Lu Yin took a long look at Old Yu, who responded with a bitter smile. "Lord Lu, don’t look at me like that. My Wisdom Domain has a very long history, and we have always been ahead of our time. However, we are not omniscient or omnipotent. Just like with Old Salamander’s schemes, if you hadn’t cooperated with Emperor Wu, we would have never been able to force him out. Who would have thought that an old monster at death’s door would want to fight for the title of Seraph?
"There are times when, the smarter a person is, the more easily they are fooled by appearances."
Lu Yin looked away as he silently continued moving towards the Wisdom Domain.
Old Yu observed Lu Yin’s retreating figure for some time before catching up. "Do you still not trust my words, Lord Lu?"
Lu Yin did not reply and instead asked, "How much do you know about Meng Sang?"
Old Yu was not surprised to hear this particular question. After all, Meng Sang’s interference was how Old Salamander had managed to escape. "Meng Sang is a beast-form Spirit Rebirth, but he has never interacted with the Primal Beastland before. He can’t be considered the Primal Beastland’s second Seraph.
"Before this, no one would have expected Meng Sang to suddenly take action. He would never be able to defeat Emperor Wu in a direct fight, but Emperor Wu is just as incapable of stopping Meng Sang from escaping. Of the Seven Seraphs, Meng Sang might be the most adept at escaping.
"His Dreamshade technique is far more effective when used for ambushes than in open combat."
Lu Yin was curious about something. "Have you never considered the possibility that Emperor Wu arranged for Meng Sang to become one of the Seven Seraphs? Why else would he have stepped in to save Old Salamander? Perhaps he didn’t even save Old Salamander, but rather used some other means to take him away while also making sure that he could escape."
Old Yu shook his head. "There’s no chance of that happening. To begin with, Emperor Wu isn’t that kind of person. He is naturally domineering and blunt, lacking the cunning to do such a thing. On top of that, it’s clear that Meng Sang became a Seraph because of the High Seraph. Both Bao Qi and Meng Sang received their titles due to the High Seraph’s manipulations."
"There is no way that anyone who rose to their position through the High Seraph could possibly be connected to Emperor Wu."
"The High Seraph is the strongest human-form Spirit Rebirth, while Emperor Wu is the strongest beast-form Spirit Rebirth. Even if the two wanted to cooperate, they wouldn’t be able to. Such things are beyond their control, as they represent a long-standing tradition in the Spirit Nidus and symbolize the two branches of Spirit Rebirths."
"This sort of legacy is tied to the cultivation system of your Spirit Nidus," Lu Yin remarked instinctively.
Old Yu was taken aback, but he agreed. "That’s true. A person's will cannot be changed, as it’s a fundamental part of them. Lord Lu, your insight is truly sharp."
No matter if it was business, war, strategy, or relationships, as long as a human was involved, there would be certain attributes present. Before fully understanding a person's character and their preferred methods, the only way to understand their position was by understanding their natural environment. This was what Lu Yin had learned from Wang Wen.
The Spirit Nidus has two types of Spirit Rebirths: human form and beast form. Before Boundless left the Tianyuan Megaverse, Wang Wen had already determined that human-form and beast-form Spirit Rebirths could not coexist peacefully. It was inevitable for there to be some level of competition between the two, though Wang Wen had not been able to predict just how intense the competition would be.
This was also why Lu Yin had always instinctively viewed the Primal Beastland and the Ascendant Hall as entirely separate entities.
There was no need for him to have someone else explain the two’s positions, as Lu Yin was absolutely certain that the High Seraph and Emperor Wu were not cooperating.
There were situations where, regardless of how powerful a cultivator might be, what they experienced would be determined by what they had inherited. There were things that no one could change on their own.
Lu Yin was hostile toward the Spirit Nidus because the megaverse sought to destroy his own megaverse and the Tianyuan Megaverse was part of Lu Yin’s cultivation inheritance. That was something that could never be changed, and that created a form of determination.
It was possible to use such situational understanding to determine whether there was a connection between the Wisdom Domain and Meng Sang, but unfortunately, Lu Yin lacked sufficient knowledge of the Spirit Nidus to do so.
...
The Umbral Deep still had not recovered. It was a shattered landscape. Every day, many people visited it, marveling at how intense the battle must have been to bring about such destruction.
Many people analyzed the terrain surrounding the Umbral Deep in an attempt to determine the details of the battle. While many had witnessed the battle, not everyone had been able to clearly see every move and technique that had been used.
Those capable of seeing such details would not visit the place. They were the ones who had been qualified to witness the battle in the Primal Beastland.
Of the many cultivators who roamed about near the Umbral Deep, some experienced epiphanies and let out shouts of excitement. Their success lured more cultivators to examine the location.
The location even incited aggression. There were people who would specifically observe others to see who succeeded in comprehending something. Such was the reality of the world of cultivators.
Old Yu sighed. "For these people, this destroyed land is a gift."
Lu Yin was reminded of the ruins of the Daosource Sect. He had once observed one of Progenitor Chen’s palm prints in that place. Many people had visited the palm print, hoping to obtain the Nine Clones Secret Technique. How had that situation been any different from the people observing the ruins around the Umbral Deep?
Lifting his head, Lu Yin looked up at the Wisdom Domain that was just ahead.
Even though only the Umbral Deep separated them, and despite it being shattered, not a single cultivator dared to take even one step closer to the Wisdom Domain. That single step might as well have been a divide between heaven and earth, as vast as the Ascendant Hall itself.
A great height could be climbed, but some distances could never be crossed.
Upon reaching the Wisdom Domain’s border, Lu Yin peered further ahead. "Codex 15?"
Old Yu nodded. "Lord Lu, would you like to go study it?"
"Naturally."
"Good. I’ll await you in the reed marsh," Old Yu stated before entering the domain. He moved slowly and gradually disappeared.
Lu Yin took a step forward. At first, there seemed to be nothing special about the Wisdom Domain with only a few residents milling around. However, the entire domain was actually protected by a sourcebox array.
As soon as Lu Yin stepped onto the withered grass that covered the ground, everything around him changed.
Suddenly, he was looking at a prosperous empire. There was an army with a million soldiers that dominated both the heavens and the earth. Their emperor was revered above all, having beautiful women as numerous as clouds singing and dancing in joy for him. The world appeared to be at peace.
At times, high-ranking officials were granted territories.
Other times, there were contests of martial arts.
The vast land was as beautiful as a painting, and billions of creatures sang the praises of their wise monarch.
In the blink of an eye, war ravaged the land. Horses trampled the imperial capital, and sorrow reached every field. Generals perished in battle, and the emperor was buried with his nation. Everything was reduced to ashes. Only the songs of sorrow remained on the yellow earth. Occasionally, one could find poems from the empire that reminisced about the prosperous past.
How many great men had lived in that empire throughout its entire history?
Lu Yin seemed to walk through time, witnessing the rise and fall of various dynasties. He seemed to observe the brevity of life while feeling the joys and sorrows of separation and reunion as he watched one generation succeed another.
Dynasties rose and fell, and countless heroes faded into history. Only the yellow earth remained while carved railings and murals sighed with sorrow for the departed.
A cup of wine, a toast to the vicissitudes—the rise and fall of worlds, the shifting of seas into mulberry fields. This was Eternal Sorrow.
Lu Yin stood frozen in place. One foot stood on the withered grass, but for a moment, the other hung in the air, unable to descend. Eternal Sorrow. That was the name of Codex 15.
There was not a strong sense of danger, nor even a means of attack, and yet Lu Yin was forced to remain frozen in place for half a day.
This was not a sourcebox array that attacked, but rather one that offered insight into a specific kind of comprehension.