Star Odyssey

Wendy Yushan, Zhuo Daynight, the Ghost Monkey, Ku Wei, and everyone else all turned pale when they felt the power that was overtaking the universe.

No one could remain calm before the overwhelming presence of a Progenitor. Even Lu Yin, who had already fought against Xia Shenji, struggled to breath through the despair induced by the pressure of the Shenwu World when it appeared.

"That really is quite scary." Lu Yin lifted his head and looked towards the Technocracy.

Behind him, the jiao had grown restless. It let out a soft growl while baring its fangs and showing its claws, but it was unable to find its target. It wanted to escape, as the power that had just descended felt so familiar that the beast almost felt sick.

Xia Shenji's clone instantly grew excited, "Lu Xiaoxuan, my main body is here! You can’t escape now! Who in the Fifth Mainland can help you? Mu Xie can't come here, so you're doomed."

Lu Yin rose to his feet and stood next to the Champions’ Stage. He clasped his hands behind his back and simply stared towards the Technocracy.

A person soon appeared, and the Shenwu World transformed everything around it, replacing an entire region of the universe. Within this new universe, even breathing was something that Xia Shenji could control. Crushing Lu Yin would take no more than a pinch.

Fortunately for Lu Yin, the jiao was behind him, and the beast’s presence made it difficult for Xia Shenji to attack the youth.

Xia Shenji emerged from the void and saw the huge jiao behind Lu Yin, but he did not see his clone. He had clearly felt the clone’s existence just a moment before.

Moreover, what had happened to the Forsaken Land? Why was there no stellular energy?

Lu Yin had already put the clone away, as it had only been released in order to lure Xia Shenji over. Progenitor Chen’s power did not extend into the Technocracy, which meant that this place was not safe for Lu Yin. Naturally, he would not go there. So, Lu Yin needed to draw Xia Shenji into the Human Domain.

Given that his goal had already been achieved, the clone had been hidden away once again. Lu Yin would never willingly return the clone to Xia Shenji, as no matter how weak it might be, it was still a clone that had reached the Progenitor level.

Face to face with Lu Yin once again, Xia Shenji did not even think about what had happened to the Forsaken Land’s stellular energy. Lu Xiaoxuan needed to be dealt with first.

The Progenitor gazed at Lu Yin. "Why aren’t you afraid?"

"Why would I be? What can you do to me?"

Xia Shenji's eyes flickered with a dangerous glint. "Without Xi Wei or Mu Xie, what can you do on your own?"

At that moment, blades filled the entire area of space. "Regardless of how you may have seized my clone or defeated the jiao, you will die today!"

The blades fell upon Lu Yin from every direction, not giving him any chance of escape at all.

With the release of his Progenitor’s world, Xia Shenji had become certain that there was no Progenitor present in the Forsaken Land, aside from the jiao, and why would the jiao stop Lu Yin from dying?

Despite knowing that Lu Xiaoxuan would never willingly appear for a battle that he was not confident in, Xia Shenji had absolute confidence, and it arose from his own identity. He was Xia Shenji! Someone who had reached the same level of power as the masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas of the Daosource Sect era.

The jiao roared and brandished its claws, shattering the endless blades.

Xia Shenji was completely unconcerned with the jiao. Even if the beast was difficult to defeat, it was nothing more than a stupid beast, which prevented it from achieving and using the true power of a Progenitor-level being. It might be incredibly powerful, but it did not even have a Progenitor’s world. On top of that, why would it bother standing up to Xia Shenji?

Lu Yin stared out into outer space. This Shenwu World was powerful enough to cause the entire Fifth Mainland to tremble. In the current era, there was no one in the Fifth Mainland who possessed the strength to resist such power. "Xia Shenji, do you believe in karma?"

Xia Shenji frowned. He stared at Lu Yin and took particular note of the Champions’ Stage beside the youth. He had noticed it upon arriving but had assumed that the Champions’ Stage belonged to Lu Yin. It seemed that this was not the case.

However, if the Champions’ Stage did not belong to Lu Yin, then there was only one explanation, and it was not one that Xia Shenji was comfortable with: the Lu family was in the Fifth Mainland.

But there were no true powerhouses within the range of the Shenwu World. Xia Shenji would never miss such a thing. He had released his Progenitor’s world, and not even the masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas could hide within it, except for maybe Lu Tianyi.

That possibility was also rejected as soon as it appeared. After all, Xia Shenji absolutely was not Lu Tianyi’s opponent, and there would be no reason for that man to draw Xia Shenji into the Forsaken Land to fight him.

Ignoring the man’s other options, just the Investiture of the Gods would be enough to instantly eliminate Xia Shenji.

The Progenitor proceeded to ignore Lu Yin, and he simply raised a hand. A massive saber emerged from space, and its mere existence caused space to warp and distort in the Technocracy and the Human Domain. Chains formed from Divine Martial Armor appeared, and they wrapped around the blade with a terrible crashing sound. Each impact caused countless people’s hearts to skip a beat.

Even though the blade formed over Lu Yin's head, an image of the blade was visible throughout the entire Fifth Mainland, allowing everyone to bear witness to the shocking scene.

One of Lu Yin’s hands reached out and grabbed the Champions’ Stage as his pupils transformed into runes so that he could see and use the runes of the Champions’ Stage with Truesight. At the same time, Lu Yin’s unique power was released from his chest. The stars of the Cosmic Art filled the area around him as the black and white energy lit up his surroundings. He stepped onto the small landmass that was formed from the collection of fatesand. His head rose high as he called out, "With my name, I summon a champion."

The moment his voice fell, the Champions’ Stage trembled as a thick, indescribable scent of blood appeared. It quickly permeated the nearby universe, tainting the sky, the ground, and even the stars with a red color.

Lu Yin's expression grew solemn, and he struggled with a wave of dizziness. It felt as though all the blood in his body had just been sucked away. He had just tried to forcibly summoned the most terrifying champion available in this Champions’ Stage. His intent had been to simply give the summoning a try before using Progenitor Chen’s power, but it seemed that he was actually capable of summoning this champion.

Unfortunately, the moment the summoning began, all of the stellular energy within Lu Yin’s body was drained away. Not only that, but his spiritual force was also ripped away, leaving him weak. Additionally, the black and white death energy was being noticeably drained away as well. The speed at which the power was being pulled away was startling, and Lu Yin quickly pulled out the broken scythe. He then pulled the death energy from the scythe into his own body, becoming a conduit between the Champions’ Stage and the scythe.

The scythe had absorbed the entire black star from within the Bizarre Sect’s ruins, and Lu Yin could not even guess how much death energy the scythe contained. The weapon would not accept even the slightest bit of stellular energy, and it would only accept death energy.

Still, death energy could also be used to summon a champion.

The jiao stared at the Champions’ Stage for a few breaths, and it grew noticeably wary.

Xia Shenji also abruptly froze. This scent of blood induced fear in him. How could the smell of blood be this overwhelmingly strong? Just how many creatures had this champion killed when it had been alive?

Lu Yin clenched the broken scythe tighter and tighter. Weakness overcame his entire body, and his vision started to blur. He was certain that whatever champion was being summoned was absolutely a Progenitor.

Still, the overpowering smell of blood was incredibly disturbing.

As the scent of blood grew more and more intense, an indistinct figure started to form in the center of the red color. It appeared to be a three-meter-tall man who was naked to the waist. Black tattoos covered nearly his entire body, and his hair was long and messy. He was a stocky person, with bulging muscles everywhere. Blue veins ran everywhere, prominent like proud dragons. He held a massive, serrated blade that looked like a saber. Most noticeably, there was a deep line that ran across the back of the man’s neck, and it looked as though his head had been cut off and then reattached.

This was clearly a cruel, violent man who possessed endless bloodlust.

The scent of blood grew stronger and stronger, and it even started disintegrating the Divine Martial Armor that filled the Shenwu World. The surroundings became increasingly red in color, which made the summoned champion appear to stand in the center of a blood red world. He did nothing.

As soon as the champion fully formed, the jiao let out a deep growl, clearly nervous.

As for Xia Shenji, his expression became hideous. "E Chi!1 That’s E Chi! Your Lu family actually anointed E Chi!"

Search "pawread dot com" for the original.

Lu Yin had no idea what was going on. Was E Chi this champion’s name?

"No wonder E Chi disappeared. Whose Champions’ Stage is that? Lu Feng’s? Lu Tianyi’s?" Xia Shenji started screaming as he stared at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin's face had gone pale, and he was in no condition to waste time dealing with Xia Shenji’s nonsense. He immediately ordered E Chi to attack. This was a Progenitor-level champion, and if not for the death energy in the scythe, Lu Yin could have never summoned this champion.

With Lu Yin's order, the strong-looking man spread his arms wide and roared into the sky. An indescribably aura of blood radiated from the champion, and it forced back the Shenwu World. This was the champion’s Progenitor’s world.

Lu Yin felt like he was covered in blood and that blood was all he could see. Was this really the champion’s Progenitor’s world?

Xia Shenji snorted disdainfully. "A fiend who escaped from Burial Garden and devoured an entire realm, yet your Lu family silently made him a champion. Your Lu family must pay the price for those that this fiend slaughtered!"

The massive saber in the sky dropped down, slashing through the red Progenitor’s world.

The serrated blade in E Chi’s hand dropped low, and then slashed upwards.

Bang!

Shockwaves spread out like ripples that acted like a tsunami as they shot through the universe. Countless planets were shattered, and an entire region of the Fifth Mainland was completely wiped out.

Lu Yin felt like a hammer had struck his brain, and he nearly collapsed.

There was a loud click as the serrated blade was cut through, and the saber continued down to slice half an inch into E Chi's body.

Xia Shenji grew cold and solemn. "If that fiend had not fled so fast, how could he have ever survived long enough to become one of your Lu family’s champions? I was not yet a Progenitor when he was committing his slaughter, but now that I am, how can he compare to me?"

The Progenitor’s hands shook as several huge chains shot out from the void and moved to wrap around E Chi.

Lu Yin was still feeling incredibly dizzy. This E Chi looked evil and powerful, and he was indeed the most powerful champion recorded in the Champions’ Stage, but he was only about as strong as the Sixth Mainland’s three Progenitors. E Chi was possibly a bit stronger than those three, but he was still far from being Xia Shenji's opponent, which was frustrating for Lu Yin.

Still, it made sense when Lu Yin considered things. After all, if this E Chi was as powerful as the masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas, then even the God of Death’s left arm would not have been enough to allow Lu Yin to summon the champion.

"Jiao, bite him," Lu Yin ordered.

Lu Yin had no other option. It was clear that E Chi could not stop Xia Shenji, so Lu Yin needed to utilize another Progenitor-level minion.

The jiao roared as it charged towards Xia Shenji, baring its fangs and claws. As far as Xia Shenji was concerned, the jiao was far more of a threat than E Chi would ever pose.

Even when E Chi had been alive, he had only been a Progenitor of average power. He had been able to slaughter so many people mostly because he could flee extremely quickly, and also because the Aeternals had tried to protect him. As soon as Xia Shenji and his peers had become Progenitors, E Chi had gone into hiding.

The masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas had ruled the universe, which meant that a Progenitor with E Chi’s strength would have never dared to even reveal his face. The reason for Xia Shenji’s initial shock had merely been because of E Chi’s reputation from before Xia Shenji and the others had become Progenitors.

On the other hand, the jiao was completely different. While the beast had no real intelligence and was missing a Progenitor’s world, its skin was tough and strong. It was capable of handling a powerful beating, and if it cooperated with E Chi, Xia Shenji would struggle a bit.

The jiao did not only attack Xia Shenji because of Lu Yin's order. The beast had been imprisoned within Shenwu’s Sky for countless years, and it had developed a powerful fear and hatred towards Xia Shenji. While the jiao would never dare to attack this man on its own, with E Chi also present, the jiao’s bites grew vicious. After all, Xia Shenji's blade could barely harm the jiao.

E Chi’s blood-red Progenitor’s world fought back against the Shenwu World, and he slashed at Xia Shenji with the huge serrated blade.

For some time, even Xia Shenji was stuck in a situation that he could not deal with, as he was pinned down from all sides.

Lu Yin’s breathing had grown ragged. It was clearly not possible to continue in this manner, as Lu Yin would not be able to endure for much longer. As soon as his death energy was depleted, E Chi would disappear. When that happened, the jiao would definitely escape.

It looked like Lu Yin would still need to rely on Progenitor Chen's power.

He stared at the battle, looking for the right opening to give Xia Shen a little present.

At this moment, the Progenitor of Bloodlines arrived. He stared at the distant battle in utter shock. "That’s the strength of one of the masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas!"

Lu Yin was startled. "Senior, why are you here?"

Lu Yin had deliberately stopped everyone from approaching this region. Even his senior brother, Qing Ping, who was confident in going against a Progenitor, had been kept away. This was Xia Shenji’s main body that Lu Yin was facing, not a Progenitor-level clone. It would be easy for anybody who wandered in to die in an instant.

[1] "E" (恶) + "Chi" (赤) = Evil + Crimson. ☜