Star Odyssey

Chapter 2166: Siege

Lu Yin gestured, and Silver threw his severed finger towards the white cloud, but it came to a stop before touching the cloud.

"Use this finger to find the location of Tian Dou, the patriarch of the Specter clan. There shouldn’t be any problems," Lu Yin said.

The white cloud remained silent. It was clear that Destina was thinking about something.

Lu Yin look over. "Tian Dou is nothing more than the patriarch of the Specter clan, someone who’s not even a Semi-Progenitor. Even if he’s managed to hide his cultivation, he’s at worst a Semi-Progenitor, which still isn’t any danger to you."

"Tian Dou? One of Jue Yi’s people?" Destina asked.

Lu Yin nodded. "He was, but he’s been working with Aeternus, which makes him a traitor to humanity. He needs to be found and eliminated."

"Working with Aeternus? Does that mean that there are Aeternals with him?" The woman’s voice slightly rose in pitch.

Lu Yin pursed his lips. "Don't worry. Even if there are, it won’t pose any danger to you. If the Aeternals were actually able to harm you, they would have directly made trouble for the Heavens Sect. Why would they be hiding in the Astral Wilderness otherwise?"

"We chased after them, but they escaped right before we arrived," Lu Buzheng interrupted.

Destina still hesitated.

Lu Yin frowned. "I don't want Tian Dou to get away again. As Destiny’s disciple, you should believe in the power of karma. If you let Tian Dou escape, all of his future crimes will build up more karma that might come back to haunt you."

"Are you threatening me?" Destina was getting upset.

Lu Yin replied, "Of course not, I'm just worried about you. As soon as I told you about this, karma was established between him and you. Your decision now is going to determine how everything plays out."

Lu Buzheng glanced over at Lu Yin. Who had taught this kid how to spout so much nonsense? Karma was a matter of cause and effect, and although it was something vague and indistinct that most people would not worry about, it was something that people like Destina were very concerned about.

After a while, the severed finger moved into the white cloud. "If I suffer another calamity due to this divination, I will never help you again, Dao Chosen Lu."

The white cloud then moved up into outer space, and meteorites gathered around it. Soon, 108 meteorites were revolving around the white cloud.

The sight reminded Lu Yin of Little Millenium Flowzone and the Starsibyl Sect. The planet that had been the sect’s headquarters had been surrounded by 108 other planets. There seemed to be a strong connection between Destiny and this number.

To the side, Lu Buzheng's face twisted into a strange expression.

Kui Luo called the man out on it. "Your face looks green. Hey, do you have something for Destina?"

Lu Buzheng answered grumpily, "She’d kill me if she could. How could I feel anything towards her?"

Kui Luo gave a disturbing smile. "Love and hate are all too common. Come on, tell this old man the truth. I won’t tell anyone."

Lu Yin also looked over at Lu Buzheng. "Third Uncle, you really don't look alright. What’s wrong?"

Lu Buzheng's eyes grew a bit dim as he stared out into space. "You just brought up karma, and Destina believed you. Do you know why?"

Lu Yin felt a bit puzzled, as he did not really understand the matter. All he knew was that Xuan Jiu had mentioned that, when Lu Yin had been building the Tower of the Fifth, that his actions would improve his karma and remove some of his future disasters.

"All of Destiny’s disciples believe in karma, and it’s because their divination actually involves karma," Lu Buzheng quietly explained, "Ants must pay a price for looking up into the sky. Destiny’s disciples do divination, and if they reach too high, they also have to pay a corresponding price, which is usually backlash. If a Hunter attempts to do a divination regarding a Semi-Progenitor, the karmic backlash will result in their death.

"Destina just said that she was injured from doing divinations for you, which I find hard to believe. For someone at her level to be injured from a divination’s karmic backlash, the target had to have at least been a Progenitor. The thing is, Destiny’s disciples are taught a technique to shift the karmic backlash of their divinations. So, even if Destina were to perform a divination on a Progenitor, she should not suffer much harm."

"Transfer karmic backlash?" Lu Yin and Kui Luo glanced at each other with questioning looks.

From elsewhere, both Silver and Tong Yu were staring at Lu Buzheng. Neither of them had ever heard of such things before.

"The method to shift karmic backlash is supposedly used when the price of a divination is too steep for the person performing the divination, and it involves things like the 108 meteorites that are revolving around her right now. If a divination triggers backlash, then it can be shifted to the meteorites, possibly shattering even all of them. In a severe case, the damage could even continue to ripple further out and destroy planets, killing hundreds of millions of living beings. Those creatures would end up paying the price for the divination instead of the person performing the divination," Lu Buzheng slowly explained.

Leng Qing jumped in, "In the Heavens Sect era, Destiny was always unpredictable and impossible for anyone to find, but she always had many disciples. Even then, no one would ever ask them to do divinations, because if the the karmic price was too high, innocent people would be the ones to pay it. Even if the karma involved was an acceptable level, the price for such things would still be high."

Lu Buzheng’s voice dropped low as he continued, "Those who peer into destiny are completely selfish and are always happy to have others pay the price in their stead. It’s best to not use Destina for any divinations in the future unless there’s no other choice."

Lu Yin looked up into space. If this explanation was true, then when Destina had been injured so badly after performing the divinations Lu Yin had requested about Murkiness and Mister Mu, where had the rest of the karmic backlash gone?

Had it been shifted? If all 108 meteorites were destroyed during a divination, then how many people would end up dying? Even if only one planet was destroyed, that would be a price of hundreds of millions of lives.

Realizing such a thing, Lu Yin looked at Destina differently from before. Destiny cannot be provoked. This was the only thing that Lu Yin could think at this moment. Yes, Destiny can’t be provoked.

…

In the Astral Wilderness, the equivalent of a few weaves away from the site of the death energy, there was a beautiful crescent moon hanging in outer space. This was not actually a crescent moon, but rather a cluster of galaxies that were arranged in a pattern so that their stars formed a crescent.

At this moment, Tian Dou was standing above a star in this cluster of galaxies.

Thick death energy covered his body. It repeatedly surged out and then condensed back into his body. The cycle repeated for several days.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, and an oppressive pair of golden eyes flickered.

Just what had happened? Had he really been controlled? He had no memory of the incident, but who could have been behind it? Tian Dou had too many questions about the matter.

It was clear to the man that there was a brief bit of time that was missing from his memories, and he had no idea what Blackless God had said at that time. Although Tian Dou was aware of the fact that something was missing, it felt like he simply had not existed during that moment of time.

But how could such a thing even happen? Was there a powerhouse in the universe who was capable of doing such a thing? While it should be possible for a Progenitor, why would a Progenitor not simply eliminate Tian Dou? Why erase his memory? No, why control him at all?

Tian Dou had cultivated for countless years, and he felt like he had already seen everything. Death energy was a mysterious power even in the scope of the entire universe, but Tian Dou still found the idea of being possessed to be unbelievable.

Despite the absurdity of such a possibility, Tian Dou and Blackless God did not dare to take any risks, and they had instantly decided to leave the location of the death energy cloud.

After that, Tian Dou had traveled straight to his current location and then sent a message to Jue Yi, reporting that something had happened to the Specter clan.

While Tian Dou had no clue who might have affected him, he did know that it was utterly impossible for anyone weaker than a Semi-Progenitor to have controlled him. At present, all the Semi-Progenitors in the entire Fifth Mainland belonged to the Heavens Sect, and the Heavens Sect was completely controlled by Lu Yin after he had obtained the power of Progenitor Chen. If the fact that Tian Dou was working with Blackless God were exposed, then regardless of who had possessed him at that moment, Tian Dou was doomed, and not even his Specter clan would be able to escape.

If no one moved against the Specter clan, then they were either lying in wait for him to take the bait, or the person who had possessed him was not affiliated with the Heavens Sect. The second option would drastically limit the possibilities, as then it could have only been someone from the Astral Beast Domain or the Technocracy.

Tian Dou desperately hoped that it had been someone from the Astral Beast Domain or the Technocracy, but the results proved otherwise. Jue Yi had taken too long during his conversation with Lu Yin, and no matter what Jue Yi told Tian Dou afterwards, Tian Dou would never return to the Human Domain.

Maybe accepting Blackless God’s offer to receive their True God’s divine energy was not a terrible choice…

Still… Tian Dou looked down at his left arm. It would be such a pity.

As the man was thinking about this, space warped, and a terrifying spiritual force pressed down upon the region. It felt as though the sky had fallen.

Tian Dou's expression changed drastically. He had no time to think about anything, and he instantly took off, trying to escape. However, a grinning Lu Buzheng appeared in Tian Dou’s path, blocking him. "Colluding with the Aeternals is a death sentence!"

The Semi-Progenitor lashed out with a punch. The power was amplified by the roar of an Immovable Heavenly King Elephant, and the void crumbled.

Death energy gathered in front of Tian Dou, and it quickly formed the battle technique that the man had shared with Lu Yin: Death Energy Guardian.

Boom!

The Death Energy Guardian was instantly shattered. Tian Dou was powerful, a peak Envoy who could cross realms to fight against Semi-Progenitors, but he was not up against a normal Semi-Progenitor, but rather Lu Buzheng. This man was one of the gatemasters of the ancient Twelve Heavenly Gates. A peerless Semi-Progenitor was far beyond Tian Dou’s capabilities.

At the same time, Kui Luo’s strange laugh echoed out as his spiritual force bombarded Tian Dou without letting up for a moment. The man’s mind was shaken, and Lu Buzheng’s punch landed without any surprises. Blood flew out. Tian Dou could do nothing against the two peak Semi-Progenitors.

Suddenly, a blade flickered in front of the patriarch of the Specter clan. His pupils constricted, and death energy gathered behind him. A scythe formed and slashed out. The death energy scythe met the blade, but the blade continued and almost sliced Tian Dou in half.

Death energy was a powerful energy that was truly mysterious, but Leng Qing’s brute strength far surpassed Tian Dou’s. The gatemaster’s blade was so powerful that even Forgotten Ruins God had been wary of it, and no matter how powerful Tian Dou might be, it was absolutely impossible for him to stand up to such a powerhouse.

The three Semi-Progenitors easily injured Tian Dou with each of their three attacks. Even other Semi-Progenitors would not be able to resist these three coordinated attacks.

Further away, Jiu Yao, Lan Xian, and Herb Immortal had all appeared as well.

Tian Dou was surrounded by six Semi-Progenitors.

Lu Yin calmly watched everything take place, with Silver at his side.

"What a pathetic sight," Silver said with a smile.

Lu Yin clasped his hands behind his back. "This is what happens to those who betray humanity."

"Captain, I will never betray you." Silver flashed Lu Yin a brilliant smile.

A smile appeared on Lu Yin’s face. Only an idiot would believe Silver’s promise. However, he had already placed a death seal in Silver, so unless he obtained the strength to overwhelm Lu Yin’s death seal, the man’s betrayal would never be a risk.

The crescent-shaped galaxy cluster was shattered. Stars collapsed into black holes that devoured everything nearby, and occasionally, strange roars could be heard. There were too many strange and new creatures that lived in the Astral Wilderness. Many of those creatures were more powerful than Explorers and were capable of roaming space, but they could not endure such power.

Tian Dou spat up more blood, and his face grew pale as he gasped for breath. Blood stained his clothes, and he looked nothing like the mysterious and powerful figure that Lu Yin had first met.

There was no one in this region of the universe who could endure a siege of six Semi-Progenitors.

"Where is Blackless God?" Lu Buzheng screamed as he glared at Tian Dou.

Blood trickled down from the corner of Tian Dou's mouth. His body was trembling, and a cold green sword qi had invaded his body. Unless his body was essentially replaced, he would never be able to cultivate again.