Star Odyssey

Chapter 3770: Not A Single One

“I thought your compassion had already disappeared back when you saw through who I truly was,” a cool voice stated.

Jiang Feng replied in a flat tone, “I have never been merciful. After surviving my planet’s apocalypse, mercy became a luxury. Boundless is still in the Spirit Nidus, and it might perhaps still exist, but it also might not. We can’t tell what sort of the upheaval the descent of the Nest civilization will bring.”

“Boundless understands the threat of the Nests far better than the Spirit Nidus ever could.”

“Master Qing Cao is also aware.”

“That’s the way of life in the omniverse: whoever is exposed dies. No one ever said that you can’t simply throw a torch away.”

Jiang Feng turned back to face the slender figure. “Sister Qing, you’re as rational as ever.”

Bai Qing’s eyes, which had just been ice cold, softened when the man turned to face her. “Cold-blooded sounds better. Jiang Feng, you are not wrong.”

Jiang Feng clasped his hands behind his back as he sighed. “Let’s hope so.”

...

Another three years flew by. Lu Yin had gathered more than 800 points of light and extracted a tremendous number of karmic bricks. In fact, he had torn out an entire section of a wall of karma.

There was no doubt that the Nine Odysseys Megaverse was behind the wall of karma’s existence, though Lu Yin had no idea why they created such walls. Still, there had to be some purpose behind them. He decided to work on another section next, as staying in the same place was just courting trouble.

As for the Broken Realms, Lu Yin had only destroyed a mere drop in the ocean, compared to what existed throughout the entire Consciousness Megaverse.

There was a great deal more spirit seed liquid in his inner universe. When the Origin Progenitor and the others had captured the five Spirit Nidus battleships, all of the captives’ spirit seeds had been confiscated for Lu Yin, which amounted to a vast amount of resources. While many had cursed the theft, Lu Yin did not care at all.

That liquid was growing increasingly valuable for him as it enabled him to touch Immortal-level power. If word of this got out, everyone would scramble to obtain the liquid for themselves.

That same liquid formed the foundation of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse’s cultivation system. Their cultivators started far above any of the three lower megaverses, and they also enjoyed much greater chances of reaching the Immortal realm.

One day, Lu Yin was resting. He was unable to spend every spare moment of his time extracting karmic bricks.

The High Seraph appeared a short distance from Boundless, making sure he was seen by everyone, even the Spirit Nidus captives.

Those people stared at the High Seraph with complicated expressions. It had been four years since they had learned that the High Seraph had been defeated by Lu Yin. While they were reluctant to believe that the High Seraph had been defeated, everyone knew that no one would lie about such a thing. For that reason, seeing the High Seraph again incited completely different reactions from people.

He was no longer the Spirit Nidus’s invincible High Seraph.

Lu Yin opened his eyes. Mo Shang had finally arrived.

Lu Yin walked to the bow of the battleship. Yu Shan kept glancing out from a distant location on Boundless. He had not expected to be completely forgotten by the High Seraph. In fact, Yu Shan had never even been mentioned by his master. The slight felt even more humiliating than when he had feared being killed by the High Seraph.

“Mo Shang, have you recovered from your injuries?” Lu Yin stared at the High Seraph and clasped his hands behind his back. There was a small smile on his lips.

The High Seraph stood in the middle of outer space as he stared intently at Lu Yin. “Your progress has been astonishing.”

“Thank you.”

“You should know why I’m here.”

“Where is Yue Ya?”

The High Seraph shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“He went to find you.”

“He won’t allow anyone to know his location. Things are not what they were at the start of all this.”

“If you help me capture him, I’ll owe you a favor,” Lu Yin offered.

The High Seraph chuckled. “While your offer may be sincere, I unfortunately don’t know where he is. He may have even returned to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.”

Lu Yin felt helpless. Returned? That was quite unlikely. Yue Ya had paid far too much for the chance to capture Lu Yin. The Ruler Garden had been annihilated, and Yue Ya had committed multiple crimes. Would he even have the courage to return? Still, four years had passed with no sign of him. It was clear that, despite being unwilling to give up on Lu Yin, Yue Ya also had no intention of attacking.

He was waiting for an opportunity.

Unfortunately, that opportunity would never come.

“Let’s go.” Lu Yin waved a hand, and Boundless started moving towards the Willbound Expanse.

There was only one reason for the High Seraph to visit Boundless: to return to the Willbound Spire. If not for that, the man might have very well stayed as far from Boundless as Yue Ya. The battleship was nothing like what it had been when it first entered the Spirit Nidus. It was no longer something that the High Seraph could handle.

Throughout his conversation with Lu Yin, the High Seraph had not spared so much as a glance for the Spirit Nidus’s four battleships, though everyone had heard the exchange. Su Shidao sighed. The once-invincible High Seraph was bowing his head in front of Lu Yin. The younger man held the full initiative, and it was clear to all who had listened.

Zi Tianshu’s face grew pale. If even the High Seraph was powerless before Lu Yin, then what awaited the Spirit Nidus in the future?

The captives from the Spirit Nidus knew nothing of the situation in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. Their thoughts remained limited to the three megaverses.

Their only hope at this point was that Lu Yin really was the invincible being’s disciple. That would at least enable the Spirit Nidus to remain superior to the Tianyuan. People had become desperate to believe that the invincible being was real. An Immortal would mean that the Tianyuan could never overturn the heavens.

The Willbound Expanse loomed in the distance, and yet Lu Yin’s expression remained calm.

No matter how many battles may have raged throughout the megaverse, the Willbound Expanse had always survived unscathed. The moonlit landscape was as beautiful as ever. The babbling brooks and flowers swaying in the breeze were soothing to people’s hearts.

Lu Yin knew that the Broken Realms only existed because of the spots of light within them, but why did those lights even exist? Where did the scenery of the Willbound Expanse come from? There had to be an origin to it all.

Could it be the representation of another creature’s longing for its homeland?

Despite how lonely the small cottage was, it also possessed a certain warmth.

The High Seraph looked at the Willbound Expanse from a distance, and then he turned to look at Boundless and Lu Yin.

The young man had changed. The High Seraph could sense that something had shifted, though he could not say what. There was a vague sense of unease and pressure, and it grew heavier by the moment.

Reason screamed that the High Seraph should avoid any further contact with Lu Yin, but he had no other choice, not so long as he wanted to enter the Willbound Spire.

There could not be any falling out before they arrived at the bottom of the cliff.

The High Seraph frowned. While Lu Yin had indeed been victorious during their battle four years prior, why was the feeling of unease so much stronger than back then?

Soon, Boundless stopped outside of the Willbound Expanse, the Spirit Nidus’s four battleships still in tow. Lu Yin, the Origin Progenitor, and the High Seraph all entered the thatched hut, proceeding in the exact same manner as before.

Just as before, the three arrived at the bottom of the steep cliff.

Looking up at the vague form of the palace atop the cliff, Lu Yin and the Origin Progenitor both turned to look at the High Seraph. Instead of unleashing Everlasting Will, the High Seraph solemnly faced the other two men. “Swear that, once we arrive up there, each of us will rely on our own skill to approach the palace and that none of us will strike another.”

Lu Yin arched a brow. “What do you mean?”

The High Seraph met Lu Yin’s gaze. “I lost during our last exchange. Even the idea of climbing the cliff with just you makes me uneasy, let alone with him accompanying you.”

The man glanced at the Origin Progenitor. “I won’t object to him joining us, as he serves as your second pair of eyes on me, but I will also not agree to place myself in needless danger.

“Swear that neither side will attack the other. Should any of us break that vow, the Immortal realm will remain forever out of reach.”

The Origin Progenitor shook his head. “You’ve lost faith in yourself. Pillar has already proven that he can defeat you on his own.”

“This is not a debate,” the High Seraph cut in.

The Origin Progenitor glanced at Lu Yin, who let out an internal sigh. He had indeed planned to capture the High Seraph after arriving at the top of the cliff. Given Lu Yin’s newfound strength, capturing the man would be easy. Unfortunately, the High Seraph was too cautious. Even so, his conditions were not a surprise. Anyone who was capable of becoming a peak Dukkhan would develop an instinctive sense of danger that went beyond mere caution.

When Yue Ya had cooperated with the Ruler Garden to ambush them, Lu Yin and the Origin Progenitor had both sensed the danger awaiting them, and they had moved Boundless to a parallel universe beforehand. If they had not done that, fighting while also trying to protect the battleship would have been ruinous for those aboard, and Lu Yin would have struggled to escape.

If a megaverse’s karma was pre-written, then ordinary humans lived solely beneath its restriction. There were times when cultivators might sense impending peril, and a peak Dukkhan would invariably feel a forewarning of approaching danger. However, such premonitions could not guarantee escape. That all depended on their own abilities.

Lu Yin finally agreed. “Very well. Since you’re so afraid, I-”

He abruptly broke off and stared blankly into the High Seraph’s eyes.

The Origin Progenitor looked over at Lu Yin, puzzled by his reaction, and then he also glanced at the High Seraph. The High Seraph was also staring blankly, but not at Lu Yin. Instead, the man was looking behind Lu Yin, which was also behind the Origin Progenitor.

The old man spun around, only to see Master Qing Cao.

Lu Yin also turned around and stared at a distant location. Master Qing Cao?

The bottom of the cliff grew deathly silent. Lu Yin, the Origin Progenitor, and even the High Seraph all stared at Master Qing Cao in shock. His arrival defied all expectations.

Master Qing Cao observed the three men before him. “Before coming here, I never considered that matters in the Consciousness Megaverse would become so chaotic. Even Green Lotus’s karmic power has been agitated. It appears that the Nine Odysseys Megaverse is meddling quite a bit this time.”

Lu Yin’s heart sank as he looked at Master Qing Cao. “When I left the Tianyuan, I wondered when we would next meet. I didn’t think that it would take so long.”

Master Qing Cao sighed. “Lord Lu, for you to have forced Mo Shang to such straits, you truly have made incredible progress.”

The Immortal then looked up at the top of the cliff. “This cliff... It’s best not to climb it.”

“Mo Shang isn’t allowed either?” the Origin Progenitor asked.

Master Qing Cao replied calmly, “No one is.”

Lu Yin gave the High Seraph an odd look. “Aren’t you two supposed to be on the same side?”

The High Seraph focused solely on Master Qing Cao. “I am confident that I can reach the palace.”

Master Qing Cao shook his head. “You cannot.”

“Regardless, I will try. If the Spirit Nidus gains a second Immortal, we will not be suppressed like so and treated as a farm by Nine Odysseys Megaverse,” the High Seraph declared.

Master Qing Cao’s attention passed from Lu Yin and the Origin Progenitor. He stared intently at the High Seraph. With a single step, the Immortal instantly arrived directly in front of the three men, and he gently flicked a hand.

At that moment, time, space, and everything else surrounding the trio shifted. They had no power to resist.

This was an Immortal’s attack. While Lu Yin had once been sealed in karma by Master Qing Cao, what Lu Yin felt at this moment was entirely different.

When Lu Yin had been sealed, Master Qing Cao had borrowed the karma of the Mirari Realm’s forbidden region.

This time, he was using his power of being utterly untouchable.

Breathing stopped, and Lu Yin’s body was shoved back. He had absolutely no control of himself as he watched everything flow away from him. This was the power of an Immortal. Before such strength, even a peak Dukkhan like the High Seraph could offer no resistance.

The High Seraph lacked the abilities to counter such a force, but the same was not true of Lu Yin.

His eyes flared, and he summoned his consciousness and induced the state of enraged madness. At that moment, he saw the truth of the situation: Master Qing Cao’s strike was nothing more than a single gust of wind, but that wind contained a speck of familiar light.

It was merely a breeze from the wave of a hand, as though shooing away a fly. There was no overwhelming power and no exquisite battle technique; it was just wind. All that stood out was the addition of a point of light. That alone made it an Immortal’s attack.

Lu Yin raised his hand and released a Tri-Azure Sword Intent, which was reinforced with a speck of light as well.

Master Qing Cao’s expression instantly changed. What is this?

The Tri-Azure Sword Intent sliced through the wind, continuing towards Master Qing Cao. This slash severed the cause, as well as effect.