Star Odyssey

Chapter 3724: Lu Yin And Yue Ya

The Origin Progenitor’s expression grew grave. “Greater Sancte Green Lotus? From the Nine Odysseys Megaverse?”

Lu Yin nodded. “It was his green lotus leaf that swept us all out of that place.”

Recently, Lu Yin had been preoccupied with suppressing the madness and rage that had infiltrated his consciousness, and he had not been able to speak with the Origin Progenitor or anyone else. It was only at this time that he was able to share all that had happened in the Willbound Spire.

The Origin Progenitor exclaimed, “No wonder the Nine Odysseys Megaverse keeps sending people to the Willbound Spire. If that palace really contains the memories of an Immortal, it’s truly invaluable. Even we would fight for something like that.

“However, that megaverse is much too arrogant. It’s bad enough that they were trying to reach the palace, but the fact that they even closed themselves from view and looked down at the conscients like ants must be completely intolerable to such creatures.”

Lu Yin gave a wry smile. “If the High Seraph hadn’t shattered that screen, we would have never known that anyone was there. The Nine Odysseys above, and the three megaverses down below. That’s the current layout of things.”

“It’s certainly a grim situation,” the Origin Progenitor agreed with a sigh.

Lu Yin stood at Boundless’s prow. “Let’s go back to the Willbound Spire. I’ll see if I can get back inside.”

The battleship was soon returning to the Willbound Expanse.

...

Yue Ya had already been waiting for several months outside the Willbound Expanse with Emperor Slayer.

The beast had shared what he knew of what had occurred within the Willbound Spire, and Yue Ya had replied with a cold chuckle and a single word. “Traitor.”

Emperor Slayer had no idea who the traitor was, only that Yue Ya was someone too powerful to offend.

The man did not even bother trying to search the megaverse for anyone, and he instead simply waited outside the Willbound Expanse. He was certain that the others would arrive sooner or later.

No one could resist the allure of the Willbound Spire. Yue Ya was incapable of resisting such temptation, as was everyone else.

The difference was that he had already attempted to reach the palace countless times before and had ultimately given up. The others had simply not given up yet.

That was especially true of Mo Shang.

He had found a glimmer of hope in the Willbound Spire, but he had no idea that his hope was further away than the bottom of any abyss.

Right as Boundless was moving towards the Willbound Expanse, the High Seraph arrived first.

Just a bit to the southeast of the Willbound Expanse, Yue Ya’s eyes suddenly snapped open, and a cold smile appeared on his face. “So, you’re finally here.”

Emperor Slayer glanced over. Has someone really arrived? Why haven’t I sensed anything?

He then suddenly saw an enormous hand fall from the starry sky up above. It pressed down from the far side of the Willbound Expanse, and Yue Ya’s excitedly shouted, “Mo Shang, you’re dead!”

On the other side of the Broken Realm, the High Seraph exclaimed in surprise, “Yue... Yue Ya?”

The massive hand came crashing down from up above.

The High Seraph raised his guard. “The Five-Palm Art? Is this your strongest body? If I’m not mistaken, this should be the third-generation master of the Five-Palm Sect.”

As he spoke, a vast sea of sequence particles erupted, altering the universe and everything. The High Seraph’s will became solid as Everstone took hold, and he replaced the universe.

The colossal hand struck, shaking the universe so much that the impact was felt even aboard the distant Boundless.

Lu Yin and the others moved to the front of the vessel, and they peered into the distance.

“Strength that surpasses the limits of the megaverse,” he muttered.

“This person is no weaker than you. Who could be fighting?” the Origin Progenitor asked in disbelief.

“The High Seraph and Yong Heng, most likely.

“No... that feels wrong,” Lu Yin continued. Yong Heng was aware that the High Seraph’s Everstone sequence particles could alter the universe, which made brute strength useless against him. Another top expert must have appeared.

“Are we still going?” Sovereign Dou Sheng asked eagerly. Regardless of who they faced, he never feared going into battle.

Lu Yin took a deep breath. “I’ll go alone.”

He then turned to the Origin Progenitor, and added, “Senior, I’m leaving Boundless in your care.”

While the Origin Progenitor had not fought many battles recently, Lu Yin had been free to move about as he pleased mostly due to the Origin Progenitor’s presence. Without the old man, just the threat of someone attacking Boundless would have pinned Lu Yin down. Instead, the battleship had not been any sort of burden. In fact, without it, he might have instead appeared to be a carefree, solitary traveler. Back when he had entered the Spirit Nidus, he most likely would have been surrounded and killed, as no one would have allowed a lone, rogue cultivator to act so freely.

From the beginning of his travels, Boundless had provided Lu Yin with a great deal of confidence. At the moment, the Spirit Nidus’s most powerful cultivators of an entire era were being held captive by Boundless. They would serve as his most valuable bargaining chip when it came time to dealing with the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

The Origin Progenitor needed to stay put to keep careful watch over that leverage.

Lu Yin stepped off of Boundless and moved ahead towards the Willbound Expanse while making sure to conceal his presence.

He did not know who was capable of forcing the High Seraph to use his Everstone sequence particles to transform the universe, but they had to be a truly formidable opponent.

In fact, Lu Yin had already formed a suspicion, but he was hoping that he was wrong.

Outside the Willbound Expanse, the enormous hand froze in space, unable to descend. Despite its overwhelming power, it could not force itself any further down through the universe.

“After the third-generation master of the Five-Palm Sect challenged you and lost, everyone believed that he had died. Only we know that you kept his body as a spare vessel; the Five-Palm Sect is nothing more than one of your backup choices.” The High Seraph thrust a palm at the sky: Veilparter.

The enormous hand was shaken and pushed aside. The High Seraph passed by, only to confront a dark-gold curtain that covered the sky as it fell upon him.

“Voidheart Mirror.”

A dark-gold light flashed in Yue Ya’s eyes as he stared at the High Seraph.

Mo Shang’s body flickered. Each time, his power rose to another level. It was the Nine Heavens Transformation. When his strength reached the peak, his body suddenly froze. His eyes went blank, and he vacantly stared at Yue Ya.

The man stared back at Mo Shang. “You cannot resist my Voidheart Mirror. Honestly, you are the best choice for my next body.”

The High Seraph continued to stare blankly at Yue Ya. A foot rose, and the High Seraph proceeded to walk over to Yue Ya, his body clearly no longer under his own control.

Yue Ya watched as the High Seraph drew nearer. A ring of dark gold had appeared around his irises, and the color was spreading to fill his eyes.

Far away, Emperor Slayer watched on in shock. The High Seraph possessed unimaginable strength; he had the Nine Heavens Transformation, Veilparter, his immaterial form, as well as invincible battle techniques that had left the three megaverses speechless.

Despite all of that, he had fallen under this unknown man’s control. What sort of power could possibly control the High Seraph?

The High Seraph moved closer and closer to Yue Ya.

Suddenly, Yue Ya attacked with a palm strike. “Did you think that I’d believe that you would fall under my control so easily?”

With the blink of his eyes, the dark-gold color disappeared from the High Seraph’s eyes, and his sequence particles flooded the area. As Everstone appeared, he raised a hand and thrust a finger forward: Everlasting Will.

Everlasting Will pierced the giant hand and Yue Ya’s arm, forcing him to retreat farther and farther as he coughed up blood.

The white of Dominion's Mantle swept toward Yue Ya, burning the sky.

A dark-gold screen flashed into existence in front of the man, stopping Dominion's Mantle before pushing it back and throwing it at the High Seraph. As the dark-gold light pushed Dominion’s Mantle, it formed a sharp blade that slashed at the High Seraph.

The man’s expression fell. Yue Ya was an exceedingly troublesome opponent. It was impossible to know when he might try to seize control of someone, and even the High Seraph was unable to ignore those attempts.

It was beyond difficult to defeat Yue Ya in a one-on-one battle.

Just then, the High Seraph’s attention shifted, and he turned to look away from the battle.

Yue Ya looked in the same direction, as both men knew that someone was approaching. The dark-gold light of the Voidheart Mirror stretched out further and further, like golden clouds that instantly transformed the universe.

Far away, Lu Yin had made sure to conceal his aura, but the moment the High Seraph glanced over, Lu Yin knew that he had been discovered. When he saw the dark-gold light shoot towards him, he instantly recognized it. Just as he had guessed, Yue Ya had arrived.

To Lu Yin, Yue Ya was both a stranger and someone whom he knew.

The man was a stranger because Lu Yin had never laid eyes on him before. They had exchanged conversations and tested each other, but all of those interactions had taken place through Yue Ya’s representatives. The closest that they had come to actually meeting each other was the Northmount Domain. There, they had fought when Yue Ya and Xing Fan had tried to fish Lu Yin into the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, only for Lu Yin to invert the fishing pole and try to drag Yue Ya down, leaving the man to shoulder the blame.

Yue Ya also felt familiar to Lu Yin, due to all that he had learned from Ru Guo. Yue Ya possessed unimaginably powerful manifested thought, and he was capable of altering anyone’s thoughts at will. Before his Voidheart Mirror, there was no sense of self. That was Yue Ya’s ability.

Ru Guo had readily admitted that he could not withstand Yue Ya’s Voidheart Mirror.

Lu Yin had faced more than one opponent who used manifested thought, the most powerful of whom had been the Phantom Reach’s Yi Nan. That man had seized thoughts and experiences from countless minds over the years to create his Dire End. Without the Wheel of Karma, Lu Yin would not have been able to subdue Yi Nan so easily. Compared to Yi Nan’s diverse applications of manifested thought, Yue Ya’s use was much simpler: control, control, and nothing but control. However, the simpler the application, the more terrifying a power became.

Whenever anyone pushed a power to the limit, they would pursue simplicity. The ultimate goal was also the simplest. In terms of combat, if a single move was enough, a second would never be needed. Each attack would be a guaranteed kill.

In Heavenspire, Ru Guo had lost to Yue Ya precisely because he had failed to withstand the Voidheart Mirror. Ru Guo had been defeated before he could use any technique at all.

At this moment, Lu Yin was able to feel the power of the Voidheart Mirror for himself.

“Lu Yin.”

“Lu Yin?”

One voice was low, but the other was excited. Both were far away.

Since he had been discovered, Lu Yin stopped bothering trying to hide. A single step allowed him to appear far away from both the High Seraph and Yue Ya, though he was close enough that all three men could see each other clearly.

At that moment, willing or not, each of them laid eyes on the others.

The High Seraph’s face remained calm, though his gaze was frighteningly intense.

In contrast, Yue Ya was brimming with excitement. He looked at Lu Yin as though ready to consume him.

Lu Yin looked at Yue Ya. “You’re Yue Ya? It’s been some time.”

Yue Ya’s bright eyes blazed with excitement, and even the dark gold of his Voidheart Mirror gleamed brighter. “You’re Lu Yin? I’ve wanted to meet you for a very long time.”

“Could I ask why Lesser Sancte Yue Ya has been looking for me?” This was what had puzzled Lu Yin the most. Emperor Wu had been forced to manipulate Lu Yin, and Yue Ya’s moon servants had paid Lu Yin repeated visits. There had multiple plots to lure him to the Morrow Behemoth’s hand, and the incident in the Northmount Domain where Yue Ya had tried to fish Lu Yin into the Nine Odysseys Megaverse had resulted in the man being punished. All along, his goal had been to have Lu Yin enter the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

Lu Yin genuinely had no idea what about him warranted such effort from Yue Ya.

The man slowly smiled, and his unusually large hands slowly clenched. “To have you replace Mo Shang.”

Lu Yin arched a brow and glanced at the High Seraph.𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Mo Shang remained calm, and he was not at all upset by Yue Ya’s declaration.

Yue Ya stared at Lu Yin. “Emperor Wu was my original candidate, but he proved worthless. He failed to defeat even you, let alone challenge Mo Shang. Your arrival has presented a new option. You are from the Tianyuan Megaverse, so it’s perfect to use you to replace Mo Shang. This is the unanimous decision of us Lesser Sancti.”

Lu Yin frowned. “Is that really all there is to it?”

Yue Ya laughed. “Naturally, there are some conditions.”

He glanced over at the High Seraph. “Mo Shang had the audacity to defy his betters, and he faced defeat from the beginning. He shamed our Nine Odysseys Megaverse, and such a disgrace can never be allowed to occur for a second time.”

Yue Ya turned his intense stare back to Lu Yin. “You must submit to control. This control will not threaten your life, but it will keep you on edge. This is to ensure that you do not become a second Mo Shang. In return, we will offer you compensation.

“The Tianyuan Megaverse will not be reset.”

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed as he met Yue Ya’s gaze, staring into the man’s deep, inscrutable, and dark-gold eyes.

Yue Ya also continued to stare at Lu Yin with unimaginable longing hidden in his eyes.

“Are you saying that, all those times that you tried to lure me to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse was just for this?” Lu Yin did not believe a word of it.