Star Odyssey

Chapter 4627: Nie

Lu Yin arched a brow. An endless font of power?

Whoosh.

Qian Ling’s sharp claws swept out again. This was no longer the power of Return, but rather pure physical strength. Its strength was comparable to the creatures that had reached the biological limit, such as the Pridebeast. With the support of Qian Ling's own battle technique, its claws also gained a sharp edge.

As expected of a creature that was close to being a peak Dukkan, it was not easy to deal with. Its combat power was no less than that of an ordinary peak Dukkan from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

But just as Lu Yin had already come to believe, the overall level of strength in this region of the Aevum Inch was a level lower than the region that he was from, and the variety of battle techniques was also much smaller.

Lu Yin was still using the power of Return. Qian Ling might not be skilled in using it, but Lu Yin was.

The power of Return, where “return” referred to coming and going, easily redirected Qian Ling's strength, allowing the edge of the attack to come, go, and even attack Qian Ling itself. Seeing this caused Qian Ling's eyes to bulge.

Yan Zhong was also shocked by Lu Yin’s level of mastery. Qian Ling was unable to so much as break through the mist that shrouded this creature.

Lu Yin had Possessed many gods without discovering any hint of the existence of a human civilization, but the mist remained necessary. Whether or not those that he encountered were capable of seeing through it was one thing. Fully revealing himself so that more lifeforms saw what he looked like would only increase the chance of exposure.

If he could avoid something, he would avoid it.

Qian Ling’s attacks continued to tear the void apart. Lu Yin remained hidden with the mist, but he did throw Yan Zhong far away.

From the distance, Lu Yin looked like a small boat bobbing on a sea of sharp edges. It looked like he would be torn to bits at any moment.

Yan Zhong was too weak to offer any help. He could only wait. He did not even consider fleeing, as escape was impossible. This was Qian Ling's territory.

Clang, clang, clang.

Lu Yin repeatedly directed Qian Ling's sharp attacks. The longer the fight continued on for, the more that he was able to use Qian Ling's own slashes against itself. Seeing this caused Qian Ling to almost cough up blood in frustration.

It had never been in such a battle before. It felt suppressed, extremely suppressed, and yet there was nothing that it could do.

Its unease grew as the fight continued, and it realized that it was no match for this opponent.

This creature was able to use the power of Return to manipulate Qian Ling’s own strength against it, and the creature’s own speed and strength were definitely not inferior. "Yan Gong has no place left to stand within the Divine Palace! Behind us is High God Gong Xia! If you help us, the High God can help you advance further and enter the ranks of the Void Realm combat gods."

Lu Yin remained unmoved.

In the distance, Yan Zhong's heart tightened. It was true that Yan Gong's position within the Divine Palace was unstable.

"Are you really going to insist on becoming our enemy? Do you know who you face? It is not only High God Gong Xia, but also one of the Divine Palace Sequences behind him."

"A Divine Palace Sequence?" Lu Yin was puzzled.

Qian Ling’s voice dropped low. "Do you think that only High God Gong Xia wants to deal with Yan Gong? Wrong. The true contest is actually between Divine Palace Sequences!

"In the Divine Palace, the divine envoys do not concern themselves with the affairs of those beneath them. Many times, the ones who truly decide the allocation of resources are the Sequences because they are very likely to become the next divine envoys. Divine envoys also only care whether the Sequences live or die.

"Back then, Yan Gong relied on his connection to the Third Sequence to acquire a great many resources from the Divine Palace, and he provoked the ire of many powerhouses. Now that the Third Sequence is dead, Yan Gong and his son have absolutely no place in the palace. If you cannot see the situation clearly, then even if you enter the Divine Palace, the only thing waiting for you will be death."

"Nonsense! The Third Sequence is not dead!" Yan Zhong shouted.

Qian Ling's expression grew frigid. It raised its claws and slashed at Yan Zhong, only for Lu Yin to kick it away.

"I don’t care about the Divine Palace’s internal conflicts. Senior Yan Gong saved my life, so I must repay him. Everything else has nothing to do with me."

Yan Zhong stared at Lu Yin in a daze. This misty being valued its connections highly.

Qian Ling, however, grew increasingly furious. "You have already reached your current realm, yet why are you still unable to see reality? What life debt? That was merely something done in passing. Do you believe that Yan Gong is kindhearted?"

"Saving my life is saving my life. What does that have to do with kindness?" Lu Yin seized the opening and grabbed hold of both of Qian Ling's paws at the same time. He then suddenly exerted force. There was a deafening sound, and the claws snapped.

Qian Ling was enraged. "You are courting death!"

Its enormous body suddenly shrank. Every reduction in size caused its strength to increase. Yan Zhong was terrified by this, hurriedly calling out to Lu Yin, "Hurry up and kill it! It’s going to fight with its life on the line."

Lu Yin immediately attacked, but he was met with Qian Ling's paw. The immense power of the blow shattered the void, the sound shaking space itself. Even the aftershock was enough to force Yan Zhong to retreat.

Lu Yin raised both arms, only to be blasted away by the powerful attack.

Qian Ling continued to shrink until it was eventually about the same size as Lu Yin. Its hideous expression radiated overwhelming bloodlust. "The power that I’ve accumulated over so many years has now been completely used up because of you! I will not let you die so easily! I will slowly torture you to death."

The creature then took a step forward. Because its strength was too much, the entire void seemed to be pushed back like a furling curtain.

Lu Yin's expression remained calm. This was indeed impressive strength. It was actually approaching his own level.

This was a problem. It would not be good for this clone to reveal too much strength.

Qian Ling used its sharp, but broken, claws to attack Lu Yin's forehead.

Lu Yin drifted with the force of the attack, much like a feather in the wind. No matter how Qian Ling attacked, and no matter how fast it moved, it was simply unable to ever strike Lu Yin.

Yan Zhong's eyes flared. This was still the power of Return, but was it really possible to use it in such a manner? This creature’s talent was incredible.

Qian Ling was shocked that Lu Yin was still able to avoid its attacks. It grew increasingly unsettled. Could this creature have been hiding its strength all along?

Right as that thought occurred to the creature, Lu Yin pressed a hand against Qian Ling's chest. It looked down, just as a boom rang out and indescribable pain nearly shattered its body. Was this the power of Tide?

Yan Zhong was horrified. The power of Tide! This misty being had always been guiding Qian Ling's strength and had only unleashed Tide at this moment. What a terrifying use of power. In this creature’s hands, the powers seemed to have gained a life of their own.

This was a true genius.

Was there actually such an impressive genius among the creatures that Father casually released back then?

Qian Ling coughed up blood as it stared at Lu Yin in disbelief. How is this possible?

Lu Yin shot forward. It was finally his turn to attack.

Bang, bang, bang!

Three shocking blows rang out in succession. Qian Ling's arms were torn open, and more fissures opened up across the rest of its body. It howled, hurling threats at Lu Yin, and it even begging for mercy, but nothing helped.

Just when Lu Yin was about to finish it off, Yan Zhong stopped him. "Please hand it over to my father."

The mist that shrouded Lu Yin had enveloped half of Qian Ling's body. Its eyes saw a palm descending from above, bringing the pressure of death.

However, that palm stopped because of Yan Zhong's words. "Hand it over to Senior Yan Gong?"

Yan Zhong nodded. When he spoke, he was respectful. Although both he and this unknown creature were Return Realm gods, this misty creature was clearly far stronger than Yan Zhong. He was no match for Qian Ling at all while Qian Ling, even after unleashing all of its stored power and risking its life, was not Lu Yin's opponent. "My father may still have some use for it."

Lu Yin threw Qian Ling over to Yan Zhong. "Very well."

Yan Zhong caught Qian Ling. At this moment, the creature was half crippled and completely unable to escape from even Yan Zhong.

As soon as it fell into Yan Zhong's hands, Qian Ling started begging, "Brother Yan Zhong, I was wrong! I should not have helped Gong Xia. Please spare me! I swear that from now on, I will follow only you and Senior Yan Gong, serving you however you ask without complaint. Please spare my life!"

Yan Zhong was disgusted and had no desire to speak with Qian Ling at all. Instead, he looked over at Lü.

The first time that Lu Yin had used Qian Ling’s power with Return, Lü had been killed. Such a sudden death left Yan Zhong feeling that his hatred had not been fully vented. It would have been better if Lü had not died, as then he could have tortured it to death. He had treated Lü so well for so many years, and yet Lü had actually betrayed him while being treated as a confidante.

Yan Zhong turned to face Lu Yin. "May I ask your name, my lord?"

"Nie."

Yan Zhong repeatedly muttered the name, but he could not think of anything at all. He had never heard of this name before.

Logically speaking, anyone who could become a Returning Realm god must be registered with the Divine Palace. Such a powerful Returning Realm god should also be very famous. How could he have never heard of this creature? And why had it appeared in this place?

This was the most puzzling detail to Yan Zhong.

Seeing Yan Zhong's confusion, Lu Yin slowly said, "After we were saved by Senior Yan Gong back then, we all scattered. Thanks to Wu Shan not feeling threatened by us and believing that we were doomed to die, the Divine Palace's cultivation methods were not hidden from us. Coincidentally, my talent for cultivation is not bad, so I managed to cultivate the power of River very quickly. Later, by chance, I obtained the cultivation method for Return, and my cultivation has proceeded smoothly all the way until now."

"Then are you registered with the Divine Palace?"

"I am," Lu Yin replied. He had registered as soon as he found that first enlightenment god. Although not much time had passed since then, he also knew that ordinary creatures were incapable of checking when another creature had registered. At the very least, one would have to be a divine envoy, and even then, they could only check when another creature registered with the Divine Palace under special circumstances. If just any being could check those records, the Divine Palace would have long since fallen into chaos.

"As for appearing here." Lu Yin had already thought of an explanation for that. "I wanted to return to Wu Shan's territory, but after circling around Qian Ling’s territory several times, I happened to end up at this altar. I have an innate gift that allows me to see across vast distances, which is why I saw what was happening here. In particular, I saw you and thought that you were Senior Yan Gong, so I came over to help."

Yan Zhong nodded. So that was the story. Although the explanation might not be the most reasonable, that depended on whether the one hearing the story believed it.

To Yan Zhong at this moment, Lu Yin deserved trust.

After all, he had just been about to die, and Lu Yin had saved him. There could not be any sort of scheme to this. To frame things more casually, it was understandable for Gong Xia to scheme against Yan Gong, but sacrificing Lü and Qian Ling to scheme against Yan Gong was completely unreasonable, even more so than the story that Lu Yin had shared.

Without considering the matter any further, Yan Zhong led Lu Yin and carried the half-crippled Qian Ling through the altars to return to his own territory.

Only after returning did Yan Zhong finally heave a sigh of utter relief. Although being in his own territory would not protect him from a powerful enemy that was set on killing him, it was only in his own territory that he could contact Yan Gong.

Within the Divine Palace’s range, all altars could contact one another, but earlier, in Qian Ling's territory, all of Qian Ling's subordinates had been enemies with Yan Zhong. Asking those subordinate gods to establish contact with Yan Gong would be no different from reporting to Gong Xia that Yan Zhong was safe.

The altar trembled, and Yan Gong's illusory image quickly appeared. The creature looked extremely anxious.

He saw Yan Zhong immediately, and the younger creature excitedly called out, "Father!"

Yan Gong stared at Yan Zhong and grew even more excited. "Are you alright?"

Yan Zhong shook his head. "Lü betrayed us. It was colluding with Qian Ling to kill me. Gong Xia is the one behind everything. Fortunately, I am fine. Father, is everything all right on your side?"

Yan Gong's expression grew vicious. "Everything here is fine. You say that Qian Ling wanted to kill you? I thought that I sent it away."

Yan Zhong quickly reported what had happened, and after finishing, he called Lu Yin over.

Lu Yin looked at Yan Gong and bowed low. "Junior Nie greets Senior Yan Gong."

Yan Gong examined Lu Yin. Long ago, he had released a number of creatures solely to infuriate Wu Shan. Wu Shan had relied on the backing of a Sequence to offend Yan Gong, so he had released Wu Shan’s captives. Who could have imagined that, years later, one creature from that batch of captives would have actually gained such impressive strength and just happened to save Yan Gong’s own son?

Even he felt that this was quite surreal.