Star Odyssey

Chapter 2480: Fellow Disciples

Xia Ziheng gritted his teeth. "Why should I trust you?"

At this point, he was risking absolutely everything just to survive, even if it meant betraying humanity. However, Lu Yin certainly would not spare the man after overhearing him express his willingness to join Aeternus.

This young man held the same attitude towards Aeternus as every other member of the Lu family. He showed no mercy to Aeternus or Redbacks.

Lu Yin calmly stared at the man and said, "To me, you are nothing more than an ant. I have no reason to lie to such a worthless creature."

"But I'm an ant that bit you," Xia Ziheng protested. "You even said that you had to kill me."

Lu Yin asked, "Do you want me to swear an oath?"

Xia Ziheng's eyes flickered, uncertain of what he should do next. All he wanted was to stay alive, and he was willing to pay any price for that.

"I want to speak with Progenitor Xia Qin," he stated.

Lu Yin complimented the man. "Smart move, telling Xia Qin I'm here. If you die, she’ll automatically assume that I'm responsible, which will mean that I’ve broken the truce with the four ruling powers."

"Not only that, but I want you to swear that you will never harm me," Xia Ziheng said.

Lu Yin arched a brow.

Hen Xin stared at the man.

"Not just you, but any of your people too. You can't use anything to attack me, not even indirectly. Lu Xiaoxuan, I will admit that I'm afraid. I fear death, I fear your retaliation, and I fear your schemes. When you stole the Sword Monument from me, I ended up being punished by Progenitor Shenji, and I still haven’t forgotten about that. I know that I'll never be able to match up to you, and that’s why I want to use this secret to protect myself for the rest of my life. Rest assured, this secret is absolutely worth that price, and I promise that, for the rest of my life, I will never try to harm you or anyone connected with you." Xia Ziheng declared.

Lu Yin spoke slowly. "Don't you think that your conditions are a bit extreme? I can spare your life and even make sure you stay alive on your way to Shenwu's Sky, but you want me to agree to leave you untouched for your entire life?"

"I swear that, if this secret is not worth such a price, you can kill me immediately!" Xia Ziheng suddenly shouted. He was truly putting it all on the line. "If you don't believe that the information is worth it, you won’t have to keep your promise."

Lu Yin was caught off guard. "You're really confident. Fine, I swear that as long as the secret you tell me is worth it, I, Lu Yin, will never lay a hand on you, nor will any of my people. I won't use any indirect means to try to deal with you, Xia Ziheng."

Xia Ziheng spoke a few more sentences, which Lu Yin also added to his oath.

As Lu Yin had said, Xia Ziheng was nothing more than an ant. If a valuable secret could be acquired with the man’s life, it was absolutely worth it.

"You can start talking," Lu Yin stated.

Xia Ziheng closed his eyes for a moment. When they opened back up, he contacted Xia Qin, telling her that he was meeting with Lu Yin. Then, he handed the communication crystal to Lu Yin.

"Lu Yin, are you trying to ambush Xia Ziheng?" Xia Qin's voice was quickly heard, followed by her image.

Lu Yin glanced at Xia Ziheng as he replied, "I was just passing by. If I meant to kill him, do you think that he would have been able to contact you?"magic

Xia Qin frowned. "I don’t want to see the technique that you used to control Xia Xing used on Xia Ziheng."

Lu Yin answered, "I no longer have any interest in your Xia family. There's no conflict between us, and I won't do anything to Xia Ziheng. I simply hope that your Xia family won't cooperate with the Celestial Frost Sect and the others to try to deal with me.”

With that, he ended the call.

Bitterness filled Xia Ziheng's eyes. This call to Xia Qin meant that things would not be easy for him after he returned to Shenwu's Sky.

Since he had been able to work out that Lu Xiaoxuan had appeared to ambush him, how could Xia Qin not understand the same thing? However, Lu Xiaoxuan had decided to let the man go, which was something that everyone would find suspicious. Unfortunately, Xia Ziheng had been left with no choice. He had taken the only option available where Lu Xiaoxuan did not kill him. Even with Lu Xiaoxuan's oath, the Semi-Progenitor still did not feel safe.

"Start talking," Lu Yin said.

Hen Xin looked at Xia Ziheng with open curiosity, as he also wanted to know what sort of secret could be worth such a big fuss.

"Hen Xin," Lu Yin called out and made a gesture.

Hen Xin was taken aback. Was Lu Yin asking him to leave? The man’s expression immediately grew dark, but he had no choice. Lu Yin was staring, and Hen Xin could only leave.

After confirming that Hen Xin was unable to hear or even see them, Lu Yin looked back at Xia Ziheng.

The man took a deep breath and started speaking. "The Wang family has been excavating the Yellow Springs for many years, but there is no trace of the liquid that they’ve harvested anywhere in their floating mainland, the Dominion Realm where Wang Fan resides, or even in the Outer Realm. There is only one place where any of the Yellow Springs water can be found."

The man stared at Lu Yin and spoke two words.

These words shocked Lu Yin greatly, and he almost did not believe what he was hearing. "How is that possible?"

"Nothing is impossible. The more unexpected, the bigger the secret. This is the secret that Wang Yi left behind as her revenge against the Wang family. I swear, if I have uttered even a single false word, then let me be punished by the heavens," Xia Ziheng solemnly swore.

Lu Yin took a deep breath. How could the Yellow Springs water be in that place? This did not make sense, and it defied all reason. Everything about this was completely illogical, but if it was true, then Wang Fan had hidden things far too well.

It was no wonder why Xia Ziheng had made such bold claims. If this information was true, then the Wang family would absolutely have the confidence to rule the Perennial World after exiling the Lu family.

Bai Xian’er was the Celestial Frost Sect’s source of confidence, while Wang Fan had similarly been certain that the Wang family was capable of replacing the Lu family.

Each of the four ruling powers had their own plans, and none of them were simple.

In particular, no one knew just what Wang Fan, one of the masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas, was capable of. This was true of even Bai Wangyuan.

Lu Yin realized that he had underestimated the two men.

Bai Wangyuan and Wang Fan were both masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas, meaning they had been peers of Progenitor Chen and the Rune Progenitor.

Progenitor Chen and the others had left truly incredible legends recorded in history. Bai Wangyuan and Wang Fan might have also accomplished legendary feats, but Lu Yin knew nothing about such things.

"Can I go now?" Xia Ziheng asked.

Lu Yin looked at the man and asked, "How are you going to explain yourself to Xia Qin when you go back?"

Xia Ziheng shrugged. "My inner world is on the brink of collapsing, and it's because of you."

Lu Yin nodded. Xia Ziheng's inner world had been shattered by Shaman God, but it made more sense for Lu Yin to be blamed for the damage.

Xia Ziheng left. Lu Yin had gained something completely unexpected from the attempted ambush, but this gain was not a good thing.

Lu Yin also left. He had been exposed, which meant that he would no longer be able to accomplish much in the Perennial World.

Before leaving, he reached out to his senior brother, Mu Xie. "Shaman God’s Semi-Progenitor avatar escaped. I couldn't catch it. There must still be a great number of Redbacks and spies in this part of the universe."

"I know. Many have also captured and hidden the desiccated corpses left behind by Undying God. We have no idea just how many people might have successfully cultivated the Corpse King Transformation. All we can do is try our best to catch each suspect," Mu Xie replied.

Lu Yin remembered what he had told Qing Chen in the past. "Senior Brother, if a technique appears that can replace the Corpse King Transformation, we can put an end to the spread of that technique."

"It would have to be a technique comparable to the Corpse King Transformation. Are you planning to relocate the Tower of the Fifth here?" Mu Xie asked.

"The Tower of the Fifth is useless. To obtain the battle techniques there, one has to fight for them. To replace the Corpse King Transformation, we must find a battle technique that is equivalent to it and can be widely circulated. I'll think about it," Lu Yin said.

Mu Xie fell silent for a moment before saying, "Junior Brother, I'm glad that Master accepted you as one of his disciples."

Lu Yin smiled. "I'm also happy to have you and Senior Brother Qing Ping."

"It's not just us," Mu Xie said before abruptly ending the call.

Lu Yin was stunned. Not just them? What does that mean? Does Master have other disciples? Lu Yin wanted to ask Mu Xie for clarification, but the man had ended the call too quickly.

Lu Yin felt a bit of excitement. Who else could there be?

Although Mu Xie had not shared any details, Lu Yin could also ask his senior brother Qing Ping.

"Senior brother, do we have any other fellow disciples?" Lu Yin asked.

Back in the Fifth Mainland's Neoverse, Qing Ping was startled by the question. "Did Senior Mu Xie tell you of this?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"That’s what I'm asking you," Lu Yin replied, exasperated.

"Senior Brother Mu Xie didn't tell you, and I also don't know," Qing Ping replied.

Lu Yin felt helpless. "Are you able to contact Master?"

"Do you still have his jade talisman?"

"No."

"Neither do I. If I did, I would have contacted our master when Aeternus invaded," Qing Ping explained.

Lu Yin understood that he was no closer to finding an answer. He turned and left the Perennial World, returning to the Fifth Mainland.

Lu Yin had a certain suspicion regarding Mister Mu; could he be from a parallel universe? Why was it that, despite so many important things happening in both the Perennial World and the Fifth Mainland, Mister Mu had never showed himself? Lu Yin’s suspicion had only grown stronger and stronger. After all, Mister Mu had mentioned that he was in the Immemorial Citadel, which should be in some parallel universe.

After returning to the Fifth Mainland, Lu Yin returned to the mountain behind the Heavens Sect. There, someone was already waiting for him. If anyone from the Xia family could see this visitor, they would be astonished to see Xia Shenji, or rather, his clone.

The person who had entered the passage in Shenwu Continent that was connected to the Three Monarchs Universe had not been Xia Shenji's clone. The tracker sent by the Wang family had only been an Envoy, and he had been unable to tell the difference. Xia Shenji was too conceited and had firmly believed that no one in the Fifth Mainland could do anything to him.

He had not been wrong about that, as it was true that no one in the Fifth Mainland could have matched him in combat. Even when borrowing Progenitor Chen's power, Lu Yin had only been able to push Xia Shenji back. Only by joining forces with Arch-Elder Zen would there be a chance, but Arch-Elder Zen had not yet become a Progenitor at that time.

Xia Shenji's confidence had been fully justified, but he had completely underestimated Lu Yin's methods. The Progenitor had never even considered the possibility that Lu Yin might banish him to a parallel universe.

Lu Yin arrived at where Xia Shenji's clone was waiting, and the clone calmly took a seat. "Shenwu's Sky should no longer pose a threat to you."

Lu Yin sat down as well, his eyes fixed on the face that belonged to Xia Shenji. "Every time I look at you, I feel the urge to attack."

Xia Shenji's clone chuckled. "This face is quite easily misunderstood."

"When you helped banish my Lu family, you willingly participated. At that time, you were Xia Shenji's clone and were unable to go against him. I am curious, how did you develop an independent will?" Lu Yin asked.

Xia Shenji's clone asked back, "How could a puppet without independence cultivate the Origin Progenitor's secret technique?"

Lu Yin understood. This clone had possessed an independent will from the very beginning.

"This is also why he was willing to sacrifice me and watch me go down with the Lu family. Fortunately, he wasn't a complete idiot and knew that, if I died, he would develop a weakness in comparison to Bai Wangyuan and the others at that level. That's why he secretly imprisoned me. He’s been hoping to find a way to erase my will so that he can merge me back with himself," Xia Shenji's clone slowly explained.

This was their first conversation. Lu Yin had been looking for the clone ever since Xia Shenji was lured into the Three Monarchs Universe, but the clone was a very cautious individual and had been afraid Lu Yin would renege their agreement and attack. So, he had never exposed himself before this meeting.