Chapter 3963: Seeking Only Eternity

Lu Yin looked back at the Night Pillars. The Nine Odysseys Megaverse and the Spirit Nidus were at war, which meant that it was not his place to speak. He simply hoped that the day when the Tianyuan Megaverse was mobilized would never come. Living was the simplest wish. For civilization to endure, even if only in one corner, was not a pursuit of brilliance, merely eternity.

The horde of insects boiled before surging towards the army of human cultivators.

The bugs were met with a punch from Lu Yin. A single punch shattered the void, the damage sweeping through space. Lu Yin wanted to completely obliterate the swarm of insects, and he had the strength to do just that.

But even as the void was shattered by Lu Yin’s punch that shot towards the insects, the attack seemed to run into an invisible barrier. That impact caused the force of the punch and the damage to the void to gradually fade away.

Lu Yin’s expression shifted. What was going on?

Beyond the invisible barrier, a bizarre figure appeared. To call it a creature was misleading. It looked more like an astral phenomenon: sun and moon orbiting each other, set within a vast, unfathomable frame like a fragment of the cosmos itself. Darkness pooled in its depths, and from that darkness, a single needle rose high, pointing straight at Lu Yin.

He instantly recognized what was before him. He was facing one of the four Insect Lords, Unbroken Time.

To Shan Lie’s knowledge, Unbroken Time was a unique creature similar to Luo Chan. Both were unique lifeforms. While Luo Chan had the ability to teleport about, Unbroken Time had the power of time.

No creature had ever survived a confrontation with Unbroken Time. It was the master of the power of time. During every war, the most powerful enemy would be left to Unbroken Time, and yet it had never lost.

Lu Yin’s wariness of the four Insect Lords came from Shan Lie’s knowledge of them, and Shan Lie feared Unbroken Time more than all the other three.

Unbroken Time’s strangeness defied Shan Lie’s understanding.

Unbroken Time was the one blocking Lu Yin’s path forward.

He stared at the odd creature. It lacked eyes, ears, mouth, and a nose. Its form was solely that of an astral phenomenon, though it seemed to be observing Lu Yin as well.

Every bit of force from Lu Yin’s punch had completely dissipated, and even the void that had shattered was being restored. The invisible barrier seemed to divide the cosmos in two. That barrier was formed from the power of time.

Behind Lu Yin, countless cultivators ground to a halt, staring at their opposition. They had just been shaken by the power of Lu Yin’s punch, only to be terrified by Unbroken Time’s power.

...

Near where the Second Night Pillar stood in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, another army of cultivators charged out in the Clearvoid Megaverse’s direction. They were the forces of the Second Night Pillar, along with the cultivators of the South Domain. They were facing the swarm that had initially been assigned to the Eighth Night Pillar, but that Night Pillar had to defend its own location, which meant that the insect horde attacking the Second Night Pillar fell to it and the South Domain.

Yu led the vanguard of the attack. The Second Night Pillar had not recovered from fighting against the Allsense Megaverse yet, but fortunately, the South Domain was fighting with the Night Pillar. Bai Xia fought with a long blade that he swung about in a massive arc. The colossal edge stretched out endlessly as it sliced into the insects. Much like Lu Yin, Bai Xia wanted to immediately wipe out the vast majority of the insects before him.

However, the Nest civilization had fought at least as many wars as the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. The slicing attack suddenly vanished, baffling Bai Xia. How had his attack disappeared? He had not even seen what had happened.

A creature flickered into view, its form like that of a ladybug. It was Luo Chan.

Bai Xia instinctively struck again, but this time, even his blade vanished. Bai Xia was completely stunned. How was this even possible?

Suddenly, a spike pierced through the void, shooting straight at his forehead. Bai Xia raised a hand and flicked a finger. If he had no blade, then he would fight without one. The spike aimed at him had managed to suppress the forces of the Eighth Night Pillar. If Xue Lou had not withstood the attacks with his blood-colored pavilion, the Eighth Night Pillar would have suffered terrible casualties. However, Bai Xia managed to flick the spike away with a single finger. Still, his finger did not escape unscathed. A deep wound opened up on his hand.

Behind him, his maid was horrified. She was all too aware of Bai Xia’s strength. Even if the man rarely fought others because of his duty as the guardian of the Scion Spire, there was no doubt that he was one of the most powerful peak Dukkhans in existence. He even approached the limit of the power a Dukkhan could possess. Even so, had he really been injured by a single spike?

Bai Xia’s expression grew grim. “No wonder Xue Lou made a point of mentioning that there’s a troublesome opponent here. Additionally, there are eighteen other insects that can use the void as a bowstring. This will be a problem.”

Not only did he have to face Ci Liu and the blightspike bugs, the even more troublesome Luo Chan was also accompanying this swarm.

Yu had fought against the Allsense Megaverse and was thus currently much weaker than before. He should have been the primary human combatant on this particular battlefield, and yet he would be defeated the moment he made a move.

It was no wonder why even the Eighth Night Pillar had been forced to retreat and Xue Lou had been left with grievous injuries.

...

Near the Eighth Night Pillar, Xue Lou was looking in the direction of the Second Night Pillar with concern on his face. He had already warned them of Ci Liu and the blightspike bugs, and he could only hope that the defenders would not underestimate the bugs.

At the moment, the Eighth Night Pillar was also fighting against a swarm of insects.

Xue Lou led the human forces, and at his side was Xing Fan, the former Lesser Sancte. She had been tasked with aiding the Eighth Night Pillar.

This battlefield faced far less pressure than the other three, as Lu Yin had already defeated the insect horde once before. Even so, Shan Xiao’s presence left Xue Lou and Xing Fan struggling greatly. They were actually facing a human. In the war against the Nest civilization’s insects, a human had appeared. What did this mean? It meant that there were other human civilizations aside from the few known to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, but that civilization had already been destroyed.

Shan Xiao revealed a sweet smile as she watched the two armies collide. From beside her, the insect swarm surged forward. Xing Fan raised a hand, and countless Celestial Mirrors appeared: Thousand Sails Celestial Mirror, Nine Heavens Transformation, and True Sutra.

Shan Xiao clapped her hands in joy. “Sister, you’re amazing! Do you like pink? I like yellow. Since that’s the case...”

Her expression suddenly turned terrifyingly cold. “We are sworn enemies.

“Third: Heaven-Severing Technique.” The girl raised her hands, her tender palms striking the void. Barriers appeared in the air and surged forward.

“Thousand Sails Celestial Mirror.” In the endless darkness of outer space, a sun appeared. Sails were replaced with mirrors, with each mirror reflecting a different person. They were cultivators from both the North and East domains, and their reflections transformed into beams of light that fired from the Thousand Sails Celestial Mirror and shot towards the barriers.

Boom!

A deafening sound exploded as space shattered. The destruction formed waves that swept in one direction: towards the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. The aftermath of the Thousand Sails Celestial Mirror clashed against the Third: Heaven-Severing Technique, only to be directed entirely towards Xing Fan. Shan Xiao had managed to completely block everything.

Xing Fan was shocked.

How is this possible?

At that moment, she felt the same sort of helplessness as she had when facing Lu Yin.

Xue Lou leapt forward, accompanied by an endless sea of blood.

Eighth Styles of the Blood Tower: Slash

.

Shan Xiao’s eyes lit up with surprise. “What a fierce slash! It seems like it could be even stronger, but unfortunately, Uncle, you’re simply too weak.”

As the little girl spoke, her barrier suddenly shot up farther. Xue Lou’s slash struck the barrier, and while he was not forced back, the barrier also failed to break.

Shan Xiao smiled. “How interesting... Is it that easy to meet experts who are approaching the limit here? You’re much stronger than the Third Rampart. This will be quite fun, hehe.”

...

To the west of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse stood the First Night Pillar. However, this Night Pillar was special, and it did not participate in wars against foreign megaverses. Past it, the impatient Gu Duanke and Deathmound’s warriors charged, along with numerous other cultivators from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and various otherborn.

In front of them was not only another horde of insects, but also the massive Third Night Pillar.

The fact that the Nest civilization had arrived via the Third Night Pillar was an absolute humiliation for the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

When they learned that the Third Night Pillar had been wiped out, Gu Duanke and Deathmound had both wanted to retrieve it. Seeing it before them now, their eyes grew bloodshot.

A sword attack that looked like a river flowing through the universe as it sliced across outer space appeared. From the first moment that he struck, Gu Duanke revealed what it meant to be the Sword Sovereign of the Nine Odysseys.

A single sword covered the entire region, tearing open the void and leaving countless onlookers dumbfounded.

The experts from Deathmound who stood beside Gu Duanke were shaken. When his sword intent shot upwards, their bodies had involuntarily quivered. It was an instinctive warning for the sword intent. Even though this attack was not aimed at them, they still instinctively hesitated for a moment.

E Xiu was stunned. Everyone knew that Gu Duanke was unmatched with the sword. After all, he was acknowledged as the Sword Sovereign of the Nine Odysseys. However, the fact that he had not fought in so many years meant that few had ever witnessed the true might of their greatest swordsman.

A single swing of his sword tore everything apart. Those seeing it knew that they could not withstand such an attack.

Chao Yi’s pupils flickered. People had once believed Gu Jing capable of surpassing Gu Duanke. Only at this moment did they understand the true gap between the two.

It was not merely a gap in strength, but rather in their fundamental comprehension of sword intent. Such a gap could never be overcome.

Much like when Qing Xing had used the Chaotic Ancient Qi Art, Gu Duanke’s sword shook all who saw it.

It was as if a prison formed from the universe itself had released a monster.

Before the human army, the swarm of insects was cleaved in two. Even Verdant Sages were slain.

Hua Yan was startled, and he instantly felt grateful that he had not rushed to be at the front. He knew that he could not have blocked that sword.

However, the sword slash managed to enrage Chang.

Chang was wrapped around the Third Night Pillar like a giant python. Its massive body had curled around most of the Night Pillar. Even as the insects approached the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, it had remained asleep.

However, Gu Duanke’s sword had awakened the monstrous beast, and it raised its head to look at the human.

Gu Duanke stared at Chang’s immense form. It seemed to coil around not only the Third Night Pillar, but also around the entire Nine Odysseys Megaverse, making it hard to breathe.

The man clenched the hilt of his sword, raising the blade to attack again.

Chang raised its head and let out a roar. Terrifying power swept through the void, flattening everything in its path to form a dark, vast plane that shot towards the sword intent.

Chao Yi, Long Yin, and many others stared, their pupils shrinking sharply.

This power...?

...

Past the Fifth Night Pillar, Lu Yin was still staring at Unbroken Time. When Gu Duanke had unleashed his first sword strike, Lu Yin had been momentarily surprised, as the sword intent was far stronger than he had expected.

When Chang roared, Lu Yin suddenly turned to look to the west. Across the cosmos, he could sense an extraordinary physical might, and it caused his own strength to churn. When he saw Chang, Lu Yin was startled.

Stillstorm?

Chang’s form was completely identical to Stillstorm, but how could the two creatures be exactly the same?

Was it possible that Stillstorm was actually the Nest civilization’s Chang?

That should be impossible. If Stillstorm were actually Chang, the Tianyuan would have been destroyed by the Nest civilization long ago. During the time of the ancient Heavens Sect—no, even before humanity had appeared in the Tianyuan, the megaverse’s location would have already been revealed to the Nest civilization. Back then, there had been no one capable of resisting the bugs.

In fact, it wasn’t just the Tianyuan Megaverse that would have been implicated. The current war would have taken place all those years ago, instead of now.

However, if Stillstorm was not Chang, then why did Chang look exactly the same as the ancient beast?

Lu Yin was instantly reminded of Old Salamander, who also had the same appearance as Stillstorm.

Old Salamander had seen Stillstorm appear from the Gate of Laws and had believed the beast to be the most powerful creature in existence. Because of that, when he underwent his Spirit Rebirth, Old Salamander had deliberately taken on a beast-form Spirit Rebirth, and he had even faked his death to leave the Zhan family.

Then what about Chang? Could this creature be the same as Old Salamander? Verdant Sages did not have a fixed form, so if a Nest had encountered Stillstorm before spawning its Verdant Sage, it was possible that the creature could have taken on Stillstorm’s form.