Star Odyssey

Chapter 3878: Suicide

It was no wonder why Baisha Tiancheng tried to lure Lu Yin to the Cheng family’s estate. Even if Cheng Gong fled, Baisha Tiencheng still had to find a way to kill Lu Yin because there was no doubt that Lu Yin would eventually kill Cheng Gong. He was a hidden threat, and likely a condition that Cheng Gong had given before leaving the Cheng family: if they did not kill Lu Yin, the Cheng family would come to an end. Only by killing Lu Yin would Cheng Gong allow the family to endure.

His son had been killed by Lu Yin in the Spirit Nidus, and Cheng Gong had hated Lu Yin to his core.

Jue Ling asked in disbelief, “How could all of the mighty Cheng family’s descendants have been killed by Cheng Gong? Were you all so foolish?”

Baisha Tiancheng’s eyes opened back up. “When someone completely lets go of their morals, what can they not do?

“Ever since Cheng Gong returned to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, he received Yue Ya’s support, which caused his strength to rise quickly. He became second only to me. More than a decade ago, when Mr. Lu’s name first shook the East Domain, Cheng Gong started to prepare a poison. It specifically targeted cultivators, but no one could have ever imagined that he would poison his own family. Recently, when he learned that Mr. Lu was coming to the West Domain, he killed all of my Cheng family’s descendants with that poison before fleeing. He forced my family onto a path where we had no choice but to kill Mr. Lu.

“168,300 members of the Cheng family were killed, and I alone survived. Unfortunately, I lost the ability to produce any more heirs long ago. I, Baisha Tiancheng, have failed the ancestors of my Cheng family. All I can do to repay them is die.”

The ground beneath the old man’s feet started to shake and then tore open. “But before I die, I will show the Nine Odysseys Megaverse the true brilliance of my Cheng family!”

Then, he started carving in the void, instantly releasing nineteen sourcebox arrays that attacked Lu Yin.

The sight of nineteen carvings instantly appearing stunned Yu Jing, Jue Ling, and everyone else. Even the Cheng family’s followers were completely shocked. To their knowledge, Baisha Tiancheng was only capable of instantly carving twelve sourcebox arrays. Even if he had been concealing his strength, fifteen should have been his absolute limit. No one had ever imagined that the man had reached a level of mastery where he could instantly carve nineteen arrays.

Additionally, these nineteen sourcebox arrays did not possess ordinary danger zones; each one was incomparably sharp. As the nineteen attacks fell, even Lu Yin turned his head slightly to study them.

Baisha Tiancheng wanted the Nine Odysseys Megaverse to see the brilliance of his Cheng family, as well as his own abilities.

He wanted to vent his rage and humiliation. While the old man certainly wanted to kill Cheng Gong for slaughtering the Cheng family’s heirs, Baisha Tiancheng wanted to kill Lu Yin even more. If not for Lu Yin, the Cheng family would have never fallen. The old man knew that it was impossible for him to defeat Lu Yin, so his goal was to push the entire Nine Odysseys Megaverse to curse the young man and hate him.

He would only have one chance to strike. While releasing the nineteen carvings, Baisha Tiancheng roared, “Lu Yin, you are the one who drove my Cheng family to extinction! My Cheng family has fallen, and the method of carving sourcebox arrays will vanish with us! The Nine Odysseys Megaverse will never again possess the art of carving! You have sinned against the Nine Odysseys Megaverse! You are a monster!”

The old man’s voice echoed across the sky. He wanted the entire Nine Odysseys Megaverse to know that Lu Yin was the one responsible for making the method of carving sourcebox arrays vanish from existence. The Cheng family had studied the Skyveil Megaverse’s most powerful attack method that relied on spirit treasures, and the Nine Odysseys Megaverse would not be willing to let that method vanish forever.

Lu Yin needed to suffer as well. The Cheng family was already done for, and Baisha Tiancheng was determined to drag Lu Yin down with them.

Unless the man was a genuine Immortal, he would not be able to explain himself to the entire Nine Odysseys Megaverse. Not even the Immortal Greater Sancti would be willing to just let him off if the carving method was lost.

Die! All of us will die!

Fury caused Baisha Tiancheng’s features to twist. It was almost as if he could already see Lu Yin being cursed and hated by the countless people of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. The Tianyuan Megaverse wanted to join the Nine Odysseys Megaverse? That would become impossible. With the loss of the Cheng family, the Tianyuan would never join the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

Suddenly, a powerful wind blew by, and everything in Baisha Tiancheng’s vision changed.

Lu Yin still stood before the old man, looking as calm and composed as ever. Everyone else nearby was staring at Baisha Tiancheng in confusion.

The old man was even more bewildered. He was still holding the nineteen carved sourcebox arrays. He had never released them. He could clearly remember attacking Lu Yin, so why were his attacks still in his hands?

“If you don’t release them soon, those nineteen arrays will kill you instead.” Lu Yin casually mentioned, a smirk touching his lips, though his eyes were icy.

Word Manifestation: words served as the brush, while the universe acted as the canvas. Lu Yin had already sensed that there was something wrong with Baisha Tiancheng’s behavior, so he had used the power of Word Manifestation to prompt the old man into doing exactly what he desired. Baisha Tiancheng had fallen into an illusion of manifested thought and consciousness, which had altered his entire perception. To Baisha Tiancheng, everything that he had seen was real. He was completely incapable of breaking free from Lu Yin’s power of Word Manifestation.

As Lu Yin expected, the Cheng family patriarch had wanted to pin the blame for the disappearance of the carving technique onto Lu Yin. The carving method was not at all simple. It was the most valuable attack method that had been found in the Skyveil Megaverse’s legacies that used sourcebox arrays’ danger zones. If the loss of such a method were blamed on Lu Yin, many people throughout the Nine Odysseys Megaverse would undoubtedly come to resent him, and some would see that as more than sufficient reason to condemn him.

This was a cage that Baisha Tiancheng had created with his own death. It was made to trap himself and the Tianyuan Megaverse.

How vicious.

Lu Yin was not the reason for the destruction of the Cheng family. He had never intended to drag the entire clan into his feud with Cheng Gong. It was no different from the Autumnspring Slip; those who attacked Lu Yin deserved death, but he had spared the innocent disciples.

Baisha Tiancheng stared down at his own hands. What’s going on? I clearly just attacked him.

Why... has everything changed?

Temporal reversion?

Lu Yin stared at the old man intently. “Baisha Tiancheng, you have shown everyone the brilliance of your Cheng family. Instantly carving nineteen arrays? Truly impressive. But ultimately, everything was ruined by Cheng Gong, wasn’t it?”

Baisha Tiancheng’s pupils shrank and he roared back, “Yes! Everything was ruined by that traitor, Cheng Gong! That bastard betrayed his own clan and wiped out my Cheng family! It was him! All him!”

The old man’s face grew flushed, and he coughed up blood. No! That’s not what I wanted to say. I was supposed to condemn Lu Yin as a sinner! Why did it turn out so differently?

Baisha Tiancheng was unable to control his own body, and he could not say the words that he wanted to speak. He could not even release the nineteen formations that he held.

“My Cheng family was destroyed by that traitor! I, Baisha Tiancheng, cannot accept this! I’ve wronged Mr. Lu! I’ve wronged Skyveil City!” The man continued to rage, his eyes growing bloodshot from the effort of trying to force out the words that he actually wanted to speak, but which he could not get out. The internal war being waged within him resulted in even more blood being coughed up.

He crumpled to his knees, still facing Lu Yin. The old man looked up to glare at Lu Yin. Baisha Tiancheng knew that his body was being controlled. Somehow, Lu Yin was able to silently manipulate him. This man was far more terrifying than anyone had imagined. The sword intent that he had released was not his true power. This form of control was.

To effortlessly control a peak Dukkhan, was it possible that the young man really was an Immortal?

It had not merely been Baisha Tiancheng’s body that had been controlled; he had been forced to speak words that he had not wanted to say. He isn’t human! He’s no different from the Immortal Greater Sancti! This man is a god.

Out of everyone present, only Lu Yin and Baisha Tiancheng knew what was actually happening. Unfortunately for Baisha Tiancheng, he was unable to utter so much as a single word on his own. Even if he wanted to beg for mercy, he was incapable of doing so. Lu Yin would no longer allow the man to speak on his own.

It was all over.

“The Cheng family has failed to teach our children! We have shamed the Nine Odysseys Megaverse!” After letting out yet another roar, the old man slammed his hands into his own body. The nineteen arrays instantly engulfed him, and as everyone watched on, Baisha Tiancheng was reduced to ashes.

Everyone in and around the Cheng family’s estate stared on blankly. They had seen more in this one day than in the rest of their lives.

Even Yu Jing and Jue Ling looked a bit lost.

In particular, they struggled to understand Baisha Tiancheng’s death.

Had he... committed suicide?

Why? As an atonement?

The two turned to look at Lu Yin. Had the man done something? That should be impossible. Baisha Tiancheng had been a peak Dukkhan. No matter what power Lu Yin might have, it should be impossible for a peak Dukkhan to die so mysteriously in front of so many people. The only answer was that he really had committed suicide.

However, Yu Jing and Jue Ling were very familiar with Baisha Tiancheng, and they knew how cunning and power hungry that old fox had been. Otherwise, Cheng Gong would have never been sent to the Spirit Nidus. It could be said that Cheng Gong had been Baisha Tiancheng’s own protégé.

Would such a person... really kill himself?

Lu Yin shook his head as he sighed. “Cheng Gong alone brought ruin upon the Cheng family. Baisha Tiancheng... you could say that he got what he wanted, as he did indeed show us the Cheng family’s brilliance in his final moments. That brilliance is what killed him.”

No one could argue, as Lu Yin had simply spoken the truth.

He looked over at the surviving cultivators who belonged to the Cheng family. There were hundreds of thousands of them, all trembling. None of them knew what fate might await them.

“You may go,” Lu Yin said.

The Cheng family’s followers all stared at Lu Yin. In their eyes was a desperate desire to live.

Lu Yin waved a hand. “My grudge was against Cheng Gong, and it never involved the Cheng family. Baisha Tiancheng is also dead now. Leave.”

After hearing Lu Yin’s words, the Cheng family’s followers quickly bowed and fled. They were not members of the Cheng family, but merely cultivators who had joined the clan. The Cheng family itself had already been wiped out by Cheng Gong.

In the blink of an eye, only Lu Yin, Yu Jing, and Jue Ling remained within the Cheng family’s estate. Everyone else had run away.

As for the people who had been hired by the Cheng family to help kill Lu Yin, they had vanished long ago.

All of the family’s scheming had been undone by a single sword.

Grand wars did not always get a grand ending.

Finally, Lu Yin looked at Yu Jing and Jue Ling.

The two exchanged a glance, and then they turned to Lu Yin and offered him deep bows. “We did not know about the Cheng family’s schemes. If we have offended you in any way, Mr. Lu, we ask for your forgiveness.”

Lu Yin observed the two people. “Do you know anything about the Cheng family’s carving method?”

Yu Jing and Jue Ling both shook their heads. Lu Yin continued to stare at the two patriarchs, yet neither tried to avoid his gaze.

“Go. I will visit you both within the next few days,” Lu Yin said lightly.

The two nodded and left the Cheng family’s territory.

“Did Baisha Tiancheng really kill himself?” Yu Jing’s expression grew heavy.

Jue Ling replied, “It looked that way.”

“I don’t believe it.”

“So what?”

Yu Jing sighed. He tipped his head back so that he could look up at the stars. “I just feel... that when facing Mr. Lu, your life is no longer in your own hands.”

Jue Ling was reminded of what Jue Qing had mentioned about the possibility that Lu Yin had comprehended the power of karma, and a chill ran through her body. Karma... A sword that crossed two domains... Neither of the two patriarchs could possibly oppose such power. “Don’t overthink things. Neither of us attacked him. That’s about the only stroke of luck that we’ve seen in this entire catastrophe.”

Yu Jing glanced over at Jue Ling. “There’s the Cheng family’s carving method.”

Jue Ling frowned and looked back toward the Cheng family’s estate, but then she shook her head and said no more.

Yu Jing also glanced back just once. From this day forward, there would no longer be the Cheng family in Skyveil City—no, in the entire Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

Once everyone was gone, Lu Yin swept through the area with his consciousness and shattered the remaining traps that were hidden underground. He carefully searched through every corner of the Cheng family, until he found the clan’s treasury.

He also still had a cosmic ring in his hand. It had once belonged to Baisha Tiancheng.

Lu Yin had taken it before the old man died, along with a drop of his blood. However, when Lu Yin opened it, there had been nothing inside the cosmic ring.

Baisha Tiancheng had prepared too thoroughly.

He had accounted for everything; he had plotted against all outside influences, as well as prepared for the worst possible outcome.

If the Cheng family had failed to use the three-clan covenant to kill Lu Yin, there was no doubt that they would be destroyed. But even in death, Baisha Tiancheng had wanted to ensure that Lu Yin became an enemy of the entire Nine Odysseys Megaverse. That was the least that Cheng Gong had been willing to accept. Only by making Lu Yin a public enemy would Cheng Gong have even had a chance at surviving. Climbing Whither Peak had never been his sole option.

As long as Baisha Tiancheng could accomplish the task that he had been given, Cheng Gong would have been willing to give the Cheng family another heir.

Since the worst outcome was his own death, Baisha Tiancheng had naturally not wanted to chance leaving anything behind. His cosmic ring had been emptied long ago.