Everyone in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse knew of Greater Sancte Awe Gate, but how many knew the story of how the Immortal had risen to power? Greater Sancte was not just a title, but a trial, a realm, and an ending.
Who in the cosmos had ever been so ambitious as to establish a list of the strongest in the megaverse?
Many considered Lu Yin to be arrogant, but compared to Greater Sancte Awe Gate, he suddenly appeared to be almost modest. At least, he had not tried to list the entire Nine Odysseys Megaverse.
Who had ended up as the strongest? No one but Greater Sancte Awe Gate herself.
Lu Yin asked himself if he possessed the strength to be invincible in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. While Greater Sancte Green Lotus had praised him as being the fourth strongest in the megaverse, what of it? Lu Yin’s audacity paled in comparison to Greater Sancte Awe Gate’s.
This was not to say that Lu Yin lacked confidence, but rather that he carried too many burdens. He needed to consider how the Nine Odysseys and the Tianyuan megaverses coexisted, and he needed to avoid bringing a calamity upon the Tianyuan. It was necessary to consider the Immortals. Lu Yin’s entire path had been obstructed by various burdens.
He also wished that he could simply let go of everything, be carefree, and do whatever he wanted.
Within the words he had spoken during his Origin realm breakthrough, some people had heard antagonism in them, and they had certainly been provocative. Lu Yin had spoken his true heart: he wanted to subdue the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and force it into submission so that no one would ever dare to move against the Tianyuan Megaverse.
His strength made him invincible, and yet he suppressed himself too much. He still carried the fiery ambition of youth, wanting to shake the universe in his anger, and yet he remained trapped in a cage of his own making.
Lu Yin desperately wished to be like Greater Sancte Awe Gate, challenging all of the greatest experts, one after another. He wanted to force the megaverse into silence, cause the sun and moon to lose their light, demonstrate his greatest power, and leave a legend that would stand in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse forever.
But... could he?
If people truly acted without restraint, what would remain of civilization?
Lu Yin let out a long breath and then suppressed the emotions that had surged within his heart. He stared up at the sky. If the day came when someone else could carry the fate of the Tianyuan for him, if the day came when no one remembered him, then he would be able to break free from the shackles of civilization. He would arrogantly laugh at the cosmos and make all of the megaverses and even the River of Aeons remember him forever.
He wanted to become the most ambitious figure of all of the ages.
...
In the Rift of Suffering, in the location where Lu Yin and Ku Ji had recently sparred, two other people arrived, though their arrival did not draw any attention from the members of the Rift of Suffering.
The location was not some carefully guarded secret, nor was there a gate that strictly limited entry; anyone could enter.
“Martial Uncle, is this the Rift of Suffering?”
“That’s right, it is.”
“What? But this...?”
“It’s not what you imagined, is it? The first time I visited the Rift of Suffering, your master brought me. I also didn’t expect to find that the Rift of Suffering is like this either. The most powerful force of the North Domain, and yet this is all there is to it.” He paused. “I still don’t even know how to describe it.”
“So what do we do? Who do we look for?”
“Just wait a bit.”
A moment later, over beside the Mother Tree, Ku Cheng pulled out his communication device, and after nodding to Lu Yin, the man stepped aside to answer a call. Lu Yin continued to speak with Ku Ji. There was more that he wanted to learn about Greater Sancte Awe Gate, and if possible, the other two Greater Sancti as well. Most of all, Lu Yin wanted to learn about the fourth Greater Sancte who had died.
“The Five-Palm Sect? Oh! You’re Lang Ruyu.” Ku Cheng made no attempt to conceal his conversation, so Lu Yin could hear everything quite clearly.
“Greetings, Senior Ku Cheng. I am indeed Lang Ruyu. I’m here with my martial nephew, Si Jiushi. May we trouble you with our visit?”
Ku Cheng replied, “Why would it be any trouble? I’ll come find you right away.”
He then returned to Lu Yin’s side and said, “Mr. Lu, we have guests, so I’ll take my leave for now.”
Lu Yin said, “Let’s go together. There are people from the Five-Palm Sect Sect visiting, right? I overheard.”
Ku Cheng was curious. “Are you familiar with people from the Five-Palm Sect, Mr. Lu?”
Lu Yin smiled. “I first heard about that sect long ago. They’re quite famous.”
...
In the Rift of Suffering, Lang Ruyu and Si Jiushi were feeling very uncomfortable. They felt like complete outsiders.
The members of the Rift of Suffering were all quite unkempt. Could they at least try to look a bit cleaner?
The two men felt strange as they observed the people around them, while the members of the Rift of Suffering did not look at the two men much better.
The Five-Palm Sect was not any less famous than the Rift of Suffering. The former had the goal of challenging the Lesser Sancti and stirred up trouble all across the megaverse. Things had only somewhat settled down after the current sect master, Lord Ting Chao, had taken over, but only somewhat. There were rumors that the sect had caused trouble in the East Domain in recent years to the point where they were unable to remain in that region any longer, forcing them to migrate to the North Domain.
As for Si Jiushi’s appearance, he was quite eye-catching.
“Oh, here they come,” Lang Ruyu commented as he watched someone approach from the distance.
Si Jiushi looked over with a bit of hope. They’re finally here.
They were visiting the Rift of Suffering because they wanted to learn the Heartrift. While cultivating with the Rift of Suffering was arduous and only one in 10,000 could truly master the technique, the two men still wanted to try. This was primarily because they were no longer able to stay in the East Domain. The West Domain was where the Spirit Coalition was based, and they also did not want to go to the South Domain. After a great deal of thought, the North Domain with the Rift of Suffering had seemed to be their best choice.
The Rift of Suffering had a good reputation, and it was known to never bully others. To be fair, the sect really did not have the numbers to do any bullying even if they wanted to.
If Si Jiushi and Lang Ruyu could learn the Heartrift, as Lord Ting Chao had recommended, they would be able to walk everywhere sideways in the future.
This thought caused Si Jiushi’s expectations to rise, just as he obtained a clear look at the people approaching.
That sight caused his face to grow pale, and his mouth dropped open. He looked like he had just seen a ghost.
Lang Ruyu showed the same reaction as he stared blankly at Lu Yin, who was next to Ku Cheng. Why is that man here?
The battle in Ridgeplain had stained the entire sky red with all the blood that had been spilled. Lang Ruyu had never seen such a brutal fight before. The Autumnspring Slip had been completely annihilated. He had seen the attacker and later learned from Si Jiushi that the man was the same mysterious individual who had repeatedly pinned the blame for his actions onto the Five-Palm Sect.
Lang Ruyu had immediately grabbed Si Jiushi and fled the region, not daring to so much as glance back, out of fear of being noticed.
The biggest reason why the two men had left the East Domain was Lu Yin, who seemed to greatly enjoy using the Five-Palms Sect as his scapegoat.
Lu Yin’s actions had caused Lang Ruyu to suffer greatly, and the man had been quite miserable.
Neither Lang Ruyu nor Si Jiushi had ever dreamed that they would encounter Lu Yin even when they ran away to hide in the Rift of Suffering. They seemed to be haunted.