Star Odyssey

Chapter 3016: Testing Grounds

Lu Yin started thinking. The best elites of each Scourge? These elites were clearly not members of the younger generation, but rather peak themselves, or even possibly sequence powerhouses. Who else could hope to become one of the Three Pillars and Six Skies by passing an assessment?

This meant that the chosen candidates were Aeternal powerhouses second only to the Three Pillars and Six Skies.

This Divine Selection could be considered an important competition for the Aeternals, one that was at a much higher level than normal.

“Where is the testing grounds you mentioned?” Lu Yin asked again.

Wei Shu hesitated for a moment.

Lu Yin pressed down harder with his hand, and Wei Shu instantly answered, “The Immemorial Citadel! It’s the Immemorial Citadel!”

“The Immemorial Citadel?” Lu Yin was surprised.

Wei Shu’s voice dropped back down. “Honestly, I shouldn’t know this, but I’ve exchanged information with powerhouses across five of the six Scourges, and we’ve discussed the Divine Selection before. One person who joined Aeternus a long time ago mentioned that the Divine Selection takes place at the Immemorial Citadel.

“The Immemorial Citadel is the most intense battleground for the war between Aeternus and humanity. Only the survivors of those battles pass the assessment.”

Lu Yin’s expression grew solemn. It was no wonder why the elites chosen for this Divine Selection rarely completed the assessment. The Immemorial Citadel was where humanity’s greatest experts all gathered, including people like Chu Yi, Ce Wangtian, and many others. Only people at the level of the Seven Skygods or the Three Pillars and Six Skies could hope to fight against such powerhouses.

The idea of fighting in the Divine Selection and visiting the Immemorial Citadel suddenly popped into Lu Yin’s mind.

No, that would be too dangerous. Even though True God was in seclusion, he might still pay attention to something like the Divine Selection. If he noticed Lu Yin, everything would be over. On top of that, the participants in the Divine Selection would undoubtedly be experts equal to the Seven Skygods. Even if Lu Yin was not discovered, he might just die at the hands of some human powerhouse if he went to the Immemorial Citadel.

Regardless of how risky and dangerous that would be, Lu Yin found himself increasingly tempted to try. The Immemorial Citadel held humanity’s greatest secrets, and it was the place where a great number of the most powerful humans gathered, and they had done so since the Heavens Sect era. On top of that, the Immemorial Citadel was where the Aeternals’ greatest secrets could be found as well. Lu Yin had already heard that the Ossis Ark was located in the Immemorial Citadel, and if not for the Immemorial Citadel restraining it, the Ossis Ark would have descended upon the Sixverse Association long ago.

The Immemorial Citadel was truly the highest stage of the inter-universe war.

Lu Yin was eager to visit the Immemorial Citadel and learn more about Aeternus’s other Scourges by participating in the Divine Selection.

However, doing so carried an extremely high risk of him being exposed.

What should he do?

Lu Yin hesitated.

Wei Shu did not dare to move, and he stood frozen in pace as sweat streamed from his forehead, splashing onto the floor.

Outside the window, the Fourth Scourge’s Progenitor-level corpse kings were high in the sky, waiting for Kong Ji’s return.

“Who is the Fourth Scourge’s candidate for the Divine Selection?” Lu Yin asked.

Wei Shu grew puzzled. “Well, it’s supposed to be Lord Kong Ji.”

Lu Yin was not surprised at all. Kong Ji’s strength had certainly been enough to qualify him to join the Divine Selection. If he had managed to receive True God’s guidance, or if he had cultivated one of the ultimate techniques, then Kong Ji’s strength might have reached the same level as the Seven Skygods’.

While the Fourth Scourge itself was not particularly strong, especially since Blackless God rarely paid any attention to it and left it essentially unattended, it had still had Kong Ji. In that case, what about the other Scourges? They should each have similar experts.

Lu Yin suddenly regretted killing Kong Ji. He should have dragged the man back to Aeternus Nation and had him break free from the death energy there, while also rescuing Dual Bladeform and the other captives. At the same time, Lu Yin’s identity of Ye Bo could have “escaped” with Kong Ji as well, which would have given him an excuse to return to the First Scourge. It would have been perfect.

Kong Ji was not part of the First Scourge, and he also had not known about the developments in the Origin Universe. Thus, he had not been particularly wary.

Too bad. That would have been a perfect plan.

Still, even with Kong Ji dead, he could carry out that plan with other experts from the other Scourges.

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. “Do you have a cosmic door to any of the other Scourges?”

Wei Shu answered immediately, “Absolutely not. They don’t even exist. Only occasionally is there any communication between the Scourges, and sharing or trading cosmic doors is strictly forbidden. It’s one of the major crimes within Aeternus.”

Lu Yin frowned, and pressed down harder. “I don’t want to hear excuses! I need a cosmic door to another Scourge.”

Wei Shu begged, terrified, “Ancestor, I really don’t have any! I’m too scared of dying to break any of the rules here. If I had a cosmic door without the proper authorization, at best, I’d be sent to complete a mission, but I might be thrown into a lake of divine energy and turned into a frenzied corpse! You know about frenzied corpses, right? They have no reasoning or thought left in them and know of nothing but slaughter. Not even Aeternus can control those monsters, and I don’t want to become one of them. Such creatures can’t be killed, and they’re never able to find peace.”

Lu Yin continued his threats, but Wei Shu just kept begging for mercy. Finally, Lu Yin forced the man to open his cosmic ring and remove everything in it.

It was true. While the man had multiple cosmic doors, they all led to the Fourth Scourge. Not one led to any other Scourge.

Aside from the cosmic doors, the man possessed nothing else of interest.

“How many frenzied corpses are there in the Fourth Scourge?” Lu Yin demanded.

Wei Shu grimaced. “Senior, why are all of your questions about things I can’t answer? All of the frenzied corpses are beneath the lakes of divine energy. How could I possibly know how many of them there are?”

Lu Yin’s eyes glinted dangerously. “How many frenzied corpses have you seen been taken out?”

“Three.”

“Where did they go?”

“I have no idea.”

“How useless.”

“Yes, I am useless! But please, Ancestor, spare me!”

Lu Yin left and returned to Aeternus Nation. He had learned what he needed to, though he felt conflicted on whether he should use Ye Bo’s identity to join the Divine Selection.

This decision was far more difficult than simply infiltrating Aeternus.

To begin with, when the opportunity to infiltrate Aeternus had first appeared, both True God and the Seven Skygods had been in seclusion, and Lu Yin had also not known about Aeternus’s true strength. He had simply wanted to learn more about the Ossis Ark. On the other hand, if he participated in the Divine Selection, he might have a direct encounter with True God or the Three Pillars and Six Skies. It was very likely that some of those people would be able to see through his disguise.

However, Lu Yin knew that he would not be able to relax if he did not participate.

The Three Pillars and Six Skies might not be able to see through Lu Yin’s disguise when he posed as Ye Bo, though it was guaranteed that True God would do so. On top of that, Jiang Qingyue had already figured out Ye Bo’s true identity through Lu Yin’s actions and fighting style, which meant that someone from Aeternus could do the same thing. There were countless strange creatures throughout the megaverse, and it was likely that, since the First Scourge had had someone like Cheng Kong, the other Scourges might have other similar creatures.

Lu Yin sighed heavily. This choice could be deadly.

...

In the Fifth Mainland’s Innerverse, people slowly trickled back into the Starfall Sea after Aeternus had been driven out. While the barrier of the horizontal black hole still isolated the Starfall Sea, there was no endless horde of corpse kings, but that did not mean that Aeternus could not place another cosmic door there. This meant that anyone who returned to the Starfall Sea was taking on some level of risk.

On a vast continent, Mt. Stacks Dojo had reopened.

For safety, Mt. Stacks Dojo was still headquartered in the Outerverse, but all new disciples who were accepted were sent to visit Grayweed Continent to participate in a memorial ritual. Dojo Master Lan had died fighting there, while Lan Si had never returned after entering Burial Garden. At the moment, Elder Ji and Lan Baobao were in charge of Mt. Stacks Dojo.

Elder Ji had become an elder after Elder Tie died, and Elder Ji had also successfully become an Enlighter. After Elder Tie had died fighting with the Redemption Army, only Lan Baobao, Tie San, and a few other disciples from Mt. Stacks Dojo had survived. Fortunately, Elder Ji had successfully broken through and become an Enlighter and an elder in the sect, which allowed Mt. Stacks Dojo to endure.

There were twenty platforms of earth stacked on top of each other in Mt. Stacks Dojo. As one climbed up, the gravity on each consecutive level grew stronger and stronger.

On one day, hundreds of Mt. Stacks Dojo disciples were delivered to Grayweed Continent by Elder Ji. They were accompanied by Tie San and a group of people who had once been disciples of Grayweed Continent’s various dojos.

“Do you see those platforms? Each one’s gravity is stronger than the lower ones, so the higher you climb, the more extreme the gravity becomes. Try to climb as high as possible, as the height you achieve will determine your status in Mt. Stacks Dojo!” Tie San shouted. He had gone through this routine many times before, as he accompanied each new batch of disciples.

While he had initially been nervous, and they had occasionally encountered a few scattered corpse kings, he was no longer afraid.

Over the years, as the Heavens Sect grew stronger, Progenitors had been stationed in the Starfall Sea, so Aeternus no longer dared to step foot in the place.

Hundreds of disciples were eager to start climbing, so as soon as they heard Tie San’s command, they excitedly shot towards the stacked platforms. All of them knew that even Dao Monarch Lu had attempted this test before.

Tie San moved closer to Elder Ji. “I’ve seen this play out too many times before. The more excited they are at the start, the greater their later disappointment.”

Elder Ji stood there, his hands clasped behind his back. “If we don’t knock them down a peg, they’ll believe that the Heavens Sect’s glory is easy to achieve. Dao Monarch Lu faced countless life and death struggles in the Starfall Sea and all across the entire Fifth Mainland. All of us have survived catastrophes for the Heavens Sect to rise to its current heights. These children are simply too young, and they don’t understand the struggles that led to our current glory. This disappointment they’re about to face still isn’t nearly enough.”

Tie San sighed. “True. Dojo Master Lan died in battle, and Lan Si has gone missing. It hasn’t been easy for our Mt. Stacks Dojo to keep going.”

“There’s also your father, Elder Tie,” Elder Ji commented solemnly.

Tie San felt a pang of pain, but he quickly suppressed it. Death was simply too familiar for cultivators. “Eh? Elder Ji, am I seeing things? Look.”

Elder Ji looked where Tie San was pointing and saw a person slowly approaching the stacked platforms. It was Lu Yin, coming to bury Kong Ji’s body.

Elder Ji went bug-eyed, and he hurried forward.

“Greetings, Dao Monarch Lu.”

Tie San nervously greeted Lu Yin as well, “Greetings, Dao Monarch Lu.”

Lu Yin stared at the stacked platforms. “Has Mt. Stacks Dojo recruited new disciples?”

“Yes, Dao Monarch.” Elder Ji had never even dreamed that he would see Lu Yin on Grayweed Continent. This man was the Dao Monarch of the Heavens Sect, the ruler of the Origin Universe! Even if Elder Jie’s cultivation improved by several realms, he still would not be qualified to meet with this young man.

The first time Elder Ji had ever seen Lu Yin was right in Mt. Stacks Dojo, but at that time, the man had been an official in the dojo who had not even been an elder, as he had only been a Hunter. He had been neither an elder nor an elite disciple, and he had had no connection to Lu Yin. Once the dojo moved to the Outerverse, only a few people like Elder Tie had been qualified to speak to Lu Yin. However, all of those people had either died or gone missing. Elder Ji had never imagined that he would be able to stand so close to Lu Yin, not even in his dreams.

Lu Yin’s eyes swept past Elder Ji and Tie San, but then they returned to Tie San. “Where’s Lan Baobao?”

Tie San answered immediately, “She stayed in the Outerverse. We take turns bringing the disciples here.”

Lu Yin did not say anything more as he looked back at the stacked earthen platforms. After a moment, his eyes drifted to the ground beneath them.

There were twenty earthen platforms. The first platform had a palm print that had been left with ten stacks of force, and anyone who could manage to make their way there could learn Vacuum Palm. The tenth platform had a palm print with 100 stacks of force, and it could teach a person Hollow Palm. That was where Lu Yin had stopped, as he had not returned to Mt. Stacks Dojo again after that.

At the top platform was the palm strike that Kong Ji had used against Lu Yin, the one which could gently absorb an enemy’s attacks. The final palm strike was called Vacuum Rebound, and it had been hidden underground.