Star Odyssey

Lu Yin began to search through his inventory. He had numerous precious items, but there really wasn’t much that he could sell.

He flipped through his cosmic ring, but he had already sold all of his natural treasures, and there were not that many interesting items remaining. There was the blood-red bell, but if he dared to sell it, the Hall of Honor would likely stake everything they had to move against him. There was also the hoe, but nobody would be able to use that toy. Right, he still had the arrows from Neo-Vestige Sect and Elder Wu's poison, which he could sell. However, Lu Yin felt uncomfortable at the thought of selling these things, as he would no longer have them afterwards.

As he considered his options, Lu Yin contacted Ban Jiu.

In the past, Lu Yin had asked Ban Jiu to manufacture some equipment, such as guns, arrows, armors, and other miscellaneous items, and to make them with high quality materials.

Ban Jiu had told Lu Yin that it would be pointless for them to make such items, as they would be useless for Lu Yin and any other powerful cultivator. However, Lu Yin did have a use for them, as he could upgrade such equipment.

Before too much time passed, the Technology Department sent over one gun, three arrows, and a set of universal armor.

Lu Yin had also sent Kayze out to buy three formcast models. After collecting all the items, he entered the palace’s secret, raised his hand, and caused his die to appear.

Recently, Lu Yin no longer rolled the die as frequently as he had in the past. Thus, with the longer gap between rolls, he was more likely to roll the number that he desired. Lu Yin had thought about this before, and since this die was his innate gift, it made sense that it could resonate with his inner desires.

But hopes were just hopes, and they were not predictions. As a precaution, Lu Yin quickly set his cosmic ring aside, just in case he rolled six pips: Possession.

His cosmic ring contained over a million star essence, and if he rolled six pips: Possession, he did not know where he would be taken. In fact, he might even Possess someone from the Sixth Mainland again, and if that happened, his wealth would be depleted in an instant.

Although six pips: Possession was a method that could improve his strength and allow him to obtain crucial intelligence, it was not the roll that Lu Yin wanted at this time. He would slowly explore that option when he had the time and resources.

He tapped out, and the die spun around before directly landing on three pips: Enhance.

So did this indicate that, the greater his desires or expectations, the higher the odds of rolling what he wanted with the die? Lu Yin considered this possibility.

Two screens of light appeared, and Lu Yin first threw the gun on top. It was actually rather similar to the fake gun that Lu Yin had sent to the Xun family in the past. This gun had been made from high quality materials, and Lu Yin expected to be able to upgrade it to the point where it could fire attacks with a power level of nearly 200,000, which would be able to threaten Enlighters.

He spent over 20,000 star essence to upgrade the gun to the maximum level.

As he held it in his hands, it felt pretty decent.

Although this gun’s rune lines could not match up to an Enlighter’s, it was still pretty close, and it would be sufficient for the moment. The materials used to make this particular gun meant that it could only be upgraded to this extent.

Next were the three arrows, but no matter how much Lu Yin upgraded them, they would still have no intrinsic special powers or traits, unlike the Arrow of Valiance that had no form and was unstoppable. These three arrows were perfectly ordinary, but if they were used by a Hunter well-versed in bow and used arrow battle techniques, then their power would be boosted to a decent level, and these arrows could theoretically present a threat to Enlighters.

It cost him less star essence to upgrade these arrows than the gun for an overall sum of a bit over 10,000 star essence.

Just upgrading three arrows and one gun had already cost him almost 60,000 star essence. He had never had such a large sum before his trip to Millions City. During that trip, Lu Yin had managed to obtain more than a million star essence from people like Yuehua Mavis, so his savings at the moment were quite considerable.

There were also those three formcast models still.

It did not cost Lu Yin too much to upgrade them to five-stage models, but it would cost him 8,000 star essence each to upgrade them to six-stage models.

However, Lu Yin did not plan to upgrade them to that level.

A six-stage formcast model required an Enlighter to create. If he brought out such treasures, it would cause a great commotion. Since that was the case, he could only upgrade the formcast models five times before selling them, which would not incite too much excitement.

Still, five-stage formcast models were not simple, and even a power like the Xun family from the Innerverse may not necessarily have that many five-stage formcast models, let alone the Outerverse powers. Perhaps only Neo-Vestige Sect, Millions City, the Dark Phoenix family, and the four great conglomerates had such items.

These three upgraded formcast models would be sufficient to support the auction this time. Thus, Lu Yin did not plan to provide any additional treasures to sell. Instead, he intended to start preparing to return to the Daosource Sect.

It had been almost nine months since he had last visited the Daosource Sect’s ruins, and the dispute between the Ten Arbiters and the Realmlings should have died down significantly. However, he would still need to make the necessary preparations.

The first thing on his list to upgrade was the Arrow of Valiance, which was completely transparent and moved unseen. This meant that it was the best choice to use in an ambush attack. It also had the trait of being unstoppable, but unfortunately, its destructive power was based upon the strength of its user, and Lu Yin’s own destructive power could only approach that of a Hunter at most.

He placed the Arrow of Valiance on the upper light screen and began to upgrade it repeatedly.

The rune lines that he saw on the arrow grew more and more exaggerated. They grew from a Hunter’s, to an Enlighter’s, and then finally, an Enlighter’s with a power level of around 250,000. At this point, it should be enough to injure a Realmling-level opponent.

Lu Yin did not plan to upgrade the arrow any further, as he would not be able to control it if it became too powerful. This was his limit, and it had cost him nearly 100,000 star essence to reach this point, which was quite a lot. The Arrow of Valiance was so expensive to upgrade precisely because of its special traits, which made it completely different from the normal arrows that he had upgraded earlier. Actually, it was considered as one of the divine arrows.

Next were various medicines and life-preserving items. He retrieved the ancient medicine that he had bought at the Qiong Forest Banquet’s auction. This pill was different from Shamrock Enterprises’s medications. Instead, it consisted of individual beads. Just a single glance at it was enough to tell that these pills had probably been refined by a cultivating sect.

The overall effect of these pills were already quite impressive before being upgraded. To start, Lu Yin took out one pill and upgraded it multiple times, only stopping once the rune lines were equivalent to an Enlighter’s with a power level of 200,000. Nobody would be upset at having life-preserving items that were too powerful, but he would not upgrade the pill any further, as there was no reason to upgrade it excessively. Upgrading it to this point had already cost about 20,000 star essence.

He had only upgraded one pill, though the bottle contained a total of twelve pills. After making some quick calculations, Lu Yin only upgraded three pills, as he only needed that much for his personal use.

Upgrading the Arrow of Valiance and three pills had drained his reserves by nearly 160,000 star essence.

As Lu Yin’s personal strength increased, his requirements for his supporting items had also risen. Correspondingly, the amount of money that he had to spend to upgrade those items to that level had also increased. When he eventually became an Enlighter, the external objects he used would have to be at the level of threatening powerhouses with power levels of around 400,000, which would probably require hundreds of thousands of star essence for each upgrade.

He still had around 1,240,000 star essence left, so next on his list was another set of universal armor.

His original set of universal armor had cracked, so if he used it, he might easily suffer injuries in a fight. After leaving Millions City, he had instructed Ban Jiu to manufacture a new set of universal armor and to use the best materials possible in its construction. With a conservative estimate, Lu Yin believed that the new armor could be upgraded to the point where it would be able to defend against attacks with power levels of 300,000.

He quickly upgraded the universal armor sixteen times, pushing it to the point where it could withstand attacks with a power level of almost 260,000 before he stopped. Lu Yin had spent a total of 23,000 star essence on the armor so far, and the universal armor’s base materials would not be able to handle another upgrade, as this universal armor’s base materials were quite inferior compared to his first one.

The only advantage was that it was much cheaper to upgrade the universal armor compared to the Arrow of Valiance, and the armor cost about the same as the pills. Right, a universal armor was just a piece of defensive equipment whereas the Arrow of Valiance was an offensive weapon.

The next day, Lu Yin passed a gun whose rune lines nearly matched an Enlighter’s, three arrows that were the same, and three five-stage formcast models over to Bei Qing.

Bei Qing’s face was blank, “Your- Your Highness, this is?”

Lu Yin casually replied, “Sell them.”

Bei Qing blinked. “Is this information accurate?”

Lu Yin was irritated by his response. “Do you think that I’d try to deceive you?”

Bei Qing hurriedly apologized, but he still didn’t truly believe the information that he had been given. A gun that could threaten an Enlighter? Was that a joke!? Was the Royal Regent taking advantage of the fact that Bei Qing was a native who did not know much about guns? And these three arrows—reportedly, they also had the power to threaten Enlighters, but they were apparently still just arrows that could not realize their full power on their own!? However, the three formcast models shocked Bei Qing the most. Five-stage formcast models! He had never heard of anyone selling such things in the entire Outerverse. Who wouldn’t hoard such treasures as family heirlooms to eventually give them to their own heir? Even if the formcast models couldn’t be used by older cultivators, people would absolutely save them to give to their heirs. Just who would sell them?

Lu Yin knew that Bei Qing would not easily believe the truth of these items, so he simply said, “With the Lu's Grand Auction’s prestige, feel free to sell these things. There will certainly be people who believe it.”

In the past, Lu Yin had used a gun to kill multiple Enlighters, and he had even gained the title “Enlighters’ Bane.” Thus, everybody was aware of that gun’s legend. That gun had been destroyed in Ironblood Weave, and when this one appeared, countless people would invariably remember Lu Yin’s old item, which would prompt them into believing that this gun was authentic.

“Then, Your Highness, how do we set the prices?” Bei Qing asked.

Lu Yin thought about it; Enlighters were practically the sky in the Outerverse, and not every weave was able to produce an Enlighter. Thus, anyone who bought such an item would be purchasing a deterrence, so the price could not be too low. Lu Yin had no fear of setting the price too high, as there would always be someone who could afford the price, such as the four great conglomerates, the three great powers of the Outerverse, or those colossal financial organizations.

Lu Yin did not forget about the generosity that Neo-Vestige Sect had shown when buying back those divine arrows.

“The base price for the gun will be 60,000 star essence, while the three arrows’ base price will be 20,000 each. As for the formcast models…” Lu Yin thought about it for a moment before replying, “No starting price.”

Five-stage formcast models were items that most people would never be able to access due to the universal lack of supply. Lu Yin had once assumed that almost every Enlighter was able to produce such formcast models, but his thinking had been too simple back then. Even if five-stage formcast models didn’t require an Envoy to produce, the expert would definitely have to be close to that level. Mammoth organizations like Shamrock Enterprises definitely had such experts, so they would not be short for these sorts of formcast models.

These were two major obstacles to selling these formcast models, as those colossal organizations possessed super experts who could manufacture similar five-stage formcast models, and they would definitely provide them to their own geniuses. On the other hand, any powers without such powerhouses would find it difficult to purchase these formcast models even if they had enough money.

Each manufactured formcast model was related to the expert who produced them, and some people were capable of deducing details about the manufacturer’s strength through the unique details of each formcast model. For experts manufacturing formcast models, each model that they produced would increase the odds of their weaknesses being exposed. Thus, high level formcast models would not be released externally unless there was no choice.

Lu Yin had spent just over 300,000 star crystals when he had upgraded his own formcast model from four to five stages, which was very cheap. It was very difficult to buy high level formcast models simply because no one wanted to sell them.

As soon as news spread out that this next auction would feature these five-stage formcast models, Lu Yin felt confident that there would be quite a commotion, and at the very least, the four great conglomerates would not remain aloof. Those companies definitely did not have any experts who could manufacture five-stage formcast models, and it was also practically impossible to buy such things. Additionally, these companies all had a great number of youths who they were raising, and who would not want their heir to be even more outstanding? A five-stage formcast model meant greater future prospects.

Bei Qing left, feeling both excited and nervous.

Were the items that he had been given to sell this time actually reliable? He was not certain, but he also knew that he could not refuse to sell what he had been given. He had no choice in this matter, and he gritted his teeth. Regardless, everything belonged to His Highness, so even if these items were fake, only the Royal Regent’s reputation would take a hit. Bei Qing stopped caring about the authenticity of the items and decided to just sell them.

After thinking about it, he quickly contacted Xiao Ya.

After Bei Qing left King Zishan’s palace, Lu Yin called Wendy Yushan. He wanted her to wait a moment to enter the Daosource Sect so that he could enter first and investigate the situation. After speaking with her, he returned to the secret room in the palace and held onto the Arrow of Valiance and the Backlash Pearl with an Ultra Flash Tearbomb tied to his waist. He sat on the futon and then entered the Daosource Sect's ruins. He had not visited this place in quite some time, and he was hoping that his luck would not be as terrible as the last time!

As the scenery changed before his eyes, Lu Yin reoriented himself and quickly realized that he was back in a familiar, yet still foreign place—he was back in the futon plaza outside the First Divine Gate.