Star Odyssey

Chapter 1539: New Heights

"What are you doing?" Long Kui appeared at this moment, causing everyone to freeze in place as he stared at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin's eyes focused, but he acted neither servile nor arrogantly before Long Kui. "These members of the branch families challenged me, and I was asked to fight."

"Challenged?" Long Kui glanced at Long Jue and others. "Are you all here to challenge Long Qi?"

Long Jue gritted his teeth and tried to deny it, but at this moment, the branch family elder rushed up from the depths of the lake, gasping for breath. "Elder Long Kui, this Long Qi is too arrogant and has a twisted personality! Elder Long Kui, please report this matter to the clan patriarch and the grand elder."

Long Kui frowned and turned back towards Lu Yin. "Long Qi, what's going on here?"

Lu Yin smiled gently. "A bunch of trash came here looking for trouble."

The branch elder was infuriated by this response. "Elder Long Kui, you heard him! This Long Qi is so arrogant that he dares to speak such vicious words! He brings shame to my White Dragon Clan!"

Long Kui stared at Lu Yin; why had this kid's attitude changed so abruptly?

Lu Yin looked up at Long Kui. "These people wanted to make me fail to become a Progenitor's disciple, which means that they are seeking death. They're lucky that I didn't kill them outright."

Long Kui instantly understood. For Long Qi, gaining a Progenitor as a master was a huge matter, and anyone who stood in the way of that goal would be his enemy. Long Qi viewed enemies as beings whom he could not exist with, and so his cruelty was understandable. It was no wonder why he had even attacked an elder from a branch family. "Long Qi, return to Hidden Dragon Lake for now, and I will inform the patriarch of this matter."

Lu Yin tossed the spear aside before turning around and leaving.

The spear fell into the lake. The elder clenched his teeth so hard that his gums bled; that was his weapon! He had crafted it after spending many years gathering all the materials, and it could not be destroyed by weapons of a similar level. And yet, it had been casually thrown away. He wanted to go pick it up, but he could not afford to do that and look inferior to that child.

As for asking Long Qi to recover the spear, the elder was not dumb enough to even consider making such a request. It was clear at a glance that Long Qi did not care about the elder at all.

It was impossible for the elder to defeat Long Qi, and he could not even suppress the youth with his position as an elder! No branch family elder had ever suffered this kind of humiliation at Dragon Mountain before.

Long Kui looked at the branch family elder and quietly said, "This is Hidden Dragon Lake, so why were you loitering about here? You will also need to explain yourself to the clan patriarch and the grand elder."

The branch family elder gritted his teeth as he replied, "I came here to congratulate Long Qi, and my juniors wanted to see Long Qi and find out what sort of person he is."

Long Kui sneered. "You are on Dragon Mountain, and there is nothing that happens here without escaping the grand elder's eyes. Say whatever you want, but the grand elder will be the one to pass judgment on you."

Long Kui then turned and left.

The elder's expression changed drastically. The grand elder, Ni Huang, never showed himself, and the branch family elder had actually forgotten about the grand elder's ability to peer through the sky and the earth. The elder quickly reviewed all of his actions, but felt relieved after a moment. He felt that he had never once taken any excessive actions, or said anything out of place. Instead, it had been that bastard Long Qi who had seized the initiative and mouthed off.

It was at this moment that the elder realized something; they had intended to harass and later slander Long Qi, so how had they ended up as the victims? From the beginning, even before they could take action, Lu Yin had seized the upper hand by striking first and pushed them into a corner.

That bastard!

Long Zhang woke up, but no one paid any attention to him. Many of the other disciples returned in silence, all of them shocked by Lu Yin's strength. Even though his cultivation had once been unimpressive, he seemed to have already reached the same level of strength as Junior Progenitor Long Tian! After Long Qi gained a Progenitor as his master, his status would completely change. He was not someone whom they should provoke.

The young master of the Wulong branch family sucked in a deep breath through his teeth due to the pain. He took one last look at Hidden Dragon Lake and then fled in terror.

After returning to the island, Lu Yin returned to leisurely fishing, acting as though nothing had happened.

Xiao Qing and other maids had all seen what had happened outside Hidden Dragon Lake. The other maids became frightened by Lu Yin, but Xiao Qing's eyes revealed complicated thoughts. She thought back to the first time that she had laid eyes on Long Qi. Back then, he had been completely useless, and the princess had had to take care of him. She had used the White Dragon Surveying the Sky to trap him, and yet he had climbed to such heights in these short years. If the princess knew of his transformation, she would be delighted!

No matter what, Long Qi was Xiao Qing's charge for the time being, and the princess had declared that no one was allowed to bully her husband. However, her husband had become the one bullying others instead.

Long Kui intended to report the incident at Hidden Dragon Lake to Long Ke, but he was stopped when he was only halfway there. He turned around and returned to Hidden Dragon Lake to see Lu Yin. "Long Qi, the grand elder wishes to see you."

Xiao Qing and the others were all shocked. The grand elder?

Lu Yin stood up. He had heard of Grand Elder Ni Huang before, as the man was a legendary figure whose status was far superior to Qing Chen's. Along the way to Dragon Mountain, Qing Chen had mentioned to Lu Yin that the White Dragon Clan's Grand Elder Ni Huang had reached the same level as the All-Dao family's Wan Zhiyi. If Wan Zhiyi was on the cusp of becoming a Progenitor, then it meant that Grand Elder Ni Huang was exactly the same.

People who had reached this level could rarely ever be found.

Grand Elder Ni Huang stayed beneath Dragon Mountain, though Lu Yin did not know how far down he needed to go. After Long Kui left, Lu Yin started looking around.

He was currently at the bottom of Dragon Mountain. There was a soft blue light illuminating the area, and strange luminous plants floated in the air. The entire place was very beautiful.

The sound of a stream of water gently gurgling could be heard off in the distance, and a clear spring stream flowed underfoot. Lu Yin could see tiny stars revolving within the water.

Lu Yin stared at the stars in the water. He had never seen such tiny stars before. Each one was like a regular star, but the size of an ant. He could destroy one with a slap, crush one with a single hand.

"For ants, each one is a world that can never be escaped, but for us, they are something that can be easily destroyed. This is the perspective that one achieves at the top." An ancient voice spoke, but there was no one to be seen. Lu Yin only heard the voice.

His expression becoming solemn, Lu Yin slowly bowed. "Junior Long Qi greets Grand Elder Ni Huang."

"Long Qi, you have already reached a height that surpasses many, many people. Going forward, there is no need for you to pay any attention to mere ants. Instead, your vision should be fully occupied with becoming a Progenitor." The ancient voice spoke once more.

Lu Yin replied, "I understand, Grand Elder."

"Senior Mu Xie, Humility's Gate's Commander, is a very refined individual. Even though he is the one who directs the killing blade of Humility's Gate, he has no desire to cause trouble. I will suppress today's matter for you, but in the future, you cannot be reckless and fight with other internal factions of our clan. Nothing that they do has anything to do with you. As long as the commander becomes your master, I will arrange a marriage that will catapult you into the heavens."

Lu Yin was taken aback. "A marriage? But this junior is already the main family's son-in-law. I have already married Long Xi."

"As I said, you no longer need to pay attention to such matters. Main family or branch family, such things are worth nothing to you. Your name will become a part of the main family's genealogy, and even though this is nothing more than just a formality, it means that your status is no longer just that of a son-in-law, but rather that of being a direct heir of my White Dragon Clan. Your status is now equal to Long Tian's, which means that very few people hold the status to marry you. Do you have someone you care for?"

Lu Yin had no idea how to answer, as he had never expected to be thrown into such a conversation. Grand Elder Ni Huang was essentially bypassing the clan's main family! Was the main family that easily ignored? Probably not. Could it be that it was because even the current main family of the clan was actually just a branch family that had taken the main family's position?

"You don't have anyone? Then how about Xia Taili?"

Lu Yin was startled. "Elder, that- that would not be good."

"I have already discussed this matter with Shenwu's Sky's Xia Xing. This matter was not just decided by my conversation with Xia Xing, and it also reflects the wishes of Progenitor Long and Progenitor Xia. There's no need for you to worry about this matter. Go back for now, but don't be rash again. You need to focus on paying your respects to a Progenitor as your master. Prepare yourself well. No one will disturb you again during this time. Your name will soon be added to the main family's genealogy. By this, I do not mean the Long Kui family's branch, but rather the White Dragon Clan. The main family of the entire clan."

After hearing these words, Lu Yin's vision fractured, and his body was suddenly sucked into a crack. He reappeared far away from the bottom of Dragon Mountain, and he found that Long Kui was close by.

Lu Yin had an odd expression on his face. He felt both helpless and speechless; how could there be another marriage already arranged for him? Did he look like he enjoyed being married that much?

His marriage to Xia Taili was essentially a marriage between the White Dragon Clan and Shenwu's Sky. Adding in Humility's Gate's Commander, it was a union of three Progenitors, which would become the greatest power in the Higher Realm. The Celestial Frost Sect had been too overbearing recently, and this marriage was also being forced by their actions.

However, no matter how anyone looked at the situation, Lu Yin felt that he was the unluckiest one in the entire matter.

Xia Taili was a little firecracker who was not easy to deal with, and Lu Yin would not be surprised if she wanted to kill him.

Long Kui said nothing at all to Lu Yin, and he simply escorted him back to Hidden Dragon Lake before leaving. However, he did say one thing right before departing. "Grandmaster Qiu Ling has been invited to my Dragon Mountain to observe your upcoming ceremony."

Grandmaster was a title that was unique to Array Grandmasters. This meant that Grandmaster Qiu Ling was an Array Grandmaster.

There was only one reason for them to invite an Array Grandmaster, and it was obvious at first glance. This person was being invited as they were being asked to accept Lu Yin as an apprentice.

The White Dragon Clan wanted to show off Long Qi becoming a disciple of a Progenitor at the same time that he became an apprentice of an Array Grandmaster.

"Young Master, a guest stopped by right after you left," Xiao Qing respectfully informed Lu Yin.

Lu Yin had to ask, "Is the guest still here?"

Grand Elder Ni Huang had just told Lu Yin that no one would disturb him, so was this a blatant slap in the face?

However, Lu Yin's expression changed the very next instant, as he noticed a familiar face through his domain: Xia Taili. She had actually come.

Xia Taili also noticed that Lu Yin had returned, and her originally calm expression suddenly changed. She shouted in a rage, "Long Qi, you wretched bastard! You actually want to knock me up!"

Even as she screamed, she charged towards Lu Yin, and the Divine Martial Armor shrouded her body. She was clearly furious.

Lu Yin was speechless, and he raised a hand shrouded with golden battle force to block the Divine Martial Armor.

There was a bang, and the Divine Martial Armor was halted. Xia Taili raised a hand: "Xia Secret Art: Lock." As she shouted, the image of a lock appeared above Lu Yin's body, trapping him in place. This was a very odd secret technique.

Xia Taili waved a hand covered with Divine Martial Armor to fiercely attack Lu Yin.

With a flick of Lu Yin's hand, the Lock Secret Technique was shattered. He then raised a hand and released a Vacuum Palm.

Boom!

Shockwaves blasted out in all directions. Xiao Qing and the other maids were forced to continuously retreat, and a massive wave rippled out from the island in the lake, racing off into the distance. The Vacuum Palm passed by Xia Taili's ear and shattered the void.

Xia Taili hesitated and stared at Lu Yin in shock. The gap between them was just too vast. In particular, Long Qi had broken free of Xia Taili's Lock Secret Art even faster than Bai Shaohong had, but how was that possible?

Lu Yin helplessly said, "I had nothing to do with this. I didn't know until just a little bit earlier that such a thing was being discussed."

Xia Taili finally reacted. She stared at Lu Yin and gritted her teeth. "You didn't know?"

"I didn't know," Lu Yin repeated.

Xia Taili clearly did not believe him. "You're lying! I bet that you already made your decision! Ever since Long Xi went missing, you've been eyeing me, right? All you want is a princess from one of the four ruling powers! Long Qi, you really are ambitious!"

Lu Yin held his head. "I said that I didn't know, and I really didn't."

"Then how is it that you know now?"

"I just found out."

"Then you should have refused!"

"I can't refuse."

"You just attacked me! Long Qi, you're despicable! Shameless! You're shameless! You're an asshat!"

Lu Yin started getting upset. "Your brother's the asshat."

Xia Taili became completely enraged, and she even lost her breath. Her eyes went bloodshot, and she looked completely offended, but also as if she was about to cry.