Star Odyssey

Chapter 3745: Boundless’s Mission

Old Chief and everyone else was focused on the door to the Willbound Spire. Lu Yin’s time had already expired, but no one had mentioned it yet.

Yue Ya paid no heed to wasting a bit of time if it meant threatening the High Seraph. It was only enough time for a stick of incense to burn. That amount was trivial if Yue Ya could somehow prevent the High Seraph from reaching the palace.

In Yue Ya’s perspective, such time meant nothing. In contrast, that little bit of time was vitally important to Lu Yin.

Lu Yin’s mind was in the mysterious dark space, and he was hurrying about, searching for orbs of light.

He saw one light after another, but most of them were quite dim. Given the strength of Lu Yin’s consciousness, even Old Chief’s light would have appeared dim, but it would still be relatively bright.

Lu Yin continued to roam about as he doggedly searched for the ball of light that represented Old Chief.

Yanbo Haomiao returned to the Willbound Spire, and he arrived at the bottom of the cliff. He immediately rose upwards. “Mo Shang, are you truly determined to suffer the Greater Sancti’s punishment?”

The High Seraph completely ignored the man and took another step forward.

Given his proximity to the palace, each step that the High Seraph took required him to endure extraordinary pressure from the memories.

The High Seraph’s expression suddenly changed, and he crouched low. He was dealing with another memory shock.

Yanbo Haomiao stared at the High Seraph, his fists clenching. The old man wanted the High Seraph to enter a state of memory collapse, becoming brain dead.

After Yanbo Haomiao watched for a long while, the High Seraph let out a breath, rose back up, and continued walking forward. While the man’s face was noticeably paler, he was still able to continue moving towards the palace.

Yanbo Haomiao resumed making threats. “Even if you do not care about the consequences to yourself, do you not care about your Spirit Nidus?”

The High Seraph hesitated and turned to look at Yanbo Haomiao.

He was not stopping because of Yanbo Haomiao’s threat, but rather because the Origin Progenitor had demanded that Mo Shang stall. Lu Yin was not ready yet.

“You dare to threaten me with the Spirit Nidus?” the High Seraph asked in a chilling tone.

Yanbo Haomiao glanced at the ground beneath the High Seraph’s feet. The man was closer to the palace than Yanbo Haomiao could ever dream of reaching. If he was capable of pressing this close, then it might truly be possible for the High Seraph to touch the palace. “If you proceed any further, your Spirit Nidus will suffer greatly because of you. Have you forgotten about the fate of the River Domain?”

The High Seraph calmly stared at Yanbo Haomiao. “It was not just the River Domain.”

“True, it was not just the River Domain. It has already happened once, and it can happen a hundred times more. How many domains can your Spirit Nidus afford to lose like the River Domain?”

“Do you believe that Xing Fan did not want to continue? Did Yue Ya tell you that Master Qing Cao appeared?”

Yanbo Haomiao sneered. “Master Qing Cao can’t stop it from happening more than just a few times.”

“He broke past the Skyward Gate.”

“So what? Even if he does manage to protect the Spirit Nidus, he won’t be able to protect you. Do you think that we don’t know? You are only eager to step into the Immortal realm so that your Spirit Nidus can stand on equal footing with our Nine Odysseys Megaverse. You had the same goal when fighting against Lesser Sancte Ru Shi. Before that fight, who knows how many people from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse were hiding throughout the Spirit Nidus? You have since eliminated most of them, and now, only a few of the Lesser Sancti’s agents are able to enter the Spirit Nidus. You’ve already done enough. Don’t ruin all that progress for a momentary impulse.

“You don’t want to provoke a Night Pillar, do you?”

The High Seraph exhaled, his eyes betraying the memories that he was reliving.

“Once, every renowned organization in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse had people stationed in the Spirit Nidus. Those were the darkest years in the Spirit Nidus’s entire history. We were not only forced to ensure that the Nine Odysseys Megaverse’s existence remained a secret, but also had to protect those people who were plundering and causing chaos in the Spirit Nidus.”

Yanbo Haomiao nodded. “It’s good that you remember. Do you really want to return to those times? The Skyward Gate’s Luo family will not interfere. They will allow us to come and go freely, and it will all be because of you.”

The High Seraph said nothing. He remained silent, but he did not resume walking towards the palace.

Believing that the threats were effective, Yanbo Haomiao softened his tone. “It’s still not too late for you to take a step back. Lord Yue Ya will grant you a chance.”

The Origin Progenitor glanced at Yanbo Haomiao and then back at Lu Yin. How much longer does he need?

Outside the hut in the Willbound Expanse, Yue Ya waited quietly. He had never intended to enter because the Willbound Spire had only one entrance, but no path.

If Yue Ya’s entrance coincided with Lu Yin’s exit, then all of Yue Ya’s efforts would have been for nothing.

It was necessary to force the High Seraph down from the cliff as soon as possible. Should they fail, they would instead have to force Lu Yin to descend and enter the trap. Yue Ya had to ensure that his transformation succeeded.

A short distance away, Old Chief was also staring at the door to the thatched hut. Once, only the Thirteen Luminaries had been allowed to pass through that door. At this moment, it seemed like a completely unfamiliar place.

Suddenly, his eyes lost focus and grew confused, though he recovered in less than an instant and looked forward again. This time, the look in his eyes was completely different from before. That was because Old Chief was gone, and Lu Yin had arrived.

Lu Yin had finally found the orb of light that represented Old Chief. He had searched for quite a long time. If he made a conservative estimate, then he had likely used up at least half a Universe-realm conscient’s consciousness. This was already the longest and most costly Possession in Lu Yin’s life, but it was clearly worthwhile.

By Possessing Old Chief, Lu Yin had found a way to break free from the trap prepared for him.

Lu Yin raced through the conscient’s memories of the Tri-Azure Sword Intent, the Heaven and Earth Lock, as well as the trap prepared for him.

Though abundant, it only took Lu Yin an instant to read those few memories.

It would have been impossible to scour all of Old Chief’s memories across his entire lifetime, but the memories that Lu Yin targeted were not even a hundred-millionth of the conscient’s total memories.

No one noticed as Old Chief’s expression changed. He first appeared enlightened, astonished, and finally, he glanced at Yue Ya, his eyes cold and utterly confident.

“It’s about time. Go. Have Yanbo Haomiao come back out. Leave the High Seraph alone and force Lu Yin out,” Yue Ya ordered.

Yanbo Shu returned to the Willbound Spire.

Lu Yin immediately exited the Possession, allowing his mind to return to his own body.

From the conscient’s memories, Lu Yin had obtained both the Lower Heaven’s Blade to complete the Tri-Azure Sword Intent and the Heaven and Earth Lock. Unfortunately, both techniques were incomplete. This was not because Old Chief’s memories were incomplete, but rather because the techniques were fundamentally unfinished.

When Old Chief had been forced to absorb memories at the bottom of the cliff, he had seen a specific series of memories that contained the complete Heaven and Earth Lock method. However, the conscient’s talent, or rather, the natural limitations of cultivating consciousness, had prevented Old Chief from fully mastering the technique. He only had an incomplete version of the Heaven and Earth Lock.

After seeing that same memory, Lu Yin would eventually be able to comprehend the complete Heaven and Earth Lock.

The complete technique was entirely different from what Old Chief employed, to the extent of being an almost entirely different concept. Realizing this had caused Lu Yin to become extremely excited.

As for the trap prepared for him, he had that under control as well.

Lu Yin’s mind returned to his body right as Yanbo Shu entered the Willbound Spire.

“Ancestor, Lord Yue Ya has ordered that we ignore the High Seraph and force Lu Yin out,” Yanbo Shu whispered to Yanbo Haomiao.

Yanbo Haomiao was not happy to hear this. He had spoken at length to threaten the High Seraph, and the man had clearly hesitated. Given just a bit more time, it would not be impossible to force the High Seraph to descend. Despite that, was Yue Ya really ordering Yanbo Haomiao to give up?

Yanbo Shu could see his ancestor’s reluctance, and he quietly said, “Wait until Lord Yue Ya completes his transformation. We will still be able to force the High Seraph down at that time. Once the power of Lord Yue Ya transforms, the High Seraph will be even more wary. I refuse to believe that he can touch the palace within this timeframe.

“He may be close, but progress becomes increasingly difficult as one approaches the palace. By that time, Lord Yue Ya might even be able to ascend the cliff himself.”

This comment struck a chord with Yanbo Haomiao, and he realized how much sense it made. Rather than waste time, it was better to first deal with Lu Yin.

Thinking of that, the old man looked back up at the cliff. “Mo Shang, consider your actions carefully. Just because Lord Yue Ya is willing to offer you a chance at this moment does not mean that he will do so later.”

Yanbo Haomiao then turned to Lu Yin. “Your time is long past. Lu Yin, you must follow me out of the Willbound Spire. Otherwise, the Thirteen Luminaries will go to the Tianyuan Megaverse.”

Lu Yin’s back had been facing the old man this entire time. Yanbo Haomiao had already sensed that there was something off about the situation, but given the brief amount of time that had passed, he could not imagine what Lu Yin could be doing with his back turned, at least, not unless the young man did not care whether his home megaverse was destroyed.

For that reason, the old man ignored Lu Yin’s odd behavior.

Instead, Yanbo Haomiao was curious to see what Lu Yin would do. Had he really been watching the High Seraph?

Lu Yin slowly turned around.

Yanbo Haomiao let out a breath of relief. Lu Yin had indeed been keeping an eye on the High Seraph. If Lu Yin had refused to turn around, Yanbo Haomiao would have believed that the person atop the cliff was an impostor, despite the fact that it was impossible for anyone to descend from atop the cliff without the High Seraph.

“If my suspicions are correct, there’s a group waiting outside to ambush me, isn’t there?” Lu Yin asked as he looked down at Yanbo Haomiao.

The old man’s eyes narrowed, but he refused to answer. After all, this was all too obvious.

“If you want me to come down, that’s fine... but I have one condition,” Lu Yin stated.

Yanbo Haomiao coldly replied, “You are not qualified to demand anything from Lord Yue Ya.”

Lu Yin remained calm. “What if I give up on the Tianyuan?”

Yanbo Haomiao’s eyebrows rose, as he clearly did not believe Lu Yin.

Yanbo Shu was similarly doubtful. If Lu Yin was truly willing to abandon his megaverse, he would have never refused to hide in a parallel universe.

If Lu Yin had hidden in a parallel universe from the beginning, none of this would have happened.

“Do you know the purpose of the battleship Boundless?” Lu Yin asked.

The Origin Progenitor interjected, “Inheritance.”

Lu Yin nodded. “Once, my megaverse’s humanity was on the brink of extinction. At the end of that era, they created Boundless. It was entrusted with the history, inheritances, and civilization of that era’s humanity and then hidden in a parallel universe. Even if that generation of humanity is completely annihilated, so long as Boundless remained and humans returned to the Tianyuan Megaverse, human civilization would endure, even if only in the form of history.

“Boundless accompanied me from the Tianyuan Megaverse to the Spirit Nidus. Everyone believed that we were going on a suicide mission, but honestly, was it anything more than just another path for our civilization to continue?

“Who can guarantee that the Tianyuan won’t be reset?

“If Boundless is destroyed, we will do everything that we can to preserve the Tianyuan. At the same time, if the Tianyuan is destroyed, we merely need to preserve Boundless, and one day, our fallen civilization shall rise again.”

The High Seraph stared at Lu Yin’s back. Boundless... What a fitting name.

Yanbo Haomiao frowned as he met Lu Yin’s gaze. He could not ignore this declaration, because Boundless was truly capable of preserving a civilization.

The ship had been hidden in a parallel universe, where no one could find it. With it were also the Spirit Nidus’s four universe-class battleships. If Lu Yin decided to abandon the Tianyuan and avoid death, there would still come a day when he would return to reclaim his megaverse. By that time, he would have no difficulty in dealing with the Thirteen Luminaries. However, Yue Ya and Ruler Garden would have no second chance.

“What is your condition?” Yanbo Shu asked.

Lu Yin slowly stated, “Regardless of how many people are waiting outside to kill me, I will enter the trap. My condition is this: never use the Tianyuan to threaten me again. This is the last time.”

Yanbo Shu glanced over at Yanbo Haomiao, and the old man slowly disappeared.

Lu Yin silently remained where he was. Would Yue Ya agree? Of course he would. He could not afford to refuse. Even if Yue Ya was absolutely certain that Lu Yin would never abandon his megaverse, he would not dare to take such a risk. In order to gamble, capital was necessary, and Yue Ya had already lost everything. In order to turn things around, he only had this one chance.

Emperor Slayer’s eyes darted about nervously. “Um, should I head out and take a look?”

“I’ll go.” Yanbo Shu also left.

Emperor Slayer let out a helpless sigh. He desperately wanted to leave.