Star Odyssey

Chapter 3748: Chao Yi

Yue Ya’s manifested thought was sealed off, and the Voidheart Mirror dropped, pressed down by a vast tide of consciousness that had risen up.

Yanbo Haomiao gasped in shock and turned to look at Old Chief. The old man could not react fast enough.

Yue Ya roared in fury, “What are you doing?”

Lu Yin’s mind snapped back to his own body, and he cast the Heaven and Earth Lock yet again, binding Yue Ya a second time.

Beneath the double seal, even someone as strong as Yue Ya could not instantly break free. This was very similar in power to the trap that had been prepared in the Willbound Expanse.

At this moment, every eye was staring at Old Chief.

Lu Yin moved to join the Origin Progenitor, simultaneously transmitting a message to the High Seraph, “Run!”

Dominion’s Mantle blazed across the sky, covering Yanbo Hongli. With no more than a glance at Lu Yin and the Origin Progenitor, the High Seraph unleashed his Everlasting Will and pushed Everstone forward, ripping the Nine-Rulers: Heaven-Defying Art apart.

One blink of an eye had seen the situation fall into despair, while another blink had revealed a chance of survival.

Yue Ya had ambushed Lu Yin with an entire group of powerful cultivators. Even a single misstep would have doomed Lu Yin, and yet a single misstep on the ambushers’ part had provided them with an opening.

All along, Lu Yin had intended to create an opening with Old Chief.

The issue at the moment was not whether Yue Ya and his people would give chase, but rather that Yue Ya’s people were themselves in trouble.

Yanbo Haomiao was prepared to strike Old Chief down. He had shielded the old conscient with the Nine-Rulers: Heaven-Defying Art, only for Old Chief to respond by sealing Yue Ya.

Yue Ya could only watch, helpless, as Lu Yin escaped.

Shuangdao and Xi Wen both let out shouts of surprise, followed by a dawning understanding. “His mirebound artifact! Lu Yin controlled Old Chief!”

Old Chief’s face fell. Seeing both Yue Ya and Yanbo Haomiao staring at him, the conscient gritted his teeth. “Lu Yin possesses a mirebound artifact that allows him to merge with another living creature, read their memories, and control their bodies. It’s no wonder that he learned the Heaven and Earth Lock.”

Yanbo Hongli exclaimed in surprise, “Is there actually a mirebound artifact with such powers?”

Yue Ya’s manifested thought roiled. It was clear that he was beyond furious at this moment. After finally creating an opportunity and seeing success within reach, everything had fallen apart at the very last moment. He had even used his trump card, Against the Mortal World.

How hateful! How was he hiding such a thing?

Was what Lu Yin had done amazing? Given that he had used a mirebound artifact, nothing he had done should have been considered overly amazing.

“Why weren’t we on guard for that?” Yanbo Haomiao asked accusingly.

Xi Wen replied, “We thought that we’d countered his ability. Provided that we moved about frequently enough, he couldn’t catch us, so we ignored his ability.”

“I never considered that he would be able to merge with Old Chief’s body in the middle of a fight.” Dread filled Shuangdao’s eyes. He regretted what had happened. He should have left the Consciousness Megaverse earlier, as it was impossible for him to survive in the megaverse.

No one could understand Old Chief’s feelings at this moment. Not only had he been Possessed by Lu Yin, but the human had also learned the Heaven and Earth Lock from Old Chief’s memories. He had been controlled and made to attack his own allies. It was beyond humiliating.

Old Chief’s desire to kill Lu Yin surged to unprecedented heights, even as his wariness and fear of the human also rose to a new level.

That human had to either become a friend or completely avoided, and the further away one got, the better. Old Chief no longer wished to remain in the Consciousness Megaverse either.

Yanbo Haomiao coughed up blood. “We’ll chase after him. Lu Yin is badly wounded. All we need to do is catch up to him.”

“He’s probably fled to a parallel universe,” Yue Ya mentioned in a helpless tone.

This was the first time he had felt helpless after arriving in the Consciousness Megaverse.

Even when their ambush for Lu Yin had failed, Yue Ya had still been confident that his Against the Mortal World would give him a chance to clinch out a victory. Instead, not only had his hidden trump card been exposed, but Yue Ya had also sworn to never threaten Lu Yin with his home megaverse again. At this point, if Yue Ya wanted to prevent Lu Yin from hiding in a parallel universe, he would need to violate his oath.

If Lu Yin made it to a parallel universe, how would Yue Ya ever catch him?

Everyone fell silent.

Emperor Slayer rolled his eyes. In the end, it appeared that Lu Yin really was the most impressive of all and that Emperor Slayer had chosen to back the wrong side. Fortunately, he could still make amends. He just needed an opportunity to cozy up to Lu Yin, and it would be best if the beast could slip away from his current group and set out for the Tianyuan Megaverse.

With that thought, Emperor Slayer glanced around, looking for a chance to sneak off.

Huh? Who’s that?

The beast stared into the distance, and his eyes flared slightly as he shouted, “Enemy approaching!”

His unexpected shout caused everyone to jump.

They followed Emperor Slayer’s gaze and saw someone slowly moving towards them. The moment they laid eyes on the figure, an indescribable pressure fell upon Xi Wen, Yanbo Hongli, and everyone else.

They could not put words to the sensation, but it somehow felt like the eyes of death had fallen upon them, and there was also the stench of rot.

Yue Ya’s cloud form shifted, and he returned to the appearance of a middle‑aged man. His eyes flickered as he stared at the approaching person.

Yanbo Haomiao’s expression darkened and grew exceedingly grim.

The Willbound Expanse fell perfectly silent as every eye locked onto the approaching figure.

Bit by bit, their features became clearer, until a man’s face appeared. He was a young man, looking to be about as old as Lu Yin and Yong Heng. However, this young man’s eyes were dull and lifeless, and his skin was deathly pale. An aura of death drifted through the sky as he descended.

Shuangdao tightened his grip on the hilt of his blade. He felt inexplicably uneasy in the presence of this young man. It was as though some unseen being was focused on him.

This man looked so young. Surely, he could not be the same as Lu Yin and Yong Heng: physically young with the combat strength of a peak Dukkhan, right?

Such freaks could not simply continue to appear.

“Chao Yi,” Yanbo Haomiao rasped, his voice betraying his nervousness and caution.

Yanbo Hongli blinked in confusion. “Chao Yi? I think I’ve heard of that name before...”

Yanbo Shu’s expression was as grim and lifeless as Yanbo Haomiao’s. “The master of Deathmound’s Sixth Peak. That is Chao Yi.”

Yanbo Hongli cried out, “One of Deathmound’s peak lords?”

Emperor Slayer had no idea what Deathmound was, but judging by everyone’s reactions, it was clearly not some minor group. This had to be a powerful faction within the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

Old Chief and the other Luminaries grew increasingly nervous. They had learned of Deathmound atop the cliff in the Willbound Spire. One of Lu Yin’s captives was from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

After learning of the man’s background, the conscients had deliberately asked their own captives about Deathmound.

Only then had they understood the organization.

A single sentence was enough to describe Deathmound: Deathmound can kill anyone, but no one dares strike back at Deathmound.

Deathmound was a very special existence in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

However, while the Luminaries had learned of Deathmound’s existence, they had not learned many specifics.

The young man that they were looking at was clearly different from Lu Yin’s Deathmound captive. The fact that this Chao Yi’s mere appearance left Ruler Garden nervous and had caused Yanbo Haomiao’s face to darken said a great deal; Chao Yi was anything but simple.

Chao Yi’s eyes remained frighteningly calm as he looked at the crowd before finally focusing on Yanbo Haomiao. “Ruler Garden is guilty of violating the laws of our megaverse. Deathmound has been given the order to kill without mercy.”

Yanbo Haomiao’s eyes bulged. He clenched his jaw and glared at Chao Yi, his bloodlust brimming over.

Both Yanbo Shu and Yanbo Hongli turned pale.

Ruler Garden had indeed broken the rules of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse by traveling to the Consciousness Megaverse and helping Yue Ya. They had known before leaving that their actions would lead to trouble, but they had never expected such severe consequences.

“Impossible! Even if my Ruler Garden has broken the law, we should not be punished with death without mercy! This is all you, Chao Yi! You’re settling a personal grudge by using Deathmound’s hand to wipe out my Ruler Garden!” Yanbo Haomiao shouted harshly.

Yue Ya also spoke up. “Ruler Garden’s crime is not that great.”

But Chao Yi’s voice remained cold. “Kill without mercy.”

He did not even glance at Yue Ya. Chao Yi’s hand rose, and a speck of black light rose from it that instantly spread out in all directions.

Yue Ya shouted, “Fall back!”

As he yelled, everything within a million kilometers was instantly buried beneath dunes that had suddenly appeared. Only Yue Ya, Yanbo Haomiao, and the others who were familiar with Deathmound managed to evade the attack, while Old Chief, Shuangdao, Xi Wen, and Emperor Slayer were all buried.

Beneath the dunes, Emperor Slayer struggled to breathe. He opened his mouth, and a beam of black light shot into the sky.

At the same time, Old Chief, Shuangdao, and the other conscients also lashed out with their consciousnesses.

The Deathmound trembled and started to crack. Chao Yi frowned before tearing his outer garment off. From his back, two ghastly, sinister shadows seemed to come alive, and they cackled as they leapt for Yanbo Haomiao and the others.

Dark-gold manifested thought moved, passing by Chao Yi as he looked up. “Yue Ya, do you intend to prevent Deathmound from carrying out its duties?”

“Ruler Garden’s crime is not grave enough for such a punishment.”

“Your words are not law.”

Far away, Yanbo Haomiao shouted, “Chao Yi, you cannot destroy my Ruler Garden on your own! I will personally go to Deathmound and confront the Great Master! Settling personal grudges in this manner will one day come back to haunt you!”

Yanbo Hongli’s eyes were glued to Chao Yi, and she attacked with Wildcat’s Aid.

Claws flashed out from nowhere, opening up three bleeding gashes on Chao Yi’s back.

Both of his hands rose. “Twin Ghosts Knock at the Gate.”

The two shadows that had appeared from Chao Yi’s back suddenly released powerful auras that shot high into the sky as they appeared behind Yanbo Shu’s flanks. Four palms struck the man: Twin Ghosts Knock at the Gate.

Yanbo Shu let out a scream of terror, “Patriarch, save me-”

Bang!

The Nine-Rulers: Heaven-Defying Art shattered, as did Yanbo Shu’s body. A spray of blood scattered across the starry sky.

Yanbo Haomiao and Yanbo Hongli were given no time to even try to rescue the man. Yue Ya’s expression fell. He had just frozen Chao Yi with his manifested thought, but the man’s two shadows had acted autonomously.

So are those things Chao Yi’s Twin Ghosts?

Chao Yi, the master of Deathmound’s Sixth Peak, possessed an innate gift that had stunned an era: the Twin Ghosts. He had been accompanied by the ghosts since birth, and they were bound to him as a single entity, yet they were also able to act independently and did not need to be commanded. Even more terrifying, each ghost’s strength equaled Chao Yi’s own cultivation.

This meant that, regardless of Chao Yi’s cultivation realm, the Twin Ghosts would match him.

Nothing could change this; not even accepting a Seed Transfusion had been an exception.

Chao Yi’s combat strength that allowed him to match a peak Dukkhan, despite his exceptionally young age, was not solely from his own cultivation talent. Like Yanbo Hongli, Chao Yi had also accepted a transfusion, and that had strengthened his Twin Ghosts as well.

Facing Chao Yi alone was no different from facing three peak Dukkhans.

Twin Ghosts Knock at the Gate was essentially the same as being attacked by two peak Dukkhans at once. How could Yanbo Shu hope to withstand such an assault?

Even Yanbo Haomiao would only be left with a slim chance of survival if he received Chao Yi’s attack.

This was the power of Chao Yi, Deathmound’s sixth peak lord.

He was a prodigy who could have been accepted into the Scion Spire and frozen in the Octagonal Pavilion. But then, a conflict with Ruler Garden had escalated into them ambushing the young man, which had forced him to accept a Seed Transfusion. At that moment, he had lost any chance of entering the Scion Spire and had eventually been accepted into Deathmound and become the master of the Sixth Peak.

This was also why Yanbo Haomiao claimed that Chao Yi was seeking personal revenge.

The young man’s hatred for Ruler Garden was deeper than the sea.

Yanbo Shu was the one who had led the ambush on Chao Yi.

Because Chao Yi had joined Deathmound, Ruler Garden had been forced to seek out a protector, which had led them to submit to Yue Ya. Because Yue Ya needed to transform, Ruler Garden was forced to do everything in their power to help him. If they did not and Yue Ya failed, there was no doubt that Chao Yi would go after them.

The pressure of Deathmound was overwhelming.

The enmity between Ruler Garden and Chao Yi was something that could never be resolved.

When Yanbo Shu had led the ambush of Chao Yi, he had only been a sequence powerhouse. The man from Ruler Garden had since become a Dukkhan, cultivating to that level step by step. In contrast, Chao Yi was forever stuck as a peak Dukkhan. While he had reached that level ahead of Yanbo Shu, that sudden progress had become chains that forever bound Chao Yi.

He had once hoped to become a Lesser Sancte, and possibly even attempt to break into the Immortal realm and become a Greater Sancte.

All of those plans had been ruined by Ruler Garden.

Chao Yi had waited far, far too long for this day.

This time, Ruler Garden had violated the laws of their megaverse, which had presented the perfect opportunity, and Deathmound’s Grand Master had given it to Chao Yi.

Ruler Garden’s crime was not something that could be ignored, but normally, it would not be enough to warrant a kill‑without‑mercy verdict. Even so, that had been the Grand Master’s order. There was no other reason for this other than to give Chao Yi a chance for revenge. That was how Deathmound functioned.