Chapter 3404: Capture

The stone gate was incredibly difficult to open. In the earlier branch of the River of Aeons, a massive battle had been fought between the Tianyuan Megaverse and the Spirit Nidus right at the stone gate. At that time, Lu Yin had made it a point to examine the gate in detail, and he had also noticed that there seemed to be a latch-like structure on its outside. He had intended to study it further, but had later forgotten. Even after all this time, Lu Yin was still unable to open the gate from the inside.

The only way for Lu Yin to deal with Tian Ci was to enter his dreams.

This was an idea that Lu Yin had come up with after being reminded of Meng Sang. In the Dream Realm, there was no stone gate.

Lu Yin left the Heavens Sect and went to visit the Sixth Mainland’s Dream Manor. The Dream Sutra was another bit of karma that he needed to resolve, and this was the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

At the same time, right outside the stone gate at the border of the Tianyuan Megaverse, Tian Ci was sitting cross-legged just before the Aevum Inch, awaiting the Spirit Nidus’s vanguard.

The further one moved into the Aevum Inch, the darker it became.

Further away, Meng Sang was in the process of building a springboard to expedite his journey. He had lost his memories of the thirty-seven years in the River of Aeons’ branch, and he did not remember invading the Tianyuan Megaverse. He should have been swept back to the Spirit Nidus when time rolled back, but he had avoided that fate due to True God’s interference. For this reason, Meng Sang was currently lost and trying to return to the Spirit Nidus.

Even further away was a massive structure that was close to nothing else. It was a springboard, but billions of times larger, and its presence stirred a current through outer space.

Beyond the springboard was a battleship that was moving slowly. Aboard were the president of the Spirit Nidus’s Chamber of Commerce, Bao Qi, Palace Master Yao, and many others.

"Where’s Meng Sang?" the round-faced Seraph asked in confusion.

Palace Master Yao was equally perplexed. "I didn’t see anything. He should still be on the battleship."

The old man frowned. It was impossible for Meng Sang to have left without him noticing. The creature was incapable of disappearing so silently.

On top of that, they were the vanguard of the invasion to reset the Tianyuan Megaverse. There was no reason for Meng Sang to leave.

The battleship came to an abrupt stop, and the old man’s expression changed as he offered a respectful bow. "High Seraph.

"Are you heading to the Tianyuan Megaverse?

"Yes, High Seraph."

"High Seraph, I must report that Meng Sang has disappeared. No one knows where he went.

"There’s another task? I understand. We will return to the Spirit Nidus right now, as you order, High Seraph."

Soon, the battleship turned around and headed back to the Spirit Nidus.

Between the massive springboard and the Spirit Nidus, the Seraphs had built multiple smaller springboards to expedite their travel. After all, the original springboard could not be used casually, as they might attract the attention of unknown civilizations.

Bao Qi stepped forward. "What’s going on? Why are we turning back?"

The old man was similarly confused. "The High Seraph gave his orders. We’re to return to the Spirit Nidus."

"What? How could High Seraph have given us such an order? Weren’t we originally heading to the Tianyuan Megaverse on his orders?" Bao Qi complained.

The old man was just as frustrated. While the High Seraph was the ruler of the Spirit Nidus, they were also Seraphs. They were part of the invasion to conquer and reset the Tianyuan Megaverse. How could the invasion be canceled so abruptly? "We’ll return and gather the other Seraphs before discussing this with the High Seraph."

No matter how irritated the two men might be, they could not disobey the High Seraph’s orders.

Currently, the High Seraph was also feeling terribly confused. "How could Meng Sang have disappeared? Could he also have avoided time rolling back? Not even I was able to do that."

He looked in the direction of the Tianyuan Megaverse. While the man had not avoided the temporal reversion, he had succeeded in retaining his memories of his time in the old branch of the River of Aeons.

The High Seraph knew that Lu Yin had comprehended karma, but while he had considered attacking the Tianyuan Megaverse again, he had ultimately decided against it.

The Tianyuan Megaverse was far from weak. He had only succeeded in defeating the defenders at the Immemorial Citadel because of a sneak attack. At the moment, the Tianyuan Megaverse had to be on high guard. The High Seraph might not succeed again against Lu Yin.

It would be better to wait for Lu Yin to come to him.

Lu Yin’s greatest mistake had been avoiding the temporal reversion. His unresolved karma from the branch of the River of Aeons would lead to his ultimate downfall.

Soon enough, he would travel to the Spirit Nidus.

A massive stone gate stood tall in outer space.

Lu Yin stood in front of the stone gate, his hands clasped behind his back. He had been standing there for ten days already. During this time, he examined the Dream Sutra that he had learned in the previous timeline. He had relearned it, and he was spending his time refining its principles to resolve another unfulfilled piece of karma. He had also figured out how to pull Tian Ci into the Dream Realm.

It would work as long as Tian Ci was close to the stone gate.

Further away, Lu Yuan and several others were also present. Lu Yuan had initially been the sole guardian of the stone gate, but Lu Yin was wary of the unexpected. So, he had asked Hongyan Mavis, Chu Yi, and others to join Lu Yuan in guarding their megaverse’s boundary. When the Spirit Nidus had invaded them in the branch of the River of Aeons, Lu Yuan had been surrounded and almost killed. The only thing that had saved him was the timely arrival of Lu Yin and the rest.

Lu Yin slowly closed his eyes, and when he reopened them, he saw illusions filling his vision. He had entered the Dream Realm with the Dream Sutra.

Lu Yin had reworked the Dream Sutra and developed it to the point where he no longer needed his target to be asleep. Instead, he could forcibly drag them into the Dream Realm.

If not for that ability, it would be incredibly foolish to have to wait for the target to fall asleep.

Meng Sang had once managed to briefly pull even the Origin Progenitor into the Dream Realm, though the Seraph’s actions had been detected almost immediately.

On the branch of the River of Aeons, Shao Chen had been killed after also being pulled into the Dream Realm.

Tian Ci had always been waiting just outside the stone gate, waiting for the Spirit Nidus’s reinforcements to arrive. Soon, very soon, the Tianyuan Megaverse would be reset.

Hmm? What is that? A battleship?

Tian Ci was ecstatic. Were they already arriving? He had assumed that he would have had to wait much longer. This timing was excellent.

As the battleship approached, the Boundary Guardian saw the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Palace Master Yao, and Bao Qi. A cruel smile appeared on Tian Ci’s lips. Two of the Seraphs? Maybe more. It was time to open the stone gate.

"Open the gate!" Bao Qi commanded.

Tian Ci turned around and pressed a hand to the stone gate. With a surge of power, he forced the gate open, and it swung open with a thunderous roar.

What greeted Tian Ci was Lu Yin’s terrifying palm strike. The attack tore through Tian Ci’s chest and struck his heart. Ripples spread out through the void, spraying blood.

Tian Ci stared at Lu Yin in disbelief. The young man was standing right in front of the Boundary Guardian, but how was that possible?

"I had assumed that you were behind the stone gate, but I didn’t think that you’d be this close," Lu Yin commented. If he had known that Tian Ci had been right outside the gate, he would not have spent ten days planning. It would have been possible to directly enter Tian Ci’s dreams.

It was not easy to enter someone’s dreams and have them believe that the dream was real, especially when the target was an Ortuser.

Meng Sang had failed to deceive the Origin Progenitor with his dream. When pulling Tian Ci into a dream, Lu Yin had faced the same challenge. Lu Yin was also far less skilled than Meng Sang at this subject. Lu Yin’s only advantage was his existing knowledge of the Spirit Nidus, which allowed him to show Tian Ci a few familiar figures, such as the two Seraphs. With that, Tian Ci had not doubted the illusion.

If Tian Ci had been farther away from the stone gate when he had seen the battleship approaching, he might have realized that he was in a dream. Lu Yin’s initial plan had been to simply attack Tian Ci within the Dream Realm if the man saw through the illusion. That way, Lu Yin could have severely injured Tian Ci.

Surprisingly, Tian Ci had been leaning against the stone gate itself, which had been much, much closer than expected. The Boundary Guardian’s eagerness for the Spirit Nidus to invade the megaverse had caused him to open the gate early. He had not even waited for the battleship to arrive. Even Lu Yin had been caught off guard.

The reason for Tian Ci’s eagerness was due to the fact that Lu Yin had included the two Seraphs in the illusion that he had constructed. How could Tian Ci have known that Lu Yin also knew those faces?

While Tian Ci’s sudden action had surprised Lu Yin, it had not mattered. One palm strike had been enough to severely injure the man.

Lu Yin possessed the greatest physical strength of any creature in his megaverse. He was powerful enough that even the Spirit Nidus's Seraphs had feared Lu Yin’s physical strength. A direct blow against a defenseless Tian Ci had instantly reduced the man’s combat strength by at least half.

Tian Ci gritted his teeth as blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth. A sword suddenly appeared in his hand, and it stabbed at Lu Yin. Three-Foot Edge: Zero.

The blade could cut anything that was within three feet of its blade, but once this secret was known, the blade posed no danger.

Lu Yin grabbed Tian Ci’s arm and held it firmly. All of the man’s struggles were completely futile.

Tian Ci’s innate gift was Heavenly Perspective, and it allowed him to see through all attacks and battle techniques. He had also comprehended the Law of Stacking, which ranked thirteenth among the Spirit Nidus's eighty-eight sequence techniques. With Tian Ci’s spirit weapon and the fact that he was an Ortuser added on, he was capable of keeping most foes at bay.

If one did not have sufficient knowledge of Tian Ci and his abilities, it was incredibly difficult to defeat him.

He was the strongest Boundary Guardian.

Unfortunately for Tian Ci, Lu Yin was all too familiar with his abilities. During the thirty-seven years of the other timelines, Lu Yin had observed Tian Ci fight on multiple occasions, and the man’s abilities had been completely exposed to Lu Yin. For this fight, because he had been ambushed by Lu Yin through the Dream Realm, Tian Ci had no chance of putting up a real fight.

Tian Ci had not thrust at Lu Yiin in an attempt to defeat him, but rather to simply buy enough time for the battleship to arrive. He was waiting for the Seraphs to attack and slaughter the entire Tianyuan Megaverse. Even at this moment, Tian Ci believed that the battleship he had seen was real.

However, Lu Yin broke the man’s arm and stole the sword, and yet the battleship still did not arrive.

Slowly, Tian Ci turned his head.

Where is the battleship?

"You won’t see it. It was all an illusion," Lu Yin said as his foot snapped out, the kick slamming Tian Ci into the stone gate. The man coughed up blood as his strength seeped away.

Far away, Chu Yi and others sighed. A magnificent Ortuser was easily reduced to such a miserable state when pitted against Lu Yin. With just a few more years, it was possible that not even the Origin Progenitor would be Lu Yin’s match.

Cough, cough

.

"Impossible. No, this is impossible!" Tian Ci muttered in disbelief. He had already woken up from his dream, but he still could not accept that the battleship had been an illusion.

How could it have been fake? He had clearly seen the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Bao Qi, and Palace Master Yao. Those people were unknown to everyone in the Tianyuan Megaverse. There was no way for any of them to know them. How could one of the natives of the megaverse have tricked him, Tian Ci?

It was impossible, completely impossible.

Lu Yin stood in front of Tian Ci and looked down at the man before grabbing him and dragging him off to the Heavens Sect.

𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Even as Tian Ci was imprisoned within the suffocating death energy, he still could not understand how Lu Yin had tricked him into believing a dream was real. How did Lu Yin know the faces of the Seraphs and the others from the Spirit Nidus? If he had not seen those people, Tian Ci would have never been tricked by the dream or opened the stone gate.

How had Lu Yin done it?

Death energy dispersed to reveal Lu Yin. “You ambushed the Origin Progenitor, suppressed humanity’s development, aided Aeternus, and prepared for the Spirit Nidus’s invasion. Tian Ci, how would you like to die?”

Tian Ci stared at Lu Yin with resentment filling his eyes. Die? He did not want to die. No, he could not die. He was a Boundary Guardian! He had once been dubbed as the most talented individual of his entire generation in the Spirit Nidus. He had seen the Fated One, who was someone whose understanding of the megaverse surpassed even the Seraphs.

The Fated One had promised to give Tian Ci the chance to enter Immortality.

Tian Ci was different from others, so why should he die? Death was impossible. He could not die.

Lu Yin was puzzled as to why Tian Ci was still present after the temporal reversion.

He had previously assumed that the two characters in Tian Ci held the power of an Immortal, which would allow him to escape from the constraints of karma. This meant that Tian Ci should have no longer existed in the current timeline, just like the Nests.

However, the man was still present. Could it be that the two characters did not actually represent the power of an Immortal?

Or perhaps, if those characters did belong to an Immortal, was it someone who had not yet reached the necessary level of power to break free from karma?

Lu Yin could not make sense of the matter.

“How do you know about the Seraphs and the others?” Tian Ci demanded in a heavy tone as he stared at Lu Yin.

“I’ll be the one asking you the questions. How do you want to die?” Lu Yin responded as he clasped his hands behind his back.

“I don’t want to die,” Tian Ci replied, his tone sinking further.

A cold smile appeared on Lu Yin’s lips. “After everything you’ve done to this megaverse’s humanity, how can you not die? Even if we don’t mention anything else, you slaughtered the Lost Clan right in front of me.”

With this, Lu Yin’s eyes turned unspeakable cold, and they seemed to pierce straight through Tian Ci.