Chapter 3703: Meteorite

Because the High Seraph had been aboard

Genesis

, the cultivators on that battleship did not dare to even make sound. During the twenty-year journey from the Spirit Nidus to the Consciousness Megaverse, most of the people on

Genesis

had spent their time in seclusion.

On the battleship guarded by Meng Sang, no one dared to sleep. They all feared that Meng Sang would discover something in their dreams.

On Jiu Xian’s battleship, no cultivator dared to drink alcohol, afraid of drawing the Seraph’s attention.

Each Dukkhan had a different personality. Thus, the cultivators traveling with them naturally had different ways of coping.

One battleship was guarded by Su Shidao.

This Seraph was the greatest Spirit Treasure Grandmaster in the entire Spirit Nidus, and he was widely praised for both his abilities and his personality. Because of this, there were no particular restrictions on his battleship, which carried a large number of spirit formation masters.

“We should be quite close to the Willbound Expanse by now.”

“We would have arrived long ago if we hadn’t been delayed.”

“Are you saying that Seraph Su is purposely stalling?”

“Shh!”

“Don’t worry. Seraph Su doesn’t mind such comments. If he did something, he would admit it...”

“This is just my guess. Everyone knows about Seraph Su’s relationship with Seraph Lu, as well as Seraph Lu’s relationship with the High Seraph. Do you really think

Boundless

has already reached the Willbound Expanse?”

“That’s true. If

Boundless

doesn’t go, Seraph Su probably won’t arrive soon either.”

“Still, even if he does stall, he can’t do so for very long. No matter how vast the Consciousness Megaverse might be, battleships aren’t exactly slow. The Ascendant Hall has mapped out all the different routes to the Willbound Expanse, and the High Seraph definitely knows when each battleship should arrive. Seraph Su can’t stall for very long.”

“Stop overthinking. Regardless, after we wipe out the conscients, I don’t plan to leave. I’m going to stay here, cultivating as I wait for the reset.”

“Me too.”

“Same here.”

“Don’t you want to go back and see your families again?”

“I don’t have any family.”

“We won’t have to wait very long. Lord High Seraph is going to break through to the Immortal realm.”

“That is true...”

There were discussions in every corner of the battleship. Suddenly, the battleship stopped moving with a slight tremor. Numerous cultivators looked up to see Su Shidao above the vessel. He was solemnly staring away from the ship, but not in the direction of the Willbound Expanse.

Could the conscients be attacking?

The battleship had encountered conscients while traveling through the Consciousness Megaverse, but aside from the Thirteen Luminaries, no conscient was capable of obstructing a battleship. Aside from Seraph Su Shidao, the battleship also had many other powerful cultivators, including two Ortusers and no less than five sequence powerhouses. Even one of the Thirteen Luminaries would choose to avoid the vessel if the conscient was alone.

High above, in outer space, Su Shidao remained fixated on a particular direction. He had been uneasy for some time, and he felt as if something was approaching them.

The man failed to see anything, as whatever he was sensing was too distant. Even so, it made his heart race. Could several Luminaries be approaching them?

Given that the Spirit Nidus’s forces were able to attack the Willbound Expanse, it only made sense that the Thirteen Luminaries had detected the presence of the seven battleships. Before entering the Consciousness Megaverse, Su Shidao had considered the possibility of his battleship being ambushed by the Thirteen Luminaries. If that happened, his vessel would be doomed. Was he really so unlucky?

With that thought, he took out a wireless jincan.

The Spirit Nidus’s spirit cloudstones did not work in the Consciousness Megaverse, but the Tianyuan’s wireless jincans did.

It was important to contact Lu Yin.

Suddenly, the Seraph’s expression changed. What he had been sensing had arrived.

Something streaked through the darkness of outer space, quickly approaching from a great distance. It was a meteorite, and it was hurtling across the universe far faster than any of the battleships could travel.

Su Shidao stared at the meteor.

What is that? That is no conscient.

The meteorite traveled incredibly fast, and in the blink of an eye, the cultivators aboard the battleship were able to see it as well.

There was nothing unusual about seeing a meteorite in outer space, but it was highly unusual for anything to travel this quickly. What could this meteorite be made of to handle such extreme velocities? Even a peak powerhouse might not be able to endure traveling at such speeds for an extended period of time, let alone a chunk of rock.

The meteor quickly drew closer.

𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Su Shidao frowned and raised a hand, thrusting a burst of sword qi at the meteorite.

The attack swept across the universe, the slash silently crossing the meteorite's path. However, the sword qi simply dissipated, and the meteorite was completely unharmed. It continued hurtling toward the battleship, its speed unabated.

Su Shidao attacked again, this time using his Epoch Blade. His sense of unease had grown even stronger. Clearly, there was something off with the meteorite.

A vicious Epoch Blade attacked the meteorite, the sword qi carrying an ancient quality. There were only a few dozen of these attacks stored in Su Shidao’s Floral Transposition. This was the attack that had nearly cut Meng Sang down long ago, and it had even made Lu Yin wary. This attack was too powerful for most Ortusers to face.

But even this attack only caused the meteorite to momentarily pause. The interruption was so subtle that it was hardly noticeable. The surface of the stone remained unmarred, and it continued barreling toward the battleship.

Su Shidao’s expression changed. “Move!”

The battleship moved, changing course to dodge the meteorite.

However, even as the ship altered course, the meteorite followed it. It was locked onto the battleship.

Two people stepped out from the ship. They were the two Ortusers who were part of the expedition. Lu Yin had never met them, but they were both from the Ascendant Hall.

Experts of that level had meant little to Lu Yin after he made a name for himself in the Spirit Nidus. He simply did not see such individuals as noteworthy.

The two Ortusers attacked simultaneously, each unleashing sequence particles. Su Shidao also prepared a defensive spirit treasure formation to protect the battleship. He used his sword river, which was the same formation that had protected his Black and White Domain in the Spirit Treasure Domain.

The meteorite ignored the two Ortusers’ attacks and slammed into the sword river, shattering the spirit treasure formation.

Su Shidao roared angrily, “Who are you?”

He could see a single eye within the meteorite, and it clearly belonged to someone who was enraged and berserk.

The eye shifted and locked onto Su Shidao, yet it showed absolutely no concern. Thin strands of blood stretched out from the eye, moving straight for the Seraph.

Su Shidao did not hesitate to use Floral Transposition. An enormous tree appeared, sword qi hanging from its branches. There were dozens of Epoch Blades, and they all slashed at the meteorite in unison.

Even after being struck by dozens of Epoch Blades, the meteorite only shook slightly, but its surface showed no true damage. It simply continued shooting forward at full force.

Boom!

The battleship swayed violently, and blood spattered across the deck. Su Shidao staggered back, unable to even slow the meteorite.

The meteorite did not stop, and the battleship broke in half as the cultivators aboard let out screams of agony.

"Scatter and flee! Don’t get close to it!" Su Shidao shouted, dread apparent on his face.

What in the world is that thing? Some creature is attacking us from within that meteor, and the stone itself is unbelievably tough. Not even dozens of my Epoch Blades had any effect.

The battleship was completely destroyed, and Su Shidao and everyone else who had been traveling aboard the vessel fled. Many had been burned to ash or torn apart by the shockwaves.

The meteorite did not pursue. It simply remained in outer space beside the wreckage of the battleship, its purpose unknown.

Su Shidao had never imagined that his battleship would be destroyed in such a manner. It was a universe-class battleship, built with countless rare materials that had been gathered over the course of many years. Every universe-class vessel was the culmination of generations of effort from the Ark Domain to be able to travel between megaverses. They were priceless treasures, and yet one had been utterly destroyed by a mere meteorite.

They had not even fallen at the Willbound Expanse, but instead obliterated in a completely baffling and absurd manner.

Those who managed to escape the destruction formed small groups before continuing on towards the Willbound Expanse. Su Shidao did not dare to make contact with anyone, out of fear that doing so might draw the meteorite’s attention to him, dooming those nearby as well.

He could do nothing to the meteorite, yet the rock would similarly struggle to eliminate the Seraph. At the very least, the meteorite would first need to catch the man.

However, it appeared that the meteorite had no intention of giving chase.

The battleship had already traveled rather close to the Willbound Expanse. Without the need to wait on a battleship, Su Shidao would arrive fairly quickly.

He focused on the direction of the Willbound Expanse and then vanished with a single step.

Before long, Su Shidao laid eyes on the Willbound Expanse.

The same as ever, the Willbound Expanse stunned those who saw it for the first time.

Aside from

Boundless

and Su Shidao’s battleship, all of the others had already arrived at the Willbound Expanse. People were wiping out all the nearby conscients, ensuring that none discovered the Spirit Nidus’s presence before they started attacking the Willbound Expanse.

None present had realized that their actions were completely unnecessary. From the start, the Willbound Expanse had been a trap for the Spirit Nidus.

People were startled by Su Shidao’s sudden arrival.

He reported that his battleship had been attacked, which further astonished Meng Sang, Old Salamander, and the other Dukkhans.

Of the Seven Seraphs, Zhan Ming had not joined the expedition, and Yuan Qi had remained aboard

Boundless.

This meant that only Meng Sang, Jiu Xian, Old Salamander, and Su Shidao were present, each of whom had protected a battleship. One of the seven battleships had traveled without the protection of a Seraph, with Zi Tianshu as their captain.

Everyone quickly learned that Su Shidao had been attacked.

“A meteor?” Jiu Xian glanced over at Su Shidao, making no secret that she did not believe him.

Meng Sang, Old Salamander, and Zi Tianshu similarly appeared skeptical.

Su Shidao grew angry. “What’s with those looks? You don’t actually think that this old man is lying, do you?”

Old Salamander chuckled. “

Boundless

hasn’t arrived.”

Meng Sang commented in a low voice, “You and Seraph Lu are on good terms with each other.”

Su Shidao was taken aback. “I wouldn’t fabricate such an excuse! Jiu Xian, what do you think?”

Jiu Xian released a burp that stunk of booze. “Definitely made up.”

Su Shidao was left speechless, and he could not help but wonder just how strong these people’s grudges against Seraph Lu were. “Huh?

Genesis

is here, so where’s the High Seraph?”

The others just exchanged glances, as none of them knew where the High Seraph had gone.

Su Shidao continued to look at the distant form of

Genesis

. “Fine! Since you don’t believe me, then you can see for yourselves when the others arrive!”

It did not take long for the two Ortusers from his battleship to arrive, and they recounted the same story of what had happened. Soon, more and more people arrived as well.

Gradually, Jiu Xian and the others were forced to to believe that the battleship had indeed been destroyed by a meteorite.

No one had any idea what kind of meteorite could render Su Shidao and an entire battleship full of powerful cultivators completely helpless. The battleship had been destroyed, they had been forced to abandon even the wreckage.

Su Shidao invited the other Dukkhans to join him and deal with the meteorite, but ultimately, no one went. Their primary objective was still the Willbound Expanse. Nonetheless, people were sent to keep watch. As soon as the Willbound Expanse was dealt with, the meteorite would be their next target.

...

In the Willbound Spire, Lu Yin returned to the area beneath the cliff.

After agreeing on how everyone would cooperate to deal with the High Seraph, Lu Yin and Yong Heng had been taking turns at the foot of the cliff. Old Chief and the other Luminaries remained there at all times.

Everyone was certain that the High Seraph would never abandon the Willbound Spire, which meant that there was no chance of him simply leaving.

However, Lu Yin could not stay at the foot of the cliff with Yong Heng. As long as both men were present, the High Seraph would not reveal himself. It was necessary to present the High Seraph with what he believed was an opening to break past their defensives. At the same time, it was feared that, for whatever reason, Lu Yin and Yong Heng might fight each other for real. That was something outside of their control.

As soon as Lu Yin arrived, he looked up at the palace, which was only faintly visible. The people at the top of the cliff were still walking towards the palace, but they were unable to actually approach it.

Lu Yin was quite curious about what those people were experiencing, as they appeared to be struggling.

His curiosity caused him to work his way up the side of the cliff with Inverse Step.

Atop the cliff, when people saw that Lu Yin was approaching them, no one was concerned at all. There was no way that the man could reach the cliff.