Chapter 3959: Lost Path

“If a Nest entered our Nine Odysseys Megaverse without being discovered, could it possibly spawn a Verdant Sage that looked human?” Qing Yun asked.

Lu Yin nodded. “I’ve encountered more than one Verdant Sage that looks completely human.”

Granny Yin’s expression turned grave. “No wonder the Greater Sancti are treating this war with such importance. This civilization is clearly a great enemy of my Nine Odysseys Megaverse.”

Qing Yun asked, “Mr. Lu, are the changes in the war that you mentioned related to the Verdant Sages?”

Lu Yin was impressed. “Smart.”

Qing Yun gave a small smile. “Only the Verdant Sages could add variables to the battlefield. There’s a certain pattern to the cosmos. When there are large numbers of creatures, there are very rarely truly powerful individuals. Each Nest can only produce a single Verdant Sage, though each one concentrates the abilities of all creatures in a given universe into one being. That must make each Verdant Sage absolutely terrifying.”

Lu Yin chatted with Qing Yun for a long time as they waited for Greater Sancte Awe Gate.

This time, Granny Yin did not interfere. Lu Yin had helped the Nine Odysseys Megaverse several times during their expeditions, earning everyone’s gratitude. More importantly, he had held back from making a move on Qing Yun.

“Could you tell me about Greater Sancte Mi Jin?” Lu Yin suddenly changed subjects, much to Qing Yun’s surprise.

“Greater Sancte Mi Jin?”

Lu Yin nodded and then praised, “Greater Sancte Mi Jin’s genius can be seen everywhere in this megaverse, from the Nine Odysseys and their spirit treasure formations to the skyswings, the wars on foreign megaverses, and even the concept that a civilization needs to be self-aware. His legacy is quite literally everywhere. I just wish to know more about such an impressive senior.”

Granny Yin suddenly asked, “Mr. Lu, have you met Qing Xing?”

Lu Yin looked over. “Yes.”

Granny Yin understood. “So, you’ve exchanged moves with Qing Xing before.”

Lu Yin answered with a faint smile. “I just wish to know about Greater Sancte Mi Jin. It has nothing to do with Qing Xing.”

Granny Yin dropped the subject.

Qing Yun asked, “What would you like to know about Greater Sancte Mi Jin, Mr. Lu? I don’t know much.”

“Anything at all will do. I’d like to learn all about him.”

Qing Yun thought for a moment. “Then I’ll tell you what I know. Greater Sancte Mi Jin is a senior whom I also greatly respect...”

For the following half day, Qing Yun shared all that she knew about Greater Sancte Mi Jin with Lu Yin. She greatly admired the Greater Sancte’s research on spirit treasure formations, and she had even traveled across the Nine Odysseys Megaverse to specifically see his handiwork in person.

She loved Greater Sancte Mi Jin’s creations, and she frequently used the skyswings.

Most of all, she admired the A Thousand Years’ Dream technique that Greater Sancte Mi Jin had created. Because of that, she had frequently sought out people from the Dream Dominion to spar with. She was particularly impressed with the dream spirits.

“If not for the dream spirits that come from Greater Sancte Mi Jin’s A Thousand Years’ Dream, the Nine Odysseys would have suffered another calamity.” Qing Yun suddenly paused, and shot a hesitant glance at Lu Yin. She acted as if she had just said something she should not have.

Granny Yin quickly intervened and changed the topic. “Young Lady, you don’t know much about Greater Sancte Mi Jin. Mr. Lu, if you wish to know anything further, you can just ask Greater Sancte Awe Gate herself.”

Lu Yin said, “Qi Xu.”

The name startled both Qing Yun and Granny Yin. “You know?”

Lu Yin nodded. “Greater Sancte Awe Gate told me.”

Qing Yun let out a sigh of relief and smiled at him. “If you know about even that, then there’s nothing to hide. Yes, Senior Greater Sancte Mi Jin was an amazing genius, and only dream spirits were able to track Qi Xu’s emotions. If not for that...

“Everyone knows that Greater Sancte Mi Jin created A Thousand Years’ Dream, but do you know how he created it? Or how he even conceived of creatures like the dream spirits?”

Lu Yin was curious about that. “How?”

Qing Yun smiled. “This is something that only a few people are aware of. Even when Greater Sancte Mi Jin was still alive, it was considered one of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse’s greatest secrets. However, now that he’s gone, the secret no longer means anything.”

She paused briefly before continuing, “Greater Sancte Mi Jin was one of the oldest powerhouses in the history of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, as only Greater Sancte Green Lotus was older than him. He was far, far older than Greater Sancte Blood Tower or my mother. He also followed a unique cultivation method that he called the Lost Path. By nature, one who cultivates the Lost Path is unknowable, yet they also experience all the myriad aspects of life. I have always wanted to experience the same thing, precisely because of Greater Sancte Mi Jin.

“Only by grasping the myriad facets of life can one comprehend their own.

“But the Lost Path has a flaw: the longer one cultivates it, the easier it becomes to lose oneself. The title ‘Mi Jin’ was actually chosen in self-mockery, as the Greater Sancte believed that he often lost his way.

“Once lost, it was as though one’s spiritual force had vanished. But my mother said that it was not lost at all—it merely attached itself to another, experiencing the myriad facets of that person’s life. That was how Greater Sancte Mi Jin created so many unimaginable things; he understood life more deeply than anyone else and thus understood humanity itself.”

Qing Yun spoke more and more, though most of what she shared was merely her own conjectures regarding Greater Sancte Mi Jin.

However, what Lu Yin heard was different from what was said. Lost, spiritual force, attaching to others...

The first thing that he thought of was Yuan Qi.

Was it possible that the entity that had taken over Yuan Qi and learned of how his wife had betrayed him was Greater Sancte Mi Jin? That would certainly match with Lu Yin’s speculations while he was returning on the green lotus leaf.

When Yuan Qi had been sent to the Tianyuan, it would have sent Greater Sancte Mi Jin’s spiritual force farther and farther away from his body, which must have had an effect. Furthermore, the only expert who could qualify to have both the High Seraph and Yong Heng plot against them was an Immortal.

Lu Yin’s expression grew heavy, and he no longer heard what Qing Yun said. All he knew was that there was a chance that he had caught a glimpse of the truth.

Greater Sancte Mi Jin’s death had not been as simple as it had appeared.

What Qing Xing had perceived as two retreating and one left to die might not have been what it appeared to be.

The one who had gone to die had not truly gone to die. Rather, since he had known that his own demise was inevitable, he had decided to take Qi Xu down with him.

Could it have been like that?

In that case, who had been the one to target Greater Sancte Mi Jin? Master Qing Cao, or that mysterious, hidden Immortal?

Some time later, Greater Sancte Awe Gate returned.

Qing Yun and Granny Yin left Frightened Sparrow Terrace, and Greater Sancte Awe Gate informed Lu Yin that she had already asked Master Qing Cao to deliver the retreat order to the other three battlefields, while also delivering a message from the man. “Master Qing Cao said thank you.”

Lu Yin did not care. “He’s thanking me for protecting the people of the Spirit Nidus, but there’s no need for him to thank me. All of us are human, so how could I possibly abandon those people?”

Greater Sancte Awe Gate did not dwell on that matter. It was necessary for experts to defend the Spirit Nidus’s thirty-six domains. Even if Luo Chan teleported the swarms of insects around, the defenders of the thirty-six domains would not need to move, as they would solely be responsible for defending the Spirit Nidus.

There were also areas of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse that would require protection.

Lu Yin did not need to concern himself with the overall defensive strategy. The places that needed to be protected would be determined by Greater Sancte Awe Gate and the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

Lu Yin hesitated over whether or not he should voice his conjectures regarding what might have really happened with Greater Sancte Mi Jin’s death. But after a bit of thought, he decided to stay silent. All he had was mere speculation. Nothing had been confirmed, and it was simply not the right time.

If Master Qing Cao really had schemed against Greater Sancte Mi Jin, then revealing the truth at this moment would only push the man to ally with the Nest civilization. Even in the best case scenario, the course of the entire war would be affected.

If the mysterious Immortal was the culprit, then exposing these suspicions might draw them out. However, there was no telling where that unknown Immortal’s loyalties might lie.

The Nine Odysseys Megaverse was already struggling against the Nest civilization. Further complications could not be managed.

Furthermore, was it even possible that the Greater Sancti did not know that Greater Sancte Mi Jin’s spiritual force had gone to the Tianyuan Megaverse with Yuan Qi, killing the Immortal?

According to Lu Yin’s speculation, even if the Lost Path had caused a portion of Greater Sancte Mi Jin’s manifested thought or spiritual force to follow Yuan Qi far away from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, the Immortal had not lost consciousness. He had chosen to die with Qi Xu. At that time, he could have shared his situation with Greater Sancte Green Lotus and the other Greater Sancti. It was possible that they were already aware of the truth.

Following that line of thought, it was not Lu Yin’s place to expose anything, especially since he did not even know who was behind those events.

He also hesitated because of one final detail; could the three Greater Sancti really be fully trusted?

While they gave off the impression of being trustworthy, Lu Yin had experienced too much. In particular, the manner in which his Lu family had been betrayed and exiled raised his caution. There were times when those who plotted against you were not doing so maliciously or even to seek revenge, but simply for the sake of the greater good. Such lofty-sounding ideals had been many people’s excuses for actions that they had taken when they needed to console themselves.

Even so, such excuses did not hold any sense of hostility.

That was precisely what made such motives so terrifying.

If he were not constantly vigilant, Lu Yin would have died countless times throughout his life.

It would be better for him to wait for Greater Sancte Green Lotus and Blood Tower to return before saying anything.

At this same time, two units away from the Spirit Nidus, down and to the southeast, people from the Rift of Suffering and Lu Sizhan received a message from Master Qing Cao, ordering them to pull back and retreat from the battlefield. They were to relocate and protect the thirty-six domains of the Spirit Nidus.

“Protect the thirty-six domains? Shouldn’t that be the Spirit Nidus’s responsibility?”

“Why do we need to protect the Spirit Nidus?”

“Just by fighting on this battlefield, we’re already essentially protecting the Spirit Nidus. I can’t understand why we would pull back until we’re only protecting the thirty-six domains. That would allow the bugs to rush into the Spirit Nidus. What are the commanders even thinking?”

“Master Qing Cao delivered our orders. It’s too strange for him to abandon the Spirit Nidus as a whole and only protect the thirty-six domains.”

Ku Ji stared at the massive form of Nee in the distance. Lu Sizhan approached from behind. “No matter what’s going on, since we’ve received our orders, we have to obey.”

“I know. It appears that this war won’t be ending anytime soon. There’s only two more years left before my Rift of Suffering is supposed to take people to the Mindscape Megaverse. It looks like that trip will be delayed for a long time,” Ku Ji commented in an emotional tone.

Lu Sizhan then remembered that the Rift of Suffering would take people to the Mindscape Megaverse every forty years. That was the only way for anyone to comprehend the Heartrift technique.

“I heard that even Mr. Lu wanted to accompany you to the Mindscape Megaverse so that he could study the Heartrift technique. Is that true?”

Ku Ji smiled. “He does. Unfortunately, I don’t know how long we will have to postpone the next trip for. Even if we are able to go, Mr. Lu won’t be going with us.”

The two men did not know that Lu Yin had already returned from the Allsense Megaverse. They both believed that he was still fighting a war in a distant place.

It did not take long for things to shift and change on the battlefield. All of the humans and otherborn pulled back, retreating again and again. The otherborn were left at the back, where they suffered the brunt of the horde of insects’ assaults. Nee and several other Verdant Sages constantly attacked, though they were not able to stop the retreat. They could only watch as more and more humans climbed onto the green lotus leaves and left the battlefield to return to the Spirit Nidus.

A month later, the defenders of the Clearvoid Megaverse also received orders through Master Qing Cao. Another battlefield was ordered to return to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, learning that the war was being confined to within the Night Pillars’ range.

Xue Lou was surprised by his orders. Were their defensive lines being pulled back to within range of the Night Pillars? What was the reason for that decision?

While curious, he would not disobey the orders that he had received. Blood Tower’s disciples were known as being the best when it came to obeying orders, as they had fought in more wars than any other Immortals’ disciples.

On the battlefield, unless one had overwhelming power that could decide everything, it was necessary to follow the overall strategy.

Xue Lou had always fought defensively against the insects. If the battlefields were all pulled back to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, he had no doubt that there would be other experts who could assist him.

“Eighth Night Pillar! We return to the Nine Odysseys! I’ll cover our retreat!” Xue Lou’s voice echoed in the ears of every cultivator on the battlefield.

Gan Mo was startled. “Senior Brother!”

Xue Lou coldly replied, “I’ll be fine. These bugs still aren’t able to do anything to me.”

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.