Chapter 3958: Decision

Yuan Qi had been absolutely right. The High Seraph had gone to great lengths to send him to the Tianyuan Megaverse. The man had even purposefully led Yuan Qi to believe that Heavenspire was a secret megaverse, which had made Yuan Qi think that he had uncovered a great secret. That was what had ultimately driven the man to flee to the Tianyuan Megaverse.

The truth was that everything had been a part of the High Seraph’s calculated plan. Everything had been done for the sole purpose of sending Yuan Qi to the Tianyuan Megaverse.

In the past, Lu Yin had not been able to understand the High Seraph’s motives. But then, Ye Ge had mentioned that even Yong Heng had demanded for Yuan Qi to be sent over. That gave Lu Yin a great deal to think about.

Why would both the High Seraph and Yong Heng have wanted the same thing?

The only possible answer was that their interests had aligned.

Yong Heng had a mysterious Immortal behind him, but what about the High Seraph? Lu Yin had always believed that Master Qing Cao was the one supporting the High Seraph, as all of the man’s various schemes had been for the benefit of the Spirit Nidus. However, Lu Yin was no longer as confident in his earlier speculations. Could there be a connection between the High Seraph and the mysterious Immortal behind Yong Heng?

Or was it possible that Master Qing Cao had been orchestrating everything all along and that Yong Heng’s demand was also at Qing Cao’s orders?

Both options were valid possibilities.

Lu Yin hoped that the latter was true, as that would make it clear that his enemy was Master Qing Cao. That would be better than discovering that there was yet another enemy behind both Yong Heng and the High Seraph.

Lu Yin still knew absolutely nothing about that hidden Immortal.

Half a year later, the green lotus leaf arrived at Beacon City. Lu Yin stared at the city, half of it still in ruins, and felt a surge of emotion.

If not for this springboard, there was no doubt that he would have died the last time he had passed by this city. However, if Lu Yin encountered that Immortal monster again with his current strength, the beast would not escape unscathed.

At this moment, Yi Xia was stunned. He stared at the numerous cultivators and otherborn of various forms descending from the lotus leaf. The city lord felt as if divine soldiers had just descended from the heavens.

He could not understand where such powerful cultivators could have come from.

After all, Yi Xia was only a sequence powerhouse, and yet he was seeing an entire army of similar experts arriving, with a great number of Ortusers and Dukkhans among their number. There were even several who gave him heart palpitations just from looking at them. In the past, the only time he had experienced such a thing was when he had seen the High Seraph himself.

Was it possible that these people were all as strong as the High Seraph? That should be impossible.

Everyone in Beacon City was utterly stunned, and they stared in disbelief as a mysterious group of cultivators took control of their city. Suddenly, a certain name came to mind: the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. Could these people be from that place?

The truth regarding the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and the Spirit Nidus had already spread far and wide, with even Beacon City receiving the news. In particular, when the four universe-class battleships had passed through on their way to the Tianyuan Megaverse, Yi Xia and many others had learned a great deal more regarding recent events in the Spirit Nidus.

The arrival of so many powerful individuals made it easy for people to make a connection.

Lu Yin stepped into view, deliberately allowing the citizens of Beacon City to see him. At that moment, they could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.

While Lu Yin was from the Tianyuan Megaverse, he still offered Beacon City a greater sense of safety than the numerous unknown cultivators from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. On top of that, Lu Yin appeared to be their leader.

“Yi Xia.”

“Here,” Yi Xia quickly answered, despite his great surprise.

Lu Yin looked at him. “You need to get everyone from Beacon City onto this lotus leaf now. You all need to return to the Spirit Nidus. From now on, Beacon City will be protected by these people. War has come.”

Hearing about a war caused Yi Xia’s heart to drop. He quickly understood that Lu Yin could be considered a representative of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. If even those people needed to prepare for war, then Beacon City was nothing more than a speck of dust. This was no different from when his city had been casually crushed by that passing monster.

Yi Xia did not dare to hesitate for even a moment, and he quickly made arrangements for everyone in Beacon City to board the green lotus leaf and move to the Spirit Nidus.

The people who left Beacon City were unqualified to participate in the upcoming battles. They were simply too weak, and staying there would only lead to their deaths. Lu Yin could not bear to condemn so many.

However, that did not mean that everyone left. A group of qualified cultivators stayed behind to support Yu Jing and the others in the coming battles. This was a war that involved not only the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, but also all of humanity.

In fact, the Nest civilization was actually targeting the Spirit Nidus. If people from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse stayed behind to fight while everyone from the Spirit Nidus retreated, it would feel wrong to those people.

The Spirit Nidus also needed to stand up and fight.

Even Yi Xia stayed behind.

He stared blankly as the lotus leaf drifted away. He and his two deputy city lords had stayed behind to help fight, even if none of them knew who their enemy was yet.

Someone from the Five-Palm Sect laughingly said, “When you see the enemy, death will already be upon you.”

His words caused Yi Xia’s expression to grow dark. It was true that disaster could sometimes arrive even when someone was sitting in their home.

After leaving Beacon City, the lotus leaf headed straight for the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, arriving after half a year. Lu Yin dropped off the people from the Spirit Nidus, with orders that someone escort them back to their native megaverse. As for Lu Yin himself, he went to the Frightened Sparrow Terrace to meet with Greater Sancte Awe Gate.

When she learned the information that Lu Yin had obtained regarding the Nest civilization, the woman’s mood visibly fell, despite being an Immortal.

The existence of a creature like Luo Chan was too much of a complication.

“What do you intend to do now?”

Lu Yin asked, “Senior, are you able to freely open your Awe Gates within a certain range?”

Greater Sancte Awe Gate met Lu Yin’s gaze. “That range is half a unit from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse in all directions.”

Half a unit from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse? That matched up to Beacon City’s location, which meant that Lu Yin’s guess had been accurate.

“Senior, if we want to deal with Luo Chan, we need to stay within that range so that your Awe Gates can be freely used. This will mean pulling back our line of defense and sending top experts to protect critical locations. Even if they don’t actually fight, it won’t matter. We just need to hold those locations. This will prevent us from being led around by Luo Chan. I suggest that we move the war as close to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse as possible.”

Greater Sancte Awe Gate stared off into the distance. “We’ll draw them into the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.”

Lu Yin’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”

Awe Gate’s expression grew solemn. “We’ll make the Nine Odysseys Megaverse our battlefield.”

Lu Yin was stunned. He had thought that his own suggestion was already quite bold, as it meant allowing the Nest civilization to approach the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, which posed a great deal of risk. Even a single mistake would cause a swarm of bugs to invade in full force. Even if the current wave was destroyed, countless insects would remain, and the Nest civilization would forever know the location of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. That would mean that even the Immortal Lord could arrive at any time.

This would be an incredibly dangerous gamble for the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, as it meant they could be threatened by the Nest civilization at all times.

Surprisingly, Greater Sancte Awe Gate was taking an even bolder stance. She was choosing to draw the Nest civilization directly into the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. In Lu Yin’s plan, that had been the worst-case scenario.

“If the battlefield is brought into this megaverse, your people will suffer an unprecedented calamity,” Lu Yin warned.

Greater Sancte Awe Gate frowned. “The larger the battlefield, the easier it will be for us to be dragged down. My Nine Odysseys Megaverse has always been waging war on foreign megaverses, destroying one after another. This time, it’s our turn. Do we not even have the courage to fight to the death?

“Everyone in the Nine Odysseys Megaverses enjoys the spoils from those destroyed civilizations. It’s also necessary that we accept the possibility that we ourselves can be destroyed. The bottom line is that humanity simply cannot match these bugs’ reproduction rate. That is the Nest civilization’s greatest advantage.”

Lu Yin understood. He had also considered shrinking the battlefield into the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and drawing the line there, but given that he was not really part of that megaverse, offering such a suggestion would be extremely suspicious.

He had been taking a risk to even suggesting pulling back the frontlines as far as he had.

Retreating to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse was a suggestion that could only be made by someone who genuinely belonged to that megaverse. Greater Sancte Awe Gate making the suggestion was ideal.

“In that case, the most important thing right now is to keep an eye out for the Nests. If we can destroy all of the Nests that enter this megaverse, this war will be half won,” Lu Yin said.

Greater Sancte Awe Gate asked, “Do you know the purpose of the Nine Odysseys?”

“The Night Pillars wage war on foreign megaverses, while also keeping the Nine Odysseys Megaverse itself hidden,” Lu Yin replied.

She nodded. “The Nine Odysseys are a spirit treasure formation.”

Lu Yin had heard this before. The chaotic appearance of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse from the Aevum Inch was a result of the spirit treasure formation made by the Night Pillars. It was a defensive measure created by Greater Sancte Mi Jin.

The first time that Lu Yin had heard of it, he had immediately thought of Progenitor Hui.

Progenitor Hui had created Ceaseless Impetus to hold back Aeternus and give humanity a chance to catch their breath. Greater Sancte Mi Jin had used the Nine Odysseys to create a spirit treasure formation that hid an entire megaverse, allowing humanity to survive. The two men had been remarkably similar.

“The formation that the Night Pillars form not only keeps us hidden, but also serves as a defensive tool against specific intruders. So long as we add the Nests to what the formation targets, the spirit treasure formation will reject Nests. Then, the formation would have to be torn open for a Nest to pass through, which we will be able to sense. There’s no need to worry much about that,” Greater Sancte Awe Gate explained.

She then looked back at Lu Yin. “Truthfully, pulling the Nest civilization to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse also works best for you. This will protect your Tianyuan Megaverse. Fighting one war will leave the Nest civilization half-crippled.”

Lu Yin did not deny it. “Yes. The Tianyuan will have nothing to fear. On behalf of my home, I will fight to the death here in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.”

Greater Sancte Awe Gate gave a small smile. “Thank you.

“I will now contact Qing Cao and also inform the other three battlefields that they must pull back. We need to determine the locations that will be defended.”

Lu Yin nodded. While leading the insect horde to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse would be a calamity for the megaverse, in doing so, humanity would gain an unmatched advantage: their spirit seeds. The Nine Odysseys Megaverse’s cultivators could fight by sending out their cultivated spirit seeds, essentially granting each defender two lives. This was a benefit that they could not enjoy when fighting in foreign megaverses.

This advantage could even offset the Nest civilization’s numbers, provided that there were enough spirit seeds. That would depend on people’s reserves.

Greater Sancte Awe Gate soon disappeared, leaving Lu Yin in the Frightened Sparrow Terrace, looking down.

Ultimately, he was the reason why this war had come to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. He felt duty-bound to join any fight against the Nest civilization.

The more severely the bugs were beaten back, the less of a threat they would pose to humanity. Ideally, even the Immortal Lord could be dealt with.

Unfortunately, that could only remain an idle thought for now.

There was no doubt that the Immortal Lord was stronger than Master Qing Cao. That man would never dare to act so recklessly in the Aevum Inch, while the Immortal Lord brazenly roamed the cosmos.

Immortal realm...

Lu Yin still had no idea when he might be able to break through to that level.

He stood quietly in the Frightened Sparrow Terrace, waiting for Greater Sancte Awe Gate to return. While waiting, his consciousness moved into the West Domain. Even if it was impossible for Lu Yin to find any traces of Yong Heng, since there was nothing else to do, he still searched. There was always a chance of being surprised.

Several days passed, but Greater Sancte Awe Gate did not return. Instead, Qing Yun and Granny Yin arrived.

Qing Yun had not expected to see Lu Yin at the Frightened Sparrow Terrace. “Weren’t you defending the Consciousness Megaverse, Mr. Lu? Why are you here?”

Lu Yin smiled. “The war has changed. For now, things are fine in the Consciousness Megaverse.”

Qing Yun smiled. “If you joined the fight, then of course things were easily resolved there.

“Could you tell me what the bugs are like? With so many experts being sent out to fight on four different battlefields, I’m very curious about them.”

Lu Yin nodded and shared some information regarding the Nest civilization.

He felt rather grateful toward Qing Yun. The woman had helped him on several different occasions when he had been at odds with others. There were times when mere verbal support was more important than open action. This was especially true since Qing Yun represented Greater Sancte Awe Gate.

Both Qing Yun and Granny Yin were shocked by the unique aspects of the attacking insects.

They had never imagined that such a species could exist in the cosmos. These creatures that spawned directly from the Nests and reproduced at a shocking speed. In particular, the two women were horrified by what they learned about the Verdant Sages.