Star Odyssey

Chapter 1493: Sourcebox Cones

The old woman snapped back, "Liu Jing, don't try to put that on me! I'll die the moment this headquarters falls, but rules are rules, and I won't break them. There are four more array bases in addition to this second array base, and if exceptions are made for each one, then all the resources will soon disappear."

"But right now we need to repair the sourcebox array, and no one knows when the next attack will come. The battle underneath the five array bases has never stopped, and those monsters are definitely doing their best to destroy the array, especially since the sourcebox array has been damaged now. The general even mentioned that the giant corpse king might have been specifically sent to take out the defensive sourcebox array," Liu Jing said urgently.

The old woman grew impatient. "No matter what, I won't break the rules."

Lu Yin looked up at her. "General Bai Chi reserved the Cloudguard Robes for someone before they had enough merit points. Isn't that already breaking the rules?"

The old woman's face turned ugly, but she fell silent.

Liu Jing solemnly stated, "Alright, I see that my words are useless. In that case, I'll have to ask the general to speak to you himself."

With that, he nodded to Lu Yin and made to leave.

Lu Yin quickly chased after the Envoy. "Brother Liu, what happened?"

Liu Jing felt completely helpless. "Master Zan and the other Lockbreakers have demanded compensation for repairing the sourcebox array. Over the years, many arrays here at headquarters and beneath the array bases have broken down, requiring the Array Masters' help to repair them, and we've pretty much used up everything that we can get for what we've already paid them. The general's merit points have all been traded away for items that have been handed over to Master Zan at various times, so now all I can do is overdraft merit points in order to trade for the items we need, but that woman won't allow it."

Lu Yin felt a bit dazed. "That old woman won't give even face to the general?"

Liu Jing's voice grew bitter. "I can't actually blame her. Overdrafting merit points to trade for items is a huge taboo, and if such a thing is discovered without a legitimate excuse, it could easily make many people upset. After all, aren't you upset that you can't get the Cloudguard Robes? If that sort of disgruntlement spreads throughout all of the troops, the consequences would be unimaginable."

Lu Yin understood what Liu Jing was saying. "Bai Chi was able to reserve the Cloudguard Robes, so why can't General Xia Yan do the same?"

Liu Jing explained, "Reserving an item and overdrafting merit points are two completely different things. Even if General Bai Chi wanted to overdraft his merit points to purchase an item, it would not be easy to do so. At this point, all I can do is report back to General Xia Yan and ask him to deal with this matter himself."

"Actually, there's no need to find Master Zan to repair the sourcebox array," Lu Yin suddenly said.

Liu Jing kept walking for a moment before looking over at Lu Yin in confusion. "What do you mean? Who else can repair the sourcebox array?"

Lu Yin pointed to himself. "I can give it a go."

Liu Jing was stunned. "You?"

Lu Yin nodded. "I've actually already mastered a few sourcebox arrays, so technically, I can be considered an Array Master."

Liu Jing was instantly overjoyed. "You've comprehended a sourcebox array? Are you serious?"

Lu Yin smiled gently, raised a hand, and caused the Channeling Diagram to appear. "Give it a try, Brother Liu."

Liu Jing waved his hand, which instantly destabilized the Channeling Diagram. Lu Yin had actually forgotten that Liu Jing was an Envoy, which meant that he normally used stellular energy. Lu Yin had set up the array with star energy, so naturally, the Envoy's attack had easily destabilized the sourcebox array. Still, Liu Jing was delighted. He was unconcerned with the strength of Lu Yin's array, only that it was an authentic sourcebox array.

"Brother Ah Qi, let's go! I'll show you the array, and if you really can repair the cone-shaped sourceboxes' array, you'll have done a great service to my second array base, and the general will be thrilled." Liu Jing was overjoyed, and Lu Yin followed behind the giddy Envoy.

They eventually arrived at the location where the giant corpse king's body had exploded. The two of them were about a hundred meters away from the site, and across from them was the group of well-dressed Lockbreakers. There were also two women with the Lockbreakers who were feeding them some fruit in a playful manner. Despite everyone else's irritation, no one dared to speak up against the Lockbreakers' behavior.

Lu Yin felt that they were going too far. These Lockbreakers from the Perennial World were behaving completely at odds with how they were expected to.

"Brother Ah Qi, first check to see if you can repair it, but don't say anything yet," Liu Jing said in a very quiet voice.

Lu Yin nodded. He naturally had no intention of saying anything. Even in the Fifth Mainland, the Lockbreakers Society had been notoriously short-sighted. His actions at this moment could even be seen as him stealing an opportunity from another Lockbreaker to work with sourceboxes or set up a sourcebox array, which was an unforgivable offense in the Fifth Mainland unless one received permission. Lu Yin expected this to be the standard practice in the Perennial World as well.

Liu Jing deliberately kept his distance, as he was worried that he would be discovered by Master Zan's group.

Meanwhile, Lu Yin stared in front of him. The area had already been isolated, and he saw a total of twelve cone-shaped sourceboxes that had been cattered across the ground. They occasionally trembled while also giving off a powerful danger field that randomly tore the void apart, which was why people were too afraid to move any closer.

These particular sourceboxes could be arranged into an amazingly powerful sourcebox array because of how they all complemented each other. To repair this array, Lu Yin needed to sort out the various sourceboxes and then rearrange them back to their original formation. He did not need to set up a new array, so this should not be too difficult.

Star energy filled Lu Yin's eyes. He had rarely done this after arriving in the Perennial World. There were no runes in this universe, so it was normally useless for Lu Yin to do this. However, it still helped him see these sourceboxes' danger fields more clearly. He also released his domain, bit by bit, until it tentatively made contact with the cone-shaped sourceboxes. He even went as far as dripping a bit of gemspring water into his eyes.

The cone-shaped sourceboxes were powerful enough to even wound Envoys, which meant that their danger field had entered the true universe. If Lu Yin attempted to interact with the sourceboxes without using any gemspring water, he would have to constantly move about and enter the true universe, which would draw far too much attention.

Each drop of gemspring water was enough to let Lu Yin observe the true universe for a minute. There were thirteen drops left, so Lu Yin would have to carefully ration them out.

Fortunately, the parts of the sourceboxes' danger fields that had spread into the true universe were not very complicated, so Lu Yin was able to understand the situation after just observing the danger fields twice.

Lu Yin slowly walked around the area that had been isolated by the cone-shaped sourceboxes' presence. After enough time for a stick of incense to burn passed, Lu Yin finally drew the attention of Master Zan and the other Lockbreakers.

A young man moved to block Lu Yin's path. Then, the young man stared at Lu Yin and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Just wandering around."

The young man shouted, "Stay away! The sourcebox array that's here could activate at any time! Do you want to die? We don't!"

Lu Yin nodded and answered in a sincere tone. "Got it. I'll leave."

The young man snorted and returned to his group.

However, Lu Yin continued to circle around the sourceboxes.

Master Zan glanced back at Lu Yin and frowned. "Xiao Li, why hasn't he left yet? Can you not even handle this?"

The young man named Xiao Li blushed. "Master, your disciple will go teach him a lesson."

Master Zan grew annoyed. "We're on the battlefield. Who can you teach a lesson with your strength as a Limiteer? Just go send him away."

Xiao Li let out a sigh of relief as he hurried back to Lu Yin, though his face had twisted into an ugly expression that was terrible to see.

He moved in front of Lu Yin, once again blocking Lu Yin's path. Xiao Li glared at Lu Yin. "Didn't I tell you to leave? Why are you still here?"

Lu Yin answered in a light tone, "I'm sorry. I'm a bit lost, but I'll leave now."

Xiao Li snorted derisively while trying to make his expression more intimidating. He deliberately leaned closer and threatened, "Kid, Master Zan's the one who wants you to get away from the array! Don't pretend to be stupid! With a single word from Master Zan, there won't be any way for you to survive here on the second array base. Get it?"

"I gotcha, don't worry. I'll behave myself. I don't want to cause any trouble," Lu Yin said.

Xiao Li snorted once more. He felt that Lu Yin did not have a bad attitude, so Xiao Li softened his tone. "Let's go."

He then took one more look at Lu Yin's back and returned to his comrades.

However, after enough time for another incense stick to burn passed, Xiao Li blankly stared on as Lu Yin made another lap around the blocked off region. The young man went stiff from surprise.

"Xiao Li, are you really this incapable? This is your last chance. If that person doesn't leave, then don't bother coming back." By now, Master Zan was furious. This person was willing to challenge his authority! Several people in the group glanced around with odd expressions; were there really still people in the second array base who refused to give Master Zan proper respect? At the same time, the people here also looked at Xiao Li with empathy. This person really had no luck at all.

Xiao Li rushed back over to Lu Yin and blocked Lu Yin's path. The young man was in a rage, and he shouted in a deep voice, "You're screwing with me!"

Lu Yin looked at the young man blocking his path. "Sorry, who are you?"

Lu Yin genuinely did not care about the person blocking his path. He had been entirely focused on studying the sourcebox array, so his responses to Xiao Li had all been reflexive and unconscious.

Xiao Li was absolutely furious, and he wanted to do nothing more than to beat someone, but after a moment's thought, he likely not be able to defeat this person. "Get out of here! Master Zan has told you to get lost, you hear me? If you don't, I'll go get the general, and then you can kiss your future goodbye! Kid, it would be better to die than face such a future."

Lu Yin blinked. "Quit messing around and trying to disturb me while I repair the sourcebox array."

Xiao Li laughed from his rage. "What did you say? Repair the sourcebox array? Do you want to say that again?"

"Let's see." Lu Yin raised a foot and took a step forward. A strong wind pushed Xiao Li back, and Lu Yin moved past the young man. Lu Yin looked over and shot a confident smile at the anxious Liu Jing. Then, Lu Yin stepped into the area that had been isolated off by the sourcebox array.

Master Zan shot to his feet from where he was watching nearby. His expression changed drastically. "Stop!"

Xiao Li had no idea what to do as he watched Lu Yin enter the sourcebox array. The young man's eyes were filled with terror, and he was deeply scared that the sourcebox array would be suddenly triggered and that he would die.

Liu Jing felt his heart tremble. Was Ah Qi already going in? Was the young man really that impulsive? Liu Jing had expected Lu Yin to first discuss the situation and even meet with the general so that they could confirm Lu Yin's abilities. And only after all that would they finally speak to Master Zan. But what was happening? Had the kid just barged straight in?

No matter what twists and turns he needed to take to get there, Lu Yin was absolutely confident in his ability to repair this sourcebox array. Even though it was a very complicated array, he only needed to reset the array that had been disrupted by the enormous corpse king. There was no need to redo the entire array.

If Lu Yin was completely honest, this sourcebox array was beyond his abilities to arrange at this point in time. To do so, he would need to study it for at least a year or two. In the end, this array was capable of slaughtering Envoys, and it could even influence the true universe. However, if it was just a matter of realigning the danger fields, then that was still within Lu Yin's means.

Outside the array, Master Zan nervously watched on. Just like Xiao Li, Master Zan was terrified that the sourcebox array would be accidentally triggered, wiping all of them out just like that group of corpse kings. Not even the corpse kings with the strength of an Envoy had been able to endure more than a few strikes from this array.

There was no one present who was more nervous than Master Zan, and that was because he was the only one who understood just how dangerous the situation at this moment was.

Just a few seconds went by, but Master Zan already felt like years had passed. His clothes were already soaked from his cold sweat.

The Array Master quickly noticed that the array had not been triggered, and Lu Yin was even avoiding the sourceboxes' danger zones. Master Zan felt tremendous relief; this person was not a normal person, but rather a Lockbreaker.

However, this revelation made Master Zan even more upset than ever. "Who is that? Find out! Make sure you discover who he is. We need to speak to the general! I demand an explanation!"

This sourcebox array was something that concerned the entire military stationed at the second array base, and Xia Yan and Long Laogui both realized what had happened the moment that Lu Yin entered the array. They both tore through the void, and somber expressions appeared on their faces when they emerged.

Master Zan rushed over as soon as he saw that Xia Yan had arrived. The Array Master suppressed his anger and whispered, "General, who is that person? I can't believe that he had the guts to enter the sourcebox array without permission! If he triggers it, everyone nearby will die!"