Star Odyssey

Chapter 1945

Given the Fifth Mainland’s strength, as long as they did not have to contend with a Progenitor, they should have no trouble dealing with Semi-Progenitors.

Lu Yin let out a sigh. He could not afford to think about the Perennial World at this moment.

However…

He quickly checked his cosmic ring to see how much star essence his Possession had burned through. He had spent a lot of time in that mountain valley, and he had even forced Long Quan’s body to kill itself.

20 billion.

Lu Yin's face started twitching, and a terrible expression covered his face. There were not 20 billion star essence remaining in his cosmic ring; rather, he had used up 20 billion in his Possession.

20 billion! All gone in an instant! Lu Yin closed his eyes from the agony of being broke once again.

The only comfort that he could feel was that the money had been well spent. In fact, he had absolutely gained more than the value of those funds.

He lowered his cosmic ring again as he did not feel like he had lost out at all this time. He then lifted his hand and brought his die back out to roll it again. It was very important that he continue training.

This roll was perfect, as the die landed on four pips: Timestop.

After entering the Timestop Space, Lu Yin immediately extended his time there to almost a year before he sat down cross-legged. He then began to recite the Origin Progenitor’s Sutra as he tried to remember what he had felt when he saw Ce Wangtian performing Board Manipulation during his game of chess, and Lu Yin tried to resume understanding what he had felt.

One month. Two months. Three months. Eventually, half a year passed, and Lu Yin suddenly opened his eyes. There was a nagging feeling that he was falling just a bit short from succeeding even though the Origin Sutra had given him a bit more context. It was clear that if he wanted to fully comprehend what he had sensed, then it would take a good deal more time, but he did not have that luxury at this moment.

Realizing his situation, Lu Yin painfully pulled out the Root of Intelligence. In the end, this was his only option.

He simulated some boiling water with his stellular energy, and the Root of Intelligence was used to make a cup of tea. Even a full-sized true Root of Intelligence could only produce three sips of tea.

After taking the first sip, Lu Yin returned to the sensation that had surrounded him in the vision, and everything felt much clearer than before. It was as though he had returned to the moment of the vision itself and was reexperiencing it. The Ce Secret Art’s Board Manipulation was indeed connected to time, but it was not a direct connection. Instead, it was related to space.

After drinking the tea made from the Root of Intelligence, Lu Yin felt as though he had truly entered a moment of enlightenment. Even as he experienced this sensation, he continued to recite the Origin Sutra, which caused the sound of ancient chants to be heard in the area.

Finally, Lu Yin had grabbed hold of a glimpse of the path forward, but it was still not enough. He took another sip of tea, rose to his feet, and then stretched out a hand. Space warped, and an astral chessboard appeared beneath his feet. “Ce Secret Art: Astral Chessboard—Board Manipulation.”

He stared at the twisting space above the astral chessboard, and a thread of space returned to its previous state. The regression occurred in an instant.

Lu Yin had been the one to warp that portion of space, but then he had used the Ce Secret Art to perfectly restore it to its original state. This was the Ce Secret Art’s Board Manipulation.

Board Manipulation allowed space to perfectly revert to a previous state by influencing space itself.

Any move made by anyone at all would impact space, and even the weakest of ordinary humans would affect space around them with their movements. Board Manipulation could undo these changes, and this was the “taking back a move” that Ce Wangtian had referred to.

Lu Yin had to admit that Ce Wangtian had been a true genius. He had managed to create a terribly powerful secret technique, but he had only used it to take back a move in a game…

Lu Yin suddenly became very interested in Ce Wangtian.

Lu Yin had succeeded in comprehending the Ce Secret Art’s Board Manipulation, but he still had one last sip of the tea from the Root of Intelligence. After downing the last bit, resumed reciting the Origin Sutra, and then began training with the Cosmic Art.

The Cosmic Art was an inherited cultivation art that had been left behind by Progenitor Chen, and Lu Yin wanted to fully master the technique as soon as possible so that he could unlock the secret of the pattern that was on the sole of his foot.

Before Lu Yin became an Envoy, the Origin Sutra had allowed him to simulate 10,000 stars with the Cosmic Art. With the assistance of the tea brewed from the Root of Intelligence, Lu Yin had no idea just how many stars he would be able to simulate.

…

As the scenery reverted in front of Lu Yin’s eyes, he returned to Ce family's ancestral home. Excitement was clear on his face.

With the assistance of the Root of Intelligence, he had managed to simulate 35,000 stars with the Cosmic Art. This was an increase of more than 20,000 stars! The combination of the Root of Intelligence and the Origin Sutra had qualitatively transformed his comprehending speed in the cultivation art.

With two more true Roots of Intelligence, Lu Yin was confident that he could almost immediately completely comprehend the fifth level of the Cosmic Art and even possibly move onto the sixth level.

He had spent just a bit more than twenty years cultivating. Progenitor Chen had been the one to create the Cosmic Art, but it was a mystery as to how long the man had taken to simulate more than 30,000 stars. Just how long had the man taken?

While the predecessors planted trees, their descendants were able to take advantage of the resulting shade. It could be seen that Lu Yin was taking advantage of Progenitor Chen’s efforts.

He opened the door and left the small hut.

Ce Yue and Ce Laoyan had stayed just outside the ancestral home this entire time, and they stared at Lu Yin when they saw him emerge.

"You’re both here? Is something wrong?" Lu Yin wondered.

Ce Laoyan nervously nervously asked, "Alliance Leader Lu, did you just manage to comprehend something?"

Lu Yin did not hide anything. "It seems like it."

"What did you achieve?" Ce Laoyan quickly asked. He felt both nervous and excited.

Lu Yin raised a hand, and a stone appeared above his palm. He threw it away as an astral chessboard appeared beneath his feet. He then simply said, “Ce Secret Art: Board Manipulation,” causing the stone to return to his hand by passing through the space that it had already traveled through.

While it did not look too special, both Ce Yue and Ce Laoyan were completely shocked. This was because the stone had not returned, but rather been restored. This was just like the words that Lu Yin had spoken: Board Manipulation.

Being able to take back a move that had already been made and restoring something to a previous state: this was the essence of Board Manipulation.

Ce Yue was shocked. "I never expected to see someone reach the Board Manipulation level in my entire lifetime."

Lu Yin had to ask, "You haven’t comprehended Board Manipulation?"

He had assumed that at least some of the people from the Ce family had mastered Board Manipulation. After all, they had possessed the Immovable Chessboard for eons, and people like Ce Yue were able to study the chessboard every day, so why would they not be able to comprehend this level of the secret technique?

Ce Yue shook his head. "My talent cannot compare to yours, Alliance Leader Lu. I have not comprehended Board Manipulation, and I am unaware of how to even go about reaching that level."

"Alliance Leader Lu, how did you comprehend Board Manipulation?" Ce Laoyan asked eagerly.

These two hadn’t mastered Board Manipulation? The Ce family did not even know how to attempt it? Lu Yin blinked, as this was an interesting development. "Ce Wangtian taught me."

Ce Yue and Ce Laoyan were momentarily stunned to the point where they had to take a moment to process Lu Yin’s words.

"Alliance Leader Lu, what did you just say?" Ce Laoyan asked.

Lu Yin shrugged. "When I was looking at the chessboard, I heard a man named Ce Wangtian say that he regretted making a move in a game of chess. He was playing against someone named Yu De."

It was at this moment that Lu Yin realized that the Yu De in the vision was most likely the Yu family’s ancestor, Progenitor Yu. Who else but another Progenitor qualified to play chess against Ce Wangtian?

There had been quite a few Progenitors throughout humanity’s entire history. Even if each of the Six Mainlands only had a handful of Progenitors, they still numbered a few dozen.

Ce Yue and Ce Laoyan might not have believed Lu Yin’s claim that he had been taught by Ce Wangtian, but the youth had just spoken the names of two people playing a game of chess, which had removed any doubts that they might have held. According to their family’s ancient records, the Ce Secret Art had indeed been created because their ancestor had played a game of chess against another Progenitor surnamed Yu. This was the origins of the Ce Secret Art, and it was one of the Ce family’s greatest secrets. Not even members of the Yu family knew of this matter, let alone people from outside their two families.

Ce Yue became incredibly excited. "Did you hear the voice of our ancestor?"

Lu Yin nodded. "I heard it last time as well, which was when I first managed to comprehend the secret technique, but this time, his voice was much clearer."

Ce Wangtian was the Ce family’s ancestor, and Lu Yin had heard their ancestor’s voice. This was something incredibly important to their family.

"Alliance Leader Lu, what else did you hear our ancestor say?" Ce Yue quickly asked.

Lu Yin rubbed his chin. "He said quite a bit, but I don’t remember that much. Please understand—I was trying to comprehend Board Manipulation, so I wasn’t really paying attention to what was being said at the time."

Ce Yue anxiously said, "Ce Wangtian is our Ce family’s ancestor, so I ask you to please carefully recall the matter, Alliance Leader Lu. My family would be very grateful if you shared anything with us."

Ce Laoyan frowned, as these words had just given Lu Yin the upper hand with dealing with their family.

Ce Yue was the Ce family’s most powerful elder, and his high status made it difficult for even the patriarch to speak against him. However, even if Ce Yue wanted to know what their ancestor had said and hoped to comprehend Board Manipulation, this was not the best way to go about it.

However, Ce Yue had already spoken, and his words meant that he would absolutely be led around by the nose when interacting with Lu Yin from this point forward.

Ever since Lu Yin had started leading the Wen family along with the method to layer their Literary Prison, he had found a new method that he simply could not abandon. He had since used Liu Hao to entice the Sword Sect, the pattern on the sole of his foot to coerce the Cosmic Sect, and Extremes Must Be Reversed to tempt the Ku family. Even First Edition City had been brought over to Lu Yin’s side with his agreement to Decompose ancient items into refined base materials for them At this moment, he found that he was going to be able to deal with the Ce family in a similar manner with words of their ancestor and the method to comprehend Board Manipulation. There was no one in the entire universe who could stop Lu Yin from fishing!

No, it was not that he was fishing, but rather that he had already caught a bunch of massive fish.

When he saw Lu Yin’s expression change, Ce Laoyan’s heart dropped. It was important to avoid showing weaknesses when dealing with a person like Lu Yin, as he would instantly latch on and take advantage of it. The Ce family had just been snagged by this youth.

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It was actually even possible for them to ignore the Ce Secret Art’s Board Manipulation. After all, since Lu Yin had managed to comprehend it, it was possible that someone from their Ce family would eventually be able to do the same thing in the future.

No, it was their ancestor’s words that held the greatest allure to the Ce family.

What had their ancestor said? Had Lu Yin simply fabricated the whole thing? The most important detail about this was that since no one in their family had ever managed to comprehend Board Manipulation and they did not even understand how to attempt to do so, they had no way to hear their ancestor’s words for themselves.

It was actually highly unlikely that Lu Yin had fabricated his story, as he had already correctly identified the two players in the game of chess that had given birth to the Ce Secret Art, and this complicated matters. In truth, given his position as the Ce family patriarch, Ce Laoyan would rather remain ignorant of their ancestor’s words than be forced into a passive position when dealing with Lu Yin.

Unfortunately, Ce Yue, their family’s most powerful elder, was too invested in this matter.

"Senior, is there some place where this junior could rest for a bit? I feel a bit dizzy, and your ancestor said many things, so I need to calm down and slowly review everything." Lu Yin spoke as though in pain.

Ce Yue quickly agreed, "Alright, absolutely. We’ll immediately arrange a place for you to rest, Alliance Leader Lu. We won’t mistreat you."

Ce Laoyan could say nothing but, "Alliance Leader Lu, please follow me."

"By the way, Senior, why do the members of your Ce family enjoy playing chess so much?" Lu Yin suddenly asked.

Ce Yue was taken aback, but then he grew solemn as he replied, "Our ancestor enjoyed chess and even lived for the game. It’s clear that our ancestor wanted his descendants to understand the true meaning of life through chess. Thus, every member of our family studies chess and strategy."

Ce Laoyan nodded in agreement. In fact, the Ce family was even able to compare to the Hui family when it came to their family members’ intelligence, and when it came to a family’s influence, the Ce family even surpassed the Xia family’s. This was because there were many Ce family members with foreign surnames, and all of them studied chess and strategy, which provided them with massive benefits.

Only through playing chess could one understand strategy.

Of course, there was another reason for their focus on chess, which was that it allowed the members of the Ce family to better understand the Ce Secret Art.

Lu Yin simply replied with an “Oh” before following Ce Laoyan away from the ancestral home. He struggled not to laugh at Ce Yue's explanation.

While Lu Yin did not know much about Ce Wangtian, it was not difficult to hear from the Progenitor’s words that he had not played chess to gain an understanding of some profound truth. Rather, he simply enjoyed the game despite being terrible at it. He had actually been in such a hurry when playing that he had made a mistake, and he had created the Ce Secret Art in order to take back a move during his game.

People might have simple hobbies that ended up affecting the lives of future generations.

It was possible to leave behind incredible achievements that were triggered by the most innocuous of motivations.

That night, Zhu San met with Ce Laoyan once again.

Ce Laoyan stared at the young man. "So you understand Lu Yin quite well?"

Zhu San panicked, but he still managed to nod. "Yes, very well."

Ce Laoyan’s eyes narrowed. "If I wanted to gain specific information from Lu Yin, how should I go about it?"

Zhu San hesitated for a moment, but then he mustered the courage to reply, "That depends on just how important the information is to you, Patriarch, and also whether or not Lu Yin understands that importance."

"What if he already knows?" Ce Laoyan asked.

Zhu San shook his head. "That would make things very difficult. Unless the Ce family has something that Lu Yin’s desperate needs, such as information, the only other option is to pay a steep price. More importantly, even if you are willing to pay such a price, it might still take a long time to receive the information.

"Unless I’m wrong, Lu Yin will leave here tomorrow."

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