Star Odyssey

Some of these lists include prospects for all ten finalists, which were being called the top ten. Others added Lei Nü, Yōu Qi, and Qiu Shi, and still others left Lu Yin out of the seeded contestants. Their logic was that, even if a Hunter was incredibly gifted, it would still be impossible for a Hunter to stand out amongst numerous genius Enlighters.

They believed that the reason why Lu Yin had been able to join the Ten Arbiters was because originally, none of the Ten Arbiters had broken through to the Enlighter realm. However, ZENITH was about to start, and any of the Ten Arbiters could break through at any given moment. Lu Yin had only just become a Hunter, and it was clearly impossible for him to become an Enlighter so quickly.

It had to be admitted that many people felt that this was the truth of the matter.

Of course, Lu Yin was not the only one who had been removed from some of the lists of the expected top ten. Almost all of the Ten Arbiters were removed, as well as the Neoverse's Yōu Qi and Yuhua Mavis. Only Shang Qing and Xia Jiuyou stayed on these lists. This was because one of them cultivated the peerless Tri-Yang Technique while the other one used Progenitor Chen's Nine Clone's Technique. Actually, there was one other person who had been added to the list of predicted finalists: Starsibyl. After all, she also cultivated the Nine Clones Technique.

There were all kinds of lists, and it was possible to find hundreds of variations of rankings for the competitors at any given moment.

However, no matter which list was checked, Lu Yin was not ranked highly due to his cultivation only being at the Hunter realm. Despite his strength being impressive and receiving the position of gatekeeper from the Hall of Honor, everyone considered him to be too weak due to his cultivation realm.

Lu Yin was not even angry about these lists. Rather, Ku Wei and Elder Tan were infuriated on his behalf. One of the two desperately tried to raise Lu Yin's fame and hold him up as being invincible while also doing his best to slander the people who created the ranking lists. The other coerced others into singing Lu Yin's praises across the entire network.

They both felt that these lists were nothing less than a slap in the face, and they were both so angry that they wanted to hunt down whoever had created the ranking lists.

Ku Wei visited Lu Yin once again, jeering and cursing the people who had drafted the ranking lists.

"Seventh Bro, those stupid mortals don't understand your power at all! They actually put you beneath Xia Jiuyou and Wu Taibai. What a joke! Even a mere beast like Star Devourer ranks above you, Seventh Bro. It's an insult to our Great Eastern Alliance!" Ku Wei shouted angrily.

Lu Yin skimmed through the different lists. It was true—although he was ranked within the top ten on most of the lists, he was never a top seed.

Shangqing was almost always the highest ranked contestant, and Wu Taibai was generally second only to Shang Qing. Bu Kong, Zhi Ti, Xia Jiuyou, and the others all followed closely behind. Each list was different, but each one gave ample reasoning for their particular chosen order.

It was a point of great pride to even be listed on a ranking of the ten favored contestants. However, even if getting onto that list was difficult, Lu Yin's record certainly allowed him to join it. Unfortunately, he was always perceived in the same way, as someone who relied too much on items. The only truly exceptional feats of combat that he had accomplished were defeating Lan Si and Nightking Zhenwu, but that was not enough for Lu Yin to earn recognition from everyone.

After all, he had been nothing more than a spectator during the final battle in the Mountain and Seas Zone in the Neoverse.

"With Seventh Bro's strength, even without mentioning the championship, it's only right for you to be listed as one of the top ten. Seventh Bro, Little Wei has already mobilized a lot of our people to promote you. You have to enter the final ten. The betting odds are one to two, which is quite high, but don't worry. Little Wei will definitely support you," Ku Wei firmly declared.

Lu Yin was looking at a list when Ku Wei's words startled him. A flash of inspiration entered his mind, and he looked at Ku Wei with fervent eyes. "Show me the odds."

Ku Wei felt embarrassed. "Seventh Bro, don't look at them. You'll get angry."

"Cut the bullshit and just show me," Lu Yin ordered.

Ku Wei accessed the network and brought up a dense list of names that was separated into each region. The Outerverse was divided into seventy two sections, which corresponded to the seventy two weaves, and the Innerverse, Cosmic Sea, and Neoverse were all divided in similar ways.

"This bookmaker listed almost all of the younger powerhouses whose names have appeared on Zenith Mountain. For example, Seventh Bro, your name is right at the top. If you enter the top ten, then the odds are one to two. The top five is one to five. Top three is one to ten, and winning the entire competition is one to twenty. By the way, this is Lan Si…" Ku Wei explained the entire system to Lu Yin.

Lu Yin was surprised that this bookmaker could list so many people and that they even had odds posted for people to bet on. This was not a small amount of work!

"Do you know who this bookmaker is?" Lu Yin asked.

Ku Wei shook his head. "Nope. No one knows. I've heard that it's some major force in the universe, and some people are even claiming that the Mavis family is behind this. How else could they target such a large market? Regardless, there are a bunch of rumors."

Lu Yin's eyes began blazing when he learned that this bookmaker was covering both the Innerverse and Outerverse. Just how much money with this would it take to set this up? Even with Lu Yin's current finances, this was far beyond his means, so who could it be?

After thinking for a while, Lu Yin shook his head. No matter who was behind this, they were still looking down on Lu Yin too much. If that was the case, then there was no reason not to play. After thinking of this, Lu Yin turned to Ku Wei. "Do you want to make some money?"

Ku Wei was stunned for a moment, as well as a bit confused. Still, he reflexively nodded. It had become a habit for Ku Wei to agree when Lu Yin was the one speaking.

The corners of Lu Yin's mouth curled up. "Let's place a bet. If you place a larger wager, then we'll bet on me ending up in the top three."

Ku Wei pursed his lips. Although he had wildly praised Lu Yin in public, it did not mean that Ku Wei actually held absolute confidence in Lu Yin's chances of making it to the top three. Ku Wei had actually just wanted to place a small wager as a show of support, but based on Lu Yin's words, it seemed that a significant amount would have to be shelled out.

"Start a rumor that says that I, Lu Yin, secretly suffered an injury during the attack on the Blaze Realm and that I need at least two years to recover," Lu Yin suggested.

Ku Wei's eyes lit up, and he stared at Lu Yin with admiration. "Seventh Bro, that's big, that's really big. This will make your odds spike up like crazy! We'll bet on you getting into the top ten, and then we'll strike it rich! Seventh Bro, you really are too amazing! Your wisdom is unmatched throughout both the ancient and modern universe. This…"

"Alright, fine, but not the top ten. The top three," Lu Yin repeated.

Ku Wei hesitated. "That- Seventh Bro, the top ten is a much sagacious choice. Isn't that better than the top three?"

"Are you doubting me?" Lu Yin glanced at him.

Ku Wei immediately and firmly stated, "Of course not! Little Wei's admiration for you is like the endless stream of galaxies throughout the universe! It's overpowering like a black hole. We'll take the highest odds then."

Properly leaking rumors would be a rather delicate task, as it could not be too deliberate. Fortunately, Ku Wei had a bit of experience in such matters, as he had frequently done such things when he had been roaming the universe on his own.

Before long, a very special channel leaked a secret message regarding Lu Yin's recent injury. This intelligent channel was known for its exceptionally accurate information.

Of course, despite the reliability of the source, not many people really believe the information, especially not the hidden forces behind the online bookmaker. Not everyone was stupid.

In order to cooperate with Ku Wei's efforts, Lu Yin deliberately left the Blaze Realm and returned to the outer Outerverse to meet with Yuan Shi. This meeting was a secret, and before leaving, Lu Yin announced that he was going into seclusion to train.

When Lu Yin's plans were leaked yet again, many people believed the matter about his secret injury, thinking that he intended to seek help from Yuan Shi.

Ku Wei constantly kept an eye on Lu Yin's odds on the bookmaker's page, waiting to see if Lu Yin's odds would change, but unfortunately, the odds never changed. The numbers seemed to have been determined and did not fluctuate.

Lu Yin felt quite helpless after hearing this news. This must not be the first time that the organizers behind the online bookmaker had set up such schemes, and they must have already seen through all sorts of tricks and scams. They would not change the odds, as the risk was too great, not unless they were the ones who had injured him.

"Seventh Bro, these guys are too timid! You still have ten to one odds of entering the top three," Ku Wei helplessly complained.

Lu Yin said, "If you lose ten, then you lose ten. Place bets on me in batches with staggered times. Each bet should be 100 million star essence."

Ku Wei was stunned, as this was essentially forcing the other party's hand. Seventh Bro had to be exceptionally confident of entering the top three. If he succeeded, then the bookmaker would have to pay out a billion star essence on each wager that Lu Yin placed. Just the thought of this left Ku Wei's scalp numb.

However, for someone to set up an online bookmaker page that accepted bets from the Outerverse and Innerverse, then they must have invested at least a billion star essence to get things started. Was there any top Innerverse powers that did not have a billion star essence? Still, losing such an amount would definitely cut them to the bone.

Ku Wei did not even consider the possibility of what would happen if the bookmaker defaulted on paying out, as that was simply impossible. The powers standing behind Lu Yin guaranteed that not even the top Neoverse powers would dare to default on a payment to Lu Yin.

At this moment, Ku Wei had a vision of looking at a billion star essence, and it was overwhelming.

It was not that Lu Yin did not want to place a bet on himself with all of the funds at his disposal, but rather that there was still a bit of time before ZENITH started. Just in case, it would be better to keep some funds in reserve.

Inside his spacecraft, Lu Yin stared at a star chart, but it did not take him long to arrive in Southside Weave.

Although Lu Yin had been putting on a show with Ku Wei, since he had traveled all the way to Southside Weave, it would be best if he at least greeted Yuan Shi.

Southside Weave had become a border weave, so it was completely sealed off and could not be freely entered by most people.

As the nominal commander-in-chief of the Outerverse's Allied Forces, Lu Yin was naturally qualified to enter and inspect the border.

When Lu Yin arrived at Southside Weave, Elder Daggs was immediately informed of Lu Yin's arrival, and the elder grew a little nervous. However, he also remembered some rumors that he had recently heard about Lu Yin, and the elder had some expectations. So he quickly met up with Lu Yin.

"Elder, it's been a long time." Lu Yin smiled.

Elder Daggs replied with a smile, "Isn't Alliance Leader Lu in seclusion? How is it that you have time to visit my border?"

"As the commander-in-chief of the Outerverse's Allied Forces, I can't just leave everything to Elder Daggs," Lu Yin said with a smile.

Elder Daggs had a bad premonition the moment he heard the title "commander-in-chief of the Outerverse's Allied Forces."

"By the way, Elder, I've been the commander-in-chief of the Outerverse for such a long time, but I've never seemed to have received any salary." Lu Yin continued to smile.

Elder Daggs pursed his lips, and his smile grew a bit dry. "I will have to ask Alliance Leader Lu to discuss this with Yuan Shi. You are my boss, and subordinates can't decide on their boss's salary."

Of course, Lu Yin was not actually concerned about the salary from his position, and he was just making small talk. Still, it was always better if he had more money.

"I'd like to ask to meet with Yuan Shi. Could you please ask the elder and lead the way," Lu Yin said.

"Please, Alliance Leader Lu."

"Please."

On their way to where Yuan Shi stayed, Lu Yin continued to have a casual conversation with Elder Daggs. Elder Daggs mostly asked about Lu Yin's time in the Honor Zone, and Lu Yin naturally obliged the elder.

Elder Daggs exclaimed, "It's acceptable for you to cultivate death energy? Alliance Leader Lu is truly held in high regard."

Lu Yin smiled and replied, "It's the Chief Justice and Arch-Elder Zen who are taking care of me, not to mention that it really is fine for me to use death energy."