Chapter 3386: Games And Karma

Lu Yin and the others instinctively turned to look at the Nest.

Dazzling images of swords surrounded True God before shooting out in the opposite direction of where the Nest had vanished. This happened to be where Skydog, Forgotten Ruins God, and Wang Xiaoyu all were.

The numerous sword shadows swept through outer space, and fragments of time stabbed through Sovereign Dou Sheng, Mu Shen, and the others, though none were harmed. Skydog was also stabbed, before the swords passed through him to stab Forgotten Ruins God and Wang Xiaoyu.

Lu Yin spun around, staring blankly around him.

Sovereign Dou Sheng and Mu Shen examined their bodies, unsure of what had just happened. They hadn’t felt anything happen to them, despite being run through by swords.

On the other hand, Forgotten Ruins God and Wang Xiaoyu both started to slowly vanish.

True God glanced around and then declared, "Tianyuan Megaverse, we Aeternals will return!"

With that, his body exploded loudly. Fortunately, the Origin Progenitor was prepared, and he managed to restrict most of the damage. If not for that, the explosion would have been powerful enough to kill all the peak powerhouses and destroy the entire universe.

True God’s body was gone, completely and utterly destroyed. Without Verdant King, everyone would have thought that True God was truly dead.

But that was not the case. He would simply reappear in another form. His divine energy, the essence of his strength, still existed. His three ultimate techniques and his mirebound artifact were still with him, and with Tian Ci's mirebound artifact, True God would soon gain the Spirit Nidus’s power as well.

Lu Yin finally understood why True God had been willing to betray Tian Ci and become the Spirit Nidus’s enemy. Everything had been done in order to obtain Tian Ci’s mirebound artifact.

That particular treasure was more important than anything else to True God.

From the moment he had first been sealed by Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm, Yong Heng might have already started planning for this.

Only by being reborn could he escape from the Great Sovereign's Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm.

Tian Ci had been True God’s target for a very long time.

As for Forgotten Ruins God and Wang Xiaoyu, what was happening with them? Lu Yin looked over.

Sovereign Dou Sheng, Mu Shen, and Skydog all remained where they had been, but the two women had disappeared.

They were not dead, but rather moved elsewhere by True God.

Why?

Why did True God care so much about those two? Blackless God was dead, and Skydog was also about to die. Verdant King and Aeternus’s Three Pillars and Six Skies were all dead, but True God had never demonstrated much concern for any of them. Only the two women had received such attention.

There was undoubtedly something unusual about them.

This was especially true of Wang Xiaoyu. Everyone could see that there was likely something wrong about her supposed betrayal of the Fifth Mainland. Wang Xiaoyu was even aware that her loyalty was regarded as suspect, and yet she continued to follow True God. Yong Heng had never done anything to harm the woman.

All of the signs indicated that there was a major issue with the two women.

Progenitor Chen arrived, and he looked around. When he did not find Wang Xiaoyu, he hurried over to Lu Yin. "Lord Lu, where is Wang Xiaoyu?"

Lu Yin looked at Progenitor Chen. "Why did you come here all of a sudden?"

"I can no longer sense Wang Miaomiao," Progenitor Chen reported.

Lu Yin's heart sank. Not only had Forgotten Ruins God and Wang Xiaoyu been sent away, but True God had also erased the power that Progenitor Chen had left on Wang Miaomiao. Right before the man’s body had been destroyed, he had purposely distracted everyone with a Nest, just so that he could help Forgotten Ruins God and Wang Xiaoyu escape. What secret were they hiding?

Soon, the Nest was brought back by the ancestor of the super giants, who had chased after it.

For the moment, it seemed that every threat in the Tianyuan Megaverse that was related to True God had been resolved. Blackless God and Verdant King were both dead. Forgotten Ruins God and Wang Xiaoyu were gone, but they would not be able to cause much trouble anytime soon. They had to be protecting some great secret, but Lu Yin had no clue what it might be.

The only one still alive and present was Skydog.

The Heavens Sect had only succeeded in finding True God and his followers because they had manipulated Skydog.

True God and his followers had escaped from the battle at the Immemorial Citadel because of Skydog.

The creature had lived longer than humanity had existed for, but it was on the verge of death.

Skydog opened his eyes. His body had been shredded, torn apart by too many attacks.

He had been able to withstand Sovereign Dou Sheng’s onslaught, and he had even survived being attacked by the Three Realms and Six Daos, but even so, Skydog’s durability had its limits. He had reached the breaking point at the Immemorial Citadel, but he had allowed the Ossis Ark to escape while the dog had howled in agony. After being ambushed by a great number of the Heavens Sect’s experts, Skydog had finally been pushed too far.

Lu Yin moved to stand in front of Skydog. "Can you speak, or not?"

Skydog's eyes were open, and blood trickled from their corners. He was not looking at Lu Yin, but rather at the stone ball. The dog’s eyes revealed a powerful yearning.

Wilderness God approached, and he moved the stone sphere over in front of Skydog.

The dog struggled, but he raised his head as he tried to move closer to the stone ball.

Lu Yin looked over at Wilderness God.

He stood by the stone ball, but was looking at Skydog. Wilderness God had also targeted Skydog during the most recent battle, but no matter who from the Heavens Sect he faced, Skydog had focused solely on protecting Forgotten Ruins God and Wang Xiaoyu. Even when attacked by Wilderness God, the dog had expressed no surprise.

"Stillstorm can't come back. They’ve been dead for a long, long time," Wilderness God stated.

Hatred filled Skydog's eyes as he glared at Wilderness God and bared his teeth.

Wilderness God continued to stare at Skydog. "I asked you long ago why you followed Yong Heng. You’ve never given me an answer."

Skydog looked away and dropped his head. His attention fully returned to the stone ball.

No matter what Wilderness God said after that, Skydog ignored him.

In the end, Skydog died while clutching the stone sphere.

Witnessing Skydog's death felt like witnessing the end of an era.

Considering the situation, at Aeternus’s greatest heights, the Seven Skygods, the Three Pillars and Six Skies, True God Guard, and the numerous Progenitor-level corpse kings had all suppressed humanity so badly that many had given in to despair. However, all of those Aeternals had become history.

One by one, they had disappeared.

Lu Yin stood in outer space, lost in his own thoughts.

The Origin Progenitor returned to the Immemorial Citadel, but before he left, he patted Lu Yin on the shoulder. "Pillar, we should all be grateful. At least we now know that Yong Heng isn't really dead, as well as the fact that Wang Miaomiao and the others are harboring secrets. If not for this battle, we would have never learned about these things, nor would we have even cared enough to look into them.

"You’ve done well. No one can control everything. Even I failed to anticipate that Yong Heng would pull off such a thing by hiding his divine energy. What you are unable to accomplish or foresee, someone else will compensate for. There’s no need to put too much pressure on yourself.

"The entire Tianyuan Megaverse was saved because of you."

After the Origin Progenitor left, Mister Mu arrived.

"Master, why do you think people want to see the future?" Lu Yin asked, as he stared out into outer space. He was not even aware of his own thoughts. Was he resentful? Not really. True God had lived for so many years, and it was already a miracle that Lu Yin had managed to defeat Aeternus. He had gathered the resources of the entire Tianyuan Megaverse in order to hold back the first wave of the Spirit Nidus's invasion, but even that had taken a great deal of luck. Why did he enjoy so much good fortune?

At this moment, Lu Yin felt lost.

Both his friends and foes had disappeared one by one, and each loss felt like it had taken away a part of Lu Yin’s existence.

He was still quite young, yet he felt as if his existence was diminishing.

Everyone was born with a purpose. If Lu Yin’s mission was completed, would he still exist?

The megaverse operated on karmic causes and effects. If he brought an end to all the karmic effects resulting from certain causes, would he then become the next karmic cause in the cycle, or would he embody the ultimate karmic effect? And if he truly became the final effect, would he still continue to exist?

Humanity was insignificant, especially when compared to the vast megaverse. Even if a being became an Immortal, did they not still live in the megaverse?

What was the meaning of cultivating?

When an ordinary person died, another related person would be born. Was this the cycle of reincarnation? Reincarnation did not seem to be the cycle of life, but rather the cycle of karma.

Humans were nothing more than a single cog in the wheel of the karmic cycle, nothing more.

Beneath Lu Yin's seemingly calm exterior, his thoughts churned like a stormy ocean.

The sound of a flute floated through, coming from Mister Mu. He did not answer Lu Yin’s question, but instead used music to calm Lu Yin’s mind.

Lu Yin closed his eyes, purging all thoughts from his mind as he lost himself in the vastness of the megaverse.

Mister Mu’s flute music echoed across the universe.

After an unknown length of time, the flute fell silent.

Lu Yin opened his eyes and let out a deep breath. "Thank you, Master."

Mister Mu observed Lu Yin with a complicated expression. "It’s possible that Yong Heng’s survival saved you."

Lu Yin was taken aback, and he did not understand the comment.

Mister Mu sighed. "You were on the verge of losing yourself."

Lu Yin looked away. Was that accurate? Yes. He had not even known his own thoughts a few moments ago.

"Little Seven, I once nearly lost myself as well.

"During that final battle, I lost. I lost not to my enemy, but to that invincible being.

"At that time, I also asked myself what I was holding onto. What was the meaning of it all? In the end, everything was nothing more than someone else’s game.

"I became lost and disheartened. I even considered dying.

"In the end, I came to understand things. I came to this megaverse. I helped anchor the Mirari Realm here for Tai Chu, and I fought against Aeternus here. I saved Tai Chu, accepted you and the others as my disciples, and overcame great difficulties. I’ve guided your cultivation. Tell me, have you ever seen me lose heart?"

"How did you come to understand, Master?" Lu Yin asked.

Mister Mu smiled, which was a rare occurrence. "Aren’t even Immortals just another part of the game?"

Lu Yin said nothing as he stared at his master.

"A game of chess cannot be played with just pieces—there need to be players. However, aren’t the players also part of the game? Can a player ever truly escape the chessboard? If they do, they cease to be a player.

"Immortals are the same. You think that they’ve created the game, but as far as I’m concerned, they’re weaving karma."

Lu Yin’s eyes flared. "Weaving karma?"

Mister Mu nodded. "Immortals are immensely powerful, and they can even be considered invincible, as they are capable of killing anyone. But in that case, why create this game? Boredom? That might be possible, but to me, it’s more about weaving karma. In this game, Immortals might suffer even more than us.

"We participate passively, but they need to create the game and actively play it, despite having no guarantee of the outcome.

"They are bound by karma, which makes them even worse off than us.

"If they’re worse off than us, then why bother worrying about whether or not we’re just part of a game?

"Regardless of whether this is just a game created by Immortals, the laws of the universe, or karma itself, so be it. Your birth itself was a gift from the universe, so why not accompany it in this game? Consider playing an act of filial piety to the universe. You show filial piety to your parents and elders, so why not to the universe, the greatest elder of all?"

Lu Yin stared blankly at Mister Mu. Could this really be the man’s perspective?

"Heh, what’s wrong? Is my opinion too unconventional for you?"

Lu Yin took a deep breath, and then he laughed. It was a genuine, joyful laugh. "Master, I’m truly fortunate to be your disciple!"

Mister Mu nodded with a smile. "I’m also fortunate to have a disciple like you."