Chapter 4074: A Deadly Threat
Chapter 4074: A Deadly Threat
The karma that Lu Yin had gained from Ancestor Lu Yuan and the others could not even come close to comparing to an Immortal’s.
Only if Lu Yin could restore his Karmic Dao back to full strength would he be able to truly feel secure.
With that, so long as he was within the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm, he could draw upon its power at any time.
However, Greater Sancte Green Lotus’s return caused Lu Yin to feel rather embarrassed about borrowing the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm.
Greater Sancte Green Lotus smiled. “In that case, it’s settled. When you return to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, I’ll give you those seven emotions.”
Warmth blossomed in Lu Yin’s heart. Return? That was accurate. After all, he had also been acknowledged by the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.
...
In a particular parallel universe of the Tianyuan, a line of oddly dressed cultivators traveled through outer space.
Every one of them possessed at least the strength of an Explorer, and they were all chatting and laughing.
Suddenly, a figure flashed by, scattering the group as they shot towards a distant planet.
“Who was that?”
“Senior Brother, it was a woman.”
“I can see her. Come, let’s go take a look.”
Right at that moment, a red streak swept past the cultivators, aiming for the same planet as the woman.
Left behind, the cultivators glanced at each other. “It’s a sword!”
“Red...”
“After it!”
The cultivators quickly landed on the planet. They found it teeming with life; various ferocious species lived there, though with little intelligence.
They soon found the sword and the white-clad woman.
On a prairie, the woman in white wove about, step after step. Her face grew pale as the red sword swept past her again and again. Each pass opened a fresh wound on her body.
The woman cried in a hoarse voice, “I didn’t mean to reveal it! I never said anything at all!”
The red sword flashed by, opening her shoulder and sending her crashing into the ground.
“Why don’t you kill Lu Yin? Why come after me? All I told him was to find the red sword! I said nothing else!”
Another bleeding gash opened up.
She was completely unable to endure the red sword’s attacks, and yet it did not appear to be in any hurry to kill her. It appeared to be tormenting her, or even... toying with her.
“I’ll return to the River of Aeons! I don’t want anything anymore! Just let me go back, please?”
Her back was sliced open by the sword, and her blood stained the ground.
The cultivators watching from the distance fumed. “This is too much! Kill if you must, but not like this! Only a beast would torture someone like this! Junior brothers, with me! Strike down this foe!”
“Go!”
“Kill!”
As the people charged forward, the universe suddenly turned gray. Everything stopped moving: the wind, the grass, the dust, absolutely everything. The only exception was the cultivators themselves, though they creeped along at a speed a hundred times slower than before.
Their eyes slowly looked down, and they stared blankly at their own bodies. How was this possible?
They had thought that it would be easy to chase after the red sword. After all, they had not sensed an overwhelming power from it. If they had, they would have never dared to get involved.
Just what was happening to them?
What they were experiencing surpassed their comprehension.
Had time frozen? They continued to move slowly, but the woman’s speed remained unchanged. The world had turned gray, aside from the flickering white and red colors, as well as the blood that stained the ground.
Nothing seemed capable of halting the battle.
The cultivators’ actions became an absurd joke. They had no way to explain things.
Right at that moment, the woman in white rushed past the group of cultivators, streaking back into outer space.
The red sword sliced through the sky as well before vanishing.
Only after the red sword and the woman were both gone did the world return to normal. The cultivators were unfrozen, completing their delayed movements, which caused them to nearly stumble as they regained control of their bodies.
When they looked back, all of their faces were ashen.
“Remember, don’t speak of this matter to anyone. Keep it buried forever,” the senior brother warned in a low voice.
The others swallowed hard. Even if they had not been warned, none of them would have said anything to anyone. The incident had been far too disturbing.
The woman in white who was fleeing through outer space was Wei Nu.
Ever since she left the Mirari Realm, she had been pursued by the red sword. No matter where she fled throughout the various universes, there was no refuge. She was not even able to return to the Mirari Realm.
There was no doubt that the sword was capable of simply killing her, and yet it instead chose to slowly torment her.
Everything had started after she mentioned the red sword to Lu Yin.
Wei Nu knew too much.
“I won’t talk! I won’t say anything! I can be of use if you keep me! I can help you deal with Lu Yin! I can help you keep watch on him.”
The red sword suddenly darted forward, piercing Wei Nu’s neck and then instantly vanishing.
Still standing in the same place, Wei Nu stared out at the stars in a daze as her vision faded.
Her life flashed before her eyes. She had been a ferryman of the River of Aeons. Her schemes had sent Destiny into the Mirari Realm’s forbidden regions and had later led to her splitting off clones, all in order to break free of the River of Aeons and enter the Immortal realm. Wei Nu had not wanted to remain a ferryman forever.
Despite that, at the moment, all she wanted was to return. She wanted to go back to the River of Aeons where she could live without worries.
She missed her boat, but it now belonged to Zhao Ran.
Wei Nu had broken free from the River of Aeons, only to also break free from her own life.
The moment that Zhao Ran picked up the oar, Wei Nu had lost all value.
It was only while dying that she realized that she had only been allowed to live because the River of Aeons needed a ferryman. The truth of the matter was that Wei Nu could have been killed the moment that Zhao Ran had taken over as the ferryman.
That was because Wei Nu knew too much.
In her last moments, the person that she longed to see the most was Zhao Ran. Given another chance, Wei Nu wanted to hold her oar again.
She could sing, quite beautifully at that.
Zhao Ran was clearly only a clone, and yet she was more valuable than the original herself... Just a clone...
Why... is it like this?
Her eyes closed, and the universe descended into darkness.
When a person died, does the universe continue?
The universe exists for an individual, so when that individual died, everything becomes nothing...
Suddenly, her eyes snapped back open, but they looked completely different. They were unfamiliar and also appeared to be a bit dazed.
She touched her neck. “So a fatal wound was received here... How foolish. You split off clones that became more valuable than you. As soon as a clone surpassed you, the greater your knowledge, the worse your death.”
She was still Wei Nu, but her voice was different. It had become softer, more ethereal.
A faint smile touched her eyes and the fatal wound suddenly seemed meaningless. She looked up at the stars. “Brother Xiaoxuan, I’ve returned again.”
...
The same moment that Wei Nu closed her eyes, Zhao Ran looked up from the River of Aeons within the Mirari Realm, puzzled. What was she feeling?
She dipped her oar into the river and moved to find Lu Yin.
Lu Yin was on the mountain behind the Heavens Sect, enjoying some tea while contemplating when he should make his way to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse to strengthen his karma. When he noticed that Zhao Ran was looking for him, he entered the Mirari Realm.
“What? Wei Nu vanished?” Lu Yin was startled.
Zhao Ran replied, “I’ve lost all sense of her.”
“Could she have gone to a parallel universe?”
“The River of Aeons isn’t restricted from any parallel universe.”
Lu Yin fell silent.
“She should have died,” Zhao Ran stated bluntly.
Lu Yin looked at her. “Does her death affect you?”
Zhao Ran shook her head. “She was able to fuse with us or separate from us, but she would have never fused with me. I am the current ferryman of the River of Aeons, and everything that she did was part of her attempt to escape from that title. She sought freedom.”
“And to become Immortal,” Lu Yin added.
Zhao Ran nodded.
Lu Yin rubbed his temples. Wei Nu’s dead? It’s too sudden. She knew too much, especially about the red sword. Wait... could she have been cut down by that red sword? Was she killed by that hidden powerhouse from Obscura?
In the past, Wei Nu had been fine, but when Lu Yin had pressed her during their last conversation, she had mentioned the red sword. Could that comment have brought disaster upon her?
It was not impossible.
Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. If his suspicions were correct, then the hidden member of Obscura had always been watching the Mirari Realm.
In the past, when he had used karma to indirectly investigate himself, the red sword had severed his attempt. The expert from Obscura had blinded Lu Yin and prevented him from finding those who were scheming against him. He was prevented from even searching for Forgotten Ruins God and those with her.
This would not do.
This was the Tianyuan. Lu Yin would not allow even an Immortal to blind him in his home megaverse.
Lu Yin returned to the Heavens Sect and then made his way to the gate at the boundary.
Once more, the Heavens Sect maintained watch at the boundary, and the current guardian was Ce Wangtian.
He had volunteered for the duty, though not by choice. He had been constantly harassed by Big Sis ever since returning, and the boundary was the only place where he could escape from her.
“Lord Lu, what brings you here?” Ce Wangtian stepped forward and bowed. Aside from a few, such as Lu Yuan, everyone bowed to Lu Yin, ignoring differences in age. It was a show of their respect to the master of the Tianyuan.
Lu Yin dismissed Ce Wangtian and the others before releasing his Karmic Dao. He borrowed the Tianyuan’s karma to connect to the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm, and then he sought out Greater Sancte Green Lotus.
In the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, Greater Sancte Green Lotus felt puzzled. He had only just spoken to Lu Yin, so why was the young man reaching out again already?
Above the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm, two figures formed from karma took shape.
“Senior, the ferryman of the Tianyuan’s River of Aeons, Wei Nu, is dead...”
Lu Yin explained the situation to Green Lotus, and the Immortal’s expression quickly grew solemn. “It does look like a witness was silenced. Wei Nu likely knew who from Obscura was hiding.”
“That is why I would like to ask for your help in forcing that individual from Obscura out into the open,” Lu Yin stated.
Greater Sancte Green Lotus looked at him. “If it were that easy, I would have already acted. Without a karmic lead, there’s no way to determine the location of the one from Obscura.”
Lu Yin said, “Use me as a starting point to use karma to find who is plotting against me.”
Greater Sancte Green Lotus’s eyes lit up. “So that’s the idea. Is that how you found the Netherfiends?”
Lu Yin nodded. “You can’t do it because you lack karma that is not part of the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm that you rely on, but I can.
“Since there is someone from Obscura present, they must have schemed against me, or are possibly doing so even now. There must be traces that can be found.”
Greater Sancte Green Lotus nodded. “That is indeed possible, but are you prepared? If you succeed in forcing out someone from Obscura, are you able to face them? This is just a reminder, but the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and the Tianyuan are very far apart. While I may be able to affect the Tianyuan from here, I will not be by your side. Every member of Obscura is a top-tier powerhouse. If there is danger, I might not be able to save you.”
Lu Yin hesitated. He had impulsively wanted to flush out the member of Obscura, but Greater Sancte Green Lotus’s words served as a genuine warning.
No matter how formidable Green Lotus was, the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and the Tianyuan were too far apart. Also, what was Obscura?
It was a fishing civilization, as well as one of humanity’s greatest enemies. It was a group that, according to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse’s understanding of the cosmos, stood shoulder to shoulder with the Death Megaverse.
Could Lu Yin truly survive a confrontation with Obscura?
He was not prepared for that.
After a moment of silence, Lu Yin asked, “Why is someone from Obscura in hiding?”
Greater Sancte Green Lotus frowned and shook his head. He also did not know.
Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. “Is it possible that they are not our enemy?”