Star Odyssey

The sudden change was disturbing to Lu Yin. Chou Bao had merely uttered three words, and yet so many powerful cultivators had instantly changed their attitudes. Just how formidable was the man’s reputation?

“This junior does not understand,” Lu Yin admitted his confusion.

Chou Bao looked back at Xu Wuji. “Recruiting Xuan Qi into the Bureau was the wisest decision of your life.”

Xu Wuji scoffed. “You think that I need you to tell me that?”

Chou Bao turned back to Lu Yin. “I’m not the one at fault here. Don't mention Old Dian again. He joined the New Inn, and the New Inn protected him from his enemies. For this reason, he is required to stay here, just the same as anyone else. However, he broke those rules, and the New Inn does not tolerate rule breakers.”

“Every single person in this place has their own story and a reason to leave, but all of them stay here. The rules are set for their sake. If those rules are allowed to be broken, the New Inn loses its reason to exist. Do you understand?”

Lu Yin nodded. “I understand, and this junior thanks you for explaining matters. However, Old Dian only exposed himself because I forced him to. To the New Inn, he is a detestable rule breaker, but to me, he is my subordinate. I wonder what I can do to relieve the New Inn’s anger and compensate for the rules that were broken.”

Chou Bao looked away. “Rules are rules. No one can be allowed to break them. The people here may not care about their lives, but they do care about the rules. Those rules are why they live.”

“Are we not even allowed to meet him?” Xu Wuji roared.

The atmosphere in the room grew tense once again as everyone stared at Xu Wuji. They all looked as though they were ready to attack the moment Chou Bao gave the word.

The silence dragged out.

Finally, Chou Bao replied, “Due to my respect for Senior Xu Wuwei, Xuan Qi can see Old Dian.”

He then waved a hand, and a man approached Lu Yin. “Follow me.”

Lu Yin glanced over at Xu Wuji, who nodded.

Lu Yin followed his escort out of the large common room and up to the top of the New Inn. Soon, they stepped out of the stone building and onto the rooftop.

The maelstrom of voidforce energy swirled around them like a massive hurricane.

A short ways away, Old Dian was sitting cross-legged atop the roof.

When Lu Yin arrived, the man opened his eyes and gasped in surprise upon seeing who had arrived. "Acting Bureau Director? Why are you here?"

Lu Yin stepped forward. "I didn't know you escaped from the New Inn."

Old Dian grimaced. "I did tell you that I had my own problems, which was why I did not want to reveal myself. I was afraid that I would be caught and dragged back to this place."

The man who had led Lu Yin to the roof scoffed with open disgust. "The New Inn saved your life, and then you broke the rules. You deserve to die."

Lu Yin asked, "Is your punishment to stay up here?"

Old Dian replied, "Until I die."

Lu Yin's expression changed, as this punishment was extremely harsh.

The New Inn was at the very front of the Voidforce Universe’s battlefield, and powerful corpse kings could appear at any moment. This meant that Old Dian was being punished with the constant threat of corpse kings until he was finally killed.

"Acting Bureau Director, you promised to protect me!" Old Dian pleaded.

Lu Yin was facing a dilemma. He did not want to abandon Old Dian, but how was he supposed to rescue the man? From the attitude that Chou Bao had shown, simply seeing Old Dian in person was pushing the Void Suprema’s tolerance.

Lu Yin’s escort sneered. "Even now, you still remain unrepentant and are scared of dying."

Old Dian roared in fury, "I don't fear death! There are things left undone that I must complete!"

"Who here doesn’t have unfinished business?" the man sternly rebuked Old Dian. Lu Yin’s escort was also a Void Morphora.

Old Dian quivered as he responded, "I did not massacre my benefactor's family. After fleeing to the New Inn, I spent decades searching until I finally found a trace of my benefactor's surviving family. I have been waiting since then, waiting for the killer who wiped out the rest of my benefactor's family to reveal themselves so that I can finally get revenge. I don't care what others may think of me, nor do I care if I am killed, as long as I can avenge my benefactor."

As the old man spoke, he stared at Lu Yin with desperation and hope filling his eyes. "Acting Bureau Director, please save me! I can die, but only after I avenge my benefactor's family. I cannot die in this place. Acting Bureau Director, you promised to protect me!"

"Hold your tongue!" the Void Morphora cut in sharply.

Lu Yin asked, "Could I have a word with Old Dian in private?"

His escort felt conflicted by the request, but Lu Yin added on, "Senior Chou Bao agreed to allow me to meet Old Dian, but he never said that I needed to be supervised, Senior."

The man stared at Lu Yin. "You will not be permitted to take him from the New Inn, so don’t waste time on a futile attempt."

"Don't worry about that."

The man then stepped away and left Lu Yin alone with Old Dian.

The old man looked at Lu Yin with anticipation. "Acting Bureau Director, I know that it will be difficult to extract me from the New Inn, but please, try to get me out!"

Lu Yin took a moment before answering. "I will try. If not for me, you would have never been exposed. I made you a promise, and so I will do my best to protect you. However, if that proves to be impossible, I will at least do my best to see your wishes fulfilled."

Old Dian's eyes immediately lit up. "My benefactor probably died at the hands of a Demi-Monarch from the Three Monarchs Universe."

Lu Yin was caught off guard. "A Demi-Monarch from the Three Monarchs Universe?"

"Those experts are just as powerful as my Voidforce Universe’s Void Morphoras, which means that they are true experts. It's shocking to me that my benefactor was unable to escape, considering that he was a Void Morphora himself. By the time I arrived, all evidence of the killer had already been erased. Right after I arrived, my benefactor's close friends started to arrive as well. It was a trap that had been set for me. Before I fled, I managed to catch a trace of evidence of a certain battle technique that is unique to the Three Monarchs Universe. They should have used the Monarch Arrow, which is a powerful technique that molds monarch essence to form arrows, each of which can deliver devastating damage.

"The power of the Monarch Arrows that were used during that attack had to have been terrifying if even my benefactor fell to them. The attacker must possess perfect mastery over their monarch essence.

“Still, I cannot be certain that my benefactor died from a Monarch Arrow."

Lu Yin felt puzzled. "If you found traces of a Monarch Arrow, why couldn’t anyone else?"

Old Dian gritted his teeth. "That's exactly the problem—my benefactor wasn’t killed by a Monarch Arrow, but there were traces of the technique left behind where the massacre occurred. I did point this out, but when others returned to investigate, those traces had already disappeared. Someone who wanted to see me dead must have returned and cleaned the place. As long as I find who that was, I'll also find the killer.

"I am only an independent cultivator, and without my benefactor, I would have never received the opportunity to become a Void Morphora. My benefactor, his wife, and their entire family were extremely kind to me, and I cannot let my benefactor die in vain. Even if I need to risk my life, I must find their killer."

Lu Yin spoke solemnly, "So you're saying that, if we can find someone who has mastered the Monarch Arrow technique to a high enough level where it could kill your benefactor, that person will very likely be his killer?"

Old Dian grimaced. "Maybe, but it’s quite likely that it’s only a diversion. While the killer absolutely did master the Monarch Arrow, they might not be someone from the Three Monarchs Universe."

"It won't be easy to find them." Lu Yin sighed. Even before the Sixverse Academy had been established, people from the Sixverse Association had already been learning from other universes. No one could know who might have learned what. Just as people from the Cyclic Universe had been allowed to challenge the Void Pass, people from the Voidforce Universe were also allowed to purchase energy converters.

Monarch essence was far from a difficult power for a person to learn.

"After spending decades searching, I finally found a surviving trace of my benefactor's bloodline, and then I leaked word of their existence. Once the murderer hears of them, they might take action," Old Dian explained.

Lu Yin's expression suddenly turned sharp. "Who told Senior Chou Bao where he could find you?"

Old Dian froze, and his eyes narrowed "Are you suggesting…?"

"I'm not certain, but it looks like I need to return quickly." With that, Lu Yin turned to leave.

"Acting Bureau Director, my life means nothing, but I beg you to avenge my benefactor!" Old Dian called out.

Without even turning back, Lu Yin replied, "Who among the New Inn’s staff doesn't have unfinished business? Even Senior Chou Bao is no exception to that. I will do my best to fulfill the promise I gave you. You do your best to stay alive."

With that, Lu Yin left.

Old Dian stared across the suddenly empty rooftop, his emotions in turmoil. Naturally, the man wanted to live, but it was far more important that his benefactor’s death be avenged.

Lu Yin returned to the inn’s common room, and Xu Wuji turned to look at him.

"Old Dian is up on the roof. His punishment is to remain there until he’s killed," Lu Yin whispered.

Xu Wuji frowned and turned to look at Chou Bao. "Isn't this too harsh? What was the point of bringing him back here? You should have just slapped him dead when you found him."

Chou Bao remained unruffled. "Death will not be so easily granted to rule breakers."

"You're not targeting me, are you?" Xu Wuji was dissatisfied.

Chou Bao casually replied, "You aren’t worth it."

Xu Wuji was instantly infuriated.

Lu Yin spoke up, "Senior, is there really no way for us to take him away?"

Chou Bao looked over at Lu Yin. "Senior Xu Wuwei enlightened me in the past, and that is also why the New Inn was established. It’s because of my respect for him that I allowed you to meet Old Dian, but that is as far as I will bend. Please leave."

"A life for a life!" Lu Yin announced loudly.

Everyone looked over at him in astonishment.

The woman with the heavy makeup shouted, "You’re willing to exchange your life for Old Dian's?"

"Of course not!" Lu Yin then looked at Chou Bao. "Your New Inn was established so that people could live out the remainder of their lives while serving humanity. So, I will use the life of a Void Morphora level powerhouse from Aeternus to trade for Old Dian's."

Chou Bao looked at Lu Yin oddly. "For you to have the confidence to say such a thing, you live up to the reputation of having mastered Spiral Domain. You seem to be very confident about facing the Aeternals."

Xu Wuji smugly replied, "Xuan Qi has practically purged the Voidforce Universe of all spies!"

Chou Bao continued as though no one had said a word, "However, no matter how many spies you root out, the rules of my New Inn cannot be broken, not even at the price of a Void Morphora-level corpse king."

"Two," Lu Yin said.

"Young man, you're overreaching. You're only a Void Brillium," someone spoke up to warn Lu Yin.

Seeing that Chou Bao remained unmoved, Lu Yin continued, "Three."

Xu Wuji arched a brow. "Xuan Qi…"

Lu Yin acted like he heard nothing and pressed on. "Four."

Chou Bao stared intently at Lu Yin for a long moment. "Do you want to purchase Old Dian's life with the lives of four Void Morphora-level corpse kings?"

Lu Yin held his head up high. "That's right."

Killing four Semi-Progenitor level corpse kings was absolutely within his capabilities. When he had broken out of the Perennial World’s rear battlefield, he had slaughtered a number of the Twelve Marquises. When he had been attacked in the Voidforce Universe, he had taken out one of Shaman God's Semi-Progenitor avatars, which was arguably powerful enough to challenge a Progenitor.

As long as he did not have to deal with interference from a Progenitor-level powerhouse, Lu Yin was able to completely dominate any battlefield. He would annihilate every Semi-Progenitor level corpse king he saw and not allow a single one to escape.

Chou Bao nodded. "Four Void Morphora-level corpse kings is enough for you to buy Old Dian's life. According to the New Inn’s rules, you have the right to compensate for him one time."

Lu Yin let a sigh of relief escape him.

"However, he cannot leave," Chou Bao finished, his eyes growing cold.

"Chou Bao, are you really saying that we can't take Old Dian away even after paying with four Void Morphora-level corpse kings? You're going too far!" Xu Wuji rebuked angrily.