Star Odyssey

Chapter 1992

Chapter 1992

Right when the old man was about to hang up, Arch-Elder Zen remembered something else. "One more thing; someone has mentioned their opinion about you being treated as a half-master to the people benefiting from the Tower of the Fifth."

Lu Yin's heart dropped. The tower had only been open for half a month, and yet even Arch-Elder Zen had already become concerned about this matter. "Who?"

"Xia Ji."

Lu Yin instantly had a headache. It would be useless if almost anyone else objected to Lu Yin’s actions and wanted to make trouble, but Xia Ji was different. He was a Semi-Progenitor.

"Senior, are you asking this junior to stop asking for those who receive my inheritances to treat me as a half-master?" Lu Yin asked.

Arch-Elder Zen smiled. "That had been my intention, but you just agreed to donate tens of thousands of universal armors, so I’ll handle this for you."

Lu Yin was surprised. "You’ll handle it for me, Senior?"

Arch-Elder Zen sighed. "Throughout human history, who else has selflessly offered up the inheritances that they have gathered? Founding this Tower of the Fifth is similar to when the Daosource Sect was created in ancient times. Its existence acts as an incredible benefit to mankind. So what if it involves a relationship of a mere half-master to those who benefit from the inheritances."

Lu Yin had not anticipated to receive an unexpected benefit. He had not planned on giving away the universal armors, and it would be impossible to ask Arch-Elder Zen to return the armors when the Perennial World invaded, which had been why Lu Yin had already been scheming to find a way to keep the armors, which was why he had tried to delay the delivery by a few months.

This development made Lu Yin feel a bit uncomfortable about his plotting.

No, forget it. If the Fifth Mainland did not turn on him, then the armors would all be given to the Hall of Honor after the matter with the Perennial World was resolved.

"Thank you, Senior," Lu Yin replied while feeling torn.

Arch-Elder Zen just laughed. "Your existence is creating more and more changes to the universe. Let’s assume that the incident with Leaf King never even happened."

Lu Yin remained calm. He had already known that this matter could never be kept hidden from Arch-Elder Zen. "Thank you, Senior."

"However, I do want to remind you that Shamrock Enterprise can’t change. They are the largest supplier of medicines to the Starfall Sea, and those shipments cannot stop," Arch-Elder Zen warned in a serious manner.

Lu Yin replied, "This junior understands. The absence of Leaf King will be the only change that Shamrock Enterprise will experience. There is no need for you to worry about this, Senior."

"That's good."

With that, Arch-Elder Zen hung up.

Lu Yin lowered his arm and stared up at the sky. The attitude that Arch-Elder Zen had demonstrated had made Lu Yin feel more confident in the Fifth Mainland. He desperately hoped he would not be forced to use his last resort.

However, Xia Ji was going to remain a huge problem.

Lu Yin's eyes grew cold. He needed to deal with this issue permanently, but only a Semi-Progenitor could hope to deal with a Semi-Progenitor.

From the moment Lu Yin had first started cultivating, he had offended countless people as he had raised his strength. He had become extremely skilled at diverting problems.

At the moment, Xia Ji, much like the Daynight clan in the past, possessed enough strength to leave Lu Yin without any strength to resist. However, a lack of strength did not mean that there was no way to handle such an issue.

A figure emerged from the void just outside the Tower of the Fifth. Their appearance caused many of the people swimming through the Abyss of the Sea to look up; how dare anyone break the rules of the Tower of the Fifth?

Man Li’s eyes opened, a dangerous light igniting in their depths.

However, the person in the sky did not land on the tower’s base, but instead raised a hand and threw out something that landed close to the Tower of the Fifth. Then, the man simply turned and left.

Shortly after that, the first name appeared on the Inheritance Ranking: De Yi. He had offered up a battle technique known as Lightning Sealing Technique.

De Yi was the first name to appear on the Inheritance Ranking. This was not because no one had wanted to get their name listed, but because none of the donated battle techniques had been of a high enough quality to justify such a thing.

Not just any battle technique that was offered to the Tower of the Fifth could get a person’s name on the Inheritance Ranking.

After being evaluated, De Yi’s Lightning Sealing Technique was determined to be no less valuable than the Ce family’s Middle Sky Technique. The technique was quite famous throughout the Cosmic Sea, as even Highsage Leon had taken note of it before.

De Yi was similarly famous for being an independent cultivator in the Cosmic Sea who was at the cusp of becoming an Envoy.

Getting one’s name on the Inheritance Ranking of the Tower of the Fifth was incredibly appealing, but very few people were willing to freely share their own inheritance. Doing so took a tremendous amount of courage, and on top of that, even if someone was willing, their donation might not qualify to get their name on the Inheritance Ranking.

Lightning Sealing Technique was the first battle technique to qualify for an entry on the Inheritance Ranking.

Countless people focused on the name De Yi.

Highsage Leon stood on the deck of one of his warships and stared at De Yi’s back as the man disappeared into the distance. Leon had actually tried to recruit the man in the past, but unfortunately, De Yi was dedicated to protecting the island where he had been born, and he was unwilling to join up with any organization at all. The man was quite stubborn, which was a pity. Having the man join Leon’s Armada would have eventually given them yet another Envoy.

Things continued in the Tower of the Fifth; people found and received inheritance, others passed various trials, and the first name and battle technique had appeared on the Inheritance Ranking. With the help and support of Arch-Elder Zen, Lu Yin was able to withstand all of the various pressures from the outside world, and everything was proceeding apace according to plan.

It was at this time, unbeknownst to anyone, that Wang Si arrived at Sky Creation Academy.

A few months had passed since Lu Yin had Possessed White Sage’s body and attacked and killed some of the people in the first batch to arrive in the Fifth Mainland from the Perennial World. He had even managed to eliminate Wang Yun, which had instigated further friction between Sky Creation Academy and the Perennial World, stalling the invasion for several additional months.

However, Wang Si had arrived as part of the second batch of the invasion force to be sent to Sky Creation Academy. Her appearance demonstrated the four ruling powers’ determination to kill Lu Xiaoxuan, as well as take the inheritances in Burial Garden and intimidate the Forsaken Land with a show of absolute power.

No matter what happened, the four ruling powers were not longer willing to delay. They had been waiting for too long already.

Lu Yin was soon informed of Wang Si’s arrival, as First Edition City sent him a message.

Lu Yin lowered his gadget and took a deep breath. The expected event had finally come. Wang Si’s arrival meant that the four ruling powers’ full-force invasion would soon be sent, and they would immediately start pressuring the Fifth Mainland to turn Lu Yin over to them.

Lu Yin looked up to stare at the sky. Would the Fifth Mainland offer him up?

Lu Yin had spent a tremendous amount of effort preparing for this day. He had moved to fight a war against the Astral Beast Domain, built the Tower of the Fifth, helped to eliminate much of the Neohuman Alliance’s power, helped develop new universal armors, and more. Everything he had done had been in preparation for this day, and it had finally arrived.

Lu Yin had no idea how the Fifth Mainland would choose to react.

It was only at this moment that Lu Yin realized that all of his preparations were still not enough. Could the Fifth Mainland gather the will to fight against the Perennial World just because of what Lu Yin had done for the Fifth Mainland? Would the Tower of the Fifth be enough to counter the pressure the four ruling powers would bring to bear on the Human Domain? That was not certain.

People always needed to rely on themselves, so it was important to act first.

"Initiate the plan," Lu Yin spoke three words into his gadget.

...

The Innerverse’s Erudite Flowzone was ruled by the Wen family.

This flowzone was the only one of the eight great flowzones to still not join the Great Eastern Alliance, and they had managed to endure a great deal of pressure from the Great Eastern Alliance.

Wen Zizai received daily reports informing him that Erudite Flowzone cultivators were constantly being harassed by people from the Great Eastern Alliance. Erudite Flowzone had been completely cut off from the rest of the Innerverse. Trade, finance, supplies, nothing at all could be sent to or from Erudite Flowzone. No one was allowed to cross the border.

Every single member of the Wen family was nervous, as they all felt as though they were surrounded by wolves. Even the Mavis Bank had moved to settle the Wen family’s accounts.

Wen Zizai was personally sweeping the grounds. It was impossible to know what thoughts were in the man’s head.

The Wen family’s Han Lao and Lu Jing stood atop a distant mountain, and one of them let out a sigh. "I don't know how much longer the Wen family can hold out."

Lu Jing was a scholar who was part of the Wen family, though he had a primeval surname. The Lu surname was rare in the Fifth Mainland, but this man had no connection at all to Lu Yin. “The Great Eastern Alliance has grand ambitions, and they already have a powerful connection with Highsage Leon. That means that they must already have their sights on the Neoverse, but the Wen family must join them before they move on the Neoverse, or else there’s no telling what sort of tragic fate awaits them."

Han Lao frowned. "The Daynight clan was Lu Yin’s enemy, and they were almost wiped out. Now, that ancient powerhouse the Second Nightking himself acts as Lu Yin’s bodyguard and is treated as basically a slave. The Divine Venom Dynasty’s emperor tried to act against Lu Yin, only to be taken to the Interstellar Supreme Court to be interrogated. He’s been sent to the Starfall Sea, and he will never be able to return to his position as emperor. On top of that, the Divine Venom Dynasty has officially joined the Great Eastern Alliance. No one in the Innerverse can avoid becoming part of the Great Eastern Alliance, and that includes the Wen family."

"The patriarch has his own plans. It’s possible that he just wants to get a better deal."

"The layered Literary Prison?"

"That depends on whether or not Lu Yin is willing to negotiate."

Han Lao looked away and coincidentally saw something odd. "That’s Wen Zhaocheng."

Lu Jing followed the other man’s gaze, and saw Wen Zhaocheng bent over in the shadow of a distant mountain. He was bowing to a young man whom both Han Lao and Lu Jing had met before, but he was just an ordinary disciple of the Wen family who had a different surname

The two old men glanced at each other to see similar wariness and surprise in each other’s eyes. Something about this scene was wrong.

In the distance, after another half an hour, Wen Zhaocheng turned and left, and the other young man took his leave as well. At that moment, Han Lao took action and captured the young man, startling him. When he saw that he had been captured by Han Lao, the young man’s pupils shrank. "Elder?"

Han Lao stared at the young man. "Who are you? Why are you able to command Wen Zhaocheng?"

The young man looked at Elder Han with confusion. "I don't know what you are speaking of, Elder."

Han Lao frowned. "You’re still wanting to play dumb?”

Suddenly, a thought occurred to the old man, and his eyes instantly widened. “You’ve been sent by Lu Yin, haven’t you?"

The young man rolled his eyes and lifted his head. "Exactly. This disciple belongs to Alliance Leader Lu. Elder Han, the Wen family had shown that they’re determined to not submit to the Great Eastern Alliance. Wen Zhaocheng and I know each other, and we’ve already reached an agreement. You need to stop being delusional; Alliance Leader Lu isn’t going to let things slide."

Han Lao's expression fell. If this person really did belong to Lu Yin, he would refer to Lu Yin as “our alliance leader,” not “Alliance Leader Lu.” This was a simple difference, but it showed how a person subconsciously viewed Lu Yin. This young man had referred to Lu Yin as “Alliance Leader Lu” twice, which was not right.

Lu Yin appeared from the distance. "Someone’s controlling Wen Zhaocheng. His expressions are stiff, and he’s clearly been poisoned. There’s something wrong with this youth you’ve captured."

As soon as the man finished speaking, the youth attacked Han Lao. "Celestial Being Shows the Way."

A wave of Han Lao's hand tore the young man's arm apart, and his body slammed against the side of the mountain where he spat out blood. The young man gritted his teeth as he glared at Han Lao. "You dare attack me? Alliance Leader Lu won’t let you go! Your Wen family will be buried with me!”

After shouting his threat, the young man’s eyes turned dim and he crumpled to the ground.

Lu Jing hurried over. "Not good!"

He picked the young man up by his neck, but the youth was already dead.

"Poison. The kid was only an Explorer, and he wasn’t able to last for even a second."

Han Lao approached. "I didn't think Lu Yin would already have a mole planted within the Wen family."

"You really think this was Lu Yin?" Lu Jing retorted.

Han Lao frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Let's report this to the patriarch first."

One day later, Wen Zizai, Han Lao, and Lu Jing were confronting Wen Zhaocheng.

Wen Zhaocheng looked completely confused. "Patriarch, why am I here?"

"Do you remember what happened yesterday?" Wen Zizai stared intently at Wen Zhaocheng as he asked the question.

Wen Zhaocheng shook his head, but then frowned. "Yesterday? I had a dream. Three words kept repeating over and over."

"What were they?" Han Lao asked.

Wen Zhaocheng hesitated a moment. "Celestial Frost Sect."