Star Odyssey

Chapter 3727: Divining The Future

Boundless, as well as the battleships it was towing, was engulfed by an endless cloud of consciousness. All around the vessels, beaded strings fell from the dark-gold curtain that was overhead. The dark-gold light intertwined with shadowy lights to create the largest and most impressive battle in the history of the Consciousness Megaverse.

On the Spirit Nidus’s ships, people trembled while staring up at the power that filled the visible universe. They could not even comprehend the terror of what they were seeing.

Lu Yin stood at the prow of Boundless, observing the distant dark-gold cloud that gave him chills and left him nervous. Intuition said that this cloud was Yue Ya.

Yue Ya was a being of manifested thought, though he lacked a physical body. Such a creature could take on the body of a man, a woman, or even an astral beast. At this moment, it was reasonable to believe that Yue Ya had taken on the form of a massive cloud.

“Yue Ya, you’re not fighting against the High Seraph, so why are you chasing us?”

The cloud suddenly accelerated, and as it did so, the strings of beads falling from the dark-gold curtain quivered before they shot at Boundless and the other battleships like bullets. “Lu Yin, you didn’t seize the opportunity that I offered you, so surrender yourself to me! I’ll allow you to ascend.”

Verdant Eternity appeared as the Origin Progenitor took action. As he used the Nine Heavens Transformation, the universe trembled, and a speck of Primaldust formed a landmass that covered both Boundless and the other battleships.

While Lu Yin’s consciousness could not stop the falling beads of manifested thought, Primaldust could handle that task.

Primaldust was both the power of the Origin Progenitor and a tangible substance.

The dark-gold cloud shot towards Lu Yin, its small form harboring an unfathomable, terrifying manifested thought.

The High Seraph appeared, and he instantly attacked with Everlasting Will, piercing through the universe and stopping the cloud before it could reach Lu Yin and the battleships.

Yue Ya had not expected Mo Shang to return. What was going on?

However, Everlasting Will was not capable of repelling Yue Ya’s true form.

Lu Yin watched as the cloud drew ever closer. The nearer it approached, the more intense his chills. His scalp was tingling, and he had not felt this much danger in ages. He had never encountered manifested thought that was anywhere close to as powerful as what Yue Ya possessed. Yue Ya was capable of affecting anyone’s mind, including both Lu Yin and the High Seraph. If the manifested thought struck either man, the best outcome that they could hope for was a grievous injury. In the worst case scenario, their mind would be entirely replaced.

As Lu Yin stared at the cloud of manifested thought, he released his inner universe. Meanwhile, his vast consciousness instantly retracted, fully converging upon his star of consciousness, which spun rapidly as it moved forward to strike the converging cloud.

You’re not the only one who can do that!

His Nine Heavens descended upon the star of consciousness, condensing all of Lu Yin’s consciousness in one place.

Manifested thought was manifested thought while consciousness was consciousness. However, both were powers that originated from the mind.

Everlasting Will shot through the center of the cloud as it collided with the star of consciousness.

Boom!

Something invisible shattered the universe as the star of consciousness cracked. Lu Yin was forced multiple steps back. Was he still unable to stop Yue Ya in his manifested thought form?

Yue Ya was equally stunned. He had not expected Lu Yin to have formed a star with his consciousness. How can someone master so many powers? Did he really block my manifested thought form for a moment? This is even better than expected!

The more that Lu Yin revealed, the more that Yue Ya desired him.

From Yue Ya’s right side, Everstone suddenly slammed down upon him.

He quickly dodged and shot a furious glare at the High Seraph before charging at Lu Yin again. There was no hesitation. As long as Yue Ya could make contact with Lu Yin, he would be able to move his manifest thought into the man’s body and then become unstoppable.

However, Yue Ya had not anticipated Everstone and Everlasting Will to both repeatedly block his path forward.

He managed to evade several attacks, only for Everstone to block him after each attack.

Everlasting Will ignored time and was even able to ascend the cliff within the Willbound Spire. It was not an attack that Yue Ya could avoid.

He turned to look at the High Seraph. “Have you gone mad? He belongs to the Tianyuan Megaverse!”

The High Seraph’s expression remained solemn. “You intend to use him to ascend and become a Greater Sancte. Should you succeed, will I have any chance of survival?”

Yue Ya roared, “From this moment on, there is nothing left between you and me! All debts and grudges are gone!”

“You think I would trust you?”

“I can swear an oath.”

“That changes nothing.”

Yue Ya was furious, and he glared resentfully at the High Seraph. Why was this person so determined to stop him?

Everstone could not block the Voidheart Mirror, but that was because the Voidheart Mirror was too vast. On the other hand, the sequence base could block Yue Ya’s true form, as he was actually a being of manifested thought that had taken on physical form.

There were both strengths and weaknesses to Yue Ya’s form of manifested thought. All things in existence could be countered by something else. Even Immortals were restricted by karmic chains. There was no truly invincible power.

Seeing the High Seraph successfully block Yue Ya, Lu Yin felt a touch relieved. Which of them had not plotted against him? Let them continue. Even if such schemes left him uneasy, those plans had effectively become his protection.

Since Yue Ya’s being blocked...

A spiral of karma twined about Lu Yin’s fingers, twisting further and further until he threw out a Wheel of Karma.

Yue Ya sensed the power of karma and immediately dodged. He was terrified of the power of karma, and he did not know what would happen if such an attack struck him.

However, if one of Lu Yin’s attacks missed, he would attack twice. If two missed, he would continue countless times until he succeeded.

Unless Yue Ya decided to stop pursuing him, Lu Yin was certain that the High Seraph would be drawn out each time. With the High Seraph interfering, Yue Ya would become nothing more than a target for Lu Yin.

However, for what Lu Yin could consider, so could Yue Ya. He had no desire to continue on in this manner. It was already clear to him that the longer that things dragged on, the more likely it was that he would fail.

Additionally, the more determined the High Seraph was to protect Lu Yin, the more suspicious things became. Yue Ya was certain that the High Seraph had his own plans for Lu Yin; why else would Mo Shang protect Lu Yin so fiercely? Could Lu Yin be the man’s son?

One spiral of karma after another was thrown out. In Lu Yin’s eyes, Boundless had become the center of the most dazzling event in the entire Consciousness Megaverse.

There was both consciousness and a dark-gold curtain raining down strings of beads high above. Closer, Everstone was blocking a cloud while countless spirals of karmas wove about. Any one of the abilities being used was enough let an ordinary cultivator to reach the peak.

Despite Yue Ya’s incessant dodging, he was ultimately struck by another spiral of karma.

The moment that karma struck the cloud, manifested thought and karma collided. An inverted tornado formed, tearing upwards and ripping through the sky of consciousness.

Lu Yin stared blankly at the phenomena. Unlike the last time he had struck Yue Ya with karma, this was a collision between pure manifested thought and karma, and the result was divining the future.

When Lu Yin had first developed his Inner Clarity Technique, he had already known that it could be used to predict the future. Spirals of karma allowed him to see karmic interactions, which was the path to predicting the future.

Despite that potential, Lu Yin had never managed to achieve it. Instead, he had only ever been able to see the past and the cause and effect that resulted from the interactions of the Karmic Lines he drew out from people.

He could see the past, but he had never been able to see the future.

But now, Yue Ya’s powerful manifested thought was serving as the driving force for the power of karma to predict the future. Manifested thought was constantly being consumed as the karmic maelstrom rose higher and higher.

Yue Ya was startled. What was happening? Why was his manifested thought being consumed so quickly?

Only Lu Yin was able to see karma predict the future.

He looked up at the sky and, little by little, gained a clear view of things.

He looked down from the tornado and back at Yue Ya. This time, greed blazed in Lu Yin’s eyes; the intensity mirrored the desire that had filled Yue Ya’s when he had previously looked at Lu Yin.

So that’s how it is. It’s no wonder why Yue Ya was willing to pay any price to find me.

Everything that had been said regarding Dan Jin’s promise and of Lu Yin replacing Mo Shang as the High Seraph had been a lie. Yue Ya’s true goal was to use Lu Yin’s physical body as a vessel in which to merge his manifested thought with Lu Yin’s consciousness, creating the power of Word Manifestation.

The concept of altering the universe with a word was not unknown to cultivators. Certain powerful cultivators could achieve that by manipulating sequence particles, but that was still using their own power.

What Yue Ya sought was to use thoughts to manipulate the universe by achieving the pinnacle of both consciousness and manifested thought. He wanted to wield the terrifying power of Word Manifestation that could alter everything in the megaverses and even reshape sequence particles themselves.

Such power was only available to Immortals.

Yue Ya had cultivated for countless years and had come to the conclusion that he could succeed, provided that he had a biological carrier with the power of consciousness. That was because his manifested thought was much too powerful.

Once manifested thought became powerful enough, it could truly change anything.

Once consciousness and manifested thought were fused together, even if Yue Ya did not immediately enter the Immortal realm, he would at least possess power comparable to an Immortal, and he would also be free of the restrictions of a karmic chain.

This was Yue Ya’s true goal.

With this knowledge, Lu Yin finally clearly understood Yue Ya’s goals. If Lu Yin were in Yue Ya’s position, he would also stop at nothing to attempt such a fusion. Success would let him rise to become the ruler of the three megaverses. Even the three Greater Sancti would struggle to oppose such a being, as they were hindered by karmic chains, while the merged Lu Yin/Yue Ya would not.

Yue Ya was able to attempt such a fusion as he was a creature of manifested thought. However, Lu Yin could also attempt the same fusion.

Yue Ya wanted to seize Lu Yin’s body and control his consciousness, but Lu Yin was also capable of seizing Yue Ya’s manifested thought.

At this moment, Lu Yin looked at Yue Ya with naked avarice. It was the same expression that had previously been on Yue Ya’s face when he had looked at Lu Yin.

It was impossible to hide such desire, and Yue Ya was startled to see the change in Lu Yin’s eyes. Why was the man looking at Yue Ya with such greed?

The High Seraph also saw Lu Yin’s desire. He glanced from Lu Yin to Yue Ya, noticing the mirrored expressions.

Lu Yin never expected that a shortcut to obtaining the power of an Immortal would suddenly appear before him. It was a complete surprise, and yet it was so close that it could never escape from him.

If he could capture Yue Ya and merge with his manifested thought, Lu Yin would also gain the power to alter the universe with a word, rivaling an Immortal’s power. Such power was too tempting, and Lu Yin struggled to not immediately attack.

His reason held him back. It did not matter that the High Seraph had been helping Lu Yin with Yue Ya; if Yue Ya fell to a disadvantage, the High Seraph would turn on Lu Yin. No one would be allowed to break the current balance.

Additionally, Lu Yin could not defeat Yue Ya. His manifested thought was too powerful. Should the two fight, even if Lu Yin escaped, most of the people aboard Boundless would suffer terribly. Not even cooperating with the Origin Progenitor would be enough to guarantee their safety.

Humans could never be free of greed. It was impossible for Yue Ya, and it was also impossible for Lu Yin. Still, the circumstances refused to allow them to continue.𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Yue Ya cast a lingering glance at Lu Yin before finally retreating. Even so, it was clear to Lu Yin that the other man would never give up on him.

That was exactly what Lu Yin was hoping for. At this point, even if Yue Ya gave up on Lu Yin, Lu Yin would not be willing to abandon Yue Ya.

As soon as the dark-gold cloud was gone, the High Seraph also left. He had no desire to continue fighting, and he strove to preserve balance.

With both enemies gone, the people aboard Boundless were finally able to let out a breath of relief.

Boundless was carrying a formidable force that was capable of overwhelming anyone from either the Consciousness Megaverse or the Spirit Nidus, aside from the High Seraph. However, the most recent battle had been between people just as powerful as the High Seraph.

The experience of having someone take control of them had been too traumatizing.

“The strength of a Lesser Sancte is certainly intimidating. The High Seraph almost failed to hold him back,” the Origin Progenitor commented.

Lu Yin was still staring in the direction that Yue Ya had left. “Senior, I have seen my path to Immortality.”

The Origin Progenitor was taken aback. “Your path to Immortality? The Willbound Spire?”

Lu Yin shook his head.

“Consciousness?” the Origin Progenitor continued.

Lu Yin still shook his head. “Manifested thought.”

The Origin Progenitor frowned. “You want to cultivate manifested thought? That would be quite dangerous. While your path is quite broad and is capable of encompassing all powers, still...”

Lu Yin looked over at the Origin Progenitor. “Consciousness fused with manifested thought—that is Yue Ya’s goal. He wants an invincible power, and if he can pursue it, then so can I.”

The Origin Progenitor went bug-eyed, and he opened his mouth to speak, only to suddenly fall deep into thought.

Lu Yin did not interrupt the old man, and no one else stepped forward either.

For a moment, Boundless was completely silent.