Chapter 3456: Nine Horizons

"She was fearless throughout the entire conversation." Unusually, Cai Keqing spoke up. Wu Tong’s personality was the opposite of Cai Kequing’s; one was cute and passionate, while the other was cold and dispassionate. Even so, they shared one thing: fearlessness. Cai Keqing had seen this in Wu Tong’s eyes.

Lu Yin smiled. "She’s a talented person. Unfortunately, her cultivation is too weak. Otherwise, I would have taken her with us."

He then glanced over at Palace Master Yao. When Wu Tong asked for the second time if it would be possible to buy Sage Qian’s release, Palace Master Yao had mentioned something to Lu Yin: the Revolt Alliance also served the High Seraph.

This was what had changed Lu Yin’s mind. He knew that the High Seraph had a plan in place within the Consciousness Domain, and it involved both the Qi family and the Revolt Alliance. While the two seemed to be at odds with each other, both actually belonged to the High Seraph. This effectively prevented other domains from interfering with the Consciousness Domain, while also sowing distrust among them. It was a clever maneuver.

The High Seraph was a formidable opponent. He was not only strong, but also clever.

Lu Yin lifted his head and glanced around. "People from the Consciousness Domain, stop bothering me. The Revolt Alliance stole the White Willow, which Sage Qian personally told me. Don't approach me again, or else I will capture all who dare to come to me."

His voice spread far and wide, and it resulted in stunned expressions on everyone’s faces.

Had the Revolt Alliance stolen the White Willow? Was this true?

"Impossible! How could the Revolt Alliance be the culprits? They’re so suppressed by the Qi family that they can barely even defend themselves. How could they have dared to oppose the Qi family like that?"

"Why is it impossible? Who else but the Revolt Alliance could have stolen the White Willow from the Consciousness Domain?"

"It had to have been someone from inside the Consciousness Domain who stole the White Willow. No outsider could have done it."

"Could it actually be true?"

"Could the Third Boss just be muddying the waters?"

"I’m not sure, but it’s clear that the Consciousness Domain is not at peace."

Far away, Wu Tong was still moving away from Lu Yin, but then she looked back, a thoughtful expression on her face. While the Third Boss seemed arrogant and overbearing, he was clearly no fool. What was he planning to do by keeping Sage Qian held captive?

The Grandverse Manor had already offended the Primal Beastland, Heavenspire, the Gate of Laws, and even the High Seraph. Could they want to antagonize the Consciousness Domain next?

What qualified the Grandverse Manor to make so many enemies?

Cai Keqing had been right—Wu Tong was not afraid. Despite her weak cultivation, she could speak within the Revolt Alliance, and she even made many of its decisions.

The fact that she had represented the Revolt Alliance when speaking to Lu Yin had not been because of her strength, but rather because of her position. She had a very high status within the Revolt Alliance.

Currently, Wu Tong was the most curious about who had spoken to the Third Boss during his conversation with her. The second time she asked if it was possible to negotiate Sage Qian’s release, the Third Boss’s attitude had changed. Wu Tong was certain that it was because someone had said something, but who could it have been?

As she was thinking about that question, she heard Lu Yin's announcement, and it left her stunned. The Revolt Alliance was now behind the theft of the White Willow?

This Third Boss is sowing discord

.

It was clear that the White Willow had not been stolen by anyone in the Revolt Alliance, and the Revolt Alliance had also never had any interactions with Sage Qian. Despite that, the Third Boss was pinning the blame on the Revolt Alliance.

Such a blatant attempt to frame them should fail, but the Consciousness Domain’s circumstances were complex. What those at the top saw as true was kept hidden from those beneath them. There was no doubt that this would lead to conflict.

Wu Tong wanted to go back and confront Lu Yin, but after thinking for a moment, she chose not to.

After all, returning would be pointless. While the Third Boss seemed polite and had even teased her, he did not actually care about her at all. He could very well turn hostile at any moment.

Since Qi Guan had already been captured, the Qi family would naturally try to rescue him, while the Revolt Alliance could only watch on from the side.

Wu Tong turned back around. Deep thoughts flickered in her eyes before she left.

At the same time, far away, a pair of eyes were staring towards the Vast Qian Domain. The eyes were cold and sinister, like those of a poisonous snake.

"So, the White Willow was in Sage Qian’s Skyriver? Who’s trying to frame me? I won’t let any of them escape."

...

In the infinite vastness of outer space, there existed countless celestial phenomena, some of which could not be explained by human understanding. For example, there was the springboard, which not even the High Seraph could say whether it had been built by humans or formed naturally.

There were similarly mysterious astral phenomena within the Spirit Nidus, one of which was the Nine Horizons.

The Nine Horizons was not a place, nor did it exist within the thirty-six domains. Rather, it was a unique astral phenomenon that existed in outer space.

After a fixed amount of time passed, nine specific domains would witness the astral phenomenon at the same time. It would be visible to both cultivators and ordinary people, which was why it was called the Nine Horizons.

Naturally, many people were attracted to this unique celestial phenomenon. As long as someone stood within the Nine Horizons during the event, they would also be seen by everyone in the nine domains.

For the nine domains that could observe the astral phenomena, it was used to measure time, and it marked the end of a regular cycle, much like the passing of a year.

This was how the ancient people had interpreted the mysteries of outer space. Even when more and more people from those nine domains entered outer space and had learned about the astral phenomenon’s existence, their people had never stopped using the Nine Horizons to measure their seasons. Instead, it was passed down as a tradition.

Anyone seen by the nine domains during the Nine Horizons was an exceptional genius. Countless young people competed for that honor, and the people in the nine domains who witnessed the phenomenon treated that moment as their end-of-year celebration.

It was also worth mentioning that the Nine Horizons was not limited to only the people in those nine domains. Those nine domains had originally been able to witness the phenomenon, and they existed because of it. Some people could be seen by ten domains, while others could be seen by fifteen. There were even a few who could be seen by as many as twenty domains, and whenever that happened, it shook the entire Spirit Nidus.

For example, Yu Shan, in his youth, had been seen by people from eighteen domains. Cai Sandao had been seen by thirteen domains.

The Nine Horizons had become one of the means in which the Spirit Nidus’s young cultivators compared themselves against each other.

Decades ago, most of the young geniuses who had been qualified to join the vanguard battleship to invade the Tianyuan Megaverse had been seen during the Nine Horizons. On average, they had been seen by twelve domains, making all them them quite famous.

Lu Yin grew increasingly interested, and he asked, "How long until the next Nine Horizons?"

Old Tao respectfully replied, "It will happen in less than three months."

Lu Yin was curious about something. "Did you participate when you were young?"

Old Tao smiled and shook his head. "I never had the heart to compete with geniuses."

Lu Yin then looked at Cai Keqing. "What about you?"

Cai Keqing answered indifferently, "No."

Lu Yin turned to Palace Master Yao. "And what about you?"

Palace Master Yao calmly replied, "Seventeen domains."

Lu Yin was surprised. "Seventeen domains? One less than Yu Shan?"

Palace Master Yao said, "The number of domains that a person’s image reaches does not depend on their strength, but rather on their ambition."

"What do you mean?" Lu Yin asked in confusion.

Palace Master Yao explained, "This astral phenomenon is rather special. While it’s called an astral phenomenon because it is naturally occurring and not man made, it behaves as though it was made by someone. In that, I mean that it needs to be conquered.

"It’s like a mischievous child. The greater your ambition is, the more thoroughly you can conquer it, and the more domains that will see you. On the contrary, the less ambition you have, the fewer domains that will see you. Still, at minimum, people from the nine domains will see you."

Lu Yin had not expected the astral phenomena to act in such a manner. The omniverse was vast and full of wonders. He had seen Ethersand, Mirrorbane, and all sorts of other bizarre objects. The existence of such an astral phenomenon did not seem too strange.

Ambition? This reminded him of the Lost Clan's cards, which were attracted to a person’s demonstration of their true self. Any method could work. When he had attracted the card that had broken True God’s Dominion Technique, he had done so with his ambition.

True God’s Dominion

... Lu Yin still did not know where True God had gone.

Lu Yin and his people were extremely overt with their actions in the Spirit Nidus, while True God had revealed nothing at all. However, when True God did make a move, he would undoubtedly shake the entire megaverse.

Lu Yin asked, "In the history of the Spirit Nidus, who was seen by the most domains?"

Old Tao instantly answered, "The Old Man Under the Stars and the High Seraph."

"The Old Man Under the Stars?"

"An ancient figure who passed away long ago. There are no other records of him remaining."

"What about the High Seraph? How many domains saw him?"

"All of them."

Lu Yin smiled. "Interesting. Let’s go see."

...

The Nine Horizons was not that far from the Vast Qian Domain. They only needed to cross about one and a half domains, which meant passing through almost two domains.

It was not hard for people to guess that the Grandverse Manor’s Third Boss was now headed to the Nine Horizons. After all, it was a very important event, and the Third Boss appeared to be very young. No one could understand how he had achieved such an impressive cultivation by such a young age.

The Nine Horizons was an astral phenomena that attracted countless people from all across the Spirit Nidus. Throughout history, many geniuses had become famous from this event. Over time, floating cities had been built around the Nine Horizons, and collectively, they were known as Ninerings City.

It was impossible to determine who had built Ninerings City, as its history predated even the High Seraph.

The High Seraph himself had left his name behind in Ninerings City, and places where his name had been inscribed had become the most famous sites in the Spirit Nidus. Another group of famous spots were where people participating in the Nine Horizons could be seen, and they were collectively known as the Waterspire Grove.

Each water spire represented a single person, and the water spires were also connected to the Nine Horizons. The further a person’s image went, the taller their water spire would be. At the moment, the tallest water spire was the High Seraph’s.

While Ninerings City was large, space was still limited. The area within the Nine Horizons’s influenced was also limited, which meant that there were only ever a maximum of 100 water spires. There was never any more than that. Towers could be replaced, but not added.

This was where the Waterspire Grove had gotten its name.

Having a water spire in the Waterspire Grove did not always mean that the person represented by the tower was powerful, just that their ambition was enough to leave a deep impression.

Throughout history, many who had failed at cultivating had tried to make a name for themselves in Ninerings City. Even if they failed to be exceptional cultivators, as long as they could leave behind a mark in the Waterspire Grove, their life would be worthwhile. On top of that, succeeding could also attract the attention of great powers, which could then help one’s cultivation.

With less than three months left before the next Nine Horizons, Ninerings City was growing increasingly lively.

The city had not been built on soil, but from flowing water. The entire city had been constructed from water, and that included the walls, roads, and all its other facilities. This water was also gray, rather than transparent. The whole city resembled a large, vertical gray lake that was spread out across a vast distance.

"Come, come! High-quality spirit seeds! Don’t pass on by and miss out!"

...

"My lord, you look exceptionally talented. I have a jade pendant that’s been passed down from my family’s ancestors, though I don’t know which ancestor left it behind. Whenever I dream, I can see a spirit drifting towards me, speaking to me, but I am too foolish to understand what she is saying. However, seeing you and knowing about this opportunity, I am willing to part with this treasure, as I don’t want it to simply gather dust. I hope that you can use it, my lord, to one day transcend the mortal realm and achieve greatness by becoming one of the Seven Seraphs. At that time, I would be grateful if you remember this day."

"Get lost, you liar!"

"My lord, I assure you, I am no liar. Everything I say comes from my heart."

"While I might not be a powerful cultivator, I’m not stupid! Get lost, or else I’ll have someone break your legs."

...

"Young master, please don’t get angry! Why don’t you come to this small building and rest for a bit? Allow Miss Liu to play a tune on her guqin to relax your mind!"

"Hahaha, alright! I’m on my way. I’ll also give a tip, a big one! I have plenty of money!"

...