I might be able to understand a little more now.”

"Simply put, the Transcendent Universe has the ability to analyze all matter and energy within a given universe. However, such things are invisible. It’s only through cultivation technology that each particle of matter can be visualized and analyzed."

Zi Jing looked over at Lu Yin, her head beginning to throb. She did not understand how to explain this. "The birth of humans is not a coincidence. Many people say that they are grateful to live on a planet that has the optimum temperature and environment for human survival, but that’s the wrong outlook. It’s actually the opposite—it’s because of that environment that humans were born on that planet. If humans were creatures of magma, then the environments that we currently enjoy would not be suitable for our survival.”

"The entire megaverse is the same. The vast megaverse is home to countless creatures and practically infinite matter. This matter comes into existence following the rules of a given universe. The universe creates matter, not the other way around. We call this process of how universes function matter ‘sequence.’”

"What I managed to accomplish was to visualize that matter sequence. Just imagine—once a matter sequence is disrupted, what would happen to a given universe?"

Lu Yin's eyes grew sharp. He was not stupid. While he could not understand overly technical explanations, he could perfectly understand what Zi Jing was saying. "Are you saying that you’ve found a way to disrupt the fundamental rules of a universe?"

Zi Jing nodded. "That’s one way of looking at it. Those rules are elusive and hard to comprehend, let alone disrupt. However, the Transcendent Universe is already able to understand the rules that govern a given universe’s matter sequence. They can then create an antimatter sequence that can undo the matter sequence. Once that is developed and released within a universe, it is possible to overturn the universe, reorganize it, or even erase all life and trigger the birth of new life.”

"Such destruction would come from the universe itself, which means that no individual or creature can resist it. Progenitors are able to alter the universe, but not even they can destroy a universe. Once a universe has been reorganized, all life and matter must start anew. This is what the Transcendent Universe is planning to do. This is a third cultivation technology that they want to develop alongside energy converters and the Bestowal Art."

Lu Yin stared at Zi Jing. Restructuring the rules of a universe was an incredible concept. He had previously fought against Progenitors who had recklessly unleashed their power in outer space, tearing apart the void and eliminating entire civilizations. However, even for such powerhouses, it was impossible to annihilate an entire universe. "Is this really possible?"

Zi Jing did not answer. She also felt rather perplexed about it, but her teacher's reaction was proof that it was possible.

"Since the Transcendent Universe was able to imprison Cloudflow, does that mean that they’ve already analyzed the matter sequence of the Cloudflow Plane?" Lu Yin asked.

Zi Jing nodded. "Yes. They intend to use Cloudflow for an experiment to explore the possibility of antimatter sequence."

"The deeper they delve, the greater their ambitions become. The top authorities of the Transcendent Universe are no longer satisfied with their current status. They want to replace the Cyclic Universe." Lu Yin sighed. "If the Cyclic Universe learns of this, do you think that they will start a war?"

Zi Jing asked, "Does the Dao Monarch intend to inform the Cyclic Universe?"

"Not necessarily." Lu Yin looked at Zi Jing. "Besides, given your current state, I doubt that you’d want that to happen either."