STAR ODYSSEY

Chapter 3410: Awakening

"Uh, Dao Monarch Lu… Are you sure about this? I mean, going to the Spirit Nidus… That’s-"

"Don’t worry, I’ve thought the whole thing through. It might be a bit dangerous, but together, we can overcome any danger. I trust your strength, my friend."

Astral Anura wanted to slap Lu Yin, but he did not dare. "Dao Monarch, so… are we leaving now?"

Lu Yin nodded. "It’s not going to be easy. After all, we are in a forbidden region.

"How about this? Come inside." As Lu Yin spoke, he took out a Zenith Mountain and gestured for Astral Anura to enter it.

The toad’s face twitched, as it was clear that Lu Yin was planning to capture Astral Anura.

Lu Yin stared at the toad. There was no chance he would allow the beast to leave on his own. If Astral Anura left, it would be impossible to ever find him again. Lu Yin was not that foolish.

Before they left for the Spirit Nidus, he would not give Astral Anura any chance to escape.

The toad wanted to refuse, but Lu Yin pressed one hand down and applied a bit of pressure. With that, Astral Anura grudgingly entered the Zenith Mountain.

Astral Anura also spotted the Verdant Sage, and he glared fiercely at the green furball.

Lu Yin did not care at all how the two got along, as both were problems.

He put the Zenith Mountain back away, glanced one last time in Progenitor Ku’s direction, and then left the forbidden region.

Once he left, Lu Yin found Wei Nu still standing by the River of Aeons.

"Since we can be allies, I assume that I will be allowed to enter the Mirari Realm anytime I want, right?" Lu Yin asked.

Wei Nu looked at him. "In that case, please teach me how to comprehend karma."

Lu Yin smiled faintly. "Is this an exchange?"

"You won’t lose anything. I am able to freely enter the Mirari Realm due to my status as the River of Aeon’s ferryman, but that role also makes it impossible for me to ever achieve Immortality."

"That’s why you want to attempt to comprehend karma."

"It’s a fair exchange."

Lu Yin nodded. "It is, but unfortunately, I can’t teach you. Understanding and teaching are two very different things."

"I understand. When you’re able to teach me how to comprehend karma, the Mirari Realm will always be open to you."

Lu Yin glanced around. He no longer had any of the stones that would allow him to enter the Mirari Realm again. After he left, he would not be able to return unless Wei Nu allowed it.

The stones that the Origin Progenitor had gathered could not be found in the Karma Sanctum, and Lu Yin was not reckless enough to enter another forbidden region. He was quite wary of such places.

Lu Yin’s current strength meant that Wei Nu was no longer his match. Her mastery over the power of time did not give her much of an advantage against him.

However, even if Lu Yin did defeat Wei Nu, what of it? Even if he ignored whether or not he could capture her, he had no way of forcing the woman to open the Mirari Realm for him.

Wei Nu was different from someone like Yuan Qi.

While Wei Nu frequently claimed that Zhao Ran was a part of her Dukkha, was Wei Nu any different herself?

There was no meaning in defeating someone who was overcoming Dukkha.

However, Lu Yin desperately needed to enter the Mirari Realm again. He needed one last chance before he went to the Spirit Nidus.

"Lord Lu, the truth is that the frozen time of the Mirari Realm is meaningless for most people. It’s only useful if you need to comprehend something or recover from injuries, but for most cultivators, it’s a waste of time if they can’t reach a breakthrough in their cultivation."

"But for the Tianyuan Megaverse as a whole, this frozen time is invaluable," Lu Yin replied.

Wei Nu looked back at the River of Aeons. "I’ll give you one chance to enter the Mirari Realm."

As she spoke, a stone appeared in front of Lu Yin, and he accepted it without questioning its authenticity. Wei Nu was not someone who would resort to such tricks.

After leaving the Mirari Realm, Lu Yin returned to the Heavens Sect.

He had settled almost all of his unresolved karma in the Tianyuan Megaverse. The remaining task was to wait for the Spirit Nidus’s invasion to arrive so that he could complete his karma with the invaders.

This time, Lu Yin surprisingly found himself looking forward to their arrival.

Meanwhile, in another parallel universe, the crimson glow of the blood-red sword illuminated the faces of Forgotten Ruins God and Wang Xiaoyu. A short distance away was Skydog, who had found the two women.

Forgotten Ruins God lazily stretched out, accentuating her curves. "It’s time to leave. This Tianyuan Megaverse is so boring now. Given little Lu Yin’s personality, he’s definitely going to head to the Spirit Nidus."

Wang Xiaoyu stared off into the distance. "To chase after Lord Yong Heng?"

Forgotten Ruins God chuckled coquettishly. "Yes, Lord Yong Heng still needs our help."

Woof.

"How do we leave?" Wang Xiaoyu asked, her voice cold.

Forgotten Ruins God rubbed her head. "Right, how? The temporal reversion means that there’s definitely no springboard outside of the stone gate… Whatever, we can just wait. There’s no rush."

…

A year passed, and news arrived from the Five Spirits Alliance’s universes. The researchers had mastered the technology that Lu Yin had shared with them, and they could now produce 108-combination microarrays. They had even developed the timed microarrays.

These technologies had originally been developed in the previous branch stream. Lu Yin had simply brought the knowledge along with him.

A year had also been enough for the Heavens Sect to gather all the materials that Lu Yin had marked across various universes. The materials only needed to be fully processed and assimilated now.

After several more years, Shui Chuanxiao delivered his plan.

"We can treat a battle as a precise machine if we view it from an outside perspective. Each person needs to act at precise moments, using specific windows of opportunity to avoid enemy attacks. To do this, we need a complete understanding of our opponents.

"With the information that you provided, Dao Monarch, I was only able to create a rough outline."

Years ago, Lu Yin had given Shui Chuanxiao all the information about the vanguard of the Spirit Nidus’s invasion that he knew, and he had asked the man to draft a plan to deal with the invasion. Others, such as Wang Wen and Wei Rong, had also been involved in developing the strategy.

Although Shui Chuanxiao was far too weak to actually participate in the battle itself, he had been provided with the strengths and abilities of both sides of the upcoming conflict, and he had used that information as data. Lu Yin’s understanding of people’s abilities allowed Shui Chuanxiao to devise a specific strategy for the upcoming battle.

This would minimize casualties.

At first, Shui Chuanxiao had believed that Lu Yin had gone insane. How could anyone strategize at such a level of combat? The battlefield would be dominated by powerful cultivators who were each capable of destroying vast areas of an entire universe. This was the realm of the truly powerful.

However, by stepping out of that mindset and breaking the battle down into more precise details, working with each individual’s strength and abilities, the task became far less daunting.

The final analysis included battle techniques, cultivation methods, overall strategy, options, and countless other factors.

Even with the combined efforts of Shui Chuanxiao, Wei Rong, and others, it had taken years to even form a rough outline of a plan. It was far from a final solution.

Lu Yin looked at an incredibly intricate war plan. Each aspect was as precise as clockwork.

Shui Chuanxiao sighed. "Dao Monarch, with all due respect, putting this much effort into the plan seems pointless. Even if following it is feasible, will people agree to it? When confronted with life or death, everyone will make different choices. This plan is pure fantasy."

Lu Yin sighed, as he also understood that this was not realistic.

In war, people were often confronted with life and death. It was not a game of chess or a machine. Unless everyone was externally controlled and incapable of self-awareness even in the face of death, reaching machine-like precision in war was impossible.

Even with a complete understanding of both sides, there was no chance.

Still, memories of the battles fought in the previous timeline filled Lu Yin with frustration.

Just one skirmish had cost them so many lives. Even if Lu Yin had made preparations and thrown all of the megaverse’s forces at the fight, it was impossible to guarantee everyone’s safety. Casualties were inevitable.

"Dao Monarch, the cruel reality of war will never diminish because of our feelings. Even if you manage to reduce casualties, they will never disappear," Shui Chuanxiao said, understanding Lu Yin’s thoughts.

Lu Yin nodded. "If this won’t work, we’ll try another path."

Shui Chuanxiao left. Lu Yin started to make a list of names, and he matched people from the Spirit Nidus to people from the Tianyuan Megaverse. He was preparing an ambush. This was a far simpler strategy than what had been prepared. That had been nothing more than a mental exercise, but it was too unrealistic to actually implement.

Soon, nine years went by.

In the River of Aeons’ branch stream, the Spirit Nidus had arrived ten years after Master Qing Cao was discovered.

With the temporal reversion, Lu Yin had managed to complete a decade’s worth of arrangements within mere months. The nine years after that had been spent waiting and gathering additional resources.

During the alternate timeline, that decade had been spent dealing with Nests, gathering resources, and manufacturing mechas. During the current timeline, nine years had passed in peace for both the Tianyuan Megaverse and Lu Yin.

For nine years, he had lived in peace. He had spent his time fishing or playing chess, though he greatly missed Zhao Ran’s tea.

There was only a year left before the Spirit Nidus’s invasion came.

It was time.

Lu Yin left the Heavens Sect and went to the Ice Spirit Tribe’s universe, taking all of the researchers working on the black energy converters and mechas, their equipment, and the gathered resources with him. Additionally, Lu Yin gathered cultivators from the various universes. He was taking everyone into the Mirari Realm for one final push.

Among those gathered was Ancient God.

Ancient God had awakened, which was good news, and the timing had been great. It was only possible to take the man into the Mirari Realm to recuperate if he was awake.

As Ancient God stared at the blurry faces in front of him, he struggled to speak. "Lo… Loam?"

In the Heavens Sect, Lu Yuan, Wu Tian, Chu Yi, and others had surrounded Ancient God. It was two days after the man had woken up, but only now he was starting to regain awareness and be able to make out the details of his surroundings.

Lu Yin stood a short distance away, observing Ancient God. The man’s body no longer looked human at all; instead, it resembled a skeleton with a few scraps of flesh stuck to it. It was a disturbing sight. If not for his incredible strength, Ancient God would have perished long ago.

Lu Yin was able to infer just what the man had endured.

Ancient God had unleashed power that not even his own body could withstand. He had unleashed an attack that had strained his body beyond its limits, despite being an Origin realm cultivator, all in an effort to attack Master Qing Cao. And yet, ultimately, Ancient God had not even been able to touch Master Qing Cao.

The overwhelming might of an Immortal was suffocating.

Thus, Ancient God had ended up in such a state. If it had been Lu Yin facing Master Qing Cao at that time instead, the result would not have changed. No one could have done any better.

To an Immortal, all beneath them were but ants.

Lu Yin looked away. The High Seraph was someone who could at least be fought, no matter how powerful he was. The Tianyuan Megaverse was prepared, and with the Origin Progenitor’s involvement, it was not impossible to fight against him. Even so, it still seemed futile to try to resist an Immortal.

"Loam?" Ancient God called out again.

Lu Yuan, who was standing closest to the man, answered with a smile, "I’m here."

Ancient God’s hollowed eyes shifted. His eyeballs rolled about like they belonged to a skeleton as the man looked to the side. "Flora?"

"I really want to punch you," Garan Zhiluo announced.

OMA's Thoughts

Translated By: OMA

Edited By: Neshi/Nyxnox

TLC'ed By: OMA

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