Chapter 4071: What Sort Of Compensation?

Emperor Slayer did not try to hide anything as he recounted his encounter with Che.

Lu Yin’s eyes flashed. So it really had been Che. He had suspected as much already. Che had been searching for fragments of his weapon in the Consciousness Megaverse, and one of those fragments had been taken by Emperor Slayer. It was only to be expected that Che had found the beast. Che himself was extremely courteous, and he was polite to everyone he met. Lu Yin had even used Che’s guidance to find a way to approach the palace in the Willbound Spire.

Che had managed to enlighten Lu Yin with a single comment.

He was an Immortal, as well as a member of Obscura.

Greater Sancte Awe Gate had once said that Che was one of Obscura’s Immortals who harbored no hostility towards human civilization.

However, to Lu Yin’s mind, that lack of hostility was only temporary.

After Qi Xu’s death was discovered, humanity had been attacked by the member of Obscura who wielded a blue sword. If that being also died, then their next opponent might very well end up being Che.

The bottom line was that Che was still an enemy.

It was best that Emperor Slayer had already used Che’s power, as it might have otherwise served as a beacon.

Lu Yin soon left the Lost Clan’s universe, but before leaving, he put the Shan Barrens card on display again. The overwhelming power of the Primordial card shook the universe, allowing every member of the Lost Clan to witness it. It was a proper gesture of accountability.

After leaving that universe, Lu Yin returned to the Heavens Sect. He was just in time to see Lord Xu emerge from the Mirari Realm. When the man saw Lu Yin, he offered a quick greeting, but then he rushed off to attempt a breakthrough.

The Voidlord had long been a sequence powerhouse, which meant that a breakthrough would make him an Ortuser. His success would fill in another empty place on the Tianyuan’s roster of Ortusers and Dukkhans.

Aside from Lord Xu, there were several powerful auras within the Heavens Sect, both familiar and unfamiliar.

“Little Seven’s back! Haha, come and see how much stronger your ancestor’s become!” Ancestor Lu Yuan laughed heartily. He had entered Dukkha.

Nearby, Chu Yi had also become a Dukkhan.

The Three Realms and Six Daos had long been capable of entering Dukkha, and given how much time had passed, all of them should have already become peak Dukkhans. Each one of them was outstandingly talented, but they had suppressed their progress for far too long.

By using Lu Yin’s Champions’ Stage Purgatory to help them rediscover their past selves, it had not been difficult for the Three Realms and Six Daos to enter Dukkha.

Wilderness God had been the first of them to enter Dukkha, having been guided by Shao Chen’s mortal world.

In addition to Ancestor Lu Yuan, others, such as Ancestor Lu Tianyi, Sovereign Dou Sheng, and Ce Wangtian, had all entered Dukkha as well.

Their next step would be reaching the peak of Dukkha, which depended on their mental states. That was something that time could not fully compensate for, though it would certainly help shorten their paths.

“Congratulations on your breakthrough, Ancestor,” Lu Yin said with a smile.

Lu Yuan roared with laughter. “Big Thug’s also broken through! None of them know how to be modest. Just wait till I’m the first to become a peak Dukkhan! Then they’ll see what humility really is!”

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Chu Yi shook his head with a grin. “Sure, but you still haven’t planted your third innate gift. Have you decided what it will be?”

Ancestor Lu Yuan turned to look at Lu Yin, who understood his ancestor’s intentions. When Ancestor Lu Yuan had broken through to the Origin realm, he had become capable of planting a third innate gift, and yet he had restrained himself. Lu Yin was the reason for that, as Lu Yuan was hoping to choose an ability that would benefit Lu Yin the most.

But even after so long, Lu Yin still did not know what innate gift he should ask Ancestor Lu Yuan to grow.

He also had not given the matter any serious thought.

“Ancestor, just go with your own thoughts. You don’t need to worry about me,” Lu Yin said.

Ancestor Lu Yuan waved a hand dismissively. “It doesn’t matter. The Champions’ Stage and Investiture of the Gods are already enough. I haven’t really thought of what to plant anyway.”

Lu Yin could clearly feel his ancestor’s sincerity. The man lacked the strength to directly help Lu Yin, so he simply wanted to offer the best support that he could by providing another innate gift.

Lu Yin’s seniors were always doing similar things, trying to help however they could, even if only in small ways.

Lu Yin did not refuse. This was his ancestor’s heartfelt desire.

Lu Yin entered the Mirari Realm. He needed time to study Shan Barrens’ second seal, as well as determine if the card could truly aid him.

There were still a great number of cultivators in the Mirari Realm, but Lu Yin did not disturb anyone. He directly went into the karmic forbidden region to study Shan Barrens, as well as to check in on Progenitor Ku.

The man was surrounded by more threads of karma than ever before, all of which tightly clung to him. He had clearly mastered Extremes Must Be Reversed.

Lu Yin did not disrupt the man, and instead took out Shan Barrens and entered its pocket dimension.

...

Time flowed on, though the Mirari Realm was disconnected from that flow. When Lu Yin left the Mirari Realm, three days had passed in the outside world, and on that third day, someone else happened to enter the Mirari Realm.

It had only been three days in the outside world, and yet an immense span of time had elapsed within the Mirari Realm.

Whenever someone entered the Mirari Realm, their arrival would reconnect the Mirari Realm’s time to the outside world’s. The amount of time that passed in the Mirari Realm had absolutely no connection to the external flow.

So long as someone was able to enter from outside, those within the Mirari Realm did not have to worry about emerging too far into the future. It was only when no one entered for a long time that the next entrant would pull everyone in the Mirari Realm to their own era, no matter how much time had passed.

Lu Yin had focused solely on studying Shan Barrens during his time in the Mirari Realm.

Consequently, he very much wanted to spar with Master Qing Cao. Lu Yin was curious to see how large the gap between him and a true Immortal was when he used Shan Barrans, or if there was even a gap at all.

It was no wonder why the humanoid Immortal Verdant Sage had been so desperate to acquire Shan Barrens.

Shan Lie had also mentioned that the Nest civilization had never stopped hunting for the remnants of the Third Rampart, not because of the survivors themselves, but rather because of their Primordial card.

Had that Verdant Sage Immortal obtained Shan Barrens, then the previous attack would have been truly dangerous for the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

Lu Yin sat on the mountain behind the Heavens Sect, sipping tea that Long Xi had prepared for him. He released his Karmic Dao, merging with the Tianyuan’s karma and then connecting that to the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm so that he could observe the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. It was time to speak with Greater Sancte Green Lotus.

When he exited the Lost Clan’s universe, Lu Yin had been able to sense that Greater Sancte Green Lotus had already returned.

Lu Yin had not immediately reached out, as he was feeling a bit guilty. He had no idea just how much of the karma that made up Green Lotus’s Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm had been consumed.

Still, consequences had to be faced. On top of that, not all of the karma that had been used had been for the sake of the Tianyuan.

As Lu Yin peered in the direction of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, within that megaverse, Greater Sancte Green Lotus stood in the lotus pool in his Sea of Karma. He stood before a broken stone wall and turned to look east.

“You’ve finally come, Lord Lu.”

Green Lotus’s voice reached Lu Yin’s mind, startling him even as he wondered how to respond.

He took form in the depths of the Aevum Inch, within the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm. It was not his true body, but rather a form of condensed karma that originated from his own Karmic Dao.

Lu Yin stared in astonishment at the manifestation of Green Lotus that stood in front of him. At this moment, Lu Yin only felt one thing: this man was unfathomable.

Directly affecting things across the vast distance between the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and the Tianyuan was a demonstration of his power. It was clear that Master Qing Cao did not even stand on the same level.

Lu Yin readily admitted that he could influence both megaverses by leveraging the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm, but holding a conversation across such a vast distance was something else entirely.

Green Lotus’s control of his Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm made the distance seem to vanish.

There were ways to measure the difference in strength between Immortals, and there was no doubt that Greater Sancte Green Lotus was the strongest Immortal that Lu Yin had ever seen.

He bowed low. “Greetings, Senior Greater Sancte Green Lotus.”

Green Lotus calmly observed the young man. “My Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm is missing a portion and not a small one at that.”

Lu Yin maintained his bow and helplessly replied, “This junior borrowed from your Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm without permission. Please forgive me, Senior. I’m willing to compensate you.”

“Compensate me? How?” Green Lotus’s voice dropped. “How will you compensate for the value of eradicating the Netherfiends from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse?

“How will you compensate for the value of sharing the Nirvana Tree Path?

“How will you compensate for the value of repelling the Nest civilization twice?

“How will you compensate for the value of protecting an entire region of human civilization?

“How will you compensate for your heartfelt devotion to humanity?”

Lu Yin stared blankly at the man in a daze.

Is this... a debt collection?

Green Lotus drew a deep breath, and proceeded to bow low to Lu Yin. “As an Immortal, I, Green Lotus, thank you, Lord Lu, on behalf of the entire human civilization. Thank you for your grace in imparting the Nirvana Tree Path, for teaching our people, and for protecting them.”

Lu Yin gaped at the Immortal bowing to him. Was the strongest human in current existence bowing to him?

Greater Sancte Awe Gate had previously bowed to Lu Yin, but that incident had not struck him as profoundly as this moment did.

Green Lotus had always seemed inscrutable, and yet he was currently bowing to Lu Yin.

This was despite the fact that Lu Yin had consumed a significant amount of the Immortal’s karma.

“Senior, there’s no need for this. I am also part of human civilization.” Lu Yin scrambled to help Green Lotus up.

Green Lotus straightened up and smiled at Lu Yin. “I didn’t expect so much to happen while I was away. If not for you, never mind the Nine Odysseys Megaverse—the Tianyuan would have been the first to fall. So? Have you decided yet? Will you marry one of them or all of them?”

Lu Yin was left speechless. The topic had shifted way too quickly.

“Are you not interested? No matter. Anyone in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse—no, anyone in all of humanity who takes your fancy, I’ll accept her as a disciple,” Green Lotus stated bluntly.

Lu Yin was rendered speechless yet again. Clearly, Green Lotus had set his sights on Lu Yin. “Senior, you left to follow Stillstorm’s trail. How did it go? Did you find Stillstorm?”

Green Lotus shook his head and clasped his hands behind his back. “Stillstorm, is it? Awe Gate told me about that. She said that the beast hails from your Tianyuan. But to be frank, I never detected it. There’s no way that it is older than me, but despite coming from the Tianyuan, my Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm never detected it.

“Either the creature is powerful enough to hide from the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm, or it wasn’t actually an Immortal.”

Lu Yin denied the latter possibility outright. “Stillstorm is absolutely an Immortal. I saw him in the memories of the Nest civilization’s bugs. Not even their Immortal Lord could do anything about Stillstorm.”

“Perhaps it wasn’t an Immortal when it left the Tianyuan, or it might have grasped some special power. It doesn’t necessarily have to be strong, but just suited to avoiding karmic detection,” Green Lotus continued.

Lu Yin found the latter explanation the most reasonable.

There was no denying Stillstorm’s power. In the Tianyuan, the beast had been the symbol of an entire era. Only after the beast vanished did the Origin Progenitor and Yong Heng move against the astral beasts. Had Stillstorm remained, the two would have never been its match.

Stillstorm had to be an Immortal, as anything less would not have been enough for it to avoid being slaughtered by the Nest civilization when they found it.

From what Lu Yin had seen in the memories of Chang, the Nest that spawned Chang had been tainted by Stillstorm’s blood after it was injured. Who had wounded Stillstorm? It might have been the Immortal Lord.

“I did not find Stillstorm. The Aevum Inch is too vast, and even at my speed, I can only glimpse a corner. I did detect several civilizations, most of which are weak and incomparable to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, but there are also powerful ones with Immortals of their own.

“Immortals are rare. Over these recent years, I only sensed one, and that was an Immortal who had only recently broken through. They were completely unaware of my presence,” Greater Sancte Green Lotus explained.