Star Odyssey

Chapter 4066: Dust To Dust

Speechless, Garan Zhiluo turned to look at Hongyan Mavis, who rolled her eyes. “I meant emotional pain.”

Lu Yuan was also stunned. “We’re not at that level. This is about experiencing pain, remembering pain.”

Ancient God said in a low voice, “Enough of this nonsense, Pillar. Let us enter your Champions’ Stage Purgatory. We want to see what we are able to experience. Even Yellowy seems to have gained some great enlightenment.”

“Yeah, are we worse than Yellowy now?” Lu Yuan shouted.

Lu Yin let out a long breath and then offered a respectful bow to everyone. “Thank you, seniors.”

Lu Yuan rolled his eyes. “Why are you thanking us? They should be the ones thanking you. Without your help, they’d never be able to break through to the Origin realm no matter how long they lived.”

“I’m already an Ortuser,” Ancient God retorted.

Wu Tian added, “Me too.”

“Shut up!” Garan Zhiluo snapped.

Lu Yin said nothing further. It was not only Lu Yuan and the others of the Three Realms and Six Daos who would enter his Champions’ Stage Purgatory, but also the entire group of cultivators who were going to the Mirari Realm. They would all endure the agony of karma.

With this, Lu Yin’s Karmic Dao gained a little bit of karma.

Unfortunately, it was not much. The people who entered his Champions’ Stage Purgatory could not compare to beings like the transparent moth or the creature of manifested thought that Yue Ya had been. Still, it was a decent improvement.

After sending people to the Mirari Realm to cultivate, Lu Yin watched the River of Aeons vanish before going to visit the remains of the black Mother Tree.

At one point in time, Yong Heng had taken the black Mother Tree away from the Scourges and to the battlefield at the Immemorial Citadel. After the war against Aeternus ended, the Pridebeast and Megalith had delivered the tree to Lu Yin. He had absorbed all of the divine energy in the black Mother Tree, and once it was completely emptied, it had split in two.

Ultimately, the broken black Mother Tree had been delivered to the mountain behind the Heavens Sect, with no one caring about it anymore.

Lu Yin had since learned that the black Mother Tree had originally been a normal one. But when the Death Universe was threatening to destroy the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, they had chosen to sacrifice a Mother Tree as a decoy.

After the Mother Tree turned black, the Spirit Nidus had found it troublesome and sent it to the Tianyuan, where it had eventually become the core for Yong Heng’s Scourges, where it had been constantly nourished by divine energy.

The Heavens Sect was a colossal organization that spanned a vast region of space and encompassed billions of stars.

Any given corner of it would be regarded as the entire universe to an ordinary person.

It was difficult for even some cultivators to travel across the Heavens Sect, as only Envoys and above were able to see the entire place.

Lu Yin arrived at a certain place on the mountain behind the Heavens Sect. It was a place where piles of waste from cultivation and other trash had been heaped up.

“Hurry up! Move faster! Can’t you see that this lord is growing impatient? Yes, you, Little Six! Remember how I took pity on you and brought you into Heavens Sect? You’d better be grateful...”

Below the mountainous piles of cultivation waste, Ghost Monkey strutted about, snapping out orders like a general.

There were hundreds of cultivators moving about, sorting through the trash while searching for something.

Lu Yin took a step, appearing beside Ghost Monkey. “Very impressive. Where did all of this trash come from?”

Ghost Monkey casually replied, “All kinds of different places. The Transcendent Universe, the Cyclic Universe, the Lost Clan’s universe, the mecha empire’s universe, and more. Everything was gathered here by this lord to be processed together.”

“You must be making quite the profit.”

“Heheh, of course!” Suddenly, Ghost Monkey froze. His head slowly turned and he gaped. “Se- Se- Seventh Bro?!”

Lu Yin smiled at the monkey. “Looks like you’ve been living quite well.”

Ghost Monkey’s expression changed rapidly. He let out a howl and threw himself to the ground while clutching at Lu Yin’s pants. “Seventh Bro! You finally came to see this little monkey who depended on you for life and death! You don’t know the agony I’ve felt while waiting! Do you remember the days when we adventured together? When we searched for Progenitor Wushang’s corpse, fought our way across the Innerverse and the Outerverse, competed in the Astral Tower, escaped through the Technocracy, all of it together...”

“Enough with the act.” Lu Yin kicked Ghost Monkey away.

The beast responded with a shameless grin. “So Seventh Bro still remembers this little monkey! I’m so happy! Long live Seventh Bro- no, Immortality for Seventh Bro! Immortality for Seventh Bro!

“Come on! Everyone shout! Immortality for Seventh Bro!

“Immortality for Seventh Bro!”

The cultivators in the area were shocked by the monkey’s behavior, yet they grew even more excited. The legends were actually true! Ghost Monkey really had traveled with Lord Lu during his earlier years.

All who were qualified to enter the Heavens Sect were outstanding talents, and some were even top disciples from places like the Sword Sect or the Cosmic Sect. Each arrived with their own high expectations, yet they had been grabbed by Ghost Monkey and forced to sort through garbage after they arrived. Of course, all of them had been unwilling, but none were a match for Ghost Monkey, especially since the beast enjoyed a special status within the Heavens Sect. He could summon an entire group of experts to back him up at whim.

Ghost Monkey did not even need to do anything himself, and yet the people working for him had no choice. All they could do was reach out to their various factions, hoping to receive some help.

Yet they always received the same answers: listen to Ghost Monkey. No one knew the reason for those responses, but no one dared to offend the beast. As time passed, the people here had eventually accepted their fate. Sorting garbage was sorting garbage. As long as they did not speak about their task elsewhere, no one would know what they did in the Heavens Sect, which meant that they could continue to hold their heads high outside of the sect.

When there was spare time, Ghost Monkey loved to tell stories about his adventures with Lord Lu, though no one ever believed them.

At this moment, it appeared that all of those stories were actually true. No wonder Ghost Monkey received such special treatment in the Heavens Sect. No wonder he dared to shout at anyone yet remained completely untouchable. He really did have a personal relationship with Lord Lu.

All along, the people working for Ghost Monkey never knew that he was a Progenitor. He had broken through long ago, but he had never used his cultivation to intimidate anyone.

He felt that it was boring to use power to scare people. Instead, he enjoyed watching people struggle between wanting to resist his demands and being unable to the most. Seeing the futile defiance in people’s faces amused Ghost Monkey greatly.

If people knew that he was a Progenitor, how could they ever even consider resisting? They would be too busy celebrating.

His greatest joy was the moment when people believed that they had found a powerful supporter, only for him to reveal an even greater one.

Lu Yin waved a hand, dismissing the cultivators back to work. He then turned to Ghost Monkey. “You sounded so pathetic just now. Do you know that not everyone is able to cultivate the Nirvana Tree Path?”

He had given Ghost Monkey a mote of green light to truly cultivate the Nirvana Tree Path. The monkey was one of the few who was eligible to cultivate that new path.

Ghost Monkey offered a fawning smile. “I know. Seventh Bro is too kind to me. I have nothing to repay you with, so all I can do is dig through trash for something useful in order to save you a few resources.

“You have no idea, Seventh Bro, what kind of good stuff those wastrels will throw away! It’s too much! But don’t worry, this little monkey is here to keep an eye on things.”

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

“By the way, why are you here, Seventh Bro?” Ghost Monkey asked suspiciously, his eyes narrowing. Had someone tattled on him?

Lu Yin flicked a finger, splitting apart the mountain of trash. The nearby cultivators quickly backed away as the black, charcoal-like Mother Tree appeared beneath the refuse

Lu Yin walked forward and placed a hand upon the fragments of the black Mother Tree. “I’m sorry.”

Ghost Monkey blinked, not understanding what Lu Yin was doing. All he could do was order the surrounding cultivators to move back and stay silent.

Crack.

The bark of the black Mother Tree split open. It was already almost completely shattered, and at this point, even an ordinary person could break the tree.

This Mother Tree had given too much to save human civilization.

“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. You can rest now,” Lu Yin said. As he spoke, he pressed a palm against the fragments of the black Mother Tree, reducing them to nothingness.

As had happened before, green light floated towards him. He released his inner universe, absorbing it.

While he had made the trip to try to acquire more green light, he had not expected to actually obtain any.

After all, he did not know if the way in which the Nine Odysseys Megaverse had used the black Mother Tree to deceive the Death Megaverse was connected to the motes of green light.

He also did not know how the Death Megaverse had confirmed the Mother Tree’s death.

Discovering that there were still green lights within the black Mother Tree meant that the two were unrelated.

Lu Yin left, but not before reminding Ghost Monkey to cultivate diligently, especially on the Nirvana Tree Path.

Ghost Monkey was respectful as he saw Lu Yin off, only to turn back and see hundreds of cultivators staring at him with fervent reverence.

Ghost Monkey’s lips twisted. How boring.

His identity had been exposed. His glorious life could not remain hidden forever. Go on, worship me as much as you want.

After leaving the Heavens Sect, Lu Yin went to visit the Lost Clan.

Some members of the Lost Clan had been sent to the Mirari Realm, but Great Elder Shan Gu had not. The battle against the Boundary Guardians had destroyed all hope that the man had held of having another breakthrough. If Lu Yin had not Enhanced the Aurora card by one level, Shan Gu would have struggled to stand against an Ortuser.

Lu Yin’s arrival roused a great deal of excitement here. Many members of the Lost Clan stared at him with fervent eyes.

Lu Yin was not only the ruler of the Tianyuan, but also the one who had defeated the Nest civilization and saved the entire megaverse. The Lost Clan respected Lu Yin no less than the natives of the Tianyuan.

“Greetings, Lord Lu.” Great Elder Shan Gu personally greeted Lu Yin with a respectful act of ceremony.

Lu Yin reached out to lift the old man up with a smile. “There’s no need for such formality. I’ve made an abrupt visit because I have something to ask you.”

“Please, come inside, Lord Lu.”

“Alright.”

Tea was soon served. Once Lu Yin took a seat, Great Elder Shan Gu offered another bow.

“I, Shan Gu, on behalf of the Third Rampart, offer you our thanks, Lord Lu. You have not only offered us shelter, but also saved our lives and avenged our civilization. Your kindness has no limits. The Third Rampart has no way to repay you, but if you have any orders, Lord Lu, we will serve you to death.”

Lu Yin chuckled. “Senior, you’re being much too polite. Please stand up. There’s no need for this.”

Great Elder Shan Gu’s expression grew increasingly solemn. “To you, Lord Lu, it may have been a simple thing, but to my Third Rampart, you granted us a great blessing.”

Lu Yin’s gaze moved past Great Elder Shan Gu to look outside.

At some point in time, everyone from the Lost Clan had knelt down to demonstrate their gratitude to Lu Yin.

He sighed. “It’s not easy for any civilization to survive. As fellow humans, we should put our species first. Senior, allow them to disperse, or else I won’t know what to say.”

Great Elder Shan Gu rose, maintaining his respectful demeanor as he dismissed the crowd. He then returned to sit down across from Lu Yin. “Lord Lu, what brings you here?”

“What’s happening with Shan Lie?”

A flash of killing intent appeared in Great Elder Shan Gu’s eyes. “He’s not dead yet. Before the Lost Clan’s anger has been sated, he won’t be allowed to die that easily.”

Lu Yin nodded. “What about the Primordial card? I would like to know about that.”

Great Elder Shan Gu was not surprised by the question. The only reason why Lu Yin would pay a personal visit to the Lost Clan was the Primordial card.

The Lost Clan would not mind if Lu Yin took the card, as they were unable to use it themselves.

The Nest civilization had retreated, but they had not been destroyed. The bugs would one day return, and the Lost Clan hoped that Lu Yin would use their card to kill the Immortal Lord and obtain true vengeance for the Third Rampart.

“That card is called the Shan Barrens.”