Star Odyssey

Chapter 2181: His Past

Despite finding the current situation to be quite odd, Zhang Dingtian still did as he was told. "This is one of the nine blade forms that this student learned from the Sword Monument: Body Slash."

Zhang Dingtian’s entire body gave off the feeling that he was becoming a blade. It felt quite similar to Leng Qing’s technique, as that man had also merged his entire body with his blade.

Lu Yin ended the Possession at the exact same moment in the attack as when he had Possessed Liu Yijian. The man regained consciousness, never doubting for a moment that anything had even happened. There was a bang, and Zhang Dingtian’s blade was deflected. "Of the nine techniques that you received, you’ve comprehended six. All of them are simple, but they contain a certain truth. If you can master all nine techniques, you will be able to truly grasp the Dao of Blade."

Zhang Dingtian fell into thought. Even though he had been caught off guard by his master’s behavior, Zhang Dingtian said nothing, and he simply assumed that his master had been thinking about the blade technique.

"Again!" Liu Yijian shouted.

Zhang Dingtian raised his blade up high, and it dropped down.

Far away, Lu Yin let out a breath. Liu Yijian’s memories were quite complicated, as the man had lived a very long life, even though he was not a very powerful cultivator.

Most of the man’s memories were about the sword, but by absorbing those memories, Lu Yin could feel that his own comprehension of sword techniques had deepened.

Furthermore, Lu Yin had also learned that the Liu family regarded Virtue Archives as extremely important. In fact, this was true of not only the Liu family, but also of the Nong family and the four ruling powers. It was actually rather odd how much importance everyone seemed to place on Virtue Archives.

However, Liu Yijian did not know any details about the matter.

Lu Yin started thinking about the situation. During his last visit to the Perennial World, the four ruling powers had shown a very odd attitude when it came to Virtue Archives. Xia Taili had been very eager to go to Virtue Archives, and Wen Yi had even promised to help the girl, which had thrilled her. Why was everyone so eager to attend Virtue Archives?

Lu Yin immediately went to question Elder Qing Xing about the matter, but the man knew nothing.

Lu Yin moved on to ask Long Xi about the matter.

"Virtue Archives has several secret techniques, which lures in many other people, but that’s far from enough to lure people from the four ruling powers or other powerful families. I don’t actually know what’s going on," Long Xi replied.

Lu Yin nodded. "It seems that there are still some secrets about Virtue Archives."

Long Xi commented, "I've heard rumors claiming that Virtue Archives has a hidden mountain and sea. I don’t know if that has anything to do with everyone’s excitement."

Lu Yin was taken aback. "A hidden mountain and sea? One of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas?"

Long Xi shook her head. "I have no idea, but Virtue Archives has always had at least one Semi-Progenitor. Even though they don’t have any Progenitors among their powerhouses, they’ve always had as many Semi-Progenitors as the four ruling powers. Always. It’s possible that they really do have one of the Mountains and Seas hidden away."

Lu Yin looked away. If this rumor was true, then he absolutely had to go to Virtue Archives. However, what could a hidden Mountain and Sea have to do with the number of Semi-Progenitors that Virtue Archives could produce? It was highly unlikely for any Semi-Progenitor to receive an inheritance from one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas, which was one of the reasons why Progenitor Smoke was so proud of her accomplishment.

"Are we back in the Perennial World?" Long Xi asked.

Lu Yin nodded. "Do you want to leave?"

Long Xi shook her head. "There’s no need for that."

Lu Yin said, "I might go to Virtue Archives, but the place has changed. It seems that many people from the four ruling powers are now going to Virtue Archives, so it’s possible I’ll meet some members of your White Dragon Clan while I’m there."

Long Xi considered the matter. "That’s not very likely. It's difficult for the members of my White Dragon Clan to bear children, and there are only a few members in my generation. The next children won’t be born within the next few decades. Unlike other families which bear children every ten to twenty years, though all of them are gifted geniuses."

Lu Yin did not spend long chatting with Long Xi, as he intended to resume rolling his die. He wanted to try to access the secrets of the four ruling powers.

Right, he needed to see how much star essence his last Possession had burned through.

Lu Yin had numerous cosmic rings in his possession, as he had far too much star essence to be held within a single ring.

2.7 billion. Possessing Liu Yijian had used up 2.7 billion star essence.

Lu Yin heaved a sigh of relief. This was fine. He could accept this.

He had burned through 3 billion star essence when Possessing the ancestor of the Sixth Mainland’s Meng family, and Liu Yijian had a similar level of strength as Ancestor Meng. On top of that, the distance between Lu Yin and the two men during the Possession had not been very far, so using 2.7 billion star essence was quite reasonable.

On top of that, Lu Yin’s current assets meant that such consumption could not be considered excessive, and he intended to immediately continue rolling.

It was at this same time that Xia Zhitong managed to get in touch with Xia Yuan.

Xia Yuan looked at the image of Xia Zhitong that appeared on his communication crystal, and he angrily shouted, "I already told you that I won’t speak to you anymore and that you can’t call me. You’re going too far by using someone else to get in touch with me!"

Xia Zhitong calmly responded, "If I wasn’t in a desperate situation, I wouldn't have contacted you."

Xia Yuan frowned. "What sort of desperate situation? Aren't you enjoying yourself in Yu Cheng?"

Xia Zhitong could hear the sarcasm in the man’s voice, and she knew this must be the reaction of everyone from the Xia family. Even Xia Yuan, who had had an affair with Xia Zhitong in the past, was no exception. There was no one with a good opinion of the woman anymore. What was the difference between her reputation and that of the Yu family?

"I’ve been poisoned, and I can’t do anything about it. All I can do is ask for your help," Xia Zhitong explained.

Xia Yuan’s eyebrows rose slightly. "Go find Xia Feng. Have him help you."

Xia Zhitong sneered. "I already did that, but he can't help me. He told me to speak with you."

"His cultivation is higher than mine, and he’s also lived longer, so why can't he help you?" Xia Yuan asked suspiciously.

Xia Zhitong saw Xia Yuan's reluctance, and she slowly said, "If you won’t help me, I won’t have any choice but to speak with the patriarch. You know that I have a way to get in touch with him."

"What do you want?" Xia Yuan angrily demanded.

Xia Zhitong remained calm. "I’m being tortured, and if no one can help cure me, then this poison will kill me. If I die, I’ll make sure to take someone down with me."

"Are you actually threatening me?"

"If I wasn’t in a truly desperate situation, I would much rather spend my time enjoying myself in Yu Cheng. Where would I find the time to try to threaten you?"

Xia Yuan's eyes flickered as he stared at Xia Zhitong. "What’s the poison? Who did this to you?"

"An old acquaintance: Yu Hao." Xia Zhitong carefully spoke each word.

Xia Yuan's expression immediately changed. "Yu Hao? He isn't dead?"

Xia Zhitong took a deep breath. "It’d be best for you to come to Yu Cheng. Yu Hao has changed, and he doesn’t want to get revenge on just me, but also on the entire Xia family."

Seeing Xia Yuan's open contempt, Xia Zhitong continued, saying, "I know that you don't think much of him and that you also don’t believe that anyone can harm our Xia family, but he’s already succeeded. If he manages to do anything that upsets our patriarch, you won’t be able to escape the consequences. You were the one who proposed the plan that we carried out against the Yu family, and the success of this plan has brought you many benefits over the years. If there is backlash from this same plan, then there’s no way that the family will let you shirk the consequences."

Xia Yuan thought for a while. "Wait for me there, and don't go anywhere. I want to see just what Yu Hao is able to do."

The call ended.

…

Given his strength, Lu Yin had expected to be able to Possess some of the more important people in the Perennial World, but reality surpassed his expectations. He succeeded in Possessing someone of incredible importance on his second Possession: Long Ke, the patriarch of the White Dragon Clan.

After the White Dragon Clan’s main family had been wiped out, Long Ke's branch family had taken control of the family, but this meant that their foundation was extremely shallow. This was also why Long Ke’s position as patriarch had become even more precarious after Long Xi had disappeared and Long Tian had been trapped in the Dominion Realm. It was after that that Lu Yin had risen to fame as Long Qi. He had revealed an incredible talent for lockbreaking, received Progenitor Mu Xie’s favor, and the Commander of Humility’s Gate had opted to accept Long Qi as his disciple.

When that news had been released, Long Ke had instantly been abandoned by the entire White Dragon Clan. Grand Elder Ni Huang had personally taken action and played matchmaker for Long Qi, negotiating a marriage with Xia Taili, the Xia family’s princess. On top of that, Long Qi’s status as a son-in-law to the White Dragon Clan had been overturned, and he had been registered as a member of the main family. As long as his strength rose high enough, he had been expected to simply replace Long Ke and establish a new main family of the White Dragon Clan.

While it appeared that such a means of rising to the top of a clan indicated that they were a very forward-thinking group, the truth of the matter was that it went to show just how shallow the White Dragon Clan’s foundation really was: rather pathetic. Aside from Long Tian and Long Xi, the clan’s main family had no one who could carry on the main family’s strength, which meant that some of the branch families were actually more established.

Long Ke was someone who thought everything through very carefully, and Lu Yin had become quite familiar with the man. He had once tried to use Long Qi as a means to deal with Long Quan’s branch family and secure his position as clan patriarch. On top of that, Long Ke was a powerful cultivator, a five-tribulation Envoy. This man had used his power to try to intimidate Lu Yin, and he had also wanted to eliminate Lu Yin at one point, but those efforts had all failed.

Lu Yin was extremely surprised upon discovering that his second Possession was actually Long Ke.

He really did have a close relationship with the White Dragon Clan. He had already Possessed Long Quan, and at this moment, Lu Yin was Possessing Long Ke.

Long Ke was in no way comparable to Long Quan. Even if Long Ke’s status was unstable, he was the patriarch of the White Dragon Clan, and that gave him access to far, far more knowledge.

Lu Yin kept reviewing the man’s memories, and many of the White Dragon Clan’s most closely guarded secrets were exposed to Lu Yin, including their inherited battle techniques, secret techniques, and the methods employed to control the members of Star Alliance.

Long Ke's memories continued to enter Lu Yin’s mind. He learned all of the White Dragon Clan’s secrets, aside from the few matters that were solely reserved for the Semi-Progenitors and Progenitor Long. This included the methods to activate and control Dragon Mountain’s sourcebox array, and even where the clan’s treasury was located. Lu Yin learned of Long Ke’s personal hoard, as well as a few secrets that were shared by all four of the ruling powers.

Lu Yin even saw the Lu family’s past, as well as… himself.

In the past, Long Ke had only been the leader of a branch family of the White Dragon Clan. But because a Progenitor had risen from the White Dragon Clan, they had obtained a status that put them directly below the Lu family. During one of the times that Long Ke had visited the Lu family, he had met Lu Xiaoxuan.

Lu Yin had not expected to encounter memories of his past self while reviewing other people’s memories.

Lu Xiaoxuan had been just as Long Xi had described: cheerful, energetic, and very talented. He had been the object of envy and admiration for countless people throughout the entire Perennial World. The Seven Heroes had been praised as being able to revive the glory created by the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas in the past, and there had even been someone from the White Dragon Clan among the Seven Heroes: Long Xing, who had been Lu Xiaoxuan's fourth sister.

Lu Yin had never before felt this calm as he reviewed someone’s memories. He felt as though he was watching a video, and he observed himself in Long Ke's memories, as well as the entire Lu family that the patriarch remembered. Lu Yin could also feel what Long Ke's emotions had been at that time.

While Long Ke had acted excited and enthusiastic when he first met Lu Xiaoxuan, he had secretly been incredibly jealous. On top of that, Long Ke had absolutely hated Long Xing, who had been the main family’s daughter. Long Ke had long since dreamed of replacing the White Dragon Clan’s main family, but such a thing had been absolutely impossible with his former status. As Lu Yin touched on those thoughts, he learned that the greatest day in Long Ke’s entire life was the day when the Lu family was exiled and the White Dragon Clan’s main family had disappeared. That had been the day that Long Ke had become the clan’s patriarch.

It was a day that was engraved into Long Ke’s memories, and he would never forget it. The memories also became unforgettable to Lu Yin when he obtained them. All the excitement that Long Ke felt over that day became anger for Lu Yin.

From Long Ke's memories, Lu Yin saw the sky dotted with red flowers, and he also saw Long Xi crying without end. He watched the entire Higher Realm disappear, as well as the massive tail of the Ancestor Python moving perpendicular to the Perennial World. This was a day that almost every person in the Perennial World had had purged from their memories, as only a select few had been allowed to remember it.

Lu Yin had not seen that day in Long Quan's memories, nor had he seen it in Liu Yijian's. Truly few people had been allowed to remember the events of that day and retain their complete memories.

Long Ke's memories were too complicated, and even if Lu Yin spent an excessive amount of time in this Possession, he would only ever manage to see the very tip of the iceberg. His only choice was to search for the most important memories.

Some time later, someone requested a meeting with Long Ke, and Lu Yin ended the Possession.