Master Qing Cao looked at Lu Yin. “Not Yuan Qi; Mi Jin.”
Lu Yin nodded. “So were you already aware that Progenitor Hui was actually Greater Sancte Mi Jin?”
Master Qing Cao was caught off guard. “You also know that? Karma is truly convenient, allowing you to learn things from ages past.
“Yes. Hui Wen, one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas, was born from a fragment of Mi Jin’s manifested thought, but he was not Mi Jin.”
“Why didn’t you act against Progenitor Hui, Senior?”
“I already said that he was not Mi Jin, merely a fragment of his manifested thought. Yue Ya was a being of manifested thought that once belonged to an Immortal as well. That alone is not cause to strike. Additionally, Hui Wen could never become Mi Jin. Only if he managed to cultivate to the Immortal realm on his own might he have awakened Mi Jin’s memories, but he never had any chance to do so.”
“Can Greater Sancte Mi Jin be revived?” Lu Yin pressed.
Progenitor Hui’s death had long since been a source of regret for the Tianyuan. If it was impossible for Progenitor Hui to return, then seeing Greater Sancte Mi Jin reappear would offer them at least some consolation.
After all, Greater Sancte Mi Jin had been an Immortal, and Immortals did not die easily.
Master Qing Cao stared at Lu Yin. “The greatest constant throughout a human’s life is change: circumstances, structures, relationships, realms of cultivation, even civilization itself. You treasure every bond that you have formed and everyone who has helped you, but ultimately, they will all leave you, one by one. As your cultivation rises, and particularly once you become an Immortal, everyone will part from you.
“Lord Lu, have you considered that?”
Lu Yin met the man’s stare. “What are you trying to say?”
Master Qing Cao sighed. “It isn’t Greater Sancte Mi Jin that you wish to see again, but rather Hui Wen. That is because he is a piece of your emotional net. While he might not be as important as the Lu family, he is still someone whom you do not wish to lose.
“Hui Wen is not the only one. Your Lu family, your master, the Three Realms and Six Daos, the day will come when they all die. The tighter you cling to them, the greater the burden you will bear. If the Tianyuan is eventually destroyed, will you be able to endure that and overcome that tribulation, or will it crush you?”
He stared at Lu Yin with growing intensity. “I once believed that you had a great chance to step into the Immortal realm, but you’ve since shown me something: you have the strength to break through, yet you struggle to improve your realm. Don’t be deceived by constant wars and brushes with death—that is your comfort zone. As long as the Tianyuan remains safe, you will remain in your comfort zone. Leave your comfort zone, or else this will be the limit of your progress.”
Lu Yin had never considered such things before. He only wanted to protect the things that he cared about, which was the Tianyuan. In doing so, he became content. The moment the Tianyuan’s crisis was resolved, he had not been shaken even when he had needed to fight against Immortals. That peace of mind did indeed demonstrate that this was his comfort zone.
Leave his comfort zone?
Could that be his Dukkha?
His emotional net: was he protecting human civilization, or simply his own emotional connections?
“Many creatures claim that emotion is humanity’s greatest weakness, possibly due to speciesism. However, have you considered that this might be a truth of the cosmos?
“Emotion can certainly ignite one’s potential, but most emotions blind a creature.”
Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. “Blinds?”
Master Qing Cao smiled. “It appears that you understand.”
Lu Yin frowned deeply. So that’s it... That’s what it is.
Why did humans struggle to find their true Dukkha? Some Dukkhans believed that they had identified their Dukkha and even became a peak Dukkhan, the limit beneath the Immortal realm. However, it remained practically impossible for them to make that last breakthrough.
Overcoming Dukkha to become an Immortal was certainly real, but was the Dukkha that most cultivators identified really accurate?
Why was it so hard to identify one’s own Dukkha?
Emotion was the greatest shroud concealing their Dukkha.
The richer the emotions, the harder it was to identity.
“But without emotion, where does one’s Dukkha come from?” Lu Yin murmured.
Master Qing Cao sighed. “This is the greatest unfairness that humanity faces. Humans possess emotion. With too little, there can be no Dukkha, but with too much, one is blinded to their Dukkha.
“This is precisely why it is so hard to become an Immortal.
“Humans are not the only ones suffering from such unfairness. Every species has their own obstacles blocking them from crossing the threshold of the Immortal realm—we just cannot see it. This is why Immortals are so rare.
“If Immortals were numerous, how could the cosmos be so calm?”
Lu Yin felt bitterly helpless. Calm? Yes, it is calm.
Humanity had fought countless wars against other civilizations. If there were a far greater number of Immortals in the cosmos, they would not have had nearly so easy a time of things.
In comparison, the cosmos certainly was calm.
“Why tell me all this?” Lu Yin asked.
Master Qing Cao glanced at the battleships. “Consider it your reward for sheltering those people.”
Lu Yin also looked over. Su Shidao had already conveyed Master Qing Cao’s decision to the people on the four vessels. It was clear that the cultivators did not want to stay in the Tianyuan, yet none dared to defy the Immortal. The atmosphere had become stifling.
“You still haven’t answered me. Can Greater Sancte Mi Jin reappear?”
Master Qing Cao shook his head. “I don’t know. Immortals don’t die easily, but I’ve never witnessed a resurrection.
“Also, even if he did revive, he would be Mi Jin, not Hui Wen. Hui Wen was Hui Wen, while Mi Jin was Mi Jin.
“Hui Wen was willing to plot against Aeternus for your Tianyuan and sacrifice himself. Mi Jin might not be willing to do the same. Make a distinction between the two, as they were different people.”
Lu Yin suddenly asked, “What about the God of Death?”
Master Qing Cao paused. “The God of Death?”
“Where is he?”
Master Qing Cao appeared puzzled. “The God of Death? How is he related? Are you referring to Tai Chu’s disciple, Blackie? The little fellow who created death energy?”
Lu Yin stared at the man. The confusion in Qing Cao’s eyes appeared to be genuine. There was no hint of any sort of pretense. Either the man truly knew nothing, or he was an impeccable actor.
“Isn’t he dead?” Master Qing Cao continued, growing increasingly confused.