Star Odyssey

Chapter 311: The Mysterious Woman

Around the Heavenly Drum, numerous students were stunned to see that Lu Yin was still alive. 

Liu Xiaoyun and the rest were also astonished that he had managed to evade the arrow. The swiftness of that arrow was something that they all knew they would never have been able to evade at their current level. 

And yet, to Lu Yin, speed was not a factor. That was because the Cosmic Art was the natural nemesis of extreme speed. At the very last moment, he had been left with no choice but to use the Cosmic Art to evade the arrow. If the battle had been a live broadcast of the Tournament of the Strongest, then he would not have been able to use Cosmic Art. In that situation, his only option would have been to take the arrow head on, which would then reveal his monstrous physical capabilities. Though, during the tournament, there would be no need to hide such a thing. However, restraint still needed to be shown at this time, or else he would risk being targeted. 

Silus was undoubtedly someone from the Cosmic Sea who was worthy of participating in the Tournament of the Strongest. He was powerful enough to defeat a vast majority of the Astral Combat Academy’s student leaders, but unfortunately, he had challenged Lu Yin. Having said that, he was still slightly less powerful than the other top four fighters of the Astral Combat Tournament. It was not known how much more powerful the other person from the Cosmic Sea was, the one who had been accepted as a Ten Arbiters’ candidate, but that person was undoubtedly the greater threat between the two. 

Silus knelt down on the drum with one knee, panting heavily. The intense pain radiating from his abdomen almost made him spew out bile. Although this was a sensation that he had often encountered in the Cosmic Sea, he had never expected a younger student from the Innerverse to force him to this position. This individual was way stronger than him! Could this be the standard of the top four from the Astral Combat Academy? If the top four were all at this standard, then he and Nate would not stand a chance.

After a long while passed, Silus finally managed to recover his strength. He stared intensely at Lu Yin before leaving the Heavenly Drum without a word. He had completely lost this battle. His finishing arrow had not been able to hit its target, and there was no way he could continue to fight. 

Many students looked towards where Lu Yin was standing, and as they did so, they felt that he possessed incomprehensible power and that his speed seemed to have actually increased somehow. 

Lu Yin glanced at his surroundings and left the Undying Realm afterwards. The Heavenly Drum would no longer provide him with much help, and since the competition was only seven days away, he felt that it was more important to rest than continue training. There were times where relaxing oneself was very important. 

As for the other party, Silus did not immediately leave the Undying realm after stepping off of the Heavenly Drum. He intended to review the details of the battle, and more importantly, he needed to understand how Lu Yin had evaded his arrow. Speed was probably not the only factor, as the void in that area had shown no changes beyond those caused by the arrow itself. Could it be that Lu Yin had predicted his arrow’s trajectory?

The thought of that possibility sent chills running down Silus’s spine. If that was truly the case, then Lu Yin’s power was no less than that of the demon from the Cosmic Sea, Ye Xingchen. The only difference was that one had evaded his attack while the other had taken his arrow head-on. 

“Who is it?” Silus suddenly stood up and cautiously turned around. A woman with her face covered by a thin piece of cloth had suddenly appeared behind him and was silently watching him. 

“Who are you?” Silus asked again, raising his brows. The woman had beautiful eyes. 

“Your five-lined battle force—use it to try and stop me,” the woman said in a gentle but indescribably icy tone. After she said that, the air around them turned much colder, and even the void started to distort as its color changed. 

This scene caused Silus’s pupils to contract. “This domain… are you another one of the top four from the Astral Combat Academy? Which are you, Mavis or Starsibyl?”

“Try and stop me,” the woman quietly ordered a second time. When she took a step forward, a great sense of danger rose up within Silus’s heart. Without any hesitation, he activated his five-lined battle force, and at the same time, he drew his bow and shot an arrow at the woman. However, he was still too slow. The woman evaded his attack and disappeared while Silus and his five-lined battle force remained frozen in the same spot.

This event would rock the entire Astral Combat Academy to its core if it were ever revealed. It was all because even Lu Yin had needed to expend a significant amount of effort to defeat Silus, whereas this masked lady had done so seemingly easily. Her abilities were unfathomable, and furthermore, she was also a Limiteer.

“It’s getting more and more difficult to control. This innate gift is very powerful, but it’s also so hard to control” was all the woman said as the frozen Silus shattered into fragments and disappeared from the Undying Realm. 

In the next moment, Silus suddenly opened his eyes on Astral-3’s trial zone mountain. His eyes were sparkling as he checked his body’s condition, which had become extremely cold. The intensity of this cold was something that he had never experienced before. It was caused by an innate gift, and that woman had a shocking control over coldness. It was an extremely powerful innate gift. Was she also a student of Astral Combat Academy? Which Astral Combat Academy had such a powerful hidden powerhouse?

Nate walked over. “Silus, you lost?”

Silus ignored Nate. His mind was still preoccupied by that unimaginable cold, and he had long since forgotten about Lu Yin. 

Nate frowned. “Silus, I am talking to you.”

Silus finally raised his head and spoke with a grave expression, “Nate, I feel that we shouldn’t take part in the Tournament of the Strongest.”

Nate snorted in contempt. “If you act so weak and depressed after suffering just one loss, how will you survive in the Cosmic Sea? I’ll contact the commander and have him expel you from the Arcadian Arrow Crew!”

Silus shook his head. “This is not just about Lu Yin. It’s-” He did not know how to describe what he was feeling, and at a loss, he merely sighed. “Forget it, Nate. However, let me give you a piece of friendly advice: do not underestimate the Astral Combat Academy. There are actually a lot of powerful individuals hidden there.”

Nate remained unconvinced. “You should adjust your attitude. Behaving this way is only going to make that woman, Yanqing, look down on you even more. Even worse, the entire Arcadian Arrow Crew will be looked down on.” He walked away after saying that. 

Silus forlornly watched Nate’s back as he walked away. He was agonized that Nate had no idea what he had just experienced.

Lu Yin spent several days at Astral-10’s trial zone entrance. After he left the Undying Realm a few days earlier, he had intended to rest for a while. However, when he remembered what had happened at the Shenwu Continent, he felt that resting would not actually be productive. Thus, he had decided to look for the Trialmaster to see what he could learn in the time he had left before the competition.

Unfortunately, the Trialmaster was not of much help. He categorically stated that he did not know the answers to any of Lu Yin’s questions, leaving Lu Yin speechless. 

“Do you think that this old fogey is just playing dumb?” the Ghost Monkey asked.

Lu Yin rested on top of a tree while observing the Trialmaster. He had only asked him two questions. The first was whether or not a sourcebox could be bigger than a planet. The second was whether or not a sourcebox could be used as a means of defense. However, the Trialmaster had answered neither of his two questions, and Lu Yin had a feeling that it was because the Trialmaster didn’t want to share the information.

“Seventh Bro, since you’ve got nothing else to do, then why not do a few ported battles? I heard that those are fun,” the Ghost Monkey urged. 

Lu Yin’s eyes lit up. It was true that he had not participated in any ported battles in quite some time. His current record in the ported battles was one hundred wins and seventy three losses. After entering the trial zones, he had not participated in a single ported battle. Maybe one would be a good warm-up for him. 

Lu Yin jumped off the tree and walked towards the area of the teleportation stone. 

The Trialmaster’s eyes widened. “If you start a teleportation stone war and manage to snatch a teleportation stone, I will answer one of your questions. Or, if you prefer, I can also give you an opportunity to lockbreak in front of me.”

Lu Yin’s eyes lit up. He then bowed to the Trialmaster and said, “Thank you so much, Mentor.”

The Trialmaster let out a faint smile. “Don’t rush to thank me, kid. Don’t forget—the only requirement for the ported battles is that you have to be a member of the younger generation. There is no restriction concerning one’s cultivation realm. If you want to win a teleportation stone, then you first have to win fifteen consecutive battles. During those fifteen battles, if you’re unlucky, you could even be matched up against one of the Ten Arbiters. Haha!”

Lu Yin took a deep breath. “My luck shouldn’t be that bad. Besides, I also had a streak of winning twelve consecutive battles in a row before.”

“Good luck.”

Lu Yin then took a confident step into the teleportation stone’s area. 

Immediately after, the scenery around him changed, and he appeared within a desolate land. A figure slowly appeared in front of him with the words “I am Strongest” etched above his head. 

Lu Yin’s brows quirked up in surprise. What an arrogant name. Even as that thought passed through his mind, he waved his hand and a surging wave of pressure descended upon the area. The words “I am Strongest” were instantly wiped out. The other man was just a Melder and was absolutely no match for Lu Yin. 

What a good feeling. Lu Yin instantly felt the adrenaline rush that that bastard Feng Shang must have felt when he defeated Lu Yin without breaking a sweat. That man participated in the ported battle not only to improve his battle experience, but also for that unbridled rush that came with instantaneously overpowering other individuals. It was such a pleasant feeling. 

“Seventh Bro, you’re such a bully,” the monkey remarked with an odd laugh. 

Lu Yin left the ported battles only to immediately enter it once again. This time, he appeared in the ruins of a city. This battle was against a powerful Limiteer. As soon as he appeared, he attacked Lu Yin with a sword. However, another wave of Lu Yin’s hand resulted in this man’s instant defeat as well.

Once, twice, thrice… Finally, Lu Yin had achieved five straight instant victories. Lu Yin let out a deep breath. It was just too easy. It was only through these ported battles that he could feel just how much he had improved. 

He thought back to the past when he had approached the teleportation stone with an immense fear that he would encounter someone powerful. And yet, today, that fear no longer existed even when he considered the possibility of facing off against a powerful Explorer. 

Perhaps Lu Yin was too cocky in his thoughts, because his very next opponent was actually an Explorer. This battle took place within a dark forest. 

The two words “Grand Daddy”were prominently displayed above the Explorer’s head. This was this particular Explorer’s alias when he participated in the ported battles. 

“Let me out, Seventh Bro! This guy’s too cocky, and he’s just asking to die! I’m gonna destroy him!” the Ghost Monkey said angrily. 

Lu Yin was similarly enraged when he saw this name. This man’s alias was so arrogant that he was just begging to be beat up. 

On the other side, Kao Ke was feeling particularly good about himself, especially about the two words hanging above his head, “Grand Daddy.” He himself had already forgotten where he had come up with this alias, but it was a name that gave him an immense confidence boost. He would draw disgust from his opponents even if he could not defeat them, or at least, that was what Kao Ke believed. He would see who dared to admit defeat or be abused by someone named “Grand Daddy.” He burst out laughing; it was such a good feeling!

As he looked at the young Limiteer in front of him with the name “Seventh Bro,” he thought to himself that this young man also had an annoying name. He similarly felt that Lu Yin was cocky and was already imagining the pleasure he would get from defeating Lu Yin. 

Without hesitation, Lu Yin charged forth, throwing out an attack with his fist. 

Kao Ke was not bothered by the attack at all. His opponent was a mere Limiteer, so he did not see him as a threat. He lazily raised his hands and took a defensive stance. There was a loud thud, and Kao Ke’s face quickly turned sour. He could feel that all the bones in his right arm had been shattered while his body had been blasted into the forest, creating a huge hole. 

Lu Yin looked down at Kao Ke from up on high. The Explorer had truly underestimated him. He had been under the mistaken impression that, since he was an Explorer, he would hold an advantage over Lu Yin. However, Lu Yin’s powers were now on par with an Explorer whose power level was over thirty thousand. During Lu Yin’s time at the border warfront, he had even pushed back the astral beast Zi Tie, whose power level was far above thirty thousand. 

On the ground in the forest, Kao Ke was cursing angrily. Who was this person who had injured him so easily? Kao Ke was a veteran of the ported battles, and he seldom ever came across such a powerful person, but today was one of those days. 

Kao Ke decided to not hold back anymore. The star energy within his body rose up as strange veined patterns appeared on his arm. He instantly transformed into a seductive, beautiful woman. In just a moment, the entire dark forest had been lit up. 

Lu Yin was shocked. Surprisingly, this man was a skilled individual from the Beast Tamer Flowzone. It was no wonder why his physical body was so weak. Those experts from the Beast Tamer Flowzone mostly focused on taming their beasts. Hence, they typically found limited success in increasing their personal strength. Kuang Wang, who had cultivated battle force, was a rare exception.

Kao Ke stood in the forest, now with the appearance of an enchantingly beautiful woman, releasing strange emanations. The waves shot through the void and approached Lu Yin. 

Lu Yin felt faint, and the longer he looked down at the beautiful woman, the more he became enamoured by her beauty. 

“Seventh Bro, it’s a succubus! Snap out of it!” the Ghost Monkey cried out.