Star Odyssey

Chapter 3246: A Terrifying Speculation

The universe’s boundary could not be seen with the naked eye. The universe looked the same as ever, dark and endless. Only upon approaching would one be able to touch the boundary.

The boundary stretched endlessly into the distance. Lu Yin, riding on the Megalith, moved away from the stone gate in one direction, only to discover that, no matter how far he went, the boundary never ended.

Garan Zhiluo sent a message from the other direction, sharing that the boundary continued on in her direction as well.

Some time later, they reunited at the stone gate.

"The boundary is as unbreakable as the stone gate," Garan Zhiluo said.

Lu Yin's expression darkened. "This isn't the end of this universe. There are countless parallel universes, some big, some small, but regardless of their size, none of them have a solid boundary. All of them can be torn apart to access other parallel universes. But this boundary is different. It's like-"

"A wall," Jiang Feng interrupted. He had not explored the area, as he had been standing guard at the stone gate to ensure that Tian Ci did not return.

"Uncle Jiang, what are you thinking?" Lu Yin asked.

Jiang Feng exhaled and said, "That butterfly, Tian En, invited me to join the Boundary Guardians. At the time, I asked her about the Boundary Guardians’ duties. I asked her what distinguished one megaverse from another. How was one to tell if something belonged to another megaverse?"

“Tian En responded with four words, ‘The aura is different.’

"The aura wouldn’t be different if there wasn’t a barrier of some kind. There must be something separating the megaverses, and that separation is solid, like a wall—an astral wall."

Garan Zhiluo looked over at the stone gate again. "This is where Tian Ci always stayed. The Boundary Guardians are responsible for four different regions of the megaverse, which implies that there are boundaries in all directions that isolate our megaverse from the outside ones.

"This means that our megaverse is finite."

Lu Yin’s mind lit up with a moment of insight, and he blurted out, "That's why Aeternus wants to break the sequence strings!"

He looked at Jiang Feng and Garan Zhiluo. "The megaverse is an incredibly precise thing, for those who belong to it. It's exact, right down to the specks of dust, or even to the individual atoms. Our megaverse consists of countless parallel universes, all connected by sequence string, which stabilizes the megaverse.

"When a sequence string is broken, the connected universes are all thrown into chaos. What will happen to the megaverse if all the sequence strings are broken?"

Garan Zhiluo's face fell. "Disaster."

"It would be a disaster for all species," Jiang Feng added.

Mu Ji had already told Lu Yin that Aeternus wanted to destroy parallel universes by breaking sequence strings. Each string that was broken would destroy countless universes. The point of this destruction was to gain control of the megaverse. This was why Whitecloud City had acted to stop Aeternus, and it was also why the Immemorial Citadel had become the largest battlefield in the war against Aeternus; it was where all of the sequence strings intersected.

It was only at this moment that Lu Yin realized that the Aeternals’ purpose was not as simple as they had initially believed.

If the sequence strings were all broken, then not just the parallel universes would be destroyed. Rather, it would be the entire megaverse.

It was like boiling a pot of water. As the steam built up, if there was no way to vent the building pressure, the pot would explode. If there was some form of vent, then the pressurized steam would be able to dissipate. Regardless, adding more and more energy to a fixed area would only lead to the destruction of that area.

Eventually, all the water would disappear from the pot.

The megaverse’s parallel universes and all the creatures living in them were the water inside the sealed pot of the megaverse, and Aeternus was constantly breaking sequence strings, which was essentially raising the temperature.

Jiang Feng’s expression looked grim. "I thought that the Aeternals only wanted to destroy parallel universes in order to crush humanity. I never even considered that they would actually want to destroy the entire megaverse.

"If this is true, then what will happen to them?"

"Reset," Lu Yin replied.

Jiang Feng’s eyes flickered, but he said nothing.

No one could actually destroy the megaverse. If the destruction of parallel universes increased the ambient energy of the megaverse and caused it to collapse, then the megaverse would collapse entirely, returning to the singularity from which it had been born. That would result in another Big Bang, which would create a new megaverse. Essentially, the megaverse would reset.

Everything that existed in the entire megaverse would utterly vanish, and evolution would begin anew.

As for Aeternus...

Lu Yin looked at the stone gate. The Aeternals could escape and go to Tian Ci’s megaverse.

If Lu Yin’s speculations were correct, then this was also the explanation why people had not yet arrived from Tian Ci's megaverse; they were waiting for the megaverse to reset. They intended to live in the new megaverse, or perhaps, there was something that they wanted from a new megaverse.

Lu Yin thought back to Ancient God and Lu Yuan’s breakthroughs to the Origin realm, and then he considered an even more terrifying possibility.

Could the people from Tian Ci's megaverse and the Aeternals want to use the resetting of the megaverse to breathe in the Breath of the Origin so that all of them could become Ortusers?

That would be madness.

True God was already a Dukkhan, so his goal might be to reach Immortality.

As for Tian Ci and the people of his megaverse, they must have been preparing for a very long time and must already have an entire group of sequence powerhouses who were ready to step into the Origin realm.

If they succeed and all of them became Ortusers, then what would happen?

Not to mention the current Heavens Sect—even if the modern sect were to combine with its ancient self at humanity’s peak, it would be impossible to defeat such an enemy.

The people from Tian Ci’s megaverse would become the true rulers of Lu Yin’s megaverse.

He kept thinking about what True God had said, and how the man had mentioned that it was impossible to enter the Immortal realm in the current megaverse. Was this the situation that Yong Heng had been referring to? Was it only possible to reach immortality by resetting the megaverse?

Countless possibilities instantly ran through Lu Yin’s mind. The fog that had clouded his vision was cleared, and he caught a glimpse of the truth.

He suddenly remembered something Mister Mu had mentioned: Murkiness.

When the Aeternals had contaminated the Origin Universe with Time Poison, everyone had assumed that that was the end of Aeternals’ plan codenamed Murkiness, and even Mister Mu had agreed. However, was that really the case?

Even the Seven Skygods had believed that to be the end of Murkiness.

For a moment, Lu Yin rejected everything that he had assumed, and he felt as though he was seeing through to the truth of Aeternus’s plans.

If his speculations were correct, then what roles did certain people have in the grand scheme of things? Wei Nu, Progenitor Xi, Ancient God, and even the blood-red figure that had appeared after Tian Fa's death—what roles did all of them play?

In particular, that blood-red figure. If that person endorsed this plan, then it suggested that the individual was not yet an Immortal.

Immortality was likely not only Yong Heng’s goal, but also that blood-red figure’s ambition.

But such methods were simply too cruel. Were they really going to sacrifice an entire megaverse to achieve their ambitions?

As for Tian Ci and his people, this was most likely a dream come true, as their megaverse would not be the one that was sacrificed.

All of the Boundary Guardians’ talk of keeping out beings from outside megaverses and keeping humanity from becoming uncontrollable was nothing but lies. The Origin Progenitor would never allow such a thing to happen, which was why he had locked down all the sequence strings. During the Heavens Sect era, humanity must have been the greatest obstacle to this plan, and allowing beings from other megaverses to visit also had the potential to create obstacles.

This was the true goal.

Lu Yin looked at Jiang Feng and Garan Zhiluo. Had they also come to the same conclusion?

"Tian Ci has already escaped. Before we understand how to open this stone gate, I'll remain here to stand guard. You two should go back," Jiang Feng said.

Lu Yin was worried. "Uncle Jiang, if this gate opens and powerful enemies enter from another megaverse, just escape if you can't win. This isn't your burden alone to bear."

Jiang Feng laughed. "Don't worry. Are you afraid that I'll fight to the death? I'm not a battle freak."

"I'll come to relieve you at times," Garan Zhiluo offered.

Jiang Feng shook his head. "There’s no need for that. Time is no longer that important to people like us. If I stay here at the edge of the megaverse, maybe I’ll be able to gain some insight and break through to the Origin realm. Go back."

Lu Yin and Garan Zhiluo left. Returning was simple; they just needed to tear through the void.

The Lord of Lightning was strong enough that, even if enemies from an outsider megaverse appeared, he should not be in too much danger, as long as he did not try to fight them to the death.

At the moment, the most important thing was for Lu Yin to confirm his suspicions.

He hoped to learn that his guesses were wrong, but if not, then humanity's enemies were not just Aeternus and the people from Tian Ci's megaverse. There were ancient monsters hidden in the megaverse, and those creatures likely did not care about human life at all. Their sole concern was their own breakthroughs.

Immortality held the greatest temptation for everyone.

After returning to the Heavens Sect, Lu Yin saw Xu Wuji, who had been waiting the entire time.

Lu Yin shook his head. "He escaped."

Xu Wuji sighed helplessly and left, looking quite dejected.

"He'll definitely come back, and when he does, we’ll have an opportunity," Lu Yin continued.

Xu Wuji stopped and turned around to offer a deep bow to Lu Yin. "Thank you, Lord Lu."

After Xu Wuji left, Lu Yin sat down and collected his thoughts once again.

What sort of grand scheme were they facing? This was a plan that had been in the works since the Heavens Sect era. If not for the Immemorial Citadel, the game would have ended long ago.

Zhao Ran delivered tea for Lu Yin.

He inhaled the fragrance and then took a sip. He relaxed a great deal.

A person could not constantly be tense. The more urgent the situation, the more important it was to relax the mind.

Lu Yin was eager to discover if his suspicions were accurate, but he could not rush in his eagerness.

His attention turned to the bottom of the mountain, where there was a courtyard that was completely filled with books. That was Tuo Lin's home.

Well, it was no longer just Tuo Lin’s, as Xiao Can had moved in as well.

"Bring Xiao Can to see me," Lu Yin calmly stated.

The Second Nightking bowed and left.

Xiao Can was quickly delivered by the Second Nightking.

When the man saw Lu Yin, Xiao Can grew excited and immediately knelt. "Your disciple greets you, Master."

Lu Yin looked at Xiao Can and gave him a slight smile. "Stand up."

"Yes, Master." Xiao Can kept referring to Lu Yin as master, afraid that Lu Yin might decide to not accept the other man as a disciple. After all, there had been no formal ceremony.

Lu Yin studied Xiao Can, making the man nervous. He only briefly met Lu Yin’s gaze before ducking his head.

"Have you met Tuo Lin?" Lu Yin asked.

Xiao Can nodded, and showed a great deal of admiration. "Senior Brother is so dedicated! He’s never satisfied, even after reading all those books. I need to learn from him."

"I lied to him," Lu Yin stated.

Xiao Can was shocked.

Lu Yin met the man’s eyes. "He was born incapable of cultivating, so I lied to him. You should be aware of that."

Xiao Can’s head dropped again. He said nothing.

"It’s possible that I lied to you as well," Lu Yin continued.

Xiao Can’s heart dropped, and he sank to his knees once more. "Master, did I do something wrong? Please don't abandon me, Master..."

Lu Yin raised a hand to cut Xiao Can off. "What do you think of Tuo Lin?"

Xiao Can lowered his head to stare at the ground. His mind was in turmoil, and he had no idea how he should respond.

"Just answer honestly."

"Your disciple feels that, while my senior brother may be foolish, he also possesses an admirable kind of persistence."

Lu Yin chuckled. "But he will never be able to cultivate, so his life will soon run out."

"I am willing to serve my senior brother until his end," Xiao Can quickly stated.

Lu Yin shook his head. "Stand up. I never said that I was abandoning you."

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