Chapter 4157: Pursuit

Greater Sancte Blood Tower blankly stared ahead for a moment before looking at Lu Yin.

He just gave the Immortal a wry smile. “Senior, that’s just her personality.”

“Much too disrespectful,” Greater Sancte Blood Tower announced despite not actually being upset.

Lu Yin glanced at the small boat and then mentioned to Greater Sancte Blood Tower, “We have plenty of time. Give her some time. Things will get better once she’s become a bit familiar with you.”

Greater Sancte Blood Tower nodded. “True. She and I have many common topics.”

“Such as?”

“I also have a branch of the River of Aeons.”

“Alright then.”

Another hundred years passed before Ancestor Lu Yuan opened his eyes again to look at Luo Chan. He still could not sense anything at all.

The little bug had actually fallen asleep.

Tuo Lin had also fallen asleep.

Some distance away, Greater Sancte Blood Tower was beside the River of Aeons, staring out at the flowing current, saying something.

Lu Yin looked over. This same sight had played out multiple times already. Throughout the years, Greater Sancte Blood Tower had continuously sought out Zhao Ran, forcing her to move her boat farther away from the bank of the river. Whenever Zhao Ran returned, Blood Tower would try to go speak with her again, prompting her to retreat once more. Greater Sancte Blood Tower would follow along the bank. He wanted to discuss the power of time with Zhao Ran, and his efforts drove Zhao Ran to the edge of exasperation.

Lu Yin wanted to help Zhao Ran, but Greater Sancte Blood Tower never shown the slightest hint of aggression, nor had he said a single unfriendly word. He remained genuinely enthusiastic to speak with Zhao Ran, and he did not mind her indifferent attitude. The man’s entire focus was solely on the prospect of improving himself, and that upbeat, earnest spirit made it difficult for anyone to interrupt the man.

Lu Yin could only choose to avoid looking at them, as that helped to ease his own frustrations.

“Your album of time is truly ingenious! It even allows someone weak to fight against a powerhouse. Even a non-Immortal would have a chance to escape from an Immortal. Very good, truly excellent! Zhao Ran, you’re incredibly clever, deserving of a ferryman of the River of Aeons.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

“Paper cut-outs? Trimming snapshots of time again and again before finally letting the reversed flow crash into the oncoming current of the River of Aeons. How brilliant! Truly brilliant! That Wei Nu was quite clever too.”

“What? There’s more? Keep going, don’t stop! Right, I haven’t even mentioned anything about my own temporal techniques yet. My apologies, here’s how I do things...”

Still standing on the riverbank, Greater Sancte Blood Tower held nothing back, openly sharing all of the ways that he manipulated the power of time.

Zhao Ran was initially extremely annoyed and wanted nothing more than to get rid of the man as quickly as possible, but the more she heard, the more absorbed she became in what he had to say. After all, Greater Sancte Blood Tower was an Immortal. When it came to his ways of using the power of time, he had taken a completely different path from that of a ferryman. Neither was better or worse than the other; the man had simply been too modest about his abilities.

In truth, Blood Tower’s own insights into the power of time benefited Zhao Ran greatly.

“Oh right, there was another one. That Unbroken Time creature from the Nest civilization. It’s a pity I didn’t get to fight it. Mr. Lu said that its mastery of time was quite refined. Its first technique was a line of frozen time...

“Second: Returning Time, known as ‘Dawn’...

“Third: banishing something into the River of Aeons. You’re already very familiar with that, so there’s no need to elaborate...

“Fourth: similar to the third, but using the River of Aeons to simply wash away everything. That’s probably a technique that you ferrymen frequently employ.

“Fifth was its ultimate move and also the strangest one. It was called ‘Momentless.’ It would compare a target to the template of an Immortal’s lifespan...”

Zhao Ran silently listened quietly. The truth was that Lu Yin had already shared how Unbroken Time had used the power of time with her, especially the creature’s final move, which had used a temporal template. Lu Yin had hoped that Zhao Ran would be able to modify the idea to create an ultimate technique of her own, one that would allow a non-Immortal to kill an Immortal, but Zhao Ran had never gained the slightest hint of how to proceed.

Unbroken Time had been a truly bizarre lifeform. From Zhao Ran’s perspective, the creature had been even more mystical than a ferryman, and the creature had certainly used the power of time with much greater variety.

Despite having already heard all that the Greater Sancte had to say, Blood Tower’s open and unrestrained sharing felt like truly genuine discussion. Because of this, Zhao Ran’s expression as she looked at him grew noticeably softer.

After the Immortal had finished speaking, Zhao Ran showed a small, rare smile and offered a hint of a bow. “Senior, please forgive my earlier discourtesy.”

Greater Sancte Blood Tower waved a hand. “Don’t say that. We’re all friends here. Think nothing of it. Besides, when it comes to you, I might not even be the senior.”

Zhao Ran replied with a faint smile, “I was born of Wei Nu, and while she may have lived longer than you, I certainly have not.”

“That’s true. Your temperament is considered good already. The other ferrymen I’ve met would barely even respond to anyone. You really are quite different from them.”

“I am rotten goods.”

“...”

Lu Yin heard her comment and could not hold back a smile. For a moment, it felt as if he were seeing the old Zhao Ran again.

The moment that she became a ferryman of the River of Aeons, Zhao Ran had changed entirely. While her loyalty to human civilization remained, her personality had become cold and solitary. The last time she smiled was when Lu Yin had abandoned the Tianyuan and had deliberately stopped by just to see her once more. This was the second time that she had smiled.

Greater Sancte Blood Tower possessed his own kind of charm. Despite being an Immortal powerhouse, he possessed no arrogance whatsoever. Lu Yin could understand why Greater Sancte Awe Gate had once taken the man’s blow strike head-on yet remained standing despite bleeding and retreating seven steps.

There was no doubt that Greater Sancte Blood Tower had held back at that moment.

At that time, Awe Gate’s challenge had essentially been an attempt to take a step upward by stepping on Greater Sancte Blood Tower. Could Blood Tower have instantly killed her? Not necessarily. If he had attacked with his full strength, not even Lu Yin was confident that he could completely block such an attack without merging with the will of a megaverse. At best, Awe Gate’s strength had been equal to Lu Yin’s previous power when she had challenged Blood Tower, and there was a chance that she had been even weaker. Lu Yin had always been confident in his understanding of the exchange between Awe Gate and Blood Tower.

Still, it remained a fact that Greater Sancte Awe Gate had withstood an Immortal’s attack, even if her success was not wholly due to her own strength. It was a fact that Greater Sancte Blood Tower had deliberately restrained himself.

He had allowed her success.

The Nine Odysseys Megaverse was home to a truly peculiar civilization. On one hand, they ruthlessly plundered the Spirit Nidus’s resources and controlled the life and death of all cultivators there. On the other, they treated those whom they acknowledged with almost excessive kindness; Lu Yin himself was the best example of that.

He had originally believed that he would face suppression and pursuit when he had entered the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, no different from when he had first gone to the Perennial World. But in reality, it had been entirely different.

In the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, Lu Yin had received warmth, much like he had in the Tianyuan Megaverse.

As he watched Greater Sancte Blood Tower conversing with Zhao Ran from the riverbank, Lu Yin felt that it was a truly comforting scene.

He hoped that both people would be able to grow from their conversation.

At that moment, Greater Sancte Blood Tower looked over. “Mr. Lu, staring into space is pointless. You should fish in the River of Aeons instead. Observe the changes that time brings about and the stories of civilization, the joys and sorrows. You might just be able to gain some insights.”

Lu Yin walked over to the edge of the river. “Very well.”

He had fished in the river before, which had revealed many scenes to him. However, he had never done so with the purpose of cultivating his mental state. He finally had the time to try that.

Lu Yuan watched the exchange and then closed his eyes again to continue sensing.

He did not know how much time had passed before he opened his eyes again. He saw Lu Yin and Greater Sancte Blood Tower both standing in front of him, observing him. Lu Yuan could tell that a very long amount of time had gone by.

“I still cannot sense anything.”

Greater Sancte Blood Tower sighed. “It appears that our expectations were misplaced after all.”

Lu Yuan glanced at the man. His phrasing was oddly ambiguous.

Lu Yin was unwilling to accept failure. He looked at Luo Chan inside the Blood Tower. The bug was still sleeping comfortably.

Lu Yin’s eyes suddenly flickered. “Ancestor, could it be that you can’t sense anything because it isn’t actually teleporting?”

Lu Yuan glanced at Luo Chan, and then back at Lu Yin. “That should make no difference.”

“We’ve waited this long. We might as well make another attempt. I’m going to chase it.” A sharp glint flickered in Lu Yin’s eyes.

Lu Yuan nodded. “Very well. No matter how long it takes, continue as long as you wish.”

Greater Sancte Blood Tower also agreed. “At the very least, we shouldn’t allow it to simply relax.”

Lu Yin approached the Blood Tower and entered it.

Luo Chan jolted awake inside of the tower and stared at the visitor. “Human, what are you doing?”

It still had no idea what the people were trying to do. No one would ever imagine something like growing an innate gift.

Lu Yin smirked. “I’m here to kill you.”

Luo Chan trembled. “What did you say?”

Lu Yin stepped forward and attacked the bug.

Luo Chan instantly teleported out of the way. Without that ability, it would never be able to outrun Lu Yin.

The first strike missed, but Lu Yin turned to continue his pursuit.

“Human, you can’t kill me! There’s my master and also a fishing civilization behind me. Do you humans want to be destroyed?”

“Human, you’re insane!”

“Human...”

Luo Chan frantically teleported about inside the Blood Tower as Lu Yin chased without letting up for even a moment. He did not even bother speaking. If the bug happened to reveal information regarding the fishing civilization behind it, that would be nothing more than a welcome bonus.

They were not actively seeking that information, but passively receiving it would involve no risk.

Lu Yuan closed his eyes once more to continue trying to sense the bug’s ability, while Greater Sancte Blood Tower returned to the riverbank to continue his discussion with Zhao Ran.

Time flowed on.

Luo Chan eventually fell silent. It had no idea why Lu Yin insisted on attacking it. It had become clear that the human had no real intentions of killing Luo Chan. Instead, it seemed that Lu Yin was determined to force the bug to continuously teleport.

But what was the point of that?

Could he be trying to learn my teleportation ability? Impossible. This is a natural ability. No one can copy it.

Despite seeing that Lu Yin was holding back, Luo Chan did not dare to stop moving. What if the human slipped up? The bug only had its one life. Once that was gone, there would be nothing left.

Finally, the day came when Lu Yuan opened his eyes again. This time, they were blazing with excitement. He had sensed the bug’s teleportation ability. It felt like a cultivation breakthrough, or like glimpsing another reality.

Lu Yin noticed the reaction and immediately left the Blood Tower.

Greater Sancte Blood Tower sealed the Blood Tower so that Luo Chan could neither see nor hear anything that happened outside.

“Ancestor, what happened?” Lu Yin asked urgently.

Lu Yuan answered, struggling to contain his excitement. “I sensed it! It’s like experiencing another form of existence.”

“You really sensed it? That’s wonderful!” Lu Yin let out a long breath. After spending so long in the Mirari Realm, they finally had some progress.

On the other hand, Greater Sancte Blood Tower sighed. “Don’t celebrate just yet. This is only the first step.”

Lu Yin nodded. “Yes, it’s just the first step, but now that we have taken it, the second step is no longer impossible.”

He looked at a distant location and called out to Tuo Lin, waking the man.

“Master, were you looking for us?” Tuo Lin quickly arrived, Yan Ruyu beside him.

The Verdant Sage’s form had grown increasingly distinct, and the statue of Lu Yin on her back now seemed to carry a vivid spirit.

Lu Yin patted Tuo Lin’s shoulder in encouragement before directing a gentle smile towards Yan Ruyu. “Little Ruyu, your master needs your help with something.”

Yan Ruyu immediately grew excited, which caused the space near her to tremble slightly. “Master, just say the word! I will accomplish whatever you need!”

Lu Yin was not entirely sure how to explain the matter to her. Instead, he simply said, “This bit of a green stalk contains a certain power that I want you to channel into the soil over there.”

“Rest assured, Master, I can definitely do it!” Yan Ruyu enthusiastically hurried forward.

Greater Sancte Blood Tower divided the inside of the Blood Tower into two sections so that Luo Chan was contained in one while Yan Ruyu could enter the other.

With the two separate areas, Luo Chan had no idea that Yan Ruyu, another Verdant Sage, was present. The Blood Tower’s power could even isolate the aura of the Immortal Lord’s green stalk.

Similarly, Yan Ruyu had no idea that Luo Chan was present.