Star Odyssey

Chapter 976: Vitality Qi

A woman appeared right in front of Lu Yin and the others. Her looks were rather ordinary, and they certainly were not breathtaking. Rather, her appearance was one that people would not tire of looking at. This was the woman who had caused Starsibyl’s expression to change, and she was also who had made Lu Yin involuntarily grow wary.

This woman was Zhi Yi, and she had rushed over to this battlefield at her fastest speed to seize the pole. When she arrived, she saw that hundreds of thousands of Sixth Mainland cultivators had been reduced to a pathetic state. She simply glanced over them before her gaze settled on Lu Yin’s trio, or to be more accurate, on Starsibyl. 

Starsibyl had used some strange methods to hide her original appearance, and the results were astounding. Most people would forget her after just one look. This was a very strange phenomena, but the more special it was, the more Zhi Yi focused on Starsibyl. In Zhi Yi’s eyes, Starsibyl was the brightest light on the entire battlefield, and she was the person who needed to be focused on the most. 

The two girls were separated by an entire battlefield, but they still managed to exchange glances. 

Starsibyl had never revealed such an expression of panic before, as she had even been confident in being able to delay an Imprinter, and even the Realmling, Nan Yanfei had been within her expectations. However, at this moment, Starsibyl had a solemn expression on her face, and her eyes kept darting about as though she was trying to divine something. 

“I’m Zhi Yi,” the newly arrived woman calmly stated. 

Lu Yin and Ling Que’s expressions changed; she was one of the Daosource Three Skies, Zhi Yi.

Starsibyl involuntarily clenched a fist. Sure enough, only the Daosource Three Skies were able to give her such a sensation. 

Thick twines of lightning had gathered in the sky, and they suddenly struck towards the bottom of the sea.

Zhi Yi looked over at the three youths. “You people have already taken the pole. Where’s Nan Yanfei?” 

Across from her, Ling Que softly asked, “Do you guys think we’ll be able to escape if we all run in different directions?”

Lu Yin frowned as he looked at Zhi Yi, as he did not believe that this woman could beat him. With the Rune Progenitor’s cosmic phenomenon suppressing everyone within this part of the universe, those who cultivated Truesight could be considered trial takers while all others were just props. Even the Daosource Three Skies should not be an exception to this. 

“Why would one of the Daosource Three Skies take action personally?” Starsibyl spoke.

Zhi Yi’s eyes were cold. “I’m the one asking the questions here. Where did Nan Yanfei go?”

As they spoke, Hua Xiao appeared behind the trio, and he instantly struck out. Stars appeared in his hand, and all of the hundreds of stars exploded in an attack that enveloped Zhi Yi. 

Zhi Yi frowned as a formless barrier surrounded her body and completely blocked the Cosmic Palm. Hua Xiao was completely overwhelmed, and his palm could not move the slightest bit forward. 

“The Cosmic Sect. They are a very powerful sect, but unfortunately, their heirs are only at this level,” Zhi Yi commented softly as she casually waved a hand. A visible barrier of air swept out, dispelled Hua Xiao’s star energy, and then threw him a thousand meters away. His hand was flushed red and trembling incessantly. Although it had all taken place in an instant, he had not even been able to block a casual wave from his opponent. The gust of air had not been formed by physical strength or star energy. Rather, it was something ineffable that could not be described or disobeyed. 

“Attack,” Lu Yin growled before he leaped at Zhi Yi. Since one of the Daosource Three Skies had appeared, there was no reason for them to flee. With Zhi Yi’s speed, they might not even be able to escape. 

Lu Yin did not actually want to confront one of the Daosource Three Skies head on. However, since the situation had already arrived, he could not avoid it. 

Zhi Yi’s gaze swept over to Lu Yin, astonished. A five-cycle Cruiser?

With a thump, Lu Yin’s palm struck the strange barrier surrounding Zhi Yi’s body as he unleashed a full One Hundred Stacks. However, that attack was also useless; just like Hua Xiao, Lu Yin’s hand could not advance any further. 

Zhi Yi was surprised. “The Overlaying Stacks Path, the path that the Divine Fist Arbiter is adept at. It’s a pity that you are only capable of unleashing One Hundred Stacks. If you could use Two Hundred Stacks, then you would be enough for me to take another look.”

She then waved her hand in the same manner as before, causing a gust of air to sweep out and blast at Lu Yin’s body.

Lu Yin felt that his star energy was being suppressed, and his personal strength was also being suppressed for some indiscernible reason. But somehow, the gust of air did not have much of an effect on him. Lu Yin moved forward once again, this time with his star energy converging over his right hand. “First Sun.” 

Zhi Yi was stunned. “You’re actually fine?”

The First Sun exploded resplendently, its force slamming into the strange barrier and causing an intense rumbling to shake the void and tear open spatial cracks. This was the strongest attack that Lu Yin was capable of unleashing with the cosmic phenomenon’s suppression, but it still could not breach the barrier.

The barrier seemed to be absolutely invincible. 

Hua Xiao revealed four arms as he attempted to use a combination of his Gentle Starpalm and lockbreaking techniques on the barrier, but his efforts proved to be fruitless.

In the distance, Starsibyl continued to watch the two youths’ attempts, but she did not utter a single word. She had been able to direct them through divination during their battle against Nan Yanfei, and her instructions had allowed Lu Yin and Hua Xiao to maintain the upper hand from beginning to end, ultimately allowing them to beat Nan Yanfei in a sad manner. However, against Zhi Yi, Starsibyl could not speak up. No matter how she calculated or strategized, she could not find any way for the two youths to break through Zhi Yi’s defense. That defensive barrier was truly invincible to their current forces. 

Zhi Yi no longer paid any attention to Starsibyl. Instead, she directed her entire focus towards Lu Yin. She calmly clenched her five fingers, causing another visible gust of air to form itself from the surrounding void that moved to entrap Lu Yin. As Zhi Yi clenched her fist, the formless air currents converged and trapped Lu Yin in their center. 

Lu Yin was astonished. He had been struck by this strange wind before, but it had barely caused any difficulties for him whatsoever. He then looked over at Zhi Yi in confusion; what was she trying to do? This air stream did not have any power whatsoever! 

Zhi Yi’s expression changed, and the air that had come from the void similarly transformed. Still, no matter how it changed, it was not able to harm Lu Yin, who eventually became too lazy to defend himself. Instead, he wanted to go all out in an attempt to break through Zhi Yi’s strange barrier. He had not used Truesight yet. Since he was facing off against one of the Daosource Three Skies, he wanted to keep Truesight as a hidden trump to be used at the most crucial moment. 

“What kind of person are you?” Zhi Yi asked as she stared at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin tapped out with a finger, and the Dream Finger struck the formless barrier, but this was also useless since his fingertip could not pass through it.

Hua Xiao panted heavily, and he looked at Zhi Yi like she was a monster. What exactly had this woman cultivated that they couldn’t even hit her? How could they fight such an opponent? 

“Can you only defend?” Lu Yin retorted.

Zhi Yi’s eyes narrowed. “Why aren’t you influenced by Vitality Qi? You aren’t even suppressed. Just where are you from? You aren’t from this Fifth Mainland.” 

Lu Yin’s brows rose. “What nonsense are you spouting? I’m from the Outerverse.”

“Impossible. No cultivator from the Fifth Mainland can avoid being suppressed, but you are completely unrestrained as you move around. You clearly are not suppressed at all, so just where are you from? Tell me!” Zhi Yi ordered.

Lu Yin clenched his fist and lashed out with a Daynight Punch, his spiritual force forming a devastating maelstrom that swept towards Zhi Yi.

Ever since he had absorbed that light ball of spiritual force that had emerged from Liuying Zishan, Lu Yin’s spiritual force had continuously grown to the point where it was now approaching the level of the Ten Arbiters’. In fact, his spiritual force was still increasing, and it had never stopped growing. The explosive spiritual force of this punch actually momentarily stumped Zhi Yi. Lu Yin quickly took advantage of this opportunity to weaken Zhi Yi’s rune lines with Truesight as he simultaneously converged his star energy above his right hand. He was just about to unleash his First Sun when Starsibyl shouted from the distance, “Retreat!” 

Lu Yin reflexively fell back, and Hua Xiao did the same.

However, nothing happened, and Zhi Yi peacefully stood high in the sky.

Lu Yin threw a doubtful glance over at Starsibyl. If she hadn’t called out for them to retreat, his First Sun definitely would have blasted this member of the Daosource Three Skies. Although his attack was not guaranteed to break that strange barrier, he would have gladly given it a try.

Zhi Yi looked at Starsibyl oddly with eyes that were alight with curiosity. “How did you know?”

Starsibyl looked at the other woman. “Your barrier is not pure defense. Rather, it has some kind of counterattacking ability. When your opponent is unable to break through it, they’ll be struck by some form of retaliation, right?” 

Lu Yin’s expression changed, and he looked at Zhi Yi’s formless barrier with new eyes; so this was also possible? How could they even fight such a thing? He was not confident in being able to break through that barrier in one strike.

Zhi Yi stared at Starsibyl in amazement as she repeated her question. “How did you know?”

Starsibyl did not reply.

Zhi Yi looked at her and then at Lu Yin. “I’ve grown curious about both of you, but especially you.” She focused her attention on Lu Yin. “Did you just do something? Like perhaps, a secret technique?” 

Lu Yin’s brows rose. “No, you saw wrongly.”

“Is that so? I’m not actually certain myself, so try it again. Besides, if you can’t break through my Sky Dipper, then you can’t injure me,” Zhi Yi explained. 

Lu Yin was rendered speechless. As he looked at the strange barrier surrounding Zhi Yi, he felt like he had no way to attack this woman.

Starsibyl’s voice quietly whispered from right beside their ears, “Flee in different directions—we aren’t a match for her.” 

Off in the distance, Ling Que had already made his escape. From the very beginning, he had always kept the trio’s original intention in mind, which was to take advantage of this massive battlefield to return to the Fifth Mainland’s side, not to risk their lives fighting against the enemy. From his point of view, he was following their original strategy out of loyalty, not running away from danger. 

Beneath them, the hundreds of thousands of Sixth Mainland cultivators who had been pathetically routed saw Zhi Yi arrive. The appearance of one of the Daosource Three Skies invigorated them to new heights, and they retaliated against the Fifth Mainland’s forces with renewed vigor. 

Zhi Yi seemed to respond to the motivated cultivators, and she raised a hand. That formless gust of air, which had been ineffective against Lu Yin, swept through the mass of Sixth Mainland cultivators before descending upon the bulk of the Fifth Mainland cultivators. Anyone who was struck by the wind immediately began to age. Some people’s bodies even deteriorated before falling apart into dust. 

Hundreds of thousands of people transformed into dust as they died, shocking everyone who survived. 

Lu Yin’s pupils shrank, and he looked at Zhi Yi in disbelief.

Zhi Yi smirked. “You see, this is Vitality Qi. It can absorb life force and transform humans into dust. This is why I’m very curious about how you blocked it.”

Lu Yin’s scalp went numb, and he was suddenly struck by a delayed sense of fear. He had actually allowed that same wind to strike him, and he felt as if he had walked along the edge of death.

How had he stopped it? Lu Yin first considered the Stonewall Scriptures, but he quickly rejected that idea. The Stonewall Scriptures were mysterious, but they were not omnipotent. He then thought of another possibility—the Arcane Art of Fatal Revival. He had used that technique twice, and both times had been during moments when he had hovered at the border of death, and both times had greatly boosted his strength. Back then, he had thought that this art would not be of much use in the future, but during his battle against Zhanlong Daynight, Lu Yin had relied on this art to suppress the Daynight Restoration Technique. Later, it had also allowed him to suppress someone from the Specter Clan. His current ability to survive might also be due to this strange art. 

The Arcane Art of Fatal Revival. Life and death. In the past, he had not understood the true mystery of this bizarre technique, but at this moment, he finally realized just how insane it could be. An art that could restore a dead person back to life was something that not even a secret technique could accomplish. 

Unfortunately, this art was not something that could be cultivated. In fact, whether or not one could use it all depended on one’s luck. 

“It seems like you’ve thought of something. Vitality Qi is a mysterious energy of my Sixth Mainland’s Daosource Sect. Since you aren’t affected by it, I’m very curious about your origins. So, come with me.” Zhi Yi transcended the void and appeared right in front of Lu Yin. She did not move, and instead, the Vitality Qi gathered around her and formed a sword that she grabbed with both hands. “Actually, when I’m bored, I also practice sword techniques.”

The Vitality Qi sword stabbed forward, glinting with a cold light. At this moment, there was only this solitary sword in the sky above and the ground below. 

This was Zhi Yi’s solitary sword. The Daosource Three Skies were the future skies of the Sixth Mainland, and their wondrous talent was something that could not be understood. Although Zhi Yi had truly only ever practiced the sword when she was bored, the terror of her sword would leave anyone terrified.