Star Odyssey

Chapter 4632: Godless Territory

Lu Yin understood. This was no different from cultivating with stellular energy. If one did not have stellular energy, how could they hope to cultivate it?

This Divine Palace used time as currency, so even those who wanted to cultivate the power of time could not do so.

Earlier, the turtle had mentioned the Temporal Sequence. Could that be the title of the Divine Palace’s lord? Were they the only one who cultivated the power of time here?

The Divine Palace contained many branches of the River of Aeons, but only the lord of the Divine Palace could cultivate with them.

As Lu Yin and the turtle chatted, they left the battlefield and returned to the Divine Palace through the battlefield altar.

Lu Yin had already completed his assigned task on the battlefield. Next, he simply needed to enter the Divine Palace and receive his assigned territory.

Once they returned to the Divine Palace, the turtle left. But before leaving, it kept lamenting that Lu Yin had missed an opportunity.

All along, Lu Yin had wanted to see the turtle's karmic chain, but he had failed to spot anything. Throughout the final battle, he had never seen Fengya's karmic chain either. That was quite strange.

***

Yan Zhong led Lu Yin through the Divine Palace. He sounded quite amazed. "I didn't expect you to be able to complete your mission and return so quickly. You didn't run into any danger on the battlefield, did you? Your aura feels a bit unstable."

Lu Yin said, "I did encounter some danger. There was a Void Realm god. Fortunately, it was far away, or else I wouldn’t have been able to come back."

Yan Zhong felt a flicker of fear. "I once encountered a Void Realm god myself. It was Lü who saved me back then, which was why I trusted it so much. I never expected it to turn out to be a traitor.

"By the way, did you see Divine Envoy Gui Xing?"

Lu Yin nodded. "The turtle?"

Yan Zhong's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly lowered his voice. "Watch what you say! That is Divine Envoy Gui Xing! Of the Divine Palace's thirteen divine envoys, Divine Envoy Gui Xing stands near the very top."

"Is Divine Envoy Gui Xing that powerful?"

"I don't know if it is powerful or not, but whenever the Divine Palace gets involved in a great battle, Divine Envoy Gui Xing ends up being praised to the sky. It must be very powerful. I heard that Divine Envoy Gui Xing has even comprehended karma and possesses an invincible defense. If you could become its disciple, you would rise to the heavens in a single step."

Lu Yin said nothing. Yan Zhong led them to a corner of the Divine Palace where they saw a divine envoy. This was the one responsible for assigning territories.

Yan Zhong hoped that Lu Yin would be assigned to Qian Ling’s former territory, which happened to be close to his own.

Lu Yin did not care. Receiving a territory would give him a bit of status within the Divine Palace, and with that, he could work on cultivating Void and Origin to enter the Divine Palace’s sequences. Everything would naturally follow after he received a territory.

However, reality surprised both Lu Yin and Yan Zhong. The territory that he was assigned was the Godless Territory.

"The Godless Territory?" Yan Zhong exclaimed in shock.

Lu Yin was puzzled, but he felt that this did not seem to be a good territory.

The divine envoy before them indifferently replied, "Godless Territory, Nie."

Yan Zhong said, "How could it be Godless Territory? Could there be some mistake?"

"Impudent!" the divine envoy shouted sternly. The overwhelming aura of an Immortal instantly pressed Yan Zhong flat to the floor.

Yan Zhong was horrified, and he immediately started begging, "Divine Envoy, please forgive me! This junior misspoke!"

"Hmph! Leave."

Lu Yin helped Yan Zhong up and they slowly walked away.

Behind them, the divine envoy's expression remained cold. It was unconcerned with Yan Zhong’s reaction. Another divine envoy had entrusted it to give the Godless Territory to Lu Yin, and the divine envoy who had made that request was Gong Xia's master.

Although it had never had any intention of stepping forward to interfere and prevent Gong Xia from being killed, using a little trick at this moment was all too simple.

Elsewhere in the Divine Palace, Lu Yin asked in confusion, "Is the Godless Territory that bad?"

Yan Zhong gritted his teeth. "It must be Divine Envoy Wu Hen! Other than that being, no one else would do something like this!"

"Is Divine Envoy Wu Hen Gong Xia's master?"

"That's right. It didn’t interfere when Father killed Gong Xia, but it is tripping us up now. Despicable!"

"Is the Godless Territory that bad?" Lu Yin was growing increasingly curious.

Yan Zhong felt helpless. "I'm sorry that we’ve dragged you into this. If there is truly no other way, I will help you gather the required offerings in the future."

"Can this territory not even afford to make offerings?" Lu Yin was surprised. Could it really be that bad?

Time was what the palace collected as offerings. As long as there was a megaverse, it was possible to obtain time. The only reason for it to be impossible was that there were no megaverses.

Yan Zhong sighed. "The Godless Territory is the worst territory throughout the Divine Palace's vast dominion. There are no megaverses there, and because of a battle between terrifying powerhouses that once took place there, three sides are sealed off due to both time and space being unstable. Not a single god is willing to accept that territory, which is why it received the name of Godless Territory. It also..."

He struggled a bit to say this last detail. After hesitating for a bit, Yan Zhong lowered his voice and confided, "It also only has a few altars."

That caused Lu Yin’s eyebrows to rise. That was a truly important detail. It only had a few altars? Altars were the tools that allowed for travel and communication throughout the Divine Palace's domain, but those vital objects were scarce in this territory.

"How are you certain that there are no megaverses there?"

"Of everyone who has entered the Godless Territory, not one has ever managed to gather sufficient offerings. It has been like that for countless years. If there were even a single megaverse, things would not be that miserable. Also, according to several of the surrounding territories, the Godless Territory has never even summoned the River of Aeons."

To harvest time, the River of Aeons was required. If the River of Aeons had never been summoned, the meaning was clear: there were simply no targets in the territory from which time could be harvested.

"This time, we have really dragged you down. Don't worry. I will help you gather enough offerings from my own territory. Master the power of Void as quickly as possible. As long as you manage to become a Void Realm god, you can apply to enter the Divine Palace or go back to the battlefield. Even being on the battlefield is better than being stuck in the Godless Territory," Yan Zhong said apologetically.

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. So that was the situation. In that case, it was actually an ideal territory. It was suitable for developing the Human Trio.

This was an interesting twist. Originally, Lu Yin had not cared about his assigned territory, but now, he was quite happy about it.

***

Back in the Divine Palace, Gui Xing arrived right after Lu Yin and Yan Zhong left.

The divine envoy responsible for assigning territories was surprised to see the turtle, and it showed a great deal of respect. "Divine Envoy Gui Xing, what brings you here?"

Gui Xing did not bother with any niceties and bluntly asked, "Did someone called Nie just come here to receive a territory?"

The divine envoy was surprised. Its name was Yan, and its history was quite the legend. It had come into existence as an intelligent being after two powerhouses proficient in flame techniques had fought a battle that left lingering flames for countless years. It had eventually devoured those two powerhouses, thus stepping onto the path of cultivation. Its early stages had progressed smoothly, but the farther it proceeded, the harder it was to cultivate due to its origins. Still, it had eventually managed to break through to the Immortal realm and become a divine envoy. Despite its realm, it ranked last among the Divine Palace's thirteen divine envoys, which was why it had the duty of assigning territories.

This duty might appear to be prestigious, looking like an impressive authority, but the reality was that many of the gods who came to be assigned territories were backed by divine envoys, and Yan could not afford to offend a single one of them.

Worse still was when divine envoys wanted to use it to create obstacles for others, as Yan could never refuse. That often led to it offending both parties.

This time, it was yet again caught in an unfavorable position. Divine Envoy Wu Hen had just told it to throw Nie into the Godless Territory, and now Divine Envoy Gui Xing had come looking for trouble. Could it be that Nie not only had Divine Envoy Shuang Luo behind him, but also Divine Envoy Gui Xing?

At this moment, Divine Envoy Yan was filled with terrible regret. Compared to Divine Envoy Wu Hen, it was far less willing to offend Divine Envoy Gui Xing. Even Divine Envoy Wu Hen would not dare to offend the turtle.

This was going to be a big problem.

"I asked you a question." Gui Xing was not at all polite to Divine Envoy Yan.

Yan offered a bitter smile. "Yes, he came by. This junior did not know about his relationship with you, Divine Envoy Gui Xing. So, so—"

Divine Envoy Gui Xing snorted contemptuously. "Change his territory for me."

Divine Envoy Yan felt its head swim. "That... He has already been assigned a territory. To change it now would not be very appropriate."

Gui Xing sneered. "Fine, then during the Divine Palace’s next great battle, don't blame me if I accidentally miss a few karmic interceptions."

"Please don't, Senior Gui Xing! This junior will immediately assign him to a new territory. Which do you feel to be more suitable?" Yan hurriedly stopped the turtle from continuing with its threats, all while guessing at what sort of relationship might exist between Lu Yin and Gui Xing. Generally speaking, a Return Realm god would not warrant a divine envoy paying such a price.

Nie's origins were absolutely not simple.

Already, Yan’s mind was racing, searching for the best territory available.

"The Godless Territory," Gui Xing replied.

Yan was stunned, thinking that it must have misheard. "What did you say?"

Divine Envoy Gui Xing glared. It had not been putting on a show of being profound and mysterious all along for nothing. Within the Divine Palace, the more solemn one was, the more that others listened. The turtle clearly understood this. "The Godless Territory."

Divine Envoy Yan was dumbfounded. It had guessed wrong. Gui Xing was not trying to help Nie. Rather, just like Divine Envoy Wu Hen, it was trying to block his path.

It seemed that Gui Xing believed that, because Shuang Luo stood behind Nie, Yan must have assigned him a better dominion, and Gui Xing wanted Yan to change that.

Although this was another attempt to ruin him, it also made it clear that Nie was not simple. For someone to push two divine envoys to simultaneously create trouble for him, even Divine Envoy Shuang Luo did not seem to warrant that much effort. How had a mere Return Realm god accomplished this?

Yan coughed. "Well, Senior Gui Xing... the territory that this junior assigned to Nie is actually the Godless Territory..."

Gui Xing was surprised. "You assigned him to the Godless Territory? Why?"

The turtle knew that Shuang Luo stood behind its little friend. Was Yan openly causing trouble for Shuang Luo?

Yan did not try to hide anything and explained that it had received Wu Hen's instructions. Yan also grew much more relaxed. "This junior knows that Yan Zhong's father, Yan Gong, is Divine Envoy Shuang Luo's disciple, but Divine Envoy Shuang Luo did not step forward, so I could only obey Divine Envoy Wu Hen's words. This happens to align with your wishes, Senior."

Gui Xing rubbed its chin. "Wu Hen, is it? That fellow even interferes in grudges between juniors. Truly shameless."

Divine Envoy Yan was speechless. "..."

Gui Xing turned and left. "Fine, leave it as it is."

The turtle’s eyes flickered as a smug expression appeared on its face. Little friend, if you refuse to accept me as your master, you won’t have any easy days ahead of you. In the future, there will be plenty of chances for me to cause further trouble for you here in the Divine Palace. In fact, I haven’t even made a move yet.

Stay in the Godless Territory for now. After enough time passes, you will understand how disgusting that rotten place is. You want to come back? Of course. Just take me as your master. Heh heh.

Yan watched Divine Envoy Gui Xing leave, deeply committing Nie’s name to its memory. No matter who targeted him, it decided to treat him better in the future. Although Nie was only a Return Realm god at the moment, someone who could prompt multiple divine envoys to target him unquestionably had some ability.

***

Outside of the Divine Palace, Yan Gong was erupting with fury. "Damn Divine Envoy Wu Hen! It actually acted from behind the scenes? Despicable!"

There was nothing that Yan Zhong could do. "It would have been good if Divine Envoy Shuang Luo had been willing to step forward."

Yan Gong shook his head and let out a heavy sigh. "I am the one who failed to consider things thoroughly. I underestimated Divine Envoy Wu Hen's shamelessness. Now, even if Divine Envoy Shuang Luo does step forward, it is already too late. In the entire Divine Palace, only a handful of divine envoys are able to force Divine Envoy Yan to reassign someone’s territory, and Divine Envoy Shuang Luo is not among them.

"Moreover, it would never pay such a great price for us."

Lu Yin smiled. "It's fine. Perhaps the Godless Territory suits me."

Yan Zhong smiled bitterly. "Suits you? How could that be? Forget it. Just go there first. Cultivate the power of Void as quickly as possible and become a Void Realm god before anything else."

Yan Gong jumped in to say, "Exactly. As long as you can become a Void Realm god, you can apply to return to the battlefield. When that time comes, stay on the battlefield and cultivate there. Even that would be better than being forced to endure the burden of gathering offerings for the Godless Territory. The pressure from needing to gather those offerings is not small. For now, allow Yan Zhong to pay them for you."

"That would be too humiliating."

"Nie, we are the ones who should be embarrassed. We overlooked this matter and dragged you into this mess."