Star Odyssey

Chapter 3647: Aftermath Of The River Domain

Emperor Wu had not done this just to repay the favor that he owed for learning the Nine Heavens Transformation.

“I don’t wish to see the Primal Beastland follow in the River Domain’s footsteps. I will not return from this trip, and the moment I die, all grudges between the Primal Beastland and Boundless will completely vanish. Above the sky, there is always another sky—remember that. There is always another sky.”

That was the last line recorded in the jade slip.

Lu Yin crushed the stone in his hand and then clasped his hands behind his back. His guess had been proven correct; Emperor Wu had left the Primal Beastland and captured Bian Xiaoxiao because of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

Before, Ru Mu had wanted to lead Lu Yin to the Morrow Behemoth’s hand by saying that that was the entrance to Heavenspire. As soon as she said that, the High Seraph had attacked her. The timing had been perfect. At that moment, Lu Yin had already started to question just what might lie in the Morrow Behemoth’s hand.

During his visit to the Ascendant Hall after her attack, he had specifically glanced at the creature’s hand only to feel a terrible chill. That had confirmed his suspicions that there was something wrong with the Morrow Behemoth’s hand.

Emperor Wu had wanted to lure Lu Yin to the exact same location by kidnapping Bian Xiaoxiao. However, Emperor Wu had been killed in transit by Old Salamander. While it was true that Emperor Wu had wished to die, how had Old Salamander managed to find him? Why had the High Seraph taken Heaven’s Seal away from Emperor Wu beforehand? Each of these events seemed to be connected to Xing Fan. Both Xing Fan and the High Seraph were Lesser Sancti who were competing for the open position of a Greater Sancte.

Could the Morrow Behemoth’s hand conceal a path that led straight to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse?

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. Was Xing Fan attempting to lure him to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse? Why? Forcing Emperor Wu to be involved in such a plan was worse than simply allowing him to die. A favor would never be enough to force Emperor Wu to do what he had; he would have preferred to die than take such actions.

There could only be one reason.

Follow in the River Domain’s footsteps?

A casual wave of a hand caused a star chart to be projected in front of Lu Yin. He looked at the thirty-six domains and at the River Domain that lay at the very bottom of the “灵” character.

What does he mean by ‘follow in the River Domain’s footsteps?’

Lu Yin was eager for answers, so he left the Hundred Grasses Domain and made his way south.

Right after Lu Yin departed, a middle-aged man arrived at Boundless and requested an audience with him.

...

Someone arrived at the Ascendant Hall and asked for an audience with the High Seraph.

Lan did not recognize the person, and their cultivation was not particularly impressive given that they were only a sequence powerhouse. Despite that, the High Seraph ordered Lan to send the visitor in.

It was not long before the visitor arrived outside of the Apex Palace, and they proceeded to walk inside.

Lan was astonished. Not just anyone was allowed to enter the Apex Palace, and yet this unknown person had done just that. Who in the world was he? She intended to investigate.

The lighting inside the Apex Palace was dim. The visitor peered towards the distant end of a corridor. “You caused Emperor Wu’s death.”

The High Seraph’s voice came from the depths of the building. “No.”

“You stripped him of his title as Seraph and then confiscated his sequence base before finally sharing his whereabouts with Old Salamander. You planned out quite a few steps.”

“I stripped him of his title as Seraph because he lost. As for Heaven’s Seal, a sequence base can only be used by a Seraph, which is their right. As for Old Salamander finding Emperor Wu, he did that on his own.”

“Fine. If you insist on this, then there will be more ‘coincidences’ like the River Domain. This Spirit Nidus needs to change.”

“I have done nothing to obstruct you. Do you intend to break our agreement? As for you, my guess was right. Emperor Wu received the Nine Heavens Transformation from you.

“However, I’m curious about one thing: what gave you the power to split the Nine Heavens for him? Even if Emperor Wu was weaker than the two of us, he was not that much weaker that you could have split apart the Nine Heavens for him.” After a brief pause, the High Seraph continued to speak. “Let me guess, Xing Fan? Your cooperation seems to go far beyond what happened in the River Domain.”

The newcomer gave a cold laugh. “How clever! In that case, why don’t you guess where the next ‘coincidence’ will occur.”

The High Seraph retorted, “Then why don’t you guess if Master Qing Cao has returned?”

The newcomer’s expression changed, and there was a moment of silence in the Apex Palace.

After a while, the High Seraph finally continued. “Old Salamander has pledged his allegiance to Yong Heng, the most powerful individual from the Tianyuan Megaverse. He did kill Emperor Wu, but that had nothing to do with me. There’s no reason for you to break our agreement. I still want to find Yong Heng and deal with him.

“I won’t interfere in anything you do.”

The newcomer responded in a low voice, “Do you intend to use me to deal with Yong Heng?”

“While I won’t interfere in what you do, Yong Heng is different. It also appears that he intends to use Lu Yin for something,” the High Seraph replied calmly.

The visitor stared at the High Seraph for a long time. “Yong Heng is nothing. I’ll deal with him. If you think that bringing up Master Qing Cao will intimidate me, that’s just a joke. He won’t dare to do anything to me.”

With that, the visitor turned around and left.

...

Elsewhere, Lu Yin arrived in the lower section of the Spirit Nidus, at the location that had once been the River Domain. However, he did not see the River Domain, but rather the Slumber Domain.

The River Domain had been replaced by the Slumber Domain, and it had completely disappeared from the thirty-six domains.

Each of the thirty-six domains could be replaced, provided that a parallel universe within the megaverse succeeded in surpassing one of the core thirty-six domains. However, such replacements were very rare because being connected to the rest of the Spirit Nidus provided a domain with access to resources and networks. The thirty-six domains were not easily displaced.

It was extremely difficult to replace even a domain as weak as the River Domain, which had been regarded as one of the weakest.

However, the River Domain had already been replaced without any news or announcement.

Lu Yin entered the Slumber Domain and met its ruler.

The ruler of the Slumber Domain was a hunchbacked old man who showed a great deal of respect when he met Lu Yin. “Greetings, Lord Seraph Lu. I didn’t expect your esteemed presence to grace our Slumber Domain. Please forgive us for any slight in our hospitality.”

The old man led a group of cultivators from the Slumber Domain to welcome him. Many of the people present were young, beautiful women, who looked at Lu Yin with open admiration.

These people cared little about the war between the Spirit Nidus and the Tianyuan Megaverse. What they knew was that Seraph Lu was an incredibly powerful individual, one of the strongest in the current Spirit Nidus. He was second only to the High Seraph himself.

A visit from such a person made the entire Slumber Domain nervous.

“What happened to the River Domain?” Lu Yin asked.

The hunchbacked elder turned pale. He did not understand why Lu Yin would ask this question, and he was afraid that this might indicate future trouble. He answered quickly, “Please, my lord, understand that we, the Slumber Domain, were not actively seeking to replace the River Domain. That domain simply vanished, and only then did we step up and replace them. We had no conflict with them whatsoever.

“This old man has always held the ruler of River Domain in high regard, and thus, I’ve never had any thought of harming his domain.”

Lu Yin stared at the old man. “Are you telling me that the River Domain simply vanished on its own?”

The hunchbacked elder nodded. “Yes, it disappeared all on its own. We only stepped forward after being informed that there was a vacancy that needed to be filled.”

“Who informed you?”

“Lan.”

That means the High Seraph. Lu Yin stared at the old man. “How much do you know about the River Domain? Be honest.”

The old man did not dare to hide anything, and he shared everything he knew about the River Domain.

The ruler of the Slumber Domain was quite familiar with the River Domain. After all, if one wanted to replace any of the thirty-six domains, the River Domain was one of the most reasonable targets. It would be a lie to claim that the Slumber Domain had never desired to join the Spirit Nidus; they had simply lacked the necessary strength. As for the old man, he was only a Spirit Ancestor, not even a sequence powerhouse. It was impossible for him to fight against the ruler of the River Domain.

That was also why he was so uneasy about suddenly replacing the River Domain.

The old man’s nervousness had only increased upon greeting Lu Yin. Meeting such a powerful individual left the man’s mind blank. His only desire at this moment was to reveal what he knew.

From the old man, Lu Yin gradually learned about the River Domain. However, the River Domain had no abnormalities, and nothing about it had stood out. The only oddity was that it had simply vanished so bizarrely. After becoming one of the thirty-six domains, the ruler of the Slumber Domain had even made it a point to look for the missing domain, but he had not succeeded.

Lu Yin left and proceeded to attempt various methods to locate the River Domain, and he even asked Old Tao to contact the Phantom Reach.

Despite all his efforts, it was as though the River Domain had never existed at all. It had utterly vanished.

The disappearance of a domain did not stir up much of a commotion within the Spirit Nidus, which made it look as if someone was suppressing the matter.

Lu Yin searched for half a month without any results. Only after that did he return to the Hundred Grasses Domain.

It was clear that something had happened to the River Domain. Emperor Wu’s primary motivation in kidnapping Bian Xiaoxiao was his desire for the Primal Beastland to not follow in the River Domain’s path. So, he had done his best to lure Lu Yin to the Morrow Behemoth’s hand.

The disappearance of the River Domain was connected to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, as well as to Xing Fan.

Lu Yin felt a heavy weight settle onto his mind.

If Emperor Wu had been given any other option, he would not have chosen death. He had seen through the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, and thus he had also seen through the Spirit Nidus.

In the Wisdom Domain, Old Yu raised a hand to accept a call with his spirit cloudstone.

“What happened to the River Domain?” Lu Yin’s voice came through.

Old Yu frowned. “If I tell you that I didn’t know, would you believe me?”

“No.”

Old Yu sighed. “I truly don’t know. There are some matters that are now beyond my control.”

“The person behind you must know,” Lu Yin’s voice echoed.

Old Yu gave a wry smile. “Not necessarily. You’re underestimating the allure of the available position.”

“Are you saying that others are making their moves?”

“I truly don’t know, but there are some things... that you might be better off not knowing.” With that, Old Yu ended the call.

While Old Yu had not said much, Lu Yin had still obtained a rough idea of the bigger picture.

Someone from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse had taken action.

Emperor Wu’s death, which also involved Lu Yin, whoever stood behind Ru Mu, the High Seraph’s actions, and this unknown individual’s activities had to all be connected. Everything was because of the open Greater Sancte position.

As for the specifics of the power struggle, Lu Yin knew nothing, and it was possible that Old Yu truly did not know either. The old man was little more than a mouthpiece for the Nine Odysseys Megaverse in the Spirit Nidus, much like the function that Lan served for the Ascendant Hall.

Lu Yin’s spirit cloudstone vibrated. It was a call from Su Shidao.

The old man wanted to find out what was happening, but he received no information from Lu Yin.

Lu Yin returned to the Hundred Grasses Domain, burdened by his heavy thoughts. When he left the Tianyuan Megaverse, he had believed that his only enemy was the Spirit Nidus, though he had already known that, beyond the High Seraph, there was also Master Qing Cao. Even if Lu Yin had known that he could not compare to the Spirit Nidus, he had at least known who he was up against.

Recently, learning about the Nine Odysseys Megaverse’s existence had offered him chances at both a breakthrough and a dive into a bottomless abyss.

Lu Yin was certain that he was being targeted by someone from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, and that person was likely one of the Lesser Sancti.

“Third Boss, someone had been asking to see you. He claims to know about the River Domain,” Old Tao respectfully reported when he saw Lu Yin.

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. “Bring him to me.”

A middle-aged man stepped aboard Boundless, entering a territory that countless people in the Spirit Nidus regarded as forbidden. However, there were also some who saw Boundless as their final hope, for the battleship offered refuge to the truly desperate.

The man had not originally had any intention of visiting Boundless. His only goal had been to join one of the seven major powers after defeating the ruler of the River Domain. However, something that the old man had said had forced the middle-aged man reconsider Boundless. Even more importantly, he had realized that the ruler had been correct: Boundless alone could offer him a chance for a further breakthrough.

“Xie Jiang greets Lord Seraph Lu.” The moment the man saw Lu Yin, he bowed low.

Lu Yin looked like an ordinary human, lacking the overwhelming sense of presence that Xie Jiang had expected. Still, Xie Jiang understood that there was no reason for someone like Seraph Lu to rely on their aura to pressure others.

“You know something about what happened to the River Domain?”

“Yes. I happened to be just past its border at the time, but I was still in clear view of it. I saw everything that transpired...”