Star Odyssey
Chapter 3604: Searching

Chapter 3604: Searching

As Old Tao spoke, he threw a cautious glance at Lu Yin.

The presence of conscients in the Spirit Nidus had actually been discovered due to Boundless. It had all started from Sage Qian, and the message had then been passed on to the Consciousness Domain through the Phantom Reach. However, whether that message was true or not, Old Tao did not know, just as he had no idea where Sage Qian had gone.

Old Tao did not want to think about such things. There were times when seeing things clearly also allowed others to see through the one who knew.

The only thing that Old Tao needed to do was inform Lu Yin of what had transpired.

From the bow of the battleship, Yu Shan frequently glanced into the depths of the vessel, his expression betraying his uncertainty.

It appeared that the Tianyuan Megaverse had indeed joined forces with the Consciousness Megaverse. Yu Shan had only recently informed Lu Yin that organizations throughout the thirty-six domains hid and hoarded conscients, and soon after, the Heavencraft Domain and multiple other domains had been attacked by a powerful conscient. Yu Shan was not nearly foolish enough to believe in such a coincidence.

However, he was also becoming increasingly confused by matters.

Yu Shan’s master had allowed him to stay as a captive aboard Boundless; how did that not harm the High Seraph’s reputation? Yu Shan had thought that he would only remain hanging from the tree for a short while, enough to let him relax for a time. However, with how long he had been living with stress, the mere thought of relaxing had become a luxury.

He had never expected to be left in peace for so long. It felt as though the entire Spirit Nidus had forgotten about him.

Why were these people from the Tianyuan Megaverse allowed to remain in the Spirit Nidus? Even their Third Boss had been allowed to become a Seraph, which Yu Shan could not make any sense of.

Beyond that, did no one in the Spirit Nidus suspect that they might have allowed themselves with the Consciousness Megaverse? Why was Boundless allowed to stay?

Yu Shan was utterly baffled by the entire situation.

For many people, certain things were very complex, and certain situations were very difficult for them to understand. However, for others, everything could be understood in a single thought.

If a giant stood in place, ordinary people would look up and see the creature as untouchable. Even if the giant was unable to move, it would still be difficult for an ordinary human to climb up to the top. The situation would appear too difficult. However, for cultivators, a single step would take them to the top.

It was a difference in position.

Both the High Seraph and Lu Yin had reached heights where their perspective surpassed certain limitations. Neither of them fought for a single region or empire.

The Seven Seraphs? They were nothing more than a title.

"The latest news is that Zi Tianshu has left the Ascendant Hall and is currently overseeing the Consciousness Domain." Old Tao set down his spirit cloudstone as he shared a report with Lu Yin.

Lu Yin's heart stirred. "Zi Tianshu?"

Yuan Qi suddenly spoke up. "Is Zi Tianshu still alive? He must be quite powerful by now."

Lu Yin turned to Yuan Qi, who explained, "Much like Lan, Zi Tianshu was one of the most talented members of his generation. When those two rose to fame, I was already a Seraph, and I even offered them both a bit of guidance. I never thought that, after so many years, they would both end up in the Ascendant Hall."

Old Tao interjected in a respectful tone, "Lan is the administrator of the Ascendant Hall, while Zi Tianshu is one of its primary guardians. They are both powerful Dukkhans."

Lu Yin grew confused, "Is Zi Tianshu the Ascendant Hall’s guardian?"

"Yes."

"Then, why didn’t he show up when I attacked the Ascendant Hall?"

Old Tao was stunned. He actually attacked? This Third Boss is ruthless! "I... don't know."

Lu Yin remembered that Lan had said that she belonged only to the Ascendant Hall, so she would never allow Lu Yin to carve on the walls of the Apex Palace, even if the High Seraph agreed. No matter what, she would stop any attacker. However, the Ascendant Hall did not belong to Lan, which meant that she might not possess the authority to order Zi Tianshu to take action.

The High Seraph was well aware of the fact that someone like Zi Tianshu was incapable of stopping Lu Yin, which was why the High Seraph had personally intervened at the last moment.

Whether or not Zi Tianshu had stepped forward had never really mattered.

Also, with Zi Tianshu overseeing the Consciousness Domain, it did not matter if Wu Wei returned or not.

They had probably allowed Wu Wei to leave to allow the conscient to protect themselves.

No one was clear on whether or not Boundless had an alliance with the Consciousness Megaverse. Not even Old Yu was confident he knew the truth, even if he believed that the Tianyuan Megaverse should follow the path that he had offered them.

Things had become rather troublesome. Since the thirty-six domains have sent their conscients to the Consciousness Domain, how should I go about taking them?

Lu Yin knew that, the moment he took action, the enemy would grow alarmed. Even so, Lu Yin needed to continue. The consciousness that he had just devoured only partially supplemented what he needed, but it was not nearly enough. He needed to Possess Wu Wei and access the conscient’s memories, far more so than the other conscients.

The reason why Lu Yin had not completely destroyed the Heavencraft Domain and the other domains was that he did not want his attack to be excessive. He had not expected the thirty-six domains to be so cautious that they would retreat after the slightest bit of provocation. Had no one considered trying to use the captive conscients as bait to rescue the hidden conscients?

That should have been one of the most basic tactics.

Lu Yin had underestimated the impact of his attacks because he did not have a good understanding of the Spirit Nidus.

Within the thirty-six domains, the Heavencraft Domain and the Ark Domain were second only to the seven major powers. The only domains that could rival those two were those like the Spirit Treasure Domain that had immense influence. In particular, the Heavencraft Domain was well known to have never fallen to any attack, and it even boasted being capable of withstanding an attack from one of the Seven Seraphs.

While the claim was undoubtedly exaggerated, it served as proof of the Heavencraft Domain’s confidence in its defense.

The Spirit Nidus only had seven Seraphs, and even if there were a few more experts at that level of strength, how could any of them attack the Heavencraft Domain? Only someone who did not fear the Ascendant Hall would be so brazen.

No matter how much the Heavencraft Domain may have exaggerated their own power, no one had ever tried to expose the truth.

Emperor Slayer’s single attack had altered the entire Heavencraft Domain’s demeanor for precisely this reason. His attack had broken the domain’s defenses, which they had long prided themselves on. However, who had attacked them? It had been Emperor Slayer, an expert who was unquestionably equal to the Seven Seraphs. Without the strength to rival the Seven Seraphs, how could anyone hope to breach the Heavencraft Domain’s defenses?

Despite that, their defenses had been easily swept away by a conscient’s attack, which had then proceeded to attack multiple other domains. This was not an attack at the Seraph level, but rather something with the power to rival two Seraphs.

How could any of the thirty-six domains have the courage to try to resist such an enemy? They were all afraid that the Ascendant Hall might use their captive conscients as bait to lure out the powerful attacker. So, everyone had sent all of their conscients to the Consciousness Domain.

This allowed the domains to avoid being used as bait, as well as reduce any possible punishment for keeping their captive conscients hidden. Why would they not take such precautions? The rulers of the thirty-six domains were not stupid. Their universes had risen up from countless parallel universes to join the thirty-six domains. While each domain’s individual strength might not seem particularly impressive, when combined, the thirty-six domains were far stronger than the Tianyuan Megaverse.

As for the conscients that remained hidden in the Spirit Nidus, what did that have to do with the thirty-six domains? They knew that they lacked the power to oppose such an enemy.

While the Spirit Nidus appeared to be united, the truth was that the megaverse could never truly be a single force.

Lu Yin often regarded the Spirit Nidus as a single whole, and this had led to his misperception.

If he had attacked average domains instead of the Heavencraft Domain, there might not have been such a strong reaction. However, if he had done that, he would not have been able to seize nearly so many conscients. In the future, if he tried to gather more, he would likely face opponents at the level of the Seven Seraphs, which would make things far more difficult, and it would even risk attracting the High Seraph’s attention. That might expose the fact that Lu Yin was capable of devouring conscients’ consciousness, which could prove disastrous.

With so many conscients gathered in the Consciousness Domain, it had become impossible for Ascendant Hall to use them as bait. It would be too obvious of a trap. However, it was also impossible to send the conscients back, as that would be even more obvious.

Losing all the conscients from five domains had completely infuriated both the Ascendant Hall and the High Seraph.

The High Seraph had never considered the possibility that there might be a hidden conscient powerhouse in the Spirit Nidus’s megaverse.

It was clear that the conscients were not hiding in the Spirit Nidus’s thirty-six domains, as the hunt for Yong Heng would have found some traces of them. Even if Yong Heng was able to stay hidden, the High Seraph was still able to occasionally detect him.

No matter how powerful the hidden conscients might be, it was impossible for them to surpass Yong Heng.

This meant that they had to be hiding in parallel universes that were not connected to the thirty-six domains.

The Spirit Nidus was growing increasingly unstable. It seemed evident that it was necessary to deal with the hidden conscients before they left to conquer the Consciousness Megaverse. Otherwise, if the Spirit Nidus’s top experts all left, the Spirit Nidus would be in danger.

Lu Yin returned to seclusion. He did not believe that all of the conscients had been sent to the Consciousness Domain. There had to be some which were still hidden, and even if the numbers were small, they would add up.

In the blink of an eye, two months had passed. Lu Yin was using his consciousness to roll his die, and he succeeded in rolling Possession three times. One of those times, he succeeded in Possessing a conscient who was in the Consciousness Domain, and there, Lu Yin saw a tremendous number of conscients imprisoned deep beneath the Consciousness Domain. The number was comparable to what had been in the domain when Lu Yin had fought against Wu Wei. While their overall level was a bit lower, given the number of conscients present, Lu Yin’s consciousness would grow even more formidable after devouring them.

Unfortunately, that was impossible.

The second time, he Possessed another conscient, but this one was not in the Consciousness Domain. It was a solitary, but branded conscient, which made it completely worthless to Lu Yin.

However, for his third Possession, he finally managed to find something of value. Lu Yin Possessed a conscient that was hidden within a sect. While they only kept a few conscients there, it was still better than nothing at all. Lu Yin made a note of their location, but he refrained from going after them for the time being.

There were less than four months left before his scheduled fight with Emperor Wu, so Lu Yin continued to roll his die. No one disturbed him during this time.

Another two months quickly passed, and during this time, he succeeded in rolling Possession five times, which was an exceptional number. Lu Yin had been quite lucky.

Of the five Possessions, three had provided him with valuable information, while the other two conscients had been branded.

Lu Yin left Boundless again to repeat his previous trick of capturing various conscients. This second round of attacks stirred up the Spirit Nidus yet again, and the factions which had held off on sending their captive conscients to the Consciousness Domain were forced to relent.

Shi Lin was the happiest of everyone. The Consciousness Domain had been missing conscients for some time, only to see a great and sudden influx. On top of that, the Qi family was no longer the ones controlling the domain. For the first time, Shi Lin was enjoying the taste of truly controlling the Consciousness Domain.

Zi Tianshu simply stayed in the Consciousness Domain, and he did not involve himself in any of the domain’s affairs.

Unfortunately, Wu Wei was gone, and no one knew where the conscient was hiding. Even when Seraph Lu had attacked Wu Wei, the High Seraph had not intervened. If Wu Wei were also present, the Consciousness Domain would have truly regained its former glory.

The conscients that Lu Yin had captured spent a year in his Timestop Space, recovering. Just like the first group that he had captured, this group also tried to leave after a year, only to eventually be devoured by Lu Yin.

Unfortunately, they were far inferior to the first group that he had gathered.

If he could devour Wu Wei's consciousness, Lu Yin’s consciousness would undergo another transformation. After all, Wu Wei’s consciousness was equal to the strength of a Dukkhan.

Lu Yin looked up and watched his die slowly spin. It was time to find Wu Wei.

Lu Yin had searched for the Luminary throughout the many months he had been rolling his die. Possessing various conscients had allowed him to become very familiar with the process, and he had replenished his consciousness twice now. This was enough to compensate for the consciousness that he had consumed while searching. As long as he managed to find Wu Wei, Lu Yin did not care how long he spent in the Possession. He just wanted to see Wu Wei’s memories at least once.

Lu Yin took a deep breath and tapped a finger before watching the die spin. This same scenario had repeated countless times in the Tianyuan Megaverse, and it was finally about to occur in the Spirit Nidus.

Once, twice, three times. Finally, his fourth roll gave him Possession again. This time, Lu Yin planned to search for Wu Wei. No matter how long the search in the mysterious dark space took, it would be worth any cost, as long as Lu Yin found Wu Wei.

The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!