Star Odyssey

There were actually multiple reasons why it was impossible to continue the war for the time being.

Even if humanity wanted to push True God into a fight to the death, Lu Yin knew that he first had to deal with the Four Locks Array that bound him. Otherwise, he would only be able to watch as others risked their lives.

"And what about you? What’s your position been this whole time?" Lu Yin asked as he clasped his hands behind his back. After giving up on the possibility of killing True God and that the battle was over, Lu Yin felt much more relaxed.

True God smiled. "Me? I've always been in a corner that you can’t see."

Lu Yin stared at True God, as though trying to see through him.

"Stepping back from this battle was wise. Tian Ci has already left, but he will bring another megaverse to the fight. He sees no hope in you, which means that war is the only option for him," True God explained.

Lu Yin and the others’ expressions changed. "Tian Ci’s original megaverse?"

True God nodded. "The ancient Heavens Sect shone too brightly, but that did not matter. No matter how bright it became, it had to eventually dim. As I said before, the Origin Progenitor looked down on everything from above. He could not see the crises that were brewing in the shadows. Countless schemes and plots could have pulled him down.

"You are different from him. You crawled up from the bottom. The first thing you saw wasn't the endless light, but rather the dark shadows. This is why you know that crises only breed in the shadows. Both Tian Ci and I live in those shadows.

"You saw us, which is why we lost our opportunities. Tian Ci realizes this, which is why he now wants to bring his own people here to fight a war."

Lu Yin asked curiously, "Aeternals can’t coexist with us humans, but you can coexist with humans from that megaverse?"

True God smiled. "Who said that we can’t coexist with you? Aeternus has already succeeded at doing so. It’s just that you don’t want it."

"And they’re willing?" Lu Yin felt confused. How could humans be willing to live with such an existence?

True God answered slowly, but the single sentence he shared did not make any sense to Lu Yin, even after he returned to the Heavens Sect. "They want to survive. You want to live. The two are not the same."

Lu Yin was fishing on the mountain behind the Heavens Sect. A cup of tea that Zhao Ran had prepared sat beside him.

When the battle had started in the Second Scourge, the Heavens Sect had also been attacked. The Star Devourer had attacked them, and both Master Shan and Moon Ghost had died. Their deaths weighed heavily on Lu Yin.

Ultimately, the Star Devourer had been driven off. Arch-Elder Zen, Senior Brother Mu Xie, the jiao, and Ancestor Tortoise had all remained at the Heavens Sect, and the Star Devourer was not strong enough to destroy the Heavens Sect on his own.

Lu Qi arrived, and he looked down at Lu Yin’s hands. "You can't open that?"

Lu Yin smiled. "Don’t worry, Dad. I’m fine."

Lu Qi sighed and sat down next to Lu Yin.

The fish in the lake were all scared away.

"Little Seven, your dad is useless. I can't even be with you on the battlefield," Lu Qi stated, feeling guilty.

Lu Yin smiled. "Dad, you’ve always been easy going about things. When did you become so sentimental?"

Lu Qi scratched his head. "If your mother knew about all this, she’d die laughing."

Lu Yin looked at Lu Qi. "You’ve done well."

While Lu Qi was known for his carefree attitude—he was even said to have kidnapped Lu Yin’s mother—when the Lu family had been exiled, it was Lu Qi who had shielded Lu Yin with his Champions' Stage. Without Lu Qi, Lu Yin would not have survived that incident.

That Champions' Stage had been Lu Qi’s innate gift, and it had been destroyed as a result of protecting Lu Yin. Lu Qi had lost the symbol of the Lu family, but he had never worried about that. When he reunited with his son, the matter had not even been mentioned to Lu Yin.

Lu Yin realized how deeply Lu Qi cared for him. The man was a father who was willing to give his life for his son, and that was enough.

"Zhao Ran, brew some tea."

"Don’t bother, I’m leaving. That’s not my thing."

"Dad, you’re always fishing in the Middle Ocean. Why don’t you do that here?"

"It’s different. I’m not as refined as you. I’m off."

Lu Qi did not want Lu Yin to see his guilt for another moment. He needed to become stronger, no matter what. He had to be able to stand next to Lu Yin and fight their enemies together, even if that meant blocking only a single blow to protect his son.

“Dad.”

Lu Qi turned back. “Hmm?”

Lu Yin smiled. “You've done well. Honestly, it won’t be long before even Ancestor Lu Yuan most likely won’t be able to stand on my battlefield. Your son is just too much of a genius.”

Lu Qi froze for a moment, but then he rolled his eyes and ran off.

Lu Yin chuckled and looked away, refocusing on his fishing.

At this moment, the Aeternus Kingdoms throughout all six Scourges and the parallel universes that Aeternus had controlled were being dismantled. All of the most powerful Aeternals were trapped within the Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm, which meant that, for the moment, the megaverse belonged solely to humanity.

Time passed, and the Aeternus Kingdoms were almost entirely dealt with. Finally, Lu Yin stood up and headed towards the Scourge Occupation.

E' Ji had fallen in battle, and Lu Yin needed to pay his respects to her and the Scourge Occupation.

The people of the Scourge Occupation did not feel much sorrow. They were like ordinary humans, and their lives were too short. Death was all too common to them.

E' Nan had replaced E' Ji as the chief of the Scourge Occupation, and the man welcomed Lu Yin upon his arrival.

Lu Yin looked at a portrait of E' Ji as he performed the traditional rites of the Scourge Occupation to pay his respects to the woman.

“Mother enjoyed life while alive, and death is only to be expected. Dao Monarch, there’s no need to be sad,” E' Nan said.

Lu Yin’s expression grew conflicted. “What about you? How much longer do you have?”

E' Nan considered the question. “More than a hundred years, I believe.”

Lu Yin showed a bitter smile. A hundred years… that was far too short. It was possible that the next time Lu Yin visited the Scourge Occupation, E’ Nan would already be replaced by another chief.

Despite wielding some of the strongest power known to cultivators, the people of the Scourge Occupation were unable to cultivate themselves.

Their people were crude and direct, but there was no denying the tremendous help that they had given Lu Yin.

He thought of Elder Gong, Master Shan, and many others. Old friends would leave, one by one. Immortality was not necessarily a blessing.

After bidding farewell to the Scourge Occupation, Lu Yin's next destination was the Infinity Empire. Emperor Shang had died, and the broken bits of Supreme had been taken back to the Infinity Empire. Supposedly, the mecha could be repaired, but Lu Yin needed to appoint the new emperor.

When he arrived in the Infinity Empire, Lu Yin saw that much had changed, despite having only recently visited the empire.

The connection between the universe and the Origin Universe meant that many cultivators had visited the Infinity Empire, and their curiosity had introduced various influences from the cultivation world.

The most obvious change was the number of people flying through the sky, which was not something that the ordinary humans of the Infinity Empire could do.

Lu Yin’s arrival did not attract much attention. He arrived in the Imperial Capital itself, though the Pillars of Heaven no longer surrounded the imperial palace. They had been sent to different places in the Origin Universe and across the various parallel universes.

One of the pillars, You Ding, had fought in the Second Scourge and been killed. His mecha, which had been known as Immortal, had also been destroyed.

Theoretically, a twelve-ring mecha should be capable of fighting against sequence powerhouses, but reality was tragic when such a mecha entered a top-tier battlefield.

You Ding’s death served as an example. Despite his mecha’s massive size, the man had accomplished nothing of significance in the Second Scourge, and he had really been nothing more than a target.

One of the Infinity Empire’s Pillars of Heaven had died a meaningless death on the battlefield, and that loss strengthened the Infinity Empire's fear of both the Heavens Sect and Aeternus. In particular, when the severed form of Supreme had been delivered back, the entire empire had been left silenced.

No one could describe what their people were feeling, but they had all learned one important thing: Supreme was no longer enough to protect their empire.

This truth felt even worse than when they had initially been suppressed by Lu Yin.

Hong Nian summoned various high-ranking officials of the Infinity Empire to the imperial palace. Lu Yin was seated on the emperor’s throne, and he was calmly staring at his right hand, thinking about how he could deal with the Four Locks Formation.

One by one, the officials arrived.

Shang Tianzong, Shang Cheng, Shang An'an, Bu Wu, Liu Ling, and the four surviving Pillars of Heaven—Jiao Feng, Yi, Huan Zhan, and Shang Qiu—all arrived.

The gathered individuals represented the future of the Infinity Empire.

As the people arrived, none of them dared to make any sound, and they silently stood in place.

Lu Yin finally looked up, his eyes sweeping the crowd before finally landing on Shang Tianzong and a few others. “I deeply regret the death of Emperor Shang.”

While the Infinity Empire had been suppressed by Lu Yin and forced to comply, that was merely a temporary measure. The empire possessed great potential. If the ring energy research succeeded in developing thirteen-ring energy, then humanity would enjoy a significant boost in strength. On top of that, numerous parallel universes had been connected with the use of ring energy technology. Lu Yin needed to placate the empire.

Emperor Shang had been one of the Outer Eight Paths, and that meant that the Infinity Empire was not truly part of the Heavens Sect.

Shang Tianzong bowed and said, “Dao Monarch, your words are too kind. As one of the Heavens Sect’s Outer Eight Paths, the emperor had a duty to defend the sect and fight our common enemy. Life and death are common on the battlefield.”

Lu Yin looked at the young man. “Emperor Shang helped me greatly, and since he sacrificed himself, I have a duty to protect the Infinity Empire that he left behind. Which one of you is willing to succeed him as the new emperor?”

People in the group exchanged glances, with most of them looking at Shang Tianzong or Shang Cheng.

The two were Emperor Shang’s sons, and they were the only two qualified to succeed the throne.

Lu Yin’s gaze also fell on the two men.

The two glanced at each other by reflex, and they could each see the bitterness in the other’s eyes. Their once fervent pursuit of the imperial throne had faded long ago, extinguished like an old beacon. Their eyes no longer held the same spark of ambition.

Was there even any meaning to becoming the emperor of the Infinity Empire? Inheriting the throne meant nothing more than becoming another one of Lord Lu’s thugs.

Had the old emperor wanted to fight on the battlefield where he had died? Of course not. Shang Tianzong’s words had been nothing more than politeness. If the Infinity Empire was given a choice, they would avoid the Heavens Sect at all costs.

Whoever became the next emperor would be nothing more than Lord Lu’s muscle. It would be impossible to avoid similar battles in the future, and death would be a constant threat.

The throne of the emperor seemed like a bottomless abyss. It was a cliff from which they could plummet to their deaths at any moment.

No one answered, which was what Lu Yin had expected. This was the reason why he had made this trip to the Infinity Empire. If this problem did not exist, then there would not have been any need for him to visit, as a new emperor would have already been chosen.

The problem was that no one was willing to become the emperor.

“Shang Tianzong,” Lu Yin said.

The man’s heart sank, but he gave Lu Yin a respectful bow. “Dao Monarch.”

Lu Yin looked at the man. “You are the Infinity Empire’s crown prince, and it is only right for you to inherit your father’s throne.”

Shang Tianzong quickly replied, “Dao Monarch, while my father has passed on, he was the one who lifted the Infinity Empire up to its current height. The entire empire cherishes his memory, and we have no desire to go against his wishes.

“My father was more inclined to see my fifth brother succeed him as emperor.”

Shang Cheng instantly denied that claim. “Dao Monarch, that’s not true. My eldest brother is indeed the crown prince and should rightfully inherit the throne. That is in line with the rules of our Infinity Empire.”

Shang Tianzong frowned and looked over at Shang Cheng. “Fifth brother, you have always competed with me for the throne. I will readily admit that I am not as capable as you, and Father also saw that. He has advised me on several occasions to leave the throne to you. You should not refuse.”

OMA's Thoughts

Translated By: OMA

Edited By: Neshi/Nyxnox

TLC'ed By: OMA

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