Star Odyssey

The ancient man let out a deep breath, and his eyes misted over as he started reminiscing about old memories. He then finally slowly said, “This universe is not as simple as it looks. When the Sixth Mainland invades, they will be the ones at a disadvantage. You guys have experienced the Outerverse and Innerverse, but the true strength of this universe lies within the Neoverse.”

Lu Yin silently listened to the old man. Just this first part told him that Wendy Yushan must have already told this Yu family elder about them visiting the Daosource Sect and what they had learned from that place. Thus, this old man had to know that Lu Yin had also entered the Daosource Sect’s ruins.

“In the ancient Daosource Sect, there once existed nine mountains and eight seas. Some time later, five of the mountains and five of the seas were moved to the Neoverse by senior powerhouses with their unbelievable power. They moved them to the Neoverse to search for proper inheritors. In order to avoid the Sixth Mainland’s attention, they named those likely inheritors as the Cosmic Children and the five mountains and seas as the ‘Astral Tower. Those people are known as the Cosmic Five.” The elder then looked up at Lu Yin. “One must be a part of the younger generation to become one of the Children of Stars, as they must not have finalized their form of cultivation yet. Only those of the younger generation are able to inherit the Astral TowerAstral Tower, which has been passed down through the generations. This is the Cosmic Five.”

Lu Yin was astonished. Cosmic Five. So they are those who have received an inheritance from the mountains and seas.

It seemed that these five youths were the top elites of the Neoverse’s younger generation, which indicated that they were the Neoverse’s equivalent to the Outerverse’s Ten Arbiters and the Sixth Mainland’s Realmlings and Daosource Three Skies.

“This universe has undergone vast changes, especially with the appearance of the formcast model. In the past, the Cosmic Five towered at the peak, but now, the truth is anyone’s guess. I’ve already heard of the existence of these Ten Arbiters. Your generation is very wondrous.” The elder sighed before continuing, saying, “Little fellow, you have a great deal of potential, but not enough fate since you’ve been trapped in the Outerverse. Even if you are able to enter the Daosource Sect’s ruins, so what? The positions of the Cosmic Five have to be competed for. It’s possible that the competition for the Cosmic Five of your generation hasn’t started yet, but it’s a pity that you won’t be able to participate.”

Lu Yin respectfully asked, “Senior, Junior has always felt confused about something. Why did the Yu bloodline betray the Seven Courts?”

The elder looked puzzled. “Betrayed? When?”

Lu Yin was stumped, and he looked over at Wendy Yushan.

Wendy Yushan explained, “The Yu bloodline never betrayed the Seven Courts. We were told this by Ku Wei, and there was indeed a conflict in the past. The Yu family left the Neoverse with the intention of coming to the Outerverse and shunning the universe, but they ended up being pursued.”

Lu Yin looked back at the elder.

The elder sighed. “Shaman Skygod, who is one of the Neohuman Alliance’s Seven Skygods, chased after my Yu bloodline and caused our patriarch and many of our descendants to be wounded or killed in the process. Only a few people managed to survive the trip to the Outerverse, and our inheritance was severed. I was heavily injured because of these events, and so, I hastily created that sourcebox array and cryopreserved myself while everything else was done by the other surviving members.”

Lu Yin never thought that the truth would be something like this. He had previously believed that the Yu family had been chased out of the Seven Courts, and this situation was actually quite similar to what he had discovered about the Yōu family when he had Possessed that Specter Clan member. The Yōu family had deceived everyone, which was why their true descendants avoided the Seven Courts. In contrast, the Yu family had truly fallen far from grace.

The elder’s age was too great, and he went back to sleep after speaking just a few sentences. He then returned to cryostasis and fell back beneath the ground while Lu Yin watched on.

Wendy Yushan quietly said, “The elder held out until now just to see you. Otherwise, he would have long since returned to cryostasis by himself.”

“How did you guys find this place?” Lu Yin was curious.

“Ah, that was me! I found it,” Ku Wei called out from outside as the youth pushed the door open. “The Seven Courts made their own vows back then, and there’s a certain attraction between our bloodlines, so I was naturally able to find this place.”

“If you were able to find it, then why hasn’t anyone else found them even after looking for so many years?”

Lu Yin did not believe Ku Wei, but the only reply he got was an eye roll. “Nonsense. The attraction between bloodlines requires willingness from both parties. How else do you think your woman became so skinny? It’s because she’s lost too much blood.”

Lu Yin was astonished by this reveal, and he turned to look at Wendy Yushan.

Wendy Yushan nodded. “It’s easy to die during the process of initiating attraction if one’s cultivation is too low.”

Lu Yin finally understood why no one else had been able to find the remnants of the Yu family. Aside from Undying Yushan and Wendy Yushan, no one else from the Yu family would have been able to use the bloodline attraction.

“Right, then what about your father?” Lu Yin asked.

Wendy Yushan shook her head. “I don't know.”

Ku Wei sniggered. “Bro, there’s another bit of good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?”

“The good news,” Lu Yin said.

“Let me tell you the bad news first. Undying Yushan went against the Yu ancestors’ orders and roamed about the Innerverse, and as a result, the Yu family has long since struck him from the family registry. This also means that the Great Yu Empire has been abandoned by the Yu family,” Ku Wei said.

“What’s so bad about this?” Lu Yin asked.

Ku Wei replied, “There’s no way to prove whether Undying Yushan is dead or alive, so isn’t that bad news?”

“Then what about the good news?”

“Since there’s no way to determine Undying Yushan’s status, then that’s the good news.”

Lu Yin clenched a fist, as he wanted to smack someone.

“Seventh Bro, beat him! Beat him to death!” the Ghost Monkey cried out.

Wendy Yushan filled him in on a bit more information. “My father went to the Innerverse by himself back then, but his actions there caused quite a few people from the Starfall Sea to come to Frostwave Weave. It was at that time that the Yu family completely severed its interactions with the Great Yu Empire, as they wanted to prevent the Neohuman Alliance from becoming aware of their existence. After so many years have passed, they haven’t heard any news about Father, and they also never verified his death. According to that elder, Father is most likely dead, simply because the Neohuman Alliance rarely fails at their tasks when they move.”

“Rarely fails? Seventh Bro, the Neohuman Alliance rarely wins when they’re against you, right?” the monkey shouted.

Lu Yin stared off into the distance, as the main evidence supporting the theory that Undying Yushan might still be alive had been the sourcebox array at the imperial palace and the possibility that the emperor might have cultivated the Undying Manual. Now that the sourcebox array was confirmed to have been set up by this Yu family elder, it seemed that Undying Yushan was most likely dead if he had not cultivated the Undying Manual.

But even if he had cultivated that technique, there was still nothing that could be known or proven.

Fortunately, the Yu family would not make things difficult for Lu Yin, and that was definitely good news.

However, he had also inadvertently learned about these Cosmic Five, and he believed that these five youths could definitely rival the Daosource Three Skies. However, then what about the Ten Arbiters? They probably surpassed the Realmlings, and thus, their strength likely lay somewhere between that of the Cosmic Five and the Daosource Three Skies, but it was also quite likely that they were hiding secrets of their own.

The Yu elder had mentioned that the universe had been transformed and that the existence of the Ten Arbiters was an accident. As for how far this accident extended, nobody knew.

If things were truly as the elder had mentioned, then the contest for this generation’s Cosmic Five had not begun yet.

The elder had also mentioned that this universe was not as simple as it appeared and that the Sixth Mainland would suffer a disadvantage if they tried to invade the Fifth Mainland. Lu Yin did not understand this comment; the Sixth Mainland had three Progenitors of their own, so why would they fall to a disadvantage?

Unless, could this universe have hidden Progenitors who had not died? In that case, they were most likely hidden in the Neoverse.

“Let’s head back,” Lu Yin said to Wendy Yushan.

Wendy Yushan nodded, but then she looked around the tiny village in sorrow. “This is our arcadia. If the remnants of the Yu bloodline can live here peacefully, then their life must be pretty good.”

“Did the elder tell you why they initially left the Neoverse?” Lu Yin asked.

Wendy Yushan shook her head. “No.”

Ku Wei moved closer, showing a toothy grin. “Bro, I have a bit of good news, and an even better piece of news. Which do you want to hear first?”

Lu Yin stared at him with cold eyes. “If you continue to talk to me like that, I’ll have to teach you how to be a better person.”

Ku Wei rolled his eyes. “I can’t even crack jokes with you. Forget it, I’ll just tell you. The good news is that Brother Wei has gained the Yu family’s opportunity to enter Progenitor Chen's Mausoleum.”

Lu Yin was stunned. “The Yu family just gave it to you?”

Ku Wei nodded excitedly.

Lu Yin looked over towards Wendy Yushan.

Wendy Yushan quietly explained, “It’s fine. Our family has no more connection to the Seven Courts any longer. He’s already promised not to reveal this location, and the elder gave our opportunity to him.”

Lu Yin nodded. “Congratulations, but you can’t get to the Neoverse.”

Ku Wei’s lips twisted, and he stubbornly said, “There should be a way! Brother Wei doesn’t believe that I can’t get back there. At worst, I’ll just take a detour.”

“A detour?” Lu Yin’s brows furrowed.

Ku Wei replied, “I can cut through the Technocracy to get into the Starfall Sea, as those two regions border each other. I should be able to get back from there.”

Lu Yin shook his head. The Technocracy?

He had heard of this place before, and he only knew that it was rumored that the entire territory was completely monitored. Anyone who entered that place would be discovered, and it was not very realistic to return to the Innerverse through that place.

At regular intervals, there were human powerhouses who would storm into the Technocracy and investigate the situation within this region, but they were all Envoys at the very least. Lu Yin and the others were still too weak.

Furthermore, the Starfall Sea was currently at war, and there were most likely powerhouses from the Sixth Mainland in the Technocracy as well. Taking such a detour would just be asking for death.

Ku Wei moved closer. “Brother Lu, Brother Wei has decided to wait for a decade. If the Astral River’s connection has not been restored by then, then I’ll take the detour through the Technocracy. However, a decade is very long, and that’s a lot of time to kill. Brother Wei will give you a chance to recruit an expert, so why don’t you give Brother Wei a part-time job in the Great Yu Empire? Brother Wei promises not to be corrupted!”

Lu Yin felt strange. “You want a position in the Great Yu Empire?”

Ku Wei nodded helplessly. “I have no choice. There’s nothing else to do—there’s nowhere else really worth exploring in the Outerverse, and the Astral Wilderness is too dangerous. Thus, I can only cast my lot in with you. Speaking of which, your ambition doesn’t seem too small, so this should be fun.”

Lu Yin thought about it and then said, “The position of the Tenth Squadron’s captain is vacant, so you can fill in there for now.”

“Alright!” Ku Wei was very happy with this offer. “I’m an officer now, hahaha.”

Lu Yin frowned. Given Ku Wei’s strength, he definitely qualified to be a captain. He was just an Explorer, but his strength rivaled a Hunter’s. More importantly, Lu Yin wanted to keep an eye on Ku Wei, and he wanted to see exactly what this person was trying to do.

There were definitely still other people from the Ku family hiding in the Outerverse, so if Ku Wei helped Lu Yin, then that would be quite the large helping hand.

Based on his interactions with Ku Wei, Lu Yin could sense that the Court of Seven Names was completely different from the Neohuman Alliance. As Ku Wei had said, they had only united for Progenitor Chen's Mausoleum, and they were not actually evil.

This person wanted to join the Great Yu Empire, and it was possible that he was just following the Ku family’s arrangements. Even if Lu Yin did not agree to give Ku Wei a government position, the youth would still laze about in the Great Yu Empire, so Lu Yin might as well agree.

Lu Yin did not disturb the remnants of the Yu bloodline anymore, and he led their small group back to the spacecraft as they all returned to Zenyu Star.

During their trip back, he enquired about the matter of Shaman Skygod, but Wendy Yushan did not know anything as the elder had not said much about that. The elder had lived for far too long, and his memories had become a little murky.

This Shaman Skygod must have been terrifyingly powerful if they had massacred the Yu family.

“Since the Yu family did not betray the Seven Courts, and this Shaman Skygod chased after the Yu Family, then why wasn’t there some sort of retaliation from the Seven Courts?” Lu Yin asked.

Wendy Yushan glanced at him, and duly responded, “Even if you ask me, who should I ask?”

Lu Yin choked on his words, as that was indeed true. Wendy Yushan did not know much more than him.

“Right, why was that elder waiting for me?” Lu Yin was puzzled by this.

Wendy Yushan’s expression became a bit awkward, and she turned around. “I don't know.”

Lu Yin was confused, but this woman’s temper seemed to have become even worse. She didn’t seem as detached as before, but she had become a little more eccentric, and it made it even harder to understand her.