Star Odyssey

Lu Yin grew serious. “I will definitely return it. In fact, I borrowed two million star energy crystals before and paid it back just now.”

“Is that so?” Lulu looked at Lu Yin suspiciously. “Come to think of it, you wouldn’t just vanish like that Silver guy, would you? That would make you even more despicable than him, since at least he didn’t borrow any money before taking off.”

Lu Yin was rendered speechless. “I already told you—I’m not friends with Silver. Do you have money or not? You’re probably broke.”

“Broke? What a joke, I’m a Mavis! A Mavis!” Lulu exploded before flamboyantly taking out a purple card. “Go and spend to your heart’s content.”

Lu Yin retrieved it with delight. He had seen this kind of card before, and he knew that it only stored star essence. It looked like this woman was rich indeed.

“Thank you! How much is inside?” Lu Yin was ecstatic.

Lulu smiled and proudly raised her head, “Forty star essences.”

Lu Yin’s eyes gleamed, “Thank you.”

“What are you thanking me for? This isn’t a free loan.” Lulu then craftily looked at Lu Yin. “There’s interest on this loan.”

Lu Yin grimaced. “Right, you represent the Mavis Bank, and a bank must collect interest. How much?”

Lulu’s face turned serious. “I want to inspect the Great Yu Empire’s imperial palace.”

Lu Yin’s eyes instantly turned sharp. “What?”

Lulu activated her gadget and showed Lu Yin her screen. “This is an official document detailing Undying Yushan’s loan from the Mavis Bank. Because of this loan, he gained the ability to seize thirteen regions. Additionally, it clearly states he would repay the loan in installments. If he fails to repay it, then the lives of all Yushan descendants would be forfeited.”

Lu Yin studied the document seriously. It was indeed valid proof.

“There’re many risks associated with being a creditor, so we set the lives of the Yushan family’s descendants as collateral. But now, the entire Yushan Family has been wiped out, and this loan has defaulted. So, the family elders have asked me to think of a way to resolve this matter since this loan is no small sum, either. Lu Yin, this is my mission.”

Lu Yin frowned. “You mentioned the initial conditions of your loan and that the Yushan Family would repay it. However, now that the Yushan family has vanished, the Mavis Bank’s agreement has been broken. In other words, since the conditions have not been met, this defaulted loan is no longer valid.”

Lulu was helpless. “Yes, no one can force a dead person to repay their debts. Hence, my mission. Lu Yin, if you help me complete my mission, I can lend you even more money.”

Lu Yin grimaced. “The Great Yu Empire’s economy is declining, and there’s no spare money to repay you.”

“We don’t need money, and the mission doesn’t require the repayment to be made with money. Of course, you won’t be able to repay it in any case, so it’s just for show.”

Lu Yin’s eyes flashed. “So you want to inspect the Great Yu Empire’s imperial palace?”

Lulu nodded. “We’ve checked all of the Great Yu Empire’s Yushan family’s various assets, except for the palace. As long as we can verify that the Yushan family has nothing that can be used to repay us, that’ll be enough.”

Lu Yin sniggered internally since yet another organization had come forward to probe the Court of Seven Names. If Lulu had not mentioned it, then he would have forgotten about the fact that this Mavis girl had also appeared in the Great Yu Empire at the beginning, just like Silver and Xia Luo. The trio’s motives could only have been to investigate the Seven Courts, just through different methods.

Silver had used the violence of the Neohuman Alliance, and the Yushan family’s deaths were most likely related to them.

Lu Yin did not know what Xia Luo had done, and he did not even know which power was behind Xia Luo.

The Mavis Bank was behind Lulu, and they had not attracted much attention.

Three people and three methods, but they all shared the common goal of uncovering the Yushan family’s secrets. It was a pity that he had already taken away the secret that they were all searching for: the Yu Void Transfer Secret Art. That should be what they were all hoping to find.

“Alright, check whatever you need to, but don’t be too blatant about things, or it will make me look bad,” Lu Yin straightforwardly replied, since the palace held no further secrets.

Lulu was excited. “Deal! I’ll even lend you some more money. Fifty star essences for you, and if you return it early, I won’t collect any interest.” And with that, she left happily.

Lu Yin smiled subtly. The Mavis family would not find anything in the imperial palace, but shouldn’t he hang on to them a while longer? If they became certain that the Great Yu Empire held no secrets, then they would withdraw, which would be a loss to his Great Yu Empire. They would only be useful if they stayed, but how could he hang onto them? That was the key question.

“Seventh Bro, your abilities of borrowing money are almost on par with your battle prowess! Just a few fluffy sentences, and you were able to borrow so much money at no interest. Find someone else, borrow some more, and then you’ll be rich!” The monkey laughed oddly.

Lu Yin smiled as well.

The Ghost Monkey was shocked. “Seventh Bro, don’t smile. It’s horrifying!”

After that exclamation, he was screened off by Lu Yin.

Lu Yin found a quiet place and breathed in deeply. It had only been a few days since he rolled the die, but fortunately he had not rolled it four times. Otherwise, he would not be able to roll it now. Even so, rolling Enhance would be difficult, but he had no choice other than to try. There were only twelve days left, and this wedding could not be allowed to happen.

He mulled things over for a moment and then tapped the die. He watched it spin before unexpectedly stopping at four pips: Timestop.

He entered the frozen space, and Lu Yin became confident. Although it would be an arduous process, he could take his time now and rest for ten days before rolling his die again. With his current wealth, he could roll it many times, and he was bound to get three pips at some point.

It was very painful to roll his die in the Time Stop Space, especially because he had to rest for ten days between each roll and because many of the rolls could not be effectively utilized in the space. It was an endlessly repetitive process of throwing money away that could easily cause one to go insane.

Fortunately, Lu Yin’s determination to cultivate was firm.

He did not know how much time passed, but soon enough, he had used up half of a star essence. He estimated that two or three months had gone by before the two light screens finally appeared. He had rolled three pips: Enhance.

Lu Yin let out a sigh as his forehead beaded up with sweat. It was not from fatigue, but rather from suffering. It had been a painful process, but fortunately, he had endured through it.

He took out a strengthening fruit and placed it onto the upper screen and immediately threw ten star essence onto it. The strengthening fruit released a pulsating sound that made Lu Yin feel like energy was circulating throughout his meridians. The void distorted as the fruit instantly reached the previous one’s quality. Lu Yin inhaled deeply and threw out another ten star essence. The distortion of the void grew even stronger and the pounding noise became even louder, as if someone’s blood was actually circulating. The fruit fell less than halfway through, where it started to vibrate in an odd manner.

Lu Yin paid the vibration no attention; he only cared that the effect seemed to be improving further. He urgently threw out another ten star essence, which meant that he had now used thirty star essence upgrading this fruit.

The degree of its trembling grew stronger, but it was not done yet.

Lu Yin took a deep breath. He ran the numbers and then threw out four more star essence in a miserly manner.

The strengthening fruit was now just a tiny bit away from fully reaching the bottom.

Lu Yin threw another star essence onto the screens.

The strengthening fruit finally landed with a pop as its radiance dwindled. Lu Yin felt that something was strange and moved to pick up the fruit, but then, it suddenly distorted the void and shifted to a nearby location, vibrating the entire time.

Lu Yin was confused; what was going on?

There were ripples that almost looked like flowing blood on the surface of the strengthening fruit, and it continuously twinkled. It seemed as if it was attempting to leave by piercing through the void. However, it was trapped in Lu Yin’s Time Stop Space, and the fruit could not escape no matter what it did.

This scene completely stunned Lu Yin. Did this toy just gain sapience?

He had no other option, and he immediately stopped blocking the Ghost Monkey’s senses. The monkey sighed. “Seventh Bro, can we just have a chat?”

“Shut up! Look at that plaything.” Lu Yin then pointed at the fruit with his left hand.

The monkey casually looked over, but he almost bristled as soon as he saw the fruit. “I’ll be damned! A natural treasure that has developed a sense of self-preservation! Seventh Bro, where did you get this? You’re lucky enough to even get this?”

“What’s the big deal?”

“It’s not easy to explain. How should I word it? The origin of all things in the universe-”

“Get to the point!”

“The point is that plants and animals share the same origin. If animals can cultivate, then too so can plants. You should know about this since you’ve been attacked by some plants. However, most plants’ attacks are instinctive. Some plants live for so long, and although they can’t become sapient, they’ve gone down another path—that of avoiding danger.”

“What does that mean?” Lu Yin was puzzled.

“There’s no good explanation. These special plants have gained a certain understanding of the universe after surviving for so many ages and are able to avoid some dangers, which is different from those plants that attack instinctively. With the passage of enough time, these plants can even become intelligent…”

Lu Yin felt like he was understanding less the more the monkey spoke. “Just talk about this thing right in front of us!”

“It’s trying to escape! Can’t you see? It doesn’t want to be eaten by you!” the Ghost Monkey shrieked in frustration.

Lu Yin frowned. “Escape? Are you saying that it’s intelligent?”

“It shouldn’t be intelligent yet. Given its behavior, it hasn’t developed intelligence yet, though it’s probably lived for at least over a hundred thousand years. Still, it can avoid danger, and it’s really close to becoming intelligent. Seventh Bro, where did you get this thing? Why do I keep seeing you obtaining items that are impossible for the average person to even see?”

Lu Yin casually reached out, and the strengthening fruit tried to distort the void to escape yet again. But in this space, not to mention a fruit, even a Hunter would have to obey Lu Yin. 

He grabbed the strengthening fruit, but he did not know if he should eat it. He still remembered the agony that eating the previous one had caused him.

“Can this thing be eaten?” Lu Yin asked.

In a low tone, the monkey replied, “I’m not sure. Usually, only absolute powerhouses can obtain such a natural treasure. I’ve never seen one before, but it should be possible. Anyway, eating it probably won’t kill you.”

Lu Yin thought about it some more; he still had fifteen star essences remaining, and there were two more strengthening fruits left. Thus, he should be able to barely make another one of this level even if he borrowed some more money. Things would be alright as long as he did not die from eating this fruit. He did not hesitate and swallowed it whole in one bite.

An even more intense pain than before engulfed his entire body, and he felt like he was drowning in a flood of fire. The excruciating pain reminded Lu Yin of the Doomsday back on Earth and of the fiery suffering that he had experienced at Liu Shaoge’s hands. But at this moment, the pain was even worse than that moment from his memories. His muscles swelled unnaturally, and his veins popped out. The blood in his arteries pumped so fast that his body released a shockwave that affected the void…

With the previous strengthening fruit, Lu Yin had barely been able to endure the pain and participate in a battle. But this time, he could not even walk from the agony.

“Seventh Bro, how do you feel? You won’t die, right?” the monkey cried out anxiously.

Lu Yin’s eyes were bloodshot, and when his sweat dripped down, it was blasted into nothingness by the shockwaves before the drops could even land. “Can you come out?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Then come out.”

The next instant, the monkey tattoo on Lu Yin’s right arm warped, and a shadow rushed out before taking the form of the Spiritual Academy’s Ghost Monkey lord who had once attacked Lu Yin.

Lu Yin grit his teeth as he looked at the monkey. “Attack me.”

The Ghost Monkey felt strange. “What?”

“Attack me, quickly!” Lu Yin ordered.