Chapter 402: Azkana's Gaze

The glowing blue projection light faded, and the simple room gradually returned to its original state. This Titus was quite interesting; he almost made Li Yu want to snatch another Heart of the Titan and hand it over to him.

Unfortunately, he temporarily didn't know where else such a thing could be found.

Once Elton's matter was exposed, it should teach Titus a lesson, saving him from constantly thinking about plotting against him behind his back all day when he had nothing better to do. Wasn't it just a Heart of the Titan? What a petty mindset.

Still, his strength wasn't enough. Otherwise, that kid would have to be absolutely respectful in front of him.

Thinking of this, Li Yu couldn't help but sigh. Right then, he received news about a small gadget he had previously asked Peyton to make—a portable device designed to deal with Stellar Radiation.

It was primarily used to increase the development rate of the Superman Gene Chain. The Superman gene was different from the Calates gene.

The Calates Gene Chain could be enhanced through Stellar Core Fragments, but the Superman Gene Chain could not. The power the two drew from stars was different.

But each had its benefits. At least with the Superman Gene Chain, he didn't have to scour the entire interstellar space looking for Stellar Core Fragments.

He was originally preparing to visit the laboratory to take a look, but unexpectedly, Titus had invited him to watch the execution, so he was delayed.

"Close your eyes..." A faint, indistinct voice reached his ears. He couldn't distinguish whether it was male or female, nor could he pinpoint its source.

Li Yu frowned deeply. His Mental Power spread out, but he still couldn't find any suspicious points.

"Close your eyes..." The voice in his ears grew slightly louder. Li Yu narrowed his eyes slightly, pondered for a moment, and ultimately closed his eyes.

The moment he closed his eyes, what greeted him was not darkness.

Platinum-colored lines emerged before his eyes, gradually outlining a magnificent hall along special trajectories. The surroundings were vast and silent. Only white filled his vision... an incredibly dazzling white.

Li Yu abruptly opened his eyes, and the simple room once again came into view. Everything just now seemed like a hallucination.

However, when he closed his eyes again, the hall remained exceptionally clear.

"Who are you?" Li Yu asked in a deep voice. He didn't need to overthink it; in this situation, someone was definitely playing tricks in the dark.

But he had quite a few enemies, so it was hard to determine who the other party was right away.

This kind of method was clearly an influence on the Mental Plane. The first target that came to his mind was the Meditation Research Institute.

But based on this point alone, he couldn't confirm the other party's origin.

While he was thinking, platinum flames gradually surged from the hall, forming a figure with a blurred face.

"You do not need to know who I am..." The other party's voice was ethereal and illusory.

Playing the devil and acting mysteriously. Li Yu's expression was unkind; he hated these people who pretended to be mysterious the most.

He opened his eyes. He was still sitting in the chair, but the voice still sounded in his ears.

"Young Divine Spirit, I am here to save you..."

Li Yu's mind trembled slightly. This guy knew he was a Divine Spirit?

The other party had the strength to project directly into his mind, so their background was clearly not small.

But it seemed they could only stop there and couldn't go a step further to affect him personally.

'Does this count as a special status?' Li Yu wondered. Then he suddenly had an idea and took out the Virtual Glasses from his System Space.

After putting them on, his entire body entered a digitized state. He rummaged through the data bar and, sure enough, found unusual information.

[...

Special Status:

Azkana's Gaze — This great ancient Divine Spirit is projecting himself onto your Spiritual Body through an ancient Titan Artifact, attempting to achieve some ulterior motive.

...]

Azkana's Gaze? Ancient Divine Spirit?

Was it a Divine Spirit from the Radiant Council?

This Azkana should be the Divine Spirit's true name, and moreover, a Divine Spirit that had existed for a rather long time.

The true names of the vast majority of Divine Spirits were unknown to outsiders, including the twelve Chief Gods of the Radiant Council.

But at least he had a clue now. Li Yu felt slightly more settled in his heart and decided to exchange blows with this guy.

He closed his eyes. The projection outlined by the platinum flames still existed.

His tone was peaceful and indifferent: "I have no ill will towards you. My arrival is to save you. Weak Divine Spirits will only be hunted down outside the Council."

Li Yu looked at him, sizing him up and down. This weird gaze made the other party feel somewhat baffled.

"I know you don't trust me, but I will make you understand. Throw yourself into my embrace..."

His words were only halfway spoken when Li Yu interrupted him, carrying a hint of mockery as he said, "Azkana, how did you end up in such a state, relying on conning people to get by?"

As soon as his words fell, the flaming figure in Li Yu's eyes suddenly became incredibly blazing, and surging flames scattered in all directions.

At the same time, an infinitely far distance away from here, in a great hall inlaid with stars, a certain Divine Spirit sitting upright on a Divine Throne abruptly opened his eyes.

The entire magnificent hall emitted dazzling light. Endless Believers seemed to sense something and prostrated themselves on the ground, trembling uncontrollably.

Before him was a Golden Ring manufactured through complex craftsmanship. Metal lines intertwined, and the center looked like the shape of an eye, containing infinite mysteries.

His eyes were full of doubt and uncertainty. He had actually been recognized.

But how was that possible?

What that guy had called out was not his Divine Name, but his true name.

Only the core Subordinate Deity within the Divine Pantheon and those few Old Friends knew his true name.

How could that person know? He was just a wild Divine Spirit.

Could it be that some Old Friend had already made a move?

Or could it be... that he was one of those Old Friends!?

The sudden change disrupted his original plans. This ancient Divine Spirit, who had existed for an unknown amount of time, sank into deep thought.

For a split second, he had the intention of taking action to test the waters. However, using this Titan Artifact to break through the Information State blockade of the Galaxy Veil and project himself into the other party's Spiritual Body was already his limit.

Wanting to take further action was simply impossible.

"I'll test him first to see exactly who he is..." He pondered slightly and closed his eyes again. He had merely been recognized; it wasn't a huge deal.

On the other side, Li Yu was still a bit dumbfounded. How did the person suddenly disappear mid-conversation?

"Where is he?"

"Speak?"

He called out in this empty hall until a moment later, when the platinum flames surfaced once more.

Li Yu breathed a sigh of relief and said somewhat apologetically, "Sorry about that. I should have laid some groundwork first. Did calling out your name directly scare you?"

Azkana frowned. Since the other party had already seen through his origins, there was no need to pretend to be mysterious.

The white flames condensed into a majestic-looking interstellar human wearing a White Long Robe, with a complex circular Emblem on his chest.

It was him!

One of the twelve Chief God Councilors of the Radiant Council, the great Stellar Creator, God of Light, Sun God, God of Life...

Your Excellency of the Sun!

Li Yu recognized that complex circular Emblem. In some interstellar civilizations relatively close to the Council, the Solar Commerce Guild was a force that couldn't be underestimated.

Its emblem was this very pattern, the symbol of the Solar Church.

Li Yu hadn't expected the visitor to actually be a figure of this caliber. His heart instantly grew much heavier.

Azkana, however, didn't overthink it, because he believed that since the other party had called out his true name, they must surely know that he was the Sun God.

"Which Old Friend is behind you?" Azkana got straight to the point, far more direct than Li Yu had imagined.

Which Old Friend?

Someone he could call an Old Friend must definitely be one of the Councilors as well. Li Yu remained calm and collected; it seemed this Excellency of the Sun had misunderstood something.

"Why doesn't Your Excellency take a guess?" Li Yu retorted with a smile.

He hated Riddlers the most, but if the Riddler was himself, then it was fine.

Azkana was somewhat displeased. He originally thought it was just a slightly difficult target to beguile, but he didn't expect to run into an Old Friend.

If he threw a fit and left now, how much face would he lose?

During future meetings, who knew which Old Schemer would secretly laugh at him behind his back.

Thinking of this, Azkana shook his head and said, "Our goals are aligned. Let's not waste time here."

Goals?

What goals? Li Yu felt as if he had somehow gotten mixed up in some major event, giving him a rather bad feeling.

This Excellency's brain didn't seem to work too well. Let me con him a bit.

Li Yu chuckled lightly, "Wasting time? Sun, you brought yourself to my door. I've laid out this Pawn for a long time. I didn't expect you to set your sights on him."

Azkana nodded inwardly. There was indeed someone behind this guy; otherwise, he wouldn't have such a terrifying growth rate.

He just didn't know exactly who was standing behind him.

"I didn't know he was already your Pawn. However, making him a Divine Spirit was a flaw," Azkana instructed.

"Hehe..." Li Yu was noncommittal.

Immediately after, Azkana added, "But it won't be long now. Even if Return Star finds out, it will be too late."

Li Yu listened, dumbfounded, yet he nodded earnestly as if it were a serious matter, "You're right..."

Following that, a silence fell between the two. Li Yu gradually came to his senses; it seemed this Excellency was also testing him.

Everything he said was ambiguous nonsense, lacking anything of value.

Li Yu pondered for a long time and decided to take a gamble. He wouldn't suffer any losses anyway.

"Digor's Death Wave is approaching. You can't wait anymore either, can you?"

As soon as these words came out, Li Yu immediately felt a strong sense of focus upon him.

It really was related to this matter. He had won the gamble!

He let out a long sigh of relief. In all of Return Star, the only thing that could interest a super bigwig like Azkana was probably Digor.

"We can cooperate..." Azkana was finally able to confirm that this guy was some Old Schemer from the Council.

Which other Divine Spirit was more scheming than him... No, possessed more foresight...

For a moment, Azkana actually couldn't find a target of suspicion.

"Oh, let's hear it..." Li Yu looked casual and unbothered.

"Many people are keeping their eyes on Return Star. Once something goes wrong with Digor, the Death Wave will sweep across the entire Central Star System..." Azkana said in a deep voice.

"By yourself alone, you won't gain much benefit..."

Li Yu's body jolted. So this was the idea you guys were hatching!

Carving up Return Star!?

A minor internal schism in Amethyst had drawn out many factions, and Return Star's volume was countless times larger than Amethyst's.

It didn't seem strange that it could attract Azkana's attention.

These few short sentences contained a staggering amount of information.

The so-called Death Wave, just as Li Yu had guessed, wasn't merely a sign that Digor was about to kick the bucket.

It was something more substantial, and it was heavily tied to the Titans.

"Azkana, you're thinking about this matter too simply." Li Yu didn't say much else, just this one sentence, attempting to coax out more information.

This rather impolite remark put His Excellency of the Sun in a bad mood.

These Old Schemers didn't dare to clash with him head-on, yet now they hid their identities and spoke without shame.

I'll see if you can still speak so toughly when your identity is revealed.

"However..." Li Yu shifted his tone, "Since you could think to seek out this body, it shows that we're still on the same page."

He tossed the end of the sentence to Azkana, and this time, Azkana didn't let him down.

"That's right..." Azkana nodded. "He is indeed the best candidate to open the Galaxy Veil. His status is quite high, his reputation is good, he has a great relationship with Digor's daughter, and Vimala also values him highly."

After undergoing several traceless cons, Azkana finally revealed his objective—to open the Galaxy Veil!

As the first line of defense for the Return Star Central Star System, it was also the most powerful defensive measure.

The Galaxy Veil was enough to resist the vast majority of attacks, placing the Central Star System in an invincible position.

Opening the Galaxy Veil from the outside was extremely difficult, but if one started from the inside, it would be much easier.

Azkana had also thought of this level, so the target he selected was Li Yu.

He just hadn't expected that someone else had already made a move on this guy.

Thinking of this, he ran through the names of those few notorious Old Schemers in his mind again, yet he still couldn't lock onto one.

If the Galaxy Veil was opened and Digor died, the Central Star System would definitely turn into a living hell at that time.

Li Yu pondered in his heart. Even if the Galaxy Veil wasn't opened, with so many factions eyeing them, there would probably still be a storm of blood and gore when the time came.

If they withstood it, Return Star would still be Return Star. If they couldn't withstand it...

If it were just a normal succession of the supreme ruler, even if there were twists and turns, they wouldn't be this massive.

However, it was impossible for Return Star not to have foreseen this situation. Digor didn't seem like a fool.

When the time came, what would be contested was whose methods were more brilliant.

But for Li Yu, the most important thing was another matter entirely. The Return Star Central Star System seemed to have suddenly become rather unsafe.

Azkana said the Death Wave's arrival wasn't far off, but the other party didn't state the exact time. Li Yu couldn't ask directly either, otherwise he'd expose himself.

Perhaps... he could do this. Li Yu narrowed his eyes slightly and spoke up:

"Cooperation is fine. But there's one thing. Have the Radiant Council help Return Star fight against the Star Glory Empire in No Man's Land."

"Why?" Azkana frowned. He hadn't paid much attention to the situation in No Man's Land. The Council mostly played a minor role there.

"This body will head there to fish for Merits in order to elevate its status again. It needs a relatively safe environment," Li Yu said indifferently.

This sentence contained two purposes. The first was to test exactly how long Azkana's "not far off" was.

If the time was too short, he obviously wouldn't let Li Yu leave.

And if Azkana agreed, Li Yu could also create a relatively safe environment for himself, temporarily distancing himself from the soon-to-be-chaotic Central Star System.

(End of this chapter)