Any action that harmed the Mother Tree was no different from making an eternal enemy of the Rift of Suffering.
Of course, not just anyone was capable of actually harming the Mother Tree.
In the distance, a cascade of jet-black hair hung down like ink spilling from the sky. The sight startled Lu Yin. He looked over to see a woman floating in the sky, staring at him with open curiosity.
Her hair was at least a hundred meters long, and it trailed from her head in a rather unsettling way.
“Ku Nan, what are you doing here?” Ku Cheng asked.
The woman floated closer, though her hair continued to hang about a man’s height above the ground. As she descended, her hair rose up, billowing into the sky. The fact that it was at least a hundred meters in length gave her a very disturbing appearance.
“Senior Brother, is this the one who just fought against Uncle Ku Ji?” Ku Nan asked. Her hair was half-hiding her face, but her eyes remained fixed on Lu Yin.
“Mind your manners,” Ku Cheng reprimanded the woman, “This is Mr. Lu Yin, from the Tianyuan Megaverse. Greet him properly.”
Ku Nan turned to Lu Yin and offered a slight bow. “Greetings, Mr. Lu.”
Lu Yin returned the gesture while studying Ku Nan.
Ku Cheng introduced the woman, “Mr. Lu, this is my junior sister, Ku Nan. She is also an Eighth Rift cultivator. She’s been climbing the Mother Tree this entire time.”
Lu Yin nodded. “Your junior sister’s hair...?”
“I want to cut it,” Ku Nan interjected.
“Then cut it,” Ku Cheng retorted.
“I haven’t climbed out of the rift yet.”
“How much longer do you plan to keep growing it?”
“I’ll cut it as soon as I break through to the Ninth Rift. Senior Brother, don’t let me surpass you,” she warned.
Ku Cheng gave a wry smile.
Lu Yin understood. The long hair was both Ku Nan’s rift and her Dukkha. She wanted to cut it, yet she was unable to do so. Who knew how many more years it would take for her to step into the Ninth Rift realm?
Ku Nan stared at Lu Yin. “Mr. Lu, did you defeat my martial uncle?”
Lu Yin replied, “We only had a friendly spar, so there’s no need to worry about winning or losing.”
Ku Nan’s eyes sparkled. “So you won. Will you take me with you?”
The question startled Lu Yin, and Ku Cheng immediately scolded the woman. “Don’t be ridiculous!”
Ku Nan shot back, “It’s not ridiculous! I want to follow Mr. Lu as he roams about the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. Climbing the Mother Tree is no longer enough to satisfy me.”
Ku Cheng shook his head. “Even Master climbed the Mother Tree until he achieved the Ninth Rift. Only after that did he go to the Mindscape Megaverse. What makes you think that you’re any different?”
Ku Nan muttered, “Because I’m better than you...”
“What was that?”
“Nothing,” Ku Nan quickly replied
She then looked at Lu Yin with an expectant expression, but Lu Yin pretended not to notice.
Was this a joke? Take this woman to roam about the Nine Odysseys Megaverse? His reputation would be ruined in no time. Her hundred-meter-long black hair was far too distinctive.
“Mr. Lu, you seemed to have gotten lost in your thoughts while you were looking at the Mother Tree,” Ku Cheng remarked.
Lu Yin nodded and looked back at the Mother Tree. “The Mother Tree bears too much.”
Ku Cheng’s eyes lit up. “You also think so?”
Lu Yin glanced at Ku Cheng. “Let’s get started.”
Ku Cheng nodded. Then, as Lu Yin watched, the man started using the Heartrift. One rift after another appeared, causing the area to grow dark as the void started to collapse. After a moment, the rift inverted, and it instead started suppressing Ku Cheng.
Rift power could empower anything, but it could also be used to suppress a person’s own strength.
Ku Cheng was using the Heartrift to suppress his own strength, leaving him no different from an ordinary human. Only then could he climb the Mother Tree. Doing so as a cultivator held little meaning.
Lu Yin watched as Ku Cheng’s cultivation fell, bit by bit. Eventually, every scrap of power was gathered into the rift, including even the man’s physical strength. It was astonishing to see, though it also served to confirm that the disciples of the Rift of Suffering did not particularly focus on developing their physical strength. It was just the Heartrift that empowered them.
This left Lu Yin even more curious about the Heartrift. Since it was able to enhance a cultivator’s physical strength, if he managed to master the technique to the Ninth Rift, then would his physical power take another leap forward?
Ku Cheng had just demonstrated how they were supposed to climb the Mother Tree. It sounded simple, but Lu Yin was more interested in seeing if the Rift of Suffering disciples were actually able to restrict themselves to the point where they were no different from an ordinary human. As it turned out, they really could.
This proved that the Heartrift really was a method to cultivate the heart, rather than just another type of energy that could be cultivated.
Even the most common cultivators altered themselves the moment they first started cultivating, but the people of the Rift of Suffering were an exception.
The cosmos was vast, and there were innumerable civilizations. Despite all of that, this was a truly unique cultivation method.
The question then became, how should Lu Yin go about trying it?
“We can use Heartrift to suppress you, Mr. Lu. You should be able to experience this same feeling,” Ku Cheng said.
Ku Nan blinked, anticipation sparkling in her eyes. She really wanted to see what it would look like if the two of them both used the Heartrift to suppress someone who had defeated Ku Ji.
Lu Yin remembered how it had felt when he had fallen into Ku Ji’s rift. It was true that, for a moment, everything had been suppressed, including even his physical strength.
“You two... can manage that?”
Ku Nan cocked a brow. “Mr. Lu, are you looking down on us?”
Lu Yin continued to look at Ku Cheng.