Star Odyssey

Chapter 2467: Tranquil Like Water

Chapter 2467: Tranquil Like Water

Just like that, the headmaster’s eighth stellular tribulation completely vanished.

The tribulation had ended, which meant that the crazy headmaster had successfully passed his eighth stellular tribulation. Normally, a majestic tide of stellular energy would pour down, and the cultivator would absorb it into their body, allowing them to arrive at the peak of the Envoy realm. Their next step would be to break through again to the Semi-Progenitor realm. However, the stellular energy dissipated before fully appearing and then reappeared again shortly after. This abnormal behavior was clearly related to the oddities of the stellular tribulation itself.

Regardless, the crazy headmaster just let out a hysterical laugh. He showed no intention whatsoever of absorbing the stellular energy.

Old Cai muttered to himself, "I don't know if he's lucky or unlucky. Given the problems with his tribulation, it's a miracle that he even managed to survive. However, he also didn't receive any benefits from passing his eighth stellular tribulation."

"It's a good thing that he didn't. If he had absorbed that stellular energy, it would have killed him as soon as it started flowing in reverse," the Rainmaster commented.

"This is bad!" The Trialmaster looked up at the sky. Where had that Semi-Progenitor gone to?

The old woman was already inside Astral-10. With the stellular tribulation gone, she intended to seize the opportunity and destroy the Stargazing Deck.

Suddenly, an indescribable chill shot up her spine. She looked up to see another stellular tribulation’s enormous vortex hovering above Astral-10. The vortex completely filled the entire sky.

At this moment, the insane headmaster was not the only person within the stellular tribulation’s range, as the entirety of Astral-10 was also included, along with the old woman.

Her face grew pale. What was going on? Another stellular tribulation?

Elsewhere beneath the massive vortex, Old Cai and the other mentors were similarly staring upwards in confusion. Where had this stellular tribulation come from?

"It’s the Headmaster! He’s trying to break through to the Semi-Progenitor realm!" the Trialmaster said incredulously, his eyes growing wide.

Everyone’s initial reaction was pure disbelief. The crazy headmaster had just finished his eighth tribulation, so his stellular energy vortex could not have possibly reached the pinnacle of the Envoy realm. Even if he had, it was never easy to break through to the Semi-Progenitor realm, as it required a cultivator to transform their stellular energy vortex into an inner world. The difficulty of this requirement was on a completely different level from all earlier breakthroughs. How had the man triggered this tribulation so easily? He was attempting to cross two breakthroughs at once!

Lu Yin was also surprised, as he was observing the situation from a distance. A stellular tribulation? Who was undergoing it? This tribulation was quite large. Hang on, were people from the Fifth Mainland even capable of facing stellular tribulations at this point in time?

Right as that thought occurred to Lu Yin, the stellular tribulation’s vortex changed in size. It started expanding and contracting randomly, almost as though it was messing around.

From the Heavens Sect era to the current era—from the time of the very first stellular tribulations, this was the first time that such a bizarre tribulation had ever appeared.

The crazy headmaster's stellular tribulation engulfed everyone. In particular, the old Semi-Progenitor woman’s presence caused the tribulation to grow to a jaw-dropping size. Everyone was being forced to face the tribulation with the headmaster. However, due to the problem with the true universe, the vortex was unable to send down any trials. It simply hung above everything, undergoing several transformations. Everyone craned their necks to look upwards, their hearts palpitating wildly. Only the headmaster continued to laugh. However, his laughter had changed, and he no longer repeated his same rants.

As he laughed, tears started to fall. His laughter seemed to contain an entire lifetime of ups and downs.

Anyone who heard the laughter could not help but shed tears themselves as they experienced their entire life flashing before their eyes.

The old Semi-Progenitor was no exception. She could not understand why such overwhelming sadness was filling her heart. At this moment, numerous doubts drifted through her mind; had all the people that she had killed during her life as a cultivator truly deserve to die? Had her previous actions been right or wrong? What was she doing at the moment? Questions assaulted her mind.

The headmaster looked up into outer space and laughed heartily. There was no downpour of vast amounts of stellular energy. Instead, numerous columns of water fell from the sky. It was as though it was raining in outer space.

The Astral-10 students stared at the falling water columns in stupefaction. The water splashed down in front of the students, spraying them with mist before rising up once again to form lakes with unfathomable depths. Each lake seemed like an isolated region of space, and each lake held an image.

The lakes extinguished the fires that had been constantly ravaging Astral-10. For the first time in a long while, Astral-10 was clean.

One student reached out and touched a column of water. He then witnessed a man’s entire life, from when he had been full of vigor, to the time he went insane. It was the headmaster's life.

His life experiences formed the odd columns of water that had fallen from outer space and created countless lakes.

Old Cai and the others were overjoyed. "Headmaster, you're awake?"

"Has the headmaster awakened?"

"Has the headmaster awakened!"

...

In Astral-10, both teachers and students rejoiced.

The Rainmaster and some of the other mentors were still a bit uneasy. The headmaster had occasionally regained clarity over the years, so who knew how long his clarity would last this time? Also, what had just happened?

The headmaster slowly descended.

All of the mentors instinctively surrounded the man, carefully examining him.

The headmaster smiled slightly as he looked around. "See to the students first. As for my matters, we'll talk later."

The man then looked upwards. "He's finally here."

Lu Yin had arrived outside Astral-10 with the old Semi-Progenitor woman dangling from his grip.

Lu Yin slowly descended and looked at the headmaster. "Headmaster?"

The man laughed. "Young man, have you made up your mind? Are you willing to leave your name on Boundless?"

Lu Yin was overjoyed. "Headmaster, have you really recovered?"

The headmaster just smiled before turning his attention to the old woman. "What was the point of bringing her here? That’s nothing but a husk now."

Lu Yin let go of the old woman, and she fell to the ground. Her eyes were filled with confusion, much like a babe who had never interacted with the world before. Drool dribbled from her mouth, and she was unable to control her body.

Seeing the woman’s condition, Old Cai and the other mentors felt a sharp chill, and they all looked at Lu Yin as though he were a monster, but Lu Yin just shrugged. "Don't look at me. This was all the headmaster's doing. I just brought her here."

They all turned to stare at the headmaster, who shrugged as well. "She brought it upon herself. She had the chance to leave, but chose not to take it. So be it."

Lu Yin remarked, "Headmaster, you just broke through to the Semi-Progenitor realm, and yet you can already easily defeat another Semi-Progenitor. That is truly impressive. This junior congratulates you on your awakening."

"We also congratulate you, Headmaster, on your awakening," Rainmaster and the others echoed with absolute sincerity.

The headmaster let out a long breath and then bowed low to everyone. "I, Shao Chen, would like to express my heartfelt gratitude for your constant companionship. Also, thank you all for helping Boundless."

At this moment, the old woman was already a complete invalid, so Lu Yin left her for Astral-10 to handle. He had hurried over to protect Astral-10’s Stargazing Deck, but fortunately, the headmaster had reawakened at a critical juncture. If not for that, Lu Yin would have lost all means of dealing with Bai Xian'er.

The four ruling powers truly could not be underestimated. They had eventually uncovered exactly how Lu Yin had injured Bai Xian'er.

However, Lu Yin was no longer concerned about that. Between Arch-Elder Zen and the Astral-10’s headmaster, Lu Yin finally saw hope for the Fifth Mainland to rise up once again.

Every era had its own heroes. The Heavens Sect era had heralded the Three Realms Six Dao, the Daosource Sect era had seen the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas, and the other eras had to have had powerful individuals of their own, even if they had been similar to Progenitor Ku, who had never been famous despite his indomitable strength. The current era had its own fair share of impressive talents, with the likes of Hen Xin and the other gatemasters of the Heavenly Gates, Astral-10’s headmaster, Arch-Elder Zen, Lu Yin, and other youths. Given enough time, the Ten Arbiters would reach their full potential as well.

This was the strength of the Fifth Mainland.

[1] This is a reference to Chapter 8 of Dao De Jing by Lao Zi: 上善若水(the highest form of goodness is like water) is found in the first sentence of the chapter.