Star Odyssey

Chapter 2989: Loopholes

Jing Zhe leaped out of the lake and rose upwards into outer space. As he ascended, his body became as smooth as a mirror, which was an indication that he had hardened his body. The worm was too terrified of death to have the courage to stand and fight. He had instantly raised his defenses while trying to flee.

Lu Yin tried another punch, but while his strike landed, it was entirely useless.

This was the best time for his senior brother, Mu Ke, to use his Law of Breaking, but that was also why Qing Ping was present.

Lu Yin had very carefully considered who to bring along in the ambush, and he was certain that it was impossible for Jing Zhe to escape.

More Abyssal Flowers bloomed in the sky, sealing off all paths of escape. However, not even Big Sis could pierce Jing Zhe's defenses.

When Xu Wuwei saw Jing Zhe frantically attacking the flowers, the Void Suprema waved a hand and blocked the worm’s efforts.

Sequence particles blocked every path that Jing Zhe tried to take, and the worm grew increasingly upset. "Humans, you are seeking death!"

A set of scales suddenly appeared in outer space. One side appeared beneath Qing Ping's feet, while the other end of the scales extended towards Jing Zhe.

Jing Zhe's body immediately coiled up. He did not want to touch this set of scales, so he opened his mouth and spat out more dirt, covering the scales.

Lu Yin frowned. The dirt was actually sequence particles. This was the first time when Lu Yin’s senior brother's scales had not even been able to touch his opponent.

Jing Zhe suddenly shot towards Xu Wuwei. This was the man responsible for repeatedly stopping the worm from escaping. The man also did not have very many sequence particles, but their ability was infuriatingly able to block Jing Zhe’s path. It was not impossible for Jing Zhe to simply force his way through, but doing so would consume a great number of his own sequence particles.

Xu Wuwei’s hand rose, and he continued to block Jing Zhe's path.

Big Sis used her Abyssal Flowers to further stall the worm.

Jing Zhe felt like he was stuck in a swamp, unable to move and completely trapped.

At this moment, the sky above changed, and a swirl of energy enveloped the area in an entangled series of storms.

Jing Zhe started to panic. Unknown changes were always intimidating, especially something this extreme.

Lu Yin looked over at Qing Ping, as he was the cause of this commotion.

The transformed sky filled everyone’s vision, and the swirl of energy took on the form of a massive, ancient steel bar that connected a set of scales that stood tall. One dangled down towards Jing Zhe like a fishing line. The worm screamed and spat out soil in a frenzy, hoping to drown the scales in dirt. However, this attempt failed. The sequence particles could not overcome the massive set of scales.

The steel bar descended, and a cord twined around Jing Zhe's body. The worm thrashed and twisted like crazy, but he was still captured by the scales.

Lu Yin stared in shock. There were no sequence particles involved. His senior brother was not a Sequence Progenitor, so what was going on? Why could his Progenitor’s world ignore sequence particles?

Big Sis was flabbergasted. "He’s using the laws of the universe to judge the laws."

"What does that even mean, Big Sis?" Lu Yin was confused.

Big Sis’ voice dropped low. "There is nothing in existence that is absolutely perfect, not even the laws of the universe. Most people comprehend those laws and learn to use them, but there are also some people who do not cultivate the laws of the universe. Rather, they exploit loopholes that exist within those laws, using those loopholes to create something different. That is what your senior brother has managed to do. He’s relying on the vast and endless laws of this universe to conduct his judgment.

"This is completely independent of becoming a sequence powerhouse, as he has managed to both circumvent the laws while simultaneously using them. This is something that very few people have ever been able to accomplish throughout all of human history.

"What a madman! When he became a Progenitor, he declared his own existence to be reasonable and caused the laws of the universe to judge his tribulation while acting as the messenger. He managed to become a peak powerhouse by ascending to the highest level of shamelessness imaginable. Now, he’s become even more adept at this method. Honestly, Little Seven, your senior brother is the most shameless person I have ever seen."

Lu Yin stared at Qing Ping in a daze. Are you really shameless? People who enjoyed a good reputation could actually be the most shameless of all, while those who were concerned about their reputation were bound by it. This was also a law.

The most terrified creature at this moment was Jing Zhe. He was terribly confused, having no idea what was happening. He felt like he was completely suppressed by some power that he could not resist. However, the worm’s opponent clearly was not even a sequence powerhouse, so what the hell was happening?

"Judgment: courage."

Qing Ping's voice echoed throughout his Progenitor’s world.

Lu Yin, Big Sis, and even Xu Wuwei were all left speechless. How was this anything less than bullying? This was unquestionably bullying the worm.

Jing Zhe was similarly stunned. How dare you? Qing Ping had spoken the forbidden word. There was no creature that would dare to speak that word before Jing Zhe. Was this human mocking his timidity?

Wait, judgment?

Jing Zhe stared at Qing Ping, and the man silently stared back.

Suddenly, the enormous steel scales started to move, and Jing Zhe was slowly lifted up. The worm grew increasingly uneasy, as his fear was growing worse. He felt that something was very, very wrong.

Once Jing Zhe was raised all the way up, Lu Yin knew that the worm had lost the judgment. However, at what cost?

There was a whooshing sound as the energy disappeared, along with the set of scales.

Jing Zhe took off instantly, but a fissure had appeared in his body at some point in time. This wound had not been caused by Lu Yin or any of the others, and it had also not been there before the judgment, which meant that this wound had been caused by the judgment.

Far away, Qing Ping spat out a mouthful of blood as he plummeted to the ground.

Lu Yin raced over to help the man.

Big Sis sighed. "Loopholes in the laws of the universe are never easy to exploit, and there is always a price that needs to be paid."

"Big Sis, he’s been wounded."

"I know. He won’t be able to escape."

Jing Zhe wanted to flee, but Xu Wuwei continued to block the worm’s path. Big Sis lifted her head, and her dark-purple abyssal power attacked Jing Zhe.

The worm was utterly furious. He opened his mouth and spat out more dirt in an attempt to overwhelm everything nearby, as without doing that, he would never be able to escape.

Lu Yin took a step forward while using Lightstream to reverse time by a second. The dirt that Jing Zhe had spat out vanished, and Lu Yin took advantage of the opening. His hand rose with the slipper in his grip, and he struck the open wound on the worm’s body.

There was a scream as Jing Zhe curled up and fell back. Purple blood leaked out from the wound.

This attack terrified Jing Zhe, and he lost his mind. He spat out more soil, only for the attack to fail again. This time, the worm’s mouth had been blocked. Xu Wuwei had taken action.

Jing Zhe roared, and sequence particles poured from his mouth in a direct competition against Xu Wuwei.

The man’s face turned pale. He had far fewer sequence particles than Jing Zhe. "I can't hold him here any longer!"

Lu Yin instantly appeared beside the wound, the slipper raised high already.

Jing Zhe let out another wail. The open wound was a weakness in his hardened body, and he continued to thrash about, hoping to escape. But in response, Lu Yin used Inverse Step to create a region of chaotic time and space. Jing Zhe could not be allowed to escape.

Jing Zhe was far from weak, and his ability to harden his body had rendered many people who had faced the worm in the past helpless. On top of that, his sequence particles made it so that no one dared to make physical contact with the worm.

Lu Yin had cooperated with two sequence powerhouses and Qing Ping to lay an ambush to kill the worm. The worm’s attacks were too simple, so after Jing Zhe was trapped, his only options were to either escape or fight to the death.

This could be the reason behind the worm’s timidity. His body did not give him many means to attack.

Humans were creatures with limitless possibilities. While creatures like Jing Zhe might appear to be very powerful, they lacked options and were actually quite limited.

In fact, if not for Jing Zhe’s ability to harden his body, he might have never warranted the Aeternals’ attention.

With the worm’s defenses penetrated, he could only wait to die. Escape was impossible.

The wailing continued. Abyssal Flowers filled the area as Lu Yin mercilessly beat Jing Zhe. The worm’s body shrank as the wound grew larger and larger.

Suddenly, the worm’s body split in two; one half fled to the north while the other half fled south.

Lu Yin had never considered this scenario, and it had never been mentioned by Jiang Chen either. Most likely, no one had ever forced the worm into such a terrible situation where he had been left with no choice but to split his body in order to escape.

The Lord of the Abyss appeared behind Big Sis, and a massive Abyssal Flower blossomed down below. It was large enough that it cut off Jing Zhe’s escape in every direction. The worm was startled, as this flower contained at least as many sequence particles as the worm himself. No, this flower surpassed Jing Zhe. The worm had simply not needed to worry about the flowers earlier on in the fight because they were not able to penetrate his defenses.

However, those defenses had been shattered , and Jing Zhe had even split his body in two in order to escape. This was a very dangerous time for him to be trapped by the Abyssal Flower.

"Humans, let's call a truce! We can stop fighting!" Jing Zhe screamed.

Lu Yin sneered.

The Abyssal Flower started to close. This technique had even successfully trapped Undying God, so how could Jing Zhe ever escape?

Both halves of Jing Zhe's broken body were being pulled towards the center of the Abyssal Flower. The worm continued to thrash about. "Humans, I’ll help you! I’ll help you fight against Aeternus! I’ll join your Sixverse Association!"

Lu Yin was unmoved. He was currently considering anointing another champion.

This worm had incurred a heavy blood debt to mankind. The Deepsea Region had been washed with blood. It would not be good to accept the worm’s surrender. Even if Lu Yin could convince the worm to submit and be conferred as a summoned god, it would not be allowed, as Lu Yin would have no way to explain himself to the Voidforce Universe.

When looking at the bigger picture, it was indeed better to have more powerhouses, but humans were selfish creatures, and gaining another summoned god was not worth offending the Voidforce Universe.

This universe had always treated Lu Yin very well.

On top of that, the worm had blatantly threatened the entire Sixverse Association. Even if Lu Yin did confer Jing Zhe as a god, it would do nothing to intimidate the other outsider powerhouses.

Since conferring a summoned god was not possible, then Lu Yin intended to anoint a champion.

The Abyssal Flower continued to close. Lu Yin had never seen Big Sis actually kill someone with her flower, and he was curious about the process, but Jing Zhe could not be killed by Big Sis.

"Big Sis, I want a champion."

Big Sis grew a bit irritated. "It's not easy to nourish my Abyssal Flower. Ah, nevermind. You can have this one."

Lu Yin grew puzzled. "Big Sis, what nourishes your Abyssal Flower?"

"Forget about it."

Xu Wuwei spoke up, "Lord Xu once mentioned the Heavens Sect’s Progenitor Yōu Ming. He said that her Abyssal Flower is nourished by the blood of powerhouses and that even the strongest cultivators would struggle to escape."

This did not help Lu Yin’s confusion.

"When the Abyssal Flower completely closes up, no one can save a powerhouse trapped within it. The Abyssal Flower is nourished by the blood of peak powerhouses, and it can continue to grow. Lord Xu said that Progenitor Yōu Ming used her Abyssal Flower to trap and kill one of Aeternus’s Seven Skygods," Xu Wuwei explained.

Lu Yin was taken aback. "Big Sis, can your Abyssal Flower grow stronger?"

Big Sis cocked a brow. "You thought that what you’ve seen is as strong as I ever was, didn’t you?"

Lu Yin gulped and he quickly backtracked. "Of course not."

"What? Because I wasn’t able to help you out a few times, you're disappointed in my power?" Big Sis voice revealed her worsening mood.

Lu Yin quickly tried to reassure her, "Absolutely not. You know what, Big Sis, it’s all yours."

Big Sis snorted disdainfully. "Go ahead and anoint your champion."

Lu Yin shook his head. "I already have a lot of Progenitor champions, so I might not even be able to anoint this worm as another. It’d be safer to leave this one to you, Big Sis."

The woman stared at Lu Yin, so he quickly brought out his Champions’ Stage. "Look. See how many I have?"

Big Sis frowned as she looked at the images on Lu Yin’s Champions’ Stage. "Are all of those really peak powerhouses?"

"I have more than ten!" Lu Yin stated rather proudly. No one else in the history of the Lu family had ever anointed so many peak powerhouses as champions.

Xu Wuwei was blown away. How ruthless did someone need to be to have killed more than ten peak powerhouses on their own?

Big Sis finally looked away. "Fine, then I won’t hold back. Let me have this one."

OMA's Thoughts

Translated By: OMA

Edited By: Neshi/Nyxnox

TLC'ed By: OMA