Qi Zun was taken aback, and he turned to look at Lu Yin. “Are you an enemy of Lord High Seraph? How are you even in the Spirit Nidus?”
Lu Yin gave the man a teasing smile. “The High Seraph can’t stop me. I can roam freely about the Spirit Nidus.”
“Impossible. Given your strength, you can’t possibly stand up to Lord High Seraph,” Qi Zun denied in disbelief. He had assumed that his family had been attacked simply because of some internal strife within the Spirit Nidus. Given his family’s standing with the High Seraph, it should have been possible for them to preserve their bloodline by paying a steep price.
The old man had never imagined that his opponent would be the High Seraph’s enemy.
This defied Qi Zun’s understanding of things.
Lu Yin laughed. “Your descendant tried to tell you from the beginning, but you wouldn’t listen to him. Go ahead and have them give you a full explanation now. Let’s see what price Senior Qi Zun is willing to pay.”
Qi Zun looked over at Qi Gong with a grim expression.
Qi Gong shrugged. “He is the Grandverse Manor’s Third Boss. The Grandverse Manor...”
As Qi Gong spoke, a spiral of karma twined about Lu Yin’s fingertip before expanding across the Consciousness Domain. He now intended to complete his second goal for this visit.
During the Nine Horizons, he had gotten a glimpse of all thirty-six domains, and in doing so, he had seen something only visible to those who cultivated karma. Any who did not would be blind to the sight.
While the Spirit Nidus appeared normal on the surface, when seen through the lens of karma, Lu Yin had instantly noticed something strange.
The Spirit Nidus was separated into seven different regions of karma.
He could not quite describe the phenomena, but in that moment, he had seen that the megaverse’s karma was split into seven different zones, one of which was the Consciousness Domain.
On his way to the Consciousness Domain, Lu Yin had spoken with Old Tao, and in doing so, he had confirmed that the other six sections of karma were centered on the other six major powers of the Spirit Nidus.
In other words, the seven sections of karma corresponded perfectly with the seven major powers. Not one more, not one less.
Could this be a coincidence? Lu Yin did not know, but one of his purposes in visiting the Consciousness Domain was to seek an answer to this question.
He took advantage of the time that Qi Gong spent speaking and investigated the Consciousness Domain’s karma. There was some massive secret hidden in the Spirit Nidus.
The spirals of karma spread further and further, until it covered the entire Yijing.
To those who could perceive karma, the spirals blotted out the sky, but to those incapable of sensing karma, there was nothing at all. Not even those as strong as Qi Zun or Wu Wei could sense the spirals of karma.
Countless spirals of karma enveloped the Consciousness Domain. Lu Yin was certain that there was something hidden within the domain.
For such a vast amount of karma to be perfectly divided seven ways, just what was that karma?
Traditionally, karma was understood as something that stemmed from life itself; where there was a cause, there would be a corresponding effect. This was the common understanding. However, after comprehending karma, Lu Yin had come to understand that, while karma did indeed arise from cause and effect, karma itself might exist a priori to life.
After experiencing multiple cycles of karma, Lu Yin had repeatedly attempted to alter the past, but the future had always converged to the same outcome, no matter how many different paths he tried. All the paths seemed karmically destined to reach a single outcome.
Karma was a line upon which lifeforms could be placed. However, that did not necessarily mean that life came first, and then was followed by karma.
As Seruzen had once said, emotions, virtue, sin, and even karma could be quantified, but who or what was recording such things?
Lu Yin pressed deeper into the karma of the Consciousness Domain.
However, his efforts were soon interrupted by Qi Zun.
“Does your Grandverse Manor truly intend to clash with the Ascendant Hall? Do you really wish to provoke the Lord High Seraph?”
Lu Yin looked over at Qi Zun. “Have you decided upon a price?”
Qi Zun’s expression darkened. “You, sir, are from the Tianyuan Megaverse, aren’t you?”
Qi Gong had explained what he knew about the Grandverse Manor, including the various speculations that he had heard. Qi Zun had become certain that the common assumptions about the Grandverse Manor were all wrong. Those people were not conscients, but rather humans from the Tianyuan Megaverse.
While still peering into the Consciousness Domain’s karma, Lu Yin replied, “Just tell me what you’re willing to pay, and make sure that it’s satisfactory. Otherwise, your Qi family will be annihilated.”
Qi Zun shook his head. “You have no idea of the Spirit Nidus’s power, nor do you understand the High Seraph.”
The man then turned to face a specific direction and shouted, “Wu Wei, the survival of the Consciousness Domain is now at stake! If you don’t do something, the Qi family will perish, and you won’t be able to survive either.”
A deep voice echoed from the distance, “Some old fossil who’s already dead shouldn’t be threatening me. You are not the Qi Zun of the past. How are you any different from us now? If you went to the Consciousness Megaverse, you would cultivate to eventually become a conscient.
“You are no longer just a creature of the Spirit Nidus.”
Qi Zun’s tone turned cold. “What sort of creature I am does not matter. Even if Lord High Seraph abandons me, this Yijing and my Qi family will not be abandoned. If you, a surrendered conscient, don’t protect this domain, then what use are you?”
Lu Yin sighed. “When a person dies, their light goes out. Do you think that the Revolt Alliance exists for no reason? Old man, you lost your value the moment you died.”
With that, Lu Yin made his move. His star of consciousness spun, and a vast, immeasurable consciousness attack surged toward Qi Zun.
Everstone reappeared near the old man’s body, and he sat upon it. With that, he became as immovable as a mountain.
“Do you really think that I’m afraid of you? Your consciousness is mixed and impure. No matter how much consciousness you might possess, you cannot defeat me with it. I only asked Wu Wei to act in order to trap you. Even if that thing does nothing, you won’t destroy my Qi family.”
A smile crept across Lu Yin’s lips. “Is that so? Then do your best to stop me!”
He released his inner universe, and Verdant Eternity spread out. Lu Yin’s terrifying consciousness did not attack Qi Zun. Instead, it spread out crazily as his star of consciousness spun faster and faster.
Qi Zun’s pupils shrank. It’s that technique again!
The old man was absolutely sure that Lu Yin had not initially been his match in terms of consciousness. However, as soon as he used this strange technique, he had been able to block Qi Zun’s consciousness. Afterwards, the younger man’s consciousness had grown tremendously, and now, he was employing the same technique yet again.
“Wu Wei, will you really refuse to do anything?”
“All who are within the Consciousness Domain, release all the conscients! I will free the surrendered conscients! I promise that, if this domain survives this calamity, you will all gain your freedom.”
The ground shattered as Qi Zun attempted to release all of the surrendered conscients.
However, the area underground remained silent. No conscients at all remained there.
The old man only then realized that the surrendered conscients were already gone.