Chapter 3180: Fertile Soil

Lu Yin had a feeling that the Boundary Guardians might not be what they portrayed themselves as.

In the past, the butterfly had specifically sought out the Lord of Lightning to try to grant him heaven’s blessing, but the man had refused.

If the Boundary Guardians truly had a duty to bestow heaven’s blessings, then they would not go out of their way to do so. As far as Lu Yin was concerned, the offer of a blessing was nothing more than a means to win people over.

As long as a creature was sapient, there would be conflicts of interest.

However, as long as there were conflicts of interest, things could be negotiated.

A few days passed, and rumors started to appear. They claimed that the Lost Clan was being hunted by enemies and that the Heavens Sect was unwilling to offer any assistance. These rumors were once again the work of Aeternus, but this time, the rumors were completely true. The Lost Clan was being hunted by powerful enemies, and the Heavens Sect was genuinely unable to get involved.

Another visit from Great Elder Shan Gu caused the rumors to disappear once again.

Regardless of whether the rumors were true, as long as Great Elder Shan Gu remained alive and the Heavens Sect showed no indications that there was something wrong, people would be put at ease.

This time, it was only two days after Shan Gu’s visit that Tian Fa arrived in the Origin Universe, still chasing after the Great Elder. Once again, Tian Fa was scolded away by Ancestor Lu Yuan.

Just a short while later, Shan Gu made another visit, and this time, Tian Fa arrived just a day behind the man. It was clear that the guardian was closing in on Shan Gu.

Lu Yin had no idea how Tian Fa was tracking the Great Elder, but it was readily apparent that, as long as things continued how they were, it was only a matter of before Shan Gu was caught.

When Tian Fa entered the Origin Universe for the fourth time while chasing after the Great Elder, Shan Gu had been gone for only five hours.

This time, Ancestor Lu Yuan did not hold back and attacked. "It seems that you really aren’t taking our Heavens Sect seriously! You come and go however you please. Just what do you think this place is?"

He threw out a palm strike. Lu Yuan’s attack was powerful enough that it had once sent Di Qiong flying, leaving the man hesitant to face Lu Yuan ever again. This was the strength of the Lu family.

Throughout the history of the Origin Universe, only the Mavis family had ever been able to compare to the Lu family when it came to physical might.

Endless blades filled the universe, and they all shot at Lu Yuan, but he shattered them all with a single slap.

It was true that Lu Yuan had been startled by the strength of the statues that were part of the Primeval-level Heavenly King, that did not mean that the Ortuser was necessarily weaker than the men that the statues represented, even when they had been alive. Lu Yuan’s shock had come from seeing something from another megaverse.

Once Lu Yuan shattered the blades, he continued his attack, just like the blood-red human figure of the Warking of Infinity, and Lu Yuan targeted Tian Fa.

Tian Fa was a mass of some sort of blood-red liquid, and the moment Lu Yuan had laid eyes on the creature, he had wanted to find out what it really was.

Out of nowhere, the palm strike froze. Lu Yuan felt as if his entire body had been tied up by unbreakable bonds and that he was being restricted in all directions by some inexplicable force. He even felt restrictions binding him from the void. Even with Lu Yuan’s strength, he was unable to break free.

The blades slashed up at him from below.

Lu Yin clenched a fist. "Ancestor!"

Hongyan Mavis spoke directly into Lu Yin's ears. "Don't worry. You don't understand Loam's power. He needs to fight against a peer, or even be pushed to the brink of death. It’s more important for him than anyone else."

Lu Yin did not understand. "What does that mean?"

"Just watch," Hongyan Mavis said as she stared out into space. "It's been a long time since Loam has been able to enjoy a fight like this. Facing another Ortuser is a unique opportunity for him."

All of the blades in the universe shot towards Ancestor Lu Yuan.

A Champions' Stage appeared beneath his feet, and he entered it. The blades were allowed to strike the Champions’ Stage, but while there was a sharp sound from the impacts, the Champions’ Stage remained unscathed.

Lu Yin had noticed something strange. He had never seen his ancestor summon any champions or gods during any of his battles. Was that because Lu Yuan did not have any invested gods or anointed champions, or was it because he simply did not need to use such means?

The Champions' Stage surrounded Lu Yuan, and it never moved at all, despite the powerful attacks from the endless blades.

There truly seemed to be no end to Tian Fa’s blades, just like when the creature had attacked Shan Gu. The Great Elder had been forced to use his Heavenly King card and surpass his limits to even have a chance at victory, but he had ultimately ended in failure.

Ancestor Lu Yuan watched the blades intently. He refused to believe that they were truly endless. In fact, part of the reason why he had started a fight with Tian Fa was so that he could buy a bit of time for Shan Gu to escape.

It was clear to everyone that Tian Fa would soon catch up to the Great Elder.

"Does your Heavens Sect intend to make the Boundary Guardians its enemies?" Tian Fa demanded in a cold voice that clearly revealed its bloodlust.

Lu Yuan sneered. "What a joke. You’ve come to our Heavens Sect to flaunt your power on multiple occasions, no doubt at Aeternus's behest. People are starting to say that our Heavens Sect's military declaration is nothing but a joke and that Aeternus can send their expert to suppress and force us to stay silent.

"You’re the one that Aeternus sent, and you’re working with them to crush the will of humanity. Even if only one of us remains, we humans will never beg for mercy."

Tian Fa's voice dropped lower than ever. "Tian Fa is responsible for delivering heaven’s punishment. My duties have nothing to do with Aeternus."

"You know perfectly well what you're doing. Do you think we're easy and that you can toy with us? You won’t be able to leave this place so easily today! Guardians? I think you're all in cahoots with Aeternus and just slapping a different name on things. Bring it on!" Lu Yuan roared as he released a terrifying surge of power that tore the universe apart.

This display of raw strength caused Lu Yin's eye to twitch. This was more power than his most powerful attacks. Ancestor Lu Yuan was truly formidable.

However, what about his Progenitor’s world and sequence particles? Why had Lu Yin never seen his ancestor use those either?

The void was ripped open, as though something had broken free. Lu Yuan stepped out of his Champions' Stage, shattering the endless blades as he suddenly charged at Tian Fa. The man’s entire being blazed with an unstoppable aura, and he looked like he was about to tear Tian Fa apart.

Confronted with Lu Yuan’s charge, Tian Fa's voice took on a terrifying depth. "As expected of one of the Three Realms and Six Daos. You’ve broken my Earth Blade. Now, prepare to face heaven’s punishment: Heaven's Spear."

As Tian Fa spoke, a spear slowly took form in front of them, but at an incredibly slow rate. By the time the weapon fully manifested, Lu Yuan’s attack should already have landed.

However, Lu Yuan was unable to move. He was trapped in place and unable to take another step forward.

His expression changed. "The power of time? You've trapped me with time."

"The Earth Blade binds with the void, while Heaven's Spear binds with the passing of time. There is no escape. This is your punishment for resisting heaven’s punishment! If you survive, remember this lesson." With that, the spear finished forming and shot forward to pierce Lu Yuan.

Lu Yin stepped forward, ready to intervene, but Hongyan Mavis pulled him back. "Don’t be in a rush. Loam won't be defeated so easily."

The spear did not move quickly. Even ordinary humans could track its passing, but Lu Yuan was unable to evade it. Given his level of power, he could easily touch upon the power of time, which meant that it should have been impossible for him to be trapped by time or space.

This was because it was not the power of time that had trapped Lu Yuan, but rather the passing of time itself.

"The passing of time is irreversible," Hongyan Mavis said warily.

Time was a mighty force, but its passage led to an unchangeable outcome.

By being trapped by the passing of time, even having the power to break free from time would not change anything.

During Lu Yin’s time in the Mirari Realm, even when Feng Bo had been on the brink of death, he had not dared to jump into the River of Time. This was because the passage of time was even more terrifying than death.

Tian Fa’s spear contained enough power that the creature was fully confident in killing Lu Yuan.

Even with the spear approaching him, Lu Yuan did not panic. Instead, he simply closed his eyes. It looked like he had no intention of doing anything about the attack.

Lu Yin trusted both Hongyan Mavis and his ancestor, but no matter how he looked at the situation, the spear was dangerous. Just what was his ancestor planning?

Just as the spear was about to stab him, Lu Yuan’s Investiture of the Gods suddenly appeared, and it swept the spear aside.

Tian Fa said nothing and simply disappeared. The creature had already left the Origin Universe.

Lu Yin let out a sigh of relief. His ancestor was safe.

However, Hongyan Mavis felt puzzled. Why had this been the outcome?

Very few people witnessed the battle between Ancestor Lu Yuan and Tian Fa. Lu Yuan had only fought the creature in order to buy time for Shan Gu to get away.

When Lu Yuan returned to the Heavens Sect, Hongyan Mavis asked him, "Why didn't you take that spear?"

Lu Yin was confused. Take it? No one would normally take such an attack.

"It wasn't the right time," Lu Yuan replied.

"Ancestor, what's she talking about?" Lu Yin asked.

Lu Yuan looked at Lu Yin. "Little Seven, do you believe that the Investiture of the Gods is my innate gift?"

Lu Yin was taken aback, but he thought about it for a moment. "To my knowledge, there are two categories of innate gifts: hereditary and unique. If someone awakens an innate gift that no one else in their ancestry has ever possessed, then that innate gift is considered to have awakened naturally and be unique. The other option is a hereditary innate gift. Many people have studied them, but no one can figure out how innate gifts are passed down."

"Exactly. How are innate gifts passed down and inherited? This touches on the mystery of a species’ most primitive origins. I can't give you an answer, but there is a common thread among inherited innate gifts. They are almost always passed down within a single family, and even if the family has fallen, it will have had a glorious past."

Lu Yin nodded.

"These inherited innate gifts all originate from a powerhouse in the family’s past, and not a normal one. It must be someone who’s managed to become a sequence powerhouse and touched the mysteries of the universe. As for my Lu family's innate gift, I was the one who created it. My Progenitor’s world is called Fertile Soil. It doesn’t have any offensive capabilities, and it doesn’t even have any defensive abilities either. When it first appeared, it offered no help at all, and I was mocked by quite a few people for a while."

Hongyan Mavis jumped in, "Of course you were laughed at! Back then, you were the biggest trouble maker of us all, so when word got out that your Progenitor’s world didn’t do anything, the Divine Eagle and Python Ancestor were the ones who laughed the hardest. The Python Ancestor laughed so hard that he rolled on the ground."

Lu Yuan sneered. "Let them laugh! I was really upset back then, and the more they laughed, the angrier I became. It was only when Master praised my Progenitor’s world for being unique that I calmed down. He said that it might bring about something extraordinary later on.

"Thanks to Master's encouragement, I managed to cultivate all the way to the Sequence Progenitor level, and the law of the universe that I comprehended was Growth."

Lu Yin felt confused. "Growth?"

Lu Yuan clasped his hands behind his back. "Growth. No matter how you look at it, it's a law that doesn't seem particularly useful. No matter how hard I tried to steer my cultivation towards strength or destruction, the law that I ended up comprehending was still Growth. I couldn't escape it, not even in my dreams.

"Because of that law, I ended up being ridiculed again."

Hongyan Mavis glanced over. "We weren’t mocking you, we were just laughing. Besides, we were worried about you back then. Given your personality, how did you manage to comprehend a law as gentle as Growth? It was something that I could see myself mastering, but never you.

"But that was the law that you mastered. At the time, it was a mystery to us. Blackie even privately joked about how you nurtured motherly love."

Lu Yuan's eyes flared in a burst of anger. "What did you just say?"

Hongyan Mavis laughed loudly. "It wasn't me! Blackie said it!"

Lu Yuan snorted, but then he continued explaining. "I knew what they were laughing at, and I also knew that Growth sounded gentle and lacking in offensive power. However, it was from my Law of Growth that my innate gift, the Investiture of the Gods, was born."

Lu Yin was surprised. "The Investiture of the Gods is from your Law of Growth?"

Lu Yuan nodded. "That's right. The Investiture of the Gods seals the power of a peak powerhouse for us to summon back out and use their power for ourselves. This ability was triggered by the Law of Growth. At the peak of Growth, it is able to produce the Investiture of the Gods. That is the secret of our hereditary innate gift."

Lu Yin pondered. "So, your Investiture of the Gods is essentially a product of your Law of Growth. You constantly absorb the power of powerful individuals, which eventually led to the formation of your own sealing power."

Lu Yuan smiled. "Exactly. That's why my Investiture of the Gods is different from other summoning abilities. Its potential for growth is limitless. As long as it continues to absorb power from stronger and stronger individuals, it will continue to grow."

Lu Yin suddenly understood. "I see. It’s no wonder why you didn't take Tian Fa’s spear earlier. You were waiting for your Investiture of the Gods to grow strong enough to withstand even Tian Fa's attack."

Lu Yuan nodded. "Yes. It's not time yet, but one day, my Investiture of the Gods will grow strong enough to withstand any attack. On that day, I will become truly invincible."

Hongyan Mavis sighed softly. "The future of the Investiture of the Gods is limitless."

Lu Yin was badly shaken, and he finally understood why his ancestor was able to stand above so many powerful individuals. The Law of Growth allowed Lu Yuan to continue growing stronger until he became invincible.

His gaze firmed. "Ancestor, in the future, the Heavens Sect will undoubtedly become stronger because of you."

Lu Yuan gave a small smile. "I believe in you, Little Seven. The future of the Heavens Sect will be placed in your hands."