Star Odyssey

Chapter 1031: Cloning Technique

As he listened to the few people around him chatting, Lu Yin’s eyes flashed. It seemed that the Sixth Mainland’s invasion of the Astral Beast Domain had not gone as smoothly as they had expected. The Astral Beast Domain and Human Domain had fought against each other for countless years, and the Celestial Beast Empire was an unfathomable power. Their domain contained all sorts of powerful astral beasts, and they even had their own academy and beast alliances; how could such a place be easily conquered? 

It could even be said that conquering the Astral Beast Domain was even more difficult than defeating the Human Domain, as just the cosmic phenomenon and resources present within the Astral Beast Domain would be enough to cause a giant headache for the Sixth Mainland. 

The Astral Beast Domain’s hidden strength was quite terrifying. After all, they had produced their own Progenitor once: Progenitor Wushang. 

The Imprinter family heir disappeared, as his time had run out. Before leaving, he glared at everyone one last time as a warning. 

In the blink of an eye, Lu Yin had already spent half a month within the second cauldron, and he had absorbed quite a bit of cauldron energy during this time. According to his prior experience, he could probably converge the second sun now, but this place was not suitable to test it out. 

He still had half of a month’s worth of time in the Daosource Sect’s ruins. If he could absorb cauldron energy for an entire month, he was certain that he would be able to converge the second sun. When he could bring out two suns, the power of his attacks would rise dramatically. 

Lu Yin felt a bit excited, and he involuntarily smiled.

However, his smile quickly vanished.

An heir from a World Imprinter family arrived in the cauldron and chased everyone else away. He wanted this place completely to himself, and no one dared to show their displeasure.

A World Imprinter family was very powerful with many disciples. Thus, it might have even been possible that the people who had arrived earlier were simply waiting for the heir.

The heir of any World Imprinter family was not someone who should be provoked, and each one of them could be considered top level figures within their realm’s younger generation. This was not someone whom the crowd in the cauldron could go up against. 

These people could only move out of the way and go to the third cauldron. After all, there were still eight cauldrons left. 

Lu Yin felt frustrated. He wanted to just get rid of these bugs, but he knew that he should not attract any unwanted attention. In the end, he could only sullenly leave the space with the Nine Cauldrons. 

He could not absorb cauldron energy from the third cauldron before he finished absorbing the second cauldron’s energy, as it was unknown if doing so would lead to any complications. Thus, Lu Yin decided to play it safe. 

Lu Yin sighed as he looked back at the space with the Nine Cauldrons. He wondered if he should hire a few younger cultivators to make a show of clearing out all unwanted cultivators from a cauldron. Otherwise, he would suffer similar difficulties every time he visited the cauldrons, which was simply infuriating. 

There was no need for him to stay in the region with the Nine Cauldrons anymore during this visit, so after considering his options, Lu Yin headed towards the Platform of Inception.

It was time to increase his lockbreaking knowledge. The sooner he became an Advanced Lockbreaker, the better. Only after reaching that level would he be able to comprehend those few pages of True Insight, which would then allow him to understand sourcebox arrays. 

A Lockbreaker who had comprehended a sourcebox array was very terrifying. 

Lu Yin headed towards the Platform of Inception, and he also wanted to see if he could coincidentally run into Xin Nü. 

If not for that woman, there was no telling how the battle in the Cosmic Sea might have turned out. Xin Nü had blocked both Zhi Yi and Shi Zhongjian for Lu Yin, and she had shown him a great deal of kindness in doing so. 

When he arrived outside of the Platform of Inception and just before he was about to enter, Lu Yin saw a figure appear from a different direction and enter the fog with a calm expression. 

Lu Yin was surprised, and he immediately turned around to leave. What rotten luck; he had actually bumped into Bu Kong. 

That fellow was already a Boundless Advanced Lockbreaker, so it was not surprising for him to visit the Platform of Inception.

Lu Yin had been willing to fight Bu Kong on the Innerverse’s battlefield, but in this place, Lu Yin would rather avoid such a confrontation.

Bu Kong was an Enlighter, and he was also one of the Daosource Three Skies. Furthermore, he had also comprehended a sourcebox array. In a fair duel, Lu Yin was completely cognizant of the fact that he was not Bu Kong’s match. 

Fortunately, Bu Kong had not noticed Lu Yin, as otherwise, Lu Yin would not have been able to escape so easily. 

Lu Yin left the fog surrounding the Platform of Inception and felt a bit lost; where should he go next? Wander around the Sierrasea? However, he felt that he would likely run into a Realmling if he visited that place. 

When he thought of the Realmlings, Lu Yin’s desire for battle started overflowing. Perhaps finding a Realmling to fight against was not a bad choice. 

The Realmlings rivaled the Ten Arbiters, and if Lu Yin fought against a Realmling, then he would be able to experience the discrepancy between himself and the Ten Arbiters. 

The Arcane Art, Fatal Revival had sharply raised Lu Yin’s strength, and he had assumed that he was able to match up to the Ten Arbiters now. However, testing it to be certain was a good idea. 

After considering the rest of his options, Lu Yin went ahead and decided to head out to wander around the Sierrasea.

Unfortunately, he did not know the way. He wandered around for a while, but he never found the Sierrasea. Instead, he ended up outside of Heaven’s Pit. 

There was a palm imprint within Heaven’s Pit that was rumored to have been left behind by Progenitor Chen. Lu Yin had already tried to comprehend something from the palm print once but to no avail. 

Lu Yin had no interest in the palm imprint inside of Heaven’s Pit, so he turned to leave. Just as he did so, a gust of wind came from behind, and Lu Yin dodged it. He looked around and was surprised. “Miss Qing?” 

The person who had appeared behind Lu Yin was someone whom he had explored the Daosource Sect’s ruins with during his first visits, and he had also bumped into her in the Cosmic Sea. It was Miss Qing. 

Miss Qing glanced at Lu Yin and smiled candidly. “You’ve got guts to still come here.”

Lu Yin blinked. “You know who I am?”

Miss Qing chuckled. “Don’t be silly. Don’t you know that Zhi Yi posted a bounty for you that the entire Sixth Mainland’s younger generation knows about? Even if we capture you in Daosource Sect’s ruins, the rewards are still valid.”

Lu Yin was rendered speechless. “That’s ridiculous! I didn’t even do that much to her.”

“That might be how you see it, but she’s quite concerned about you, and she’s well aware that you can visit and leave Daosource Sect’s ruins. You’ve got quite a few enemies, hehe.” Miss Qing smiled. 

Lu Yin did not even need to guess to know that Autumnfrost Qing had been the one who had told Zhi Yi that Lu Yin was able to enter the Daosource Sect’s ruins. 

If that was the case, then the incident where he had crippled Tong Zhan was likely known by the Tong family as well.

After thinking things through, Lu Yin realized that even if he disregarded the enmity between the two mainlands, his personal enemies were still spread throughout the entirety of the Daosource Sect’s ruins. When had he offended so many people? 

“Does Miss Qing hope to capture me and receive Zhi Yi’s rewards?” Lu Yin asked, keeping a wary eye on the girl. 

Miss Qing shrugged. “I’m not interested.”

Lu Yin heaved a sigh of relief. This woman was not as simple as she looked. During the battle in the Cosmic Sea, Lu Yin had been able to sense her strength. Although she had not fully revealed her rune lines, Lu Yin was certain that Miss Qing would be just as difficult to deal with as a Realmling. 

On the surface, the Sixth Mainland had the Daosource Three Skies and the nine Realmlings, but there were still many more hidden experts, such as Xin Nü or Miss Qing. The truth was that every place was the same, and the Fifth Mainland was no different. Was it really the case that nobody from the younger generation could rival the Ten Arbiters? The heirs of the Three Dark Hands had never even shown themselves during the invasion. 

Lu Yin looked at Miss Qing. “Since Miss Qing has no interest in me, I’ll head out first.”

“Wait a second. Don’t you want to explore the Daosource Sect’s ruins together?” Miss Qing asked in a half-mocking tone. 

Lu Yin smiled bitterly. “I wouldn’t dare.”

Miss Qing smiled happily. “Are you afraid that I’ll trick you?”

Lu Yin thought about it, but he ultimately shook his head. “No. I’m actually afraid of running into Mr. Bai.”

Miss Qing rolled her eyes. “What are you afraid of? That guy probably won’t do anything to you. Haven’t you heard? One of the Daosource Three Skies, Wu Taibai, isn’t interested in fighting. He prefers to explore and travel anonymously, especially throughout the Daosource Sect’s ruins.” 

“No, I’d rather not take the chance,” Lu Yin said, as he did not like to trust his fate to others.

Miss Qing pursed her lips. “Coward.” 

Lu Yin continued to walk away. 

Miss Qing suddenly thought of something. “Right, your Fifth Mainland is not simple, so don’t think that you’re super powerful.” 

Lu Yin’s footsteps paused, and he looked back at her in surprise. “What do you mean?”

Miss Qing thought about it. “I’m not certain if what I felt was real, but while I was participating in the invasion of your Fifth Mainland, I ran into two people, and their aura felt like it was from the same origin. Can you guess what that reminded me of?” 

“What?”

“Progenitor Chen’s Nine Clones Secret Technique,” Miss Qing stated solemnly.

Lu Yin was shocked. “That can’t be. Are you saying there’s people on the Fifth Mainland with the Nine Clones Secret Technique?”

Miss Qing hesitated. “I’m not sure, but their auras felt the same. I’ve always been very sensitive towards people’s auras. For example, although your altered appearance isn’t bad and can probably even deceive the Realmlings, it can’t trick me. The aura of those two seemed to be from the same person, and only after coming back here did I remember the Nine Clones Secret Technique.” 

“Who was it?” Lu Yin asked.

Miss Qing turned away. “Go and find out for yourself.”

She then entered Heaven’s Pit. 

Lu Yin blinked. Find them? How? Could they be one of the Ten Arbiters!?

After shaking his head, Lu Yin set his confusion aside and continued to search for the Sierrasea.

It did not actually matter if what Miss Qing had said was true or false, as it was none of Lu Yin’s business. Regardless, strengthening himself was still the most logical choice.

Even when he had less than half a month remaining in the Daosource Sect’s ruins, Lu Yin still had not found the entrance to the Sierrasea. Instead, he had stumbled upon the Scripture Pavilion. 

The ancient characters in that place still held a strong attraction for him. Arbiter Wen Sansi was adept at the Literary Prison technique, which used characters that had to be related to the ancient ones found in the Scripture Pavilion. 

After considering that, Lu Yin entered the Scripture Pavilion. 

The ancient characters floated through the air, one by one, and there were quite a few cultivators sitting on top of them while trying to comprehend something. While maintaining a low profile, Lu Yin passed by one ancient character after another until he finally arrived in a corner where he chose to sit down and similarly try to comprehend something. 

Beneath the ancient characters were mountain ranges and waterfalls, and the scenery was not bad, but most of it had been destroyed long ago. 

People seldom fought in this place, as they were afraid of being trapped by the ancient characters. Once that happened, they would only be able to escape once their time ran out. Also, these ancient characters might possess some remnant strength of the predecessors, so people might even die without knowing how. 

“Seventh Bro, we’re in the Scripture Pavilion again. It would be great if you could learn some of these ancient characters.” The Ghost Monkey was hopeful, as he had made a similar comment when Lu Yin had first visited this place. 

Of course, Lu Yin also hoped to be able to learn some ancient characters. The Wen Family had the nine by nine Literary Prison, and there were more than just eighty one characters here. 

However, Wen Sansi was also able to enter Daosource Sect’s ruins, and it was impossible that he had never visited the Scripture Pavilion before. If Lu Yin compared himself to Wen Sansi, then they were on entirely different levels when it came to comprehending these ancient characters. 

Lu Yin hoped that nobody was capable of truly comprehending these ancient characters, as otherwise, Wen Sansi would be too terrifying.

Each ancient character emitted a faint, golden radiance, and there was not much to be sensed. Each character was about one square meter in size. 

Lu Yin did not want to learn any battle techniques, and he simply wanted to get a feeling for these ancient characters. 

Of the Ten Arbiters, aside from Nightking Zhenwu, there was also one other who might be Lu Yin’s mortal enemy: Jin He. However, that other enemy might also be Nightking Zhenwu or even Wen Sansi. Comprehending these ancient characters would only help Lu Yin if he ended up having to deal with Wen Sansi. 

Still, Wen Sansi was not a likely candidate. 

Wen Sansi was the Arbiter whom Lu Yin had interacted with the most, and Wen Sansi must have looked into Lu Yin as well. If Wen Sansi had been the one who had ordered the judgement of the seventy two people with the Lu surname on that piece of paper, then Lu Yin should have been taken care of long ago. 

People were constantly entering and leaving the Scripture Pavilion, and some of them even visited this place in order to hide from their enemies, as very few battles took place in this location. 

Lu Yin remained in the region for a dozen peaceful days, and he started wondering how the ancient characters trapped others, though he kept these thoughts hidden in his heart. 

When Lu Yin noticed that his time was almost up, he decided to give it a try.

All of the ancient characters contained an ancient strength, and it was possible that each ancient character might be concealing something special, much like how the cauldron energy was hidden within the cauldrons. Lu Yin did not know if he could use lockbreaking techniques to reveal something hidden here.

Lu Yin grabbed the Giant Emperor’s third eye and stared intently at the ancient character. He tried to find something that he could lockbreak, but unfortunately, even after two days, he still hadn’t accomplished anything. He had found absolutely nothing.