Chapter 3924: Two Outcomes

"By the way, did you just say that the emotional channels that the Allsenses can use to attack include even joy and killing intent?" Ming Zhuo asked.

Facing the two men’s stares, Lu Yin nodded. "That's right."

"It’s no wonder why we weren’t able to understand why some people died. There’s no question that bloodlust is the strongest emotion on the battlefield." Yu sighed, feeling a lingering fear. "It’s a good thing that we learned this. Otherwise, aside from our current formations, we would have no way to counter these Allsense creatures."

"With you here, Junior Brother, we can identify the Allsenses’ attack channels at any time. This is like having an extra pair of eyes! Finally, we can breathe a bit easier," Ming Zhuo said.

Lu Yin peered into the distance. "I never expected such creatures to exist. Regardless of their abilities, they can still be killed, and their defenses are even extremely weak. Their existence defies all logic."

Ming Zhuo replied, "No one knows why this cosmos exists in the first place. Who can say how vast the omniverse might be or how many strange creatures are out there? There might even be some creatures that are born with the strength of a peak powerhouse. Who can say?"

Lu Yin felt that that made sense. He believed that creatures similar to the Pridebeast and the Megalith could exist in every megaverse. Such beings represented the pinnacle of physical strength. They were born from and raised by the megaverse itself, and thus they never needed to cultivate their power despite possessing such terrifying strength.

Compared to such creatures, humans were far too fragile. They needed to cultivate step by step just to barely survive in the cruel cosmos.

The truth was that cultivation could make anything possible. For example, reaching the Immortal realm. There might be creatures which were naturally born strong, but they would never touch the Immortal realm due to their innate limits.

However, all humans possessed that potential. Whether it was better to possess infinite potential or to be born with incredible innate power, no one could say for sure.

The Nine Odysseys Megaverse was able to continuously send out expeditions to destroy foreign megaverses precisely because of their Immortals. If those people disappeared, what would become of their megaverse and humanity as a whole? No one knew.

Just the Allsenses alone could probably eliminate all of humanity.

After all, they were creatures capable of continuously evolving. They could even specifically evolve to exploit attack channels that humans were incapable of perceiving.

"Wait, did you also mention joy?" Ming Zhuo suddenly realized something.

Yu’s heart skipped a beat, and he turned to give Lu Yin a stare filled with disbelief.

Joy? Where could joy have come from? This is a battlefield, where people are dying at every moment. Everyone lives beneath the shadow of fear and grief. How could there be joy?

Lu Yin realized the same issue. He had only been focused on identifying how the Allsenses were able to attack. He had completely forgotten to consider how illogical one of those channels actually was.

The Allsenses developed attack channels based on humans themselves. Whatever humans were unable to perceive would become the Allsenses’ weapons: scent, grief, killing intent, and much more. However, those things had to first appear among the humans that the Allsenses had encountered.

In that case, where had joy appeared? How could anyone feel joy while watching their fellow humans die? While awaiting their own death? It was impossible.

Lu Yin and Ming Zhuo locked eyes, each seeing doubt in the other's gaze.

"Junior Brother, are you certain?"

"Absolutely."

"It shouldn't be possible."

"It shouldn't, but it's there."

"In that case, there's a problem. If someone has been feeling joy, that person must be part of the Second, Fourth, or Sixth Night Pillars."

"Someone was happy to see their own kind die? Could we have a traitor?"

"Even if there is a traitor, who could they betray us to? These Allsenses? One was accidentally found and then taken back by the Seventh Night Pillar. If there really is a traitor, they must have arranged things in advance, but who could have orchestrated such a massive operation that involves an entire megaverse? Even then, we wouldn't have been their target. We’re simply not worth the effort."

All three fell silent.

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. Either someone had lost their mind and felt joy for that reason, or someone was truly happy to see their own kind be slaughtered.

Such an emotion was not surprising to encounter on a human battlefield, as traitors were all too common. But in the Allsense Megaverse, where their only enemies were the Allsenses, betrayal should not even be possible.

If seeing everyone on a Night Pillar be slaughtered by the Allsenses brought someone joy, that implied a trap. Who could prepare such a massive trap? Using an undiscovered foreign megaverse as bait? Such a scale was unheard of.

Unless... there was an Immortal involved.

Lu Yin recalled something that Qing Xing had said and looked over at Ming Zhuo. "Which Greater Sancte confirmed that this Allsense Megaverse could be exterminated?"

Ming Zhuo answered without hesitation, "Greater Sancte Blood Tower."

Lu Yin’s eyes flashed. Greater Sancte Blood Tower? Gan Mo, Wei Heng, the Great Master, and all of Deathmound were under that man’s control. From what Lu Yin knew of those who followed Blood Tower, none of them seemed to be the scheming type.

However, Qing Xing had mentioned that, when Greater Sancti Mi Jin had died, two had retreated while one had gone to die. Green Lotus and Blood Tower had both retreated.

What kind of person is Greater Sancte Blood Tower, really?

"Junior Brother, don’t overthink things. Right now, all that matters is dealing with this Allsense Megaverse," Ming Zhuo reminded.

Lu Yin glanced at Yu. No one knew where the man’s loyalties truly lay, so it would be best to be cautious. “What was that on at the other end of the spatial passage? What’s that invisible attack?”

Ming Zhuo let out a long breath, and his expression turned grim. “It’s the strangest thing that we’ve encountered so far: a flower.”

Lu Yin was caught completely off guard. “A flower?”

Yu said, “It’s a very beautiful flower, and it’s blooming just past the passage. The Fifth Night Pillar’s arrival happened to disturb it.”

Lu Yin hesitantly spoke, “You’re not telling me... that the invisible attack was just a flower folding its petals, are you?”

Ming Zhuo and Yu both stared at Lu Yin, neither denying his words. He had been spot on.

Lu Yin stared at Ming Zhuo, and then he looked at Yu. “So, an invisible flower, simply by folding its petals, is able to produce an attack close to the limit of what is possible beneath the Immortal realm. That it could have crushed the entire Fifth Night Pillar? Is that what you’re telling me?”

Ming Zhuo’s voice grew bitter. “Unbelievable, isn’t it? We couldn’t believe it either, and yet it’s true. When the Second and Fourth Night Pillars went through that passage, we were lucky that neither one of us disturbed that flower. We were particularly lucky that we didn’t touch it the entire time the Night Pillars were moving. It was only after the Allsenses appeared and we tried to push forward that we ran into a flower. Their strength can vary, though the strongest one nearly shattered the Fourth Night Pillar.

“If the Second Night Pillar hadn’t supported us from behind, we would have been finished then and there. After that, we haven’t dared to move in the slightest, because we don’t know where the flowers are.”

Lu Yin frowned. “If you can’t see them, how do you know that they’re flowers?”

Yu looked up. “Because we became able to see them later on.”

Ming Zhuo’s voice dropped low. “It was during the third year in that universe that we saw them. Flowers appeared across the entire universe. They were countless, endless. The glowing planets looked like beautiful petals, while the Allsenses looked like pollen. To us, the creatures appear small yet are still creatures. But to those flowers...”

Lu Yin finished the thought. “They’re like dense, minuscule pollen.”

Yu nodded.

Lu Yin looked back towards the spatial passage. “Could those flowers be the real indigenous species of this Allsense Megaverse? Didn’t Greater Sancte Blood Tower notice them when he was inspecting this place?”

Ming Zhuo replied, “Even an Immortal is still human. If Greater Sancte Blood Tower had enough time, he definitely would have noticed them, but things were simply too rushed back then. As for why...” He paused. “Junior Brother, how did that attack just now feel?”

Lu Yin replied, “It was powerful, but soft. Looking back, it really did feel like flower petals, though much tougher. One of my Tri-Azure Sword Intents wasn’t even enough to cut through it completely.”

“That sword intent landed precisely between two petals. You couldn’t see it, but we could,” Yu explained.

Lu Yin frowned. “So, to see those flowers clearly, you have to stay in the same universe as them for at least two years?”

Ming Zhuo shrugged. “We don’t know. There might be other ways to see them, but for us, we stayed in that universe for more than two years. Only during the third year were we able to see them. There were just so many flowers scattered throughout outer space there.”

“Did you see a Mother Tree?” Lu Yin suddenly asked.

Ming Zhuo shook his head and looked at Yu.

The other commander solemnly stated, “Most of the foreign megaverses that we’ve encountered have a Mother Tree, and this Allsense Megaverse shouldn’t be an exception. If we can find the Mother Tree, we’ll discover whether the true ruler of this megaverse is the flowers or the Allsenses. Also, the Mother Tree is most likely the origin of the sequence strings.

“I suggest that we go back and investigate.”

Ming Zhuo nodded and looked at Lu Yin. “I agree.”

Lu Yin did not answer. With the warning from Qing Xing combined with what they were facing in the Allsense Megaverse, he hesitated. It was not that he was afraid of the Allsense Megaverse. Unless there were Immortals hiding here, there was no possible threat to him. However, he did not want to stumble into someone else’s trap, at least not one that would expose his hand.

There were simply too many bizarre creatures in the cosmos. Lu Yin’s confidence was founded on his current knowledge of the omniverse, but he might not have an accurate understanding of things. It was possible that the strongest creature in the Allsense Megaverse, should it develop the proper attack channel, could kill even an Immortal.

Such doubts caused Lu Yin to grow nervous. What worried him the most was still his concern for the Tianyuan Megaverse. There were too many people there that he needed to protect.

Dong, dong, dong, dong, dong...

The war drums echoed out, throwing the silent Allsense Megaverse into chaos.

Lu Yin looked over at the Fourth Night Pillar. “Qiunan Hongye?”

Ming Zhuo also glanced over. “The member of the Qiunan clan who was the Fourth Night Pillar’s drummer died. Since the Sixth Night Pillar has been abandoned, Qiunan Hongye is now drumming for my Fourth Night Pillar.”

Emotion entered Yu’s voice. “The Qiunan family will never retreat. The war drums are the only battlefield that they fight on, but as long as the drums beat, their fighting spirit will not die.”

“Why beat the drums now?” Lu Yin asked with a frown.

Ming Zhuo looked at Lu Yin. “Beating the drums lures the Allsenses to us. Not using our current formations to kill them is a waste of power. If an attack that covers a massive area only kills a few Allsenses, it’s meaningless.

“Junior brother, how long have you been in Nine Odysseys Megaverse?”

Lu Yin thought for a moment. “Almost forty years.”

Ming Zhuo smiled. “It’s such a short time, and while you’ve shaken the megaverse and accomplished much, you don’t understand it very well. Since our inception, the Nine Odysseys’ wars that are waged by the Night Pillars have only ever had two outcomes.

“Victory, or total annihilation.”

Lu Yin’s gaze trembled.

Yu added, “There is no retreat for the Night Pillars. We will only fight to the death or endure until reinforcements arrive and we achieve victory. There is no third path.

“The cosmos is vast, while our Nine Odysseys Megaverse is comparatively tiny. Given a choice, no one wants to invade a mysterious foreign megaverse. Conquest and slaughter don’t need any sort of justification, no pretense of righteousness. All that matters is survival. We merely want to survive. The Night Pillars cannot retreat. If we retreat even once, there will be a second time, and then a third. Every retreat risks exposing the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, so even when we were trapped in that universe earlier, we never considered trying to flee.

“We only had one option: wait for reinforcements, or die fighting.”