Chapter 3624: Nine Odysseys Megaverse

“What are you even good for? We had our people infiltrate them for so long, so how are almost half of our workforce doing nothing now? Do you realize what that means? How will my Ark Domain have any face left to endure? Idiot! Worthless, useless trash!” Zhou Duo roared.

Helplessness entered Zhou Qian’s voice, “No one could have anticipated that Heavenspire would be so despicable. They’ve publicly stated that their people are forbidden from marrying outsiders, which caused everyone to believe that they would never resort to such tactics. Who could have imagined that they would secretly groom an entire group of women to marry people in our Ark Domain? By the time we discovered what was happening, it was already too late. We have no way to force those people to divorce their wives—even attempting such a thing will further damage their loyalty to us.”

Again, as soon as he spoke, Zhou Qian stepped back.

Once more, a gust of wind swept by his face.

“How many cultivators in our Ark Domain work on building the battleships?” Zhou Duo angrily demanded.

Zhou Qian’s answer sounded bitter. “No less than 100 million.”

A vicious wind swept past him again, as he succeeded in avoiding another slap.

“How many of those cultivators hold the authority to start a strike?”

“Uh... no less than 1 million.”

Another blast of wind, another dodged slap.

“50,000 marriage alliances! You useless wretch! How did you not notice? What use are you?”

Zhou Qian snapped back, “Didn’t you also fail to notice?”

He immediately stepped back, managing to be struck by nothing more than wind.

“How dare you talk back to me!” Zhou Duo’s breathing was ragged by this point, and he clenched his jaw tightly as he glared at everything. “Daughter-in-law, is there any solution to this?”

Zhou Qian turned to push his wife forward.

She was a stunningly beautiful woman, and her bearing exuded a sense of dignity and nobility. Her name was Qiu Shuang, and she was Zhou Qian’s wife. She was also the person that Zhou Duo had just addressed.

Qiu Shuang shook her head. “I’ve already contacted the Ascendant Hall. Senior Lan replied that she is also unable to control the Ru family.”

Zhou Duo’s mood grew even worse, and he looked as if he had instantly aged many years.

At that moment, every member of the Zhuo family was ready to step back. This was because Zhou Qian stepped back every time he finished speaking, and all who stood behind him were forced to do the same.

They warily eyed Zhou Duo’s tired face.

Zhou Qian looked over, his eyes settling onto Zhou Yin. “Come here and speak up.”

Zhou Yin kept his head down, refusing to step forward. There was nothing that could make him do that.

“You little brat! Get over here!” Zhou Qian growled quietly.

Zhou Yin pretended to not hear.

Zhou Qian simply grabbed the young man and shoved him forward.

Zhou Yin nearly slammed into Zhou Duo, and he was met with the older man’s furious glare. His eyes looked like they belonged to a ferocious beast, and seeing them frightened Zhou Yin so badly that he nearly turned around and fled. However, Zhou Duo grabbed the young man by the shoulder and, with a hint of a smile, said, “My good grandson, do you have a solution?”

Zhou Yin’s face turned ashen, and he shot a pleading look at Zhou Qian.

This time, Zhou Qian was the one who kept his head down. He refused to meet his son’s eyes.

Zhou Duo tightened his hold on Zhou Yin’s shoulder, his absurd strength nearly crushing the bones. However, he then spoke in a very gentle tone. “My good grandson, go ahead and speak up. Your grandpa won’t blame you.”

Zhou Yin looked at Zhou Duo with a bitter expression, and then swallowed hard. “Well, um, there is, there is one solution.”

“Speak up!” Zhou Duo encouraged, his smile growing even more radiant.

Taking a deep breath and clenching his teeth, Zhou Yin finally blurted, “Grandpa, go speak with

Boundless

.”

Zhou Duo was taken aback. “What?”

Everyone else in the Zhuo family thought that they must have misheard. Only Zhou Qian remained calm. He had actually come up with this solution, as it was the one and only way for their family to face the wolves and devour the tigers.

Zhou Yin gulped and then said, “Go, go speak with

Boundless

. Seraph Lu has always wanted to make trouble for Heavenspire, so if he hears that they are targeting our Ark Domain, he will definitely go after them.

“On top of that,” Zhou Yin paused as he glanced at Zhou Qian before continuing. “Ever since the Hundred Leaf Trade Association agreed to work with us, they’ve been our primary supplier of battleship materials.

Boundless

has treated us quite favorably.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he stepped back with practiced ease.

A wild blast of wind swept by in front of his eyes.

Zhou Duo roared, "Are you stupid? 'Treated us well?' That just means that they’ve been keeping tabs on us! Compared to Heavenspire,

Boundless

is even more terrifying! If we are targeted by

Boundless

, we’re doomed!"

Zhou Yin was terrified, and he nearly burst into tears. After all, this was not even his idea.

The young man looked to Zhou Qian for help, as he had already said everything that he needed to.

Summoning his courage, Zhou Qian stepped forward. "Father, not even the Ascendant Hall can control the Ru family any longer. Without

Boundless

’s intervention, we’re done for. Even if

Boundless

does come after us, they can’t seize the Ark Domain in just a day or two. They are still less of a threat than Heavenspire, and on top of that,

Boundless

represents the Tianyuan Megaverse. It’s still possible that

Boundless

might soon cease to exist."

After speaking, the man stepped back.

The wind swept by again as Zhou Duo’s slap missed its target. He glared at Zhou Qian. "You already know that

Boundless

belongs to the Tianyuan Megaverse. Asking them for help—out of all things you could have come up with—is no different than branding ourselves with the mark of the Tianyuan Megaverse. With that, if

Boundless

falls, we’ll suffer far worse."

Qiu Shuang then spoke up. "Your daughter-in-law is willing to go to the Ascendant Hall and explain the situation to Senior Lan. I will report that we are also being targeted by

Boundless

and that the Ark Domain has become the battleground between

Boundless

and Heavenspire."

Zhou Duo was momentarily stunned, but then after a moment’s thought, he said, "That’s quite reasonable."

His smile grew as he expressed his delight and started praising Zhuo Yi. "My good grandson, you’ve finally grown up and learned how to help ease our family’s worries! What a good plan! What a good plan! Hahaha! Later, go grab something so that you can have a good time."

Zhou Yin heaved a sigh of relief and smiled. "Thank you, Grandpa."

Everyone let out breaths of relief.

Smack!

There was a snap, and everyone stared in shock at the handprint on Zhou Yin’s cheek. The young man himself was completely dumbfounded. He had not expected the slap at all. It had been a complete surprise.

Zhou Qian and Qiu Shuang stared at their son's stunned expression, just as surprised as him.

Zhou Duo examined the mark on Zhou Yin’s face and seemed satisfied. "Hmm, not bad. It’s pretty deep. Now, go. Head to

Boundless

and offer your apology."

Zhou Yin blinked, still unable to process what had just happened.

Zhou Qian spoke up, "Apologize? For what?"

“This brat flirted with someone else's maid. Shouldn’t he apologize for that?”

"That was ages ago! You want him to apologize now?"

"What? I only just found out about it! Is that not allowed?"

"But why do we have to go apologize?" Zhou Qian asked, which was exactly the question on Zhou Yin’s mind. The young man felt like he was being wronged. That incident had happened so long ago!

Zhou Duo shook his head and gave Zhou Qian a disappointed glare. "You’re such an idiot. Do you think that you can just ask

Boundless

for help and they’ll agree? Don’t you think that you should build up a few ties first? This brat flirted with Seraph Lu’s maid when they were in the Daquan Domain. He should go, apologize for that, lower himself, offer a few gifts, and only after all of that, ask for help. That will allow our relationship to naturally improve step by step.

"You’ve lived for so long for nothing."

Zhou Qian opened his mouth to argue, but Qiu Shuang tugged on his sleeve and whispered, "Say nothing! Anything more will cause our son to be slapped again."

She was quite upset.

Zhou Qian wisely kept his mouth shut and instead dragged Zhou Yin away.

Zhou Duo, his mood greatly improved, waved his hand dismissively. "Leave already! Look at how scared all of you have become over such a minor issue. As long as I’m here, what is there for you to be afraid of?"

Everyone retreated without saying a word.

...

In the Wisdom Domain, amidst a lake’s reeds, Old Yu was on the same small boat. The old man reached over and poured a drink for Jiu Xian. "Try this."

Jiu Xian took a sip. "Hmm, no poison."

Old Yu was speechless. "Why would you even think that I would poison you?"

Jiu Xian did not answer and instead simply grabbed the entire bottle and drank straight from that.

Old Yu sighed and pulled out an enormous bottle. "This is yours."

Jiu Xian smiled happily. "Now that's more like it! You men, drinking from your tiny cups—how ridiculous! Hmph!"

It was at that moment that Lu Yin arrived at the border of the Wisdom Domain. He walked straight past it and arrived on the small boat.

Old Yu gestured for the younger man to have a seat.

Lu Yin glanced at Jiu Xian, who was drinking heavily. "Slow down a bit. I don’t want you so drunk that you spout nonsense."

Jiu Xian set the massive wine bottle down and smiled at Lu Yin. "With so much talking, if there’s any nonsense, you can just figure it out for yourself."

Lu Yin looked over at Old Yu. "Thank you for going through this trouble, old man, and helping me get this sorted out."

Old Yu chuckled. "Since we’re all here now, we should be frank with each other. If we try to deceive each other, what would be the purpose of this conversation?

"Given our respective statuses, this conversation might even alter history."

Lu Yin arched a brow. "Alter history? How can something that hasn’t even happened yet be called history, and how can something that’s already passed be changed?"

"There’s no need to change anything. Things are fine the way they are," Jiu Xian interjected.

Old Yu let out a helpless sigh. "Both of you seem to want to complain about me. Since that’s the case, why don’t you two speak first?"

"No, you can go ahead," Jiu Xian refused.

Old Yu met her eyes. "It’s all the same."

Jiu Xian grew very serious. "No, it’s not."

"What’s the difference?"

"Whoever speaks first will bear the greater responsibility."

Old Yu wanted to refute, but he found it impossible to do so. This entire conversation was already too blunt.

He stared at Jiu Xian, who was more sober than ever before.

Reluctantly, Old Yu sighed. "Alright. Though, truthfully, the degree of responsibility doesn’t really matter. When the megaverse resets, no parallel universe will escape."

Lu Yin enjoyed a drink while saying nothing. It appeared that he would finally hear a bit of honesty.

"As for where Codex 15 and Codex 16 come from, I’ve mentioned this to you before, Lord Lu. Did you believe me?" Old Yu asked, his eyes fixed on Lu Yin.

Lu Yin ignored Old Yu and instead pulled a jug of wine out from his cosmic ring and set it down in front of Jiu Xian. "This is from my homeland. Do you care to try it?"

Jiu Xian’s eyes lit up. "From the Tianyuan Megaverse? I have to have a taste!"

She quaffed a large amount of the wine and then wiped her mouth. "Not bad. It’s not the strongest I’ve ever had, but the flavor is unique."

Lu Yin chuckled. “There’s more to wine than just the taste.”

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Jiu Xian rolled her eyes. “Taste is taste. Don’t start spouting nonsense. You’re still a kid—quit pretending to be some wise old sage.”

Lu Yin said nothing.

After seeing that Lu Yin was determined to continue ignoring him, Old Yu coughed lightly. "Codex 15 and Codex 16 were indeed developed by a previous ruler of the Wisdom Domain, but not within the Spirit Nidus."

Only then did Lu Yin finally turn to look at Old Yu.

Jiu Xian set the jug of wine down, a contemplative expression on her face as she also waited for Old Yu’s next words.

This was precisely what Lu Yin had wanted to hear. Earlier, the old man had tried to test him to see what Lu Yin knew and what information he could glean from the younger man. As Jiu Xian had pointed out, it was all nonsense.

There was a moment of silence, and then the sky above the Wisdom Domain shifted. Spirit treasure formations activated, and the entire domain was sealed off.

At that same moment, every creature in the Wisdom Domain that possessed any form of sapience—human, beast, or otherwise—fell asleep.

Old Yu’s eyes grew distant and gained a certain heaviness. In a moment, the old man seemed to have become an entirely different person. His very presence underwent a change, but the aura that appeared was familiar to Lu Yin, as he had felt it before

He had felt it from both Feng Bo and Jiu Xian.

"Nine Odysseys... Megaverse."

When Old Yu spoke the name, thunder rumbled through the universe. It was as if something forbidden had been spoken.

Lu Yin’s eyes remained locked onto Old Yu’s. He stared at the old man who seemed both unfamiliar yet disturbingly familiar. The thunder rang in Lu Yin’s ears. The Spirit Nidus itself seemed to undergo a shift. It became something both strange and familiar.

“That’s what you wanted to know, isn’t it, Lord Lu?” Old Yu continued, his gaze steady on Lu Yin. “I didn’t lie about the origins of Codex 15 and Codex 16. They’re ranked, and they were manifested by the successive rulers of the Wisdom Domain.

“But their true origin lies in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

“So—how much does Lord Lu know about the Nine Odysseys?”