Star Odyssey

Chapter 3934: Another Side

Master Qing Cao realized that he had been careless. He had been an Immortal for countless years, during which he had controlled everything, witnessed the rise and fall of the mortal empires, and even dared to scheme against the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. However, he had overlooked the ant-like Tianyuan Megaverse.

He had just been seriously outmaneuvered by those ants.

It was impossible to change the direction that the Nest civilization was headed in. Not even the destruction of the Nest in the Spirit Nidus would make any difference.

The only thing he could do was exterminate those insects.

“There is no foreign Immortal within the Nine Odysseys Megaverse’s domain. Immortals cannot enter this region. If one were here, Awe Gate wouldn’t do nothing. These insects can be dealt with, but...” He hesitated and looked down at his wrist. His karma chain increased not just when he targeted humans, but rather anything related to karmic cause and effect. Dealing with the insects would be too costly.

The man suddenly looked back towards where he had banished the Immortal beast. The creature had no such scruples, but it would also never obey him.

After a moment’s hesitation, he started moving towards the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

...

The Night Pillars were also on their way back to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

On the Sixth Night Pillar, Lu Yin preferred to sit beside the flat, severed section. It gave him a feeling of danger.

Yet, the truth was that, even without such a reminder, he already felt a strong sense of unease.

Qiunan Hongye approached him. “I thought that I would die for sure.”

Lu Yin looked at her. “Were you afraid?”

“Are you mocking me, Mr. Lu?”

“I was afraid.”

Qiunan Hongye was taken aback. She stared at Lu Yin and asked, “Afraid?

Lu Yin looked up. “Yes, afraid. I was afraid of facing an unknown being. Right now, I’m able to beat the Allsenses, but tomorrow, we might encounter other creatures that can defeat us. To them, we might be the monsters.”

“The cosmos teaches us reverence, not fear,” Qiunan Hongye replied.

Lu Yin smiled. “I fear losing everything because I have so much. The more one gains, the more they stand to lose. Brilliance inevitably fades into solitude. That might be why so many pursue solitude. It’s because they can’t bear the pain of loss.”

Qiunan Hongye was curious about something. “What do you have, Mr. Lu? What is the Tianyuan Megaverse like? Can you tell me about it?”

Lu Yin did not refuse. Of the Seven Fairies, Qiunan Hongye was special. She might not be powerful, but she was still worthy of respect.

He was suddenly reminded of the fact that he had touched someone in the Sea of Karma’s lotus pond. Could that have been Qiunan Hongye?

“The Tianyuan is different from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. There...”

Love, hatred, and the emotional entanglements of the mortal world had always captivated human hearts, and people would be drawn to such tales without even realizing it.

Lu Yin also seemed to be reflecting on a previous life. At the moment, his state of mind was completely different from when he had been in the Tianyuan. Had he become more open-minded? That was not quite it. He still sought revenge when there was hatred; that part of him had not changed. Rather, there were very few people left who were qualified to receive his hate. His perspective had transcended a single megaverse’s.

“Let’s talk about you. Why have you covered your eyes since childhood? Have you never thought about taking that blindfold off?”

“I have considered it, and there were even several times when I nearly took it off, but I persisted. The people of my Qiunan family are different from others. We are the heralds of war, but also the heralds of its end. This demands great willpower. Not everyone can refrain from moving when someone close to them dies right before them. We must be able to do that. Even if our dearest kin die before our eyes, the war drums are our sole battleground, our place of duty. That battleground cannot be abandoned, even if we know that stepping away would save our loved one.

“I can’t endure such pain, so it’s better to cover my eyes. It’s not that I have a strong willpower, but rather that I simply avoid it.

“Everyone praises me for abandoning my sight so that I can cultivate the Great Wind Chant, but the truth is... if one day I could open my eyes, it would be better...”

Lu Yin spoke with Qiunan Hongye for some time, as though they were kindred spirits. The time passed quickly.

“Mr. Lu, may I ask you a question?”

“I don’t know.”

Qiunan Hongye’s expression turned confused.

“I don’t know who I touched.”

Qiunan Hongye calmly replied, “That’s not my question.”

Lu Yin felt awkward. “Sorry, go ahead.”

“Of us seven sisters, who would be your first choice to marry?”

Lu Yin stared blankly at Qiunan Hongye. How is this question any different from the last?

Qiunan Hongye gave a faint smile. “Is that hard to answer?”

“Why are you asking?”

“Because it’s likely that you’ll marry one of us, or more than one of us.”

Lu Yin chuckled. “I refused Greater Sancte Green Lotus’s offer in front of all of you. I refused back then, and I still refuse now. I already have a wife.”

Qiunan Hongye turned her head to face the Aevum Inch. “Not even one of us is good enough for you?”

Lu Yin smiled wryly. “You’re all excellent.”

“But you’re better.”

“You seem quite fixated on this question.”

Qiunan Hongye answered in a serious tone, “As I said, you’ll probably marry one or more of us. Let me rephrase—if you had to marry one of us, would it be me?”

Lu Yin did not understand why Qiunan Hongye was so persistent with this question. He was not naive enough to believe that the woman liked him; after all, they had only just met.

“Do you want me to marry you, or not?”

“I don’t want you to.”

“Why not?” Lu Yin had grown genuinely curious. Why was she so determined to get an answer to this question? Was it just so that she could eliminate the possibility of him marrying her?

Qiunan Hongye murmured, “I was born into the Qiunan family, so I should die in the Qiunan family. Beating the war drums and dying in battle is my destiny. However, if I end up with you, that destiny will cease to exist.”

“You really love your family.”

Qiunan Hongye smiled. “Who doesn’t love their family? Besides that, the Qiunan family is worth everything that I can give them. Some people possess incredible power, while others have incredible souls. In my eyes, the Qiunan family’s soul is the most amazing.”

She then pointed at her eyes. “I can’t see with these, but that doesn’t mean that I’m truly blind.”

Lu Yin nodded. “Alright, you don’t need to dwell on this. If it ever happens that I’m forced to marry one of you, you’ll be the first I eliminate from the selection.”

Qiunan Hongye stood up and offered Lu Yin a formal bow. “Thank you.”

Lu Yin was speechless, and he even felt a bit insulted.

“So, back to my first question: who would be your first choice to marry?”

“Didn’t you already ask that?”

“You didn’t answer.”

“Your goal was to ensure that I didn’t choose you, and I’ve already agreed to that.”

“We seven sisters are united. I can help you test the waters.”

“There’s no need for that.” Lu Yin then paused for a moment. “What’s the story regarding your eldest and third sisters?”

Qiunan Hongye shook her head. “I have no idea. We don’t ask about each other’s identities when we’re together.

“However, there is one thing that we all know about Third Sister: she’s not from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.”

Lu Yin was surprised. “She’s not from your megaverse?”

Qiunan Hongye shook her head. “We all sensed it the first time we met her.”

“But she cultivates with a spirit seed.”

“That doesn’t prove anything.”

Lu Yin grew thoughtful.

“To be honest, we don’t even know if Third Sister is human. Mr. Lu, did you touch Third Sister?”

Lu Yin rolled his eyes. “No.”

“Then who was it? Do you know?”

“I really don’t know.”

“You denied that it was her too quickly.”

“It was out of reflex...”

...

Qiunan Hongye gave off an aloof impression, and yet she proved surprisingly easy to talk to.

The journey from the Allsense Megaverse to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse took five years. While traveling, Lu Yin spent most of his time in seclusion, seeing no one. Still, he occasionally emerged to chat with Qiunan Hongye, just to make it so that things were not entirely dull.

Through Qiunan Hongye, Lu Yin saw another side of the Seven Fairies.

He learned that Lu Siyu was energetic and lively, but she lacked talent for the sword and also feared disappointing her father, Lu Sizhan. Thus, from a young age, she had forced herself to practice with the sword. She had practiced until she cried and curled up in her room. She had even practiced the sword in her dreams.

In order to become a disciple of Greater Sancte Green Lotus, the playful and lively Lu Siyu had pushed herself, alone and enduring a torture that few could endure. Even when Lu Sizhan told her to give up, she had refused.

The pressure that she had put on Lu Sizhan to become the Four Commands Grand Swordmaster was nothing compared to what she had inflicted upon herself.

Lu Sizhan’s carefree attitude and lack of ambition to fight for the position had all been an act after he saw how harshly Lu Siyu had pushed herself. He had wanted her to understand that he cared about neither the title of Four Commands Grand Swordmaster nor the legacy of the East Command Sword Sect. All he cared about was his daughter.

Both the father and the daughter had pushed themselves, each being harsher to themselves than the other.

This was a side of the story that Lu Yin had not seen. He had only seen how Lu Siyu had forced Lu Sizhan to become the Grand Swordmaster and Lu Sizhan’s apparent unhappiness. However, the truth was that his unhappiness had nothing to do with being pressured into the position, but rather because Lu Siyu had refused to lay down her own burdens.

Lu Yin also learned that Ming Xiaolong’s irritability and quick temper stemmed from childhood trauma and her protectiveness for her brother, Ming Xiaochou.

While Ming Xiaochou was the older sibling, Ming Xiaolong had been the one to protect her brother when they had been young.

Lu Yin thought back to Ridgeplain, when Ming Xiaolong learned that Ming Xiaochou had been suppressing a breakthrough in order to avoid helping the Autumnspring Slip. At that moment, her anger had completely vanished, and she had begged Lu Yin. The woman still had an overwhelming desire to protect her brother.

Lu Yin learned that Jue Qing, who appeared to be completely indifferent and emotionless, actually could not even bear to crush even an ant beneath her feet. Her compassion was hidden and unseen, and yet she offered as much kindness to the world as she could, only for it to go entirely unnoticed.

Each of the Seven Fairies had their own traits. What was seen by others was nothing more than the surface.

It was no wonder why Greater Sancte Green Lotus had mentioned that they were all remarkable.

Lu Yin stared out from the Night Pillar as the Nine Odysseys Megaverse drew ever closer. He stood and lazily stretched out. “We’re finally back.”

Beside him, Qiunan Hongye faced the Nine Odysseys Megaverse in a dreamy fashion. “Yes, we’re finally back. I thought that I’d die in the Allsense Megaverse for sure.”

Lu Yin glanced over. “I’m glad to have worked with you. I hope that the next time someone beats the war drums for me, it will be you again.”

Qiunan Hongye offered an enchanting smile. “As long as you don’t mind my lack of strength, I’d be honored to beat the war drums for you.”

Across the vast land of the Nine Odysseys Megavers, countless eyes gazed up at the stars as the Night Pillars streaked across the sky like falling meteors.

Once the dust had settled and the Night Pillars were fixed in the ground again, the war against the Allsense Megaverse would be finally concluded.

Lu Yin stood on the Night Pillar, frowning. The Second, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Night Pillars had all gone to wage war on the Allsense Megaverse, which should have left five Night Pillars behind in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. So why had he only counted three as the Sixth Night Pillar descended? Where were the other two?

Right as Lu Yin was thinking that, a gate appeared in front of him.

He picked up a foot and stepped through, vanishing into the gate.

Upon emerging from the gate, he found himself in the Frightened Sparrow Terrace. Standing before him were Greater Sancte Awe Gate and Master Qing Cao.

At that moment, both the Greater Sancte and Master Qing Cao were staring at Lu Yin.

Aside from the three people, there was no one else in the Frightened Sparrow Terrace.