Star Odyssey

Chapter 3723: Starforged Sword

It was not long before Lu Yin was back aboard Boundless. He immediately went into seclusion, asking the Origin Progenitor and everyone else to capture conscients for him to devour so that he could suppress the rising madness and rage within him.

Boundless started to move. It led the four other battleships away from the Willbound Expanse. No conscients remained in the area, which forced Boundless to search elsewhere.

As this happened, Lu Yin released Wu Wei from his Champions’ Stage Purgatory.

Two of the Thirteen Luminaries were currently Lu Yin’s captives: Xi Wen and Wu Wei.

Xi Wen possessed the Middle Heaven’s Blade, which prevented Lu Yin from devouring her. On the other hand, Wu Wei no longer held any value. Given that Lu Yin needed to restore his consciousness, Wu Wei could only be devoured.

The Champions’ Stage Purgatory had little effect on conscients. They lacked most human emotions, so the Champions’ Stage Purgatory served as nothing more than a prison for them.

When Wu Wei was released, they first saw Lu Yin.

The bloodshot eyes glaring at them chilled the conscient to their core. Wu Wei glanced around. “Where are we?”

Lu Yin did not speak a word as he started devouring consciousness.

Wu Wei was startled, but then they quickly grew horrified. “Y- you can actually devour consciousness from us? How is that possible? What are you?

“Let me go! We’re not enemies! The Spirit Nidus is our enemy! Let me go! Let me go!

“I can help you with many things. I’ll do anything you want. Please, let me go!”

Lu Yin turned a deaf ear. The consciousness of a Universe-realm Luminary was too tempting. Bit by bit, Wu Wei’s consciousness was fully devoured, and their vitality scattered into the Consciousness Megaverse.

Conscients were only kept alive by their vital energy, which was something that no one could explain. This was because no one knew how creatures like the conscients had come into being.

Lu Yin did not need that knowledge for the time being. He simply knew that his eyes were no longer bloodshot and that his feelings of madness and rage had been suppressed.

Given how many of the Thirteen Luminaries he had devoured, Lu Yin’s consciousness surpassed even Old Chief’s. With this, there was truly no one in any of the three megaverses who could surpass Lu Yin in consciousness. If he could absorb one more conscient as strong as the Thirteen Luminaries and obtain a powerful consciousness technique, Lu Yin was confident that he could fight equally against the High Seraph with his consciousness alone.

No matter how strong the High Seraph might be, he would not be able to defeat Lu Yin’s consciousness.

Soon, very soon.

That meteorite was an annoyance, and one that Lu Yin could not make any sense of. Even after devouring Wu Wei, Lu Yin had only managed to somewhat suppress the madness and rage. He had no idea where the feelings had actually come from.

Boundless roamed about the Consciousness Megaverse, four other battleships in tow as it ceaselessly hunted for conscients to deliver to Lu Yin.

As time passed and Lu Yin kept devouring more consciousness, the madness and rage eventually seemed to be completely suppressed.

As this occurred, everyone aboard Boundless was able to see the truth: Lu Yin could devour consciousness.

No one had known about this ability, not even Lu Tianyi or anyone else from the family. It was not that Lu Yin had refused to say anything, but rather that he saw devouring as nothing more than another form of cultivation. Thus, he had seen no need to share everything.

Lu Yin’s ability meant little to those from the Tianyuan Megaverse, but the people from the Spirit Nidus were beyond shocked.

The Spirit Nidus and the Consciousness Megaverse had been at war for so many years that they were both very familiar with each other.

Conscients cultivated solely by drawing in ambient consciousness that drift about their megaverse. With that, what conscient could hope to match Lu Yin’s speed of directly devouring another’s consciousness? It was absurd.

If the Consciousness Megaverse had ever given birth to a creature with Lu Yin’s ability, the Spirit Nidus would have never been able to compare to their enemy.

Imagine if all the consciousness in an entire megaverse was gathered within a single creature. Even if the creature was not an Immortal, its sheer power would undoubtedly rival that realm. At the very least, no Dukkhan would stand a chance.

Even those with the greatest confidence in the Spirit Nidus could not believe that the High Seraph could defeat such a monster.

Lu Yin was quickly becoming exactly that monster.

Given the fact that they were still in the Consciousness Megaverse, no one could guess just how many conscients Lu Yin might devour.

Everyone from the Spirit Nidus felt like they were witnessing the birth of something terrifying.

Out of sight of Boundless, far across the Consciousness Megaverse, there stood an enormous gateway. It marked the boundary of the megaverse, and beyond that lay the Aevum Inch.

No one knew how vast the Aevum Inch truly was, much like how a normal human saw their own universe as being infinite.

It was impossible to make out its bounds, but that did not mean it was limitless. Far to the right of the path between the Consciousness Megaverse and Beacon City, at a distance too great to fathom, countless star-sized rocks, like colossal meteorites, were hurtling toward the megaverse. Their sheer mass was enough to warp the starlight around them. They were strung together, end to end, forming shape of a single, immense sword.

A sword was the keenest of all weapons, and this one, hewn from astral fragments, concealed a hidden edge. Like the Heavenly Dao itself, the blade carried an imperfection. However, imperfections could be overcome, and blades could be tempered. This had given birth to the Starforged Sword.

“So it’s there after all. My brand would never lie to me. It’s right there. You can’t run. You can’t run...”

At another location in the Aevum Inch between the Consciousness Megaverse and Beacon City, there was a line of springboards connecting the two places. Between the last springboard and the Consciousness Megaverse was a solitary figure.

A long blur trailed behind the individual, stretching several meters from their body and creating a phantom that grew increasingly indistinct as the figure moved closer to the Consciousness Megaverse. Little by little, the gateway entered their view.

“I’m finally here. That position is mine.”

At that moment, the gate rumbled, and a streak of black light erupted from it, piercing the Aevum Inch.

The individual was astonished. Was someone able to pierce the gate? That is no mean feat.

The black beam continued on. Its power seemed limitless, and yet the figure in the Aevum Inch was also puzzled; this was not enough power to pierce the gate.

The figure then watched as a gigantic form tore through the hole in the gates. “You want to stop this Emperor Wu Slayer? You’re a million years too young! You decrepit geezers think that you’re worthy? Didn’t you see how Mo Shang and Lu Yin were both cussed out by me without even being able to talk back? You’re courting death!”

With that, Emperor Slayer raced to the springboards.

He could not stay in the Consciousness Megaverse or even in the Spirit Nidus. He had no other choice but to head for the Tianyuan Megaverse.

Huh? What’s that?

The figure with the long, trailing after-image shot straight at Emperor Slayer. He blinked and then spat out his Emperor Slayer Cannon. Whatever was approaching him, it was an enemy.

With a casual sweep of a hand, the figure swatted the attack aside, sending it curving away to explode somewhere else.

Seeing this left Emperor Slayer dumbfounded, and he immediately wheeled about and fled. Another monster? This person had deflected the Emperor Slayer Cannon far too easily; even Lu Yin had put in a bit of effort to do so. When had his most powerful attack become so worthless?

Emperor Slayer came to a sudden stop, his body frozen in the middle of outer space. His eyes lost focus, and he looked like his mind had gone blank.

A Dukkhan appeared through the hole in the gate to the Consciousness Megaverse, ready to chase after Emperor Slayer and kill him. Seeing the beast lost in a daze, the man exclaimed in surprise, “Emperor Slayer, you-”

The Dukkhan never finished his sentence. Just like Emperor Slayer, the man was also frozen in place until the figure arrived.

The blurry figure glanced at the Dukkhan and then at Emperor Slayer. A hand rose, and then fell. The Dukkha powerhouse was reduced to dust, and soon, not a trace of him remained.

Emperor Slayer watched this happen, as he had just barely managed to regain control of himself before the man was destroyed. The sight made Emperor Slay believe that he had to be dreaming.

A powerful Dukkhan, the one the Spirit Nidus had stationed at the Consciousness Megaverse’s gate to serve as a guardian, had died just like that?

This had to be a joke. Who could kill such a powerful cultivator so easily? Even the High Seraph would need two moves to destroy the man. Just who had appeared?

The figure observed Emperor Slayer, which allowed the beast to finally get a clear view of the man.

The figure was a middle-aged man with an extremely powerful physique. His hands were also bizarrely large, completely unlike normal people’s.

There was a piercing sharpness to the man’s eyes, as well as an unmistakable feeling of superiority. Even with Emperor Slayer’s long years of experience, he could not discern what emotions lay within those eyes.

Emperor Slayer prided himself on being able to read people. Without that ability, he would have never survived for so long. For example, the Grandverse Manor’s Third Boss: he was clearly a ruthless man, but he was not hard-hearted enough. Even when he was offended, provided that one did not go too far, things would be fine. Emperor Slayer had only cursed Lu Yin as a means of venting; the young man’s ancestors had not been brought into the matter.

The High Seraph was different, and he was someone who would kill without hesitation. Emperor Slayer was certain that the High Seraph was the kind of man who would end a person the moment that they lost value. That was why he had cursed the High Seraph the most viciously. Regardless of what insults were hurled his way, the man would never grow angry. All that mattered was whether someone was useful to him.

Yet, the man that Emperor Slayer was currently looking at was unlike either the High Seraph or Lu Yin. This man acted as though there was nothing in all of existence that could be of any use to him, and there was also no desire in his eyes.

How could such a person exist?

“You carry Mo Shang’s aura. Have you met him recently?” the man asked. His voice was deep, and it was completely at odds with his eyes.

Emperor Slayer concealed nothing. “I did, just a short while ago.”

“I see. Take me to him.”

Emperor Slayer forced a smile. “Of course, whatever you say. Er, may I ask what sort of relationship you have with Mo Shang?”

The man considered the question for a moment. “We should be enemies.”

Emperor Slayer’s eye twitched. “Should be”? That’s an interesting choice of words.

“May I ask who you are?”

The man stared intently at the beast. “Are you quite curious?”

Emperor Slayer quickly replied, “I don’t dare, not at all.”

“My name is Yue Ya.”

Yue Ya? Emperor Slayer was confident that he had never heard of that name before, but where had such a terrifying expert come from? “My lord, you have a truly excellent name.”

Yue Ya smiled. “You have a good attitude. Emperor Slayer, is it? Help me handle a few affairs, and should you perform well, I just may consider allowing you to replace Mo Shang.”

Emperor Slayer’s eyes narrowed. Did I hear that last bit right? Replace Mo Shang? That means becoming the High Seraph!

That’s impossible, unless the High Seraph dies.

The beast stared blankly at Yue Ya. Could this man be the legendary invincible being?

...

Several months flashed by. During that time, Boundless continued to roam about the Consciousness Megaverse, the other battleships trailing behind it as every conscient that they encountered was captured and delivered to Lu Yin. He devoured a tremendous amount of consciousness, and he finally succeeded in quelling the madness and rage. He was certain that he had surpassed Old Chief’s consciousness by now. There was no question as to who in the three megaverses possessed the most powerful consciousness.

However, Lu Yin still lacked a consciousness technique.

Both the sword of consciousness and Old Chief’s Heaven and Earth Lock were good options.

“There’s no trace. They’ve completely disappeared. They might have slipped into a parallel universe,” the Origin Progenitor said.

Earlier, Lu Yin had asked if there had been any sign of the High Seraph or any of the others, but the answer was what he had already expected.

Hiding in a parallel universe? That’s not impossible.

To ordinary cultivators, and even to peak powerhouses, the Consciousness Megaverse was vast. However, for those above a certain level, it was not impossible to search an entire megaverse.

“What about the Willbound Spire?”

The Origin Progenitor shook his head. “We can’t get in. There’s an invisible wall blocking the way.”

“That must be Greater Sancte Green Lotus’s power.”