Star Odyssey

Chapter 3887: Cooperation?

At the easternmost edge of Skyveil City stood a mountain, Cragpeak.

While the mountain itself was quite ordinary, no one had been able to step foot on it in countless years. This was because the entire mountain was covered in spirit treasure formations. There was not just one, but rather multiple interlocking layers. Countless people had visited the mountain and challenged it, but none had ever succeeded in breaking through.

Some said that the mountain was where the three great clans held their secret councils. Others claimed that the spirit treasure formations were the Skyveil Megaverse’s legacy itself. Still others believed that the formations were a test put in place by the three great clans and that whoever could pass through them would earn the right to join the clans.

There were even more rumors, and because of them, it was only natural that many people were drawn to the spirit treasure formations’ challenge.

Even so, no one had ever succeeded.

Lu Yin arrived at the foot of Cragpeak. This mountain was Li Guo’s home.

The fact that some people had connected Cragpeak to Skyveil City’s three great clans was a joke to those who knew the truth. Should the chance ever arise, the three great clans would stop at nothing to destroy everything upon that mountain.

Unfortunately, they were unable to do so.

In front of Lu Yin, several dozen people were descending from the mountain, their heads lowered. One let out a sigh. “Failed again. Still, I’ve managed to gain some insight. Next time, I’ll definitely break the first formation!”

“Stop dreaming. The spirit treasure formations on this mountain are all linked—they’re not separate formations. Even after all these years, no one even knows just how many formations there are, and yet you think you’ll break them?”

“What about you? Did you not also come here to break the formations? Or are you just here to watch the show?”

“I came here to learn.”

“Who didn’t?”

As they bickered, the group glanced at Lu Yin. Not caring about him, they walked past. However, after just a few steps, the entire group suddenly froze, and they looked back in shock. “Th- that’s... that’s...”

“That’s Lu-”

“Shut up! Just keep walking!”

“You want to follow him? I don’t dare...”

“What’s there to be afraid of? Mr. Lu isn’t someone who randomly kills innocent people. Didn’t he release the hundreds of thousands of cultivators who worked for the Cheng family?”

“But those people still didn’t have a good ending.”

“That has nothing to do with Mr. Lu. He won’t go so far as to harm us.”

“Come on! Let’s go watch! I have a feeling that we’ll be able to see the true face of Cragpeak today.”

“I’ll let my master know.”

“I’ll contact my junior sister, too...”

Cragpeak was neither tall nor short, and it was entirely unremarkable. Lu Yin understood why Li Guo had chosen this place; it was because the mountain directly faced all three great clans. From this point, it was possible to clearly see their residences. It was not too close, yet it was also not too far. For cultivators, seeing across great distances was never an issue, which meant that the proximity was in and of itself a statement. Li Guo was informing the three great clans that he was always watching them, making them feel as though there was a thorn in their throats.

Lu Yin walked up Cragpeak step by step rather than instantly arriving at the top. This was a show of respect for Li Guo.

It took him two entire days to reach the peak.

By that time, there was a group of people following him to watch what he did. Some had even gone ahead and reached the peak. They stood outside of the spirit treasure formations and watched as Lu Yin slowly walked towards them. They were confused as to why he was taking his time.

Of course, the Jue and Yu families were aware of what Lu Yin was doing, and they were not surprised. Lu Yin had already mentioned that he would visit Li Guo.

There was no fear that Lu Yin would act against them because of Li Guo. Li Guo was Li Guo, and his grudges against the three great clans had nothing to do with Lu Yin. All that was important was that they did not offend Lu Yin himself.

Lu Yin reached the top of Cragpeak, and as countless eyes stared at him, he continued to walk until he was directly in front of the spirit treasure formations.

The spirit treasure formations looked like massive stones that blocked his path. Each stone consisted of a spirit treasure’s unique danger field. Despite that, the stones were clearly not spirit treasures themselves. The entire thing was a constructed danger field.

Lu Yin stared straight ahead and said, “Junior Lu Yin has come to pay a visit.”

The people nearby were all puzzled. They understood from Lu Yin’s words that there was someone inside the formations, but who could command such respect from Lu Yin? There was no chance that it was anyone from the three great clans, so who? Every guess that they had made was clearly wrong. However, who else could set up such powerful spirit treasure formations beneath the noses of the three great clans?

This person was not part of the three great clans, and yet those families had left Cragpeak untouched for so many years. This meant that whoever was inside had to be an extraordinary expert.

Through the layers of spirit treasure formations, Lu Yin could see Li Guo, the master of Deathmound’s Reversed Speech Mountain, a peerless genius who had stunned all of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and incited such fear in the three great clans that they had joined forces to drive him away.

It could be said that Li Guo was a man who was feared by the most powerful faction in the West Domain: Skyveil City.

Despite that, he was just a small, elderly man. He looked completely ordinary, and there was nothing special about him at first glance. In fact, the old man looked rather haggard.

As he turned to face Lu Yin, Li Guo gestured for the younger man to enter.

Lu Yin gave a small smile and took a step into the spirit treasure formations, disappearing.

Everyone on the mountain stared blankly. Where had he gone? Why had the spirit treasure formations not reacted? Had the person inside shut the formations down? That should be impossible. Formations could not simply be turned off.

One bold onlooker stepped forward to see what happened when he touched the spirit treasure formation, only for it to react in the same manner as always.

If the spirit treasure formation was still working, then how had Lu Yin entered?

Even if his strength was incomprehensible, he could not simply ignore a spirit treasure formation, could he? Even if he had broken through, there still should have been some sort of reaction. What had happened?

In the distance, Jue Ling and Yu Jing exchanged shocked glances. They had also been watching, and seeing Lu Yin enter the spirit treasure formations so effortlessly had shaken the two patriarchs deeply.

“He saw through Li Guo’s formations...”

“So quickly? Could he be an even more skilled spirit treasure master than us?”

“That’s the only explanation.”

“How can such a man exist? His combat strength is already unparalleled, to the point where he is practically invincible. And now, he apparently also possesses such incredible skill with spirit treasures! Is there anything he can’t do?”

“If he surpasses us in regards to spirit treasure formations, it has to be connected to his combat strength. Still, no matter the reason, his abilities are real. The Nine Odysseys Megaverse is no longer what it used to be.”

“Sigh.”

At this same time, Lu Yin was still approaching Li Guo’s residence, walking through the spirit treasure formations. His path was winding, yet every step triggered more admiration from Li Guo. This was because Lu Yin was using the formation’s flaws to proceed.

Despite being quite close to the people outside of the formations, none of them could see Lu Yin at all.

After about half an hour, Lu Yin emerged from the spirit treasure formations to arrive before Li Guo. “This junior is Lu Yin. My apologies for disturbing you, Senior.”

Li Guo marveled, “Mr. Lu, not only are you the most powerful beneath the Immortals, but you are also extremely proficient in lockbreaking. Truly incredible.”

Lu Yin smiled. “Senior, your skills in this field far surpass my own. I was only able to see through these spirit treasure formations due to my strength. As for arranging such a thing on my own... that would be extremely difficult.”

He was not just being modest. There were ten layers of spirit treasure formations protecting the top of Cragpeak, and they were all interlinked in a manner that made it impossible to break them one at a time. To break the formations, all ten had to be unraveled at the same time. This showed that Li Guo was capable of interpreting the overlapping danger fields of ten Boundless Advanced sourceboxes. That was not something that Lu Yin could do.

Back when he had played Stable Zone against Grandmaster Yu Ran, while they had also used ten Boundless Advanced sourceboxes to create the gameboard, even at the end, Lu Yin had not been able to completely see through the overlapping danger zones and had used brute force to win.

In contrast, Li Guo was not only able to see through so many danger fields, but he could also arrange them as precisely as he wished.

That was beyond Lu Yin’s abilities, and he was also convinced that not even Jue Ling, Yu Jing, or the late Baisha Tiancheng were capable of it either.

It was no wonder why the three great clans had forced Li Guo out of the West Domain; his talent for lockbreaking was beyond terrifying.

Even the Spirit Nidus’s Su Shidao could not compare to this man.

Lu Yin suddenly thought of Progenitor Hui. If that man had not spent millennia focusing on his grand schemes and had instead focused solely on lockbreaking, his accomplishments would have surely exceeded all imagination.

Li Guo chuckled darkly. “It wasn’t easy to arrange this formation, but what choice did I have? Living in Skyveil City, dealing with those three shameless clans... If I hadn’t demonstrated a bit of ability, how could I have suppressed them? The more they fear me, the more I want to show them just how wrong they were back then.

“At that time, I could have joined one of them, but because the other two would always interfere, all three clans ended up uniting against me. If they’d just been a little more open-minded and allowed me to stay in Skyveil City, Mr. Lu, you wouldn’t have been able to destroy the Cheng family nearly so easily.”

Lu Yin ached a brow. “Senior, are you saying that you could have stopped me from destroying the Cheng family?”

While he admired Li Guo, that did not mean that Lu Yin feared the man. In order to have others’ respect, it was not possible to be overly polite. Quite frankly, Lu Yin did not believe that the little old man posed any real threat.

Li Guo lifted his chin. “No, I couldn’t.”

Lu Yin froze, feeling a bit puzzled. What was with this inexplicable pride? He did not know how to even respond.

“With my current ability, I couldn’t, but if things had developed differently and I had stayed in Skyveil City, the Skyveil Megaverse’s legacy would have yielded far more. Do you know how hard it was for us to attack the Skyveil Megaverse back then? Even the Immortals struggled. That was the might of the Skyveil Megaverse. If I had even one-tenth of that power, I could have helped the Cheng family and stopped you,” Li Guo explained.

Lu Yin thought for a moment. “If one-tenth of the Skyveil Megaverse’s power is enough to stop an Immortal, then you certainly would have had no problem stopping me.”

Li Guo sighed and shook his head. “Forget it. There’s no point in arguing with you over this. It’s all just a fantasy anyway.”

With that, the old man turned around and walked deeper into the valley. “Come, I heard that you wanted something from me.”

Lu Yin followed him into the valley.

The valley was a rather ordinary place. There was nothing more than a thatched hut, though there were many creatures abound: monkeys, rabbits, and more.

When Li Guo and Lu Yin entered the valley, a monkey carried a platter of fruit over to the table, and after letting out two shouts, it happily ran off.

Li Guo sat down at the stone table and gestured for Lu Yin to have a seat. “Mr. Lu, there’s no need to be so formal. You’re already familiar with many people from my Deathmound. In a way, you’re already one of us. Sit.”

Lu Yin nodded and sat down. “Senior, your life is truly leisurely.”

Li Guo grabbed a fruit and tossed it to Lu Yin before biting into his own. “It’s merely a bit boring, nothing more. Still, there’s nothing to be done about it. I’m just waiting for my revenge.”

Lu Yin bit into the fruit, only to discover that there was no taste. It was neither sour nor sweet. He suddenly found himself craving Jue Rou’s fruit, despite overhearing that it was very sour.

“What a pity that you completely destroyed the Cheng family. Couldn’t you have left a few for me?” Li Guo complained.

Lu Yin shrugged. “Even if I had, you wouldn’t have been able to touch them, Senior.”

“Not necessarily.” Li Guo stared at Lu Yin. “You’re here because of the Cheng family’s secret manual, aren’t you?”

Lu Yin had not mentioned to Long Yin why he wanted to speak with Li Guo. “How did you know that, Senior?”

The reason why the final recording in the Cheng family’s secret manual had caught Lu Yin’s attention was because it had reminded him of Yong Heng’s bone grafting innate gift and the fact that it had triggered a memory from Yue Ya’s manifested thought. However, it was impossible for Li Guo to know any of that.

If most people saw the recording in the Cheng family’s scroll, at worst, they would feel a chill. They would not go so far as to investigate the matter.

Li Guo barked a dry laugh. “The Cheng family has no connection to me aside from their secret manual. You left the Cheng family and went to visit the Yu family, and then the Jue family. Clearly, there was something in that scroll that caught your eye. That’s the only thing that the three clans have that has any connection with me. Why else would you seek me out?

“By the way, how about a little cooperation? You can forcefully look at the Yu and Jue families’ secret manuals for me, and then I can use that as an excuse to deal with both of them. After I get my revenge, you won’t leave empty-handed either, hehe.”

Lu Yin stared at Li Guo. “Is that how Deathmound handles things?”