Chapter 3680: Virtue Rules The Way

Ahead of the battleships, Beacon City’s lights illuminated it brightly. Compared to the city’s usual bustle, things were much quieter at the moment.

In anticipation of the Day of Offering, many cultivators had returned to the Spirit Nidus, which had greatly reduced the population of Beacon City.

Beacon City did not fear an invasion from the Consciousness Megaverse. Conscients were only capable of sneaking in by following the Spirit Nidus battleships. Outside of that, it simply took too long to travel from the Consciousness Megaverse. That megaverse lacked any universe-class battleships.

Boom!

A building in a corner of Beacon City collapsed. Several cultivators fled from the resulting chaos, scattering in every direction.

A tall figure rose from the rubble, their eyes scanning the area with an air of authority, despite clearly being drunk. “Who? Who dares to insult me, Emperor Wu Slayer? Step forward! Watch how I teach you a lesson!

“Virtue rules the way! You lowly cowards, let virtue guide you!”

There was no answer. Everyone nearby completely avoided eye contact, afraid that they would be singled out.

The one who had emerged from the rubble was none other than Emperor Slayer.

He had fled from the Spirit Nidus to avoid Astral Anura, among others, and he had announced that he was going to fight in the Consciousness Megaverse. The truth was that he had never moved past Beacon City after arriving. There, he had been throwing his weight around as he pleased. No one was able to do anything about him. Even Yi Xia was forced to be respectful and call the brute “Senior.” Any time Emperor Slayer became upset, he lashed out.

Yi Xia had been suffering in silence.

Emperor Slayer had completely refused to share any information regarding the Spirit Nidus. Yi Xia had not been able to get a single word from the other man. Emperor Slayer was a complete rogue.

Even without the Spirit Nidus’s expedition to the Consciousness Megaverse, Yi Xia had already been planning to go into hiding. Emperor Slayer’s behavior had grown increasingly outrageous. Once, he had even run amok in the city lord’s own home. If Yi Xia had the strength to deal with Emperor Slayer, the man would have already been skinned alive.

Emperor Slayer’s presence left everyone in Beacon City stifled. The man was simply too repulsive. His character was completely rotten, and yet he strutted around claiming to lead with virtue. It was disgusting.

And yet, no one dared to speak out in his presence. All they would do was curse him behind his back to vent their frustrations.

Who would have expected the bastard to even start eavesdropping? He refused to allow people to insult him behind his back. How tasteless.

Who was Emperor Slayer? He considered himself to be the strongest beast‑form Spirit Rebirth, which made him the best candidate to lead them to surpass the human‑form Spirit Rebirths. He saw himself as an individual of both virtue and talent who won others over with reason and logic. How could he accept any insults behind his back? It was unconscionable! It would never happen so long as he lived. He would make sure that his reputation remained unsullied.

Besides, cursing someone behind their back was simply shameless. Such people were unworthy of even speaking of Emperor Slayer.

This led to him being very busy. He was forced to teach one group of people after another the same lesson, only to then sneak off to hide somewhere so that he could eavesdrop on anyone else who dared to speak bad about him.

Ever since Emperor Slayer had started doing this, the atmosphere in Beacon City had changed. Everyone had become extremely cautious, afraid of being watched from the shadows. Some of the women refused to even undress. Even the slightest disturbance created a flurry of shouts. All of the citizens of Beacon City were on edge.

Emperor Slayer found it all quite amusing, and it greatly encouraged him. He had even developed another hobby: placing flags.

The flags were his emblem. Each one carried the single character for virtue. “Virtue rules the way! Let virtue lead.”

That was the essence of Emperor Slayer.

It took no time at all for Beacon City to be filled with the virtue flags. Seeing them caused people’s eyes to twitch. Everyone had seen shameless people before, but never someone as bad as Emperor Slayer.

One day, Emperor Slayer marched straight into the city lord’s own home, carrying another virtue flag. Swaggering in, he placed the flag inside and then happily watched it flutter in the wind. “Yi Xia! Yi Xia, where are you? Come out here!”

An old man with a miserable expression on his face hurried over. “Greetings, Senior Emperor Wu Slayer.”

Emperor Slayer looked at the man, a broad grin on his face. “Aren’t you one of the deputy city lords? Where’s Yi Xia? Send him out so that he can see the flag I’ve brought for him. One must lead with virtue! I’ve noticed that the atmosphere in Beacon City is off. Everyone loves to gossip behind people’s backs.”

The old man was left speechless. He had no choice but to report, “City Lord Yi Xia is in seclusion.”

Emperor Slayer’s eyebrows rose. “In seclusion? Since when?”

“A few years ago.”

Emperor Slayer was astonished. “It’s been years since I last saw Yi Xia? Huh... that does make sense. In recent years, I’ve been so busy spreading virtue across Beacon City that I forgot to drop by. Tell me, how many years has it been?”

The old man thought for a moment. “About ten years.”

"Ten years? That’s enough. He can just end his seclusion now. Send him out to see my flag! Let it hang here from now on. May the people of Beacon City see what it means to be led by virtue. They’ll remember me, Emperor Wu Slayer, every time they see it!"

The old man sighed. "There’s no need for anyone to lay eyes on the flag to remember you—your deeds will surely be remembered throughout history. As long as Beacon City stands, you will not be forgotten.

"However, the city lord is in seclusion, and we cannot call him out."

Emperor Slayer was starting to get irritated. "What do you mean that you can’t call him out? What’s he even doing in seclusion? Trying to improve his cultivation? Does that even help? Yi Shang is already a lost cause, so Yi Xia will never reach the level of the Seven Seraphs, no matter how long he lives. Go, send him out."

The old man was taken aback, yet he did not move.

Emperor Slayer leaned closer, glaring at the old man with large eyes. A surge of aura crushed the void, and a chill ran down the old man’s spine. It was clear that he could be smashed dead at any moment.

"Are you saying no to me?"

The old man’s blanched. "I don’t dare! I am simply unable to approach the city lord."

"What do you mean, ‘unable to approach’ him? Beacon City isn’t big. Could he have run off to the Tianyuan Megaverse?"

"The city lord is within the Severance sequence base."

Emperor Slayer was taken aback. "What is he doing there?"

"He’s cultivating in seclusion."

While Emperor Slayer was despicable and shameless, he was not stupid. The Severance sequence base protected the springboard because the Spirit Nidus was afraid that it might attract some unknown civilization’s attention.

The greater one’s understanding of the omniverse, the more one respected it. While a powerful cultivator could easily destroy a single parallel universe, each universe was nothing more than a speck of dust on the scale of all of reality.

Springboards harnessed the omniverse’s power to achieve results that were beyond the abilities of living creatures. The omniverse was vast and infinite. Who could say that there were only three megaverses? Emperor Slayer himself knew that there were more, though who could say just how many there might be?

Even the mere existence of a springboard was bizarre. The Spirit Nidus did not even know if the springboard was a natural phenomena or man-made.

If the springboard drew out creatures from other megaverses, who could say what kind of civilization might appear? The only thing that could be said for sure was that such an appearance would not be good.

Yi Xia had been quite clever, hiding within the Severance sequence base. As long as the city lord was in that place, even if Emperor Slayer managed to find the man, he would not be able to do anything about it. Hiding within the sequence base was the best way to avoid any unexpected trouble.

Wait... is he hiding from me? That can't be right

. Emperor Slayer suddenly thought of something, and he stared at the old man. “Has there been any messages from the Spirit Nidus recently?”

The old man grew pale, and he was not sure how he should respond. Yi Xia had specifically ordered that no information could be leaked while he was in seclusion.

Emperor Slayer grabbed the old man's collar, and a terrifying pressure fell upon him. The old man felt like his entire body was being crushed. He was completely overwhelmed, and the sudden fear of death removed any will to resist. “Yes! Yes, there was!”

“Ten years ago?”

“Yes.”

Emperor Slayer flung the old man away.

So, Yi Xia wasn’t hiding from me, but from the Spirit Nidus

.

For him to go into hiding, there has to be someone as strong as a Seraph involved, maybe even more than one. Could the High Seraph himself be coming?

That thought prompted Emperor Slayer to immediately turn to escape, but where was he supposed to go?

Right, the Severance sequence base. If Yi Xia can hide there, then so can I

.

No matter what, it was best to prepare for the worst.

Just as Emperor Slayer was about to move, a battleship suddenly appeared in the distance. It could be seen from Beacon City, and the people on the battleship were also able to see the city.

Emperor Slayer’s jaw dropped, and he bolted towards the protective sequence base.

𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

The battleship that had arrived was

Genesis

, the Spirit Nidus's flagship. There was no doubt that the High Seraph was aboard.

Just my luck! The worst assumptions always prove to be true

.

The High Seraph stood above

Genesis

. The moment he saw Beacon City, he also saw Emperor Slayer.

The sight of Emperor Slayer racing towards Severance caused the High Seraph to cock a brow. A powerful consciousness fell, creating a second sky above the city that blocked Emperor Slayer’s path.

He lashed out with his claws, trying to tear through the consciousness, but even as the sky was torn apart, the white color of Dominion’s Mantle appeared. The character for honor blazed in the sky as a world-destroying force descended upon Beacon City.

Emperor Slayer knew that he was too late. Even if he could break past Dominion’s Mantle, the High Seraph himself was waiting afterwards. There was no longer any way to escape.

As Dominion’s Mantle descended, Emperor Slayer slowly dropped to the ground.

At the same time, the battleship came to a stop.

Throughout Beacon City, countless cultivators stared at the battleship, their breath quickening. Finally, someone had arrived. After so many years of suffering under Emperor Slayer, they had started to go insane. At last, a battleship had appeared. They could return to the Spirit Nidus. Even going to fight in the Consciousness Megaverse would be better than staying in Beacon City.

Not everyone in the city had seen Emperor Slayer being pressed down to the ground by Dominion’s Mantle.

However, those who had knew that not just any battleship had arrived; it was the High Seraph himself.

For the High Seraph to personally lead an expedition, could this be the excursion to crush and end the Consciousness Megaverse?

Inside the city lord’s estate, the old man hurried out to the battleship to greet the High Seraph.

Throughout the city, one person after another raced to the battleship. Each one was at least a Spirit Ancestor, and they all hurried to welcome the High Seraph.

Emperor Slayer looked completely miserable. There was no way to run away.

"Greetings, Lord High Seraph!"

"Greetings, Lord High Seraph..."

Voices rang throughout Beacon City, and their words left every cultivator shaken.

Has Lord High Seraph himself come?

At that moment, another battleship appeared, and it also came to a stop beside Beacon City.

From the second battleship, Jiu Xian stepped out. The sight of the Seraph shook Beacon City to its core.

Then, a third battleship arrived:

Boundless

.

Boundless

had a completely different design from any of the other battleships, and it was clearly not one of the Spirit Nidus’s vessels. The people of Beacon City had never seen anything like it before.

When

Boundless

had previously stopped at Beacon City, everyone in the city had been knocked unconscious. Aside from Yi Xia and Old Tao, no one else in the city even knew about

Boundless

’s existence.

The sight of the foreign battleship left everyone in Beacon City completely bewildered. It was like nothing they had ever seen.

Emperor Slayer was dumbfounded by the sight of

Boundless

.

How could

Boundless

be here?

Had the High Seraph finally dealt with those people from the Tianyuan Megaverse?

Then, Emperor Slay felt a familiar aura; it was Lu Yin, the powerful one who had defeated him before.

Even that damned toad’s present!

Clearly, the Tianyuan cultivators were doing just fine.

Trouble was heading his way.

Above Beacon City, within the sequence base, Yi Xia observed

Boundless

’s arrival with a conflicted expression. If not for

Boundless

, he would not be in such a difficult position, but just what had happened in the Spirit Nidus for the battleship to emerge unscathed?

The High Seraph had arrived, but so had

Boundless

. Given that two megaverses were joining forces to attack the Consciousness Megaverse, no one knew if this would put an end to the conflict once and for all. If the Consciousness Megaverse was destroyed, Beacon City’s significance would diminish a great deal. The city would end up serving as nothing more than the guardian of the springboard.

Suddenly, more and more battleships started to appear, their arrival shaking Beacon City.