Star Odyssey

Chapter 3953: The Answer

Lu Yin calmly looked at Shan Lie. “I ask the questions, and you answer. This is your only chance, and possibly even your entire civilization’s only chance.”

The humanoid insect looked at Lu Yin differently yet again. Earlier, he had been shocked by Lu Yin’s physical power, which had absolutely crushed Shan Lie. However, at this moment, he was wary of Lu Yin’s intelligence and schemes.

As a Verdant Sage, Shan Lie only obeyed the Immortal Lord’s orders. Death was nothing to such creatures. While there might be some Verdant Sages who did not wish to die, any who had fought alongside the Immortal Lord would never fear death.

Shan Lie could die, but no one would ever be able to pry any information from him.

Still, Lu Yin had given the bug a reason to not die.

The Lost Clan was important to the Nest civilization, but the Nest civilization had failed to find the humans for such a long time. After learning of the Lost Clan’s whereabouts, Shan Lie absolutely had to find a way to send back word and expose their target’s whereabouts. This was far more important than his own life.

While it was clear that the human before him would never give him a chance, even a one-in-a-billion chance was worth taking.

Shan Lie needed to stay alive no matter what it took so that he could fight for that opportunity.

Humans would always remain human, just as how insects remained insects. They were entirely different species. Humans might not be able to stop Shan Lie, especially since he had been spawned in the Lost Clan’s Third Rampart. He was all too familiar with humans. The creatures fought amongst themselves constantly, and they had many traitors. If Shan Lie could take advantage of his knowledge, he would still have a chance.

All creatures needed a reason to live, and Lu Yin had just given Shan Lie one such reason. For that alone, Shan Lie was no longer willing to die.

“Where is the Nest civilization?” Lu Yin’s first question went straight to the core.

Jue Ling, Yu Jing, and the others were all listening in the distance, and they stared intently at Shan Lie. They also wanted to know the answer to this question. If they could confirm the foreign megaverse’s location, the Nine Odysseys Megaverse could launch an attack.

The Nest civilization was actively invading humanity, demonstrating their incredible lust for conquest. Theirs was a civilization that had to be destroyed.

Shan Lie answered in a low voice, “It’s far away, but we have no fixed location. We just stay wherever it’s safe.”

“Your current location.” Lu Yin’s eyes blazed with a chilling amount of bloodlust.

Shan Lie took a moment to think. “Since you know of the Nest civilization, then you should know that we are ruled by the Immortal Lord. Wherever the Immortal Lord is, the Nest civilization is there too. Using the four locations where we are currently attacking humanity for reference, the Immortal Lord is currently located more than twice the total distance between those four points.”

Lu Yin’s eyebrows shot up. The four locations were quite far from each other, as the insects were attacking the Consciousness, Spirit Nidus, Nine Odysseys, and the Clearvoid megaverses. If one traveled to all four locations, they would have to cover an extremely vast distance. They would even pass beyond the detection range of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse’s Whither Peak, which meant that it was outside the range of the Nine Odysseys’ crusades. Twice that distance meant that the Immortal Lord’s location was a truly great distance away from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

“Your targets?”

“All civilizations that are not part of the Nest civilization are our targets,” Shan Lie readily admitted.

“Why did you shift targets?” Lu Yin asked. The first place that had been exposed was the Tianyuan. Later, E' Nan had taken a Nest to the Spirit Nidus, exposing that megaverse as well. The Nest civilization had then changed targets, from the Tianyuan Megaverse, to the Spirit Nidus. This change puzzled Lu Yin.

After all, there were so many Nests already in the Tianyuan, and its location had also been revealed far earlier. It should have been the Nest civilization’s top priority.

Shan Lie replied, “Closer.”

Lu Yin was surprised. “Closer?”

Shan Lie rubbed his head, the eyes on the back of his head shifting. “Believe it or not, proximity is our biggest reason for attacking other civilizations. Our Nest civilization aims to destroy all other civilizations, so we simply strike whichever is closest. That is our most basic principle.”

Lu Yin stared at Shan Lie for a long time. He did not doubt the bug’s words, not because he trusted Shan Lie, but rather because, despite how simple and almost childish the Nest civilization’s so-called principle might be, it revealed their essence the most clearly.

Destroying whoever was closest; was that not a fundamental rule of the cosmos?

The Nine Odysseys Megaverse followed the same principle; whichever foreign universe civilization was the closest would be destroyed. If this was true even of humanity, it made even more sense for the insects.

In the distance, Yu Jing and the others fell deep into thought. The Nest civilization was surprisingly similar to their human civilization.

That had to hold true for other civilizations in the omniverse as well.

Some, such as fishing civilizations, were even crueller.

“What is the Nest civilization’s plan of attack for your current target?” Lu Yin asked.

Shan Lie answered without hesitation, “Use every Nest available to spawn more insects and then attack. Attack without ever stopping. Unless you humans manage to eliminate every single Nest, our attacks will never cease. Since the locations of your megaverses have been exposed, the Immortal Lord will continue to send hordes of insects to attack you.”

He met Lu Yin’s stare. “Human, my Nest civilization can accept you. Your human race cannot stand up to the endless swarms of insects. Unless the entire Nest civilization is destroyed or your human race is annihilated, we insects will forever be your enemy.”

His words weighed heavily on all who heard them. People had already seen the horror of the endless swarms of insects. It had only taken half a year to spawn this many; they were truly beyond count. Given more time, who knew how many would be spawned.

Also, none of the insects were easy to deal with.

There were Verdant Sages with the appearance and form of humans. If more such creatures appeared, then the Verdant Sages alone might become a force capable of overthrowing humanity.

“What’s all this about Ramparts? Why are you looking for the Lost Clan?”

“I don’t know what the Ramparts are about either. When we learned that the Lost Clan was the Third Rampart, the Nest civilization started searching the surrounding regions for either a First Rampart or a Second Rampart, but we found nothing. Only when we were drawn to this area did we consider the possibility that you humans might be from another Rampart.”

Lu Yin’s consciousness was still surrounding Jue Ling and the other cultivators from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. No one reacted upon hearing the insect mention the Third Rampart, which meant that they also knew nothing about it.

The fact that the Nest civilization had failed to find any of the other Ramparts did not necessarily mean that they were very far away. If they had been so far from the Third Rampart that not even the Nest civilization could find them, then what purpose would the Ramparts’ existence have had? Even so, the word “Rampart” itself was significant, reminiscent of a fortress of war.

In fact, even the Lost Clan’s cultivation method was known as the Third Rampart.

These Ramparts had to be connected to something.

For some reason, Lu Yin suddenly thought of the people that he had seen during his Origin realm breakthrough, the ones who had been walking up the River of Aeons. Those people had lived in an age so far in the past that it surpassed the imagination. Could the Ramparts be connected to those people?

Shan Lie interrupted Lu Yin’s thoughts. “As for searching for the Lost Clan, that’s because the Lost Clan possesses an ultimate card, a Primordial card. If we can find it, our civilization will gain another Immortal. That is of vital importance."

“A Primordial card?” Lu Yin was surprised.

Shan Lie nodded, not concealing anything. “Yes, this Primordial card has the power of an Immortal. No one in the Lost Clan was able to control it, and they don’t even know that card’s power. All who did know are already dead. That Primordial card is the only reason why they were able to escape. Without it, they would have been destroyed.”

Lu Yin stared off into the distance. Is that card truly a Primordial card? If so, then it explains why just the appearance of a corner was enough to break True God's Dominion.

He had assumed that it was merely an Immemorial card and therefore not worth paying much attention to. At best, such a card would add another Dukkhan to his forces. However, the card seemed to be far more important than he had initially assumed, to the point where it was a priority for the entire Nest civilization.

No one in the Lost Clan could control that card, but the same might not be true for Lu Yin. Even when he was very weak, he had still attracted a corner of the card to reveal itself. He was fated for it.

Unfortunately, Elder Shan Gu did not know that the card was a Primordial card. If he had known the truth, then no matter what, the old man would have insisted that Lu Yin continue to draw out the card in the Tianyuan Megaverse. Success would have resulted in a complete transformation of humanity’s strength.

“Not even the Lost Clan themselves can control that Primordial card, and yet you can?” Lu Yin countered.

Shan Lie said, “How will we know if we don’t at least try? Also, with the Immortal Lord present, even if none of us can control it, the Immortal Lord can still at least take it. It might even lead to the creation of stronger insects.”

Lu Yin said flatly, “How many Immortals does your Nest civilization have?”

Everyone stared at Shan Lie. This answer was the most important of all.

Shan Lie grew puzzled. “How many? Human, don’t tell me that your human civilization has more than one Immortal.”

Lu Yin’s lips curved. “I asked you the question.”

Shan Lie’s attitude had already revealed something.

The others nervously watched on. They already had their own guesses, but verification was necessary.

Shan Lie’s eyes narrowed. “One.”

In an instant, countless people let out sighs of relief. Only one Immortal. That was wonderful news.

Lu Yin also relaxed. “Your Immortal Lord, right? The Nest civilization only has the Immortal Lord as your sole Immortal?”

Shan Lie could not believe the insinuation. “Do you humans really have more than one Immortal? Impossible! If you have more than one, you should have already wiped us out, or possibly even slain the Immortal Lord. Why do you even bother defending in every direction?”

Lu Yin frowned. “What do you mean? Are you suggesting that an Immortal could easily exterminate all of you?”

“Isn’t that true?”

Lu Yin took a step forward, blocking Yu Jing and the others from seeing what he was doing. While staring at Shan Lie, Lu Yin lifted his arm and drew a karmic chain on his wrist. “Have you seen this symbol before?”

Shan Lie stared at the karmic chain, but he shook his head in confusion.

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed sharply. “I’m asking if you have ever seen this on the Immortal Lord’s wrist.”

Shan Lie looked at Lu Yin in shock. “The Immortal Lord’s... wrists?”

Lu Yin’s gaze sharpened. “The Immortal Lord... doesn’t have wrists?”

Shan Lie looked at Lu Yin with absolute confusion. The two might as well be speaking two entirely different languages.

Lu Yin leaned closer to Shan Lie. “What form does the Immortal Lord have?”

Shan Lie shook his head. “I wasn’t able to see clearly, but... they shouldn’t have the same form as a human.”

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. That should be impossible. The Lost Clan’s Elder Shan had mentioned that he had personally seen a karmic chain on the Immortal Lord’s wrist during the final battle of their megaverse. That comment was how the Tianyuan had learned of Master Qing Cao’s weakness; he was unable to attack freely, as doing so would increase his karmic chain. This had already become common knowledge in their megaverse.

Although, after fighting in the Allsense Megaverse, Lu Yin had occasionally thought of that matter and had even wondered why the Immortal Lord would have a human form, he had not thought much of it.

It was only at this moment that he suddenly realized that something was wrong.

Did the Immortal Lord not have the same form as a human?

In that case, who had Elder Shan Gu seen?

Shan Lie had never seen another karmic chain, which meant that there was no Immortal with one within the Nest civilization. However, the Immortal Lord should also be their only Immortal, so how could he explain what Elder Shan Gu had seen?

Lu Yin suddenly looked back at Shan Lie. Was he sure that this bug was telling the truth?

Shan Lie felt unnerved by Lu Yin’s intense stare. It was as though the human was seeing right through him. “I’m not lying to you. You’re not even asking about anything important. None of this is worth lying about.”

Lu Yin stopped asking any further questions. He waved a hand to tell Yu Jing and the others to pull farther back. He would find the answer himself.

If he sought a direct answer with karma, there was a good chance that he would suffer backlash again, so he changed his approach.

Unfortunately, Word Manifestation was only able to control a creature’s actions to bring about a reasonable explanation. It was not able to actually control a creature’s thoughts. If it could, it would be wonderful, as then Lu Yin would be able to get an answer to whatever he asked.