After studying the wall for a long time, Lu Yin released his consciousness to search the rest of the ruins. Unfortunately, because so much time had passed, there was almost nothing left.
Lu Yin made a casual beckoning gesture, and Elder Qiu was dragged to his side from outside the ruins, against the old man’s will. He wanted to resist but did not dare to do so.
"What does that symbol represent?"
Elder Qiu looked over and thought for a moment. "I think that it should be a family crest?"
"A family crest?"
"Yes, a family crest. The Xu family's crest." Elder Qiu grew certain. "I have seen it before, when the Xu family was at its peak. As the family of one of Sect Master Jiu Wen's disciples, no one dared to provoke them, just like the Stonewall clan."
"What exactly did their crest look like?"
Elder Qiu drew the crest, and Lu Yin looked at it. The longer he stared at it, the more familiar it felt. He was certain that he had seen it before, but where? He sank deep into thought.
He returned to Canglan Valley and allowed Elder Qiu to leave on his own. Months later, Lu Yin used the Mirrorlight Art to teleport, and he returned home.
Upon returning, Lu Yin shared all that he had learned about Crimson Starshade with everyone, as well as his suspicions concerning Obscura, and even what he had learned about Jiu Wen. Unfortunately, Greater Sancte Green Lotus was still in seclusion.
The actions taken by those who followed the Path of Dispassion weighed heavily on everyone's mood.
Originally, Lu Yin had a far better impression of Jiu Wen than of Bing Xu and the other Crimson Starshade Immortals, only to discover that Jiu Wen was equally as ruthless.
Those who cultivated the Path of Dispassion were utterly incompatible with people like Lu Yin and the other human powerhouses.
Lu Yin simply told everyone about what he had learned. They had the right to know, and this would also help them to judge, going forward, whether to establish contact with Crimson Starshade or not.
After that meeting, he went to see Hong'er.
The last time he visited the woman, Lu Yin had wanted to search her karma, but Hong'er's past had not been able to help him. This time, Lu Yin was looking for an answer.
Hong'er had no idea what had happened. Lu Yin was repeatedly paying her visits while saying nothing to her.
Karma pierced Hong'er time and time again as Lu Yin used karma to examine her past.
This time, he was far more serious. Hong'er noticed the change, but said nothing.
Finally, after several days, Lu Yin's eyes lit up. He had found it. He drew an image in mid air. "Do you recognize this symbol?"
Hong'er looked at it and silently nodded. "This is the crest of our Crimson Starshade Civilization."
Lu Yin stared at her. "Crimson Starshade's crest?"
Hong'er nodded.
"The civilization's crest?"
Hong'er nodded again. "Yes."
Lu Yin frowned. That’s wrong. This is the Xu family's crest.
He had felt that the partial imprint of the crest in the Xu family ruins had looked familiar. Given his level, he would not feel such familiarity for no reason; there had to be karma involved. From Elder Qiu, he had learned that the symbol was the Xu family's crest.
The Xu family had been a part of the Crimson Starshade Civilization and had had no connection whatsoever with Lu Yin, so how could he have seen their crest before?
He had found the reason: Hong'er's past. He had seen this crest when examining Hong'er's past through karma.
Then what relationship did Hong'er have with the Xu family?
Before returning home, Lu Yin had made it a point to ask Elder Qiu, only to learn that the Xu family had not been a powerful clan. Their legacy was not even as ancient as the Lian family’s, so why would the Xu family's crest have a connection to Hong'er?
If the Xu family were one of the oldest families in Crimson Starshade, that would make sense. If Crimson Starshade had split apart, the Xu family might have also split their descendants to preserve their lineage. That would explain it.
However, the Xu family was not some ancient clan at all.
"In addition to this crest, our Crimson Starshade Civilization had several more. Would you like to see them, Mr. Lu?" Hong'er did not know why Lu Yin was interested in this crest, but that did not matter. It was simply good that Lu Yin was paying attention to Crimson Starshade. If her civilization had not been destroyed, there remained hope.
Lu Yin was surprised. "More crests?"
Hong'er drew four more crests in quick succession.
Looking at these four drawings, Lu Yin let out a breath. These four were unquestionably the crests of Jiu Wen's four other disciples’ clans.
That meant that the five clans that had clearly been exterminated had made contact with the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. What was going on?
Was it a lie that Jiu Wen had exterminated those five clans? Of course not. Ji He and the others were not fools. If the incident had been faked, it could not have been hidden from them. So then, why had those five clans’ descendants appeared in Hong’er’s civilization?
Had Jiu Wen done it? Or had someone, without Jiu Wen’s knowledge, sent those five clans’ descendants away in advance? But how could so many people have been sent away?
There were far too many people in Hong'er's past. It might not have been the population of an entire civilization, but Lu Yin had seen at least the population of a parallel universe. Wait, a parallel universe?
Lu Yin realized something, and he immediately returned to the Crimson Starshade Civilization. After several consecutive teleports, he returned to Canglan Valley, and then he went to the Xu family’s ruins. He stood beside a pond and then stepped forward, sinking into the water.
As he looked at the ruins that surrounded him, he understood. As expected, there was a pond civilization here.
The Xu family had had a pond civilization, and the other clans that had been exterminated had also had their own pond civilizations.
This could explain Hong'er's situation. The Crimson Starshade that she knew was not the real Crimson Starshade, but rather the combined pond civilizations of the clans of Jiu Wen’s disciples that he had exterminated. Her knowledge had only ever encompassed those pond civilizations.
The Crimson Starshade Civilization that Green Lotus had abandoned was the pond civilizations of those five clans.
Scenes flashed through Lu Yin's mind. Jiu Wen, pond civilizations, exterminated disciples, Hong'er, Green Lotus...
His thoughts grew tangled. He wanted to understand the full chain of events regarding this matter, but it was still too vague.
First of all, why had these five clans’ pond civilizations been taken to the Human Trio, and who had taken them there? Jiu Wen? Someone else?
What was Jiu Wen's purpose in exterminating those five clans? If he had been the one to deliver the pond civilizations to the Trio and met with Green Lotus, why? Was Green Lotus aware that he had abandoned a pond civilization rather than the real Crimson Starshade Civilization?