Chapter 3685: Arrival

“The fact is that the Consciousness Megaverse managed to compile the Forbidden Tome by, in large part, paying with our lives. For them, that was no great cost, but for us, our best approach remains to simply avoid all Broken Realms. It’s the least costly plan that we could come up with, and frankly, there’s no other way...” Yi Shang went on at length, worried that Lu Yin might doubt him.

There was no need for the man to elaborate. Lu Yin could imagine the reasons. Besides, if the Spirit Nidus was aware of the Forbidden Tome, then the conscients could similarly learn what information the Spirit Nidus had.

It was a fact that the Spirit Nidus had nothing that could compare to the Forbidden Tome.

Even if such a thing did exist, hiding it would serve little purpose. Nothing would ever be able to match the Forbidden Tome.

Each megaverse had its own strengths and weaknesses. No matter how formidable the Spirit Nidus might be, its people would always suffer certain disadvantages in the Consciousness Megaverse. That was also precisely how the Consciousness Megaverse had managed to survive for so long.

Fortunately, Lu Yin had already gained some insight into the Consciousness Megaverse. Even if Boundless chose not to coordinate with the Spirit Nidus’s battleships, as long as Boundless did not encounter truly terrible luck, there should not be any major issues.

Ten years passed in the blink of an eye.

When Lu Yin and the others saw a massive gate in the distance, they knew that they had finally arrived at the Consciousness Megaverse.

Lu Yin found it odd that each megaverse had a gate. It also appeared that all of them had been constructed by the Spirit Nidus. That thought reminded him of the power that he had seen Jiu Xian use; could there be some connection between that and the gates?

When Lu Yin asked Yi Shang about the gates, the old man replied, “I never gave the matter much thought.”

To many people, the existence of the gates was regarded as common sense, much like the spirit threads that connected the thirty-six domains. It had never occurred to Yi Shang to question why.

It was only outsiders like Lu Yin who found such things strange.

It was one thing for the people of Spirit Nidus to build a gate for their own megaverse. But the fact that the same had been done for the Tianyuan and the Consciousness megaverses made it clear that there was something off about the gates.

The gate was wide open, and Boundless sailed right through it. The moment the battleship did so, the aura of an unfamiliar megaverse put everyone aboard on edge. This was the third megaverse that they had entered.

They had traveled from the Tianyuan Megaverse to the Spirit Nidus, and now, they had finally reached the Consciousness Megaverse as well.

Inside the gate, they found no buildings or structures that could be associated with the Spirit Nidus. The only thing in the universe were the two massive battleships that had arrived before Boundless, as well as a throng of cultivators.

Lu Yin’s attention drifted into the distance. One, two, three... there were a total of eight powerful auras in that direction. They belonged to three Dukkhans and five Ortusers. This was the mightiest force that the Spirit Nidus had currently stationed in the Consciousness Megaverse.

This was the moment that Lu Yin finally caught a real glimpse at the true vastness of the Spirit Nidus’s overall strength.

Master Qing Cao, who stood at the pinnacle of the megaverse, was an Immortal, while the High Seraph, who had been appointed by the Nine Odysseys Megaverse to rule over the Spirit Nidus, was a peak Dukkhan. Beneath him were the Seven Seraphs. When Lu Yin considered the three Dukkhans before him, the megaverse had no fewer than fifteen Dukkhans, as well as more than thirty Ortusers. These numbers included the powerhouses hidden in the Gate of Laws and the Primal Beastland. Compared to the Tianyuan Megaverse, the sheer number of powerful beings here was terrifying.

This was the true power of the Spirit Nidus.

The benefit of a unified cultivation system was that it was possible to avoid wasting resources, which led to the ability to produce peak powerhouses in bulk.

Regardless of the different megaverses’ potential, there was no denying that the Spirit Nidus had restricted the Tianyuan Megaverse’s development. If not for that interference, they would have continued to unite under the Heavens Sect and end up producing no fewer experts than the Spirit Nidus. Just the Three Realms and Six Daos alone would have been nine Dukkhans. Yong Heng and Aeternus’s Three Pillars and Six Skies could also be added in, most of whom were also from the Tianyuan Megaverse. And if humanity had not gotten mired in a war and those people had instead joined the Heavens Sect, then several more Dukkhans would have arisen without any doubt. That was not even considering the various Ortusers who would likely have risen to power as well.

Not to mention, there was also the Cyclic Universe, the Three Monarchs Universe, and the top experts of the various other parallel universes.

Sadly, the Tianyuan Megaverse had been stifled from the very beginning.

Under normal circumstances, seeing the Spirit Nidus’s strength so clearly would have likely reassured Lu Yin, but he had since learned of a deeper truth, which was the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. That unfathomable behemoth had no less than three Immortals. That megaverse was far beyond anything that they could hope to resist.

As various thoughts flitted through Lu Yin’s mind, another battleship arrived behind them, followed by another. Soon, all seven battleships had gathered near the gate.𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Inside the gate, a great number of cultivators from the Spirit Nidus who were currently stationed in the Consciousness Megaverse were thrilled. Finally, everything was coming to a conclusion. They had only expected to be reinforced by a single battleship, but when they saw the enormous form of Genesis arrive, people had immediately realized that things were more complicated than mere reinforcements. When some sensed the faint yet unmistakable presence of the High Seraph aboard Genesis, their excitement only mounted further.

All seven battleships are here... Wait, how are there seven? There are only six universe-class battleships! People stared at Boundless. Where is that battleship from? It’s only smaller than Genesis.

No one had ever seen the vessel before, so no one was able to offer any explanation.

The ships moved again, each aiming for a different direction. None intended to linger at the boundary for long.

Boundless also started to move, and as it did so, the High Seraph’s voice reached Lu Yin’s ears alone. “Moving together would make us too big of a target. This place was completely filled with conscients before I arrived and cleared them out. Our target is the Willbound Expanse. I’ve already shared the location with you. Get there as fast as you can, and we will utterly destroy it.

“Eliminate every conscient that sees your ship as you move along. As long as the Willbound Expanse is destroyed, the Consciousness Megaverse can be reset whenever we choose. I give you my word—so long as it remains within my control, I will not touch the Tianyuan Megaverse.

“One more thing: there is a place within the Willbound Expanse known as the Willbound Spire. It is the most ancient place in the entire Consciousness Megaverse, and it may contain some powerful consciousness techniques. If you’re interested in them, you may join me in searching for that place.”

Only a few words were spoken, and yet the High Seraph had succeeded in using both the carrot and the stick. He had threatened the Tianyuan Megaverse as leverage against Lu Yin, while offering the Willbound Spire as bait. This expedition to destroy the Willbound Expanse clearly meant a great deal to the High Seraph.

If Boundless truly wanted to protect the Tianyuan Megaverse, it first needed to earn a place by contributing to the current war.

What surprised Lu Yin the most was that the High Seraph had even mentioned the Willbound Spire. If the man merely wanted to lure Lu Yin in, there were better ways to go about it, such as allowing Boundless to return to the Tianyuan Megaverse. That would be the greatest possible temptation that could have been offered. Instead, the High Seraph had readily revealed the Willbound Spire’s existence, which he could have easily kept a secret.

With the High Seraph mentioning the Willbound Spire, could the Thirteen Luminaries’ suspicions have been wrong? Was it possible that the High Seraph had never intended to seize the Willbound Spire for himself?

No matter the case, Boundless would not join the assault on the Willbound Expanse. Lu Yin knew full well that it was a trap for the High Seraph, and he refused to walk into it. Still, Lu Yin would personally watch the battle. He not only needed to be on guard against the Consciousness Megaverse using similar tactics against him, but he also needed to verify the outcome.

Even if the High Seraph managed to survive the trap, it was certain that he would be forced to reveal his true power, possibly more than intended.

Lu Yin’s focus sharpened as, beneath him, Boundless sped off. He was not going to speak with any of the Spirit Nidus cultivators left at the boundary.

After Emperor Wu and Jiu Xiao had returned to the Spirit Nidus for the Day of Offering, these cultivators had all hidden themselves behind the gate, terrified of being attacked by the Thirteen Luminaries.

In truth, their fear was perfectly reasonable. The High Seraph had just revealed that the conscients within the gate had only been cleared out after he arrived. That meant that the boundary had been under the conscients control until very recently. It was no wonder why there were no visible signs of the Spirit Nidus’s presence in the megaverse.

That might also be a part of the reason why the gates were built; to provide a place of shelter for any Spirit Nidus cultivators who remained in the Consciousness Megaverse.

Something similar had once happened in the Tianyuan Megaverse. Tian Ci had stayed outside the gate, and if not for a clever trick on Lu Yin’s part, it would have been impossible for them to get to Tian Ci.

Each battleship went a separate direction. All of them were following routes that had been carefully planned by the Ascendant Hall. Each of the seven routes were much more than mere paths; they were priceless astral charts that had been drafted over the course of countless years of bloodshed and exploration in the Consciousness Megaverse by the Spirit Nidus’s people.

Lu Yin was not told about the routes that the other battleships would be taking, nor could he be certain that the route given to Boundless would be safe. Logically, that should be the case, as the High Seraph wanted Boundless to be at the Willbound Expanse. The man clearly had some unknown schemes that involved Lu Yin himself.

“Broken Realm!” someone suddenly cried out.

Everyone aboard Boundless turned to look.

Far away, in a sky lit by shimmering stars, they saw what seemed to be an illusion passing by. There was an enormous gray plant piercing a planet, seemingly absorbing the sphere for nutrients.

Boundless automatically slowed down so that the crew could watch the eerie sight unfold.

Old Tao explained, “That’s just an ordinary Broken Realm. That plant is roughly as strong as a Spirit Warrior. Anyone at that level or stronger can completely disregard it. Most teams that operate in the Consciousness Megaverse are led by Spirit Ancestors, so no one pays any attention to this kind of Broken Realm.

“There are countless more just like it.”

Boundless swept past the Broken Realm and continued onwards.

Another Broken Realm soon came into view. This one looked like a tranquil lake, and it had appeared out of nowhere. It looked like a snapshot in time itself that was silently drifting through outer space.

Later, they saw a Broken Realm that looked like shattered ruins. The structures had bizarre designs, and they were covered in strange symbols and glyphs. Judging by the colossal size of the buildings, there was no way they had been built for humans. Rather, the creatures that once inhabited them must have been even larger than the Tianyuan lesser giants. The symbols carved into the stone radiated a deeply unsettling and oppressive feeling.

As the ship continued on, each time a Broken Realm appeared, Old Tao would offer some details. All of these Broken Realms were close to the megaverse’s boundary, and he had personally seen many of them before.

While Broken Realms could shift and change, it generally took a tremendous amount of time for that to happen. Some stayed the same for eons, while others might vanish in an instant.

Old Tao successfully recognized nearly half of the Broken Realms that they passed by. The rest were either unfamiliar, or had changed since he had last seen them.

They eventually spotted a small team of cultivators from the Spirit Nidus who were exploring one of the Broken Realms. Old Tao angrily scolded the team, though he only did so from aboard Boundless, and he did not even transmit his voice to them.

The overall harmlessness of the vast majority of Broken Realms left many cultivators numb to the potential danger. This had caused many to casually enter the Broken Realms. Given the level of familiarity that Old Tao had shown with the Broken Realms that he recognized, he had likely ventured into them himself in the past. This team’s knowledge of the Broken Realms near the boundary of the megaverse might be just as complete as Old Tao’s.

Lu Yin stood at Boundless’s prow as his consciousness spread into the surroundings. Any conscients who happened to catch a glimpse of the battleship would be instantly detected. None could escape Lu Yin’s notice.

His consciousness could also extend far beyond the range at which the conscients could detect Boundless, which ensured that the battleship would be able to approach the Willbound Expanse without being detected.

There were many, even countless, conscients scattered throughout the megaverse.

Lu Yin was like a fish returning to water, and he constantly absorbed stray threads of consciousness. Given that his back was facing everyone, no one noticed the joy lighting up his eyes.

Sure enough, the Consciousness Megaverse held the potential to bring his consciousness to a completely new level.

He saw many Broken Realms as they continued along. Some were filled with death and bloodshed, while others were idyllic and serene. Not even the gray color was able to hide their beauty.

“Stop here and wait a bit for me.” Lu Yin left Boundless and moved off in a very specific direction.

He had recognized where they were from Hua Manyi’s memories. There was an entrance to a parallel universe nearby, and many conscients occupied that universe.

This was an ambush site for conscients to attack Spirit Nidus cultivators.

Anyone from the Spirit Nidus who accidentally approached this region was almost guaranteed to end up surrounded and killed by conscients.

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