Chapter 3980: Aevum Inch

Shan Xiao sighed, patted her princess dress, and put away the doll as her playful gaze suddenly changed as she looked at Xing Fan and Yu. “I was born in a human civilization. It was known as the Third Rampart.”

Xing Fan and Yu exchanged glances, but they did not interrupt her. They were quite curious about Shan Xiao. How could there be a human among the Nest civilization’s bugs?

“The humans of the Third Rampart excelled at fighting with cards. Their cards were quite peculiar, as each person would arrange traps within their own card, according to their personal traits. Once an opponent was dragged into a card, life and death would become uncertain.” Shan Xiao raised a fair, tender hand, showing a card that shimmered with hazy light.

Xing Fan grew wary. This was one of the cards that had just been mentioned.

She had been specifically warned by the Greater Sancte to not get close to Shan Xiao’s cards. Xing Fan did not know how the Greater Sancte had learned about such things, but she did not question that the card was dangerous.

Shan Xiao looked at her card with fascination. “The Third Rampart’s cards have many different levels, much like cultivation. Mine here is of the highest level, a Primeval card.”

She looked back at Xing Fan and Yu and smiled. “It’s a seven-star Primeval card, Emperor's Gaze. You may die now.”

“Retreat!” Xing Fan shouted sternly.

Yu did not hesitate to turn and flee. At that moment, both people had felt the same threat of death. It was strong enough to make their tongues go numb, just like when the aftershocks of Chang and Lu Yin’s clash had swept past them. It was the unmistakable sense of immense danger.

The card floated up from Shan Xiao’s palm. A blurry figure slowly emerged from it. It was a person clad in imperial robes who radiated an aura of incomparable majesty. Their mere presence overwhelmed all of existence.

The moment the figure appeared, countless eyes were drawn to it. It was as if this figure was intended to be the center of the cosmos. Its arrival was as overwhelming as the sun.

Even the clash between Lu Yin and Chang could not overshadow this figure.

Greater Sancte Awe Gate looked over. “This aura?”

Master Qing Cao’s expression grew grave. “Although it is a dead thing, it is teeming with vitality. It’s practically stepped into the Immortal realm.”

“It’s unfortunate that it’s only a dead thing. If it were still alive, that person surely would have become an Immortal.”

The figure stood high in the sky, having become the center of the universe. It then looked down. As that happened, Shan Xiao’s voice rang out, “Emperor's Gaze: ‘All is beneath me. My gaze can never be directly met.’”

As her words fell, the figure’s eyes started to blaze. They formed two beams of light that fell from the heavens, aiming at Xing Fan and Yu.

Yu froze, terror etched on his face before he was instantly shattered by the gaze.

Next was Xing Fan. She was shocked by what was happening, and she drew upon the Spirit Nidus’s spiritual threads, summoning countless mirrors. Cultivation formed the surfaces of the mirrors which reflected the light of the universe. Beams of light refracted, converging onto a single point. This was the Thousand Sails Celestial Mirror.

“You want to kill me? Impossible!”

Beams of light collided, but the beam from the figure’s gaze pierced straight through, striking Xing Fan.

She let out a mournful scream as her body started to break apart and vanish.

However, the descending beam of light also started to fade away.

Only the light that had shattered Yu remained. Not only did it succeed in destroying the man, but it continued on to shoot into the Nine Odysseys Megaverse’s East Domain, falling directly into Everchange Valley.

There, Wan Lou was eradicating swathes of insects. He looked up at the falling beam, and his pupils shrank sharply. The sense of danger left his scalp tingling. He could not dodge this. It was completely unavoidable.

The beam was not only falling upon him, but all of Everchange Valley.

Suddenly, two people shot upwards. “Soul legacy: Blood Tower.”

“Soul legacy: Awe Gate.”

A'zuo and A'you were the guardians of Everchange Valley. They had both become peak Dukkhans through accepting Seed Transfusions. One specialized in speed and the other in strength, but they both charged up at the falling beam of light. Upon impact, large portions of their bodies shattered, but as that happened, the beam of light also dimmed, eventually dissipating entirely.

A'zuo and A'you fell back into Everchange Valley. Whether they were alive or dead was unknown.

Ming Xiaolong rushed over with Elder Le, ignoring his blood-stained robe.

Outside of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, Shan Xiao raised a hand and retrieved her card. As she did so, Luo Chan abruptly appeared, only to vanish again, along with Shan Xiao.

The Great Master appeared immediately after that, her oar releasing a terrifying attack. She was again a step too late. She passed back through the gate, resuming her pursuit.

In the Frightened Sparrow Terrace, Greater Sancte Awe Gate frowned. “They’re fleeing. Qing Cao, keep Luo Chan here.”

Master Qing Cao immediately refused. “The four Insect Lords are not only individually powerful, but they also wield the Immortal Lord’s power. Any move that I make against them would be too costly.”

“You must! If Luo Chan escapes, the Nest civilization can reappear at any moment, and the threat of war will always loom over us,” Greater Sancte Awe Gate sternly demanded.

Master Qing Cao still did not move.

Greater Sancte Awe Gate stared at the man. “Obscura seeks balance. So long as balance exists, it does not matter who dies. Do you think that they care about positions?”

Master Qing Cao immediately turned to stare at the woman, a bit of bloodlust flickering in his eyes. “What do you mean?”

Greater Sancte Awe Gate met his gaze. “Exactly what I said. Both you and I are Immortals, and we should understand each other. If the Nine Odysseys Megaverse must be destroyed, then we can preserve the Spirit Nidus and the Tianyuan, or even use them as bait. Everything is for the sake of preserving human civilization. Civilization is everything. Allegiances are nothing more than lies born within it.”

Master Qing Cao stared at her intently before finally nodding. “I underestimated you. I thought you were nothing more than a reckless girl trying to carve her name among the mighty.”

Greater Sancte Awe Gate remained calm and said nothing.

Master Qing Cao stepped forward and waved a hand. Grass sprouted in the void. A point of his finger caused Luo Chan to suddenly appear beside the Mother Tree. The bug was horrified. “An Immortal’s attacking!”

Shan Xiao opened her hand. “Emperor's Gaze.”

The figure reappeared, and its gaze fell upon a distant location, which was also precisely where Master Qing Cao was standing.

His expression fell and he stepped forward again. The beams of light fell in front of him, and nothing could get close. Above his head, massive green leaves shot towards Luo Chan and Shan Xiao. The humanoid bug sneered. “Truly worthy of an Immortal. You have an absolutely absurd amount of Immortal matter, but aren’t you afraid of increasing your karmic chain?”

“Stay here.” As Master Qing Cao spoke, the green leaves fell. Shan Xiao threw out a palm strike, unleashing the Third: Heaven-Severing Technique, which she also empowered with Immortal matter. The power of the Third Rampart swept toward the green leaves.

Master Qing Cao’s eyes narrowed. As expected, this bug could use Immortal matter.

The four Insect Lords had most likely been sent by the Immortal Lord to force humanity’s Immortals to reach their limits with their karmic chains. Lu Yin’s appearance had not been expected, and he had managed to overpower the Insect Lords despite not being an Immortal. That had led to them to decide to retreat.

Master Qing Cao raised his hand, confronting Luo Chan from far away. Then, his hand snapped into a tight fist.

When that happened, Lu Yin and Chang also separated from each other, and they both turned to look in the same direction.

All across the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, countless people’s mouths fell open in shock as they witnessed a breathtaking scene.

The sky bent.

As people watched, the universe grew warped. The limits of infinite space shrank as the green grass sprouted across the entire universe, all of it reaching for Luo Chan and Shan Xiao.

The power of the Third Rampart instantly shattered.

Shan Xiao spat out blood as she glared at Master Qing Cao. “How ruthless.”

Luo Chan vanished with Shan Xiao, simply abandoning Chang. The original plan had been for all three of them to leave together, but that was no longer possible.

The universe continued to shrink, the endless green grass growing. Eventually, the entire sky could fit in a single palm.

Luo Chan suddenly reappeared. There was a boom, and its body shattered into pieces.

The Nine Odysseys Megaverse fell utterly silent. Countless people stared in a daze. They had never imagined that anyone could create such an incredible spectacle.

“The universe in one’s hand, toying with the universe. That is an Immortal.”

Since ancient times, how many had ever witnessed an Immortal attack?

Far too few. Most cultivators would never witness such a thing throughout their entire lives.

Every attack that an Immortal made was impressive enough to be recorded in history.

At this moment, countless people had witnessed such a thing.

Lu Yin stared up at the starry sky. Only two words filled his mind: the Aevum Inch.

What was the Aevum Inch? A square inch was the smallest of measures, yet the cosmos was immeasurably vast. Why call it by such a name?[1]

He had never understood before, but felt that he had just glimpsed the truth.

Could it be that the boundless cosmos was nothing more than a single square inch to some being? Or had the name originated with the Immortals, not only human Immortals, but those of every civilization across the cosmos? Yet there was supposed to be no exchange between them. So who had first spoken of the Aevum Inch?

Why give it that name? Was it because, in the hands of an Immortal, the cosmos could be toyed with as though it were nothing more than a square inch?

A breeze swept through the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, rustling the leaves of the Mother Tree, producing a soft noise that sounded like a song.

Master Qing Cao lowered his hand and let out a breath. His karmic chain had grown once more, but much less than anticipated. This could only mean that neither Luo Chan nor Shan Xiao had died. They had escaped.

“I have already done all I can. Luo Chan is a strange creature, and it is even able to escape the constraints of an Immortal. There are very few such creatures, but that is one of them.”

Greater Sancte Awe Gate frowned. She knew that Master Qing Cao had done his best. Not even Immortals were invincible. It was not a huge surprise that a creature as unique as Luo Chan could escape.

What surprised Awe Gate was that even Shan Xiao had managed to escape. The insect disguised as a human had to possess something more, or could it possibly be some means left to her by the Immortal Lord?

The two bugs had escaped, but all of the remaining insects needed to be exterminated.

Unfortunately, their numbers still appeared to be endless.

“It is time to dispatch the First Night Pillar.”

Past the Mother Tree, above the starry sky, Chang and Lu Yin began their brutal battle anew. The collisions between them echoed across the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, and the shockwaves continued to shatter the void. People could not see through the destruction, as wherever they looked, space had been shattered.

“You don’t want to run away?” Lu Yin asked.

Chang grinned. “If I can defeat you, then unless an Immortal strikes me, who else can possibly prevent me from leaving? That Immortal just attacked Luo Chan, which means that coming after me would be too costly. Will he pay such a price?”

Lu Yin blasted Chang’s claws away with another punch. “Are you really that confident that you can defeat me?”

“You humans are born flawed. Even if you have Lifeforce, how much can you have in that small body? How much have you already consumed?”

“What about you?”

“Thirty percent.”

“Eighty percent.”

“Haha, human, you can’t continue!” Chang’s assault grew even fiercer, and it pounded down with pure brute force, its body further empowered by Lifeforce and Immortal matter. It was enough to leave almost anyone helpless.

Chang believed what Lu Yin had said. How much Lifeforce could such a tiny human body possibly contain? Only Immortals could endlessly generate that power. For all others, Lifeforce would be gone once it was consumed, and regaining it required endless years of recovery. That also only recovered the Lifeforce and did not increase the overall amount.

It was an unimaginably long span of time.

However, Lu Yin possessed far more Lifeforce than Chang expected. How could a single creature wield so many diverse powers? This human had defeated Unbroken Time, possessed terrifying consciousness and manifested thought, wielded overwhelming physical strength, and even had karma. This human was far too terrifying.

Still, so what if he did possess so many different powers? Chang had refined its strength to the absolute limit. No matter how it was attacked, all such efforts were useless. It followed the road of extremes, while the human was still lacking.

Lu Yin had not lied. He had indeed spent eighty percent and was almost out of Lifeforce. However, would he admit defeat? That was impossible. None of his true strength had been consumed at all.

Chang had honed its physical strength to the pinnacle, acquiring an indestructible body that made it fearless. That was certainly a powerful strength, but it was also a flaw. That was because the beast’s understanding of other powers was much too lacking.

1. Square Inch of Eternity is a recurring metaphor in Daoist, Buddhist, and later wuxia/xianxia writings. It usually points to:

In classical Chinese thought, the “square inch” referred to the human heart/mind as a tiny space that nonetheless contains boundless wisdom or the cosmos itself.

In cultivation/xianxia, it evolved to mean fitting infinite things (the cosmos, time, space) into something vanishingly small. An Immortal perspective where infinity is held in the palm or within a “square inch.”☜