Star Odyssey

Chapter 3784: Outline

The fat man felt that Lu Yin was completely unfathomable, and he grew increasingly wary of him. “The competition for the next Four Commands Grand Swordmaster is about to begin, and I want to join the excitement.”

“What perfect timing! I’m also going. Let’s travel together.”

“You came to find me just because you knew that I’m going to the Four Commands Sword Sect?”

“Can’t I?”

“All right then... Um, can I not go?”

“Fatty, are you challenging me?”

“I don’t dare. We’ll go there right now!”

The carriage accelerated, weaving through the cosmos as it made its way to the Four Commands Sword Sect.

Rather than saying the Mother Tree upheld the sky and the earth, it would be more accurate to say it propped up the entire cosmos. Stars turned above and below, as the heavens met the land at the horizon. Moonlight draped downward while sunlight pierced through from another angle. The entire starry expanse stretched across a backdrop of blue-green canopy, like a painting of the firmament brought to life.

Lu Yin drew back the carriage’s curtain to look out. He took a deep breath and stretched out lazily. He had finally reached the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

He looked out at the streaks of light that darted by like broken bits of a rainbow that merged together into rivers that fell across the sky. It was so beautiful that he could scarcely remember that this was the same place that treated the Spirit Nidus as a farm.

The fat man in the carriage, just like most of the people who had been by the lakeshore, was an externally cultivated spirit seed. The man’s true body was not present. People in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse had a second life.

However, their second life existed by plundering the Spirit Nidus.

It was a sobering thought, but Lu Yin certainly had not expected that the first person he would lay eyes on in the megaverse would be Greater Sancte Green Lotus. Strangely, that encounter had given Lu Yin a bit of hope. Perhaps he would not have as difficult a time in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse as he had imagined.

With the speed of the carriage, it would take a month to travel to the Four Commands Sword Sect from where Lu Yin had encountered the fatty. There was no denying that the Nine Odysseys Megaverse was incredibly vast; it was far larger than both the Spirit Nidus and the Tianyuan megaverses. Just the size of the megaverse’s Mother Tree showed the difference.

The carriage was not a slow method of travel.

After several days had passed, Lu Yin leaned back in the carriage while staring out at the horizon. He casually asked, “Fatty, what’s your name?”

“Si Jiushi.”

Lu Yin looked over. “It’s a nice name. It fits you perfectly.”

The fatty gave an awkward smile. “May I ask your name, Senior?”

“Just call me Seventh Bro.”

Si Jiushi’s face twitched. “Of course, Seventh Bro.”

“Are you just going to the Four Commands Sword Sect to watch the fun?”

“Yes. The Four Commands Sword Sect collects sword techniques, and each direction nurtures a specific sword qi. Eventually, those four sword Qis unite, and the one who does that becomes the Sword Master. The Four Commands Grand Swordmaster is one of the most elite experts beneath the Sancti in our Nine Odysseys Megaverse. Witnessing the rise of such a person might give me some inspiration. I might even be able to gain a bit of enlightenment.”

“What does the birth of a Sword Master have to do with you? They use swords, while you use palm strikes. Anything that you hope to learn from them, I can also teach you.”

The fat man blinked. “What would you teach me?”

Lu Yin smiled faintly. “The Five-Palm Art.”

The fatty’s face twitched slightly, and his tone stiffened. “Please don’t joke about that, Senior. The Five-Palm Art is my Five-Palm Sect’s ultimate technique. How could you possibly know it?”

The members of the Five-Palm Sect feared no one. The fat man might be incapable of defeating Lu Yin. However, while he could accept needing to humble himself, he could never accept being humiliated. That was the spirit of the Five-Palm Sect, the place that gave rise to fearless rebels who dreamed of toppling the Sancti.

Lu Yin did not bother arguing. “If I say I know it, then I know it. If you want to learn, just ask. I’ll teach you in payment for serving as a signpost.”

Signpost? Si Jiushi did not understand the comment, but said nothing. He was afraid that he might curse this Seventh Bro if he opened his mouth.

The carriage passed by long stretches of land and sky. There were times when strangely-shaped astral beasts would travel across the sky.

Over the course of half a month, Lu Yin saw many different beasts. The Nine Odysseys Megaverse seemed to have a speciality in subduing astral beasts. Was it similar to the ancient Heavens Sect?

On a certain day, the sound of ringing bells echoed from deep beneath the earth. The sound was followed by boisterous laughter. “My son will be brave and slay powerful foes! He will become worthy of becoming a Lesser Sancte. This old man is grateful to the heavens!”

As the voice faded, beams of multicolored light exploded in all directions.

Lu Yin raised a hand and grabbed one of the beams. It carried spirit seeds, and quite a number of them at that.

He glanced over at Si Jiushi, who explained, “A talented child has been born into his family, and people wish to show their gratitude to the universe, hoping to win favor so that their child’s path will be smooth.

“Greater Sancte Green Lotus’s cultivation of karma has influenced many generations in our megaverse. Everyone believes that cause leads to effect. Gratitude today will surely bear fruit tomorrow.”

Lu Yin casually collected the spirit seeds. “Interesting.

“For you to possess such strength at your age, has your Five-Palm Sect performed a demonstration of gratitude to the universe?”

Si Jiushi scoffed. “We struggle against the universe. Whoever rules simply becomes our target to overthrow. Why should we be grateful?”

Lu Yin laughed. “Does that mean that you also want to overthrow Greater Sancte Green Lotus?”

Si Jiushi was at a loss for words.

Lu Yin calmly continued to say, “Even that child down there received gratitude from the universe, and yet the young geniuses in the Scion Spire are not universally blessed by the entire megaverse.”

Si Jiushi replied, “The Young Sancti are true geniuses with talent that is rare to find throughout history. Such a person might only appear once per generation, or even once in several generations. Properly giving thanks for such a genius would be too grand. I remember seeing an ancient record stating that, when the Skyward Gate’s Luo family produced Luo Ning, their display of gratitude shook the entire Nine Odysseys Megaverse.”

Lu Yin asked, “There’s another Young Sancte by the name Qian Shu in the Scion Spire, isn’t there?”

Si Jiushi nodded. “That’s right, there is. He’s from the Autumnspring Slip.”

“Tell me more.”

“Senior, are you asking about Qian Shu, or the Autumnspring Slip?”

“Both.”

Si Jiushi hesitated. “I don’t know much about Qian Shu, so I can only tell you about the Autumnspring Slip.

“There are only a few powers in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse that truly qualify as major forces. My Five-Palm Sect is one, the Luo family of the Skyward Gate is another, and the Autumnspring Slip is as well. It's centered around a drifting bamboo slip with no fixed location; it floats freely through the Nine Odysseys. Wherever it drifts, that becomes its domain. That bamboo slip is the Autumnspring Slip, and it’s a mirebound artifact.”

Lu Yin was taken aback. “It’s a mirebound artifact?”

Si Jiushi nodded, his expression solemn. “A mirebound artifact from a foreign megaverse. It was seized during a campaign involving the Sixth Night Pillar. Back then, the patriarch of the Autumnspring Slip broke ties with the Sixth Night Pillar just to claim that bamboo slip. Whether it was worth it is hard to say. The Autumnspring Slip has gone on to cultivate generations of powerful cultivators and established itself as one of the Nine Odysseys’ great powers.

“But if that ancestor had stayed with the Sixth Night Pillar, perhaps he could’ve raised up another generation there, or earned even greater spoils through war with other megaverses. No one knows for sure.

“Still, the Autumnspring Slip’s cultivation method is unique. They write with a brush...”

Lu Yin stared out the window as he listened to Si Jiushi, his eyes narrowing in thought.

The Sixth Night Pillar... war with other megaverses... These were things that Lu Yin had never heard of before.

Ru Guo had never mentioned such matters, and neither had any of the other captured cultivators from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. It was possible that they saw such things as common knowledge, but it was also possible that they felt that someone of Lu Yin’s status had no need to be told of such things.

It was true that Lu Yin’s strength qualified him to immediately compete for the title of Lesser Sancte, should he join the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. Whether he succeeded or not was an entirely different matter, but there was no denying that he was qualified to join the competition.

Such people were rare enough to warrant a great deal of leniency. As Ru Guo might say, there were certain matters that only a select few needed to be privy to.

However, Lu Yin was not just one man. He was carrying the entire Tianyuan Megaverse on his back, striving to secure its future. Ru Guo could have never imagined that Lu Yin would pursue the title of Lesser Sancte, let alone that he would one day be sent out to fulfill seven impossible requests.

What Lu Yin was most concerned about was hearing about the Nine Odysseys’ wars with other megaverses. Through listening to Si Jiushi, Lu Yin started to understand a bit better, and he also got a clearer picture of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

He had once assumed that people were referring to the Spirit Nidus or the Consciousness Megaverse when they had mentioned other megaverses, but Lu Yin was coming to learn that the Nine Odysseys Megaverse considered all three megaverses, including the Tianyuan, as a single group. The other megaverses that they spoke of were beyond those three megaverses, and the Tianyuan had absolutely no knowledge of such things.

The Spirit Nidus forbade anyone from using the original springboard out of fear. They feared being discovered by other civilizations and attracting the attention of powerful enemies.

They had no idea that, to those other civilizations, the Nine Odysseys Megaverse was the fearsome enemy whom they hoped would never find them.

Si Jiushi had only intended to speak about the Autumnspring Slip, but the connection to the Sixth Night Pillar naturally led to the topic of other megaverses. Since Lu Yin had not asked about such matters directly, Si Jiushi had not realized that Lu Yin was a foreigner. The most important detail was that Lu Yin did not have the aura of a foreigner.

Lu Yin went against conventional expectations, and because of that, Si Jiushi did not even think to consider such a possibility.

“In short, all of the people from the Autumnspring Slip are sneaky hypocrites. Don’t be fooled by their scholarly attitude or dignified appearance; all of them are hiding daggers behind their smiles.” It was readily apparent that Si Jiushi had a strong dislike for the Autumnspring Slip, so when he noticed that Lu Yin was not at all offended, the insults grew much harsher.

“How does the Autumnspring Slip compare to your Five-Palm Sect?” Lu Yin asked.

Si Jiushi scoffed. “A flock of songbirds! How could they hope to compare to our Five-Palm Sect? We’ve taken down a Lesser Sancte before. In comparison, the only thing that those people from the Autumnspring Slip know how to do is curry favor with the Sancti. If Qian Shu hadn’t managed to form a connection with a Lesser Sancte, they’d have nothing to brag about.”

Lu Yin glanced at Si Jiushi. Only about seventy percent of what this man said could be trusted.

Was the Autumnspring Slip really that much weaker than the Five-Palm Sect? Not necessarily.

“What about the Ruler Garden? Where do they stand?”

“They’re not bad—decently powerful, I would say. Still, they’re nowhere close to us! Even the Autumnspring Slip’s a bit better than them. Still, no one dares to offend the Ruler Garden, since they’re backed by Lesser Sancte Yue Ya. Well, now that he’s lost his title of Sancte, I’m guessing that the Ruler Garden won’t be having a good time in the future.”

“What’s their current situation like?”

“I have no idea. They’re too far away, so I haven’t heard anything.”

Lu Yin frowned. According to Chao Yi, the Ruler Garden had already been wiped out. If that was true, how could Si Jiushi have not heard about it? Distance was not an obstacle for powerful cultivators... unless news regarding the Ruler Garden was being deliberately suppressed.

“What about Deathmound?”

Si Jiushi was taken aback. “Uh... Seventh Bro, have you been in seclusion your whole life? How do you not even know about Deathmound?”

Lu Yin calmly replied, “I’ve only spoken with Chao Yi once or twice, so I don’t know much about them.”

“Chao Yi? Deathmound’s Sixth peak lord? You’ve met him?”

“We just exchanged a few words.”

“So, you two aren’t close?”

“No.”

“I thought not. Those Deathmound people are as cold as ice. They won’t crack a smile even for a Lesser Sancte. Still, you can’t afford to offend them. They operate outside of both the Nine Odysseys and the Temporal Heavens, reporting directly to one of the Greater Sancti, though no one knows which one.”

The Nine Odysseys and the Temporal Heavens? More new terms. Lu Yin made a mental note but didn’t ask further.