Star Odyssey

Chapter 4513: A Joyful Search

"Lord Lu, why are you here?" Xi Qi’s appearance had not changed much. Although her cultivation had advanced greatly and she was already very old, she still looked as naive as when she had been a young girl. That aggrieved air was so obvious. It came from being bullied by the fish.

Lu Yin smiled. "Let go. I think that it has something to say."

Xi Qi's face turned deathly pale. She did not dare. If she let go, there was no telling what that wretched fish might say.

"It's fine, Xi Qi. We’re old friends, aren’t we?" Lu Yin reassured her with a smile. "And this fish as well."

Xi Qi had no choice but to let go of the wretched fish's mouth. If she refused, she knew that the fish would bite her. It was already smacking the back of her head with its fin.

"Yo, if it isn't Lu Yin! Long time no see, hahahaha-"

At that point, Xi Qi covered its mouth again. The wretched fish flew into a rage and resumed smacking the back of Xi Qi's head.

Lu Yin smiled. "Yes, it has been a long time."

It truly had been a very, very long time. He could not even remember when he had last seen the vile fish, but it seemed to have been before the Heavens Sect had even been established.

Too many of his old acquaintances had vanished into the long River of Aeons. Looking back, there were some people whom he could no longer even remember at all.

Xi Qi released her hand, and the fish took a breath. "Then it’s decided. Come, help Lord Fish."

Before it could finish, Xi Qi grew alarmed and covered its mouth again.

Lu Yin asked, "What are you looking for?"

Xi Qi's face flushed bright red. "No, nothing-"

Suddenly, her hand jerked back. She had been bitten, and painfully too.

"You damn girl! Why are you covering Lord Fish's mouth? Are you rebelling?"

Xi Qi was furious, and she rolled her eyes fiercely. Fine, I won’t care anymore! Say whatever you want! If Lord Lu punishes you, it will be your problem!

After scolding Xi Qi, the wretched fish turned to smile at Lu Yin. "We are looking for shit."

"?"

Xi Qi covered her face. This was really too humiliating.

Silence filled the atmosphere for a long moment. Even though Lu Yin had weathered countless storms, he did not know how to respond at this moment because he could tell that the fish was utterly serious. It was not joking, and neither was it teasing him.

Xi Qi's reaction proved the truth of the words as well.

"Lu Yin, look, we are old acquaintances. Come, search together with me." The fish was truly elated.

Lu Yin stared at the fish, and then he looked at Xi Qi. "Your hobby is rather unique."

Xi Qi really wanted to rush off the branch and end it all. She already had a fish riding on her head, mocking her for thousands of years. Now this? Why was her life so terrible?

The fish slapped its tail hard. "Right? I said that you are the human that Lord Fish should have chosen first for its mount. This damn girl doesn’t cooperate at all. Only you can understand Lord Fish's hobby. Come, Lu Yin, happily search together with Lord Fish!"

"Enough! Stop talking!" Xi Qi could not take it anymore. She really wanted to slap the wretched fish away.

The fish grew infuriated. "Damn girl! You still want to hold me back? Be careful, or else Lord Fish will abandon you."

Xi Qi's face was still very red, and she repeatedly bowed to Lu Yin. "Lord Lu, I am sorry! I will take it away right now. Please, don’t take anything it says seriously. Its brain is malfunctioning."

The fish frantically slapped the back of her head. "You’re the one whose brain is malfunctioning! This is a hobby, as well as an instinct! Lord Fish has a premonition that I will definitely transform! Go and find it for me. You must find it! Where did that dead bird fly off to? Is finding its shit really so difficult? It must stink terribly, so it must have hidden it away. Search. We will definitely find it."

"Shut up!" Xi Qi covered the wretched fish's mouth, and this time, no matter how it bit her, she refused to let go.

Lu Yin coughed once. He rather regretted speaking to these two. "Then I won’t disturb you any further. Do as you please."

Xi Qi hurriedly leaped down from the branch, eager to get as far away from Lu Yin as possible. This was really too embarrassing.

"Right, I have something for you." Lu Yin was reminded of that foul-smelling object. He had not used it for a very, very long time. The last time he had taken it out had been to deal with Skydog. Not even a sequence powerhouse could block that stench, which was simply unbelievable.

At the time, Lu Yin had been incapable of even crushing the object, and while he was certain that he could do that with his current strength, he also did not want to touch it.

Since the fish liked vile smells, Lu Yin might as well give the smelly object to it.

The foul-smelling object fell into Xi Qi's arms, along with a lifelong trauma. It was a stench that had driven Skydog away with its tail tucked between its legs, and it was also unbearable for Lu Yin and the others on that battlefield. Xi Qi nearly fainted.

As for the wretched fish, it nearly fainted from excitement. It was as though it had seen the love of its life.

***

In the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, Xiang Siyu had recently been struggling, greatly at that.

Ever since the war had ended, she discovered that her luck had worsened. One bad thing after another kept occurring to her. In the past, such things would never have happened to her at all.

Previously, everything that she attempted had always gone smoothly for her. Even when trouble appeared, it had disappeared on its own before she could make a move. Whatever she wanted, she obtained easily.

She truly was not used to her current situation.

As the Peak Master of the First Peak of Deathmound's Three Mountains and Seven Peaks, she had the fewest people under her command because she had never needed to handle anything at all.

However, at the moment, she was very busy.

"Reporting to Peak Master, we’ve received word that it was false. The group that truly seized the spirit seed has already moved on."

Xiang Siyu felt helpless. Her snow-white fingers rubbed her head. "Understood. Keep searching."

"Yes."

She was not the only one out of her depths. Her people of the First Peak were also unaccustomed to this situation. When had they ever made a mistake while carrying out a task in the past? Even if they had gotten lost, they would coincidentally run into the person that they were after.

But this time, they had actually been deceived.

"It seems you are struggling." Lu Yin's voice came.

Xiang Siyu looked over. Near the First Peak, Lu Yin stood atop a mountain, peering into the distance.

She stepped out and went to Lu Yin's side. "When did you arrive?"

"Just now."

"You saw?"

"Is your good luck gone?"

Xiang Siyu nodded. She felt rather helpless. "It’s been gone ever since the war."

Lu Yin looked at Xiang Siyu. Gone?

He again saw the image of the three “luck” characters reduced to ashes, as well as Xiang Siyu’s injuries. She had not participated in that war, and yet she had still been injured. There had been blood on the ground. "Is this related to me?"

Xiang Siyu replied, "I do not know, but it probably is."

She looked at Lu Yin and continued on in a rather gloating tone, "Although I’m not used to it, I would rather lose my good luck. Perhaps I can now step onto the path to Immortality. But you are different, Lord Lu. If my good luck was exhausted because of you, tell me, when the backlash of this good luck appears, will it fall upon you or me?"

Lu Yin gave a bitter smile. "I hope it falls onto you."

Xiang Siyu rolled her eyes. "You really aren’t polite."

"But it should be me," Lu Yin concluded.

"Because those three characters turned to ash?" Xiang Siyu asked.

Lu Yin nodded. "You saw?"

Xiang Siyu grunted. "I watched those three characters turn to ash with my own eyes. To be honest, it was rather creepy."

"As disturbing as your own injuries?"

"Yes. I don’t even know why I vomited blood. Strange, isn’t it?"

Lu Yin frowned. That incident was what left him the most nervous.

The Human Trio had been frozen by the Origin Progenitor from inside the Willbound Spire. The effect had not lasted long, and Nan Ling had tried to kill Master Qing Cao while the Divine King had attempted to annihilate the Tianyuan’s powerhouses immediately afterwards. Lu Yin had just happened to successfully break through and return in time. It was impossible to say that there had been no luck involved. How could the timing have been so perfect?

The three characters had turned to ash, and Xiang Siyu had vomited blood. Both had happened at that same time.

At that moment, Lu Yin must have exhausted all of that good luck. If not for that good luck, how would that war have ended? Would the people of the Tianyuan have died? Would Master Qing Cao have died? Or would the megaverse have been reset?

In that case, did it count as Lu Yin altering his karma?

Just thinking about the potential backlash was terrifying. As much as good luck could bring him happiness, bad luck could bring just as much disaster.

On the path of karma, where there was cause, there would always be a corresponding effect. The effect of him having saved the Trio came from the cause of his breakthrough and increased strength, which was also caused by luck. His breakthrough had also caused his karmic chain to nearly reach completion already. In that case, what was the effect of the luck that had been used?

Xiang Siyu waved her hand in front of Lu Yin’s face. "What is it? Are you frightened?"

Lu Yin admitted, "A little."

"You are Lord Lu, the strongest person in the current human civilization. Even that traitor Hong Xia might not be your match, and yet this still frightens you?"

"Fear is fear. What people fear has never been what they can see clearly, but rather what they can’t see clearly."

"That’s true. Then how about this? I will do my best to recover my luck. If my luck improves, you’ll be able to feel at ease."

"What does that have to do with whether or not your luck is good?"

"It would prove that my good luck was not completely squandered by you."

Lu Yin was left speechless.

Xiang Siyu suddenly smiled at him. "If I really no longer have any good luck, then you won’t have any use for me. It seems that it won’t be so easy for me to see you in the future, Lord Lu."

Lu Yin smiled and left.

The next on his list to visit was Void Mountain, but there was no hurry to go. At the very least, he intended to wait a few more years.

The war between Void Mountain and Joy City had ended, but to avoid being seen by Obscura or the Death Megaverse, Lu Yin did not go right away. If either group discovered him at Void Mountain, they would know that he knew about the war between Void Mountain and Joy City, and from there, more might be inferred.

His skeleton clone absolutely could not be discovered.

He returned to his place of seclusion in the Tianyuan. Sitting down cross-legged, he proceeded to quietly cultivate. This was not to improve his cultivation, but simply to calm his heart.

He started mulling over certain matters from the past.

In that manner, several years passed. Lu Yin finally opened his eyes and traveled through outer space to make his way to Void Mountain.

After teleporting multiple times, he arrived nearly 200 years’ travel away from Void Mountain and gazed into the distance.

When he had first seen Void Mountain through his skeleton clone, he had seen a great, blurry mountain that seemed hidden within the void. It had only been faintly discernible, and Lu Yin’s attention had been drawn to You Che. For that reason, he had not carefully examined the great mountain, but he still remembered its vague outline.

At the moment, this place was clearly the same location, but the great mountain was no longer blurry. Instead, it was clearly displayed to the Aevum Inch. Ruined walls and broken structures could be seen everywhere, and the mountain’s peaks had been split apart. Water mixed with bone, aquatic plants sprawled everywhere, and blood of every color stained the land. The entire place was a desolate ruin.

Although Void Mountain could not compare to the size of a megaverse, it still contained countless stars, as well as endless living creatures. Even though many, many had died, there were still far too many that were still alive.

In the past, Lu Yin had believed Void Mountain to be a megaverse, but it seemed that that was not the case. Otherwise, such a brutal war would have already triggered a reset.

From another perspective, even though Void Mountain was not a megaverse, it was still connected to a small branch of the great tree that had spread throughout the Aevum Inch. All it lacked was a Mother Tree, which was the branch itself.

It seemed that no experts from either Obscura or the Death Megaverse had stayed behind.

Lu Yin stared at Void Mountain and then teleported again to arrive just outside of it.

From this close, Void Mountain was truly spectacular. It was far, far larger than the Heavens Sect, and countless stars were still rotating within it.

Some of the caves even held countless stars, as though vast stretches of the cosmos had been contained within them.