Chapter 4104: The Thread Of Heaven

Lu Yin frowned. Behind him, Long Xi asked, “Is it possible that they don’t identify creatures by appearance?”

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. He pointed to himself and then to Long Xi. “Are she and I the same species?”

“W- we don’t know, mighty honored one. You are both of a similar size, so perhaps?”

“What? You can’t tell?”

“Mighty honored one, there seems to be a misunderstanding. We of the Toro civilization perceive the cosmos differently from other creatures...”

After a bit of explanation, Lu Yin learned that the creatures did not distinguish things through visual appearance, but by color. Humans were able to see less than one percent of the colors that the odd creatures could perceive, and they identified species through color alone.

What they referred to as the Crimson Starshade was a red color that could not be translated into words or communicated in a manner that Lu Yin could comprehend.

For the creatures of the Toro civilization, the color had its own name and meaning, while to human ears, they simply understood it as red.

That was because it was a color that humans could merely perceive as red.

Lu Yin withdrew the pressure he had exerted upon the creatures, and only after that were they able to recover. The strands on top of their heads had nearly snapped as they writhed about. They were clearly terrified.

“Exactly what is this ‘Crimson Starshade?’”

“The Crimson Starshade is a terrifying civilization! Everyone in that entire civilization wears crimson garments, and they all carry red umbrellas. Those details are what mark their people. Wherever they pass by, other civilizations perish. All flee before the Crimson Starshade.

“Once, we encountered a member of the Crimson Starshade by accident. We believed ourselves doomed, but fortunately that creature had no interest in us. Otherwise, we would not have survived to this day.”

Lu Yin asked, “Was it the Crimson Starshade who destroyed your Toro civilization?”

“No, that was another civilization, which has no connection to the Red Clothes. Still, even if we had not encountered them, we would have eventually been destroyed by the Red Clothes. Wherever they pass through, no trace of life remains behind. That is what all know about them.”

Lu Yin frowned. “Do civilizations communicate with each other?”

“No, there is no communication.”

“Then how do you know these legends of the Crimson Starshade?”

“Civilizations cannot communicate with each other, but individual creatures can, provided that they are able to keep their native civilizations a secret. Occasionally, places appear throughout the Aevum Inch where creatures are able to communicate with each other. Our civilization learned of all of this from one such place, though we were only able to visit it a few times. Such places never endure for very long. Much like civilizations, once such a place is exposed, it is destroyed.”

Lu Yin was astonished. “Such places exist?”

“Yes. These places are known as the Threads of Heaven. ‘Heaven’ refers to powerful civilizations. Threads of Heaven appear to offer weaker civilizations glimpses of stronger ones, enabling them to avoid danger and seize a thread of life. They are the single thread to survival beneath the heavens. They are one of the rare mercies in the Aevum Inch.”

Lu Yin calmly took a sip of tea.

Rare mercy, is it?

Who would establish a place like these Threads of Heaven and grant the weak a chance to gain knowledge about the Aevum Inch?

Where there was righteousness, there had to also be the opposite. Where there was darkness, there would also be light.

In the Aevum Inch, civilizations known as fishing civilizations ceaselessly sought to destroy others. Whenever different civilizations encountered each other, there would be a silent war to the death. This was the unbreakable law and cruelty of the Aevum Inch. Even so, where there was darkness, there also had to be light.

Nothing that existed was truly absolute.

The Threads of Heaven, when looked at against the background of the darkness that annihilated everything, were indeed a stark contrast.

“So, you learned these legends about the Crimson Starshade from a Thread of Heaven?”

“Yes, though we only managed to visit that place a few times. When we tried to return, it had vanished, which means that it had either been destroyed or moved away. Powerful civilizations see the Threads of Heaven as a thorn in the eye.”

“For example, the fishing civilizations?”

“Yes. When a fishing civilization encounters a Thread of Heaven, they must destroy it, though there are also some fishing civilizations that create them.”

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. “Bait.”

“Indeed. They use the Threads of Heaven as bait. It is simply another method of fishing.

“This is also why the Threads of Heaven are regarded as a joke throughout the Aevum Inch. Most civilizations do not dare to approach such places. Those who do are either the ignorant or the weak.”

Lu Yin sighed. “And yet those are precisely the civilizations that need the Threads of Heaven the most.”

“Thus, the creation of the joke,” the creature agreed in a bitter tone.

The most pitiful aspect of weak civilizations was that they could not overcome their own helplessness. Even the means that they employed to survive were regarded as something to be mocked.

But what could be done? This was the way of things in the Aevum Inch. This was the way of the cosmos.

After that, the creatures spent time sharing everything that they knew about the Crimson Starshade with Lu Yin. He also asked about their knowledge of the Aevum Inch in general, but their knowledge about such things was limited. The fact that they had any knowledge about the Threads of Heaven or the legends of the Crimson Starshade suggested that they had been individuals of high standing within the Toro civilization. Likely, they were descendants of some of the strongest beings in that civilization. Unfortunately, their cultivation had been too weak. Their limit had led to their downfall.

“How many fishing civilizations are there in the Aevum Inch, to your knowledge?” Lu Yin asked.

The creatures exchanged glances before the leader spoke again. “Mighty honored one, we know of one fishing civilization that creates Threads of Heaven and uses them as lures in their fishing, which created that joke in the Aevum Inch.

“Another was mentioned in the Thread of Heaven that we visited. It is a civilization that is said to fish by causing other civilizations to annihilate each other, never taking direct action.”

Lu Yin’s heart stirred: Obscura.

“However, little was said about that fishing civilization. Someone in the Thread of Heaven once tried to reveal more information, but they were stopped. The one who created that Thread of Heaven refused to allow anything to be spoken of it.

“And another fishing civilization is known to all: the ones who created the springboards.”

Lu Yin’s eyes widened. “The giant springboard?”

“Yes. That fishing civilization is archetypal, and it is known by all. Even those with no understanding of the Aevum Inch can sense the danger of the springboards. As soon as a civilization enters the Aevum Inch or encounters other civilizations, fear of the springboards will only grow.

“No civilization dares to touch them.”

Lu Yin pressed, “Which civilization left the springboards behind?”

He had a tremendous amount of curiosity regarding that civilization. Truthfully, it was even greater than his curiosity towards Obscura or the Death Megaverse. What kind of power was needed to scatter things like the springboards across the entire cosmos? They were no longer fishing for weak civilizations, but rather treating all civilizations equally as prey, even other fishing civilizations.

The Nest civilization had seen many springboards during their travels, yet not once had they dared to touch any of them.

The civilization behind the springboards stood at the apex of fishing civilizations.

“Mighty honored one, we do not know. There was no answer even in the Thread of Heaven. We only know this much: all who have seen that civilization no longer exist. No answers can ever be found.”

Lu Yin’s mood grew heavy. Could the civilization behind the springboards be fishing across the entire Aevum Inch?

He wondered which was stronger: the Death Megaverse, Obscura, or the springboard civilization.

The creature had spoken of three fishing civilizations, though the Crimson Starshade had not been included among them. It appeared that, despite their power, they still did not qualify as a fishing civilization.

Lu Yin quietly sipped his tea.

Behind him, Long Xi watched with complicated eyes.

She had once thought becoming the master of the Tianyuan was the peak, but it suddenly seemed to just be the beginning.

What can you possibly do to live like an ordinary person once again? You carry too much, to the point where you will never be able to lay it back down.

The cosmos is endless. Will your burdens also be endless?

Others see your glory, never your sorrow.

Even you no longer understand all that you have endured. What are your subconscious thoughts at this exact moment? What weighs upon you? If you were to see yourself through another’s eyes, would you pity yourself?

...

Above the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm, Lu Yin and Greater Sancte Green Lotus slowly took form.

“When I was fighting against that Verdant Sage, I discovered several foreign creatures outside the Tianyuan.”

“Foreign creatures? Did they come here by accident? That is not surprising. The Aevum Inch is endless, and many creatures use all kinds of different means to move about. There are also times when strange astral phenomena can connect distant regions, which can lead to outsiders moving vast distances by chance. This is quite normal.”

“Has this happened before?” Lu Yin asked curiously.

“Many times,” Greater Sancte Green Lotus replied, “We immediately destroy them.”

“All of them?”

“Of course. All who are discovered are destroyed. Humanity cannot risk being exposed, even if the creatures themselves pose no threat. Though, truthfully, there are many whom we are unable to destroy. They are simply too weak, and they arrive by pure coincidence. Most are merely lost. Not even I can detect such creatures, so how could I destroy them?

“The Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm encompasses a vast region, but that does not mean that we know everything that occurs within its bounds.”

Lu Yin nodded in understanding.

“If you don’t wish to destroy them and believe that they could be of use, cast them into a parallel universe,” Greater Sancte Green Lotus continued somberly, “Though, there is a condition to that—they must be creatures that cannot pose any threat. Do not forget the lessons of the Nest civilization. Even a single nest can serve as a beacon for the entire civilization to locate us.”

Lu Yin felt no threat from the creatures. If they were destroyed, then so be it. There was no mercy in the cosmos. Who knew if the creatures might one day bring calamity to humanity? There was no doubt that more foreign creatures would arrive in the future, and among them, some might prove valuable. If it became a habit to eradicate all foreign creatures, it would be easy to regret destroying some. Lu Yin preferred to always leave himself an alternate path. “How do I determine if they pose a threat?”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus replied, “See if there is an Immortal behind them, and also understand how they move about the Aevum Inch. If they arrived here of their own will, or if they have been actively seeking our civilization, then destroy them without hesitation.”

Lu Yin nodded.

“However, through all my years of experience,” Greater Sancte Green Lotus explained, “Almost no creature has deliberately approached our civilization. Those who are capable of such a thing must already possess considerable power. They would be able to at least sense a threat from the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm. Even if we failed to detect them, they would still avoid us. As for the civilizations that are unable to perceive any sense of threat, they lack the strength to traverse the vast distances of the Aevum Inch to even find us.

“Most likely, these creatures arrived here by accident. They will find it nearly impossible to return home, which means that they pose little danger.

“In particular, after they are left in a parallel universe, they will need to enter your megaverse’s main universe in order to attempt to return to their native civilization, and they are too weak to do that.

“If you choose to keep them alive, then you should create a designated universe to be used for containment and then assign someone to watch over them. Keep that universe marked, just in case.”