Chapter 3181: The Power of Growth

Lu Yuan gritted his teeth. "That bastard Blackie! He actually dared to say things like that about me, and I never even knew about it?"

Hongyan Mavis rolled her eyes. "Who was going to tell you? If anyone had mentioned it, wouldn’t you have flipped the universe over?

"Did you really not notice that there was a period of time when Blackie avoided you?"

Lu Yuan was shaking with rage. "That bastard Blackie! I knew he was a scheming, sharp-tongued devil! He was always pretending to be so well-behaved. If he had the guts to say that, he should have said it to my face! That despicable bastard! When I see him again, I’ll make sure to tear his mouth off!"

Lu Yin was speechless, but then he was suddenly reminded of the words written on the floor of the cabin in the Mirari Realm. It seemed that all of the Three Realms and Six Daos were aware that the God of Death had a sharp tongue, and Lu Yin was seeing evidence of it for himself.

He had initially believed the God of Death to be an unsmiling, ruthless warrior. He had been strong enough to suppress all the astral beasts in the Origin Universe, and he had given Lu Yin the impression that he was someone as steady as a mountain. That image of the God of Death had completely collapsed in Lu Yin’s mind.

It seemed that even the Great Sovereign had held similar thoughts about the God of Death, until Ancestor Lu Yuan mentioned that the God of Death had wanted to sneak attack her while in disguise. The woman had refused to believe it when Lu Yuan had first mentioned it.

The God of Death had been too good of an actor.

Lu Yuan finally caught his breath. "Just wait. I don’t believe that that bastard would have died so easily. He’ll definitely show up again, and when he does, I’ll tear his mouth off. Just wait!"

"Ancestor, what happened next?" Lu Yin asked. Hearing the story of each person’s cultivation journey could provide insights for Lu Yin, especially the story of someone like Ancestor Lu Yuan, who was one of the Three Realms and Six Daos.

Moreover, Ancestor Lu Yuan's Progenitor’s world and sequence particles were both rather unique and did not match the man’s personality. This revealed another aspect of comprehending the laws of the universe to Lu Yin, and it suggested that comprehension might not always align with a person’s desires.

Lu Yuan took a deep breath and finally suppressed his anger. "My Progenitor’s world Fertile Soil and the Law of Growth are not offensive abilities, no matter how you look at them. I thought about both of them for a long, long time, and eventually, I linked my Law of the Universe with my Fertile Soil, and when I did so, something strange happened. That managed to shut everyone up for good."

The man grew serious as he stared at Lu Yin. "I grew the Investiture of the Gods."

Lu Yin was stunned, and wondered if he had misheard.

"You didn't hear wrong. I really did grow the Investiture of the Gods," Lu Yuan repeated.

Lu Yin blinked. "An innate gift... can be grown?"

Lu Yuan chuckled at Lu Yin’s expression. "All of us have constantly been amazed by your path of cultivation and progress. I didn’t expect that something like this would manage to surprise you."

Hongyan Mavis interjected, "All of us showed the same expression as you when we heard about it. Can an innate gift be grown? But he really did just that. Our master was in seclusion at the time, and when he came out and heard about it, even he was surprised, though not completely shocked. It seemed like he had already guessed that something like that might happen."

Lu Yuan sighed. "I didn’t expect that I would one day actually grow something like the Investiture of the Gods. My Lu family already had an innate gift, our Champions' Stage. That hereditary innate gift is what made me realize that there must have been some powerful cultivator in our family’s past. The Investiture of the Gods was grown by me, but our Champions' Stage might also have been created by someone in the past, since it can be passed down.

"I wanted to stand equal to our unknown ancestor who might have founded our family by passing down the Investiture of the Gods, but you know how that turned out. I drove my son to his death and ultimately raised a madman in our Lu family.

"At first, everyone told me that the Investiture of the Gods couldn’t be inherited, and because of my obsession in accomplishing just that, I pushed my son to his death."

Hongyan Mavis consoled the man, "People’s words can be terrifying. There are times when words can be more harmful than a powerful innate gift."

"Blackie wasn’t the one to spread those comments, was he?" Lu Yuan suddenly remembered something and turned to glare at Hongyan Mavis.

The woman frowned. "Blackie just has a sharp tongue. He’s never been cruel to anyone, much less ridiculed or slandered you. Loam, do you not trust him?"

Lu Yuan sighed. "Sorry, I was overthinking things."

Lu Yin also did not believe that the God of Death would slander Lu Yuan. What had been said had nothing to do with someone being sharp-tongued. Rather, it had clearly been borne of jealousy and intended to mock Lu Yuan.

Given the God of Death's strength, how could he have been jealous of Lu Yuan?

It was possible that the God of Death was even stronger than Lu Yin’s ancestor.

“When Nutjob Lu awakened the Investiture of the Gods, I knew that I had succeeded. I had indeed grown an innate gift that could be inherited by my descendants, and it had come from my Fertile Soil and Law of Growth. However, that was also the limit. My Fertile Soil was unable to grow anything more. That’s what Master told me.

“However, there was also a condition to that limitation: that I remained a Progenitor.”

Lu Yuan grew extremely excited. “Now that I’ve broken past the Progenitor level and become an Ortuser, my Fertile Soil has undergone yet another transformation.”

The old man’s eyes sparkled as he looked at Lu Yin. “Little Seven, your ancestor here can grow something again!”

Lu Yin felt that there was something off about that comment, but he also could not help but feel a bit excited himself.

Reaching the Sequence Progenitor level had allowed Lu Yuan to grow his Investiture of the Gods in his Progenitor’s world. Since he had recently become an Ortuser, what could Lu Yin’s ancestor grow next? Could the Lu family produce a third hereditary innate gift?

After hearing his ancestor’s words, Lu Yin understood. “You wanted to fight someone with your life at risk to find out what else you can grow in your Fertile Soil, right?”

Lu Yuan replied, “There are too few powerful enemies for me to fight against as an Ortuser, and without facing death and overcoming it, how can I hope to grow something truly powerful? If I can grow an innate gift that surpasses the Investiture of the Gods, our Lu family will become truly invincible in the future.”

“Then why did you give up?” Hongyan Mavis asked, puzzled.

Lu Yin also felt confused about this.

Lu Yuan thought for a moment and then looked at Lu Yin. “I’m your ancestor, and I have no idea what you want.”

𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

A tremor ran through Lu Yin’s body as he stared at the ancestor, dumbfounded.

Hongyan Mavis stared at Lu Yuan and then looked at Lu Yin before nodding. “That makes sense.”

With that, she left.

Lu Yuan quickly chased after the woman. “Wait, Hongyan! Tell me what else you all were saying about me behind my back? Especially Blackie...”

Lu Yin remained standing in the same place as he watched his ancestor and Hongyan leave. A smile appeared on his face.

Was cultivating lonely? No, it was never lonely.

When he had been Lu Xiaoxuan, he had received the protection of the Lu family and been the heir and young master of the Perennial World. Then, the Seven Heroes had sacrificed themselves for him. That had been a bond of blood and the most genuine friendship that could exist.

During his life as Lu Yin, despite the many hardships and life-and-death situations he had survived through, he had also gained friends, love, and family. He had everything that he could hope to ask for. He truly lacked nothing.

In the Origin Universe, and even in the Sixverse Association and all the other human civilizations, how many people recognized Lu Yin?

He was truly not alone.

Sacrificing oneself for the greater good was a foolish thing to do for a cultivator, and yet Lu Yin was willing to do just that for his people.

Regardless of whether it was the Lu family or all of humanity, there were too many people who were protecting Lu Yin, both secretly and openly. He would protect all of them as well, even to the end.

...

Tian Fa refused to stop chasing after Great Elder Shan Gu to deliver heaven’s punishment.

The butterfly, Tian En, also visited the Heavens Sect once, and she sternly warned them not to help Shan Gu escape. However, the butterfly ended up being insulted by Ancestor Lu Yuan and sent away. He told her that the Heavens Sect had never helped the Lost Clan and that it was the Boundary Guardians’ own incompetence that had caused them to fail to capture the Lost Clan. Despite that, the Heavens Sect was being blamed.

Tian En had felt helpless, and she had been forced to leave.

No matter how badly rumors slandered the Heavens Sect, Shan Gu always made it a point to appear at a crucial moment in order to crush those rumors.

The relationship between the Lost Clan and the Heavens Sect remained strong.

One day, Monarch Xing arrived in the Heavens Sect and requested an audience with Lu Yin.

Lu Yin was surprised. Monarch Xing had only agreed to join the Heavens Sect so that she could ensure that her people were protected. After joining, she initially stayed within the sect, but she had later moved to the Starfall Sea. She had never participated in any of the sect's matters, unless Aeternus invaded the Starfall Sea.

Why had she come?

Lu Yin met with her, and Monarch Xing appeared as calm as ever. “Greetings, Dao Monarch.”

Lu Yin nodded slightly. “What brings you here?”

Monarch Xing raised a hand to show him a cosmic ring and a drop of blood. Lines swirled around the drop of blood.

“Someone gave this to me, but I was unable to open it. Because of that, I assumed that they might have wanted me to deliver it to you,” Monarch Xing explained.

Lu Yin took the cosmic ring and the drop of blood surrounded by the swirling lines.

The sight reminded him of someone: Blackless God.

Whenever Blackless God attacked, he always trapped his enemies within black lines.

Lu Yin applied a bit of force, but he was unable to break the line. He used more and more strength until, finally, there was a soft snap and the line shattered.

No wonder Monarch Xing had been unable to open it. Lu Yin had used far more strength than what most Progenitors possessed. The Monarch’s strength meant that it was impossible for her to break the line.

Lu Yin used the blood to open the cosmic ring. It only held a single item, a cosmic door.

Another cosmic door? Where did this one lead?

“I will take my leave,” Monarch Xing said as she offered a bow.

Lu Yin looked over. “Has Luo Shan contacted you recently?”

Monarch Xing hesitated briefly. “Yes.”

Lu Yin had only casually asked. He had not really expected Luo Shan to have been in contact with Monarch Xing. The man truly harbored strong feelings for the woman.

“He only came to speak with me. There was nothing more to it. I asked him, and he told me that he isn’t a spy,” Monarch Xing said.

Lu Yin stared at the woman. “Do you believe him?”

Monarch Xing met Lu Yin’s gaze. “I do.”

Lu Yin did not respond, and Monarch Xing continued speaking. “Luo Shan is an extremely goal-oriented person. While he certainly lacks compassion and can kill anyone, it’s precisely because he is so goal-oriented that he knows exactly what he wants.

“He desires to hold a position of power over humans, not to live among a group of monsters.

“If Aeternus defeats humanity, he would have to either become a corpse king or live on his own. To him, either fate is even more painful than death, so he can’t be a spy.

“And there’s one more thing.” Monarch Xing hesitated before continuing, “He’s never lied to me.”

Lu Yin had no interest in the relationship between Luo Shan and Monarch Xing. “Where is he?”

When the list of Aeternus’s spies had been published, while Arch-Elder Zen, Mu Xie, and Sovereign Lotus had been wrongfully accused, Wu Hen had indeed been a spy. Who could guarantee that Luo Shan was not also one? As soon as the list had been revealed, Luo Shan had disappeared. He had not been seen since.

Monarch Xing shook her head. “He wouldn’t tell me.”

“He’s never lied to you?” Lu Yin felt skeptical about that detail.

“He doesn’t lie to me, but that doesn’t mean that he tells me everything. He’s on guard against everyone, and that includes even me,” Monarch Xing explained.

Lu Yin did not know how he should describe Luo Shan. Wasn’t it completely exhausting to live life as that man did?

However, it was because of how he lived that Luo Shan had managed to stay alive.

Luo Shan and Mr. Daheng had betrayed their master, and they were both completely selfish. Luo Shan could never be trusted, though it did seem quite unlikely for him to be a spy.

“If you see Luo Shan again, tell him that I’ll give him a chance to prove his innocence, but only if he appears in person,” Lu Yin said.