Star Odyssey

Chapter 3983: The First Night Pillar

Lu Yin looked at the seven people, and they looked back at him, locking eyes.

“You must be Mr. Lu. As the rumors say, you are unmatched beneath the Immortal realm. Impressive, truly impressive.” Of the seven, a burly man let out a sigh of admiration. He had a strong appearance, though the hair on his head was completely white, and his eyes showed the weight of age.

An old man beside the burly man spoke up. “So that’s Lifeforce. I never managed to grasp it. Truly enviable. How are the young ones so formidable nowadays?”

“There were also many remarkable figures among our generation, but alas, the times have changed. Some shone brilliantly for their entire lives, yet they did not manage to live to see this day.”

“The appearance of geniuses in each subsequent generation is a blessing for all of humanity.”

Lu Yin looked at them. “Seniors, are you from the First Night Pillar?”

“Hehe, indeed we are.”

Lu Yin stared at them intently. These seven must have lived for an incredibly long time to give off this sense of a candle fluttering in the wind. That was not an easily evoked sensation.

Even someone like Ye Ge, who was approaching the end of his lifespan, had never given off this kind of impression. Or at least, not nearly so clearly.

These seven looked as though they already had one foot in their coffins. They gave off a feeling of decay, death, and desolation.

Down on the ground, an elder suddenly shouted, “I remember now! That’s Qin Wudi! The Qin Wudi!”

“Qin Wudi? Who’s that?” someone asked in confusion.

The old man trembled with excitement as he dropped to his knees and kowtowed to the sky. “This junior greets his ancestor! Old Ancestor, you’re still alive!”

High in the sky, the burly old man looked down at the elder bowing, and then at the cultivators falling to their knees nearby. He sighed. “So I still have descendants? How wonderful. I’ll have someone to see me off after all. Old Xian, I’ve won our bet! I have descendants to bury me, haha!”

The black-robed elder chuckled. “You’ve merely not lost. That’s not the same as winning. I should also have descendants who can see me off.”

He then raised his voice and called out, “This old man is Master Xian. Do I have any descendants present?”

The booming voice echoed across the universe, spreading far and wide. His shout rang out, reaching the entire Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

But no one responded.

Master Xian’s face fell. He called out again, but there was still no reply.

His eyes dimmed, and then closed. The old man said nothing more.

Qin Wudi glanced over and clapped a hand on Master Xian’s shoulder. “My descendants are also your descendants, Old Xian. When they send me off, they’ll send you off too. There’s no need to distinguish between us.”

Old Xian let out a relaxed laugh. “As expected, this bet goes to you.”

An old woman stepped forward to stand between the two. “Enough. At our ages, we already have one foot in the grave. What’s the point of gambling? I wonder if anyone still remembers this old granny.”

“It’s Granny Three Heavens! It’s Granny Three Heavens! Master, I remember now! She is the one in the portrait whom we pay our respects to!”

Many others cried out in shock. “Granny Three Heavens? The one who once amazed the entire megaverse, whose name became famous even in the Spirit Nidus?”

“To think she’s still alive. That was the ancient past. She once caused countless wars in the Spirit Nidus...”

The old woman laughed in delight. “I didn’t think that anyone would still remember me, hahaha! But ‘Granny Three Heavens’ sounds awful. Back then, they called me Fairy Three Heavens, then Sister Three Heavens. Later it was Big Sister Three Heavens, and finally Elder Three Heavens. To hear that you now call me Granny Three Heavens... Ah...”

A gaunt old man behind her rolled his eyes. “You just called yourself granny a moment ago.”

“That’s none of your business! You talk too much!” The old woman shot a glare back at the man.

These seven people’s appearance was like opening a page of ancient history. Countless eyes stared at them, searching for hints of ancient memories.

In the Frightened Sparrow Terrace, Greater Sancte Awe Gate also stared at the seven figures. All of them were much older than even her.

She was an Immortal who was able to live an endless life and would easily outlast them. Still, at the moment, these seven were older, and they only had a short bit of time left. They were standing on the precipice of death.

These people were no longer able to fight. They did not stay in the First Night Pillar to actually protect it, but rather to enjoy their retirement.

Only the First Night Pillar’s power had allowed them to survive for so long. Without that, not even cryostasis would have enabled them to stay alive.

Descending from outer space, the seven stepped into the Frightened Sparrow Terrace. Upon arriving, they all bowed to Greater Sancte Awe Gate. “Greetings, Greater Sancte Awe Gate.”

“Greetings, Greater Sancte Awe Gate...”

Despite being older, they were facing an Immortal, and respect was still due.

Greater Sancte Awe Gate lifted a hand to raise them back up. “Seniors, such courtesy is unnecessary.”

The seven nodded in gratitude, and then they turned to look at Master Qing Cao, who was standing nearby. “Well, if it isn’t Qing Cao. Who would have thought even you would break through to the Immortal realm? The heavens must be blind.”

Qin Wudi made that comment. Not only did he not bow to Master Qing Cao, but the old man was also quite rude when speaking.

Master Qing Cao showed no offense. He simply offered a pleasant smile as he looked at Qin Wudi. “It’s been a long time, old friend.”

Qin Wudi scowled. “We’re not friends! Back then, I beat you half to death. Just don’t take your revenge now.”

Granny Three Heavens chuckled. “Qing Cao isn’t so petty. Right, Qing Cao?”

Master Qing Cao turned his smile to the old woman. “Compared to Qin Wudi, Fairy Three Heavens, you caused me much greater suffering. I still vividly remember being hunted by those people back then. Fairy Three Heavens, don’t you think that you owe me an explanation?”

Granny Three Heavens shook her head. “We’re all old now. Why bother clinging to the past?”

“Qing Cao, it’s been a very long time.”

“Eh? Even you managed to become an Immortal? How tragic. This must be the worst tragedy ever seen.”

“Let’s let bygones be bygones. There’s no need to dwell on the past...”

Master Qing Cao smiled at the seven elders. Long ago, all seven had visited the Spirit Nidus, and they had stirred up quite the commotion there. At the time, they had all been top geniuses, and had constantly competed with each other, scheming and plotting while looking down on the people of the Spirit Nidus. At that time, Master Qing Cao had been regarded as a genius of the Spirit Nidus, but he had been far beneath these seven. As Greater Sancte Blood Tower had once said, they had been able to beat Qing Cao to the point where he could no longer take care of himself.

Still, he was the one who had succeeded in becoming an Immortal.

His success left Qin Wudi and the others feeling rather stifled.

Master Xian sighed. “Qing Cao, there can’t be many still who can be considered old acquaintances of yours.”

Master Qing Cao looked over at the old man, and the smile faded from his face. “There truly are not many. My friends, live well. If any of you have no one to see you off in the end, I can help.”

Qin Wudi let out a contemptuous snort, full of derision.

Master Qing Cao cocked an eyebrow. “Brother Qin, shall we have a little spar? You seem to have quite the impressive battle force.”

Qin Wudi clenched his fists and brought them up, shouting, “I can’t beat you!”

Greater Sancte Awe Gate stared in silence.

From far away, Lu Yin averted his eyes. There was no need for him to watch the elderly reminisce.

He released Chang, having already absorbed all the karma that he could from the creature.

While Chang did not possess as much karma as Yue Ya or the transparent moth, it had still been quite significant. After all, it had achieved the pinnacle of strength beneath the Immortal realm and had also lived for a very long time.

As soon as it emerged, Chang swiped its claws at Lu Yin, showing not even the slightest bit of hesitation.

The Champions’ Stage Purgatory forced those imprisoned in it to repeat the past. Any sapient creature would be forced to relive their most agonizing memories. However, there were exceptions to that, such as conscients like the Thirteen Luminaries and also Chang.

Chang was an insect, which meant that its very essence was to serve the Immortal Lord. That essence could not be changed, not even with Lu Yin’s ability to weave karma. The bugs did not experience joy or sorrow, which also meant that they could not be tortured by emotional suffering.

To Chang, it had merely been imprisoned for a short time.

Lu Yin instantly appeared above the creature, his foot stomping down and slamming Chang to the ground with a resounding crash.

Chang’s reappearance drew the crowd’s attention away from the seven elders, but by this point, the people of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse were no longer concerned about Chang. They knew that the creature could not defeat Lu Yin. Rather, they were more curious about what would become of the bug.

Would Lu Yin kill it or do something else?

Lu Yin was feeling rather torn. Chang was incredibly powerful, and merely killing it would be a waste. It would truly be the perfect mount, just like when he had subdued the jiao so long ago. That beast had been a great help at the time. However, Chang’s loyalty was only to the Immortal Lord, and its very existence would serve as a beacon that drew the Nest civilization towards humanity. Furthermore, Chang had almost entirely depleted its Lifeforce, so it would not be nearly as much use to Lu Yin as he had first imagined.

While Chang was still one of the most powerful creatures beneath the Immortal realm, at the moment, it was only a bit stronger than Gu Duanke and the other peak Dukkhans. Without Lifeforce, it was unable to merge Immortal matter with its body, which meant that Chang no longer posed a threat to Lu Yin.

He pressed the creature to the ground. Chang struggled fiercely, but it could not break free.

Lu Yin had already captured more than one Verdant Sage. The first was the green furball, followed by Shan Lie. He had also captured Longevity Stele and Ni, both of whom were still trapped in the Champions’ Stage Purgatory.

Shan Lie was of great value, given his connection to the Third Rampart. In comparison, while Chang was much more powerful, it was not worth nearly as much.

After a great deal of thought, Lu Yin decided to keep Chang imprisoned. After all, it also had a connection to someone very important: Stillstorm.

As soon as Chang was imprisoned, the universe seemed to clear. At last, the war was over.

Lu Yin looked up at the sky. From time to time, insect corpses continued to fall. While most of the insects that had invaded the Nine Odysseys Megaverse had been killed, it was necessary to eliminate all of the survivors, which would take a good bit of time. The Spirit Nidus was in an even worse situation, given that the Nine Odysseys spirit treasure formation could not affect that megaverse. There were far more insects in the Spirit Nidus than in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

However, such matters no longer concerned Lu Yin.

A gate appeared before him, and Lu Yin stepped through it. The next moment, he stepped onto the Frightened Sparrow Terrace.

All eyes in that place turned to him.

Lu Yin’s gaze fell upon Master Qing Cao. “Luo Chan isn’t dead?”

Master Qing Cao shook his head. “Such a unique creature is not easy to kill.”

Lu Yin frowned. “Is that so?”

Master Qing Cao replied, “I know that you don’t believe me, but that is the truth. There’s nothing that could have been done differently. Not even Immortals are invincible. As you are now, you already possess the strength to fight an Immortal.”

Lu Yin did not deny it. Instead, he said in a low voice, “As long as the Nest civilization exists, humanity will not know peace.”

Greater Sancte Awe Gate spoke up. “We were just discussing exactly that. We need to find a way to eliminate the Nest civilization. If not, as soon as they recover, they will attack us again. However, we cannot determine their location.”

“Since you didn’t kill that bug, Mr. Lu, would it be possible to use it to find the Nest civilization’s location?” Master Xian asked.

Lu Yin directed a curious glance at Master Xian and the others.

Greater Sancte Awe Gate explained, “These seven are seniors of my Nine Odysseys Megaverse. They have always stayed in the First Night Pillar, and they would not have appeared if not for this war.”

From what Lu Yin had overheard in their earlier conversation with Master Qing Cao, they were from about the same era as the Immortal.

“Greetings, seniors,” Lu Yin said politely.

The seven all looked at Lu Yin with open admiration. “We are old, yet you have already surpassed us despite being so young, Mr. Lu. Truly impressive.”

“Humanity is greatly blessed to have you.”

“It’s just a pity that you’re from the Tianyuan...”

“The Tianyuan is still a human megaverse. They’re no different from us.”

“Mr. Lu, you didn’t kill Chang. Do you intend to use it to locate the Nest civilization?” Granny Three Heavens asked.

Lu Yin nodded. “That is part of what I was thinking, but even if we can find where the bugs are, who will deal with their Immortal Lord? That is a true Immortal.”

Lu Yin had already learned the location from Shan Lie, but the Nest civilization was simply too far away. Compared to the location of the insect swarms, the Immortal Lord was a far greater concern.