Chapter 3281: The Gaze Of Time

Big Face Tree was delighted to see Lu Yin again. "Kid, you're back. Where did we leave off last time? Oh right, the Battle of the Turtledove River. Speaking of that battle, back when the Progenitor of Yōu Ming..."

"We already discussed the Battle of the Turtledove River," Lu Yin interrupted.

Big Face Tree blinked. "Did we? This old tree doesn’t remember finishing that story."

"We did," Lu Yin stated firmly.

Big Face Tree somberly replied, "No."

Lu Yin arched a brow. "We did."

"No."

"We did."

"No."

At each denial, Lu Yin sensed Big Face Tree's mental resilience, but he was ultimately disappointed. Despite the tree’s considerable mental strength, it was not enough to interest Lu Yin.

Big Face Tree was essentially an ancient tree that had witnessed history. It had lived a long life, but it was not particularly unique.

It was possible that it was just Lu Yin’s imagination. There were a number of ancient trees in the megaverse, which had led him to believe that they were all special.

The Mother Tree, the Black Mother Tree, the Delivery Shrub, and Sapling.

While Big Face Tree was not an extraordinary tree, it could be considered a robust history book.

After leaving the Nong family, Lu Yin continued on to visit the Ice Spirit Tribe. There, he stood beside the Iceheart, deep in thought.

Without uttering even a single word, Lu Yin stared at the Iceheart for an entire half-month before he finally left again.

He was able to restore Ming Yan, but what would be the point? Neither True God, the powers of Destiny, nor the Spirit Nidus had been dealt with. Reviving Ming Yan would do nothing but add to Lu Yin’s burdens.

He wanted to give his family warmth and stability. It might be selfish on his part, as Ming Yan would surely choose to accompany him through dangers and want to face death together, but was selfishness not another aspect of human nature?

The deeper one’s love, the more they would crave peace.

On the mountain behind the Heavens Sect, Lu Yin once again met with Progenitor Xi.

"If the Spirit Nidus defeats your Consciousness Megaverse and comes to fight against our Tianyuan Megaverse, which side will stand a better chance of winning?" Lu Yin asked, not dancing around the issue.

Progenitor Xi replied, "The Spirit Nidus."

"Why?"

"First, if they defeat us, they will be able to reset our Consciousness Megaverse and use the process to produce incredible powerhouses. Second, the creatures of the Consciousness Megaverse also understand life and death and fear dying. They will likely join the Spirit Nidus to survive. This would mean that your Tianyuan Megaverse would be facing two megaverses, and you would have absolutely no chance of victory. Third, your megaverse has already lost too many powerhouses during the war with Aeternus. The survivors from the Heavens Sect and Immemorial Citadel aren’t enough to stand against the Spirit Nidus."

Lu Yin asked, "If they can reset the Consciousness Megaverse, then why did the Spirit Nidus target our Tianyuan Megaverse during the Heavens Sect era?"

Progenitor Xi said, "Greed can never be satisfied. Resetting the Consciousness Megaverse will allow the most powerful beings in the Spirit Nidus to rise to a higher level. However, what about those who are just one level below? They also need room to grow. Even if every one of their peak powerhouses enter the Origin realm, will that be enough?

"The Tianyuan Megaverse is like an insurance policy, while the Consciousness Megaverse is more of a testing ground."

Lu Yin was curious about something. "Is the Consciousness Megaverse still around after all these years?"

Progenitor Xi nodded firmly. "It is. While the Spirit Nidus is stronger than our megaverse and we are essentially doomed to eventually be defeated, that does not mean that it is easy for the Consciousness Megaverse to be completely defeated. Aeternus destroyed the ancient Heavens Sect, and just their First Scourge was enough for them to push the Sixverse Association to the limits. But then you rose to power. There are endless possibilities in a megaverse.

"What truly leaves us hopeless is the sheer scale of the future. It’s an estimate of the infinite possibilities that the future holds. If the Consciousness Megaverse has a future potential of five, then the Spirit Nidus has a potential of six. This small discrepancy means that it is impossible for my Consciousness Megaverse to surpass the Spirit Nidus, no matter what possibilities may appear. We've long since accepted this as reality.

"Your Tianyuan Megaverse is different. When I saw the brilliance of the ancient Heavens Sect, I believed your future potential to be six, but when you rose to power and reversed the tides of the war, I was convinced that this place’s future potential might even be seven. I'm referring to future potential. This is not a measure of your megaverse’s current strength.

"If the Spirit Nidus attacks right now, you will lose."

Lu Yin tapped a finger on the table as he took a moment to think. "If I don’t deal with our internal threats, I won’t be able to handle the external ones."

"Aeternus?"

"Help me completely eliminate Aeternus. That way, I will be able to truly unite the entire Tianyuan Megaverse, which will give us a better chance of fighting back against the Spirit Nidus. If we don’t eliminate them completely, the Aeternals alone will be enough to wear me down." Lu Yin then looked over at Progenitor Xi. "Even if we don't want a war against the Spirit Nidus, a united Tianyuan Megaverse is something that they won’t want to see."

"I understand that, but thoroughly eradicating the Aeternals is not going to be easy. True God possesses a truly overwhelming strength. He is powerful enough to negotiate with the Spirit Nidus," Progenitor Xi said in a helpless manner.

"Dealing with True God is our problem. Your task is to find him," Lu Yin said.

Progenitor Xi frowned. "I'll do my best."

Lu Yin stared out at the calm surface of the lake. While the water was clear, there were always dark regions that hid filth. "True God, Ancient God, Forgotten Ruins God, Tian Ci, Bai Xian'er, and Blackless God. I'll find them all and deal with them once and for all."

He allowed Progenitor Xi to leave. She had voluntarily gone to speak with Lu Yin. If she had wanted to hide from the Heavens Sect, there would not have been any reason for her to expose herself to Lu Yin.

For the moment, no one could find True God, and Lu Yin was getting anxious. He wanted to eliminate True God before the Great Sovereign’s Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm faded away. However, if True God could not be found, the gift that Lu Yin had prepared for the man would be rendered useless.

Progenitor Xi had been a part of Aeternus for so long. Hopefully, that time would prove to be of some use.

"As for Ancient God, is there really no way to get any clues regarding his location?"

Fishermen—one, two, three

. Lu Yin stared at the lake, lost in thought.

...

The defeat of Aeternus naturally led the Heavens Sect to become a behemoth in the megaverse that countless creatures looked up to.

Every day, countless people arrived at the gates of the Heavens Sect to pay homage, and statues of Lu Yin appeared throughout the entire megaverse.

One day, four people arrived at the Heavens Sect to speak with Lu Yin. They were Mu Zhu, Mu Ke, Mu Xie, and Qing Ping.

On the mountain behind the Heavens Sect, Lu Yin solemnly looked at his four senior disciple brothers and senior disciple sister. "Senior brothers and sisters, this is a critical task that I must trouble you with."

"I'm not very skilled at Origin Tracing," Qing Ping said.

"I’ll take the lead," Mu Zhu stated. This was her first time seeing the Heavens Sect, but she was not particularly impressed.

She had seen the ancient Heavens Sect and had even helped save the Origin Progenitor. If not for Mister Mu’s status, Mu Zhu would be considered a peer of the Three Realms and Six Daos.

Lu Yin nodded. "Thank you, Senior Sister."

The four people surrounded Lu Yin and simultaneously started using Origin Tracer.

The void warped around Lu Yin, and gray energy streamed by as scenes from the past flickered.

When just Senior Brother Mu Xie had used Origin Tracer to search for Ye Bo, it had been an incredibly difficult task. With the four of them working together, especially with Mu Zhu taking the lead, success was far more likely.

Lu Yin had asked them to find the Books of Destiny and the moment that had been erased from history.

The threat posed by Destiny, Wei Nu, and Bai Xian'er was no less than the threat that True God posed. The only way for Lu Yin to find those three women was to use Origin Tracer to search for time that had been erased and then use Lightstream to traverse the River of Aeons in the same way he had chased after the Ossis Ark after it escaped from the Immemorial Citadel.

A day passed. Two days. Three days.

Time streamed by.

No one disturbed the mountain behind the Heavens Sect.

On the ninth day, four pairs of eyes opened wide. "We found it."

Lu Yin waved his hand and brought out the small boat that was Lightstream. As it floated in place, the great River of Aeons surged out. Both inside and outside the Heavens Sect, countless people were stunned by the sight.

The River of Aeons encompassed the entire lives of every creature in existence. It was the manifestation of the almighty force of time itself.

The small boat drifted out onto the River of Aeons. Lu Yin stood on Lightstream, and then they both vanished.

He could only be seen briefly before he vanished, and as soon as Lu Yin disappeared, the other four people nearly collapsed.

Mu Xie gave a bitter smile. "Our junior brother’s Lightstream is truly an incredible use of the power of time."

Mu Ke’s voice was grave. "It took all four of us nine days to find that moment. It was not hidden by simple means."

"Unfortunately, Master used Origin Tracer to block the River of Aeons and anchor the Mirari Realm to this place. If not for that, he would still be able to use Origin Tracer, and we wouldn’t be needed," Mu Zhu lamented.

"I hope that everything goes smoothly," Qing Ping muttered to himself.

Meanwhile, Lu Yin was traveling along the River of Aeons. He observed scenes from the past flash by him. Time was still flowing forward, and the current caused his small boat to bob up and down.

The longer one spent traveling on the River of Aeons, the greater their chances of sinking into the river. However, after succeeding once before, Lu Yin was now confident.

Suddenly, an image froze. He could sense a familiar power through it. It was Origin Tracer. Mu Zhu and the others had helped Lu Yin pinpoint the moment the Books of Destiny had been erased. Lu Yin focused on that particular scene and left the River of Aeons.

He arrived in a courtyard. Images continued to shift around him. The phenomenon was due to time rewinding.

Lu Yin glanced around. Was he in Virtue Archives? This was Professor Wei's courtyard.

Lu Yin’s head abruptly snapped around as the surrounding images quickly disappeared. Time was surging wildly. In front of him stood Professor Wei.

She was standing among some flowers, giving off the impression of a lotus. Even when dressed as a man, the woman’s ethereal, pure aura could not be hidden.

Lu Yin stared at Professor Wei, and she met his gaze.

Time had passed, but Professor Wei had never left her courtyard. Lu Yin had given orders for no one to enter the place, and Virtue Archives had kept it tightly sealed.

Neither person moved as they stared at each other while the River of Aeons flowed past them.

It was a strange sight. Lu Yin could travel through multiple years in the blink of an eye by traversing the River of Aeons.

However, Professor Wei had stood in the exact same location, staring in the same direction for years, a smile touching her eyes. She looked as though she had remained that way for an eternity.

The images faded, and their surroundings returned to normal.

Birds sang in the courtyard, and the scent of flowers filled the air.

Lu Yin and Professor Wei’s eyes remained locked. "You never left?"

"I’ve been waiting for you," Professor Wei said with a hint of a smile.

"Back then, Ancestor Tianyi and I came here looking for you, but all you left behind was a paper cutout," Lu Yin commented.

Professor Wei’s smile deepened. "It wasn’t that I wasn’t here, but rather that you simply couldn’t find me. I’ve always been right here."

Lu Yin's eyes suddenly flickered. "Are you Wei Nu? Bai Xian'er? Or... Destiny?"

Professor Wei’s smile grew gentle. "Does it matter?"

Lu Yin nodded. "You're right, it doesn’t matter. Were you waiting for the current me, or the me from the past?"

"What difference does it make?" Professor Wei retorted.

Lu Yin continued to stare at the woman. "I am now not someone you can afford to wait for."

Even as he spoke, he took a step forward and released his inner universe as he reached out to grab Professor Wei.