Chapter 4110: Fallback Route

The fact that Meng Yue was Lu Yin’s old classmate had once been what the Vastdearth Sect bragged about the most. If Meng Yue did not dare to even step foot onto the battlefield, they would lose any right to mention that connection.

Meng Tianlong let out a heavy breath, seemingly instantly aging ten years. “I’ll go in your place. I’ll die in your place. Is that not enough?”

Meng Yue stared at Meng Tianlong, stunned. He could not remember his father ever speaking to him in such a manner.

“Even if you have to scrape by, even if we end up being treated as a laughingstock, just staying alive is enough,” Meng Tianlong continued to speak. He gazed at his son with an unprecedentedly complex expression.

Meng Yue clenched his fists. “I’m sorry, Father.”

Similar scenes played out across the Outerverse. No one wanted their descendants to join a battlefield in a war between civilizations. Such a place would be a deathtrap. There would be bugs swarming the entire place, and any one could kill a cultivator.

Even individuals like Evenground Palace’s Mu Nichang and the Moke Sword Sect’s Ke Yun would be nothing more than ants on that battlefield.

When the news reached the Innerverse, there was nothing different about people’s reactions.

Wen Zizai stopped Wen Sansi, Wen Qian’er, and the others from leaving. He did not even want to go himself.

So what if he was an Envoy? In the face of a foreign civilization, he would still be just another ant.

The Beast Tamer Flowzone’s Little Mountain God went straight to a parallel universe. A civilization war? Don’t joke around! That’s suicide.

Some fled, while others chose to be moths to the flame.

Li Zimo stepped out of Sword Mountain and was taken aback by the sight of Liu Tianmu, Long Yun, Liu Shaoqiu, and Liu Tang.

“What? Do only you get to go? We don’t?” Long Yun teased.

Li Zimo glanced around. “If we go, we almost certainly won’t return alive.”

Liu Tang shrugged. “When Lord Lu took Boundless to Spirit Nidus, he never expected to return. Going with all of you, I’ll have no regrets, even in death.”

“No regrets,” Liu Shaoqiu agreed. His personality leaned towards indifference, but that did not mean that his blood was cold.

Li Zimo actually smiled. “To be led by Liu Tianmu, one of the Ten Arbiters, even dying is worth it.”

Despite the fact that humanity had gained a far better understanding of the cosmos in recent years, the Ten Arbiters were still regarded as legends.

The Ten Arbiters represented the greatest geniuses of an era, and Lu Yin had once been one of them.

Even after so many years had gone by, they remained active and were still making rapid progress.

Someday, they would return to take center stage.

Liu Tianmu pushed her glasses up. "Don't mention the Ten Arbiters again. It's embarrassing."

“Haha! Let’s move.”

In the distance, elders like Liu Sanjian watched on. “We should go as well. We can’t allow ourselves to be outdone by the young. We’re already old. It’s time for us to see the world beyond.”

In Blazing Mist Flowzone, sylvan dragons flew toward the Outerverse. They had been subjugated long ago, reduced to being mere mounts.

They did not want to participate in a war between civilizations, but they were given no choice.

The Frostgate Army marched out from the Royal Frost Continent. After Progenitor Hui’s seal was undone, there had no longer been any need for them to remain there. Their Frost Emperor led them to the Outerverse.

The Starsibyl Sect, as always, remained untouched by Mr. Zhu’s actions. Starsibyl herself set out for the Outerverse, but Xuan Jiu refused to so much as lift a finger.

“You’re not going?”

“Why would I?”

“To help the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.”

“Are you sick, granddaughter? That’s a death sentence. You’re young. Don’t be reckless.”

“I want to see the outside world.”

“Eh, I’m old. I’ve already lived my life here in the Tianyuan. I suppose that one should see the outside world.”

“Then let’s go.”

“That’s not necessary. Tell me about it when you come back. Bring me pictures.”

“Shameless.”

“I’m your Ninth-Grand-”

In the Neoverse, Qing Ping led the members of the Interstellar Supreme Court towards the Outerverse, with Lei Nü and Shu Jing in tow.

“Where’s Shang Qing?”

“Already in the Outerverse.”

“He got there so quickly?”

“No, he’s been on a planet called Earth.”

“Oh, right. Because of Bai Xue?”

“That’s right.”

“What about the First Protector of Mt. Microcosms? Why isn’t he here?”

“He vanished when the news broke.”

“...”

Some old friends retreated into parallel universes, while others made their way to the Outerverse so that they could leave for the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

The same events soon played out in various parallel universes. Chu Jian, Sage Bodhi, the Food Sage, Mu Tao, Xu Wuwei, Xu Wuji, and countless other cultivators poured into the Origin Universe’s Outerverse to board the Spirit Nidus’s battleships. Many cultivators from the Spirit Nidus disembarked, choosing to either remain in the Tianyuan’s parallel universes or to return to their own home.

This time, no one moved to stop them.

Still, learning that the Nine Odysseys Megaverse would be the battlefield rattled many from the Spirit Nidus.

They could still vividly remember the scenes of war against the Nest civilization. Surviving the fighting at the front lines through pure luck meant nothing, as it was also necessary to survive the battles between the Immortals. If humanity lost, everyone would die.

The feeling of being helpless in the face of death was suffocating, and so many stepped off of the battleships.

Master Qing Cao arrived on the mountain behind the Heavens Sect. Lu Yin had been waiting for him.

“Are you truly abandoning the Tianyuan?”

Lu Yin did not even look at the man. “Even if I don’t, the situation will force me to do so.”

Qing Cao continued to stare at the young man. “You truly intend to take some through Obscura’s gate?”

“What else can I do? Leave them here to wait for death?”

“Are things really so bad? I expected you to fight to the very end, to have some backbone.”

Lu Yin gave a humorless smile. “Senior, who’s being naive now: you or me? You need to be qualified to fight to the death. Do you really believe that our civilization has those qualifications?

“Don’t tell me that you’re unaware that Lan Meng brought the Tricolor Skyborne here. You may not see it in the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm, but you must be able to speak with Obscura. You know what those snails’ presence means.

“Obscura, the Tricolor Skyborne, Astral Anura’s civilization, the Nest civilization, and a wandering Immortal monster are all looking to harass us. Do you really think that humanity has any hope?”

Qing Cao shook his head. “From what I know of you, you do not give up so easily.”

“There’s a time for everything,” Lu Yin snapped, shooting the man a glare. “With traitors like you unable to make up their mind and who might strike at us from behind, how can I not leave?

“Is it really necessary to wait for the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and the Tianyuan to fall so that the Spirit Nidus can stand alone?

“If Obscura alone were our foe, I’d understand your choice, but with so many foreign enemies arrayed against us, do you really think that the others will spare your Spirit Nidus, even if Obscura does?”

Qing Cao did not answer.

“Or did Obscura promise a way out for the Spirit Nidus? Let me guess. They promised you the use of that gate,” Lu Yin said.

Qing Cao’s expression grew conflicted.

“For our human civilization, we might have a chance if several Immortals pass through that gate. If it’s just you and the Spirit Nidus, can you survive? Or do you believe that there are no enemies on the other side?”

Qing Cao met Lu Yin’s gaze. “You aren’t planning to escape... You intend to fight on the Nine Odysseys Megaverse’s battlefield, using your unmatched combat power with no restraint or restrictions to alter the outcome of the war, don’t you?”

Lu Yin held his gaze. “Maybe.”

“If you abandon the Tianyuan, you won’t be able to unite with the will of the megaverse. You will lose your advantage against Immortals.”

“That’s still better than doing nothing. If our civilization falls, what use will a megaverse be?” Lu Yin muttered.

Qing Cao continued to stare at Lu Yin. “Thank you for being willing to take the Spirit Nidus’s people with you.”

Lu Yin sneered. “I had wanted to keep the Spirit Nidus’s people here, forcing you to stay and defend this place, but they are also human. I’m also not cruel enough, unlike you, who can decisively abandon two human megaverses. Impressive.”

Master Qing Cao turned to leave, but he threw a line back. “When you face true despair, you’ll know whether I made the right choice or not. You still don’t see the cosmos clearly.”

Lu Yin stared at the man’s back as he left. Still don’t see it clearly? What more is there to see?

There were already so many Immortals converging to destroy humanity; would clarity only arrive at the moment of death?

Given Qing Cao’s attitude, Lu Yin started to form a suspicion: if Qing Cao was aware of what lay on the other side of the Gate of Laws and yet still thanked Lu Yin for taking some of the Spirit Nidus’s people, then it seemed possible that whatever was there was not exceptionally dangerous. If the man knew nothing, he would not have offered his thanks.

Was he indirectly saying that the gate truly offered a way out?

Lu Yin fell into thought.

Leading one group away while sending others to parallel universes was all that he could do. His next headache was what to do about the Mirari Realm.

He could not take the Mirari Realm with him. If Mister Mu emerged and allowed the River of Aeons to flow freely, the Mirari Realm would drift between humanity’s megaverses, which would not be a problem.

However, Mister Mu was still in seclusion, and the River of Aeons was still anchored in place. Neither the Nine Odysseys Megaverse nor the Spirit Nidus could borrow the river’s power, and that also meant that Lu Yin’s own combat strength would drop.

Even worse, Mister Mu was sealed away.

If anything happened to the Tianyuan, what would become of Mister Mu?

Zhao Ran was also stuck in the Tianyuan; what would she do?

Lu Yin followed the River of Aeons into the Mirari Realm. He arrived on the banks of the river and looked at the battered boat bobbing on the current. “We’re leaving...”

He hid nothing from Zhao Ran, and she calmly listened to everything.

“Once we’re gone, seal the Mirari Realm. Don’t open it for anyone.”

“Immortals are able to step straight into the Mirari Realm, and I can’t stop them,” Zhao Ran stated. She then looked at Lu Yin. “But you don’t need to worry about me. I’m the ferryman of the River of Aeons. Even if the megaverse is destroyed, I’ll still be fine.”

“I’ll find a way to take you with us,” Lu Yin said quietly.

Zhao Ran shook her head. “I don’t want to leave. This is the only place where I’m of use. I may be Wei Nu’s clone, but while I’m a tiny bit smarter than she is, though only a tiny bit.”

Lu Yin could not hold back a smile, and Zhao Ran smiled back at him. It was the same smile as when she had brewed herbal teas for him, innocent and bright.

He glanced at the depths of the river. Master, when will you emerge?

There was a long road ahead of them, yet paving the way had taken far too long.

After leaving the Mirari Realm, Lu Yin went to the Perennial World. He did not go to see the Lu family, but rather beneath the Mother Tree.

The colossal Mother Tree pulsed with life. It had stopped Aeternus, serving as a bulwark that shielded humanity.

With Aeternus defeated, almost no one visited the Ceaseless Impetus sourcebox array, aside from a few patrols.

The far side of the Mother Tree was completely different from the front.

Lu Yin gazed up. The towering tree propped up the megaverse. How many Mother Trees were scattered throughout the Aevum Inch?

Far to the east, the Bifrost rose up. There were countless creatures living on the ground above, and yet there was another sky above the one in view.

Scenes of the past drifted through his mind, inciting sighs.

He heard footsteps behind as someone approached. It was Mu Zhu.

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