Chapter 2440: The Cost

Xiao Shi blinked and rubbed his cosmic ring. He pulled out a single star essence and several dozen star crystals. "Brother Lu, here you go."

Lu Yin took a glance at the money in the man’s hand and chuckled. "That’s not enough."

Xiao Shi pursed his lips. "I'll borrow some from Xiao Chi. He has a bit too."

"It still won’t be enough," Lu Yin replied.

Xiao Shi hesitated. "Then… I'll borrow some from my other friends?"

Lu Yin laughed. "How much can you borrow?"

Xiao Shi considered the question very and then raised five fingers. "Five star essence."

Lu Yin looked away. Five star essence was not bad for an ordinary cultivator. He still remembered the joy that he had felt when he obtained his first star essence. It had been a huge sum to him at that time, but at present, anything that he wanted to Enhance required tens or even hundreds of billions of star essence. Even if he consumed every last star essence in the Technocracy, it would still be far from enough to satisfy his needs.

Most of the universe's wealth was concentrated in the hands of a few. There were individuals who were more wealthy than an entire domain.

Lu Yin stood and patted Xiao Shi on the shoulder. "There's no need for that. I'll go and borrow some myself."

After speaking, Lu Yin vanished.

Xiao Shi stared blankly at where Lu Yin had just been standing. Was he seriously that desperate for cash?

The star essence that the Astral Beast Domain had promised Lu Yin had already been delivered over the course of the last three years. As Yao Di had estimated, there had been nearly 5 trillion star essence.

It was a mind-boggling number, and Lu Yin had felt his breath quicken when he first saw it. Before this day, Lu Yin had been wondering how he should spend this money.

Not once had he considered repairing the Origin Progenitor's Sword over the last three years, and it was precisely because of the ridiculous cost in doing so. He had planned to wait until he became a peak Envoy before attempting to repair the sword.

Unfortunately, that choice had been taken from him.

Even if the attempt was unsuccessful, he still had to give it a try.

𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

The Fifth Mainland’s cultivation could not be allowed to disappear.

Looking back, saving Undying God might have only been a single fraction of the reason why True God Yi Wei had fractured the Origin Progenitor's sword. The other part was likely linked to Time Poison.

While Lu Yin did not fully understand the connection between Time Poison and the Origin Progenitor's Sword, the phenomena that had appeared when he brought the sword out had made it clear that the sword had reacted to Time Poison. There was no need for Lu Yin to understand how to use the sword, as it would act on its own.

This perfectly explained why True God Yi Wei had taken action to damage the Origin Progenitor's sword.

Upon returning to the Heavens Sect, Lu Yin ordered all of the star essence to be brought to him, which attracted the attention of Lu Buzheng and several others.

Although the star essence that Lu Yin had received from the Astral Beast Domain had been intended to be for his own personal use, the sheer quantity of resources had drawn many eyes, especially given the recent issue with stellular and star energy.

Lu Yin did not offer any explanation, and he simply announced that he was going into seclusion.

He raised a hand, brought out his die, and immediately rolled it.

During the last three years, Lu Yin had frequently rolled his die. He was close to simulating 350,000 stars with the Cosmic Art, and he had also constantly striven to comprehend Extremes Must Be Reversed to a high level of mastery. One day, he hoped to be able to influence time like Progenitor Ku had been able to.

Additionally, he had seen significant improvements in other aspects as well. Lu Yin’s die meant that one could not judge his strength or level of technique by the normal passage of time.

When the die came to a stop on four pips, time froze. Lu Yin placed his hand on the mountain of star essence beside and disappeared with all of it.

Upon entering his Timestop Space, he was completely confident that he could roll a three: Enhance.

After multiple rolls, Lu Yin was finally able to place the Origin Progenitor's sword on the upper screen of light that was his Enhance. He took a deep breath and then began. From the day he first used his innate gift of the die to the day he eventually became a Progenitor, all of the resources that he had and would use on upgrading various items could not even begin to compare to the amount that he would have to use for this single Enhancement. What terrified him was not the quantity of resources that he would use, but rather the fact that he had no idea how much it would cost, or even worse, potentially discovering that the sword could not be Enhanced at all.

If the Origin Progenitor's sword could not be Enhanced, then Lu Yin would have to seek out the Origin Progenitor’s other swords.

Lu Yin started to frantically throw out star essence. As he watched it all vanish, he breathed a sigh of relief. Enhancing the sword was indeed possible. Everything would eventually be fine.

If the Fifth Mainland lacked sufficient star essence, then he would simply visit the Perennial World to get more. He would do so regardless of whether he needed to cheat, borrow, or steal. As long as he had the will, there would be a way.

In a blink of an eye, a trillion star essence had been sacrificed, but the sword had fallen less than a tenth of the way through the light screens. On the bright side, the cracks that riddled the sword had started to disappear, which proved that it could indeed be repaired.

According to Lu Yin’s calculations, he would need at least ten trillion star essence to fully Enhance the sword, which was nearly impossible to obtain from just the Fifth Mainland.

Even if all of humanity was incapable of supplying what he needed, Lu Yin could always take more from Aeternus. A cruel glint flickered in Lu Yin’s eyes. He was determined to make True God Yi Wei pay for this intolerable loss that Lu Yin had suffered.

Right, Aeternus.

Lu Yin's eyes glittered with a cunning light. Aeternus also used star essence, and while Lu Yin had liberated a decent amount from the Aeternus Kingdom in the Starfall Sea, that had only been the Starfall Sea. What about the New World?

How could he have forgotten? There had to be tons of star essence in the New World. Every city had to have had some star essence, but Lu Yin had not heard anything about that. Something was not right. The four ruling powers must have kept the information from him.

Lu Yin cursed himself for forgetting about such an important matter. No, he had to get back what he was owed from the four ruling powers. He had been the first to conquer the New World, so how could fame be his only reward?

Lu Yin grew increasingly upset. Three years had passed since he had last stepped foot in the Perennial World. It was time to go back.

Three years might not seem like a long time to most cultivators, but it was very different for Lu Yin. He was able to freeze time for himself, so while the rest of the universe had only lived through three years, he had experienced the passage of hundreds of years. He felt that he had already lived for a very long time.

Lu Yin threw out most of his remaining star essence, only reserving 500 billion.

The Origin Progenitor’s sword dropped almost halfway through, which meant that he needed at least another five or six trillion star essence to complete the task. Just the thought of such a sum was intimidating.

Almost a year later, Lu Yin emerged from the Timestop Space, and he immediately headed to the Ancestor Tortoise, which housed the Mavis clan on its back.

The Mavis clan was not exactly welcoming when Lu Yin arrived. This was because Lu Yin only visited them when he had a problem with funds. The Mavis clan had already spent a great deal on Lu Yin, and they were rather reluctant to spend any more.

Lu Yin and Yunying Mavis sat at opposite sides of a tea table.

Yunying Mavis stared at Lu Yin as he drank his tea. Almost half an hour passed before the woman finally spoke. "Dao Chosen, there's no need to beat around the bush."

Lu Yin lowered his teacup and asked, "What will happen if the Fifth Mainland's economy collapses?"

Yunying Mavis's expression immediately grew somber. "It would spell a disaster for humanity. The economy is the foundation of every system, so if that collapses, every other system that humanity relies on would collapse as well. This is something that Dao Chosen definitely would not want to see happen."

Lu Yin pressed, "But what about right now? Is the current situation not already considered a disaster for humanity?"

Yunying Mavis grew puzzled. "What are you trying to say, Dao Chosen?"

Lu Yin smiled faintly. "Our cultivation."

Yunying Mavis sighed. "Naturally, this is a disaster. Given the problem with our stellular energy, all of mankind is in the midst of a terrible crisis. I would even go so far as to say that our current situation is even worse than when the true universe was drained. While cultivators were unable to absorb any energy at that time, at least we did not suffer any harm. Now, anyone who has ever cultivated with stellular or star energy will experience an inexplicable reversal in the flow of their energy. Just surviving that is already a blessing, let alone continuing to cultivate."

"If I had the means to restore the true universe, but at the cost of collapsing our economic system, what would your opinion on that matter be, Senior?" Lu Yin asked casually while refilling his teacup.

Yunying Mavis's eyes widened. "Does the Dao Chosen have a way to fix things?"

Lu Yin set down his teacup. "Is there anyone else who can restore the true universe aside from me?"

Yunying Mavis stared at Lu Yin for a long moment. At this moment, he was the most powerful figure in the Fifth Mainland in terms of both strength and status. He was the highest authority in the Fifth Mainland. If anyone could save the Fifth Mainland, then it was Lu Yin.

"What do you mean by collapsing our economy?"

Lu Yin thought for a moment before replying, "I won't say much, just two things: first of all, with ten trillion star essences, I can attempt to restore the true universe. Second, I can't guarantee success, but the chances of succeeding are nine out of ten. Senior, would you take such a gamble?"

Yunying Mavis's eyes flickered. This was not a gamble that anyone could take lightly. What did ten trillion star essences represent? It represented a sum more than what could be obtained even by bankrupting the entire Mavis Bank. If the bank collapsed, then mankind’s economy would also collapse. Even so, it might not be possible to restore their universe’s stellular energy back to normal.

"Dao Chosen, what are you trying to say by visiting our Mavis clan?" The voice of Heluo Mavis drifted over from behind.

Lu Yin had noticed the moment she arrived, but he had not turned around.

The highest authority in the Mavis clan was not Yunying Mavis, but rather Heluo Mavis. She had once been one of the Heavens Sect’s Dao Chosen, and she had inherited the Mavis family’s core battle techniques. She was the only person capable of truly inheriting the Mavis family after the fall of the Second Mainland, and thus, Helua Mavis held a higher status than any other member of the family.

"Leaving aside whether the true universe can be restored, but even if it is a success, the collapse of our Mavis Bank and the resulting economic turmoil would still be a disaster for humanity. We would become terrible criminals against humanity. Dao Chosen Lu cannot possibly want to sacrifice the Mavis family in order to save the Fifth Mainland, right?" Heluo Mavis sat down next to Yunying Mavis and stared Lu Yin in the eye as she spoke calmly.

Lu Yin's lips curled upwards. "What if I told you yes?"

Yunying Mavis’s brows rose, but she remained silent.

Heluo Mavis continued to meet Lu Yin's eyes. "We don’t have the power to refuse a request from the Dao Chosen. We will do as you command."

Lu Yin laughed. "Don't try to pressure me with words. I'm not stupid enough to sacrifice the Mavis family. Besides, I doubt that even the entire Astral Beast Domain can gather ten trillion star essences, let alone the Mavis family."

Yunying Mavis let out a sigh of relief. "The Human Domain possesses a much greater quantity of star essence than the Astral Beast Domain, but it is also spread across a much larger area. The amount that our Mavis family holds does not account for even a single percentage of the total amount held by the Human Domain. Many powerful families and sects have their own reserves. If we consider the size of the entire human population, gathering 10 trillion star essences is not impossible. It simply depends on how we go about it."

Heluo Mavis was quite curious. "Is there truly a way to revert stellular energy to its previous state?"

Lu Yin stood up. "Possibly. Just be prepared, as I might start collecting star essence at any moment. After all, this is for the entire Fifth Mainland, and everyone will have to pay a price, including myself."

Before leaving, he added, "This won't be in vain, and I will pay an equivalent price."