Star Odyssey

Chapter 3736: Severance

“Nine-Rulers: Heaven-Defying Art.” The old man attacked, his ruler spinning. Yanbo Hongli, the other three Dukkhans, and the surviving Ortusers all moved together, joining with the old man to unleash a single attack. As the ruler spun faster and faster, the old man shouted, “Now!”

Yue Ya’s dark-gold manifested thought descended, and it also attached itself to the attack.

With that, the Nine-Rulers: Heaven-Defying Art spread out without limits, covering the entire Consciousness Megaverse.

Invincible within nine chi. This technique was already able to alter the universe, but after merging Yue Ya’s formidable manifested thought, every creature within the Consciousness Megaverse had their perception of nine chi altered. No matter how vast the megaverse might be, everything was encompassed within the technique.

After enshrouding the entire Consciousness Megaverse, nothing would be able to slip past their perception.

Far away, Lu Yin glanced back at the relentlessly spreading technique, and his expression fell. “The Nine Odysseys’ battle techniques really focus on group cooperation.”

Both the Blood Tower and Ruler Garden’s signature technique were able to combine with manifested thought and stack, requiring multiple cultivators to act as one.

In contrast, the Tianyuan Megaverse’s battle techniques focused on individual combat. The Cosmic Art, Extremes Must Be Reversed, and the Origin Progenitor’s Verdant Eternity were just a few examples of this.

The Origin Progenitor was openly impressed. “The Nine Odysseys Megaverse is much older than even the Spirit Nidus. Originally, their battle techniques were like ours, and they could only be used by an individual. With time, they have discovered ways to combine them.

“Given enough time, we could also find countless means to combine our various techniques, but it would require an immense amount of time.”

Lu Yin agreed. Time was truly the most terrifying force. It could erase civilizations, history, and everything else. At the same time, it could also nurture civilizations and create history, as well as everything else.

Time, space, universe, and karma were ultimate powers that all living creatures sought.

“We’ll have to sneak into a parallel universe. There’s no other way for us to avoid the Nine-Rulers: Heaven-Defying Art,” the Origin Progenitor suggested.

Lu Yin let out a helpless sigh. “Let’s go.”

They would first retreat into a parallel universe for a brief period of recovery, but not for too long.

Just as the two men were about to slip into a parallel universe, Yue Ya’s voice rang out. “You two can hide, but can your megaverse? Don’t push me into taking the fight to the Tianyuan Megaverse! I can afford the time.”

The Origin Progenitor and Lu Yin turned as one, their eyes blazing with killing intent.

They saw each other’s eyes and realized that it was no longer possible for them to escape. Yue Ya had already burned his own bridges, and he had even lost his title of Lesser Sancte in his pursuit of Lu Yin. Who knew what sort of madness he might attempt next? If things really did move to the Tianyuan Megaverse, it would be catastrophic.

At their level, every exchange shook the entire universe.

The Tianyuan Megaverse was home to untold billions of ordinary humans. If the universe shook and stars shattered, casualties would rise beyond anyone’s ability to count.

“Run. Let’s see how long he can keep chasing us for. We’ll keep him on the hook,” Lu Yin growled.

Elsewhere in the Consciousness Megaverse, near the gate at the boundary, there was a bitter expression on Emperor Slayer’s face. He kept glancing back at the ruler and the dark-gold light radiating out from it.

“What the hell? What’s going on in this megaverse? Can any random battle now shake the whole damn thing? How is anyone supposed to live here? This place is screwed. I need to run, the farther the better!”

Emperor Slayer continued to complain. Things in the megaverse were changing too quickly for him to understand.

He was terrified of the Nine-Rulers: Heaven-Defying Art. The closer it drew, the more he felt like a prey being hunted by a monster.

He spotted the stone gateway. It had once been a towering barrier that had barred conscients, but it was now almost entirely destroyed.

No matter what was going on, his escape came first. He would never return to this blasted place. Emperor Slayer had also decided to never return to the Spirit Nidus either. Instead, he would go to the Tianyuan Megaverse.

All of their top experts were already in the Consciousness Megaverse, which meant that Emperor Slayer would be truly peerless when he arrived there. Excited by such a prospect, Emperor Slayer became far more spirited. He would plant virtue flags in every corner of that megaverse, engraving his name in its history. He would serve as the very embodiment of virtue for them.

The more the beast thought about his future, the more excited he became, and he nearly burst out in laughter.

Unfortunately, when he was able to clearly see the gate, that smile froze.

Past the gate was more than one Dukkhan from the Spirit Nidus waiting. That was fine. Emperor Slayer could simply force his way past them as he had before. Unfortunately, this time, he also saw a man wielding the ruler of the Nine-Rulers: Heaven-Defying Art. While the man’s ruler was only the size of his own body, a backward glance confirmed to Emperor Slayer that the ruler was identical to the one that reached across the megaverse.

What the hell? Where did this one come from?

Ruler Garden had stationed several people at the boundary specifically to send word if Lu Yin tried to escape the megaverse.

One of those people was a Dukkhan who had achieved his cultivation through Seed Transfusion.

While the Spirit Nidus had more Dukkhans posted at the boundary than Ruler Garden, none of those people dared to stand up to Ruler Garden; the gap between their power was all too clear.

Emperor Slayer was stupefied. How was he supposed to escape? He could push past one or two Dukkhans, but there were clearly more than that outside the gate, several of whom were clearly not from the Spirit Nidus. There was no telling just how powerful those people were.

Things had changed too quickly, and Emperor Slayer’s reality had become too strange.

He glanced back once again and then at the gate. Clenching his teeth, he decided to take the risk. Surely, his Horizon’s Mirror could get him out. What were a few more Dukkhans?

Were it not for being traumatized by Yue Ya, Emperor Slayer would have never behaved so timidly. During his time in the Spirit Nidus, he had always been confident that Horizon’s Mirror would allow him to escape from any powerhouse.

Right as he was about to act, he felt a pair of eyes fall onto him. Emperor Slayer slowly turned to the right and locked eyes with someone. Jiu Xian?

Far away, Jiu Xian blinked in surprise. Emperor Slayer? What is he doing here?

During the battle in the Willbound Spire, Boundless had seized the opportunity of the High Seraph’s absence to capture all of the Spirit Nidus’s elites and battleships, but Jiu Xian had escaped through the Awe Gate. Not even the Origin Progenitor had been able to stop her.

While Jiu Xian had successfully escaped, she had no idea where to go after that.

It was hard for her to justify returning to the Spirit Nidus, but she also had no desire to participate in this war between megaverses.

No longer was it merely a war between the Spirit Nidus and the Consciousness Megaverse, but rather a three-way brawl. As someone from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, she had simply drifted along when she had been sent to fight in the Consciousness Megaverse, and she intended to do the same thing once again.

That was the reason why she had returned to the boundary gate; she hoped to hide there. She had never expected to see the Nine-Rulers: Heaven-Defying Art spreading across the megaverse.

Of course Jiu Xian was aware of Ruler Garden, but she was shocked to discover that members of that place had committed the grave offense of openly entering the Consciousness Megaverse. She needed to leave. If she was recognized by Ruler Garden after seeing their crimes, she would be doomed.

However, she had found additional experts from Ruler Garden waiting outside the boundary. She could force her way through, that was only possible with the Awe Gate, which would expose her and lead to endless complications.

If Ruler Garden were destroyed for their crimes, Jiu Xian would be safe. However, if they survived and managed to return to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse unharmed, then they would definitely hunt her down. In fact, they would go after not just her, but also after Lesser Sancte Dan Jin, whom Jiu Xian followed.

Lesser Sancte Dan Jin wanted to avoid such complications more than anything.

While Jiu Xian had been fretting over how to proceed, Emperor Slayer had arrived, and then the two locked eyes.

“Hello,” Jiu Xian greeted.

“Hello,” Emperor Slayer replied.

Jiu Xian glanced at the gate. “Heading out?”

“Yeah, I’ve had enough of this place. You?” Emperor Slayer asked. “Should we go together?”

“I’ve had enough, too. Yes, let’s leave together.”

“Alright.”

“Alright.”

The vast Nine-Rulers: Heaven-Defying Art flickered with a dark-gold light as it spread to the gate at the boundary, but the people there were anything but calm.

A massive black beam shot through the gate, piercing the Aevum Inch beyond it.

The Dukkhan from Ruler Garden standing watch tried to release a battle technique, but he was stunned by Jiu Xian’s Second Image Sequence Technique.

By working together, Jiu Xian and Emperor Slayer succeeded in blasting open a path to escape. Despite the fact that there were three Dukkhans and four Ortusers guarding the gate, they could not stop the two. After all, they only sought to escape, not to defeat anyone.

Horizon’s Mirror carried Emperor Slayer and Jiu Xian away from the Consciousness Megaverse.

As they looked back, they let out breaths of relief. They had finally made it.

Through the shattered gate, they could barely make out the dark gold color that covered the battlefield. They would rather die than enter that place.

“What is that?” Emperor Slayer, still reveling in a successful escape, heard Jiu Xian ask a question in an uneasy tone.

His heart dropped. He followed Jiu Xian’s gaze and saw a sword. No, it was a cluster of stars. No, it was a sword of stars. What in the world is that?

The way of the heavens was flawed, and this sword was formed from stars with its blade hidden. However, flaws could be compensated for, and a blade could be forged. That was what had created this Starforged Sword.

Three words appeared in the minds of both Jiu Xian and Emperor Slayer at the same instant: Starforged Sword.

No one had told them this name. They simply knew it by instinct.

They had seen the Heaven-Forged Sword, and it had also sensed them. The sword of stars abruptly rose up, as though the blade was being brandished by a giant, and then it swung down, straight at the two.

Jiu Xian screamed, “Awe Gate!”

The enormous Starforged Sword halted while falling, its strike frozen.

Emperor Slayer crouched behind the Awe Gate, his eyes wide.

Right then, sword qi fell from the Starforged Sword, condensing as it dropped. While the attack was not fast, Horizon’s Mirror was still shattered, and its sequence particles were instantly dispersed. The attack continued to fall, shrinking at the same time. By the time it made contact with the Awe Gate, the attack was the exact same size as the gate.

Crack.

The Awe Gate broke.

Jiu Xian went pale, and then she coughed up a mouthful of blood that spattered on the gate. She screamed, “Do something!”

Emperor Slayer opened his mouth and unleashed a black beam at the Starforged Sword, only for the falling sword qi to split the beam in two as another slash of sword qi fell from the blade.

Without a second thought, Jiu Xian fled for the gate to the Consciousness Megaverse.

The sword could not be stopped. Yet another monster had appeared. Where were they all coming from? This was clearly not a creature from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

Jiu Xian failed to determine if the sword was a living creature or simply a sword.

Emperor Slayer reacted even faster than Jiu Xian, having fled the moment his black beam was severed.

“This is twice now! This is the second time I’ve managed to leave the Consciousness Megaverse, only to be beaten back in! What’s with this rotten luck?”

Jiu Xian heard the complaining and muttered, “Jinx.”

She felt that all of their bad luck was Emperor Slayer’s fault. The beast was a walking calamity.

At the gate to the Consciousness Megaverse, the gathered experts also saw the enormous Starforged Sword, as well as Jiu Xian and Emperor Slayer’s rapid retreat. No one knew what to do.

In the next moment, the Starforged Sword sliced at the gate.

The same scene as before played out. The sword itself did not fall the entire way; there was only a slice of sword qi that shrank further and further until it fell upon the gate, shattering it.

Jiu Xian, Emperor Slayer, and all who had been standing guard at the gate fled back into the Consciousness Megaverse before the gate was destroyed. No one was foolish enough to take that sword strike.

One Dukkhan from the Spirit Nidus glanced back at the shattered gate. It had stood in the Consciousness Megaverse for ages, unscathed. Just what had happened in such a short period of time for it to completely shatter?