Star Odyssey

Wei Rong said, "Yes, exactly that—the unexpected. That is everything. It is the greatest challenge to anyone who seeks to plan and control everything. No one can truly grasp that concept, and the more capable a person is at controlling the situation, the more they will lose it.

"That is just how life is. What one gains and what one loses are actually the same. It is simply that some people can only see what they gain and not what they lose, while others see only what they lose and not what they gain.

"Wang Wen can scheme across vast eons and keep every single step within his control, which is truly remarkable. However, he was never able to predict your appearance, Lord Lu. You are the unexpected.

"Throughout a mortal's century-long life, there are always things that do not go as they wish. Those things are unexpected precisely because they are not within their grasp or control. Everyone hopes for a smooth life, to simply drift downstream while taking in all the scenery along the way before arriving at their destination. However, they fail to realize that accidents will always happen along the journey. That is what life is.

"Wang Wen's plots control the fate of entire civilizations, but civilizations are vast. They can be destroyed, but they can never truly be controlled. The unexpected will always appear.

"If you want to defeat Wang Wen, you must also rely on the unexpected."

Lu Yin stared at Wei Rong. "But how can we obtain the unexpected?"

Wei Rong's expression grew deeper. "What do you plan to do next, Lord Lu?"

Lu Yin thought about it. Do next? He had many things to do. He needed to study the changes in his innate gift, and understand his own power perfectly. He needed to comprehend karma, take control of Manifest City, send a clone to the Death Megaverse, and more. He had far too many things to do.

"Which of those matters is connected to Wang Wen?" Wei Rong continued, "While these matters might not actually be important, if you want to obtain the unexpected on your own initiative, then you need to do the opposite of what is expected.

"This is the only way, because only the unexpected can never be controlled by another."

Lu Yin pondered for a moment, suddenly thought of something, and his gaze trembled. It can’t be...

Could there really be a connection?

He stood up and stared in the direction of Manifest City. The recent war had involved the Death Megaverse, the Divine Realm, the Plume Immortals, the Mudwater Dominion, and Obscura. However, there was one matter that remained very odd, though it had no connection to any of those participants. Wang Wen had appeared in Joy City.

Why?

Previously, Lu Yin had believed that his visit had been to contact Death's Dominion through Joy City, but what if that was not Wang Wen’s purpose? If that were true, then it was hard to explain his sudden appearance in Joy City. That would mean that he had done something unnecessary.

What was the meaning of that extra move? Had it been to lay preparations for a possible future war with the Death Megaverse? To bring Lu Yin’s own karmic chain to completion? Was that possible? Could Wang Wen have really calculated that far ahead? The man’s schemes should have culminated with Gao Tian’s appearance.

How would Wang Wen benefit from a war being fought between Joy City and Void Mountain? Was Wang Wen targeting You Che?

You Che, Manifest City, my own breakthrough... Lu Yin's eyes flickered. He thought for a long time while silently staring off into the distance.

Wei Rong was in no hurry at all. His thoughts were based solely on his own knowledge, while Lu Yin possessed far broader knowledge.

A long time passed. Long Xi refilled the tea three times before Lu Yin finally came back to his senses.

Regardless of whether his guess was right or wrong, there was no rush when it came to Manifest City.

With Lu Yin present to hold the line, their human civilization was not in danger for the time being. This was their safest time.

"Wei Rong?"

"Your subordinate is here."

Lu Yin stared at the man. "No matter what happens, I want you to stay alive."

Wei Rong trembled, and he looked at Lu Yin in confusion.

Lu Yin met his gaze. "Remember this. I will say it again: no matter what happens, I want you to stay alive."

Wei Rong took a deep breath, looked away, and stood up. After stepping back several paces, he bowed low to Lu Yin. "Your subordinate will remember."

***

In the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, the Mother Tree had collapsed. Ruined walls and debris could be found everywhere, along with shattered planets. The cultivators here were much quieter than in the past.

Every river was stained red with blood.

At the Nine Layered Blood Tower, two figures appeared: Awe Gate and Qing Yun.

"Mother, your injuries aren’t healed yet. You need to rest and recover." Qing Yun worried over her mother, but Awe Gate waved a hand and continued walking into the shattered tower. She had not visited this place since the war’s end. She had paid her respects and then immediately gone to the Mirari Realm to recuperate. After that, she had focused on matters at the Frightened Sparrow Terrace. Only now did she have time to grieve.

Like the Frightened Sparrow Terrace, the tower had once stood in the Mother Tree’s canopy, though both had fallen into disrepair during the war.

There were many people in the Nine Layered Blood Tower, all of them disciples, followers, or juniors of Greater Sancte Blood Tower.

When Awe Gate arrived, everyone hurried to bow to her.

Her expression grew conflicted as she looked around. Many fragments of the shattered Blood Blade had been gathered on the ground nearby. People wanted to piece the weapon back together in order to bury it with Blood Tower.

Qing Yun watched, mourning.

Only a long time later did Awe Gate leave. Her next destination was the Rift of Suffering.

After Awe Gate and the others left, Master Qing Cao also arrived, accompanied by Qing Xing.

The Dukkhan now knew that Master Qing Cao was Greater Sancte Mi Jin, but Qing Xing could not untangle his own feelings. He had long since believed Mi Jin to be dead. Disheartened, he had found it difficult to overcome his mental state and had believed that he would never break through ever again. Later, as Lu Yin had risen to power, it had gradually come to light that Mi Jin’s death was connected to Master Qing Cao. That had led Qing Xing to hate Master Qing Cao, and he had even once considered dragging the Immortal to a mutual death.

But Qing Xing had never been able to make a move, and he was now learning that the Master Qing Cao that he had hated was actually his own master, Greater Sancte Mi Jin. The twisting, tortuous feelings nearly left the man unable to recover.

All of Blood Tower’s disciples and followers bowed to Master Qing Cao. Some addressed him as Master Qing Cao while others addressed him as Greater Sancte Mi Jin.

The man himself looked around. He wanted to say something but ended up saying nothing. Lu Yin had already said everything that needed to be said.

This was a fact of war; anyone could die.

Qing Cao had also believed his death to be a certainty. He had even imagined a final farewell via the most humiliating of deaths. Instead, Blood Tower had been the one to go ahead.

Immortality... How could there ever be true immortality? The transformation of life was only a transformation of the flesh. That was not enough to change the fact that the cosmos was filled with conflict and death.

After Master Qing Cao left, Lu Yin arrived.

Since the war’s end, people had continuously stopped by to visit the Nine Layered Blood Tower, as well as places like the Rift of Suffering.

Lu Yin stood before the broken tower for a while, also silent. Eventually, he left as well.

After that, he encountered Master Qing Cao at the Rift of Suffering.

"Awe Gate also just stopped by. She does not seem to want to see me very much," Master Qing Cao commented in an emotional tone.

Lu Yin replied, "That’s to be expected. She hated Master Qing Cao for so many years, only to finally learn that Master Qing Cao is actually Greater Sancte Mi Jin. And since she took Mi Jin’s cultivated spirit seed, anyone would feel awkward in her position."

Master Qing Cao gave a bitter smile. "That is true."

After looking back at Ku Deng's gravestone again, Lu Yin bowed and left.

Next, he intended to visit the people from the Starfall Megaverse and pay his respects to Chen Jian.

As for Ba Yue, Lu Yin had already had someone escort He Xiao on his final journey. Since Ba Yue had not been able to let go of her emotions, he might as well accompany her.

After the war, memorial rites had been performed on behalf of Lord Lu, but at this moment, Lu Yin was personally paying his respects individually.

Some of these people had been his seniors, some had been comrades-in-arms, and others his friends. He wanted to visit all of them one by one, to see them and let them see him as well.

He went to the Voidforce Universe to visit the Voidlord. Xu Wuwei accompanied him, and there, Lu Yin also encountered Wu Tian, who was mourning the loss of a close friend.

He went to the Lost Clan’s universe to visit Grand Elder Shan Gu. That old man had helped Lu Yin again and again, and yet Lu Yin had never been able to fulfill his own promise to Shan Gu. Even at the moment of his death, he had never been able to return to his homeland.

Lu Yin visited Ye Wu, Dan Jin, and each powerhouse who had died in the war. He recalled scene after scene of the times that he had spent with them.

The feelings were bitter and tangled.

He visited Wang Xiaoyu. At her grave, Progenitor Chen had erected a wooden hut, where he kept a silent vigil.

Raindrops gently pattered on the ground. The endless rain blurred the world in the distance.

Progenitor Chen was not as grief-stricken as Lu Yin had expected. On the contrary, the man seemed to be very much at peace.

"All along, I knew that this would be the end. I spent my years in Burial Garden accepting reality. All this time, what I was truly pursuing was simply this, where even if she died, she would at least be buried by my side. That is enough," Progenitor Chen spoke slowly while stroking Wang Xiaoyu's gravestone.

Lu Yin stared at Progenitor Chen's missing right arm. "Senior, your injury should be treated."

Progenitor Chen shook his head. "There is no rush."

His arm had been severed by Hong Xia. Lu Yin had already committed that grudge to memory.

He did not disturb Progenitor Chen any further and simply left.

He was in the Neoverse, as Progenitor Chen was in the pocket dimension that could be accessed through the meteorite. Flowers bloomed everywhere in that place, and the rain was endless. Rivers wound through the land. This was the place where Lu Yin had learned Inverse Step, and it was also the place where Progenitor Chen and Wang Xiaoyu had once pledged themselves to each other.

Lu Yin had thought that this pocket dimension would have been destroyed, but unexpectedly, Progenitor Chen had restored the place.

The next stop was Whitecloud, to meet Jiang Feng.

"Uncle Jiang, what’s going on?" Lu Yin asked in surprise. He had come to Whitecloud to talk with Jiang Feng, only to discover that the man’s aura was steadily weakening. He had already fallen from the Immortal realm.

Jiang Feng smiled. "It’s nothing much. I just intend to walk the path again."

Lu Yin was stunned. "Walk the path again?"

Jiang Feng sighed. "This war made me realize that I have too many shortcomings. Taking a shortcut is like walking across a frozen river. You never know when the ice might crack beneath your feet and send you into the river. Once you fall in, you may never come back out.

"I want to walk the path to Immortality again."

Lu Yin exclaimed in admiration, "Uncle Jiang, your courage is truly deserving of respect."

Not everyone had the courage to walk such a path a second time. It took similar courage to what Lu Yin had needed to bring his karmic chain close to completion. For one of the two, he might not be able to reach the end of his path, while the other might never be able to take action again.

Jiang Feng was very open-hearted. If he said that he would walk his path again, then he would do exactly that.

In truth, it had been perfectly natural for him to break into Immortality by taking that shortcut, but Sancte Green Lotus had once told Lu Yin that, if Jiang Feng ever encountered a problem of his heart, he might fall back. Jiang Feng wanted to use his mental state to rewalk the path to the Immortal realm in order to eliminate every possible flaw within himself.

"Little Seven, come eat. Your aunt specially made stir-fried tomatoes and eggs for you today."

"What about the braised dishes from Old Liu's family?"

"There has been no Old Liu family for quite some time. How many years has it been now? These are from Old Wang's family."

Several days later, Lu Yin arrived outside Manifest City.

The Immortal stone monster hurriedly bowed. "Lord Lu."

Whenever it looked at Lu Yin, its heart trembled with fear. Lu Yin's wrist was especially frightening, as everyone could see his karmic chain. It was truly a horrifying sight.

How long had it been since his breakthrough, and yet his karmic chain was already nearing completion! How many Immortals must he have killed to accomplish that? What a monster.

Lu Yin entered Manifest City. There, he concealed his appearance and went to find Tuo Lin and Hui Can.

"Master?" Tuo Lin exclaimed in delight.

Lu Yin smiled and nodded. Inside Manifest City, he was now himself. He would not transform into another form anymore.

"Master, are you here to take control of Manifest City?" Tuo Lin asked.

Lu Yin shook his head. "Not for now. Tuo Lin, since you can see everyone's characters, I should tell you that this is the Heartbond Nonduality."

"The Heartbond Nonduality?"

"It was the invincible technique of the Fifth Rampart during the Nine Ramparts era."

"Master, are you going to cultivate it?"

"This is not my opportunity, but yours."

"Mine?"

"Look at these characters, and I believe that you will definitely be able to master it. Stay here in Manifest City."

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