Star Odyssey

Chapter 3654: Conflict

Everyone from the Tianyuan Megaverse is a cunning bastard... Oh, him.

Old Tao searched for a long time before finally finding someone: Sovereign Dou Sheng.

“I have a way you can get Yuan Qi to fight you.”

Sovereign Dou Sheng’s eyes instantly lit up. “Really? How?”

From the moment the Sovereign had become an Ortuser, he had been eager to fight an exciting battle. Unfortunately, no one aboard Boundless was willing to fight the man. His Triumphant Brawl and Extremes Must Be Reversed was simply too infuriating to try to deal with. Yuan Qi was a decent opponent, but he had no desire to fight after his Dao Bell was shattered. There was no way for Sovereign Dou Sheng to get the Seraph to agree to a fight. If it was possible to exchange even a few moves with Yuan Qi, the Sovereign would be satisfied. He had been forced to hold himself back for far too long.

Old Tao muttered a few words, and Sovereign Dou Sheng raced off to speak with Yuan Qi.

At the moment, Yuan Qi was in a pretty good mood. As long as he just relaxed, the sky would clear for him.

Sovereign Dou Sheng arrived, his expression one of eager anticipation.

Yuan Qi immediately grew a bit wary. Everyone on Boundless knew that this battle freak had been challenging everyone possible since becoming an Ortuser, and for that reason, many people had started to avoid him.

Yuan Qi also wanted to leave, but Sovereign Dou Sheng was blocking the path out.

“What’s wrong?” Yuan Qi asked, doing his best to appear calm, or even disappointed. He made it clear that he had no desire to fight.

Sovereign Dou Sheng stared intently at his target. “Do you have a son?”

Yuan Qi was taken aback, and he glanced behind. There was no one there. He looked back at Sovereign Dou Sheng, somewhat dazed. “Are you asking me?”

Sovereign Dou Sheng nodded, his eagerness mounting.

Yuan Qi muttered vacantly, “I have one.”

“What’s his name?”

“Yuan Tu.”

"Does he still respect you as his father?"

Yuan Qi was dumbfounded. What kind of conversation was this? It sounded like the wistful musings of two old men reminiscing at sunset.

He had no idea how to even respond.

Sovereign Dou Sheng frowned, finding Yuan Qi’s reaction odd. Didn’t Old Tao say that Yuan Qi should explode by this point in the conversation? Why isn’t he showing even the slightest reaction? His reaction doesn’t match that at all.

"I asked you a question."

Yuan Qi gave Sovereign Dou Sheng a strange look. "He does."

"What about your family?"

"They died long ago."

"How did they die?"

"They must have reached the end of their lifespan."

"Didn't you go check on them?"

Yuan Qi was unable to hold himself back any longer. "Exactly what are you trying to ask?"

Sovereign Dou Sheng laughed. "I’m just making conversation. They’re just casual questions."

"Then go talk to someone else. I have things to do, so I'm leaving now." With that, Yuan Qi turned to leave.

Sovereign Dou Sheng lowered his cudgel and blocked Yuan Qi’s path. Irritated, the man asked, "Sovereign Dou Sheng, what do you want? If you want to spar, I don't have the energy."

Sovereign Dou Sheng turned to look into the distance. Old Tao had been mistaken; Yuan Qi had not gotten angry at all. At worst, he had lost his patience.

"Please, step aside."

Sovereign Dou Sheng finally accepted the situation. "One last question: does your son look like you?"

Yuan Qi’s face twitched. "Yes, he does."

He then walked away.

Sovereign Dou Sheng stared at Yuan Qi’s departing figure, his expression falling.

Old Tao arrived. "What's going on? Did Yuan Qi not get upset?"

Sovereign Dou Sheng shot a glare at the man. "He only got impatient! You're not toying with me, are you?"

Old Tao quickly tried to calm the man. "I wouldn't dare! How could I even try to toy with you? You are Sovereign Dou Sheng, an invincible powerhouse!"

Sovereign Dou Sheng snorted contemptuously. "Did Lu Yin tell you to do this?"

The Sovereign was not stupid, and he was familiar with Old Tao's personality. For the man to suddenly attempt to provoke Yuan Qi clearly indicated a problem. The only person associated with Boundless who could force Old Tao to try to offend Yuan Qi in such a manner was Lu Yin.

Old Tao knew that Sovereign Dou Sheng had understood the situation. "Yes, but it's too strange. His reaction just now wasn’t right at all."

Sovereign Dou Sheng left. He had done what he needed to do. There were some things that were simply not worth hearing.

Old Tao immediately called Lu Yin.

In the Roaming South Realm, Lu Yin lowered his spirit cloudstone. He had gotten a full explanation of what had happened from Old Tao, but Lu Yin could not determine his own reaction to the news. Had he expected this or not?

Old Tao would never lie to Lu Yin, which meant that Yuan Qi definitely knew that Yuan Tu was not his biological son. In that case, why had the old man shown absolutely no reaction when confronted with Sovereign Dou Sheng's question? Yuan Qi should understand that his past was common knowledge and that there was no reason to try to hide anything. His reaction suggested that he was genuinely ignorant of the entire affair.

This perfectly matched with what Zhan Yan had said; Yuan Qi should not know about the infidelity. If he had, the man would have cleaned the mess himself, instead of letting Yuan Hong handle it after leaving for the Tianyuan Megaverse.

Such a matter should have never been given to anyone else to handle.

The contradiction was that, logically, Yuan Qi had to know of the incident, and yet his actions and behavior indicated complete ignorance. It was as if there were two completely distinct and separate manifestations of Yuan Qi’s mind.

Lu Yin was reminded of Ru Mu. She had clearly been the same person, and yet somehow she had seemed like an entirely different individual.

Why did such issues appear so frequently in the Spirit Nidus?

Could it be that this was the result of some sort of method related to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse?

The Nine Heavens Transformation had always been known as the High Seraph’s signature battle technique, but Lu Yin had since learned that he was not the only one capable of using it. It now seemed likely that all of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse’s Lesser Sancti had also mastered it. This suggested that, despite its immense power and high difficulty, the technique might actually be relatively widespread. If that was the case, then Ru Mu’s unusual mental state might likewise be the result of a specific technique.

That explanation made sense. The matter of the Lesser Spirit Megaverse were not significant enough to trouble the High Seraph, and yet he had still used them as an excuse to exile Yuan Qi to the Tianyuan Megaverse. Clearly, the High Seraph had needed a pretense to send Yuan Qi away—one that would also leave Yuan Qi with a stain on his record. The Yuan Qi who had been exiled was the real, ordinary Yuan Qi. The person that the High Seraph actually feared was a different Yuan Qi altogether.

The true Yuan Qi knew nothing about Yuan Tu, but Old Tao had said that the Phantom Reach had confirmed that Yuan Qi was aware of the truth. That must have referred to the other Yuan Qi.

That makes sense.

Still, everything was nothing more than Lu Yin’s speculations. He did not have any definitive knowledge of the situation.

There was another unresolved question; if there really was an alternate mind or consciousness in Yuan Qi, then why had he stayed in the Tianyuan Megaverse for so long? That entity’s goal should be the Spirit Nidus.

On top of that, Yuan Qi had nearly died on multiple occasions throughout the years that Lu Yin had known him, and yet he had never shown any abnormal reactions.

Lu Yin had never noticed anything amiss with Yuan Qi.

After thinking for a while, he called Boundless again. “Send Yuan Qi to the Roaming South Realm.”

Lu Yin’s intention was to see how the High Seraph would react. Normally, he should not react at all, but what if he did?

The Spirit Nidus before him had been shrouded by a thick layer of mist, and Lu Yin’s goal was to gradually blow that mist away to get a clear view of the megaverse.

Things needed to be done one step at a time. Testing Yuan Qi had only examined one hypothesis, and others still needed to be tested.

Lu Yin reached out to the Ark Domain and spoke directly with Zhou Duo.

“Seraph Lu?” There was a heaviness to Zhou Duo’s voice. This was the man’s first time speaking to Lu Yin, as the two had never interacted directly before.

Lu Yin began by asking, “Is the maintenance for the battleships proceeding smoothly?”

In the Ark Domain, Zhou Duo’s expression turned grim. The Ark Domain was no longer under his control, and it was instead being managed by Heavenspire and Seraph Lu. In particular, Lu Yin was brazenly using Heavenspire to control the Ark Domain, though no one knew what the man’s intentions were.

Zhou Duo did not dare to try to go against Seraph Lu, as this was a man who was even more vicious than all of Heavenspire.

"It’s not up to me whether things go smoothly or not."

Lu Yin could hear Zhou Duo’s frustration, but he was not offended by it. "How much longer until the maintenance is finished?"

"How long do you wish it to take, Seraph Lu?"

"Am I allowed to decide?"

Zhou Duo replied, "We are both sensible people. Seraph Lu helped my Ark Domain return to an operational status, and the Ark Domain has noted that favor."

Lu Yin gave a small smile. "Go to the Ascendant Hall and report to the High Seraph that the battleships can leave now."

Zhou Duo was caught off guard. Is he really saying that the expedition can leave as soon as the maintenance is done?

Lu Yin had used Heavenspire to have the Ark Domain recall all battleships for them to undergo maintenance. Because of this, Zhou Duo had expected things to be delayed for a long time. He had been growing increasingly frustrated, especially since the Ascendant Hall was pressuring him to hurry up. To be done so soon was highly unexpected.

"We can leave now?"

"Now."

"Very well." Zhou Duo said nothing further. His Ark Domain was under someone else's thumb, which meant that all he could do was keep things going, provided that things were not disrupted too excessively. Certain people would undoubtedly disappear, but he just needed to wait patiently.

Zhou Duo soon called Lu Yin back. "The High Seraph has agreed to launch the expedition. The roster for the expedition to the Consciousness Megaverse will be finalized shortly."

Lu Yin frowned. Could he have guessed wrong?

The High Seraph had never attacked Lu Yin. He had initially believed that this restraint was because of his knowledge of the Lesser Spirit Megaverse, but he had gradually realized that that was not the case. The High Seraph had claimed to have held back because of his orders from Master Qing Cao, but Lu Yin could not fully trust that answer either.

He could not help but wonder if the High Seraph was holding back because of something that Lu Yin was doing.

It was already strange that a foreigner like Lu Yin would be allowed to become a Seraph. The High Seraph had also not been the slightest bit surprised that Lu Yin had been able to see the strange scene during the Day of Offering. Most importantly of all, the High Seraph was actively undermining Yue Ya.

If the High Seraph had only held back from attacking Lu Yin because of Master Qing Cao’s orders, then the man should have never protected Lu Yin from Yue Ya’s efforts.

The High Seraph’s undermining of Yue Ya had allowed Lu Yin to realize that the High Seraph undoubtedly had some scheme that involved him. When Lu Yin also considered the wall of karma, the inverted funnels, and other such matters, he could not make sense of what the High Seraph’s true goals might be.

That was why Lu Yin had used Zhou Duo to test the High Seraph. If the High Seraph really was trying to accomplish some greater goal with Lu Yin, then there would be no rush to go to the Consciousness Megaverse. The High Seraph would want to wait for Lu Yin to first complete something. The fact that there was no delay made Lu Yin question his earlier speculation.

Leaving for the Consciousness Megaverse at this moment was completely out of the question. Regardless of what the High Seraph might be planning, Lu Yin needed to focus on improving his mastery of his Karmic Dao.

He called Lan.

“I’ve found a few more parallel universes where conscients are hiding.”

Lan’s voice returned, “What’s your price?”

“Spirit seeds.”

“How many?”

“30 trillion.”

“Are you insane? You want 30 trillion spirit seeds just for a few conscients? Do you understand what you are asking for?”

Lu Yin sneered. “I’ve been to the Daquan Domain’s Chamber of Commerce. Right now, conscients are being sold like hotcakes all across the Spirit Nidus. All of the major powers are digging into their reserves. You think that 30 trillion is a lot? How many do you have on that tree at the Ascendant Hall alone? If I’m asking for too much, just give me the tree.”

“Seraph Lu, let me remind you: you are also a Seraph,” Lan retorted in a low voice.

Lu Yin responded lazily, “Hmm? What did I just say? Ah well, I seem to have forgotten. So muddleheaded.”

“You!”

“Oh, right, I just remembered something else: another of the Thirteen Luminaries might still be hiding here.”

Lan was shaken. “Another of the Thirteen Luminaries?!”

No matter how many ordinary conscients there might be, they could never pose as much of a threat as one of the Thirteen Luminaries. The Ark Domain had just reported that the maintenance on the battleships was finished and that the expedition could depart at any time. Lan’s people were still compiling the final roster, but if the expedition left while one of the Thirteen Luminaries was still hiding in the Spirit Nidus, the damage caused would be catastrophic, even if they left experts capable of dealing with the matter behind.

This was completely unacceptable.

Reluctantly, Lan softened her tone, “At best, I can give you 10 trillion spirit seeds.”

“30 trillion. This isn’t a negotiation,” Lu Yin replied curtly.

As the administrator of the Ascendant Hall, Lan had always been treated with great respect by even the Seven Seraphs. When had she ever been forced to haggle? There was a time when she had not cared about spirit seeds at all, and she had even thought that they were part of her forgotten distant past. She had never anticipated such a turn of events.

Eventually, she agreed.

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