Star Odyssey

Chapter 2927: Dukkha And Madness

More than ten days quickly passed before the ?arīra floating above Tuo Lin's head suddenly spun. The void twisted to the side, and countless pictures appeared while creating ripples.

Mu Xie's eyes snapped open, and he stared at his ?arīra. It fluctuated between appearing and disappearing, as though time was tugging at the thing.

Distorted images kept flashing in and out around Mu Xie. Abruptly, all of the images converged into the same person, an old man. The man’s eyes opened, and he looked at Mu Xie. "Lord Lu, please come see me, Sage Yajna."

As soon as the old man spoke, space returned to normal, and Lu Yin stepped over. "Senior Brother?"

It was at this moment that Tuo Lin woke up and looked around in a daze.

The young man saw Mu Xie staring at him. "Who are you?"

Lu Yin arrived at Mu Xie's side.

Seeing Lu Yin, excitement filled Tuo Lin's eyes, and he quickly got out of his bed to kowtow. "Disciple Tuo Lin greets Master."

Lu Yin gently raised the young man back up, saying, "Get some rest and recover. I’ll see you once you’ve recuperated."

Tuo Lin respectfully answered, "Of course. As you order, Master."

Lu Yin and Mu Xie left.

Mu Xie's expression was solemn. "I saw someone just now. It was Sage Yajna, one of the Cyclic Universe’s Nine Sages."

Lu Yin was caught off guard. "Sage Yajna?"

"That young man is related to Sage Yajna, and he is actually one of the Sage’s descendants. Sage Yajna invited you to see him in the Cyclic Universe," Mu Xie explained.

Lu Yin nodded. Tuo Lin’s relationship to the Sage Yajna was a big surprise.

Of the Three Sovereigns and Nine Sages, Sovereign Dou Sheng was openly acknowledged as the strongest, and he always fought alone. As for Sage Yajna, the old man was the most mysterious of the Three Sovereigns and Nine Sages. No one had ever seen the old man participate in any form of combat, but because he was the oldest among the Sovereigns and Sages, no one dared to underestimate Sage Yajna. Not even Sovereign Dou Sheng was from the same generation as Sage Yajna, and the Sage was one of the only people who was allowed to share tea with the Great Sovereign at any time.

Sage Yajna held the most unique position in the entire Cyclic Universe.

Lu Yin still clearly remembered the Sage’s fearless spirit.

During his Cyclic Tribulation for his Semi-Progenitor breakthrough, Lu Yin had faced an image of Sage Yajna, and he had been deeply impressed by the old man.

"In that case, I should go see him," Lu Yin replied.

Mu Xie frowned. "I sensed something odd from this Sage Yajna. Be careful, and it would be best if you ask Senior Brother Mu Ke to accompany you."

Lu Yin nodded. "If that’s what’s necessary, of course."

...

Lu Yin once again appeared in the Cyclic Universe, but this time, he had arrived in secret. No one knew about Lu Yin’s presence other than Sage Yajna.

The Sage normally stayed in one of the most hidden places in the Cyclic Universe. Not even the Three Sovereigns or the other Sages knew that Lu Yin, an outsider, was visiting that secret location.

Sage Yajna’s sanctuary was very ordinary, and there was nothing special about it at all. The Sage looked like an old man who was close to his deathbed. He spent his time planting flowers and caring for his garden while living alone in a small hut. He gave people the impression of someone who was simply waiting to die.

However, while that was the initial impression that the Sage gave, Lu Yin sensed something else entirely. To him, it felt that the old man was far from death, or rather, it seemed like it would be very difficult for the old man to die.

Sage Yajna gave off the impression of an old man at death’s door, but paradoxically, he also gave off the feeling that he could not die.

Lu Yin could not resist looking again with Heaven’s Sight.

Sage Yajna stepped out of his house and directed a gentle smile to Lu Yin. "Lord Lu, I am nothing more than an old man. There is nothing dangerous about me, and there is no need for you to use Senior Wu Tian's Heaven’s Sight."

Lu Yin stepped onto the ground a hundred meters away from Sage Yajna. "Is Tuo Lin your descendant?"

Sage Yajna replied, "Let's have this conversation in the house."

"There’s no need for that. We can stay out here among the flowers and grass," Lu Yin replied.

Sage Yajna nodded. There was no table, just a stone, so the two men sat on the ground with a pot of tea boiling between them.

There was nothing special about Sage Yajna serving Lu Yin’s tea, and Lu Yin acted even more casually.[1]

"Someone once taught me how to prepare tea, but I am not even one percent as gifted as that person. Otherwise, I would have served Lord Lu a cup of tea that you would never forget." Sage Yajna sighed as he picked up a tea cup and politely handed it to Lu Yin.

The younger man accepted the cup. "Do you enjoy tea? I also have someone who is capable of making an unforgettable cup of tea."

Sage Yajna laughed. "Lord Lu, this is not the first time that we have met each other. You saw me before during your Cyclic Tribulation."

Lu Yin took a sip of tea, finding it perfectly ordinary. "Is Tuo Lin your descendant?"

"Yes."

"Why did you feel the need to see me?"

"Lord Lu, please release Tuo Lin."

Lu Yin looked over at Sage Yajna. "Do you believe that I will try to use him as leverage against your Cyclic Universe?"

Sage Yajna shook his head. "Of course not. You know nothing about Tuo Lin, Lord Lu. Let alone him, not even I am able to satisfy your grudge with the Great Sovereign."

Lu Yin looked upwards. "I have accepted him as my disciple, and I will treat him as such. This has nothing to do with the Cyclic Universe. I simply cannot harm a child who has no cultivation whatsoever."

Sage Yajna looked at Lu Yin, powerful emotions filling the man’s gaze. "Although the Lu family is domineering, there is a bottom line that you will not cross. I am naturally aware of this. However, Tuo Lin is truly incapable of cultivating. I am not saying this because I fear that you will harm him, Lord Lu. Rather, I fear that, if even you fail to give him the means to cultivate, it may break him completely.”

This was what Lu Yin had been wondering about. "Why is he incapable of cultivating?"

"Certain matters have impacted my bloodline. Sacrifices were made, and that is why none of my descendants have ever been capable of cultivating," Sage Yajna said with a sigh.

Lu Yin stared at Sage Yajna. "I'm asking why your family is unable to cultivate. What happened?"

Sage Yajna and Lu Yin stared at each other. "Lord Lu, have you ever heard of ‘overcoming Dukkha?’"

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. "According to the legends, that is the cultivation realm beyond the Origin Realm, correct?"

"Did Ancestor Lu Yuan tell you?"

Lu Yin was surprised. "Is there really a cultivation realm beyond the Origin Realm?"

Lu Yin had been simply making a guess, based off of what Big Sis had mentioned about the realm beyond the Progenitor realm being known as the Origin Realm. That comment had reminded Lu Yin of the words related to the Mirari Realm: Ascend to the Origin realm. Overcome Dukkha. Gain immortality.

While the words did not explicitly mention cultivation, Lu Yin felt like it was most likely referring to realms of cultivation, and it turned out that he had been right.

He had never asked Ancestor Lu Tianyi about this matter. If Ancestor Lu Tianyi and the others wanted to share this information with Lu Yin, they would have done so long ago. The fact that they had not said anything suggested that they were worried that they would impact Lu Yin’s chosen path of cultivation.

Sage Yajna took a sip of his tea. "Overcoming Dukkha is a transformative process for any cultivator. Most cultivators believe that the equivalent of the Progenitor realm is the peak of human cultivation, but that is merely the peak of the first realm of cultivation. At that level, one is still human, a creature of flesh, blood, and emotion. Only by overcoming Dukkha is it possible to transcend and become an alternative form of life, breaking away from the limitations of human beings.

"I am helping the Great Sovereign overcome Dukkha.

"I have sacrificed myself and my descendants in order to help the Great Sovereign overcome Dukkha."

Lu Yin felt puzzled. "How do you overcome it?"

Sage Yajna shook his head. "If I knew, I would not be at the Progenitor level.

"Overcoming Dukkha is a stage that represents a person's most closely held desire, and that desire is magnified countless times over. This is what I have heard in the past. This is also the reason why all who are in the process of overcoming Dukkha are quite literally insane, and that includes the Great Sovereign.

"The Great Sovereign's desire is to eliminate the True God. This goal is the chasm that she must surpass in order to overcome Dukkha. This is also why she will always think of only her own goal. Your Lu family and others who might be hurt in the process are not within her scope of consideration, and she would readily sacrifice everything in order to achieve her desire that has been magnified to such an extreme.

"Once she achieves her goal, she will become another type of existence. I have never been in the presence of such an existence myself. Such a being may still be considered human, or perhaps not."

Lu Yin frowned. A realm of cultivation that magnified one’s deepest desire countless times over? Was this what it meant to overcome Dukkha? Was everyone who entered that realm truly insane?

"From those people’s perspective, nothing that they do is wrong or evil." Sage Yajna stared at Lu Yin. "Lord Lu, one day, you will also need to overcome Dukkha."

Lu Yin looked back at Sage Yajna. "Are you saying that I will go mad?"

Sage Yajna's expression grew conflicted. "Humans are living creatures, and as long as we are alive, it is impossible for us to eliminate our desires. No one is an exception to that. Even those who sacrifice themselves and die have their own desires. The key to overcoming Dukkha is to overcome one’s desire. What is your greatest desire, Lord Lu?”

Lu Yin laughed. "I also want to defeat the Aeternals."

Sage Yajna nodded. "That’s very good. Regardless of whether one is a saint or a madman, it does not matter, as long as they can help humanity defeat Aeternus."

Lu Yin picked his tea cup back up and swirled it. "Did you say all of that just to justify how the Great Sovereign exiled my Lu family?"

Sage Yajna smiled. "Of course not. I'm merely sharing her reasons for it with you. The Great Sovereign has no need for me to make excuses for her. You are unable to do anything to her.

"She is someone who has surpassed the Origin Realm and is working on overcoming Dukkha. I can’t say what level Lu Yuan, your Lu family’s founding ancestor, has reached, but I do know that he has not reached the stage of overcoming Dukkha. No one in this universe has ever succeeded in overcoming Dukkha. If there had been one, the current situation would be very different."

"True God hasn’t overcome Dukkha?" Lu Yin asked, suddenly thinking about something.

Sage Yajna replied, "He might be at that level. It’s possible that the Aeternals are his trial to overcome."

Lu Yin's eyes snapped wide open. That made sense. If the Great Sovereign’s deepest desire was the defeat of Aeternus, then the True God’s deepest desire might be to use the Aeternals to wipe out humanity. That might be his trial to overcome Dukkha.

"You know a great deal. I wonder, how powerful are you yourself?" Lu Yin gave Sage Yajna a questioning look. This man gave Lu Yin a feeling of being completely at peace with the universe, and it made Lu Yin unable to take an aggressive stance towards the Sage.

Sage Yajna shrugged. "I have no strength. I am nothing more than a vessel to help the Great Sovereign Overcome Dukkha. Once she succeeds, I will disappear, and then it will be time for my descendants to rise up. This is why I asked you to release Tuo Lin, Lord Lu. It is not his time yet.

"All that matters is that my descendants continue to live."

Lu Yin set his teacup back down. "Did you invite me here just to talk about this?"

Sage Yajna and Lu Yin looked at each other. "Lord Lu, if you refuse to send Tuo Lin back, then I, an old man who may perish at any moment, ask that you treat him kindly."

With that, Sage Yajna stood and bowed deeply to Lu Yin.

Lu Yin remained calm. "He is my disciple, and I know exactly how to treat him. What you have just told me makes me aware of why the Great Sovereign is a mad woman, but I will still collect the debts that she owes us in my own way."

Sage Yajna said nothing.

"Do you have any objection to uniting the Sixverse Association?" Lu Yin suddenly asked. As he spoke, a smile spread across his face.

Sage Yajna laughed. "The affairs of the outside world have nothing to do with me. Whatever you do, Lord Lu, is not up to an old man like me.

"However, I am an old man who has lived for too long, and I do have some advice for you, Lord Lu."

The Sage grew somber as he stared at Lu Yin. "There are matters that you should not be persistent about. If you continue to push, they will become inner demons of your heart. The more demons you gain, the more suffering you will face. The greater the suffering you face, the faster you will be pushed to insanity. If you can let go of some things, you might not be as insane to some people."

Lu Yin's eyes flickered as he continued to stare at Sage Yajna for a time. Finally, Lu Yin turned and left.

As he stared at Lu Yin's departing figure, Sage Yajna murmured to himself, "The more pure a person is, the easier it is to Overcome Dukkha. However, how is it possible for anyone to remain pure after cultivating to this level?

"I can only hope that the child does not become a madman.

"It all starts and ends with a cup of tea..."

1. In this situation, Sage Yajna could have shown Lu Yin respect in the way that he served the tea, but he chose to do so in a casual manner, and Lu Yin responded with even greater casualness. ☜