Star Odyssey

Chapter 3717: Satisfying

Emperor Slayer spoke at length, but everything that he said could be summarized simply: he and Emperor Wu had disliked each other from their very first expedition to the Consciousness Megaverse. According to Emperor Slayer, Emperor Wu had ambushed him and tried to throw him off the battleship in the same manner that prodigies had always been tossed overboard. Supposedly, the motive was his jealousy of Emperor Slayer’s innate gift.

At the last possible moment, he had managed to reverse the situation with his unique innate gift and avoided being lost in the Aevum Inch.

It was at that moment that he had seen a toad walk by. The toad had been carrying a lotus leaf while casually strolling through the Aevum Inch. It had passed by the battleship before disappearing.

At the time, Emperor Slayer had believed it to be a hallucination caused by his intense battle with Emperor Wu.

Because their fierce fight had drawn everyone’s attention, the two had been quickly separated and not allowed to fight again. As for the toad that Emperor Slayer had seen, he had buried the incident deep in his heart and had never shared the matter with anyone.

If he had told anyone that he had seen a toad strolling through the Aevum Inch with a lotus leaf over its head, they would have laughed him to death. Everyone would have merely assumed that he had hallucinated it after suffering a beating from Emperor Wu. Emperor Slayer could not bear to be humiliated in such a manner.

Even he had come to believe that he had hallucinated everything and felt deeply ashamed about the matter. That shame had grown to become one of the reasons why he resented Emperor Wu so much. Emperor Slayer had wanted to beat Emperor Wu badly enough that the other beast would also hallucinate in order to wash away his own disgrace.

Emperor Slayer had found Astral Anura familiar when he first saw the toad at the Umbral Deep, but because so much time had passed since his first meeting with Emperor Wu, Emperor Slayer had not immediately remembered the matter. After all, he had only recently become a Spirit Warrior at that time.

Only after Emperor Slayer had boarded a battleship, left the Spirit Nidus, and entered the Aevum Inch had the memory returned to him.

It was a memory that he had buried deep in his heart and had long refused to remember.

“Third Boss, I heard that you defeated Emperor Wu when you fought him at the source of the Fu River. Well done!” Emperor Slayer offered some sincere praise.

From atop the sheer cliff the High Seraph called out, “You saw a toad strolling through the Aevum Inch?”

Emperor Slayer nodded. “I swear that I wasn’t hallucinating. It was real. That toad on Boundless carries a lotus leaf and looks exactly like the one that I saw.”

Lu Yin frowned. Another toad? Or could it have been the same one? Could it have been Astral Anura?

Astral Anura was a Dukkha, and as such, he had lived for an extremely long time.

The Origin Progenitor had once mentioned that he had sensed Astral Anura’s aura after founding the Heavens Sect, and he had been apprehensive about the beast. Astral Anura should have already been a Dukkhan at that time. As for why the toad’s strength had not significantly improved despite such a long time, that was a question that only the toad himself could answer. Still, according to the Tianyuan Megaverse’s timeline...

Yuan Qi had only arrived in the Tianyuan Megaverse long after the Heavens Sect’s founding and the Three Realms and Six Daos’ rise to power. The Seraph had then worked with Yong Heng to scheme against the Origin Progenitor.

That meant that, when the Origin Progenitor had first become aware of Astral Anura’s existence, Yuan Qi might not have even been a Dukkhan. In fact, the man might not have been even a Spirit Ancestor. If all that was accurate, then Emperor Wu and Emperor Slayer, who were both roughly from the same era as Yuan Qi, might have had comparable strength at that time.

It seemed quite possible for the toad to have been Astral Anura.

However, Lu Yin had previously asked Astral Anura about certain matters, and the toad had claimed to have never left the Tianyuan Megaverse throughout his entire life.

Lu Yin believed that the toad had been telling the truth. If Astral Anura had been the toad that Emperor Slayer had seen, it would have been impossible for him to not know about the Spirit Nidus. Such knowledge would have prevented Astral Anura from making such foolish decisions in the Tianyuan Megaverse, and if he had fully supported Aeternus, humanity would have never had any chance of making a comeback.

If Astral Anura had known about the Spirit Nidus’s existence, it would have been impossible for the Tianyuan Megaverse to win. Astral Anura would have acted long ago.

On top of that, things would not have ended with humanity being suppressed by the toad.

Astral Anura was not Yong Heng, and he lacked the qualifications to negotiate with the Spirit Nidus. He was not nearly strong enough for that.

In that case, had the toad in the Aevum Inch not been Astral Anura?

Lu Yin was suddenly reminded of something that had happened in the Mirari Realm; Astral Anura had mentioned his great-grandmother. In that case, the toad in the Aevum Inch must have been Astral Anura’s great-grandmother.

If he had a great-grandmother, then that meant that there was some sort of family.

If that was true, then the strength of Astral Anura’s species was absolutely worth looking into.

Why had the Spirit Nidus never heard about such a powerful species? Was it possible that people in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse knew about these toads?

Lu Yin quickly drew an image of Astral Anura into the air and showed it to Old Chief’s captives from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. “Have any of you ever seen this creature before?”

All of the cultivators shook their heads in confusion.

Lu Yin pulled out Lian Shuang, but the woman also shook her head.

No one had ever seen a toad like Astral Anura, which meant that his species did not exist in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

No way, could the toads be from another megaverse?

The three megaverses knew of each other’s existence, while the people of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse were aware of additional megaverses. Lu Yin suddenly feared that he might have just discovered evidence of a completely unknown megaverse.

Judging by the fact that the toad had been casually strolling past the battleship, it might not have been unfamiliar with the Spirit Nidus.

Lu Yin let out a breath. Emperor Slayer really had not delivered good news.

Lu Yin would need to change how he treated the toad after returning.

Emperor Slayer stared up the steep cliff. He was quite curious about what everyone was doing up there, but he did not dare to get involved. All he wanted was to stay as far away from those people as possible.

At that moment, his body trembled, and then he bent over. He could not control his body, and he clutched at his head while his eyes lost focus.

Lu Yin understood that Emperor Slayer was receiving a memory. Once this process ended, certain truths would be learned, and the beast would also have the choice to leave or stay in the Willbound Spire.

Emperor Slayer soon released his head and gasped for air. He stared at the ground while his vision slowly returned.

He looked up the cliff again. There was a massive surge of sequence particles that formed Horizon's Mirror before rushing towards the top of the cliff.

Horizon’s Mirror was Emperor Slayer’s transcended sequence from the Near and Far Sequence Technique, much like how Everlasting Will was the High Seraph’s transcended sequence. The Law of Near and Far specialized in escape, and Horizon's Mirror was precisely why Emperor Wu had avoided capture so many times.

Horizon’s Mirror could compress near endless distances, blurring the concept of space and allowing a person to instantly vanish.

However, this time, Horizon’s Mirror only managed to deliver Emperor Slayer several meters away from the cliff. He appeared at roughly the same distance away from the cliff that Lu Yin and the others had reached before. It was impossible for Emperor Wu to get any closer.

At the moment, Emperor Slayer was closest to the Luminaries.

Xi Wen, Lan Huifeng, and the other conscients gradually turned to stare at Emperor Slayer with cold and indifferent eyes.

Emperor Slayer continued to try and reach the cliff, releasing his sequence particles again and again, but all of his efforts failed.

Lu Yin glanced at the wooden wing that he held. The bottom of the cliff was not separated from the top by mere distance and space, but also by time.

The Willbound Spire consisted of memory, and memory lacked space, only possessing time. If not for that, the wooden wing would have definitely allowed Lu Yin to reach the top of the cliff. As a mirebound artifact, the wooden wing was far more powerful than Horizon’s Mirror.

Emperor Slayer peered past the Thirteen Luminaries to look at Lu Yin. “Third Boss, may I ask how all of you got up there?”

No one answered. As soon as Emperor Slayer realized that it was impossible to climb up or down the cliff, he would gain the upper hand.

It had not been easy for even the High Seraph to reach the top, and it would be even harder for him to descend again. Lu Yin and the others would not allow the man to leave.

Emperor Slayer repeatedly asked, eventually directing his question to Old Chief and even Yong Heng. However, no one responded to the beast.

He slumped, ducking his head as he became lost in his own thoughts.

Everyone turned to look at the beast, as he appeared to be contemplating something important. Could he have learned something important from the memory that he had received?

Suddenly, Emperor Slayer’s head whipped up, his eyes blazing with feral rage as he bared his teeth and roared at Lu Yin and the others, “Fuck your legs! You shameless, despicable bastards! Retribution’s here, huh? It’s fucking here! Hahaha! You used me as a human shield to draw enemy fire! You vile, immoral scum! I’ll fucking kill you all!”

The High Seraph blankly stared down the cliff. Despite his impressive age, this was the first time that anyone had cursed him so viciously, as well as the first time he had heard such a creative barrage of insults. How long had this beast been keeping his emotions bottled up?

Lu Yin arched a brow. He’s really been holding this in for too long.

Old Chief and the other conscients were all stupefied. In the Consciousness Megaverse, conscients rarely interacted with each other. They were not social creatures, and thus, their culture had never developed the concept of insults. As they listened to Emperor Slayer, the Luminaries felt as though their entire worldview was being rewritten.

For a moment, the conscients were not even able to tell if the beast was insulting or cursing them.

In contrast, Yong Heng had heard numerous similar rants in the past. He watched with a slight smile. No matter how much the beast cursed, none of it mattered to Yong Heng.

An hour. For an entire hour, Emperor Slayer continued to curse. He almost never repeated himself as he unleashed a torrent of verbal fury, all the while radiating the imposing aura of a lone man standing against all odds.

“Finished?” the High Seraph finally asked, his expression dark.

Emperor Slayer wiped a smear of blood from his mouth and sneered, “Just blowing off steam, don’t take it to heart. Now nobody’s getting away. Let’s start with you, Mo Shang. What kind of name is that? ‘Not Worthy’ would suit you better. Look at you, your mouth’s twisted, your eyes dart about like a gutter rat’s, your stare’s downright lecherous, your every move is slimy, and your ambitions are laughably small. Remember that battle by the source of the Fu River against the last lord of the Primal Beastland? Tell me, how many dirty, cowardly tricks did you pull back then? Come on, we’ll rattle them off one by one.”

Another hour passed.

Lu Yin gazed at Emperor Slayer in astonishment.

This was not merely cursing another person. Just how deeply did Emperor Slayer resent the High Seraph? The beast continued to dig up old dirt, and he mentioned long-forgotten incidents that he then recounted in great detail. It was clear that this resentment had been building up for years.

Included with the insults and scolding were other, far more vulgar words. Things reached the point where the High Seraph’s ancestors were practically being greeted by name.

Is he tired of living?

Bloodlust appeared in the High Seraph’s eyes as he stared down. It was clear that he was more than ready to descend and butcher the beast down below.

Emperor Slayer cackled wildly and with absolutely no restraint whatsoever. He was releasing countless years of pent-up frustration. He did not care what came next—to hell with thinking ahead. A person only had one life, and Emperor Slayer wanted to live a free and unburdened life. He had endured being stifled in the Spirit Nidus for long enough. For every ten years of his life, nine had been spent in hiding. He never wanted to return to those days.

Emperor Slayer was already as good as dead. The High Seraph had used the beast as bait, and Emperor Slayer had nearly died in the Willbound Expanse. There was a fire in his heart that should have ignited long ago.

He could accept death, but before it came, he would curse everyone to his heart’s content.

He cursed the High Seraph for a full three hours. The High Seraph went from being indifferent, to repressing his fury, to being utterly calm. The emotional journey would become a scar in his memory.

Never before had anyone cursed him in such a manner.

Emperor Slayer finally let out a long howl. “...That felt great.”

Old Chief and the others glanced at the High Seraph. Emperor Slayer was absolutely insane.

The beast looked back up the cliff, but this time, his eyes were focused on Lu Yin.

Lu Yin arched a brow.

“What’s with that smug little eyebrow lift, you ‘Third Boss’? Boss of what exactly? You’ve got nothing but some worthless toad under your command, yet you swagger around like you’re top dog, stirring trouble everywhere you go. Even the High Seraph is more tactful than you; at least he knows how to handle things, and his name’s twice as impressive as yours. Just look at that baby face of yours. Why don’t you go sponge off some rich widow instead of chasing amphibians? Hell, you practically are that toad; maybe you two should do a DNA test to see if you’re related!”

Another half an hour passed as Emperor Slayer unloaded another emotional burden.

A flicker of killing intent glimmered in Lu Yin’s eyes.

“And you over there, the one with the whitest little face of all. What the hell are you snickering at? Laugh at those scrawny chicken legs of yours? Get your head out of your ass!”

Yong Heng looked down at the bottom of the cliff. Is he really cursing even me? We’ve never interacted at all.