Star Odyssey

Chapter 2167: God Of Death's Left Arm

Tian Dou said nothing to Lu Buzheng. Instead, he looked at Lu Yin, who was a bit further away. "If not for the fact that you were gone for twenty years and it was certain that you had died, my Specter clan would have never taken refuge with Jue Yi."

Lu Yin answered indifferently, "There’s no point in saying such things at this point in time. You cooperated with Blackless God."

"Why are you so certain that I worked with Blackless God? He was chased away during the Astral Tower competition when the Mountains and Seas Zone shattered. He left the Fifth Mainland and was trapped in the Starfall Sea. He never came back to the Fifth Mainland. You’ve got it completely wrong," Tian Dou stated in a cold voice.

Lu Buzheng and the other Semi-Progenitors all turned to look at Lu Yin, who frowned. "Even if we’re wrong, you’ve been arrested. You won’t be wrongly convicted, as these Semi-Progenitors won’t allow such a thing to happen. Come back with us and allow us to investigate these allegations."

Tian Dou felt frustrated. How could he return with Lu Yin? It was true that he had cooperated with Blackless God, and he had only denied that collusion because Tian Dou desperately wanted to know who had controlled him and wiped out a portion of his memories. He absolutely had to find out who was behind that incident.

Judging by how all the Semi-Progenitors had reacted, the person who had controlled Tian Dou had either been Lu Yin himself or someone closely connected to him.

The Specter clan patriarch would never believe that Lu Yin had controlled him even on his deathbed. No matter what, Lu Yin was just an Envoy. He might be invincible within the Human Domain, due to his ability to control Progenitor Chen’s power, but in the Astral Wilderness, Tian Dou was absolutely capable of killing Lu Yin if he were not protected by Semi-Progenitors.

Lu Yin understood something when he saw Tian Dou’s expression, and he pulled out the mirror. "Senior, would you like to come out and see for yourself?"

There was no response from the mirror, as Progenitor Smoke was still studying Blood Alchemy.

"You got this information from Senior?" Kui Luo asked curiously. He had always been curious as to where Lu Yin obtained so much of his information. No one had been able to find any hint of a connection between Blackless God and Tian Dou, so where could Lu Yin have obtained such secretive information? But if it had come from Progenitor Smoke, then things made sense. After all, the woman controlled one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas.

Kui Luo’s question badly startled Tian Dou. If even a Semi-Progenitor like Kui Luo referred to a person as senior, then this had to have been the person who had possessed him. After all, Kui Luo was someone who was practically on the same level of power as the gatemasters of the Heavenly Gates. Who, aside from someone whom even Kui Luo was so deferential towards, could possibly have the strength to control Tian Dou without his knowledge?

After finally obtaining an answer to his burning questions, Tian Dou stared at the mirror Lu Yin held. "Who is the senior you’re referring to? Even if you are going to execute me, you should at least allow me to know who my accuser is."

Lu Yin’s expression instantly changed, and he immediately put away the mirror. "Attack! It’s a trick! He’s about to try to escape."

Kui Luo was the first to react, and he unleashed a spiritual force attack, though he held back from releasing his inner world. He needed to use stellular energy to power his inner world, and stellular energy was a scant resource that was desperately lacking.

Lu Yin’s warning had been quick, and Kui Luo had reacted nearly instantaneously, but Tian Dou had not been slow either.

Even as Kui Luo's spiritual force slammed into Tian Dou and stunned his mind with such force that his brain felt like it was about to explode and his vision grew blurry and faded, he raised his left arm up. All of the death energy around the man disappeared, and then exploded with such force that space itself trembled.

The expressions of Lu Buzheng and all the other Semi-Progenitors changed. When they looked at Tian Dou, they no longer saw the Specter clan’s patriarch or a peak Envoy, but rather a massive black shadow that stood like a hole in space. The form instantly attacked.

"The God of Death?" Lu Buzheng blurted. Shock covered his face.

Lu Yin's pupils shrank to dots. What was this?

A massive scythe slashed out, its power beyond anything anyone here could fathom.

The power of this slash overwhelmed everyone, and it was completely unstoppable. It was a level of power that surpassed the Semi-Progenitor level, and it even felt as suppressive as when Lu Yin used Cosmic Stomp with the power of Progenitor Chen. This attack was stunning, and absolutely invincible.

No one was able to react, and they all simply stared at the approaching slash. Any battle technique, power vessel, or anything else felt like it would be useless against this overwhelming power. Everyone felt as insignificant as a mayfly trying to shake a tree.

Tian Dou's attack made the stars tremble, and it felt as though the entire universe was shaking. However, the moment it reached everyone, it simply vanished. Instead, what everyone saw was a blocky stone building shooting off into the distance.

At this moment, everyone was still lost in the power of the God of Death that they had just witnessed, and no one reacted.

The only other movement was a single thread that shot out from the distance, the end of which tried to stab into the black stone house.

"I thought that that was the power of the God of Death. Leave this to me," Destina called out to everyone.

The six Semi-Progenitors had not come alone with Lu Yin, as without Destina, who would be able to guide them to Tian Dou? However, Destina had not taken any action and had kept her distance until this moment.

Lu Yin had no idea what had just happened, but he did understand that Destina must have figured out what Tian Dou had done, which was why she had kept her distance. Was Tian Dou unable to actually unleash the power that they had all witnessed, or had the attack somehow been weakened?

Destina's attack failed to leave any mark on the black stone house. Her thread of fate was snapped, broken by Tian Dou's left arm when he raised it up again. Destina was badly shaken by the sight.

Still, she had managed to stall the man for a single moment, and that was enough.

Lu Yin used the Ce Secret Art to arrive right next to the black stone house, where only a single wall separated him from Tian Dou. This wall had stopped Destina’s attack and snapped her thread of fate. For this reason, Tian Dou felt no fear when he saw Lu Yin appear. His escape was inevitable.

Then, Tian Dou saw Lu Yin pull out a slipper. Wait, a slipper?

Everyone else was also staring at Lu Yin in a daze as he raised his hand up high. Was that really a slipper?

Everyone was dumbfounded.

However, as Lu Yin’s hand descended with the slipper, space rippled. It looked as though the universe was a mirror that shattered. At the same time, the black stone house also shattered, and Tian Dou instantly lost consciousness.

Everything fell completely silent. Lu Yin’s actions had been so surprising that no one’s minds could fully process what they had just seen.

No matter who it might be, or how long they had lived, everyone from a normal human to a Semi-Progenitor who had witnessed countless bizarre events would have never imagined that they would see what had just occurred: a slipper had just shattered a stone house that had managed to stop even Destina’s attack. Tian Dou was completely knocked out. Was this a joke?

Lu Yin coughed. "Alright, grab him."

Only after he spoke did anyone regain their senses. They felt like they were waking up from a dream, and they all stared at Lu Yin with incredibly odd expressions, especially at the slipper in his hands.

Even Silver’s perpetual smile had been wiped away out of utter shock at this moment.

Lu Yin understood just how startling his actions had been. He was also not used to using the slipper so openly, but he knew that he would gradually become adjusted to doing so in the future.

"Boy, that's a slipper…" Kui Luo hesitantly said. He only spoke because of his desire to unearth secrets, and he also enjoyed making up stories. However, he had never expected to run into such a bizarre situation in his life. That slipper even had five black toe prints on it. It looked absolutely revolting.

Lu Yin put the slipper away. "Nope."

"Are you sure?" Kui Luo asked in an odd tone.

Lu Buzheng was also staring at Lu Yin. "That was definitely a slipper."

Jiu Yao nodded. "It was a slipper."

"Definitely a slipper," Lan Xian agreed.

Lu Yin pursed his lips. "Have any of you ever heard of such a powerful slipper? It’s just a weapon that looks a bit like a slipper, that's all."

Destina asked, "A slipper with the power of a Progenitor?"

"It looks like a slipper," Lu Yin corrected again. He glanced back over at where Tian Dou was floating through space, unconscious. "Luckily, the attack wasn’t too powerful, or else he would have died."

He then glanced over at Silver, who was smiling once again. Silver stepped forward and grabbed Tian Dou. "Captain, we can head back now."

Lu Yin ignored the odd looks that everyone else was still giving him and started to head back towards the Outerverse.

The Semi-Progenitors all glanced at each other and then started to make their way towards the Heavens Sect as well.

There was actually no reason for so many Semi-Progenitors to be present to deal with just Tian Dou, and they had all made the trip to deal with Blackless God. However, the power that Tian Dou had revealed had shocked everyone. How could a peak Envoy unleash such unimaginable power? None of the Semi-Progenitors could come up with an answer, so they all followed Lu Yin to sate their curiosity.

Soon, everyone was gone.

Back in the Heavens Sect, Silver tossed Tian Dou into a dark cell deep underground in the prison. "Captain, do you need my help?"

Lu Yin waved a hand dismissively. Not only was he stopping Silver from attending the interrogation, but also everyone else. Lu Yin intended to Possess Tian Dou once again and comb through the man’s memories.

After confirming that absolutely no one was around, Lu Yin moved within five meters of Tian Dou. This was part of the ability of his die’s Possession ability; after Possessing a person, Lu Yin could Possess them again and access their memories at any point in time, as long as he was within five meters of the person.

There was simply no need for Lu Yin to question Tian Dou. The man was too stubborn, and Lu Yin knew better than to trust anything the man said.

Suddenly, Lu Yin was nearly overwhelmed by a blinding pain. When he managed to open his eyes, numbness covered his body, though vestiges of pain still assaulted his nerves. Tian Dou had already awakened, though he had been pretending to be unconscious. Such actions meant nothing to Lu Yin, because no matter how powerful Tian Dou might be, as long as Lu Yin was able to approach within five meters, Lu Yin would have control over him. This was not even considering the fact that Tian Dou had already been left seriously injured.

What Lu Yin was most curious about at this moment was Tian Dou’s left arm. How had the man managed to unleash such a powerful attack as an Envoy? If the full power of that attack had connected, it was possible that none of the Semi-Progenitors who had been present would have survived.

Soon, memories began to pour in, and Lu Yin’s head snapped up, his eyes flickering. Was this real?

…

"Stop pretending. I know that you're already awake." Tian Dou heard an indifferent voice, but he did not move a muscle. He remained lying on the floor of the cell.

Lu Yin was standing five meters away from the prisoner, and he continued in a condescending tone. "I actually believe it when you offered me your loyalty, but you were too ambitious. You were also being sincere when you gave Jue Yi your loyalty. Now, you’re once again being honest when offering your loyalty to Aeternus. You are just too honest, aren’t you, Tian Dou?"

Tian Dou still did not move.

A smile spread across Lu Yin’s face. "What are you waiting for? Your injuries to heal? There are more than six Semi-Progenitors outside this prison. There’s no chance of escaping.

"Well, if you were actually able to control the death energy in your left arm, then none of those Semi-Progenitors would be able to stop you. Unfortunately, you’re back in the Human Domain, and do you think that the God of Death’s left arm is enough to stop Progenitor Chen's power?"

Tian Dou’s eyes snapped open, and he stared at Lu Yin in disbelief. "You-? How do you know?"

Lu Yin replied, "Your left arm came from the God of Death himself. I was shocked to learn that the Specter clan’s greatest treasure that’s been passed down through the ages was actually the God of Death’s arm. If your cultivation wasn’t so low, I mean, if you were actually a Semi-Progenitor, you’d be absolutely invincible beneath the Progenitor realm. In fact, you’d even be able to fight against the weakened Progenitor of Bloodlines and get away safely. You really hid yourself well, Tian Dou."

Realization broke across Tian Dou’s features. "It was you! You’re the one who possessed me! You’re the reason there’s a blank point in my memories of being at the death energy site! You took control of me back then!"

Lu Yin smiled lightly. "That's right, it was me."

Even at the cusp of death, Tian Dou would have never guessed at such a possibility. He had assumed that the person behind the incident had been the powerhouse hidden within the mirror, the one that Kui Luo referred to as senior. The fact that it had actually been Lu Yin himself defied all of Tian Dou’s expectations.

"How did you do it? How could you control me? Not to mention, you shouldn’t have had any idea of where I was back then, as you should have been here in the Human Domain." The man remained utterly confused and unwilling to accept such a possibility. He simply could not unravel what had happened.