Star Odyssey

Although Lu Yin could not see it himself, if someone else was looking at Lu Yin’s eyes at this moment, they would see that they had changed. They were now deeper, like the vast starry sky, and they held an indescribable dignity. 

Lu Yin looked around some more, and true enough, what he saw now was different. There were more lines, or perhaps they should be called runes. What had happened to his eyes? Before, even when he used his domain, Cosmic Art, and the lockbreaking tool, he still couldn’t see everything that he currently could. Yet, his transformed eyes were able to do it all on their own. 

When normal people looked at space, it was just space. Cultivators were able to see the movement of star energy, and their perceptive ability became clearer the stronger they became. Lockbreakers were special in that they could control the flow of star energy and levy their sensitive perception of star energy to unlock sourceboxes. Domain users could also sense such subtle changes in star energy. When Lu Yin had first obtained the Giant Emperor’s third eye, his vision had expanded. When he had first comprehended his domain, the combination of all three had allowed his senses to surpass what many could perceive, and his senses possibly even surpassing the great majority of Lockbreakers. 

But all of that was different from what he currently saw: runes.

Lu Yin did not know what these runes meant. Could they be some deeper representation of energy?

Also, was there anything wrong with his eyes!

He felt an urge to ask the Trialmaster about this matter, but for some unknown reason, he also did not want to inquire too deeply about this matter. It was possible that some changes had occurred to his body but not to others, in which case there would be no benefit in revealing too many of his secrets.

Lu Yin rubbed his eyes and let out a heavy breath. He then looked around. I can’t always see these lines when looking at things in the future. That’s just unacceptable.

When he tried to withdraw the star energy from his eyes, the lines disappeared. Sure enough, star energy was the foundation of everything.

“Seventh Bro, what did you see when you ascended the Sky Platform?” The monkey was very curious.

“What do you think I saw?”

“How would I know?” The monkey rolled his eyes.

Lu Yin didn’t bother replying. The stupid monkey only seemed to respond to threats, but the reality was that the monkey understood what he should or should not say. He would not bother concealing things that Lu Yin should know, and he would also not utter a single word about things that he himself should not know. 

Xia Luo and the rest had left to give Lu Yin some time to rest. Indeed, he needed rest, and he truly wanted to find out if his eyes had any problems. From where he was resting, he could request the nearby Trialmaster for assistance if the problem persisted.

In another corner of the universe, there was a planet covered with layers of enormous cyclones that constantly roamed about. They formed a strong protective net, and there were powerhouses soaring beneath it. The weakest person in this group was an Explorer while the strongest, a man wearing a royal gown, was a Hunter. 

They appeared to be almost like normal people aside from their exceptionally long legs, which caused each one of them to be over three meters tall.

This group of space-exploring powerhouses frantically looked at the skies, and their expressions were filled with expressions of unprecedented worry and terror.

Outside the safety net of cyclones, there was a long-haired youth with his hands in his pockets. He leisurely looked down and said, “This is your last chance. Accept the Ten Arbiters Council’s authority in dealing with the trial, education, and oversight of the younger generation in the Cyclone Mainland.”

Beneath the protective net of cyclones, the middle-aged man in the royal gown spoke in a deafening voice. “Alien, the Cyclone Mainland will never bow to any threats, and it has no wish to interact with the outside world. Please leave.” 

The youth raised his head arrogantly, and then rather grudgingly plucked at his hair with his fingers. “Honestly, I wouldn’t normally handle matters in such a dirty manner, but who asked you to appear in my territory.” The youth’s figure then vanished. There was not the slightest change nor any sign of displacement in the immediate nearby space. It was as if that youth had never even been there.

The crowd beneath the protective net was stunned. Where did he go?

The next moment, the entire planet trembled. The cyclones that had revolved around the planet for countless years were stripped away, layer by layer, by some invisible strength. The middle-aged man wearing the royal gown squinted, and then suddenly stared at a section of the void in shock. He raised his hand to attack, causing the void to warp. The long-haired youth reappeared, but he didn’t even look back, allowing the Hunter’s attack to land. 

However, the Hunter’s attack vanished inexplicably right when it neared the long-haired man. It disappeared without a single trace, and not even a hint of a ripple could be seen. 

All of the powerhouses of Cyclone Mainland were overwhelmed, and their expressions turned to that of shock.

The long-haired youth turned back around and smirked. “The Ten Arbiters cannot be harmed.” He then raised a hand and aimed at the Hunter, who soon vanished from where he stood.

The crowd was stunned; what had just happened?

“I gave you guys a chance, but none of you knew how to cherish it. In that case, there’s no need for you all to continue living,” the long-haired youth leisurely commented. There was a faint smile on his face as he looked down at the giant planet.

Not long after, the planet that had tornadoes constantly roaming about it vanished from the universe. It was like a grain of sand had been plucked from a beach; there were no changes whatsoever.

The long-haired man seemed bored as he flipped through his gadget. Suddenly, his gaze froze, and he then laughed out loud. “Someone actually managed to successfully climb the Sky Platform. Interesting, I wonder if his eyes have been opened. Perhaps I’ll no longer be alone on this path.”

Lu Yin stayed near the trial zone mountain for two days. By then, his eyes no longer felt unwell, which was a relief.

During these two days, Coco and the others left him alone.

Big Pao and Little Pao had already left Astral-10 and were heading towards the Chaos Flowzone.

Once his eyes were feeling better, Lu Yin stepped away from the trial zone mountain and arrived at the trial zone entrance. He respectfully said to the Trialmaster, “Mentor, I would like to ask for some guidance.”

The Trialmaster opened his murky eyes. “Go and get a teleportation stone first. Then you can ask me a question. One teleportation stone per question.”

Lu Yin nodded, as this response was not unexpected. He headed towards the teleportation stone.

Currently, Astral-10 had three teleportation stones. One had been there from the beginning while the other two had been won by Lu Yin. No one else had managed to win a stone yet.

Xia Luo and the rest were powerful, but the chances of them being matched up against someone stronger than them in a ported battle was just too high. Lu Yin had also lost many times, to say nothing of Xia Luo and the rest. 

Lu Yin’s ported battle record currently stood at 134 victories to 108 defeats, and his best winning streak had been nineteen matches. His statistics were rather impressive, but that was in the past. Now, after two upgrading his body twice with the strengthening fruits, his power had undergone overwhelming changes. He wanted to raise his winning streak to thirty matches, since that was one way to gain the ability to challenge those on the Top 100 Rankings.

It was not possible to directly challenge the Top 100 Rankings whenever one wished, and that was because the opponent had the right to reject such challengers. The Astral Combat Academy even encouraged them to reject such challengers so as to preserve the authoritative nature of the rankings. If just anyone was allowed to challenge those on the list as they wished, then it would trivialize matters. The experts on the list would end up being pestered to death since there was no way they could kill everyone.

As such, in general, those who did not qualify would not have their challenges accepted. However, if such a challenge was accepted, then the results would still be valid. If Lu Yin had fought and defeated Northgate Lie, then Lu Yin would have stepped into the Top 100 Rankings. 

Lu Yin had been thinking of this when he attempted to challenge Northgate Lie. Lu Yin wanted to enter the Top 100 Rankings, but he had let the matter slide after thinking about it. There were benefits that came with a greater reputation, but there were also disadvantages. Those targeting him would use a different level of power against him if he did so.

He had not been threatened by Northgate Taisui because he had revealed his rather powerful connections. If an enemy wanted to deal with Lu Yin, then they would now also factor in Nightking Yuanjing’s influence, which meant targeting Lu Yin’s connections. If he entered the Top 100 Rankings, then the powers targeting him would send even stronger forces, as people would be attacking not just his connections but also Lu Yin himself. 

Being famous wasn’t necessarily all beneficial.

As Lu Yin stepped within the range of the teleportation stone, the scenery around him changed as he started a ported battle.

It was no longer that difficult for Lu Yin to rack up a consecutive streak of fifteen matches, as long as his luck wasn’t atrocious. At present, there were no more than a hundred people in the younger generation who could defeat him.

In his sixteenth battle, when his name turned red, his opponent was actually a Sentinel. Lu Yin was speechless and even felt like he was looking at a sprout.

At that moment, the young sprout’s heart collapsed. He became stupefied once he saw that he was facing a red named opponent nicknamed “Seventh Bro.” The Sentinel’s senior had explained what a red name indicated, and had also shared the information with a voice full of dread and worship. Now, he had actually encountered someone with a red name. He cursed internally. What the- and then his death caught up to him.

Lu Yin released a breath since he had snatched another teleportation stone. Not enough. I have to keep going.

Seventeenth match, victory. Eighteenth, victory. Nineteenth, victory… Lu Yin quickly matched his previous win streak, but it still wasn’t enough. Soon, he achieved twenty two straight victories. Twenty third, victory…

Boom!

The floating rock shattered, and the figure before Lu Yin disappeared. He looked up: thirtieth match, victory.

He had racked up a winning streak of thirty victories, which was one way to be qualified to challenge the Top 100 Rankings.

There were a few ways to qualify to challenge the experts on the ranking list, and achieving any one of them was enough. This meant that, right now, Lu Yin could challenge someone on the list, as long as he was confident enough to do so. 

Of course, the opponent could still reject him, but the meaning behind the rejection was different now. To bystanders, rejecting a challenge from someone who was qualified to issue it meant that the ranker was afraid. 

As long as one qualified, they could challenge any expert on the Top 100 Rankings at any time.

Lu Yin opened his eyes. Liu Shaoqiu would probably achieve his qualifications soon as well, as his strength was enough to ensure a streak of thirty victories.

Although there were many in the universe’s younger generation, the differentiation between them was patently obvious. The Ten Arbiters would forever stand at the peak, followed by those on the Top 100 Rankings. It was possible for there to be hidden powerhouses, but there weren’t that many of them. 

Lu Yin was confident that only a hundred or so people in the young generation could defeat him. He estimated there were no more than a few hundred who could defeat Liu Shaoqiu, and they were too sparsely scattered throughout the universe.

More importantly, Liu Shaoqiu and Lu Yin were still just Limiteers. As soon as they became Explorers, even fewer people in the universe would be able to defeat them.

There were only two more matches left, and Lu Yin would win a teleportation stone if he won the next one, so he continued on and started another ported battle. 

Just like the match before, the setting for this one was in the sky, and countless giant rocks floated in the backdrop. All around them, white clouds drifted by, making for a very beautiful scenery.

A mighty figure appeared before Lu Yin with the words “Second War King” boldly written above his head. 

Lu Yin was shocked by this person’s nickname. War King? He remembered that one of the Ten Arbiters was known as the War King, but this person actually dared to call himself the Second War King. It was insane.

What was even more baffling was that Lu Yin’s opponent actually sat down on a rock and leisurely waved at him.

The meaning was evident—it was an invitation for Lu Yin to attack at will.

Lu Yin squinted and earnestly observed his opponent. With such boldness, this person was either someone who greatly overestimated his own strength or someone who was truly powerful. Which category did this person fall into? Lu Yin could not tell, because he could not feel any hint of danger aura from this person. In fact, he seemed like just a regular human, which was actually even more abnormal.