The void twisted as Master Qing Cao arrived. His eyes swept over everyone who was already present before finally stopping on Lu Yin. “How much do you know about Obscura?”
Lu Yin met his eyes. “What have you seen? What do you know?”
Master Qing Cao countered, “Have you really seen the cosmos clearly?”
“How do you define seeing the cosmos clearly? Do you happen to know what Obscura’s six star missions are, who completed them, and what sort of strength is required to do that?” Lu Yin asked.
Master Qing Cao shook his head. “I do not know what is considered a six star mission. I merely personally watched as Obscura destroyed a powerful civilization with more than ten Immortals.”
Everyone’s expression grew heavy. So that was what had happened.
Finally, they understood why Master Qing Cao was so terrified of Obscura.
Destroying a civilization with more than ten Immortals was not a mere matter of numbers; it was a demonstration of absolute power.
Even if the human civilization included Lu Yin, Master Qing Cao, and Kang Tian among their number of Immortals, they only had eight. That was already a number sufficient to give them the confidence to stand against a fishing civilization. With the addition of teleportation, humanity practically considered themselves to be one such civilization. In that case, what level of strength and what sort of methods would a civilization with more than ten Immortals possess? They might as well have been considered a fishing civilization.
It was likely that such a civilization had methods not necessarily inferior to what humanity possessed and would very likely be superior.
Master Qing Cao had personally seen such a civilization be destroyed. How could he not have succumbed to despair?
They were finally able to understand how he must have felt all along.
They also understood why, for so many years, he had cared nothing about the continuation of the human civilization as a whole and had focused solely on protecting the Spirit Nidus and preserving humanity’s inheritance.
“But that was Obscura using other civilizations,” Greater Sancte Blood Tower protested in a low voice.
Master Qing Cao gave a bitter smile. “Is there any difference?”
No one could argue.
Indeed, was there any difference? The process did not matter, only the outcome.
If Obscura was able to destroy such a powerful civilization, then as long as they wished to, they could destroy the human civilization just as easily. It had been mere luck that they had been assigned to Qi Xu and Lan Meng. Of course, that was not pure luck. Strength had also played a role. If Lan Meng had not been severely injured, its methods might have given it the confidence to lure over the Seven-Treasure Anuras to attack humanity.
Even with their human civilization’s current strength, they might not be capable of stopping those toads.
Their species had that ancient monster, and yet it was possible that not even the Seven-Treasure Anuras had more than ten Immortals among their numbers. On the other hand, a civilization with more than ten Immortals was much more likely to have a powerhouse equal to the toads’ ancestor.
More importantly, the civilization whose destruction Qing Cao had seen had only been considered a four star mission for Obscura.
Master Qing Cao left. Lu Yin had joined Obscura, which meant that their human civilization no longer needed to face Obscura as a mortal enemy. Qing Cao was finally relieved of his burden, and that also meant that he would no longer need to waver between human civilization and Obscura.
As for the three star mission that Lu Yin had been assigned, Greater Sancte Green Lotus, Mister Mu, and the others were in complete agreement on how to proceed: they would ignore it.
They had never planned to gain anything from Lu Yin joining Obscura. If they did, wonderful; if not, they would not force it.
Mercy did not exist in the Aevum Inch, and it was perfectly normal for a civilization to destroy others. But if they were able to choose, they still did not wish to reap the lives of others purely for their own gain.
There was no mercy, but there were choices.
Obscura would no longer move against their human civilization. The threat of both the Seven-Treasure Anuras and the Nest civilization had both been eliminated, while the technological civilization that existed somewhere on the other side of the Gate of Laws had not reappeared.
Yong Heng and Zhu remained trapped in a parallel universe, unable to travel to the Death Megaverse.
For the moment, humanity was safe.
For the moment, both internal conflicts and external threats had been removed, and Lu Yin felt as though a great weight had been lifted from him.
“Little Seven.”
“Master?”
“Do you want to gain experience with a suppressive mirebound artifact? The more people that are capable of using it, the more strength we will gain.”
“Alright.”
...
Cultivation blurred the passage of time. The blink of an eye might allow millions of years to slip by. But for Lu Yin, a mere 100 years already felt quite long. After all, only a few centuries had passed since he had first started cultivating.
More than 200 years passed since Lu Yin had returned from Vestigium.
During those two centuries, humanity had experienced a period of remarkable peace. No foreign civilization had appeared, Obscura had remained silent, and their civilization flourished with vibrant growth.
Multiple talented individuals appeared during that time. The former Dao Chosen of the Tianyuan and the Origin Universe’s Ten Arbiters rose up and started to stand out among the human civilization. They had once been famous youths in the Origin Universe and the Tianyuan Megaverse, but even after the unification of the three human megaverses, they were still considered outstanding among those of their generation.
Some had been buried in obscurity for a time, some had chosen to live ordinary lives, and yet ultimately they all ended up shining with their own brilliance.
Human Immortals started to appear in public with greater frequency to instruct the masses. Even Master Qing Cao made appearances in the Spirit Nidus, occasionally offering guidance to cultivators.
The overall strength of humanity was rapidly rising.
There was one event in particular that created a stir among the entire human civilization: Jiang Feng had a breakthrough and became an Immortal.
Jiang Feng had cultivated by taking a shortcut, and yet in a twist of, all of his senses had been sealed away by Master Qing Cao. After that, by relying on his understanding of aura energy and his conversations with Yan Ruyu, Jiang Feng had gradually awakened. He had overcome the bottleneck that his shortcut had created and had proceeded to steadily advance once again, eventually making the final breakthrough to become an Immortal.
During that period, he repeatedly entered the Mirari Realm to cultivate, to the point where not even the man himself had any idea how much time he had experienced.
Finally, the day came when he successfully stepped into the Immortal realm.
Lu Yin was not even sure if the man’s breakthrough could be considered a purely direct breakthrough, but that did not matter. Jiang Feng was an Immortal, and that was enough.
As for the man’s strength, Immortals did not spar with each other, and Lu Yin did not ask for one either. There was no need to increase anyone’s karmic chain just for the sake of a duel.
The next one to have a breakthrough should be the Origin Progenitor, Tai Chu.
Everyone was anticipating the Origin Progenitor’s breakthrough. His path to the Immortal realm was tied to the mysterious consciousness that existed in the Consciousness Megaverse. No one had any idea just how terrifying that being might be. It had observed Greater Sancte Green Lotus when he comprehended karma, only to ultimately be disappointed in him.