Star Odyssey

Chapter 2877: Never Alone

After that, Lu Qi shared a great number of things about Lu Xiaoxuan with Lu Yin, which caused the somber atmosphere to become much more cheerful. Lu Xiaoxuan had been a true optimist. From Lu Qi's words, Lu Yin gained an impression of Lu Xiaoxuan—someone from a perfect fairy tale. Lu Xiaoxuan had been born with everything: a powerful family, a childhood sweetheart, maids, and friends with shared interests. He had been pampered and envied by countless people. He had lived a truly carefree life.

Even just listening to the story of his life was enough to arouse envy.

The more carefree a life that Lu Xiaoxuan had lived, the more that Lu Yin's experiences caused the Lu family to pity him. The two had lived completely opposite lives.

How many people wanted to live as Lu Xiaoxuan? Unfortunately, the harsh reality was that most people lived like Lu Yin.

It was possible that Lu Xiaoxuan's life had been too good and that all the disasters and sufferings had been given to Lu Yin.

Lu Yin laughed. He did not complain or hate his former self. He was who he was. No matter how good he may have been, or how bad he had since become, if he did not even want to be himself, then how could he continue to live?

Aeternus’s corpse kings had transformed into another type of creature, and they were no longer their former selves at all.

Lu Yin could see this clearly, and he did not envy others. He wanted to live the life that he dreamed of and pursue it himself. Rising up and walking forward was certainly more exhausting than lying down, but he was content.

Of course, if the Lu family dealt with all of their various matters, then Lu Yin would not object to experiencing a bit of Lu Xiaoxuan's lifestyle.

"Father, tell me about my oldest sister and the others," Lu Yin asked.

"Your big sister, Lu Qian, was born to a branch of the Lu family. She was skilled at cultivation and was highly intelligent even as a child. Despite her impressive talent, she remained humble. There were certainly times when she was impulsive, but frequently, that was because of you...

"Xiao Mo was also from a branch family, and he was known as a peerless talent. He..."

...

Lu Yin had learned about the Seven Heroes from Master Shan and the four ruling powers. His former companions were not strangers, and at the moment, he was just using Lu Qi's comments to remember them.

"The Seven Heroes becoming sword siblings was a perfect representation of an era. Everyone was certain that the Seven Heroes would replace the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas and become the strongest of their own era. That boy, Tu Qiming, also had an incredible innate gift, but while outsiders believed that he was at the same level as you Seven Heroes, the truth is that he was a step behind you.”

Lu Yin's heart moved. "Our innate gifts?"

Lu Qi replied, "You don't need to tell me about our family’s, as the Investiture of the Gods and the Champions’ Stage are the innate gifts that we direct descendants of the Lu family can awaken. They are invincible talents, but the rest of the Seven Heroes were not bad at all, though we never managed to understand exactly what all of their innate gifts were.

"For example, your eldest sister was a complete money-grubber, but she was also able to produce strange and powerful power vessels. While everyone from our Lu family required a tremendous amount of resources for our cultivation, no one could compare to her. Honestly, you can’t imagine just how bad of a money-grubber she was...”

"What sort of innate gift did my oldest sister have?" Lu Yin suddenly asked, staring intently at Lu Qi.

Lu Qi continued, "Qian’er would never say anything about it, so it was a complete mystery to the rest of us. Only you Seven Heroes were aware of it, and none of you ever shared that information with anyone."

"What about my second brother? And the others?" Lu Yin had a sudden premonition, and it broke his heart. He did not want to believe it, and he desperately hoped that he was wrong.

Lu Qi felt confused about Lu Yin's reaction, but he still answered, "Your second brother was known as a peerless cultivating genius. Not even you can compare with his speed. Xingxing was a member of the White Dragon Clan and had a much longer lifespan than other humans. When she and the rest of you swore your pact, despite the fact that she had been cultivating the longest, she could not compare to your second brother.

"Your second brother was incredibly fast at mastering everything he practiced, and what was most impressive was the fact that he was never in seclusion for very long at all. In fact, he would frequently be in seclusion for no more than ten days, and he never remained in seclusion for longer than half a year. He was as impatient as me."

Lu Yin's breathing grew ragged, and the ache in his heart was growing stronger.

"Your third brother was that child, Nong Ye, from the Nong family. That boy had the ability to predict the future. He knew many things that others couldn’t know, but he would. He was repeatedly harassed by Humility’s Gate for a time, and even Mu Xie personally visited Seed Garden to try to recruit him. That boy was brilliant at uncovering spies.

"Long Xing was known as the Vast Sky Dragon, and she had an unchangeable innate gift, but no one ever managed to learn what her innate gift was, other than that it was very bizarre.

"The Liu family's Little Pebble had an innate gift known as Midas’s Touch. Everyone knew about his innate gift, which was decomposition. He could refine any substance into its base materials, even substances that Semi-Progenitor could not refine. It was an odd innate gift, but it matched him well.

"Ling Dang’s innate gift was known as Plucking the Stars, though none of us ever knew why. Only you Seven Heroes understood his nickname."

After hearing Lu Qi's explanation, Lu Yin shot to his feet. "I need to go."

"Xiaoxuan, are you-?" Lu Qi wanted to ask something, but Lu Yin was already gone. All that Lu Qi saw was his son’s back.

Above the Middle Sea, Lu Yin dropped his head. His entire body was trembling.

There was a splash as he jumped down into the ocean in an attempt to wash something away with the cold currents.

His die had six faces, which were six different innate gifts. Lu Xiaoxuan had had six sworn siblings. His die was them. It really was them.

How had this happened? How could he have received their innate gifts? Not to mention people at their cultivation level, but not even Ancestor Lu Yuan could transfer his innate gift to another person. This ability was beyond Lu Yin’s comprehension. How had the Seven Heroes accomplished it?

Lu Yin’s heartache became unbearable. All six of his siblings had died for his sake, and after their deaths, they had given him their innate gifts. How could he repay such kindness? How could he return such a gift?

Eldest Sister-

Second Brother-

Third Brother-

Fourth Sister-

Fifth Brother-

Sixth Sister-

How could he repay their kindness?

Lu Yin's eyes were bloodshot. He had not felt such a powerful surge of emotions in a long time. Not even when he had been suppressed by the Great Sovereign, or when the Lu family had returned and he had reunited with his family had Lu Yin felt such a powerful flood of emotions.

A silent pain pressed upon the depths of his heart as he saw smiling faces that called out.

“Little Seven!”

“We live and die together.”

“Little Seven!”

“Hurry, run!”

“Little Seven!”

...

A deep roar erupted from Lu Yin’s throat as he shot into the sky, bursting out of the ocean and stirring up the water. His breath was heaving.

He closed his eyes and let the water run off of his body. His lips trembled as he slowly exhaled.

So, the truth is that I’ve been protected this whole time.

The seal of the Lu family had protected him, and the die had also protected him. There had always been eyes watching him. He had not walked through life alone. In fact, he had never been alone.

Lu Yin looked up to the sky and started to laugh.

Lu Xiaoxuan had lived his own blessed life, and Lu Yin had lived his own life. Even though their lives had not overlapped, love had passed from one to the other, and that love had never diminished.

As the seawater dripped down his body and returned to the Middle Ocean, Lu Yin's eyes snapped wide open. He lifted his hand and brought out his die, watching it slowly spin above his hand. He wanted to reverse time so that he could rescue his brothers and sisters and bring them back.

...

A year passed quickly. During this year, Lu Yin quietly remained within the Heavens Sect. While he occasionally looked at his die, he treated this time as a true time of rest.

The most that he ever did during this year was absorb the flourishing crystals that he had and unite the monarch essence with the tri-colored star in his universe.

Lu Yin had acquired more than 8 trillion flourishing crystals. They had come from Monarch Luo's power, but they had now been transformed into Lu Yin’s power.

Lu Yin had originally wanted to use the star essence that he had received from the Merchant Exchange to Possess many of the Sixverse Association’s peak powerhouses, but he had ultimately been disappointed. It was not easy to Possess anyone with the strength of a Progenitor, and on top of that, it was prohibitively expensive. There were other uses for the star essence, such as repairing the three Books of Destiny.

He needed to find a way to obtain more resources.

His eldest sister Lu Qian had been a money-grubber because her innate gift had been Enhance. Lu Yin’s need for money could not even compare to what Lu Qian had needed.

"Dao Monarch," Wei Rong called out.

Lu Yin continued to stare out at the lake. "Go ahead."

"We’ve received word. Should we take action now, or wait a bit longer?"

"Wait a bit more. I dealt with Specter Progenitor just a year ago. The Great Sovereign and the others will likely need a long time before they can emerge from seclusion, so we can’t rush things."

Wei Rong bowed. "Understood."

...

Another year passed, and Wei Rong returned again. "Dao Monarch."

Lu Yin put away his fishing rod. "Let's go."

In the Cyclic Universe’s Stone Boundary, Jiu Zizi stood beside a pile of rocks, nervously looking up at the sky from time to time.

There was a bang as another jar of wine shattered. "Bring me more wine!"

Jiu Zizi's heart trembled, and he approached Nutjob Lu to deliver another jar of wine.

Suddenly, the sky broke open, and powerful auras erupted from the tear and fell upon the area.

Nutjob Lu shot to his feet as he glared at the sky. "You are seeking death!"

As he spoke, a violent aura burst from his body. Regardless of who was intruding on his territory, arriving in such a manner was just asking to die.

Nutjob Lu never even considered giving in.

However, the tyrannical aura that Nutjob Lu was proud of was casually undone. A voice spoke, cold and indifferent, "Senior Nutjob, it's time to return."

Nutjob Lu stared up at the sky, and his pupils constricted sharply. "Lu Tianyi?"

It was not only Lu Tianyi, but also Lu Yin, Mu Xie, and Leng Qing.

There were three Progenitors and Lu Yin, a cultivator with the combat strength of a Progenitor. This was essentially a lineup of four Progenitors descending upon the Stone Boundary.

At this same moment, elsewhere in the Cyclic Universe, Sovereign Ninth Lotus abruptly looked over and took a step. "Not good!"

Simultaneously, two other individuals started moving towards the Stone Boundary. One was Yao Lan, newly promoted as one of the Nine Sages, and the other was Chu Jian.

Chu Jian had managed to comprehend the Dao of Great Reincarnation during the last two years. Despite not being a peak powerhouse, the fact that he could use the Dao of Great Reincarnation meant that his combat strength had spiked.

One by one, the auras of peak powerhouses erupted, shattering the peace of the Cyclic Universe.

In the Stone Boundary, Nutjob Lu cackled. "Lu brat, I thought that you wouldn’t dare to come! I was getting impatient waiting for you, hahahaha!"

Lu Yin stared at Nutjob Lu. "You’re a member of the Lu family, and yet you’ve relied on the Cyclic Universe for protection. You’re an embarrassment to our family."

Nutjob Lu sneered. "The Lu family can go to hell! Now that they’ve returned, just wait! Sooner or later, I will take control of the Lu Sanctum! I am the true master of the Lu family!"

Lu Tianyi sighed. "Even after so many years, you still haven’t let that go. I really can't understand how you managed to reach your current status, let alone how you managed to become a Progenitor with your state of mind."

Nutjob Lu answered with contempt, "A Progenitor’s tribulation questions the heart, but I simply want to destroy the Lu family. I’ve always been clear on what I want. Claiming that hatred blinds a person is nothing more than an excuse for stupid and useless people. Lord Lu, what are your intentions in coming here? Do you intend to break all pretenses of civility with the Cyclic Universe?"

Lu Tianyi said nothing, and neither did Lu Yin. They were waiting for Sovereign Lotus and others to arrive.

Nutjob Lu grabbed his jar of wine and drank heavily.

Soon, Sovereign Lotus arrived, and she warily eyed Lu Yin and the others from the Origin Universe. "Lord Lu, you are acting too arrogantly. Do you intend to start a war with my Cyclic Universe?"

Lu Yin looked back at the woman. "Can you afford to have war break out?”