Chapter 1697: Little Tree

There were other astral beasts in this place in addition to the Creeper, but every single one of them was an Envoy. They were all responsible for transporting humanoid sourceboxes, or to be more accurate, they were here to protect the sourceboxes.

At that moment, a voice rang out. “Something’s approaching.”

Moments later, a Soundseeker walked out.

Creeper and Soundseeker always worked together within the Astral Beast Domain, and this was true even for the beasts that had reached the Envoy level.

Lu Yin continued to browse through the Creeper’s memories, and he soon realized that he was in a mysterious place. Still, some living creatures would approach them from time to time, though they were all destroyed as soon as they drew close. Even elders from the Celestial Beast Empire or the Crown Prince Yao Xuan himself would be killed if they approached this region without Skymender’s permission.

Lu Yin controlled the Creeper to follow the Soundseeker, and they moved into the sky. They were in a pocket space, similar to where the Celestial Frost Sect’s ruins had been.

This was a remote region of the Celestial Beast Empire that was far to the depths of the empire.

The Soundseeker had already attacked some Firesnow Drakes that had accidentally wandered into the area. These Firesnow Drakes were not particularly powerful, and they were not included on the Celestial Beast List. Most likely, they had entered the spatial crack by accident, but they were still slated to be eradicated.

The Soundseeker easily destroyed the entire clan.

“Why didn’t you help?” the Soundseeker asked.

“Lu Yin” answered, “I didn’t have to.”

“Have you forgotten what the Imperial Advisor said? The existence of this place can never be revealed, or else our clans will be destroyed,” the Soundseeker solemnly reminded.

Skymender had said this in the past, and those memories appeared in the Creeper’s mind. As soon as this place was discovered, both of their species would be destroyed.

Both species were listed on the Celestial Beast List, but Skymender had still threatened to exterminate them. Moreover, the Creepers and Soundseekers absolutely believed the threat, which showed how much influence Skymender wielded throughout the Astral Beast Domain, as well as the importance of this place.

Lu Yin left the Creeper’s body and opened his eyes. He immediately tried to make a note of the location of where he had just been, but it proved impossible, as the location did not exist even in the Creeper’s memories.

Lu Yin sighed and opened a star chart to study the regions around the Astral Beast Domain.

The Human Domain had been at war with the Astral Beast Domain for countless years, and they had a good understanding of the place. They had formed a rough star chart of the Astral Beast Domain, but Lu Yin could not find the place no matter how hard he studied the star chart.

Ever since Progenitor Hui’s plot had successfully tricked the Sixth Mainland and the Neohuman Alliance’s forces from outside the Fifth Mainland were being held back by the three Progenitors at the only hole, the war between the Human Domain and the Astral Beast Domain had greatly diminished in scale. Lu Yin had even heard that the war between the two Domains was something that had mostly existed in an attempt to deceive the Neohuman Alliance and the Sixth Mainland.

However, was that actually true? The war between the two domains had lasted for untold years, and countless people had died at the border warfront. Countless species had even gone extinct in the Astral Beast Domain, so how could everything be justified as an attempt to confuse the Sixth Mainland?

Furthermore, the memories that Lu Yin had just obtained also showed that Skymender was gathering humanoid sourceboxes. Lu Yin’s greatest impression regarding humanoid sourceboxes was still Xiao Shi’s words, which was to never unlock them.

Even though Xiao Shi did not seem to be a reliable source, he had mentioned both the God of Death and his domain, both of which Lu Yin had later confirmed to be real. In that case, could Xiao Shi’s warning regarding humanoid sourceboxes also be true?

Even if his words were not true, then if humanoid sourceboxes held humans, why would Skymender collect such things?

Lu Yin mulled over this for a bit before contacting Xiao Shi.

“Brother Lu, it’s great that you called us! Have you thought it through? It’s great to have a bowl cut, and you should get one, too!” Xiao Shi said with great excitement.

Lu Yin cringed. “Let’s talk about that later. Xiao Shi, do you remember mentioning humanoid sourceboxes to me? Why can’t I unlock those?”

Xiao Shi immediately grew serious. “No reason is recorded in my book, but it repeatedly stated one thing: do not unlock them.”

“But there isn’t a reason?”

“Brother Lu, have you found any humanoid sourceboxes?” Xiao Shi exclaimed.

Lu Yin answered, “I think so.”

“You mustn’t open it! Apart from saying not to unlock humanoid sourceboxes, there was another note in the book: ‘opportunity coexists with risk,’” Xiao Shi explained.

Lu Yin became even more confused than before. “Is there anything else?”

“Nothing else, Brother Lu. Get a bowl cut too, as then Xiao Chi and I won’t be the Chi Shi Duo anymore.”

Lu Yin was left speechless. “Oh right, you also mentioned fatesand before. What do you know about it?”

“Fatesand… Let me take a look.” Xiao Shi flipped through his blank book. “That’s strange, why is it gone?”

“What’s gone?”

“The book used to say that anyone who gathers enough fatesand would be able to receive an inheritance from Destiny, but that line’s gone. That’s fine. This book’s contents are always changing, so I’m already used to it,” Xiao Shi said.

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. “Anyone who gathers enough fatesand can receive an inheritance from Destiny? Is that true?

Xiao Shi answered, “If it’s in the book, then it’s true. However, since it’s gone from the book, I’m no longer certain.”

Lu Yin nodded. “Alright, see you later.”

“Brother Lu, think about it! A mushroom cut is great!” Xiao Shi tried to convince Lu YIn again, but he immediately hung up. Get a bowl cut? He would rather die.

Lu Yin only made a quick note of what he had learned about the humanoid sourceboxes as there was only one piece of new information. He then checked his star essence, as he had spent a long time Possessing the Creeper, and it had an impressive distance as well.

Lu Yin sighed in relief after checking; he had only used about 300 million star essence.

While it was a terrifying amount to others, it was an acceptable expenditure to Lu Yin, as he had learned of Skymender’s deepest secret.

Lu Yin continued to roll his die, and it next landed on Timestop.

He had already entered his Timestop Space multiple times, but Lu Yin continued rolling his die as soon as he entered the space. He wanted to get Enhance.

He was not worried, as after entering the Timestop Space, he was guaranteed to roll Enhance.

He rolled his die every ten days, and it finally gave him Enhance on the third roll. Lu Yin immediately tossed the Taichu Stone onto the light screen but found that he could not upgrade it because it was a basic material. He disappointedly put it away and then looked through his cosmic ring. He really did not have anything else that he could upgrade.

Out of curiosity, he tossed the leaf onto the light screen, wondering if he could upgrade Origin Matter.

He placed millions of star essence on the screen, and even though everything was consumed, the leaf did not move at all.

This was simply a bottomless pit! Lu Yin sadly put the leaf away, as he had nowhere near enough money to fully upgrade it.

What about the bark of the Mother Tree that he had obtained? Lu Yin tried, but he failed to upgrade that as well. The Chief Justice’s bell? Also impossible to Enhance. He glanced at a stellular energy pill. It was the one that he had Enhanced eight times already, which had cost him 1.9 billion star essence. He had stopped upgrading it after that for two reasons: he had run out of funds, and he had also felt a trace of vitality from the pill.

It was a truly bizarre feeling, as if there was an eye fixed upon him, and the feeling left Lu Yin very uneasy.

He felt the same way when he pulled the pill out again.

Lu Yin gritted his teeth and resumed Enhancing the stellular energy pill.

He had already spent 1.9 billion star essence, and he did not want to waste all that money to stop halfway.

He forced himself to ignore the vitality he sensed and simply continued upgrading the pill, as he was unafraid of anything within the Timestop Space. He could even defeat Leaf King if the powerhouse suddenly appeared.

He tossed the stelluar energy pill onto the top lightscreen and started throwing star essence out.

The ninth upgrade cost 1.8 billion, and Lu Yin almost vomited blood. This upgrade caused the color of the stellular energy pill to change, and now, there was something that looked like a shoot on its surface.

Lu Yin stared at the shoot on the stellular energy pill in shock. Would this thing grow into a tree? Suddenly, a strange feeling struck Lu Yin from the pill; he felt a desire to live.

This was an indescribable feeling, and he felt as though he was holding a newborn baby in his arms rather than a pill.

He estimated that he would need about 3.5 billion star essence to upgrade it once more. That was everything that he had left.

Normally, he would not continue upgrading an item. For example, he had stopped upgrading the froststone when he realized that he would not be able to completely upgrade it even though he had heard the rumors claiming that the ultimate froststone could freeze time itself. However, the stellular energy pills were related to Shamrock Enterprise, and he was curious about just what was watching him. Still, he was unwilling to use up all his money just for curiosity.

Lu Yin’s eyes flashed. Should he upgrade or not? This was a huge dilemma.

The shoot on the pill glowed faintly within his hand. The light of the glow touched Lu Yin’s finger and gave him a warm, comfortable feeling. At the same time, he heard a soft call. This was not an actual sound, but rather the tremor of life. Lu Yin instinctively started upgrading the stellular energy pill when the call resonated within him.

He could not reject the feeling of new life appearing. Even more importantly, the black and white mist inside his chest had calmed down upon feeling the resonance.

Lu Yin did not know what sort of impact the stellular energy pill would have on his death energy, but he did not mind trying it out since his ultimate goal for using money was to help him become more powerful.

He had stumbled upon the God of Death transformation, but he had not truly inherited anything at all.

This was the pill’s tenth upgrade, and it was the most expensive Enhancement that Lu Yin had ever made. He spent a total of 3.5 billion star essence to complete it.

As the stellular energy pill dropped through the lower light screen, the shoot started to grow into a small tree.

At the same time, the stellular energy pill completely disappeared the moment the upgrade finished, as the sapling had completely absorbed the pill.

It was a small tree with only two branches and brilliant green leaves that stood half a meter tall. When it landed on the ground, a normal person would think that it was just a normal tree, aside from the fact that it was glowing.