Chapter 3226: Fateful Confrontation

Lu Yin stared blankly at the ground. Had it just been an illusion? No, it had been real. The sword had simply disappeared.

If there was a sword, then it had a master.

Lu Yin felt completely powerless, and his sword dropped from his own hand, striking the ground with a gentle sound. He felt immense danger, the likes of which he had not felt since he had first started cultivating. That fear had disappeared long ago, after he had gained the strength to protect himself and the Lu family had returned.

Not even nearly being killed by True God had induced such a strong feeling of danger.

At this moment, he felt like an ordinary human staring at a starving beast. It was the fear of being seen as prey, and the feeling was growing stronger by the second.

The sky grew darker.

The battlefield fell silent.

Lu Yin looked around and saw the excited expressions of his allies. Tian Feng was dead, which proved that even Ortusers could be killed. What could humanity not achieve?

He was reminded of Great Elder Shan Gu’s words.

In the Lost Clan’s original megaverse, their civilization had had countless powerhouses who had risen up over the ages, but all of them had been casually slaughtered by an omnipotent being. When Lu Yin had first heard the story, he had not been able to comprehend the despair that such an encounter must have caused, but at this moment, he felt it himself.

Weakness filled every cell of his body. He had failed to hold onto his sword.

There was a bang as Garan Zhiluo dropped to the ground beside Lu Yin and gave him a curious look. “What’s wrong with you? Did you just see something?”

Lu Yin shook his head. “It’s the Four Locks Array. I feel weak.”

Garan Zhiluo frowned. “Tian Feng is already dead, so why is its Four Locks Array still active?”

She then glanced down at Lu Yin’s feet. “Huh? Where’s the body?”

Lu Yin replied, “There isn’t one. It was just a sourcebox, and it was unlocked, but there was nothing inside.”

Garan Zhiluo lamented, “That has to be one of the most difficult sourceboxes to unlock in the history of the megaverse. I was certain that it held a treasure, but it was just an empty shell.”

Lu Yin felt bitter. How he wished that there had been nothing inside.

“All right, rest a bit. You’ve fought enough for this battle, so leave the rest to us.” Garan Zhiluo stepped forward as she scanned the battlefield. “Loam, First Blood, Big Thug—what are you waiting for? Let’s wipe the Aeternals out completely!”

With that, she clenched the shaft of her spear and charged at Tian En.

Of the Boundary Guardians, Tian En was the least skilled combatant. If not for the sake of rescuing Garan Zhiluo, Lu Yin would not have targeted Tian Feng.

Tian En would have been much easier to kill than Tian Feng.

Tian En’s voice rang out. It was soft, yet cold. “Humans, I don’t regret acting against Tai Chu. You all are far too audacious!”

“Little butterfly, I’m going to put a pin in you and put you on display!” Garan Zhiluo’s spear shot forward.

At the same time, Hongyan Mavis smiled. “Flora, let’s see who can catch her first.”

“It’ll be me!”

The battle resumed. Lu Yin stood where he was, looking down at his hands and feet. Tian Feng was not really dead. All that had been destroyed was the being’s shell. Lu Yin was still being sealed by the Four Locks Array.

In that case, did it mean that the Origin Progenitor’s hands were in the same situation?

As for the blood-red figure, Lu Yin tried not to think about it. There was no point.

Just as Lu Yin had mentioned to Shan Gu, there were no absolutes in existence. That being had not slaughtered the Lost Clan and then allowed the few survivors to escape to another megaverse because they wanted to. Most likely, they had not been able to stop it from happening.

Every creature had limits and were restricted by something. If not, there would be no limits.

It was the same as how no Immortal had ever appeared in the current megaverse.

Was that blood-red figure an Immortal? Perhaps not.

When Lu Yin had been just a Semi-Progenitor, he had already been capable of fighting against the Three Pillars and Six Skies and the Seven Skygods. After his breakthrough and becoming a Progenitor, despite only having one of his inner worlds become a Progenitor’s world, Lu Yin’s strength had already risen high enough that he could kill Di Qiong in a direct confrontation. He was also confident he could face any of the Seven Skygods. What would happen when he became a Sequence Progenitor? Or, for that matter, when he became an Ortuser or a Dukkhan?

It was impossible for anyone to know for sure, but the one thing that everyone would agree on was that Lu Yin would become truly invincible.

No matter if it was Astral Anura, Ancient God, Lu Yuan, the Great Sovereign, True God, or even Tai Chu, the Origin Progenitor himself, none of them would be able to stand against him when he reached their cultivation level. Lu Yin’s strength was simply too all-encompassing.

Could that blood-red figure be someone like Lu Yin?

Did the fact that Lu Yin had risen up in the megaverse not mean that another like him could exist as well?

He had not forgotten that there the megaverse had had other civilizations humanity’s existence. The River of Aeons[1] flowed from the beginning of the megaverse, but who truly knew how far back that went?

It seemed possible that the blood-red figure was the greatest powerhouse of some ancient civilization.

As long as they were not an Immortal, it was possible to defeat them.

Determination returned to Lu Yin’s eyes. The Aeternals could be defeated. He could also return to the Immemorial Citadel to join his master and the Origin Progenitor. What did he need to fear?

For the moment, the most important thing was to break the Four Locks Array.

Lu Yin himself was an Array Grandmaster. For such a complicated sourcebox array, he could only think of two people who might be capable of unlocking it: Progenitor Hui and himself. Others, such as Grandmaster Gu Yan, Grandmaster Li, and Grandmaster Xiu Ming, would not be able to succeed simply due to their lacking cultivation.

The first requirement for lockbreaking was that a lockbreaker had to either be able to withstand a sourcebox’s danger zone, or be able to perceive and avoid it. If neither was possible, then making an unlocking attempting was no different from suicide.

Grandmaster Gu Yan and the others were clearly incapable of helping. They were unable to discern Lu Yin’s four abilities, which meant that they would not be able to see through the Four Locks Array or avoid the danger produced by Lu Yin’s sealed abilities. How could he rely on them? There was no chance at all.

The only way that would change would be if Grandmaster Gu Yan or the others managed to become sequence powerhouses.

Lu Yin believed that, while Progenitor Hui may not have been as powerful as Progenitor Chen or Progenitor Ku, the man should not have been much weaker. In particular, the fact that Progenitor Hui had left behind True Insight, which was a collection of sourcebox arrays, made it clear that the man had been one of the greatest lockbreakers in all of human history.

However, Lu Yin had no clue where Progenitor Hui might be now.

That meant that Lu Yin could rely only on himself.

The fighting continued to rage across the Second Scourge, but Lu Yin could no longer take part in the battle. His remaining power was insufficient to pose any real threat to the Seven Skygods or to the Boundary Guardians, so it would be best if Lu Yin left those opponents for others to deal with.

He was already focusing on the Four Locks Array.

Strength, Dust World, the power of time, and the Investiture of the Gods. Four seals firmly bound Lu Yin. He kept thinking about the sourcebox array, and he even brewed a bit of tea with a Root of Intelligence, but he still failed to find any means of overcoming the sourcebox array.

He was shackled by his own power, and his four strongest abilities had been turned against him. Lu Yin felt as though the Four Locks Array had trapped him in a cage that he had built himself.

It was no wonder why this sourcebox array had succeeded in sealing the Origin Progenitor’s hands and forced him to sever them himself.

“Tian En, let’s go,” Tian Ci’s voice echoed across the Scourge.

By the time Lu Yin looked over, Tian Ci had already met up with Tian En and was staring at Lu Yin.

Two pairs of eyes locked, and Lu Yin saw the endless bloodlust that filled Tian Ci’s eyes, as well as a hint of regret. Was the man regretting the fact that he had not tried to kill Lu Yin sooner? Did Tian Ci regret allowing Lu Yin to grow?

“The humans of this megaverse have no future, and you are no exception,” Tian Ci declared. As soon as he spoke, he was enveloped by an entire barrage of attacks.

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. There was no doubt that Tian Ci was extremely powerful. If the man joined Aeternus, then he would certainly stand below only True God. It was unknown whether or not Ancient God could defeat Tian Ci, but Lu Yin doubted it. Having such a powerful enemy escape was not something that Lu Yin was comfortable with.

However, humanity had already put forth their all in the battle.

Their greatest experts had been united, and they had risked danger falling upon the Heavens Sect, the Sixverse Association, and the Perennial World in order to fight in the Second Scourge. The final results were quite satisfactory.

One of the Boundary Guardians had died, and the Aeternals had lost Di Qiong. Blackless God had defected, and Whiteless God had been forced out, which had exposed more of her abilities.

While humanity had also suffered significant losses, given the deaths of E' Ji, Emperor Shang, and several other peak powerhouses like Bai Sheng, Aeternus’s losses had been much, much more severe.

It was impossible to avoid death during war. The battle may have started unexpectedly, but it was still humanity's greatest victory since the Heavens Sect era. Still, two of the Boundary Guardians had survived, and not only had Bai Xian'er survived, but she had already become a Progenitor.

As Tian Ci and Tian En retreated, Ancient God, Progenitor Xi, Whiteless God, Arrow God, and Forgotten Ruins God all moved in unison towards the black Mother Tree. Lu Yuan and many others quickly tried to stop the retreat, hoping to eliminate more of the most powerful Aeternals.

The lake of divine energy beneath the ground suddenly erupted, shooting into the sky. It looked as though the sky and earth had switched places. The rivers of divine energy merged together, and the Second Scourge was flooded.

All of the human powerhouses did whatever they could to protect themselves, while the surviving members of Aeternus were swept away by the surging divine energy. All of them were dragged back towards the Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm.

The Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm only targeted True God, which meant that other creatures could enter and leave freely.

The endless divine energy gathered up all the surviving Aeternals and then formed into swirling red ribbons that drew them all back to the Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm.

Everyone looked at the black Mother Tree.

True God himself was at the very front, flanked by powerhouses like Progenitor Xi. All of Aeternus faced Lu Yin and his allies.

Between them lay both the Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm and a sea of divine energy.

Lu Yin stepped forward. As he did so, the various human powerhouses gathered around him, one after another. Together, they all approached the black Mother Tree in silence.

Eventually, every human expert present had gathered around Lu Yin. They all stood just outside the Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm.

Within the pillars of light stood True God and the rest of Aeternus.

The two sides stared at each other in silence, though a tense, murderous atmosphere filled the air.

Never before in all of history had so many powerful experts gathered in one place.

Even during the Heavens Sect era, the Three Realms and Six Daos had never joined forces against a common enemy. When the Origin Progenitor had disappeared and the First Mainland had shattered, Garan Zhiluo had chased after Tian Feng, only to disappear herself. When it came to the number of true powerhouses, the modern Heavens Sect did not fall behind its ancient predecessor.

Lu Yin, Lu Yuan, Jiang Feng, Wu Tian, Hongyan Mavis, Garan Zhiluo, Lu Tianyi, Sovereign Dou Sheng, and more all stood together.

As True God’s Aeternals, there was Progenitor Xi, Ancient God, Whiteless God, Arrow God, and the rest.

Ancient enemies of the megaverse faced each other in full force after endless years.

“You've won, Lord Lu,” True God stated. This was the first time that Yong Heng had spoken to Lu Yin in such a formal manner.

Lu Yin stared back at True God. “Not yet.”

Yong Heng gave a small smile. “Do you intend to leave no survivors?”

Lu Yin remained calm. “In order to eliminate evil, it needs to be ripped out by the roots.”

“Do you remember the first time we spoke?” True God asked.

Lu Yin nodded. “You left quite an impression.”

1. In earlier chapters, 岁月之河 was translated as the "River of Time." However, this term fails to capture the full meaning and poetic nuance of the original Chinese. The term 岁月 suggests more than the linear or measurable concept of time (which usually appears as 时间), and instead encompasses the relentless flow of the passing of time. 岁月 indicates the grandeur of history, the transience of life, and the inexorable flow of existence.

To better convey such depths, we have revised the translation to River of Aeons. "Aeons" evokes the idea of timeless epochs and a sense of an eternal flow, which more closely aligns with the weight and mystique portrayed in the original text. This change will also apply to related terms such as "branches of the River of Aeons" and powers derived from 岁月, to ensure consistency and fidelity to the original narrative. ☜