Star Odyssey

The Great Sovereign's only pastime was holding tea ceremonies, which were held for people to both enjoy tea and receive guidance and enlightenment. It was an opportunity for both discussion and improvement, and no force was allowed at the tea ceremony.

"I understand. I will inform the Dao Monarch," Arch-Elder Zen replied as he suppressed his surprise.

Chu Jian hummed. "I also wanted to see one other person while I’m here: Chu Yuan."

Arch-Elder Zen frowned. "Chu Yuan?"

Chu Jian stared at Arch-Elder Zen. "Is that possible?"

Arch-Elder Zen had no reason to refuse, and the Junior Sovereign’s given name was Jian, and he wanted to meet Chu Yuan. The old man was quite curious about the connection between the two.

He immediately had someone ask Chu Yuan to visit the Heavens Sect.

Chu Yuan was part of the Origin Universe, but he was not a member of the Heavens Sect. Thus, there was no need for him to stay there. Lu Yin had once restricted where the Dao Chosen could go, but that was no longer the case.

Chu Yuan rushed back to the Heavens Sect, and just a few days later, met with Chu Jian.[1]

The two stood across from each other atop a mountain peak within the Heavens Sect.

"Are you Chu Yuan, the top Dao Chosen of the Origin Universe’s Heavens Sect?" It was clear that Chu Jian was far more concerned with Chu Yuan than Lu Yin. After all, Lu Yin was nothing more than a descendant of the Lu family. While his talent and unique opportunities had allowed him to reach his current position, Chu Jian was certain that it was impossible for Lu Yin to ultimately reach a higher level than Chu Yuan.

Chu Yuan was the only Dao Chosen to be acknowledged by the Origin Progenitor.

The Origin Progenitor and the Great Sovereign were two individuals who had reached the highest levels of power known to humanity, whereas Lu Yin’s ancestor had merely been one of the Three Realms Six Dao. On the other hand, Chu Yuan had practically been the Origin Progenitor’s disciple, while Chu Jian was the Great Sovereign’s disciple. It was clear that Chu Jian should compete with Chu Yuan, not Lu Yin.

Not once had Chu Jian ever seen Lu Yin as a rival. No matter what, the man’s good days were already over.

Chu Yuan was different, as his journey had only just begun.

Chu Yuan was already aware of Chu Jian’s status and name, as that had been included in the message from Arch-Elder Zen. "Are you Chu Jian, the Great Sovereign’s disciple and the one known as the perfect Junior Sovereign?"

Chu Jian’s eyes lit up as he stared at Chu Yuan. "You and I share the same surname. Do you know the relationship between your Origin Progenitor and my master?"

Chu Yuan’s eyes narrowed. "I don't. You can tell me."

Chu Jian stared at Chu Yuan.

A gust of wind blew by. Neither man spoke.

At this moment, the two men’s demeanors almost perfectly matched. In fact, their names, demeanors, and even appearances were practically identical.

Arch-Elder Zen watched from a distance. Could the two be brothers? No, that was impossible. Chu Yuan came from far too ancient an era, while Chu Jian was too young.

"The older generation’s competition ended with the death of your Origin Progenitor, but the competition between the two of us has only just begun." A smile spread across Chu Jian’s face as he stared at Chu Yuan. "I am known as the perfect Junior Sovereign. No matter what I do, I will succeed very quickly. The speed at which my cultivation has improved is the greatest in the entire Sixverse Association, and my talent is also peerless. What about you?"

Chu Yuan stared back at Chu Jian and said, "During my era, there was no Sixverse Association. I was the greatest of the Heavens Sect’s Dao Chosen and was the Dao Chosen of the First Mainland. I was the only Dao Chosen acknowledged by the Origin Progenitor, and I stood above all of the other Dao Chosen. In that era, I was absolutely invincible."

Chu Jian smiled. "Being acknowledged by the Origin Progenitor assures me of your capability. I will soon become an Ascendant, which you call Semi-Progenitor. I hope that you will be able to quickly catch up to me, as I wish to fight you when you possess the same level of cultivation as me. Then, we can determine a winner. That can also be regarded as a conclusion to the competition between my master and the Origin Progenitor."

Chu Yuan shook his head. "Given my current cultivation, I will need a long time to become a Semi-Progenitor, and I am in no rush to break through."

"Then we’ll compete when you become a Progenitor." Chu Jian remained utterly confident even when he made such a claim. "With our talent, it would be even better if we faced each other and fought when we are Progenitors."

Chu Yuan nodded. "Very well, we will meet when we are both Progenitors. Then, you and I will then have a match."

"Hahahaha, I'll wait for you. I hope that your previous loss to Lu Yin will not upset your confidence," Chu Jian said with a smile.

Chu Yuan's eyes flickered. "For the moment, your opponent should be him. Do you not want to face him?"

Chu Jian shrugged. "Victory or loss does not matter right now. Our ultimate level cannot compare to his future. Chu Yuan, I hope that you will look further down the road—you were acknowledged by the Origin Progenitor, while I am the Great Sovereign’s disciple. Lu Yin is nothing more than a descendant of the Lu family. At best, he will reach the same level as the Three Realms, while I expect to see you become a threat to me. You should not be defeated by him.

"You might be amazed by his current strength, but very soon, I will show everyone just how high my limit is. All people have a limit, and even if Lu Yin becomes a Progenitor right now, his limits will not allow him to survive what he will soon face. After you and I break through to the highest level, our limits will not be something that Lu Yin is capable of reaching.

"Do not disappoint me."

After that, Chu Jia left. His primary goal when visiting the Origin Universe had been to challenge Chu Yuan and end the previous competition between the Great Sovereign and the Origin Progenitor. Lu Yin had simply made a big commotion for the moment, and while he might be impressive, he would eventually fall back into mediocrity. On the other hand, Chu Yuan and Chu Jian represented the ultimate peak of humanity.

There were times when it was important to maintain a low profile. While Chu Jian was known as the perfect Junior Sovereign, just how many people in the entire Sixverse Association knew where that title had come from or how Chu Jian had received it? The few who did know, such as Sovereign Shao Yin, did not even want to mention it.

Lu Yin, do you have this same qualification? You’re simply making waves.

Chu Yuan was overwhelmed by Chu Jian’s confidence, though if he was honest, Chu Yuan had possessed the same mentality when he was first released from the sourcebox. He had assumed that it would not matter if he lived in the Heavens Sect era or any other era; he would always be without peer.

However, facing Lu Yin had transformed Chu Yuan’s perspective.

While he remained confident that he would absolutely become a Progenitor one day and reach an extremely high level, Chu Yuan would never again underestimate Lu Yin, especially not his strange power which had completely shocked Chu Yuan.

If you continue thinking this way, you will end up in trouble, Chu Jian! You don’t want my loss to Lu Yin to impact my confidence? I hope that yours won’t be shattered one day.

Chu Yuan also wanted to compete with Chu Jian and see what was supporting the man’s absolute confidence.

After ten more days, Lu Yin emerged from seclusion.

During this time, he had rolled Timestop a total of five times, which meant that he had been training in seclusion for five years. While this was not a very long time, it was enough to give Lu Yin some level of understanding of both Evernight and Heaven’s Sight.

He would only be able to effectively wield Evernight after becoming a Semi-Progenitor. Before that, the card would be as limited as when Lu Yin had faced Old Mo.

However, Heaven's Sight was completely different.

Lu Yin could not wait to see Zhao Ran, as he wanted to see if he could see anything different about her.

The girl’s identity had always been a mystery, but Lu Yin suspected that she was Destiny herself. He had cared for the girl for a long time, but she could never remember anything, and there was nothing that Lu Yin could do to improve her memory.

With Heaven’s Sight, Lu Yin was eager to look at Zhao Ran.

Unfortunately, he could still see nothing at all.

Zhao Ran looked at the curved lines that had formed eyes on Lu Yin's brow, and she grew very curious. "Your Highness, what is that?"

"It’s nothing." Lu Yin was quite disappointed.

"Would you like some tea?" Zhao Ran asked expectantly.

Lu Yin nodded and then looked around the Heavens Sect. He saw Skymender and Xiao Shi. If it was impossible to see anything from Zhao Ran, then maybe Lu Yin could finally at least see through Destiny’s power.

After receiving Lu Yin’s orders, Skymender started to use Destiny’s divination methods.

Lu Yin activated Heaven’s Sight, and his eyes lit up. He really could see it. He saw as Skymender used Destiny’s methods, and a thread formed that entered the sky. There, the thread connected with specific particles, which had to be sequence particles. So this was the secret to Destiny’s power—it allowed a person to connect to sequence particles, which was something that was beyond even most Progenitors.

Lu Yin raised his hand to touch Heaven’s Sight. This was the power of one of the Three Realms.

It was clear that Lu Yin did not have the same level of power as someone like Old Mo, but Lu Yin could nonetheless see sequence particles and the laws of the universe with Heaven’s Sight. Destiny’s divination methods allowed a person to touch sequence particles, which meant that the God of Death had to be the same. He must have developed some way to touch or even affect sequence particles.

That was the power of the Three Realms.

It was no wonder why no one had ever been able to see through Destiny’s power. No one in the universe was capable of using sequence particles, which was why no one had been able to see through Destiny’s methods.

However, even when looking at the entire Sixverse Association, just how many people were capable of touching upon sequence particles?

Old Mo had been one of the Twelve Heavenly Gatemasters during the greatest heights of the Heavens Sect. He had been among the most talented individuals of his era, but even he had only managed to touch upon sequence particles after cultivating for countless years. How many people in the Sixverse Association could be older than Old Mo? It was clear that not even Lord Wei was that old.

Lu Yin let out a long breath. After finally clearly seeing how Destiny’s power worked, it ceased to be a mystery to him.

As for Destina, her power was much simpler, though Lu Yin understood why she cultivated the Thread of Destiny. Destiny’s power originally formed threads and used them to touch sequence particles and pry into the laws of the universe to peer into the past and present. This was the power of Destiny.

Lu Yin then thought about Wielder - Indestructible. It was a cultivation method that had been developed by Dao Monarch Gu, which meant that the ultimate goal of the cultivation method should similarly be to reach the level of wielding sequence particles. In that case, there was an even more terrifying level to battleforce. Lu Yin suspected that that level might allow a person to physically resist sequence particles and possess the strength to fight against the laws of a universe with their bodies. That would be the true peak of battleforce.

It was only at this moment that Lu Yin was finally able to clearly see the true nature of the universe’s various cultivation methods, as well as the path that he should take in the future.

However, what was the level of people like the Origin Progenitor, the Great Sovereign, Mister Mu, and others at their level? This became a burning question for Lu Yin.

"Brother Lu?" Xiao Shi stared at Lu Yin in confusion.

Skymender also felt uneasy, and he kept glancing back at Lu Yin's forehead. Skymender kept feeling like there was something staring at him, but since the symbols of the eyes no longer appeared on Lu Yin’s forehead, there was nothing to see. Instead, his entire presence had changed, gaining even greater depth and becoming more mysterious.

After canceling Heaven's Sight, Lu Yin smiled. "Zhao Ran will be here soon. Would you like some tea?"

Xiao Shi nodded vigorously. He liked spending time with Zhao Ran, even if she did not remember Xiao Shi or that she had once given him a gift.

Skymender left, as he did not want to remain close to Lu Yin. The astral beast was the individual who was privy to Lu Yin's greatest secret: Lu Yin would one day become humanity’s greatest traitor.

"Skymender," Lu Yin suddenly called out, startling the astral beast.

Skymender turned around and offered a respectful bow. "Dao Monarch."

"Go keep an eye on Xia Shenji's clone," Lu Yin ordered.

Lu Yin wanted to locate the Lu family, and his only available options were to track down Destiny’s pearl that was with the Lu family, or use Xia Shenji’s clone. However, it was impossible to use the pearl to find the Lu family because Aeternus had hidden one somewhere in the Sixth Mainland. That meant that Xia Shenji’s clone was the only remaining possibility.

The clone was the only hope of the Lu family’s return.

Skymender let out a sigh of relief. "Yes, Dao Monarch."

At this moment, Arch-Elder Zen arrived, and he shared the Great Sovereign’s invitation to the tea ceremony with Lu Yin.

"The ninth seat?" Lu Yin was surprised.

Arch-Elder Zen laughed. "You must be surprised. I was also surprised when I heard it. The Great Sovereign will not make things easy for you."

Lu Yin's eyes flashed. "He won't make things easy for me, but I still want to take the easier path."

"Also..." Arch-Elder Zen then told Lu Yin about the conversation between Chu Jian and Chu Yuan. Chu Jian had not hidden his words, and he had spoken loudly, uncaring of whether the conversation got back to Lu Yin.

Lu Yin smiled. "Interesting... I understand. It seems that the Junior Sovereign is very confident."

"He is about to break through to the Semi-Progenitor realm. What about you?" Arch-Elder Zen asked.

Lu Yin looked over at Zhao Ran, who was approaching while carrying tea. He slowly said, "Well, I first need to reach the peak of the Envoy realm."

It was time for him to break through as well.

1. Just a reminder, but Chu Jian (First + Meet) and Chu Yuan (First + Origin). ☜