Star Odyssey

Chapter 3636: Seventeen

The Gate of Laws was far from weak. Zhan Ming’s strength did not represent the full extent of its power. Rumor had it that the number one sequence base was hidden within the Gate of Laws.

Lu Yin could not force his way in, but he had to get to Yi Shang as well as the third key.

Jiu Xian might not be able to stay on top of Meng Sang for much longer.

Lu Yin soon went to speak with Old Tao. "I need to get into the Gate of Laws without being noticed."

Old Tao was taken aback. "The Gate of Laws? Third Boss, have they offended you somehow? When did that happen?"

"No, I just need to get inside," Lu Yin replied.

Old Tao frowned. "It’s not easy to get into the Gate of Laws, at least not without revealing your identity. Even those as powerful as the Seven Seraphs would struggle to remain unnoticed in that place. They have a spirit treasure formation that is specifically designed to identify and recognize those who enter. Supposedly, it was created by a Spirit Treasure Grandmaster who was a member of the Zhan family, and it has since been reinforced for generations.”

"The Gate of Laws encompasses a vast region. Does that formation also cover the Garden of Passing?" Lu Yin asked. If this was true, the cost of doing so would have been enormous.

Old Tao was surprised. "Third Boss, do you want to enter the Garden of Passing?"

Lu Yin nodded, and Old Tao let out a sigh of relief. "That makes things much easier. The most heavily guarded area in the Gate of Laws is where they make sequence bases. The Zhan family once offended Emperor Wu, but not even he could force his way in there. He was stopped by the Zhan family and their sequence bases. The second most secure location is the Zhan family's personal territory. On the other hand, the Garden of Passing is the least guarded, because the elders in there who are waiting to die are the strongest defenses that they can have."

Lu Yin said, "I don't want those old monsters to instantly notice me. I need to capture someone in there, and I need time to set up a trap."

Old Tao grew curious. "Who could be important enough for you to go through all this trouble?"

Given Lu Yin's strength, even experts at the level of the Seven Seraphs might not be able to escape from him. Was there really such a terrifying powerhouse in the Garden of Passing?

Lu Yin did not answer.

Old Tao considered the matter for a moment. "Pay your respects with an offering."

Lu Yin arched a brow, and he was instantly reminded of what he had just witnessed.

Old Tao looked at Lu Yin and respectfully explained, "Only by giving an offering can you buy yourself enough time. Still, the Garden of Passing is vast. How large of a trap do you intend to set? Those old monsters are everywhere there, so there’s no guarantee that you won't be discovered."

Lu Yin slowly smiled. "You know who Zhan Qianguhou is, don’t you?"

"The Garden of Passing’s gravekeeper is actually Zhan Ming’s son. That man has kept this a secret in order to prevent too much attention from falling onto Zhan Qianguhou, as that would be dangerous. Even Zhan Qianguhou himself is unaware of the connections."

Lu Yin was surprised. "He's Zhan Ming's son?"

Old Tao nodded, and Lu Yin understood the situation. This explained why Zhan Qianguhou had been allowed to take the role of gravekeeper.

The Garden of Passing’s gravekeeper worked the closest with the dying powerhouses, and because of that, they could occasionally obtain something from those seniors.

Zhan Qianguhou was young, and yet his strength was extraordinary. If not, he would have never been qualified to represent the Zhan family in observing Lu Yin. At that time, only select powerhouses had been sent to observe Lu Yin, and even when younger people were sent, they had all been accompanied by strong protectors. As for Zhan Qianguhou, he had been alone.

Zhan Ming had done well in keeping this secret for his son.

The fact that even Zhan Qianguhou was ignorant of the connection meant that Zhan Yan certainly knew nothing. Right, Zhan Yan left the Spirit Nidus long before Zhan Qianguhou was even born.

"Find the people who were sent out by Zhan Qianguhou. They should currently be searching for a specific elder’s descendants. I’ll take that identity," Lu Yin ordered.

Old Tao quickly got in contact with the Phantom Reach. When it came to gathering information, no one was faster than the Phantom Reach. Even if they held a deep grudge against Lu Yin, he had crushed them so thoroughly that they did not dare to disobey any orders that came from Boundless. They even made sure to keep everything confidential.

To ensure someone’s obedience, it was necessary to offer them either sufficient benefits or a strong enough fist. It was that simple.

The Phantom Reach worked swiftly, and they sent a report with the requested information back in less than half a month.

"They found them?" Lu Yin was surprised.

Old Tao replied, "Yes. You were right, and Zhan Qianguhou did send people across the Spirit Nidus searching for people. When the Phantom Reach found Zhan Qianguhou’s people, it was at almost the exact same time that they found their targets. However, I had the Phantom Reach create an 'accident' and take those people away. Zhan Qianguhou’s men know nothing about this, and so they are still pursuing their targets."

Lu Yin nodded. "Alright. Let's catch up to them."

...

A battleship sailed through space. It was a small vessel, one of many that existed in the Spirit Nidus. It was much the same as the spacecraft that existed in the Tianyuan Megaverse.

Most of the orders that the Ark Domain received were for similar ships. These battleships lacked the ability to travel between megaverses, but they could safely roam about the Spirit Nidus.

The battleship had multiple decks. Currently, several people were cleaning bloodstains off of one of the decks. It was clear that a fierce battle had just been fought.

Interstellar pirates were not unknown. For as long as people had roamed about the universe, such individuals had existed. These pirates specialized in attacking battleships, and since each vessel carried a large number of passengers, just one successful raid could sustain the pirates for a long time.

The battleship was small, and it clearly carried independent cultivators and even ordinary humans. It was traveling across the thirty-six domains, which made it a prime target for pirates.

A brutal fight had just been fought.

A fire burned on the vessel’s second deck. It posed no danger to the ship, as it was just ordinary flames.

The flickering of the fire cast long shadows from the nearby people.

These were all people who had just fought in the fierce battle. They were the strongest people on the battleship, and they had essentially been responsible for defending it. This was what granted them the privilege of occupying the entire second deck.

Only five people were sitting around the fire. At the center of the group sat an elderly man who was puffing on tobacco in a pipe. He let out the occasional cough, though each exhale was accompanied by a look of satisfaction.

Two young men sat beside the old man. One was burly with a cheerful, honest face, while the other looked emotionless as he silently sharpened his blade.

On the other side of the fire sat a man and a woman. The woman had average looks and dark skin. She was fiddling with something in her hands.

The young man who sat next to her was quiet, and he was absentmindedly staring into the fire.

"Alright, here." The woman handed the young man a jar. It contained a salve that had been ground into a paste.

The young man accepted the medicine, though he gave the woman a confused look.

Across from the young man, the old man tapped his pipe against his shoe to knock out the accumulated ash. "Don't look down on that. We stumbled upon that spirit medicine by accident. After many tests, we found that this is the best method to heal external wounds. Since there's not much of it, we only use it for ourselves. There’s no need to make it look fancy, is there?"

The young man nodded and proceeded to quietly apply the ointment to his wounds.

The woman pursed her lips. "Do you want me to put it on for you?"

The young man who was sharpening his blade suddenly looked up and stared at the two on the other side of the fire.

"No need. I can do it myself," the young man replied as he continued to apply the salve.

The old man chuckled. "Young man, you've already saved us twice. That’s quite impressive, for a chance encounter."

The young man answered in an indifferent tone, "I didn't save you. I just saved myself."

The old man shook his head as he looked at the young man. "What's your name?"

The young man was briefly taken aback and took a moment to reply in a decidedly neutral tone, "I don’t have one."

"If you don't want to tell us, that's fine. All who wander the megaverse have pasts that they'd rather not share.

"We're no different, and we don’t really have names, either. We call the girl next to you Ah Nine. This here is Ah Three, and the one sharpening his blade is Ah Five. Ah Five, stop polishing that knife—it’s reflecting the light."

Ah Five put the blade away.

The young man handed the jar back to Ah Nine. "You sound like a family."

Ah Nine asked curiously, "What about your family?"

"Gone."

The others looked puzzled.

The young man laid down. His guard was completely down, despite being among people he had only known for a short time. "All of them are dead. No one’s left."

Ah Nine sympathized, "I'm sorry."

The old man stared at the young man lying on the floor. "You have no family left?"

The young man closed his eyes, not answering.

The battleship continued on its way.

Two days later, an alarm on the ship blared yet again, startling everyone. "Again? We used to get attacked no more than twice a trip, and yet this is already the third one! What's going on?"

"Let’s see if we can escape."

"We’re done for! We can't escape! There are two battleships: one in front, and one behind us! We’re surrounded!"

"We're doomed..."

The people on the second deck looked forward. Ah Five drew his blade, Ah Nine clenched her teeth, and Ah Three smashed his fists together. None showed any fear.

The old man just sighed. "It looks like this route isn't safe anymore. We're unlucky. This route has been cursed."

"Grandpa Fa, what should we do?"

"We have no choice but to fight. Whether we live or die will be up to fate... Huh? Where'd that kid go?"

They all turned to look up ahead, shocked. The young man had already rushed forward and was recklessly charging at the battleship in front of them.

"He's seeking death, isn't he?" Ah Three muttered.

Ah Nine panicked. "Grandpa Fa, save him!"

The old man shook his head. "He's a miserable soul. If he doesn't fear even death, there's nothing left for him to be afraid of. Forget it, I'll make an exception this time. This route won’t claim my life just yet."

With that, the old man stepped into outer space.

Soon, the two attacking battleships were both destroyed.

Back on the second deck, everyone else was staring at the young man. "Do you have a death wish? If Grandpa Fa hadn't saved you, you'd be dead!"

Ah Nine gave the young man a sympathetic look. "Do you really have no will to keep living?"

The young man remained as cold as ever. "That’s none of your business."

The old man squatted down, meeting the young man’s eyes. "Kid, they say that dying is easy, but living is hard. That perfectly describes you. Do you really want to die?"

The young man met the old man's gaze, his own eyes frigid. "It doesn't matter."

"Then what do you say to giving your life to us?" the old man asked with a smile.

Ah Nine and the others glanced at each other before looking back at the young man.

The young man was visibly puzzled, so the old man continued to say, "Starting today, we’ll be your family. Stay with us, and who knows? Maybe one day we'll all die together. Our luck certainly isn’t great.

"You don’t have a name, right? In that case, I'll give you one: Seventeen."

"Seventeen?"

The old man grinned. "You’ll be the seventeenth to join our family, so we'll call you Seventeen. You don’t have a name, but neither do we. That’s what makes us family, haha."

Ah Nine looked at the young man with a bit of excitement. "Seventeen? That sounds nice."

The young man glanced at Ah Nine and then at the other two men before glancing away again. "Alright..."

"Hahaha, great! To celebrate Seventeen joining us, let's get drunk tonight!"

"Grandpa Fa, you can't drink! Big Sister warned you about that before we left!"

"Just let me have a little bit. Come on, Seventeen just joined us!"

"Not a chance. Not even one sip!"

"Are you really going to embarrass Seventeen like this?"

"Don’t drag Seventeen into this..."

The battleship continued along. In the distance lay the Hundred Grasses Domain.

Everyone looked in the direction of that domain, as though drawn to it by something.