A line of karma that was only visible to Lu Yin appeared between the dark-gold streams that were darting about the universe and Lu Yin’s own threads of consciousness. That line of karma gradually transformed into a dark-gold light; this was the new result. By forcing a return to the original process, the original result was no longer the final result, as things returned to the original process.
A karmic loop had been established.
The threads of consciousness moved with the additional dark gold-light entangled with more dark-gold streams that were darting about. Searing beams could suddenly be seen streaking across the universe.
Each of the blazing beams was a fusion of manifested thought and consciousness.
Yue Ya let out a shrill scream, “How can this be? My manifested thought is diminishing!
“My manifested thought... so much of it is gone now! Lu Yin, what did you do?
“You can’t possibly do this! Lu Yin, give me back my manifested thought! My manifested thought... my manifested thought...”
There were fewer and fewer of Yue Ya’s cries as time passed. His voices were no longer omnipresent, and they grew increasingly scattered before finally vanishing entirely.
Lu Yin stared off into the distance as the fusion of consciousness and manifested thought descended to the landmass in his inner universe. The universe itself fell silent.
Then, beams of light suddenly rose up and ascended into the dark sky of the universe. These lights had appeared after Lu Yin’s consciousness fused with the manifested thought, and they all moved towards the star of consciousness.
That star then began to transform. It had already grown even larger than the star of divine energy, which made it the largest star in Lu Yin’s inner universe. At this moment, it expanded once more until it was like a giant sitting in the universe. It blazed so brightly that not even the Investiture of the Gods could overwhelm it.
The nature of the transformation taking place was ineffable. Beneath Lu Yin’s Karmic Dao, the gentle glow of the star of consciousness seemed to be warping space. However, it was not actually space that was being twisted, but karma.
This seemed to be a power that was capable of resisting karma.
Lu Yin stared at the rotating star of consciousness, momentarily entranced.
As he stood there, Liu Li approached him from the distance.
Lu Yin retracted his inner universe, and everything became peaceful again. He looked over at Liu Li, and after a moment, decided to extend his consciousness towards her. The star of consciousness started to spin.
Liu Li was hesitating over whether she should approach Lu Yin. While her nervousness had faded, she knew that Lu Yin had been the source of her unease. She still wanted to persuade him to join the Sixth Night Pillar, as his presence would greatly improve their chances of conquering the newly discovered foreign megaverse.
Still, she was incredibly wary of Lu Yin after what she had just felt.
If the Sixth Night Pillar was not so understaffed, and she was not so unwilling to abandon it, she would have already left the Nine Odysseys.
While the Nine Odysseys usually enjoyed peace, unlike the constant strife that the Temporal Heavens saw, the Nine Odysseys saw a notoriously high casualty rate during their expeditions to destroy foreign megaverses.
“Come.” A voice suddenly entered Liu Li’s ear. It was Lu Yin’s.
It was only a single word, which was not exactly polite. It carried the tone of someone summoning their subordinate.
The moment she heard the word, Liu Li instinctively felt offended. However, strangely enough, that feeling immediately vanished and was replaced by a sense of acceptance. It was as though whoever had spoken that word genuinely had the right to summon and order her about.
She moved closer to Lu Yin without any hesitation, arriving quickly.
“Mr. Lu, was that just...?” She wanted to know if Lu Yin really had just fought against Yue Ya.
Lu Yin looked at her. “Are you afraid of death?”
Liu Li was taken aback. “What do you mean, Mr. Lu?”
“I think that you’re afraid of dying,” Lu Yin stated bluntly.
Liu Li opened her mouth, instinctively feeling that she should be angry with the comment. Yet for some reason, she could not summon any anger. In fact, she felt that what Lu Yin said made sense. She was afraid of death, and there was no denying that fear. Without thinking any further, she answered, “Yes.”
Lu Yin frowned. “You’re not upset?”
“You merely spoke the truth, Mr. Lu. Why would I be upset?”
Lu Yin shook his head. “Foolish.”
Liu Li showed a bitter smile. “Yes, I am very foolish. Given how many years I’ve spent guarding the Sixth Night Pillar, there is no one more foolish than I.”
Lu Yin stared at the woman. No matter what he said, she accepted it. Was this the power of Word Manifestation?
“You came here to see me?”
Liu Li composed herself. “On behalf of the Sixth Night Pillar, I still want to ask you to stay.”
“We’ll talk about that later. Can you allow the Fifth Night Pillar to join the expedition?” Lu Yin asked. This time, he was enveloping Liu Li with his consciousness.
The woman sighed. “As I’ve already told you, Mr. Lu, there is old hatred between the Sixth and Fifth Night Pillars. Xian Tong has already approached me with this same request, and I refused. After all, the Sixth Night Pillar is not mine alone. I hope that you can understand.”
Lu Yin then surrounded Liu Li with his consciousness again and repeated, “Can you allow the Fifth Night Pillar to join the expedition?”
Liu Li stared at Lu Yin. Didn’t he just ask that?
Strangely enough, she suddenly felt that his request was actually possible, and she quickly agreed. “I will find a way to allow the Fifth Night Pillar to join.”
Lu Yin looked away and slowly exhaled. “Thank you.”
He retracted his consciousness.
Liu Li grew incredibly confused. Why had she just agreed to his request? It made no sense. She found her response bizarre, yet she never suspected Lu Yin of doing anything. She was certain that she had not been controlled, so what had happened?
She left, going to find a solution. She would not allow the Fifth Night Pillar to join the expedition, but she needed to find a way to avoid it while also not upsetting Lu Yin.
After all, she had just agreed to Lu Yin’s request.
After Lu Yin retracted his consciousness, Liu Li’s thoughts had returned to normal. That was precisely why she did not believe that she had been controlled; she had only agreed for an instant. The moment after she agreed, she had already started considering how she would reject the request. It did not make sense for her to have been controlled to merely gain a momentary verbal promise.
Still, there was no denying that her agreement, no matter how brief, was strange.
Lu Yin stared at Liu Li as she left, his expression deeply conflicted. Was this the power of Word Manifestation? No, it was not true Word Manifestation. It was the result of fusing manifested thought and consciousness, and while it was different, it still possessed the power of Word Manifestation.
This was a power that could control the human heart.