Chapter 3531: Portrait

The Tomb of Mountains and Streams defended Lu Yin from any possible attacks, while the Epoch Blade flitted about, attacking both Yi Nan and Mr. Li.

Mr. Li was terrified to the bone, and he fled without another thought.

Yi Nan also wanted to flee, as there was simply no way to fight against this. He raced away as well.

The two moved in opposite directions in order to escape from Lu Yin.

But then his inner universe was fully unleashed, and it instantly enveloped the entire Roaming South Realm. Stars appeared in front of both Yi Nan and Mr. Li, and they exploded as the Cosmic Art was activated.

Mr. Li was pushed back, spitting up blood. He immediately changed direction, as there simply was not enough time to tear through the void.

Another star appeared and exploded.

In front of Yi Nan, multiple stars appeared, and one by one, they exploded.

The Roaming South Realm completely shattered.

Old Yu quietly watched from outer space.

Did they push him to his limit? No, not yet. We still haven’t seen his limits.

Just where is his limit?

For such a young man to become the ruler of the Tianyuan Megaverse, his strength indeed had to be terrifying. Given more time to cultivate, Lu Yin might even surpass the High Seraph.

Upon seeing Mr. Li spit up blood, as he was completely overwhelmed, Old Yu let out a long breath. To deal with Lord Lu, they needed a different strategy. It was clear that the man feared neither heaven nor earth, and he was far too domineering.

Mr. Li had been overpowered.

Lu Yin looked to the other side. Yi Nan was not escaping into outer space, but rather towards a corner of the Roaming South Realm. Lu Yin's expression firmed. Unless he was mistaken, Yi Nan was fleeing to Jiu Xian’s territory.

Jiu Xian had also made her home in the Roaming South Realm. It was because of Jiu Xian that the Grandverse Manor had been able to eliminate all of the Phantom Reach’s branches.

It was a clever thought, hiding in Jiu Xian's territory. If Lu Yin wanted to kill the man, he would have to destroy Jiu Xian's home, which would create another enemy for him.

Lu Yin watched as Yi Nan rushed into a valley, even as stars spun about and exploded.

There was a deafening sound, and the valley shattered.

Lu Yin was startled.

There wasn’t even a sourcebox array protecting it?

He had expected someone to be guarding Jiu Xian's home or at least a protective sourcebox array to be present, but there had been nothing at all.

Her only plan had been to have the Phantom Reach protect her home for her.

When the stars exploded, Yi Nan spat out blood. Just like Mr. Li, Yi Nan had been pushed to his limit. He had barely made it to Jiu Xian's territory, and after that, he collapsed to the ground.

Two powerful Dukkhans had been defeated.

Only Old Yu and the residents of the Roaming South Realm saw this loss.

As soon as Yi Nan and Mr. Li started running, Qianmen Feidu had also tried to escape, just like the other members of the Phantom Reach. Unfortunately, all of them were intercepted by the same person: Old Yu.

Old Yu had finally made a move, but to seal off the entire Roaming South Realm and the surrounding area.

Qianmen Feidu screamed something, but the sound could not leave the seal. Only Lu Yin could hear the man.

Lu Yin took a step and entered the shattered valley. Yi Nan was casually imprisoned within the Champions' Stage Purgatory. Just as Lu Yin was about to leave again, he paused. His head slowly turned, and he looked at the ground a short distance away.

A picture floated up with the wind from beneath a pile of rubble. It was blown into the distance, but Lu Yin waved a hand and gathered the picture.

It was a portrait, and the face on it shocked Lu Yin more than anything else he had seen while in the Spirit Nidus.

Feng Bo?

Feng Bo had been one of Aeternus's Three Pillars and Six Skies. He had been responsible for cutting down the Mavis family’s Divine Tree, and he had also been tasked with keeping Hongyan Mavis trapped in the Mirari Realm. Why had his portrait appeared in Jiu Xian's valley? How was this even possible?

Feng Bo certainly had not been from the Tianyuan Megaverse. When Lu Yin had first encountered the man, he had possessed no knowledge of other megaverses. Only after killing Feng Bo and releasing Hongyan Mavis from the Mirari Realm had Lu Yin started to interact with the Boundary Guardians and learn about the other megaverses. Before that, while Lu Yin knew that Feng Bo had not been from the Tianyuan Megaverse, he had not paid the matter much attention.

He also could not have come from the Spirit Nidus, or else Tian En would have known Feng Bo.

Lu Yin had once used his knowledge of Feng Bo to restrain Tian En when she had tried to make trouble for the Heavens Sect. Tian En had known nothing about Feng Bo, who was from another megaverse, and the butterfly had even gone after Aeternus because of the matter.

The Boundary Guardians had been the Spirit Nidus’s lackeys, which was proof that Feng Bo had not been from the Spirit Nidus.

On top of that, after capturing Yuan Qi and Zhan Yan, Lu Yin had asked the two if any other people from the Spirit Nidus had been sent to the Tianyuan Megaverse, but neither had ever mentioned Feng Bo. During the thirty-seven years of the River of Aeons’ branch stream, Lu Yin had captured a great many people from the Spirit Nidus, but not one of them had ever mentioned Feng Bo.

Feng Bo clearly had not come from the Spirit Nidus, despite Lu Yin’s hopes for it to be true. The fact that Feng Bo was not from the Spirit Nidus meant that he was from another megaverse, one that had also cooperated with True God.

How did people from other megaverses reach the Tianyuan Megaverse? Feng Bo had clearly not made the journey on his own. Before dying, he had made it clear to Lu Yin that he had gone to the Tianyuan Megaverse for something to do with True God. Could it be that True God had visited Feng Bo’s original megaverse?

But what connection did that megaverse have with the Spirit Nidus? What was its connection to Jiu Xian?

There was more than one portrait as well. Many portraits had been buried in the ruins of the shattered valley. Each one was detailed and lively, and all were of Feng Bo. The pictures perfectly revealed the man’s ruthlessness and patience. Whoever had drawn the pictures had been extremely familiar with Feng Bo, and they had also hated the man while drawing his pictures.

Had Jiu Xian drawn these portraits?

Lu Yin stood in the valley, his mind in chaos.

Another megaverse had appeared.

First, there was the Tianyuan Megaverse, which was Lu Yin’s home. Then, there was the Spirit Nidus. There was also the Lost Clan’s megaverse that had been destroyed by the Nests, the Consciousness Megaverse, and at this moment, Lu Yin was realizing that there was also Feng Bo’s home megaverse, which had some sort of connection to True God.

True God had made his way to the Spirit Nidus, and Jiu Xian, one of the Seven Seraphs, had portraits of Feng Bo. Just what was the connection?

Lu Yin had really been hoping that Feng Bo had been from the Spirit Nidus.

With this in mind, Lu Yin reached out to Yuan Qi.

Lu Yin soon lowered his spirit cloudstone. Yuan Qi had been very certain in his answer: he knew nothing about Feng Bo, and neither did Zhan Yan.

Lu Yin continued to stare intently at the portrait. Yuan Qi and Zhan Yan had cooperated with the Aeternals, but their auras had clearly revealed them as outsiders to the Tianyuan Megaverse. This suggested that Feng Bo had stayed in the Mirari Realm not only to keep Hongyan Mavis trapped, but also to avoid notice.

He had been avoiding Yuan Qi and anyone else the Spirit Nidus may have sent. Additionally, he had likely been hiding from the Boundary Guardians.

If Yuan Qi and the others had learned of Feng Bo's existence, they would have simultaneously learned about the existence and interference of another megaverse.

It was no wonder why Feng Bo had hidden himself away in the Mirari Realm for so many years. When learning of the matter, Lu Yin had already felt that there was something off. Was Hongyan Mavis enough of a reason for Feng Bo to stay in the Mirari Realm?

Finally, Lu Yin had a second explanation.

If his guess was correct, then True God was cooperating with more than just the Spirit Nidus. There was another megaverse supporting Yong Heng.

Lu Yin lowered his hand. He had thought that he had gained a decent understanding of the three megaverses, only to discover an even greater, hidden secret.

This secret needed to be explained by True God, and Lu Yin needed to know if Jiu Xian was actually connected to this matter.

𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

If Lu Yin could confirm that Feng Bo truly was not from the Spirit Nidus, then all of his speculations would gain more support.

His hand dropped, and the picture fell. Lu Yin then turned and made his way across the Roaming South Realm. He arrived beside the fallen Mr. Li and imprisoned him in the Champions' Stage Purgatory. Finally, he looked around at the rest of the members of the Phantom Reach.

The Roaming South Realm had served as the Phantom Reach’s headquarters, and many of their members had lived in this region.

But when Yi Nan was defeated, most of the people here committed suicide.

Most of them had lived as assassins, and they had developed a completely different understanding of death than ordinary people.

Ultimately, only a few people, such as the Spirit Formation Masters and Qianmen Feidu, remained.

Qianmen Feidu had hidden countless portals throughout the Roaming South Realm and the surrounding region. They were his trump card, but those preparations were completely inadequate before Old Yu and Lu Yin.

Lu Yin finally got a good look at Qianmen Feidu's face. So far, Lu Yin had only seen the man’s mouth.

Qianmen Feidu had the appearance of a young man with pale skin and cloudy eyes. Despite his youthful appearance, he had lived for a very long time. After all, he was an Ortuser.

When confronted with Lu Yin, the man could only beg. "Third Boss, Yi Nan is the master of the Phantom Reach, not me! Everything that was done to you was ordered by Yi Nan, and I had nothing to do with any of it. I can help you! I can help you gather any information you need in the Spirit Nidus. I can be very useful."

Lu Yin clasped his hands behind his back. "Any information?"

Qianmen Feidu nodded and hurriedly replied, "I was responsible for organizing most of the Phantom Reach’s information. I was the one who found the location of Qian and the Worryless Elder. Others couldn’t even find those two, so I am very useful. Allow me to serve you, and I can promise that I will help your Grandverse Manor gather intelligence."

Lu Yin nodded. "Alright."

Qianmen Feidu's eyes lit up. "Thank you, Third Boss!"

"I can give you a chance, but whether or not you can take advantage of it will depend on your abilities," Lu Yin said, looking at Qianmen Feidu. "Find Seraph Meng Sang for me."

Qianmen Feidu was taken aback. "Seraph Meng Sang?"

Lu Yin continued to stare at Qianmen Feidu while moving his finger about. Each motion sent another spiral of karma into the Ortuser, exposing more lines of karma. The lines became tangled, and they collided with one another.

"Third Boss, Seraph Meng Sang is one of the Seven Seraphs. He is too strong for me to go against! If I find him, he will know about it. Please, Third Boss, give me another task. I am willing to do anything to help you. Third Boss, I’m begging you..."

As Lu Yin listened to Qianmen Feidu's pleas, he saw more and more karmic lines appear and interact.

Qianmen Feidu grew extremely uncomfortable with Lu Yin’s unwavering gaze, and the Ortuser felt completely exposed. He was no longer even able to beg. He felt completely seen through, and he was only barely able to remain standing. He had also noticed that Lu Yin was not even looking at him, but rather at the top of Qianmen Feidu’s head.

What could be above his head?

He could not understand what the Third Boss was doing.

Lu Yin took a full half hour, which was the longest he had ever spent observing a person’s karmic lines. He saw many of the lines cross, and he eventually saw a very interesting karmic connection. It was a person from the Wisdom Domain: the hidden heir.

Qianmen Feidu, who was the public face of the Phantom Reach, had actually pledged his loyalty to the Wisdom Domain’s hidden heir.

The Wisdom Domain always had both a public heir and a hidden heir. The public heir moved about openly, while the hidden heir remained separate from the outside world and used the public heir to observe the megaverse and accomplish their will.

The rulers of the Wisdom Domain were always the hidden heirs. Even Old Yu had once been the hidden heir of his generation. This pattern had never been broken.

The public heirs to the domain were always under the pressure of competing with the hidden heirs because everyone with power knew that the hidden heir was the true master of the Wisdom Domain. Time after time, no matter how capable the public heir proved themselves to be, they were never able to truly compete against the hidden heirs. Everyone supported the hidden heir, which invariably left the public heir feeling overwhelmed.

Young Master Yu had sought Lu Yin out three or four times, each time hoping to take advantage of the Grandverse Manor to tip the scales and defeat the hidden heir. Young Master Yu wanted to be the first public heir in history to become the Wisdom Domain’s master.

Unfortunately, he had no idea just how formidable the hidden heir truly was.

Lu Yin did not know if the plot to pit five domains against the Grandverse Manor had been devised by Old Yu or the hidden heir, but he did know that Qianmen Feidu had allied himself with the hidden heir. This was something that even Old Yu was unaware of, or rather, Qianmen Feidu believed that Old Yu was ignorant of the connection.

The powerful Ortuser who was openly acknowledged as the illustrious leader of the Phantom Reach was actually relying on a junior with weak cultivation. This was not only because the hidden heir was capable enough to approach and persuade Qianmen Feidu, but also because of the Wisdom Domain itself.