No one dared to reveal any hint of bloodlust towards Lu Yin. Not only was he a Seraph, but he was also the strongest expert in the Spirit Nidus, second only to their invincible being.
As for the Wisdom Domain’s claim that Lu Yin was the invincible being’s disciple, no one believed that anymore. Still, just his presence put a tremendous weight on everyone’s chests.
Out of everyone present, it was possible that Lan alone did not feel that sense of crushing pressure and despair.
After all, she had never been captured.
Everyone from Spirit Nidus cultivators bowed in unison. “Greetings, Seraph Lu...”
The power of the overlapping voices echoed through space, seemingly causing even the Skyward Gate to sway.
Lu Yin clasped his hands behind his back as he looked out at the crowd before him. “Why are you here?”
Lan lifted her head to meet Lu Yin’s gaze, and then he answered in a low, serious tone. “May I ask if you know the truth, Seraph Lu?”
“What truth?” Lu Yin retorted.
“The truth regarding the relationship between the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and our Spirit Nidus.”
As everyone stared at him, Lu Yin casually nodded. “I do. What of it?”
What of it? The countless cultivators Spirit Nidus cultivators instantly grew enraged, and their eyes turned bloodshot as they glared at Lu Yin. They wanted to do nothing more than curse him aloud.
Lan coldly challenged, “Since you know, Seraph Lu, why do you not stand up for the Spirit Nidus? We will not ask why you have come out of the Skyward Gate. We merely wish to ask one thing: do you still acknowledge your status as a Seraph of the Spirit Nidus?”
Lu Yin slowly smiled as he stared at Lan. After a moment, he looked at everyone else. “I do not.”
Lan’s pupils shrank sharply as she glared at Lu Yin with cold rage.
Zi Tianshu, Rong Xiang, and everyone else present stared at Lu Yin in a daze. A feeling of helplessness sprouted up within them.
Lu Yin suddenly started laughing loudly, clearly relieved. However, the sound only served to further infuriate everyone in front of him. Someone could not restrain from shouting, “Lu Yin, you were once a Seraph of our Spirit Nidus! You’ve betrayed our Spirit Nidus and joined the Nine Odysseys Megaverse! You’re a disgrace! How can you still laugh? I, Yu Guo, while only having mediocre strength, do not fear death and cannot just stand here and look at a petty man like you!”
“Lu Yin, how can you laugh? Have you no shame?”
“Someone like you, even if you still want to be a Seraph, none of us will ever agree!”
“You deserve to die...”
Rong Xiang felt his scalp go numb. He still vividly remembered Lu Yin’s victory over Emperor Wu, and he had even wanted to submit to Lu Yin at that time, but he had never gotten the chance to do so. At this moment, Rong Xiang absolutely did not want to make Lu Yin into an enemy.
In truth, Rong Xiang had been forced to come to the Skyward Gate.
Lu Yin let out a long breath. The first time he had set aside his burdens, it had been by attacking the Frightened Sparrow Terrace. This time, laughing had allowed him to completely relax, far more than ever before.
Faced with countless angry and hate-filled gazes from all the Spirit Nidus cultivators, Lu Yin loudly shouted, “Where am I from?”
All of the cursing and insults instantly stopped. It was as though everyone from the Spirit Nidus was woken from a dream. This man... Isn’t he... from the Tianyuan Megaverse?
“Why did I, Lu Yin, go to the Spirit Nidus?
“I’ll tell you: Boundless left on its own, carrying a group of fearless people from the Tianyuan to the Spirit Nidus. We were all resolved to die, to take revenge, and to eliminate the threats facing the Tianyuan, our home.
“We left because of you, Spirit Nidus! I’ll tell you bluntly—the Tianyuan’s time was reverted, and what occurred during that alternate timeline was the Tianyuan’s darkest hour! The Seraphs led the Spirit Nidus to invade the Tianyuan! The High Seraph himself massacred my Heavens Sect! Countless people died tragically, and so I reverted time for the Tianyuan.
“That’s why, when Bao Qi, Yi Shang, and the others were in Beacon City, ready to set out, the High Seraph stopped them. He had experienced the alternate timeline and knew that the Tianyuan was prepared for them. As for why Meng Sang vanished, that was because he managed to avoid the temporal reversion. When Boundless entered your Spirit Nidus, our arrival gave rise to the Grandverse Manor, the Third Boss, and me, Seraph Lu.
“Did you really think that I would consider myself one of your Seraphs?”
Lu Yin’s words exposed a secret that had haunted the Spirit Nidus for years.
Long ago, a universe-class battleship had left the Spirit Nidus with three Seraphs and countless other cultivators to invade the Tianyuan. It was an expedition that had been in the works for a long, long time before the vessel had left. However, everything had been abruptly cancelled before the expedition truly departed. Also, that was when Meng Sang had disappeared for a time.
No one in the entire Spirit Nidus had been able to make sense of that incident at the time.
Many had speculated that the High Seraph had visited the Tianyuan, while others had believed that it was related to Lu Yin’s identity. Later, when the Wisdom Domain had confirmed that Lu Yin was the invincible being’s disciple, that explanation had been quickly accepted. Countless speculations had run rampant.
Even so, no one had ever imagined the truth.
The High Seraph had not stopped the expedition. It had occurred as planned, but then time had been reversed.
Within the Skyward Gate, Ku Han and the others sighed. “Now I finally understand why the River of Aeons lies within the Tianyuan Megaverse. If the Tianyuan of that era had truly been able to reverse time, what would have happened to our Nine Odysseys?”
“It would have been complete chaos. Once a cultivator reaches a certain level, even without cultivating the power of time, they can still affect the River of Aeons. And our Nine Odysseys has no shortage of such people,” Ku Cheng said.
Ku Nan stared at Lu Yin. “He’s suffered... so bitterly.”
Everyone from the Rift of Suffering was looking at Lu Yin in a different light from before. The Rift of Suffering was named for their suffering, but how could their suffering compare to Lu Yin’s?
He had charged into the Spirit Nidus with a resolve to lay down his life. That was completely different from the Nine Odysseys’ expeditions into the Aevum Inch. Even at the present moment, Lu Yin was still alone, in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.
One man had carried his homeland on his shoulders for so long. Who else could understand his pain and loneliness?
Even if he died in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, Lu Yin’s homeland would never know about it. And if they did learn of what happened, no one from that place had the strength to avenge him.
Some carried a burden of hate and believed that they suffered, but the ones who had suffered the most bitterly were those who were unable to even carry hatred.
The people from the Spirit Nidus all fell silent. They could also hear the bitterness and hatred in Lu Yin’s voice. The helplessness that he had felt when confronted with death could not be put into words. It was an ineffable emotion that could not be expressed by mere tears.
His boisterous laugh had been revenge. He had exacted revenge on the Spirit Nidus by mocking them. However, no one could blame him for his actions any longer.
Lu Yin’s voice echoed through the area. “The title of the Spirit Nidus’s Seraph is something that I, Lu Yin, earned by taking one step after another. Don’t you try to tell me the Spirit Nidus gave me anything! The thirty-six domains, the seven major powers, the Seven Seraphs, the Ascendant Hall, the High Seraph, and even the invincible being—which of them did not plot against me? I owe your Spirit Nidus nothing! On the contrary, you, Spirit Nidus, owe my Tianyuan, and it’s time you paid!”
He turned to point at the Skyward Gate. “You want to demand justice from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and regain your freedom? Then first, you need to pay what you owe my Tianyuan! I will take what’s mine. What you owe, you will repay! If not, then if you want to pass through this Skyward Gate, you’ll have to get past me.
“I, Lu Yin, was undefeated throughout the Spirit Nidus. It is impossible for any of you to ever step past me!”
He then continued to roar, “Qing Cao! If you have the guts, come out! Let’s see if you, the invincible being, are capable of pushing me aside and facing the Nine Odysseys Megaverse!”