Chapter 4044: Welcome Home

The beast’s excited roars echoed across the cosmos.

Jiang Feng and the others knew that Lu Yin was fine, but those who were inside the Tianyuan did not. Countless faces grew grim. Given the raw excitement in those roars, had Lord Lu been defeated?

Lord Lu, you must win! You must!

More people knelt down.

There were even innumerable ordinary humans who were kneeling in front of statues of Lu Yin of their own accord, praying for him.

In the Aevum Inch, Lu Yin remained focused on the monster while the Tri-Azure Sword Intent slowly revolved behind him, continually absorbing more Immortal matter. He had already empowered it with more than a thousand motes. While the beast was celebrating in its belief that it had just broken the shackles of the cosmos, he would land a truly massive attack on it.

Immortal matter continued to pour in, and even Lu Yin’s Lifeforce spread into the Tri-Azure Sword Intent.

His skin completely withered.

Using too much Immortal matter put a tremendous strain on his body. It recovered, only to wither again. Recovering and then withering—the two held each other in check as Lu Yin tested his limits.

The beast gleefully roared and stopped growing larger. It had surpassed the limits of the cosmos, so what more was there? Nothing was larger than the beast; it was the greatest creature in the omniverse.

It had surpassed all other Immortals.

At this moment, even its hatred was suppressed.

Its perspective had just transcended the cosmos.

However, it soon felt an inexplicable sense of dread arise, which made it uneasy.

What was the source of its unease? Why had this sensation even appeared? It had clearly broken the shackles of the cosmos, so why was it still feeling so unsettled?

Where? Where?

It searched with its only remaining eye.

Wait, one eye... The other was destroyed by that creature. That bug ruined the other eye. Where is that bug?

It would crush the megaverse. It had already broken free of the cosmos’s shackles, so crushing a mere megaverse would be trivial.

Where is that megaverse?

Its massive eye rolled about, and it soon glared straight ahead at the Tianyuan. At that moment, the pupil shrank sharply.

How can it be so large?

The megaverse that it was looking at was even bigger than the monster itself, but that should be impossible. It had already broken past the entire cosmos, so the megaverse should be nothing but a speck within the cosmos. Why was it larger than the beast?

Impossible. Impossible.

Roar!

The bellow rattled stars and shook the stone gate.

Master Qing Cao stared at Lu Yin outside the gate, as well as at the Tri-Azure Sword Intent behind the young man. That attack gave even the Immortal chills. It was absolutely terrifying.

Lu Yin looked up with ice-cold eyes.

So, you figured it out?

He could weave karma for the beast, but the creature could just as easily awaken from that state.

In that case, come!

It was at this moment that the beast saw not only the Tianyuan, but also Lu Yin standing in front of the gate. The human was so tiny that he was practically invisible, and yet the monster’s feeling of unease and mounting threat was all coming from that little bug.

It was the same sword intent that had been seared into its bones.

That bug!

It would crush the bug, as well as the megaverse.

The beast raised its arm to slam it back down. It had continued growing larger after shattering the illusion that Lu Yin had woven with karma.

His withered skin instantly regained vitality. By harnessing the power that had been amassed through Extremes Must Be Reversed, he seized the Tri-Azure Sword Intent and leaped forward, his Lifeforce giving him the appearance of a beam of white light as he attacked.

The colossal arm descended, aiming not only at Lu Yin, but also at the gate and at the entire Tianyuan.

The monster intended to annihilate the megaverse.

Master Qing Cao, Jiang Feng, Lu Yuan, Ancient God, and many others watched as a flash of white light pierced through the Aevum Inch, meeting no resistance and disappearing in the blink of an eye.

A moment later, the beast’s massive arm fell off.

Roaaaar!

The beast’s wail shook the cosmos. Its final arm had been severed. Yet another portion of its body was gone.

Its huge pupil fluctuated and quivered.

Lu Yin appeared in front of the eye, his hand raised as he aimed the Tri-Azure Sword Intent at the beast. “Die!”

He slashed at the beast.

The bloodshot eye’s pupil shrank, and a powerful heartbeat thundered across the Aevum Inch.

A roar surged through Lu Yin’s mind. He could not prevent himself from coughing up blood. The Tri-Azure Sword Intent slipped from his control.

The beast’s body shrank sharply as Lifeforce surged from its form. It suddenly shot away, fleeing across the Aevum Inch. It had escaped.

Lu Yin remained behind, coughing and clutching his head. For a moment, his vision had inverted, as though he and the beast had switched positions.

He had not actually moved, but been replaced.

The beast had tried to replace him.

The powerful heartbeat had used its ability.

However, the monster had not followed through on the replacement. It was unwilling to abandon Immortality for the body of a lower creature.

Had Lu Yin been in the monster’s place, he would not have accepted such a trade either. The beast knew nothing about Lu Yin. Brilliance and talent were not enough to guarantee that a creature would become an Immortal.

Abandoning an Immortal body for another form would mean abandoning Immortality.

Such a sacrifice would require unimaginable courage from an Immortal lifeform.

Lu Yin let out a breath. He would let the beast run. He could not unleash the same attack anytime soon, and he had no other techniques that were powerful enough to pose a threat to the beast. Pursuing it would be pointless.

He had just consumed nearly 10,000 specks of Immortal matter, which was a truly staggering amount.

Given more time, he could have unleashed that same Tri-Azure Sword Intent another nine times, but there was no chance that the monster would give Lu Yin the time to prepare those attacks.

There was no chance, unless Master Qing Cao intervened and pinned the creature down.

“Lord Lu, don’t forget the spoils of your battle,” Master Qing Cao called out. Shock could still be heard in his voice. Lu Yin had actually managed to maim an Immortal creature. It was simply unbelievable.

Lu Yin turned to look back. The arm that he had severed from the beast had been left behind, and Immortal matter spilled out from it, drifting into the Aevum Inch.

He hurried to capture the Immortal matter. Given how much he had just consumed in battle, he desperately needed to replenish his reserves, even if he had no idea how much the arm might contain.

Inside the gate, Master Qing Cao sighed. “While you may not have slain an Immortal, wounding one so badly that it fled is already a shocking achievement. How many of the current Immortals have accomplished such a thing?

“All you lack is a powerful finishing move.”

The Immortal beast continued to flee as Lu Yin gathered Immortal matter.

Jiang Feng and the others were finally able to breathe freely. At last, the crisis was over.

The Nest civilization had withdrawn, as had the Immortal monster. Not only that, but Lu Yin had also returned. For the moment, the Tianyuan was safe.

Soon, the Sixth and Seventh Night Pillars arrived.

Master Qing Cao vanished, and the stone gate opened up to allow the Night Pillars through. Cultivators from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse rushed out to help purge the remaining bugs.

The massive severed arm yielded nearly 30,000 specks of Immortal matter for Lu Yin.

Given the limb’s massive size, 30,000 specks of Immortal matter was too little and had been spread across too vast an area. Still, given the arm’s size, injuries barely mattered to it.

The most important role that the Immortal matter had played for the Immortal monster had been to prevent its arm from being severed.

Unfortunately, it had not been enough to endure Lu Yin’s Tri-Azure Sword Intent. That final blow had consumed over 10,000 specks of Immortal matter.

It had been Lu Yin’s strongest attack ever.

Even ignoring the Immortal matter, the arm itself was also excellent material.

A sweep of sword intent allowed Lu Yin to break the arm apart so that the people of the Tianyuan could use it to forge battle armor, spacecraft, and more. The body of an Immortal was countless times stronger than anything they had used before.

People streamed into the Aevum Inch, stopping in front of Lu Yin with excitement in their eyes.

“Little Seven, you’re finally back!” Lu Qi said emotionally, only to be shoved aside by Lu Yuan.

“We’ve waited too long! We thought that we wouldn’t be able to protect our home,” Ancient God rumbled.

Lu Yuan rolled his eyes. “He came back and protected it himself. What does that have to do with you?”

Ancient God frowned. “Did I say that I protected it?”

Garan Zhiluo loudly voiced her admiration, “Pillar, you came back with a single kick! That’s some style.”

Lu Yuan grinned. “Do it yourself, if you have the guts.”

Garan Zhiluo shot him a dirty glance. “Loam, are you picking a fight? We’re talking to the Pillar. What’s it to you?”

Lu Yuan reminded her, “Don’t call him Pillar. Call him Lord Lu.”

“Bah! You’re just trying to earn some points for yourself! Beat it!” Chu Yi snapped, uncharacteristically showing open anger.

“...”

Listening to the bickering and seeing the excitement and relief in everyone’s eyes, Lu Yin smiled. He had longed for this for years.

When he had left for the Spirit Nidus aboard

Boundless

, he had intended to go to his death. Who could have imagined that the journey would eventually come to this conclusion? He was back. He had finally returned.

A hand settled onto Lu Yin’s shoulder; it was Jiang Feng. He smiled at Lu Yin. “Welcome home.”

Lu Yuan looked back at Lu Yin, the old man’s eyes flushing red. “Little Seven, welcome home!”

Lu Qi squeezed through. “Son, welcome home!”

He made a point of saying “son” loudly, as though staking his claim.

Ancient God shoved Lu Qi aside as he nodded to Lu Yin. “Welcome home.”

“Welcome home, Pillar!”

“Welcome home...”

Farther away, Big Sis, Mu Zhu, Mu Ke, Qing Ping, and others called out, one after another, “Little Seven, welcome home!”

Even farther back were Lord Xu, Mu Shen, Shan Gu, Sovereign Dou Sheng, and more crying out, “Lord Lu, welcome home!”

All across the Tianyuan, countless voices echoed, “Welcome home, Lord Lu!”

“Welcome home, Lord Lu!”

“Welcome...”

Echoing voices rolled through the universes like an endless tidal wave, and an indescribable will swept through like a gale that ruffled Lu Yin’s hair.

His gaze swept over everyone, and then he looked at the Tianyuan and smiled with pure, unrestrained joy. “I’m back.”

At that moment, all of his struggles and exhaustion vanished. All that remained was his attachment and longing for home.

He had saved the Tianyuan, but in a way, it had also saved him.

He was “sick,” obsessively devoted to his family, his homeland, and his civilization. At this moment, he felt that his sickness was instead a blessing.

Everything that he had done was worth it.

This was his home; it belonged to him.

The pieces of the Immortal monster’s arm was taken back to the Tianyuan, and the hunt for the bugs continued throughout the parallel universes, just like what had previously occurred in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

Even after the Nest civilization retreated, a great many bugs had been left behind.

Lu Yin was no longer in a rush to eradicate all of the insects. Both the Tianyuan and the Nine Odysseys Megaverses had been revealed to the Nest civilization. At this point, even if every Nest was found and destroyed, it would change nothing.

The true threat was the Nest civilization itself.

They had been driven back, which meant that the Nest civilization most likely would not take action again soon. They needed time to spawn more insects and for their numbers to swell again.

The only question was whether they would target the Tianyuan Megaverse or the Nine Odysseys Megaverse next.

As for the droplet-shaped Immortal insect that had claimed to be the Immortal Lord, neither Lu Yin nor Master Qing Cao believed it. If that was the limit of the Immortal Lord’s strength, the Nest civilization would be nothing more than a joke.