Chapter 4173: Sword And Shield

In the Aevum Inch’s ecosystem, whatever rung a civilization occupied was where it would stay. If one forced its way past that rung, all that awaited was destruction at the hands of civilizations from a higher rung.

Even if humanity managed to defeat Obscura, what lay beyond it? Were there even more powerful civilizations somewhere out there?

With Obscura, human civilization still had a sliver of room to resist. But if an even more terrifying civilization appeared, human civilization might be instantly crushed, just like what had happened to the Nine Ramparts that Ancestor Shan had once seen across the cosmos. Even the peak of human civilization had been annihilated just the same.

That was the true law of the cosmos.

That was also what self-awareness truly meant.

Lu Yin moved towards the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm while mulling over Ancestor Shan’s words.

Lu Yin was not wrong, Master Qing Cao was not wrong, and Ancestor Shan was certainly not wrong. It was simply that all three possessed a different understanding of survival and of the cosmos itself. It all came down to which path human civilization would choose.

Given Lu Yin’s personality, it was only natural that he would choose to walk the path towards becoming a fishing civilization. He would, step by step, climb up and overcome any force that stood as the enemy of human civilization.

But what if the end at that path was ultimate destruction?

He had no way to argue against Ancestor Shan’s words.

After entering the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm and confirming that the Immortal Lord was not tailing him, Lu Yin teleported back to the Tianyuan, where he met with Greater Sancte Blood Tower before teleporting again to reach the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. Awe Gate and Ku Deng both appeared there as well.

Lu Yin shared everything that had happened on his journey. When he finished, everyone’s expressions had turned grim.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus said, “Senior Shan’s knowledge of the Aevum Inch is much greater than any of ours. Our human civilization is constantly growing stronger, as has been proven by both the Immortal Lord’s retreat and the Seven-Treasure Anuras’ wariness. And yet, in that senior’s eyes, we are still on a road to destruction?”

Greater Sancte Blood Tower frowned. “Is such a dark outlook really necessary? If so, then how did any fishing civilization come to be? Is that toad saying that all of those civilizations will ultimately be destroyed as well? What? Are we supposed to just not grow stronger?”

Ku Deng sighed. “We can’t see how those civilizations will end.”

Awe Gate looked up. “Forget the Aevum Inch for a moment. Consider only our own territory. If some species in our megaverses managed to grow strong enough to actually threaten humanity, what would become of it? Beyond us lies the Aevum Inch. For those species, the Aevum Inch is a road leading straight to their destruction because there will always be some civilization that can wipe them out.”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus’s expression was solemn. “Lu Yin, what do you think?”

Lu Yin’s expression appeared conflicted. “I don’t know either. Our human civilization has encountered too many enemies. We once had a brush with the Death Megaverse. If they returned again now, would they still let us go?”

The others glanced at each other. This was a valid concern. In the past, the only reason why the Death Megaverse had abandoned human civilization was because they had deceived them by destroying a Mother Tree while Greater Sancte Green Lotus had drawn their attention elsewhere far away. Only then had humanity avoided absolute calamity.

To the Death Megaverse, a civilization willing to sacrifice their Mother Tree as the price of survival was not worth the effort to destroy, even if it managed to persist. An Immortal was more valuable than that.

However, things had changed since then. If the Death Megaverse saw their human civilization’s current strength, would they still be willing to walk away?

Either both sides would hold each other in check, with the Death Megaverse concerned about the cost of launching a war against humanity, or that civilization would choose to ignore all such concerns and simply annihilate humanity. Those were the only two options. It was no longer possible for the Death Megaverse to simply ignore humanity; they no longer had the “privilege” of being undeserving of notice.

That was precisely what made their situation so dangerous.

When a civilization gained enough strength that others could no longer ignore them, what would follow could only be disaster.

Greater Sancte Blood Tower gave a bitter smile. “The most awkward situation is being too big to ignore yet too small to dominate. We are currently stuck right in the middle.”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus calmly gazed out across the Sea of Karma, his eyes unfocused on what lay before him, lost in unknown thoughts.

Lu Yin glanced over at the man. Had Greater Sancte Green Lotus really never considered the matters that Senior Shan had mentioned?

Greater Sancte Green Lotus was himself an ancient being, and his knowledge of the Aevum Inch might not be lacking by much when compared to Shan. After all, humans were more inclined towards contemplation.

“Senior, did you ever have a plan for the Nine Odysseys Megaverse’s path forward?” Lu Yin asked.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus met Lu Yin’s eyes. “Hiding.”

“Just hiding?”

“I never considered a second option, just hiding,” Greater Sancte Green Lotus replied with certainty.

Lu Yin understood. Greater Sancte Green Lotus had never wanted to think beyond that. As long as human civilization could remain hidden away, why worry about a distant future?

But they needed to consider precisely those matters at this time because their human civilization had already been exposed.

Obscura, the Seven-Treasure Anuras, the Nest civilization, and more civilizations would learn about humanity in the future. The choice to remain hidden had already failed.

Since that path had failed, humanity should learn from the Seven-Treasure Anuras.

Lu Yin’s gaze swept across the others present. “We’ll use progress as our sword and concealment as our shield. This is the path that our human civilization should pursue, as we’ve already been exposed.

“We will also take our own strength as our sword, and the enemies surrounding us as our shield. That is another path open to us, because we have no other choice.”

As everyone looked at Lu Yin, their eyes brightened.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus smiled. “You see our situation clearly. ‘Already exposed’ and ‘no choice.’ Those two phrases determine the path that our civilization should take. We don’t need to be as arrogant as the Seven-Treasure Anuras, nor do we need to hide as we once did. Obscura can serve as our most effective shield. If we are able to withstand Obscura, they will serve as our shield.”

Greater Sancte Blood Tower nodded. “I never thought the day would come when a mortal enemy would serve as our protection. But what if Obscura focuses everything that they have on eliminating us?”

Lu Yin raised his gaze. “Then we die together. There is still one final path: we take fearlessness in the face of death as our sword, and mutual annihilation as our shield.

“We will drag whoever wants to annihilate us down with us.

“Our human civilization is surrounded by powerful enemies. There’s not only the Seven-Treasure Anuras and the Nest civilization, but also the Death Megaverse. At worst, we will expose our coordinates to the Death Megaverse and draw them here.”

“There’s also the springboard civilization,” Awe Gate added.

Greater Sancte Blood Tower exclaimed, “Anyone who comes after us will just end up unlucky.”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus laughed. “Three paths lay before us. At least one of them is the one we will ultimately follow. For now, no matter what we choose, we must focus on increasing our strength. If we can gain one or two more Immortals, then there will truly be no one left to fear.”

Their situation had been made clear. The Nest civilization had left, and the Seven-Treasure Anuras were no longer potential enemies. Humanity’s only remaining enemy was Obscura. Lan Meng had been heavily injured, but regardless of whether Obscura sent other experts over, their human civilization would be capable of handling it. The only real headache that they had was the expert from Obscura who continued to hide in the Tianyuan.

So long as that being did not appear, they would remain a source of unease.

Fortunately, humanity had obtained the ability to teleport. What they needed to do next was to further strengthen human civilization as a whole, while also searching for a megaverse that could serve as humanity’s refuge as a last resort. They were determined to ensure that their civilization was passed down even in the event of their own destruction.

Jiang Feng, Mister Mu, and the Origin Progenitor were all capable of breaking through to the Immortal realm at any moment. What their human civilization lacked was time.

They would continue forward, step by step. They would not force themselves to become a fishing civilization that would break the Aevum Inch’s ecosystem, but they would still ensure that they possessed the power to preserve themselves under their current circumstances.

If summarized in one word, it would be “steady.” An alternative was “waiting.”

In the past, humanity had been powerless, facing danger at every turn. They had since become capable of standing firm, of waiting.

“By the way, Senior Awe Gate, can we visit that civilization with the vision techniques?” Lu Yin asked.

Everyone turned to look at the woman.

“We can, but we must wait. When the time is right, I’ll take you there.”

Lu Yin nodded. “Alright.”

No one pressed the matter any further. Awe Gate would speak when she was ready. It was likely that the matter was related to Qing Yun’s origins.

The human civilization that had once been plagued by internal conflict and external threats currently faced no true threats, aside from the hidden expert from Obscura. They had no need to fight against any external threats, which meant that things grew quiet for a time.

The path that their human civilization walked would not be a dazzling one. They would rise through steadiness and patience.

Lu Yin left the Nine Odysseys Megaverse to return to the Tianyuan. The entire megaverse had returned to its formerly prosperous condition, though ever since they had gained a rough understanding of the Aevum Inch, everyone had started to feel a weight in their hearts, and they could no longer be as carefree as before.

In this way, 100 years passed.

For cultivators, a hundred years was a brief amount of time, yet this century felt long to Lu Yin. Only a bit more than 500 years had passed since the day that Lu Yin had first started cultivating, when the time that he had spent in his die’s Timestop Space and the Mirari Realm were not taken into consideration.

Lu Yin continued to cultivate during these 100 years. He would occasionally make trips with Greater Sancte Green Lotus to search for a suitable megaverse on the other side of the Gate of Laws. Each search took decades, yet they yielded nothing. The farther they went, the more likely they would stumble upon another powerful civilization, and no one knew how long their search could potentially take.

At the moment, their human civilization was stable, yet no one knew what would be the next source of turmoil.

It might be Obscura, or perhaps the Immortal Lord would sell humanity’s location. It was even possible that the Death Megaverse might return.

Lu Yin and Greater Sancte Green Lotus did not dare to stray too far away from home.

Aside from seeking a megaverse that could serve as a refuge, Lu Yin spent decades cultivating. Unfortunately, his realm meant that his cultivation could no longer rapidly improve. He needed to progress slowly, step by step.

The same was true of Ancestor Lu Yuan and the others.

Long ago, when they had bowed to the Origin Progenitor and accepted him as their master, the Three Realms and Six Daos’ cultivation had swiftly risen through the early stages, but once they became Progenitors, things had slowed. This was partly due to the fact that the Origin Progenitor had forbidden his disciples from breaking into the Origin realm. Thus, their cultivation had only crept forward despite long eons passing.

Lu Yin spoke with Greater Sancte Green Lotus, and the Immortal mentioned that, if his own cultivation time were likened to a hundred years, then the first ten had been the fastest, while the remaining ninety had been painfully slow. The greater one’s talent, the more that this was true. No matter how monstrous one’s talent was, time was still needed for them to accumulate power.

Lu Yin had finally entered the phase of accumulation.

Whether it was tempering his mental state before attempting a breakthrough to the Immortal realm or cultivating Extremes Must Be Reversed, karma, wishforce, and the rest of his powers, nothing could be improved quickly. Lu Yin could only calm his heart and proceed slowly.

In the Mindscape Megaverse, Ku Zhan watched in shock as two figures darted about, criss-crossing through the universe.

So is this a battle between Immortals? The pressure being used is suffocating.

Far away, two figures were constantly flashing past each other. When they collided, there were earth-shattering impacts.

Each exchange warped the Mindscape Megaverse as a whole, forcing Ku Zhan to retreat farther and farther from the megaverse.

Bang.

Bang, bang.

The deafening booms shattered the void. The sound was followed by a terrifying rift that crashed down. It was as if a new Deeprift Universe had appeared within the Mindscape Megaverse and was pressing down with its full force.

Lu Yin watched as the rift approached, another one opening beneath his feet.

One was produced by Ku Deng, while the other belonged to the Mindscape Megaverse itself.

The two rifts, one above and the other below, closed in on Lu Yin. He closed his eyes and allowed them to slam into him.

From beyond the Mindscape Megaverse, it looked as if the entire megaverse was warping. Ku Zhan grew afraid that the battle might actually force the Mindscape Megaverse to reset.

But the truth of the matter was that Lu Yin and Ku Deng were not actually fighting each other. At least, neither one was using Lifeforce or Immortal matter.