Star Odyssey

Chapter 3393: The Warmth Of Home

No one had expected Lu Yin to refuse to go to the Neoverse and participate in the Astral Tower. It was just too unconventional.

Lu Yin thought that, by not going to the Neoverse for the Astral Tower, he could avoid being captured by Aeternus. Then, he would not spend any time confined below Aeternus Nation, where he had mastered death energy.

However, he still ended up being captured by the Aeternals, and he was once again imprisoned.

He had defeated Nightking Zhenwu and had become one of the Ten Arbiters, which was a level of talent that could not be ignored. Aeternus would not forget about him.

In fact, Aeternus had targeted Lu Yin much earlier. If not, Whiteless God would not have bothered trying to secretly alter Ming Yan's consciousness to have her betray Lu Yin and draw him into Aeternus.

Lu Yin’s choice did not alter his karma. Even without participating in the Astral Tower, things reverted to the original series of events following his imprisonment beneath Aeternus Nation.

In the Mirari Realm’s forbidden region, another fruit with Lu Yin’s face appeared.

Lu Yin continued to make choices concerning his karma. Next, he sealed Shenwu Continent so that Attendant Wu could not arrive, which essentially prevented him from learning about the Three Monarchs Universe and minimizing his curiosity regarding the Sixverse Association. Even so, when Zi Jing was found, things continued as they had before.

Lu Yin kept making different choices, continuously exploring karma.

Karma was a wondrous concept that was governed by its own laws.

If Lu Yin made different decisions early enough, those changes could lead to Nightking Zhenwu taking his place at the top, even as the megaverse continued along the same karmic path. While Zhenwu eventually betrayed the Tianyuan Megaverse, he always took a group of his loyal supporters to the Spirit Nidus, which ensured that some people from the Tianyuan Megaverse would survive.

However, if Lu Yin enacted changes later on in his life, after he had defeated Nightking Zhenwu, he himself always ended up bearing the karmic burden.

No matter how many times he repeated his attempts, they all yielded the same results.

Through these attempts, Lu Yin understood a terrifying final outcome: the Tianyuan Megaverse was destined to lose.

Lu Yin stared at the increasing number of figures arrayed before him, focusing particularly on Nightking Zhenwu. Was the Tianyuan Megaverse really destined to fall?

Nightking Zhenwu had replaced Lu Yin, only to follow the same path of karma before ultimately betraying their megaverse. The megaverse was reset, and Zhenwu became the High Seraph. From Lu Yin’s perspective, this was how things appeared. However, from Zhenwu’s perspective, how were Lu Yin’s actions not similarly replacing the Nightking’s karma?

Regardless of who replaced whom, was the Tianyuan Megaverse destined to lose?

Lu Yin clenched his fists. He refused to accept this as reality. They had all worked hard and attempted everything possible in order to fight against the Spirit Nidus, but karma revealed that, in the future, the Tianyuan Megaverse would still lose. Even the few survivors would only be the traitors.

Why would this happen?

Who determined the laws of karma?

Lu Yin did not want to believe this karma, but through it, he was able to clearly see the future.

He needed to grasp the threads of karma. If the future was inevitable and it was impossible to escape from karma, then he would change karma. He might not know who had determined the rules of karma, but he refused to accept the outcomes that he saw.

For an unknown period of time, Lu Yin continued to make different choices. Some were made early in his life, some late. The dividing line was always Nightking Zhenwu.

Lu Yin wanted to see if it was possible to produce a different karmic future.

The results never changed: Nightking Zhenwu would inevitably lead the Tianyuan Megaverse to ruin, ultimately being reset. Was this the same karmic future that Lu Yin was facing himself?

Lu Yin tried again and again, each time hoping to see a different future, but each time, he was always disappointed. He suffered so much disappointment that it eventually led to despair.

He lost track of how many alternate decisions he had attempted. He had become numb, and he was unable to count the number choices he had already made or how many alternate paths he had observed.

That lasted until he saw Long Xi.

"From now on, although you and I won't be officially married just yet, we will still be considered husband and wife. If I use you to get through this difficult situation, then I won’t let you down. In this life, I, Long Xi, will only be your wife." Lu Yin had heard these words once before, and he was now hearing them for the second time.

Lu Yin stared at Long Xi. During this time, he was disguised as Long Qi, and he had been betrothed to Long Xi. It was their wedding night.

It was the night that Long Xi had given Lu Yin her blood essence. It was the night that she had been officially regarded as his wife.

When it had happened in the past, Lu Yin’s heart had been set on Ming Yan. He had not cared about Long Xi and had failed to understand her despair.

She loved Lu Xiaoxuan deeply, and her heart had died the moment he married Bai Xian'er.

Lu Yin stared at Long Xi. Her blue hair shimmered like a dream, beautiful in the dim candlelight. Her eyes were filled with sorrow and despair. She would never truly marry anyone, so long as she lived.

This time, Lu Yin was overcome with guilt. He had been too selfish in the past, and he had never truly considered Long Xi, believing that she merely saw him as a substitute for Lu Xiaoxuan.

The truth was that, regardless of whether he was Lu Yin or Lu Xiaoxuan, both were the most important person to Long Xi.

Lu Xiaoxuan was Long Xi’s true love.

Lu Yin was Long Xi’s husband.

This was something that could never change, and Long Xi had never wanted it to change.

“Do you know why I’m willing to marry you?” Long Xi looked at Lu Yin and asked.

Lu Yin slowly let out a breath. His countless attempts to alter karma had left him numb and exhausted. Seeing Long Xi, he suddenly felt the warmth of home that he had long been missing.

This woman’s love for him was no weaker than what Luo Shen or Ming Yan held for him. Long Xi had simply never expressed it.

Where was she now? What was she thinking about?

After the fall of the White Dragon Clan, how lonely must she have become?

On impulse, Lu Yin embraced Long Xi. Her familiar scent calmed his restless heart. He had resolved himself to do everything possible to prevent the Tianyuan Megaverse’s defeat. No matter how intricate or intangible the threads of karma might be, he would grab hold of them.

“Let go of me! How dare you!” Long Xi sharply reprimanded him. Tiny dragon scales appeared on her skin, and her pupils grew slitted as horns emerged from her forehead. She used immense strength to break free from Lu Yin’s embrace, attacking his forehead, only to stop just short of hitting him.

Lu Yin looked at Long Xi.

Her eyes were filled with anger and unspeakable grief. She was already overcome by sorrow and despair. This night was her final farewell to her Brother Xiaoxuan, though she was determined to preserve her purity for him.

She had not expected to be taken advantage of by this man.

Lu Yin softly let his breath back out. “I’m back, Sister Xi.”

The anger instantly vanished from Long Xi’s eyes. Instead, there was only shock and disbelief. She stared blankly at Lu Yin. “You… what did you just call me?”

Lu Yin smiled as he rubbed his nose. He set his hand on Long Xi’s head and tugged at her dragon horns. “So is this the White Dragon Transformation? How interesting. Sister Xi, teach me this, and I’ll teach you the Hidden Needle.”

These were the words that Lu Xiaoxuan had spoken when he had first met Long Xi.

Lu Xiaoxuan alone had ever called her Sister Xi. Long Xi had hated the name and had forbidden Lu Xiaoxuan from calling her that ever again, and he never had.

Only Lu Xiaoxuan had ever called Long Xi Sister Xi. It was a nickname that belonged solely to him.

Lu Yin had acquired some of Lu Xiaoxuan’s memories and had seen bits of the past.

Long Xi’s eyes flushed red as she stared at Lu Yin in a daze. Her hands lost all strength and fell to her sides. “You… are you Brother Xiaoxuan?”

Lu Yin wiped the corners of her eyes. “The four ruling powers exiled my Lu family, and I was thrown into the Fifth Mainland. Now, I’ve returned as Lu Yin, and I will take back everything that is mine.

“This isn’t just for me, but also for Big Sister, Second Brother, Third Brother, Fourth Sister, Fifth Brother, and Sixth Sister. All of their debts need to be settled.

“I know who the Lu family’s enemies are, and I also know your pain, Sister Xi. This time, this is my choice.”

Long Xi closed her eyes, sending tears streaming down her face as she crumpled to the floor, crying helplessly.

Lu Yin looked out at the midnight sky as he once again embraced Long Xi.

They spent a long time talking, even losing track of time. Lu Yin shared his regrets from his time as both Lu Xiaoxuan and as Lu Yin. There were many details that Long Xi was unable to understand, but she did not need to. She knew that she was with Brother Xiaoxuan again; her Brother Xiaoxuan had returned to her.

“Brother Xiaoxuan, I’ve missed you,” Long Xi said, her cheeks flushed as she lay curled in Lu Yin’s arms. He picked up the soft fragrance of her long blue hair.

He lowered his head to look into Long Xi’s eyes. They shone like brilliant stars. He did not even notice how her gaze banished his worries about the future. His countless attempts to alter karma had left him utterly exhausted. At this moment, he wanted to think about nothing at all. He wanted to let go of everything. At this moment, he just wanted to go home.

He slowly lowered his head, and the warmth of her lips drove the cold wind away. Clothes fell away, exposing a beauty that took his breath away. Blue and white blended in a splendid manner…

The new choice made that night did not alter the future. It only changed the bond that existed between Lu Yin and Long Xi.

Karma still continued along its predetermined path. He went to the Dominion Realm and fought to acquire Origin Matter. Lu Yin hid Long Xi in Zenith Mountain. Her name was registered in the White Dragon Clan’s records. Lu Yin’s identity was exposed, and he was forced to flee from Dragon Mountain. Nothing changed, except for his relationship with Long Xi. Lu Yin did not capture her out of necessity, but instead kept her with him in order to protect her.

Time continued to flow. Lu Yin took Long Xi with him, and she became pregnant. Eventually, she gave birth to a child.

The moment he laid eyes on his child, Lu Yin felt something that he had never experienced before. This attempt to alter the path of karma was one that he did not want to leave.

He did not want to abandon this choice. He could not bear to be separated from Long Xi or their child. They named him Little Xiaoxuan, and he was absolutely adorable.

Lu Yin’s alternate karmic path could not last. He eventually returned to the Mirari Realm, where he instinctively searched for Long Xi and Little Xiaoxuan, but everything he had experienced was false. It had all just been an illusion.

It had been nothing more than an attempt to alter karma.

The outcome remained the same as ever. Regardless of what had happened between Lu Yin and Long Xi, it was not enough to change the karma of the megaverse. Lu Yin grew anxious, desperate, and determined to find his wife and child.

Right—the fruit! Lu Yin looked around and saw a fruit that had just formed. It was the fruit that represented the karmic path he had just experienced.

Lu Yin stared at the fruit.

He plucked it and ate it, thinking that doing so would allow him to return to that particular choice, or even return Long Xi and Little Xiaoxuan to him from that karmic choice.

But nothing changed.

Lu Yin continued, devouring one fruit after another. It felt as though he was returning to his previous karmic choices, seeing the events like a dream. He saw Long Xi holding Little Xiaoxuan before they both disappeared. They were both false; nothing more than an alternate choice within Lu Yin’s karma.

He desperately tried to stop them from vanishing, or to at least bring them back, but they were gone all the same.

Immortality. That was the only way to prevent this from happening. Only an Immortal could see through karma. Lu Yin had never desired to achieve Immortality as badly as he did at this moment.

Another fruit appeared, but this one opened its eyes and looked at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin saw everything that the fruit had experienced and sighed with regret. “All who awaken look at me the same way. This karma most aligns with my original nature. But unfortunately, the path to Immortality is ruthless. In this universe, it’s necessary to abandon your former self. By eating you, I’ll be close to achieving perfection.”

Lu Yin suddenly froze. He and the fruit Lu Yin both stared at each other in a daze.

Were those really his own words?

Were they not the exact same words that the giant Lu Yin had spoken when he had first entered the Mirari Realm’s Karma Sanctum?