Star Odyssey

Chapter 3648: True Dominance

Xie Jiang told Lu Yin exactly what he had seen. The more Lu Yin heard, the heavier his expression became. Spirit seeds emerging from cultivators’ bodies, which killed them? How could such deaths even be possible? And yet, the population of an entire domain had perished in such a manner.

Xie Jiang himself was absolutely terrified. What he had witnessed was just too horrifying. He felt as if he had seen the Spirit Nidus’s greatest secret. He had gone to Boundless not only because he wanted to join Grandverse Manor in order to advance his own cultivation, but also because he believed that any other choice would land him in grave danger. Only Boundless might be able to grant him safety.

Despite being a Spirit Ancestor, the man had no idea what to make of what he had seen.

Xie Jiang did not have much to say, and he was led away as soon as he finished speaking. Lu Yin allowed the man to join Boundless.

Lu Yin continued standing where he was, a spirit seed in hand.

It was no wonder why Emperor Wu had been forced to take such unusual actions; he had been afraid that the Primal Beastland would suffer the same fate as the River Domain. If every cultivator’s spirit seed parted from their body, killing them, the beast-form Spirit Rebirths would be almost entirely decimated. Their numbers might never recover in the Spirit Nidus.

Was Xing Fan the one responsible? Had he threatened Emperor Wu? Did Xing Fan possess the ability to extract spirit seeds from all cultivators in the Spirit Nidus?

If that was true, then was cultivating with spirit seeds truly cultivation? Why did it feel more like the entire thing was a massive deception?

Spirit seeds had not simply appeared for no reason. Either the Nine Odysseys Megaverse was using them to threaten the Spirit Nidus, or extracting spirit seeds somehow benefited the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

Lu Yin suddenly thought of the seven lands of karma that he had seen, the seven enormous inverted funnels, and the “灵” character that he had seen rising up. Also, there was his own inner universe, which contained liquid refined from spirit seeds.

Could that liquid be connected to what had happened?

Releasing his inner universe, Lu Yin observed the liquid that had pooled on the ground. It was still a miniscule amount. The first time he noticed it, the liquid had only been enough to fill an adult human’s palm. At present, due to how many spirit seeds Lu Yin had gathered, especially the ones that the Chamber of Commerce had given him, it looked like he would eventually have as much liquid as a human body. Time was needed, as the spirit seeds were still liquefying.

If spirit seeds could turn into liquid, then it was possible that the liquid that had risen through the funnels were actually from spirit seeds.

When cultivators in the Spirit Nidus died, their spirit seeds vanished. No one had ever investigated where those seeds went, or at least, not publicly. It was possible that people had indeed studied the matter but had simply failed to find any answers.

It was possible that the spirit seeds of those who died turned into the liquid that rose through the funnels, and it was all taken away by the Nine Odysseys Megaverse on the Day of Offering.

If Lu Yin continued with this line of reasoning, then when cultivators died, their spirit seeds vanished and transformed into liquid. If that was true, then what had happened in the River Domain? Could the Nine Odysseys Megaverse forcefully extract spirit seeds, killing cultivators in the process?

This possibility created yet another scenario: the Spirit Nidus as a whole was being treated as a sacrificial offering; they could be killed or allowed to continue living.

Just who was capable of doing such a thing? A Lesser Sancte, a Greater Sancte?

What position did Master Qing Cao hold?

Emperor Wu was willing to leave the Primal Beastland in order to try to lure me to the Morrow Behemoth’s hand, but he could have never approached the Morrow Behemoth without the High Seraph’s approval. That means that the High Seraph consented, possibly due to what happened to the River Domain. However, Old Salamander intercepted Emperor Wu along the way, preventing this outcome from happening. That could have been the High Seraph’s retaliation.

Lu Yin gradually formed a bigger picture of events that matched with what Old Yu had said.

The ones pulling the strings from behind the scenes were powerful figures from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, most likely the Lesser Sancti.

One was the High Seraph, and another was Xing Fan. Whether or not there were others had yet to be determined.

Lu Yin only felt pity for Emperor Wu. A mighty expert with the strength to challenge the High Seraph had died because of a power struggle between others. If not for Xing Fan’s threat, if Emperor Wu had been given enough time to recover, it would not have been impossible for him to challenge the High Seraph in the future. When a megaverse was reset, Emperor Wu might have been one of the individuals to break through to the Immortal realm.

Such a powerful individual had died a mysterious death, and the reasons for his death remained completely unknown to the public.

Lu Yin let out a deep breath. Compared to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, the Spirit Nidus was in too passive a position. It was such an extreme position that even one of the Seven Seraphs could die while leaving Zhan Ming, Su Shidao, and the others completely in the dark. It was the biggest joke imaginable.

While the Tianyuan Megaverse saw the Spirit Nidus as a powerful enemy, that “enemy” was in an even more pathetic situation than the Tianyuan Megaverse itself.

At least in the Tianyuan Megaverse, nothing like spirit seeds were being used to offer their cultivators as a sacrifice.

The Nine Odysseys Megaverse had total control over the life and death of the entire Spirit Nidus, which meant that the Spirit Nidus was nothing more than a puppet.

Old Yu was right—the High Seraph had been given his power.

The competition for the position of a Greater Sancte included both the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and the Spirit Nidus, and the fighting would only grow more vicious and visible as time passed.

What role should I play in all this?

If Xing Fan was the one who had forced Emperor Wu to try to lure Lu Yin to the Morrow Behemoth’s hand, then he was most likely the Lesser Sancte behind Ru Mu. Why does he want me to go to the Morrow Behemoth’s hand? I once considered the possibility that the Morrow Behemoth’s hand could conceal an entrance to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. If that’s true, then why would Xing Fan want me to go to that megaverse? How would me being there help him in his bid to become a Greater Sancte?

Was Emperor Wu previously helped for the same reason? After seeing Emperor Wu’s defeat, did Xing Fan’s focus shift to me? No, that can’t be right. Ru Mu approached me long before that.

What could be the real reason?

My information is too lacking. Only a handful of people—Old Yu, Jiu Xian, and the High Seraph—might know the truth, but none of them will tell me.

I need to understand my own position in all this before I make any plans. If not, then since the other thirty-six domains can be taken down just like the River Domain, then even if Boundless doesn’t cultivate with spirit seeds, the Nine Odysseys Megaverse is more than strong enough to destroy us. They don’t even need to lift a finger, as they can just order the Spirit Nidus to do it.

As long as I stay in this universe, I can’t escape the pressure of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

All of a sudden, Lu Yin thought of something: it was actually possible to test if the liquid that rose up in the inverted funnels came from spirit seeds.

If the liquid is the same, then since the funnel can hold that liquid, my liquid should also be contained by the funnels. What if I wrap myself in that liquid?

Lu Yin’s eyes lit up, and he immediately left Boundless and headed for the Daquan Domain.

In the past, he had always visited the Consciousness Domain to investigate the land of karma that he had seen, but with Wu Wei already captured, there was no reason for him to return to that domain. Instead, he chose to visit the Daquan Domain because they had spirit seeds.

Everyone in the Spirit Nidus believed that Lu Yin was gathering spirit seeds in an attempt to limit the number of cultivators that would appear in the future in the Spirit Nidus. After all, it was a perfectly plausible excuse.

Naturally, Lu Yin did his best not to let anyone discover that he was visiting the Daquan Domain, but if he was discovered, he could at least use this same excuse. His “preemptive strike” would be seen as nothing more than some extra precautions.

If he were to instead head to the Primal Beastland without cause and be caught there, how would he explain himself?

Lu Yin refused to underestimate the Spirit Nidus.

...

The Yi family controlled a massive territory in the Daquan Domain. Lu Yin arrived on a mountain range just outside of their territory and peered into the distance.

The Yi family had risen to power thanks to Yi Shang. While the man had lost his status as one of the Seven Seraphs, his family had retained their foundation. They still controlled the Daquan Domain and the Chamber of Commerce, and they would continue to do so unless Yi Shang died.

Everyone in the Spirit Nidus knew that Lu Yin had captured Yi Shang in Garden of Passing, and this was what the Yi family was the most uneasy about.

If Yi Shang died or simply disappeared forever, there was no doubt that the Yi family would be replaced.

Many had been eying the Yi family’s position, and they certainly did not trust even Rong Xiang.

Lu Yin lifted a foot and stepped into the mountain range. The rock seemed to melt around him when he came to a stop among the mountains. His consciousness erupted behind him as he released his Nine Heavens and Heaven’s Blade emerged. At the same time, a spiral of karma coiled around his finger. With a single tap of a finger, the two collided.

The seven major powers of the Spirit Nidus also represented the seven lands of karma that were spread across the Spirit Nidus. While Lu Yin had not personally investigated the karma at six of the locations, there was no doubt that they existed.

Karma struck Heaven’s Blade, and the impact rang across the area, though only Lu Yin could hear it. He saw only white for an instant, and then he saw the wall of karma and the massive inverted funnel that blotted out the sky. In the distance, the karma spread out of sight.

While looking at the amazing sight before him, Lu Yin gently waved a hand. The liquid on the mainland within his inner universe boiled as a single drop shot away. It flew towards the funnel and merged with it in the blink of an eye.

Lu Yin’s eyes lit up. It worked!

He reached out a hand, this time with the liquid from the spirit seeds wrapped around it. The liquid writhed as though alive as he reached out to grab the wall of the funnel.

An indescribable sensation appeared the moment he made contact. Was it soft? Hard? Neither was accurate. It felt more like he had grabbed solidified air, as though he had grabbed something ethereal that his hand might pass through at any moment, and yet which could never truly be penetrated.

Lu Yin grabbed the funnel, which meant that he had grabbed karma.

At that moment, the funnel trembled, as did all of the Spirit Nidus’s thirty-six domains. It was as though an earthquake was shaking the entire megaverse.

The High Seraph suddenly stepped out of the Apex Palace in the Ascendant Hall. He stared off into the distance, suppressed excitement filling in his eyes. “In the end, you haven’t disappointed me. Go on. I want to see how far you can go.”

The sky above the Daquan Domain grew dark. It was as though the heavens were pressing down upon the domain, and the pressure made it hard to breathe.

Countless people looked up in shock. They could see nothing, but it felt as though something was about to fall onto them.

Lu Yin quickly let go, and the scenery that he saw instantly changed. The funnel vanished, as did the wall of karma. In an instant, the entire wondrous vision had disappeared.

He looked down at his right hand. He had succeeded in making contact with the funnel formed from karma, but doing so had shaken the entire Spirit Nidus. That was no good. It was too much of a disturbance. Lu Yin was not sure if the High Seraph had already noticed that Lu Yin was responsible for the commotion, but the entire Spirit Nidus was definitely already searching for the source of the anomaly.

The liquid covering his hand felt almost intangible, and yet he had relied on it to touch the funnel.

Sure enough, the liquid within the funnels was formed from spirit seeds.

He was reminded of the tree-lotus vine that Bai Xian’er had once planted. That plant ruthlessly absorbed all nutrients from its surroundings to nourish only itself. Right now, the Nine Odysseys Megaverse was doing the same, siphoning the Spirit Nidus for its own growth. That was how it had produced Immortal-realm Greater Sancti, as well as five Lesser Sancti who stood on par with the High Seraph.

The High Seraph’s power already defied imagination, and yet there were four more people in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse who were just like him. It was utterly terrifying.

Lu Yin was convinced that, overall, the Nine Odysseys Megaverse far surpassed the Spirit Nidus. Naturally, that also meant that it far surpassed the Tianyuan Megaverse.

Using the cultivation system of an entire megaverse for nourishment—that was true dominance.

This also made it seem like the Spirit Nidus’s unified cultivation system might not have been voluntarily adopted. There had likely been hidden influence from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. In that case, what was Master Qing Cao’s role in everything?

The Nine Heavens Transformation reappeared, and Heaven’s Blade emerged yet again. Karma spiraled around Lu Yin’s left hand and then struck the blade.

He decided not to touch the funnel again, as that had created too big of a commotion. However, what about the wall of karma? He could try touching that.

He had seen only a part of the wall of karma, but he had no idea just how far it extended. Since it was a wall... could it perhaps be torn down?

After all, it was purely formed from karma.

The universe rumbled, and the white flash appeared before Lu Yin looked at the wall of karma once more. His left hand, again wrapped in the liquid, reached out and grabbed it.

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