Star Odyssey

Chapter 2408: Sealing Path

At least, those were Xiu Ming’s feelings. Just several decades ago, he had considered accepting Lu Yin as an apprentice. At that same time, the Array Grandmaster had encouraged Wu Dan to surpass Lu Yin by using himself and Highsage Grandmaster as examples to motivate the young Lockbreaker.

Xiu Ming sighed. Already, Lu Yin’s capabilities exceeded those of an Array Grandmaster. This was not a matter of mere talent. This went far beyond what Xiu Ming had thought possible.

“Neither Highsage nor I can do it. Like it or not, it remains a fact that the Perennial World is much stronger than the Fifth Mainland overall. Even disregarding their unbroken history and legacies, someone like Grandmaster Gu Yan is in a class of his own. He is far more capable than either Highsage Grandmaster or myself. His reputation as humanity’s greatest Lockbreaker is well deserved.”

Lu Yin looked away, wondering if he had no choice but to seek out Grandmaster Gu Yan. Suddenly, he had a thought. “Senior, have you ever met Grandmaster Gu Yan?”

Given Xiu Ming’s abilities, he would not be willing to admit his inferiority to another Lockbreaker without personally witnessing it for himself.

Xiu Ming nodded. “He should still be in the Fifth Mainland. I’m not sure of his exact location, but I saw him once about half a year ago.”

Lu Yin left to go find Grandmaster Gu Yan, confident that he knew where the old man was. Lu Yin was rather reluctant to visit the place himself, but there was no choice.

It was Shenwu Continent, a place that had once aroused pure, untainted joy in Lu Yin. Even now, it still triggered many old memories of his.

…

Lu Yin and Ming Yan had been separated for dozens of years now. The new regent of Shenwu Continent who represented the Ming family was a man named Ming De.

Back when the traitor, Ming Zhaoshu, had taken the throne, he had slaughtered almost every member of the Ming family. Only a handful of distant relatives had managed to survive, but Ming De was someone whom Lu Yin had ordered his people to nurture after Ming Yan had left Shenwu Continent.

The entire continent was an insignificant speck in the scope of the entire universe. If not for Lu Yin’s memories of Ming Yan, he would have zero cares about who held the throne, provided that they complied with all of his orders.

An obvious example of that was Bei Qing. The man had left Shenwu Continent long ago to join the Great Yu Empire and run Lu Yin’s auction house. With that position, Bei Qing had enjoyed a meteoric rise in status. A single sentence from him could decide the fate of the rulers of any individual planet, and a single continent like Shenwu Continent meant nothing to him.

Although Shenwu Continent was tiny, it had two unique features. The first was the five enormous planets that sealed it in a pocket dimension. Each of the planets was a sourcebox, though they were each as large as a planet. The second feature was the Tower of Resonating Light, which was where Gu Yue had been buried.

At this moment, an old man was sitting beside the Tower of Resonating Light. He had been waiting there for an exceptionally long amount of length of time. He was wearing ridiculously gaudy clothes and was accompanied by a female attendant. The old man occasionally glanced at the Tower of Resonating Light, seemingly a bit dazed, and he was constantly murmuring something under his breath.

When Lu Yin arrived in Shenwu Continent, the female attendant near the Tower of Resonating Light sensed his presence and instantly looked over. Upon recognizing Lu Yin, she relaxed.

“My condolences, Senior/” Lu Yin addressed Grandmaster Gu while still approaching.

Grandmaster Gu Yan sighed. “I’ve always been a lofty, arrogant man who looks down on others, especially when it comes to lockbreaking. This became even more prevalent when accepting apprentices. I thought that I would never have an apprentice in my entire lifetime, but then, I met him. His natural aptitude for lockbreaking left me in awe. He possessed an unbelievable kindness and a pure heart. I gave him five tests, and he completed every last one of them without issue. In the end, I took him in as my apprentice and named him Gu Yue.

“Gu Yue was named after the battle technique that I created: Moonstar, which causes the moons and stars to fall, reverting everything back until only dust remains. I once hoped to see him grow into someone who could strike down the stars throughout the universe, but instead, while the stars did fall, he also fell before he had the chance to shine in the Perennial World.”

Until that moment, Lu Yin had never known that Moonstar had been created by Grandmaster Gu Yan, rather than Gu Yue. Lu Yin listened in silence as Grandmaster Gu Yan reminisced. For a long time, no one had accompanied the man or offered a willing ear, aside from his attendant.

“Do you know who the Three Monarchs are?” Grandmaster Gu Yan suddenly asked. With the old man’s back facing Lu Yin, it was impossible to determine the Array Grandmaster’s expression.

Lu Yin shook his head. “I’ve never heard of them.”

Grandmaster Gu Yan nodded as he let out a long breath. “I already knew that he might no longer be alive, but it still hurts to see the truth for myself. The child had such an incredibly kind heart.”

Lu Yin replied, “This junior knows that the test Senior Gu Yue left behind for his heir was one that tested the purity of one’s heart.”

“Did someone succeed?” Grandmaster Gu Yan turned to look at Lu Yin with eyes full of hope.

Lu Yin felt a pang in his heart. Grandmaster Gu Yan watched in silent shock as Lu Yin pulled out a frozen Ming Yan from his cosmic ring. “Her name is Ming Yan. She is my-” He choked up for a moment. “Lover. She inherited Senior Gu Yue’s Moonstar battle technique, and she was also the person who gave me Gu Yue’s journal.”

Grandmaster Gu Yan walked up to Ming Yan and studied her condition. “What happened?”

Lu Yin struggled a bit to make himself answer. “She was injured by a Semi-Progenitor. Even Progenitor Smoke said that saving her is beyond her capabilities. I had no choice but to freeze her in order to save her.”

Grandmaster Gu Yan frowned. “No cultivator is omnipotent, and it’s impossible for anyone to create life. There are some injuries that can’t be healed, no matter how powerful one becomes. If even Progenitor Smoke is helpless, then other Progenitors will be equally helpless.”

Lu Yin looked up. “I will definitely find someone who can help.”

Gu Yan shook his head, but he no longer tried to persuade Lu Yin. The old man looked back at Ming Yan with regret and sorrow. He had been excited to meet a grand disciple, but unfortunately, fate was not so kind. “Did you come here specifically to find me?”𝙗𝒆𝒅𝙣𝙤𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝙢

When speaking to Lu Yin, the whimsical attitude that Grandmaster Gu Yan usually displayed towards other people was completely absent.

Lu Yin explained all that had recently happened, which caused Grandmaster Gu Yan to exclaim, “How bold! It takes guts to take such a risk.”

“If I don’t take this risk, Aeternus will save Undying God, and then what hope of victory will we have left? With the Mother Tree’s trunk cracked, Ceaseless Impetus will start to weaken, and I can’t even imagine those ramifications,” Lu Yin said.

Grandmaster Gu Yan nodded. “There is no such thing as an eternal sourcebox array. Setting up a sourcebox array is a very tedious process, but destroying one is rather simple. The endless waves of corpse kings that Aeternus has sent to the rear battlefield have already pushed Ceaseless Impetus to the limits. Even if the crack in the Mother Tree is ignored, Ceaseless Impetus will start to malfunction soon. You are right to take action. So, you want to ask me to set up a sourcebox array, right?”

Lu Yin nodded. “This junior hopes to place a sourcebox array in the entrance to the Starfall Sea. It doesn’t need to be at the same level as Ceaseless Impetus, but it should make things difficult for enemy Progenitors and form a barricade to seal the entrance to the Starfall Sea. This is something that only Senior can do.”

Grandmaster Gu Yan chuckled. “Even if I had Progenitor Hui’s abilities, setting up such a sourcebox array would be no easy feat. The difficulty of creating Ceaseless Impetus lies not only in setting up the actual sourcebox array, but also in finding a reliable base, sourceboxes, and other necessary materials. Even if Progenitor Hui were here right now, he would not be able to recreate Ceaseless Impetus without all of those requirements.”

Lu Yin replied, “Senior, please make a list of all that you need, and this junior will mobilize the entire Fifth Mainland to find everything and have it delivered to you.”

“There’s no need for that, as you won’t be able to find any of those things. Even Progenitor Hui did not know how to acquire them.” Grandmaster Gu Yan shook his head and sighed. “However, your luck is pretty good, as there’s no need for you to search—someone else already found them for you.”

Lu Yin was confused.

Grandmaster Gu Yan turned to look at the Tower of Resonating Light while he raised a hand and pointed upwards.

Lu Yin looked up and saw the five sealing planets. His eyes lit up. “The five sealing planets?”

Grandmaster Gu Yan nodded. “Everything that Gu Yue learned about sourcebox arrays, he learned from this old man. Among them was an array named Sealing Path. After I became an Array Grandmaster, I gained several insights from True Insight that Progenitor Hui left behind, which eventually led to me creating that sourcebox array. While it’s nowhere close to the level of Ceaseless Impetus, it’s still able to exert roughly the same level of power. It should be able to seal the entrance to the Starfall Sea, and with Mt. Microcosms thrown in, there should be no issues.”

Lu Yin’s eyes widened. If this Sealing Path sourcebox array could exert a level of power on par with Ceaseless Impetus, it would truly be too good to be true. Ceaseless Impetus consisted of not only the five array bases, but also the Mother Tree itself as the foundation, as well as the seven planets of the Outer Realm. Everything worked together to make up Ceaseless Impetus. The five array bases alone were not nearly enough to keep Aeternus at bay.

The reason why Bai Wangyuan and the others were able to hold back Ancient God and the rest of the Aeternals was only partially due to their strength. The truth was that most of the credit for their success had to be given to Ceaseless Impetus and the presence of the eagle.

Lu Yin had never thought that he would be able to set up a sourcebox array even remotely close to the level of Ceaseless Impetus to protect the entrance to the Starfal Sea. At best, he had hoped to gain something that could hold back the Progenitor-level corpse kings.

“But, Senior, these five sealing planets are only able to stop an Enlighter.” Lu Yin had trouble understanding how this would work.

Grandmaster Gu Yan explained. “The true Sealing Path uses seven massive sourceboxes and follows the same configuration as the seven planets used for Ceaseless Impetus. I might have never been able to design the array if not for studying Progenitor Hui’s Ceaseless Impetus. As for Gu Yue,” the man continued in a mournful tone, “He was a true genius! Given the fact that he was able to use these five sealing planets to form the foundation of the Sealing Path, he must have become an Array Grandmaster. It’s really such a pity.”

Lu Yin also lamented, “A true pity. Rumors claim that someone went after Gu Yue, which led to his death. Senior must find the truth. If the perpetrator still lives, they must give Senior an explanation.”

Grandmaster Gu Yan’s gaze grew complicated, “The Sealing Path requires seven giant sourceboxes. There are five here, so you need to find two more. This should not be too difficult.”

Lu Yin exhaled. “If I needed to find all seven required sourceboxes, it would be nearly impossible, but fortunately, Senior Gu Yue found these five. This junior will search for the last two.”

He recalled that the Lockbreaker World had six similarly-sized sourceboxes that were used for the Six Ancient Spirit Array that was there. If Lu Yin could not find two more appropriately-sized sourceboxes, then he would simply dismantle the Six Ancient Spirit Array. After all, the Starfall Sea entrance was far more important than the Lockbreaker World.

“Go ahead then. The sooner you find them, the better.”

“How long will Senior need to set up the Sealing Path?”

“With these five sealing planets as a foundation, a few days will be enough.”

“Alright, then I’ll have to trouble you with this, Senior.”

It was a day that the people of Shenwu Continent would never forget, as it was the day that the five sealing planets that had long kept them safe from the rest of the universe vanished.

The five sealing planets had been a persistent part of Shenwu Continent’s history from the very beginning. Their sudden disappearance caused the continent’s people to panic.

Ming De urgently reached out to the Great Yu Empire, but the only reply that he received informed him that the Heavens Sect was using the planets. Many people from Shenwu Continent understood that Lu Yin had a unique relationship with the Heavens Sect. As for the rest of the universe, no one cared when they heard that Lu Yin was using the five sealing planets that had once isolated Shenwu Continent. Unless Gu Yue’s tomb was revealed, nothing about the place was worth most people’s attention.

…

All sourceboxes had their own danger zones, and the five massive sourceboxes were no exception. They had worked together to create the barrier that had isolated Shenwu Continent from the rest of the universe.

Transporting the five sourceboxes to the Starfall Sea was no easy feat, as whoever did so would have to endure constant attacks from the danger zones as they traveled. However, Grandmaster Gu Yan was able to move all five together as a single unit.