Star Odyssey

Chapter 3750: Future?

No one knew the truth about Old Salamander’s background, not even Zhan Ming. Old Salamander was far older than Zhan Ming, and while the name “Zhan Qian” could be found in the Zhan family’s records, he was listed as having died long ago. Supposedly, he had passed away before the age of thirty.

No one knew that Zhan Qian had not died, but had instead faked his death to go traveling and train. He had hidden himself from the Zhan family so that he could prepare to undergo a beast-form Spirit Rebirth and become a Five-Clawed Celestial Salamander.

At the time, no one could have imagined that such a thing would take place. Who would have willingly abandoned their status as the scion of the Gate of Laws’ Zhan family in order to undergo a beast-form Spirit Rebirth? No one from the Zhan family had been willing to do that throughout their entire history. They were born at the pinnacle of the Spirit Nidus, so how could any of them possibly consider undergoing a beast-form Spirit Rebirth?

Despite that, Old Salamander—or rather, Zhan Qian—had done exactly that. He had renounced his identity as a member of the Zhan family and the possibility of undergoing a human-form Spirit Rebirth solely to take on the form of the Five-Clawed Celestial Salamander. His obsession had started after seeing Stillstorm.

Old Salamander refused to say where he had seen Stillstorm, which was precisely why the Origin Progenitor had not been able to confiscate Heaven’s Seal. When Old Salamander had killed Emperor Wu and delivered Bian Xiaoxiao to the Grandverse Manor, he had told Lu Yin that he had seen Stillstorm in the Spirit Nidus. That event had deeply shaken him and caused him to choose to undergo a beast-form Spirit Rebirth and take Stillstorm’s form. At that time, Old Salamander had not revealed that his true name was Zhan Qian, and Lu Yin and the others had never even considered such a possibility. Besides, all of their attention at the time had been focused on the River Domain.

Had Lu Yin and the others known that Old Salamander was actually Zhan Qian, they would have never allowed the beast to go. Abandoning the Zhan family after just a single glimpse of Stillstorm sounded like a complete joke. Old Salamander would have only done so if Stillstorm had shaken him to his core, and that was what Lu Yin and the others wanted to better understand.

However, the Origin Progenitor regretted his previous leniency. Had he taken Heaven’s Seal, he and Lu Yin would have never been in such dire straits now. He looked back and saw that the sword shadows were still shattering, constantly offering Yong Heng additional choices. Whenever Yong Heng was given a chance, it ceased to exist for Lu Yin and the Origin Progenitor.

“Over there,” Lu Yin said, leading the way. He and the Origin Progenitor charged toward a Broken Realm. This particular Broken Realm was the reason why Lu Yin had fled in this particular direction, as he had wanted to find this place.

This Broken Realm was recorded in the Forbidden Tome, and it was universally acknowledged as one of the Consciousness Megaverse’s most dangerous places. If Lu Yin and the Origin Progenitor could enter the Broken Realm, then any action taken by Yong Heng would cause the Broken Realm to react indiscriminately, and that might be enough to restrain the man.

The Broken Realm consisted of countless bridges. All of them drifted about, floating and unattached to anything.

Bridges were normally constructed by humans, but humanity was not the only intelligent species in existence. It was not a surprise that others might have also built bridges.

The dangerous aspect of this Broken Realm was that the bridges were nearly impossible to destroy. As soon as the realm was disturbed, the bridges would become an inescapable labyrinth. No matter how fast one moved, there would always be a bridge barring their path. The only option was to step onto a bridge and drift along with it, unable to escape.

This was the reason why there were countless skeletons strewn across the bridges. Some belonged to astral beasts, while others were human remains.

Naturally, the human skeletons belonged to Spirit Nidus cultivators.

Lu Yin and the Origin Progenitor dashed into the Broken Realm. As Lu Yin looked back, he taunted Yong Heng, “This is one of the most dangerous Broken Realms in this megaverse. Come in to kill us, if you have the guts.”

The Broken Realm was certainly dangerous, and even the Thirteen Luminaries were wary of it, but that did not mean that it was invincible. After Lu Yin and the Origin Progenitor recovered, they would have the strength needed to break free.

Yong Heng’s sole advantage at the moment was his targets’ grievous injuries. If Lu Yin and the Origin Progenitor were given time to heal, Yong Heng’s pursuit would be rendered meaningless.

That was why he had no choice but to follow them into the Broken Realm.

Soon, their feet touched down upon a bridge. Despite the fact that Lu Yin and the Origin Progenitor had clearly chosen one that had been drifting near the edge of the Broken Realm, the bridge had seemingly shifted to the exact center of the Broken Realm. They found themselves surrounded by bridges on every side.

Several bleached skeletons lay beneath their feet. Just a touch was enough to reduce them to dust, which was evidence of how long the skeletons had lain there for.

Bridges filled both the sky above and the void below.

As Lu Yin glanced around, he remembered his discovery that Broken Realms were connected to the specks of light that were only visible when one held a shard of the Starforged Sword. When those spots of light shifted, the entire Broken Realm would move.

After learning of this, Lu Yin and the Origin Progenitor had experimented by finding another Broken Realm and attempting to move it as well.

Their tests had confirmed their theory, though they remained unable to make sense of what those spots of light might be, as well as how to collect them.

There had to be a spot of light in their current Broken Realm as well.

“If Yong Heng hesitates to attack us here,” Lu Yin said, “We can just move the spot of light to shift the Broken Realm towards the universe where Boundless is hiding. As soon as Boundless appears, we’ll be safe. There are enough experts on the ship for them to at least be able to drive Yong Heng off.”

Not even ten days had passed since Lu Yin had last rolled his die, or else he would have simply rolled it again. He could easily recover to peak condition within his Timestop Space. With that, Yong Heng would have failed to chase Lu Yin down.

The Origin Progenitor shook his head. “Yong Heng won’t allow us to move the Broken Realm.”

Even as he spoke, Yong Heng entered, and he appeared on a nearby bridge.

Both of the bridges continued to drift ceaselessly. There were times when they drew very close to each other, and other moments where that they drifted far apart.

Yong Heng continued to stare at Lu Yin and the Origin Progenitor. “Possessing the Thirteen Luminaries has granted you impressive knowledge of the Consciousness Megaverse. Tell me, is this Broken Realm extremely dangerous?”

Lu Yin replied, “Exceptionally so. This Broken Realm is ranked first in the Forbidden Tome. Not even the Thirteen Luminaries dare to enter this place.”

Yong Heng glanced around, but he did not immediately attack.

He wanted to understand the Broken Realm that he had just entered. Otherwise, as soon as it was disturbed, Lu Yin’s superior knowledge of the place might allow him to easily escape.

If that man was given even the slightest opening, he would escape into a parallel universe.

Yong Heng did not realize that Lu Yin knew nothing about this Broken Realm. If it was disrupted, Lu Yin would be caught up in the same chaos as Yong Heng.

The man’s restraint gave Lu Yin and the Origin Progenitor a chance to catch their breath.

This was their first true battle with Yong Heng. Even in the Tianyuan Megaverse, the two had never fought him in an all-out battle.

“Old man, I’m curious. Why didn’t you take action in the Willbound Expanse?” the Origin Progenitor asked.

Lu Yin looked at Yong Heng with similar curiosity. Had Yong Heng cooperated with Yue Ya and the others, Lu Yin might not have escaped.

Yong Heng stood on his own bridge. While he occasionally glanced over at his targets, the rest of the time he looked in all directions, just the same as Lu Yin and the Origin Progenitor. The bridges roved about unpredictably.

Silence reigned for a long time.

Yong Heng did not answer. He behaved nothing like the man who had once worked with Lu Yin to attack the High Seraph and deceive the Nine Odysseys Megaverse’s cultivators. At this moment, True God genuinely intended to kill Lu Yin and the Origin Progenitor.

The scent of bloodlust chilled the universe itself.

“This is related to the people from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, isn’t it? You’ve been there,” Lu Yin stated.

Yong Heng still refused to answer. He was trying to find the pattern of the Broken Realm, though it appeared that the questions posed by Lu Yin and the Origin Progenitor had sparked a thought.

“Bone grafters can acquire the cultivation and even the innate gift of a bone’s original owner by replacing their own bones with it. That sounds very similar to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse’s inherited Seed Transfusion. If I’m not mistaken, the very concept of bone grafting was something that you came up with after being inspired by their cultivation system,” Lu Yin continued.

He had come to this conclusion after the Origin Progenitor had told him that, when he and Yong Heng had worked together to kill the Primordial Skyflame Beast, Yong Heng had not possessed his Bone Grafting innate gift. Bone grafters had only appeared long after the founding of the Heavens Sect.

That meant that Bone Grafting was not an innate gift that Yong Heng had been born with, but rather one that he had created or acquired.

Yong Heng turned to look at Lu Yin. “What I admire most about you is not the speed at which you have cultivated, your powerful abilities, or even your exceptional luck. What I admire most is that you can make the impossible possible and find clues where none should exist.

“Just look at your rise to power in the Tianyuan Megaverse—just how many people were defeated by your silver tongue? That has carried over to even the Thirteen Luminaries. If I had not been so familiar with you and had attempted to feed them certain information, I might have ended up as the one being besieged by the Thirteen Luminaries right now.”

The Origin Progenitor glanced over at Lu Yin. Yong Heng made a fair point. The Origin Progenitor had also never met anyone who used words like Lu Yin, able to go from certain death to guaranteed survival with words alone.

Lu Yin had even succeeded in convincing the people of Ruler Garden to back down. Even Yue Ya had been left dumbfounded by that scene.

In fact, that attribute of Lu Yin’s was also what the Origin Progenitor most admired.

Lu Yin chuckled. “You’re not bad yourself. If it weren’t for you, I would have never ended up being ambushed by the Thirteen Luminaries.”

Yong Heng also laughed. “A man like you needs to either be strangled early on or befriended.”

“But you and I are destined to remain enemies.”

“My greatest regret is that I didn’t put you down at the very beginning. Back then, no one could have stopped me.”

Lu Yin gave a wry laugh and shook his head. “You can’t see the future, so-”

He suddenly cut off. He can’t see the future? Yong Heng can’t, which is why I wasn’t dealt with early on. If he could, I would have never been allowed to develop. In that case, why was the God of Death able to see the future?

Right before being killed by Yong Heng, the God of Death had broken through to the Origin realm and used the River of Aeons to catch a glimpse of the future. At the same time, he had blocked Nutjob Lu’s Champions’ Stage from killing Lu Yin. Protecting Lu Yin was precisely what had caused the God of Death to be killed by Yong Heng.

However, if even someone as powerful as Yong Heng could not see the future, then how had the God of Death accomplished it? Lu Yin had previously believed it had only been possible because he also cultivated death energy, with the death energy that clung to him enabling the God of Death to peer into the future. Nutjob Lu had believed the same thing.

But Lu Yin already wielded combat strength equal to a peak Dukkhan, and he was still unable to peer down the River of Aeons and look at the future.

How had the God of Death done it?

Since the God of Death had pulled it off, it could not be impossible for Yong Heng.

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. There was something off about the entire thing. Had it really been the God of Death who had blocked the Champions’ Stage from killing Lu Yin? Had the man seen the future, or had he used some other means to save Lu Yin?

In a moment, Lu Yin considered countless possibilities. Clearly, there had to be something wrong with his earlier conclusions.

“Pillar?” the Origin Progenitor asked in confusion.

Yong Heng’s eyes suddenly snapped open, and he attacked while stepping onto the two men’s bridge with a single stride. He was focused on attacking Lu Yin.

At that same instant, the Broken Realm quaked, and the bridge began to spin.

Yong Heng froze space around him with his Dao Convergence sequence particles. The bridge twirled around while the man remained unmoved. His palm strike moved closer and closer to Lu Yin. Lightstream appeared and flitted as Lu Yin reversed time by one second, and he also used that opening to pull the Origin Progenitor aside.

Something invisible blocked their way: Dominion.

Yong Heng clenched a fist, shattering the void. The bridges of the Broken Realm were able to trap even Dukkhans, but they were unable to move Yong Heng in his current condition.

Since it was impossible for him to understand the Broken Realm, Yong Heng had chosen not to. Instead, he was attacking with his full strength.

Lu Yin swung a Wheel of Karma at Yong Heng. Let’s see if you dare to take this!

Sword shadows shattered in front of Yong Heng, and he dodged around the Wheel of Karma while slashing out with his sword, leaving a cold gleam trailing behind it. The attack was blocked by the Verdant Arsenal, and the Origin Progenitor followed up by bringing down a hand. The Verdant Arsenal met Yong Heng’s sword, and the hand above the Verdant Arsenal nearly succeeded in disarming Yong Heng’s sword. This was one of the rare occasions when the Origin Progenitor was unleashing his own full power, and he was absolutely no weaker than Lu Yin.

Lu Yin flicked a finger, and a spiral of karma shot at Yong Heng.

True God’s eyes turned crimson red. He released the hilt of his sword and pressed a hand down. The sword multiplied into many before the spread of blades swept out.

“Watch out!” Lu Yin shouted sharply.