Chapter 4175: Pressure

Greater Sancte Mi Jin’s death, the destruction of Mister Mu’s homeland, the damage that Aeternus had done to the Tianyuan: everything could be traced back to Obscura.

How could he just join Obscura?

Was Lu Yin supposed to abandon his master’s hatred? Abandon the hatred for the Hui-Silver Sky Army? Abandon Mu Zhu’s tearful determination to get revenge? Abandon all of the pain that their master had suffered for so many years?

Should Lu Yin just drop Greater Sancte Mi Jin’s vengeance? Walk away from the Tianyuan’s grudges?

How could he cast such things aside? Those burdens were too heavy, and Lu Yin was carrying far too much.

If he let go of all that hatred, he would be able to live a new life, but would it be a life that he wanted? If he abandoned human civilization’s safety for the sake of revenge, would that be fair to humanity?

Lu Yin did not know. If he followed his heart, he would choose to fight to the death for those who had died at Obscura’s hands, for his master, for Greater Sancte Mi Jin, and for so many others. However, if the outcome of that choice was the destruction of his entire human civilization, more wars, and even more lives being snuffed out, should he still follow his heart?

“Mr. Lu, Obscura truly is despair itself. Our human civilization cannot possibly defeat them. The fact that they are willing to accept you at this time means that they have seen your potential. That potential can be exchanged for their friendship, or it can stoke their desire to kill us. If you refuse, then you will be the reason why the threat that human civilization poses to them will increase.

“Should that happen, we won’t just be facing Lan Meng!” Master Qing Cao shouted.

Lu Yin stared at Master Qing Cao. The greater good or his own heart... which should he follow?

“If you refuse, you will become humanity’s greatest sinner. Do you have any idea how many people long for a peaceful life? How many that do not want wars to be fought between civilizations? How many wish for nothing more than to live out their lives in safety? If you refuse, that peace will be completely shattered, and civilizational wars will erupt once more. All of this pain will be caused by you.” Master Qing Cao ground his teeth. He was afraid, afraid that Lu Yin would refuse. He had simply assumed that Lu Yin would never possibly reject the invitation.

Had not everything that human civilization had done for so many years been for their own self-preservation?

Respect for the Aevum Inch, self-awareness, the constant search for greater strength—all of it had been for self-preservation.

With safety being dangled right before their eyes, how could the man refuse? How could he possibly refuse?

Was hatred really that important? Was it more important than the continuation and inheritance of an entire civilization?

Qing Cao remembered what he had once said to Lu Yin, that he wanted to ensure that human life, the continuation of their species itself, was passed down whereas Lu Yin wanted to pass down humanity’s spirit.

But if that spirit brought about the extinction of human civilization, was there any need to pass it down? Spirit. It was just a simple word. It could easily end up as nothing more than an absurd mark in Obscura’s history. Only by continuing to live could one have anything at all.

Suddenly, Master Qing Cao’s expression changed. He spun around, swinging his bamboo basket sideways. A sharp gleam shot straight through the basket. Awe Gate had attacked.

Her eyes were glacial, and she did nothing to mask her killing intent. “What nonsense are you spouting?”

Master Qing Cao stared at Awe Gate. “As long as Lu Yin joins Obscura, human civilization will be completely safe. Should he not join?”

Awe Gate was stunned and looked over at Lu Yin.

“Awe Gate, if you received the invitation, would you join?” Master Qing Cao asked loudly.

Awe Gate’s eyes flickered as she clenched Awecloud tightly with a hand. She... did not know.

There were some choices that could only be understood when a person faced them for themselves. Very few people ever faced the choice of joining their enemy in order to save their entire species.

She stared at Lu Yin. He blankly stared upwards. This choice was truly on his shoulders alone.

Awe Gate shot a cold glare at Master Qing Cao. “Has Obscura really invited Mr. Lu to join them?”

Master Qing Cao nodded. “They have, and so long as he accepts and joins Obscura, human civilization will no longer be considered their enemy. Everything that happened in the past will vanish like smoke.”

Awe Gate clenched her teeth. “Mi Jin’s death, the Netherfiends’ devastation of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, the blood debt incurred by Qi Xu. Is all of that supposed to just be erased?”

“Then do you want those debts to continue? Or do you want human civilization and Obscura to fight a decisive war until one side is utterly destroyed?” Master Qing Cao shot back, his expression heavy. “I can tell you this: the ones who will lose will unquestionably be humanity.

“You, Greater Sancte Green Lotus, Greater Sancte Blood Tower, the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, the Tianyuan... Absolutely everything will be destroyed. Not one of you will be able to escape. Even if you manage to grab a few people and flee, you’ll be wandering the cosmos, at risk of being devoured by another civilization at any time. Is that what you want? Just for the sake of some old hatred?”

Awe Gate’s hands clenched into fists. She wanted to argue. Given her temperament, she would rather die in battle than take a step back, but this time, the price of compromise was the entirety of human civilization.

At this moment, she felt unbearably stifled and did not know what to say.

Lu Yin looked over. “Senior Awe Gate, let’s begin.”

Awe Gate was startled. “Right now?”

Lu Yin’s expression was calm. “Let’s begin.”

Awe Gate gave him a long look before finally nodding. “Very well. In that case, be careful.”

With that, Awecloud thrust forward, flickering past Master Qing Cao to stab at Lu Yin.

Master Qing Cao quickly backed up, not understanding what Lu Yin and Awe Gate were doing. At this time, how were they not thinking about how to accept Obscura’s invitation?

Boom!

Awe Gate’s aura exploded as a rift fell, constantly growing deeper and deeper. In a blink, there were more than twenty rifts, and Master Qing Cao was forced out of the Mindscape Megaverse.

During the first invasion of the Nest civilization, Awe Gate had used nineteen rifts when fighting against the humanoid Verdant Sage and the droplet-shaped Verdant Sage; she had faced two Immortals on her own without falling to a disadvantage. After accepting a Seed Transfusion from Greater Sancte Mi Jin’s spirit seed, Awe Gate’s heartrift power had risen even higher, and thirty rifts opened up in just a single breath.

Even though Ku Deng had broken through to the Immortal realm, his power could not even match Awe Gate’s previous strength. Over the years, as he had adapted to his power as an Immortal, he had only managed to raise his mastery of the Heartrift Technique to eighteen rifts, whereas Awe Gate had just opened up thirty.

The terrifying pressure of thirty rifts far exceeded anything Ku Deng was capable of.

Lu Yin felt nothing more than a monstrous darkness descending upon him, smashing him down into the dust from the sky and then continuously driving into the depths of the Mindscape Megaverse’s Deep Rift Universe.

This was Awe Gate’s strength, which was enough for her to rival Lan Meng. At the moment, she was the second-strongest expert of their human civilization.

Awe Gate kept a tight grip on Awecloud as the spear stabbed downwards.

Master Qing Cao cried out in shock, “Awe Gate, stop!”

But his words had no effect at all. He was not able to intervene in any way.

Lu Yin’s body continued to fall deeper and deeper into the Deep Rift Universe. From above, the thirty rifts descended and merged with the Mindscape Megaverse’s natural rift. An indescribably terrifying pressure crashed down, forcing Lu Yin to spit out a mouthful of blood as his body withered and recovered again and again. Extremes Must Be Reversed allowed him to endure and keep enduring. Only by bearing endless pressure could he hope to experience a transformation.

His master’s vengeance, the Tianyuan’s hatred, and the Nine Odysseys Megaverse’s grudges all flashed through his mind repeatedly.

Lu Yin continued to fall, his body withering and then recovering in an endless cycle.

Awe Gate looked down into the rift, Awecloud clenched in her hand.

“Senior, again!”

Lu Yin’s voice echoed up. Awe Gate’s eyes instantly flared. “Be careful.”

With that, her heartrift power surged once more, and a full thirty-five rifts appeared. This was the greatest power she was able to unleash. Overwhelming pressure dropped in the Mindscape Megaverse’s rift.

Master Qing Cao was stunned. “Awe Gate, stop this right now!”

Green grass sprouted and spread out in a bid to restrain the rifts, only to be completely suppressed by Awe Gate’s power. The grass could not even get close.

Awe Gate did not bother to even glance at Master Qing Cao, and her gaze remained fixed firmly downwards.

Boom.

There was a gentle sound, and a colossal silhouette of Lu Yin spread out. In an instant, it enveloped the entire Mindscape Megaverse, stunning Master Qing Cao.

Merging with the will of a megaverse... He really can merge with any megaverse.

When Lu Yin had merged with the will of the Allsense Megaverse, Qing Cao had been completely baffled. It appeared that Lu Yin did not require the acknowledgment of a megaverse to merge with it. This was Willforce.

In the depths of the Mindscape Megaverse’s Deep Rift Universe, Lu Yin watched the darkness flow around him without resisting. He could not withstand the pressure of thirty-five rifts. It was powerful enough to grind him to dust. His only option had been to merge with the Mindscape Megaverse itself and distribute the pressure throughout the entire megaverse.

A sliver of mental clarity allowed him to endure. Extremes Must Be Reversed... break and then rebuild.

Before his eyes, he saw a gate. It was one of Obscura’s gates, and images of the countless civilizations that Obscura had destroyed were etched onto its surface.

The sorrow and despair radiating from the gate had reached an extreme. Among the images carved on the gate were humans.

Obscura had once destroyed a human civilization. That was a debt that could never be forgotten. Joining Obscura would mean betraying humanity’s history. Refusing would mean war once more. What should I do?

The choice before him turned into physical agony within his heart. He needed pressure, even greater pressure, in order to vent the pressure building within him.

He stopped merging with the megaverse and resumed falling. He would rely solely on himself to endure the pressure. Limits existed to be broken.

Suddenly, the Mindscape Megaverse went still. The thirty-five rifts created by the Heartrift Technique dispersed, and Awe Gate stared downwards in a daze. There was surprise and joy in her eyes. Lu Yin had actually withstood her attack.

Master Qing Cao gaped at the Mindscape Megaverse’s Deep Rift Universe. What just happened?

He heard breathing, heavy and distant. Even so, it sounded as though each exhale was right by his ears. It was like listening to some sort of monster breathing.

Stillness was not the end. In fact, it felt more like the beginning of everything.

One day, two days, three days... 100 days passed. Awe Gate and Master Qing Cao continued to stare into the Mindscape Megaverse’s rift, not looking away for even a single instant. They remained focused until Lu Yin slowly emerged. The void seemed to form a stairway to heaven beneath his feet as his image slowly grew sharper.

Awe Gate let out a breath of relief. Even she had been shaken to her core.

Thirty-five rifts was greater than her full power before fusing with Greater Sancte Mi Jin’s cultivation, and yet Lu Yin had endured it all. That meant that, if she had not fused with Greater Sancte Mi Jin spirit seed, she would have no chance of defeating Lu Yin. That was a truly terrifying concept.

How much time had passed since Lu Yin had first managed to fight against one of the Immortal Verdant Sages? It had only been a few hundred years. Given his current level, strength should not progress this quickly.

The truth was that Awe Gate had made a mistake. Enduring pressure was completely different from combat strength. Lu Yin had indeed endured the thirty-five rifts that she had unleashed, but that was nothing more than pressure. If the heartrift power used to open those thirty-five rifts had instead been used for combat, then with a single thrust of Awecloud would be more than what Lu Yin could hope to withstand.

In a normal situation, this would have been clear to Awe Gate, but she had been so badly rattled by Lu Yin’s performance that the woman’s mind was still in a bit of a daze.

Master Qing Cao was suffering from the same condition. He could not understand how Lu Yin had managed to withstand Awe Gate’s overwhelming pressure.

Step by step, Lu Yin walked toward the two. The limit of what his body could endure had undergone a metamorphosis. He had finally broken past an obstruction.

He had visited the Mindscape Megaverse several times in training, each time hoping to surpass the limits of what he could endure with Extremes Must Be Reversed. Most recently, he had failed even when Ku Deng had released eighteen rifts. Finally, Lu Yin had succeeded.

Even so, his success had been a huge gamble. Without the invitation that Master Qing Cao had brought, without feeling forced, Lu Yin might not have experienced any metamorphosis at all.

At the moment, Extremes Must Be Reversed was able to resist the pressure of thirty-five rifts. While enduring pressure did not equate to combat strength, by Lu Yin’s estimation, he was capable of fighting Awe Gate if she limited her power to twenty-five rifts. However, if she used her full power of thirty-five rifts, Lu Yin knew that it would be very difficult for him to resist.

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