Chapter 3758: A Different Level

The stars were even older than the Thirteen Luminaries, and they had possibly existed since the Consciousness Megaverse’s last reset. Then again, had the Consciousness Megaverse ever been reset?

Lu Yin claimed to have seen a memory of that reset after being struck by a memory shock atop the cliff in the Willbound Spire. Old Chief had not believed Lu Yin at the time, but he also had not been able to deny the possibility. No one truly knew whether or not the Consciousness Megaverse had ever been reset.

The events in the Willbound Spire were a pity. The Luminaries had never been able to reach the palace. The Willbound Spire had once belonged to them, but they had since lost it, along with everything else.

The Luminaries averted their eyes, and the three of them then continued moving closer to the boundary.

“What is that?” Xi Wen cried out in alarm.

Old Chief and Shuangdao looked ahead to see stars that looked like they had gained intelligence crashing towards them. The stars were absolutely massive, but to experts at their level, they could be obliterated with the wave of a hand. None of the conscients could understand why the stars were suddenly crashing into them, as they could not sense any hand behind the movement.

With a casual swing of his sword, Shuangdao shattered several stars. The moment they were destroyed, waves of consciousness tore through the void.

Old Chief, Shuangdao, and Xi Wen froze in place, momentarily stunned.

“Run!” Old Chief bellowed, and the three of them bolted forward. At that moment, Old Chief moved the fastest, leaving both Shuangdao and Xi Wen behind. His heart sank, and an overwhelming dread sent a chill down his spine. If he was not mistaken, that blast of consciousness belonged to Lu Yin.

Lu Yin was making his move. There was no doubt that he had been watching the Willbound Spire all along, as he had taken action the moment that Yue Ya and everyone else had turned on each other.

Old Chief regretted his choice; he should not have run. It would have been better to stay with Yue Ya’s group. At least Lu Yin would not have had an opportunity to attack them.

Damn it! How is he monitoring the Willbound Expanse?

Shuangdao and Xi Wen quickly lost sight of Old Chief, but neither were surprised. They were all desperate to escape from the Consciousness Megaverse and would do whatever it took to succeed.

Suddenly, they saw Old Chief up ahead of them again. He was standing still, not moving at all.

Shuangdao and Xi Wen exchanged glances before approaching Old Chief. Following his gaze, they saw Lu Yin casually lounging at the boundary.

He was sitting on a fragment of the shattered gate, a smile toying at his lips when he looked up at Old Chief and the others. “In a hurry? Where are you headed, honored Luminaries?”

Old Chief’s eyes flickered as he stared at Lu Yin. “Are you planning to block us?”

Lu Yin continued to smile. “If I’m not wrong, you’re on your way to the Tianyuan Megaverse, aren’t you? There’s no need to go to such trouble.

Boundless

can take you there.”

Shuangdao’s eyes narrowed sharply as he tightly clenched the hilt of his sword and slashed it down, releasing a Frozen Skyblade.

Xi Wen’s hand rose, and a Skyshearer Millstone dropped from the sky to slam into Lu Yin.

The conscients already knew that their attacks would be useless, but they could not do nothing and just allow Lu Yin to capture them.

Old Chief took a deep breath. This would be the most dangerous battle of his entire life. He did not even consider fighting for victory, only for the chance to escape. They would escape, or they would die. There was no third option.

Heaven and Earth Lock.

An invisible lock descended from above in an attempt to seal Lu Yin’s external senses and his consciousness for a moment.

Lu Yin looked up as a spiral of karma coiled around his fingers.

When it was released, it passed through the Heaven and Earth Lock. As that happened, countless more Heaven and Earth Locks suddenly appeared and sealed Shuangdao and Xi Wen instead.

The two were startled, and they looked over at Old Chief. Why was he attacking them?

Old Chief was just as stunned. What was going on? He had clearly targeted Lu Yin, so why was this happening?

Lu Yin showed a faint smile. His self-created karma technique, the Karmic Dao, was not only able to rewrite creatures’ pasts and add karma to their existence, but it could also... alter targets during battle.

When Old Chief had attacked him, Lu Yin had simply added a thread of karma. Since the Heaven and Earth Lock had been aimed at Lu Yin, he had simply altered his own presence to include the positions of Shuangdao and Xi Wen. Such a simple change only consumed a little bit of karma, and Lu Yin was quite pleased with the results.

He was also capable of making other alterations, such as having Shuangdao be Old Chief’s actual target, but doing something like that would require directly altering the karma of the conscient in question, which would be far more costly. Such consumption was not worthwhile.

Old Chief and the other two had no idea what Lu Yin had done. The Heaven and Earth Lock had not only trapped Shuangdao and Xi Wen, but it had also neutralized the Frozen Skyblade and the Skyshearer Millstone.

Old Chief hurriedly dispersed his technique, nervously eyeing Lu Yin. “Lord Lu, Yue Ya is your true enemy. Ruler Garden is fighting against him right now, so why not seize this chance to take him out? There's no need for you to waste time on us.”

Lu Yin nodded in agreement. “You’re right. I shouldn’t waste time on you.”

With that, he stood up and stepped towards Old Chief.

The ancient conscient’s expression changed, and his consciousness surged forward. As that happened, Shuangdao and Xi Wen also released consciousness attacks.

Given that Lu Yin had deliberately intercepted them, there was no chance that he would simply allow them to leave. Battle was unavoidable.

Old Chief quickly fell back in an attempt to prevent Lu Yin from closing the distance.

Unfortunately, a Heaven and Earth Lock descended, trapping Old Chief, Shuangdao, and Xi Wen. This time, Lu Yin had used his own Heaven and Earth Lock, and it was much more powerful than anything Old Chief was capable of unleashing. Just the power of Lu Yin’s consciousness alone made the technique as powerful as the trap that Yue Ya and the others had once prepared for him in the Willbound Expanse.

Old Chief was shaken. He had not expected Lu Yin’s consciousness to become so terrifying. This far surpassed his own. “Just how many conscients have you devoured?”

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Lu Yin calmly replied. He moved past Shuangdao and Xi Wen to instantly appear in front of Old Chief. They were just five meters apart, and Old Chief was Possessed.

When Lu Yin’s mind returned to his own body, Old Chief collapsed. Despite his hazy vision, he was able to see that Shuangdao and Xi Wen had also collapsed. When had that happened?

Old Chief had collapsed because he had been Possessed by Lu Yin, whereas Shuangdao and Xi Wen had collapsed due to being overpowered.

At this moment, the terror of Lu Yin’s strength surpassed anything Old Chief or the others could even comprehend. Lu Yin’s power was worlds apart from when they had first encountered him. After digesting Heaven’s Seal and taking its sequence particles, Lu Yin’s physical strength had reached an even higher level than ever before.

Even if the High Seraph used Everstone and his tempered will to harness the power of the universe itself, he might not be able to even repel Lu Yin.

Even the High Seraph’s sequence particles had limits.

The fact was that Lu Yin found himself eager to face the High Seraph again.

As he looked at the three collapsed conscients, he realized that this was the end of the Thirteen Luminaries’ era. Bu Wen alone remained, as she was still hiding in the Spirit Nidus.

The Consciousness Megaverse’s most powerful experts had always been the Thirteen Luminaries, but the Thirteen Luminaries had failed to protect the Consciousness Megaverse.

If Lu Yin had not been able to stop the Spirit Nidus’s invasion all those years before, his own Tianyuan Megaverse would have most likely gained a new master.

In the distance, Emperor Slayer stood agape as he stared at the scene in a daze. He had witnessed the entire ordeal, and he had seen how easily Lu Yin had defeated Old Chief and the other two. The beast was struck by a wave of disbelief.

It was no surprise that Lu Yin had won, but how had he won so quickly and effortlessly? Not even the High Seraph could pull that off.

Of the Thirteen Luminaries, Old Chief’s consciousness placed him on equal ground with the High Seraph. Even if the two fought one-on-one, Old Chief would not fall quickly.

What happened? Did Lu Yin take some kind of super-enhancement pill?

Lu Yin’s eyes suddenly shifted so that he was looking over at Emperor Slayer, and the beast’s expression instantly changed. It took less than a millisecond for him to plaster a smile onto his face and adopt a somewhat hunched position. He made himself look adorably harmless, despite the bitterness welling up inside.

How many times is this now?

He had raced for the boundary again and again, even successfully leaving the megaverse at times. Was he not even going to reach the boundary this time? Truly pathetic.

Lu Yin waved Emperor Slayer over, and the beast instantly obeyed. Run? That was impossible. Emperor Wu would never be able to escape from Lu Yin, no matter how long he lived. Not even the Horizon’s Mirror could be used in front of this man. There was no escape.

Emperor Slayer quickly ran over to Lu Yin, showing a smile so radiant that it could pierce an Immortal. “You called, Third Boss?”

Lu Yin stared at him. “Are you planning to leave?”

Emperor Slayer licked his lips, and decided to test the situation. “I’m not leaving?”

“Are you asking me?”

“Then... I’m going?”

“Do you have a habit of answering questions with questions?”

You’re doing it too!

Emperor Slayer wanted to retort, but did not dare to argue. “Well, whatever Third Boss says is what will happen. If I’m told to stay, I’ll stay. If Third Boss says go, I go. I am completely at your command.”

Lu Yin raised his hand and set it onto Emperor Slayer’s shoulder.

The beast was trembling internally, and he instinctively shrank into himself a little bit more, just to make it easier for Lu Yin to pet him.

The hand was gentle, as Lu Yin was merely giving him a gentle pat.

Emperor Slayer let out a breath of relief.

“You’ve never done anything to truly offend me, though you did insult me from the bottom of the cliff. Let’s call things even.”

Emperor Slayer had no idea how he was supposed to reply to that. “Whatever you say, Third Boss.”

“Carry on to the Tianyuan Megaverse, and look after things for me there,” Lu Yin calmly ordered.

Emperor Slayer instantly agreed, “As I already promised you in the Willbound Spire, you can rest easy. I promise that, so long as I live, the Tianyuan Megaverse will be under my protection—or rather, under your protect- I will guard it with my life.”

Lu Yin waved his hand, dismissing the beast.

Emperor Slayer nervously asked, “So... should I go now?”

Lu Yin ignored the beast and turned to stare off into the distance. He was looking at where Chao Yi and Yue Ya were both pursuing Yanbo Haomiao. Their battle was about to end.

Emperor Slayer left, racing past the shattered gate. He sped into the Aevum Inch, never even glancing backwards.

At last, he had left.

So this is the mystical “third time’s the charm”? I’ve been thrown back into that megaverse so many times, but I’ve finally escaped from that damned place. I’ve never realized how comforting the Aevum Inch can be.

“Lu Yin might be a bit despicable and shameless, but his moral virtue isn’t bad. In fact, he’s almost like me. Ah well, I’ll stop badmouthing him from now on. I’ll head to the Tianyuan Megaverse and lend him a hand. That megaverse is enormous, and there are countless people there.” Emperor Slayer’s expression turned grave. “I don’t have enough virtue flags... I need to make more.”

He wanted to see his virtue flags flying in every corner of the Tianyuan Megaverse.

...

“Yue Ya, my Ruler Garden has risked life and limb for you, sacrificing everything, and yet you have betrayed us! You won’t have a good ending!” Yanbo Haomiao hissed hoarsely as blood dribbled from his mouth and he clutched his chest. Beside him, his ruler had been broken.

Yanbo Hongli glared at Chao Yi, her delicate features stained with blood and her long red hair completely disheveled. She looked beyond miserable.

In front of the two, Yue Ya’s stared at them with ice cold eyes. “This is your fault. Ruler Garden claimed to be willing to support me, but you refused at the last moment. You should understand that Chao Yi can offer me far more help than you ever could. It’s only right that you die for me.”

“You...!” Yanbo Haomiao, furious, spat out a mouthful of blood as his face grew ashen.

Yanbo Hongli held the old man upright. “Ancestor, we misjudged him.”

Yanbo Haomiao’s voice was bitter. “Hongli, your ancestor has failed you. You must find a way to escape. Don’t worry about me.”

Yanbo Hongli shook her head. Neither of them were at fault. All that could be said was that Yue Ya was too despicable.

Their only chance of survival had been to force Yue Ya to attack Chao Yi in the Willbound Expanse. They had assumed that Yue Ya would consider his reputation and the opinions of the Thirteen Luminaries, which would force him to abandon his alliance with Chao Yi. Unfortunately, they had grossly underestimated the lines that Yue Ya was willing to cross, and they had also overestimated the importance of the Thirteen Luminaries.

At that time, even if they had not taken action, they would have been killed by Chao Yi and never allowed to leave the Willbound Expanse.

The moment they had entered the Consciousness Megaverse, Ruler Garden had ceased to exist.

The galaxy trembled as Chao Yi struck. The dark-gold light of Yue Ya’s Voidheart Mirror spread out, gradually covering the universe.

Lu Yin watched calmly. Through the stars of the Consciousness Megaverse, he was able to see everything with perfect clarity.