Star Odyssey

Chapter 2930: The Fifth Universe

Bi Lan was startled by the ugly expression that had appeared on Bi Teng's face.

She had never imagined that Lu Yin would reach such a shocking status, nor that a single sentence from the young man could forcefully change the Merchant Exchange's position. He had risen so high that the Merchant Exchange felt forced to maintain a smile and never risk offending Lu Yin. At their first meeting, Bi Lan had not even once considered that he would eventually achieve a status where he could completely suppress the Merchant Exchange. She would no longer even consider sitting down with him as an equal.

"The fact that we do not participate in any other forms of business is precisely why so many people trust us. We may have learned a few tightly held secrets, but such things cannot be shared with anyone, as doing so will cause us to lose all credibility." Bi Teng stared at Bi Lan. "As a company, if we lose our credibility, we will lose everything.”

Bi Lan’s voice was bitter. "Of course I understand that, Lord Bi Teng. What do you think we should do?"

Bi Teng's expression grew more and more ugly. He really wanted to refuse Lu Yin's request for information on who had access to parallel universes with different flows of time. If Lu Yin could find such things for himself, then why bother the Merchant Exchange?

However, Bi Teng did not dare to voice such thoughts. While it seemed simple enough to refuse the request, the price that the Merchant Exchange would be forced to pay would be truly steep.

"If Lord Bi Rong emerges from seclusion, no one in the entire Sixverse Association would dare to offend us. We would still have the right to maintain our distance from everyone," Bi Lan muttered to herself. She spoke very softly, but Bi Teng clearly heard every word.

He sighed heavily. "True, it would indeed be wonderful if Lord Bi Rong came out of seclusion."

"By the way, Sir, we can also ask for help from Whitecloud City. The Lord of Lightning is a close friend of Lord Bi Rong’s. They have experienced life and death together, and he can definitely help us." Bi Lan's eyes lit up as she hopefully suggested an option.

Bi Teng shook his head. "There’s no point in considering that option. Even if we could get in touch with the Lord of Lightning, it might not help. His daughter, Jiang Qingyue, has an unknown relationship with Lu Yin."

Bi Lan was startled. "Really? That happened?"

Bi Teng’s voice grew increasingly bitter. "Jiang Chen, the Lord of Lightning’s son, is a close friend of Lu Yin’s, and the two have even risked their lives together. This is something that many people in the Sixverse Association know about."

Bi Lan was rendered speechless. Just how many friends had Lu Yin made?

Bi Teng felt incredibly frustrated. How could he take the better road?

"Bi Lan, tell Lord Lu about the fifth and seventh universes." After thinking for a long time, Bi Teng softly gave Bi Lan an order.

The woman was not surprised. Aside from this option, they really had no other possibilities to choose from. They could not betray any of the Sixverse Association’s peak powerhouses’ confidence, as doing so would cause the Merchant Exchange to lose all of their clients’ trust.

As for Luo Shan, a homeless dog would not be any problem.

The Monarch and Lord Lu were already enemies, and the Merchant Exchange would not feel any guilt over betraying Luo Shan. On top of that, no one would condemn them for such an action.

Bi Lan did not stay in the Merchant Exchange’s headquarters for very long before returning to the Heavens Sect.

"The fifth universe?" Lu Yin was confused.

Madam Nalan was also present, and she was equally confused. She had never heard of this parallel universe, as she had not been with the Merchant Exchange long enough.

Bi Lan patiently explained, "My Merchant Exchange does not conduct any form of business or trade other than currency exchange. This is not because we do not wish to, but rather because such activities are unnecessary. We can acquire whatever we need on our own, such as finding parallel universes with different rates of time flow.

"The existence of the Space Diablos means that every member of the Merchant Exchange can be regarded as an explorer. Each of us are constantly searching for civilizations throughout the megaverse, and there are times when one is discovered.

"The fifth universe is a parallel universe that we stumbled upon where time flows five times faster than other parallel universes. If you need this, Lord Lu, you can go there whenever you wish for training. No one from the Merchant Exchange will disturb you."

Lu Yin and Madam Nalan glanced at each other.

Madam Nalan smiled. "The fifth universe? Does our Merchant Exchange control that many parallel universes?"

Bi Lan glanced at Madam Nalan, but she understood that this question was really from Lu Yin. "The fifth universe was not given that designation because it was the fifth one found or anything like that, but rather because time flows five times faster there. It’s nothing more than a convenient name that is easy to remember."

Lu Yin felt a bit torn. "What is the price to access this place?"

Bi Lan politely replied, "We are giving you this place for your training, Lord Lu. There is no price for you to pay."

Lu Yin shook his head. "That's not acceptable, as it would simply be taking advantage of you. Since you’re offering a parallel universe, rent it to me and charge me as you see fit."

Bi Lan stood up and offered a deep bow. "Lord Lu, saying this shows that you are staying quite distant from us. When the Merchant Exchange was in trouble, you led the Heavens Sect’s peak powerhouses to our rescue. Those people stand at the peak of mankind, so how can their assistance be purchased with mere star essence? Star essence is a resource that can be bought and traded, whereas you led a number of the Heavens Sect’s Progenitors to save us. My Merchant Exchange remains in your debt.

"A little bit of star essence was nothing more than a token of our gratitude, and it cannot possibly be considered compensation for the assistance you rendered. Bi Teng has always wanted to do something for you, Lord Lu. So now that you are the one in need, the Merchant Exchange can't ask for anything in return. Lord Lu, please don't refuse, as doing so will make us uncomfortable.”

Lu Yin gave her a small smile. This woman was quite good with her words. Despite offering Lu Yin so much star essence for the Heavens Sect’s efforts, Bi Lan was able to pass it off as a minor matter. This was despite the fact that the Merchant Exchange had paid a price steep enough for even them to feel the pinch. On top of that, they had even given Lu Yin an additional gift after the transaction concluded. On top of that, they had given him Bi Rong’s compass. While the Merchant Exchange did not know the item’s purpose, it was something that represented the Merchant Exchange as a whole. To a certain degree, it could be said that the Merchant Exchange was supporting Lu Yin.

The universe was a cruel place, and yet people were emotional creatures.

The better the Merchant Exchange treated Lu Yin, the less he would be able to harm them. When Lu Yin had targeted the Transcendent Universe, he had used the excuse of taking Zi Jing away, but that matter had been planned from the beginning. Going against the Merchant Exchange after their previous interactions would be a true betrayal.

Regardless of the Merchant Exchange’s internal opinion of Lu Yin, his show of respect for them made it difficult for Lu Yin to do anything harmful to the Merchant Exchange.

Lu Yin toyed with his cosmic ring, thinking of Bi Rong's corpse within it. The Merchant Exchange genuinely believed that Bi Rong was in seclusion.

Bi Lan glanced over at Madam Nalan and winked at her.

Madam Nalan stood up and respectfully said, "Dao Monarch, since the Merchant Exchange is being so sincere, please allow them to have their way in this matter."

Lu Yin nodded. "Alright. I'll go check out this fifth universe first."

"Thank you, Lord Lu, for being so understanding," Bi Lan said. The words were like ashes in her mouth. Despite the price they were being forced to pay, the Merchant Exchange still needed to thank Lu Yin.

...

The void twisted, and two people appeared in the middle of outer space.

One was Bi Lan, and of course, the other was Lu Yin.

"Lord Lord, there are no humans in this universe. The only creatures that live here are what we call Pole Nodes. These creatures have the shape of a bamboo pole and lack eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. They may not appear to be sapient, but they have evolved into intelligent creatures, which is quite amazing. They have already started developing the use of tools and have begun to show hints of developing a civilization.

"The creatures are the only intelligent occupants of this universe, and there are at least one trillion of them. If not for the fact that this parallel universe is so small, there would be much, much more of them," Bi Lan explained.

As she spoke, she pointed to a planet up ahead. "That planet is home to many of them"

Lu Yin looked at the forested planet and saw creatures that looked like bamboo poles jumping and leaping about. They truly did lack eyes, ears, mouths, noses, and limbs of any kind, and yet they fought in groups against strange beasts and insects. The creatures communicated with each other through tapping. They were absolutely bizarre lifeforms.

"Without civilization or any form of cultivation, how were they able to spread across this universe? They should not have been able to leave that planet."

Bi Lan replied, "Not all creatures evolve on a planetary environment. While planets can give birth to unique lifeforms, it is also possible for all the planets in a universe to give birth to the same form of life. That way, every planet in the universe will give rise to the same sort of life.

"Actually, such a situation might also be true of humans."

Lu Yin turned to look at Bi Lan in surprise. "Humans?"

Bi Lan’s eyes met Lu Yin’s. "In both the Origin Universe and on countless other planets throughout the Sixverse Association, humans have been born. Is it really possible that the same species could have spread across so many parallel universes and planets from a single origin?"

This question left Lu Yin stumped. It was something that he had never considered before, but once it was brought to his attention, he realized that there really were countless humans throughout the Origin Universe. They were not merely numerous, but rather truly countless. If the Sixverse Association and other parallel universes were taken into account as well, there was no way to even estimate just how many humans were alive.

Humans must have either reproduced and spread across countless parallel universes, or they had to be a standard life form that appeared in the environments of many parallel universes. It seemed possible that, as long as the conditions were appropriate for life, humans would appear in a universe.

If this possibility was compared to the idea of humans spreading across infinite parallel universes, the idea that humans were a standard life form for many universes seemed to be far more likely.

Who could cause humans to spread across so many parallel universes? Who would visit so many universes to ensure that humans were born there?

It was not exactly an impossibility, but it defied imagination.

Still, this was not what Lu Yin needed to focus on at the moment. He watched Bi Lan leave and then descended onto the planet that they had been observing. In front of Lu Yin were the poles. While the creatures had no eyes, they still seemed capable of sensing Lu Yin’s presence. They all stopped moving and turned to face him. Well, they seemed to be facing him, as they moved to block his path.

Before long, he was surrounded.

Lu Yin had a feeling that these poles were regarding him as prey. Just what did these creatures eat?

Just as the thought occurred to Lu Yin, all of the poles surrounding him leaped for him, as though they were going to crush him to death.

Lu Yin's body flickered and vanished.

All of the poles slammed into each other in a confused tangle. What had happened to the creature that they had been chasing?

Noises could be heard as the poles communicated among themselves, but Lu Yin could not be found anywhere.

Lu Yin appeared in outer space and slowly raised a hand. Ripples spread out as he touched the power of space.

This particular universe experienced time five times faster than other parallel universes. How was such a thing possible? The power of time was truly miraculous.

As time passed, Lu Yin's expression slowly changed. What was going on? He was unable to warp space with the same amount of force as normal. The space in this parallel universe was far more robust than in the Origin Universe or any of the Sixverse Association’s universes.

Lu Yin did not believe that he could not succeed, so he continued, using more and more strength as he tested the fabric of the universe.

He peered into the void and looked at the spatial lines, and once he did so, his expression changed yet again.

In this universe, the spatial lines were actually both denser and thicker than what in the Origin Universe. This actually explained why space seemed so much tougher in this parallel universe.

Ever since Lu Yin had first started cultivating, he had experienced various places where space had differing levels of stability. For example, in the Fifth Mainland, the space in the Neoverse and Outerverse were completely different. In one place, one needed to be an Enlighter to tear through the void, while in the other, only the strength of an Explorer was needed.

Even so, the difference in the stability of space in the two different places was not very significant, and for someone with Lu Yin’s strength, such a difference was completely negligible.

Similarly, throughout the Sixverse Association, there were various parallel universes where the stability of space varied, but such fluctuations meant nothing to those at Lu Yin’s level.

However, the parallel universe that Lu Yin was in was completely different, as space was significantly more durable, to the point where even Lu Yin needed to take notice of it.

Lu Yin considered the matter for a bit, his expression growing serious. Five times, almost five times different.

This universe is five times tougher than the Origin Universe.

Again, it’s five times different, just like the flow of time. Could there be a connection?

This can’t be a random coincidence. There must be a reason.

Lu Yin had used the power of space to trigger the formation of his inner world, Lightstream, which granted him the ability to chase time. Thus, he clearly knew that there was an intrinsic connection between space and time.

Lu Yin slowly sat down. He wanted to carefully mull over the implications of what he had discovered, as he felt that he had touched upon a major concept.

...

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