Star Odyssey

After fighting in the ported battles for another half day, Lu Yin’s name finally turned red again. Ever since he had had that unfortunate encounter with Alliance, Lu Yin had become more subdued. After all, it was even possible to match up against one of the Ten Arbiters in the ported battles. Lu Yin’s craving to be lucky grew even stronger.

Boom!

The earth rumbled, and a figure vanished from a swamp.

“Astral-10,” Lu Yin said again as he gradually vanished from the swampy scenery of the battlefield. He had succeeded in snatching a second teleportation stone.

Now, his battle statistics were 134 victories to 108 defeats. His longest winning streak was nineteen, and if it were not for his loss against Alliance, he might even have reached thirty straight victories, which would give him the qualifications to challenge anyone on the Top 100 Rankings.

“Mentor, I’ve won a second teleportation stone.”

The Trialmaster opened his eyes and nodded. “Ask away.”

Lu Yin actually wanted to ask if a sourcebox as large as a planet could exist, but it would be pointless to ask this question at the present moment. There would be plenty of opportunities to learn more about this in the future, so it would be better for Lu Yin to either ask about more relevant topics or obtain an opportunity to lockbreak a sourcebox in front of the Trialmaster. 

Lu Yin’s eyes flashed. “I have no questions at this time and I would like to seek Mentor’s permission to lockbreak before you.”

The Trialmaster grunted. “Sure, you get one opportunity.”

Lu Yin was delighted. “Thank you, Mentor.”

He intended to continue taking part in the ported battles, but he was abruptly stopped by the Trialmaster. “There’s someone who wants to speak with you.” The mentor then pulled out his ancient gadget. Lu Yin immediately knew who wanted to see him—Nightking Yuanjing.

Lu Yin had waited a long while for Nightking Yuanjing to contact him, as many things could only be solved with his help. “Hey monkey, the person who we’ve been waiting for is finally here.”

The Ghost Monkey chuckled. “Hehe, I never thought there would be a day when I would receive guidance from a Nightking elder.”

Nightking Yuanjing appeared on a screen and revealed a gentle expression towards Lu Yin. “Kid, we meet again.”

Lu Yin saluted respectfully. “Student Lu Yin pays his respects to Elder Yuanjing.”

Yuanjing casually waved a hand and smiled. “There’s no need for such formalities. You’re friends with Zhuo’er, so you’re also a friend of my Daynight clan. I’ll just call you Little Yin.”

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. “Of course.”

Nightking Yuanjing nodded. “I’ve already accepted Zhuo’er as my disciple. So Little Yin, you can rest assured now.”

Lu Yin was delighted by this news. “Thank you, Elder.”

“Keke, Zhuo'er is intelligent and capable. Actually, I should be thanking you for finding me such a good disciple, haha!”

Lu Yin looked down and did not speak.

Behind him, the Trialmaster spoke up. “You’re already so old, but you still act like you’re in a position of authority. Your anxiety will end up killing you.” 

Nightking Yuanjing glared at the Trialmaster, but didn’t respond. Instead, he spoke to Lu Yin. “Little Yin, I need to seek your help regarding a specific matter.”

Lu Yin was shocked, and he replied, “Please, Elder, let me know how I can be of service to you. Little Yin does not dare to promise that he can provide the help you are seeking.”

“Kid, there’s no need to be so courteous. If you can actually help him, you can even get this old fart in front of you to call you Grandpa,” the Trialmaster casually interrupted, causing Nightking Yuanjing’s face to sour as if he had just swallowed a fly.

“Elder Tan, no one will assume that you’re mute even if you stay silent!” he lashed out.

Lu Yin bent his head and acted meek.

Nightking Yuanjing let out a sigh and turned to look at Lu Yin. “Little Yin, when you first heard about the tracks of the ancestor, the Third Nightking, did you hear about anything else? Such as an air current?”

Lu Yin rubbed his head and put on an expression as if he were trying to recall the details. Nightking Yuanjing did not interrupt and just continued to observe the youth.

Lu Yin thought for a few seconds before responding, “It’s definitely possible. When that beast was pleading for its life, it said a great many things, but I don’t quite remember since so much time has passed.”

Nightking Yuanjing’s breathing became even more frantic, and he looked at Lu Yin with a fervent expression. “Don’t rush! Take your time—you must remember if this detail was mentioned.”

The Trialmaster stared at Lu Yin with his murky eyes and a complicated expression.

Lu Yin paused. “Elder, my apologies. Too many things have happened during this period, and many troubles have arisen. Please allow Little Yin some time to go back and seriously think about this matter. I will immediately look for Elder after recalling the details.”

Nightking Yuanjing waved his hand. “Troubles? What troubles? Just tell me—Grandpa Yuanjing will take care of them for you.” 

Lu Yin was stunned speechless; this shift in tone was a bit too sudden.

The Trialmaster rolled his eyes.

Lu Yin became embarrassed. “That’s not reasonable. Elder must have many things to handle within the Nightking clan, and Little Yin’s matters are too trifling to inconvenience Elder with.”

The Nightking elder shook his head. “Don’t worry about that. Little Yin, just come to Grandpa Yuanjing if you have any troubles, and Grandpa Yuanjing will take care of them all for you.”

Lu Yin nodded. “If that’s the case, could Grandpa Yuanjing help the Frostwave Weave? Little Yin’s home is being bullied by others. It’s unbearable, but I’m powerless to stop them.”

“Who’s the bully?” Nightking Yuanjing glared as he asked in fury.

Lu Yin considered answering, but he had been put in an awkward situation.

Nightking Yuanjing’s eyes flashed. “Don’t tell me it’s that girl, Yanqing.”

Lu Yin sighed and then bowed. “Senior Yanqing is not doing it on purpose.”

“Hmph, that brat dares to butt into the matters of the Frostwave Weave even after I warned her otherwise. Alright, now that I know about this, you can rest assured that the Daynight clan will not intervene in the military affairs of the Frostwave Weave.” Yuanjing then said, “Little Yin, is there anything else that you need Grandpa Yuanjing to settle?”

“I wonder if Grandpa Yuanjing has any ways to delay the selection of members of the Outerverse Youth Council?”

The Nightking elder was astonished. “Delay the selection? Why?”

“One of Little Yin’s enemies is about to join the Outerverse Youth Council. If he gets selected, I’ll be in trouble, and it will even end up involving Little Yin’s hometown.”

Nightking Yuanjing nodded. “Alright, I can promise you that I will contact Zhenwu and have him delay the selection.” Then, once again, he looked at Lu Yin. “Anything else?”

Lu Yin knew that he could not go overboard, as he had crushed Zhanlong Daynight and the others in the Shenwu Continent. Nightking Yuanjing must know about this incident, and the Daynight clan must be seething with rage. And yet, they had endured the humiliation of that incident because of the matter regarding the Third Nightking. There was a limit, and Lu Yin could not go past it. Otherwise, just as the Trialmaster had said, even Astral-10 would not be able to protect Lu Yin.

Nightking Yuanjing’s courteous attitude towards him today was mostly due to his status as a student of Astral-10 and also perhaps partially because of his contributions to the Lockbreaker Society. But respect and fear were two different things, and Nightking Yuanjing’s attitude did not mean that the Daynight clan was helpless if they wanted to act against Lu Yin. Two requests were enough.

“Thank you, Grandpa Yuanjing. There’s nothing else bothering me.”

“Right, Little Yin has also recalled the details of that matter now,” Lu Yin said as he looked up and blinked. “There are many currents surrounding the space around the Profound Void Realm. These currents of wind in the void are so strong that even almighty powerhouses cannot handle them. And of these currents, some are the entrance to the Profound Void Realm.”

“Right, so how can we find the correct entrance?” Nightking Yuanjing grew excited.

The Trialmaster similarly looked at Lu Yin, but his eyes were no longer murky.

“I only know of a single way—look for the biggest current, and the smallest current nearest to it is a safe entrance.”

Nightking Yuanjing’s eyes gleamed. “The smallest current nearest to the largest one? Are you sure?”

Lu Yin shook his head. “I’m not a hundred percent certain, but that’s what the beast said when it was pleading for its life. I can’t confirm its veracity, so I can only repeat what it told me.”

Nightking Yuanjing nodded. “Alright, I understand. If this is true, Little Yin, you’ll be an honored guest of the Daynight clan in future.” The image on the screen then vanished without another word.

Lu Yin squinted, as there was a hidden layer of meaning in Nightking Yuanjing’s words. If his information was false, then Lu Yin would be doomed. Nightking Yuanjing had not even bothered mentioning the matter with Zhanlong Daynight, and neither had he questioned why Lu Yin had not mentioned these details in the beginning. The clan had a profoundly deep background, and if their upper echelon acted, then their moves would be like devastating thunderous strikes. If Lu Yin wanted to preserve his life, then he needed to demonstrate his value right now. Otherwise, once the Third Nightking was released, Lu Yin would not be far from death.

“Kid, Nightking Yuanjing is not one to be pushed around,” the Trialmaster slowly advised. He then closed his eyes and fell silent.

Lu Yin bowed to the Trialmaster and then silently left the trial zone entrance. He was no longer in the mood to participate in any more ported battles, and there were only a few days left before the Strongest Competition. Thus, he wanted to use this time to recharge.

“Monkey, is there really no chance of the Third Nightking escaping?” Lu Yin uneasily asked.

The Ghost Monkey answered, “Nope, definitely not. You’ve asked me this so many times. Both I and the Celestial Ice Phoenix clan can vow that he will never escape.”

Lu Yin raised his brows. “What relationship do you have with that clan?”

“They are this Ghost Monkey’s future harem, so of course there’s a relationship between us. This is my most sacred vow. Have some confidence in that Void Wanderer Elder. After all, he can be considered to be one of the most ancient existences of the Astral Beast Domain. Forget the Daynight clan—even those old fogeys from the Hall of Honor might not be able to rescue the Third Nightking, so just relax.”

Even though the Ghost Monkey was confident beyond a shadow of a doubt, Lu Yin was still worried. The Daynight clan’s inheritance went far too back in time—hundreds of thousands, or maybe even millions of years? One generation had emerged after another, and their line of inheritance had never been broken. Who knew what tricks they had stored up their sleeves.

To Lu Yin, the deepest impression he had of the Daynight clan was of their inheritance stone. Qingyu had stolen it, but the Daynight clan had not even made a serious move to retrieve it. This showed that whoever obtained it would have to hand it over, or else they would meet with certain death. This demonstrated the absolute confidence of the Daynight clan, which was a reflection of their power. This power was so unfathomable that Lu Yin could not even imagine it, as he found it hard to have such a carefree mindset.

He decided to start making preparations for the possibility where the Third Nightking escaped, in order to guard against the worst.

Not long after, in Astral-3, Nightqueen Yanqing received a notice from the clan: 

From today onwards, all Daynight clan members will be forbidden from intervening in military matters of the Frostwave Weave. All violations will be investigated.

Nightqueen Yanqing was shocked by this command. Why? Why did this happen? They had warned her not to punish Zhuo Daynight, and then that girl had been taken in as Elder Yuanjing’s disciple. And now, she was even being warned not to intervene in the Frostwave Weave. Lu Yin was the only one who could be behind this! But how could he have persuaded the elder group to speak up for him? They hadn’t even hesitated to offend the sister of one of the Ten Arbiters!

She looked at that notice, fear etched into her face. There was a hidden depth to Lu Yin, and it was deep enough to somehow influence even the Nightking elders.

Not long after Yanqing received the warning, in East San Dios, within the Outerverse, Yan Feng also received a notice:

The Outerverse Youth Council member selection will be delayed for six months. All potential members should make proper preparations.

- Zhenwu of the Ten Arbiters.