Star Odyssey

Chapter 3847: Word Manifestation

A line of karma that was only visible to Lu Yin appeared between the dark-gold streams that were darting about the universe and Lu Yin’s own threads of consciousness. That line of karma gradually transformed into a dark-gold light; this was the new result. By forcing a return to the original process, the original result was no longer the final result, as things returned to the original process.

A karmic loop had been established.

The threads of consciousness moved with the additional dark gold-light entangled with more dark-gold streams that were darting about. Searing beams could suddenly be seen streaking across the universe.

Each of the blazing beams was a fusion of manifested thought and consciousness.

Yue Ya let out a shrill scream, “How can this be? My manifested thought is diminishing!

“My manifested thought... so much of it is gone now! Lu Yin, what did you do?

“You can’t possibly do this! Lu Yin, give me back my manifested thought! My manifested thought... my manifested thought...”

There were fewer and fewer of Yue Ya’s cries as time passed. His voices were no longer omnipresent, and they grew increasingly scattered before finally vanishing entirely.

Lu Yin stared off into the distance as the fusion of consciousness and manifested thought descended to the landmass in his inner universe. The universe itself fell silent.

Then, beams of light suddenly rose up and ascended into the dark sky of the universe. These lights had appeared after Lu Yin’s consciousness fused with the manifested thought, and they all moved towards the star of consciousness.

That star then began to transform. It had already grown even larger than the star of divine energy, which made it the largest star in Lu Yin’s inner universe. At this moment, it expanded once more until it was like a giant sitting in the universe. It blazed so brightly that not even the Investiture of the Gods could overwhelm it.

The nature of the transformation taking place was ineffable. Beneath Lu Yin’s Karmic Dao, the gentle glow of the star of consciousness seemed to be warping space. However, it was not actually space that was being twisted, but karma.

This seemed to be a power that was capable of resisting karma.

Lu Yin stared at the rotating star of consciousness, momentarily entranced.

As he stood there, Liu Li approached him from the distance.

Lu Yin retracted his inner universe, and everything became peaceful again. He looked over at Liu Li, and after a moment, decided to extend his consciousness towards her. The star of consciousness started to spin.

Liu Li was hesitating over whether she should approach Lu Yin. While her nervousness had faded, she knew that Lu Yin had been the source of her unease. She still wanted to persuade him to join the Sixth Night Pillar, as his presence would greatly improve their chances of conquering the newly discovered foreign megaverse.

Still, she was incredibly wary of Lu Yin after what she had just felt.

If the Sixth Night Pillar was not so understaffed, and she was not so unwilling to abandon it, she would have already left the Nine Odysseys.

While the Nine Odysseys usually enjoyed peace, unlike the constant strife that the Temporal Heavens saw, the Nine Odysseys saw a notoriously high casualty rate during their expeditions to destroy foreign megaverses.

“Come.” A voice suddenly entered Liu Li’s ear. It was Lu Yin’s.

It was only a single word, which was not exactly polite. It carried the tone of someone summoning their subordinate.

The moment she heard the word, Liu Li instinctively felt offended. However, strangely enough, that feeling immediately vanished and was replaced by a sense of acceptance. It was as though whoever had spoken that word genuinely had the right to summon and order her about.

She moved closer to Lu Yin without any hesitation, arriving quickly.

“Mr. Lu, was that just...?” She wanted to know if Lu Yin really had just fought against Yue Ya.

Lu Yin looked at her. “Are you afraid of death?”

Liu Li was taken aback. “What do you mean, Mr. Lu?”

“I think that you’re afraid of dying,” Lu Yin stated bluntly.

Liu Li opened her mouth, instinctively feeling that she should be angry with the comment. Yet for some reason, she could not summon any anger. In fact, she felt that what Lu Yin said made sense. She was afraid of death, and there was no denying that fear. Without thinking any further, she answered, “Yes.”

Lu Yin frowned. “You’re not upset?”

“You merely spoke the truth, Mr. Lu. Why would I be upset?”

Lu Yin shook his head. “Foolish.”

Liu Li showed a bitter smile. “Yes, I am very foolish. Given how many years I’ve spent guarding the Sixth Night Pillar, there is no one more foolish than I.”

Lu Yin stared at the woman. No matter what he said, she accepted it. Was this the power of Word Manifestation?

“You came here to see me?”

Liu Li composed herself. “On behalf of the Sixth Night Pillar, I still want to ask you to stay.”

“We’ll talk about that later. Can you allow the Fifth Night Pillar to join the expedition?” Lu Yin asked. This time, he was enveloping Liu Li with his consciousness.

The woman sighed. “As I’ve already told you, Mr. Lu, there is old hatred between the Sixth and Fifth Night Pillars. Xian Tong has already approached me with this same request, and I refused. After all, the Sixth Night Pillar is not mine alone. I hope that you can understand.”

Lu Yin then surrounded Liu Li with his consciousness again and repeated, “Can you allow the Fifth Night Pillar to join the expedition?”

Liu Li stared at Lu Yin. Didn’t he just ask that?

Strangely enough, she suddenly felt that his request was actually possible, and she quickly agreed. “I will find a way to allow the Fifth Night Pillar to join.”

Lu Yin looked away and slowly exhaled. “Thank you.”

He retracted his consciousness.

Liu Li grew incredibly confused. Why had she just agreed to his request? It made no sense. She found her response bizarre, yet she never suspected Lu Yin of doing anything. She was certain that she had not been controlled, so what had happened?

She left, going to find a solution. She would not allow the Fifth Night Pillar to join the expedition, but she needed to find a way to avoid it while also not upsetting Lu Yin.

After all, she had just agreed to Lu Yin’s request.

After Lu Yin retracted his consciousness, Liu Li’s thoughts had returned to normal. That was precisely why she did not believe that she had been controlled; she had only agreed for an instant. The moment after she agreed, she had already started considering how she would reject the request. It did not make sense for her to have been controlled to merely gain a momentary verbal promise.

Still, there was no denying that her agreement, no matter how brief, was strange.

Lu Yin stared at Liu Li as she left, his expression deeply conflicted. Was this the power of Word Manifestation? No, it was not true Word Manifestation. It was the result of fusing manifested thought and consciousness, and while it was different, it still possessed the power of Word Manifestation.

This was a power that could control the human heart.

Not even a peak Dukkhan like Liu Li could resist this power. So long as Lu Yin continued to envelop her with his consciousness, he could have her do anything.

It was a terrifying power, and even Lu Yin felt afraid of it.

Yue Ya’s ability to control others’ bodies with manifested thought had not frightened Lu Yin. Control and destruction were simply different expressions of strength. However, he was not just able to control a person’s body; rather, he was able to alter their thoughts and perception of the world. This was a fundamentally different power.

He could just imagine that, if he decided to target someone, so long as he kept them shrouded with his consciousness, he could completely control them, and the target would remain totally unaware that anything had changed. That was what was truly horrifying.

Lu Yin immediately understood why the Greater Sancti would never have allowed Yue Ya to obtain the power of Word Manifestation; his mind was inherently twisted. Even if the Immortal expert whose manifested thought had birthed Yue Ya was not resurrected, no one could predict what Yue Ya himself might do with such an ability. After all, Yue Ya had never been human, but was rather a being of manifested thought. His way of thinking was fundamentally different from a human’s.

Yue Ya would have never been allowed to obtain Word Manifestation... but what about Lu Yin?

Greater Sancte Green Lotus had granted him the opportunity to achieve Word Manifestation, but had such power been within the Immortal’s expectations?

When it came to his karmic abilities, Lu Yin had kept his ability to weave karma a secret. At this moment, he felt that Word Manifestation was just as terrifying as weaving karma; both were capable of altering others’ destinies.

Misused, such power could lead to catastrophe.

Even Immortals like the Greater Sancti would be extremely wary of such power.

Lu Yin looked up at the starry sky. Was Greater Sancte Green Lotus still watching him? Had the man already noticed what Lu Yin was capable of doing? And what about Greater Sancte Blood Tower and Awe Gate? Had they also noticed?

If he were in their position, what would Lu Yin do? Could he allow someone to freely use a power that could manipulate the human mind? Something that not even peak Dukkhans could resist?

On top of that, Lu Yin was not even from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

If he were them, he would never allow such a thing.

At that moment, a chill swept over him. Lu Yin felt as if there were three pairs of eyes staring at him.

He was not wrong; those eyes really were focused on him.

Above the Mother Tree’s canopy, Greater Sancte Green Lotus was gazing down at the land from the Sea of Karma. He was focused on the Sixth Night Pillar. He slowly said, “At heart, a person’s life is a battle against their desires. Birth, aging, sickness, death, joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, clothing, food, shelter, travel—everything stems from desire. Only by mastering one’s desires can they hope to truly control their own life.

“Just now, your desire has been amplified unimaginably. You can freely control others’ lives and destinies. Word Manifestation... it is even more terrifying than controlling life and death. What will you do?

“Don’t disappoint me.”

A distant voice spoke “If he cannot suppress his desire and begins to recklessly alter others’ destinies, you cannot blame us for what comes next, Green Lotus.”

Another voice joined in, “I agreed previously because I never expected him to actually succeed. The power of karma truly is wondrous. I accounted for every possibility, aside from karma.

“In truth, karma is already a power that alters destiny that has also touched upon the Immortal realm. All we’ve done is allow him access to another power at the Immortal level. Right now, he can already be considered the fourth Greater Sancte. Not even Dan Jin or any of the others are a match for him.

“That’s been true for a while already. This power was unnecessary for him to surpass them.”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus casually replied, “It’s been a long time since you discussed someone like this.”

“He might soon be sitting with us and discussing someone else.”

“Such praise. Don’t tell me you’ve taken a liking to him. Do you want to make him your son-in-law? No wonder you agreed. Awe Gate, you really do plan ahead.”

“Romance has never been a concern of mine. Still, Qing Yun does need to eventually marry.”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus and Blood Tower both fell silent at the same time.

Lu Yin’s existence carried great significance for the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, as well as to humanity as a whole. The power of karma was far more complex than what outsiders could understand, and that was why Greater Sancte Green Lotus was using the Seven Fairies to pull Lu Yin into the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. Already, Awe Gate was eyeing Lu Yin for Qing Yun.

Blood Tower felt frustrated. If Lu Yin passed his current trial, he would become the fourth Greater Sancti. This was not something that could be ignored. Blood Tower could not wait, and he needed to take action as well. Even if it was impossible to directly recruit Lu Yin, Blood Tower could not fall behind the other two Immortals.

The Sea of Karma fell into silence.

Time meant nothing to Immortals. They could continue watching Lu Yin indefinitely. Ten days, half a month, and then a full month passed, and yet all three continued to sit in the exact same manner, simply observing Lu Yin.

Lu Yin was sitting atop the Sixth Night Pillar, listening in on a conversation between Liu Li and several other members of the Sixth Night Pillar. All she did was ask them once if the Fifth Night Pillar should be allowed to join the expedition, and yet just that simple question provoked a fierce reaction. Every last person furiously condemned the Fifth Night Pillar’s actions, and insults and swearing filled the air.

Liu Li had deliberately asked this question so that Lu Yin would overhear the responses.

Lu Yin could resolve this matter easily enough. All he needed to do was release his consciousness and surround everyone with it. It would be so simple.