Chapter 3944: The Value Of Being Alive

From the moment that Lu Yin had appeared to when Jie Zun was left completely crippled, Lu Yin had only made four moves.

First, he had saved Li Guo. Second, he had destroyed Jie Zun’s left arm. Third, his right leg. Finally, the man’s left leg.

It was over as quick as that.

Before that, even when Li Guo and Cheng Hongyuan had worked together, they had only barely managed to disable one of Jie Zun’s arms.

Lu Yin looked at Jie Zun, lying on the ground. “You should still be conscious.”

The dark-red energy erupting from Jie Zun’s body gradually grew dim, and the sky regained its original color. His pupils became visible once more. His slitted, scarlet eyes were all too familiar to Lu Yin. He knew them well.

Lu Yin crouched down while staring at Jie Zun. “Give me an answer, and I’ll let you live again.”

As he spoke, he raised a hand, demonstrating the dark-red divine energy that gathered above his palm.

Jie Zun’s eyes bulged as he stared at Lu Yin’s hand. He had not expected to see Lu Yin use such a familiar power.

A short distance away, Li Guo was equally startled. “The Netherfiends’ power?”

Lu Yin lifted his head and looked over at Li Guo. “Do you recognize this?”

Li Guo frowned as he continued to stare at Lu Yin. “How do you have the Netherfiends’ power?”

“I used it when destroying the Autumnspring Slip, but no one recognized it at that time,” Lu Yin said.

Li Guo’s voice grew bitter. “Since the death of Greater Sancte Mi Jin, the Netherfiends have disappeared. Their power hasn’t been seen in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse for far too long. Even within Deathmound, only a few of us know of it, let alone any outsiders. To be honest, if you hadn’t used it in this specific situation, I might not have recognized it as Netherfiends’ power. Many people use dark-red energy, but that doesn’t automatically mean that it’s the same as Netherfiends’.”

“So, you were also just testing me?” Lu Yin asked as he directed a slight smile at Li Guo.

The man sighed and wearily sat on the ground. “And yet I get such a terrible answer. Are you also part of the Netherfiends?”

Lu Yin looked away without explaining anything to Li Guo. He refocused on Jie Zun. “Answer me: where are the Netherfiends? Where is that gate?”

While speaking, Lu Yin sent a spiral of karma into Jie Zun’s body. He did not really expect Jie Zun to offer any answers. The concept of surrender existed for neither Aeternus nor the Netherfiends.

Li Guo did not understand Lu Yin’s question.

What gate? Greater Sancte Awe Gate?

Jie Zun opened his mouth, and, with great difficulty, managed to utter two syllables, “Trai... tor.”

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed, but just as he was about to ask further questions, the dark-red energy surged out from within Jie Zun, melting the man’s body like it was being consumed by lava.

Lu Yin quickly tried to absorb the energy, only to realize that, while it shared a common origin with Yong Heng’s divine energy, there were differences that made Jie Zun’s energy difficult to absorb. Lu Yin could only watch helplessly as the man melted away, with even his spirit seed dissolving.

Even karma had failed to provide any answers. Trying to trace Jie Zun’s karma had only shown Lu Yin a single scene, which indicated that Jie Zun had stayed in one place for a very, very long time.

Still, while karma had not revealed anything meaningful, Lu Yin had noticed one important detail; Jie Zun had possessed two spirit seeds.

In both the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and the Spirit Nidus, cultivators could only ever cultivate a single spirit seed. There had only ever been one exception, which had first been Tian Ci, and then Yong Heng.

Tian Ci had obtained a mirebound artifact that was a spirit seed, which had given him a chance to undergo a second Spirit Rebirth. Effectively, the man had been able to cultivate two spirit seeds.

Other than that, such a thing had never been seen before. Not even the Lesser Sancti were able to cultivate two spirit seeds.

Despite that limitation, Jie Zun had actually possessed two spirit seeds.

Lu Yin slowly rose to his feet, staring at the red stained ground in a daze.

A short ways away, Li Guo coughed up blood while letting out a heavy breath.

Lu Yin looked over at the man. “I thought that you had sent out just your spirit seed.”

Li Guo barked a laugh. “While you may know that cultivators here in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse have two lives, that really only applies to the lower levels. Once one becomes a peak powerhouse or an even higher realm, who still sends out their spirit seed? Living in such a manner is not real life. Unless one is fighting in one of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse’s wars or participating in some battle that is sure to end in death, those at our level never separate from their spirit seed.

“If I had died just now, it would’ve been a true death.”

The old man stared at Lu Yin, his face deathly pale. “The same is true even now.”

Lu Yin calmly met the man’s gaze. “Do you believe that I’ll kill you?”

Li Guo retorted, “Won’t you?”

“Because I’ve cultivated the Netherfiends’ power?”

“The Netherfiends deserve death more than those who violate the taboos of the megaverse,” Li Guo solemnly stated.

Lu Yin said nothing more about that matter, and instead turned to face a different direction. “That skeleton... was that Cheng Hongyuan?”

Li Guo nodded. “Surprised? It turns out that the Cheng family wasn’t completely wiped out. Cheng Hongyuan is still alive.”

“I actually expected as much. I’ll tell you more when I return. If I don’t go after him now, he’ll be able to escape.” With that, Lu Yin took a step forward and vanished.

Li Guo was stunned to have been left behind.

He’s not killing me? What does that mean? Is this a test? Or is he simply fearless?

No matter what might be the case, Lu Yin had used the Netherfiends’ power, which absolutely had to be reported to Deathmound.

Li Guo cleaned the corner of his mouth before taking out a cherished treasure. He sighed. He had been beaten badly in today, and he had even nearly died on several occasions despite exhausting all of his resources. He would need to be much more cautious in the future, and he would not be able to stay in the same place for too long. Despite having no idea why Cheng Hongyuan wanted to capture him, Li Guo knew that it would be better to simply avoid the white skeleton for the time being.

Wait a minute... could the Great Master have used me as bait?

Given the manner in which the Great Master did things, it was very possible.

Li Guo sighed.

At this same time, there were two figures far away, silently staring at where Cragpeak had once stood.

Cultivators were capable of seeing across vast distances, and the stronger their cultivation was, the farther they could see. However, not even a Dukkhan could see the ruins of Cragpeak from this far. Perhaps if they were a peak Dukkhan, it might be possible.

“Sir, your strategy was flawless. Lu Yin really did return. He used the Five-Palm Sect to stir up a commotion, and then he led both the Five-Palm Sect and the Spirit Coalition to defend the Consciousness Megaverse in a highly public manner. It turns out that it was all just a distraction,” Cheng Xue exclaimed.

The person standing in front of Cheng Xue was none other than Yong Heng.

He gave a small smile. “I understand him all too well. Given his manner of doing things, he would never be so ostentatious and public in his support, and he especially wouldn’t rely on something like the Five-Palm Sect’s disciples drawing public ire. He was clearly spreading the news in a very deliberate manner so that everyone would believe that he’d left.”

Cheng Xue was puzzled. “Why would he do that?”

Yong Heng said, “I don’t know that, but his actions were clearly a distraction. Judging by the outcome, he seems to have succeeded. Not only did he deal with Jie Zun, but he also managed to locate Cheng Hongyuan.”

“You set all of this into motion after confirming Lu Yin’s whereabouts. If you hadn’t deliberately exposed Jie Zun, Lu Yin would have, at best, found Cheng Hongyuan.” Despite being Cheng Hongyuan’s daughter, Cheng Xue felt nothing towards him. There was not even a hint of emotion remaining.

Yong Heng's gaze grew deeper. “Yes, Cheng Hongyuan may very well be Lu Yin’s true target.”

Cheng Xue was puzzled about something. “There’s no denying that the Cheng family was completely destroyed, so how could Lu Yin have possibly known that Cheng Hongyuan is still around?”

“You underestimate the power of karma. If he hadn’t comprehended it, I wouldn’t have set things up in this manner. I’m using him to help me find Silent Death and Zhu. I hope that Lu Yin doesn’t disappoint me,” Yong Heng said. “Speaking of which, Zhu has indeed hidden himself well. I actually thought that you could lead me to him, but not even you know where he is. Then again, if he were that easy to find, the Immortals would’ve found him long ago.”

Cheng Xue suddenly thought of something. “My lord, Lu Yin doesn’t know about Silent Death. What if he believes that Cheng Hongyuan is the skeleton from the last page of the Cheng family’s secret manual? If that’s the case and he simply kills Cheng Hongyuan, we’ll never be able to find Silent Death.”

Yong Heng calmly replied, “Cheng Hongyuan will reveal the truth to him as long as he doesn’t want to die.”

Cheng Xue’s thoughts churned, and she quickly understood. If Lu Yin genuinely believed that Cheng Hongyuan was the skeleton from the final page of the Cheng family’s secret manual, he would not hesitate at all when killing him. If that were the case, then Cheng Hongyuan would desperately try to find a way to stay alive. His only option would be to inform Lu Yin that he was not the skeleton from the secret manual and that Lu Yin needed to keep Cheng Hongyuan alive to find that one. That would be his only way to survive.

That was Cheng Hongyuan’s value.

Everyone who entered the world had to have some sort of value. If they lost that value, they would no longer have any reason to exist.

Lu Yin was smart, but Cheng Hongyuan was not stupid.

In the West Domain, a city floated above the yellow sand.

Lu Yin moved through the void, relentlessly pursuing Cheng Hongyuan. The white skeleton had no way to escape.

So long as he did not show himself, he would be fine. However, as soon as he did so, there would be no escape.

Lu Yin wanted to see what Cheng Hongyuan was trying to do. The deathly crisis that the Nine Odysseys Megaverse had once escaped from was connected to the white skeleton. That meant that the man claiming to be Cheng Hongyuan might not be the original man, but his skeleton was definitely the one from the secret manual. If worse came to worst, Lu Yin would just kill Cheng Hongyuan.

At least, that was what Lu Yin was originally thinking.

Unfortunately, a second skeleton appeared and charged at Lu Yin, causing his first idea to vanish.

Lu Yin personally witnessed Cheng Hongyuan make the skeleton tear out of a person’s body, ripping free from its flesh to charge at Lu Yin. It was as if the skeleton had a mind of its own.

It was not just a skeleton. It resembled a parasite living within a person’s body.

Even so, it was clearly just a skeleton.

How was such a thing possible?

Lu Yin was badly shaken. That disturbing chill that he had felt before returned. It was the same sensation that he had felt when viewing the scene recorded on the final page of the Cheng family’s secret manual. That scene had been so disturbing and terrifying that he would never forget it.

That same feeling had just reappeared.

Was Cheng Hongyuan able to control the skeletons inside of other people?

In that case, was Cheng Hongyuan’s skeleton the one from the final page of the secret manual, or was it the skeleton that truly belonged to Cheng Hongyuan?

Lu Yin could not kill his target. His eyes grew sharp. He needed to find the original skeleton.

One skeleton after another charged at Lu Yin, each one fearless and unrelenting.

He casually destroyed them all. A spiral of karma shot out, targeting Cheng Hongyuan’s skeleton.

Lu Yin wanted to use karma to discover if Cheng Hongyuan was truly himself. He wanted to know where the skeleton came from.

As karma pierced the white skeleton, karmic lines appeared and revealed scenes to Lu Yin. He saw dark, underground places. The only detail that stood out was a woman who spoke with Cheng Hongyuan. She called him... father.

Did Cheng Hongyuan have a daughter?

Since the woman had called him father, did that mean the skeleton truly was Cheng Hongyuan? In that case, the skeleton in front of Lu Yin had been forced out by the white skeleton from the final page of the secret manual. This really was Cheng Hongyuan.

At that moment, the clashing karmic line collisions showed Lu Yin a suspicious detail from the battle at Cragpeak.

Lu Yin had not been waiting in the West Domain the entire time. He really had left with the green lotus leaf, and then he had returned alone while everyone else had traveled on ahead. Unfortunately, the leaf traveled too quickly, which meant that Lu Yin had to spend a bit of time to return. During that time, Cheng Hongyuan, Li Guo, and Jie Zun had fought a chaotic battle, and Lu Yin had not seen Jie Zun’s entrance.

But now, through Cheng Hongyuan’s karma, he saw it.