Star Odyssey

Chapter 3480: Awareness

Upon seeing what was happening behind them, Old Tao was left speechless. "This is the Revelation Domain. There are Debaters in every corner of the domain, and even if their cultivation is not particularly formidable, their ears are extremely sharp. Moreover, Debaters are acknowledged by the Revelation Sect, which means that anyone who harms a Debater will be hunted down by the Revelation Sect."

"In other words, they attack with words, not fists," Lu Yin said.

Old Tao nodded. "That’s the unique characteristic of the Revelation Domain."

"We are about to arrive at the Revelation Sect, Third Boss," Old Tao announced.

As he spoke, a rather peculiar building appeared far ahead of them.

The architecture was different from the style that Lu Yin normally saw in the Spirit Nidus. This building had a rather technological feel to it. The entire building was shaped like a sideways triangle. It looked a bit old-fashioned, but it had a special pattern to it.

"Who goes there? Stop! Up ahead is the Revelation Sect," a voice called out.

Old Tao stepped forward. "I am escorting the Grandverse Manor’s Third Boss. He’s here to visit the Revelation Sect."

The Revelation Sect trembled. They had not expected a visit from the Third Boss.

No matter how special the Revelation Domain might be, it was still a domain, and thus a part of the Spirit Nidus. They were well aware of what had been happening beyond their borders.

The Third Boss was not an easy opponent. He had already defeated multiple experts, including people even the Revelation Domain saw as out of their reach. What could such a person want with the Revelation Sect?

Fortunately, the Third Boss was polite and did not simply barge in. With this, it seemed likely that nothing horrible would happen.

Within the Revelation Sect, the three Revelation Elders opened their eyes in unison. They each stood up from the triangular chairs that they had been sitting upon. They stepped through space to approach Lu Yin and greet him politely. "We, the three Revelation Elders of the Revelation Sect, pay our respects to the Third Boss."

Lu Yin smiled. "The universe is not a living creature."

The three elders were all stunned.

There were many Debaters who were part of the Revelation Sect, and the moment they heard Lu Yin's statement, they took to the sky, eager to engage in a debate.

They were following their instincts, but they were instantly restrained by the Revelation Sect.

The three Revelation Elders exchanged glances and then gestured towards Lu Yin to invite him in. "It seems that the Third Boss has his own insights. Please, come in. We are willing to discuss this matter in detail."

Lu Yin told Old Tao and the others to remain outside as he entered the Revelation Sect alone.

Old Tao could not understand Lu Yin’s intentions, but he could only wait outside.

The three Revelation Elders were the Revelation Sect’s only sequence powerhouses, and even if they worked together, they would not pose much of a challenge to Lu Yin.

Lu Yin was quickly led back to where the three Revelation Elders had been recently sitting.

"Third Boss, please make yourself comfortable. This is our place of meditation," the oldest of the three Revelation Elders offered politely.

Lu Yin replied, "There’s no need for that. My earlier comment was offensive to you, but I only came here to divert some attention."

He immediately moved to leave.

However, the Revelation Elder to the left spoke up. "What you just said, Third Boss, was not an offensive, but an outright insult to our Revelation Sect."

Lu Yin stopped and turned back to look at the man. "You should understand that I don’t care about offending people."

The eldest man who stood in the center smiled. "Of course, we understand that. But our Revelation Sect is not a place where people fear death. We are willing to sacrifice our lives if it will restore our sect’s reputation."

Lu Yin chuckled. "All for a single comment?"

He had only entered the Revelation Sect as a diversion to get to the Worryless Valley and find the Worryless Elder unnoticed.

Old Tao had said enough for Lu Yin to gain a rough understanding of the Worryless Elder. If the Worryless Valley was openly and directly attacked, the old man would most likely escape, since the outside world believed that he was already dead.

All that Lu Yin needed to do was find a pretext for his visit.

As long as he could get inside the Worryless Valley, he could ensure that the old man would not be able to escape.

The elder on the right sighed. "Our Revelation Sect has always offended people. We know how outsiders perceive us. We’ve seen the way they look at us, and we have heard the rumors that they spread behind our backs. We just don’t care. Everything is done to maintain our awareness."

"It’s about faith, isn’t it?" Lu Yin retorted.

The elder shook his head. "This isn’t faith, but awareness."

The elder in the center solemnly said, "The universe is a living organism. This is our awareness of things. As for whether this organism is good or bad, or what our attitude towards it should be, that’s another matter entirely. That is faith. What we, the Revelation Sect, hope to maintain is our awareness of reality and to tell the entire megaverse that our awareness is correct."

"Is that really necessary?" Lu Yin asked in return.

The elder on the left replied, "It is. There are many things that require pioneers. Someone needs to walk a path that others do not understand in order for others to eventually walk that same path."

"If one’s path is the correct one, then they must walk it, no matter how rough their road may prove. However, I do not believe that your path is correct," Lu Yin said.

The elder in the center smiled. "Then why does the Masterful Restraint Sequence Technique exist and work?"

"That’s a question for the person who developed the sequence technique, not me," Lu Yin replied.

"Third Boss, given how long you have cultivated for, have you never questioned the megaverse? The birth of humanity, the things we experience, the good and evil thoughts that we all experience, and even the overall path of history is always eerily similar."

"What does all of that have to do with the theory that the universe is a living organism?"

"Have you ever considered that there are also invisible creatures that live within us? These organisms exist within our bodies, and they have their own means of survival. They might even have their own path of cultivation. However, the temperature of our bodies and our lifestyle habits will inevitably affects all of those organisms. To them, such matters may well be their version of astral phenomena, while we serve as their universe."

Lu Yin clasped his hands behind his back. "I won’t deny your point of view, as I have not seen through the megaverse myself. When I become an Immortal, I’ll return to debate with you."

"From the moment we are born, there are certain tiny organisms already living inside of us. When we die, that might as well be the destruction of the universe for them. Can things really be perceived in such a manner? With cultivation, can those organisms move from one human body to another? When one person dies, that could be the destruction of their original universe, and if their next host dies, that could be seen as the destruction of another universe."

"Does the parallel pattern of a person’s life and death become even more similar?"

"For these organisms, the death of a human body is no different from what the destruction of a parallel universe is to us. To them, our deaths could well just be a repeated pattern: a cycle."

Lu Yin had been just about to leave, but he suddenly turned around when he heard those words. His eyes flickered as he stared at the elder in the center. "The universe is a cycle?"

The elder in the center steadily met Lu Yin’s eyes. "The universe is a living organism."

Lu Yin met the old man’s gaze.

The atmosphere froze, remaining silent and still.

After a while, Lu Yin nodded. "I respect your understanding of things. I won’t argue with you, but that doesn’t mean that I agree with you.

"However, I will apologize for my earlier insult to your beliefs."

The elder on the left's expression softened.

The elder at the center slowly bowed. "Third Boss, your cultivation is unmatched. If you so desired, you could easily destroy our Revelation Sect, yet such a person respects our awareness of things. We three elders represent the Revelation Sect, and we thank you."

Lu Yin looked at them. "I was the one who was offensive."

The elder on the right suddenly bowed again. "This old man has a request. I wonder if you might be willing to agree to it, Third Boss."

The elder in the center sharply reprimanded his companion. "Don’t be reckless! The affairs of our Revelation Domain will be dealt with by our domain. This has nothing to do with the Third Boss."

The old man was not putting on an act, but he genuinely did not want to involve Lu Yin. This was clear to Lu Yin.

That also made him curious. "What is this matter?"

The elder on the right’s expression grew sorrowful. "In our Revelation Domain, there is a deep abyss."

The other two old men shuddered, tremors running through their bodies as they silently bowed their heads.

"Third Boss, are you aware of the Worryless Valley?"

Lu Yin nodded and walked over to sit in one of the triangular chairs. He was not in a hurry to leave. Did this request have something to do with the Worryless Valley?

The elder on the right continued in a low voice. "The people of the Worryless Valley know no sorrow and are all quite cheerful. You may have heard of them, Third Boss. However, the truth is that those people did not choose to live in such a manner. Aspects of their human nature have been taken away from them."

Lu Yin grew confused. "What do you mean?"

The elder in the center sighed. "A person, no matter who they are, will always have a personality. However, the people who live in the Worryless Valley do not. Even if you hit them or insult them, they will simply allow it to happen. This is not because they are broad-minded or free from sorrow, but rather because their human nature has been taken away from them. Anger, agitation, happiness, sorrow—all such emotions no longer exist.

"Rather than calling those people human, it's better to describe them as empty shells, shells that look human.

"How can one be considered human if they’ve lost their human nature?"

Lu Yin's eyes narrowed. Corpse kings?

He immediately thought of Aeternus. "Continue."

The elder on the right spoke again, "The one who took their human nature away is in the Worryless Valley. From the outside, the valley appears quite ordinary, and our Revelation Sect rules over this domain. However, the true, hidden depths of this domain lie within the abyss that is the Worryless Valley. Inside that valley, there is an extremely powerful old monster. We once prepared to attack the Worryless Valley, but before we could even get started, we faced a deadly crisis that we were unable to overcome.

"We understand that this request may put you in a difficult position, Third Boss, but seeing you challenge the megaverse’s greatest experts has given us confidence, which is why we dare to ask this of you. If not for that, we would have never tried to involve you."

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. "How long has this been going on for? Do the people who’ve lost their human nature look different or have some sort of physical difference from ordinary people?"

"There is no visible difference, aside from the fact that they have lost their human nature. Everything else about them is no different from an ordinary person."

Lu Yin nodded. It seems that they’re not corpse kings. That makes sense. True God may have been the Spirit Nidus’s ally, but the Spirit Nidus is still dominated by humans. They wouldn’t allow corpse kings to exist here.

So their human nature has been taken away? That must be the Worryless Elder.

"Truthfully, if they were merely deprived of their human nature, while cruel, the fact that they are still alive would mean that we could overlook the matter." After a pause, the elder in the center continued in a heavier tone. "The problem is, they are not just deprived of their human nature. Their emotions, their memories, and their very existence are all chaotic.

"Sons will kill their fathers. Husbands will kill their wives. People’s faces may be smeared with blood, and yet they will still maintain a smile. Even when dying, at their last moment, they will have a smile on their faces, which is a disturbing sight.

"They can bathe in blood or drink straight from a mountain of corpses. They lose loved ones, sometimes murdering them themselves. They have lost all sense of human morality and understanding. No one can accept these actions.

"If they were to return to their senses, what kind of heartbreaking experiences would they have to endure? Such things would drive anyone insane..."

As the three elders spoke, Lu Yin's expression gradually darkened.

While death was common for cultivators, there were certain things that were unspoken bottom lines.

For many people, death was not actually the most frightening thing. Waiting for death was not the worst that one could experience. The most terrifying thing that one could experience was being forced to kill their loved ones, the ones closest to them, and then being forced to continue living while bearing that sin. That was true horror.