Star Odyssey

Chapter 843: Strange Encounter

The cultivator whom Lu Yin had Possessed this time could be considered quite powerful, though he still was not Ling Que’s opponent. 

However, the Sixth Mainland cultivators indeed held too great of an advantage against the Fifth Mainland cultivators. Without the innate suppression that the latter suffered from and the former’s imprints, the person whom Lu Yin had Possessed would not have been able to withstand even one blade from Ling Que. 

But at this moment, these various advantages had piled up and caused Ling Que to be surrounded and forced to the border of life and death. 

If Lu Yin had not Possessed this person’s body, then Ling Que would unquestionably die here; he was already an arrow at the end of its flight. But now, things were different. 

Lu Yin approached Ling Que step by step. 

Ling Que closed both of his eyes, opened them wide once again, and looked at the sky with a fond expression. “My cheerleaders are gone. It’s a pity that they can’t see me one last time.” 

Lu Yin was left speechless; this person was still thinking of his cheerleaders even at the moment of his death. Speaking of those girls, that group had indeed left a deep impression on Lu Yin. 

“Bring it on! Even if it’s death, I can force you to share my fate!” Ling Que barked as he stared at the cultivator whom Lu Yin had Possessed. The doomed man’s gaze was unyielding. “You Sixth Mainland trash will be overtaken by us sooner or later. It’s just like what that person said: you guys are nothing more than slaves to your cultivation system.” 

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed, as Ling Gong had said this exact phrase when she had fought against Blood Looney. 

“I’ve been moved by you. Come on, kill me,” Lu Yin said as he looked at Ling Que with sincerity in his eyes. 

Ling Que was dumbfounded. “What did you just say?” 

Lu Yin righteously replied, “You said it right—we Sixth Mainland cultivators are all trash, and you are the powerful ones! Your words have moved me, so come. Kill me!” 

Ling Que blinked. “What did I say?” 

“KILL ME!” Lu Yin barked. 

Ling Que’s face twisted. “You- are you crazy?” 

“I’m letting you kill me, as I’ve been moved by your words,” Lu Yin loudly replied. 

Ling Que swallowed his saliva, feeling a little more than dumbfounded. What exactly was it that he had said a moment ago? 

Lu Yin could not wait any longer. The longer he dragged things out, the more his reserves of star essence would be depleted. And of course, he wanted to waste as little as possible; otherwise, he might not have enough to upgrade the poisons to a sufficient degree to influence the border’s defense. 

Lu Yin suddenly attacked Ling Que by having his host pick up his blade and he sliced out with it. 

Out of reflex, Ling Que dodged aside and counterattacked with his Que’s Mighty Slash that had merged into the void. Soon, the neck of the cultivator whom Lu Yin had Possessed was slashed open, and he died shortly thereafter. 

Ling Que’s mouth fell wide open—his attack had not been that fast since he was exhausted. Logically, this person should have been able to easily evade the attack, and what had happened to the man’s imprint? Or his martial techniques? He had not used either, which was very strange. Could Ling Que’s words have truly moved the man’s emotions to such a degree? 

Ling Que felt as though he had discovered a new path. From now on, he absolutely had to say something before his battles in the future, as he might move them emotionally as well. Right, just what was it that he had said? 

In the Greatwood Lavazone, Lu Yin’s eyes suddenly opened, and he instinctively grabbed at his neck and touched it, only to find that it was still intact. 

In that instant, he had experienced the sensation of having his throat sliced open. That feeling was not a good one, especially since his throat had been slit by Ling Que. 

He had tasted death. Additionally, Lu Yin did not know if he had misperceived this sensation, but when he returned to his own body, he felt like it had been moved by something. However, no matter how much he checked himself, he could find no changes. He shook his head and thought no further of it, and instead hurriedly checked his cosmic ring. He heaved a sigh of relief. Fortunately only around 20,000 star essence had been depleted. 

This was actually quite reasonable, as he was not too far away from Chaos Flowzone; there was only the Astral River and the Starfall Sea separating them, making the distance as the crow flies between the two locations not much. Also, the time that Lu Yin had spent Possessing the Sixth Mainland man had been extremely short. All in all, it was expected that he had only depleted that small amount of star essence. 

Also, if the strength of the person that Lu Yin Possessed was low, then Possession would cost less star essence. 

Lu Yin calmly restored his die and tapped it again, but then, suddenly, within the range of his domain, he sensed Qiong Xi’er, Wei Rong, and Zhu San approaching him. He inwardly grew a bit anxious; why did they have to choose this time to approach him? It would be a complete waste if he rolled three pips: Enhance. 

Fortunately, when the die stopped, what appeared was five pips. 

Five pips: Gift Copy was a seemingly useful, but actually useless roll. It allowed Lu Yin to borrow other people’s innate gifts, but it came with the condition that he had to touch the person whose innate gift he wanted to borrow within ten seconds of getting the roll. He had previously used this number to borrow the lightning from the rabbit that had stomped the Nine-Headed Ape unconscious, later using that lightning to kill a powerhouse who had ambushed him. He had also borrowed the Ghost Monkey’s innate gift of shadows. This time, he could not waste this roll. 

Ten seconds was enough, and as soon as he thought about it, Lu Yin’s figure vanished. 

Moving across the dark lava, Qiong Xi’er’s trio was heading towards Lu Yin.

“Are you certain that he’s really here?” Zhu San complained. 

Wei Rong glanced around, as he had come looking for Lu Yin to discuss if there was any way to counterattack against the invaders. In Wei Rong’s strategy book, there was no such thing as an eternal defense; they would certainly eventually be breached if they continued doing nothing but defending. 

In the past, Armament Weave had faced an invasion from the Great Eastern Alliance, and the Outerverse’s situation this time was similarly desperate. Wei Rong had found the means to stall for time back then, and in the end, he had managed to preserve the Wei family. Against the Sixth Mainland, no matter how great the difference in strength between the two mainlands may be, there would always be an opportunity for them to strike back as well. 

And this was something that Wei Rong could only discuss with Lu Yin and Qiong Xi’er at this time. 

Qiong Xi’er was flying along when Lu Yin suddenly appeared beside them and pressed a hand on Qiong Xi’er’s shoulder. “Looking for me?” 

Lu Yin’s sudden appearance nearly scared Qiong Xi’er out of her mind, and Wei Rong was also frightened. He was very jumpy at this time; he considered himself an intellectual and believed that it would be too tragic if he died on the battlefield. 

Qiong Xi’er stared at Lu Yin, dumbfounded. Then, her gaze shifted to Lu Yin’s hand that was on her shoulder, and a strange expression appeared on her face. 

Lu Yin pursed his lips and retracted his hand. “Sorry, I got a little happy at seeing an old friend.” 

Behind the two people, Zhu San grew furious, and he lashed out at Lu Yin, aiming a kick at Lu his butt, but Lu Yin easily dodged it. 

“You, the one surnamed Lu! Don’t take advantage of a friend’s wife! You scoundrel, you promised me before!” Zhu San shouted. 

Lu Yin rolled his eyes. “Relax, I’m not interested in her.” 

Qiong Xi’er arched a brow. “What does that mean? Speak clearly.” 

“Right, what do you mean? Isn’t our Xi’er fascinating?” Zhu San glared at Lu Yin. 

Lu Yin was left speechless by Zhu San’s sudden change. “Sure, she’s fascinating.” 

Zhu San’s eyes immediately turned bloodshot. “I knew that you were trying to snatch Xi’er from me! You bastard!” 

“Alright, stop bickering you two. Brother Lu, we have some matters that we wish to discuss with you,” Wei Rong told Lu Yin. 

Lu Yin nodded. “Go on.” 

Wei Rong looked around and then landed on the ground.

Lu Yin also descended from the sky. 

Qiong Xi’er patted her shoulder as she gave Lu Yin a strange look; this fellow’s behavior was quite odd. 

Zhu San glared at Lu Yin, as if he was protecting his treasure from thieves.

“Brother Lu, why do you think the Sixth Mainland is specifically targeting the Greatwood Lavazone?” Wei Rong asked. 

Lu Yin had naturally considered this question himself, and although he had his own conjectures, he did not bring them up at this time. “I just got here, so I don’t have much of an understanding of this place. What does Brother Wei think?” 

Wei Rong replied, “Does Brother Lu know that the Arrow Mountain Elder used a single arrow to kill an Envoy-level powerhouse from the Sixth Mainland? It was one of their so-called Imprinters.” 

Lu Yin nodded. 

“The Sixth Mainland’s strength is powerful between their weird imprints and bloodlines. They are definitely not weak when fighting against others within the same realm. From what I know, earlier in the battle, the Arrow Mountain Elder had traded blows with the Imprinter who he killed later, and he was not in the dominant position during those exchanges. Moreover, two Imprinters appeared simultaneously, but one of them ended up dying. And that person was even killed by a single arrow. Doesn’t Brother Lu find this strange?” Wei Rong asked. 

Qiong Xi’er grew impatient. “Can’t you just get to the point? You’re so infuriating! My turn.” She quickly picked up where Wei Rong had left off, saying, “Our analysis is that the Arrow Mountain Elder was able to kill the Imprinter not through his own strength, but rather with the power of the arrow that he used. This arrow must have somehow been special.” 

Lu Yin replied, “From what I know, the arrow that the Arrow Mountain Elder shot out was redirected by Yuan Shi, so it may have been reinforced by Yuan Shi’s strength, which allowed it to kill the Imprinter.” 

“Yuan Shi redirected the arrow because that arrow had been aimed at Ancestor Mojiang,” Wei Rong solemnly explained. 

Qiong Xi’er added on, “The Arrow Mountain Elder is not an idiot, but he still dared to attack Ancestor Mojiang, which proves that he must have had some level of confidence. Ancestor Mojiang is not just an Imprinter, but a World Imprinter who is far stronger than normal Imprinters. If his strength is measured with our power levels, then his power level has surpassed 800,000. For the Arrow Mountain Elder to be confident despite such circumstances is proof of how extraordinary that arrow is. Also, that arrow was stolen by the Imprinter known as Yan Cheng. Thus, we have surmised that the Sixth Mainland is launching frequent attacks against the Greatwood Lavazone either to seek revenge for the dead Imprinter or to steal another one of the Arrow Mountain Elder’s arrows.” 

Lu Yin had to admit that their deduction was quite valid, as the three arrows that had been passed down within Neo-Vestige Sect were possibly originally from the Sixth Mainland. The Arrow Mountain Elder had once mentioned that Lu Yin had come into contact with an aura of the arrow that was very similar to those three arrows, and that aura of the arrow was from Nightking Zhenwu. Nightking Zhenwu’s arrow techniques had been acquired in the Daosource Sect’s ruins, and he had also told Wu Taibai that his arrow techniques were from the Sixth Mainland. 

It was likely that Yan Cheng had recognized the arrow’s origin, and not only had he seized it, he had also realized that there might be more. 

“Brother Lu, what do you think?” Wei Rong asked Lu Yin. 

Lu Yin could not reveal everything that he knew. “You guys have guessed correctly, but so what? It won’t change the situation on the border.” 

“It can,” Wei Rong replied confidently. 

Lu Yin’s eyes flashed, as he had forgotten that the two youths in front of him were just as famous as Wang Wen for their intelligence, particularly Wei Rong. The difference in strength between the two sides during the invasion of Armament Weave had been overwhelming, but Wei Rong had been able to forcibly drag out the war for a long time. “What ideas do you have?” 

Wei Rong and Qiong Xi’er exchanged glances. “We can inflict heavy losses to the Sixth Mainland, but the downside is that once we do, stronger reinforcements may show up. Thus, we don’t know if this would be a blessing or a disaster.” 

“Even if we don’t cause great casualties for them, their reinforcements will still eventually arrive, alright?” Zhu San rolled his eyes. 

Qiong Xi’er patted Zhu San’s head. “Well said.” 

Zhu San was upset.

Lu Yin stared at Wei Rong.

Wei Rong’s eyes had a deep look. “Does Brother Lu remember… pyrolyte?”

Lu Yin’s eyes lit up, as he had nearly forgotten. Right, there was still pyrolyte.

“During this war, it’s impossible for the Hall of Honor not to use pyrolyte. Thus, the only reason why they haven’t used it yet is because they haven’t thought of a suitable method to take advantage of its power. Since we have managed to guess the Sixth Mainland’s goal in attacking the Greatwood Lavazone, then it’s simple. With the Arrow Mountain Elder as bait, we’ll use pyrolyte to blast them all dead.” Wei Rong was proud of their proposal. 

Zhu San was appalled. “You’re crazy! That’s the Arrow Mountain Elder you’re talking about! Don’t speak like that.” 

Lu Yin was also surprised. The Arrow Mountain Elder was an Envoy, yet Wei Rong was gutsy enough to even consider using an Envoy as bait. However, it had to be said that such a strategy would be effective. Those powerhouses from the Sixth Mainland were definitely focused on the Arrow Mountain Elder, which meant that he was indeed the best bait available. 

Wei Rong did not respond to Zhu San’s shouting, and he merely stared at Lu Yin, trying to catch a glimpse of something in Lu Yin’s eyes. 

Lu Yin answered, “All of this is just theoretical, but there’s no harm in giving it a try. You guys came to find me, and I’m guessing that it’s to have me talk to the Arrow Mountain Elder and the Hall of Honor, right?” 

Wei Rong nodded. “We have no choice. Our statuses are not enough to speak with anyone from the Hall of Honor or the Arrow Mountain Elder. Thus, only Brother Lu can help us.”