Chapter 3558: The Lesser Spirit Megaverse

Yuan Qi stopped speaking. He had already said all that needed to be said. He could not share his secret in the current situation, as the information would lose all its value.

This secret was his trump card, as it could guarantee his survival.

The incense continued to burn away, and it quickly disappeared.

Yuan Qi’s eyes flashed as he looked over at Lu Yin. Surely, the young man would not actually execute Yuan Qi. That was impossible. He was a Seraph, a Dukkhan! If Lu Yin had any sense, he would keep Yuan Qi alive to use in the future in the war against the Spirit Nidus. He would not die.

The incense was almost gone.

Lu Yin’s breathing remained steady, completely unchanged. His eyes remained closed as he waited for the time to run out.

Yuan Qi’s face twitched. "Lord Lu, do you accept my offer? This secret can give your Tianyuan Megaverse a fighting chance."

The old man then stared intently at Lu Yin’s face, but it remained expressionless.

Just as the incense was about to burn out, Yuan Qi gritted his teeth. No matter how big his secret was, it would be worthless if Lu Yin did not believe it. Yuan Qi had no desire to die with this secret. He was unwilling to die. He had stayed in the Tianyuan Megaverse for so long, so why should he die to it?

"I was exiled," Yuan Qi’s voice reached Lu Yin’s ears.

This was surprising information, though Lu Yin kept his shock from touching his face.

Yuan Qi was no longer looking at Lu Yin. Instead, the old man became lost in his memories. "I am one of the Spirit Nidus’s Seven Seraphs, standing at the peak of the entire megaverse. No matter how much assistance the Spirit Nidus might have wanted to offer Aeternus, they would have never sent a Seraph like me to fight at the Tianyuan Megaverse’s Immemorial Citadel for countless years. I was not sent here by choice. Rather, I was forced to come.

"The High Seraph is the ruler of the Spirit Nidus, as we all know. Even if there is some elusive Fated One, many believe that that being is the High Seraph’s fabrication. The real ruler of the Spirit Nidus is the High Seraph, who is tasked with stabilizing the megaverse. Without some Fated One,’ the High Seraph might not even be able to keep the Seven Seraphs under control.

"This doubt of mine caused me to secretly follow the High Seraph to the deepest parts of the Ascendant Hall."

At this moment, dread filled the old man’s eyes. "I never laid eyes on the Fated One, but I did see the High Seraph and the Spirit Nidus’s greatest secret."

He looked up at Lu Yin. "The Spirit Nidus conquered another megaverse long ago, and it can be reset."

Lu Yin’s eyes snapped open. He was no longer able to maintain his facade of indifference.

Yuan Qi chuckled. "Lord Lu, is this secret valuable enough?"

Lu Yin stared intently at the old man. "That’s impossible."

The Seraph gave a bitter smile. "I thought the same thing, but it’s true. I did not see that megaverse, and the Ascendant Hall can’t access it, but I did hear the High Seraph speak about it. Hiding such a secret for too long will drive a person mad, and the High Seraph needed to speak about it somewhere, even if no one was present.

"Of course, it’s also possible that he was speaking to the Fated One, but that’s not very likely. Such a being would have noticed me."

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed as he listened in silence.

"I heard what the High Seraph said. That megaverse is called the Lesser Spirit Megaverse. It hasn’t been reset because it hasn’t been around long enough and there are not enough parallel universes for it to be reset. If it had existed for as long as the Tianyuan Megaverse or the Consciousness Megaverse, then it would already have been reset, and the High Seraph would be an Immortal."

Yuan Qi stared at Lu Yin. "Even so, that megaverse’s existence means that the Spirit Nidus has been unbeatable all along. They aren’t waiting to defeat the Consciousness Megaverse or reset the Tianyuan Megaverse—they’re waiting for the Lesser Spirit Megaverse. They’re simply biding their time.

"Centuries of war at the Immemorial Citadel have allowed me to understand certain things. The war against the Consciousness Megaverse and the invasion of the Tianyuan Megaverse are both allowed because the Spirit Nidus can’t suppress all of its internal conflicts. A unified cultivation method means that there is much less competition and fewer deaths among our cultivators, but keeping so many people alive is a burden on the Spirit Nidus. So, those people are sent out to wage war.

"The Spirit Nidus needs a way to release its internal tensions, and a common enemy is the perfect outlet for a unified megaverse. Everyone needs a battlefield to fight on. This is why the Consciousness Megaverse has held out for so long. The High Seraph doesn’t actually want to reset the Consciousness Megaverse, as doing so will only allow us Seraphs to reach Immortality alongside him. He wants to be the only one to reach a higher realm. That is his selfish ambition.

"If not for that, the Consciousness Megaverse would have most likely been defeated long ago. As for your Tianyuan Megaverse, things here were originally the same. By dismantling the Heavens Sect and removing the candidate most likely to achieve Immortality, Tai Chu, the Tianyuan Megaverse could be reset at any time. Even Aeternus was nothing more than a pawn in the High Seraph’s plans. He doesn’t want to reset either megaverse, but rather maintain a constant battlefield.

"However, your appearance allowed the Heavens Sect to rise back to power, and you even managed to defeat Aeternus. That changed everything."

Yuan Qi barked a laugh. "I imagine that when the High Seraph learned of your rise to power and of how quickly you defeated Aeternus, he already sent people after you, but they were too late. For some reason, the invading vanguard was delayed, and that gave you enough time to eliminate the greatest threat of Aeternus and rally the entire Tianyuan against the Spirit Nidus. Your actions were not anticipated by the High Seraph, though I don’t think he actually cares. The Lesser Spirit Megaverse’s existence ensures that he has a path to Immortality, and no matter how the Tianyuan Megaverse struggles, it cannot escape its fate.

"Your fate lies in the High Seraph’s hands."

Lu Yin understood. "So is this why you’re so desperate to survive?"

Yuan Qi sighed deeply. "Dying at the hands of a civilization with no future isn’t worthwhile."

"If you know the High Seraph’s secret, then why hasn’t he killed you?" Lu Yin was puzzled by this. If he were the High Seraph, Yuan Qi would never have remained alive.

Yuan Qi shuddered. "Of course, he wants me dead, but I’m still a Seraph. While there is certainly a gap between us, that doesn’t mean that it’s easy to kill me. Only the Fated One can be certain of killing me. While the High Seraph is unquestionably powerful, killing me would also alert the other Seraphs. He’s afraid that I might reveal everything, which is why he exiled me instead. He treats my exile as a transaction.

"It’s certainly possible for this secret to leak out, but the High Seraph simply needs time. Given how long I’ve been in the Tianyuan Megaverse for, he has most likely already gained the time he needs and no longer cares about me."

Neither of the two men noticed that the incense had burned out long ago.

Yuan Qi had revealed an enormous secret, and Lu Yin needed time to process its full implications.

Tian Ci had already managed to overturn Lu Yin’s understanding of the layout of the three megaverses, which had been shaped by Progenitor Xi. However, Yuan Qi’s secret went even further, as the old man had transformed Lu Yin’s understanding of the entire conflict that spanned the three megaverses.

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Everyone had their own selfish desires. Lu Yin had truthfully always found it odd that the Spirit Nidus wanted to reset either the Tianyuan or Consciousness Megaverses in order to allow multiple Dukkhans to achieve Immortality at the same time. Was that even possible? It seemed too fantastic.

Lu Yin personally wanted to help his loved ones, friends, and followers reach greater heights of cultivation, but even that was difficult. There was no need to mention helping those people to achieve Immortality.

In the entire history of the Tianyuan Megaverse, had anyone ever succeeded in becoming an Immortal? Master Qing Cao was from the Spirit Nidus, and there was also the Immortal Lord the Third Rampart. Mister Mu’s megaverse had also had an Immortal, but Lu Yin knew of no others. In that case, where had the Spirit Nidus found the confidence to claim that all of their Dukkhans could reach Immortality?

Even if Immortality was impossible, allowing so many sequence powerhouses to reach the Origin realm together after resetting a megaverse seemed rather far-fetched to Lu Yin.

Even so, the people of the Spirit Nidus believed this to be true without question.

All of this was the High Seraph’s doing. He had never intended to actually deliver on such a promise. What he cared about was the Lesser Spirit Megaverse, about resetting that place so that he alone could reach Immortality. That was the real goal.

The wars between the three megaverses were nothing more than a distraction, or rather, a means of selecting who might be able to accompany the High Seraph on his journey.

"Defeating the Spirit Nidus’s vanguard means that the High Seraph must be taking notice of the situation here. He won’t allow anyone in the Tianyuan Megaverse to reach the Immortal realm. With Tai Chu now free and you, Lord Lu, reaching the heights that you have in just a single century, the High Seraph might personally intervene in the Tianyuan Megaverse," Yuan Qi continued.

Lu Yin slowly said, "That would actually be a good thing, as it would indicate that the Lesser Spirit Megaverse is still not quite ready."

Yuan Qi nodded. "That’s true. In order to increase the number of parallel universes in the Lesser Spirit Megaverse, it’s necessary to raise more peak powerhouses and expand the parallel universes that are there. Both things take time. In fact, many experts in the Ascendant Hall are actually from the Lesser Spirit Megaverse. They cultivated there, but they have no idea that it’s a separate megaverse. Only the High Seraph is aware of that."

Lu Yin’s expression grew heavy. If increasing the number of peak powerhouses increased the number of parallel universes and the High Seraph understood this, then how could the Origin Progenitor be ignorant of it? This was why the Origin Universe had stellular tribulations, but those were not always fatal. There was a small chance of survival, which was a mercy that the Origin Progenitor had left behind.

If the Origin Progenitor had fully prevented the number of Progenitors from increasing by introducing fatal tribulations to multiple parallel universes, the Tianyuan Megaverse might not have met its current crisis, but doing so would have been a crime against the future generations.

The Origin Progenitor had chosen to suppress the sequence strings, sacrificing his own freedom instead of choosing ensured stability. This was the true nature of the Tianyuan Megaverse’s Origin Progenitor.

"Does the Fated One... really exist?" Lu Yin asked.

Yuan Qi shook his head. "I don’t know. Supposedly, they’ve been around for countless years, but they are only a legend."

"According to those legends, what kind of power do they possess?"

Yuan Qi paused. "It’s said that they are infinitely close to becoming an Immortal. Another way to say it is that they are a peak Dukkhan."

"Not an Immortal?"

"I really can’t say. I’ve never seen them. Only the High Seraph has," Yuan Qi replied.

"What about Master Qing Cao?"

"I don’t know if he’s the Fated One. If he’s an Immortal, then it’s very possible," Yuan Qi said.

Was Master Qing Cao the Spirit Nidus’s Fated One? No one could give Lu Yin a definite answer.

The only certainty was that, if Master Qing Cao was not the Fated One, then he had to be someone who stood above them. After all, Master Qing Cao was a true Immortal.

There was also another possibility. Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. It was possible that Master Qing Cao was not actually from the Spirit Nidus, but rather someone who controlled it. It was possible that the Fated One was his puppet.

Either scenario was possible, but only the High Seraph, Master Qing Cao himself, or Yong Heng could provide a definitive answer.

As for Tian Ci, he claimed to be Master Qing Cao’s "slave" and that the blood-red sword also belonged to Qing Cao, but Lu Yin did not believe that at all.