Star Odyssey

Chapter 2013

Even as Ni Huang was fighting against a Semi-Progenitor level corpse king, he was urging Xia De to hurry Lu Yin. They had to return to the Perennial World as soon as possible, or else it would be too late for regrets once their chances of survival fell to zero. Ni Huang’s sudden impatience had been triggered by the appearance of an old acquaintance. Once this individual showed up, Ni Huang had completely lost all composure.

"Marquis Green Bamboo?" Ni Huang was shocked.

Sure enough, one of Aeternus’s Twelve Marquises, Marquis Green Bamboo, had appeared at the border between the Human Domain and the Technocracy. He met Ni Huang’s gaze and smiled wryly. “It’s quite interesting to see the White Dragon Clan’s grand elder here in the Forsaken Land. You must be destined to die at my hands."

Panic overcame Ni Huang, and he immediately reached out to Xia De yet again. They needed to leave immediately! The appearance of one of the Twelve Marquises indicated that the Forsaken Land had just become one of Aeternus’s main battlefields, second only to the battlefield behind the Mother Tree. The situation was dire, as Ni Huang and the others had practically fallen to the New World. They were basically sitting ducks that could be surrounded by Aeternus at any moment.

In addition to the Twelve Marquises, there was also a chance that a Progenitor-level corpse king would reveal themselves as well. The Sixth Mainland’s two Progenitors were already far from sufficient.

"How many of you Twelve Marquises are here?" Ni Huang angrily demanded while keeping his eyes fixed on Marquis Green Bamboo.

A smile slowly spread across Marquis Green Bamboo's face. Given his gentle demeanor and the bamboo flute he carried, no one would never guess that he was one of Aeternus’s Twelve Marquises. "Let me think… probably three or four?"

Ni Huang's expression changed. If the Seven Skygods were considered Aeternus’s most powerful Progenitors level experts, then the Twelve Marquises were the most powerful of their Semi-Progenitors. Each was just as strong as Ni Huang himself, but they were much, much older. While Ni Huang had relied on the innate vitality of the White Dragon Clan to survive for so long, living since the Daosource Sect era, the Twelve Marquises had already been experts when he had been born, or even earlier.

No one could understand why the ancient beings known as the Twelve Marquises chose not to break through to become Progenitors, but everyone was clear on the fact that they were monstrous experts among Semi-Progenitors and that they could not be underestimated.

If three or four of the Twelve Marquises had arrived in the Forsaken Land, then the place was truly doomed. Even if none of Aeternus’s Progenitors stepped onto this battlefield, it was already a lost cause. There was no reason to keep waiting.

Ni Huang sent a voice transmission to Wang Si and Bai Laogui, intending to immediately return to the Perennial World. However, they quickly received bad news from Xia De: the New Corridor had been destroyed.

"What’s that? The New Corridor’s been destroyed? Who did it?" Wang Si screeched, her expression rather unsightly. She remembered hearing Arch-Elder Zen and the others from the Forsaken Land once mentioning that Sky Creation Academy might be cooperating with the Neohuman Alliance. Had those suspicions been true after all? They had asked Xia De to protect the New Corridor from the Neohuman Alliance, but he had been lured away by Lu Xiaoxuan.

Lu Xiaoxuan was always behind everything!

Xia De answered softly, "It wasn’t Sky Creation Academy. It was destroyed from the other side."

Wang Si was completely stunned at this revelation. "Has something happened in the Perennial World?"

"What is Sky Creation Academy saying? Can it be fixed?" Bai Laogui anxiously pressed.

Xia De replied, "It should be possible, but no one has any idea how long it will take."

Ni Huang's face sank. They were in deep trouble. They were left with no choice but to face this disaster together with the Forsaken Land.

The Twelve Marquises by themselves were already difficult opponents, but with it also being impossible to recover stellular energy and humans weakening with every battle, there was not much hope for victory.

…

The countless vertically slitted, scarlet eyes brought despair to humanity as hordes of corpse kings poured out of the Starfall Sea. However, shortly after they started to appear, an endless army of mechanical ants started to emerge from the Technocracy.

At this moment, Arch-Elder Zen was fighting against a Semi-Progenitor corpse king at the edge of the Starfall Sea.

The various fights that were taking place at the Semi-Progenitor and Envoy levels were not looking good for humanity. The addition of the near-infinite army of corpse kings joining the fray presented a bleak future.

As the endless swarm of mechanical ants poured out from the Technocracy, a spark of hope ignited in Arch-Elder Zen’s eyes. He watched as the ants moved forward and clashed with the corpse kings. What was going on?

A staggering number of corpse kings and mechanical ants seemed to fill the entire universe with an indistinguishable mass.

Two torrents collided. At the border where the Technocracy met the Starfall Sea, an unprecedentedly brutal fight broke out that left Ni Huang and everyone else utterly stunned.

Inside the Technocracy, a complete transformation occurred. Both First Edition City and Sky Creation Academy moved and started making their way towards the Sophic Rift. The two mechanical armies that had been locked in battle instantly stopped fighting at the same moment, and the forces started moving towards the Human Domain.

…

At this exact same moment, Lu Yin was being led across the Cosmic Sea by Kui Luo. They quickly arrived at their destination, which was just outside the Tower of the Fifth.

The Cosmic Sea had filled up with the dead bodies of both humans and corpse kings.

The islands had been left in ruins, which presented a stark contrast to what Lu Yin had seen when traveling through the Cosmic Sea in the past.

Even the Mavis Bank’s large tree had been felled. Every person in the entire area had already experienced the full horror of this war, and only after much difficulty had they managed finally to eliminate all the corpse kings in their area.

"Even Semi-Progenitors are fighting to the east. Fierce battles have broken out everywhere. How troublesome," Kui Luo lamented bitterly.

As soon as Lu Yin appeared outside the Tower of the Fifth, Liu Ye, Fei Hua, and Man Li hurried out to see him. The Lu Elite Troops also emerged from every direction, as well as Big Sis’s mercenaries and the rest of Leon's Armada.

Highsage Leon appeared nearby, panting heavily. His massive war blade was tightly clenched in one hand.

He had just fought an entire series of intense battles. Several exceptionally powerful corpse kings had appeared, and it was likely that the Tower of the Fifth would have fallen without Highsage Leon’s presence.

"Is anyone still in the tower?" Lu Yin asked.

Man Li answered somberly, "No one. The incoming monsters were intercepted by the Lu Elite Troops who were working as trial givers. Everyone inside had to evacuate."

Lu Yin’s eyes swept over everyone who had gathered at the Tower of the Fifth. He spotted several familiar faces: Yuhua Mavis, Lulu Mavis, the Hall of Honor’s Shu Jing, Light World’s Lightson, the Cosmic Sect’s Mu Ziying, and the Innerverse’s Hua Xiao were all present. Additionally, Lu Yin recognized Liu Tianmu, Liu Shaoqiu, Ling Gong, and others.

All of these people were survivors of this war. Some of them were calling their sects or families, while others seemed to be lost in thought. Everyone looked nervous.

Lu Yin faced the crowd and loudly announced, "The only place in the Fifth Mainland that’s still suitable for us to stay in is the Innerverse’s eastern flowzones. I’ve decided to move the Tower of the Fifth there, as we can’t allow it to be taken by Aeternus.

"Anyone who are willing to continue the tower’s trials are welcome to go back in, as this move won’t affect you."

Mu Ziying quickly spoke up, "Senior Brother Lu, what about the Cosmic Sect? Will they go to the Innerverse?"

Lu Yin answered, "I’m not sure."

"Why don't we go to Mt. Microcosms?" Shu Jing could not help asking.

Lu Yin glanced over. "Stellular energy can't be recovered anywhere in the Neoverse.”

"But the Honor Zone has the 3,000 hidden worlds! It’s the place in the Human Domain with the deepest foundations, and Mt. Microcosms even has its own defense army!" Lightson countered.

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed irritably. "I wasn’t asking for opinions. I was merely informing you."

"Then we’ll return on our own," Lightson replied coldly. They had already tried to return to the Neoverse earlier, but they had been stopped.

Lu Yin smirked. "That’s not possible".

All the people gathered around the Tower of the Fifth looked at Lu Yin in confusion. These people had come from all across the Fifth Mainland, and there were even some Sixth Mainland cultivators who had hidden themselves here. Lu Yin actually dared to say these people were not allowed to leave?

Lu Yin raised his voice and declared, "Humanity is facing annihilation! Everyone who’s managed to make their way here to the Tower of the Fifth are elites—the trash has long since been eliminated. Since you are the ones who will become the Fifth Mainland’s future, I can’t allow any of you to be lost. Why was the Tower of the Fifth built? To identify the Fifth Mainland’s elites from out of countless cultivators. Now that you have been found, there’s no reason to send you to your graves.”

Everyone was stunned. While Lu Yin’s words sounded nice, something seemed off about them.

At this moment, Lu Yin’s gadget beeped with a notification. After glancing at it, his expression changed, and he looked to the west. Was this why the Technocracy had been established?

All along, no one had ever understood just why Progenitor Hui had created the Technocracy. It had always been a complete mystery, and this mystery was also why Hui Kong had gone to the Technocracy on his own, as he had wanted to uncover the truth.

Twice, Lu Yin had Possessed the body of a mechanical ant, and he had seen their endless numbers. The second time he had Possessed an ant, he had seen the scavengers and started to develop a guess about why the Technocracy existed. At this moment, Lu Yin’s suspicions had been confirmed.

The Technocracy existed solely to make as many mechanical ants that were intended to fight against corpse kings as possible. The resources needed to make the ants had been contributed by both the Sixth Mainland and the Perennial World.

Why had First Edition City and Sky Creation Academy always waged war against each other? Without a war, they would have no reason to ask for more materials. Only by fighting a war could they brazenly request materials from both the Sixth Mainland and the Perennial World while cooperating with each side.

The army of mechanical ants had been constructed with the materials that periodically vanished from the Technocracy’s battlefields, as well as the additional materials that the two powers allied with the Technocracy had gathered.

From the moment of its inception, the Technocracy had always been nothing more than a front to leech materials from the Sixth Mainland and the Perennial World. The true reason for its existence had always been to serve as a counter to Aeternus.

The Human Domain, the Sixth Mainland, and the Perennial World had all been nothing more than chess pieces that had been unknowingly cooperating in this grand scheme.

Progenitor Hui had entrusted the Technocracy solely with the sole purpose of fighting against Aeternus.

This invasion had spread the fighting across the entire Fifth Mainland, and it was finally time for the Technocracy to unveil its preparations.

Not a single individual, human or Aeternal, had possessed even the slightest inkling that such a plan existed. Otherwise, Hui Kong would have never needed to remain within the Technocracy for so long.

Progenitor Hui must have calculated numerous possible scenarios for the future far before he started to lay the foundations of his intricate plans. His goal had always been to have the Sixth Mainland pay the consequences of its past actions while protecting the Fifth Mainland. He had even created the Technocracy within the Fifth Mainland to give humanity a way to fight against Aeternus. Even the Ceaseless Impetus sourcebox array in the Perennial World had reportedly been created by Progenitor Hui.

Without Progenitor Hui, humanity most likely would have fallen to Aeternus long ago.

Humanity’s greatest strength was their wisdom and creativity, and Progenitor Hui represented the pinnacle of human wisdom. It was no exaggeration to say that he had been both an exceptional historian and an incredible innovator. He had not used divination, but rather wisdom to predict the future.

Brother Hui Kong, you can finally rest at ease!

Although the Technocracy had revealed itself and had moved to the front lines to fight against the Aeternals, Lu Yin could still not breathe easy quite yet.

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If it was that simple to deal with the Aeternals, then human beings would have never been left with only a single mainland, and a broken one at that.

Although endless waves of mechanical ants had already been manufactured, the Technocracy had never ceased production. This indicated that Progenitor Hui had believed that no number of mechanical ants would ever be sufficient. In that case, how long would the mechanical ants be able to hold out for?

Lu Yin took out Zenith Mountain and allowed it to increase in size.

As one of the Hall of Honor’s greatest treasures, Zenith Mountain was a wondrous item that was able to change size according to its owner’s wishes. When small, it could be carried in a cosmic ring while still holding living creatures. When large, it could even carry planets. Something the size of the Tower of the Fifth could be easily stored on the mountain.

Lu Yin sowed the Tower of the Fifth and everyone near it onto Zenith Mountain, shocking the people who had already been captured by him.

Highsage Leon was the only person to not enter the mountain.

“Captain?" Lu Yin was puzzled by the man’s actions.

Highsage Leon resolutely replied, "I'm going back to Eversky Island.”

Lu Yin tried to persuade the man, "There are only a few people still on Eversky Island, and they can all easily move to the Innerverse. We should go on ahead of them."

Highsage Leon shook his head. He looked at Lu Yin and spoke softly, "Little Seven, it’s only been a few decades, but you’ve already accomplished so much. You’ve achieved things that most likely no one else in history could have done. You are my pride and joy. Help me take care of my armada. If possible, I’ll go to the Innerverse with Master and the others and look for you there. If not…” Highsage Leon paused, his voice thick with emotion. “Take care.”

Without waiting for a reply, Highsage Leon shot off towards the Neoverse.