Star Odyssey

Chapter 604: A Trace Of Unfamiliarity

After Lu Yin arrived at Shenwu Continent’s space station, no matter how much the Daynight members surrounding him hated him, they did not dare to reveal anything. Lu Yin was pretty much the strongest person in the entirety of the eastern weaves so long as no Enlighter appeared. 

Lu Yin glanced at his surroundings. “Madam didn’t go, but another Daynight clan Hunter went. Zhanlong Daynight isn’t here either. He hasn’t returned yet?” 

Madam Meilan’s pupils shrank. She had felt that something strange had happened since she had last seen Lu Yin. For some reason, it felt like he knew everything and that nothing could be kept hidden from him. “How did Student Lu know that they have not yet returned?” 

Lu Yin smiled faintly, but he did not bother explaining. Something like the rune lines that he could see could only be explained to someone who could see them for themselves, and those who had never seen them could never hope to comprehend such a thing. Thus, Lu Yin had no explanation that he could give. 

“Is there a matter that Student Lu wishes to address during this visit?” Madam Meilan enquired. 

Lu Yin raised his gadget and absentmindedly answered, “I had a thorough discussion with Elder Lohar before leaving Ironblood Weave, and he hopes that the Outerverse can be stabilized and united. I came here to carry out the will of the elder, or rather, the Hall of Honor, and I am headed into Shenwu Continent to take a look.” 

Madam Meilan looked at the gadget that Lu Yin was showing her and became astonished. It was a custom-made gadget, and just one glance was enough to see that it was from the Hall of Honor. This person definitely had more than five Honor Points, and it seemed that the Hall of Honor intended to nurture him, given that he had obtained so many Honor Points at such a young age. 

“It might be too late for Student Lu to head there now,” Madam Meilan replied helplessly.

Lu Yin’s eyes flashed. “What do you mean?”

Madam Meilan stroked her hair. “After Student Lu informed Tang Si about the separation of the Innerverse and the Outerverse, Tang Si was safely sent back to Shenwu Continent. Following that, Ming Zhaoshu’s attitude towards the foreign powers has changed, and he’s not as cordial as before. Ming Zhaotian has become even more cruel, and they are increasingly unconcerned with us.”

Lu Yin could hear the dissatisfaction in her tone, but he didn’t care. “That’s my problem, and I’ll handle it.” 

“What were Elder Lohar’s original words?” she asked. 

Lu Yin glanced at her. “You can go ask him yourself.”

She smiled. “Student Lu, there’s no need to think too much. I only wish to better understand the Hall of Honor’s intentions so that I can better assist Student Lu. I definitely do not mean to insinuate that I harbor any suspicions.”

“Send me to Shenwu Continent, and I’ll discuss this matter with Ming Zhaotian and Ming Zhaoshu myself.” 

Madam Meilan nodded and did not refuse him. Regardless of if he was being honest about Elder Lohar’s intentions, she did not have the strength to stop Lu Yin. She glanced at the blind monk, who made her feel a little nervous. How could the Outerverse have such people? It truly seemed like the Great Yu Empire was not lacking in powerhouses. 

The process of entering Shenwu Continent this time was similar to what Lu Yin had experienced during the Outerverse’s trial in the past. The reason why Lu Yin had brought the blind monk with him this time was to eliminate the possibility that he might not be able to leave the continent. With the Hunter nearby, as well as the Hall of Honor behind him, Lu Yin felt assured that he would be fine. 

The only issue now was that he didn’t know where he would land. 

The location where one would land when entering Shenwu Continent was random. In the past, Lu Yin had landed right in Ming Yan’s bath, which had led to the events that had caused him to have feelings for her. Lu Yin’s heart grew feverish at the thought of her since he was about to meet with her once again. 

This time, there was no Ming Zhaotian obstructing his transfer to Shenwu Continent, and so, Lu Yin smoothly arrived. He saw the sky above the continent before suddenly crashing down into a luxurious residence. He looked around and saw that he seemed to be about to land inside a home yet again. 

He was stunned at this sight; did he have some sort of fate with landing in people’s homes? Fortunately, he was prepared this time, and he forcefully twisted his body using his physical strength to instead force himself to crash into an expanse of greenery, a garden in the house’s courtyard. 

The disturbance from his landing was too great, and so, it attracted the guards’ attention. Lu Yin immediately left. 

The house that he had landed next to was located inside of a city. When Lu Yin stepped out of the residence, he made a point to look around and quickly saw that there was no heavenly globe in sight, which indicated that he had landed within a part of Ming Zhaoshu’s territory. 

Only Ming Zhaoshu’s territory would not be biased against outside cultivators.

Lu Yin had intentionally checked on the state of its matters before entering Shenwu Continent, and so, he was aware that Ming Zhaoshu and his regime that was in opposition to the Shenwu Empire currently controlled twelve islands. Qiong Island was located beside the capital, Ming Island, and the other eleven islands that the rebels controlled lay due east of Qiong Island.  

Given the twelve islands’ locations, even if Lu Yin had landed on the island that was the furthest from Qiong Island, it still wouldn’t be much of a problem for Lu Yin to travel that distance. 

He asked around and quickly learned that he was on Dapan Island, which was only three islands away from Qiong Island, so he was not very far away. 

Reverent King Ming Zhaoshu had carefully chosen the twelve islands that he had taken over, and they were arranged in a line that connected Qiong Island to the ocean. This meant that he could not be surrounded and that, with Ming Island as a centerpoint, he essentially controlled an entire region. 

But even though he could not be easily surrounded, if the battlefront was this large, then regardless of whether or not Ming Zhaoshu possessed the strength to resist Ming Zhaotian, he should have long since been exterminated. That was, if not for the support that he received from outside forces. To date, Ming Zhaoshu had received help from many powerhouses from both the Innerverse and the Outerverse. 

Lu Yin deliberately observed the situation as he made his way towards Qiong Island. The rejection that the natives of Shenwu Continent held towards the aliens was rather severe, but it had been suppressed by Ming Zhaoshu. Now, the citizens didn’t dare to reveal their displeasure. 

This situation caused Lu Yin to frown. Such a heavy-handed approach was indeed a bandaid for the current problem, but building up this much pressure and resentment was asking for the situation to boil over in the future, and Ming Zhaoshu might just find himself in a non-ideal situation then. The only way out of this mess was to use the Outerverse to divert the conflicting opinions. Then, the masses could either accept the Outerverse and merge with it, or give in to their terror. But if they chose the latter, they would explode sooner or later. 

With Ming Zhaoshu’s intellect, it was impossible that he had not seen this, so it could only be  that he was too confident in himself.

On his way to Qiong Island, Lu Yin conveniently bought a copy of the List of Tempering, and after looking at it, he found that there were many changes to the list. Many people who had been on the list the last time he was on the continent had broken through and become Martial Emperors, which was the equivalent of the Explorer realm. Reaching this realm would automatically remove them from the list, and among those who had left the list in this manner was Hua Ying, one of the empire’s twin beauties. Lu Yin had a deep impression of the young woman, as she was a ravishing beauty who was just as famous as Ming Yan. There were also many new names on the list. 

During the battle at the Tower of Resonating Light, the person who had been at the top of this list had ambushed Lu Yin, but had been killed. Now, the top person was someone called Ruthless, and his name was not hidden. Instead, the empire had magnanimously publicized his name for everyone to see. Strangely enough, Li Zimo was still second on the list. He had not broken through and become a Martial Emperor yet. 

In the past, during the Outerverse’s trial, aside from Ming Yan and Ming Zhaoshu, Lu Yin’s impression of Li Zimo had been the deepest. The man was a genius with the sword. If Liu Shaoqiu did not rely on the Thirteen Swords, then he might not necessarily be Li Zimo’s opponent. It was entirely possible that Liu Shaoqiu had become an Explorer by now, but Li Zimo was still just a Limiteer. 

Tang Si had also been taken off of the list. The last time the two had met, he was still an Limiteer, and now, he was an Explorer. 

The List of Tempering was not very important to Lu Yin, and he had only browsed through it out of curiosity. There was no need for him to compare himself with anyone on this list given his current strength. Instead, he was comparing himself with the strongest of the entire continent. 

Due to his urgent desire to see Ming Yan, he moved towards Qiong Island as quickly as he could, and it soon became visible in the distance. 

As he approached, Lu Yin noticed more and more cultivators from the Outerverse, and there were even some Daynight clan members. 

Even if many people held hatred for the aliens, they still managed to endure the oppression, and Lu Yin did not witness any outbursts along his travels. 

When he arrived at Qiong Island, he headed straight for the Reverent King’s Residence. The security in the area was very strict, especially so after the Reverent King rebelled against the empire. Since then, he had been the target of many assassination attempts, and even the Ming Constables and the Demon Hunters Society had sent assassins after him. 

There were quite a few foreign cultivators who were also contributing to the defenses around the Reverent King’s Residence. 

Still, all of this was useless against Lu Yin since his domain allowed him to move undetected even after entering the Reverent King’s Residence. 

Fortunately, Reverent King Ming Zhaoshu was currently not at home, and while there was a Martial Sovereign within the Reverent King’s Residence, that person was greatly inferior to Ming Zhaoshu, and he could not discover Lu Yin with his domain. Lu Yin successfully entered the residence under the concealment of his domain. In the back garden of the residence, he saw the beautiful Ming Yan smiling. She was sitting inside a pavilion atop a small bridge with water softly flowing underneath. At the same moment, Lu Yin also saw an elegant youth with black-and-white hair who was very attention-grabbing. He instantly noticed that there was a trace of grey hair in the middle of the youth’s hair: the Nightking clan. 

Flowers were blooming all around the bridge, and Ming Yan’s happy laughter could be heard from the pavilion. 

“Brother Changfeng, are there really people who are that short?” Ming Yan’s eyes went wide as she asked with curiosity. 

Across from her, the Nightking smiled at her. “Of course. There are many planets in the universe with varying levels of gravity. Some have especially strong gravity, and the result is that the natives of those planets are much shorter. But don’t look down on them! They are usually very powerful.” 

Ming Yan stuck her tongue out. “I wasn’t looking down on them. If heaven strips something away from someone, then it will naturally bestow other things upon them.”

The Nightking man looked at Ming Yan’s adorable and amazingly beautiful face, and his eyes flickered with a trace of passion. “Yan’er, I’ll take you for a tour around the universe.”

Ming Yan was taken aback, and she lowered her head and fell silent. 

The Nightking man leaned slightly closer to her. “The universe is so vast, and there are many mysterious things within it. This Shenwu Continent is too small, and Uncle Ming also wants to join the rest of the universe. It’s a pity that Ming Zhaotian and the others are not receptive to such an idea. But, as long as Yan’er wishes it, Brother Changfeng will take you away at once.” 

Ming Yan stared at the stone table, and nobody could tell what she was thinking.

The Nightking youth took a deep breath, feeling that it was time. He had spent so much time and effort on this woman, and now, there were finally about to be some results. As he thought about it, he raised his hand and slowly drew closer to her. Suddenly, a shadow covered the two of them, and the man’s pupils shrank. When had someone moved behind him?

In an instant, a green pattern and blue stripes covered his body. He actually had seven lined battle force. He looked behind him to see that there was a youth had appeared behind him without him noticing. This person was calmly staring at Ming Yan and the Nightking youth. Although the newcomer’s eyes appeared to be tranquil, the Nightking man could feel that underneath the calm facade, there was an indescribable amount of bloodlust ready to erupt, and it was directed entirely towards him. 

“Who are you?” The Nightking youth did not move, as this new person was standing only a meter away from him. There wasn’t enough distance to run, and he knew that if he tried to make a move, he could immediately fall into a disadvantage.

“Brother Lu?” Ming Yan cried out as she looked at the newcomer in disbelief.

The man frowned. Brother Lu? Lu Yin? His expression dramatically changed.

Lu Yin’s gaze swept past the Nightking man and moved towards Ming Yan. He could see the pleasant surprise in her eyes, but there was also a trace of unfamiliarity, which made Lu Yin’s heart drop. It had been two years! And after this amount of time, such a change should be expected! 

His first meeting with Ming Yan had originally been a coincidence, and her feelings for Lu Yin had partially been because she had never really interacted with any other man before, which was in part due to Shenwu Continent’s cultural custom of confining their daughters. This had caused Ming Yan to instantly fall in love with Lu Yin. But the moment he met her again, he was mesmerized by her beauty yet again. 

That was Lu Yin’s first time feeling his heart skip a beat, and it was such a beautiful sensation.

However, two years of separation as well as being exposed to the wide universe’s foreign culture meant that Ming Yan had come into contact with more than one outsider. Her mentality had changed, and she no longer felt restrained by Shenwu Continent’s conservative customs. It was possible that she still had feelings for Lu Yin, but they were likely not as pure or firm as they had been in the past.