Star Odyssey-Chapter 3527: Pressure

Lu Yin looked at the mouth with open contempt. “I might consider it, but do you dare to cooperate with me?”

“We can provide information to your Grandverse Manor.”

“We don’t need your information. There are already plenty of people who are willing to do that for us.”

“If you insist on proceeding and declaring war on our Phantom Reach, your Grandverse Manor’s origins might quickly spread throughout the entire Spirit Nidus. Even if almost everyone pretends to be deaf and dumb, someone will inevitably stand up to attack the Grandverse Manor. Third Boss, do you really want to see such a confrontation happen?”

“You’re not qualified.” Lu Yin lashed out with another palm strike. The sight of the attack caused the mouth to instantly vanish, but Qianmen Feidu failed to notice that Lightstream had already appeared, reversing time by one second.

When it came to the power of time that a number of cultivators in the Tianyuan Megaverse had mastered, the Spirit Nidus’s people were at a complete disadvantage. Qianmen Feidu was already weaker than Lu Yin, and it was impossible for him to restrain Lu Yin.

The palm smashed the mouth, shattering it completely.

Far away in the Roaming South Realm, a wail of anguish rang out. Yi Nan looked over and saw that Qianmen Feidu’s face was covered with blood. Yi Nan was enraged, and he shot to his feet. “This has gone too far! Does he really believe that our Phantom Reach is afraid of him?

“Activate all of the spirit treasure formations and issue these orders: all members of the Phantom Reach are on stand by. Be ready to announce the Grandverse Manor’s origins at any moment.”

“Understood.” Qianmen Feidu’s teeth had been knocked out, but that was nothing more than an insult. The man would recover from such an injury very quickly, given that he was a powerful Ortuser.

The palm strike had only really humiliated the man.

It was nothing more than a demonstration of the fact that Lu Yin did not need to show the Phantom Reach any face.

While the palm strike had struck Qianmen Feidu, Lu Yin had really been humiliating Yi Nan.

Despite that, Yi Nan had no intention of rushing off to fight Lu Yin. The Phantom Reach had no desire to become cannon fodder in a scenario that would lead to their mutual destruction with the Grandverse Manor. Why had none of the seven major powers attacked the Grandverse Manor? It was for exactly this reason.

No one wanted to pave the way for another’s success.

If there had been any room for negotiation, total war would have never broken out.

Yi Nan had been waiting for Old Yu. The Wisdom Domain carried great weight, and Old Yu’s methods had pushed against Lu Yin’s bottom line while attempting to prevent a scenario where the Tianyuan Megaverse became an irreconcilable enemy.

The Roaming South Realm was soon prepared for Lu Yin’s arrival.

Both Yi Nan and Qianmen Feidu were waiting in the Roaming South Realm, and they stared into space.

The Roaming South Realm was not a small region. It was approximately half the size of the Fifth Mainland’s Outerverse. However, the Roaming South Realm was quite remote, and it also possessed very little resources and had given birth to no famous powerhouses. There were many such places throughout the Spirit Nidus, and no one had been aware that the Phantom Reach was headquartered in such a location. Similarly, no one had known that Seraph Jiu Xian had also made the Roaming South Realm her home.

The Phantom Reach’s spirit treasure formations encompassed two-thirds of the Roaming South Realm, while avoiding the area that belonged to Jiu Xian.

There was more than one formation as the Phantom Reach had two Spirit Treasure Masters.

Lu Yin observed the Roaming South Realm with a slightly furrowed brow.

He could undo these spirit treasure formations, but Qianmen Feidu’s last threat had caught Lu Yin’s attention.

Having Boundless’s origins be made public would not be good for the Grandverse Manor, even if they were prepared for such.

In that case, Lu Yin would give the Grandverse Manor a bit of time.

Qing Yun had shared the locations of many of the Phantom Reach’s branches. If the Phantom Reach wanted an all-out war, then those branches would inevitably receive orders to disseminate the Grandverse Manor’s information. What remained in question was whether or not Jiu Xian had found all of the branch locations.

Lu Yin slowly moved into the spirit treasure formation, much to Yi Nan’s astonishment. Had the man really just willingly entered a spirit treasure formation? Yi Nan had assumed that Lu Yin would break the formation with overwhelming power. Right, he’s climbed the nine steps of the Grandmaster's Trial. Theoretically, that qualifies him to be the Spirit Treasure Society’s tenth Grandmaster. He might be an even more skilled Spirit Treasure Master than the two who belong to my Phantom Reach.

“How long does it take to resolve a spirit treasure formation?” Qianmen Feidu asked.

Near him were five Spirit Treasure Masters, two of whom were Spirit Treasure Grandmasters. They were the ones who had set up the formation that Lu Yin had just entered.

One of the Grandmasters solemnly replied, “Over the years, we have set up three layers of formations: First is Harmonic Frost and Heat, second is Pristine Waters, White Stone, and lastly is Codex 16.

“Harmonic Frost and Heat gives the impression of intense cold, but what is felt is intense heat. Everything in there is reversed, both what is done and what is seen is the opposite of what is real. This spirit treasure formation was designed to prevent any accidental entries and to drive out any intruders. It isn’t particularly dangerous, but it also isn’t very conspicuous.

“Pristine Waters, White Stone is the second layer, and it is also the deadliest of the spirit treasure formations that we can arrange. Beneath the clear water, white stones can be seen. They look like fireflies in the dark, and they can be extinguished in darkness. That formation is powerful enough to eliminate even sequence powerhouses.”

Qianmen Feidu frowned. Sequence powerhouses? He was an Ortuser, and yet not even he could slow down the Third Boss.

Still, he did not blame the two Grandmasters. They were Spirit Treasure Masters, which meant that they were only Spirit Ancestors. They had also both failed their attempts to challenge the Grandmaster's Trial, which indicated that they were not exceptional Spirit Treasure Grandmasters. What they had accomplished was already quite commendable.

“We did not create Codex 16, but were rather given it by Ancestor Yi Nan. It took us countless years to just barely set it up. We don’t even understand it well enough to guess at its strength.”

“You don’t know how strong a formation that you arranged is?” Qianmen Feidu asked skeptically.

The two Grandmasters replied with bitter smiles. “That’s exactly the case—we don’t know. This formation is completely different from what we are accustomed to, and we don’t understand any of the details.”

Yi Nan watched as Lu Yin moved into the Harmonic Frost and Heat spirit treasure formation, but he said nothing.

The two Grandmasters also fell silent.

Qianmen Feidu glanced over at Yi Nan. Qianmen Feidu had no idea where the other man had obtained the spirit treasure formation. Codex 16? It doesn’t even have a real name.

Far away, things were very calm in the Hundred Grasses Domain. There were far fewer people monitoring the Grandverse Manor than in the past.

Lu Yin had been making a name for himself elsewhere in the megaverse, and he had attracted too much attention. Consequently, many people had come to see Lu Yin as the key target, assuming that none of the cultivators who had remained in the Grandverse Manor could possibly surpass him.

Shadows shot out from Boundless in every direction. The members of the Tianyuan Army, mecha pilots, and people who used black energy converters had all moved out.

Shao Chen stood at the bow of the battleship, staring off into the distance. Everyone had already left, and another huge commotion was about to occur.

Chu Yi, Wilderness God, Lu Tianyi, Sovereign Dou Sheng, the members of Second Life, Mu Zhu, Ye Wu, and Luo Shan had all left Boundless to take out the Phantom Reach’s branches that Old Tao had told them about.

In other places, Hu Wu, Tian Ya, and several other powerhouses who had allied with the Grandverse Manor also started to move.

The Phantom Reach had branches located all throughout the Spirit Nidus, with a focus on the thirty-six domains.

Fortunately, Boundless had plenty of powerful cultivators. Along with Hu Wu, Tian Ya, and a few others, there were enough experts to target every single branch that they had learned about.

The closest branch was in the Hundred Grasses Domain.

That branch was entrusted to Progenitor Xi.

As soon as Lu Yin had entered the Roaming South Realm, all of the Phantom Reach’s branches had received orders from Qianmen Feidu to be on standby. All of their information regarding the Grandverse Manor had been organized, and they were ready to release everything to the entire Spirit Nidus.

The Phantom Reach’s branch in the Hundred Grasses Domain was far from Boundless, hidden in a corner of the domain.

On the surface, the branch looked like an ordinary valley that was inhabited by a number of ordinary humans.

Among the various households, there was one family that was noticeably wealthier than the others, and their home featured a grand gate and several guards.

To the other people in the valley, the home simply looked like that of a wealthy family.

No one knew that the estate was actually a branch of the Phantom Reach. After all, everyone at the branch was an ordinary person.

The branch was staffed solely by ordinary humans in order to prevent Boundless from noticing anything. Any cultivators would have undoubtedly been noticed.

Still, even ordinary humans could share information with the outside world.

Progenitor Xi arrived in the valley without anyone noticing. She casually strolled into the estate and calmly sat in a courtyard while waiting for the right moment.

In the Alin Domain, the Aqua Rift had been greatly restored, due to the help of various powerhouses.

Not far from the Aqua Rift was a faction called Sunset Courtyard, which accepted only women. Their status was quite low in the Alin Domain, and they were required to send tribute to the larger Sunset Sect. The Sunset Sect was one of the twelve sects that stood to the north of the Aqua Rift in the Alin Domain, though they were all required to submit tribute to the sequence powerhouses that ruled over the domain.

No one had ever imagined that such a humble organization like Sunset Courtyard would actually be one of the Phantom Reach’s branches.

Ye Wu arrived beside Sunset Courtyard.

Lu Tianyi entered the Cloudcrane Domain, where he saw thousands of cranes flying in a single flock. The Shouhe Sect ruled over the domain, and the strongest person in the domain was from that sect. Even so, Lu Tianyi saw no reason to fear them.

It was very rare for any of Lu Tianyi’s peers to have the courage to challenge him to an actual fight.

He found the branch of the Phantom Reach, which was led by a Cranekeeper. The man was completely unaware that he had been targeted by Lu Tianyi.

"Who are you? Trespassing is not something that a guest would do."

Lu Tianyi looked over. He had no idea how anyone from the Shouhe Sect had found him, though the man was not a Cranekeeper, but the ruler of the Cloudcrane Domain.

The man’s expression was solemn, as he felt a great deal of pressure from Lu Tianyi. This man was very strong.

"Grandverse Manor’s Lu Tianyi."

The man’s eyes narrowed. "Are you from the Grandverse Manor?"

Lu Tianyi hid nothing. There was no reason for any subterfuge.

The Grandverse Manor no longer had any need to hide their actions. The more they hid, the more guilty they would look.

"Why has someone from the Grandverse Manor come to my Cloudcrane Domain?" the sect master asked, puzzled.

Lu Tianyi looked at the distant, still unaware, Cranekeeper. "That man is the head of the Phantom Reach’s local branch."

The Shouhe sect master was taken aback. "Is he really part of the Phantom Reach?"

He did not doubt Lu Tianyi's accusation. Why else would someone from the Grandverse Manor come to visit his Cloudcrane Domain?

Still, even if the Cranekeeper was part of the Phantom Reach, what did that have to do with the Grandverse Manor?

A possibility suddenly occurred to the sect master, and his expression grew solemn. “Does the Third Boss intend to declare war on the Phantom Reach?”

After the battle at the Umbral Deep, Lu Yin had visited the Wisdom Domain. As soon as news of Yi Nan defeating Seraph Yi Shang had arrived, Lu Yin had rushed off to the Roaming South Realm. The people shadowing him knew nothing of this, and they thought that he was still within the Wisdom Domain.

Upon realizing that Lu Tianyi was targeting the Phantom Reach’s local branch, the Shouhe Sect’s master was smart enough to understand the implications.

Lu Tianyi stood with his hands clasped behind his back, waiting for the right moment.

He could not attack too early, as doing so could alert the other Phantom Reach branches, and then people would flee.

Everyone needed to act at the exact same time.

The sect master stared intently at Lu Tianyi. The Grandverse Manor truly did have a number of intimidating experts. Boundless could not be antagonized; those people could not become enemies.

The sect master turned around and walked away, acting as if he had not seen anything.

Experts from the Grandverse Manor entered the White Orchid Domain, the Ghostfire Domain, the Ark Domain, and even Seraph Yi’s own Daquan Domain.

Chu Yi was the one who had gone to the Daquan Domain.

At the same time, Hu Wu and Tian Ya were the Grandverse Manor’s agents who traveled to the Consciousness Domain.

The couple abruptly made their way to the Consciousness Domain. No one knew why, but there was also no one watching the two.

That did not mean that the Consciousness Domain welcomed their arrival. It was known that neither Hu Wu nor Tian Ya cultivated consciousness, and it was also known that the two had joined the Grandverse Manor.