A few days later, someone reported that Old Mo could no longer be found in the Umbral Universe.
Lu Yin frowned. Where had the old man gone? Old Mo was a thorn in Lu Yin’s side, and if it was not removed, there would be endless trouble in the future.
If Old Mo joined Aeternus, humanity would gain a very powerful enemy.
After receiving Undying God’s sword, Lu Yin naturally wanted to find Old Mo and show him the blade to see if he would have some kind of reaction. But unfortunately, the man could not be found.
Lu Yin’s improved status and reputation meant that the Heavens Sect had also grown increasingly powerful. Now, many of his old enemies had either already been dealt with, or had gone into hiding.
There were times when standing higher would allow one to see further, but also not as clearly as before.
One day, Peach requested an audience, which surprised Lu Yin.
Peach was the commander of the Great Yu Empire’s Thirteen Imperial Squadrons’ Sixth Squadron. After all these years had passed, her height had increased from just 1.2 meters to 1.7 meters. She had become a great beauty, and her cultivation had risen from the Cruiser to the Enlighter realm.
While Lu Yin did not visit the Great Yu Empire very often anymore, it was much like Earth in that it represented Lu Yin’s past and rise to power. The overall combat power of the Thirteen Imperial Squadrons far exceeded what they had once been.
Every one of the commanders was at least an Enlighter."Greetings, Dao Monarch." Peach was quite calm when she arrived and bowed to Lu Yin.
Lu Yin observed the woman. "You look like you’ve been doing well. You’ve improved a lot."
Peach smiled at him, and her smile remained as sweet and cute as before, reminding Lu Yin of when he had given her snacks.
"Dao Monarch, I came here to deliver this." Peach opened her gadget and shared an image of outer space.
Lu Yin looked at it, and his expression changed. The big tree?
It was a picture that had been taken by the spacecraft that had found the big tree. Half of the tree was rooted in the void and invisible, while the other half remained exposed.
"A captain of a transport ship happened upon this scene. He remembered the Heavens Sect’s posted reward and took this picture. He initially wanted to directly report it to the Heavens Sect, but it was very difficult for him to meet with any senior officials of the Heavens Sect. Because of that, he found someone he trusted to reach out to me, and I was asked to deliver this picture to you, Dao Monarch," Peach explained.
Lu Yin was quite excited, as he had finally found the big tree again.
"They deserve to be greatly rewarded. Give me the location."
Peach quickly shared the coordinates with Lu Yin.
He found the location easily enough, but because of the amount of time that had passed since the ship had found the big tree, it was nowhere to be seen.
Lu Yin studied the area and looked at the spatial lines.
Since half of the tree had been hidden in the void, it was possible that it was also capable of fully entering the void.
However, Lu Yin could not glean anything from the spatial lines. Lu Yin was unwilling to accept this. He used Heaven's Sight and scanned the area. After a moment, he found a discrepancy. While there was nothing different about that location, there had to be a reason why Heaven’s Sight had noticed something different.
Lu Yin took a step forward and arrived at the location of the discrepancy. He moved along the spatial lines and appeared in a hole in the void.
This should be the exact location where the big tree had taken root in the void. Lu Yin had no idea where this gap might lead.
Lu Yin's current strength ensured that he could return from wherever he went. On top of that, the hole that he had found was not a hole in the universe, but rather a hole in space. It was similar to the pocket dimensions that contained hidden worlds.
There was no hesitation as Lu Yin slowly reached a hand in. He felt nothing, so he entered with his entire body next.
The scenery around him transformed, and he left outer space to arrive at a yellow lake.
The yellow light seemed dazzling, yet it was somehow quite gentle.
Lu Yin stared at the huge lake before him, feeling that it looked very familiar. Suddenly, he turned his head and looked elsewhere. He saw a figure sitting quietly on a stone beside the lake, staring at the yellow waters as though in a trance. The yellow light illuminated the figure's face, and the reflections from the lake flickered across the features.
A breeze blew by, creating ripples on the yellow lake surface.
There was no sound in the area. It looked like a peaceful landscape painting.
Lu Yin stared blankly at the figure sitting atop the stone, his mouth hanging open. After a moment, he blurted out, "Progenitor Chen?"
The unexpected voice echoed out, disrupting the peaceful setting.
Lu Yin's mind was in chaos. He had not expected to suddenly see Progenitor Chen. Wait, that meant that he was in Burial Garden, and he suddenly pieced things together.
When Lu Yin had Possessed a wandering corpse, he had happened to see Progenitor Chen sitting beside a yellow lake. It was the exact same scene that Lu Yin was seeing right now, at this moment.
The distant figure sitting on the stone looked away from the lake and turned his head to peer at Lu Yin. "Lu Yin."
Lu Yin stared at Progenitor Chen in a daze. This person’s appearance was an incredible shock. It could be said that, without Progenitor Chen, Lu Yin would have never become his current self.
When Lu Yin had first started cultivating, the very first cultivation art that he had found was the Cosmic Art. With that as his foundation, Lu Yin had quickly risen to the top, surpassing all of his peers. At no point in time had the Cosmic Art ever fallen behind his other cultivation arts. In fact, as Lu Yin progressed, the Cosmic Art had also improved. It had proven particularly effective during the battle to drive Aeternus from the Fifth Mainland, as the Cosmic Art was what had allowed Lu Yin to rescue the Progenitor of Bloodlines and drive the Aeternals out of the universe. It was also what had allowed him to fight against Xia Shenji.
Later on, Lu Yin had learned Inverse Step because of Progenitor Chen once again, and that movement technique gave Lu Yin the ability to create a field of chaotic time and space, which had enabled him to touch upon the power of time. Without the Inverse Step, it was possible that Lu Yin might have never been able to touch the power of time, even with the Withered Bark.
Lu Yin's path of cultivation was truly inseparable from Progenitor Chen, and Progenitor Chen's powers had influenced Lu Yin’s progress and cultivation for decades.
On top of that, Progenitor Chen himself was an absolute legend within the Fifth Mainland.
"We finally meet." Progenitor Chen opened his mouth to speak a second sentence.
Lu Yin still stared blankly at the man. "You know who I am?"
Progenitor Chen appeared calm, though admiration could be seen in his eyes. "Of course I know who you are. I noticed you the first time you entered Burial Garden. You’ve cultivated the Cosmic Art."
Lu Yin had no idea what to say. Unexpectedly, upon seeing Progenitor Chen, Lu Yin felt like there was a great deal he wanted to say, but all his words were stuck in his mouth and would not come out.
"This is Burial Garden. Although you have entered, it isn’t time for Burial Garden to appear," Progenitor Chen commented as he looked back at the lake.
Lu Yin felt confused. "Why not? Burial Garden was already opened."
"It is a last resort. Burial Garden is the ancient Heavens Sect’s inheritance for future generations. This place represents both hope and inheritance. Without an absolute certainty of defeating the Aeternals, Burial Garden cannot be fully opened. Humanity cannot be allowed to lose hope."
Lu Yin was surprised. Is this something that Progenitor Chen should say?
Progenitor Chen laughed. "That’s what Tombkeeper asked me to tell you. He hopes that you won’t try to force Burial Garden open."
Lu Yin asked, "What are your thoughts on this, Senior?"
Progenitor Chen gave a small smile. "Hope and inheritance are things that I don’t really think about as I excel at fighting. If not for the fact that I owe Tombkeeper a favor, I wouldn’t stay here. I belong to history."
Lu Yin looked around. Sure enough, he was in Burial Garden. Could he not force it open? This place contained the inheritances of ancient bloodlines, as well as inheritances from the Heavens Sect era. If this place was opened, it would be far more significant than the Tower of the Fifth. Burial Garden was a connection between eras. It was a terrible pity that it could not be opened.
When Lu Yin stared off into the distance, he saw that there was actually a city. It should have been built by the people who had entered Burial Garden and been trapped within it.
He saw the First Protector of the Hall of Honor, as well as Shang Qing and the Unseen Light.
These people had built a city not far from Progenitor Chen.
"Tombkeeper doesn’t want Burial Garden to be opened right now, but how is he supposed to determine the proper time to open this place?
"The Heavens Sect has returned, and we have more than fifteen Progenitor-level powerhouses, including several Sequence Progenitors. We even have equipment that can manifest sequence particles that allows even ordinary Progenitors to wield the laws of the universe. The Heavens Sect stands at the top of the Sixverse Association.”
Progenitor Chen and Lu Yin stared at each other. "Is it possible for you to defeat the Aeternals?"
Lu Yin was choked. He might have been willing to say yes to this question before, but after seeing Aeternus’s true strength, he knew that the Heavens Sect was far from strong enough.
"Senior, do you know the Aeternals’ true strength?"
Progenitor Chen looked away. "I've seen it."
"The six Scourges?"
"You’ve seen them too?" Progenitor Chen asked.
Lu Yin shared how the Great Sovereign had captured him and revealed the truth of Aeternus to him.
Progenitor Chen laughed. "That experience sounds like a legend."
Lu Yin gave a bitter smile as he sat down. "I would rather not have experienced such a legend. At the time, I really thought that that crazy woman was going to kill me."
Progenitor Chen's voice remained calm. "Those who are in the process of overcoming Dukkha have their own determination. They are obsessed with something they must overcome, but they are not genuinely mad. Still, they handle certain things very differently than people who are not overcoming Dukkha."
Lu Yin stared at Progenitor Chen. "Senior, do you have a good understanding of the Dukkha realm?"
"Overcoming Dukkha is not a realm, but rather a process. Only by overcoming Dukkha can one reach another realm. As long as you do not overcome Dukkha and are still in that process, you are still regarded as a Progenitor. There’s no huge difference in strength."
"Really?" Lu Yin thought of the Great Sovereign's power and compared the woman to Old Mo. There was a massive difference between the two.
However, since Progenitor Chen was quite familiar with the state of Dukkha, what was the man’s current cultivation level?
Just as Lu Yin was about to ask, Progenitor Chen spoke up. "How is the Xia family?"
Lu Yin felt his heart move. "Senior, did you know that my Lu family was exiled?"
"I heard about it," Progenitor Chen replied calmly.
"Xia Shenji's main body was overtaken by one of his clones, and that clone now obeys me," Lu Yin stated.
A smile spread across Progenitor Chen's face. "The Xia family is nothing but trash. Xia Shenji is a jealous person. When I was still a child, I defeated him with my own strength, so he tried to get revenge on me. His path was destined to be a pitiful one."
The man turned to look back at Lu Yin again. "What does the Fifth Mainland say about me?"
Lu Yin thought for a while. "Invincible."
"Just that?"
"That’s your reputation."
Progenitor Chen laughed. "Invincible? I would love to be invincible, but it’s impossible. If I were invincible, I would have destroyed the Scourge long ago, and I would have never allowed Ku Jie to go on ahead. I have no idea what happened to him. "
"Progenitor Ku has been brought back. My Lu family found him during their exile. They found him in outer space, though he’s become a living corpse. We don’t know how to save him."
"Haha, so that’s what happened? You don't need to save him. He will wake up sooner or later. How many of my old friends from back then are still alive? I really want to go see."
Lu Yin suddenly asked, "Senior, did Wang Xiaoyu really betray humanity?"
Progenitor Chen remained silent, refusing to answer.
Lu Yin waited in silence.
"I'm good at fighting, but I really can’t read people very well. I don’t want to think too much about what happened back then. If you want my opinion, then…" Conflicting emotions warred across Progenitor Chen's eyes as he paused for a moment. "I believe in her."
Lu Yin stared at Progenitor Chen and saw ambivalence within the man’s eyes, as well as deep affection. Progenitor Chen was a pure person. Only such a person could create a nearly invincible record.
"Are you disappointed?" Progenitor Chen asked.
Lu Yin felt confused. "Disappointed?"
OMA's Thoughts
Translated By: OMA
Edited By: Neshi/Nyxnox
TLC'ed By: OMA
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