Star Odyssey

Chapter 4398: Turning Around

Hong Xia’s expression fell even further as he slowly said, "If one day your Trio faces destruction and can only be saved by betraying humanity, I would like to see what choice you make."

With that, he vanished.

Lu Yin stared at the empty space. He felt that that question already had an answer. Had he not joined Obscura?

Betrayal? That depended on how one betrayed. The truth was that simply joining Obscura was a form of betraying humanity, as it was a betrayal to his predecessors who had fought Obscura to the death for human civilization. However, Lu Yin’s betrayal and Hong Xia’s were two completely different things.

For a civilization to stand upright, someone had to bend low, bearing its weight on their back while climbing upward one step at a time, carrying the entire civilization with them.

"Mr. Lu, what happened?" Jiu Wen asked in confusion. Hong Xia’s attitude toward Lu Yin had changed drastically from the past. This time, when facing Lu Yin, the man had given off a bit of the impression of confronting a peer. Just what had Lu Yin done?

Lu Yin shared everything that had happened recently, utterly dumbfounding both Jiu Wen and Xi Shangfeng. Obscura had actually gone to war with the Plume Immortals, and Lu Yin had killed more than one of those strange birds, both of whom had been two-law Immortals. This accomplishment completely shattered everything that the two men had thought they knew.

What exactly was wrong with this young man? How had he managed to reach such a level? Even as Immortals, they could not understand it.

As for Greater Sancte Green Lotus sealing himself away with Nan Ling in a Crimson Lotus Tomb, Jiu Wen let out a deep sigh. "Actually, that move was originally intended for Hong Xia."

Lu Yin had guessed as much.

"But sealing Nan Ling is more fitting, is it not?" Jiu Wen grew emotional. He stared off into the distance, his expression growing conflicted. "When I first told Green Lotus about the Crimson Lotus Tomb, he swore that the Plume Immortals would pay the price. Now, he has done just that while I still have not eliminated that traitor."

Lu Yin comforted the old man. "That day will come soon."

Jiu Wen smiled and met Lu Yin's eyes. "Now I finally understand why Green Lotus dared to entrust everything to you. With you here, I can have faith."

Xi Shangfeng also looked at Lu Yin with respect in his eyes. This young man was terrifyingly powerful.

Lu Yin bowed to Jiu Wen and then left. Since he had confirmed that Hong Xia was within the Crimson Starshade Civilization, he could go to the Ten-Eyed Divine Crow.

After teleporting multiple times, Lu Yin once again saw the enormous gray figure floating through the cosmos, seemingly forever staring in a single direction.

Lu Yin took out a Zenith Mountain, and Master Qing Cao emerged, a helpless expression on his face.

He had been dragged along yet again.

"Senior, I have to trouble you again."

Master Qing Cao was speechless. "Can’t you bring someone else next time? Do not drag me into everything."

Lu Yin did not respond. He looked over, his eyes locking onto one of the eyes on the Divine Crow's forehead.

He needed to bring someone with him. Even if he had the motes of green light to protect him, there was no telling if they would work on the remaining two eyes. Having an Immortal nearby was the safer option.

Master Qing Cao glanced into the distance. So that is the Ten-Eyed Divine Crow?

During the war between the Plume Immortals and the Trio, Lu Yin's Heaven's Sight had immobilized the birds on several occasions, which had been a massive threat to them. That ability had come from this creature.

Qing Cao did not dare stare for too long, just in case something unexpected happened.

Lu Yin stared at one of the eyes on the Divine Crow's forehead. At this moment, only two remained. He stared for a while, and then moved slightly. Nothing unexpected happened. What’s going on? Why is nothing at all happening?

He kept changing angles, sometimes looking at the Divine Crow, sometimes glancing at Master Qing Cao, and yet still nothing happened.

Slowly, Lu Yin approached the bird’s corpse, until he finally stood directly in front of the eye he had been staring at and met its gaze. The Ten-Eyed Divine Crow was long dead, yet its eye still looked fully alive, just like the one that he had absorbed to gain Crow Immobilization.

Unable to resist, Lu Yin reached out to touch the eye. He wanted to see exactly what power this one possessed.

The moment he made contact, his vision shifted, and he was suddenly staring at Master Qing Cao instead of the Divine Crow.

Lu Yin was stunned. What just happened? Did the cosmos spin around?

At this moment, the Divine Crow was behind him. His posture was exactly the same, his hand outstretched as if to touch something, yet all he was reaching for was empty space, rather than the eye.

"What just happened?" Lu Yin asked, looking over at Master Qing Cao.

The man appeared to be astonished, and was almost unable to believe what he had just seen. "You suddenly turned around just now."

Lu Yin frowned. "Suddenly turned around?"

"Yes, you suddenly turned around. Did you not notice it yourself?"

Lu Yin had noticed nothing. He had thought that the cosmos had suddenly shifted orientation, which was of course impossible, and yet he had truly not sensed anything at all.

How had he suddenly turned around?

He slowly turned back to look at the Ten-Eyed Divine Crow, turning his entire body. He thought for a moment and reached out again to touch the eye.

In an instant, his perspective was reversed, and he turned around yet again. This time, he had been prepared, yet he still was unable to perceive the act of turning. It was as if the cosmos had instantly flipped around, leaving him with no time to react.

He tried again, this time forcibly controlling his body, only to once again be turned around. No matter how he tried to control himself, he would still turn. The motion seemed virtually impossible to resist.

Lu Yin stared at the Ten-Eyed Divine Crow's eye. Was it possible? Could the innate gift of this eye simply force creatures to turn around? That was truly... frustrating.

He could just imagine it; what would it mean to force an opponent to turn around in the middle of battle? That creature would not even be able to react in time. Leaving aside what sort of attack might follow such a forced shift, the sheer psychological trauma alone would be immense.

The Ten-Eyed Divine Crow's innate gifts were truly bizarre. One of its eyes could immobilize any who looked at it, while another could force other creatures to turn around. Could the other eight eyes each possess similarly strange abilities?

If that was true, then it was no wonder why no one had been able to defeat the Divine Crow on their own. The bird had essentially had direct control over all opponents it faced.

Lu Yin was certain that, if the Plume Immortals' ability to teleport had met the Ten-Eyed Divine Crow, the birds would stand no chance at all. They would be immediately controlled like puppets.

To be honest, Lu Yin was very tempted by this ability, but how could he obtain it?

He released his inner universe, and motes of green light spread along his arm. Only these green lights gave him any confidence in being able to obtain the Divine Crow's innate gift.

Lu Yin did not know how others had obtained the bird’s abilities during the Nine Ramparts era. The only thing that he could rely on were the green lights.

If he thought about things carefully, was it guaranteed that only Immortals had obtained the Ten-Eyed Divine Crow's innate gifts during the Nine Ramparts era? That was necessarily the case. It was possible that some beneath that realm had done so as well, but how? What method could they have used? Could there be some special technique?

But if that was the case, then why were there still three eyes left?

With those questions in mind, Lu Yin reached out to touch the eye again. A crack rang out as most of his body was turned around, but because he had used the green lights to forcibly anchor himself in place, he ended up cracking his body.

He had not expected that result.

Lu Yin rubbed his waist. Such an injury would recover quickly. He had also just confirmed that the motes of green light were indeed effective against this ability, though not fully effective. Most likely, he simply did not have enough of them yet. If he did, he could hold his body completely steady. The reason why his bones had broken was because only a portion of him had been locked in place. If he could stabilize his entire body and touch with the eye, he might be able to obtain the innate gift.

This ability should be called Crow Reversal. Just that thought felt eerie. In the middle of a fight, making someone suddenly turn around would stun anyone.

Lu Yin realized he was going farther and farther down the path of an Aberrant.

In the distance, Master Qing Cao had also figured out the nature of the Divine Crow’s ability. He looked at Lu Yin strangely. “Why does every ability feel so strange once it’s in his hands?”

Forcing someone to turn around was both ridiculous and unsettling. It could easily leave lifelong psychological scars. Qing Cao could not understand how the Rampart Wardens of the Nine Ramparts had once defeated the Ten-Eyed Divine Crow.

Despite already knowing that he did not have enough green lights, Lu Yin kept trying. Every attempt ended with broken bones, but he refused to give up. As long as there was even the slightest chance of obtaining this ability from the Divine Crow, it was worth the time.

Several months later, Master Qing Cao's voice suddenly rang out, "Obscura is calling you into Vestigium."

Lu Yin looked over. He thought for a moment and then simply laid down within the coffin and entered Vestigium. "Ba Se, were you looking for me?"

"It is time for you to receive a mission."

Lu Yin then remembered that his earlier three-star mission, capturing the Jade Thread of Heaven, had been cancelled. Later, because he had been drafted into the war against the Plume Immortals, he had not accepted another mission. One could say that he had rested for a while. It had already been more than ten years since that war had ended, so it really was time for him to accept another mission.

"Please choose the difficulty of the mission that you wish to receive."

"Three stars." Lu Yin did not hesitate.

"Do you have a preference?"

"What do you mean?"

"Destroying a civilization, capturing a lifeform, or something else."

"Anything is fine."

Ba Se did not continue with that line. "Very well. Three-star mission: capture a branch of the River of Aeons."

Lu Yin was surprised. "A branch of the River of Aeons? You want that?"

"The more branches of the River of Aeons, the better," Ba Se replied.

Lu Yin did not understand. "Every megaverse has its own flow of time, which means every one has a branch of the River of Aeons. Given Obscura's abilities, why do you need me to capture one? Not only that, but Old Man Hehe can even draw down the main stream of the River of Aeons itself, so what need is there for these branches?"

"No comment."

Lu Yin felt that something about this mission was off. Was capturing a branch of the River of Aeons really deserving of a three-star mission?

While he had indeed earned many mission rewards recently, including even a six-star mission reward, that had only been possible because of the war. Even in wartime, he would have never succeeded without his ability to teleport. He could have died at any moment.

On the battlefield, even a five-star mission could easily cause his death. Outside of war, that was far more true.

One of Obscura’s four-star missions was destroying a civilization with ten Immortals, while a three-star mission corresponded to destroying a civilization with at least five Immortals. That was clearly not as difficult as capturing a branch of the River of Aeons.

Even back when the Tianyuan had not possessed even a single Immortal, there had still been a branch of the River of Aeons, which would have been easy to capture. This mission should not be so difficult.

Obscura was not foolish, and neither was Lu Yin. There had to be more to this mission than he was being told.

Right, to capture a branch of the River of Aeons, it seemed that one needed to completely destroy a megaverse, rather than merely reset it. That changed things entirely. The reason why the Great Master had once been taken to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse was because her megaverse had been completely destroyed, and Greater Sancte Blood Tower had just so happened to arrive at that time. Because of that incident, she had not merged back into the main stream of the River of Aeons and had instead joined the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

From the perspective that the complete destruction of a megaverse was required, then the difficulty level of a three-star mission might indeed make sense.

Ba Se said nothing further, and Lu Yin left Vestigium. He took Master Qing Cao and went back to the Trio, where he found Blood Tower. Lu Yin needed to ask about capturing branches of the River of Aeons. Fortunately, he had not yet accepted the mission.

"You want to capture a branch of the River of Aeons?" Blood Tower asked in surprise.

At his side, the Great Master also stared at Lu Yin. She had been called over as well, since she had once been a ferryman of the River of Aeons.

"It is not that I want to capture one, but rather that Obscura wants one," Lu Yin emphasized. He glanced at the Great Master. "Every megaverse has its own time, so the real difficulty in capturing a branch of the River of Aeons should be the complete destruction of a megaverse. But that would match the difficulty of one of Obscura’s three-star missions."

"That is not all," the Great Master said.