Star Odyssey

Chapter 1872: New Gardener

The mantis had already been seriously injured, which caused its strength to plummet. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for Lu Yin to fight against a being whose power level was so much higher than his own, even with the God of Death Transformation.

The carrion beetle charged at Lu Yin from behind, and he sensed danger. The God of Death Transformation meant that Lu Yin was unable to use the Knowing realm of Truesight, which forced him to physically resist the carrion beetle’s body slams.

However, Lu Yin was now able to track the carrion beetle’s movements.

The bug had to move into the region around Lu Yin’s body that was filled with the black and white mist, and as soon as it entered that area, it would be affected by the death energy, and its speed would drop instantly. This was Lu Yin’s only chance to catch the bug.

The first time, Lu Yin used his white shield on his left arm to block the carrion beetle.

The second time, he directly slashed out with his scythe. He struck the bug and sent it flying.

Behind him, the giant mantis’s blades slashed down again. Lu Yin had just sent the carrion beetle flying, and before he could defend himself, he was struck by the mantis’s blades. The impact sent him tumbling across the ground, and he landed in a city, which incited new waves of panic.

Lu Yin ground his teeth. He was currently facing two extremely fast astral beasts at the same time. While one of them was wounded, its attacks were still incredibly powerful. Also, it was very difficult for Lu Yin to break through the mantis’s defenses even though it was wounded. As for the carrion beetle, even though Lu Yin was finally able to track the creature’s movements, he was unable to harm the bug at all. The hardness of the carrion beetle’s carapace defied his expectations.

The combination of the two astral beasts had rendered Lu Yin unable to do anything at all.

Lu Yin pulled the corpse back out and carried it with him as he attacked with his scythe. There was a bang as he clashed with the giant praying mantis’s blades. The carrion beetle struck him from the side, but it ran into the corpse. Still, the impact stunned Lu Yin, and he slashed his scythe to the side, sending the carrion beetle flying from the impact. On Lu Yin’s other side, the mantis attacked again, but its blades were blocked by the corpse again.

Lu Yin carried the corpse as he fought, and he entered a bit of a daze, as he was evenly matched with the two astral beasts.

The corpse was large enough to block attacks in a wide area while the shield on Lu Yin’s left arm was small and difficult to block the mantis’s attacks with.

This battle lasted for half an hour. There was no opportunity for Lu Yin to take a break, and the mantis’s eyes only grew more and more angry as time passed.

Finally, Lu Yin had almost depleted his death energy, so he took the initiative to end his God of Death Transformation as he felt that it was important to keep some death energy in reserve as a precaution. The moment Lu Yin ended the transformation, he was sent flying by the carrion beetle.

He smashed into the ground, and a statue tumbled over on top of him. There was a bang as he was struck, and a cloud of dust kicked up.

Even as Lu Yin gasped for breath, the carrion beetle appeared in front of Lu Yin. The bug did not want to give Lu Yin any chance to catch his breath. In this situation, Lu Yin realized that his only hope was to find some way to send another one of the two astral beasts into Jupiter.

His pupils transformed into runes. He did not know if the Knowing realm of Truesight would work against the carrion beetle’s attacks, but he intended to find out.

The moment the carrion beetle struck Lu Yin, lightning flickered in the sky as a massive body mysteriously appeared out of nowhere. It stepped on the carrion beetle and shot up into iyter space, carrying an endless amount of lightning with it as it flickered across the sky.

Lu Yin’s mouth fell open in shock; was that a rabbit?

Sure enough, a lightning-covered rabbit had appeared, stepped on the carrion beetle, and then charged into space. Before it disappeared, the beast turned around and grinned at Lu Yin, revealing two gleaming front teeth.

This sudden change completely topped Lu Yin’s understanding of the universe.

It did not even matter if Lu Yin ever found out how the rabbit had suddenly appeared without any warning, as he would never be able to match the creature’s speed. Lu Yin could tell that the rabbit had just as many runes as the mantis had at its peak. But even then, the mantis had never been able to come and go without warning like that rabbit. How had the rabbit suddenly appeared? Had it really appeared out of nowhere?

Also, that rabbit looked familiar. Lu Yin had actually seen it before, as it was the rabbit that had stepped on Elder Lohar, and it had also just stepped on the carrion beetle.

The rabbit’s stomp stunned the carrion beetle, which actually helped Lu Yin avoid taking an attack.

The rabbit had just run away into space when a human appeared out of nowhere. "You damn rabbit, how dare you run away! Father’s already angry enough as it is, and if you run away again, he’ll catch you himself!"

The person screamed out at space the moment he appeared, but he almost instantly felt a bit stunned. Something was clearly wrong, so he slowly looked around. "Why is there so much rubble?"

"Jiang Chen?" Lu Yin asked.

The figure turned his head to look at Lu Yin. The man blinked, but then he quickly smiled. "Yo, my friend! Long time no see!"

"Watch out…" Lu Yin's expression changed, as the giant praying mantis was rushing over, wielding its blades as though it wanted to kill Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen turned around and saw the mantis’s blades approaching, and he let out a strange little scream.

The blades flickered, and Jiang Chen was thrown back. The mantis’s blades did not stop or slow as they continued on, also aiming for Lu Yin.

Lu Yin used the corpse to protect his front side as the mantis’s blades struck, and he was sent flying again. He ended up landing right next to Jiang Chen.

"Jiang Chen!" Lu Yin yelled. His heart sank. Jiang Chen had been hit head-on by the mantis, and there was no way such a blow would not kill the young man.

“Cough cough!” Jiang Chen coughed twice, rubbed his chest, and then grinned as he looked up and spat some sand out of his mouth. "What the hell was that?"

Lu Yin heaved a sigh of relief, though he was also shocked. He stared at Jiang Chen, only to realize that he could not see any runes at all. How was that possible? Also, how had Jiang Chen not been hurt by the mantis? If he was actually stronger than the mantis, then how had he been hit in the first place? The person was very strange.

Jiang Chen looked up at the giant praying mantis in the distance, still waving its fierce blades around. The young man let out a gasp. "Hey, is that thing your enemy?"

"Watch out!" Lu Yin shouted a second time. He had seen the blur of the carrion beetle in the corner of his eye. At this moment, Lu Yin could not clearly see the bug.

Jiang Chen reflexively curled himself up into a ball. He waited for a while, but surprisingly, nothing struck him. When he looked up, he saw Lu Yin act as though he was struck by something, but Jiang Chen could not make anything out. How was Lu Yin’s opponent moving so quickly?

The distant praying mantis approached again, still attacking with its blades.

The Knowing realm of Truesight allowed Lu Yin to withstand the carrion beetle’s attacks, but he did not dare to attempt the same thing with the giant mantis. The creature was much stronger than Lu Yin despite its serious injuries. Even if Lu Yin felt like he could probably block the attacks with Truesight, he would not take that risk.

When Lu Yin saw that the mantis was attacking again, his only option was to pull the corpse back out and use it as a shield.

Jiang Chen was stunned by everything he saw, and he simply stared at Lu Yin. This was one against two? No, two against one? Wait, Lu Yin was carrying a corpse, so did that make it two against two? Jian Chen had never seen anyone fight in such an odd manner.

"Help me!" Lu Yin shouted as he glanced over at Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen blinked. "How can I help?"

"Deal with one of them!"

Jiang Chen was faced with a dilemma. "That’s not easy. They’re both too fast. I can't beat either one."

"So you want to just escape by yourself like last time?" Lu Yin shouted. He was referring to when the two of them had been attacked at Jupiter’s observatory. At that time, Jiang Chen had mysteriously disappeared while Lu Yin had been sucked into Jupiter and then moved to the Perennial World.

Jiang Chen became upset. "Escape? I’ll help you block an attack, so don’t make it sound like I’m fleeing for my life!”

Lu Yin pulled his neck back after almost being sliced by the mantis’s blades. He rolled his eyes at Jiang Chen’s remark. "Bro, I know that you’ve got a way. Help me out, and I’ll give you Luo Shen's contact information later."

Jiang Chen's eyes instantly lit up as the graceful figure of a dancing woman appeared in his mind. He unconsciously swallowed. "Really?"

Lu Yin quickly replied, "Of course! After all, without your help, I’m done for!”

As soon as Lu Yin finished speaking, he was smacked away by a powerful blow.

Jiang Chen wiped the corner of his mouth. "It’s impossible for me to fight with you, as I can’t beat either of these things. Why don’t I take one of them away? My family needs a gardener."

"Kid, you’re courting death!" The mantis spoke up for the first time. Its voice was harsh and sharp to listen to.

Jiang Chen was taken aback, and he stared at the giant praying mantis in surprise. "You can talk?"

The mantis glanced at Jiang Chen with its cold eyes. "Leave!"

It spoke while continuing to attack Lu Yin, raining down blows upon the corpse that Lu Yin was using as a shield. Elder Su had left the mantis severely wounded, or else it would have already sliced Lu Yin up long ago.

"That thing’s nasty! Hey, buddy! Don’t forget to give me Luo Shen’s contact details! Father, I’m bringing you a pet! This one can talk!" Jiang Chen yelled as he charged at the mantis in a desperate manner.

Lu Yin was stunned, and he blankly stared at Jiang Chen as he rushed through the sky. "What are you doing?"

The mantis was furious, as Jiang Chen was acting as if the astral beast did not even exist. Its blades flashed towards Jiang Chen, but then the astral beast suddenly disappeared.

Jiang Chen and the giant praying mantis both disappeared at the same time. It was as if neither had ever even existed.

Both Lu Yin and the carrion beetle were completely stunned, and they both stared intently at where the mantis and Jiang Chen had just stood. Where had they gone?

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. A parallel universe. They had definitely gone to a parallel universe. Jiang Chen had previously mentioned that he could freely travel across parallel universes and accurately choose whichever one he wanted to go to. Could he have taken the mantis to another parallel universe?

Father? Pet? Did he take it to his dad? Can his father defeat that mantis? This won't cause problems, will it? Lu Yin had too many questions, but Jiang Chen had indeed taken the giant praying mantis away, which had solved Lu Yin’s crisis. The carrion beetle alone could not deal with Lu Yin.

Lu Yin remembered his opponent, and he started looking around for the bug. However, he could not find it.

"I know that you're here, but there's no need to bother looking for the mantis. It won’t be coming back,” Lu Yin spoke as though to himself. He put the corpse away and started using the Knowing realm of Truesight again. “Leave."

Lu Yin had no idea if the bug had actually left or not. He moved over to where the mantis had landed on the ground after its face was covered with Progenitor Wushang’s hide. Lu Yin was relieved to see that the hide was luckily still there.

All of a sudden, the carrion beetle shot forward. It was aiming for Progenitor Wushang’s hide as it wanted to steal it.

Lu Yin sneered. He had thought that he was about to die earlier, which was why he had not taken Progenitor Wushang’s hide back, but there was no way he would let it go at this point in time.

He immediately stored the hide away, and the carrion beetle smashed into Lu Yin’s body. “Aren’t you going to leave? You can’t do anything to me."

A voice filled the air, "Boy, that’s Progenitor Wushang’s hide, isn’t it?"

"What of it?" Lu Yin denied nothing.

The carrion beetle stayed silent for a moment. "Give it to me."

Lu Yin laughed. "Did you hit your head or something? Why would I give it to you?"

The carrion beetle’s voice dropped, "Progenitor Wushang’s hide belongs to my carrion beetles. Who else do you think has the ability to tear apart Progenitor Wushang’s hide aside from us carrion beetles?"

Lu Yin was caught off guard. This was his first time hearing about where Progenitor Wushang's hide had come from. "So, you carrion beetles know where Progenitor Wushang's body is?"

"Boy, give me Progenitor Wushang’s hide! If you don’t, I will haunt you forever, and my species’ ancestors will also chase you down. They are powerful enough to easily kill you, and no one can stop them, not even a Semi-Progenitor."

Lu Yin's heart skipped a beat. He might not care about threats from others, not even Semi-Progenitors, but the carrion beetles were different. Fighting against one had shown Lu Yin the horror of these bugs. This carrion beetle’s power level was not comparable to that of the octopus that Lu Yin had fought against before, but Lu Yin had been smacked around without any ability to retaliate. On top of that, Lu Yin had not been able to pierce the bug’s defenses or cause any sort of injuries at all.

Lu Yin had almost never encountered such a situation throughout his entire time cultivating. He had clearly been strong enough to face this particular opponent, but he had not been able to win.