Chapter 3939: Thirteen Cities

Lu Yin chuckled and pointed outside. “The Five-Palm Sect may have few members, but there are many of those people.”

Lord Ting Chao and Si Jiushi blankly stared outside. What did that even mean?

The next day, Lu Yin left Five-Palm Mountain and made his way to Thirteen Cities.

Thirteen Cities was not thirteen separate cities, but rather a single city known as Thirteen Cities.

It was the headquarters of the Spirit Coalition, which was formed from thirteen different foreign species that worked together to resist the oppression of the native cultivators of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. This was why the city was called Thirteen Cities. If another species joined the coalition, its name would change to Fourteen Cities, as the city’s name was fluid.

Several days later, Lu Yin arrived outside of Thirteen Cities, and he peered into the distance. It was a lively place.

At that moment, furious shouts were echoing everywhere outside of Five-Palm Mountain.

“What did you say? That bastard’s trying to run away?”

“Not just that bastard—all of those bastards are running!”

“The entire Five-Palm Sect?”

“That’s right! Word is that they’re relocating.”

...

The spreading fury was not limited to just the area surrounding Five-Palm Mountain, as people across the entire Nine Odysseys Megaverse had started shouting angrily. The members of the Five-Palm Sect were always skilled at infuriating others.

In the West Domain, amid the yellow sands, someone was moving towards Five-Palm Mountain. “What? Father had a mistress? This is bad! If word of that gets out, our family will completely fall apart! We have to stop her!”

A short while later, another group passed through the region. “Brother Mu, we heard that that despicable man exposed your defeat to the entire megaverse! Unforgivable! Now he wants to run? We can’t let him get away.”

“Wait, he’s not running? He’s going to support the Consciousness Megaverse? With Lu Yin? Mr. Lu is going too?”

“Lu Yin is going to help defend the Consciousness Megaverse with the Five-Palm Sect.”

Beneath the yellow sands, a pair of eyes suddenly snapped open as the people gossiping passed over them. The eyes shifted slightly, only to close again, as though they had never opened.

On the peak of Five-Palm Mountain, Si Jiushi appeared to be quite miserable as he set down his pipe. “The reputation built up over my entire lifetime is gone...”

Lord Ting Chao gave the fat man a sympathetic look. “Jiushi, don’t overthink things.”

Si Jiushi was about to cry. How could he not overthink things? He had never publicly revealed his identity. Instead, he had traveled about the megaverse in secret, using various aliases when challenging others and causing trouble. On top of that, those that he targeted had been on friendly terms with his public identity. If not for that, he would have never been able to approach them.

However, in order to lure more people to go defend the Consciousness Megaverse, he had revealed his identity. The result? A tsunami of curses and outrage. The reaction was especially fierce due to people fearing that specific secrets of theirs might be revealed by Si Jiushi. He had used those secrets to threaten them before, and for that reason, many people were rushing towards Five-Palm Mountain.

“Why are we helping Lu Yin?” Si Jiushi asked bitterly.

Lord Ting Chao patted the younger man’s shoulder. “Mr. Lu may be a bit domineering and unrestrained, but what he’s doing is for the good of the entire Nine Odysseys Megaverse. Also, what he’s promised... is worth far too much.”

Lu Yin had encouraged the Five-Palm Sect to use every means available to bait more cultivators to follow them to the Consciousness Megaverse. In exchange, he had extended a promise: he would make the Five-Palm Sect the second Dream Dominion.

The Dream Dominion was a legacy of Greater Sancte Mi Jin, which was why no one had ever dared to provoke the sect, despite the fact that a troublemaker like Wu Jie was a member of the sect.

In many ways, the Five-Palm Sect was similar to Wu Jie, aside from the fact that the Five-Palm Sect challenged those with greater cultivation and they also refused to perform wicked acts. For that reason, Lu Yin was willing to support the sect, which gave the Five-Palm Sect the confidence they had needed. They were assured that the tragedy of their third-generation sect master would not repeat itself.

Many members of the sect had died while challenging outsiders, and the loss of their third-generation sect master had become the sect’s enduring sorrow.

They would not take the incentive to kill their opponents, but that by no means meant that their opponents would show the same restraint.

Especially when someone as powerful as Yue Ya was challenged.

However, if the Five-Palm Sect had Lu Yin backing them, things would change entirely.

Given their unruly nature, the Five-Palm Sect needed someone powerful behind them.

Regardless of how Si Jiushi personally felt about Lu Yin, he could not deny Lu Yin’s reputation within the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

Lord Ting Chao’s expression was complex. If Lu Yin was the one who had run into the Five-Palm Sect’s third-generation sect master, things might have turned out very differently.

...

In Thirteen Cities, Lu Yin was watching the bustling streets in a daze. Are these all... people?

Honestly, he had never seen so many strange... people?

The entire city was filled with the auras of creatures from foreign megaverses. There were numerous otherborn, the majority of which belonged to one of the thirteen species which formed the Spirit Coalition. While some of the species did not live in the West Domain, many of their people still operated in the city.

Lu Yin spotted members of the East Domain’s Brocade Clan, War Clan, and the Whitejade Clan. Those species were some of the most visually similar to humans, and there were also species that bore absolutely no resemblance to humans, yet had still been accepted by the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and were members of the Spirit Coalition. For that reason, they had been recognized as members of humanity.

The thirteen species that formed the Spirit Coalition were united against external oppression, but internal strife was common within the Thirteen Cities.

Just a short while after arriving, Lu Yin had already witnessed no fewer than five different altercations. One had even involved hundreds of creatures from multiple different species in a single brawl, which had led to quite the chaotic situation. It was absolutely nothing like the order that he had seen in Skyveil City.

He went to speak with Hui.

There was a woman at the very center of Thirteen Cities. Anytime the scuffles grew too large, she would suppress the entire city with her aura. The woman was Hui, the founder of the Spirit Coalition, as well as its most powerful member. She had accepted a Seed Transfusion in order to become a peak Dukkhan.

Hui had also been Lan’s master, and she was old enough that she should have died long ago. However, she had taken advantage of cryostasis multiple times to extend her lifespan by many years, which was the only reason why she was still alive.

Even so, she did not have many years left.

Her greatest wish was to find a successor to lead the Spirit Coalition.

She was not at all surprised when Lu Yin suddenly appeared in front of her. She bowed low. “Greetings, Mr. Lu.”

Lu Yin nodded. “We meet at last, Senior Hui.”

Hui solemnly replied, “I don’t deserve to be referred to as ‘senior.’ I caused trouble for you with Lan’s affairs. It was my failure as a teacher that allowed her to...”

“That’s enough. Li already explained things to me, though I need to see for myself whether or not you were actually uninvolved.” With that, spirals of karma spun about his fingers before shooting towards Hui.

She could sense something invisible approaching her, yet she calmly stood in place. She made no attempt to evade whatever was approaching.

As the karmic spiral entered the woman, Lu Yin took a moment to observe what was revealed and then nodded. “Apologies, Senior.”

Hui made a polite gesture to a chair. “Please, have a seat, Mr. Lu.”

Lu Yin did not refuse, and Hui took the seat across from him. She then poured him some tea.

“That’s not necessary. I had plenty while at the Five-Palm Sect. I’m here to trouble you with something, Senior.”

“Please tell me, Mr. Lu. It won’t be any trouble at all, provided that it’s something I can accomplish.” Hui’s tone was extremely sincere, perhaps due to her previous role as steward of the Ascendant Hall.

Even if Lan had appeared to be equal to the Seven Seraphs, she had still been required to bow to them.

The Ascendant Hall’s steward directly served the High Seraph. When such a person put on a show of sincerity, no fault could be found in their demeanor.

“I need you to gather more people to accompany me to defend the Consciousness Megaverse. You can release a public announcement about this. The Nest civilization...”

The Nest civilization was not a crisis aimed at just the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, but also the Tianyuan Megaverse. Lu Yin intended to completely eliminate the threat, not just defend the Consciousness Megaverse.

This was a threat to all of humanity.

Hui did not hesitate and immediately sent out word. She used the Spirit Coalition’s influence to spread the news of the approaching crisis of the Nest civilization to the entire Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

That was merely the Spirit Coalition taking action. There was no doubt that Greater Sancte Awe Gate would do something as well.

The power and influence of a Greater Sancte was not something that the Spirit Coalition could compare to.

“Please rest assured, Mr. Lu. Each of the thirteen clans will send people to accompany you to defend the Consciousness Megaverse. I’ve already ordered them to do so,” Hui said.

Lu Yin nodded. “Thank you.”

“You honor me.”

Lu Yin pulled out a Zenith Mountain and released someone. It was the woman who had led one of the two groups of youths along the clifftop in the Willbound Spire.

At the time, she had mentioned the Spirit Coalition and even claimed that she could offer Lu Yin its protection. Her words had suggested that she had a close relationship with the Spirit Coalition, which was why Lu Yin was releasing her now. If she was truly a member, then releasing her would repay a favor. Additionally, he no longer needed the people who were still on the Zenith Mountain.

There was no reason not to simply release them all.

Most of those individuals were members of powerful clans, while a few belonged to powerful factions, such as the Luo family or Deathmound.

As soon as the woman was released, she bowed to Lu Yin. There was not a shred of hesitation.

This was entirely because of Loneswan Island’s Zhang Yushu.

Lu Yin had released that man twice: once in Skyveil City, where he had been ordered to contact Loneswan Island so that Lu Yin could order them to take Cheng Gong’s corpse, and again when Lu Yin had met with Zhang Hongyun.

Between those two incidents, Zhang Yushu had stayed in a Zenith Mountain, where he had spoken with the other captives from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

What little Zhang Hongyun had managed to say to Zhang Yushu, which had been relayed to the other captured cultivators, had made them all abandon any thought of resistance. None of them even wanted to try to bargain with Lu Yin. As soon as they were released, every last one of them instantly bowed.

“I have greatly offended you, Senior. Please forgive me.” The woman spoke in a highly respectful manner, not even glancing at her surroundings. This was her first response.

Lu Yin gestured for the woman to look behind her.

A backward glance instantly revealed Hui, and the woman exclaimed in delight, “Senior Hui?”

Hui stared at the woman’s face in confusion. “And you are?”

The woman was visibly moved. “I am Lian Shuang. You may not remember me, Senior Hui, but I still recall our meeting clearly. You are the reason why I survived that sand catastrophe. Do you remember the massacre that occurred outside the Thirteen Cities long ago?”

That triggered Hui’s memory. “I remember now. You were the first child I saved.”

Lian Shuang quickly bowed again. “I owe my life to you, Senior Hui, and I’ve always wanted to thank you. That’s why I remained in the Thirteen Cities and cultivated here. I happened to be lucky enough to obtain a karmic bud and even traveled to the Sea of Karma, attempting to become one of Greater Sancte Green Lotus’s disciples. While I failed, I did manage to be chosen to serve as the guide for a green lotus leaf and lead a group of young cultivators from here to train in the Consciousness Megaverse.

“I had planned to visit you again after returning from that journey, but I didn’t expect...”

As Lian Shuang trailed off, she glanced at Lu Yin.

Hui also looked over at him, as she immediately understood that he had captured Lian Shuang in the Consciousness Megaverse.

The only way to travel between the Consciousness Megaverse and the Nine Odysseys Megaverse was on a green lotus leaf. Every so often, a number of cultivators from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse would apply to visit the Consciousness Megaverse and attempt to approach the palace in the Willbound Spire. While no one knew for sure what lay within that palace, there were rumors that it contained the memories of an Immortal.

It was widely believed that the palace was a trial and an opportunity prepared by the Immortal Greater Sancti.

But despite so many years passing, no one had ever managed to reach the palace.

Hui had also been tempted to try, but she had lacked the qualifications. Those who were not natives of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse were simply not allowed to go.

Lian Shuang had been captured by Lu Yin, despite it being known that it was impossible for the area near the palace to be reached by those in any other part of the Consciousness Megaverse. This meant that Lu Yin had somehow managed to cross that divide and had also attempted to approach the palace.

All of this instantly flashed through Hui’s mind.

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