Chapter 4121: Even Saints Can Kill

“Of course, there is another reason even if it does not mean much. What is the point of gathering all this Immortal matter if not everyone can use it?” Greater Sancte Green Lotus asked.

That was a fair point. Even in the Consciousness Megaverse, Lu Yin had not been able to perceive Immortal matter yet. He had only been able to do so once his battle force advanced from the Wielder - God realm to Lifeforce. Throughout the entire human civilization, only a small handful of experts could make use of Immortal matter.

As for battles between Immortals, while those certainly did consume Immortal matter, there was no guarantee that it would be a key factor in deciding victory or defeat.

The Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm was a great example of this. Even if Master Qing Cao possessed more Immortal matter than Greater Sancte Green Lotus, the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm would still leave Qing Cao utterly helpless.

Immortal matter was nothing more than one factor among many. It was not absolute.

“This junior knows someone with an innate gift called Karmic Fruit. It converts the guilt in a person’s heart into unavoidable backlash, a response that closely resembles karmic retribution.”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus was surprised. “Does such an innate gift exist? Where is this person you know of, and what is their level of cultivation?”

“His name is Seruzen, and he’s a man of great resolve. He should be in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse with everyone else right now. As for his cultivation realm, it’s quite low.”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus grew increasingly interested. “Such a person would be well suited for becoming my disciple.”

Lu Yin’s eyes lit up. “In that case, congratulations in advance, Senior.”

Unlike Lu Yin, many others had more than one master. Seruzen had once left his name in the Arboric Scripture and accepted Mu Shen as his master. There would be no problem with him also becoming a disciple of Greater Sancte Green Lotus, unless he possessed the same mindset as Lu Yin.

The moment that Lu Yin had accepted Mister Mu as his master, many other powerful experts had tried to take Lu Yin as their disciple. At first, he had found that to be unnecessary. Mister Mu had been more powerful and unfathomable than anyone else. Later, even when an Immortal like Greater Sancte Green Lotus had requested that Lu Yin become his disciple, Lu Yin had still seen no need to accept. He had already come so far, and the path before him was not one that Greater Sancte Green Lotus could help him walk.

Seruzen was different, as he was only beginning to trod his path. No matter what his cultivation was at the moment, even if he had already become a Progenitor, he was still only starting out. Not everyone could be like Lu Yin and fight against peak Dukkhans as a mere Progenitor.

If Seruzen became Greater Sancte Green Lotus’s disciple, who could guess what his future might hold?

Half a year later, the green lotus leaf came to a stop again. They had arrived at a second civilization.

This was also the last civilization that Greater Sancte Green Lotus intended to take Lu Yin to.

Two megaverses were the most that they could search for at the moment.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus had noticed more than just these two civilizations while traveling through the Aevum Inch after passing through the Gate of Laws, but some were home to Immortals, which made intervention unwise. Others were thriving and had vibrant Mother Trees, which meant that Lu Yin would not be able to bear destroying them.

The civilization that they had arrived at was even more outrageous than the previous one.

The previous civilization had developed a universal hatred for their Mother Tree out of fear of being exposed, and they treated the tree as the source of all evil. They had continuously damaged the tree until it started to wither. In contrast, the megaverse in front of Lu Yin was home to creatures who had made the Mother Tree their home. All manner of creatures lived within the Mother Tree. They had hollowed it out and riddled it with holes until it was nothing more than a shell.

The sight caused Lu Yin to feel a sudden, nameless surge of anger.

To this Mother Tree, the inhabitants of the megaverse were nothing more than termites, and the Mother Tree was already at death’s door.

“Senior, this-?”

“There’s no need to rush. Just watch.”

Lu Yin observed the civilization before him. The creatures came in all shapes and forms. In his eyes, they did not look much different from the crawling reptiles of the previous megaverse. There were incomprehensible beings without clearly defined heads. Both their torsos and heads were difficult to distinguish.

However, the creatures were also far stronger than the reptiles of the prior megaverse. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for them to hollow out their Mother Tree.

There was more than one Dukkhan in this civilization. Those powerhouses lived in the crown of the Mother Tree, excavating their way downward while living above all others.

𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

After only about two days, an indescribable storm erupted within the megaverse, sweeping through space as though determined to annihilate everything. Lu Yin stared on, stunned. How could such a thing exist?

The entire main universe of a megaverse was being assaulted by a calamity of unfathomable scale. He had never imagined that such a thing could occur.

“This civilization hollowed out their Mother Tree because of these disasters. They believe the tree to be the only safe place,” Greater Sancte Green Lotus explained.

Lu Yin exhaled heavily.

So that’s it

.

“These calamities stem from this megaverse’s repeated resets. The parallel universes here are unstable, and occasionally, one of the universes collapses in a way that impacts the main universe.”

“If that’s the case, then their Dukkhans should be able to resolve things,” Lu Yin commented, his brow rising.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus nodded. “They can... provided that no creatures gain the strength of a Progenitor. With no new parallel universes, there would be none to collapse. Do you think that they would accept such a thing?”

Lu Yin stared straight ahead. That was impossible. How could one forbid others from cultivating to the level of a Progenitor?

That would cut off that civilization’s entire future.

Compared to losing their future, these creatures had chosen to hollow out their Mother Tree.

“But the Mother Tree won’t be able to last for much longer.”

“They are all waiting. They await the rise of an Immortal. They believe that the appearance of an Immortal can permanently prevent these disasters and will also allow their civilization to flourish.”

Lu Yin’s expression grew conflicted. Ultimately, the creatures’ choice was for the sake of their own civilization.

This did not necessarily make them wrong. The previous civilization had tried to destroy their Mother Tree in order to avoid being discovered and attacked by creatures from other megaverses, while the creatures of the current megaverse were using their Mother Tree to buy time until an Immortal could appear. Both were acting for the sake of their own people.

There was no absolute right or wrong.

“What do you intend to do?” asked Greater Sancte Green Lotus.

“Destroy the Mother Tree.”

“And this civilization?”

“Whether they can produce an Immortal has nothing to do with me. They have ruined their Mother Tree in order to survive, just as I will ruin their future to protect my own civilization. Neither is necessarily wrong. Strength decides everything.”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus smiled, but he said no more. His goal had been achieved.

Lu Yin had not disappointed him.

Mercy had its place, but that depended on the target. If Lu Yin showed mercy to every foreign civilization, how would he ever be able to lead humanity, given the brutality of the Aevum Inch?

Green Lotus would have been disappointed if Lu Yin had decided to spare this Mother Tree.

Leading a civilization required more than mercy.

Lu Yin glanced at Greater Sancte Green Lotus. “Senior, are you underestimating me? I fought my way up from the very bottom of the Tianyuan, and I’ve also already slaughtered those giant snails.”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus said, “Dukkha changes things. You can merge with the will of the Tianyuan and guide others toward goodness. To be honest, that makes me worry you will become a saint. I hope you remain the Lu Yin I know, never changing, even when dealing with civilizations that have not opposed humanity.”

Lu Yin smiled. “Even saints can kill.”

With that, he entered the megaverse, unseen by any of the inhabitants.

No matter how many Dukkhans lived in the megaverse, to Lu Yin, they were all nothing more than ants.

He arrived at the base of the Mother Tree and pressed a hand against it. There was no life left in it, and the tree was in even worse shape than the last one. “Let me free you. Let things end here.”

There was a powerful jolt, and the entire tree shuddered.

Panic rippled through the inhabitants of the Mother Tree.

The Dukkhans all surged out as one, ignoring the storm that filled their universe while searching for the cause of the shudder.

However, the very next instant, the entire Mother Tree was turned to ash, startling everyone.

The creatures who had been living in the tree fell down, though all who were qualified to have such a dwelling also possessed the strength to survive the fall.

Most creatures never gained the qualifications to live in the Mother Tree. They were left to bitterly struggle through the calamities that shook their universe. Only after passing a certain threshold were they allowed to enter a residence in the Mother Tree.

It took unfathomable power to reduce the entire tree to ash, and the Dukkhans were left aghast. The strongest among them was a peak Dukkhan, and the entire civilization was waiting for their breakthrough to the Immortal realm.

But even that peak Dukkhan was struck speechless.

None dared to move.

They could sense that a mighty hand was at work, though they could not fathom what it might be. Their instincts screamed fear.

Suddenly, the peak Dukkhan focused on Lu Yin. While the creature seemed to lack eyes, that was only by human standards. It was possible for creatures without eyes to “see” just as much as humans, or possibly even more, as in the case of the Allsenses.

Lu Yin was not concealing himself, as he wanted to learn if these creatures had ever encountered humans before.

If they had, then there might be a clue to another human civilization. If not, Lu Yin had no objection to being seen. Very seldom did civilizations communicate with others in the Aevum Inch. Even if another civilization tried to find humans through this megaverse, they would not learn anything.

After sensing Lu Yin, the peak Dukkhan did not act rashly. Instead, it sent out a trembling voice. “Honored powerhouse, why have you destroyed our home?”

As green motes flowed into his inner universe, Lu Yin stared at the creature. “We’ve met before.”

The creature grew puzzled. “We’ve met? When?”

Lu Yin vanished, leaving the entire megaverse. The creatures had never seen humans before, which meant that there was no need to continue communicating with them.

Out of a hundred civilizations in the Aevum Inch, perhaps only one had ever had contact with humanity. Searching as Lu Yin had tried was little more than a gamble. While it would be good if he learned something, it was also fine if he gained nothing.

After Lu Yin left, the peak Dukkham stared into the Aevum Inch. It knew that the powerful expert had left the megaverse, though it could not tell which way. It also did not dare to try to pursue. The fact that it had not even been able to sense Lu Yin’s departure was proof enough that it was no match for the invader.

For an encounter with a foreigner, merely losing their Mother Tree could be considered a blessing.

Once he was back in the Aevum Inch, Lu Yin said, “Alright, let’s head back.”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus asked, “Were you testing that creature?”

“I wanted to see if there are other human civilizations in the Aevum Inch.”

“The odds of finding one in such a manner are very remote, but there is also no better method. I have tried myself, though I found nothing.”

Lu Yin was immediately reminded of Hong’er. “Senior, how far is Hong’er’s megaverse from our human megaverses?”

Long ago, one of Qi Xu’s emotions had not even managed to escape from the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm before Greater Sancte Green Lotus fused it with Hong’er. Hong’er was an alien species, so which megaverse was she from?

Greater Sancte Green Lotus replied, “As I’ve said before, from time to time, foreigners enter our human civilization. Some arrive by coincidence, and others arrive deliberately. Some are slain, while others are taken in. Hong’er, like the foreigners that you are sheltering, arrived by happenstance.”

He looked at Lu Yin. “She only wears red because she likes the color. She has no connection to the Crimson Starshade.”

Lu Yin nodded and asked no further.