Star Odyssey

Chapter 3729: Improvement

Devouring the Celestial-realm conscient benefited Lu Yin far more than all the conscients that Boundless had gathered for him.

Again.

Again and again he rolled his die, occasionally seeing six pips. While he only occasionally rolled Possession, he managed to find a powerful conscient each time. Lu Yin’s consciousness continued to improve, and each time it strengthened, it bolstered his confidence at facing Yue Ya.

Finally, Lu Yin succeeded in Possessing Lan Huifeng, which was incredibly exciting.

Lan Huifeng was one of the Thirteen Luminaries, but he had seemly contributed very little during the battle at the Willbound Spire. He lacked impressive battle techniques, like what the Origin Progenitor possessed, or the domineering presence of Shuangdao. Still, that did not mean that Lan Huifeng’s role had been minor by any means.

His method of manipulating consciousness was the most insidious one yet.

He infiltrated others’ minds, exchanged places with their consciousness, and could replace bodies.

This was how Lan Huifeng operated.

When the Luminary had joined the assault on the High Seraph, he had managed to freeze even the High Seraph’s consciousness for a moment. That was real. Even though Lan Huifeng was working with the High Seraph and had been exposed when they had cooperated to attack Yong Heng, the Luminary had succeeded in creating a small setback for the High Seraph during the fight in the Willbound Spire.

It was his insidious use of consciousness that had allowed Lan Huifeng to rise up from being an incredibly weak conscient to one of the Thirteen Luminaries whom the Spirit Nidus feared.𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

However, the same thing that had led to Lan Huifeng’s success also led to his downfall.

He had repeatedly defeated powerful opponents, which had inflated his confidence to absurd levels. When the High Seraph had led the Spirit Nidus’s invasion to their megaverse, Lan Huifeng had even attempted a sneak attack on his own, intending to replace the High Seraph’s mind and seize control of the man’s body. Clearly, Lan Huifeng had grossly underestimated the High Seraph. The Luminary had been crushed and then subdued.

It was through Lan Huifeng that the High Seraph had gained intimate knowledge of the Thirteen Luminaries’ movements and of the traps that had been prepared throughout the Consciousness Megaverse.

The route that the High Seraph had given Boundless had been deliberately selected. The goal was for Boundless to intimidate the Thirteen Luminaries with its power, forcing them to attack the ship. The High Seraph had a clear understanding of Lu Yin’s personality and that he would never allow those who attacked his people to escape.

There had been no doubt in the High Seraph’s mind that the Thirteen Luminaries would be drawn out from the Willbound Expanse when Lu Yin took action.

That had all been intended to create the High Seraph’s best chance of sneaking into the Willbound Spire alone.

However, the High Seraph had not anticipated that Lu Yin would also take advantage of Emperor Slayer as bait to infiltrate the Willbound Spire, or that he would catch Shuangdao’s attention. That had led to the subsequent battle in the Willbound Spire.

Had everything gone according to the High Seraph’s plan, no one would have known that he had entered the Willbound Spire. He could have approached the palace, entered it, and secured all of its secrets while remaining undisturbed.

He had even foreseen many possible complications.

For example, he had anticipated that Boundless would deliberately delay its arrival at the Willbound Expanse.

Or that Lu Yin would slay some of the Thirteen Luminaries, drawing the others away.

And that the High Seraph himself would be able to enter the Willbound Spire unopposed.

Yet human scheming paled before fate. It was impossible for the High Seraph to predict that Lu Yin would use Possession to control Gui Shaoqing and learn about the trap in the Willbound Expanse from the conscient’s memories, gain the same knowledge of the Willbound Spire as the High Seraph, and sneak in with him. The battle in the Willbound Spire had never been intended or anticipated.

All too often, clever individuals shared the same thoughts.

All of the High Seraph’s machinations had ultimately served to preserve the balance between the most powerful individuals in the Consciousness Megaverse.

What puzzled Lu Yin the most was why Yong Heng had ventured into the Willbound Spire alone.

Was it possible that Yong Heng had learned the secrets of the Willbound Spire from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, just like Mo Shang?

Still, such details no longer mattered. With so many powerful cultivators present in the Consciousness Megaverse, it was impossible for anyone to upset the balance.

Lan Huifeng had extensive memories, but Lu Yin did not need to learn much from the conscient.

His mind returned to his own body, and he immediately left for Lan Huifeng’s location.

However, Lu Yin arrived to find that Lan Huifeng was already gone.

Lu Yin let out a helpless sigh, despite already expecting such a result. Lan Huifeng had run off.

After Yong Heng had revealed that Lu Yin was capable of controlling other creature’s bodies, everyone had been gone on guard against that exact ability.

This had led all the conscients to constantly roam about the megaverse, never lingering in one place for long.

Lan Huifeng had simply moved on. He had no idea that he had been Possessed by Lu Yin, but as soon as Lu Yin ended the Possession, the Luminary had slipped away, leaving no trace.

The High Seraph also had not remained near Lan Huifeng, specifically to avoid the possibility of Lu Yin tracking him via the Luminary.

Everyone was currently on guard against Lu Yin, and he felt incredibly exasperated.

Overhead, a dark-gold cloud drifted by. It was Yue Ya’s manifested thought.

Yue Ya was spreading his manifested thought across the Consciousness Megaverse, effectively monitoring the entire megaverse.

Lu Yin frowned when he looked up. He could not accept being constantly watched by Yue Ya.

He considered dispelling the manifested thought, but he eventually decided not to.

While the manifested thought allowed Yue Ya to monitor the developments throughout the Consciousness Megaverse, doing so also consumed his manifested thought. After some time, it would be impossible for Yue Ya to sustain things.

Lu Yin took a step and vanished, returning to Boundless to resume rolling his die.

Soon, half a year had passed.

The Consciousness Megaverse had remained quiet during this time. No one made a move.

Yue Ya was able to locate Boundless, but he had not taken action. He was well aware that the moment he attacked, Lu Yin would summon the High Seraph, and the previous stalemate would return.

There was no doubt that Yue Ya was seeking a way to break the current deadlock, as were the High Seraph and Yong Heng.

During those six months, Lu Yin had repeatedly gone out. Boundless had also succeeded in capturing many conscients for him to devour. All in all, Lu Yin had strengthened his consciousness as much as he would have by devouring another Universe-realm conscient.

The intricacies of the various methods of using consciousness no longer concerned Lu Yin. All he needed was a vast, overwhelming consciousness.

His consciousness would soon reach the point of being as powerful as a peak Dukkhan.

He also still had the Luminary Xi Wen imprisoned in his Champions’ Stage Purgatory, but he could not devour her until after he acquired the Middle Heaven’s Blade.

His die slowly came to stop at six pips.

Lu Yin calmly peered through the dark space. Far away, a sphere of light entered his sight, and its brightness indicated a Universe-realm conscient.

Eager, Lu Yin shot forward and merged with the orb.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in Gui Shaoqing’s body.

Lu Yin did not hesitate for even a moment to end the Possession. He flew away from Boundless, racing towards Gui Shaoqing’s location.

Not even a moment’s hesitation could be allowed, as it might allow Gui Shaoqing to escape.

While attempting to reach the palace atop the cliff in the Willbound Spire, Gui Shaoqing’s memory string had snapped, leaving him in a vegetative state for a time. Upon exiting the Willbound Spire, Lu Yin had Possessed the Luminary in an attempt to ambush and capture Xi Wen. Gui Shaoqing had then been carried away by Old Chief and the Luminaries, and he had since recovered.

In the distance, Gui Shaoqing was staring out at the starry sky. It was time to leave. He could not afford to remain anywhere for too long.

He was suddenly struck by a sense of approaching danger, and Gui Shaoqing’s face grew ashen as he tore the void open to make his escape.

As he passed through the spatial tear, Lightstream flickered around him. With time turning back by a second, Gui Shaoqing could only watch the tear close as Lu Yin appeared overhead.

The Luminary slowly looked up, his face deathly pale as he met Lu Yin’s eyes. “We meet again, Gui Shaoqing.”

Gui Shaoqing stared intently at Lu Yin, his fists clenching. “You controlled me?”

Lu Yin slowly moved down, Gui Shaoqing remaining frozen. Before Lu Yin arrived, the Luminary could have escaped, but that was impossible with Lu Yin already present.

“You did well, but you cannot stop me.”

Gui Shaoqing bitterly asked, “What about Xi Wen?”

Lu Yin raised a foot and proceeded to walk towards Gui Shaoqing in silence.

The conscient stared at the man. “I can swear to follow and serve you.”

Lu Yin shook his head. “You have no value.”

Gui Shaoqing’s eyes bulged. “I am one of the Thirteen Luminaries! A Universe-realm conscient! How can you say that I have no value?”

A smile tugged at the corner of Lu Yin’s lips as he lashed out, suppressing Gui Shaoqing with consciousness.

The Luminary knew that he was no match for Lu Yin, and yet he still instinctively retaliated. He could not simply allow Lu Yin to capture him. A wave of consciousness was unleashed as Gui Shaoqing attacked.

Whenever this wave of consciousness touched something, there would instantly be an empty space in their thoughts, while weaker minds would be erased outright. Even if the target managed to block Gui Shaoqing’s attack, the impact between two consciousnesses would shatter the void, damaging the target’s body.

This was Gui Shaoqing’s method of utilizing consciousness.

Unfortunately, such a technique was utterly useless against Lu Yin.

Lu Yin understood the Luminary’s methods all too well, and he had already anticipated every move Gui Shaoqing could make.

As Gui Shaoqing watched a hand fall down upon him, he felt absolute despair. How was this even possible? He had not even been able to put up a token resistance.

Lu Yin did not concern himself with Gui Shaoqing, but with the dark-gold cloud hanging overhead. There was no doubt that Yue Ya was watching through his manifested thought.

Realizing that, Lu Yin grabbed Gui Shaoqing and left.

As soon as Lu Yin vanished, the dark-gold cloud swirled and reached down to the ground from the sky. Yue Ya appeared. “I’m too late, but I can let him go. The stronger his consciousness becomes, the more useful he will be to me. I never imagined such an individual could exist; he can even devour conscients... He’s perfect.

“He has consciousness, karma, and physical strength, but everything that he has will become mine.”

After speaking, Yue Ya also vanished.

Elsewhere, Lu Yin had already returned to Boundless with Gui Shaoqing, and he immediately proceeded to devour the Luminary.

Only as he was dying did Gui Shaoqing understand why his service held no value; in Lu Yin’s eyes, the greatest value of the Luminaries was to devour them.

The survival instinct of a conscient was enough to strip Gui Shaoqing of all dignity. Even so, it was impossible for him to escape death.

Devouring Gui Shaoqing allowed Lu Yin’s own consciousness to surge yet again. He looked up at the star-filled sky as the Nine Heavens shot up behind him. A raging storm of consciousness swept out, churning and pushing back against the dark-gold clouds. With Boundless at the center, the manifested thought was pushed back from an entire region of the universe.

Yue Ya was furious at this. His manifested thought had been complete disrupted, which made it incredibly difficult for him to track Boundless, as well as impossible to encompass the Consciousness Megaverse.

Lu Yin’s consciousness had become far more powerful than when he had fought against Yue Ya, to the point where Lu Yin’s consciousness was almost as powerful as Yue Ya’s manifested thought.

This made Yue Ya both nervous and excited.

“It won’t be much longer now. Just wait a little, just a little.”

Far away, the High Seraph looked up to watch the clash between consciousness and manifested thought. His eyes held the same wariness as Yue Ya’s.

Lu Yin had advanced too quickly for the High Seraph to properly react. Things could not be allowed to continue in this manner. Otherwise, even if Mo Shang’s plans succeeded, he would be unable to control Lu Yin.

Thinking of this, the High Seraph stepped forward.

At the same time, Yong Heng’s eyes opened so that he could also observe the sky. Such impressive consciousness... Some will no longer be able to remain calm.

They will learn what my Aeternus experienced in the Tianyuan Megaverse with Lu Yin; a single moment’s negligence will allow him to accomplish astonishing feats. By the time you are able to react, it will already be too late.

He’s already become uncontrollable. It’s now up to the High Seraph to deal with him.

There was still Old Chief, Shuangdao, and Lan Huifeng. The few remaining Luminaries were scattered across the Consciousness Megaverse, but things were looking grim. They were conscients, and yet they could not compare to a mere human in terms of consciousness. This was not just humiliating, but also terribly confusing: how was the man improving his consciousness so rapidly?

They had their suspicions, but the idea seemed too fantastical. Even so, it was becoming increasingly probable.

Could the man really devour conscients to strengthen his own consciousness?