As Lu Yin moved closer to Astral Anura, the toad’s panic spiked. He was feeling immense pressure from the young human.

When had this guy become so powerful? The pressure he gave off was entirely different from the last time Astral Anura had met him in the Mirari Realm.

The toad’s eyes darted about. Lu Yin had clearly become a Progenitor, but would a simple breakthrough explain how he had grown so much more powerful? Chu Yi had also made a breakthrough; when had he reached the Origin realm? Also, that super giant was supposed to be at the Immemorial Citadel, no?

Could it be…?

Lu Yin stopped when he was right in front of Astral Anura, and he studied the toad. “Last time you went into that forbidden region, you came out and said that you had seen your ‘great-grandmother.’ This time, when you’ve come out again, are you going to say the same thing?”

Astral Anura answered in a miserable voice, his lotus leaf drooping. “Great-grandmother’s spirit just won’t leave me alone.”

“Why did you go back into the forbidden region?” Lu Yin suddenly demanded. The first time Astral Anura had emerged from the forbidden zone, he had looked miserable, and it was clear that he had held no intentions of ever returning to the place again. If Lu Yin had not framed the toad for killing Tian Fa, he would have left the Mirari Realm. Instead, he had returned to the forbidden region. Something did not seem quite right.

Astral Anura clenched his jaw so tightly that the copper coins hanging from his neck started jingling. “I didn’t want to.”

“The path to Immortality?”

“All of you told me that the forbidden region holds a path to Immortality. It was possible that I took the wrong turn last time, so I agonized over the matter for a while before finally deciding to try another forbidden region.”

“And?”

“Great-grandmoth-”

“Shut up.” Lu Yin crouched down low while staring at Astral Anura.

In order to sneak by Lu Yin and the others, Astral Anura had shrunk down until he was only the size of a human’s palm. With Lu Yin staring down at him, the toad felt more anxious than ever, so he put on a flattering smile. “Congratulations, Lord Lu! Congratulations on breaking through to the Progenitor realm! You must be invincible among peak powerhouses! Congratulations! Truly, congratulations!”

A smile spread across Lu Yin’s face. “I should thank you. Without you, those two would’ve gotten away.”

Astral Anura vigorously shook his lotus leaf. “Gotten away? They wouldn’t dare! If Lord Lu wants them dead, they wouldn’t be able to survive for another three moments! Rest assured, Lord Lu, they won’t get away.”

Lu Yin nodded. “You’re right, they won’t get away now. You can’t exit the Mirari Realm while in a forbidden region, right?”

“Well, I don’t know about that. Supposedly, some forbidden zones do have that restriction, but not that one,” Astral Anura replied.

“You tried to leave?”

“I did. That place is too unpleasant.”

“How long did you stay in there for?”

“I don’t know. There’s no way to measure time in that place.”

“How long?” Lu Yin demanded, his expression darkening.

Astral Anura gulped. He felt completely humiliated. He was a Dukkhan, and he had once created waves in the megaverse. He had done business with humanity’s Origin Progenitor and Aeternus’s True God. Despite all of that, he was currently being threatened by a mere child. He wanted to leap up and kick Lu Yin, but after taking a moment to think, he decided against it and restrained himself. 𐍂₳𝐍ổ𝔟ÈꞨ

“Given how much time passed outside of this place, I should have spent about ten years in there.”

Lu Yin did some quick calculations. It had been about twenty years since he had killed Tian Fa, which meant that ten years had passed since Astral Anura had escaped from the previous forbidden region and entered another one. There was something unusual about this timing, though it did demonstrate just how unwilling the toad was to give up.

“What did you experience in the forbidden region?” Everyone wanted to hear the answer to this question.

Chu Yi, Lu Yuan, and the others were all staring at Astral Anura.

In the Mirari Realm, each forbidden region was most likely unique. Even the Origin Progenitor had only entered a few, and he had warned his disciples not to enter them.

Astral Anura spoke mournfully, “It was too cruel! I saw myself, but I can’t even say if what I saw was real or not. I saw my great-grandmother, my people, myself as a child, myself growing up… I saw countless versions of myself, and it continued endlessly. Everything was there… Great-grandmother…”

Lu Yin frowned as he listened. He was unable to make full sense of what the toad was saying, but it was clear that Astral Anura was not lying.

He glanced over at Chu Yi and the others.

Chu Yi shook his head. “Every forbidden region is different. This one seems to have something related to the karmic cycle of living creatures. It almost seems like it manifests the origins of the megaverse. It would be easy to lose oneself there.

“That’s what Master said.”

Lu Yuan sighed. “Back when Lassy came out of that forbidden region, she was like a completely different person.”

The Three Realms and Six Daos did not know Wei Nu’s story. To them, Wei Nu was nothing more than a powerful cultivator who had suddenly appeared.

To prevent Wei Nu from sensing Destiny’s ambush too early, Lu Yin had not shared what he knew with anyone.

The Origin Progenitor’s words made Lu Yin consider things carefully. The karmic cycle of living creatures? The Mirari Realm already had the River of Aeons, which belonged to not only the Tianyuan Megaverse, but also to the entire omniverse. Without access to the River of Aeons, the people of the Spirit Nidus struggled to learn more about the power of time.

Lu Yin stared off into the distance. Could it be that, in addition to the River of Aeons, the Mirari Realm’s forbidden regions represented other fundamental forces?

It seemed like the cycle of karma, but Astral Anura had described something that sounded more like a scenario that forced a person to confront themselves.

Lu Yin grew increasingly curious about the forbidden region, and he even felt an urge to explore it himself.

Astral Anura continued talking to himself. It was hard for anyone else to understand what he said, as he was mostly rattling on about his own experiences, including numerous business transactions.

Lu Yin set a hand down on the toad. Instinctively, Astral Anura wanted to lash out, but he found himself unable to resist Lu Yin’s strength.

The toad’s eyes went wide in shock as he stared up at Lu Yin.

The toad had already been feeling a bit of pressure from Lu Yin, but Astral Anura had not expected the young man’s physical strength to be so overwhelming. Was such power even possible for a human to possess?

“Lord Lu, your… your strength?”

Lu Yin smiled at the toad. “My enemy escaped from me by fleeing into a forbidden region. Would you care to help me chase after him?”

Astral Anura reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, and he nearly jumped in shock. “No way! Absolutely not! I’ll never go near that wretched place again!”

Lu Yin’s expression fell, and he applied a bit more pressure with his hand. “What was that?”

Astral Anura grimaced, and a vicious light glinted in his eyes as his skin changed color. It was sorely tempted to stab Lu Yin right then and there.

Having lived as long as the toad had, one shouldn’t be fooled by his smiling demeanor. Countless creatures had died at his hands.

If not for how quickly Lu Yin had grown, the toad would have dealt with the young man long ago. He would have used Mr. Daheng to take Lu Yin down. Astral Anura had never expected that he would be the one to be used instead.

He was no pushover.

Nearby, the ancestor of the super giants slammed a fist into the ground.

Behind Chu Yi, the silhouette of a Pillar of Heaven could be vaguely made out.

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

A golden light shone down from above Lu Yuan’s head.

Further away, Progenitor Chen and Progenitor Ku were also staring at the toad.

Astral Anura immediately cowered, his skin once again taking on a golden color as he shrank even further. He looked adorably timid.

“Uh, Lord Lu, it’s not that I won’t show you around. Rather, when we enter the forbidden region, everyone will be separated. Me going with you won’t help at all.”

Lu Yin chuckled. “How do you know that we’ll be separated?”

Astral Anura opened his mouth, but he had no answer.

He had spent his time in the Mirari Realm alone. There had been no one to accompany him, not even when he had ventured into the forbidden regions. It was clear that the toad was just searching for an excuse.

“Little Seven, are you really thinking of entering the forbidden region?” Lu Yuan asked.

Lu Yin stood up and looked towards the distant forbidden region. “Chasing down that Seraph is just one reason. A bigger reason is that I genuinely want to explore the forbidden region and what lies within.”

Lu Yuan replied, “You’re certainly strong enough to qualify to explore it, but this isn’t the right time to do so.”

Chu Yi interjected, “The Spirit Nidus could attack at any moment, and things are close to finishing with Meng Sang.”

Lu Yin nodded. There was no denying that this was not the right time to explore the forbidden region.

No one knew what they might encounter in that place. Astral Anura had been trapped in the region for ten years, and Lu Yin might not fare much better. After all, Astral Anura was overcoming Dukkha.

There were some things that did not depend on strength alone. Sometimes, one’s cultivation realm was equally important.

If Lu Yin was trapped for decades and another creature entered the Mirari Realm during that time, decades would have passed in the outside world as well. Meng Sang would undoubtedly have fled, and who knew what might happen with the Spirit Nidus or the insects from the Nests?

No one could guarantee that no other creature would enter the Mirari Realm.

This was especially true since Wei Nu was always observing the place. Her existence was the real problem.

Astral Anura immediately tried to dissuade Lu Yin, “Lord Lu, you shouldn’t go into the forbidden regions! It’s chaos in those places, and nothing makes sense. There’s no path to Immortality. In fact, there’s nothing at all. I gained nothing from going in. All I saw was my great-grandmother twice! My great-grandmother-”

“Shut up!” the super giant shouted.

Astral Anura really wanted to kick the giant. He could tolerate Lu Yin’s comments, as the toad could not afford to offend the Dao Monarch, but now, even the giant dared to shout at Astral Anura. He was not afraid of the giant. They had fought before.

The toad wanted to ask why the giant was in the Mirari Realm instead of fighting against Aeternus at the Immemorial Citadel, but he refrained from doing so. The toad chose to keep a low profile instead.

It was not appropriate to explore the forbidden region for the time being, and Lu Yin had no idea when the Seraph might emerge. The only option was for someone to stay in the Mirari Realm and stand guard.

Using the Mirari Realm was a very delicate matter. When done well, it could result in a qualitative transformation in one’s strength. But when used poorly, if other creatures entered the realm from outside, it would synchronize the Mirari Realm with the outside world, resulting in a tremendous amount of time passing. This was a huge potential problem, as Lu Yin and the others might leave to find the Tianyuan Megaverse in ruins or swarms of insects filling all the parallel universes.

Until things settled down, Lu Yin could not stay in the Mirari Realm.

The Mirari Realm was also unable to provide much assistance for helping him to further strengthen himself. Extra time was no longer particularly helpful. Rather, his top priorities were obtaining more sequence bases and exploring his own path.

In the end, Progenitor Ku was the one who stayed behind, and he took up guard just outside the forbidden region. As soon as the Seraph reappeared, the Progenitor would leave the Mirari Realm, and that would serve as a signal for Lu Yin and the others to return.

Lu Yin and the others left the Mirari Realm, as did Astral Anura.

Lu Yin made a deal with the toad: he needed to find True God. Astral Anura agreed.

Making deals was Astral Anura’s Dukkha, which was why Lu Yin had no concerns of being betrayed. Besides, he had the entire Tianyuan Megaverse under his control, so unless Astral Anura was completely foolish, he would no longer help True God.

When Aeternus had been powerful, Astral Anura had still conducted business with humans.

He no longer wanted to stay in the Mirari Realm. His two trips to the forbidden regions had traumatized the toad.

Astral Anura knew nothing about the Spirit Nidus, and Lu Yin was worried that, if he learned about the invaders, the toad would not dare to leave the Mirari Realm.

In a war between two megaverses, not even a Dukkhan was enough to decide the outcome. Leaving the Mirari Realm would be risky for the toad, as he might be targeted by the Spirit Nidus. It would be much safer for him to stay in the Mirari Realm.

However, Lu Yin did not want any unexpected issues to crop up in the Mirari Realm. Progenitor Ku could stand guard against the Seraph on his own, but if the old man managed to gain Astral Anura’s cooperation, things would become troublesome. It did not matter how unlikely the possibility was.

The bottom line was that every creature in the Tianyuan Megaverse needed to fight against the Spirit Nidus. Whether they wanted to or not was irrelevant.

Someone in Lu Yin’s position frequently had no choices, and he could not afford to offer them to others.

Upon leaving the Mirari Realm, Lu Yin returned to the Heavens Sect and went to speak with Palace Master Yao.

The woman stared at Lu Yin in silence.

He released his inner universe, and the Cauldron Bell appeared.

Palace Master Yao was shocked. “You stole the Cauldron Bell?”

“I killed Bao Qi,” Lu Yin calmly reported.

Palace Master Yao’s expression changed. While she had already witnessed Lu Yin execute Tian Ci and kill many other experts from the Spirit Nidus, killing Bao Qi was far more shocking.

Bao Qi was a Seraph, and with the Cauldron Bell, he was unimaginably powerful. Even so, he was dead, as simple as that.

OMA's Thoughts

Translated By: OMA

Edited By: Neshi/Nyxnox

TLC'ed By: OMA