Chapter 3737: Fragments

Jiu Xian and those near the gate were not the only ones to see it shatter. Yue Ya and the rest of the people from Ruler Garden witnessed it as well.

By merging the Nine-Rulers: Heaven-Defying Art with Yue Ya’s manifested thought, it was possible to monitor the entire Consciousness Megaverse.

They had already located Lu Yin and the Origin Progenitor, and they had prevented the two from escaping into a parallel universe. Similarly, the High Seraph, Old Chief, and the others had also been detected, as well as the Starforged Sword.

The Starforged Sword had entered the Consciousness Megaverse.

Like a giant reaching into a cave, the sword was met by the enormous ruler that had been empowered by manifested thought.

Before the people of Ruler Garden could even react, the Starforged Sword rose high up and sliced down upon the ruler.

Clang!

The shocking collision rang across the entire Consciousness Megaverse.

Lu Yin and the Origin Progenitor stared into the distance in shock. What could cause such a commotion?

The ruler that covered the universe trembled.

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. That ruler was with both the Nine-Rulers: Heaven-Defying Art as well as manifested thought. It should be very difficult to damage it at all, so just what had struck it?

Elsewhere, the High Seraph stared at the boundary with an odd expression.

Soon, another thunderous impact shook the megaverse.

At the boundary, the Starforged Sword continued to chop down.

The old man from Ruler Garden scowled. “What is that thing?”

Yue Ya’s Voidheart Mirror sent down a beam of dark-gold light that blasted towards the Starforged Sword.

The sword of stars did not respond in the slightest. Its only reaction was to rise back up and slash down in a brutal chop.

The repeated attacks caused the old man’s expression to grow uglier. First, several Ortusers were unable to endure, and they staggered back, coughing up blood. Next were the Dukkhans.

Yanbo Hongli’s face grew pale. “Ancestor, we can’t continue on like this.”

The old man shouted, “Retreat!”

The massive ruler shrank down until it could be pulled back into the old man’s body. He stared at the boundary.

Yue Ya was furious. “Deal with that thing first.”

He had sacrificed everything in order to seize Lu Yin, and he would not accept any interruptions. The fact that this Starforged Sword had attacked the Nine-Rulers: Heaven-Defying Art was an open provocation.

Yue Ya led Ruler Garden to defend at the boundary.

The Starforged Sword also appeared to have a destination, as it started flying in a specific direction. By coincidence, it was towards where Yue Ya and his followers had been.

The two sides met beneath a starry sky.

Dark-gold manifested thought rained down as Ruler Garden’s experts unleashed their own attacks.

The Starforged Sword rose up, ignoring Yue Ya’s attacks. When the sword qi fell, it tore right through one of the Ortusers.

The sharpness of that sword qi reminded Yanbo Hongli of Lu Yin’s Heaven’s Blade.

“Don’t face the attacks directly!”

“Blood Tower!”

“Nine-Rulers: Heaven-Defying Art!”

“Wildcat’s Aid!”

Battle erupted once more between the two sides, and the stars above them were shaken. They did not even notice that their clash lasted for an entire day. Four people from Ruler Garden died, their blood spilling into the universe. One of the Starforged Sword’s stars cracked, though it did not shatter.

After a day of battle, a meteorite suddenly slammed into the Starforged Sword, shattering one of its stars.

Yue Ya had no idea where this meteorite had come from. He had only arrived in the Consciousness Megaverse after Lu Yin’s fight against it. Only the High Seraph and Yong Heng had witnessed the meteorite take action.

The Starforged Sword’s focus turned to the meteorite. The stone was astonishingly durable, and it met the Starforged Sword head on.

The members of Ruler Garden coordinated their attacks with the meteorite.

Yue Ya’s manifested thought proved to be completely useless against the Starforged Sword. After fighting against the sword for so long, only a single star had been shattered, leaving many more intact. If this fight dragged on, Lu Yin would escape. It was clear that the sword’s target was the meteorite, so Yue Ya wanted to retreat.

Unfortunately, leaving was not a simple matter. The Starforged Sword rose high, its edge gleaming. Its next attack would not strike the meteorite alone; it included everyone present.

So long as the Starforged Sword was present, the Nine-Rulers: Heaven-Defying Art could not be spread across the whole megaverse.

Besides that, Ruler Garden’s four Ortusers had also fallen, inciting their ancestor’s growing ire.

With no other choice, Yue Ya brought out a gray-brown object that looked like a belt, and he flung it at the Starforged Sword. “Go!”

The belt moved as though flapping in a breeze as it wrapped around the Starforged Sword, binding it with coil after coil.

The old man and everyone else from Ruler Garden stared at Yue Ya in astonishment, who yelled at them, “This is a mirebound artifact. It can’t move right now, so attack!”

The belt’s sole function was binding. Such limited use made it feeble, as opponents like Lu Yin had plenty of means to dodge such an attack. Even if he was captured, he could just reverse time by a second and escape. This was why Yue Ya had never brought the belt out; it only worked on targets that could not escape, but such things could not threaten Yue Ya.

For these reasons, his mirebound artifact had continued to gather dust.

It was only after fighting against the Starforged Sword for an entire day that Yue Ya had realized that it never dodged or evaded and simply accepted all attacks. Additionally, the sword’s only attack was to chop down with sword qi. It was the perfect target for the belt.

Once the belt restrained the Starforged Sword, the meteorite and everyone from Ruler Garden attacked as one. Even Yue Ya took the form of a human with his manifested thought and unleashed the Five-Palm Art, shattering multiple stars.

As the stars continued to shatter, the Starforged Sword’s power fell to match the destruction, until it no longer looked like a sword.

The meteorite slammed into the blade, smashing two more stars apart.

The Five-Palm Art and the Nine-Rulers: Heaven-Defying Art battered the sword’s stars until only one remained.

The meteorite continued to hammer the sword while Yue Ya and the others attacked with their full power. Only one star remained. So long as they erased it, the bizarre sword would be gone for good.

Suddenly the meteorite veered off, skimming past the sword’s final star and shooting far away.

Yue Ya saw this and shouted, “Stop!”

The old man and Yanbo Hongli both stopped attacking, but the others failed to do so. Their attacks struck the final star, which did indeed shatter. As the old man warily watched, the sharp edge of a sword slashed out, slicing through the void, as well as every last expert from Ruler Garden who had not retreated. Not even Yue Ya’s manifested thought could drag them away. The sword ripped through the manifested thought, broke the Nine-Rulers: Heaven-Defying Art, and sliced bodies apart.

Two of the dead had been Dukkhans, and yet they had been instantly cut down by the blade, unable to mount any form of resistance.

The pupils of the ancestor from Ruler Garden shrank as his features warped into a vicious snarl. Hatred blazed in his eyes as he attacked the blade with a palm strike.

After slicing its assailants apart, the sword stopped moving and allowed the old man’s attack to land. The last star broke into shards of light that scattered in every direction.

The sword was reduced to a blade no larger than a person’s palm. It was more of a dagger than a sword.

However, that dagger concealed the Starforged Sword within it.

The dagger also shattered, and its splinters flew away. Most of the people from Ruler Garden already laid dead. Only the ancestor, Yanbo Hongli, and one other Dukkhan had survived. That man, Yanbo Shu, had not used Seed Transfusion to become a Dukkhan, and he had been Ruler Garden’s second strongest expert.

As for the old man, his name was Yanbo Haomiao, and he was Ruler Garden’s master.

He had used everything at his means to lead his people to help Yue Ya complete his transformation. If Yue Ya failed, even without being punished by the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, Ruler Garden would never again be the same force it had been before.

They had been weakened too much.

Yanbo Haomiao felt drained. His people’s losses were excessive, far exceeding anything he had anticipated.

At worst, he had expected them to commit a crime, but he had never expected so many of his people to die.

Despite so many sacrifices, Lu Yin had not even been captured.

Yue Ya’s manifested thought surged wildly. Ruler Garden was the most powerful organization that he had won to his side in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, and their recent losses were intolerable. What on earth had that thing been? Some creature from a foreign megaverse?

Also, that meteorite had clearly been aware that the sword would release a final attack. That blade had been seeking the meteorite.

“Haomiao, rest assured that, once I complete my transformation, your Ruler Garden will not need long to rise back to your former peak,” Yue Ya gravely declared.

Yanbo Haomiao’s face twitched. Things were already done, and he could only accept what had happened. “Thank you, Lord Yue Ya.”

“I will help you steal a few cultivated spirit seeds so that your Yanbo clan can give birth to new experts. Fear not,” Yue Ya added.

Yanbo Haomiao was horrified. “Steal cultivated spirit seeds? That’s-”

Yanbo Hongli and Yanbo Shu were similarly startled.

Stealing cultivated spirit seeds was the worst crime that anyone could commit in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. Deathmound’s primary purpose was to hunt down any and all violators. Without such dire consequences, their megaverse would have fallen into chaos long ago.

Should word leak that someone had stolen cultivated spirit seeds, even a Lesser Sancte would be severely punished. No one dared to cross that particular line, aside from the truly desperate or outlaws.

The fact that Yue Ya was willing to steal cultivated spirit seeds for the sake of Ruler Garden was no small matter. He had essentially given them a blade that was pointed at him.

Yue Ya was unconcerned. “In coming here to join me, you have already violated the laws. Doing so once or twice no longer matters.

“I’ve seen your sacrifices for my sake, and I will not treat you poorly,” Yue Ya promised.

His words greatly eased Yanbo Haomiao’s mind, and they even rekindled his spirit. “Be assured, Lord Yue Ya, that we will capture Lu Yin for you.”

Yue Ya said nothing more. They had failed to capture Lu Yin thus far, despite previously having far more experts working with them. With so few remaining, success would be extremely difficult, even with the tricks that Yue Ya had kept in reserve. The only thing that might ease their struggles was the arrival of outside aid.

Both Mo Shang and Yong Heng had been assisting Lu Yin against Yue Ya, and while he did not know why, he did know those two were also enemies.

That’s right. Yue Ya was reminded of Old Chief. When Lu Yin had been attacked before, if not for Old Chief’s sneak attack, Lu Yin would have never been wounded.

It was possible to exploit the conscients.

After all, they were in the Consciousness Megaverse.

There was also that Emperor Slayer. As useless as the beast was, he might be able to serve some small role.

Right, where is Emperor Slayer? Yue Ya only then realized that the beast had vanished. While fighting against the High Seraph, Yue Ya had ignored Emperor Slayer, and the beast had immediately fled.

First, Yue Ya needed to find the conscients.

With that goal in mind, Yue Ya spread his dark-gold manifested thought across the megaverse again, sweeping across entire universes.

Far away, the High Seraph had been observing the battle between Yue Ya’s people and the Starforged Sword. Mo Shang frowned when he saw the sword shatter. His eyes sparkled with unknown thoughts.

Elsewhere, Lu Yin stared down at a shard in his hand. Was this a piece of the thing that had just fought against Yue Ya and the others?

Yanbo Haomiao had smashed the sword of stars apart, and the fragments had scattered across the megaverse. One piece had just happened to drift over to Lu Yin.

He was no longer worried about Yue Ya finding him. Even if Lu Yin was found, it would not matter. With so few surviving members of Ruler Garden, Yue Ya could not touch Lu Yin, so long as he cooperated with the Origin Progenitor.

Lu Yin was currently intrigued by the origin of the Starforged Sword and the meteorite.

It had become clear that the sword’s target was the meteorite, and that stone had released a similar sword qi attack when Lu Yin had fought it before.

Could they share the same origin?

Lost in his thoughts, Lu Yin stared at the shard. It seemed determined to continue moving, so he opened his hand. The fragment rose and shifted, inching away in one direction.

Seriously? Is it still moving towards the meteor? Even after it’s been shattered, is the sword still seeking that rock?

Perfect. Lu Yin also needed to find the meteorite, so he would follow the fragment of the Starforged Sword.

“Watch out for the conscients,” the Origin Progenitor warned. “Old Chief has ambushed you before. With Yue Ya’s forces greatly weakened, he will certainly try to recruit everyone who is hostile towards us.”

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