Lu Yin met Hua Wuzui’s eyes. “Your value has run out.”
Hua Wuzui’s eyes bulged. “Huo Chong! Huo Chong is a traitor! There’s a traitor in the First Night Pillar! Mr. Lu, you can’t-”
There was another soft sound as Lu Yin tapped out with a finger. The red energy surged out from within Hua Wuzui and tried to melt him, even as the spirit seeds that he had fused with completely split apart.
Lu Yin released his inner universe and drew in the red energy to replenish the ring around his star of divine energy. His eyes blazed as he focused on Hua Wuzui’s spirit seeds.
Just as expected, he saw the truth behind multiple spirit seed fusion. He could finally see things clearly.
Hua Wuzui was dissolved by the red energy, but even at the moment of his death, his eyes were still filled with disbelief.
He could not understand why Lu Yin did not care about anything he said. It defied all reason.
As soon as Hua Wuzui was dealt with, Lu Yin called Awe Gate and informed her what he had learned about Huo Chong.
The Immortal could hardly believe what she was hearing, and yet she had no choice but to accept it.
“Huo Chong is even my senior. I never would imagined that he would join the Netherfiends.”
Lu Yin said, “That’s only normal. There will always be surprises. If not, the Netherfiends would have been exterminated long ago.”
Awe Gate’s expression grew complicated. “According to you, Hua Wuzui knew nothing about Obscura, so how did the Netherfiends convince Huo Chong? Was it just because of that red energy?”
“The human heart is the hardest thing to understand. Oftentimes, the smallest incident will spark a great calamity. Wherever the heart turns, the person will follow,” Lu Yin replied.
Awe Gate met Lu Yin’s eyes. “Seeing what you’ve accomplished, I find myself suddenly feeling that power itself is not frightening, but rather the methods employed.”
Lu Yin’s eyes flashed. He had accomplished something that even the Immortals had failed to pull off. That proved the importance of one’s methods.
Awe Gate stared at him for a long time. “I hope that your ‘illness’ becomes ever more severe.”
With that, she ended the call.
Lu Yin was left speechless for a long time.
...
Across the land of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, people headed for Lu Yin’s location from every direction.
Several major battles had been fought there. As the Netherfiends were repeatedly dragged out of hiding, many of the factions and independent cultivators who had worked for them were also exposed, which had led to widespread attention.
Lu Yin had spent more than a year rolling his die. He did not know how many Netherfiends remained, but there should not be too many left.
To avoid any potential leaks, Awe Gate started to close the net.
There were independent cultivators from major cities, members of various sects and clans, the Aqualis Clan and Artifex Clan of the Spirit Coalition, and most notable of all, the Huo family; all of them were captured, much to the shock of countless people.
The Huo family had enjoyed a special status. During the war against the Nest civilization, Huo Chong had made an appearance, and while he had barely spoken, he had been recognized, which caused his family’s status to continuously rise higher.
Even so, the Huo family still ran into trouble.
Deathmound moved openly, and countless people sensed that something was amiss as a result.
People were reminded of the thunder that had filled the sky, the repeated battles that had been fought at Lu Yin’s current location, and the blue sword that had appeared. It seemed as if wherever Lu Yin stood was the center of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. Events gravitated more towards him than even the Frightened Sparrow Terrace.
Because of that, many started traveling towards Lu Yin’s location.
They wanted to know, as soon as possible, what had truly happened.
This was within Lu Yin’s expectations. He released his consciousness so that no one could find him.
He did not intend to leave his location. People could come. He would force the Nine Odysseys Megaverse to remember him, just as he was remembered in the Tianyuan. He would change the cultivation landscape of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.
...
When Awe Gate appeared on the First Night Pillar before Huo Chong, his expression grew bitter, and yet he said nothing.
He already knew that his family had been captured by Deathmound. There was nothing left to hide.
“Old Huo, why?” Qin Wudi roared while clenching his fists and glaring angrily at Huo Chong.
At the side, Master Xian, Granny Three Heavens, and the others watched in confusion. They felt as though they were meeting Huo Chong for the first time.
They had known the man for countless years. They had fought side by side, cultivated together, and survived for so long.
Of their former comrades in arms, only the seven of them remained.
None of them had ever imagined the possibility that Huo Chong could be a Netherfiend.
Huo Chong numbly glanced around the First Night Pillar. “Do you... like this place?”
Granny Three Heavens answered in a low voice, “This is our home.”
Huo Chong sneered. He showed a smile that betrayed nothing but bitterness and helplessness. “I don’t like it. This place is a cage, and I’ve been trapped here.”
“If not for the First Night Pillar, you would have died long ago.”
“By joining the Netherfiends, I can live much longer,” Huo Chong growled. His eyes grew fierce as they swept over the others present. “Why is Qing Cao allowed to become an Immortal? Why does he get to outlive us all? Why is my junior brother able to live a carefree life, while I waste away in my twilight years, doomed to die trapped in this place?
“Why? Tell me why!
“Why must I live for others? Can any of you give me an answer?”
His companions stared at him in a daze. They had all considered such questions in the past, but they had found no answers. Even so, none of them had fallen into the same confusion as Huo Chong.
He mocked himself. “You never had a junior brother like mine, nor were you courted by the Netherfiends. That’s the only reason you can stand there and condemn me with such righteousness. If you had been in my place, you too would have chosen to join the Netherfiends, to side with a stronger civilization, and to live longer.
“From the moment we’re born, death is inevitable. The only choice left to us is how we make our way through that process. But once you’re dead, what meaning does civilization hold? Everything dissolves into smoke. The cosmos endures forever, while humanity is nothing but a fleeting blossom.