Chapter 3205: Fate

Ye Wu arrived in the Fourth Scourge without issue, entering ahead of The Abandoned and Supreme.

As the three experts made their way across the land, all the Fourth Scourge’s powerful experts fled.

Lu Yin made a point to check a certain area, and he noted that Wei Shu had also fled. The only things that remained in the Scourge were the distant Aeternus Kingdoms.

They were in no hurry to deal with those places. Even if the Aeternus Kingdoms were dealt with at the moment, they would always reappear as long as Aeternus remained. Lu Yin only intended to destroy the kingdoms after completely eradicating Aeternus, but that would be its own monumental task.

Many people had been born in Aeternus Kingdoms, and they naturally considered themselves a part of Aeternus. Only by scattering those people and re-educating them could there be any hope of rehabilitating them back into human civilization.

It was a task no less challenging than defeating Aeternus.

Step by step, Lu Yin made his way towards the black Mother Tree. He eventually arrived at the black mountains that were Blackless God’s personal territory, only to be disappointed by the results. Once again, there was no access to the black Mother Tree’s roots.

This was not because the Aeternals had sealed off all paths to the tree’s roots. Rather, the tree had simply grown in a way that did not allow anyone to reach beneath it.

Lu Yin had considered simply attacking the tree itself, but the black Mother Tree was nearly as tough as the original Mother Tree. Aeternus could not easily destroy the Mother Tree, and Lu Yin did not have time to waste on destroying the black Mother Tree. Besides, he could not allow Aeternus to learn his true purpose, or else they might move the Primaldust. Then, Lu Yin would never be able to get it.

Next up was the Third Scourge.

As soon as Lu Yin arrived in the Third Scourge, Di Qiong looked over from the First Scourge. Wu Tian was still in the Third Scourge. If the man wanted to leave, he could do so at any moment. Di Qiong was curious to see if Wu Tian would leave with Lu Yin or not.

If Lu Yin took over the Third Scourge and Wu Tian still refused to leave, it would indicate that there was a significant issue.

Lu Yin was quite familiar with the Third Scourge. It held the Corpse King Monument, the Wu Tian Observatory, and the tower where Lu Yin had lived as Ye Bo.

While passing by the tower that he had once owned, Lu Yin did not so much as glance at it as he continued straight for the Wu Tian Observatory.

Various Aeternus Kingdoms surrounded the Wu Tian Observatory. As Lu Yin passed through, people everywhere stared at him with fear and anxiety.

These people, having been born in Aeternus Kingdoms, saw Lu Yin as an enemy. He could not blame them, as they had been born in this place, and to them, corpse kings were more familiar than Lu Yin.

Someone threw a rock, but it was crushed before it could even get close to Lu Yin.

He stopped walking and turned to look at the person who had thrown the rock.

It was a young man, who was crouched behind a window. It was clear that he lived quite well, but he looked at Lu Yin with eyes that were full of hatred and disgust.

Lu Yin saw similar expressions everywhere.

He did not say a word as he continued walking toward the Wu Tian Observatory.

When people saw that nothing had happened to the young man who had thrown the stone at Lu Yin, many others also picked up stones to throw. Of course, none of them were able to even get close to Lu Yin before they were shattered.

Suddenly, Lu Yin stopped and raised his hand. He then flicked a finger in a specific direction, sending out ripples of force that swept through half of the Aeternus Kingdom before completely destroying a certain section of the city. In that place, not a single blade of grass remained.

Lu Yin’s actions stunned everyone who saw them, and they all fled in terror. No one dared to show their faces to Lu Yin after that.

That section of the city had been full of corpse kings.

Aeternus Kingdoms were places where corpse kings and humans coexisted. While having humans throw stones at him was one thing, as the people believed that they were part of Aeternus, how could Lu Yin tolerate it when corpse kings secretly attacked him as well?

After eliminating all the corpse kings in this Aeternus Kingdom, Lu Yin walked over to the Wu Tian Observatory.

The man was still there, chained in place.

As Lu Yin approached, Wu Tian opened his eyes and met his gaze.

Lu Yin slowly bowed. “Senior, thank you.”

Wu Tian had shared his memories of martial arts with Lu Yin, which had allowed the young man to comprehend Setting Sun and then visit the Immemorial Citadel’s battlefield as Ye Bo. During that time, Lu Yin had seen the truth of the Immemorial Citadel.

Wu Tian was also thankful. "It's been many years since someone as exceptional as you has appeared. Even if you were born in our era, none of us would be able to keep up with you. Child, you are truly excellent, unlike Loam’s other descendants."

Lu Yin stared at Wu Tian. "Senior, you can leave now."

Wu Tian shook his head. "I’m sorry, but I can't."

Lu Yin felt quite puzzled. "Why not?"

The Heavens Sect had once staged an entire attack to create an opening for Wu Tian to escape, but the man had refused to leave. This was much like how Lu Yin had launched a fake attack on the First Scourge to give Hui Wu a chance to escape, but that man had also refused.

Neither of the men had ever planned on leaving Aeternus alive.

Lu Yin was unaware of Hui Wu’s purpose, but the fact that he had stayed in the scourge had indeed helped humanity immensely. Hui Wu had dragged Shao Yin to the black Mother Tree, which was the only reason why the Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm had been able to activate. The Aeternals were not stupid, and even Shao Yin himself had noticed that Lu Yin’s senior brothers had been trying to force him closer to the black Mother Tree.

Hui Wu was also the one who had informed Lu Yin of where Aeternus kept their Primaldust.

If those were the reasons for Hui Wu to remain in the Scourge, then what of Wu Tian? Why did he insist on remaining in the Third Scourge?

Wu Tian let out a long breath. "Fate. Everything is fate."

Lu Yin was confused. "What is fate?"

"The true end leads to evil. That is fate. My presence here prevents humanity from suffering that fate," the man stated as he stared at Lu Yin. "Remember, you can’t be impulsive. The fire of humanity is unquenchable. Defeat is possible, but extinction is not. You can flee, as you can always fight again. Child, you must survive. Do whatever it takes in order to survive."

Lu Yin walked through the Wu Tian Observatory until he stood right in front of Wu Tian. "Senior, just what is going on?"

Wu Tian sighed. "If I tell you, then that fate will target you."

Lu Yin’s mouth opened, but he really had no idea what to say.

There were still certain things that he could not know, just because of his inadequate cultivation. As a Semi-Progenitor, he apparently possessed the strength to fight against opponents at the level of the Seven Skygods. But were the Seven Skygods really that strong? Not all of them were equal to the Three Realms and Six Daos, but of the Three Realms and Six Daos, only Ancient God and Ancestor Lu Yuan had managed to reach the Origin realm. Beyond them still were Dukkhans, and above even them were Immortals.

True God had repeatedly claimed that it was impossible to achieve Immortality in the current megaverse.

After killing Tian Fa, the blood-colored figure that had appeared was still vivid in Lu Yin’s memory.

He was still too weak. Comparatively, he was pathetically weak.

Lu Yin clenched his fists. He needed to become a Progenitor. No matter what it took, he needed to reach that level. Not all of his four inner worlds needed to break through at the same time.

Becoming a Progenitor, comprehending the laws of the universe, and then becoming a Sequence Progenitor was just one stage. After that, Lu Yin still needed to become an Ortuser. Only after reaching that level could he learn about everything.

He had once believed that his path was filled with suffering. At one point in time, even just dealing with the Daynight clan had forced Lu Yin to use everything at his disposal. However, even after uniting multiple parallel universes after the Lu family’s return, Lu Yin found that his path was still filled with suffering; there seemed to be no end in sight.

Wu Tian's words were quite pessimistic. Even if Lu Yin succeeded in conquering multiple Scourges, Wu Tian still believed that humanity would ultimately be defeated and forced to flee. Was it really just because of some supposed fate?

"Senior, I don't believe in fate—I believe in myself. What level do you think I need to reach for me to be able to bear this fate?" Lu Yin asked.

Wu Tian stared at Lu Yin intently for a long moment. "How is Master?"

A tremor ran through Lu Yin's body. He did not answer. Instead, he turned around and walked back towards the black Mother Tree.

Wu Tian had not answered Lu Yin, and yet the man had also given the best answer; not even the Origin Progenitor could bear the fate, and he was suffering because of it.

There had to be a connection to the Boundary Guardians.

Lu Yin felt suffocated and suppressed. It felt as though he could not breathe. Despite having gained a tremendous advantage over Aeternus in their war, the sudden appearance of the Boundary Guardians had thrown everything into question. Had the Origin Progenitor really been attacked and injured by the Boundary Guardians? Lu Yin desperately wanted to return to the Immemorial Citadel and ask these questions, regardless of whether it was to the Origin Progenitor or Mister Mu. Lu Yin felt desperate to learn just how deep the mysteries of the megaverse really ran.

Wu Tian silently stared at Lu Yin’s departing figure for a long time.

In the First Scourge, Di Qiong shot to his feet, his expression dark and brooding. Wu Tian had not left. He had not left even when no one was in the Third Scourge.

Damn it!

Di Qiong felt as though he had been played. All along, he had believed himself to be Wu Tian’s captor, but it was becoming clear that Wu Tian had trapped him.

Just what was going through that man’s mind?

Di Qiong suddenly looked over at Ancient God, and he quietly asked, "Why didn’t Wu Tian leave?"

Ancient God’s eyes opened as he replied, "I already told you, I don’t know."

"Something is wrong with Wu Tian. I will make sure to kill him!" Di Qiong's voice dripped with bloodlust. He felt humiliated. It seemed that he had been toyed with for a very long time.

No one said anything at all in response. Kill Wu Tian? If that were possible, Di Qiong would have done so long before.

The fact that Wu Tian still refused to leave the Third Scourge cast a shadow not only on Di Qiong, but over all the Aeternals.

The Third Scourge also did not have any path to the black Mother Tree’s roots.

Lu Yin stood outside the Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm. He simply observed for a while before turning around and leaving.

Suddenly, he recalled something: stellular liquid could be extracted from the Mother Tree, and it could greatly accelerate the cultivation of anyone who cultivated with stellular energy. But how did it work exactly? Hongyan Mavis and a few others had previously mentioned that the Mother Tree was possibly the oldest life form in the entire megaverse and that it was most likely older than even the Origin Progenitor. If that was true, then why could stellular liquid be extracted from the Mother Tree?

Stellular energy was supposed to be the Origin Progenitor’s power. This meant that the Mother Tree should have appeared after the Origin Progenitor developed stellular energy, but the facts did not seem to support that timeline.

Did this mean that the Mother Tree could grow and adapt to changes in the universe? For example, the Origin Universe had been transformed by the Origin Progenitor, and it had gained stellular energy after the Origin Progenitor had established a cultivation method for all of humanity. Could that transformation have caused the Mother Tree to use stellular energy as its nourishment? And eventually, the tree came to possess stellular liquid within its trunk.

If the Mother Tree held stellular liquid, then what about the black Mother Tree?

The black Mother Tree rivaled the Mother Tree, so did it also hold the power to alter the universe that it was in? Could it be that the streams of divine energy were not only traveling outside of the black Mother Tree and across the Scourges, but also within the tree itself?

If too much stellular liquid was drained from the Mother Tree, then the tree would be harmed. Did the same apply to divine energy and the black Mother Tree?

Lu Yin suddenly stopped and looked back as he made his way across the Scourge. He stared at the black Mother Tree. What would happen if he absorbed all the divine energy that flowed across the six Scourges? What would happen to the black Mother Tree? For that matter, what would happen to Yong Heng?

This question caused a blazing desire to ignite within Lu Yin's eyes. He wanted to try, and he was even capable of doing so. However, what of Hongyan Mavis, Wu Tian, and countless people throughout the Sixverse Association? How would Lu Yin explain his actions? If it became known that Lu Yin cultivated divine energy, it would be a massive blow to both him and to the Heavens Sect.

Unless no one knew that Lu Yin was the one absorbing the divine energy...

Ye Bo.

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. He could still use his identity as Ye Bo. Should that man make a reappearance? What about Mu Ji? How would things be explained to Aeternus?

Lost in his thoughts, Lu Yin made his way towards the Second Scourge.

Ye Bo still had not been exposed as Lu Yin, which suggested that Mu Ji had kept that secret to himself. If not, that news would have been spread far and wide.

And as far as the Aeternals were concerned, Ye Bo was already dead. After participating in the Divine Selection and being sent to the Immemorial Citadel, Ye Bo had never been seen again. If he suddenly returned, what would their reaction be? What could the story for his absence be?