Star Odyssey

Chapter 2438: Time Poison

Lu Yin's eyes flashed. Now this was some surprising information. Regardless of how many people an ordinary person married, Lu Yin would never bat an eye. It was completely normal for emperors to retain harems of thousands of women, but two female Progenitors deciding to marry the same man was highly unusual. Just what kind of character did a man have to possess to accomplish such a thing?

Lu Yin grew solemn as he looked at Attendant Wu. "Is Monarch Luo very strong?"

Attendant Wu replied, "This small one does not know."

"You mentioned coordinates that were taken from Aeternus just a moment ago. Is your universe also being attacked by Aeternus?" Lu Yin continued his questions.

Attendant Wu answered, "Yes, Aeternus ravages our part of the universe. If not for the three Monarchs, all of us would have been turned into corpse kings by now. Even with the Monarchs fighting against Aeternus, our situation is still not very optimistic. The reason why Gu Yue sealed the passage long ago might have also been related to this."

Lu Yin asked, "Where did you pick up that arrogant attitude you showed in Shenwu Continent?"

Attendant Wu flinched and dropped to his knees. "My lord, this small one does not dare to do such a thing again! I am willing to accept any punishment! Please, give this small one a chance!"

Lu Yin and Lu Buzheng exchanged looks. This man was the equivalent of a peak Envoy, but he was incredibly submissive. Not even the Second Nightking had ever shown so much deference after he had submitted to following Lu Yin.

"I asked you a question. What is your answer?" Lu Yin pressed.

Beads of sweat streamed from Attendant Wu's forehead. After a slight hesitation, he replied, "I learned it from Monarch Luo."

"So, is Monarch Luo the one who demands that you demonstrate such a submissive attitude?" Lu Yin asked.

Attendant Wu nodded. "Monarch Luo does not allow us to raise our eyes to him, let alone look at Monarch Mu or Monarch Xing, so…"magic

Lu Yin's smile faded. If the man learned everything from Monarch Luo, then his behavior made complete sense.

Lu Buzheng asked, "What does your title of ‘Attendant’ mean?"

The terms Monarch, Semi-Monarch, and Attendant all seemed to be related.

Attendant Wu explained, "From weakest to strongest, the realms of cultivation in the Three Monarchs universe are Slave, Servant, Attendant, Semi-Monarch, and Monarch. This small one is an Attendant, which is equivalent to this universe’s Envoys. Servants are the same as what you call Enlighters, while Slaves are equal to Explorers."

"That's quite straightforward," Lu Buzheng remarked.

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. This direct correlation had most likely been decided upon in order to make things easier for the rulers. Even the terms for their cultivation realms emphasized the superiority of Monarchs. It was evident that Monarch Luo had a penchant for being high and mighty.

"Where did you hear the name 'Heavens Sect' before?" Lu Buzheng questioned.

Lu Yin was startled, "He knows about the Heavens Sect?"

Lu Buzheng nodded.

Lu Yin glanced at Attendant Wu. This complicated things, as it meant that the two universes must have come into contact with each other an extremely long time ago.

Before Lu Buzheng and the others had been released from the sourcebox, Lu Yin had never even heard the name “Heavens Sect.” It was a name that had faded into obscurity long, long ago, which made it unimaginable for someone from a parallel universe to know about it.

Attendant Wu adjusted his posture and respectfully replied, "'Heavens Sect' is a term that has long fallen into oblivion. I only learned about it after unintentionally overhearing Monarch Luo mention it. Monarch Luo once said that the Heavens Sect was the strongest and oldest alliance in human history. The word 'sect' even originates from it. In Monarch Luo's words, the Heavens Sect was a place full of legends and mysteries. Us Attendants, the servants of Monarch Luo, naturally also yearn to venture there."

"The Heavens Sect is regarded as a place of myth and legend in the Three Monarchs Universe because of an powerful ancient cultivator whose existence we have never been able to prove: the God of Death."

Lu Yin and Lu Buzheng both exclaimed, "The God of Death?"

Attendant Wu said, "That’s right. A long time ago in my universe, an incredibly powerful individual once appeared, and he ushered in a new era of cultivation for humanity, awakening our wisdom. He was both the origin of human civilization, as well as an executioner who reaped life and sent it into the cycle of reincarnation. That was the God of Death.”

"In our Three Monarchs Universe, the God of Death is regarded as a myth, or a god. Even Monarch Luo has nothing but respect whenever he mentions the God of Death. Legends claim that the God of Death came from the Heavens Sect."

After speaking, Attendant Wu was tempted to try to see Lu Yin's reaction, as the two men were clearly startled by the mention of the God of Death. The God of Death and the Heavens Sect; everything matched together perfectly. It appeared that the myths were actually true, though this Heavens Sect was definitely not the same as the one from their legends. After all, if Attendant Wu was in the fabled Heavens Sect, then he would not be meeting with these two men, but rather the legendary figures of old.

Lu Yin and Lu Buzheng exchanged another look. They had not expected Attendant Wu to mention the God of Death.

However, there was a chance that the man was not referring to the same man. After all, the title "God of Death" existed in many other mythologies.

"How much do you know about the God of Death? What do you know about him?" asked Lu Yin.

Attendant Wu replied, "According to the legends, the God of Death carried a scythe and chains were wrapped around his body. The sound of death accompanied him wherever he went. It’s said that he emerged from the darkness and that he also departed in darkness…"

The two men just listened as Attendant Wu described what his universe knew of the God of Death. There was not much, as the man was recounting mere legends.

Regrettably, all of Attendant Wu’s knowledge came entirely from the legends that he had heard, and thus, there was no practical information to be had. Legends usually had a very subjective description of their subjects.

"Do you know the name of the strongest monster among the Aeternals in your Three Monarchs Universe?" Lu Buzheng asked.

Attendant Wu blurted, "Forgotten Ruins God."

Lu Buzheng was taken aback. "Forgotten Ruins God?"

Lu Yin's expression instantly grew serious. The fact that Forgotten Ruins God had taken a personal interest in the Three Monarchs Universe indicated that the universe possessed exceptional strength.

Lu Yin had heard of the Seven Skygods for a long time, but for many years, his knowledge had been limited to their Semi-Progenitor avatars and mere theories regarding their true identities. Only three years ago, during his battle against Undying God, had Lu Yin personally witnessed the true might of Corpse God. Only then had he truly comprehended the strength that the Seven Skygods wielded. They were absolute monsters whom even most Progenitors could not hope to stand up to.

The jiao possessed incredible defenses, but it had not dared to charge at Corpse God.

Undying God had easily forced his way into the Perennial World by utilizing his innate talent of drifting, which had forced the Python Ancestor to attack him. The two had mutually restrained each other, but humanity had still failed to kill Undying God.

The power of the Seven Skygods remained as fresh as ever in Lu Yin's memory.

"Is your Three Monarchs Universe able to stop Forgotten Ruins God?" asked Lu Yin.

Attendant Wu replied, "None of our Monarchs are able to stop her on their own, but the three Monarchs are able to employ a special ability when they cooperate, which they call the Three Monarchs Array. With that, they are able to withstand Forgotten Ruins God’s attacks. That is also what will allow them to protect the Three Monarchs Universe from destruction for another billion years."

Lu Yin was genuinely impressed. "Blocking Forgotten Ruins God is no small feat."

If this parallel universe’s three Progenitors were able to stop Forgotten Ruins God by cooperating, then each individual should possess a level of strength close to that of the masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas. One of the three might even be as powerful as one of the masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas. Three normal Progenitors would never stand a chance against one of the Seven Skygods, even if they did combine their strength.

Lu Yin and Lu Buzheng then continued to question Attendant Wu, which allowed them to slowly gain some understanding of the Three Monarchs Universe.

"Not bad, you've answered all of my questions, though I do hope that you haven’t been lying to me." Lu Yin slowly made a rather threatening comment after about half a day of questions. He then took a sip of tea.

Attendant Wu immediately prostrated himself. "This small one would never dare to deceive you! I can no longer return to the Three Monarchs Universe, so from now on, I shall obey only your commands and serve you faithfully! How could I dare to lie to you?"

"Since the passage exists and the coordinates for your universe should be here as well, you'll definitely get a chance to go back. Come, let's go search for the coordinates. If I get the chance, I would also like to visit the Three Monarchs Universe," Lu Yin replied.

Lu Yin was highly intrigued by the Three Monarchs Universe. If he could establish a cooperative agreement with the parallel universe, it would have a tremendous impact on the endless war against Aeternus. At the very least, it would be an opportunity for him to target Forgotten Ruins God. Still, everything depended on whether cooperation was even possible.

There had to be a reason why Gu Yue had sealed the passage between the two universes, though Lu Yin needed to uncover that reason for himself.

He was not Gu Yue, and if faced with the same choice, then given different ideas and different perspectives, Lu Yin might come to an entirely different decision.

More importantly, if the God of Death who was mentioned in the legends of the Three Monarchs universe was indeed the God of Death from the Heavens Sect era, then it was possible that the man might have left something behind in that universe, which was an incredibly enticing possibility.

Attendant Wu quickly rose to his feet and offered to accompany Lu Yin back to Shenwu Continent.

Suddenly, the man coughed up blood, and the tricolored power that swirled around his body spiraled out of his control. Lu Buzheng pressed a hand down. "Did you absorb stellular energy?"

Attendant Wu clutched at his chest, bewildered by the fact that his own power had torn free from his control. "What’s happening?"

He had automatically absorbed a bit stellular energy after being injured by Lu Buzheng. This had not been done for cultivation or even for recovery, but simply to compare the energy with what the Three Monarchs universe cultivated. Why was he reacting like this now?

Lu Buzheng shook his head. "Don't absorb any power from this place. Disperse everything that you absorbed. You’re lucky that you don’t cultivate with stellular energy, or else you would be facing far worse injuries, and your cultivation would have even been destroyed.”

"Did you really think that our universe is this weak? If not for the problems that we currently face with our stellular energy, we would have had a new batch of Semi-Progenitors popping up anytime now."

Attendant Wu suppressed the power within his body even as blood filled his mouth. It took him some time to calm himself back down.

Lu Yin observed the energy that surrounded the man’s body with open interest. "Is this the power that you use to cultivate? It's not bad."

For the first time, Attendant Wu looked directly at Lu Yin. The man’s face had gone pale, and his voice quivered when he spoke. "This, this is Time Poison!"

Lu Yin and Lu Buzheng's expressions both changed. "What did you just say?"

Attendant Wu muttered in a shaky tone, "This is Time Poison! Has Aeternus released Time Poison in this universe? It’s no wonder why I didn't see anyone cultivating here."

"What do you know?" Lu Yin anxiously asked. For the last three years, he had tried to do everything he could to unravel the mystery behind the changes that had occurred with their stellular energy, but it was all to no avail. He had no idea how much longer he would need to find the cause of everything. This problem had been haunting him for far too long already.

He had considered the idea that Aeternus might have used Vitality Poison, but the symptoms of Vitality Poison were very different from what the Fifth Mainland was dealing with. Upon hearing the words "Time Poison," he had immediately related it to Vitality Poison.

Attendant Wu softly replied, "Senior, if I'm not mistaken, Aeternus has contaminated this power that this universe uses to cultivate with their Time Poison! When cultivators absorb this power, they are contaminated by the poison, which can cause the absorbed power to reverse or accelerate its flow. The problem is not in the cultivators themselves, but rather by the fact that the ambient energy has been influenced by the power of time. That is how Aeternus's Time Poison works.”

"This small one knows of this because my Three Monarchs Universe once faced destruction from Time Poison. Before the Three Monarchs Universe was renamed, we used a different type of energy to cultivate, but Time Poison crippled every aspect of our cultivation system. If not for the arrival of the Three Monarchs who changed the underlying energy of our cultivation system, we would have been completely enslaved by Aeternus. That’s why we will never forget about Time Poison."