Big Face Tree was delighted to see Lu Yin again. "Kid, you're back. Where did we leave off last time? Oh right, the Battle of the Turtledove River. Speaking of that battle, back when the Progenitor of Yōu Ming..."
"We already discussed the Battle of the Turtledove River," Lu Yin interrupted.
Big Face Tree blinked. "Did we? This old tree doesn’t remember finishing that story."
"We did," Lu Yin stated firmly.
Big Face Tree somberly replied, "No."
Lu Yin arched a brow. "We did."
"No."
"We did."
"No."
At each denial, Lu Yin sensed Big Face Tree's mental resilience, but he was ultimately disappointed. Despite the tree’s considerable mental strength, it was not enough to interest Lu Yin.
Big Face Tree was essentially an ancient tree that had witnessed history. It had lived a long life, but it was not particularly unique.
It was possible that it was just Lu Yin’s imagination. There were a number of ancient trees in the megaverse, which had led him to believe that they were all special.
The Mother Tree, the Black Mother Tree, the Delivery Shrub, and Sapling.
While Big Face Tree was not an extraordinary tree, it could be considered a robust history book.
After leaving the Nong family, Lu Yin continued on to visit the Ice Spirit Tribe. There, he stood beside the Iceheart, deep in thought.
Without uttering even a single word, Lu Yin stared at the Iceheart for an entire half-month before he finally left again.
He was able to restore Ming Yan, but what would be the point? Neither True God, the powers of Destiny, nor the Spirit Nidus had been dealt with. Reviving Ming Yan would do nothing but add to Lu Yin’s burdens.
He wanted to give his family warmth and stability. It might be selfish on his part, as Ming Yan would surely choose to accompany him through dangers and want to face death together, but was selfishness not another aspect of human nature?
The deeper one’s love, the more they would crave peace.
On the mountain behind the Heavens Sect, Lu Yin once again met with Progenitor Xi.
"If the Spirit Nidus defeats your Consciousness Megaverse and comes to fight against our Tianyuan Megaverse, which side will stand a better chance of winning?" Lu Yin asked, not dancing around the issue.
Progenitor Xi replied, "The Spirit Nidus."
"Why?"
"First, if they defeat us, they will be able to reset our Consciousness Megaverse and use the process to produce incredible powerhouses. Second, the creatures of the Consciousness Megaverse also understand life and death and fear dying. They will likely join the Spirit Nidus to survive. This would mean that your Tianyuan Megaverse would be facing two megaverses, and you would have absolutely no chance of victory. Third, your megaverse has already lost too many powerhouses during the war with Aeternus. The survivors from the Heavens Sect and Immemorial Citadel aren’t enough to stand against the Spirit Nidus."
Lu Yin asked, "If they can reset the Consciousness Megaverse, then why did the Spirit Nidus target our Tianyuan Megaverse during the Heavens Sect era?"
Progenitor Xi said, "Greed can never be satisfied. Resetting the Consciousness Megaverse will allow the most powerful beings in the Spirit Nidus to rise to a higher level. However, what about those who are just one level below? They also need room to grow. Even if every one of their peak powerhouses enter the Origin realm, will that be enough?
"The Tianyuan Megaverse is like an insurance policy, while the Consciousness Megaverse is more of a testing ground."
Lu Yin was curious about something. "Is the Consciousness Megaverse still around after all these years?"
Progenitor Xi nodded firmly. "It is. While the Spirit Nidus is stronger than our megaverse and we are essentially doomed to eventually be defeated, that does not mean that it is easy for the Consciousness Megaverse to be completely defeated. Aeternus destroyed the ancient Heavens Sect, and just their First Scourge was enough for them to push the Sixverse Association to the limits. But then you rose to power. There are endless possibilities in a megaverse.
"What truly leaves us hopeless is the sheer scale of the future. It’s an estimate of the infinite possibilities that the future holds. If the Consciousness Megaverse has a future potential of five, then the Spirit Nidus has a potential of six. This small discrepancy means that it is impossible for my Consciousness Megaverse to surpass the Spirit Nidus, no matter what possibilities may appear. We've long since accepted this as reality.
"Your Tianyuan Megaverse is different. When I saw the brilliance of the ancient Heavens Sect, I believed your future potential to be six, but when you rose to power and reversed the tides of the war, I was convinced that this place’s future potential might even be seven. I'm referring to future potential. This is not a measure of your megaverse’s current strength.
"If the Spirit Nidus attacks right now, you will lose."
Lu Yin tapped a finger on the table as he took a moment to think. "If I don’t deal with our internal threats, I won’t be able to handle the external ones."
"Aeternus?"
"Help me completely eliminate Aeternus. That way, I will be able to truly unite the entire Tianyuan Megaverse, which will give us a better chance of fighting back against the Spirit Nidus. If we don’t eliminate them completely, the Aeternals alone will be enough to wear me down." Lu Yin then looked over at Progenitor Xi. "Even if we don't want a war against the Spirit Nidus, a united Tianyuan Megaverse is something that they won’t want to see."
"I understand that, but thoroughly eradicating the Aeternals is not going to be easy. True God possesses a truly overwhelming strength. He is powerful enough to negotiate with the Spirit Nidus," Progenitor Xi said in a helpless manner.
"Dealing with True God is our problem. Your task is to find him," Lu Yin said.
Progenitor Xi frowned. "I'll do my best."
Lu Yin stared out at the calm surface of the lake. While the water was clear, there were always dark regions that hid filth. "True God, Ancient God, Forgotten Ruins God, Tian Ci, Bai Xian'er, and Blackless God. I'll find them all and deal with them once and for all."
He allowed Progenitor Xi to leave. She had voluntarily gone to speak with Lu Yin. If she had wanted to hide from the Heavens Sect, there would not have been any reason for her to expose herself to Lu Yin.
For the moment, no one could find True God, and Lu Yin was getting anxious. He wanted to eliminate True God before the Great Sovereign’s Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm faded away. However, if True God could not be found, the gift that Lu Yin had prepared for the man would be rendered useless.
Progenitor Xi had been a part of Aeternus for so long. Hopefully, that time would prove to be of some use.
"As for Ancient God, is there really no way to get any clues regarding his location?"
Fishermen—one, two, three. Lu Yin stared at the lake, lost in thought.
...
The defeat of Aeternus naturally led the Heavens Sect to become a behemoth in the megaverse that countless creatures looked up to.
Every day, countless people arrived at the gates of the Heavens Sect to pay homage, and statues of Lu Yin appeared throughout the entire megaverse.
One day, four people arrived at the Heavens Sect to speak with Lu Yin. They were Mu Zhu, Mu Ke, Mu Xie, and Qing Ping.
On the mountain behind the Heavens Sect, Lu Yin solemnly looked at his four senior disciple brothers and senior disciple sister. "Senior brothers and sisters, this is a critical task that I must trouble you with."
"I'm not very skilled at Origin Tracing," Qing Ping said.