Star Odyssey

Chapter 3135: Rumors

Voices rose up throughout the Sixverse Association, echoing through every corner.

"Do you know why we’re always at a disadvantage against Aeternus? It's because Aeternus has six Scourges and the Three Pillars and Six Skies. All of their power is united, and they can mobilize their full strength at any time. But what about us? We’re scattered across multiple parallel universes, with each of us fighting all alone. Of course we’re no match for Aeternus."

"Is it true? Is Aeternus really so strong?"

...

"I know it’s true. My great-uncle’s second son’s neighbor’s master fought in Lord Lu’s crusade of the Endless Frontier, and he saw countless Aeternal powerhouses working together."

"Isn’t our Sixverse Association also united?"

"United my foot! Just look at the recent attack on the Heavens Sect. Did any other universe offer their aid? No, because they couldn’t! It’s said that most people in the Cyclic Universe didn’t even hear about the incident until after it ended."

...

"Don’t be ridiculous. Didn’t you hear that many of the people who were spreading rumors were arrested?"

"That’s because they were badmouthing the Heavens Sect and spreading lies about Lord Lu’s death while also trying to sow discord between the Origin Universe and the rest of our Sixverse Association. Those people were basically helping Aeternus, and it’s good that they were dealt with. What we’re saying is different. We want the Sixverse Association to truly be united so that we can gather our full strength."

"That’s easy for you to say. The Sixverse Association has done fine for many years. Do you think that things are more dangerous now just because of Lord Lu?"

"That’s so short-sighted. Just wait until your universe is destroyed because no one goes to help you. Then you’ll know what desperation feels like."

...

"What’s the point of talking about this? Even if we want to unite our universes, nothing will happen unless the people at the top agree. Besides, how are we supposed to unite our universes? Connecting parallel universes isn’t easily done, and even if we use spatial tunnels like on the Endless Frontier, Aeternus can easily destroy them."

"We can move to the Origin Universe."

"If we leave, what will happen to the ordinary people here? Do you know how many normal humans live in each universe? It’s impossible to even count them all. Leaving just isn’t realistic."

"That’s true. Just forget it. Leave it to the people at the top to worry about it."

...

Recently, many voices had spoken up within the Sixverse Association. At first, most of them spoke against the Origin Universe, but suddenly, they spoke in favor of it.

No one knew where these voices cfrom, and no one investigated them. However, these topics did cause many in the Sixverse Association to start thinking.

Was it even feasible to fully unite the Sixverse Association’s parallel universes?

In the past, no one had ever considered such a thing. While the members of the Sixverse Association appeared to be equal, the Cyclic Universe had unquestionably stood above all the others. No other universe had dared to try to establish a connection to the Cyclic Universe, fearing the possible repercussions. The association’s internal conflicts had only been held at bay by the threat of Aeternus. Connecting their universes might not have been a good thing.

However, with Aeternus’s true strength fully revealed, the fragmented state of the Sixverse Association made it look fragile. If Aeternus attacked a single location and the other parallel universes were unable to instantly send support, a universe could be easily destroyed.

If Lu Yin had not returned alive and stronger than ever, the Heavens Sect would have faced a terrible crisis.

Aeternus had successfully cut the Heavens Sect off from all outside support, and that state was quite similar to how the Sixverse Association’s fragmented condition prevented any of their member universes from offering immediate assistance to the others.

While it was simple reasoning, it had failed to work in the past because Aeternus had not been seen as an existential threat. However, the revelation of the six Scourges and the knowledge of the term "Divine Commandment'' had greatly strengthened the sense of crisis within the Sixverse Association.

Many cultivators were already making their way towards the Origin Universe, seeking refuge.

Everyone knew that the Origin Universe was the strongest universe in the Sixverse Association, followed by the Cyclic Universe. In contrast to those two, both the Voidforce Universe and the Arboreal Realm were losing cultivators.

Even across the parallel universes of the Endless Frontier, cultivators were moving towards the Origin Universe.

Lu Yin left the Heavens Sect and headed toward Aeternus Nation. As he traveled, he observed the increasing number of cultivators in the Fifth Mainland. Despite the fact that the Origin Universe had battled against the Aeternals more than any other universe, as well as the fact that the Heavens Sect had been attacked twice, many cultivators still saw the Origin Universe as the safest option.

As more and more cultivators trickled into the Origin Universe, the other member universes of the Sixverse Association saw their numbers drop, which only strengthened their sense of crisis. Things were playing right into Lu Yin’s plans.

His goal was to interconnect the entire Sixverse Association, connecting all the parallel universes to the Origin Universe. This would create an unprecedentedly glorious Heavens Sect.

This was the only way to not just fight back against Aeternus, but even start suppressing the Aeternals.

Lu Yin had seen the full extent of Aeternus’s strength, and the despair that had once consumed him had gradually faded away as he encountered outside civilizations and seen his own strength grow. Lu Yin was confident that he could eventually eliminate Aeternus, and uniting the Sixverse Association was nothing more than the first step.

Everything depended on how the key figures of the Sixverse Association would react to these recent developments.

Lu Yin respected people such as Lord Xu, Mu Shen, and the Lost Clan’s Great Elder, but in the face of what was necessary, tough decisions needed to be made. He could only hope that the others would be able to see the bigger picture.

Lu Yin went to Aeternus Nation in order to meet with the Divine Maiden. She had requested a meeting on several occasions, but Lu Yin had always been either absent or too busy. However, the matter of the Immovable Heavenly King Elephant still needed to be addressed.

The Divine Maiden had becessentially no different from a normal person. The universe of God's Domain had been destroyed, and their three elephants were all dead. God's Domain was now the weakest civilization that Lu Yin knew, as they only had two individuals with the strength of Semi-Progenitors.

The peace that their people had once enjoyed was gone, and without protection of overwhelming strength, such peace was incredibly fragile.

Lu Yin's arrival stirred the people of God's Domain, and everyone greeted him.

The Divine Maiden bowed slowly. "Greetings, Lord Lu."

Lu Yin looked at her. "Are your people adjusting well to this place?"

She calmly replied, "Adjusting well or not doesn’t matter. All that matters is survival."

Lu Yin nodded. "Many things in existence are nothing more than coincidences. If the Infinity Empire hadn’t trickedand sentto your universe, your people would have been exterminated by Di Qiong. However, Di Qiong also went after God's Domain because I invaded the First Scourge, and they requested help from the other Scourges."

The Divine Maiden interrupted, "Lord Lu, there is no right or wrong in these matters, it’s simply that we lacked the strength to stand against Di Qiong. That has nothing to do with you."

Lu Yin stared at the woman. After a moment, she asked, "I simply want to know what happened to the Immovable Heavenly King Elephant."

Her nervousness was clearly visible. If the Immovable Heavenly King Elephant could return to God's Domain, the Divine Maiden might be able to borrow the elephant’s strength once more. Even if this did not restore the power that she had wielded when the other three elephants had been alive, her people would at least be able to enjoy smeasure of self-protection. In truth, the Divine Maiden’s ability to wield the strength of the four elephants had nothing to do with receiving the acknowledgement of the universe. Rather, it was simply the inheritance of God's Domain. How else could an ordinary human be acknowledged by a universe?

Lu Yin sighed. "I'm sorry, but the Immovable Heavenly King Elephant is already dead."

The Divine Maiden staggered. She had already heard the sthing from Arch-Elder Zen, but hearing it directly from Lu Yin was even harder for her to accept.

He continued explaining. "The Immovable Heavenly King Elephant was the mount of my ancestor, Lu Yuan. Long ago, during the Heavens Sect era, when the Aeternals issued their first Divine Commandment, the Immovable Heavenly King Elephant perished when the Second Mainland was destroyed. It died protecting the Mavis family and the Fifth Mainland."

The Divine Maiden grew pale as tremors wracked her entire body. Everything was over. There was no way to recover. The death of the Immovable Heavenly King Elephant meant that God's Domain had lost the power of all four elephants. How could they survive going forward?

Were they doomed to forever live under the control of the Origin Universe?

While they were both human civilizations, they were significantly different from each other. Their people’s thoughts, methods, and many other aspects were vastly different. The Divine Maiden simply wanted to protect the people of God's Domain, and possibly leave the Origin Universe. She wanted nothing to do with any war. However, all hopes of being able to leave had been shattered. At the moment, God’s Domain lacked the qualifications to go out on their own.

"Is it really dead?" she muttered.

Lu Yin nodded. "It is."

The woman was filled with sorrow. Losing all four of God’s Domain’s elephants completely crushed her.

Lu Yin stood a short distance away, silently watching.

The death of the four elephants had nothing to do with him directly. The Immovable Heavenly King Elephant had been his ancestor’s mount, but Lu Yin did not know the old man very well, and he had never met his mount. However, the collapse of God's Domain was closely tied to the Divine Maiden's own perspective on things. Despite being targeted by Di Qiong, the people of God’s Domain had not striven to advance and progress. Instead, they had focused solely on defending themselves. They had naively believed that they could hold off all outside threats.

When Lu Yin and his companions encountered God's Domain, they had nearly been driven off themselves. At that time, the Divine Maiden had been arrogant, believing that she held the power of life and death. How arrogant she had been.

God’s Domain had been defeated by their own stagnation and antiquated thinking.

Had they been willing to cooperate with the Heavens Sect and sought aid when Di Qiong had attacked, things might have turned out very differently.

Nothing ever happened by pure chance. God's Domain could not escape reality.

Lu Yin’s invasion of the First Scourge had resulted in Di Qiong moving to destroy God's Domain. There was a connection, but not a causal link. Di Qiong had always been targeting God's Domain, and they could not have escaped from him. It could be said that Lu Yin’s actions had expedited Di Qiong’s victory over God's Domain, but Lu Yin had also saved many people of God’s Domain.

There was no need for him to feel guilty.

The universe was a cruel place, which the Divine Maiden fully understood. The only thing that could truly be blamed was their own weakness.

If Aeternus destroyed the Heavens Sect, Lu Yin would not blother civilizations for not sending support. He would simply resent himself for not binding those civilizations to the Heavens Sect.

It was imperative that he be proactive, not reactive.

Lu Yin left a short tlater, though he granted the Divine Maiden the right to visit the Heavens Sect and see him directly. Without such permission, an ordinary person would never be allowed entry to the Heavens Sect.

The Origin Universe had taken in refugees from more than just God's Domain. To the Heavens Sect, God's Domain was just another defeated human civilization, one of countless throughout the megaverse, and their people lacked the qualifications to meet with Lu Yin.

Lu Yin treated God's Domain relatively well, likely because of his past interactions with them, or out of respect for the Immovable Heavenly King Elephant.

At this time, Sovereign Dou Sheng was sitting cross-legged at the entrance to the First Scourge, his golden cudgel planted in the ground beside him. He was standing guard on his own.

Far away, Mu Ji sensed the Sovereign’s presence, which made the Arborean uneasy. He had no desire to fight such a monster, as he could die all too easily.

However, the entrance to the Scourge was so close to Sovereign Dou Sheng. To pass through, Mu Ji would need to get past this monster. What should he do?