Chapter 4072: Inverting The Past And Present

After a pause, Greater Sancte Green Lotus continued to say, “As for Stillstorm, don’t dwell on that matter. No matter what, it exists. It even peeked into the Spirit Nidus through the Gate of Laws. So long as it isn’t dead, it will eventually show up again.”

Lu Yin nodded. He still did not know if Stillstorm was friend or foe.

Wilderness God was close with the Three Realms and Six Daos and was one of the Origin Progenitor’s disciples, but he also harbored hatred towards humans because of how the ancient Heavens Sect had slaughtered countless astral beasts. There was no telling what Stillstorm would feel.

“Senior, do all Immortals have a karmic chain?” Lu Yin suddenly asked.

Green Lotus’s gaze flickered. “If I told you that further down your path lies a bottomless abyss, hidden in fog so thick that you can’t see it, would you still continue forward?”

Lu Yin hesitated. “I’d advance slowly, testing things as I go.”

“But if I told others, do you think that they would also proceed slowly, testing the path before them?”

Lu Yin shook his head.

“Then regardless of whether there is an abyss or a pavilion up ahead, only the first to arrive will know for sure. You will never be the first, precisely because of my warning.”

Lu Yin understood. If he had fixed notions regarding the Immortal realm in advance, those preconceptions would hinder his breakthrough.

Breaking into Immortality already tested one’s state of mind. Any additional baggage would only make such a breakthrough more difficult.

Green Lotus smiled. “All I can say is that the Immortal realm isn’t fixed. While all of us are human, Awe Gate, Blood Tower, and I each took on different states after becoming Immortals. You will too. Don’t allow fixed thoughts to constrain your future. It’s possible that your breakthrough will make your body into a star.”

Lu Yin gave a wry smile. That was true enough. After all, Che and Qi Xu were not human, and they had simply adopted a human form.

“The ‘Immortal realm’ is a human term. In the Aevum Inch, it is simply called ‘Immortality.’

“What is Immortality? It is a life that endures eternally. The premise is that a lifeform is suited for eternity. When a human breaks into the Immortal realm, they won’t necessarily remain human. Similarly, other species do not need to remain what they originally were.”

“A trans-species breakthrough might yield unimaginable returns.”

Lu Yin thought of the humanoid Verdant Sage and the droplet-shaped one. Verdant Sages never had a fixed form, and they instead manifested as the strengths of the creatures living in whatever megaverse they spawned in, which was exactly what Green Lotus was describing.

“Senior, by that logic, the Nest civilization is extremely suited to surviving in the cosmos.”

“Indeed. Their Verdant Sages make the impossible possible. The way that the Nest civilization assaults various civilizations differs from fishing civilizations as the bugs primarily seek self-development. Without meeting other megaverses and other creatures, how could new Verdant Sages be able to break into the Immortal realm?”

“So, will their number of Immortal Verdant Sages only increase?”

Green Lotus shook his head. “The risks that they face will also grow. When they met our civilization, they almost were unable to leave. Three of their four Insect Lords were eliminated, each of which had the potential to become an Immortal. Who knows how many other Verdant Sages with similar potential were destroyed in the past?”

Lu Yin exhaled. That was certainly true. The more that the insects met new civilizations, the greater their possibilities and the greater their risks.

What if they eventually encountered the Death Megaverse?

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

He almost looked forward to that encounter.

The Nest civilization’s very way of life was intimidating. How did civilizations that were even stronger than the Nest civilization, the ones known as fishing civilizations, come into being?

Lu Yin thought of humanity. They already had four Immortals. Perhaps with one or two more, they would qualify to be considered a fishing civilization. Humanity would reach that level through intelligence and talent, while other species had their own advantages.

The Death Megaverse had their Bone Script, and just the thought of it caused Lu Yin to shudder.

“One more thing. I examined that red coffin.” Green Lotus grew solemn. “It belonged to Qi Xu. In your Tianyuan, there is a red sword. I saw it in your karma and how it cut your karmic connection. That sword should also be Qi Xu’s.”

Lu Yin was startled. “That red sword belonged to Qi Xu?”

“From what we know of Obscura, each embodies a color, a very clear one. Qi Xu was represented by the color red. If that red sword is originally from Obscura, then it was almost certainly hers.”

“Does that mean that Qi Xu isn’t dead? Is she hiding in the Tianyuan?” Lu Yin felt a chill.

Green Lotus shook his head. “Qi Xu is unquestionably dead. She perished together with Mi Jin. There is no chance at all that she still lives. Her sword remains, and it was able to cut through your karma, which makes it highly likely that someone from Obscura is hiding in the Tianyuan. They have taken Qi Xu’s sword, concealed their own power, and are instead striking through that red sword.”

Lu Yin recalled the blood-red figure that he had seen after killing Tian Fa in the Mirari Realm. That figure had only appeared after Tian Fa’s death. That had not been an innate power of the red sword. The blade had been controlled by someone.

There was unquestionably someone from Obscura hiding in the Tianyuan, and they were keeping their presence suppressed.

“Back when Mi Jin fought against Qi Xu, did her red sword appear?”

“No.”

Lu Yin breathed a bit easier. That was good. If the sword had appeared during that final battle and then been taken away without Green Lotus’s knowledge, then the hidden expert from Obscura would have to be far too powerful.

The red sword and the blood-red figure remained a crisis looming over the Tianyuan.

Right, the red line

.

Lu Yin asked about it.

Green Lotus sighed. “That’s Obscura’s power. Even I can’t remove it. One gate and one line are enough to decide if a civilization persists or dies. That is Obscura.”

“Did Senior Mi Jin truly die?” Lu Yin asked.

Green Lotus nodded with a sigh. “Mi Jin’s death is humanity’s greatest loss.”

“Is there no bringing him back?”

“Immortals aren’t truly unable to die. Not even they can return from death.”

Progenitor Hui’s face appeared in Lu Yin’s mind.

Senior, if only you could appear again.

For the Tianyuan, Progenitor Hui had served as a lighthouse, showing humanity their path forward.

“Why bring up Mi Jin all of a sudden?” Green Lotus asked, puzzled.

Lu Yin shared the story of Progenitor Hui. After hearing it, Green Lotus mused, “His style was very similar to Mi Jin’s. His cultivation was simply too low. If he had become an Immortal, he would have been the next Mi Jin. such a pity.”

With Green Lotus back, there were answers to many of Lu Yin’s questions. It was much like how his talks with Awe Gate answered many questions, though there were some things that not even Awe Gate knew the answers to.

“Senior, do you know about aeonic defiance?” Lu Yin suddenly asked.

Green Lotus raised a brow. “Who told you about that?”

“The ferryman of the River of Aeons,” Lu Yin said.

Green Lotus gave him an odd, amused look. “You seem to know a bit about everything, though you only half understand it.”

Lu Yin felt helpless. People only ever told him half of the information. If he were already an Immortal, he would certainly know it all.

Given his cultivation realm, he knew a great deal that he should not. He was more informed than any other non-Immortal, and yet his lack of knowledge was far greater.

The cosmos was filled with endless secrets.

“Aeonic defiance. Ihe literal meaning is simple: inverting the past and present,” Green Lotus explained.

Lu Yin looked at him.

Green Lotus met his gaze.

“That’s all?” Lu Yin blinked.

“What more do you want?” Green Lotus said.

“Does inverting the past and present relate to the Mirari Realm?”

“Of course. The Mirari Realm is the banks of the River of Aeons. Inverting the past and present means reversing that river.”

“Is that even possible? To change the future by altering the past?”

“No.”

“Then?”

“That’s why it’s so impressive.”

Lu Yin looked at him. “Who is inverting antiquity?”

Green Lotus sighed. “I don’t know. Humanity’s history has holes in it. There are some eras that have been lost to us and some people who will never be remembered. Only our civilization remains.

“Those who live during prosperous ages don’t consider going back in time. They live well. Only those who faced the threat of extinction and are unable to avert their civilization’s doom would think to invert antiquity.

“Our civilization is resilient, and humanity endures. However, there are some who did not think that that was true. They believed that humanity was already at its end, and so they sought to go back in time and alter destiny. They attempted the impossible. It was truly impressive, but they still lost.”

Lu Yin frowned. “If we could tell them that humanity has endured, would they return?”

Green Lotus looked at him. “How would you tell them that?”

Lu Yin started. Right, how? They were regressing to the ancient era, making their way to the source of the River of Aeons. To tell them, it was necessary to also regress to the ancient era and catch up to those people.

Only those who had reached the peak could hope to do that. For the time being, it was beyond Lu Yin. Only Immortals could make that attempt.

Right

. He suddenly remembered something. “During my Origin realm breakthrough, I saw a group of people. Were they...?”

Green Lotus nodded. “That was regressing to the ancient era, but you did not do that on your own. There was a resonance between the river’s source and your own abilities. That led to a coincidental reversal. In truth, it’s not just you who is lacking. Not even Awe Gate, Blood Tower, or Qing Cao can regress to the ancient era.”

“What about you, Senior?”

“Me?” He smiled. “Of course.”

Lu Yin stared at the man. There was the gap. Two simple words, “of course.” They were spoken with absolute confidence.

“But I won’t. If I regressed to the ancient era, who would guard the humanity of today?” Green Lotus asked, his eyes burning into Lu Yin. “Unless another arises who is also capable of regressing to the ancient era, then either I or he will go. Either would be fine.

“Lu Yin, imagine this: one day, at the river’s source, you find ancient human powerhouses and call them back. What would happen?

“What would become of our human civilization?”

Lu Yin’s eyes burned with intensity. “Will that day really come?”

“I don’t know. For those who regressed to the ancient era, time holds no meaning. They might appear to be ancient, separated from us by endless years, but to them, they might have only just begun to invert antiquity. They might not have even made that much progress.”

Lu Yin thought of the person that he had seen during his Origin realm breakthrough who had been behind everyone else walking up the River of Aeons. He had almost caught up to that person.

However, that person had only made a single, casual move to fling Lu Yin away. The gap between him and those people was far too great. He had previously regressed to the ancient era because of a coincidence, while the people that he had seen had relied on their overwhelming power.