Star Odyssey

Chapter 3127: Not A Funny Joke

Feng Bo remained frozen in place. His pupils were dilated, and his body shrank in upon itself as he slowly collapsed.

Lu Yin was panting. Sweat dripped from his forehead and ran down his arms. Flipping the Sky had pushed him to his limits.

Using Flipping the Sky with the landmass from his inner universe had not been easy, but doing so had bridged the gap in power between Lu Yin and those at the level of the Seven Skygods. If this attack did not kill Feng Bo, then Lu Yin would have no choice but to break through and become a Progenitor before trying to kill the man again.

Fortunately, Lu Yin had succeeded.

Hongyan Mavis emerged from the forest, amazement filling her eyes as she stared at Lu Yin. This was the moment the young man had truly stepped onto their level. To accomplish such a thing with only the cultivation of a Semi-Progenitor was unprecedented, and it was something that not even her master had anticipated.

Once Lu Yin broke through and became a Progenitor, who in the entire megaverse could possibly stand against him? Perhaps only those old monsters who were overcoming Dukkha.

Step by step, Lu Yin slowly walked towards Feng Bo. The old man was completely exhausted and unable to muster any strength. He lay sprawled on the ground like a dead man as he mumbled to himself.

A shadow fell over the man as Lu Yin looked down at Feng Bo.

Hongyan Mavis also moved closer, and she stared at Feng Bo from nearby. After being trapped in the Mirari Realm by this man for so many years, she was finally free.

"I don’t accept this! I shouldn't have lost. It’s this megaverse that’s restricting me. My spirit has so much potential. I still have power. I don’t accept this! I don’t... I don’t..."

Lu Yin looked at Feng Bo. "Do you regret betraying the Second Mainland?"

It seemed that Feng Bo did not hear Lu Yin's question, as the old man continued to mutter to himself. It seemed that his mind had shattered.

If Lu Yin were a Sequence Progenitor, or even just a regular Progenitor, Feng Bo would not have been this badly affected by his defeat. But Lu Yin was a mere Semi-Progenitor. Such people were regarded as ants by Feng Bo. His last servant, who had accompanied him when he had cared for the Mavis family’s Divine Tree, had possessed a similar level of cultivation.

How could a mere Semi-Progenitor defeat him? How?

Lu Yin glanced at Hongyan Mavis, and she walked over to Feng Bo. "Feng Bo."

Focus returned to the man’s eyes, and he looked up at Hongyan Mavis.

"My Mavis family’s grievances have been avenged," Hongyan Mavis stated slowly.

The confusion left Feng Bo's eyes, only to be replaced by a crazed wildness. He cackled with a chilling laugh. "Avenged? How? I’m nothing but a pawn. The true culprit behind your Mavis family’s destruction is the Aeternals! They are the race that’s destined to rule this megaverse! Hongyan, the moment you allowed me into your Mavis family, your fate was already sealed. Humanity is doomed!

"Hahaha, I haven't lost. I’m simply leaving first. Whether it’s you or that boy, you’ll both follow in my footsteps. You don’t understand, as you can’t see! You can’t see it at all!"

Hongyan Mavis's expression soured. "Humanity may have Aeternus as its arch-enemy, but Aeternus also needs humanity as their arch-enemy."

This sentence wiped the smile from Feng Bo’s face. He seemed to realize something, and his mouth fell wide open as he let out a shrill scream, "Yong Heng, you deceived me!"

Lu Yin frowned. He did not understand, and he looked at Hongyan Mavis in confusion.

The woman did not say another word and simply walked towards the River of Time.

Lu Yin’s eyes returned to Feng Bo. Raising a hand, Lu Yin decided to end things and also anoint the man as a champion. Feng Bo was no corpse king, so there was no reason not to anoint him. Lu Yin’s current strength should be enough to anoint such a powerful cultivator.

With Feng Bo added to his Champions' Stage, even if Lu Yin fought against someone at the level of the Seven Skygods, he would be able to hold his own, even if he did not know everything about his opponent’s methods.

Feng Bo screamed, cursing True God with a venomous hatred.

Lu Yin’s hand fell, ending Feng Bo's life.

The shrill screams were cut off, and the Mirari Realm’s former calm returned.

Lu Yin let out a breath. It was finally over.

He had fought against Feng Bo a number of times, and he had to fully learn the man’s methods in order to defeat him. Without Hongyan Mavis, even if Lu Yin possessed the strength to win, there was no doubt that Feng Bo would have escaped.

Lu Yin would never underestimate any powerhouse at the level of the Seven Skygods. Such opponents were incredibly difficult to put down.

The Champions' Stage appeared. "By my name, I anoint a Champion."

Boom!

A tremendous roar filled Lu Yin’s mind, and before he could react, he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Hongyan Mavis was startled. "Little Seven!"

She raced back to check on Lu Yin, only to find blood leaking from his seven orifices. His originally black hair now had quite a bit of white running through it. What was going on? He had merely been anointing a champion; could this be backlash from his innate gift?

Hongyan Mavis carried Lu Yin into the cabin in the forest and laid him down before checking him over again. She could find no injuries, but Lu Yin still remained unconscious.

It looked like the results of a backlash. She knew that the Lu family's Champions' Stage could produce a powerful backlash if someone tried to anoint a champion much stronger than the owner of the Champions’ Stage, but Feng Bo had not been that much stronger than Lu Yin. That was why Lu Yin had almost single-handedly defeated Feng Bo. Why had he suffered such a severe backlash?

All Hongyan Mavis could do was wait for Lu Yin to wake back up.

Lu Yin remained unconscious for even longer than the time that he had spent seeking enlightenment and transforming his inner worlds.

Hongyan Mavis checked on him repeatedly and tried to wake him up, but all of her attempts failed.

In the end, Lu Yin woke up on his own.

He had experienced a dream of the universe shattering, and he had turned to dust along with everything else. The pain had been unbearable, and he repeatedly experienced the sensation of turning to dust along with the universe.

When he finally opened his eyes, his vision was blurry.

"Little Seven, how are you?" He could hear Hongyan Mavis's voice, though not very clearly. Slowly, Lu Yin's vision started to clear.

"Senior." Lu Yin opened his mouth, but his throat was dry.

Hongyan Mavis helped him to sit up, very worried about him. "Little Seven, what happened? Was that a backlash?"

Lu Yin felt confused. "I don't know."

"Then what caused you to pass out?"

"I was just anointing Feng Bo."

Hongyan Mavis said, "It looked like a backlash. I've heard that your family’s Champions' Stages can produce a severe backlash if you try to anoint someone too powerful."

Lu Yin thought for a moment. "That’s wasn’t a backlash. I've dealt with that sort of backlash before when I tried to anoint a Semi-Progenitor as an Envoy. It didn't feel the same. But..."

He considered what he had felt, as the sensation had been rather similar.

But that should be impossible. Lu Yin had defeated Feng Bo almost entirely on his own, which meant that the gap in strength between them was not excessive. Lu Yin had also already anointed the Cyclops King, and anointing Feng Bo should have been well within Lu Yin’s capabilities. Anointing the Cyclops King had been much more dangerous, given that Lu Yin had only barely been able to defeat it with help.

In that case, why had he suffered such a severe backlash?

On top of that, was it even backlash at all? Lu Yin’s suffering had appeared so quickly that he had not been able to react at all.

He suddenly remembered something, and his head whipped around to look at Hongyan Mavis. "Senior, what happened to Feng Bo's body?"

Hongyan Mavis did not understand. "It's still there. Do you want to try anointing him again?"

Lu Yin shook his head and left the cabin. He found that Feng Bo's body was still where he had left it, completely untouched.

Hongyan Mavis would never move Feng Bo's body into the forest.

Lu Yin examined the body, but nothing about it had changed. A simple drop of such a powerful cultivator’s blood could crush a planet. Feng Bo’s body would not decompose easily.

Lu Yin examined Feng Bo's forehead to see if he could find any mark similar to what had appeared on Ye Zhang.

However, Feng Bo's body remained intact, which was different from Ye Zhang.

Lu Yin stared at the corpse, still puzzled. Why had he experienced such a severe backlash? Was it simply a matter of difference in cultivation level? No, the Cyclops King had been a sequence powerhouse and had greatly surpassed Lu Yin’s cultivation as well.

"Senior, do you know where Feng Bo was born? I remember that he repeatedly mentioned not belonging to this place," Lu Yin asked.

Hongyan Mavis shook her head. "The first time I saw him was on the Second Mainland before he betrayed it. He never mentioned anything about not belonging to this place until after he exposed his true intentions by destroying the Divine Tree. That was when he revealed his real strength, especially the form of the Greater Sancti of the Nine Odysseys. You saw that for yourself, and when he used that ability, even I could barely break through his defenses. His cultivation method is entirely different from ours."

"Is he from a parallel universe?" Lu Yin speculated.

Hongyan Mavis shook her head again. "It doesn’t seem like it. If he were from a parallel universe, there would be no reason for his power to be restricted. Do you remember his last words? He mentioned not being able to fully utilize his spirit, or something like that. He seemed more frustrated about dying while being unable to unleash his full strength. He wouldn’t have been limited like that if he had been restricted, especially given his level of cultivation. Someone like him started forging his own path long ago, and he wouldn’t have relied on cultivating a power that was not his own."

Lu Yin frowned. That reasoning made sense.

A Progenitor would not be restrained no matter where they went, especially once they created their own power. Typically, cultivators from the Fifth Mainland needed to absorb star energy or stellular energy before they became Progenitors. Even after that, as long as they did not create their own power and continued using stellular energy, they would need to absorb stellular energy before they tried to fight in any parallel universes.

In that case, what did Feng Bo’s talk about "not belonging to this megaverse" mean?

Hongyan Mavis did not know, so Lu Yin did not dwell on the matter any further. His head was still spinning, and he needed to rest.

Later, when he looked at himself in the mirror, Lu Yin sighed and laughed bitterly. "It seems that whatever happened was really serious this time. It looks like I aged quite a bit, given that I even have some white hairs now."

Hongyan Mavis laughed. "You don't look old. That touch of white makes you look more distinguished."

Lu Yin smiled. "I’ve never thought about what I'd look like in my old age. While cultivation doesn’t grant us immortality, it’s enough to prevent us from aging.

“Senior, do you want to leave this place?"

Hongyan Mavis nodded. "I stayed here to keep Feng Bo trapped here, so now that he's dead, I should leave. Still, I've lost much of my power. Once we’re outside of this place, I won't be able to help you much."

Lu Yin asked, "How did you lose so much of your strength? Can't injuries be healed?"

Hongyan Mavis sighed. "I lost my Progenitor's world, which means that I’ve lost the source of my strength."

Lu Yin was puzzled. "How can a Progenitor's world be lost?"

Hongyan Mavis met his gaze. "One day, after you reach a certain level, any of your powers can manifest in reality. Master once commented that he wasn't sure if our own universe might have once been someone’s Progenitor's world."

Lu Yin's face turned pale, and a chill ran down his spine. "That's not a funny joke."