Chapter 2201: Conjecture
Chapter 2201: Conjecture
Lu Yin remained modest after Bai Weiwei spoke. "Student Bai, you’ve already become an Array Master at such a young age. Honestly, I’m quite surprised by what you’ve achieved."
Bai Weiwei sounded a bit bitter as she replied, "Prof. Hao Yu, if I have trouble with my lockbreaking, then can I ask you for help?"
"Of course, I'm your instructor. Though, I’ll have to ask you to not be stingy with your credits, haha." Lu Yin smiled.
Nong Siniang started to cheer loudly, and Qing Feng and many others started to laugh. Even the stuttering fatty clenched his fists as he cheered.
However, there were others present who felt no joy over the outcome of the game of Stable Zone, such as Bai Nan and Xia Shenguang.
Wu Taibai stared at Lu Yin for a long time. Yu Hao had changed too much. How could anyone transform so much over the course of just a few decades? It was no wonder why the Xia family was so concerned about him.
At that moment, Wu Taibai was reminded of someone that he had known long ago. That person had only taken about twenty years to rise to the peak from being a normal human. Over that course of time, not only had that person surpassed all of his peers with a matchless talent for cultivation, but he had also obtained an invincible combat strength and seized the authority to control the entire Fifth Mainland. Wu Taibai could not help but see similarities between the two men.
Winning the game of Stable Zone caused Lu Yin’s fame in Virtue Archives to rise even further than before. Everyone quickly heard about how Prof. Hao Yu was comparable to a Realm Array Master. Many of the students started taking sourceboxes to him to open, and many of the families of the students gave up on recruiting Hao Yu. A Senior Array Master could still be recruited, but a Realm Array Master was too elite to be bought.
In contrast, there were other families who actually started to take notice of Hao Yu. For example, the Nong family would not make any efforts to win over a Senior Array Master, but a Realm Array Master was a different story.
This delighted Nong Siniang, as more and more sourceboxes were sent to Virtue Archives from the Nong family. Besides Discerning Elementary and Perceptive Intermediate sourceboxes, there were also Boundless Advanced ones. After all, even a Realm Array Master might struggle to open Boundless Advanced sourceboxes.
Furthermore, news that some of Virtue Archives’ faculty members would be leading a team of students to the Higher Realm had been released. All of the students were already aware that they needed to vote for the instructors who would be their chaperones and that the academy itself was not making this decision. This was an exciting development for the students, and each of them had three votes to cast.
"I'm going to vote for Prof. Hao Yu! He’s kind, handsome, and perfect to serve as the face of Virtue Archives!" one girl happily stated.
Instantly, she was joined by many others.
Nong Siniang instantly stepped forward. "Sisters, I truly hope that Prof. Hao Yu will be able to accompany us to the Higher Realm and that he will win enough votes to go. Let’s do a count to ensure that he will receive enough to be one of the chaperones."
"Me."
"Me."
"Me."
…
"Brother Qing Feng, who will you be voting for?"
"Of course I’ll be voting for Mr. Tang and Prof. Hao Yu."
"Who will be your third choice?"
Qing Feng thought for a moment, but then he shook his head, as he had not made a decision yet. During his time in Virtue Archives, he had only attended Mr. Tang and Prof. Hao Yu’s lectures so far. He had not even gone to any of Prof. Zheng’s lectures.
The stuttering fatty raised his hand. "I- I- I’m also going to vote for Pro- Prof. Hao Yu."
"Little Fatty, no matter how bad you stutter, you still only get three votes, hahahaha."
The fatty’s face flushed red.
Bai Nan glared at the crowd of students with cold eyes, and then he whispered to his own little group that none of them were allowed to vote for Prof. Hao Yu. However, given the current situation, it did not really matter if they voted or not.
"I’m going to vote for Prof. Wu, Prof. Zheng, and Prof. Bai."
"I’m voting for Prof. Wei! Prof. Wei is very knowledgeable, and no matter what, we are an academy. Even if we can't beat the four ruling powers in spars, we can still defeat them with our knowledge."
"Who do you want to defeat?" someone from the Wang family demanded.
The student who had spoken instantly slunk away.
Prof. Huai was standing atop a tall tree, listening to the students’ discussions. He felt terribly embarrassed, as not one student was voting for him. And even worse, he had originally been there when the group of girls had arrived and started the discussion. Things had blown up, and many students had gathered to debate the upcoming votes. If the students discovered Prof. Huai in the tree, how embarrassing would that be?
No, it would be best to just pretend to be sleeping. Prof. Huai promptly dropped his head and fell asleep.
A month passed, and during this time, the academy remained calm. Aside from the raging debates about which of the instructors would chaperone the approaching trip, nothing else happened in Virtue Archives.
Xia Shenguang and others from the four ruling powers all stopped attending, though Bai Weiwei still frequently attended Lu Yin's lectures, as did Liu Que.
Additionally, the relationship between Lu Yin and Wen Zhao improved a great deal. From Lu Yin's perspective, Wen Zhao was the sort of person who hated having people close, and she preferred for people to keep a bit of a distance.
She never took the initiative to approach others, and she seemed to be very comfortable on her own. If he approached her and breached the space between them, she might have hated it. She had a very odd personality.
Also, during this month, Lu Yin received no fewer than ten sourceboxes. Practically every three days, a student would deliver a sourcebox to Lu Yin. In fact, he once spent three days working on a sourcebox, and he almost missed his own class.
Unfortunately, none of the sourceboxes held anything. Whenever a Boundless Advanced sourcebox was delivered, Bai Weiwei would calmly observe as Lu Yin worked, and then leave just as calmly.
One day, right after Lu Yin succeeded in opening a sourcebox for a student, he received a notice that the headmaster was holding another meeting.
"I’ve been studying in the academy for several years already, and there have almost never been any faculty meetings at all. Why have there been so many lately?" The girl pouted. She had received a Perceptive Intermediate sourcebox from her family, and she was hoping to use it as an opportunity to spend some time with Prof. Hao Yu.
Lu Yin smiled at the girl. "Since I’ve already finished unlocking the sourcebox, let’s end things here. Head on back, and you can return another time."
He then promptly left his pillar and made his way towards the headmaster’s stone pillar.
Upon arriving, the first person that Lu Yin saw was Prof. Wei. He had visited the woman several times throughout the month, and he had become somewhat familiar with her.
"I wonder why the headmaster summoned all of us." Lu Yin was surprised that another meeting was already being called.
Prof. Wei appeared perfectly calm. "I don't know, but it’s probably something quite important."
Lu Yin nodded and stared towards the courtyard.
It was not long before the rest of the instructors arrived as well.
When Headmaster Wen appeared, he looked extremely somber. He glanced around at the gathered instructors, and softly stated, "Recently, some traitors from Star Alliance have entered this Virtue District, and the four ruling powers have been unable to lock the entire district down. For this reason, the four ruling powers have asked us to help in capturing the traitor. If necessary, deadly force is allowed. The traitor is male and a one-tribulation Envoy, so only those of you who are Envoys yourselves are expected to assist in this mission. Participation will also be rewarded with academy credits."
Lu Yin was taken aback at this announcement. A traitor from Star Alliance? That was absolutely impossible, as every member of Star Alliance had a seal placed on them, and only the four ruling powers working together could remove those seals. Lu Yin had only been able to get his hands on the White Dragon Clan’s piece by Possessing their patriarch. Thus, he was well aware that it was relatively easy to kill a member of Star Alliance through their seal, so how could there be a traitors?
"Headmaster, this is the four ruling powers' affair, and it has nothing at all to do with Virtue Archives. Why should we help?" Prof. Zheng asked.
Headmaster Wen glanced over at Wu Taibai and Prof. Bai, and then he quietly reported, "The four ruling powers have evidence that this traitor is actually a Redback. He escaped because he managed to gather some confidential information, and he wants to report it to one of his superiors. Supposedly, the four ruling powers let him escape on purpose, as they hoped to capture a bigger fish, but…"
"But they lost him," Mr. Tang finished.
Headmaster Wen nodded. "The only thing that is known for certain is that the traitor is in the Virtue District. Nothing about a more precise location is known, but with the four ruling powers’ efforts, it’s impossible for him to have escaped to another district. If he weren’t here, they would have drafted other people to help capture this traitor. They simply don’t have the manpower to track him down across this entire district, so we will lend them a hand.
"This is not merely a matter that concerns the four ruling powers, but all of mankind."
The instructors all remained silent.
"I’ve decided that Mr. Tang, Prof. Zheng, Prof. Bai, and Prof. Hao Yu will all participate in this manhunt. Your task is to lock down the northeastern region of the Virtue District. I will handle the southeastern region on my own, and the four ruling powers will handle the other two regions. This traitor cannot be allowed to escape from the Virtue District.”
"Finally, students are allowed to participate as well, but only the Enlighters. Additionally, they need to follow one of the four instructors." Headmaster Wen finished giving some additional details.
News of the assignment was quickly shared with the students, though the precise details were altered, and much of the information was kept deliberately vague. All that was said was that the four ruling powers were requesting assistance in capturing a one-tribulation Envoy.
Bai Weiwei, Xia Shenguang, Wang Xiaofan, and Liu Que accepted the assignment, though Qing Feng and the rest did not. Their combat strength was not enough for them to stand up to an Envoy.
Just half a day later, Lu Yin stood above a red wasteland in the northeastern region of the Virtue District, staring off into the distance. Behind him stood Bai Weiwei.
Bai Weiwei had decided to follow Lu Yin after accepting the assignment, and thus, she had accompanied him.
"Why did you decide to follow me? Compared to the other instructors, I have the worst cultivation," Lu Yin asked in a casual manner.
Bai Weiwei replied, "There’s almost no chance that we’ll actually run into the traitor on this mission, so it’s really not much of a job. As far as I’m concerned, this is just a chance to spend some time alone with you."
Lu Yin was taken aback. "Spend some time alone with me? What does that mean?"
Bai Weiwei fell silent for a while. "Should I call you Prof. Hao Yu, or Professor Yu Hao?"
Lu Yin’s head whipped around so that he could stare at Bai Weiwei, and when his eyes locked onto her, his whole demeanor changed. "How did you find out?"
"You're not going to deny it, are you?" Bai Weiwei asked.
Lu Yin looked away without responding, and Bai Weiwei watched him with open curiosity. "I would love to know what you’ve gone through over the last few decades."
Lu Yin indifferently asked, "Is this why you decided to follow me?"
Bai Weiwei’s eyes never left Lu Yin. "It's only been a few decades, but you’ve undergone a ridiculous transformation. Even the Junior Progenitors would struggle to accomplish what you’ve done, and now you’re even in a position to speak with the Xia family."
Lu Yin laughed. "Speak with the Xia family? Do you really think that I can do that?"
Bai Weiwei said nothing.
Lu Yin continued, "The Xia family is one of the rulers of the entire Perennial World. They have powerful Progenitors and Semi-Progenitors, while I’m nothing but an Envoy. Even if I have some lockbreaking abilities, why would the Xia family bother to speak to me? As far as they’re concerned, I’m still nothing but an ant."
"But you have Grandmaster Gu Yan behind you!" Bai Weiwei protested.
Lu Yin arched a brow. Grandmaster Gu Yan? What was this girl talking about?
Upon seeing Lu Yin’s silence, Bai Weiwei continued. "A few decades ago, Grandmaster Gu Yan visited the Lower Realm, and after he returned, he had nothing but praise for a young man that he had met while on his trip. The young man is supposedly an amazingly talented Lockbreaker. That’s the same time as when you went missing, so unless I’m completely off, you should be the same talented young Lockbreaker that Grandmaster Gu Yan mentioned."
Lu Yin said nothing, and he kept his expression still. He was trying to understand the implications behind what Bai Weiwei had just said.
Grandmaster Gu Yan visited the Lower Realm a few decades ago and then praised a young man for his lockbreaking talent? Could that be me? I did meet Grandmaster Gu Yan in the Lower Realm when I was pretending to be Long Qi and searching the Lower Realm for the giant anteater with Supervisor Qing Chen.
Looking back, that was the same time that Yu Hao had gone missing.
It was all a misunderstanding. People were assuming that Yu Hao was Lu Yin—no, they were assuming that Yu Hao was Long Qi, who had been complimented by Grandmaster Gu Yan. This was a complicated misunderstanding because, no matter if people believed the young man to be Yu Hao, Long Qi, or Lu Yin, they were all really the same person.
Also, had Grandmaster Gu Yan ever accepted Lu Yin as an apprentice back then?
OMA's Thoughts
NOTICE TO CHAMPIONS:
It's been three years since the first chapter of Star Odyssey was released on Wuxia World. Since then, we've released 2201 public chapters (you all have no idea how badly that odd number bothers us...). During at least the past two years, I know that there have been people asking for more free chapters (always great for readers) and for the VIP tiers to be changed or more tiers to be added.
We have not been ignoring those requests. For the last year, OMA and the rest of the team have been working on building a buffer for today. Starting today, each of the recently reworked, renamed VIP tiers will gain access to more, or even double, chapters than ever before. As if that weren't enough, we've even added another tier for those asking...
We hope that these changes will benefit all of you, and to be honest, I'm looking forward to cutting back on the workload a bit after today.
Translated By: OMA
Edited By: Neshi/Nyxnox
TLC'ed By: OMA