Star Odyssey

Chapter 1559: Grandmaster Xiu

"How long can you hold out against the pressure of the Di family?" Lu Yin clearly did not believe the old assassin.

Starfox replied, "The Di family's ancestor died in the Sixth Mainland, which is no secret."

Lu Yin was shocked.

"When the Di family's ancestor died, more than half of the family's powerhouses either died with him or were scattered to the winds. The rest of the family is now busy dealing with all the various enemies that the family's made over the years. So far, they've only sent people to contact me to warn Aegis. If the Di family were still at their peak, Aegis would have been erased long gone," Starfox explained.

Lu Yin let out a sigh of relief. He did not actually care about Aegis. After his horizons had been expanded due to his time in the Perennial World, let alone Aegis, but not even the Di family in their prime would be enough to cause him concern. There would always be a way to deal with them.

No, what Lu Yin cared about were curios.

The Fifth Mainland had a small number of Envoys, and it was impossible for an assassin organization like Aegis to warrant much external attention, especially since they had no Envoys among their members. This was why their cloakstones had been ignored, but those cloakstones were precisely what Lu Yin was the most concerned about right now.

"You know that Aegis is also a subordinate organization under me, Lu Yin. Don't worry, I'll help you," Lu Yin reassured the old killer.

Starfox stared at Lu Yin with stark distrust filling his eyes. The old man knew Lu Yin's personality, and the youth would only ever do something if it profited him. At this point in time, Aegis had to rely on the Great Eastern Alliance just to continue existing, and the alliance in turn received intel from Aegis, which made for a mutually beneficial relationship. It was unreasonable to ask or expect Lu Yin to assist Aegis, especially since doing so would make him an enemy of the Di family. The only possibility was that Lu Yin had his own plans.

"Alliance Leader Lu, what do you want from Aegis?" Starfox asked.

Lu Yin replied with disdain, "What can you offer me?"

Starfox sank into thought, but he really could not come up with anything. A powerhouse? Aegis's most powerful assassin was Black Mask, but he was only an Enlighter with a power level slightly exceeding 300,000. He was very powerful in the Outerverse, but he could not compare to the experts from Leon's Armada, least of all the Hall of Honor's Chief Justice who clearly supported Lu Yin. What could Aegis offer?

Lu Yin said nothing more to Starfox, instead asking En Ya to keep an eye on the assassin organization in order to prevent Aegis from being devoured by the Di family. After dealing with Black Street, Lu Yin planned to immediately head to the Outerverse.

With his business affairs in order, it was time for Lu Yin to call Big Sis. Upon thinking of her, Lu Yin started to panic slightly. In contrast to Long Xi, Big Sis was a motherly figure to Lu Yin. The panic he felt at the thought of calling her was an odd contradiction, as it also gave him a sense of comfort.

The gadget's display reappeared, and it showed an ugly old woman with a pockmarked face who was smoking a cigarette.

The appearance on his screen frightened Lu Yin so much that he nearly fainted.

"Dead boy, so you figured out how to return," the old woman said. She spoke with Big Sis's voice, and a familiar, though fierce, light blazed in her eyes.

Lu Yin blinked. "Big- Big Sis?"

"What do you think?" The woman's voice turned cold and threatening.

Lu Yin gulped and forced out a wan smile. "Big Sis's appearance has chan- changed again."

Bis Sis's cultivation art caused her body to go through various changes. Sometimes she looked ugly and at other times she would be hideous. These constant changes created problems for those around her, and it even gave Highsage Leon a headache.

Bis Sis snorted derisively. "Where did you go?"

"I'll tell you later. Big Sis, please help me keep an eye on Aegis. The Sixth Mainland's Di family is trying to deal with them, and Aegis can't suffer any accidents. They have something that I want."

"A woman?" Big Sis arched a brow.

Lu Yin was left speechless. "No."

"After so many years, you've spent more time missing than not! Hurry up and have a kid for this old lady. Then, no one will care whether or not you die," Big Sis said rudely.

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Lu Yin felt helpless. "I understand."

Uncle Reuben showed up behind Big Sis, followed by an entire group of familiar and unfamiliar faces who all greeted Lu Yin.

…

After ending the call, Lu Yin's heart felt warmer. Talking to his family was different from talking to other people. One of the reasons why he had left his call with Big Sis as the last one was because he wanted to feel the warmth of family.

No, it was not the last call. Lu Yin remembered one more person he needed to talk to: Huan Sha.

Huan Sha was the person who handled the Great Yu Empire's internal affairs. Lu Yin was not particularly concerned about those matters, as with En Ya and the others paying attention, the Great Yu Empire would not suffer any trouble. Rather, Lu Yin was more concerned about how much money he had been paid over the past two years.

After discovering that, one time, Zhao Ran had forgotten about money that had been delivered to him, he had started paying attention and directly approaching Huan Sha instead of going through Zhao Ran.

"Your Highness, for the past two years, the Great Eastern Alliance, Lu's Grand Auction, and Continental Shipping have all paid you a salary-"

Huan Sha wanted to give a detailed report, but Lu Yin brusquely interjected, "Just tell me how much."

Huan Sha looked up. "23.09 million."

This number did not make Lu Yin as excited as when he had last collected his salary. It was just a bit more than 20 million, which was no longer much in his eyes.

However, the amount that he had received last time, when he had been on Mt. Microcosms, had only been a bit more than 10 million, and that had been eight years of salary. This amount had been collected in just two years, which showed a significant increase of revenue, and it was a perfectly acceptable amount.

He allowed Huan Sha to keep it. Given Lu Yin's net worth, he possessed an amount of wealth that far exceeded comprehension, so he was in no hurry to withdraw his salary.

He lifted his head and let out a long breath. He had spoken with many people, and it was only after all of these calls that Lu Yin truly understood that he had been gone for two years.

It had taken him several hours to make all the necessary calls!

Lu Yin picked up his feet and disappeared. He returned back to the top of the tower. Zi Jing was still there, humming a song as she leisurely watered the flowers. The tea was even still hot.

"Where's Bai Qian?" Lu Yin suddenly asked.

Zi Jing replied, "She said that she was going home."

Home? Earth?

Zi Jing had a gentle personality, and being with her caused people to instinctively relax.

Lu Yin spent a few minutes talking with her before thanking her for her assistance. He then left CyNet World and traveled to the Lockbreaker World. Next on his to-do list was to raise his Lockbreaker rank.

He was currently ranked as a one star Boundless Advanced Lockbreaker, but this did not reflect his actual abilities. Thus, he was fully confident that he could earn a higher rank.

Upon returning to the Lockbreaker World, Lu Yin was no longer amazed by the massive sourcebox array formed by the six enormous planets. When he had first seen it, their majesty had utterly shocked him, but compared to the rear battlefield's Ceaseless Impetus, the array in the Lockbreaker World was far less impressive. Ceaseless Impetus was on a completely different level, as it was a sourcebox array that could stop Progenitors.

Lu Yin had actually been given a planet in the Lockbreaker World, and he was able to come and go as he wished.

However, he actually wanted to find Gui Junheng, but when he was only halfway to the older man's planet, a voice entered Lu Yin's ear. He turned to look in the direction of the Ancient Spirit Sea and started flying towards it.

Lu Yin soon stepped onto an island in the Ancient Spirit Sea. Lockbreakers were tested in this place, and it was considered a holy land that many of the Fifth Mainland's Lockbreakers yearned for.

Lu Yin did not go to the testing grounds, but instead went somewhere else. He was actually making his way towards the home of Xiu Ming, the Lockbreaker Society's Chairman. He was also known as Grandmaster Xiu.

There were only two Array Grandmasters in the Fifth Mainland: Highsage Grandmaster and Grandmaster Xiu.

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Lu Yin had not expected his arrival to draw the attention of Grandmaster Xiu.

Even though Highsage Grandmaster and Grandmaster Xiu were both Array Grandmasters, they had focused on very different paths.

Highsage Grandmaster leaned more towards combat whereas Grandmaster Xiu had devoted himself to lockbreaking and comprehending sourcebox arrays.

Lu Yin soon reached Grandmaster Xiu's home. It was a simple place, as there was only a thatched hut, a flowerbed, and a waterfall off in the distance. It looked like an ordinary person's private retreat.

If Lu Yin were just an ordinary cultivator, then he might have gone straight towards the hut, but star energy filled Lu Yin's eyes as rune lines entered his vision.

After returning to the Fifth Mainland, Lu Yin was finally able to see runes once again. That meant that he could use Truesight here, which meant that his combat power had risen even further than ever.

Even though there were many places in the Neoverse where runes could not be seen, such as Eversky Island, where it was impossible to see runes or use them to determine a person's strength, Grandmaster Xiu's home was not one of those places.

A sourcebox array had been set up around Grandmaster Xiu's home, but this sourcebox array was not an offensive one.

Lu Yin did not need to comprehend the sourcebox array to enter the abode.

He walked up a grassy path that meandered along the flowing river as he slowly approached the waterfall.

The first person that he saw was not Grandmaster Xiu, but rather Wu Dan, the most talented Lockbreaker in the Lockbreaker World.

Wu Dan noticed Lu Yin approaching, he was surprised to see him. "You're still alive?"

This was many people's first reaction to seeing Lu Yin.

Lu Yin answered, "I was lucky enough to manage to survive."

Wu Dan became quite uncomfortable. When he had last seen Lu Yin in the Lockbreaker World, he had told Lu Yin that he would show everyone how a Lockbreaker fights during ZENITH. Wu Dan had been confident, but he had still quickly lost to Bu Kong.

"Did Grandmaster Xiu ask you to come here?" Wu Dan asked.

Lu Yin nodded. He then turned towards the thatched hut. "Junior Lu Yin is here to see Grandmaster Xiu."

The hut's door slowly opened, and a man appeared before Lu Yin. Surprisingly, he did not look ravaged by the passing of time at all; he looked to be slightly past his middle years at most, but certainly not an old man.

It was a complete subversion of what Lu Yin had expected. After all, in order for Xiu Ming to have become an Array Grandmaster, he had to have lived for many, many years. In all likelihood, he should at least be from the same generation as Highsage Grandmaster.

Wu Dan quickly bowed low when he saw Xiu Ming emerge.

Xiu Ming observed Lu Yin with a smile. "Two years have gone by, and yet you came here almost as soon as you returned. Do you intend to improve your Lockbreaker rank?"

Wu Dan was startled, and he looked over at Lu Yin. Wu Dan was currently at the same rank as Lu Yin: a one star Boundless Advanced Lockbreaker. However, Wu Dan had reached this rank one step earlier than Lu Yin, and therefore, he had believed that his head-start was a gap that would only widen with time. After all, Lu Yin had mysteriously disappeared, and many people had believed that he was killed by the Neohuman Alliance. No one had expected him to try raising his Lockbreaker rank the moment he returned.

Lu Yin respectfully answered, "I feel like I have improved a little, so I came here to test myself in the Lockbreaker World."

"How arrogant!" Wu Dan was unable to restrain himself, as Lu Yin's words were blatantly mocking him.

After two short years, Lu Yin wanted to improve his Lockbreaker rank? Throughout history, Discerning Elementary Lockbreakers were the ones that most frequently attempted such a thing, and even then, only the most talented ones could do so. In general, most Lockbreakers had to take at least 180 years to improve their rank, and that was already considered fast. Even if Lu Yin could compare to the most talented Lockbreaker in history, he still should need at least another 100 years.

Xiu Ming walked over beneath the waterfall and said, "If you want to improve your Lockbreaker rank, then you will need to unlock the necessary number of sourceboxes."

This was something that Lu Yin had already looked into, and he knew that to qualify to become a two star Boundless Advanced Lockbreaker, he needed to unlock at least four one star advanced sourceboxes and one two star advanced sourcebox. At the top of Dragon Mountain, Grandmaster Qiu Ling had given Lu Yin all three sourceboxes used in their game of Stable Zone, and the third one that had been added was a three star advanced sourcebox.

Two one star advanced sourceboxes and a three star advanced sourcebox were enough for Lu Yin to be promoted to the level of a two star Boundless Advanced Lockbreaker.

Leaping across levels to unlock a three star advanced sourcebox, or even a four star advanced sourcebox, was a shortcut for one to raise one's rank, and Lu Yin had done so before.