Star Odyssey

Chapter 3175: Direction

Great Elder Shan Gu and Lu Yuan both froze, and then they gave Lu Yin an odd look. Was he blatantly lying to the butterfly?

Great Elder Shan Gu had clearly already admitted that the Lost Clan was from another megaverse.

The butterfly was also taken aback. "Um, excuse me, but I'm quite certain that it's this clan. Please don't make things difficult for me."

Lu Yin looked seriously as he stared at the butterfly. "I'm not making things difficult for you. It's really not them—it's Aeternus."

"It's this clan."

"No, it's not."

"Please don't make things difficult for me."

"I'm not making it difficult for you. In fact, I'm happy to help you. If Aeternus refuses to be expelled, I'll help you."

"Sorry, but it really is this clan."

"It absolutely isn't. It's Aeternus. I'm sure of it. Let me help you expel them, I mean it."

Lu Yuan was speechless. He was domineering, and maybe a bit shameless at times, but he could not even come close to comparing to this child. Where had Lu Yin learned to lie so shamelessly while slandering others? This was clearly gaslighting, and even Lu Yuan found it excessive.

The butterfly felt like it was impossible to communicate with the young human. "Please, don't make this difficult for me. It really is this clan."

Lu Yin countered, "What makes you think that it's the Lost Clan? Where's the evidence?"

The butterfly paused. "I can sense it."

Lu Yin shook his head. "Come now, 'sense it?' That’s too vague. How can anyone believe that? I'm certain that Aeternus doesn't belong to this megaverse—I can sense it as well. Do you believe me?"

The more abstract something was, the easier it was to manipulate.

If Tian En was dealing with someone else, she would have already taken the Lost Clan away and not bothered trying to be polite. However, things became rather difficult when dealing with Lu Yin, mostly because Lu Yuan was also an Ortuser.

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"Human, what should I call you?" the butterfly asked.

Lu Yin casually answered, "Call me Seventh Bro."

Great Elder Shan Gu's face twitched.

The butterfly had no idea how to respond to Lu Yin. "Human, I mean you no harm, but I have a duty to drive out those who do not belong to this megaverse. If you insist on making things difficult for me, you might end up being dragged into bigger things. My name is Tian En, but there's another called Tian Fa, and they have a duty to punish unruly beings. If this clan refuses to leave, then Tian Fa will step in, and they are not as easy to talk to as I am."

Lu Yin clasped his hands behind his back. "Things should always be done in a reasonable manner. If you can show me evidence that the Lost Clan doesn't belong to this megaverse, I'll even help you drive them out. Otherwise, listen to me and investigate Aeternus. There are absolutely Aeternals who don’t belong to this megaverse. Just ask Yong Heng."

The butterfly sighed. "Human, if you force Tian Fa’s hand, you'll regret it."

Lu Yin held a hand to his forehead. "Yes, I’m quite sure I'll regret it, but if you can't provide evidence, how can I allow you to take the Lost Clan away? I understand that you have a duty to expel those who don't belong to this megaverse, but you're not doing your job. How about this, I’ll point you in the right direction.

"Aeternus has someone called Feng Bo. He uses a technique that he calls the Greater Sancti of the Nine Odysseys, and he has also admitted to not being from this megaverse. Why don't you go check that out?"

The butterfly was surprised. "The Greater Sancti? He said that?"

"What? Do you think I'm making things up? That's just rude! Also, be sure to call me Seventh Bro."

"I'll go ask Yong Heng about this. Human, this clan also doesn't belong to this megaverse, which is why they must be driven out. I'll be back, and when I do, I hope that you won't make this difficult for me. Otherwise, Tian Fa will come." With that, the butterfly turned around and flew away, her light leaving with it.

As soon as the light disappeared, all of the members of the Lost Clan returned to normal.

Lu Yin's expression instantly fell. This butterfly was another problem to be dealt with. She had already interfered in one battle, and now she had returned to make more trouble. The butterfly had heard about the Lost Clan from Aeternus, and if the Aeternals could use the butterfly once, then they would likely do so again, just like with Astral Anura.

The Aeternals truly had a lot of tricks.

"Both of you, come with me," Great Elder Shan Gu said to Lu Yin and Lu Yuan once the butterfly was gone.

The two men silently followed the Great Elder to a large, but rather dilapidated, building that had been constructed from unknown materials.

The building was clearly ancient, and it bore scratches from weapons, battle scars, and black stains on its walls. Lu Yin and Lu Yuan both recognized what they were.

As soon as they entered the building, they were struck by the stench of old rot.

Shan Gu walked in front of them, his expression conflicted. The building consisted of courtyards, pavilions, and corridors, and it even had small bridges that crossed over streams, though the water had dried up long ago. No one had lived in this place for a very long time.

"This is where we lived as we made our way to this megaverse," Shan Gu stated as he turned around to look at Lu Yuan and Lu Yin. A range of emotions could be seen on his face, though there was also a great deal of bitterness. It seemed that he was remembering something. "When we arrived, our Lost Clan only had 3,262 members. We don't know how long it took us to get here, as there was no way to calculate the time, but it had to at least be several years.

"During all those years, not a single person spoke. Everyone lived here in silence, empty shells of who we once were.

"They—no, we—really were nothing more than empty shells. That final battle, which connected the past and present, resulted in the deaths of many of our elders who had plotted for many years, or those who had faked their deaths and gone into cryostasis to await that final battle. We won, but it was a terrible victory. It was the costliest battle we ever fought. It dragged on for too long, and too many people died. It’s impossible to even count the casualties."

The Great Elder continued to reminisce. "There were no innocents in that war. Even ordinary humans, who were ignorant of the war, weren’t innocent. That’s because they were native to our megaverse and carried its karma. People fell like blades of grass. When one group died, another was born. During that period of time, everyone was blinded by bloodlust. No one cared about the lives or deaths of others, and all anyone saw were enemies.

"That war ultimately ended in our victory. But." Great Elder Shan Gu closed his eyes and fell silent.

Lu Yuan glanced over at Lu Yin. The older man had never heard of the Lost Clan’s past before, though Lu Yin had.

"But what does defeating our enemy matter? What we considered the most brutal war of our existence and our most glorious victory, had only been achieved at the cost of countless lives. Despite all that, the entire incident was nothing more than a pebble in the eye of a certain being. Because of them, we fled to this megaverse. I'm not telling you all this to ask the Heavens Sect to protect us, but rather the opposite." Shan Gu stared at Lu Yin. "Allow Tian En to send us back. We can't fight back against that being, but I want to see them again, and I want to see our home again.

"We can't find our way home, but if Tian En can help us find it, we'd rather return."

"It can't find the way," a voice suddenly cut in. At the same time, gray overtook all the colors in the area, and the change spread around the three men.

Lu Yuan cocked a brow and turned to look in a specific direction.

As soon as Lu Yin saw the change to his surroundings, he exclaimed in surprise, "Master!"

Shan Gu was startled. Who was it? He had not even noticed that someone else had arrived.

Close to the three men, Mister Mu emerged from the void and walked closer. The entire time, his eyes were on Lu Yuan, who stared back at Mister Mu.

"Congratulations, Loam, on entering the Origin realm," Mister Mu praised.

Lu Yuan smiled. "Mister Mu, it's been a long time."

Mister Mu was regarded as a peer of the Origin Progenitor. During the greatest heights of the ancient Heavens Sect, Mister Mu had already been known. Because of that, he had seen Lu Yuan and the other Three Realms and Six Daos when they had been quite young.

"In the blink of an eye, you've all grown up. The Heavens Sect produced some good disciples," Mister Mu remarked.

Lu Yuan gave a bitter smile. "You must be joking, Senior. The Heavens Sect has been destroyed, and most of us have either died or gone missing. Very few of us survived, so how could there be good disciples? On top of that, there's the one who betrayed us."

Mister Mu responded with a faint smile, "Becoming an Ortuser is not necessarily the end of your path. I have high hopes for you."

"Then I must thank you, Mister Mu, and especially thank you for teaching our Little Seven," Lu Yuan said sincerely.

Mister Mu glanced at Lu Yin. "His future path is becoming more and more unclear to me. I really haven’t taught him much at all."

Lu Yin bowed. "Master, what brings you here? How are things at the Immemorial Citadel? How is the Origin Progenitor?"

Lu Yuan grew excited. He had already heard from Lu Yin that the Origin Progenitor was at the Immemorial Citadel. For that reason, Lu Yuan was eager to go there, but he could not leave the Origin Universe.

Mister Mu replied, "The Immemorial Citadel is doing fine. Thanks to your activities, Aeternus has lost its momentum in the current war, but I didn’t expect the Boundary Guardians to be drawn out."

The three men grew puzzled. The Boundary Guardians?

Mister Mu looked at Shan Gu. "The Boundary Guardians protect the four sides of this megaverse. They are duty-bound to drive out any creature that enters from another megaverse, and your people are no exception. The butterfly was not lying, as that is her duty.

"But there's one detail that she mentioned that you failed to understand. Being expelled from this universe does not mean that you will be shown the way back to your home."

Shan Gu's expression changed. "What do you mean?"

Mister Mu spoke calmly. "Expelling you simply means throwing you out of this megaverse. They will do this only because they fear you and the Heavens Sect. If you were more common creatures without any power or backing, they would not drive you out, but rather exterminate you all.

"The Boundary Guardians have a duty to cleanse this megaverse of all creatures that don't belong to this place. They do so by either expulsion or extermination. Those are the only two options.

"They don't have the ability to guide you to your old home. They belong to this megaverse alone and can only survive here."

The Great Elder's expression fell. He had thought that his people could find their way back home with the help of the butterfly, but if the butterfly could not help them find their way back, then why should they leave?

Even within the confines of the megaverse, peak powerhouses did not have the courage to randomly tear through the void and enter an unknown parallel universe, let alone toss themselves into an unfamiliar megaverse. Doing so would be suicide.

"Master, what do you mean by 'this megaverse?’ Who appointed the Boundary Guardians? Did they just form on their own?" Lu Yin asked.

Mister Mu replied, "When the time is right, you'll learn about all of these things. In my megaverse, as well as the one that the Lost Clan comes from, there were certain beings—I can't say more, as merely mentioning them could draw them out."

Lu Yin's heart sank. Was even Mister Mu scared of those beings?

"How strong are the Boundary Guardians?" Lu Yuan asked.

"All of them are Ortusers."

Lu Yuan frowned. This was a problem. If the Heavens Sect wanted to protect the Lost Clan, then they would need to face off against four Ortusers. That would be at least as difficult as dealing with Aeternus.

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. "Are they really just carrying out their duties, or are they helping Aeternus with the excuse of doing their duty?"

Mister Mu hesitated. "Both."