Chapter 3860: Sword Sovereign Of The Nine Odysseys

A man as proud and domineering as Venerable Lan Ye would concede even more completely than others once he recognized the gap between himself and his opponent. If even a sliver of hope for a comeback or escape could be seen, he would not have stayed. Staying indicated that he had given up on resisting.

This was not cowardice or fear of death, but rather acceptance.

He had accepted the consequences of attacking Lu Yin.

Venerable Lan Ye stepped into the Champions' Stage Purgatory.

Lu Yin’s Karmic Dao then proceeded to grow. Of course, the improvement that he saw was far from Yue Ya’s, but even so, Lan Ye was a peak Dukkhan, and the improvement remained significant.

He hoped to see his Karmic Dao continue to grow bit by bit, until it eventually encompassed the entire Nine Odysseys Megaverse, and possibly even the lower three megaverses as well.

That day would eventually arrive for Lu Yin, just as it had for Greater Sancte Green Lotus. Every time Lu Yin thought of Green Lotus’s Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm, he felt chills.

The people watching from the ground were completely silent. It was already over. Not even Venerable Lan Ye was a worthy opponent. Lu Yin was terrifyingly strong.

In the distance, Jian Hong had also witnessed the exchange, and he looked away. Defeated? That was always the expected outcome.

No one understood better than Jian Hong just how arrogant Venerable Lan Ye had become after becoming a peak Dukkhan in the Orchid Megaverse. The man had stopped respecting even the Odyssey Commanders. In particular, after the Seventh Night Pillar returned and Lan Ye had been summoned by a Greater Sancte, he changed. He had become calmer, yet his eyes had shifted from showing arrogance to outright disregard. Jian Hong had heard about this change from several of his friends in the Seventh Night Pillar while he had been hunted by the Fifth Night Pillar, which was why he had been unable to witness the transformation firsthand.

According to Jian Hong’s friends, Venerable Lan Ye had started to regard other people as though he was already an Immortal.

Jian Hong had no idea what the Immortal Greater Sancti had said to Lan Ye, but he could guess.

The next megaverse to be reset would be the Orchid Megaverse. No one understood that megaverse better than Venerable Lan Ye. During the reset, his insights were guaranteed to surpass anyone else’s. In other words, his chances of reaching the Immortal realm far surpassed anyone else's.

That was terrifying.

That was also why Venerable Lan Ye had been the first to challenge Lu Yin.

𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

However, Lan Ye had not understood his target at all. Lu Yin had already defeated Yue Ya and received Greater Sancte Green Lotus’s support. Even if Jian Hong did not fully fathom Lu Yin’s strength, he still had a sense that Lu Yin stood above all others.

While Venerable Lan Ye had managed to become a peak Dukkhan, he simply did not give Jian Hong the same impression as Lu Yin.

This feeling was not something that only Jian Hong sensed; everyone at the Sixth Night Pillar felt it as well, including Liu Li.

Venerable Lan Ye had been fully awakened by his latest battle.

However, if the Orchid Megaverse was reset, and in the process, Venerable Lan Ye became an Immortal, then what? What would become of Mr. Lu? Would he preemptively kill Venerable Lan Ye, in fear of the man’s potential strength?

Jian Hong was not the only one to wonder about this. Everyone who knew of Venerable Lan Ye had the same thought, especially those who belonged to the Seventh Night Pillar.

They had already received news of the battle, and it had created quite the uproar.

Venerable Lan Ye belonged to the Seventh Night Pillar, and naturally, they wanted to protect their own. However, the man had gone out of his way to provoke Lu Yin, rather than the other way around. It would not be appropriate for the Seventh Night Pillar to intervene. On top of that, even if they did, what good could they do? Aside from their Odyssey Commander, no one else in their group could stand up to Lu Yin.

Countless eyes fell upon the Odyssey Commander at that moment.

A sigh rang out from the Seventh Night Pillar, and then someone vanished.

“The Odyssey Commander just left.”

“To save Venerable Lan Ye? Honestly, he’s not worth it. He’s never considered himself one of us.”

“But he’s still a member of the Seventh Night Pillar. The Odyssey Commander can’t just stand by.”

“He’s too strange. He’s not even from the Orchid Megaverse, and yet he can absorb the miasma there and survive. That makes him valuable.”

“Will the Odyssey Commander fight Lu Yin?”

“Maybe.”

“Come on, let’s go after him. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen the Odyssey Commander draw his sword a second time. Many may have forgotten his title: Sword Sovereign of the Nine Odysseys.”

“Let’s go.”

“Let’s go...”

In the East Domain, Lu Yin was observing his Champions' Stage Purgatory and how his karma was improving. It seemed about right for the karma of a peak Dukkhan.

He then proceeded to release Venerable Lan Ye.

The man appeared to be rather dazed when he emerged, and his reaction was very similar to Yi Shang’s in the past. Still, Lan Ye recovered more quickly, and when he looked at Lu Yin, disbelief filled his eyes. “You- you?”

Lu Yin stared at the man. Clearly, he had figured something out. That made sense. It was not impossible for a peak Dukkhan to recognize the power of karma.

Venerable Lan Ye was badly shaken. He was not certain that he was right, but karma?

Has someone else actually managed to comprehend karma?

If it was not karma, what else could possibly explain what he had just experienced?

Lan Ye was about to speak when he suddenly looked over.

Lu Yin had glanced over even earlier, and his expression tightened.

What a powerful sword intent!

He saw sword intent tearing through the void in the distance, approaching him at incredible speed. This was the strongest sword intent that Lu Yin had ever seen. It surpassed every swordsman he had ever encountered, including even the Four Commands Grand Swordmaster, Lu Sizhan. Even Lu Yin had to admit that he could not match what he was seeing.

He did not rely solely on sword skills, but the approaching sword intent was sharper and more pure than anything he had seen before.

“Odyssey Commander...” Venerable Lan Ye muttered numbly. His Odyssey Commander had arrived.

Lu Yin looked back at Venerable Lan Ye. “The Seventh Night Pillar’s Odyssey Commander?”

Qian Shu exclaimed, “Senior Gu Duanke?”

He turned to Lu Yin. “The Seventh Night Pillar’s Odyssey Commander is Senior Gu Duanke. He’s also known as the greatest swordmaster in the entire Nine Odysseys Megaverse, which is why he’s known as the Sword Sovereign of the Nine Odysseys.”

Lu Yin’s eyes lit up, and a smile touched his lips.

The Sword Sovereign of the Nine Odysseys? Interesting.

Gu Duanke had announced his arrival with his sky-piercing, razor-sharp sword intent. However, as he drew closer to Lu Yin, his sword intent began to fade. By the time Lu Yin laid eyes on the man, his sword intent was entirely gone.

Neither Venerable Lan Ye nor Qian Shu were surprised. Gu Duanke possessed the strongest sword intent in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, which only made sense. As for the sword intent fading away, that was even more natural. The man was showing his respect for Lu Yin, not issuing a challenge.

Approaching with an overwhelming sword intent would have been antagonistic. Regardless of what Gu Duanke’s intentions might be, it would have been necessary to first fight and settle things if he did so. Without that, nothing could be done.

“I am the Seventh Night Pillar’s Gu Duanke. Mr. Lu, it’s good to finally meet you.”

Lu Yin was looking at an average middle-aged man who had absolutely no remarkable features, aside from perhaps some fatigue that could be seen in his eyes. It was very unusual for Lu Yin to see such exhaustion in a cultivator’s eyes. This man looked as though simply living was exhausting.

Is this the Sword Sovereign of the Nine Odysseys?

Lu Yin nodded. “It’s good to finally meet you, Sword Sovereign of the Nine Odysseys.”

Gu Duanke gave a small smile. “How could that be? It’s possible that you’ve never heard my name before today, Mr. Lu.”

Lu Yin did not argue, as that was quite accurate.

During the time that he had helped Lu Sizhan become the Four Commands Grand Swordmaster, Lu Yin had merely heard that the strongest swordsman was a member of the Seventh Night Pillar. At that time, the Seventh Night Pillar had still been in the distant Orchid Megaverse, so no one had really talked about it.

Gu Duanke glanced at Venerable Lan Ye and sighed. “I told you not to be impulsive and not to be reckless, but you still came. Well? Was I right? Mr. Lu must have taught you quite the lesson, hasn’t he?”

Venerable Lan Ye stared at Gu Duanke, but he had no idea how he should respond.

Ever since he had become a peak Dukkhan, he had stopped seeing his Odyssey Commander with any sort of respect. Yes, Gu Duanke was strong, but he was also clearly declining. Everyone knew that the man did not have much time left. In recent years, many had challenged him in a match of swords, but he had refused every fight.

There had even been rumors that claimed that the Seventh Night Pillar had been sent to the Orchid Megaverse so that Gu Duanke could avoid further challenges.

Lan Ye actually despised his Odyssey Commander, yet he was still forced to admit that the man’s strength was terrifying, even if he was declining. That was something that everyone in the Seventh Night Pillar could agree upon.

Still, regardless of the man’s strength, so long as he lacked a heart for battle, he would eventually fade into obscurity.

If not for their understanding of Gu Duanke’s personality, the Fifth Night Pillar would have never dared to attack Jian Hong.

Lan Ye had always been waiting for this man to step down and retire from the Seventh Night Pillar, or for him to at least lose the strength needed to hold the position of Odyssey Commander. As soon as that happened, Lan Ye would become the next Odyssey Commander, unless he broke through to the Immortal Realm and became a Greater Sancte first.

“You’re not going to speak? Even if you don’t want to, you should still apologize. You disturbed Mr. Lu. Shouldn’t you at least say that you’re sorry?” Gu Duanke scolded his subordinate while subtly signaling the man with his eyes.

Venerable Lan Ye closed his eyes. So what if Gu Duanke had arrived? If Lu Yin had truly comprehended the power of karma, then no one in the entire Nine Odysseys Megaverse—no, no human alive aside from the three Greater Sancti—could possibly order him about. Such little games were nothing more than jokes.

Seeing that he was being ignored by Venerable Lan Ye, Gu Duanke sighed and slowly bowed to Lu Yin. “The Seventh Night Pillar has failed to guide its members. I ask for your forgiveness, Mr. Lu. If you have any requests, my Seventh Night Pillar will do its best to fulfill them.”

Lu Yin had not yet decided how he would deal with Venerable Lan Ye, but there was no chance of the man getting off easily. Simply releasing the man would encourage others to target Lu Yin, as they would be convinced that there would be no consequences for such actions. The warning that he had issued by destroying the Autumnspring Slip would be completely invalidated.

Everyone had their own interpretation of Lu Yin’s declaration that he had uttered after his breakthrough to the Origin realm. People like Venerable Lan Ye, who believed that Lu Yin had been provoking the entire Nine Odysseys Megaverse, were not few in number. In fact, most people had similar thoughts. Since that was the case, those people needed to be intimidated, or at least made to understand that, if their strength did not exceed Venerable Lan Ye’s, they should completely avoid Lu Yin.

Wait a minute.

Lu Yin arched a brow as he looked over at Venerable Lan Ye. His thoughts were wrong. If there was no one targeting him, how was he supposed to continue feeding his Champions' Stage Purgatory?

Lu Yin had originally intended to intimidate the people of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse in one sweeping demonstration so that he could protect the Tianyuan. Only by serving as a human shield could he thwart contempt and schemes. Ruthless actions and slaughtering people would leave the people of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse afraid of him, yet it would also make them eternal enemies of the Tianyuan Megaverse. The only way out would be for Lu Yin to obtain the strength of a Greater Sancti without ever faltering. Only then could he truly protect his home. Even so, if anything happened to him, the Tianyuan would suffer retaliation.

However, if he simply allowed people to target him, it would destroy his image of being invincible. Still, he needed to make some sacrifices in order to strengthen his Karmic Dao with the Champions' Stage Purgatory, so that line of action made sense.

He could not go to the extreme of slaughtering people until no one dared to offend him, but he also could not appear so soft that people believed that Lu Yin feared the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and would not retaliate.

A delicate balance had to be maintained.

Only by strengthening his power of karma could he continue to grow. Lu Yin needed karma, a great deal more of it. The day his Karmic Dao enveloped the entire Tianyuan Megaverse would be the day he truly became invincible.

With that thought, Lu Yin looked at Gu Duanke. “Trouble me? That’s exaggerating the matter. He wasn’t able to do that much.”

Venerable Lan Ye opened his eyes to stare at Lu Yin’s back with a complicated expression. He could not even argue with what Lu Yin had said, as it was true that Lan Ye’s assault had been nothing more than playing around to Lu Yin. Trouble him? It had not even been close to that.