Chapter 3275: The Cosmic Ecosystem

Lu Yin shot forward, and he physically pinned the butterfly against the gate. He glared at her as she helplessly struggled against him. "Answer me!"

"Lu Yin, you have no future! You are touching something forbidden! Tai Chu doesn't dare to leave the Immemorial Citadel, but you dare to touch what is forbidden! You will die a terrible death, a terrible death—" the butterfly screeched. Abruptly, she released a burst of light that briefly illuminated the universe before it shrank back down onto her.

Jiang Feng pulled Lu Yin away. "Leave! She's going to self-destruct."

Boom!

The explosion echoed through the area. The gate trembled, and space twisted and rippled outward in waves that tore through the void and revealed the Hollow in huge swathes.

An Ortuser’s self-destruction was shockingly powerful. Even Jiang Feng was wary of the destruction, which was why he had pulled Lu Yin back.

Lu Yin looked at the charred imprint that the butterfly had left on the gate. Tian En had clearly been afraid of death and had wanted to live, but she had self-destructed when questioned about the Fated One. Obviously, she felt that the Fated One was far more terrifying than death.

Progenitor Ku must have seen something that had some sort of connection to the Fated One, which was why the butterfly had targeted the man.

Just what had Progenitor Ku seen?

"Go on back. I'll continue to stand guard here," Jiang Feng said.

Just as Lu Yin was about to reply, both men felt an indescribable sense of dread. Their expressions changed, and they both turned to look at the gate. It felt like the universe was collapsing around them as they saw the character "Heaven" appear where the butterfly had died, and it pressed down on them.

Chaos was unfolding.

They felt like ordinary humans staring at a scene of the sky collapsing and the ground crumbling. They felt like they were about to be buried, and they were sent into despair.

Lu Yin stared at the “Heaven” character in a daze. When Ye Zhang had died, the same character had appeared. Lu Yin would never forget what he had felt at that moment. If not for the Immemorial Citadel’s flames appearing from his die, he could not even begin to guess what would have happened.

Flame, flame!

The flames were gone from within the die.

The "Heaven" character continued to press down, and the universe continued to collapse. Everything was about to be destroyed. Both Jiang Feng and Lu Yin could sense this even as they stared blankly at the approaching character.

Lu Yin instinctively took out his die, and Jiang Feng similarly drew his sword.

As the character approached the men, they both spat out blood in unison. Both the die and the sword trembled, though the sword shook more violently. It flickered out, piercing the character before returning to Jiang Feng's hand.

Everything immediately returned to normal, though the men were badly shaken.

They looked at each other, clearly seeing the shock in the other’s eyes.

Given how powerful Lu Yin and Jiang Feng were, how powerful did someone need to be for them to both feel so helpless?

Neither man spoke. They mutually agreed to the silence.

They both understood what sort of power they had just witnessed.

Jiang Feng calmly sat down in front of the gate. "Go back. I'll stay here."

Lu Yin nodded. "I’m sorry to trouble you, Uncle Jiang."

He then tore through the void and left the universe.

Some time later, Lu Yin arrived back at the Immemorial Citadel.

Everyone had been waiting for his return, especially Lu Yuan and the others. They had all been quite worried about Lu Yin's safety. Seeing him return allowed them to breathe sighs of relief.

Lu Yin announced that the Ossis Ark had been destroyed, but the Aeternals had not been exterminated. True God, Ancient God, Blackless God, and Zhan Yan had all escaped.

People were not surprised by the results. It would have been shocking if Lu Yin had been able to kill True God.

No matter what may have happened, True God remained one of the most powerful individuals in the entire megaverse, while Lu Yin had only just become a Progenitor. Even if he was strong enough to fight against True God, and even if True God had been weakened by the Great Sovereign's Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm, it should still be impossible for Lu Yin to kill Yong Heng.

The destruction of the Ossis Ark was the greatest victory of the entire battle.

The Ossis Ark had been the greatest threat to the people of the Immemorial Citadel for far too long. They had fought against it for eons.

With the Ossis Ark gone, a burden had finally been lifted from their hearts.

While True God still lived, he no longer appeared invincible.

The Aeternals could be considered to have been thoroughly defeated. They were on the brink of total annihilation.

Deep beneath the Immemorial Citadel, the Origin Progenitor smiled. Even so, he continued to hold the sequence strings between his teeth. He did not relax his grip at all.

Lu Yin arrived and looked at the Origin Progenitor, who remained in the same position as before. "If you can't keep the sequence strings suppressed, is it guaranteed that our megaverse will reset?"

"Pretty much. Pillar, do you know why I took the Three Realms and Six Daos as my disciples? It's because I needed people to destroy parallel universes." The Origin Progenitor looked up at Lu Yin. "It was not a matter of slaughter, but of maintaining the stability of our megaverse. I was not enough on my own, so I created the Heavens Sect.

"Yong Heng gathered so many powerhouses and fought to destroy these sequence strings and reset the megaverse. When I first created the Heavens Sect, I did so in order to destroy parallel universes and stabilize the megaverse. There are far too many parallel universes now, and many of them have even developed life. It won’t be easy to destroy them."

Lu Yin felt a weight settle onto his heart. Yes, this was not an easy task.

Even if they destroyed all the parallel universes that were devoid of sapient life, it still would not be enough to stop the megaverse from restarting when the sequence strings were released.

It was a difficult choice.

"But you can't maintain the sequence strings forever," Lu Yin said.

Mister Mu spoke up from nearby. "This is the cosmic ecosystem."

Lu Yin looked over at his master.

Mister Mu let out a sigh. "Creation, destruction, maintenance, stabilization. A megaverse is like a balloon. If there are too few parallel universes, it will shrivel. If there are too many, it will explode. After sapient creatures reach a certain level of power, it becomes possible for them to see this truth. Either you choose to stand on the side of stability, or you work towards destruction.

"In the end, those are the two options. It simply depends on which outcome benefits a creature the most.

"Yong Heng wants to reset this megaverse so that he can become an Immortal, which is a valid possibility. That’s why Aeternus continued to attack the Immemorial Citadel and worked to destroy sequence strings. As for us..." Mister Mu paused as he observed Lu Yin. "If not for the fact that we care about whether or not sapient life is wiped out, we would also benefit from such a choice."

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. "Is that what it takes to become an Immortal?"

It was at this moment that Lu Yin finally realized just how admirable the Origin Progenitor and the others were.

Entering the realm of Immortality was an irresistible temptation for most cultivators, and yet the Origin Progenitor was willing to give such a thing up, solely for the countless creatures living throughout the megaverse.

Long ago, if the Origin Progenitor had chosen differently, if he had chosen the same as True God and decided to reset the megaverse in order to become an Immortal, the Origin Progenitor would have had a much greater advantage over Yong Heng.

"Master, what about you?" Lu Yin asked.

Mister Mu did not answer, and instead, the Origin Progenitor answered for him. "If he had made the other choice, he wouldn't be here."

A woman entered the underground room. She was Mu Zhu, the Origin Progenitor’s protector.

Lu Yin looked at the woman, who met his gaze.

"This is your senior sister," Mister Mu introduced the woman.

Lu Yin was surprised. "My senior sister?"

Mu Zhu had a cold expression, and no emotions could be seen even as she looked at Lu Yin. "Junior Brother, we finally meet."

Lu Yin nodded to the woman. "Senior Sister."

"Hehe, Pillar, back then, it was your master and senior sister who saved me. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't still be alive. They are the saviors of our entire megaverse," the Origin Progenitor announced.

Mister Mu calmly replied, "Not quite. We merely share a common goal. However, even now, we have not achieved that goal."

He looked at Lu Yin. "Yong Heng is simply too strong. During the Heavens Sect era, I was confident that I could fight him, but now, I am no longer certain."

Lu Yin was puzzled. "Even you can’t defeat Yong Heng?"

He really had no way to estimate Mister Mu’s strength. While it initially appeared that Mister Mu, the Origin Progenitor, and True God were all Dukkhan, Lu Yin had never seen Mister Mu’s Progenitor’s world, nor seen the man use any sequence particles. The only thing that Lu Yin had ever seen his master use was the flute which had countered Yuan Qi’s bell.

"Master’s strength fell long ago. If not for that, Aeternus would not have lasted so long," Mu Zhu calmly informed Lu Yin.

He looked at Mister Mu. "Weakened?"

"I know that you have many questions. The war is over for the Immemorial Citadel, and we will have many opportunities to meet from now on. We can take our time," Mister Mu said before leaving with Mu Zhu.

Lu Yin was left alone with the Origin Progenitor in the underground chamber.

Lu Yin looked at the Origin Progenitor. "What about Destiny?"

"Lassy?"

"I gathered all of her books. They were burned by the Immemorial Citadel’s flames one time, but I was able to use a mirebound artifact to restore them. However, right when I was about to perform a divination with the books, one of them vanished. Someone denied the karmic cause of me obtaining all of the Books of Destiny, which caused the karmic effect to change.

"This junior would like to ask, just what is Destiny’s part in the grand scheme of things in this megaverse?" Lu Yin asked seriously.

Lu Yin had always been concerned about Destiny, especially after what had happened in the Mirari Realm. Both he and Hongyan Mavis had their own suspicions, and if they were accurate, then Lu Yin had no idea what the future might hold for them.

The Origin Progenitor pondered for a moment. "Denied the cause, did she? That sounds like how Lassy does things. She has a gentle nature and is extraordinarily talented. She’s the most gifted of all of my disciples. However, after her visit to the Mirari Realm, she changed completely. She dispersed her cultivation and started over with a new power. Honestly, even I don’t fully understand her anymore."

Lu Yin was puzzled. "If not even you can see through Destiny, does that mean that Destiny changed?"

The Origin Progenitor hesitated. "What do you mean by 'changed?'"

"That Destiny is no longer Destiny. That Lassy became someone else," Lu Yin said. This was what he and Hongyan Mavis suspected may have happened.

The Origin Progenitor immediately denied the possibility. "Impossible. Lassy is still Lassy. She didn’t change like that."

"Destiny once told Senior Hongyan Mavis and your other disciples that one of the Mirari Realm’s forbidden zones has a way to reach the Immortal realm. Astral Anura was tricked into visiting that region, and he almost lost his life. If Destiny has really never changed, then why would she have tried to harm Senior Hongyan Mavis and the others?" Lu Yin voiced his doubts.

The Origin Progenitor fell silent. It took him a moment to find an answer.

"All I can tell you is that Lassy hasn’t changed. If what you say is true," the old man paused and grew solemn as he stared at Lu Yin. "Ask First Blood: was the Lassy that she saw the same Lassy that I saw?"

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. "Could there be two Destinys?"

The Origin Progenitor shook his head. "No, there is only one. Lassy can’t disguise herself in front of me."

"But she could mask herself to the Three Realms and Six Daos," Lu Yin finished.

The Origin Progenitor did not say anything for a bit. He looked rather troubled. "Go talk to First Blood and the others. Anyone, anything, even any information that had contact with Lassy needs to be checked again. It’s likely that what they saw was not Lassy."

Lu Yin’s heart sank. "If Destiny appears again, can I trust her?"

The Origin Progenitor smiled. "Just call her Lassy."

Lu Yin stared at the Origin Progenitor for a long moment and then nodded. "Understood. I have one more question: What are the Immemorial Citadel’s flames?"