Chapter 3627: The Answer

Both people were staring at Lu Yin, though neither interrupted his thoughts. The longer that Lu Yin took to process what he had just heard, the more he understood.

More importantly, both had noticed the brief moment of shock that had appeared in Lu Yin's eyes. What was that about?

The competition for the position of Greater Sancte was the business of those at the High Seraph’s level. Lu Yin had merely been given the reason why the High Seraph had not yet reset the Tianyuan or Consciousness Megaverses. That alone could not account for his shocked reaction.

There had to be another reason for it.

It was even possible that Lu Yin knew something that Old Yu and Jiu Xian did not.

"You won’t give me the names of the ones behind you, but I can still guess that you are both following different Lesser Sancti. In that case," Lu Yin turned to stare at Jiu Xian before continuing. "Are you able to take the initiative and contact your Lesser Sancte?"

Jiu Xian and Old Yu exchanged glances.

Contact them?

"Choose a different question," Jiu Xian replied.

She had refused to give an answer, and yet that was in itself an answer.

Jiu Xian suddenly laughed and looked over at Old Yu. "Is that the answer you were hoping to have answered?"

Old Yu grew puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Jiu Xian stared at Old Yu. "Why don’t the two of us ask each other a question, the same one that he just asked: can you contact the person you follow?"

Old Yu calmly replied, "What about you? Can you make contact?"

Lu Yin said nothing. Jiu Xian had told him to change the question, which was no different from admitting she could make contact. Yet she had moved on to speaking with Old Yu instead, deliberately muddying the waters. Had her answer been meant for him, or for Old Yu? And was Old Yu also capable of reaching the one behind him?

Their exchange threw Lu Yin’s thoughts into chaos, and suddenly, he was unable to determine for certain whether Jiu Xian had provided any answer at all.

That might have been the woman’s goal in speaking to Old Yu, but it was also possible that things were more complicated than that.

"I am different from you. I came to the Spirit Nidus for my own revenge and nothing more," Jiu Xian declared.

Old Yu chuckled softly. "Oh? Well, this old man is only here in the Spirit Nidus to keep an eye on the High Seraph on behalf of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, nothing more."

"Are you truly able to keep an eye on the High Seraph?"

"Even if the High Seraph completely disregards my Wisdom Domain, he still needs to consider the one behind this old man. After all, he was merely gifted his authority."

Jiu Xian swirled the jug of wine in her hand. Her expression betrayed a hint of intoxication. "So, you can definitely make contact."

Old Yu stared intently at Jiu Xian. "So can you. The one who stands behind this old man cannot hinder the High Seraph on their own."

Jiu Xian’s face lit up, and she turned to Lu Yin. "See? I not only gave you an answer, but I also got another one for you."

"But you just told me to change my question. That was a conversation between you and the old man, so it can’t count as giving me an answer," Lu Yin rebuked.

Jiu Xian snorted. "So stingy!"

Lu Yin continued to stare at the woman. "How can one enter the Nine Odysseys Megaverse?"

Jiu Xian was startled. "You want to go to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse? Why?"

"It’s my turn to ask a question," Lu Yin reminded her.

Jiu Xian sighed. "There is no way. The only way is if the Nine Odysseys Megaverse takes the initiative to guide you there. Without that, regardless of your strength, it’s impossible to reach that place."

Lu Yin looked at Old Yu, who nodded.

Lu Yin said, "All right, in that case, I'll change the question."

"Wait!" Jiu Xian became upset, and she glared at Lu Yin. "Saying that you can’t get there is still an answer."

Lu Yin calmly retorted, "I asked how to get there."

Jiu Xian said, "You can only get there by being guided. There, a more precise answer! Brat, stop trying to cheat. You might be young, and yet you have no restraint at all. Not even Emperor Slayer is as shameless as you."

She then stood up. "I’m done chit-chatting with you. There's nothing you two know that I want to ask, so I'm leaving.

"By the way." She had one more thing to say before leaving, and Jiu Xian fixed her eyes onto Lu Yin. "You owe me one more answer."

Lu Yin and Old Yu watched as the woman left. With her, she took the wine that had been on the table.

Old Yu and Lu Yin were left alone among the lake’s reeds.

Old Yu brought out another jug of wine. "Will you continue, or should we call it a day?"

Lu Yin replied, "I still owe you an answer, old man. Ask it, and then I'll leave."

"What’s this? Is there nothing more that you wish to learn here?"

"There is, and a deal at that."

Old Yu was left puzzled. "Then why not continue?"

Lu Yin sipped his wine. "There are some questions that don't need to be asked, as the answers will be given on their own."

Old Yu smiled. "Very well. This old man will ask you one last question."

He set down the jug of wine and focused intently on Lu Yin. "What realm has your cultivation reached?"

Lu Yin was taken aback. "That simple?"

Old Yu nodded. "That simple."

It was a simple question, and yet it was the hardest one for Lu Yin to answer throughout the conversation.

Lu Yin had proven that he was practically invincible in Spirit Nidus. No one other than the High Seraph himself possessed the strength to contend with Lu Yi. Things had reached a point where some of the Spirit Nidus’s cultivators believed that not even the High Seraph was guaranteed to be able to defeat Lu Yin. If such a person proved to truly be just a peak powerhouse, how shocking would it be? What sort of transformation would he experience upon becoming a sequence powerhouse, or furthermore, upon entering the Origin realm?

No one would even dare to imagine such a possibility.

Even so, it was the truth. Lu Yin was only a Progenitor, and that fact was undeniable.

Many powerhouses were able to sense Lu Yin’s cultivation realm, yet they refused to believe their senses. How could a mere peak powerhouse defeat multiple Seraphs? How could such a person defeat Emperor Wu? How could such a person be seen as having even a possibility of defeating the High Seraph? It was simply impossible.

Lu Yin remained silent for a while, and he even finished the wine in his cup. He then turned and left. However, before he was completely gone from sight, his answer reached Old Yu’s ears. “Progenitor.”

Old Yu continued to sit on the small boat, his expression unreadable. He downed cup after cup of wine, remaining on the lake until after night fell. He never left.

No one knew what the old man was thinking about.

...

After leaving the Wisdom Domain, Lu Yin went straight back to the Hundred Grasses Domain. He wanted to speak with Ru Mu.

It was time to have a conversation with someone from Heavenspire.

Before leaving, Jiu Xian had used a bit of information to buy Qing Yun and Qing Xiao from Lu Yin, but only he had received that information. Old Yu had not heard that bit.

The Nine Odysseys Megaverse had always been observing the Spirit Nidus. There was no way that the changes taking place in the Spirit Nidus could escape their notice.

The Nine Odysseys Megaverse might send someone to speak with Lu Yin in order to decide whether to allow him to remain in the Spirit Nidus or to guide him to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

Throughout history, more than just a few powerful individuals had been guided to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

Hearing this had immediately reminded Lu Yin of Ru Mu. Despite being from Heavenspire and also not being particularly powerful, for some reason, she was the first person who came to mind.

This feeling was similar to when he had been trying to split the Nine Heavens. He had had an inexplicable premonition that prevented him from splitting apart his inner universe to form the Nine Heavens.

Ever since Lu Yin had first comprehended karma, there were times when he had experienced odd premonitions, some of which had seemed to be completely groundless.

Was Heavenspire part of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse? Of course not. How could someone as insignificant as Ru Mu, who was only a Spirit Warrior, possibly represent the Nine Odysseys Megaverse? Despite that, Lu Yin could not help but immediately think of the young woman, despite the thought having absolutely no logical backing.

Because of his premonition, Lu Yin decided to speak with Ru Mu. She had been at his side for a long time, and it was past time to straighten some things out.

At the moment, Lu Yin had not only suddenly thought of Ru Mu, but also of another group: Zhou Qian and his companions.

Zhou Qian and his companions had already arrived in the Hundred Grasses Domain, hoping to use

Boundless

to resist Heavenspire.

They had arrived at the battleship, but they were not allowed aboard before Lu Yin returned. The entire group was forced to wait.

While waiting, Zhou Yin remembered that Ru Mu was one of Lu Yin’s maids. However, when Zhou Yin mentioned Ru Mu, Zhou Qian’s expression instantly changed.

“Why didn’t you mention this before?” Zhou Qian shouted in anger.

Zhou Yin protested in offense, “I- I only just remembered!”

There was a crisp smack, as Zhou Yin was slapped.

He was stunned by the impact and stared at Zhou Qian in a daze. When had his father become just like his grandfather?

Zhou Qian’s expression turned grim. This was a serious problem. Ru Mu was Seraph Lu’s maid; did that mean the Ru family had already been in contact with

Boundless

for some time? If that was true, then did it mean that they were walking straight into a trap? If Zhou Qian had known about this beforehand, he would have never considered asking

Boundless

for help. If things were mishandled even slightly, the Ark Domain might not just be dealing with Heavenspire, but also

Boundless

.

Zhou Qian was well aware of who Seraph Lu truly was. When dealing with such a person, without a comparable level of power, any sort of reasoning was impossible.

The more that he thought about it, the angrier Zhou Qian became. He raised his hand to slap his son again.

This time, Zhou Yin was prepared. He had noticed Zhou Qian’s shifting expression, and he swiftly stepped back to move out of reach.

At that moment, Zhou Yin decided that he would have to consider his father to be just as dangerous as his grandfather.

Zhou Qian’s hand swept through the air without making an impact, just the same as Zhou Duo. The man froze, realizing that he had started to enjoy the act. It was no wonder why his father slapped people so often.

“You’re always busy eying one beauty or another, yet at such a crucial moment, you can’t even remember Ru Mu! Just what good are you?” Zhou Qian resentfully accused his son.

Zhou Yin did not dare to retort. “We can still leave now. It’s not too late.”

Zhou Qian sighed. "I have no idea how we’re supposed to explain this to Father when we return. Let’s go."

With that, he started preparing to lead his people back to the Ark Domain, but right at that moment, someone up above asked, "Are you here to see me?"

Zhou Qian and the others looked up and saw Lu Yin standing in the sky. Instantly, expressions turned grim. Why had he returned at this exact moment and not just a bit earlier or later?

Lu Yin had only just returned to see the people from the Ark Domain near

Boundless

. There were a large number of cultivators gathered nearby, either requesting an audience with the battleship or hoping to join the Grandverse Manor. There were simply too many people for Lu Yin to meet with them all, but the people from the Ark Domain were different, as they were valuable.

Just a short time later, Lu Yin was privately speaking with Zhou Qian in the depths of

Boundless

.

Zhou Qian initially hoped to be able to brush Lu Yin off with a few perfunctory words of congratulations for defeating Emperor Wu, but with the pressure that Lu Yin gave off, the man ended up revealing the Ark Domain’s situation.

The invisible pressure made Zhou Qian feel like he should drop to the floor before even replying to Lu Yin. It was impossible for the man to keep anything hidden in such circumstances.

Lu Yin stared at the man. "Heavenspire actually infiltrated the Ark Domain to this extent without you ever noticing a thing?"

Zhou Qian spoke bitterly, “No one expected Heavenspire would resort to marriage alliances. They had been laying out their plans for years, while we were entirely focused on shipbuilding. We never even considered something like that.

“Ru Can is far too vicious. Just like a silkworm, slowly eating away at people’s hearts.

“If we had known things would turn out like this, the Ark Domain would have sealed itself off. We never would have given him the chance.”

Lu Yin asked, "What is Ru Can’s cultivation realm?"

Zhou Qian respectfully answered, "He’s an Ortuser. He’s extremely important within the Ru family, as he is the one responsible for all of their external affairs."

"How much do you know about the Ru family?"

"The Ru family? They’re the most powerful family within Heavenspire. They are the High Seraph’s representatives there. Practically every action that Heavenspire takes in the outside world is carried out by members of the Ru family. Beyond that, we don’t know much about them. Heavenspire belongs to the High Seraph, so aside from the seven major powers, very few organizations have any dealings with them. We only drew Ru Can’s attention because Heavenspire decided to target us."

Lu Yin had already asked Yuan Qi about Heavenspire, but even the ancient Seraph knew very little.

Before learning about the Lesser Spirit Megaverse, Yuan Qi had paid little attention to Heavenspire. That place belonged to the High Seraph, and while it had produced a great number of powerful experts, that was fairly normal. No matter how many experts Heavenspire produced, their numbers only served as proof of the High Seraph’s incredible power.