Beside the Origin Progenitor, Wu Tian spoke up. "Blackie didn’t slaughter astral beasts for no reason. Humans may be greedy, but astral beasts have their own faults as well. Because of the Heavens Sect’s prosperity, you saw nothing but humanity’s power. Did you ever see the people who were slaughtered by mad astral beasts without cause? Most of those people were ordinary humans. Just as some humans enslaved astral beasts, there were also astral beasts who massacred humans. It was a reciprocal issue.

"Blackie killed astral beasts because he personally saw how many people were being slaughtered by them.

"That era may have appeared to be peaceful, as the Heavens Sect was suppressing all external threats, but there were many things lurking in the shadows. Things that were unseen by both us and you."

Lu Yuan sneered as he pointed at the astral beasts in human form who had been released from the sourceboxes. "Why don’t you ask those guys behind you if they know about any of this? Killing a few humans probably isn’t anything unusual to them. Who would tell you about it? If you step on an ant while taking a walk, would you even care?"

Wilderness God growled, "You’re spouting nonsense!"

Lu Yuan laughed loudly. "We are at fault for failing to prevent the astral beasts from being enslaved back then, but did you ever stop the astral beasts from slaughtering humans? Regardless of whether it’s during a time of war or of peace, the conflicts between species will never cease. It’s just a matter of what is seen or kept hidden."

Hongyan Mavis interrupted Lu Yuan, "Of course, we admit that that era was a dark time for your astral beasts. Master’s apology is genuine, but when it comes to how Blackie slaughtered those astral beasts, no one will apologize for what happened."

Wu Tian sighed. "Blackie was simply too decisive and ruthless."

Lu Yin did not believe that the God of Death had been wrong. As far as Lu Yin was concerned, both humans and astral beasts were under his rule. However, conflicts between species could be irreconcilable. Humans wanted to enslave astral beasts, and astral beasts retaliated by slaughtering humans. The only solution was for one side to completely suppress the other.

The God of Death had massacred so many astral beasts that he had instilled fear into their very bloodlines. Because of him, astral beasts were naturally suppressed and felt terror when in the presence of death energy. If Lu Yin had been the God of Death, his next step would have been to use his death energy to confine the astral beasts within a certain region. He would also ensure that humans were not able to easily enter and that the astral beasts could not easily leave.

This was the solution that Lu Yin had envisioned, given his current perspective.

It might be cruel, but it would be effective. After all, both he and the God of Death were human.

Still, Lu Yin did not share his thoughts.

He had not witnessed firsthand what had happened in that ancient era. Humanity had their position, while the astral beasts had theirs. Neither side believed themselves to be wrong, and it all really boiled down to being a matter of power.

Had Wilderness God truly been ignorant that astral beasts had been slaughtering humans? Perhaps not. To him, that might have been a minor issue, but humans certainly had not seen it that way.

This had led to an irreconcilable conflict.

"The past is behind us. Right now, we face the risk of the entire megaverse being destroyed. Yellowy, do you truly want to betray our Tianyuan Megaverse to side with the Spirit Nidus?" Garan Zhiluo asked in a cold tone as she stared at Wilderness God.

Wilderness God replied firmly, "At the very least, I don’t wish to work with you."

"You’re overthinking things. The Spirit Nidus won’t accept you," Lu Yin spoke up.

Wilderness God looked over. "What does that mean?"

Lu Yin smiled. "Your strength means that the Spirit Nidus won’t be able to reject you, but if you want to take all the astral beasts with you, that’s just unrealistic. Do you think that a megaverse with a unified cultivation system and even unified resources will accept such a large group of astral beasts? They might accept, but only under specific terms." 𝔯аΝỌΒƐ𝙨

Lu Yin’s expression tightened. "Some form of captivity."

Wilderness God grew enraged, and his Boundless Halberd was thrust at Lu Yin. "Impudent junior!"

The Origin Progenitor appeared in front of Lu Yin and casually swept the Boundless Halberd aside. "Yellowy, let him finish."

Wilderness God clenched his halberd tightly and let out a contemptuous snort as he glared at Lu Yin, who just shrugged. "There are too many astral beasts in this megaverse. Senior, you turned against us because of them. If you join the Spirit Nidus, but aren’t allowed to take the astral beasts with you, that will mean that you are leaving them to be destroyed by the Spirit Nidus. What is your conviction?

"As for the Spirit Nidus, they will never trust any creature from another megaverse. Such beings possess a different aura, and they fear that such beings might steal their limited resources. Even if only a small amount of resources is taken, it’s still valuable.

"Don’t underestimate the greed of living creatures. By the way, humans also rule over the Spirit Nidus."

Wilderness God gritted his teeth. Humans, humans, always humans! Why are there humans everywhere?

He felt overcome with a sense of helplessness. In the Tianyuan Megaverse, there was still the Origin Progenitor and the Three Realms and Six Daos. If Wilderness God fled to the Spirit Nidus, there would be enemies everywhere. If he joined the Spirit Nidus, his astral beast compatriots would become captives. It would be even worse than during the Heavens Sect era.

No one spoke, as everyone gave Wilderness God a bit of time.

He still carried a powerful grudge from when he had chosen to let the Heavens Sect be destroyed by Aeternus rather than bow to humanity. He simply could not change his stance overnight.

The Origin Progenitor waved a hand, signaling for everyone else to leave. He needed to speak to Wilderness God alone.

No one was sure of what the Origin Progenitor said to Wilderness God, but it was clear that Wilderness God respected the Origin Progenitor a great deal. Even if he carried resentment and anger towards the Origin Progenitor, there was true affection between the two, just as there was towards Lu Yuan and Wilderness God’s other fellow disciples.

Lu Yuan sighed. "Master has always been good to Yellowy. They’ve always had a true bond. It’s such a shame."

Lu Yin stared off into the distance. "While being one of the Three Realms and Six Daos and Dao Monarch of the Fourth Mainland, he allowed Aeternus to destroy the Fourth Mainland. Regardless of his original intentions, he committed a grave crime from the perspective of the Heavens Sect."

Even humans had internal conflicts, let alone conflicts with other species.

Aeternus had established their Aeternus Kingdoms, hoping for humans and corpse kings to coexist, but such coexistence was impossible. Similarly, in every universe, whenever humans achieved a certain level of power, peaceful coexistence with astral beasts became impossible.

Lu Yin looked over at the astral beasts who had been released from the humanoid sourceboxes, wondering what they were thinking.

A long time later, the Origin Progenitor waved, summoning Lu Yin and the others to return.

"Yellowy, tell us what happened back then," the Origin Progenitor said.

Wilderness God’s expression fell as he faced the pressure of the others’ stares, particularly Lu Yin’s. He started slowly, "There was a plot against Master, which I don’t really understand. The First Mainland was destroyed, and shortly after that, the Fourth Mainland was destroyed. At that time, Skydog was the one who approached me."

"Skydog?" Lu Yin exclaimed in shock.

Lu Yuan and the others were similarly stunned, as none of them had ever expected to learn that the destruction of the Fourth Mainland was connected to Skydog.

As far as any of them knew, Skydog was only capable of barking, and he was also incredibly durable. Aside from that, he seemed useless. During various battles, the dog had only ever succeeded in keeping a single human powerhouse occupied, and he had never even killed anyone.

Wilderness God continued, "Skydog. He represented Aeternus, and he approached me to persuade me to not be their enemy. At that time, due to how humans were enslaving astral beasts, I agreed. I merged my Wilderness Sutra into Stone Origin and then split myself apart to await resurrection."

"Did you really believe that you'd be resurrected?" Lu Yin asked, feeling puzzled. This was something that most people could not believe, as it was placing one’s life in the hands of another.

Wilderness God remained calm. "At the very least, I wouldn't die. No one knew that I was awaiting resurrection, aside from a few astral beasts. Yong Heng even agreed to not act against the Fourth Mainland. When the Fourth Mainland was destroyed, some astral beasts died, but their species were at least preserved."

"Just where does Skydog come from?" Lu Yin asked the question that everyone was wondering about.

Wilderness God replied, "Before humans appeared, this Origin Universe, and even the entire Tianyuan Megaverse, was inhabited by astral beasts alone. The greatest of them all was Stillstorm. There were many widespread species, and there were also others with few numbers. Skydog is a creature from that era. He is older than humanity itself. My species is another from that era."

Lu Yin was astonished. "From before humans even existed?"

The Origin Progenitor said, "Humans were not born with the megaverse. Before humans appeared, there was already life in this megaverse. I have also heard of Stillstorm, though that being apparently disappeared."

Wilderness God nodded. "Stillstorm disappeared long ago. If not, then when Master tried to establish the Heavens Sect, the first challenger to appear would have been Stillstorm. Stillstorm was incredibly powerful. They were not a member of any specific species or tribe, but they were able to suppress the entire megaverse with pure power. No astral beast dared to oppose them."

"Senior Origin Progenitor, how did humans come to be?" Lu Yin asked.

There were not only humans in the Tianyuan, but also in the Spirit Nidus. What about other megaverses?

The Origin Progenitor shook his head. "I truly don’t know where we came from. One day, I suddenly gained consciousness and simply appeared. I then started overseeing the affairs of the universe, and observed the astral beasts. I created stellar energy and the corresponding cultivation method. Tai Hong was no different. As for where we came from, I don’t know.

"Others were discovered bit by bit, but not from natural procreation between a man and a woman. After a while, things just started happening naturally, and the human race came into being."

Wilderness God continued, "At first, humans were nothing more than ants in the megaverse, as they were pathetically weak. They weren’t enough to even fill the gaps between the astral beasts’ teeth. However, humans multiplied quickly, to the point where they were soon found in every parallel universe, having spread across the entire megaverse. At that time, they weren’t much of a threat. It wasn’t until Master rose to power and used overwhelming strength to fight back against the astral beasts that the balance of power shifted. Later, he took me as one of his disciples, and my species helped to reign in the other astral beasts. That gradually led to the formation of the Heavens Sect, and it ushered in the human era."

Some resentment could still be heard in his voice as he spoke.

Lu Yin could only imagine how difficult it must have been for the Origin Progenitor to lead humans through that primitive age. However, this was not the time to dwell on such matters.

"How can we find Skydog?"

Wilderness God was taken aback. "What do you want from Skydog?"

"Skydog is with Yong Heng. If we find him, we’ll find Yong Heng. We can then completely eliminate that threat." Lu Yin said.

Wilderness God shook his head. "He’s impossible to find. You can’t search for him. The only way is to make him come to you, but that’s even harder."

"Why is that?" Lu Yin asked.

Wilderness God explained, "Skydog is from an era that predates humanity. The one creature he respects and reveres the most is Stillstorm. If you can find something that has a connection to Stillstorm, Skydog's senses are so sensitive that he will be able to smell it even across multiple parallel universes. He might then find you.

"However, Stillstorm was from an era further in the past than anything. It was difficult to find anything related to that creature even during the time of the Heavens Sect, let alone now."

"Master, do you not have anything?" Hongyan Mavis asked.

The Origin Progenitor sighed. "When I came into existence, Stillstorm was already long gone. I may have learned of Stillstorm's existence from certain astral beasts, but I possess nothing related to them."

OMA's Thoughts

Translated By: OMA

Edited By: Neshi/Nyxnox

TLC'ed By: OMA