Chapter 3387: Close Of The Age

Everyone who entered the Endless Frontier’s Big Stone Universe had to carry a stone. This was because the universe had once produced a sequence powerhouse, but when the powerhouse died, the law that they had comprehended had been reversed. As a result, the Big Stone Universe had been thrown into chaos. Dangerous phenomena constantly roamed the universe, and only stones that were inscribed with that dead powerhouse’s strength were able to protect people from the deadly phenomena.

The Big Stone Universe had once boasted a large population, but it had since become nearly deserted.

After Aeternus's defeat, the people of the Big Stone Universe had relocated to other parallel universes.

No one wanted to carry a stone for their entire lives.

Walking up to the outside of the imperial palace, Tuo Lin cleaned the sweat from his forehead. On his back, he carried a statue of Lu Yin, which was heavy and cumbersome. "Little Ruyu, we’ve made it. Master once came here, and he found a stone for this Big Stone Universe in this imperial palace. They say that he once...

"The stone that Master carried? I don’t know, but we’ll look for it. Don’t worry, we’ll find it. We’ll visit every place that Master left a mark."

He entered the imperial palace. It had once been a place of festivity and grandeur. While the Big Stone Universe had been part of the Endless Frontier and a part of the battlefield in the deadly struggle against Aeternus, the palace had been remarkably prosperous for a time. Lu Yin had not understood why back then, but he had later learned that the Stone Emperor had been preparing to fake his death and escape from the Big Stone Universe.

The Stone Emperor had been prepared to abandon everything in the Big Stone Universe.

There was no one guarding the imperial palace, so Tuo Lin entered and started searching.

Several days later, he found the stone pit. It was the same place where the Stone Emperor had once taken Lu Yin to choose his own stone.

At the moment, there were many other people gathered around the stone pit, as well as a guide.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please have a look. This is the Big Stone Universe’s stone pit. All of the stones you are carrying on your heads are from this place, and they will be returned to it after we leave," the guide shouted as they explained everything about the Big Stone Universe.

"Did Lord Lu choose his stone here so that he could fight in the Big Stone Universe?"

"Yes, it was right here."

"What about the stone that Lord Lu used? Can we see it?"

"Yeah, where’s Lord Lu’s stone?"

"Everyone, please calm down. The stone that Lord Lu used was destroyed long ago during the war. Even with his strength, he wasn’t able to protect his stone. You can only imagine how intense that battle was. It’s said that there were terrifying Progenitor-level corpse kings, bestowal art carriers, and even a True God Guard Captain present.

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"Naturally, the fighting was also intense here. The Big Stone Universe was home to one of the Endless Frontier’s intelligence centers."

Tuo Lin listened to the guide and the tourists, but he did not move any closer as he continued to listen. His master’s legendary stories could be heard everywhere, which was truly wonderful.

"Yes, Master lived a hard life. Every battle he fought was a struggle.

"What? You want to write Master’s biography? That’s great! I was thinking the same thing. Little Ruyu, we’re truly on the same wavelength, aren’t we?

"Don’t worry. We’ll check things out after they leave. Master certainly left a mark here.

"You sense a familiar aura? Someone from your past? Never mind that—following Master’s path is more important. That’s right, I don’t want to look for anything else. Nothing should interrupt us as we retrace Master’s footsteps."

Standing beside the stone pit, Yu Leng glanced around in confusion. He felt a familiar aura, but what was going on?

Ever since the Heavens Sect had started hunting for Nests, he had started going on various tours, afraid of being found by homeless insects. The Endless Frontier was one of his frequent destinations, and he had already visited the Big Stone Universe twice. Even so, this was still not enough. Nothing he did ever felt like it was enough.

The Heavens Sect stood at the pinnacle of the megaverse, and Yu Leng did not dare to produce any more insects. All he could do was wait. Wait for a time in the future when the Heavens Sect no longer focused on eradicating Nests and their insects. Only then would it be his time to find a safe place to develop in peace.

That time would surely come. It just had to come.

Before long, the tourists left.

Tuo Lin excitedly walked over to the stone pit. "We’re here, Little Ruyu! Where do you think Master would have found his stone?

"Hmm, I think so too. Oh, you can feel Master’s aura? That’s wonderful! It means that you’re getting closer to Master. Don’t worry, once we return to the Heavens Sect, Master will surely be happy to accept you as one of his disciples. You’ll be our third junior sister, after Brother Huican.

"Don’t say it like that. Junior Brother has his own strengths. Master saw them, even if we can’t. That just means that we haven’t cultivated enough. We all need to work harder, and that includes you. Let’s all work together."

He remained standing by the stone pit for several days. During that time, another group of tourists arrived, but Tuo Lin avoided this group, as he was unwilling to interact with a crowd.

Once the tourists left, Tuo Lin also left. He felt as though the statue of his master that he carried was constantly growing heavier.

...

In the Origin Universe, Lu Yin arrived in the Outerverse, and he visited Earth.

His visit was not only to spend time with old acquaintances, but also to look into Stillstorm.

Despite his years of cultivating and exploring multiple universes, Lu Yin had never seen any creature that looked like Stillstorm, aside from on Earth. There had to be a connection.

While Earth was extremely close to the Heavens Sect, Lu Yin rarely visited the planet.

Coincidentally, Zhang Dingtian and Bai Xue were also on Earth at this time, and they were surprised to see Lu Yin.

While it had not been that long since they had last seen Lu Yin, his progress was so quick and so incredible that it felt like he had already moved far away from them.

In addition to the two of them, Zhou Shan’s daughter, Zhou Xixi, was also on Earth, along with her son and husband.

"Lord Lu."

"Lord Lu."

"Uncle Lu."

Everyone felt a bit awkward. While they were aware that Lu Yin was not arrogant or unapproachable, the difference in their statuses was undeniable.

Even Zhou Shan was not as relaxed as he had once been with Lu Yin.

As for Zhou Xixi, her reservations were even more evident. She had once acted playfully around Lu Yin, but this time, she was very reserved.

Lu Yin talked with everyone for a bit, and they slowly started to relax.

Lu Yin was still the same person they had always known.

Cause and effect. Everything eventually led to an ending.

Earth had been Lu Yin’s starting point. He did not know where he would find his ending, but that might also end up being Earth.

Not far from them, in a major city, Liu Shaoge had also returned to Earth. He was sitting in a bar, swirling a glass while listening to the noisy music that filled the room. He smiled.

Who would remember him? He had once stood as Lu Yin’s rival, but he currently lacked the qualifications to even enter the Heavens Sect.

Even so, this was fine. It was perfect, even.

He looked at his hand, lost in his thoughts.

Nightking Zhenwu, if you were still alive, I wonder what things would be like.

After spending some time catching up with Zhou Shan and the others, Lu Yin asked them to help him research Earth’s legends that might be connected to Stillstorm.

There were many legends about the ancient astral beast on Earth.

Lu Yin did not involve anyone from the Heavens Sect, as he did not want to spend too much attention on this matter.

Stillstorm was most likely already dead. If not, where had they gone? Had the creature gone to another megaverse? No one knew.

Lu Yin was only investigating Stillstorm for his own peace of mind.

He spent some time on Earth just relaxing. He laid on the beach, like an ordinary person, staring out at the sea.

He was suddenly reminded of Bai Qian, who had been captured from the Transcendent Universe by Aeternus, never to be seen again. She was most likely dead.

There had been a time when Lu Yin and Bai Qian had plotted together to deal with He Ran while meeting on a beach. Lu Yin recalled those meetings. While Lu Yin had only been around for a hundred years or so, much had happened during that time.

Without those hundred years, how would history have unfolded in the Tianyuan Megaverse?

Some time later, Zhou Shan and the others finished compiling all of Earth’s legends about Stillstorm, and they shared the results with Lu Yin.

Most of the legends were vague or had been fabricated by humans, but there was one particular legend that caught Lu Yin’s attention.

The divine dragon swings its tail, traversing the stars, vanishing at the close of the age

There were just a few words inscribed on a turtle shell, written in the oldest known form of writing.

“This turtle shell is extraordinarily ancient, and it actually predates any known human civilization. It’s said to be from the previous civilization on Earth, or even older than that,” Zhou Shan explained.

Earth had a unique cycle where all of its civilizations were destroyed every so often. Because of this cycle of destruction, the Hidden Earth Society had specifically started intervening with other planets where people had primeval surnames, just to ensure that Earth did not attract too much attention. Such a cycle was simply too unbelievable.

Even at this moment, there was no one who understood what had caused Earth’s ancient civilizations to be erased.

The Hidden Earth Society had once approached Lu Yin, hoping that he would help Earth.

Lu Yin had even had Lu Buzheng investigate the matter, but no cause could be found.

Zhou Shan was suggesting that the turtle shell had belonged to one of those destroyed civilizations.

As for how long ago the civilization had existed, no one could guess.

“What does it mean?” Lu Yin asked.

“It means that a dragon moved through outer space and eventually vanished at Jupiter,” Zhou Shan replied.

Lu Yin was caught off guard. "Jupiter?"

"Yes. 'Age' refers to Jupiter."

Lu Yin looked up at the stars and saw Jupiter.

It was Jupiter yet again. Lu Yin had already known that Jupiter was special, but to someone like him, the planet should not be able to keep any more secrets.

Jupiter’s connection to the Perennial World existed because of a spatial passage, similar to the one that connected the Three Monarchs Universe to Shenwu Continent. Such a connection was nothing extraordinary.

As for the power that had been hidden within Jupiter, that had belonged to the Hidden Earth Society. There had once been a sourcebox array, but that also had not been particularly impressive.

The Hidden Earth Society’s purpose was to prevent Earth’s civilizations from being extinguished. They were constantly relocating people away from Earth, and those efforts started at Jupiter.

Jupiter’s secrets had long been exposed to him.

However, Lu Yin was finally learning that it had also had a connection to Stillstorm. Could Jupiter be connected to other parallel universes and not just the Perennial World? Could there be a connection to another megaverse?

That was impossible.

"Thanks. I’ll head off." With that, Lu Yin left Earth, a single step delivering him to Jupiter, before he entered the planet.

The Hidden Earth Society had returned to Earth, vacating Jupiter entirely.

As Lu Yin descended upon the planet, he arrived in the place that the Hidden Earth Society had once occupied. There were still traces of the people who had left.

It only took an instant for Lu Yin to gain a picture of everything about Jupiter. In the past, he had not cared too much about the planet, but he suddenly noticed something, and he vanished.

There was an altar. It was both simple and ancient.

Earth’s proximity to the Heavens Sect meant that Jupiter was also quite close. Lu Yin’s current strength allowed him to easily see across such distances, and he had even seen this altar before on multiple occasions. He simply had not noticed anything remarkable about it, and he had assumed that the Hidden Earth Society had built it.

After learning of Stillstorm’s connection to Jupiter, Lu Yin immediately noticed something different.

There was an empty spot on the altar that seemed to perfectly fit the stone sphere. There were four stone pillars around the altar, each carved with dragons.

Lu Yin remembered when he had first seen the altar, but because of the long dragons on the pillars, he had not paid much attention to the structure. There were too many dragon images on Earth, which was why Lu Yin had just assumed that the altar had been made by the Hidden Earth Society. He was no longer so certain.

He looked towards Earth. It would not take much effort to find someone from the Hidden Earth Society and ask them.

Lu Yin remained on Jupiter, but his voice reached the ears of a grocer in his store on Earth.

"Why did the Hidden Earth Society originally choose to hide inside of Jupiter?"