Star Odyssey

Chapter 3190: The Way Of Survival

Di Qiong sneered as he turned to Second Shan. "Help us in this battle, and afterwards, you will be regarded as friends of Aeternus. You won't even need to join us. If the Heavens Sect starts hunting you, Aeternus will take the burden for you. You’ve roamed the universes for years, so I’ll tell you something-

"The third Divine Commandment is in effect."

Second Shan's expression changed dramatically. "The Third Divine Commandment?"

Second Gu and Second Meng both looked confused. What was a Divine Commandment?

Di Qiong's lips curved upwards. "So, you do know."

Second Shan did not hesitate, and he shouted, "Big brother, let's agree to Aeternus's terms."

"Fine, we'll do as you suggest. Aeternus, tell us what to do. However, before anything else, we need to rescue our third brother," Second Gu shouted.

Second Meng frowned but she did not object. The five members of Second Life were united in both life and death.

A cold light flickered in Lu Yin's eyes. "You know only half of the truth, and yet you are in a hurry to decide your fate and betray your own race? You deserve to die."

He had not expected Second Life to betray humanity, but it did not particularly matter. Even with them joining Di Qiong, there was little hope of Aeternus accomplishing much against the Heavens Sect in the current battle. The Aeternals were simply using Second Life as a shield. Lu Yin had also dismissed the idea of trying to trap Di Qiong and Arrow God for the time being, as Tian Fa was fast approaching, and time was running out.

Compared to Di Qiong or Arrow God, Tian Fa was a much greater threat.

Arrow God nocked an arrow and aimed it at Heavenly King before loosing an attack.

Di Qiong shouted, "Second Life, surround that young man and kill him!"

Naturally, he was pointing at Lu Yin.

Second Gu and Second Meng both looked at Lu Yin and attacked him. One pulled a bone out of his body, which then split and formed the skeleton of a humanoid figure, while the other moved right behind that skeleton before charging at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin's expression turned cold. These people deserved to die. He clenched a fist and threw another punch, this time aiming at only the members of Second Life, Di Qiong, and Arrow God.

One punch shattered the void.

The skeleton quickly moved out from beside Second Gu to block Lu Yin’s punch.

Still behind the skeleton, Second Meng released her sequence particles while raising her own fist and retaliating with a punch. She was copying Lu Yin's attack, with the intention of countering it. However, as soon as she raised her first, her arm was shredded and blood splattered.

"Second Sister!" Second Gu exclaimed in shock. The skeleton in front of him was simultaneously shattered. Lu Yin's punch was too powerful, and no one in Second Life could stand up to it.

Second Meng was horrified. "He’s a monster! I can’t duplicate his strength."

The moment she finished speaking, she and Second Gu were knocked back by Lu Yin's punch. Blood spilled as they were pathetically sent flying towards Di Qiong.

The man’s eyes grew cold. Trash.

He was impressed by Lu Yin's strength, but the fact that two sequence powerhouses had failed to endure even a single one of Lu Yin’s punches when working together was beyond pathetic.

There was a loud crash as Second Gu and Second Meng fell close to Di Qiong. They both coughed up more blood, their faces deathly pale.

Lu Yin was solely focused on Di Qiong and Arrow God.

On the auction stage, Daheng and Luo Shan were both targeting Heavenly King, as the card was the closest thing to the hide that had held the stones.

On the platform in the sky behind the statue, Arch-Elder Zen quietly observed everything. He was powerless to influence the battle. He was not yet a Sequence Progenitor.

As for Bai Ni and the other four hosts, it was even more impossible for them to get involved. It was already quite impressive that they had not already fled the scene entirely.

Di Qiong had his spear in his hand and was pointing it at Lu Yin from across the plaza. "Even after so long, no expert has appeared from the Heavens Sect. Tian Fa must be quite close.

"I'm quite curious to see how you plan to deal with Tian Fa, but I don't have the time to play with you any longer. Lu Yin, if you have the ability, come to the Third Scourge and take Wu Tian away."

A cosmic door appeared beside the man, and he moved to step through it.

In any case, if experts from the Heavens Sect did surround the Aeternals, it was very likely that they would be in trouble. Besides, the fact that it was clear that Lu Yin wanted to face Tian Fa at the site of the auction served as proof that he had some sort of backup plan in place. Di Qiong and Arrow God had no desire to get caught up in Lu Yin’s schemes, and be the ones suffering instead of Tian Fa.

Lu Yin used Inverse Step to move close to Di Qiong. Pages appeared in the air around Di Qiong. They were his Progenitor’s world, Martial Scriptures. Lu Yin's Inverse Step came to an abrupt halt, as his actions were being limited by the Martial Scriptures.

Di Qiong raised his spear up high and thrust it at Lu Yin in an attack that pierced the void.

Lu Yin visualized the landmass in his inner universe while releasing that universe from inside his body. The visualization method merged with the landmass itself, and a shadow instantly fell over the entire plaza.

Di Qiong looked up, and his eyes narrowed. "Let's go."

Suddenly, a streak of light shot at him. He turned and waved a hand, shattering the light. It was a spear. Was it his own spear?

He followed where the attack had come from and saw that he had been attacked by Second Meng.

There were two skeletons standing beside Second Gu, and they instantly charged at Di Qiong, "You can forget about leaving!"

"Second Life, have you gone mad?" Di Qiong shouted angrily.

Far away, Second Shan shouted, "Lord Lu, I know it's you! We won't help Aeternus. We're also still human. What do you want us to do next?"

Lu Yin frowned. Just what was Second Life thinking?

The weak had their own methods to survive. Lu Yin had once prevented the Daynight Clan from attacking him by using the Third Nightking’s whereabouts as bait. At this moment, Second Life was doing the same thing. They had agreed to help Aeternus partly as a test to find out who was controlling the card that had captured Second Gang. If the card belonged to Aeternus, Second Life would help and attack Lu Yin. If the card belonged to Lu Yin or his people, Second Life had already decided to pretend to help Aeternus while actually getting closer in order to prepare an attack that would demonstrate their loyalty to Lu Yin.

Second Life knew that it was impossible for them to free Second Gang, which meant that their brother’s survival depended on whoever had captured him.

By firing an arrow at Heavenly King, Arrow God had proven that Second Gang had been captured by Lu Yin's people. So, Second Life had immediately attacked the Aeternals.

Second Life’s way of surviving was to get a clear picture of a given situation and then go with whatever served them best.

While their actions had been a bit complicated, Lu Yin understood what Second Life had done. They were guilty of myriad crimes and certainly deserved to die, squashed like a bug that lived in a dark corner. However, even bugs knew how to survive.

"Forget it. Let them go," Lu Yin stated calmly. He could sense that Tian Fa was very close.

Lu Yin’s hand fell, accompanied by the landmass in the sky. It dropped with a thunderous crash.

Di Qiong and Arrow God both shot through the cosmic door, leaving the plaza.

The landmass pressed down upon the entire plaza. Arch-Elder Zen and the auction’s hosts quickly escaped from the platform in the sky, avoiding being crushed before the plaza.

Mr. Daheng was horrified by Lu Yin’s demonstration of power.

"We can't wait any longer! Waaaah, grab it!" A shadow suddenly appeared on Daheng's shoulder, and it smacked Heavenly King away. Luo Shan's monarch essence had absolutely no effect on the shadow.

It was Astral Anura.

Mr. Daheng had been searching for Peaks and Rivers Stones in order to gain access to the Mirari Realm, but all of the man’s actions had been at the orders of Astral Anura. The toad had learned of the ancient legends regarding the Mirari Realm and that the place held the means to Immortality.

However, Astral Anura knew very little about the Mirari Realm. Long ago, he had gotten close to the Mirari Realm, but his opportunity had been stolen when the Origin Universe had locked the Mirari Realm in place, limiting access to a few of humanity’s peak powerhouses. Their actions had left Astral Anura helpless. Those powerhouses had been complete bastards! The Mirari Realm belonged to the entire cosmos, and it should not be claimed by any single group. And yet, those bastards had stolen control of the Mirari Realm, which had deprived Astral Anura of any chance to enter, even after so many years.

He finally had another opportunity right in front of him, and the stones were real. Even if the auction looked like a trap, Astral Anura had been willing to face the risk, because even a chance that was only one in ten-thousand was still a chance.

On top of that, Astral Anura was confident in his strength, and he felt that very few creatures in the entire megaverse could threaten him. Where was the danger?

Mr. Daheng was startled. "This is a trap, my lord. The stones and the hide are all fake. They’re counterfeits."

Astral Anura grabbed the hide and the stones at the same time and stared at them. The toad’s eyes grew large as it studied the stones. Is that right? Hmm? Are they fake? Are they real?

Lu Yin looked up. Tian Fa had arrived.

He looked over at Heavenly King. Beneath the card, Great Elder Shan Gu stepped forward while tearing through the void and simultaneously crushing a stone in his hand.

A mass of blood-red liquid descended far away from the plaza, already racing towards the plaza.

Tian Fa arrived just in time to see Shan Gu tear through the void and escape.

Astral Anura was the closest to Shan Gu and saw the man’s actions. Instantly, the toad’s eyes blazed with excitement. "It's real! It’s the Mirari Realm! The Mirari Realm! Wait for me!"

The toad shot through the spatial tear.

Mr. Daheng also grew excited. Was this really a path to the Mirari Realm? Lu Yin had used the actual Mirari Realm as a trap. What a steep price to pay! The Arborean also shot through the tear in the void.

Luo Shan hesitated, but then he turned and left.

Lu Yin took a step forward and rushed through the spatial tear.

Second Gu rushed forward without any hesitation. "Third Brother, wait for us!"

Second Meng and Second Shan also charged forward at the same time.

Tian Fa accelerated, also rushing in. It would not allow Great Elder Shan Gu to escape again.

Just as the spatial tear was about to close, a figure appeared in a corner of the plaza, and instantly shot through the tear as well. It was a woman, the fifth member of Second Life: Second Zi.[1]

Once Second Zi passed through the tear in the void, the tear finally disappeared.

The plaza quieted down. Aside from Arch-Elder Zen and Bai Ni, no one else was in the plaza. All who remained were corpses scattered across the floor.

...

Time passed. It flowed through the megaverse, and countless worlds experienced the passing of spring and autumn.

Every time a person entered the Mirari Realm, the connection would reset the moment in time that the Mirari Realm was connected to the outside world.

Shan Gu, along with his Heavenly King card that was still above his head, fell into the Mirari Realm. When the void was torn open, there was a brief moment when the nearby mist of time had been pushed back. Because of that, as long as people who newly entered the Mirari Realm did not move, they would not touch the mist for a period of time.

The Great Elder already knew how terrifying that mist was, but he still boldly charged into it. That was because he was carrying a blade of Hongyan Mavis's green grass.

The second to fall into the Mirari Realm was Astral Anura.

At this moment, the toad was quite small, and he was only the size of a person’s hand. He looked like a toy as he held the hide in a hand.

After falling into the Mirari Realm, the toad first saw the flowing River of Time nearby, as well as the more distant bamboo forest. The sight thrilled him. "The Mirari Realm! I’m really in the Mirari Realm! This deal was absolutely worth it, no doubt about it! I’ve finally made it into the Mirari Realm."

The toad’s eyes locked onto Shan Gu. "You, get over here!"

It was at this moment that Mr. Daheng fell through the spatial tear and dropped onto Astral Anura.

The toad contemptuously tossed the man to the side, and Mr. Daheng fell to the ground nearby. However, they were in the Mirari Realm, and the entire place was filled with the mist of time.

While Mr. Daheng did not go very far, he still landed within the mist.

A terrifying scream rang out across the Mirari Realm, startling Astral Anura.

Both the toad and Shan Gu looked over at Mr. Daheng.

It was at this time that Second Gu, Second Meng, and Second Shan all fell through the spatial tear. They were lucky enough to not land on Astral Anura, but rather a few meters away from the toad. The moment they arrived, they heard Daheng's screams, and all three people looked over at the man. They saw a sight they would never be able to forget.

Every part of Mr. Daheng's body was constantly changing. Sometimes bits and pieces would belong to an old man, and at other times to a young child. There were times when his body would shrivel up, and at other times, it would glow. Mr. Daheng was a sequence powerhouse, and he released his sequence particles to resist the mist as he struggled to crawl away from it. However, already his abdomen had been reduced to bones. It was a chilling sight to all who saw it.

1. Zi = Purple. ☜