Chapter 133: Reques (2/2)

Before long, Lu Yin left the Treasury and entered the desolate plains surrounding it. He could see the ruins of quite a few buildings that went on for quite some distance. Deep fissures ran through the ground, from where hot air seeped through. While he had no clue what the area used to be, it seemed that it had once been a flourishing region with many buildings.

Lu Yin chose a random dilapidated building and released his star energy to confirm that he was alone. He then reached out, causing the die to appear.

It had been quite some time since Lu Yin had last rolled the die. During his last usage, he had rolled six pips, Possession, which had allowed him to experience Da Lei’s life. He hoped that he could be as lucky this time.

After spinning the die, Lu Yin watched it slowly stop spinning—one, Pilfer.

This came as no surprise as this was the most common roll. If he was lucky, then what he gained from Pilfer could change his fate. If he was unlucky, like this time… Lu Yin hesitated before picking up a potion wrapped in ancient packaging. This was the other sort of thing that Pilfer could get him.

While studying the bottle, Lu Yin let out a sigh. Just because the packaging was ancient, it didn’t mean the item itself was. There were all kinds of civilizations in the universe and some of them were at a very low technology level. Since the packaging was in an ancient style, it probably came from a civilization in the universe that had met other civilizations, but refused to modernize.

Lu Yin opened the bottle and sniffed at it. A very ordinary potion.

After storing it, he crushed a cube of star crystals. Again.

For his second roll, the die ended on five pips—Gift Copy. Lu Yin stood up, but then sat down just as quickly. It would be impossible to find a cultivator with an innate gift within ten seconds from where he was. How could he find anyone at all in ten seconds?! Another wasted roll. Again.

For the third roll, the die slowed and stopped at four pips—Time Stop.

Reality seemed to fade and Lu Yin found himself in the familiar ash-colored space. The timer started counting down three days of time.

This wasn’t a bad roll, as it gave him more time to think. Lu Yin decided to spend his time studying the star chart. It would be ideal if he could manifest the seventh star or maybe even the eighth. This would allow him to absorb star energy eight times faster, which would allow him to reach peak Melder’s strength as soon as possible.

There was a vast difference between someone who stood at the peak of the Melder realm and someone who had just entered the realm. The most obvious difference was the amount of star energy, which was like comparing an ocean to a lake.

Craynor held the position of number two on the Blaze Realm Rankings and stood near the top in Astral-8. He was a peak Melder, and Lu Yin had felt the pressure of Craynor’s star energy during their battle. Fortunately, Lu Yin had been able to compensate for the difference with his strong body. If the two’s physical strength had been similar in power, then the pressure of their star energy would have been the key that determined victory. Lu Yin didn’t want to lose out in this area.

With this thought, Lu Yin immediately retrieved six hundred cubes of star crystals and tossed them out. The timer leapt up, but instead of the expected thirty-three days, Lu Yin saw that the timer had only increased to only sixteen days, nearly half of what he had expected. Lu Yin realized that the more he increased the time by, the more star crystals he needed for each day. The rate was not fixed to eighteen cubes of crystal per extra day.

He let out a sigh; he should have expected that this ability wouldn’t be that convenient. If Time Stop really did have a fixed rate of eighteen cubes of star crystals per day, then Lu Yin would be able to stay inside the space for nearly three years with his current stores!

Whatever, there’s nothing that can be done about it. He then took out an additional fifty cubes of star crystals and raised the gravity to fifty times the standard level before taking out a star chart.

Nineteen days was a long time, so Lu Yin was in no hurry. He studied the star chart diligently, practiced his battle technique on occasion, and rested when he needed to. After ten days of training, his Cosmic Palm’s seventh star manifested.

The power of the battle technique with seven stars far surpassed the power with six. If, as a Sentinel, Lu Yin had reached the level of seven stars, then he would have been able to fight Schutz. If he had also had Air Flash and the other battle techniques that he had recently learned, then he might actually have been able to win. Now, as a Melder, Cosmic Palm alone was enough for Lu Yin to defeat students like Craynor and he wouldn’t even need to use techniques like his Nine Stacks Shockwave Palm.

Currently, Lu Yin’s strongest attack was still his Nine Stacks Shockwave Palm. The Nine Stacks boosted the power of his Shockwave Palm to even greater heights than his Cosmic Art with seven stars; it was no longer sufficient to be his trump card and he needed to increase its strength.

Over the next nine days, Lu Yin immersed himself in the star chart. When the countdown got closer to zero, he actually tossed out another hundred or so cubes of star crystals and added an additional eight days to the timer.

Even after seventeen days had passed, not even a ghost of the eighth star was seen. Lu Yin frowned and looked around. He’d had enough of this place. In fact, anyone would find it hard to sit in one place for almost a whole month.

Lu Yin rested for a few hours and then waited for the timer to run out, not increasing the timer anymore. He needed to get out.

The scenery around him warped and shifted. While a month had passed within the Time Stop Space, it had been just a second in the outside world.

Lu Yin waved his hand and brought out seven stars to circle his palm. If he hadn’t learned the Nine Stacks Shockwave Palm, then this Cosmic palm would undoubtedly be his primary attack.

He dispersed the stars and brought out his die again, ready to continue rolling. He had previously used it three times, so he had one chance left.

As the die stopped spinning, it stopped on one pip again.

Lu Yin was speechless. Despite his mounting eagerness to roll three pips, he just hadn’t been lucky enough. It was fate and completely out of his control.