Star Odyssey

Chapter 3085: Scourge Occupation

Lu Yin could easily achieve a level of opulence that far exceeded the multi-planet palace spread out before him with his status in the Sixverse Association, but no one in the association indulged in such extravagance.

The floor beneath his feet was made from a dark yellow metal which was most likely as valuable here as gold was on Earth. In some ways, the palace reminded Lu Yin of Food Paradise, though with a focus on overall luxury, rather than solely on food.

Lu Yin spent three days on the palace in order to gain a better understanding of it.

The palace was known as the Scourge Occupation, and it shared the same "scourge" character as Aeternus’s Scourges, and it even gave off a similar feeling. If not for the absence of corpse kings, Lu Yin might have thought that these people were a part of Aeternus.

However, the inhabitants of the Scourge Occupation knew nothing about the Aeternals.

This puzzled Lu Yin. How had Mister Mu discovered this universe if its people knew nothing of Aeternus?

That was a question that only Mister Mu could answer.

Lu Yin found that the people of this civilization did not cultivate, and yet they possessed incredible power. This was truly the most confusing detail.

He spent the following half month in the palace, still observing its people. There was a clear hierarchy present, and Lu Yin worked his way up from the bottom. As he proceeded, he found individuals who possessed the strength of Semi-Progenitors, but none of these people cultivated at all.

Such strength seemed impossible for a people who did not cultivate, unless they had a connection to a parallel universe where time flowed faster within the palace and that that was where the people cultivated.

However, it did not seem reasonable for the thousands of people in the fortress to either not practice any battle techniques or to not discuss them at all. Instead, all of the conversations that Lu Yin overheard were about destruction: destroying planets, landmasses, universes, and anything else that these people saw or encountered. These people all radiated a destructive aura.

On top of that, the people wore different colors on their arms which symbolized their varying levels of destructive power, though Lu Yin could not make sense of the distinctions.

The Scourge Occupation was full of contradictions, and seeing them prompted Lu Yin to conduct a formal visit.

Of course, Lu Yin would not go alone. He was still not entirely certain of the civilization's full power, so Lu Yin used a cosmic door far away from the Scourge Occupation. He then returned to the palace while accompanied by Leng Qing and Arch-Elder Zen.

"Warning: restricted area ahead. Turn back immediately."

"Warning: restricted area ahead. Turn back immediately."

Arch-Elder Zen continued forward, his eyes fixed upon the palace. "We arrived in this universe unintentionally, and we wish to greet its ruler."

The voice echoed through space, easily reaching the palace and drawing the attention of the inhabitants.

At the top of the palace, in a luxurious residence, dozens of handsome men were dancing while casting seductive glances at a beautiful reclining woman. She was entranced by their performance and frowned at the interruption.

Arch-Elder Zen's voice had interrupted the rhythm of the dance, so she looked out at him.

"Hmph, not interested."

A man soon left the palace, and he approached Arch-Elder Zen while openly scrutinizing the old man. "Our chief says that she’s not interested."

Arch-Elder Zen remained courteous. "Please inform your chief that we entered this universe unintentionally. It’s only proper to greet the ruler."

The man grew irritated. "Your presence here means nothing to us. If we say that we’re not interested, it means no. Leave."

With that, the man turned to go back to the palace.

Arch-Elder Zen was at a loss. He had never encountered such people before. Despite the fact that he had made the fact that he was a peak powerhouse very clear during his greeting, the ruler of this universe was not at all concerned. They did not seem worried about Arch-Elder Zen’s presence, or the safety of the universe.

Lu Yin stepped forward. "Wait a moment."

The man turned back, evidently quite annoyed. "Kid, do you not understand? No means no. Leave now."

Lu Yin stared at the man. "Have you heard of Mister Mu?"

The man's expression changed, and he looked surprised. "You know Mister Mu?"

The man’s reaction made it clear to Lu Yin that Mister Mu had indeed prepared the cosmic doors in advance. Lu Yin was supposed to visit the civilizations in the eight universes.

Aeternus had six Scourges that fought across multiple parallel universes with the single goal of destroying all traces of humanity. However, humans had not been passive in the war.

"He is my master," Lu Yin replied.

The man’s demeanor softened considerably. "I apologize. I didn’t know you were Mister Mu’s disciple. Who are these two men?"

Lu Yin introduced both men. "They are my seniors. Honestly, we did not arrive here by accident, but were rather guided by Mister Mu."

The man nodded. "Since you’ve been introduced to us by Mister Mu, please follow me. I will lead you to our chief."

"Thank you."

"There’s no need to be so formal."

"My name is Lu Yin."

"I am E’ Nan. Our chief, E’ Ji, is my mother. This way, please."

E' Nan led the way, and Lu Yin and his companions made their way to the very top of the palace, where they met with E' Ji, the chief of the Scourge Occupation.

E' Ji frowned when E' Nan arrived with three guests. "What’s this? Didn’t I say no?"

E' Nan explained, "This is Brother Lu Yin, one of Mister Mu’s disciples. He was led to us by Mister Mu."

E' Ji was caught off guard. "A disciple of Mister Mu?"

She waved a hand, dismissing the dancers. Her demeanor shifted from that of a seductress to a grand and dignified leader, as was appropriate for the chief of the Scourge Occupation.

Lu Yin observed E' Ji. "Are you the ruler of this universe?"

E' Ji nodded and gestured for Lu Yin to have a seat. "Since you are Mister Mu's disciple, there's no need to stand on ceremony. You’re among friends."

Lu Yin was amazed at how effective Mister Mu's name was with these people. They were clearly not known for their politeness and were typically brusque or even rude to Progenitors. However, they demonstrated a tremendous amount of respect for Mister Mu.

"Chief E' Ji, while my master led me to this place, I know little about it or your people. Could you tell me more about it?" Lu Yin asked directly.

E' Ji glanced over at E' Nan, who proceeded to explain, "We are the Scourge Occupation. This entire palace is inhabited by our people."

As E' Nan continued, Lu Yin was finally able to understand the Scourge Occupation. Nothing was kept back, not even the reason why these people did not cultivate.

Within the palace, a madman was sealed, who was also the founding ancestor of the tribe. His madness had been caused by cultivation deviation.

The people’s insane ancestor was imprisoned at the bottom of the Scourge Occupation. He was an incredibly powerful cultivator, but due to a mistake in his cultivation path, he had gone mad. Not only had his mind become clouded, but he was also unable to release his power, which had become trapped within his body. More specifically, it was sealed within his blood.

The man’s power continuously grew within his blood, and the only way to alleviate the growing power was by releasing his blood. If that was not done, his body would actually explode.

All members of the tribe that inhabited the Scourge Occupation worked to dilute the power in their mad ancestor's blood. They infused his blood into their own bodies to the limit of what they could endure. This was why they did not need to cultivate, as all of their power came from their ancestor. If they did not do this, their ancestor would self-destruct and die.

The people absorbed their mad ancestor’s blood from birth, starting with small amounts and gradually increasing as they grew up. The colors on their arms indicated how much blood they were able to handle.

However, the people who absorbed the madman’s blood also needed to constantly release the power they had absorbed, as failing to do so would cause them to explode as well. This was why they were so focused on destruction. It was not simply because they desired destruction, but rather because they needed to release the power that they had absorbed.

This was also their cultivation method. Each time they absorbed their ancestor’s blood, the amount they could handle increased.

No matter what the Scourge Occupation encountered, they would destroy it, regardless of whether it was a universe, a landmass, planets, or stars. All would be destroyed until nothing remained.

The Scourge Occupation had no specific enemies, though it could also be said that everyone was their enemy since they destroyed everything without any sort of discrimination. However, destruction did not mean slaughter. These people merely destroyed, and they did not kill.

They were completely different from the Infinity Empire, which constantly sought more and more resources.

The Scourge Occupation simply pursued survival.

This was why the people of Scourge Occupation indulged in such hedonistic lifestyles. Their lives were naturally quite short. While absorbing their mad ancestor's blood granted them the strength of peak powerhouses, and even though they could exert a level of destructive power equal to a sequence powerhouse’s, their lifespans were shorter than even Enlighters’.

E' Ji was only 200 years old.

If Lu Yin included the life that he had lived as Lu Xiaoxuan, as well as all of the time he had spent in Timestop and the parallel universes where time passed faster, Lu Yin was old enough to be E' Ji’s grandfather.

Short lives, uncontrollable power, and an insatiable desire for destruction were the underlying reasons behind the Scourge Occupation’s peculiar civilization.

No one expected a people capable of ignoring even peak powerhouses to have such brief lifespans.

"It doesn't matter. We are already used to this. Enjoying life to the fullest is also a part of living," E' Ji said, having accepted their people’s fate.

E' Nan's expression soured. Their people had encountered countless civilizations whose people had lives that lasted for thousands of years, tens of thousands of years, or sometimes even longer. The more civilizations the Scourge Occupation encountered, the more unbalanced they felt. They wielded such incredible strength, and yet their lives were so short.

It was no different from an ordinary human suddenly gaining immense wealth, but only being given ten days to live. What would a person do with those ten days?

Arch-Elder Zen was impressed. "Chief E’Ji has a magnanimous heart. I admire that."

E’ Ji glanced down at herself. "Yes, quite broad."

Arch-Elder Zen coughed, taken aback.

Lu Yin was left speechless.

E' Ji laughed. "It's been a long time since I've been able to chat like this with outsiders. For us, speaking to outsiders is a waste of our limited time, but I like all of you. Tell me, Lu Yin, why have you come here?"

Lu Yin gathered himself. "Have you ever heard of Aeternus?"

E' Ji and E' Nan exchanged glances. "We've heard of them, but we’ve never encountered them."

"Such a pity," E' Nan added.

Lu Yin grew puzzled. "A pity?"

E' Ji replied, "Of course it’s a pity. Their strength means that they are worthy opponents. We've come across several civilizations that were destroyed by Aeternus. We've always wanted to face off against them, but we’ve never had the chance.

"Can you imagine our frustration of destroying an empty universe without ever facing an enemy? We also won’t simply slaughter random civilizations."

Leng Qing's eyes lit up. This statement gave him a different perspective on the Scourge Occupation. These people had not been corrupted by their power, and they deserved respect.