Star Odyssey

Chapter 4158: Limitations

Upon entering the Blood Tower, Yan Ruyu held the green stalk tightly and thrust it into the ground. Green power surged into the air.

Lu Yuan’s expression changed, and his face flushed red as veins bulged out around his eyes. He had no way to endure the Immortal Lord’s power.

“Little Ruyu, make it gentler!” Lu Yin quickly cautioned her.

Yan Ruyu quickly pulled the stalk back out of the ground before proceeding to guide the green light into the soil. Step by step, slowly, steadily, and ever so gently, the light entered the soil.

Only then was Lu Yuan able to feel a bit more at ease.

“Ancestor, how is it?” Lu Yin asked.

Lu Yuan let out a heavy breath and gave a wry smile. “That first outburst almost sent your old ancestor away for good. Luckily, it was much gentler after that. Also...”

He looked at the green stalk inside of the Blood Tower. “As soon as that power entered my body, it felt strangely compatible with me.”

Lu Yin arched a brow. This was precisely the possibility that he had considered earlier.

The Immortal Lord’s power was able to nurture insects and allow Verdant Sages to absorb the abilities of the inhabitants of a given megaverse, while Lu Yuan’s Fertile Soil was able to grow innate gifts. The man’s sequence particles themselves were the Law of Growth.

No matter how Lu Yin considered things, the two powers seemed perfectly suited for each other.

It turned out that his understanding had been correct.

“So, Ancestor, are you able to sense the teleportation ability now?”

“More clearly.”

“More clearly?” Lu Yin’s eyes were full of expectation.

Lu Yuan met Lu Yin’s gaze and nodded firmly. “Little Seven, your plan might very well succeed. Using the Immortal Lord’s power to guide the ability into my Fertile Soil may work. My sense of the teleportation ability is growing clearer and clearer. It feels like I am about to break through the limitations of our species.”

Greater Sancte Blood Tower praised the man. “Taking what is inherently impossible for a species and making it possible—that should be the Immortal Lord’s power. Lu Yuan, the nature of your own power complements that perfectly. If it were anyone else, even with the Immortal Lord’s guidance, things might not go as smoothly.

“Mr. Lu, it seems that our human civilization might truly gain an absolute means.”

Lu Yin clenched a fist. “Ancestor, there’s no need to rush. Take things slowly. We’ve already waited this long.”

Greater Sancte Blood Tower’s expression grew solemn. “And our human civilization has waited far longer. A bit more time won’t matter. Lu Yuan, proceed slowly.”

Lu Yuan nodded. “Rest assured.”

From that moment on, Lu Yin did not go anywhere, and Greater Sancte Blood Tower stopped visiting the riverbank. They both focused on watching over Lu Yuan, and they even used their own powers to protect him from any possible unforeseen danger.

After all, the Tianyuan still had a mysterious hidden entity from Obscura, and no one knew if or when that individual might make a move.

Time flowed on. Guided by Yan Ruyu, the green light changed the color of Lu Yuan’s Fertile Soil, dyeing it a rich green while also filling it with indescribable vitality. The piece of green stalk was eventually fully planted in the ground. Even Lu Yuan’s aura started to change.

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. Was it possible that the piece of the green stalk could trigger a transformation in his ancestor?

So far, Lu Yin’s only consideration had been the possibility of growing an innate gift of teleportation so that humanity could gain an absolute means. However, when he saw the changes taking place in Lu Yuan’s Fertile Soil, he realized that the potential gains might be much more than expected.

If Lu Yuan could transform, acquire the attributes of the Immortal Lord’s power, and even pass it down to his descendents, the Lu family would become something entirely different.

Teleportation and the Immortal Lord’s power were things that would completely transform the Lu family. That was not even considering how these abilities would be in addition to the Investiture of the Gods and the Champions’ Stage that they already possessed.

This would cause the Lu family to truly become the hope of the entire human civilization. They would be the first family to push humanity toward evolving into a fishing civilization.

Inside the Blood Tower, the green light continued to flow through the Fertile Soil.

Luo Chan eventually noticed the change as well. The Progenitor’s world was suffused with green light, and it lay right beneath the bug’s feet. There was no way for Luo Chan to not notice the change.

It stared at the ground. The power felt strangely familiar. Isn’t this Master’s power? Why is it here?

The bug could not understand what was happening.

The humans had imprisoned Luo Chan for many years now. It was growing increasingly uneasy, and it even had the nagging sense that something that it could not sense was happening.

Luo Chan wanted to escape, but it could not.

The green light coiled up from the ground, moving towards Luo Chan as though it were alive. Even though it was clearly the Immortal Lord’s power, Luo Chan did not dare to touch the green light, and it immediately teleported away.

However, the Blood Tower was only so large. Once the green light completely filled the interior, Luo Chan had no choice but to let the gentle light twine around it.

A strange sensation filled it, as though its life had acquired a completely new perception. Luo Chan was also able to sense the limitations of its species.

From outside, Lu Yin and Greater Sancte Blood Tower watched as Luo Chan slowly settled onto the Fertile Soil and quieted down. Their hope started to climb; they were getting closer and closer to success.

After some more time passed, a day came when Lu Yuan suddenly opened his eyes, and his Fertile Soil vanished.

Greater Sancte Blood Tower raised a hand and withdrew the Blood Tower, though Luo Chan remained trapped inside. Yan Ruyu emerged, though the green stalk was gone, having integrated with the Fertile Soil.

Yan Ruyu had not tried to keep it. She had absolutely no idea what had just happened.

Lu Yin and the others were focused entirely on Lu Yuan, though they did not dare to disturb him.

At this moment, even someone as powerful as Greater Sancte Blood Tower felt tense while waiting for the results.

Lu Yuan stood up and rolled his shoulders. Green light randomly flickered across his body, the exact shade as the green stalk.

Right after that, the man vanished, reappearing behind Lu Yin and the others.

Lu Yin and Greater Sancte Blood Tower immediately spun around. Their faces initially showed expressions of shock, which was quickly replaced with absolute joy.

Lu Yuan was much, much weaker than Lu Yin, and there was an even greater gap between the former and Greater Sancte Blood Tower. Even so, Lu Yuan had truly vanished from their perception. No matter the distance or duration, disappearing was still disappearing. The man had not moved with pure speed, but rather teleported. He had disappeared using an innate gift of teleportation.

Lu Yin excitedly asked, “Ancestor, did you just teleport?”

Greater Sancte Blood Tower held his breath, staring fixedly at Lu Yuan, afraid that the man might say no.

“It should be,” Lu Yuan replied. His face also revealed joy, though there was also a hint of confusion and unfamiliarity. At least, that was how Lu Yin and the others interpreted the man’s expression.

Still, what mattered to them was that Lu Yuan could teleport.

Teleportation.

It was real teleportation. Luo Chan’s teleportation ability had caused human civilization to suffer countless losses. Even though humanity’s overall strength had always far exceeded the Nest civilization’s, they had still been suppressed. Throughout all their various battles and exchanges, humanity had only gained the upper hand once. Every other time, they had been forced into direct fights, many of which had only been won by relying on Lu Yin’s ever-increasing power.

At this moment, humanity had also gained the ability to teleport. Even if Luo Chan was released, it would no longer matter.

It was like when the Nest civilization had first invaded the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. Greater Sancte Awe Gate had pursued Luo Chan, with the bug teleporting around while the Immortal had used her Awe Gates. The only problem with that was that the Awe Gates’ range was too limited. But now, humans had finally obtained a similar means for themselves, and the range could be expanded to cover all the human megaverses and even beyond.

When fighting against other civilizations, teleportation alone would be enough to serve as their absolute means.

Luo Chan had used its ability to teleport to torment human civilization. In the future, humanity would be able to torment other civilizations in the same way. They would always retain the initiative in war.

Unless an enemy civilization was able to use overwhelming power to utterly crush them, human civilization would retain an nearly unassailable position in the Aevum Inch.

This was what an absolute means was.

Human civilization had finally gained a true trump card.

Greater Sancte Blood Tower’s eyes blazed. “Six Immortals, one Aberrant, and now an absolute means like teleportation! Our human civilization is truly worthy of being considered a fishing civilization.”

Lu Yin swallowed. Ever since he had learned about the Aevum Inch, he had felt a suffocating pressure bearing down on him. It was a pressure that weighed on not only him, but also on all of human civilization.

As powerful enemies appeared one after another, that pressure had only grown. Their human civilization had been pushed so far that they had even started to seriously consider escaping.

It was as though they had been walking along the edge of an abyss at every moment. On both the left and the right were unfathomable chasms. There was no way to retreat, and so they could only grit their teeth and continue forward.

Finally, they had stepped onto open ground.

Teleportation was enough to serve as an absolute means that the human civilization could rely on to overturn their fate.

Seeing such excitement from the two men, Lu Yuan could only shake his head helplessly before pouring a bucket of cold water on them. “My teleportation ability might not be as good as what you are imagining.”

Lu Yin and Greater Sancte Blood Tower felt their hearts sink as they stared at him. “What do you mean?”

Lu Yuan answered with a bitter smile. “It’s not so easy to overcome the limitations of a given species. It’s true that I’ve grown an innate gift of teleportation, but this innate gift... how should I put it... its range is quite small.”

“How small?” Greater Sancte Blood Tower nervously asked. If the range was small enough that it could be overcome with mere speed, it would be meaningless.

Lu Yuan thought for a moment. “The range should be limited to whatever I can see.”

“You have to see where you’re going? So can you only teleport to places within your line of sight? Is that as far as you can go?” Lu Yin pressed.

Lu Yuan nodded.

Lu Yin and Greater Sancte Blood Tower exchanged looks, unsure of what to say. Was this expected or a surprise? In a way, it was both. Luo Chan did not need to see the destination to be able to teleport there. Each jump could carry the bug far past the range that even an Immortal could quickly traverse—far, far beyond. How could it merely travel to places within eyesight while reaching locations beyond the perception of Immortals?

After all, Luo Chan could teleport the entire way across the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm, which was beyond even Greater Sancte Green Lotus’s abilities.

In contrast, Lu Yuan’s new innate gift required him to see his destination first before he could teleport to it, which imposed severe limitations.

Greater Sancte Blood Tower said, “Don’t be discouraged. We actually anticipated something like this.”

He turned to Ancestor Lu Yuan. “Every species functions differently. If you acquire an ability that does not belong to your own species without changing what you are, it is never going to be perfect. You are human, yet you possess the teleportation of a creature like Luo Chan. In practice, that means you are combining traits from two different species. You have access to Luo Chan’s ability, while still retaining human instincts. That is entirely normal.

“Honestly, being able to develop that ability at all is already impressive.

“After all, we already have ways to perceive distant locations. Even if it cannot serve as a truly absolute means, it still counts as an improvement.”

Lu Yin asked, “Senior, are you saying that being human itself is what’s affecting teleportation?”

Ancestor Lu Yuan nodded. “That’s how it feels to me as well. No matter how one cultivates, you don’t stop being what you are. Even if you become an Immortal, you still exist as a living being. Cultivation extends lifespan, it doesn’t change what kind of life you are.”

Blood Tower looked at them. “A creature that can feel pain learns to evade and defend. A creature that cannot will fight in an entirely different way.

“That difference is fundamental. I don’t know how a creature like Luo Chan experiences the world, but humans have rich emotions and instinctively treat the unknown as dangerous. Because of that, whenever we move, we must first be able to see our destination. That limitation cannot be removed.

“You can decide the fate of others, and even your own fate, but you cannot decide how your species is wired. Those instincts cannot be overwritten.”