Chapter 4109: Decision

Lu Yin met Wei Rong’s gaze. “What are you trying to say?”

Wei Rong said, “I once tried to seize more, only to end up losing even more. If Your Highness hadn’t shown mercy, there would be no Wei Cheng. When considering what I have now, should I not feel uneasy looking back? Afraid of what might have easily been?

“I don’t know why so many civilizations are targeting humanity. Either it’s because of the law of survival in the cosmos, or... human civilization is keeping something that doesn’t belong to us.

“At least, something that should not belong to us now.”

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. He was immediately reminded of the red coffin.

“Are you suggesting that we... discard it?”

Wei Rong replied, “When we are unable to fully understand our enemy, reducing our baggage as much as possible can allow us to be more agile.”

Lu Yin stared at Wei Rong. The man had changed. In the past, Wei Rong had been calculating and cunning, to the point where no one had dared to cross him.

As Lu Yin had once framed it, Wang Wen could see the grand strategy of matters, while Wei Rong schemed tactically.

Yet it appeared that Wei Rong had now seen through life. His manner of thought had shifted. Unlike Wang Wen’s casual manner, Wei Rong was more inclined to reflect, and he considered his life experiences, as well as what he had gained and lost in the past.

Wang Wen looks to the future, while Wei Rong looks to the past.

“You’ve changed.”

Wei Rong bowed. “A moment ago, I was still the same me.”

Lu Yin laughed. “Your child changed you, and he also gave me light. He’s a lovely child.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.” Wei Rong bowed again before leaving.

Lu Yin looked up at the stars once more and then released his Karmic Dao, merging it with the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm. It was time to choose.

Above the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm, Greater Sancte Green Lotus gazed at Lu Yin with a complicated expression, a bit of helplessness in the older man’s eyes. “Have you truly made your decision?”

Lu Yin slowly exhaled. It was a decision that weighed on him enormously. It felt like he was abandoning all that had been. It was a decision that could only be reached with cold logic. “This is the only choice to take care of all of humanity.

“How can any eggs remain intact beneath a toppled nest?”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus offered a bitter smile. “When the Nine Odysseys Megaverse gained four Greater Sancti, I believed that our human civilization would be able to control its own destiny. I was naive and too ignorant of the Aevum Inch.

“Thank you, Mister Lu.”

Lu Yin looked at him. “How much time can you still give me?”

“Hard to say. When Lan Meng learned the truth of Qi Xu’s death, it stepped in to replace her as our opponent. From that moment until the Tricolor Skyborne appeared, only about seventeen years passed by Awe Gate’s reckoning.

“We should use those seventeen years as a baseline. The civilization that the snails are luring towards us should have taken about that long to reach us without Obscura’s meddling. It could be less, but not to the point of being just a few short years.

“After all, that civilization was some distance away from the Tricolor Skyborne.

“It’s only been about a year since we discovered those snails, which gives you at least five to eight years to prepare.”

Lu Yin nodded. “Good. During that time, I’ll transfer a large number of the Tianyuan’s cultivators over to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, while sending the rest to hide in various parallel universes. Unless the Tianyuan is completely destroyed, the majority will be able to survive.”

“Publicly, we’ll announce that we’re leaving through Obscura’s gate.”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus was taken aback. “Leaving through Obscura’s gate?”

Lu Yin nodded. Wei Rong had inspired that idea. He was someone who excelled at preparing for disaster before it struck, as well as scheming against enemies in subtle ways, even against ones that did not seem to even exist yet.

He had prepared schemes that he did not even know if they would ever be useful or not, or even how. But once they were used, they could prove to be quite effective.

For most people, Lu Yin would simply say that people were moving to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse to participate in the civilizational war. However, there would be some “clever” individuals, and for them, he had prepared the excuse of leaving through Obscura’s gate.

Lu Yin could not actually lead humanity through that gate. There were other civilizations on the other side, but that was not something that others could be sure about. Only Greater Sancte Green Lotus, who had already passed through the gate, knew anything about what lay beyond it.

This plan could potentially flush something out, or it might not. It was, at worst, a move made in passing.

While thinking about this, Lu Yin asked, “Senior, if we actually did try to leave through Obscura’s gate, would it be possible?”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus nodded. "It is possible. While there are indeed civilizations on the other side of that gate, it is rare for a civilization to have Immortals. However, you cannot forget one thing: that gate is Obscura’s, and since they determine what that gate is connected to, there is undoubtedly a powerful civilization on the other side which is capable of annihilating humanity.

“That is why, when I passed through, I acted with the greatest caution and refrained from probing too much. I wanted to avoid inviting calamity upon us.”

Lu Yin’s eyes flashed. That gate was one of Obscura’s tools to destroy humanity, and yet it could also serve as one of humanity’s escape routes. If worse came to worst, the only option would be to evacuate through that gate.

“There’s one more thing that I’d like to ask your help with.”

“Speak.”

“Please help me to search the Consciousness Megaverse for the Willbound Spire. I want to see if we can find any traces of Tai Chu, the Origin Progenitor of the Tianyuan’s humanity.”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus’s expression grew complicated. “The Willbound Spire?

“Right, you succeeded in comprehending the mural in the Sea of Karma because of your experiences within the Willbound Spire, correct?”

Lu Yin nodded. “In the visions of the past that I saw in that place, I saw you comprehending karma, Senior, and also you losing your innocent smile.”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus smiled bitterly. “Innocent? How could someone innocent possibly comprehend karma? Without a profound awakening, how could anyone see through the cycle of cause and effect?

“The consciousness within the Willbound Spire does not understand humanity. It is not human. It was born with innate advantages. Just like that droplet-shaped Verdant Sage, it could easily step into the Immortal realm and even grasp karma. That power comes from the blessing of its very existence. We are ordinary. By what right could we ever match it?

“The partner it seeks is something no human could ever become.”

Lu Yin agreed. His path to karma had been no easier than the Greater Sancte’s. Lu Yin had survived plots and poison, struggling to resolve those threats and survive. Only Lu Xiaoxuan had ever had innocent eyes. Such eyes had never belonged to Lu Yin.

“Such a lifeform will never be able to comprehend how humans must suffer in order to comprehend karma,” the Greater Sancte concluded.

Lu Yin asked, “Have you also visited the Willbound Spire, Senior?”

“Of course, more than once. I wanted to know how it saw me, what manner of lifeform it is, and what qualifications allowed it to comprehend karma while retaining an innocent heart. To me, that is incomprehensible.”

“It’s beyond me as well.”

“Your Tri-Azure Sword Intent and Heaven and Earth Lock both came from that lifeform, did they not?”

“Yes. Can you tell me what that lifeform is, Senior?”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus shook his head.

“Is it... dead?”

“I do not know. Only its consciousness remains, and yet it is utterly different from how Yue Ya was. The being is still overflowing with vitality.” He paused. “In truth, I hope that the owner of that consciousness still lives. It searches for innocent hearts, yearning for truth, goodness, and beauty. Such a being might one day lend humanity a hand.

“In the cosmos, we cannot rely on the help of others, but when pushed to the brink, we may have no other choice.”

Lu Yin nodded.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus’s gaze grew distant. “Where all emotions finally rest, there is only peace. Lu Yin, when the heart is at peace, that is home.”

With that, the Immortal vanished.

Lu Yin returned to the mountain behind the Heavens Sect, Green Lotus’s words still echoing in his mind.

When emotions rest, there is only peace...

When one’s heart is at peace, they have found home...

Is my heart at peace?

He had gained peace from having Ming Yan enter the Investiture of the Gods, but he also felt peace from the woman brewing tea beside him.

...

The Heavens Sect soon issued new edicts. A conscription notice was issued to cultivators, sending them to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse to fight. Simultaneously, to prevent other civilizations from targeting the Tianyuan, the rest of the megaverse’s people would gradually be transferred into the Cyclic Universe, the Transcendent Universe, the Lost Clan, and other parallel universes. Essentially, the main universe was being emptied out so that any enemy eying the Tianyuan would not treat it as the primary battlefield.

The main battlefield would be the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

The edicts shook the Tianyuan, and the whole megaverse started to boil. Countless people flocked to the Heavens Sect seeking information.

In response, they only received the list of conscripted cultivators.

There was also a clause attached to the list: the conscription was not compulsory. Those who were willing to go to the main front at the Nine Odysseys Megaverse would leave, while all who were unwilling would be allowed to enter the various parallel universes with the rest of the population. There was no coercion being employed, for one reason: the fighting would be brutal.

The brutality of a war between civilizations exceeded the people’s imaginations. Lives could be snuffed out like lamps, one after another. Going to the war front was like a moth going to the flame.

As for the members of the entire Heavens Sect, every last person joined the conscription.

The Outerverse’s Grandtop Weave, which bordered Frostwave Weave, was governed by the Nine Stacks Sect.

In the past, the Nine Stacks Sect had sent Tianming to infiltrate the Great Yu Empire in their desire to obtain the Skybeast Claw.

Ever since Lu Yin had united the Outerverse, Tianming had fallen under his banner, and he had overseen the Nine Stacks Sect on Lu Yin’s behalf, assisted by Lan Wu.

“Are you really leaving for the Nine Odysseys?” Lan Wu was taken aback.

Tianming nodded.

“Given your cultivation, you’re hardly qualified to join a war between civilizations.”

“How so? I’m already a Cruiser and nearly a Hunter.”

“Wars between civilizations are pure carnage. Remember the Nest invasion? A mere Sentinel Waltz nearly killed you, and those bugs are among the weakest creatures spawned by those Nests.”

Tianming smiled. “I know. But if I don’t go, and you don’t go, who will?”

Lan Wu fell silent.

“Lord Lu didn’t draft us because he knows how brutal this war will be. He left the choice to us, which means that we will die without regrets.” Tianming looked at Lan Wu. “This is a war between entire civilizations, not a petty squabble between humans. The loser will be completely destroyed.”

Lan Wu stared at him and then sighed. “Then I’m going too.”

Tianming blinked. “You?”

“What? Are you looking down on me? I’m an Enlighter. When you took over the Nine Stacks Sect for Lord Lu, you were just a Limiteer, while I was the one who propped you up. Without me, you wouldn’t have survived.”

“What about our sect here?”

“Anfield’s still here. He’s not going anywhere.”

In Vastdearth Weave, the Vastdearth Sect’s master Meng Tianlong glared at his son, Meng Yue. No one nearby dared to get involved, and they all held their tongues.

“I told you, no one can stop me! I’m going,” Meng Yue growled.

Meng Tianlong snapped, “You little bastard, what are you? Do you really think that you can step foot onto a battlefield between civilizations? Forget you—even I’ll die if I go. You want our Meng line to end?”

“I’m not afraid to die! There are other Mengs. We’re not the only branch of the family.”

“You are all I have left! Your elder brother is already gone. Don’t leave me childless.”

“You’re being too selfish!”

“You’re being ignorant!”

“Lord Lu and I were classmates. He’s leading humanity to fight against foreign civilizations. If I don’t have the courage to even set foot on the battlefield, how can I ever admit to being his former classmate?”

Meng Tianlong opened his mouth to retort, and yet no words emerged.

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