Star Odyssey

Chapter 2712: The Lost Clan’s Universe

"Hey, don't leave! Let’s go again!" Xu Yue remained unconvinced of her loss. Three years had passed, and yet she had once again been defeated. Had she wasted these years? This thought caused her to glance over at Xuan Qi with a rather sour expression on her face. Spending three years following him must have slowed their cultivation.

Xu Lie coldly stated, "Don’t bother shouting; you are no match for her. The further you progress, the greater the gap will become."

Xu Jie looked over at Xu Lie. "How will the gap grow?"

Xu Lie's expression grew increasingly solemn. "Our Voidforce universe is a member of the Sixverse Association, and our cultivation method is truly unique. Many people claim that our voidforce puppets can allow us to defeat opponents with multiple times more energy reserves than us, and it’s true that we can do exactly that at lower levels, but..."

The woman hesitated as she looked at Xu Jie and Xu Yue. "If we lose that particular advantage, what advantage can we still have against our opponents?"

Xu Yue replied, "Our voidforce energy has many different characteristics and can grant us great power. We also have battle techniques, just like other universes."

"But do you take that seriously?" Xu Lie shouted back.

Xu Yue was startled, and she considered all her years of training, starting from her childhood. Sure enough, none of her training had ever focused on battle techniques. Not once.

Throughout all of Xu Yue’s experience, everyone in the Voidforce Universe had always competed for how much voidforce energy they possessed or could control. The only way that their talent was evaluated was in how much voidforce energy they could manipulate, as that would determine the strength of their voidforce puppets. Could they control ten times their own energy reserves? More? The greater their level of control, the greater their talent. As time had passed, they had become accustomed to focusing solely on controlling more and more voidforce energy so that they could use overwhelming force to overpower their opponents.

Xu Jie became rather subdued as she clenched her fists.

Lu Yin was taken aback. Had Xu Lie really seen so clearly after such a short amount of time in the Sixverse Academy? Not even Xu Xiangyin was that objective in his views.

Xu Lie's voice fell low, "Because of voidforce energy, people of our Voidforce Universe are able to wield power multiple times greater than our own, and this grants us an incredible advantage against any and all opponents at earlier stages, but when our opponents can compensate for our advantage, we instantly to a disadvantage, especially against the Origin Universe.”

She suddenly glanced to the side, where Wen Sansi was approaching, looking as refined and delicate as ever. He saw Xu Lie staring at him and offered a slow bow.

Lu Yin had already noticed Wen Sansi approaching, but they could not greet each other in the Sixverse Academy.

"The Origin Universe is nothing like what people say about it, and you need to be extremely careful whenever you face anyone from that place. You saw that that woman just did; she overcame her disadvantage of being suppressed by a greater quantity of voidforce energy with an innate gift. Xu Yue, you are already considered one of the Voidforce Universe’s most talented youths, and Xu Jie is even more of a genius, with talent so exceptional that he has even met with Lord Xu himself. Despite that, that woman is able to fight against both of you. Have you never considered why that is possible?" Xu Lie seemed to have been deeply impressed by Ling Gong. Her expression grew a bit conflicted. "When Ling Gong had her breakthrough to become an Envoy, I went to the Origin Universe to witness it for myself."

Lu Yin instantly understood. It was no wonder that Xu Lie had been so intimidated by the Origin Universe. Ling Gong had been one of the Ten Arbiters, standing head and shoulders above her peers. She had been one of the greatest of her entire generation, and her breakthrough should have been a terrifying affair!

Clearly, Ling Gong’s first stellular tribulation had been impressive enough to intimidate even Xu Lie.

Lu Yin thought back to his own breakthrough. His first stellular tribulation had been so powerful that it had resonated through space and been projected to the Perennial World, which had triggered the four ruling powers into sending an army to deal with Lu Yin in the Fifth Mainland.

While Ling Gong could not compare to Lu Yin, her first stellular tribulation had been impressive enough to shock Xu Lie and even the entire Sixverse Academy.

Xu Lie looked around at the gathered students. "Maybe early on the people of the Origin Universe are at a disadvantage compared to us, but as they grown, they become much, much stronger, especially after their breakthrough to become Envoys. If you give that woman some time, she may no longer lose to even you, Xu Jie."

Xu Jie suddenly turned to look at Xu Lie. "What happened during her breakthrough?"

Everyone else was also curious.

The Sixverse Association as a whole showed an attitude of disgust, irritation, and even outright hostility towards the Origin Universe. Each of the member universes had been around since the Heavens Sect era, and the attitudes from that time had been passed down to the present day. This had led to not only hostility, but also outright contempt, and so many people looked down on the people of the Origin Universe.

Lu Yin could still clearly remember what all of the other participants had said when the Sixverse Academy had sent a group to the Origin Universe to participate in a trial.

Lu Yin was also curious about what had happened during Ling Gong’s first stellular tribulation that had left even a genius like Xu Lie so wary and completely change her opinion of the Origin Universe.

However, Xu Lie ultimately said nothing at all, and simply reiterated that as they grew and progressed, people like Ling Gong would grow exponentially stronger. She even mentioned that the Origin Universe’s standard cultivation method might be the one that was best suited for survival in the megaverse.

The Lost Clan’s Shangsan Festival was clearly supposed to be a joyous occasion, yet the people who had gathered in the Sixverse Academy to attend the event felt as though the mood had been doused with a bucket of cold water. All of them felt chilled to the bone, especially Xu Yue, whose face had grown pale.

Jiang Xiaodao gritted his teeth. "Are they really all freaks like that?"

He spun around to look at Wen Sansi. "Hey, let's spar! Didn’t you also have a breakthrough?"

Lu Yin looked over and asked Xu Lie. "Did you see his breakthrough?"

Xu Lie shook her head. "I only followed to see Ling Gong’s breakthrough. Still, this person?" She looked over at Wen Sansi. "He’s not simple, either."

Wen Sansi shrugged. "Think thrice before you act; we fight, you’ll get hurt."

Jiang Xiaodao became furious. "You sound insane! Let’s go!"

Wen Sansi smiled, turned around, and walked away, waving once his back was to everyone. "We’ll have the opportunity in the future."

"Don't run away!" Jiang Xiaodao was incredibly irritated.

A smile spread across Lu Yin’s face. Had each of the Ten Arbiters had a breakthrough? If they continued to rise up, who would be able to stop them?

Lu Yin had struggled greatly against the Ten Arbiters, and it was finally time for the people of the Sixverse Association to do the same.

Additionally, the Origin Universe did not only have the Ten Arbiters, but also talented people from the Neoverse, such as Qiu Shi, God Taiyi, Yuhua Mavis, as well as the three Dao Chosen from the Heavens Sect era. Each of them would eventually enter the Sixverse Association step onto the greater stage of the megaverse. When that happened, things would become quite exciting.

Lu Yin realized that he was looking at things as though he was from a different generation from his peers.

Mu Mu soon arrived, and she calmly waited at the side.

Seruzen arrived with Mu Mu. As one of the Arboreal Realm’s greatest geniuses, Mu Mu drew attention wherever she went, and yet she did not draw as much attention as Seruzen.

His raised arm was too conspicuous.

Many people in the Sixverse Academy have never seen Seruzen before, so his appearance triggered quite a few conversations.

After waiting for a few days, Zhi Bing arrived to lead everyone to the Lost Clan’s universe.

"Why are you here?" Jiang Xiaodao shouted when he saw Wen Sansi appear out of nowhere.

Wen Sansi smiled and said, "I'm also going."

Jiang Xiaodao was left speechless. "Then you were just hiding from me?"

Wen Sansi bluntly replied, "I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to avoid hurting you."

The answer infuriated Jiang Xiaodao, but everyone else laughed.

Zhi Bing called out, "Alright, it’s time to go? Is this everyone? Is there anyone who wants to back out?"

No one spoke up.

Zhi Bing looked around again. "Then let's go."

He led everyone through a tear in the void and into the Lost Clan’s universe.

This was the only universe of the Sixverse Association that Lu Yin had never been to before, and he was quite curious about it.

The fact that the Lost Clan was a true member of the Sixverse Association indicated a minimum level of strength that the Lost Clan had to possess.

The Lost Clan was very mysterious, and the cards that they used were also incredibly unique. Many people in other parts of the Sixverse Association hoped to obtain one of the Lost Clan’s cards, but there was never any guarantee that they would be able to find one. Even if they did, they might not be able to use it.

The most mysterious legend regarding the Lost Clan was that they possessed cards that surpassed the strength of peak powerhouses.

Progenitors were peak powerhouses, and all who succeeded in reaching a similar level had reached the pinnacle of human cultivation. Even the Great Sovereign himself was a peak powerhouse. While his strength might surpass anyone else within the same realm, he remained in the same cultivation realm as the others.

However, both internally and to outsiders, the Lost Clan claimed to be in possession of cards that surpassed that realm of strength.

The Lost Clan ranked their cards from lowest to highest as Seasonal, Ancient, Primordial, and Immemorial cards. Immemorial cards were equal to a Progenitor’s strength, but above them were supposedly the Primeval cards. However, no one had ever seen a Primeval card, though the Lost Clan insisted they existed.

All members of the Lost Clan believed that Primeval cards existed, but whenever they were asked what realm of cultivation those cards corresponded to, no one could give an answer.

Soon, Zhi Bing led everyone to the Lost Clan’s universe.

As people looked around, the starry expanse looked no different from any other universe. It was dark, and seemingly infinite.

Zhi Bing took a deep breath and smiled. "This is my Lost Clan’s universe. Pay attention while you are here; I will only say this once, but don’t wander about or randomly touch anything while in this universe. You can encounter a trap at any moment. Don’t blame me for your deaths."

Jiang Xiaodao was taken aback. "We can encounter traps anywhere? Aren’t traps only in your cards?"

Zhi Bing frowned. "Ignorant and incompetent."

Jiang Xiaodao ground his teeth.

"For my Lost Clan, our cards are our lives. Would you randomly experiment on yourself? You can’t set up traps in your imagination; they require research, consideration, and experimentation. My Lost Clan will not do this in our cards, and will only work on them when we are confident. Throughout our universe, planets, landmasses, meteorites, stars, and even astral beasts that roam the universe might have traps set on them. This is why our universe is the one that Aeternus fears the most.”

Lu Yin arched a brow, as he felt that he had heard similar claims before, and with just as much pride backing them.

Xu Yue looked around. "You set up traps and don’t dismantle them when you’re done?"

Zhi Bing looked at Xu Yue and smiled. "Why dismantle them? Traps are how my Lost Clan competes. Anyone who falls victim to a trap can only be considered unlucky. If you are capable enough, you should be able to spot a trap before you fall victim to it."

Lu Yin spoke up, "Doesn't that mean that there are countless traps throughout your universe?"

Zhi Bing nodded and proudly stated, "Countless, literally countless. For as many years as our Lost Clan has been in existence, we have laid traps about in this universe. You may even find traps that were set by people in ancient eras long gone."

The moment people heard this, they all quickly drew closer to the middle of the group, scared of what could be nearby.

The Lost Clan’s traps were famous throughout the megaverse, but that did not mean that anyone wanted to try them.

Zhi Bing continued to speak about the glory of the Lost Clan as he led everything through outer space.

As they traveled, everyone remained silent and nervously glanced around in every direction.

They eventually reached a city drifting through space, though they never encountered a single trap.

Jiang Xiaodao pouted. "He’s just trying to scare us."

Zhi Bing looked back to stare at Jiang Xiaodao, and then thrust a palm out. The attack shot across space, and far away, the void collapsed as though crushed by something. Countless spikes shot out of the void, each one glowing with a cold light. The sight of them left the group stunned for some time.

Lu Yin's eyes flickered, as that trap was by no means weak. It could have killed a six-tribulation Envoy.

Jiang Xiaodao’s mouth fell open. "There really was a trap..."

Zhi Bing let out a contemptuous snort before pointing forwards. "We’ll rest in that city for a few days while we wait for more people to join us."

"Is that... a grave?" Mu Mu was surprised.

Zhi Bing commented, "So, not all of you are completely ignorant."

"What graveyard? Isn't that a city?" Lu Yin was confused.

Mu Mu explained, “Cards with laid traps that are unable to bear the powers contained within, or a powerhouse forcefully escaping from a card, but still eventually perishing from the trap. This is the grave of such an incident.”