Star Odyssey

Chapter 3756: Bait

As Lu Yin opened his eyes and started accessing memories, he first glanced over at Chao Yi. It was unexpected that yet another expert from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse had appeared. Had Lu Yin been delayed by even a few seconds during the last battle, the end results might have unfolded entirely differently.

His name is Chao Yi, and he’s the lord of Deathmound’s Sixth Peak. He has a blood feud with Ruler Garden. It’s also because Yue Ya is so on guard against this man that he hasn’t been searching everywhere for me.

Until Chao Yi was dealt with, both Yanbo Haomiao and Yanbo Hongli were entirely useless. As for Yanbo Shu, he had already been killed.

Lu Yin observed Chao Yi. What did this man represent on behalf of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse? Also, what was his stance towards Lu Yin?

As he took control of Old Chief and stared at Chao Yi, Lu Yin failed to notice that Yue Ya had always been observing Old Chief, and Yue Ya’s gaze grew increasingly sharp.

When Lu Yin realized it, his eyes turned to meet Yue Ya’s.

“You are Lu Yin.” Yue Ya suddenly attacked, a palm slamming down onto Old Chief: the Five-Palm Art.

“Old Chief” frowned. “I’m not Lu Yin, I am Old Chief.”

At his side, both Shuangdao and Xi Wen attacked without hesitation, releasing a Frozen Skyblade and the Middle Heaven’s Blade. The Five-Palm Art fell from up above, while Emperor Slayer carefully watched everything from behind. Lu Yin felt helpless; he had been discovered too quickly. It appeared that it would only become more difficult for him to use his die’s Possession in the future.

Right as Lu Yin was about to end the Possession, Chao Yi took action. His Twin Ghosts shot towards Yanbo Haomiao, and with a raise of his hand, Chao Yi covered the surrounding million kilometers with his Deathmound technique.

Yanbo Haomiao and Yanbo Hongli were both forced to confront Chao Yi.

The Deathmound battle technique enveloped the entire area, covering not only Old Chief, who was still Possessed by Lu Yin, but also Shuangdao and the other Luminaries. The Deathmound instantly suppressed even the Five-Palm Art.

Yue Ya’s expression fell, and his Voidheart Mirror suddenly descended, sweeping across the battlefield in an instant.

At that moment, both Chao Yi and Old Chief briefly had their thoughts frozen.

Lu Yin had wanted to use Chao Yi’s attack as cover to let Old Chief escape and race towards Boundless, but Yue Ya’s intervention had stopped that from happening. Lu Yin was forced to end the Possession.

Yanbo Hongli’s Wildcat's Aid sliced towards Chao Yi, cutting through his Deathmounds. As the attack struck, Chao Yi was released from the influence of Yue Ya’s manifested thought. Reflexively, he dodged as sharp claws cut into the ground. By the time Chao Yi was attacked again, his Twin Ghosts had already returned to him.

Yanbo Hongli was unwilling to let up on her assault, but Yue Ya stopped her.

He stared at Chao Yi. “There is a group of people from the three megaverses who are making trouble and going against the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. Lu Yin is their leader. You should not be trying to stop us.”

Chao Yi coldly replied, “My only task is to completely eliminate Ruler Garden.”

“Deathmound is also supposed to defend the Nine Odysseys Megaverse,” Yue Ya growled in retort.

Chao Yi just shrugged.

Yanbo Haomiao pulled Yanbo Hongli back, shaking his head. She let out a breath, glanced at Chao Yi again, and returned.

Yue Ya and Chao Yi locked eyes, each peering deeply into the other’s gaze.

After Yanbo Haomiao pulled Yanbo Hongli back, the old man felt a headache coming on. With Chao Yi so intensely focused on them, they were unable to offer Yue Ya any help at all. Lu Yin was still able to take control of the conscients, and he must have seen Old Chief’s memories. Given the current situation, the situation in the Willbound Expanse was quickly becoming unfavorable for Yue Ya. He—

Wait... Yanbo Haomiao’s eyes abruptly twitched as he stared at the ground, his mind racing.

Something was wrong. It should not have been a surprise that Old Chief had been controlled by Lu Yin, as the man had already done that when they had fought him in the Willbound Expanse. Since that was the case, then why had Yue Ya allowed Old Chief to stay around? There was also the fact that Yue Ya had immediately noticed when Old Chief had been controlled by Lu Yin, which was evidence that the conscient had been under constant surveillance, but why?

Even if Old Chief was controlled and Yue Ya drove Lu Yin away, it would still be impossible to actually harm Lu Yin. It would have been better to simply kill Old Chief or drive him away, which would have eliminated the risk of Lu Yin learning about the current situation in the Willbound Expanse from the conscient’s memories.

The fact that Old Chief had not been banished pointed to Yue Ya wanting Lu Yin to learn about the current situation through Old Chief.

It was clear that things were not currently in Yue Ya’s favor, so why was he willing to let Lu Yin learn that?

There was only one possibility: Yue Ya believed that he actually did hold the advantage.

Yanbo Haomiao and Yanbo Hongli were both being targeted by Chao Yi, which prevented them from helping Yue Ya. What could possibly benefit Yue Ya? Unless...

Schooling his expression to reveal nothing, Yanbo Haomiao glanced over at Chao Yi. If the old man was not mistaken, Yue Ya had forged an alliance with Chao Yi, which was the only thing that could give Yue Ya the advantage again. Yue Ya had deliberately allowed Old Chief to see things in order to lure Lu Yin into making a move. If Lu Yin was preoccupied with Yue Ya, then Yanbo Haomiao would be forced to take action when Chao Yi targeted him and Yanbo Hongli. If Chao Yi then suddenly cooperated with Yue Ya, even without Yanbo Haomiao and Yanbo Hongli around, it would still be possible to catch Lu Yin off guard.

After the last ambush failed, it had become far more difficult to deal with Lu Yin. Used wisely, Chao Yi’s arrival could give Yue Ya a final opportunity to succeed.

Yes, that must be it.

There was no other explanation as for why Old Chief had been allowed to remain.

In order to successfully transform, Yue Ya had long since risked everything and abandoned all reservations. Betraying Ruler Garden would not matter at all, as he would most likely even betray the Nine Odysseys Megaverse itself if doing so ensured success.

The cruelest reality for cultivators was that the relentless could climb higher by paying any cost. Why had Ruler Garden attacked Chao Yi all those years ago? Because he had revealed an extraordinary innate gift and exceptional talent that would have qualified him to be frozen in the Octagonal Pavilion, and Ruler Garden had not been able to tolerate that. They had simply not anticipated that, despite losing his qualifications to enter the Scion Spire, Chao Yi would still be whisked away by Deathmound.

If Yue Ya betrayed Yanbo Haomiao and Yanbo Hongli, Chao Yi would have avenged himself. For that, it would not be impossible for Chao Yi to agree to cooperate and eliminate Lu Yin.

As long as Yue Ya was present and protecting the two, it would be very difficult for Chao Yi to execute his targets.

Yanbo Haomiao suppressed his turbulent thoughts and sent a voice transmission to Yanbo Hongli. “Find an opportunity to leave. We cannot trust Yue Ya.”

Yanbo Hongli’s expression shifted slightly, and she was about to glance over.

“Don’t look! You’ll draw his attention. It’s very likely that Yue Ya has sold us out to Chao Yi. Remember, if you get a chance, escape. Preserve our Ruler Garden’s legacy,” Yanbo Haomiao warned. At the moment, he and Yanbo Hongli were in the worst position.

Yanbo Hongli clenched her jap and lowered her head. “Understood, Ancestor.”

To think that their proud Ruler Garden had fallen so far.

A short distance away, Old Chief was also transmitting messages to Shuangdao and Xi Wen. “Something is off about this situation. Yue Ya has been watching me the entire time, and he clearly knew that I could be possessed by Lu Yin again and my memories read, so why is he letting me stay here?”

“He’s using you as bait,” Xi Wen replied.

Old Chief’s eyes flickered. “Things aren’t so simple. The situation has changed, and the roles of hunter and prey keep reversing. We need to leave this battlefield.”

While Yue Ya’s group had been in a stalemate with Chao Yi, one decision from Yue Ya had broken his alliance, and he had not even realized it.

Certain things could only be seen clearly by outsiders.

Yue Ya believed himself to be completely in control of the situation, but the truth was that control had slipped from his grasp long ago.

As for Emperor Slayer, who remained in a far corner, he had been hoping to escape for a long time, and he would not hesitate to do so. He simply lacked the necessary power.

At this moment, Yanbo Haomiao’s greatest fear was that Lu Yin would be unable to resist temptation and charge into battle, mistakenly believing he could work with Chao Yi. That was precisely the outcome that Yue Ya wanted.

Yanbo Haomiao wanted Lu Yin to stay far away. The old man knew that it would be incredibly difficult for him to leave with Yanbo Hongli, which meant that he needed to find an alternative.

All too soon, several months passed by. Boundless had captured countless conscients for Lu Yin, though he was in no hurry to devour them. He could still vividly remember how he had been targeted by the High Seraph. There were even Stellar-realm conscients among the captives, and there was no way to know if any of them had been marked by the High Seraph to serve as coordinates for Everlasting Will. Lu Yin did not want to be targeted again while trying to devour a conscient.

It would be safer for him to take all of the conscients to a parallel universe and devour them there.

One day, Lu Tianyi and the others brought Lu Yin a surprise; they had captured Lan Huifeng.

Lan Huifeng was one of the Thirteen Luminaries, but he had submitted to the High Seraph. The conscient had once delivered a harsh attack upon Yong Heng, but he had vanished after that. Not even Old Chief and the other Luminaries had been able to find Lan Huifeng.

Lu Yin had not expected the Luminary to be flushed out by Boundless’s hunt.

A Universe-realm conscient was worth far more than any number of weaker conscients.

Lan Huifeng had been brutally beaten up. He had fought against some of the most powerful individuals traveling on Boundless, all of whom were capable of undergoing the Nine Heavens Transformation. Not even one of the Thirteen Luminaries could withstand such an assault force.

“I’m willing to submit to you,” Lan Huifeng bluntly stated as soon as he laid eyes on Lu Yin.

He believed that, as one of the Thirteen Luminaries, a willingness to surrender would be enough to guarantee his survival. After all, even the High Seraph had considered him useful.

What Lan Huifeng did not know was that he had already been Possessed by Lu Yin once before.

Lu Yin took a step forward, arrived within five meters of the conscient, and immediately Possessed him. Interrogation? Completely unnecessary.

Lu Yin had already Possessed Lan Huifeng once before, but he had not delved too deeply into the Luminary’s memories. At the time, Lu Yin had been in a rush to capture Lan Huifeng and devour his consciousness. Unfortunately, Lan Huifeng and the other Luminaries had dealt with the threat of Possession by constantly moving about.

Lu Yin had thus failed to capture Lan Huifeng despite Possessing him.

This time, it was possible to take a proper look at Lan Huifeng’s memories. Lu Yin was curious; just when had the conscient submitted to the High Seraph? How had a Luminary ended up under the High Seraph’s control?

Lu Yin’s mind soon returned to his body. He had gone through Lan Huifeng’s memories.

There were no hidden secrets. Lan Huifeng had simply mastered a unique method of using consciousness; he infiltrated another’s consciousness and took over their body. During the battle in the Willbound Spire, Lan Huifeng had managed to cause even the High Seraph to briefly freeze, which had resulted in the man being trapped by the Heaven and Earth Lock. At that time, in order to avoid arousing the suspicions of Old Chief and the other Luminaries, both Lan Huifeng and the High Seraph had been truly attacking each other.

The method of infiltrating another’s consciousness and seizing control of their body was somewhat similar to the Chiliagonist’s innate gift, though Lan Huifeng used pure consciousness.

However, the Luminary had managed to provide Lu Yin with a pleasant surprise; Lan Huifeng possessed a unique consciousness technique. By altering the form of his consciousness, he was able to hide the aura of being from a foreign megaverses.

It was a clever technique. Those who had not considered such a possibility might never be able to conceal such an aura, while those who did would discover that it was quite easy.

Lan Huifeng was the only being in the entire Consciousness Megaverse who could use this method. While both Old Chief and Shuangdao were much more powerful, both of them lacked this ability.

Lu Yin’s consciousness was more powerful than any other being in the three megaverses, and yet not even he had considered the possibility of using his consciousness in such a way.

Lan Huifeng had only managed to come up with this consciousness method through pure chance and luck.

Additionally, he had never shared this technique with even the High Seraph. Lan Huifeng clearly understood the value of what he had come up with, and as soon as the High Seraph dealt with all Thirteen Luminaries, Lan Huifeng himself would lose all value. His consciousness technique was his final hidden card to ensure his survival.

If there were only a single megaverse, this technique would be useless. However, if the High Seraph ever ventured out to explore other megaverses, Lan Huifeng’s technique would become invaluable.

Lu Yin was delighted, as the technique was even more useful to him.

There was no doubt that he would eventually visit the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, and the aura of belonging to a foreign megaverse was far too conspicuous. With Lan Huifeng’s technique, even if Lu Yin was unable to deceive the most powerful experts, he would at least be able to fool most cultivators. Additionally, as Lu Yin’s consciousness grew stronger, it might become possible for him to deceive nearly everyone.

As for why Lan Huifeng had submitted to the High Seraph, that matter was quite simple; the Luminary had been frightened into submission.

Long ago, five of the Thirteen Luminaries had attacked the High Seraph and forced him to retreat. That battle was why the Consciousness Megaverse had believed that, while the High Seraph was certainly strong, he was not invincible.

Later, Lan Huifeng had encountered the High Seraph alone, and that one encounter had instilled a deep, instinctual fear into the conscient.