Star Odyssey

“Monkey, what’s the poison in my body?” Lu Yin asked while checking the various medicines that were in his cosmic ring.

The Ghost Monkey seriously answered, “I don’t know, but if even Seventh Bro couldn’t sense it, then there’s no way for this poison to be something simple. It’ll be very difficult to get rid of this kind of poison.”

Lu Yin continued to go through the numerous medicines stored in his cosmic ring, but he was only able to confirm that not a single one of them would be able to neutralize this poison.

Nightking Zhenwu was just too meticulous. Even though he had been completely confident in being able to defeat Lu Yin, he had still resorted to methods like poison. Not only had the Nightking wanted to defeat Lu Yin, but he had also wanted to utterly crush Lu Yin and establish his power and prestige as the leader of the Ten Arbiters.

“Unfortunately, the Root of Intelligence’s wilted. Otherwise, you would definitely have an antidote.” The monkey sighed.

Lu Yin’s heart skipped a beat, and he instantly screened the monkey off before rolling his die again. He was guaranteed to eventually roll three pips: Enhance in this place.

The first roll was one pip: Pilfer. Useless. Lu Yin rested for ten days.

The second roll was five pips: Gift Copy. Still useless. He rested for another ten days.

The third roll was one pip: Pilfer again. Useless. Ten more days passed.

…

Time went on in this fashion, and good luck did not come to Lu Yin. Fortunately, although he could not resolve the poison, Lu Yin’s physique prevented the poison from killing him outright. It was possible that Nightking Zhenwu might have never planned to poison Lu Yin to death and that he had wanted to personally beat him up.

During these days, Lu Yin’s injured body recovered quite a bit, and he continued to absorb star energy. His body had already completely recovered from all of his wounds, and he was only waiting to remove the poison.

One day, the die slowly stopped spinning and landed on three pips: Enhance. Two light screens appeared, one above and the other below.

Lu Yin’s eyes lit up, and he immediately threw the Root of Intelligence onto the upper light screen, followed by a pile of star essence. To his amazement, he found that the Root of Intelligence only fell a tiny bit despite consuming almost 100,000 star essence. This was simply too obscene! To date, the Skyblaze Stone had been the most expensive item that Lu Yin had upgraded, yet that had only taken him 1.3 million star essence for the first upgrade.

On the other hand, this Root of Intelligence, judging by this initial measurement, would need at least a few million star essence for a single upgrade.

The Root of Intelligence was supposed to come from a tree that had been personally planted by Progenitor Hui. Not only could it take care of all poisons, but apparently, it could even temporarily enlighten a person’s mind after ingesting it, allowing them to comprehend many things previously hidden to him. Lu Yin did not know if this was true or false, and he was simply hoping it could actually neutralize this poison.

As he thought about it, Lu Yin swallowed his saliva and then frantically threw out more star essence.

Soon, one million star essence had been used up, but the Root of Intelligence had only moved a tenth of the way through.

Lu Yin pursed his lips. This was ridiculous! This was just a wilted piece of a Root of Intelligence, but it would take at least ten million star essence to be upgraded once. Fortunately, he had more than seventeen million star essence available. Otherwise, he might not have been able to upgrade it even once.

As the Root of Intelligence fell through the light screen, its surface regained a bit of luster, and a little halo appeared above it as well. When the Root of Intelligence completely fell through the lower screen, a small, dragon-like rhizome appeared in front of Lu Yin. It looked perfectly ordinary, and there was only the slightest bit of luster to it. However, this little root had just drained his wallet of ten million star essence.

Lu Yin used some star energy to simulate water, and he soaked the Root of Intelligence in it and boiled it, as if he were preparing tea.

Gradually, a delicate fragrance appeared, and the slightest whiff left Lu Yin feeling clear-headed, as if the world had become clearer and sharper. It was like he had returned to a natural state. This was quite useful, and Lu Yin could not wait to take a deep drink. After downing the cup, a refreshing sensation gradually entered his stomach. Suddenly, the black poison that had been coursing through his body was gradually broken down into nothingness.

Lu Yin could feel his entire body relax, and he raised a hand. He then began using the Overlaying Stacks Path. He instantly used Thirty Stacks, which was the limit of what he had personally deduced, but at this moment, he was able to go further, and deducing these additional stacks felt rather effortless. It was almost too simple; how had he never thought of this before?

Forty Stacks were very simple. Fifty Stacks were still very simple.

Lu Yin had always felt that deducing stacks was a very difficult task, and that it was even somewhat beyond his abilities. However, at this moment, he was suddenly deducing stacks without any difficulty. It was as natural as breathing.

His mind was clear, and his mental state was relaxed like never before. With a casual wave of his hand, he continuously deduced multiple stacks. Sixty Stacks, Seventy Stacks, and he effortlessly reached… One Hundred Stacks.

The most stacks that he had ever mastered were One Hundred Stacks. At this moment, he closed his eyes and thought back to his battle with Lan Si, and each scene replayed within his mind’s eye. On Planet Fleabane, Lan Si had used One Hundred Fifty Stacks. When Lu Yin raised his hand, it was as if Lan Si’s own palm had struck out. The ripples spread out, and a berserk strength of One Hundred Fifty Stacks surged forth.

Lu Yin took several steps back, and his right palm jerked up as it was unable to resist the movement. He continuously retreated, taking a step back for each stack that he had deduced in the Overlaying Stacks Path. He took ten steps back and used One Hundred Ten Stacks. He then took twenty steps back for One Hundred Twenty Stacks. However, this was not the limit of his physical body.

After taking fifty steps back, Lu Yin raised his hand. He struck out with a palm again, and although he had reached One Hundred Fifty Stacks, it was not enough.

Lu Yin closed his eyes. His left hand pressed against his right arm, and there was a soft thump. When his right palm shot out, the void warped: One Hundred Seventy Stacks. After launching that attack, his right arm suddenly became powerless.

Lu Yin suddenly opened his eyes and looked down at his right arm with ecstasy. He had actually deduced One Hundred Seventy Stacks! How had he done it? Had he actually done it himself?

Deducing multiple stacks by himself was different from learning from others. If he competed in the Overlaying Stacks Path with Lan Si, and they each used a similar One Hundred Fifty Stacks, then Lu Yin would crush the Arbiter. This was the strength of self-deduction, as it allowed one’s understanding of the Overlaying Stacks Path to be much deeper.

Lu Yin looked up, and his heart raced as he closed his eyes once again. He thought back to the battle with Lan Si until he could remember nothing more. No, he had to continue. He thought about it to the fullest extent, and then took another sip of the Root of Intelligence tea, leaving his mind clearer once again. He replayed every action that Lan Si had made while using the Vacuum Palm, and even the minuscule pause due to the momentum transfer was endlessly magnified in his mind.

Slowly, Lu Yin raised a hand and struck out with an invisible palm. It was Vacuum Palm.

Vacuum Palm was the manifestation of Lan Si’s deep understanding of the Overlaying Stacks Path. Lan Si had to first comprehend One Hundred Fifty Stacks before he could cultivate the Vacuum Palm. Lu Yin, on the other hand, had used the Root of Intelligence to deduce the Overlaying Stacks Path to One Hundred Seventy Stacks. Then, with that deep understanding of the Overlaying Stacks Path as a foundation, he had recalled the Vacuum Palms that had struck him and easily deduced and comprehended it for himself.

When the Vacuum Palm appeared, it was as if Lan Si himself had attacked. No, this one had even surpassed what Lan Si was capable of, as Lu Yin’s Overlaying Stacks Path was self-deduced, and he had even deduced One Hundred Seventy Stacks. With his current level of physical strength, the Vacuum Palm that Lu Yin could unleash had no pause due to the momentum transfer, and it was much more powerful than Lan Si’s.

Lu Yin himself did not understand why his physical strength was so absurd, but even now, it was continuously improving.

There was not much left of the Root of Intelligence tea, and this had nothing to do with the water that he had used. Such a small piece of Root of Intelligence was only able to brew so much tea, and there were only three more mouthfuls at best. This meant that the small Root of Intelligence could be brewed into five mouthfuls of tea.

Lu YIn could not waste a single drop of this miraculous tea, but he had already comprehended the Vacuum Palm. Thus, what could he comprehend next? Lu Yin fell into deep thought.

Lockbreaking? His domain? Truesight? The Cosmic Art? The Dream Finger? There were simply too many things for him to improve on.

Suddenly, Lu Yin realized what he needed to comprehend the most: secret techniques. And he was not thinking about the Yu Secret Art, but rather the Astral Chessboard that Mister Mu had helped him access through the Zhu family’s bloodline. He had sent Lu Yin to be a spectator, and he had witnessed the Ce Secret Art.

The Ce Secret Art: Astral Chessboard. This was the Seven Courts’ Ce family’s secret technique that had been created by someone named Ce Wangtian. Its effect was to allow the user to make an extra move, as though they were cheating in chess.

Lu Yin took another mouthful of the Root of Intelligence tea, and he tried his best to recall the chessboard in his memories. Eventually, he saw that ancient chessboard and heard people playing chess. Some were taking their moves back while others were laughing and still others sighing. His consciousness seemed to merge with the chessboard, though he also seemed to merge with a chess player.

Under the pale moonlight, the pieces on the ancient chessboard looked like stars littering the night sky. Lu Yin could not understand if he was somewhere in space or if he was on top of the chessboard.

Was he a chess piece? Or was he a player?

He could not understand this game of chess, not even with the Root of Intelligence’s assistance.

“Hahahaha, I, Ce Wangtian, have finally created a secret technique: Astral Chessboard. After playing chess for so many decades, I’m the only person in the universe who can take back a move! Nobody can rewind their life, but if I want to do so, then only I can take back my move! Ce Secret Art: Astral Chessboard.”

This sentence roused Lu Yin. His head was beaded with sweat, but he still could not understand this game of chess. He had clearly already drank the Root of Intelligence tea, but he still was not able to understand the situation at all. Lu Yin did his best to recall the chessboard again, but he shook his head vigorously soon afterwards. This was not right—if he could not understand the chess game, then he should not try to force it. However, was there any other way to see things more clearly? Was there any way? Any other way at all?

As he thought about it, Lu Yin could not help but glance back at the Root of Intelligence tea and drink another mouthful. His mind grew clear once again, and it felt as though the dots in his head were connecting. He then raised his hand, causing his die to appear. Five pips: Gift Copy was able to borrow another person’s innate gift. In the past, when he had rolled five pips: Gift Copy at Endless Weave’s border warfront, he had borrowed Qiong Xi’er’s innate gift. However, he had never used it until now, and it was still stored in his die, represented by a symbol of a pair of hands on that face of the die.

Qiong Xi’er’s innate gift was that of deduction.

Lu Yin had realized that he would not be able to comprehend the Astral Chessboard by himself, not even if he used the Root of Intelligence tea. However, the Seven Courts’ Ce family had to have had heirs who were able to comprehend the Ce Secret Art. Since others were able to comprehend this secret technique, then it proved that it was possible.

If he could not comprehend it himself, then he could only borrow some assistance from others. Qiong Xi’er was very smart, and her intellect had even been noticed by Wang Wen while she was someone evaluated to be on the same level as Wei Rong. Her innate gift was even that of deduction, which Lu Yin believed would be of great use to him in his current endeavor.

After thinking about it, Lu Yin activated Qiong Xi’er’s innate gift and then took the last mouthful of the Root of Intelligence tea. This would determine whether or not he was successful.

The ancient chessboard reappeared, and Lu Yin used Qiong Xi’er’s innate gift of deduction to observe the ancient chessboard. This time, he saw a different scene. This was…?

…

Before much time passed, Lu Yin reopened his eyes and stood up. He had drained all of the Root of Intelligence tea, and it was completely gone as well as the Root of Intelligence itself.

This had been the most expensive tea that Lu Yin had ever drunk, though it had also been the most useful one.

He checked his remaining time in the Timestop Space and saw that he would soon be able to leave. Lu Yin took a deep breath as he thought to himself, Nightking Zhenwu, our second round is about to start.

In Evernight Square, Nightking Zhenwu’s palm struck down, accompanied by Zhuo Daynight’s desperate wails. Just as his hand was about to reach Zhuo Daynight’s forehead, a hand suddenly appeared and grabbed his wrist. Nightking Zhenwu’s expression changed, and he slowly turned around to see Lu Yin’s exceptionally cold eyes.

“You can still move?” Nightking Zhenwu was in utter disbelief.

In both the Innerverse and the Outerverse, countless people saw what had just happened and rubbed their eyes in disbelief. How was Lu Yin still able to move? Also, how had he crossed that distance so quickly? He had moved too fast!

Zhuo Daynight’s eyes slackened and her entire body trembled. It seemed that she could fall at any moment, and in fact, she had already collapsed.

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed, and he exerted his strength. A cracking sound split the air. Nightking Zhenwu’s nine lined battle force tried to resist the external pressure, but as Lu Yin exerted more and more strength, the Nightking’s nine lined battle force grew unstable. Eventually, the two nine lined battle forces shot into the sky as one, causing the ground to split open, and the three youths slowly sank down as stones flew into the air before being obliterated in space.

Nightking Zhenwu was overwhelmed, and he glared at Lu Yin. “Impossible! How did you recover? You were just beaten half to death, and you should have fallen! You should have been trampled beneath my feet! You should have died!”

Lu Yin’s gaze showed his hatred, and the two nine lined battle forces clashed one again. This time, a berserk spiritual force appeared, and it was like two apocalyptic storms colliding. Their spiritual forces were actually visible, and they tore apart the sky above Nightking Planet.

“You deserve to die,” Lu Yin growled through gritted teeth.