Star Odyssey - Chapter 3343: No Killing

Lu Yin frowned. Traveling to Spirit Nidus was not something he could consider for the moment. That was not even considering whether such a journey was even possible. Even if the trip could be made, it would be too dangerous, not unless he was able to somehow disguise himself.

After learning of the Ossis Ark’s existence, Lu Yin had been willing to infiltrate the Scourge because he had been able to disguise himself well enough to avoid being detected by the Seven Skygods. Without being able to disguise himself, entering the the Spirit Nidus would mean an endless battle with relentless killing. Lu Yin had no way to guarantee that he could return alive.

He was chasing after death.

When Progenitor Xi said that there were no options, that was a statement made from her own perspective and position. She wanted Lu Yin to go to the Spirit Nidus and incite chaos, as that would not only benefit the Tianyuan Megaverse, but also her Consciousness Megaverse; Spirit Nidus would be forced to withdraw from both megaverses.

Asking Progenitor Xi for a plan had been more about Lu Yin wanting to gain a better understanding of the Spirit Nidus, rather than genuinely seeking the woman’s suggestions.

Someday, a victor would be decided between the Tianyuan Megaverse and the Spirit Nidus. But who would become their next enemy? Wang Wen was right; the Consciousness Megaverse could very well become the Tianyuan Megaverse’s next opponent. Progenitor Xi had also considered this possibility, which meant that she and Lu Yin were potential enemies.

“You’ve been in our megaverse for so long. How can you be sure that your Consciousness Megaverse even still exists? It’s possible that your megaverse has already been defeated,” Lu Yin suddenly commented.

Progenitor Xi replied, “I’ve never worried about whether or not my megaverse still stands. If we are still being suppressed and pushed back by the Spirit Nidus as we have for so long, then I will find a way to use you against the Spirit Nidus. If we have already been defeated, then I will pursue revenge. On my own, I can’t get any information from the Consciousness Megaverse. All I can do is what is within my own means.”

“Are there really not any other creatures from your Consciousness Megaverse in our megaverse? Was Whiteless God the only one?” Lu Yin asked.

Progenitor Xi said, “I can’t be absolutely certain of that. If any other conscients are here, then they must have been hiding themselves well and never gotten involved in the war between humanity and the Aeternals. None have ever appeared, but I cannot guarantee that there are none.”

Lu Yin waved his hand, clearly dismissing Progenitor Xi.

He soon arrived in the Cosmic Sea. He stood beneath the Tower of the Fifth, raised a hand, and began to write.

“Nong Yi fell in battle at the boundary when the Tianyuan Megaverse was invaded. Today, I leave his name here so that future generations will never forget him.

“The Abandoned…

“Xu Wuwei…

“Shan Zheng…

“Wang Jian…

“Leng Qing fell in battle at the boundary when the Tianyuan Megaverse was invaded. Today, I leave his name here so that future generations will never forget him.”

After writing Leng Qing’s name, Lu Yin’s expression grew complex.

Leng Qing had been a gatemaster of one of the ancient Heavens Sect’s Twelve Heavenly Gates. From the moment he had awoken in the present era, he had been unwaveringly loyal because Lu Yin had wielded the Origin Progenitor’s sword. Wherever the man had gone, he had been fearless, even in the face of death, because he was led by that sword.

Lu Yin would never forget how Leng Qing had charged forward for Lu Yin’s sake time and time again. The man had stood as Lu Yin’s shield and been the first to enter multiple unknown universes in order to strengthen the Heavens Sect. He had been the first of the masters of the Twelve Heavenly Gates to attempt their Progenitor’s breakthrough, and Leng Qing had even gained insights from observing Lu Yin’s own breakthrough.

Leng Qing had harbored strong feelings for both Lu Yin and the Heavens Sect.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Lu Yin felt the same way about the man; he had been a comrade and a friend, and that old friend was suddenly gone.

Lu Yin stood beneath the Tower of the Fifth in a daze. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before raising hand back up and continuing to write. “Arch-Elder Zen fell in battle at the boundary when the Tianyuan Megaverse was invaded. Today, I leave his name here so that future generations will never forget him.”

His fists clenched as Lu Yin finally realized that Arch-Elder Zen was also dead. The man who had trusted Lu Yin so much that he had been willing to pave Lu Yin’s path and hold back powerful enemies was gone.

The old man who had willingly risked his own life to help Lu Yin by altering his Progenitor’s world in the middle of his tribulation and who had whole-heartedly overseen the Heavens Sect on Lu Yin’s behalf was dead.

A selfless elder who had dedicated his entire life to the Fifth Mainland was gone.

Lu Yin slowly sank down and sat below the Tower of the Fifth. He stared up at the names he had just written. They were not just names to him, but also heroes who had died for the sake of the Tianyuan Megaverse. Their smiles remained on the battlefield where they had bravely fought without ever retreating.

Without such people, how could the Spirit Nidus have ever treated the Tianyuan Megaverse with any sort of respect?

Determination and the power of one’s spirit was able to transcend all else.

“Restart…” Lu Yin murmured as he looked up at the tower. “Is it really possible to restart?”

If it was possible, he would also want to restart, but what would be the result of such a choice? If it meant reliving the pain that he had already experienced, what would be the point of a restart?

Lu Yin wanted a new start, which was why he had saved a chance to enter the Mirari Realm. He was afraid that altering time with a restart might not carry over to the Mirari Realm.

However, even if he did start over, there had to be a scenario where victory was possible.

He had no idea how long that might take to find.

Was it truly possible to restart? He was not certain.

A restart was nothing more than a possibility, and Lu Yin could not pin all his hopes on such a thing. The dead had no regrets, and the living would fight on without retreating. There would not be any winners or losers in this war, only the dead and the living.

Lu Yin stood up and proceeded to offer a slow bow. With his head still bowed, his gaze firmed. “One day, I will come to find all of you and will see you off, honored seniors. Safe travels.”

***

At the boundary of the Tianyuan Megaverse, just beyond the stone gate, the round-faced old man was angry. He stood outside a door in the battleship. “Bao Qi, what is the matter with you? Invading the Tianyuan Megaverse is a major excursion that’s critical to us breaking through to the Immortal realm! How could you retreat at such a critical moment? Hmph! You must take action when the next battle breaks out, or else you can’t blame me for speaking out against you to the High Seraph when we return.”

A short distance away stood a black-robed figure. It was Meng Sang.

The leaders of the Spirit Nidus’s invasion were all giving Bao Qi odd looks. Among them was Palace Master Yao. Given that the man had officially become a Dukkhan, everyone was curious to learn just what his Dukkha was, as well as why he had suddenly retreated during such an important battle. His actions had allowed the enemy to steal the Heavenly Devouring Umbrella.

That umbrella was a sequence base, one of the Spirit Nidus’s greatest treasures.

When the door opened, the round-faced old man entered, only to find that Bao Qi was still staring blankly at his Cauldron Bell.

The sight of the sequence base caused a flicker of fanaticism to pass over the old man’s eyes. Everyone in the Spirit Nidus loved sequence bases, but unfortunately, the Cauldron Bell did not suit the round-faced old man at all.

In fact, not even the Impression Realm belonged to the old man. He had merely been allowed to borrow it for the invasion.

This was the same as how the Rivers and Mountains Painting had not belonged to Yuan Qi. That man had also only borrowed the sequence base.

Only the Cauldron Bell genuinely belonged to Bao Qi, as he alone could unleash the sequence base’s true power.

“Bao Qi, just what is your Dukkha?” the old man demanded as he stared at the other Seraph.

Bao Qi finally looked away from his sequence base to look at the old man. Bao Qi’s previously arrogant and irritable demeanor had been replaced by an unexpectedly refined air.

His short red hair and rugged physique gave the man the appearance of a warrior, but at the moment, his demeanor had completely transformed. The old man was stunned. The change made him nervous.

“President, do you know how many lives I’ve taken since I started cultivating?”

“I’ve heard about it. Is that your Dukkha? I thought that it was something related to the Cauldron Bell.”

“Ha! I also believed that it would be related to my Cauldron Bell! I avoided entering Dukkha so that I could continue using the sequence base, and yet my Dukkha turns out to be related to killing. I regret the lives I’ve taken. I should have chosen to become a beast during my Spirit Rebirth instead of staying human. That way, there would be no psychological burden, no matter how many I may have killed.”

“You have a psychological burden?”

“I didn’t think I did, but it’s been piling up.”

“So, what is your Dukkha?”

Bao Qi looked at the old man. “I can’t kill.”

The old man appeared puzzled, and he examined Bao Qi from head to toe. “You? Can’t kill?”

Bao Qi chuckled self-deprecatingly. “Strange, no? And yet, that’s my Dukkha. I can’t change it, and I can’t go back. Everyone who attempts to overcome Dukkha is regarded as a madman. Go ask anyone standing outside. If I, Bao Qi, announce that I won’t kill anyone from now on, people’s first reaction will be to think that I’ve lost my mind.

“Dukkha is a reflection of the deepest aspects of a person’s inner self. I didn’t expect mine to be something like this.”

The old man sighed. “I also found it unexpected, but did you really share your Dukkha with me so easily?”

Each person’s Dukkha was a closely guarded secret. Few were willing to share such information.

Bao Qi shrugged. “What is there to hide about such a Dukkha?”

The old man frowned. “The fact that you’ve become a Dukkhan is good for our Spirit Nidus, but we are in the Tianyuan Megaverse and on one of the most brutal battlefields. Your Dukkha cannot be leaked.”

“I know, which is why I plan to never go out again,” Bao Qi replied.

The old man felt incredibly frustrated, as they had just lost one of the most powerful members of their invasion force. “You can’t kill? Then just protect this battleship. Tell everyone you’ve gone into seclusion to contemplate Dukkha. You could very well be the first of us all to overcome it.”

Bao Qi did not refuse, and he resumed staring blankly at his Cauldron Bell. He knew that it would be of extremely limited use in his future.

At that moment, the old man deeply regretted not preventing that weakling from the Tianyuan Megaverse from attacking Bao Qi. Who could have imagined that such a weak individual could force Bao Qi to enter Dukkha? The mortal world was full of inexplicable events.

The Spirit Nidus decided to wait for reinforcements. While they waited, they would not try to attack the Tianyuan Megaverse.

This decision did not work in the Tianyuan Megaverse’s favor, as it meant that there were already reinforcements on their way from the Spirit Nidus. No matter how long it took to travel between megaverses, there was no chance that the reinforcements were far behind.

The Spirit Nidus must either have the means to quickly reach the Tianyuan Megaverse, or the next wave of reinforcements had set out a short time after the vanguard.

The people of the Tianyuan Megaverse were hoping for the latter to be the case.

The biggest problem for the time being was that, because of Aeternus and Tian Ci, the Spirit Nidus was very well informed about the Tianyuan Megaverse. In contrast, the Tianyuan Megaverse was limited to vague knowledge about the Spirit Nidus. They had no idea how many powerful cultivators there might be with the reinforcements, or what sort of relationship might exist between the groups of invaders.

On the mountain behind the Heavens Sect, Lu Yin met with Wang Wen.

“Don’t grieve too much. We might follow them at any moment, Dao Monarch Chesspiece. I might one day ask you to carve my name on the Tower of the Fifth, though it won’t be when I’m one of the old men, haha,” Wang Wen said with a smile.

Lu Yin chuckled. “‘Strategist of the Heavens Sect.’”

Wang Wen shook his head. “‘Strategist’ sounds too lame—I think ‘guru’ sounds better.”

Lu Yin was rendered speechless. Guru clearly sounded even more worse.

“Dao Monarch Chesspiece, things are about to get interesting. We’re stepping onto a new battlefield, and this one will be unlike any we’ve fought in before. The key to victory or defeat might not be in pure power. This is a war that also involves our cultivation culture. This is a war between civilizations,” Wang Wen commented. His words sounded a bit ambiguous, but while others might not understand, Lu Yin did.

He was constantly contemplating his conversation with the Seraph. The Spirit Nidus had the advantage in strength, but they also had some clear weaknesses. Bao Qi, who was also a Seraph, had been attacked by Shao Chen, which was the best proof of this. The exchange between those two had been like an ant tripping an elephant, simply because the elephant had no idea what method the ant had used.