Star Odyssey

"Senior, wasn't the Sixth Mainland cut off from us? How are they still able to join ZENITH?"

"I cannot disclose those specific details to you," Mu En replied matter-of-factly. The truth was that he was not entirely certain of the details himself, as these matters were above his domain.

But those few words had already caused Lu Yin's mind to descend into total chaos. He had no clue what questions he should pose at this moment, as there were simply too many on his mind.

Mu En then said, "The Starsibyl Sect's divinations concerning the fight for the Cosmic Five were not just a mere ploy on their part. The most important goal was to determine a list of ten names. Initially, the Human Domain had five slots on that list, the Astral Beast Domain three, and the Technocracy two. However, the Sixth Mainland was thrown into the mix as well due to special circumstances, which led to ZENITH being organized.

"Since reallocating the slots between the various powers and domains is not easy, it was decided that we would hold a contest to determine the names on this list. The Hall of Honor is confident in you, and our Human Domain's morale will soar if we can obtain enough positions during this competition."

Upon seeing Lu Yin's doubts, Mu En continued, solemnly saying, "This time, the event is not a sham, so do your best during this competition, as only a handful from the entire Human Domain have ever received an opportunity of this level. There are many extraordinarily gifted youths throughout the Human Domain, but only a rare few have ever received something as valuable as the reward. Once you agree to participate, you will be carrying the hopes of the entire Fifth Mainland, not just yourself."

Mu En spoke to Lu Yin in an earnest manner, and the old man eventually convinced Lu Yin. Even though he still had doubts regarding the Sixth Mainland, he knew that it would be impossible to get any answers from Mu En as the old man would simply keep silent about it.

As for ZENITH? Lu Yin was looking forward to it. He had reached his current strength after progressing forwards one step at a time. He had started by leaving Earth, attended the Astral Combat Academy, entered the Innerverse, become the master of the Outerverse, and even entered the Mountain and Seas Zone, which had been hailed as humanity's greatest stage. Lu Yin had seen many formidable youths throughout his journey.

There were true elites, like the Ten Arbiters, all the people competing to become the Cosmic Five, the Realmlings, the Daosource Three Skies, and the powerhouses from the Astral Beast Domain like Skymender's followers and the Technocracy. The thought of having so many formidable peers competing in the same arena left Lu Yin buzzing with excitement.

In the past, Lu Yin might not have been confident about his chances of winning, but at the moment, his eyes were blazing brightly. He felt that he would definitely come out on top, even if he faced Shang Qing.

Lei Nü and Shu Jing were both standing rather close by, and they also heard what Mu En had revealed to Lu Yin. They had known about ZENITH for some time, and they were feeling the pressure. Their trip to Progenitor Chen's Mausoleum had been entirely to help them further prepare for ZENITH.

As Honor Chosens, they were supposed to stand at the pinnacle of the Human Domain's entire younger generation. But even still, an immense pressure weighed upon them despite their prestigious position.

Even if they ignored all the other potential competitors, they were both well aware that Lu Yin would not be an easy opponent, as he was actually a complete monster. The same was also true of the Ten Arbiters, the Daosource Three Skies from the Sixth Mainland, and many others. There were simply too many formidable youths who would participate.

Fortunately, they still had ample time before ZENITH started, and that time was enough for them to improve their strength.

With that thought, the two Honor Chosens turned around, returned to their rooms, and resumed training.

…

Black storm clouds loomed overhead, shrouding their location in pitch black darkness.

Their only option was to have the cniu stop and wait for the dark storm clouds to pass.

According to Mu En, the Honor Zone's weather was capricious, and their group would likely be swept away by the storm even with the cniu's defenses if they tried to press on.

Lu Yin was curious as to why Mu En did not offer to help the youths pass through the storm, but Lu Yin kept his thoughts to himself.

The dark storm raged on for two days before a ray of light broke through, illuminating the way forward. The weather had changed once again, and a dry heat swept through the air.

The cniu resumed running and continued on its way towards the Hall of Honor.

While Lu Yin was riding atop the cniu's back, he suddenly saw what looked like a card flit past him. He instinctively raised a hand to catch the card, but his hand was stopped midair by Mu En.

Mu En looked at Lu Yin with a completely serious expression. "Did you forget my instructions? Do not casually touch anything in this place."

Lu Yin felt puzzled. "What was that card just now?"

Mu En solemnly replied, "That was a world."

"A world?" Lu Yin exclaimed.

Mu En continued in a solemn tone, saying, "If it weren't for me, you would have already lost your hand."

Lu Yin was stunned to learn that he had just attempted to catch a world. "So that card is the same as that orb of light from before?"

Mu En nodded. "There are more than 3,000 worlds throughout the Honor Zone, but those are just the ones that we have records of. There are also some powerful beings that have been slowly awakening, one after another. These powerful creatures hail from ancient ages, and they might have awoken after emerging from cryostasis or from being unlocked through lockbreaking. These rare occurrences can increase the number of worlds wandering about the Honor Zone, and the card that you just saw is one such unrecorded world."

"Was it very powerful?" Lu Yin asked curiously.

Mu En shook his head. " I don't know, but at that precise moment, my intuition was telling me that we should never provoke that card."

Lu Yin was taken aback. Although Mu En had shown a bit of respect to the orb of light, he had clearly not feared it. Did that small card really contain something that powerful?

Mu En looked back in the direction where the card containing a world had disappeared into. Such undocumented worlds introduced an element of unpredictability to the Honor Zone, and it was a shame that the blood-red bell had been confiscated by the Chief Justice. Otherwise, Mu En would have stopped that world and further investigated it.

Mu En fell silent after encountering the hidden world within the card. The Honor Zone was vast, but its size was still limited. At the very least, it was not as massive as the Outerverse.

The power held by those who controlled the Honor Zone should be enough to rule over all of the creatures within it. However, they were still unable to control the appearance of the hidden worlds. Some worlds were birthed from other worlds, or as Mu En had mentioned, an ancient being might awaken and cause new worlds to appear.

Lu Yin suddenly felt that, despite how the Hall of Honor came across as overbearing or even selfish at times, its existence was the primary reason why the Human Domain had been able to safely develop this far. If the more than 3,000 worlds within the Honor Zone somehow escaped into the Neoverse or started an all-out attack, there would be unimaginable consequences.

The Hall of Honor was like a mountain that suppressed all instabilities, and although that might not be fair to some people, it was the best overall method. At the very least, it was the best means of protecting the interests of ordinary people.

If the entire Human Domain was viewed as a war-torn continent where the major powers constantly fought against each other, then the Hall of Honor would be an empire that had unified the continent. Although some people's best interests had to be sacrificed in the process, their actions preserved the lives of the majority.

In fact, the Great Eastern Alliance was rather similar. Although the media had praised Lu Yin for how his rise to power had put an end to the various interweave wars in the Outerverse, that suppression was clearly unfair to the various powers in control of those weaves. Despite that, the suppression was needed to protect the majority, which was no different than the Hall of Honor's behavior.

Entering the Honor Zone had really given Lu Yin some deep insights. In addition to the world hidden within the mechanical sphere, there had also been the world within the orb or light, and the one within the small card. Finally, Lu Yin had also encountered a hidden world that was the size of a speck of dust! It seemed that the smaller the world was, the safer it would be within the Honor Zone.

In addition to the various hidden worlds, Lu Yin also saw some people who lived within the Honor Zone and even some cities. Each city was large, and they even created their own, unique climates.

For example, there was a sun suspended above one city, blazing and burning specifically to illuminate that city.

Other cities had been built underground, and they were protected by a strange substance that even the full weight of the ancient cniu could not shake.

Yet other cities had been built atop leaves, though if one did not look closely, it would be impossible to even see the cities, and the people living there would be assumed to be mere ants.

The Honor Zone was filled with too many unimaginable kingdoms.

"Anyone who dares to establish their country in the open is either incapable of storing away a world or is very confident of themselves, though the latter case is exceptionally rare. The Mavis clan lives on the back of an incomparable massive turtle that walks across the Honor Zone, and Smoke Eater Peaks was originally a part of the Honor Zone as well. Azure Mansion was also once based here, just like the Cosmic Sect and Eversky Island," said Mu En.

Lu Yin asked, "Didn't the Court of Seven Names also have places here as well?"

Mu En nodded.

Lu Yin understood. He had heard of the great powers of the Neoverse before, and he had come to understand that they each had the confidence to hold a piece of the Honor Zone, but for various reasons, they had all left this landmass. Part of it might be that the entire Honor Zone belonged to the Hall of Honor.

The Hall of Honor's headquarters was at the center of the Honor Zone, and Lu Yin and the others were gradually getting closer.

After crossing a boundless forest wherein they saw many powerful beasts, Mu En suddenly stopped in the cniu. He frowned as he looked around, seemingly searching for something. Finally, he focused his gaze on a single drop of water on the ground.

Lu Yin looked at the drop of water. It was strange; why was there a drop of water sitting there? Why had it not evaporated or soaked into the ground? Instead, it just sat on the ground, looking like a glass bead.

"Senior, is that a world?" Lu Yin asked.

Mu En nodded and leaped off of the cniu to approach the nearby drop of water.

Lu Yin, Lei Nü, and Shu Jing followed closely behind.

As Mu En disappeared into the drop of water, the three youths all looked at each other before also entering the droplet.

It was indeed a hidden world, a world hidden within a drop of water. Furthermore, this world was nothing but water.

As the youths entered, Mu En immediately isolated them from the water, his expression extremely ugly.

Lu Yin looked up ahead, and his pupils shrank.

All he could see were countless corpses drifting about through the water. These corpses seemed to spread out infinitely in all directions. Among them were not only human corpses, but there were also bodies of all sorts of creatures, both large and small. It looked as though the entire world had perished.

There was one common feature to all of the corpses, which was that they all looked exceptionally old, as if they had aged to the extreme and then died of old age.

Mu En quietly muttered to himself and then led Lu Yin and the other two off into the distance. With the Judicial Commissioner's speed, they soon traversed the entire world.

Not one of the youths spoke. They all felt a chill tun down their spines, as this world was utterly devoid of all life, and there was not a single living person, animal, or plant. Everything had died.

"Poison," Lei Nü said softly.

Lu Yin looked at the nearby human corpses, and something suddenly occurred to him. "The vitality poison, Regression."

Mu En whirled around to stare at Lu Yin. "You know what this is?"

Lei Nü and Shu Jing both warily eyed Lu Yin.

Lu Yin explained, "I'm not certain, but someone in the Outerverse was once poisoned with similar symptoms where all of his vitality drained out of him. I eventually learned that the poison came from the Neohuman Alliance and that it was called Regression No. 91."

Mu En's eyes narrowed. "When was this?"

"About a year and a half to two years ago. It was while the Outerverse was cut off from the Innerverse," Lu Yin said.

"Why was that person poisoned?" Mu En asked.

Lu Yin said, "At first, I didn't know, but later on, this junior searched through the entire Shenwu Continent, and I found someone from the Neohuman Alliance. He was conducting experiments and trying to research death energy."

Mu En instantly inquired, "Aside from you, do the members of the Hall of Honor in the Outerverse know of this matter?"