Star Odyssey

A group of people that looked like cyborgs within the spacecraft clutched at the walls, only steadying themselves after a bit of difficulty.

A woman flew out of the ship. She had the appearance of a rather pretty human, but her eyes were mechanical, and even her hair was inorganic. She glared at Hui Kong with clear fury on her face. “Stupid baldy! Pay us back for our family’s items!”

Hui Kong disdainfully replied, “Beat it, doll.”

“Stupid baldy! Smelly baldy! If you have the ability, then suppress your realm and fight us! I’ll use your bald head as a ball to kick around!”

“Dollface, go back and drink your milk.”

“Stupid baldy, you’re infuriating me to death!”

Hui Kong laughed.

Down on the planet, Lu Yin’s face grew strange. Hui Kong was actually not killing this group, and they also did not seem to be afraid of him, which was very confusing.

A long while later, the spacecraft shakily left, and it could not even be seen after it shot off into the distance.

Hui Kong descended onto the planet and let out several loud laughs.

Lu Yin was curious about the matter. “Bro, who were those people?”

“Oh, they’re from the Technocracy. They’re a part of the Semi-Android family, and they are a power that belongs to a certain research team.”

Lu Yin had his doubts. “They actually dare to try to make trouble for you?”

Hui Kong chuckled. “Actually, the Technocracy and Human Domain aren’t mortal enemies, but that’s something that you’ll come to understand later.”

Lu Yin did not really understand at this moment, but he still nodded. “Right, bro, they asked you to repay them. What for?”

Hui Kong smiled drily. “It’s nothing much. Actually, when I’m hungry, I tend to go and steal some of their treasures. Sometimes, I accidentally make some trouble by ruining their stuff. That group is just a bit stingy.”

Lu Yin was left speechless.

Some days later, another incomparably huge monstrosity attacked Hui Kong, but it was also easily reduced to scrap material by Hui Kong. He tossed the pile of junk over to Lu Yin. “Do you want this?”

Lu Yin shook his head. “I can’t fit that in my ring.”

Hui Kong thought about it and then left. The next day, he threw a cosmic ring to Lu Yin, and Lu Yin’s mouth gaped open when he looked inside it. This cosmic ring was about a hundred times larger than his current one, which was too ridiculous. He gasped in amazement. “Bro, this is?”

“Borrowed,” Hui Kong replied indifferently.

Lu Yin blinked. “Does it need to be returned?”

Hui Kong gave the question some serious thought. “Sometime in my lifetime.”

At this moment, Lu Yin came to an understanding, and he suddenly realized why that group of people had been so enraged that they would risk their lives to demand repayment from this old man. Hui Kong definitely hadn’t simply destroyed their items, and the value of just this cosmic ring alone was absolutely priceless. Lu Yin guessed that not even an Envoy-level powerhouse might own such a cosmic ring, which was too scary of a thought. This man was an old pirate, but Lu Yin liked his style.

With his new absurdly huge cosmic ring, Lu Yin unceremoniously stored the ruined remains of the mechanical monstrosity.

For something to be sent out to deal with Hui Kong, even if its power level had not reached a million, the machine’s strength had to have at least reached the strength of an Envoy. And to produce a machine of such a level, its component materials would naturally be rare and extraordinary, and Lu Yin did not have a problem with gathering more such materials.

At regular intervals, giant machines would attack Hui Kong. After one of these attacks, he told Lu Yin that he used to shatter them into dust, but he was showing mercy now in order to try to leave some materials for Lu Yin.

Lu Yin was very grateful, and he was even happier as he collected the scrap metal.

More than a month passed in this manner.

Hui Kong looked up at the sky with eyes full of reminiscence.

“Bro, are you thinking of home?” Lu Yin asked.

Hui Kong smiled. “No. My immediate family are probably all dead by now, and who knows which generation is still alive now.”

“Where are you from, Bro?” Lu Yin asked. This was the first time he asked the old man such a question, as he had been concerned about being rude before. Now that they had spent almost two months together, they were quite familiar with each other.

Hui Kong did not hide anything. “The Neoverse.”

“Bro’s from Neoverse? Could you tell me a bit more about the Neoverse?” Lu Yin was very interested.

Hui Kong was astonished. “You haven’t been to the Neoverse?’

Lu Yin shook his head.

“Alright then, I’ll tell you about the Neoverse, though this knowledge is from a very long time ago, and I don’t know much at all about the current situation. Still, things shouldn’t have changed too much.”

Hui Kong paused and looked at Lu Yin. Upon seeing that the youth was listening attentively, he continued, saying, “The part of the universe where we live is the Fifth Mainland, and it’s divided into three domains: the Human Domain, the Technocracy, and the Astral Beast Domain. The Human Domain itself is also divided into different sections: the Outerverse, the Innerverse, the Cosmic Sea, and the Neoverse.

“You’re from the Outerverse, so there’s no need to say much about it. Most of the various powers are in the Innerverse, and that place is filled with complex relations. I don’t understand that place too much, and there’s no need to know too much as the true core of the entire Human Domain lies within the Neoverse.

“The Neoverse is the core zone of the Human Domain, and it’s also where you’ll find the top elites of the entire Human Domain. The one that stands at the very top is the Hall of Honor. They govern the entire Human Domain since they have a Semi-Progenitor overseeing things. In addition, they also have several powerhouses whose power levels are above 1,000,000. Nobody knows if there are any other stronger powerhouses, but that’s because no one has ever learned of the Hall of Honor’s true strength.

“The Hall of Honor stands alone, but right beneath it are the Mavis family, the Cosmic Sect, Gods’ Origin, and Aurora Enterprises, all of which have influence that stretches throughout the entire Human Domain. However, those guys are just the legitimate forces. Opposite them are the Three Dark Hands—namely, the Neohuman Alliance, the Seven Courts, and Burial Garden. Based on your current level of strength, you should have heard of pretty much all of them. Still, there are other forces outside of these powers, but they keep themselves hidden and never expose themselves at all. One of them is Eversky Island.”

Lu Yin was taken aback; there were still more powers?

Hui Kong’s expression grew even more solemn. “If you ever have the opportunity to go to the Neoverse one day, don’t ever underestimate anyone there, even if you are already considered unrivaled within your generation. That’s because this Fifth Mainland contains more than the strength of just one mainland. Rather, it is actually five that have combined together. The simplest example is one of the Three Dark Hands, the Seven Courts. They are actually seven families from the five shattered mainlands, and each one of them has their own secret technique.”

Lu Yin had never looked down upon those people. Even when the Fifth Mainland had seemed to be in danger due to the Sixth Mainland’s invasion, there were still some powers that had never made any moves at all.

“Bro, what’s the meaning behind the existence of the Neoverse?” Lu Yin asked.

Hui Kong stared deep into Lu Yin’s eyes. “Do you know something?”

Lu Yin gave the old man a brief rundown of the Sixth Mainland’s invasion.

Hui Kong was stunned. “So something like that actually happened? And the sky was restored? That Sea King bastard has guts, hahaha! I admire him.”

“Bro, even when the Sixth Mainland invaded and the Fifth Mainland was about to be extinguished, the Three Dark Hands never took action, and neither did that Eversky Island you mentioned or the Mavis family. It seemed like none of them helped at all.” Lu Yin was puzzled.

Hui Kong shook his head. “You’ll learn all this in the future. The Sixth Mainland is not the true enemy, and this whole invasion was just a farce. That Sea King fellow disrupted the Neoverse’s movements, but he’s also very courageous. There’s no use in explaining these things to you right now.”

The two talked for a very long time, and Hui Kong was also very curious about the battle style of the Sixth Mainland cultivators. According to his own words, he had been born long after the war between the two mainlands, and since he had been stuck in the Technocracy all this time, he had not been able to witness their fighting techniques with his own eyes.

When he heard that the Sixth Mainland cultivators used imprints as their primary method of cultivation, Hui Kong revealed a disdainful look. “Fools! Those idiots were not deceived casually.”

“Deceived?” Lu Yin was puzzled.

Hui Kong explained, “The older generation said that the Sixth Mainland was deceived by something. It seems that it was not just in terms of battle, as even their entire cultivation system is off.”

Lu Yin suddenly thought of a sentence that he had heard in the Rune Technology Civilization’s ruins. Those words had also indicated that the Sixth Mainland had been deceived somehow, though it sounded more like some monster had cheated them. Just what kind of monster could that have been exactly?

Lu Yin really wanted to learn more secrets from Hui Kong, as he felt that Hui Kong knew something, but Hui Kong remained very tight-lipped. The old man would not speak any further on that topic no matter what.

He patted Lu Yin on the shoulder and sighed. “Alright, stop trying to get more information out of me, Bro. Once you reach a certain level, you’ll naturally be able to find out more. It actually might not be a good thing for you to learn about this too early, as your entire being might just collapse, hahaha.”

Lu Yin proudly responded, “Bro, my willpower is very strong.”

“I can tell. I admire you alot, hahaha.” Hui Kong laughed, as he was truly quite happy.

Lu Yin looked at Hui Kong. This old man seemed to have a great deal to say, but he was completely tight-lipped when it came to certain secrets. “Bro, I’ve wanted to know the answer to one certain question for a long time.”

Hui Kong grinned. “I’m hungry. Wait a moment while I go and hunt. We’ll talk while we eat.”

He then flew up and disappeared.

Not long after, a giant shadow crashed down that caused the ground to split open. A terrifying astral beast had been thrown onto the planet, and it was already dead.

Lu Yin probed it with his Overlaying Stacks Path, but he could not break through the corpse’s defense.

Hui Kong smiled. “Your physical strength isn’t bad, and you also use the Overlaying Stacks Path. Interesting. Still, why just One Hundred Stacks? With your strength, you should be able to use at least One Hundred Fifty Stacks.”

Lu Yin shrugged. “I don’t know any further.”

Hui Kong nodded. “It’s a pity that I don’t know the Overlaying Stacks Path, though I can still teach you.”

Lu Yin’s eyes lit up. “Bro, you know how to deduce it? With your strength, deducing over One Hundred Stacks shouldn’t be hard at all.”

Hui Kong chuckled. “Why get others to deduce it for you? Can’t you do it yourself?”

This question left Lu Yin stumped, and an intense rumbling struck his brain that parted the fog. Right, was there any reason why he could not deduce it himself? In the past, when he had been in the Sentinel and Melder realms, he had asked the Astral Combat Academy’s Rainmaster to deduce the Overlaying Stacks Path for him, but it had just been a few stacks. With Lu Yin’s current strength, he no longer needed the deductions for those few stacks, as he could use his own power to demonstrate the technique and even guide others.

Since he could deduce several stacks by himself, then was there any reason why he could not deduce more of the Overlaying Stacks Path?

Lu Yin sat down cross-legged and immediately started peacefully meditating.

Hui Kong smiled and shook his head. “Interesting.”

A few days quickly passed, and nearly half of the massive astral beast had been devoured by Hui Kong. At that moment, Lu Yin opened his eyes. His expression looked a bit lost and troubled, though there was also a glint of anticipation for the future.

“How was it? Did you deduce it?” Hui Kong asked.

Lu Yin shook his head, “It’s not that simple. At most, I can deduce Twenty Stacks.”

“That’s because you’re not experienced enough. Read more books and search for natural treasures that can help you to calm down and focus. Maybe then you’ll be able to deduce more,” Hui Kong suggested.

Lu Yin nodded. “Thank you for the tips, Bro.”

Hui Kong laughed. “That wasn’t any sort of tip—I’m just lazy! Otherwise I would have helped you deduce it, but you can’t always rely on others in the future. The day you deduce One Hundred Stacks by yourself, you’ll be able to unleash much more power than what you are capable of right now. The Overlaying Stacks Path will always be stronger if it is self-deduced rather than inherited from someone else.”

Lu Yin fell deep into thought.