Star Odyssey

Chapter 1521: Crisis

Lu Yin stared at the ground with a complicated expression. There was yet another former retainer of the Lu family here.

"Grandpa Zhiyi, it's Xiao Tu! Grandpa Zhiyi!" Young Master Tu was also shouting, his eyes bright red. Still, there was no response from Wan Zhiyi at all.

Uncle He sighed. "Every move that Old Senior makes is carefully watched."

Young Master Tu roared, "Those traitors! The Lu family will return sooner or later and destroy them, and yet they dare to imprison Grandpa Zhiyi?! Traitors! Traitor!!!"

Uncle He felt helpless. He released a long breath and looked to the other side, where he just happened to see Lu Yin, and the older man's eyes flickered.

Lu Yin knew that Uncle He was still worried about how he was a part of the White Dragon Clan. Thus, Lu Yin merely nodded and left.

Three days later, as he was resting, Lu Yin heard a voice from outside his quarters. "Are you Brother Long Qi?"

Lu Yin opened his eyes and walked out. As he emerged, he saw a ferocious-looking bald man. Lu Yin instantly recognized the man: Baldy Tooth. This man was one of the Forsaken Soldiers' few Envoys. He was a powerhouse who lived close to where Lu Yin had taken up residence.

"I am junior Long Qi. Might I ask what senior needs with me?" Lu Yin asked.

Baldy Tooth stared at Lu Yin for a moment before solemnly stating, "Let's talk inside."

Lu Yin nodded and moved aside to allow Baldy Tooth in.

"Brother Long Qi, I've been a part of the Forsaken Soldiers for a long time, and I've developed some understanding of this place. I'd like to find out, which side would you like to join?" Baldy Tooth asked.

Lu Yin had to ask, "Which side?"

Baldy Tooth was serious as he replied, "Respectable people don't hide their words, and it's unbecoming of Brother Long Qi to play stupid."

Lu Yin shrugged. "I'm sorry, but I really don't know what you're talking about."

Baldy Tooth frowned and stared at Lu Yin for a while before finally continuing, explaining, "There are different factions within the Forsaken Soldiers. For example, the Lu family's former retainers form one faction, which includes people such as the Qiming family and the All-Dao family. Big Sis Luo Sha is nearly as powerful an expert as the two Semi-Progenitors here, and she leads another faction. As for us, we are here because we offended some people in the Perennial World and were sentenced to this place because of it. Naturally, we have formed yet another faction. So, does Long Qi brothers understand now?"

Lu Yin lowered his eyes. "The remnants of the Lu family's vassals?"

Baldy Tooth replied, "That's right. That Young Master Tu who's been harassing you is from that faction, and you must be frustrated with him. However, it's important for you to know that those former vassals aren't easy to mess with, though you shouldn't even consider trying to join them. For starters, they only accept their own people, but even besides that, if you get close to those people, things won't be good for you after you return to the Perennial World. You definitely won't meet a good end in that case."

"Do you feel disgusted by the Lu family?" Lu Yin asked in turn.

Baldy Tooth snorted. "All who have ruled this Perennial World are revolting!"

After getting to this point, Baldy Tooth started to get impatient. ""Tell me, do you want to join us? Don't forget, during that battle just three days ago, there were more than 100 casualties. It's normal for 10,000 people to die during each battle, and I even saw that one of the corpse kings went after you. I wanted to help, but you dealt with it by yourself. Still, that was only due to some luck. The fighting's just going to get worse from here on out, and how long can you count on your luck to last?

"Join us so that we can help each other. That way, we'll have a better chance of surviving, right?"

Lu Yin stared at the Baldy Tooth with an odd expression. "Do you know where I'm from?"

Baldy Tooth sneered, "Don't bother trying to use your White Dragon Clan to scare me! That's useless here. The only way to leave this place is after the two Semi-Progenitors coordinate an exchange, and you're no exception to that! Others from the four ruling powers have also come here, but all of them died. So, don't think that you'll get any special treatment while you're here."

The man's words clearly showed that he knew nothing about Long Qi at all and that most of the people in the Forsaken Soldiers did not even know that the reason why the Semi-Progenitors had taken the initiative to attack Xiang City was to save Lu Yin. This man's faction was composed of the Perennial World's worst criminals, and it was clear that Young Master Tu and his faction despised the convicts, and Big Sis Luo Sha likely felt the same. The two Semi-Progenitors would not bother paying any attention to this faction of criminals, which was probably why they believed themselves to be impressive.

Baldy Tooth had likely seen Lu Yin repairing the sourcebox array, and that was his motivation behind approaching Lu Yin.

"You should go. I have no interest in joining your faction." Lu Yin was clear on the type of people in this particular faction, and thus, there was no need to continue the conversation.

Baldy Tooth frowned and switched tactics to threats. "Long Qi, you're with the Forsaken Soldiers now! You won't be treated like someone from the White Dragon Clan anymore, and not even the two Semi-Progenitors can afford to keep you safe. Our faction is the most numerous and reliable on the battlefield, so you should think this through carefully."

Lu Yin waved a hand dismissively. "You can see yourself out."

Baldy Tooth let out another snort. "After a few more battles, you'll come to understand! Let me remind you that we won't bother risking anything to save you before you join us, so find your own way to survive!"

With that, the man turned and left, clearly in a bad mood.

Lu Yin was unconcerned. Just as he was about to return to his rest, from the corner of his eyes, he caught a glimpse of liquid trickling down the side of the mountain, and his own mood suddenly fell. That bastard was back.

"That was fun! You're pretty cool," Young Master Tu shouted from higher up the mountain.

Lu Yin had a terrible expression on his face when he walked up. "When do you want to get beaten up?"

Young Master Tu pursed his lips. "I saw Baldy Tooth leaving your place. You better not join up with that trash."

"That's got nothing to do with you," Lu Yin replied.

Young Master Tu rolled his eyes. "You know what, go ahead and beg me! I can ask Grandpa Zhiyi to keep you safe. You were already able to see just how powerful Grandpa Zhiyi is!"

Lu Yin was taken aback. "Is that old senior protecting you?"

Young Master Tu coughed. "Of course! Why else would I call him Grandpa if he didn't care for me?"

"Go ahead and ask him now, see if he agrees or not," Lu Yin angrily challenged. It was instantly clear that Young Master Tu was lying.

Young Master Tu gritted his teeth. "Kid, you don't know how to accept kindness! Hurry up and beg me!"

Lu Yin really saw expectation in Young Master Tu's eyes. This person frequently mistook Lu Yin for someone else, and he also tried his best to get Lu Yin to act more submissively as though he were trying to cater to a subtle wish. It was almost as though Young Master Tu wanted Lu Yin to bow his head because Young Master Tu had once wanted that other person to bow his head; but in both cases, he had never succeeded. If Lu Yin was not mistaken, he was actually that very same person.

"Go ahead and ask that old senior to come out and discuss this matter," Lu Yin pressed.

After that, he went back to his place on the mountain.

Young Master Tu grew anxious. "Kid, it looks like you don't believe me! You better beg me soon, or else you won't be so lucky during the next battle! I was actually the one who spoke to Grandpa Zhiyi last time, and that's why he made a move! Kid, did you hear…"

Out of everyone on the Stacking Mountain Range, the most pitiful person was the one who lived below Lu Yin. Whenever Young Master Tu let water flow, it trickled down and fell onto Lu Yin's lower neighbor, right in the main entrance to his quarters. He wanted to speak up, but he did not have the courage to do so. He also wanted to move, but he was very hesitant about trying to move anywhere else on the mountain. Despite his frustrations, the man could do nothing but silently curse to himself.

Lu Yin's mood had been ruined as he did not know what Shaman God was up to. Ever since the all-out assault on the array bases had ended, Marquis Green Bamboo had been keeping a constant eye on the Forsaken Soldiers, and he had even been sending corpse kings to attack them. After a few more days, the battle intensified and started growing worse.

Lu Yin activated both of the sourcebox arrays and started slaughtering corpse kings, staining the entire Stacking Mountain Range red with blood. As Lu Yin focused on his task, he was attacked by three Envoy corpse kings. If not for Uncle He and Zhou Tang protecting him, Lu Yin would have suffered miserably.

However, even if the human Envoys were able to stop their corpse king counterparts, they were not able to do anything when Marquis Green Bamboo made a move.

No one expected Marquis Green Bamboo to suddenly attack a youth, but green bamboo shoots shot out from the void, appearing from nowhere and blasting into Lu Yin's body.

Had Shaman God died? One of the Twelve Marquises had actually attacked Lu Yin!

Lu Yin felt death approaching, and he prepared himself to summon Mister Mu. However, an old man suddenly grabbed Marquis Green Bamboo. The old man's hand looked like it belonged to a skeleton, as it was completely devoid of flesh and blood, though the man was still underground.

Lu Yin immediately knew that this old man was Wan Zhiyi, the All-Dao family's grand elder.

Puff!

Lu Yin crumpled to the ground as he spat out blood. Young Master Tu raced over to catch Lu Yin. "Hey! You're not dead, right?"

Lu Yin's chest was covered with blood. He had not taken any reactionary measures or retaliated when Marquis Green Bamboo had attacked, as anything that Lu Yin could do would be worthless against a Semi-Progenitor's attack.

"I can't die." Lu Yin coughed up more blood before quickly swallowing a medicinal pill. His breathing was ragged.

If not for Wan Zhiyi appearing, Lu Yin would have been pierced through by Marquis Green Bamboo's attack. Even if Lu Yin had not died, he would have been seriously injured. Still, it was far more likely for him to have died. If a Progenitor attacked, just the shockwave alone would be enough to annihilate Lu Yin's body.

If not for the Cloudguard Robes, the strike from the shoot of green bamboo might have killed Lu Yin without even needing to get close to him.

It was unfortunate that the attack had completely destroyed Lu Yin's Cloudguard Robes.

"You aren't dead? Just how tenacious are you?" Young Master Tu was shocked to see that Lu Yin was still alive, and the young master's voice took on an odd tone.

Lu Yin's fingers trembled, but his body was constantly fed with fresh vitality, and his injuries quickly recovered.

Without Lu Yin to control it, the spherical red sourcebox array had grown weak, though the array with the cone-shaped sourceboxes was fine, as it was able to operate automatically.

Up above Lu Yin, Wan Zhiyi's expression was solemn. However, due to the fact that the ancient powerhouse was nothing but skin and bones, it was quite difficult to read his expression. "I'm surprised to see that one of the Twelve Marquises, Marquis Green Bamboo, actually made a move against a mere Enlighter realm junior."

Marquis Green Bamboo smiled casually. "Junior? That's simply how you humans view things related to the passage of time. To me, he's someone who became an Array Master at a young age. The fact that he's able to kill Envoy level corpse kings while still at the Enlighter realm means that he presents a grave threat to my people, and he even has equipment that allowed him to survive an attack from me. Judging by how you humans do things, he is no mere junior, and he is certainly qualified for me to move against him.

"Besides, I keep having the feeling that he looks familiar, and I'm certain that I've seen him somewhere before."

Wan Zhiyi glanced back at Lu Yin, and his eyes hesitated on Lu Yin's face before he looked back at Marquis Green Bamboo. "Does this old man look familiar to you?"

Marquis Green Bamboo laughed. He continued to act in a calm and refined manner. "You look nothing like you did before. You were once full of spirit and energy, but now, you're about to die. The Lu family is gone, and there's you people's lives hold no value. You should just go die."

After speaking, the marquis disappeared.

A blazing killing intent suddenly filled Wan Zhiyi's eyes, and he also disappeared.

Even though Lu Yin was able to observe the true universe, he could not see the battle between the two.

"Grandpa Zhiyi will definitely win! Grandpa Zhiyi is the most powerful of the Semi-Progenitors. He's only a single step away from becoming a Progenitor! If not for the fate that befell the Lu family, my Perennial World would be protected by one more Progenitor," Young Master Tu said quietly.

Lu Yin held his chest as he recuperated. His injuries had recovered quickly, and thanks to the Cloudguard Robes, the shockwave of the marquis's attack had not entered Lu Yin's body. Without the armor, Lu Yin would have suffered badly. Upon realizing this, he did not hesitate to put on his universal armor, and only after that was he able to relax a bit.

Young Master Tu stared blankly at Lu Yin's universal armor. "What is that?"

Lu Yin answered quietly. "It's a defensive armor. Can't you tell?"

Young Master Tu was surprised. "Will that even help?"

It was at this moment that several corpse kings attacked the two men; two had the strength of Enlighters while three were as strong as Hunters. Lu Yin used his Vacuum Palm and blew all five of the corpse kings away.

Uncle He appeared at that moment. "It's not safe here. Let's go."

With that, he grabbed Young Master Tu and started heading for the top of the Folded Mountains.