Star Odyssey

Chapter 3206: Tian Ci

Lu Yin soon arrived in the Second Scourge.

Ever since Xu Jin was killed, the Second Scourge had been semi-abandoned by the Aeternals.

As soon as Lu Yin arrived in the Second Scourge, it could essentially be considered part of the Heavens Sect’s territory. Xu Jin was dead, but Lan Lan should still be somewhere in the Scourge.

However, as Lu Yin looked around, he found that the Second Scourge seemed quite empty. In fact, aside from the Aeternus Kingdoms, he did not find even a single reasonably powerful corpse king anywhere in the Scourge. All the strong ones had already been moved to the First Scourge.

Lu Yin had traveled from the Sixth Scourge all the way to the Second Scourge, essentially circumnavigating the black Mother Tree. Saying that he wanted to destroy the black Mother Tree was a good excuse.

He slowly moved as close to the black Mother Tree as possible from the Second Scourge, which was directly beneath where Xu Jin's dark clouds had once hung. Lu Yin looked down at the ground and spread out his domain to carefully explore the Scourge.

Before long, his eyes lit up. He had found something.

The black Mother Tree’s roots were extremely tight-knit, which was unlike the Perennial World’s Mother Tree that had the Lower Realm. In contrast, none of the Scourges had anything similar to the Lower Realm. There was nothing but an endless stretch of dark roots.

In all the other Scourges that Lu Yin had explored, it was impossible to see through the dark roots, but he had found a gap in the Second Scourge.

The Second Scourge was the closest to the First Scourge, which most likely had a path that led directly to the black Mother Tree’s roots. That path had most likely created a small gap in the Second Scourge.

Just as Lu Yin was about to move down, he spun around. Far away, a figure slowly stepped out of a distortion in the void.

Ye Wu and the Abandoned instantly appeared, and they both stared at the figure.

It was a young man. He was handsome, if slightly effeminate. He had a somber expression, though there was a hint of a smile on his lips. It looked as though there was a subtle smirk just barely revealed as he started to walk towards Lu Yin.

The man’s arrival caused Lu Yin and the others to instantly raise their guards, as they felt danger from this man.

Lu Yin stared at the stranger. Years of combat had honed his instincts, and they screamed at him that this man was very dangerous, despite his apparent youth.

The young man slowly walked towards Lu Yin, completely ignoring both Ye Wu and the Abandoned, who stood in the man’s path.

A step saw him brush past both of the men.

At that moment, a massive sword stabbed down into the ground in front of the man, as Supreme was trying to block the man’s path. The enormous mecha towered high in the Second Scourge as Shang Huang made himself an obstacle.

The young man looked up at Supreme. "It’s an interesting toy, but I don't like being stopped. You have one chance. Back off."

Inside of Supreme, Shang Huang stared intently at the young man. What an arrogant tone! In the past, the emperor might not have cared, but he had changed after the Infinity Empire had participated in the various battles between the Heavens Sect and Aeternus. Shang Huang understood that there were some utterly terrifying people with very unassuming appearances.

He had already encountered more than ten powerhouses who could threaten Supreme, and already, the emperor felt nervous about this young man. That was why he had instinctively blocked the man’s path with Supreme’s sword.

The emperor looked back at Lu Yin, who waved a hand.

Shang Huang sighed in relief and drew his sword from the ground. Even so, his eyes remained fixed on the young man.

The man showed a faint smile as he looked over at Lu Yin. "It’s nice to meet you. My name is Tian Ci."

Lu Yin's eyes narrowed in surprise. "You’re human?"

Tian Ci's smile widened. "That’s right, human."

"One of the Boundary Guardians?"

"Correct again."

Lu Yin had not expected to learn that one of the Boundary Guardians was actually a human.

"You are Lu Yin. Dao Monarch Lu, correct?" Tian Ci scrutinized Lu Yin as he spoke.

Lu Yin met the man’s gaze. "You're not from our megaverse."

Tian Ci nodded. "That’s right, I'm not."

The oldest powerhouse in the megaverse was the Origin Progenitor. He had taught the Three Realms and Six Daos, but none of them had broken into the Origin Realm, until Ancient God and Ancestor Lu Yuan had succeeded, which was very, very recent. Given the fact that Tian Ci was a Boundary Guardian, he had to be an Ortuser. If he were also from the known megaverse, then Ancestor Lu Yuan and the others would undoubtedly know of Tian Ci.

For an unknown human to be an Ortuser, there was only one explanation: he was not from their megaverse.

Lu Yin chuckled. "How interesting. The great Boundary Guardians who are so determined to drive out all foreigners from our megaverse aren’t all from this place yourselves. In that case, may I ask, who will drive you out?"

Tian Ci remained unruffled. "I’ve lived in this place for so long that I might as well be considered a native."

"Then what about the Lost Clan?" Lu Yin retorted. "They've lived here for a great deal of time as well. If you examine their situation, virtually their entire known history takes place in this megaverse. How do you categorize them?"

Tian Ci replied, "Dao Monarch Lu, there's something that you may not have understood previously."

He stared at Lu Yin and slowly stated, "The Boundary Guardians are governed by our own rules. These rules are like a circle. Once you step inside, you become bound by those rules. If you remain outside, you violate them. I am inside the circle, while everything in this entire megaverse, aside from the other Boundary Guardians, is outside of it."

Lu Yin laughed. "I see. Now I understand. You are much more straightforward than Tian En's hypocritical nonsense."

Tian Ci smiled. "Even if we are inside the circle, we still have to abide by the rules. So, tell me, how did Tian Fa die?"

Lu Yin clasped his hands behind his back. "There seems to be something that you’ve misunderstood as well."

He stared at the other man. "I also have a circle. Those who follow me are within it, while all who oppose me are outside it."

Tian Ci did not respond and simply continued to stare at Lu Yin. Lu Yin met the Ortuser’s gaze without any fear. So what if the man was an Ortuser? It was not as if Lu Yin had not killed such a powerhouse before. He had already killed Tian Fa. The Boundary Guardians were governed by rules that they could not easily break. Despite Tian Ci's arrogant attitude, if he attacked the Heavens Sect without just cause, there would be consequences that the Boundary Guardians could not bear.

Tian En had dared to attack Progenitor Ku, but she had not dared to make any open moves against the Heavens Sect.

Tian Fa had been toyed with for a very long time while he chased after Elder Shan Gu.

Just because the restrictions that bound the Boundary Guardians were invisible did not mean that they did not exist.

"Dao Monarch Lu, you're interesting. Very interesting," Tian Ci stated slowly.

Lu Yin continued to face Tian Ci. "I think you're interesting too. Would you mind answering a question for me?"

Tian Ci replied, "Tell me."

Lu Yin’s eyes never left the man. "Who drew your circle for you?"

Tian Ci's expression suddenly grew cold. "There is nothing absolute in existence. When something reaches the limit, rules must be implemented to restrain it, or else things will result in self-destruction."

"So are you saying that your circle was drawn by the Boundary Guardians themselves?"

Tian Ci did not answer the question. "Dao Monarch Lu, I would like to ask you a question of my own."

"Go ahead."

Tian Ci's gaze calmed back down. "Do you cherish all that you possess at this moment?"

Lu Yin stared at the man for a moment before answering. "Of course I do."

"If you cherish what you have, then don't forsake it easily," Tian Ci stated.

Lu Yin countered, "And what about you? Do you cherish your position as a Boundary Guardian? Or perhaps, do you cherish your own life?"

Tian Ci smiled. "Of course I do. However, I'm also curious. Is there anyone bold enough to try to take my life?"

"There might be," Lu Yin casually commented. "Who can say what the future might hold?"

Tian Ci shook his head. "Since that’s possible, I'll accelerate things. I’m not one to wait around.

"Dao Monarch Lu, I'll ask you one last time. How did Tian Fa die?"

Lu Yin was unmoved by the question. "I have one last question of my own. Did you come to our megaverse on your own, or were you sent here with a specific agenda?"

Tian Ci's eyes suddenly flared, and a dangerous glint flickered in their depths.

Lu Yin had been thinking about this particular question the moment he had realized that Tian Ci was from another megaverse. That fact had led Lu Yin to one possible conclusion.

Tian Ci was a human from another megaverse, so what was his own civilization’s position towards Lu Yin’s megaverse? Had they sent Tian Ci to facilitate peaceful coexistence and the exchange of ideas, or to invade and conquer them?

If the latter was their goal, then everything made sense. It explained the Boundary Guardians attacking the Origin Progenitor, as well as them helping Aeternus to destroy the Heavens Sect. Everything would have been done to pave the way for another megaverse to launch an invasion. The Heavens Sect had been too powerful, so it had to be destroyed in order to make room for the invaders.

This was Lu Yin’s first thought. After all, he had been the one to unify the Outerverse, then the Innerverse, the entire Fifth Mainland, and even the Sixverse Association. He was all too familiar with conflicts between natives and outsiders.

In fact, Lu Yin could not think of even one other possible explanation for why the Boundary Guardians had attacked the Origin Progenitor. There were too many foreigners in the megaverse, and the Boundary Guardians lacked the power to drive all of them away. Even their title as Boundary Guardians seemed, to Lu Yin’s perspective, like nothing more than a convenient excuse to target humanity.

Yes, it was nothing more than an excuse.

Of course, this was also the absolute worst-case scenario. It was possible that the Boundary Guardians were telling the truth. They might truly have a duty to prevent foreigners from entering the megaverse and might have once seen the Origin Progenitor as a threat to humanity's stability.

Regardless of their true motivations, humanity was completely opposed by the Boundary Guardians. The two were just as incompatible as humanity and Aeternus.

War was inevitable.

Tian Ci's expression changed, causing his handsome features to grow even more delicate as a chill entered his voice. "It seems that Dao Monarch Lu has no intention of answering my question. In that case, we'll drop the matter of Tian Fa's death for the moment and will conduct a slow investigation. For now, I need to fulfill my duty as a Boundary Guardian."

With that, he casually waved a hand, tearing through the void behind him. Through the rift, a city could be seen. However, the city was filled with mountains of corpses and rivers of blood that flowed through the streets. There were countless bodies strewn across the ground. Above it all, there was a woman suspended in the air. She had been dead for a long time.

Lu Yin looked across the city, and his pupils shrank as a wave of killing intent exploded from him. He barely refrained from attacking Tian Ci.

It was a city that had belonged to the Lost Clan.

The Heavens Sect had hidden the Lost Clan by scattering their people across multiple universes. All so that Tian Fa could not find the entire Lost Clan and eliminate all their people.

Lu Yin had expected the Boundary Guardians to find a few of the Lost Clan's hiding places, but he had never imagined that there would be such a massacre.

Everyone in the city had been slaughtered, and their blood had pooled together to form rivers. The woman hanging in the air was Shan Fangyi.

Both Ye Wu and the Abandoned's expressions fell. They had slaughtered countless creatures throughout their lives, but scenes such as this were very rare. This city had been populated by a vast number of ordinary humans, as not all members of the Lost Clan had cultivated.

Within Supreme, Shang Huang's expression turned grim. While he had led wars and invasions, he had always done his best to provide stability for the people of his own Infinity Empire. What he saw made him twitch. This was far too cruel.