Star Odyssey Chapter 2673 – The Smile At That Time

Chapter 2673 – The Smile At That Time

Shao Qingfeng watched as Xuan Qi’s face and appearance changed, and the young man’s expression slowly morphed to reveal horror. He looked as though he was seeing something unbelievable. "Lu… Lu Yin?

"Are you really the Origin Universe’s Lu Yin?"

Lu Yin smiled. "That's why I said that it's been a long time."

Shao Qingfeng’s horror mounted. "Are you also Xuan Qi? How did you keep that hidden from the Transcendent Universe? How did you trick the Voidforce Universe? This is impossible! You’ve met so many peak powerhouses—there’s no way they couldn’t have seen through you!"

Lu Yin replied, "This is the difference between you and me. Now, you are able to clearly see the gap between us."

"Wait, why did you attack me? I’ve never done anything to offend you!" Shao Qingfeng said with blood leaking from his mouth.

All of a sudden, he pulled out a power vessel and tried to break free from Lu Yin’s Hidden Mountain card, but there was nothing that Shao Qingfeng could do with Lu Yin present.

The power vessel was shattered with just one of Lu Yin’s hands, while his other hand settled onto Shao Qingfeng's head. "If you want to blame someone, then blame yourself for being arrogant. Who was it that said that the Cyclic Universe will conquer the Origin Universe and punish them for offending them? You want to target the people close to me, capture them, and sell them off as subhumans. Tell me, are you capable of doing that?"

Lu Yin was throwing Shao Qingfeng’s own words right back at him. They were the words that Shao Qingfeng had spoken right before the Sixverse Academy students had traveled to the Origin Universe for their trial. At that time, Shao Qingfeng had been arrogant, and he had not wanted to treat the Origin Universe as a serious threat. Once, he had even wanted to trample over Lu Yin, but now, Shao Qingfeng had fallen to his current situation.

Shao Qingfeng remembered speaking those words, and he also remembered asking Xuan Qi for his thoughts on the matter. At that time, Shao Qingfent had seen a happy smile on Xuan Qi’s face as he replied, “Sure.” He had seemed genuinely happy at that moment.

"As for your master, I’ll send him searching for you." With that, Lu Yin’s hand pressed down with an irresistible force. Shao Qingfeng was forced to his knees, and then further down until he was lying on the ground. Before he died, he could only remember Xuan Qi’s smile as he said, “Sure.” Why couldn’t I see through him at that time?

…

Lu Yin returned to the Ziyou Realm, and You Fang greeted him coldly.

You Lele stared at Xuan Qi, curious to hear what he wanted to say for himself. He had failed to kill He Shu, which meant that there was no way for him to gain the trust of You Lele or her father.

Lu Yin walked forward and casually tossed Shao Qingfeng's corpse out. "I'm sorry, but He Shu escaped. I didn't expect him to have a Lotus Artifact.”

“However, Shao Qingfeng wasn’t able to escape, so I killed him. Will this work for you?"

You Fang and You Lele were startled, and they stared at Shao Qingfeng's corpse in utter disbelief.

"You killed Shao Qingfeng?" You Lele exclaimed.

You Fang was similarly shocked, and he stared intently at Xuan Qi.

Lu Yin just shrugged. "Don't look at me like that. This wasn't intentional. Who told him to recognize my Hidden Mountain card? I thought that I’d be able to kill He Shu in one attack, so I used the seven-star Hidden Mountain card that I picked up in the Sixverse Academy, but unfortunately, He Shu fled, and I captured Shao Qingfeng instead. He recognized it immediately, so I had to put him down to avoid future complications."

You Fang nodded. "I see."

You Lele also understood the situation. This made sense, as neither of them would ever think that Xuan Qi would be insane enough to purposely a.s.sa.s.sinate Shao Qingfeng.

While the You family might not be concerned about Shao Qingfeng, why would Xuan Qi risk offending another powerhouse? He had just recently offended Sovereign Ninth Lotus’s disciples, and now, he had killed Shao Qingfeng. How was this any different from deliberately making an enemy of the entire Cyclic Universe? Not even Xu Wuwei would be able to save Xuan Qi, given his latest actions.

"So, is this enough to buy your trust?" Lu Yin asked.

You Fang laughed. "This is even more credible than if you had killed He Shu! He Ran might be willing to abandon even He Shu, if it would help her win, but she would never dare to allow anything to happen to Shao Qingfeng."

Lu Yin felt a headache coming on. "I also wouldn’t dare to do anything to him if it hadn’t been completely necessary, but since I didn’t have a choice, I did what I had to."

You Fang moved forward to personally inspect the corpse and confirmed it to be Shao Qingfeng's before disposing of it. "From now on, we are partners. By the way, there is also one more person."

The man clapped his hands, and someone stepped out of the void. It was Bai Qian.

Lu Yin was not surprised to see Bai Qian here. Both Xuan Qi and the You family were supporting Bai Qian, so there was no way that Bai Qian would not be personally included in their plans.

Lu Yin stared at Bai Qian as she slowly walked forward, and her eyes were also locked onto him. She stared at him with coldness and indifference.

Everyone in the Transcendent Universe a.s.sumed that it was impossible for these two to have any prior dealings, especially after Xuan Qi had led the Bureau to surround Tu Ke’s home, which had essentially been a slap in Bai Qian’s. In fact, even You Fang believed the two to be at odds with each other.

When Bai Qian arrived, she presented an att.i.tude towards Xuan Qi that was as cold as ice.

She walked over to You Fang's side. At this moment, there were four people standing in the place that monitored the entire Transcendent Universe. They were surrounded by the recreation of the universe, and it gave the illusion that they were standing above the universe and looking down upon it.

You Fang smiled casually. "Bai Qian, from now on, both my You family and Xuan Qi will fully support you against He Ran. Do you have any objections if we wipe away any past grudges?"

Bai Qian's eyes flickered, and she turned her head to stare at Lu Yin. "No."

You Fang looked over at Xuan Qi, and Lu Yin just smiled. "Truthfully, I was really only helping He Ran because I thought that she was the one holding Zi Jing."

Bai Qian seemed completely unmoved by the admission. "You think too highly of He Ran."

Lu Yin retorted, "That’s because of your inaction."

"You can't understand," Bai Qian replied.

Lu Yin sneered. "Why don’t you tell me what I can't understand?"

"Alright, now," You Fang interrupted. He shot a glance at Xuan Qi, and then turned back to face Bai Qian. He continued in a more somber tone, "I don't care how upset you may be about Xuan Qi’s past actions, but he is supporting you now. There are many things that you won’t be able to do without his help. If you want to defeat He Ran, you will have to work with him, as you don’t have many other choices."

Rather than Bai Qian, You Fang held Xuan Qi in much higher regard. As far as You Fang was concerned, Bai Qian was nothing more than a puppet for him to use to defeat He Ran. She could just as well be Blue Qian or Black Qian for all that the You patriarch was concerned. If not for the fact that He Ran had entrenched herself so deeply in the Transcendent Universe, You Fang would not even need to move against her directly, as he normally only needed to pay attention to peak experts like Uncle Mo.

Bai Qian was unfazed. "I don't trust him."

"I don't need you to trust him," You Fang replied in a stern voice. "My You family trusts him, and that is more than enough."

Bai Qian and You Fang stared at each other. The coldness in You Fang's eyes matched that in Bai Qian’s eyes.

Lu Yin clasped his hands behind his back. He had to admit that Bai Qian was both smart and an excellent actress. No, she was not even really acting; she had been born with a face carved from ice, so there was rarely a need for her to act.

Ultimately, Bai Qian gave in, and her voice lost its sharp edge. "I understand."

You Fang stared at Bai Qian for a long moment. "We can help you defeat He Ran, which is the best that you can hope for. You don’t need to worry about anything for now. Just do the same as you have been. Honestly, you should have already been defeated. Does anyone actually trust you to make any decisions?

“Also, there’s something wrong with Tu Ke. He’s working for He Ran."

Bai Qian looked surprised, but before she could say anything, Xuan Qi blurted out, "What? Tu Ke’s working for He Ran?"

You Lele laughed. "Do you think that we would joke about this? If we weren’t certain, we wouldn’t have said anything at all. We can tell you with complete certainty that Tu Ke is one of He Ran's people."

Bai Qian’s expression turned ugly. "What’s your evidence?"

You Fang retorted, "That’s unnecessary. My You family has said that he’s one of He Ran’s people, which means that he is. You should just believe me."

Lu Yin irritatedly spoke up, "I also want to see some evidence. Are you saying that I was duped like a fool? I thought that I was helping He Ran, but he’s actually been working with her? They must all be laughing at me!"

You Lele rolled her eyes. "Let them laugh and cry to death. The bottom line is that you ruined He Ran's plan. While we don't know what that plan was, Tu Ke invited Bai Qian to his home. Don't you see a problem there?"

Bai Qian said, "There is a problem. He’s never invited me to his home before. We’ve always met in other places for our discussions."

You Fang said, "Xuan Qi, you accidentally ruined He Ran's plans. With that, if you didn’t decide to cooperate with us, things would not have gone well for you." The man paused for a moment. "Actually, things wouldn’t have gone well for you here in the Transcendent Universe. Given your status in the Voidforce Universe, nothing would have changed for you there.”

Lu Yin responded with a bitter smile, "I still look like a fool."

After that, You Fang filled both Bai Qian and Xuan Qi in on the current situation in the Transcendent Universe, and then they proceeded to discuss how to best deal with He Ran.

***

Outside of the Ziyou Realm, news of Shao Qingfeng’s disappearance shocked the Sixverse a.s.sociation.

As soon as He Shu arrived in the Sixverse Academy after using the Lotus Artifact, he had immediately returned to the Transcendent Universe and sought help. However, by the time they returned to where the two men had been attacked, there was no sign of the attacker, nor of Shao Qingfeng.

Countless people from all parts of the Sixverse a.s.sociation started to focus on the Transcendent Universe.

He Ran immediately asked everyone with any influence in the Transcendent Universe to help search for Shao Qingfeng.

He was one of Sovereign Shao Yin’s disciples, which meant that nothing could be allowed to happen to Shao Qingfeng in the Transcendent Universe, as Sovereign Shao Yin would never let the matter go.

He Shu's face had turned pale. In front of him was He Ran, her fists clenched tightly. Nothing that she had tried recently had gone well for her, and just when she had started to try to rectify the declining situation, something had happened to Shao Qingfeng. Could this be connected to the You family as well?

The You family had publicly announced their support for Bai Qian, so it was only natural for them to help her.

However, aside from He Ran’s closest confidantes, no one was aware of their plan. The only possible leak was if Tu Ke had betrayed them, but that was impossible.

Besides, would the You family really be willing to kill Shao Qingfeng? It made no sense for them to take such a risk.

Suddenly, Uncle Mo stepped out, and his head snapped up. The man looked completely stunned. "Madam, a powerhouse is here."

Both He Ran and He Shu looked up as well. The sky above the staircase had cracked open, and an unbearable pressure abruptly fell upon them.

For a moment, all three people felt like the world had started spinning. Uncle Mo hastened to use his black energy converter to protect He Ran.

He Shu was forced to the ground, unconscious.

He Ran was pressed down to a squatting position, and she stayed there, her whole body trembling.

The skin on Uncle Mo's body started to crack open, and his eyes flared as he stared at the arrogant figure above them in disbelief. He had never felt anything like the pressure that this person was exuding. Uncle Mo had used his black energy converter to compete with many very powerful people over the years, but this person made him feel as small as an ant.

Sovereign Shao Yin had arrived.

"Sovereign Shao Yin," a majestic voice spoke from outside the s.p.a.ce with the flight of stairs.

The pressure instantly disappeared, but He Ran and Uncle Mo also lost consciousness.

Above them, Sovereign Shao Yin looked up and stepped forward. There was nothing in front of him. Only the Sovereign could see that there was something before him. "I require an explanation."

The majestic voice spoke again. "As cultivators, we risk our lives to strive forward both individually and in the fight against Aeternus. Life, old age, illness, and death—there is no explanation for these things, and I owe you no explanation, unless what happened was done by my Transcendent Universe."

Sovereign Shao Yin frowned. "How can I be certain that your Transcendent Universe didn’t do anything?"

"What reason would justify such actions?"

Sovereign Shao Yin sank deep into thought.

"If you hope to use this matter to make trouble here in my Transcendent Universe, I will ask the Great Sovereign to weigh in."

Sovereign Shao Yin snorted contemptuously. "You can’t scare me with my own master! If my disciple dies in your universe, you will be held responsible."

"In that case, Sovereign Shao Yin, none of your people are welcome in my Transcendent Universe from this moment forward, as my universe cannot guarantee their safety."

Sovereign Shao Yin grew furious. "Are you really going to stand against me?"

"You are the one coming against my Transcendent Universe."

After a moment of silence, the Sovereign coldly replied, "No matter what, it remains a fact that my disciple disappeared here. If nothing is done about this, others will believe that my disciples can be walked over."

"What do you want?"

"I hope that you will support my suggestion."