Star Odyssey

Chapter 4090: Familiar Yet Strange

“Senior, how does it feel?”

Progenitor Chen described everything that he saw and was experiencing.

Lu Yin’s eyes blazed. “How much of your full combat strength does your consciousness body possess?”

Progenitor Chen took a moment to consider the question. “At most, forty percent.”

“Only forty percent?”

“I have cultivated my consciousness to a decent level. For those who haven’t trained it at all, they might not even reach twenty percent of their full power.” He then directed an intense look at Lu Yin. “Do you want to send consciousness bodies to fight in place of people’s physical bodies?”

Lu Yin nodded. “If a consciousness body dies, the true physical body will remain unharmed. Power will be lost, but that can be recultivated. That’s better than a true death.”

Progenitor Chen stared at Lu Yin in shock. “I had thought that I was the best at creating new battle techniques, only to now realize that I’m greatly lacking compared to you.”

Lu Yin gave a wry smile. “I couldn’t have done this on my own. I received inspiration from Yan’er, and Greater Sancte Green Lotus helped me with the karmic deduction.”

“Whatever the case, once this method is fully developed, even if humanity faces a disaster that threatens to completely wipe us out, our civilization will still be able to endure,” Progenitor Chen said.

Lu Yin had been thinking of foreign civilizations, such as the Nest civilization.

If another war broke out, but only consciousness bodies fought while humans’ physical bodies stayed away from combat, the Nest civilization would suffer a severe blow.

The current problem was whether he should widely promote consciousness cultivation methods to cultivators who already specialized in it or to broadly spread the Nirvana Tree Path so that the various consciousness bodies would possess sufficient combat power in the future.

If neither happened, then even if he could add consciousness bodies to the Mind Manor, there would be no change in humanity’s overall combat power. As Progenitor Chen had said, they would only be able to preserve human civilization.

Even so, preserving their civilization was already a great outcome.

During the ancient Heavens Sect, Burial Garden had existed for that reason. During the era of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas, there had been Boundless. For the current era, there would be the Mind Manor.

Still, Lu Yin’s ambition was not to merely preserve human civilization. He wanted to develop an absolute means that would elevate humanity to the level of a fishing civilization.

Above the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm, Greater Sancte Green Lotus’s expression grew complicated. “You have accomplished what Mi Jin could not. Well done.”

Lu Yin was grateful. “Without you, Senior, it would have been difficult to accomplish anything at all. Even if I eventually deduced a solution, it would have taken a very long time. Thank you.”

What Lu Yin had created could not help either the Nine Odysseys Megaverse or the Spirit Nidus. It would only help the Tianyuan.

It could be said that Greater Sancte Green Lotus had spent a tremendous amount of karma to help the Tianyuan. Lu Yin owed the man thanks.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus waved a hand. “Your Nirvana Tree Path has helped the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, while this Mind Manor helps the Tianyuan. Lu Yin, you are the heir of human civilization. I hope you will one day break into the Immortal realm and then lead humanity to experience a complete transformation.”

Lu Yin returned to the Heavens Sect.

Ming Yan had already entered the Investiture of the Gods to cultivate. Her cultivation method was to accept Lu Yin’s consciousness, but the vastness of his consciousness made it difficult to assimilate.

Now that he had separated his consciousness, Lu Yin could no longer perform Word Manifestation, but that did not matter. Word Manifestation had no effect against Immortals, and no one beneath that realm posed any threat to Lu Yin anyways. With most of the internal threats in the Tianyuan and the Nine Odysseys Megaverse dealt with, there was little difference between Lu Yin having the power of Word Manifestation and not having it.

Besides, he was also able to continue cultivating his consciousness on his own.

It did not take long for the Heavens Sect to announce that everyone was to start cultivating consciousness. Unlike the Spirit Link method that had once been promoted in the Spirit Nidus, the new cultivation method was to prepare people for the Mind Manor.

The stronger one’s consciousness was, the stronger they would be when entering the Mind Manor. That would increase their chances of surviving in the future.

Outsiders did not know why the Heavens Sect had suddenly ordered everyone to cultivate their consciousness, but the method seemed reasonable.

It did not take long for numerous consciousness cultivation methods to spread. Talented people throughout the megaverse were selected to travel to the Heavens Sect to learn, and the cultivation methods were quickly distributed.

After another two years had passed, Astral Anura suddenly arrived at the Heavens Sect, looking for Lu Yin.

Lu Yin was puzzled. “A familiar yet strange sensation?”

Astral Anura nodded, still carrying his lotus leaf. “It’s a sense of familiarity that comes from my very bones.”

“Are you saying that this familiar yet strange sensation is getting closer?”

“Yes.”

“Could it be your great-grandmother?”

“Quit spooking people.”

“You’re a toad, not people.”

“Don’t scare a toad.”

Lu Yin was speechless. Astral Anura had completely accepted being referred to as a toad.

“It seems that the sense of strange familiarity is coming from the stirrings of your bloodline. Tell me, Astral Anura, what do you actually know about your origins?”

The lotus leaf in Astral Anura’s hands bent down. “I really don’t know anything. If I did, I’d have gone home a long time ago. I feel like an orphan, just like those two idiots.”

Lu Yin studied Astral Anura, his mind racing.

Emperor Slayer had said that he had once seen a toad carrying a lotus leaf strolling through the Aevum Inch. The timeline meant that it could not have been Astral Anura, so Lu Yin had previously assumed that it was the toad’s great-great-grandmother.

If that was true and his great-great-grandmother was able to roam about the Aevum Inch, then it meant that she most likely was not a simple individual.

Lu Yin had long ignored Astral Anura. He should have used karma to investigate the toad’s origins long ago.

With that thought, a spiral of karma coiled above Lu Yin’s palm, and he threw it out.

Astral Anura sensed the karma and tried to escape, only to be suppressed by Lu Yin. “Do you want to learn about your origins or not? I’m helping you.”

“I like keeping my affairs private.”

“I have no interest in a toad’s private affairs.”

As they spoke, the karma pierced Astral Anura. His heart went cold. He was finished. His privacy and all of his trade secrets were about to be laid bare.

As the karma penetrated the toad, Lu Yin saw scenes from Astral Anura’s past flash by, one after another. Some were familiar, such as his dealings with Aeternus and humanity, but most were new to Lu Yin.

Soon, he saw a toad carrying a lotus leaf as it strolled through a universe.

No, it was not a universe, but the Aevum Inch. Was this the same scene that Emperor Slayer had seen?

Suddenly, the vision was covered by a pair of eyes. They snapped open, and the slitted eyes stared at Lu Yin. An endless bloodlust struck his head like a hammer, causing him to stagger back. He spat blood and nearly lost consciousness.

Not good! That was an Immortal!

The scenes revealed by karma vanished. Astral Anura stared at Lu Yin, dumbfounded. “N- no, that wasn’t me!”

Lu Yin struggled to catch his breath. He inhaled deeply several times, bracing himself against a stone table. Finally, he looked back at Astral Anura again, but with a completely different expression than before.

There was an Immortal behind the toad, and they were certainly not an average one.

Lu Yin was already able to fight against a normal Immortal, so how could such a being injure him through a mere karmic vision?

There had to be a top-tier expert behind the toad that Lu Yin could not see with karma, much like the jade-white skeletal hand that was behind Yong Heng.

This was an unmatched powerhouse.

Noticing Lu Yin’s stare, Astral Anura shuffled back, trembling. “Uh, that wasn’t me... I didn’t hit you.”

Lu Yin’s face was still a bit pale. He waved a hand. “Leave, for now.”

Astral Anura blinked, keeping a wary eye on the young human. “I really didn’t attack you. I can’t beat you no matter what, so don’t take things out on me.”

Lu Yin cleaned the blood from the corner of his mouth as he nodded. “Leave.”

Astral Anura carefully backed away, never turning his back to Lu Yin. Only after leaving the courtyard entirely did the toad turn and flee.

Lu Yin sat down, his brow tightly furrowed.

There was a massive complication behind the toad. Was it possible that Lu Yin’s former suspicions were actually correct?

He had once suspected that Astral Anura might belong to a species that naturally gained the power of a Dukkhan upon maturing. It seemed like a completely outlandish possibility, as such a species would be beyond terrifying.

Still, Astral Anura had barely ever cultivated and spent most of his time lazing about in the Tianyuan. His lack of effort made it difficult not to suspect a powerful bloodline, and sensing that terrifying presence while examining the toad’s past had only strengthened Lu Yin’s suspicions.

It would be best not to provoke such a being. No one knew how many horrific civilizations existed throughout the Aevum Inch. It was possible that Lu Yin had just discovered yet another fishing civilization.

As for the strange yet familiar sensation the toad felt, Lu Yin would have Greater Sancte Green Lotus take a look.

...

In the dark, unfathomable cosmos was a seven-colored prairie. It was beautiful and seemingly endless as the grass swayed in the wind.

All manner of creatures lived on that grassland.

In the distance, a lake bordered the prairie, the waters taking on a rainbow-hue. Lotus leaves of all different sizes floated upon the water, releasing a soft radiance.

From the center of the lake rose a towering mountain, whose summit could not even be seen. It rose up as though it was propping up an entire universe.

At the same moment that Lu Yin had seen the pair of eyes while using karma to examine Astral Anura’s past, a thunderous sound had boomed out from the depths of the mountain. A seven-colored blade of grass tore through the void, shooting into the dark sky. Following that, an ancient, booming voice rang out. “Old Five, go and bring back our clansman who’s wandering outside. Some creature has looked into karma and seen all of the way to me, the ancestral patriarch.”

The rainbow-colored lake roiled, and lotus leaves were flipped over, one after another. Each of the leaves was small when compared to the mountain, but each was still large enough to shroud a star.

A massive pair of eyes opened beneath the lake, blinking. The movement caused the universe to shake.

“I haven’t heard of any of our clansmen getting lost outside. Wait, could it be someone from third brother’s line? I understand, Ancestor! I’ll bring them back right away!”

The great mountain rumbled once again. “None of our clansmen are allowed to wander about outside. As for the creature that saw your ancestor through karma... kill it.”

“Understood, Ancestor. I’m clever enough. I’ll get this done.”

...

In the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, Greater Sancte Green Lotus stood above the Sea of Karma, his hands clasped behind his back as he examined the entire region enveloped by his Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm.

He had heard from Lu Yin that some unknown Immortal might have entered that range, but Green Lotus could sense nothing. The intruder was either too weak for him to detect or capable of eluding him.

To be safe, he was personally investigating the matter.

No foreigner had entered the bounds of his Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm. Still uneasy, he extended his search farther and farther, looking beyond the periphery.

Suddenly, in a far distant location, he saw a multitude of immense, round silhouettes that were not moving at all.

At such a distance, they resembled a forest, a forest of circles that spread without end. There seemed to be no limit to their gathering.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus’s gaze sharpened as a bad premonition rose in his heart while he continued to examine the circles through his Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm.

Once his vision grew clear, his expression changed completely.

Each circle was a spiral shell with black vortices flowing inside of them. Beneath each shell was a sticky-looking creature with antennas rising up. Those look like... snails?

No matter how Green Lotus looked at the creatures, they were clearly snails, colossal snails. They were arrayed in the Aevum Inch, silent and unmoving. Their massive antennas protruded their heads, constantly releasing a smoky vapor.

Faint ripples spread through the void beneath the creatures, like waves on a lake.

Where had these snails come from?

Above the Sea of Karma, Greater Sancte Green Lotus averted his gaze without disturbing the snails. He immediately contacted Lu Yin and informed him of what he had found. Lu Yin was then tasked with checking with Astral Anura whether the toad had ever seen the giant snails before.

There were myriad species throughout the cosmos, and there was nothing strange about a civilization of giant snails. After all,there was even a civilization of toads.

Lu Yin drew an image of a giant snail for Astral Anura. The toad stared at the picture for a long while. “It looks so familiar, and yet I’ve never seen it before.”

“Are you sure that you haven’t?”

“I’m sure, but it’s also definitely familiar.”

“What was your first impression upon seeing this?”