Chapter 3833: The Answer

Lu Yin looked down at his hands. He had walked the path of power in the shortest time possible, while others usually spent their entire lives in pursuit of such strength. However, his rapid progress had caused him to miss out on the journey itself.

The long, tedious, and freely-paced journey.

So how was he supposed to step into the Immortal realm? He felt lost on how to even enter the Origin realm.

“Hey, where are you going?” Lu Siyu asked, her voice snapping Lu Yin out of his daze.

Lu Yin vaguely replied, “I don’t know.”

“Weren’t you going to visit Fifth or Sixth Sister?” Lu Siyu asked.

Lu Yin turned to Azu. “Witnessing a megaverse be reset helps cultivators, right? Not just Dukkhans?”

Azu nodded. “That’s correct. When witnessing a megaverse’s reset, some people gain sudden insight, undergoing an instant transformation. It’s not impossible, but only a very limited number of people are allowed to witness each reset.”

“Why?”

“No one knows for sure, but it’s said to be because resources are limited. As for what those resources are, we have no idea.”

Lu Yin looked away. Resources? Could it be... Immortal matter?

...

Elsewhere in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, the colossal Seventh Night Pillar slammed down, driving itself deep into the ground. When it stopped moving, it stood tall, towering over its surroundings.

Countless people rushed towards the Seventh Night Pillar. It had returned from the Orchid Megaverse, but what had it brought back? This was a rare opportunity to join the Seventh Night Pillar... and an even rarer opportunity for trade.

At this moment, someone stepped out of the Night Pillar. They tugged the brim of their hat down, chose a direction, and vanished.

Just a short while later, another person appeared in the exact same place the first person had stood. The newcomer inspected the area, muttering to themselves, “Should be the Sixth Night Pillar.”

Just as the person was about to rise, a shadow fell over them. Yet another person had arrived, and they blocked the sunlight while silently looming over the second person. They had arrived completely unnoticed.

The expression of the man crouching on the ground changed.

“I knew that this would happen, but I didn’t expect it to happen so quickly,” a lonely voice commented from behind the crouched figure.

The crouching man continued to stare at the ground, his eyes flickering. “Forgive me, Odyssey Commander.”

“There is no longer an Odyssey Commander. As soon as a Night Pillar returns, the war is over. I’m just a somewhat skilled swordsman now.”

The man did not dare move. Somewhat skilled? That was being overly modest.

“Will the fact that I stand here to stop you change anything at all?”

“No, Odyssey Commander. It’s useless. It was already expected that he would head to the Sixth Night Pillar. I am merely here to confirm that.”

“Sigh. What’s the point of all of this? Striving, competing... It’s exhausting.” With that, the man vanished.

The man continued to crouch on the ground for another half hour before he dared to stand. Anyone who had not fought with the Seventh Night Pillar during the war against the foreign megaverse would not have a true understanding of the Odyssey Commander’s strength. However, all who did have that knowledge... had the exact same attitude as the man crouching on the ground.

Far away, the first person to leave the Seventh Night Pillar froze in his tracks. Three people had appeared in front of him.

“Who are you?”

“We would like to know who you are, as well as where you are headed.”

“You block my way without even knowing who I am?”

“We will find out.”

“And if you die?”

“Our deaths will also provide an answer.”

Clang!

A sword flashed with a chill glint as it moved swiftly and sharply. In an instant, the person had passed by the three blocking the way, already continuing on their journey.

The three people remained frozen and unmoving. Only when a bird flew down and accidentally bumped into one did their body fall to the ground. They had all died long ago.

Days passed, and the traveler was intercepted once again. This time, five people stood in their path.

“Are you still trying to identity me?”

“Yes.”

“Are you not afraid to die?”

“Getting this answer is more important.”

“Good.” With that, the traveler stepped forward again. A sword flickered out, and the same scene as before played out. All five people were dead.

Several days later, the traveler was stopped yet again, but this time, ten people stood in the way. Eight were the same people who had been killed before. Only projected spirit seeds had been killed earlier, and projected spirit seeds were again what stood in the traveler’s path.

The traveler’s eyes narrowed. “All spirit seed projections? Fine. Show me just how many you have.”

A single flash of the sword caused all ten to perish.

The traveler did not leave, and he instead sat down cross-legged and calmly waited.

It did not take long for someone else to arrive, and they slowly walked towards the traveler.

The swordsman opened his eyes, stood, and slowly turned to face the newcomer. The traveler’s eyes were frigid. “Are you also here to die?”

The newcomer stared at the traveler. “You’re Jian Hong.”

The traveler’s eyes narrowed and his hand rose. He removed his bamboo hat to reveal an ordinary-looking face, though that also confirmed his identity.

“So, it really is you, Jian Hong. We suspected all along that your destination is likely the Sixth Night Pillar.”

“To fight for this chance, you’ve cast aside all sense of shame. This is outright stealing it.”

“Hmph! The Sixth Night Pillar isn’t even capable of bearing this responsibility. You might as well turn it over to us.”

“Perhaps the Sixth Night Pillar will invite you instead?”

The newcomer remained silent.

Jian Hong nodded. “You’re from the Fifth Night Pillar. Of all the Night Pillars, only the Fifth would never receive an invitation from the Sixth.”

“Come. Show me just how strong Jian Hong really is, a man who has claimed to have mastered three-tenths of all existing sword intent.” Even as he spoke, the man attacked Jian Hong with a torrent of sequence particles that was both vast and oppressive.

Facing the attack, Jian Hong drew his sword. It rose up, slashing upwards. While attacking with his sword, Jian Hong released his own sequence particles: Three-Points Descent: Immovable.

Kill!

A cold glint of light flashed.

Jian Hong sheathed his sword and turned to leave.

His attacker was left trembling where he stood, his pupils fluctuating. “What a fast... sword.”

With that, the man collapsed. His body shattered into fragments, revealing itself to be a projected spirit seed.

Yet another one.

Each time that Jian Hong had been attacked, his attackers had only sent out projected spirit seeds.

He picked up his pace, still moving towards the Sixth Night Pillar. Whoever appeared before him next would not be so easily defeated. From this point forward, he would face increasingly stronger opponents. Will the Fifth Night Pillar’s Azuresword Sovereign come?

...

The Nine Odysseys Megaverse’s sky was unlike any other megaverse’s, transformed by the presence of its Mother Tree.

Still, the strange sky that did not look like outer space was truly beautiful.

A bamboo slip drifted across the sky like a tiny boat as it steadily moved closer to the Mother Tree.

That bamboo slip was the Autumnspring Slip. Lu Yin was sitting atop the mirebound artifact, staring off into the distance while lazily stretching.

He had parted ways with Lu Siyu and the others in Ridgeplain more than ten days earlier. Even Shui Su had said goodbye, all the while clearly looking like she was terrified that Lu Yin would insist that she stay with him. Thinking back, her reaction had been quite entertaining.

Someone like Shui Su was unable to even imagine Lu Yin’s strength. Instead, all she could see was how dangerous it was to remain close to him. Such fear was only normal.

After considering how much time had passed, Lu Yin released Qian Shu.

The man had been imprisoned in the Champions' Stage Purgatory, and he must have been experiencing hell for the last ten days or so.

Perhaps it had been to be polite while hosting Qing Yun, or possibly for some other reason, but Qian Shu had been present in Ridgeplain with his true body. If he had not, Lu Yin would have had to first locate the man.

Still, it would have been impossible for Qian Shu to accept a Seed Transfusion without his true body.

When Qian Shu was released, while he did not appear to be quite as disoriented as Yi Shang had when first released, the man’s face was still deathly pale.

Yi Shang had lived too long and seen too much. If Qian Shu was as old as the former Seraph, it was questionable if he would have fared any better.

The Champions' Stage Purgatory was a hell created by the cycle of karma. People would relive scenes from their past, again and again, reliving the pain, the joy, and the partings. It was the most excruciating emotional torture that a person could be subjected to. Unless they were a creature like a conscient, which only had a drive for survival, it was practically impossible to ignore the suffering caused by the Champions' Stage Purgatory.

It was a long time later that Qian Shu finally returned to his senses and was able to look at Lu Yin standing before him. The sight caused the man’s eyes to flicker. “Where’s Sect Master? Where is the Autumnspring Slip?”

Lu Yin pointed at what they were standing on.

Qian Shu looked down, and his pupils shrank. “The Autumnspring Slip?”

Lu Yin clasped his hands behind his back and calmly met Qian Shu’s gaze. “Surprised?”

Qian Shu was absolutely stunned. Had this man stolen the sect’s mirebound artifact? What happened to Sect Master Ying Mei? What about the other elders? This is impossible! How could this have happened? Sect Master Ying Mei controls the sect’s mirebound artifact, which is powerful enough to suppress everything. It’s our greatest strength. She shouldn’t have lost even against a Lesser Sancte. How could the sect have been defeated?

Qian Shu glanced around, seeing that he was no longer in Ridgeplain. The only thing to be seen was the flickering of outer space. Suddenly, his eyes snapped back to Lu Yin. “What happened?”

Lu Yin frowned. “It looks like you still haven’t accepted your situation. In that case, we continue.”

He reached to grab Qian Shu, who immediately retreated, shifting across dimensions so that no one could touch him.

However, he was almost instantly imprisoned back in the Champions' Stage Purgatory. Qian Shu was unable to detect when Lu Yin’s Karmic Dao appeared, nor when a thread of karma had attached itself to his body. That thread had distorted his perception and caused him to confuse which universe his body was in and which his mind was in.

There was almost no one in the entire Nine Odysseys Megaverse who could capture Qian Shu so easily. He was a cultivator who had become a peak Dukkhan by accepting a Seed Transfusion.

After another ten days passed, Lu Yin once again released Qian Shu.

The man gasped for air, veins bulging from his forehead. The people whom the Autumnspring Slip had killed and stolen their cultivated spirit seeds from had appeared again and again before him, surrounding him. He had seen himself being captured by Deathmound and tortured as everything was taken from him. He had seen the Autumnspring Slip fall and heard the anguished cries of the members of the sect. Everything that they had suffered had ultimately become Qian Shu’s.

He had not even realized that it was karma; past causes and future effects. Karma was not always heaven‑ordained; sometimes a person’s own awareness of their fate could become its own form of karma.

A person’s will could be unshakable, and fear, dread, even anxiety were all facets of that will. Such resolve would beget its own effects, and the causes behind them lay in the evils a person had committed.

The truth of the matter was that, as his Karmic Dao improved, even Lu Yin had been unaware that his Champions' Stage Purgatory was changing. It was not the same as it had been.

Qian Shu lay sprawled out on the bamboo slip, sweating profusely. He still had not recovered from what he had experienced in the Champions' Stage Purgatory.

A long while later, his eyes regained a bit of focus. He slowly looked up at Lu Yin, fear deep in his eyes. He never wanted to return to that hell again.

Never.

“Do you now understand?” Lu Yin asked calmly.

Qian Shu swallowed hard. “How are you able to overcome my ability?”

Lu Yin smiled. “Is it supposed to be difficult?”

Qian Shu had no idea how he should respond to such a question. Difficult? That did not even begin to describe it. If it was not difficult to overcome his ability, then he would have not been accepted into the Scion Spire, so highly regarded by Sect Master Ying Mei, or received the full support of the Autumnspring Slip.

By accepting a Seed Transfusion, Qian Shu had become a peak Dukkhan. The cultivated spirit seed that he used had been left by one of the Autumnspring Slip’s former sect masters, which was always invaluable. It had been given to him to keep him alive, in the same manner that he had always been accompanied by Granny Ya, another peak Dukkhan who had accepted a Seed Transfusion.

It was easy to imagine just how exceptional Qian Shu’s ability was.

Despite that, Lu Yin had overcome it so easily.

“Enough about that. You don’t need to know more, because from the moment you were captured, your future has been up to me.” Lu Yin smiled as he spoke, his expression as relaxed as if he was chatting with an old friend.

However, a powerful fear bubbled up within Qian Shu as he looked at Lu Yin’s face. It was impossible to suppress the feeling.

“I just want to know one thing,” Qian Shu replied, his tone bitter. “The Autumnspring Slip... Sect Master Ying Mei and the others... what happened to them?”

Lu Yin stared into the man’s eyes, satisfied with what he saw. “There’s no longer any edge in your eyes. Good. I’ll answer you.”

Qian Shu gulped as he stared intently at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin slowly stated, “The Autumnspring Slip... is no more.”

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