“Hahahaha, you wretched girl, I will never go back on my word, but it seems that you never put forth any conditions! Still, you’ve proven yourself worthy of that brat, Chang Tian. Not bad, not bad. How about this—I’ll give you another chance to choose. You can stay with the Longevity Civilization, or you can leave.” Chang Tu laughed loudly.
Even though Awe Gate had withstood the old man’s three moves, he was not suffering any loss.
Awe Gate frowned. She had always focused on physical combat and was not skilled at verbal sparring.
Chang Tian shook his head. They took those blows for nothing. This girl is just as impulsive as ever.
Lu Yin spoke up, “Senior Chang Tu, you stand unrivaled beneath the heavens, and it was already extremely difficult for juniors like us to endure your three moves. Now that we have succeeded, we do not ask for any benefits. We only hope that you won’t interfere with Senior Chang Tian fulfilling his promise. Besides, this matter was originally between Senior Chang Tian and Senior Awe Gate and has nothing to do with you. My request is nothing excessive, is it, Senior?”
Chang Tu snorted. “Boy, I know that you can talk, but this is the Longevity Civilization. Since you are an Aberrant, you should understand how important it is for a civilization to stay hidden. The more that we interact with you, the greater the danger for us. You withstood three moves, and that’s that. You never put forth any conditions, which is on you. What does any of it have to do with me?
“Girl, it is already an exception for me to offer you a second chance to choose. Decide now.”
Awe Gate’s eyes narrowed. “Old man, you really don’t have even a shred of shame, do you?”
“Rubbish. You yourself are the one who never said anything. What does that have to do with me?” Chang Tu was not bothered in the slightest.
Lu Yin cut in, “Senior, you just said that civilizations ought to hide themselves. In that case, why does the Meteor Realm still exist? Is it possible that you don’t know that the Meteor Realm will draw in creatures from foreign civilizations?”
“That is none of your business,” Chang Tu replied with a frown.
Lu Yin shook his head. “The fact that we were able to come here proves that the Meteor Realm has already connected our two civilizations. Even if it’s a connection that only appears once every 800 years, you simply cannot say that it is none of our business, Senior. To be blunt, if the Longevity Civilization one day faces calamity, will you not use the Meteor Realm to escape?”
Chang Tu’s voice grew cold. “Even so, we would not go towards your human civilization.”
Lu Yin shrugged. “That’s hard to say. At the very least, for my human civilization, this remains a potential threat. In the same way, if my human civilization encounters a catastrophe, can you guarantee that we would never come here to the Longevity Civilization, Senior?”
“Do so if you dare!” Chang Tu barked harshly.
Lu Yin met the old man’s gaze. “Please calm yourself, Senior. This is no threat, merely speaking of possibilities. At the very least, from our perspective, the Longevity Civilization is not a place beyond the possibility of communication. Let me ask you this, Senior: at a critical moment, given the choice between a known destination and an unknown one, which would you choose?
“I imagine that you have considered this question before, Senior. The Longevity Civilization is clearly wise and must have thoroughly analyzed this matter, even to the point of speculating that human civilization might one day arrive via the Meteor Realm. Despite that, you still have not destroyed it. Your Longevity Civilization has its own considerations, as does my human civilization. How can we claim that the two are unrelated?”
Chang Tian looked at Lu Yin. The brat really had a way with words.
He was the Meteor Realm’s most frequent guardian, and he had often pondered these exact questions. After all, the Meteor Realm was connected to many different regions of the cosmos, not just human civilization; why had their people never destroyed it?
Lu Yin had certainly touched upon the crux of the matter.
Chang Tu clasped his hands behind his back as he stared at Lu Yin. “Boy, your status in your human civilization is not low, is it?”
Lu Yin smiled. “No matter what, I am an Aberrant, and one who can fight against most Immortals. How many Immortals can a single civilization have? At most, seven or eight.”
Chang Tu and Chang Tian both froze, thinking they must have misheard. “Boy, what did you say? How many Immortals?”
Awe Gate sneered. “Seven or eight. Can’t you understand? Old man, are you losing your hearing?”
Chang Tu stared in disbelief. “Your civilization has seven or eight Immortals?”
Lu Yin nodded.
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
“I would never dare joke with you, Senior. In fact, I’m being modest.”
“Absurd! You think that I’ll believe something like that?”
“Does it matter whether you believe, Senior? Facts remain facts.”
“If you’ve got the guts, drag them over here on a leash,” Chang Tu snapped, glaring at Lu Yin.
Awe Gate barked back, “Old man, I’d rather leash you and take you for a walk.”
Lu Yin said, “We’re really going off on a tangent. Whether you believe me or not has nothing to do with our current trip. Senior, the existence of the Meteor Realm means that our two civilizations can never be completely separated from each other. The supposed rule of no communication between civilizations in the Aevum Inch is not absolute. No one can guarantee the safety of their own civilization.
“No matter how powerful a civilization becomes, its final outcome remains destruction. That is the ultimate destination of all civilizations.
“All we can do is prolong the legacy of our own civilizations for as long as possible.”
Chang Tu’s expression turned grave. “Who said those words?”
Lu Yin replied, “A senior of my human civilization.”
Chang Tu raised a brow. “A senior? How old?”
Lu Yin smiled. “One who perfectly defines what it means to be an Immortal being.”
Chang Tu’s eye twitched, and he exchanged glances with Chang Tian. Chang Tian stared at Awe Gate in shock. Did the human civilization really have such a powerhouse?
Neither of the men could believe it.
Still, that comment about the ultimate destiny of all civilizations was not something that an ordinary person could say. It was an observation that could only come from a creature who had lived for an extremely long time and possessed a profound understanding of the Aevum Inch.
Those words forced them to believe Lu Yin.
In that instant, Chang Tu felt a twinge of wariness. He had originally believed that this human civilization had one or two Immortals at best and thus had not cared about them. However, the girl’s strength had advanced at a terrifying rate, and this human civilization also had more than one path of cultivation. For an Immortal to dare to attempt a second cultivation path meant that their civilization was either in such dire straits that they needed someone to take such a risk or that there were so many Immortals that they did not care about the risk.
If Awe Gate had arrived alone, the first possibility would have been most likely. However, the presence of the Aberrant made it clear to Chang Tu that the second possibility was more likely.
Aberrants were not beings that could appear in just any civilization. Even if a civilization had three to five Immortals, or even more, that did not indicate that they could produce even a single Aberrant.
For example, their Longevity Civilization had no Aberrants at all.
There was a consensus throughout the Aevum Inch: any civilization with an Aberrant could not be simple.
The boy was also not easy to deceive. Between his reasonable arguments and the powerful figure supporting the human civilization, Chang Tu suddenly did not know what to say.
Lu Yin exhaled. He had only intended to take the first step with his words. He wanted to temporarily suppress Chang Tu’s arrogance and buy them a bit of time. If the old man’s pride could not be suppressed even a little, then all that awaited them was likely another slash of his blade, and it was very possible that they would not be able to endure that attack.