Star Odyssey

Chapter 1860: His Back

Lu Yin felt the need to retaliate the moment he saw Xu Qing's relaxed expression. "General Xu Qing, it looks like you didn’t know that an expert from the Celestial Demons was following you. It would appear that the Celestial Beast Empire doesn't trust you very much."

It was important to say a few words before starting the negotiations.

Xu Qing was taken aback, but he quickly let out a laugh. "You are really an interesting person, Alliance Leader Lu. Even in your current situation, you still have the time to try your hand at psychological warfare. There’s no reason for me to not tell you that the Emperor was quite clear to me that there would be a hidden powerhouse following me, but I will admit that I did not expect that expert to be a Celestial Demon. It was quite the surprise, no?”

Lu Yin casually replied, "If you say so. Anyways, tell me, what did you call me for, General Xu Qing?"

The general’s tone remained light. "It’s nothing too important. I just wanted to ask you if you still want those three Envoys. Many of my soldiers are rather gluttonous, and they particularly love the meat of Envoys."

"Of course I do. Let’s hear your terms," Lu Yin said directly.

Xu Qing was surprised by this response. "You’re certainly direct, Alliance Leader Lu. Very well, I’ll state our conditions, though not like this. I want you to come see me. I will tell you in person."

Lu Yin stared at Xu Qing. "What do you mean?"

A smile slowly crept across Xu Qing's face. "I want you to come see me alone, Alliance Leader Lu. Then, I’ll tell you my terms. Do you dare? There’s no need to worry, as I promise to ensure your safety. I will uphold the practice of not killing the emissary of someone we are at war with."

Lu Yin took a long look at Xu Qing as Shui Chuanxiao's words echoed in his mind. Xu Qing was someone who excelled at scheming, both on and off the battlefield. He was someone who could always suppress his enemy. Clearly, Xu Qing was trying to take advantage of Lu Yin.

Wei Rong had already told Lu Yin the worst case scenario, and yet Xu Qing had made an even more ruthless move. The commander had not forgotten to try to suppress Lu Yin before even offering to negotiate the terms regarding the three captured Envoys. Lu Yin had the choice to go alone or to not meet with Xu Qing. However, if Lu Yin refused, Xu Qing would hold the upper hand in every future interaction. The general wanted to break the Great Eastern Alliance’s morale with the three captured Envoys, and on top of that, Xu Qing was trying to make sure that he held the absolute advantage during any and all negotiations.

Lu Yin was the leader of the Great Eastern Alliance, but how would he be able to control the alliance if he was publicly suppressed during this war?

Xu Qing was even more ruthless than Wei Rong. The young man was still too young.

Lu Yin and Xu Qing stared at each other intently for a moment. "Okay, I'll go."

Xu Qing's eyes instantly narrowed, but he exclaimed, "As expected of the person who managed to unite both the Innerverse and Outerverse and is unmatched by any peers. You have your pride. I’ll be waiting for you."

Xu Qing immediately ended the call.

Lu Yin lowered his arm. From behind, the Second Nightking expressed his surprise. "Are you actually going?"

Lu Yin answered in an indifferent manner, "I won’t be able to do anything if I don't go."

The Second Nightking's eyes flickered. "You’re going up against astral beasts, not humans. They don't follow any rules. Are you really certain that you want to go?"

Lu Yin stared into the distance. "If I don’t go, Xu Qing will have already won. No one will listen to a leader who doesn’t even have the courage to approach the negotiation table."

Lu Yin then looked at the Second Nightking and smiled. "Honestly, I’d prefer to have you go in my place."

The Second Nightking was unconcerned. "It doesn’t matter. I can kill them if I go."

"Even if that Celestial Demon is there?" Lu Yin asked.

"That beast can't stop me."

"Alright, that’s what I needed to hear," Lu Yin said.

The Second Nightking was left puzzled.

Lu Yin carefully observed the old man. "This time, if I die, so will you."

The Second Nightking’s pupils constricted, and a powerful killing intent flickered in the depths of his eyes. "Do you want me to die with you?"

Lu Yin explained, "The only way to come out on top in this situation is to rescue those three Envoys. I’m going to need you to take action, but I'm afraid that you won't try your best. You just told me that the Celestial Demon can't stop you, and you’re the only one who can get me back here safely. If I don’t come back, then that means that it’s because you don’t want me to survive. In that case, I’ll make sure to take you with me to my grave.”

The Second Nightking’s cheek twitched, but he stayed where he was. "What do you want to do?"

Lu Yin turned to look towards the northeast. "We have to take our chances."

War was not a game. This was what Lu Yin had told Ling Qiu. Still, even if he felt that he had a deep understanding of warfare, he had never expected to face billions of astral beasts all alone. He was like a lamb walking to the slaughter as he faced all those ferocious and terrifying astral beasts.

Back within the fleet, Ling Qiu looked conflicted. She had not expected Lu Yin to willingly walk into the depths of the enemy army on his own. That was something that few people had the courage to do.

Regardless of whether Ling Taizu could be rescued, Ling Qiu realized that she would not be able to hold a grudge against Lu Yin for this matter. This was because she was staring at his lonely back, as he resolutely strode forward.

Lu Yin passed through outer space along as he made his way towards the horde of countless astral beasts in the northeast. Behind him, the entire Great Eastern Alliance stared at his back as he left them. No matter why any of them had originally joined the Great Eastern Alliance, at this moment, Lu Yin won the hearts of everyone. They could not help but respect his courage.

There was a great distance between the first astral beast that Lu Yin encountered to where Xu Qing was waiting. Lu Yin was not sure if Xu Qing had purposely arranged it, but every single creature in Lu Yin’s path was absolutely massive. Some of them even stood directly in his path with their limbs spread apart so that Lu Yin would need to pass beneath them in order to proceed, which was insulting.

Lu Yin looked up. This whole situation felt rather familiar. After all, this was not Lu Yin’s first time passing through an enemy army, as he had done the same thing with the Technocracy’s Lost Course Army. At this moment, Lu Yin was facing a tremendous amount of hatred, but so what? He had not even arrived at his destination yet.

An astral beast in his path let out a great roar and stepped forward, crushing an asteroid with its four legs. "Human, pass through!"

The countless astral beasts surrounding the area also roared. "Pass through, Human!"

"Pass through!"

…

Lu Yin calmly looked at the astral beast blocking his path, but the creature only had the strength of an Enlighter. He continued walking forward, but with every step he took, his domain and spiritual force increased in strength, suppressing the astral beasts surrounding him. In particular, the beast blocking Lu Yin’s path felt as though he was being crushed by an invisible power, and its massive eyes began to show terror.

A blast of wind swept through the entire area, and all the astral beasts were blown away. The sole exceptions were two Void Thunderbeasts who stood in front of Lu Yin and stared at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin stepped upon an astral beast as he continued to slowly approach the two Void Thunderbeasts.

He had not even noticed that Yao Gu was watching from a distance, staring at Lu Yin in absolute shock. The human who had once been a bug undeserving of Yao Gu’s notice had already reached a level where he was qualified to directly speak with Yao Gu’s patriarch. This rate of growth was unbelievable.

Lu Yin stepped onto an asteroid and continued approaching the two Void Thunderbeasts one step at a time.

Those two Void Thunderbeasts stared at Lu Yin with murder in their eyes. If possible, they absolutely wanted to kill this human, but they could only dream of doing such a thing. The more powerful the astral beast species, the more rules they had to follow. There were times when a species’ rules would be even stricter than those of humans. On top of that, they viewed themselves as superior to humans, so they would not try to make a move in this situation.

Lu Yin continued to move closer, and when he saw the killing intent in their eyes, he arched a brow and commanded, “Move."

One of the two Void Thunderbeasts took a step forward, lightning flickering around its body. "What did you say, Human?"

Lu Yin ignored the beast and simply continued moving forward as though the Void Thunderbeasts did not even exist.

They remained in his path, and lightning suddenly surged. It was powerful enough to distort space. The creature loomed over Lu Yin and flickered back and forth between the visible universe and the true universe.

Lu Yin walked right up to the Void Thunderbeast and ran into it without any sign of pausing or hesitating.

Lightning exploded, and there was a surge of power, but the Void Thunderbeast was knocked back by Lu Yin. The shockwave from the impact shattered a nearby asteroid and crushed a group of astral beasts.

A roar caused space to tremble, and it was even felt by the distant human fleet. Countless individuals heard it, and their expressions all changed, as none of them knew what Lu Yin was facing at this moment.

The Void Thunderbeast who had been shoved out of the way by Lu Yin could not accept what had happened, and its eyes went wide. Lightning flickered and it moved back, intent on resisting Lu Yin.

Lu Yin sneered. "Trash."

Even as he spoke, he stepped forward without any change in his pace.

There was a click, and then space shattered. The Void Thunderbeast used all of its strength and lightning to resist Lu Yin's power. There was a bang, and another asteroid shattered and exploded. Lu Yin’s hair was ruffled, but the Void Thunderbeast was forced back once again. It was pushed back with every step that Lu Yin took, which was completely humiliating to the astral beast.

The other Void Thunderbeast wanted to help, but it held itself back. It could not make a move. If two Void Thunderbeasts at the Envoy level worked together, they would be humiliated regardless of whether they suppressed an Enlighter. If word of such a thing spread, the Void Thunderbeast clan would be mocked relentlessly.

The Astral Beast Domain was not a monolithic force, and there was internal strife there as well. The competition for the Celestial Beast List was also bloody.

Further back, Xu Qing stood atop a mountain on a large asteroid. At the moment, he was staring off into the distance. There was an extremely handsome young man and a noble looking, middle-aged woman standing with the general.

The young man was the Celestial Demon whose spiritual force was strong enough to stand up to even the Second Nightking. He was an expert with a power level that surpassed a million.

The woman was one of the Celestial Ice Phoenixes.

The Celestial Ice Phoenixes ranked seventh on the Celestial Beast List. They controlled both an impervious ice and a tri-colored light that could burn through anything. However, if that was all that the Celestial Ice Phoenixes boasted of, the woman would not be qualified to stand with Xu Qing and the Celestial Demon.

Very few astral beasts were aware of the fact that the Celestial Ice Phoenixes had previously received preferential treatment from Progenitor Wushang. Supposedly, they had been given a mission that they needed to carry out, and this gave the Celestial Ice Phoenixes a very high status within the Astral Beast Domain, though it also exacerbated the Celestial Ice Phoenixes’ arrogance.

"This Lu Yin truly is impressive. Even Yao Xuan can’t come close to comparing to him." The Celestial Demon admired Lu Yin, though his eyes contained killing intent.

On the other side of Xu Qing, the female Celestial Ice Phoenix coldly declared, "Unless something happens, this child will become a terrible enemy of our Celestial Beast Empire once he becomes an Envoy. If possible, it would be best to kill him now."

Xu Qing shook his head. "Our armies are the ones fighting. We can’t kill him unless he attacks us first."

The Celestial Demon sneered. "He's no fool! Why would he try to attack us after coming here? If he did that, then forget about the Great Eastern Alliance’s fleet—not even one of the Hall of Honor’s Semi-Progenitors would be able to save him!"

Xu Qing glanced at the man who had spoken. This Celestial Demon was far too arrogant. A Semi-Progenitor’s strength was something that they could not comprehend, and saying that had only revealed the Celestial Demon’s ignorance. Still, a Celestial Demon was a Celestial Demon. Even a fool like this was able to achieve such an impressive level of strength. It truly defied all understanding.

"How is your research going on the Great Eastern Alliance?" the Celestial Demon suddenly asked.

Xu Qing’s voice remained indifferent. "The reports that we’ve received say that the Great Eastern Alliance has united both the Innerverse and the Outerverse. Most of the Envoys we’ve seen among their forces are the rulers of the Innerverse’s eight great flowzones, and that one powerhouse is a genius from the Sword Sect who should have died long ago, Liu Huang. As for the other one…”

The commander hesitated for a moment. He looked far more serious than before. “He’s the Second Nightking."

"The Second Nightking?" the Celestial Demon and the Celestial Ice Phoenix both exclaimed.

The Daynight clan was famous throughout the universe, so they both understood exactly what "Second Nightking" meant.

The Celestial Demon quickly sneered. "No wonder he managed to block my spiritual force! So he’s the Second Nightking. That old freak isn’t dead yet?"