Star Odyssey

Chapter 397: You Secret Art

Coco and Zora were in the Sand Ocean. As always, that giant syringe was rather attention-grabbing.

Lu Yin’s appearance delighted Coco. “Brother Lu, you’re back!”

Lu Yin smiled and nodded at her. “I heard that you dueled with some students from Shangwu Academy? How’d it go?”

Coco pursed her lips. “I can’t beat them.”

Lu Yin laughed. He was always put in a good mood when he talked to Coco; she was just too entertaining. “There’s no need to get discouraged. Your strength lies in treatment, not battle.” He suddenly paused. Is Coco’s treatment actually useful?

Upon hearing Lu Yin’s encouragement, Coco hefted her syringe. “Don’t worry, Brother Lu. I’ll be sure to take good care of my injured comrades.”

Lu Yin forced a smile onto his face. “All the best. Work hard.”

He greeted Zora and then headed deeper into the Sand Ocean to seek out the Sandmaster. It didn’t take Lu Yin long to find him.

The Sandmaster held the Money Bomb in his hands and had a rather exasperated expression as he looked at the small box. “What is it that you want to ask?”

“This student would like to ask, if this thing is actually useful?”

The Sandmaster casually tossed the Money Bomb back to Lu Yin. “Yes, but be careful.”

Lu Yin was puzzled. “What do you mean?”

The Sandmaster carefully considered his answer but replying, “If possible, don’t use it. And if you must use it, then try to hide your identity. This thing isn’t good for your reputation.”

Lu Yin’s heart fell, and the feeling that he had been swindled grew even stronger. “Elder Cai claimed that this Money Bomb can instantly kill a Hunter…”

The Sandmaster nodded. “It can, if used by surprise. However, a weapon is only a weapon, and a Hunter will not stay in place for you to attack him. Thus, you’d have to catch them off guard.”

Lu Yin heaved a sigh of relief, as everything was alright as long as the weapon was effective. It turned out that he had not been duped. “Mentor, what’s the problem with the Money Bomb’s reputation?”

The Sandmaster muttered to himself, seemingly at a loss for words. Then he waved an arm. “You’ll find out in the future. Alright, move along. This place has no more use for you.” After that, he disappeared.

Lu Yin felt helpless. If the Sandmaster didn’t want to talk about it, then he had no choice in the matter.

He soon left the neglected Sand Ocean. He didn’t try to find anyone else and instead went to an area of Astral-10 that was filled with ruins. It was time for him to reach the peak of the Limiteer realm.

It had been some time since Lu Yin had broken through to the Limiteer realm. While others might find it difficult to reach the peak of the Limiteer realm, that was usually either because they had no money or their star energy absorption rate was too slow. Lu Yin had no such difficulties since he had the wealth and the will. Since his absorption rate was nine times the norm due to the Cosmic Art, he was guaranteed success so long as he had money to back it up. In the end, it was all about money. That was the primary resource that he always needed.

Lu Yin raised his hand in a familiar manner, causing his die to appear. He intended to roll four Pips: Timestop, enter the Time Stop Space, and then absorb all the star energy he needed in that place. While thinking about it, he tapped the die and watched it spin.

Strange, why did it feel like he had forgotten something?

As he watched the die slowly stop, Lu Yin’s eyes shifted. Oh no, it’s been a long time since I last rolled. I can’t possibly roll six pips: Possession, can I?

The next instant, the scenery about him changed, and the scene that Lu Yin saw changed to a field of darkness that gradually filled up with balls of light. He had no words; he had really rolled six pips.

The die’s Possession ability consumed too much money, greatly surpassing the other rolls. Lu Yin considered merging with a random ball of light, as the most important thing right now was to reach the peak of the Limiteer realm. But after thinking about it, Lu Yin decided not to. Since he was fated to roll Possession, he would submit to his fate.

Although it burned through an exorbitant amount of money, Possession was still very useful.

Lu Yin felt an intense attraction tug at his body as he looked at a ball of light in the distance. He did not hesitate and immediately merged with it. If the light was that aggressive in pulling him in, then it had to be perfectly fut for him. He hoped to Possess a powerhouse’s body this time. 

The scene before him transformed once again, and Lu Yin soon opened his eyes and looked around. Was he on a spacecraft?

But before Lu Yin could finish observing his surroundings, he was startled by a jumbled bunch of messages that he had just received. After looking at the incoming notifications, Lu Yin’s pupils shrank, and his body went cold. He had Possessed someone from the Neohuman Alliance.

To be precise, this person wasn’t just a part of the Neohuman Alliance, as the Alliance consisted of not only the Corpse Kings, but also other cooperative powers. This person was part of a powerful clan, the Specter Clan.

“Here,” a hoarse voice spoke up from beside Lu Yin. He glanced over and saw that the voice came from a Corpse King. This Corpse King was actually at the level of a Hunter and was someone who had become a Mutant Corpse King. This person was able to trample over normal Hunters and could even challenge Enlighters. 

In outer space, a spacecraft approached the spacecraft that Lu Yin was in. The incoming vessel looked rather peculiar, and it looked to be a special spacecraft from some power. A word was engraved on the side of the spacecraft: “Yōu.”

Through the Possession, Lu Yin knew that the current operation had been jointly planned out by the Neohuman Alliance’s internal Corpse King and the Specter Clan. Their goal was to confirm one thing: whether or not the Yōu Court that had marriage arrangements with the Sword Sect possessed a secret technique.

The Yōu clan was one of the seven great clans of the previous Court of Seven Names. However, many years ago, the clan with the ancient surname Yōu betrayed the Seven Courts and received the protection of the Sword Sect. Throughout all these years, they maintained marital relations with the Sword Sect, such as the engagement between the current Sword Sect heir, Liu Shaoqiu, and the Yōu Court’s little princess, Yōu Ye’er. 

The Yōu Court was a part of the Yōu surname of the Seven Courts, and logically, they should have the Yōu Secret Art. However, the Neohuman Alliance had obtained secret information from an undisclosed source saying that the Yōu family of the Seven Courts had no secret technique. They had been sent on this current operation because the Neohuman Alliance wanted to verify whether or not the secret technique was in the hands of the exiled Yōu Court. 

Lu Yin learned all of this through the reports that had been sent to the person he had Possessed. As it turned out, this person’s identity was not simple. He held a rather high position In the Specter Clan and was qualified to stand beside this Corpse King Hunter as equals, even though the Specter Clan member was just an Explorer.

Lu Yin had received a dizzying number of messages in a short span, and they were all related to the Neohuman Alliance and the Seven Courts. Lu Yin had no thoughts of experiencing an Explorer’s strength and only looked out at the starry sky in a daze.

At this time, the Yōu Court spacecraft came to a stop in the heavens. Then, an intense explosion rumbled out. The Neohuman Alliance’s experts had begun assaulting the spacecraft, causing ripples to appear within the void. All of the attackers were space-exploring experts.

Within the spacecraft, Yōu Ye’er buried her head in Grandma Du’s bosom, seemingly terrified.

Grandma Du had a determined expression. “These entrails of the Neohuman Alliance actually dare to attack the little princess! The Yōu Court and the Sword Sect definitely will not let them off.”

The eyes of one of the Corpse Kings turned scarlet red as it ferociously charged towards Grandma Du, greeting her with a punch. She shouted as star energy surged around her, blocking the Corpse King.

Boom!

The shockwave shook the spacecraft, and Grandma Du spat out a mouthful of blood. Despite the fact that she was a Cruiser, there was still too large a disparity between her and the Corpse King for her to compete against its physical strength.

The Corpse King attacked again.

Grandma Du frantically pushed Yōu Ye’er aside. “Little Princess, RUN!”

The old woman valiantly clashed against the Corpse King as an indescribably terrifying luster surrounded her body. With her body at the center, the light shot out to engulf half of the spacecraft, including the Yōu Court’s expert and the Corpse King. Everyone was immersed in Grandma Du’s venom.

Even the Explorer realm Corpse King could not withstand her fatal venom, and everyone melted away.

Yōu Ye’er donned the universal armor and fled from the spacecraft as she sorrowfully watched Grandma Du’s tragic death.

There was another blast as the second half of the spacecraft exploded.

Yōu Ye’er was sent flying by the shockwave and gazed back once again. There was no longer a Yōu Court spacecraft in the heavens; only a Corpse King remained, with grey eyes.

Hidden in a distant spacecraft, Lu Yin frowned. Grey pupils indicated that this person was a Mutant Corpse King, which meant that the Neohuman Alliance had sent two mutated Corpse Kings for this operation. One was even a Hunter, which showed that they regarded the Yōu Court as rather important. Even if it was just a suspicion, they had still sent out such formidable powerhouses. It was similar to the annihilation of the Great Yu Empire’s Yushan family, where even the corpses had vanished.

Lu Yin felt some sympathy for the surviving girl.

With the numerous messages that the gadget on Lu Yin’s wrist had received, he now knew why the Yōu family in the Seven Courts no longer had a secret technique. The Yōu family’s secret technique could only be passed down to a single individual, which was vastly different from the Yu Secret Art that could be learned and cultivated by anyone with enough talent. 

Lu Yin was still going through the messages as Yōu Ye’er, who was floating in space, stared at the approaching Mutant Corpse King with his grey pupils. She suddenly became very calm, a complete change from her previous terror. 

“So many years have passed, and yet, you people still discovered it. That means that there’s someone from your Neohuman Alliance inside the Seven Courts,” Yōu Ye’er softly spoke to herself. She was obviously only around twelve and was a very young girl. However, the expression on her face and her placid tone was enough to cause even Lu Yin to tremble. 

Lu Yin could not scan through the incoming messages anymore, and he intently stared outside the spacecraft.

In another place, that Hunter realm Corpse King’s eyes went wide as he similarly stared at that point in space.

“Since you guys want to know so badly, I’ll fulfill your desires. Understand at the price of your death.” Yōu Ye’er raised her pretty face, revealing eyes that were as cold as the depths of hell. Ripples emanated out, causing Lu Yin to feel waves of cold wash over him. This was not a reaction to overwhelming power, but an instinctual response to an unclear and unknown threat, a threat to all living beings.

“Yōu Secret Art—Age Concealment,” Yōu Ye’er calmly stated. The next moment, an unbelievable change took place before Lu Yin’s eyes as his understanding of the universe was completely toppled; Yōu Ye’er grew up.

This brat had been only about ten years old before, but the moment she used the secret art, her body matured until she was a twenty-some year old woman with a gorgeous appearance and cold eyes. It was just like seeing a venomous flower bloom in the heavens.

This transformation shocked not only Lu Yin, but also the Hunter Corpse King beside him. 

Yōu Ye’er’s lips held a faint smile. “Shocking, isn’t it? This is the Yōu Secret Art, which allows the changes of time to be hidden away. It’s passed down singly within the bloodline, but this is what you want. Now die, along with this secret.”

An elder suddenly appeared next to Yōu Ye’er.

The elder had appeared silently, almost as if he had always been there, existing forever.

At the elder’s appearance, the Hunter Corpse King beside Lu Yin was overwhelmed. “Seven Courts’ Yōu elder, Yōu Yifan.”

The elder looked up and glanced at the hidden spacecraft off in the distance. He then lightly tapped against the void, causing the entire region of the universe to quiver.

The next moment, Lu Yin’s vision turned to ash. The planets, natural phenomena, dark space, and everything visible vanished. This was a boundlessly terrifying strength, and it reminded Lu Yin of when he had encountered Northgate Taisui. This elder was an old freak with a power level in the hundreds of thousands.

Beside Lu Yin, the Hunter Corpse King’s eyes turned grey, then green, before he leaped up in an attempt to escape.