Star Odyssey

Chapter 2655: Unrestrained

It took ten days, but Chen Le successfully passed his breakthrough and became a Monarch. His success raised a commotion of congratulations from everyone in the Mo Courtyard, as the Three Monarchs Universe finally had a fourth Monarch now.

"Congratulations on becoming a Monarch, Senior." Cang Bi offered a deep bow.

Lu Yin's eyes sparkled. With the breakthrough finally over, it was time to do what needed to be done.

Chen Le's advancement to the Monarch realm was a significant event. The Sixverse Association itself, as well as many other organizations, all sent their congratulations, treating Chen Le with great courtesy. After all, people with his level of combat prowess were incredibly rare in any universe, and other peak powerhouses understood that there was now another person to support them in the future when fighting on the Endless Frontier. This was the opportune moment to forge a relationship.

The first thing that Chen Le did after his breakthrough was to meet with Monarch Luo.

Chen Le could be considered a disciple of all three Monarchs, since he had spent time studying under each of them. They were all familiar with each other, and there was no need for standard formalities.

Monarch Luo also treated Chen Le far more seriously than before. A Monarch was someone worthy of even Monarch Luo’s admiration. With Monarch Mu currently missing, Monarch Luo needed to rely on Chen Le’s help to deploy the Three Monarchs Formation.

"You want to become the Bureau Director of our universe’s Bureau?" Monarch Luo was caught off guard by the request. It was not something that he had expected from Chen Le.

Chen Le replied, "Spies are running rampant, and Monarch Mu's disappearance could even be related to that.

“My lord, there is a matter that has been troubling me for some time, and I feel compelled to share it with you now." The man paused for a moment, staring at Monarch Luo. "Luo Qian might have become a spy some time ago."

Monarch Luo's eyes grew cold, and he silently turned to stare at the distant rainbow wall.

Chen Le continued to say, "I understand that you care about Luo Qian, as you would not have otherwise sent him to the Transcendent Universe to be a hostage. However, have you ever considered the fact that Luo Qian has a deep grudge against Luo Zang and the entire Mu family? Using him as bait to lure out Monarch Mu is something that even I can think of. Aeternus has been developing human spies for countless years, and surely they must have also thought of such a possibility. There has to be a peak powerhouse behind Monarch Mu's disappearance, and Luo Qian does not have the personal connections to do that on his own.”

"Furthermore, the possibility of the You family being behind her disappearance is nothing more than conjecture, and there is clearly something off about the person who provided you with that information. The entire situation could be a trap or ploy by Aeternus to generate internal conflict in our Sixverse Association.”

"The only explanation that I can come up with for this matter is spies. Only traitors would do such a thing."

Monarch Luo remained silent, never once speaking a single word.

Chen Le continued in a solemn manner. "I implore you to give me the opportunity to hunt for spies and save Monarch Mu. To me, you, Monarch Mu, and Monarch Xing are all my masters. If at all possible, I hope to be able to rescue Monarch Mu, and even if she is already dead, I must bring her body back."

Monarch Luo’s silence continued for a long time, his face showing his complicated emotions. "Our Bureau’s director has always been Monarch Mu, but with her missing, the position cannot remain vacant. From this day on, you are the Bureau Director of the Three Monarchs Universe."

"Thank you, my lord." Chen Le bowed in gratitude.

Monarch Luo turned to look at Chen Le. "I hope that you can follow through on what you’ve said. Uncover spies and find Monarch Mu. Even if it's just her remains, bring her back to me."

Determination filled Chen Le's eyes. "From today on, my primary goals are to root out spies in our universe and find Monarch Mu."

Monarch Luo nodded. "No one knows whether the person who sold me that information is part of some scheme or not. Luo Qian certainly did appear in the Ziyou Realm, and the You family has a motive to go after Little Mu, so the suspicions leveled at them cannot be ignored."

"That is precisely why I need to become the director of our Bureau. Xuan Qi was sent here by You Fang, and whatever he is up to, I need to keep an eye on him," Chen Le stated.

Monarch Luo had been just about to mention the matter himself, but since Chen Le had already mentioned it, the older man simply said, "Xuan Qi is quite gifted at finding spies, and he also became well acquainted with Luo Qian while they were in the Sixverse Academy. I’ve had Cang Bi keep an eye on him while he’s in our universe, but I now pass that duty onto you."

"Understood," Chen Le replied.

After leaving the rainbow wall, Chen Le headed straight for the courtyard that had been given to Lu Yin and his team.

For the time being, Chen Le was not needed at the Three Monarchs Universe’s warfront. The combined efforts of Monarch Luo, Monarch Xing, Xia Shenji, and Arch-Elder Zen were enough to keep things stable there, and Monarch Luo much preferred having an extra Monarch free to maintain order in the Three Monarchs Universe.

After arriving, Chen Le emerged from the void in front of Lu Yin's quarters, and his overwhelming monarch essence suppressed every nearby creature.

Cang Bi was the first to notice the new Monarch’s presence, and he quickly bowed. "Greetings, Senior Chen Le."

Every single cultivator from the Three Monarchs Universe inside or near the courtyard bowed in respect.

Inside the courtyard, Boss Guan, Skinner, and Xu Ji also bowed in a show of respect to a peak powerhouse.

Lu Yin stepped out and looked up at Chen Le. His eyes flickered, but he also offered a slow bow. "Greetings, Senior Chen Le."

From where he stood in the air, Chen Le looked down at Xuan Qi. The Monarch wanted nothing more than to crush this young man with a single slap. Xuan Qi and the mysterious peak powerhouse had planted two different energies in Chen Le’s body as means to control him and leave him entirely at their mercy. Despite becoming a Monarch, Chen Le had found that he was still unable to break free from those two energies. Despite his grand appearance, he was truly nothing more than a tool to be used by Xuan Qi. The humiliation was agony for Chen Le.

If possible, he would have struck the young man down, but the energies still in his body made it difficult for him to take action. Additionally, even if he did attack, he might not be able to kill the young man. While Xuan Qi was not a peak powerhouse himself, he possessed the ability to fight against them. He was an absolutely terrifying man.

"Are you Xuan Qi?" Chen Le asked.

"I am."

"I have been appointed as the Three Monarchs Universe’s Bureau Director. I would like to ask you to temporarily join my Three Monarchs Bureau as Acting Bureau Director in order to help my universe hunt for spies. Are you willing?" Chen Le asked.

Cang Bi was stunned to see how highly Chen Le regarded Xuan Qi.

Lu Yin hesitated. "Senior, I am already the Acting Bureau Director for the Voidforce Universe's Bureau."

Chen Le replied, "The Bureau is a single organization. Since you're the Acting Bureau Director for the Voidforce Universe, then you are also qualified to be the Acting Bureau Director for my Three Monarchs Universe. You cannot refuse to do your part to rid humanity of traitors."

Lu Yin stopped hesitating and slowly bowed. "I understand. Thank you for your kindness, Senior."

Chen Le replied, "I know that you are quite skilled at finding spies, so I will give you the authority to go anywhere you wish in the Three Monarchs Universe, without any restrictions. This is the authority that I, Chen Le, grant you. You have but one task: find every last spy. Leave none behind."

Cang Bi was startled. Chen Le was giving Xuan Qi far too much respect. Granting the youth this much authority was essentially making Xuan Qi untouchable within the Three Monarchs Universe. Why would Chen Le do such a thing?

How long had it been since Xuan Qi had arrived in the Three Monarchs Universe? After seemingly accomplishing almost nothing, he was being given a lofty status. Could this be nothing more than the result of Xuan Qi’s two visits to Chen Le?

Lu Yin nodded with a smile. "I understand. Thank you, Senior."

This was exactly what Lu Yin had wanted. The Three Monarchs Universe was simply his first step. Chen Le had been the last piece to completing it. From this moment forward, Lu Yin intended to start toying with the Sixverse Association.

With Chen Le’s endorsement, Lu Yin became free to go wherever he pleased.

As for the first place that Lu Yin wanted to visit, there was an almost unknown region of the Emperor Domain that held a stone tower. Within that tower were the true records of every major event that had ever happened in the Three Monarchs Universes.

Every universe placed high importance on their history. The Fifth Mainland had endured for countless years, and it had also lost its history on multiple occasions. Even so, there was always someone who would tirelessly try to piece together the broken fragments of the past.

Lu Yin similarly wanted to piece together the complete history of the Fifth Mainland, and of the entire Origin Universe as well.

The Three Monarchs Universe had built this stone tower specifically to house historical records. It held the true history of events that had played out in the Three Monarchs Universe. Aside from a select few people, no one was allowed entry.

In fact, the list of people allowed to access the stone tower was only seven names long: the three Monarchs themselves, Chen Le, Luo Zang, the official historian, and the tower’s guardian. Other than those people, no one else was allowed entry.

Lu Yin had tried to visit the tower before, but he had been stopped by Cang Bi, who had proceeded to make it perfectly clear that Xuan Qi would never gain access to the tower. However, with his new authority, Lu Yin fully intended to get inside the stone tower.

The stone tower was not a grand structure, and it instead looked quite ordinary. However, its guardian was one of the Semi-Monarchs from the Mo Courtyard.

The Mo Courtyard had fifteen Semi-Monarchs, each of whom held some position or other in addition to their membership in the Mo Courtyard.

One example was the old woman that Lu Yin was looking at. She was the official guardian of the stone tower. Despite also being a member of the Mo Courtyard, the woman did not need to remain within the Mo Courtyard and live there. Naturally, the stone tower that she protected was not far from the Mo Courtyard, and it could even be considered a single step away.

The Mo Courtyard was very close to every single location of importance in the Emperor Domain. This ensured that the Demi-Monarchs could quickly protect any location that was attacked.

"Leave," the old woman commanded without even bothering to look at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin stood in front of her with his hands clasped behind his back. He looked up at the stone tower. "You should get out of my way. I am the Acting Bureau Director, and naturally, I need to check the records here to learn about spies. The information within this tower is crucial for my investigations, so do not stop me." L1tLagoon witnessed the first publication of this chapter on N0vel-B1n.

The old woman ignored his reasoning. "Leave."

Lu Yin glanced over at Cang Bi.

The man was in a difficult position. Normally, he would have never allowed Xuan Qi to even get close to the stone tower, but Chen Le’s orders had been very clear. Thus, Cang Bi did not know how to handle the situation.

The three Monarchs were the people who determined who had access to the stone tower. Before also becoming a Monarch, Chen Le had no authority to add additional names to that list, but the man had become a Monarch as well, which made Cang Bi uncertain.

Lu Yin furrowed his brow, pulled out a communication crystal, and prepared to call Chen Le. He then casually stated, "Monarch Luo tasked you with assisting me with my investigations. You are also responsible for ensuring that I am given full freedom in my activities. Even Chen Le told you to make sure that I am not to be blocked anywhere in the Three Monarchs Universe. If you can’t even perform your duty at the very first place I visit, what use are you to me?”

Cang Bi's heart dropped. He quickly stepped forward and spoke to the old woman. “This man is Acting Bureau Director Xuan Qi. Chen Le himself gave him unrestricted access to every place within the entire Three Monarchs Universe. Let him in, as he has permission.”

The old woman glanced at Cang Bi. “I am responsible for guarding the stone tower, not you. Other than the people on the list that I’ve been given, no one is allowed inside.”

Cang Bi gritted his teeth and glanced back, only to see Xuan Qi staring at him with open interest.

The Demi-Monarch’s face turned pale. How had he ended up in such a difficult situation? He did not want to offend Xuan Qi, but he was unable to persuade the old woman to let the young man in.

The communication crystal connected to another, and an image of Chen Le appeared.

As soon as they saw Chen Le, Cang Bi and the old woman bowed in unison. "Greetings, Senior Chen Le."

"What is it?" Chen Le calmly looked at Lu Yin.

"I want to enter this stone tower to look into some things, but I’m not being allowed access."

Chen Le replied, "I've already said that you are allowed to go anywhere you wish in the Three Monarchs Universe. Cang Bi, take care of this."

Cang Bi was taken aback. "Yes, I understand. This will not happen again."

Chen Le nodded, and then looked at the old woman. "Add his name to the list. I will speak to Monarch Luo."

The old woman quickly bowed. "Understood."

Lu Yin stowed his communication crystal away and walked into the stone tower while ordering Cang Bi and the old woman to wait outside. No one was inside the stone tower with Lu Yin.

At this moment, both Cang Bi and the old woman were extremely wary of Xuan Qi. This young man was allowed to act however he wished in the Three Monarchs Universe.