Star Odyssey

The icy carriage had stopped working since most of the vehicle’s middle section had been destroyed. So when Lu Yin arrived, it was sitting there being repaired.

Lu Yin unleashed his domain; some people favored the shadow that was the closest to the light, and he did not know if Deng Pu was such a person. After a while, Lu Yin disappointedly withdrew his domain, as Deng Pu turned out to not be such a person.

He noticed that there were many cultivators searching around the area, trying to find any bit of useful information, and there was someone familiar among them: Cool Sis.

Cool Sis had also sensed Lu Yin’s domain, so she immediately headed over to greet him.

She was in a bad mood, as the battle to capture Deng Pu had ruined the icy carriage. Coincidentally, that was where she had been meditating and where she could reach the best mental state. If not for that, she would not have stopped the various parties from battling in this place.

“Lu Yin, you arrived too late.” Cool Sis arrived in front of Lu Yin, her expression still looking rather detached.

Lu Yin smiled. “I’m just passing by and wanted to take a look. How are you doing? I heard that even Saul and the Shadowsword Sect’s Twin Daemon appeared.”

Cool Sis coldly replied, “So what? That person still managed to slip away.”

“I heard that you took action as well. You want True Insight?” Lu Yin was curious.

Cool Sis looked around and then answered, “I just didn’t want the icy carriage to be destroyed.”

Lu Yin looked back at the vehicle that was still being repaired. “That’s truly regretful.”

He then prepared to leave.

“Hold on,” Cool Sis called out. She looked into Lu Yin’s puzzled eyes. “I’ve heard that you’ve killed Enlighters.”

Lu Yin helplessly answered, “That’s only with the help of external supporting items.”

“You’ve traded blows with Kong Shi?” Cool Sis asked.

“No, we just tested each other out,” Lu Yin replied.

Cool Sis’s gaze turned sharp. “She said that I’m not your match.”

Lu Yin was astonished, as Kong Shi had not said that to him at the time.

Cool Sis continued, proposing, “Let’s have a match to see whether or not I’m not your match.”

Lu Yin shook his head. “Bullying females isn’t my style.”

Cool Sis’s expression grew frosty. “You don’t want to enter the top ten in the Top 100 Rankings?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Lu Yin replied.

“You don’t get to choose whether or not we fight.” Cool Sis released a burst of cold air around herself, which caused multiple layers of ice to bloom while the void surrounding Lu Yin also froze.

Lu Yin’s gaze trembled. Cool Sis was ranked tenth in the Top 100 Rankings, and she was an expert who surpassed countless others from her generation. Even Kong Shi, who was a peak Hunter as well as a Councilor from a previous generation’s Universe Youth Council, did not have the confidence to emerge victorious against Cool Sis.

Kong Shi’s strength was that of a peak Hunter, but she definitely could not compare to Zi Rong, who had painstakingly refined the blade that Lu Yin had experienced. Rather, Kong Shi’s strength was comparable to Cool Sis’s, which meant that Cool Sis had the strength to go up against peak Hunters.

Lu Yin had interacted with the peak Hunter level on many occasions. Saul, Twin Daemon, Aden, Cai Jianqiang, and Kong Shi were all at this level, but the difference between each of the various people there was extremely huge. Cool Sis was the most monstrous Cruiser realm genius Lu Yin had ever come into contact with.

“Icy Crystallization,” she shouted as she unleashed her attack, causing Lu Yin’s body to begin freezing over. This coldness was not something that could compare to Yan Yan’s, but Lu Yin’s limbs still started going numb, and the rune lines that he could see were entirely comparable to Kong Shi’s back when he had faced off against her.

Cool Sis was the first genius Lu Yin had faced who was in the top ten of the Top 100 Rankings, and he was actually a bit excited for this battle. His domain burst forth as his forcefield swept out. He then raised a hand and struck out with a palm with Overlaying Stacks, but the cold air in front of Cool Sis suddenly converged to form a layer of ice that blocked Lu Yin’s attack.

There was a bang as Lu Yin’s palm slammed against the ice barrier, and the impact warped the void right as a blast of cold air swept out in all directions. The cultivators who were repairing the icy carriage were all terrified, and they hurriedly fled from the area.

There was a cracking sound as the ice barrier split open, causing Cool Sis’s expression to change. All around them, cold air converged upon their position to form a massive ice crystal that then crashed towards Lu Yin. In response, he shouted out as his eight lined battle force appeared around them. Another explosive sound rang out as the ice shattered once again, allowing Lu Yin to break through and rush over to Cool Sis. He raised a hand that transformed into a claw. A beast howl echoed throughout the ages and rumbled out from the void, bringing an aura of palpable fear with it. The Skybeast Claw descended.

Cool Sis closed her eyes and then suddenly opened them wide. Her two eyes went white, and an indescribable feeling radiated out from her. The next moment, the Skybeast Claw itself froze and shattered.

Lu Yin hurriedly retreated, as Cool Sis had suddenly made him a bit nervous. The power of his Skybeast Claw was second only to his Dream Finger, but it had been shattered by this intense cold. Not to mention, Cool Sis’s rune lines had suddenly surged to the point where they could now rival those of Aden.

How was that possible? Was this woman’s strength actually able to rival an Enlighter’s? Didn’t this strength already surpass Kong Shi’s?

Plop!

Cool Sis spat out a mouthful of blood, and the fresh blood froze in midair. At the same time, her white eyes continuously fluctuated.

“Seventh Bro, this woman is putting her all into this attack!” the Ghost Monkey shrieked.

Lu Yin’s face turned solemn, as this woman’s true strength matched up to Kong Shi’s at best. But at this moment, she had exploded past her limits, which meant that she had to be using some sort of battle technique or battle art that went beyond her ability to endure.

“Iceform Sutra,” Cool Sis growled as her hair flew about. This was her best technique, and she had intended to use it to challenge Cang Mu and Hai Dashao. The pressure that Lu Yin had exhibited had been too much, especially his eight lined battle force, which made him nigh invulnerable, and that wasn’t even mentioning his forcefield that also made it difficult for her to breathe. Her star energy actually gave her no advantage, so if she did not display this absolute technique, then she would not be able to win. This person qualified to go against her maximum potential in this fight.

Lines that were actually spatial cracks extended out, but they soon froze as a peculiar diagram inexplicably appeared behind Cool Sis that looked like boundless icy plains. At this moment, the Fatesand inside Lu Yin’s body actually shuddered.

Cool Sis’s rune lines had already reached the point where they could nearly match Aden’s, and the cold aura around her felt similar to Yan Yan’s, and it actually reminded Lu Yin of Yan Yan’s Iceburst Flames. He didn’t wait any longer, and he raised a hand as he tapped out with a finger that congealed the void.

There was a thump as the phantom image of the icy plains suddenly shattered. Cool Sis was forced back a dozen steps, where she spat out a mouthful of blood. Her face turned a deathly shade of white, and she looked at Lu Yin with disbelief etched on her face.

That finger had actually broken through her absolute technique.

Lu Yin’s finger ached, but it was still alright since he had cultivated the Finger Tap technique, which had stopped the tip of his finger from being injured.

“The victor has been decided,” Lu Yin said softly.

The icy cold gradually dissipated from the void.

Cool Sis reluctantly closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her eyes had returned to normal. “I lost.”

Lu Yin looked at her strangely. “For you to have reached such strength as a Cruiser, it’s no wonder why people have said that the current younger generation is terrifying. Kong Shi once told me that she was not confident in being able to defeat you, and it seems that her apprehension was correct.”

“Aren’t you just complimenting yourself?” Cool Sis wiped the blood away from her lips.

Lu Yin shook his head. “I still have many areas where I’m deficient. Being able to defeat you doesn’t mean that I can defeat any of the others. The nine ranked above you should also have their own hidden trump cards.”

If Cool Sis was so incredibly strong, then how much stronger were the other people in the top nine of the Top 100 Rankings? What about the top five, top three, or even the number one ranked person? Lu Yin suspected that perhaps not even Cai Jianqiang would be able to beat the top three ranked experts on the Top 100 Rankings.

And besides them, the Ten Arbiters were even more terrifying.

The way Nightking Zhenwu had crushed Lu Yin in the Daosource Sect's ruins had already shown Lu Yin everything. When the various people had been fighting for the Progenitor's inheritance, they had actually been restraining themselves; otherwise, he would not have merely watched battles between people with the strength of normal Enlighters. Was it possible that each of the Ten Arbiters was strong enough to rival Elder Lohar? That would be too horrifying.

Lu Yin did not understand why Kong Shi was so upset by the difference in strength or why she had pinned all her hopes of defeating Nightking Zhenwu onto him. This generation’s youth had absolutely surpassed the previous.

Even Zi Rong would have to give his all to deal with Cool Sis’s best technique!

“What about your secret technique?” Cool Sis asked.

Lu Yin smiled, as he had not needed the secret technique to deal with her.

Cool Sis’s eyes dimmed. “You’re just an Explorer who hasn’t even cultivated for ten years, but you’ve already reached such a level of strength. Maybe you really are comparable to the Ten Arbiters.”

“I’m leaving now,” Lu Yin said, as did not wish to reveal any further information about his strength. The Ten Arbiters’ information was hidden too deeply, and it was not something that he or Cool Sis could guess at.

“Are you headed westwards?” she asked.

Lu Yin nodded.

“Can you bring me along?” she asked.

Lu Yin was astonished. “You’re going west as well? Where?”

“Millions City,” she replied.

Lu Yin gestured for her to board his spacecraft, and Cool Sis thanked him before stepping onto the vessel.

It was Lu Yin’s personal means of transportation, so naturally, it was a very large vehicle that was also a radiant-grade Aurora.

Cool Sis retreated to the room that she had been given to treat her injuries, though Lu Yin remained sitting in the lounge, as the auction was still going on.

The natural treasures were indeed spiking in price, and six of them had already been sold at an average price of 3,000 star essence.

It should be known that 1,000 star essence was enough to employ Phantom Sting for a full year, and the man was a Hunter realm assassin. This clearly demonstrated the extravagant value of each natural treasure.

At such prices, Lu Yin felt a little pained, since that bugger, Smoker, had taken almost thirty natural treasures for themselves, twenty of which had been used to purchase and upgrade Lu Yin’s membership so that he could directly employ the assassin in the future. In addition to that, the assassin had been paid with around a dozen natural treasures for the actual jobs themselves, which was equivalent to about 40,000 star essence. For an assassin, this price was simply outrageous.

At this time, a transparent vial appeared on the main screen of the auction house, and there was an introduction to it beside the image. This was one of Elder Wu's poisons, though it was of course being called a life-preserving object in the auction.

This vial’s rune lines showed that it could even threaten an Enlighter, and anyone who obtained this poison would have another trump card.

Nobody doubted the respectability of Lu’s Grand Auction, and any discerning person already knew the auction belonged to Lu Yin. If Lu Yin lied about the items that he was selling here, no one would ever trust him enough to cooperate with him in the future. As the leader of the Great Eastern Alliance, he could not cheat people for money.

The starting price for Elder Wu's poison was 3,000 star essence. Few powers in the Outerverse had any star essence, and they tended to hoard what little they did. However, the auction’s rules stipulated that all prices would be calculated in terms of star essence, which meant that this auction had caused another frenzied round of exchanges at the Mavis Bank, and the branch manager of Zenyu Star’s Mavis Bank had grumbled a fair bit.

Something that could threaten Enlighters was rarely if ever found in the Outerverse, and there was not an Enlighter to be found anywhere in Frostwave Weave. Of the Outerverse’s seventy two weaves, the vast majority did not have any Enlighters, which showed how precious such a poison was. Whoever obtained this would be able to intimidate an entire weave, or even a whole group of weaves, and this caused the price to continuously climb higher and higher.

From Lu Yin’s perspective, only those few top powers could afford this poison, which could be seen in the expressionless faces of the people from the Mavis Bank as they sat in their suite and continued to push the price even higher. They raised the bid by 100 star essence each time, which left the other bidders dumbfounded.

Aurora Enterprises was competing with the Mavis Bank, and they similarly raised their bid by 100 star essence each time.

These two financial giants were competing with money, and the others quickly gave up.

Finally, the bid settled at 6,000 star essence, though Shamrock Enterprises was the one that ended up winning.

Lu Yin’s eyes grew fervent, as these few top powers were truly rich. They were able to pay out thousands of star essence without even batting an eye. He had been too benevolent, and he still felt embarrassed about when Madam Nalan had lent him money in the past. To these wealthy corporations, thousands—no, even tens of thousands of star essence was not important.

His world view was still too limited.