Star Odyssey

Chapter 2072: Tidal Flats

Lu Yin frowned. Leng Qing was also from the Heavens Sect era, so his desire to help Chu Yuan was only to be expected. However, things would become problematic if the man tried to deal with Lu Yin.

There was no one around who would help Lu Yin.

"Did you not hear me? Release it now!" Leng Qing snarled as he raised a hand and threw the needle-like weapon at Lu Yin. The man aimed at Lu Yin’s shoulder. He was not trying to kill Lu Yin, but simply to stop him from competing for the Origin Progenitor’s sword.

The sound of a three-stringed instrument filled the ancient hall, and the weapon’s course shifted slightly. It stabbed into the pillar.

Lan Xian had taken action to block Leng Qing’s attack. She whispered to Lu Yin, "That’s another favor that you owe me."

Lu Yin was taken aback, as he had not expected any support from the woman.

Jiu Yao glared at Lan Xian. "This is their concern. Step down."

Lan Xian held her instrument. "I want blood from someone from the Lu family, especially Lu Yin's."

Jiu Yao frowned. He still had no idea why Lan Xian wanted his blood so much.

"Isn't there some over on that pillar?" Heluo Mavis asked.

Lan Xian was caught off guard, and she reflexively turned to look at a pillar. Sure enough, there was blood on the pillar behind Lu Yin from when he had been attacked by Forgotten Ruins God. He had spat out a lot of blood at that time.

Lu Yin's face twitched. This damn woman…

Lan Xian no longer had any reason to help Lu Yin. She waved a hand, and the blood flew towards her from the pillar.

Lu Yin was now in a hurry. Lan Xian had tried to get his blood several times before, but she had always failed. Still, she had never given up. It was clear that his blood was somehow very useful to her, though it was anyone’s guess what she would use it for. If she had some sort of ability to control her enemies through their blood, Lu Yin would be in massive trouble. Undying Yushan’s ability to control people was already enough to make Lu Yin constantly be on guard, and if he also had to worry about Lan Xian… Just the thought of such a future left Lu Yin with a headache.

These thoughts also erased all of Lu Yin’s hesitation, and he sped up his recitation of the Origin Sutra.

It was already very difficult to recite the Origin Progenitor’s Sutra, and even though Lu Yin was finally able to recite almost the entire thing with his improved strength, he had to do so slowly. Still, by forcefully speeding up his words, Lu Yin made it so that Chu Yuan could not keep up.

At that moment, the sword started to tremble even more violently than ever before.

Right when Lan Xian collected Lu Yin's blood, the two recitations of the Origin Sutra shifted, and they were no longer in unison. The sword suddenly twisted in the air, and then it started to spin crazily. It looked like something had somehow failed. Everyone stared, and no one could understand what was happening.

Chu Yuan and Lu Yin were similarly ignorant, as all they could sense was that the sword had gone out of their control.

Suddenly, the sword came to a stop, but it was aimed at Lu Yin. It abruptly shot forwards towards him.

Lu Yin's pupils shrank to almost nothing. What the hell?

No one had anticipated such a turn of events, and no one could stop the sword once it started moving. Lu Yin could not react at all.

The sword instantly pierced Lu Yin's heart, and a terrible pain swept through his nerves. His vision went dark, and his mind went blank.

As this happened, the main hall finally shattered, and an irresistible suction pulled everyone away. They all tumbled into the river of time, along with the shattered remains of the main hall.

…

Murky water washed across the tidal flat, occasionally carrying a few odd fish that swam about and struggled to leap back into the river.

Suddenly, a hand shot down and grabbed a hold of one of the odd fish. "This is at least something to eat, haha. More and more food! I finally caught one."

A ragged man was speaking. His body was covered with so much mud that he looked like he had crawled out of a swamp. However, despite his appearance, he was very excited by the fish in his hands.

His words also drew envious looks from many nearby people.

They were all on a very, very long tidal flat. Far off in the distance, stars could be seen falling down onto the tidal flat, and it was impossible to see the end of the river. There were stars overhead, but there were also stars beyond the tidal flat. This tidal flat was actually in the middle of outer space.

Countless wooden houses decorated the endless stretch of the tidal flat, and there seemed to be no end to them. People would come out from them from time to time, and they all eagerly searched the river in hopes of catching something.

"Old Hei, how many have you caught?" someone called out.

The dirty man who had just caught a fish proudly answered, "Three!"

"Sure enough, you’re not afraid of death. Quite a few people have recently been dragged into the river and eaten, and the guards have become really strict. No one’s allowed to approach the Astral River right now."

"What are you so afraid of? Those guards are nothing more than a show! They don’t actually care if we live or die. Are they really going to come after us for getting close to the Astral River?"

"Just be careful and don't die. Human lives are worthless now."

The dirty old man grinned in reply. He clutched his three fish tightly as he ran across the tidal flat.

He moved between the endless wooden houses that had been built on the mud.

Eventually, Old Hei turned a corner, approached one of the wooden houses, and softly knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" A hoarse voice called out, clearly nervous and full of vigilance.

Old Hei whispered, "It's me."

"What's wrong?" The hoarse voice slightly relaxed, but the door did not open.

Old Hei licked his lips. "I caught three fish by the Astral River. Do you want them?"

There was silence from the room for a moment. "Are you giving them to me?"

"Of course! If you agree to obey me, I'll give you all three fish," Old Hei answered softly.

"Get lost!" the hoarse voice shouted angrily.

Old Hei snorted disdainfully. "Don't be stupid! You can’t survive this place with your unreliable bit of battle force, let alone work the pyrolyte mines. However, if you eat these fish often enough, you’ll be able to stabilize your battle force and even heal yourself. All you need to do is follow me, and everything will get better for you."

"Get lost!" The hoarse voice was filled with fury.

Old Hei turned and left. "You're so ugly that no one wants you except for me. Just wait to die in the Astral River!”

His voice drifted away as he spoke.

Inside the wooden house, a person was sitting in a corner. It was impossible to see their face, as only a pair of beautiful eyes were exposed. Stars fell, and a silver light swept across the tidal flats to illuminate the wooden house. The person quickly ducked their head, not daring to look at the silver light.

After the silvery light left, the person turned their head and looked at another corner of the little house. There was a pitiful bed formed from a pile of gravel, and someone was lying on it. That person had a sword stuck in their chest.

The person sitting on the floor continued to stare at the person lying on the bed. It was impossible to know what sort of thoughts were running through their mind.

Bright stars rose up from across the tidal flat, lighting up the Astral River and the countless wooden shacks that dotted the tidal flat.

The seated person continued to stare at the bed for the entire night. Only when it grew light outside did the seated person cough a few times and finally leave the shack.

After the place grew dark once more and night fell, the person returned to the little shack, once again sitting in the corner and blankly staring at the person on the bed.

It was unknown how much time passed before there was a knock on the door. "Have you reconsidered things? I caught another fish today. With the three from yesterday, that makes four. Even the guards who saw me got jealous. I'll give all of them to you—how ‘bout it?"

The person sitting on the floor curled up and answered in a weak voice, "Get lost."

"You nasty woman! You’re already disfigured, yet you still pretend to be some sort of noble! In the past, let alone four fish, not even forty would be enough to get me close to you, but now, you’re just an ugly woman that even the trash here can’t bear to look at. You look like a monster! What can you even be proud of anymore? Just think about it. There’s still a bit of hope to stay alive, and everything’s gone once you die. You can’t possibly expect anyone to take you away from here, as those people can’t even protect themselves!” After cursing the woman in the shack, Old Hei left.

The person inside did not even seem to have heard the rant outside the door, as they were still staring at the bed.

Another day passed, then a third, and a fourth. Day after day went by, and each day, the person just stared at the person lying on the bed, as though watching to see if they were still alive.

Ten days passed, and on one particular day, everyone who lived in the shacks on the tidal flat were lined up outside, turning something in.

A young man stood in the distance with his arms crossed as he stared at the people lined up. There was a strong sense of disgust in the man’s eyes.

"Uncle Jiang, when can we get out of this situation?" the young man asked. He was clearly very unhappy. This man was Xia Sheng, Xia Yi's bastard child.

He had lived a difficult life as Xia Yi’s bastard. Xia Sheng had never been allowed to step foot on the Xia family’s mainland, and was left in this forsaken place without any care for him. Only after Xia Jiayou had slain the other heirs of Xia Yi had Xia Sheng been remembered by his father. However, even after that, he had still been left in this place.

After Nan Yuan had been dismissed from the overseers’ council, the Xia family had not sent a new representative to fill the empty seat on the council, not until Xia Yi had finally remembered that he had a bastard. Xia Sheng had then been tossed onto the overseers’ council to represent the Seven Courts, though he was considered to be nothing more than a puppet.

That time had been the absolute pinnacle of Xia Sheng's entire life. He had been in contact with various important people, and he had even been qualified to speak directly with Alliance Leader Lu, who ruled both the Innerverse and the Outerverse.

However, after the universe had undergone various great changes, Ancestor Xia Ji had decided to follow the people from the Perennial World, and he had disbanded the Seven Courts. The overseers’ council had existed in name only, and Xia Sheng had been forced to return to the Xia family.

"Young Master, keep your voice down. You can’t be heard by the master," Uncle Jiang softly cautioned.

Xia Sheng disdainfully shook his head. The patriarch? Xia Yi could no longer be considered to be the leader of the Xia family. Everything in the Xia family was overseen by Ancestor Xia Ji himself. Xia Yi was merely in charge of this tidal flat, and Xia Sheng was also here because of Xia Yi.

There were times when Xia Sheng wondered how wonderful his life would have been if he had not been born as Xia Yi's bastard, but rather Ancestor Xia Ji's. Of course, that was nothing but a daydream.

The change that Xia Sheng regretted most was that the overseers’ council no longer existed. If he were still a real overseer, he would not be stuck in such a mess. However, the authority that had replaced the council was not something that someone like Xia Sheng was qualified to interact with, and not even his asshole father Xia Yi was qualified.

"Why is there so little?" he shouted sharply.

Xia Sheng and Uncle Jiang turned around and looked at a hunched person with a black cloth wrapped around them. The person coughed a few times and answered in a hoarse voice, "I- I will do my best-"

"Your best? The month’s almost over! If this is all there is, I’ll send you to the frontlines!"

The person shrouded in the black cloth nodded repeatedly.

Xia Sheng frowned. "Don't bring such worthless people over anymore. A glance is enough to see that they’ve been badly injured, and their battle force is even unstable. It’s impossible for such a person to collect any pyrolyte. It’s just a waste of energy."

"Yes, Young Master. We’ll send her to the frontlines after this month," Uncle Jiang replied.

Another day passed. As the sky grew dark, everyone automatically put some distance between themselves and the tidal flat, and they almost all returned to the shacks. Very few people stayed by the Astral River, and they stared at it with red eyes.

The person shrouded in black cloth walked towards a specific shack.

Suddenly, there was a scream, and many people turned to look. They saw that someone’s body had been broken in two out on the tidal flat by the Astral River. Blood stained the ground, and even the water nearby.

It was a sight that left everyone who had been thinking about staying out on the tidal flat to fish trembling with fear. All of them quickly pulled back a long distance.

Old Hei was one of those people as well. His luck had been quite good in recent days, and he had caught several fish, but things had not continued as well as he had expected. After seeing someone be killed, he did not grow fearful, but instead even bolder. All he could think about was that woman.

He wanted her. Even though she had become ugly, she had once been absolutely stunning, and he dreamed of her. No matter what, he wanted to taste her at least once.