Chapter 3129: Return

Hongyan Mavis laughed heartily. "Of course it makes sense! Anyone who is able to truly contemplate Immortality is at least a peak powerhouse. Anyone at that level has to have experienced a great deal and already considered countless whimsical ideas. I personally believe that the Mother Tree is an Immortal lifeform because my Progenitor's world is my Mavis family’s Divine Tree."

Lu Yin agreed, saying, "That would make a lot of sense."

Hongyan Mavis chuckled as she shook her head. "There are many theories, and when you don't understand something well, anything you hear might sound reasonable. You need to try to break through yourself in order to determine the truth.

"In fact, most people who have ever speculated about Immortality have a rather pessimistic view of it. Achieving Immortality wouldn’t necessarily be a blessing. You'd have to watch everyone around you die and suffer more than anyone else. You might even end up watching your entire species go extinct. Can you imagine living forever with nothing but bugs?"

Lu Yin shuddered at the thought. Just thinking about a universe without humans and only insects provoked a feeling of revulsion. What would be the point of being Immortal in such a universe? He would rather die.

Lu Yin had fully recovered from his injuries, so there was no reason for them to stay in the Mirari Realm any longer. After all, Lu Yin was not yet ready to attempt a breakthrough to the Progenitor realm.

"Let’s go, Senior."

Hongyan Mavis glanced around, feeling rather nostalgic. "I've lived in this place longer than I did on the Second Mainland. I hope that those who come behind won't destroy this place."

Lu Yin suddenly thought of something. "Senior, will we be able to come back after we leave?"

Hongyan Mavis shook her head. "Unless we find all of the markers, not even I will be able to return. Of course, Master could send us back, but we'd need to find him first."

Lu Yin sighed. That was quite the pity. He had hoped to take the entire Heavens Sect to the Mirari Realm and have them train until all of them became Progenitors. Then, they would be able to overwhelm Aeternus.

Unfortunately, that was nothing but a dream. If such a thing were possible, the Origin Progenitor and Mister Mu would have already done it.

Time was able to change many things, but not everything.

As long as a person was unable to achieve Immortality, they would eventually age and die in the Mirari Realm. Regardless of how much time was spent, some people would never be able to become Progenitors.

Before leaving, Lu Yin went into the cabin and looked down at the messages scrawled across the floor. He then crouched down and wrote his own.

“Little Seven was here. I hope to meet all of you seniors one day - Lu Yin.”

That done, he walked out of the cabin. "Let's go, Senior."

Hongyan Mavis went in behind him. She saw what he had written, crouched down, and added her own bit.

“He's a newbie, and he’s called Pillar. Welcome the new guy - Hongyan.”

That done, she also walked out. Lu Yin was curious and wanted to see what she had written, but Hongyan Mavis blocked him. "Let's go. What are you looking at?"

"Senior, what did you write?"

"None of your business."

Lu Yin pursed his lips. He really wanted to see what the woman had written, but she dragged him away.

"By the way, Senior, when we leave this place, will you return to the Heavens Sect era?"

"Time in the Mirari Realm is separate, and while this place is untouched by the River of Time, coming here means bringing the River of Time with you. The moment that anyone enters this place, the Mirari Realm is refreshed due to the new connection established with the River of Time."

"That's good."

...

Lu Yin tore through the void to arrive in the Origin Universe at the mountain behind the Heavens Sect. He stepped out, only to find that he was surrounded by several familiar figures: Leng Qing, Cloudflow, and Arch-Elder Zen.

"Dao Monarch?" they all joyfully exclaimed.

Lu Yin was startled. "It looks like a lot’s happened while I was gone."

As Lu Yin spoke to the three men, Hongyan Mavis emerged from the void behind him, stunning them further. It was already shocking to see Lu Yin return so quickly, much less return with a woman.

Hongyan Mavis took a deep breath, savoring her newfound freedom. "Freedom really is wonderful."

Lu Yin turned to her. "Feel free to wander about. I need to deal with a few matters, and then I'll take you to the Lu Sanctum."

Hongyan Mavis nodded. "Take your time and don't worry about me. I'm not in a rush to see Loam."

"Dao Monarch Hongyan, is that you?" Leng Qing exclaimed. He recognized the woman, but he was startled by the figure he saw.

Hongyan Mavis looked over, surprised that anyone had recognized her.

Leng Qing's excitement grew. "It's me, Leng Qing! I once visited the Mavis family, and you offered me a bit of instruction."

Hongyan Mavis thought for a moment before it dawned on her who was speaking to her. "Oh, it's you. I remember now, one of the gatemasters."

Leng Qing bowed respectfully. "It really is you! You're still alive?"

"It isn’t that surprising that I’ve been able to survive for this long, but how have you managed it?" Hongyan Mavis asked in confusion. Many people had disappeared during the Heavens Sect era along with Leng Qing. Hongyan Mavis had taken a particular interest in the matter because a descendant of the Mavis family and the Second Mainland’s Dao Chosen, Heluo Mavis, had been among those who had vanished.

Leng Qing was breathing heavily as he solemnly offered another bow. "Leng Qing, gatemaster of the Celestial Blade Gate, greets the Dao Monarch."

As the once-ruler of the Second Mainland, which had had its own Daosource Sect, Hongyan Mavis’s title was indeed Dao Monarch.

Curious, Hongyan Mavis asked, "What happened back then? Several gatemasters and Dao Chosen all disappeared at once."

Lu Yin told Leng Qing to give Hongyan Mavis a tour of the new Heavens Sect while sharing details of past events.

While Lu Yin had spoken extensively with the woman while in the Mirari Realm, there was simply too much to cover.

Leng Qing had been born on the Second Mainland, and he was ecstatic to have the opportunity to speak with Hongyan Mavis.

As for Lu Yin, he made his way to the Heavens Sect’s main hall to meet with Wang Wen, Wei Rong, and the others who had been gathered. Arch-Elder Zen, Lu Buzheng, and several others were also present to discuss recent events.

Lu Yin actually had not been gone for long—for everyone else, it had only been as long as it had taken Mister Mu to leave the Second Scourge to when Lu Yin had entered the Mirari Realm. After all, time had stood still for him while he was in the Mirari Realm.

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

What had felt like an eternity within the Mirari Realm had been less than a second of time for the rest of reality. Arch-Elder Zen and the others had no idea that Lu Yin had vastly changed from when they had last spoken to him.

Lu Yin listened quietly as he heard about what had happened recently.

While it had been a very brief amount of time, a great many incidents had transpired, given that Lu Yin was believed dead. It did not matter that it had only been a brief bit of time, given that Aeternus was spurring things onwards.

Lu Yin sat there quietly, his finger tapping the table as he absorbed the news.

Spies within the Heavens Sect had destroyed the cosmic doors connecting the Origin Universe to the Calamity Occupation and the Nine-Star Civilization.

More and more people within the Sixverse Association were expressing their frustrations with Lu Yin and spouting baseless accusations and speculations. Some even claimed that Mu Shen and Lord Xu had both been injured because of Lu Yin's scheming and that he had been aiming to seize control of the Arboreal Realm and the Voidforce Universe.

In the Perennial World, people had started assassinating both members of the Lu family and visiting cultivators from the Fifth Mainland. These attacks were an attempt to incite a conflict between the Perennial World and the Fifth Mainland.

Madam Nalan had been fired and sent back to the Origin Universe by the Merchant Exchange.

Several of Sovereign Lotus’s disciples were actively provoking the Heavens Sect, dredging up events from the past. In addition to other matters, they were demanding that the Heavens Sect apologize to Yao Lan on Lu Yin's behalf, claiming that Lu Yin had wrongfully accused the woman of being a spy.

Countless problems had appeared, and it looked as though the Heavens Sect was under siege from all sides.

Of course, many people still supported the Origin Universe. Mu Shen and Lord Xu both spoke up in Lu Yin’s defense, as did the Cyclic Universe’s Arrow Sage and Sage Bodhi. Even the rarely-seen Sage Yajna had released a message expressing his gratitude for Lu Yin's contributions to humanity, as well as the man’s hopes that rumors of Lu Yin’s death were proven false.

Lu Yin’s most loyal and protective supporters were the people of the Origin Universe, but they were closely followed by the inhabitants of the Sixverse Association’s Endless Frontier. Lu Yin had driven the Aeternals out of the Endless Frontier and into the First Scourge, which had put an end to the endless cycle of war that had plagued the Endless Frontier for countless years. Despite the deep undercurrents within the Sixverse Association, the discord was far from enough to topple Lu Yin's authority, not unless he was actually dead. Only his true death would result in his influence fading over time.

After hearing everything, Lu Yin did not get angry, and he smiled instead. "Things are getting interesting. Without any problems, how can we resolve matters? All of these people put on an act of being respectful and obedient, but who can really guess what is going on inside of their heads?

"Wang Wen, make sure that the outside world believes I'm actually dead. Make things as convincing as possible. I want to see who else will expose themselves."

Wang Wen smiled. "We've already started doing just that. If the Dao Monarch were to truly die, there would be nothing we could do about it. The Heavens Sect can protect itself unless Aeternus launches an all-out attack. If you're alive, it would be best to take advantage of everything that’s happening right now."

Wei Rong jumped in, "Actually, we instigated a large portion of the current unrest."

Arch-Elder Zen could not help but glance at Wei Rong. This man’s methods were truly too ruthless. Even the Aeternals were likely baffled at this moment, confused about why their efforts were so effective.

This explained why things had erupted so quickly.

Lu Yin stood up. "In that case, I'll disappear for a while and only show up again when it’s the right time."

Wang Wen cautioned, "That won’t be very long. Aeternus destroyed the cosmic doors in order to isolate us from our allied civilizations. They might focus on attacking those civilizations, but that's not unlikely, as they can still easily request our support. The most likely scenario is that they will attack our Heavens Sect, as we are the ones who have been cut off from external support.

"They will likely launch their attack very soon."

Lu Yin felt a rising sense of excitement. "If a battle breaks out, that’s even better. I want to see how effectively Aeternus can cut us off from receiving support from other universes. Can they cut us off from the Sixverse Association? Whitecloud City? Those are connections that they’ll have to pay a heavy price to sever."

Lu Yin then left the main hall. Their following actions had been entrusted to Wang Wen and the others, so Lu Yin intended to take Hongyan Mavis to the Lu Sanctum.

Once Lu Yin left, Arch-Elder Zen thoughtfully asked, "Did any of you notice that the Dao Monarch seems different?"

Cloudflow looked surprised. "You noticed that too? I thought that it was my imagination."

Lu Buzheng shook his head. "It's not your imagination. I could feel it too. He seems... how should I put it?"

He pondered for a moment.

"Complete?" Arch-Elder Zen suggested.

Lu Buzheng and Cloudflow exchanged glances. "Yes, that's it. Complete."

"Could the Dao Monarch have become a Progenitor?" Cloudflow wondered.

Lu Buzheng glanced at Arch-Elder Zen, who just smiled. "Let's go. With the Dao Monarch back, there's no need for us to worry. All of the Aeternals’ plans hinge on the Dao Monarch’s death. His return will cause all of their plots to fall apart."

Wang Wen was eager to see events unfold. "I can't wait to see the look on the Aeternals’ faces when they realize that the Dao Monarch is still alive! This is going to be quite the show."

Wei Rong's eyes flickered with a cold glint. "I'm also looking forward to that."

Lu Yin chased down Hongyan Mavis and Leng Qing.

Leng Qing had shared the details of the events that had led to him and the others being frozen in the sourcebox, but Hongyan Mavis had become captivated by the sight of Ancestor Tortoise, who was lounging outside of the Heavens Sect. The Divine Tree was still growing from its back, and the sight left her engrossed.