Behind True God, Progenitor Xi frowned. "Ye Bo?"
"I see." True God realized where the immense amount of divine energy within Lu Yin had come from. He was the only one who could see through Ye Bo's disguise.
Ancient God, Forgotten Ruins God, and the others all watched as Ye Bo approached the black Mother Tree.
Other eyes around the Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm were also focused on Ye Bo, but they quickly shifted away, as though he did not exist.
The Great Sovereign’s eyes opened, and she stared at Ye Bo. The woman watched calmly as Ye Bo approached the black Mother Tree and leaped down into the roots.
From beginning to end, no one spoke to Ye Bo, and he also said nothing to anyone.
It was eerily quiet.
There was an unspoken agreement between both sides.
Lu Yin moved between the roots of the black Mother Tree. The divine energy had already been pulled within the Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm, but Lu Yin's goal was not any of the exposed divine energy; he wanted what was inside the black Mother Tree itself.
He believed that, since the Mother Tree was nourished by stellular energy, the black Mother Tree had to be nourished by divine energy.
The Mother Tree had sprouted before the Origin Progenitor was even born. By the time the Origin Progenitor had appeared, the tree had already been supporting the Origin Universe. Stellular liquid had appeared within the Mother Tree because the tree was capable of using various nutrients, and that was why it made sense for divine energy to exist within the black Mother Tree.
True God's eyes turned cold as he watched Lu Yin move downwards. He had already realized Lu Yin’s goal, and that made the man’s expression darken.
Without a word, Lu Yin raised a hand and slashed it sideways. A section of the tree’s roots was torn open, and dark-red divine energy poured out from the opening.
Lu Yin’s eyes lit up. It was just as he had expected.
True God’s expression grew terrifyingly grim, and the sky above the Scourge dimmed.
He had underestimated Lu Yin. What was happening was True God’s mistake.
He had originally believed that the boy was extraordinarily talented, and it was quite impressive for him to have risen to such a level in such a short amount of time. Even so, True God had not expected Lu Yin to become such a threat so quickly.
To begin with, Lu Yin had received the support of all of humanity, which was something that True God could not tolerate. At this moment, it was also clear that Lu Yin had seen through the truth regarding the black Mother Tree and was about to absorb its divine energy.
Even when the Seven Skygods or the Three Pillars and Six Skies absorbed divine energy, True God never cared, because none of them were capable of absorbing too much.
But Lu Yin was different. Regardless of how much divine energy he was capable of absorbing, the most terrifying thing about Lu Yin was how much remained unknown.
Even True God could not see the full depths of the man’s capabilities, and that was what frightened Yong Heng the most.
In many ways, Lu Yin was a mystery, and nothing was more terrifying than the unknown.
In the Perennial World, absorbing stellular liquid had been one of the greatest crimes, because doing so would weaken the Mother Tree, and a weakened Mother Tree would not be able to protect the Perennial World from Aeternus. However, there was a theory that, by absorbing the Mother Tree’s stellular liquid, a cultivator could rapidly increase their strength, undergoing a qualitative transformation that would allow them to destroy Aeternus in a single stroke.
This would be no different from sacrificing the Mother Tree to save humanity.
Ultimately, the second possibility had been rejected. Throughout history, the idea had persisted, but it had never become very popular because the ones in power had all understood that Aeternus would not be defeated that easily.
Even if the Perennial World produced ten or even dozens of Progenitors, it still would not be enough to defeat the Aeternals.
The Lu family had understood this quite clearly.
Eventually, people had taken to absorbing stellular liquid not for the sake of humanity or defeating Aeternus, but rather for personal gain.
All of the four ruling powers had allowed their people to absorb stellular liquid as a means of raising their own strength, ensuring their continued dominance over the Perennial World and their grip on power.
Regardless of the reasons, it remained true that absorbing stellular liquid certainly did enhance a person’s cultivation, provided that they cultivated with stellular energy.
At the moment, Lu Yin was absorbing divine energy from the black Mother Tree in the same manner as how people absorbed stellular liquid the Mother Tree, and this was because Lu Yin cultivated divine energy.
As more and more divine energy was absorbed, Lu Yin waved his hand again, opening a larger hole in the black Mother Tree. Divine energy surged out like a waterfall, and Lu Yin proceeded to frantically absorb as much as he could. His inner universe appeared, and the star of divine energy started spinning faster and faster.
Wu Tian and Hongyan Mavis exchanged glances, worry flickering in their eyes.
It was not necessarily a good thing that Lu Yin cultivated divine energy. Their master had warned them that True God’s divine energy could influence a person’s mind.
Lu Yin’s current strength served as proof that he would undoubtedly surpass True God in the future, or at the very least, reach the same level. Because of that, he should not be affected by divine energy too much.
That was why they had been at peace with Lu Yin cultivating divine energy.
However, that ease was suddenly replaced with concern as everyone watched Lu Yin frantically absorb divine energy. Their original worries returned in force.
The more divine energy that Lu Yin absorbed, the greater the chance that some sort of change would occur. If Lu Yin eventually became an enemy of humanity, he would pose an even greater threat than Aeternus had at their peak. This was because, if Lu Yin turned, he would shatter humanity’s faith.
The third Divine Commandment would end in Aeternus’s victory.
But no matter how much anyone worried, no one could stop Lu Yin, and he had already informed them of his plans.
It was questionable if the Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm could actually drain True God’s strength, but there was no doubt that absorbing his divine energy would diminish his strength.
In order to defeat Aeternus, there was no avoiding the fact that True God needed to be dealt with.
The fate of humanity had prompted Wu Tian to stay imprisoned in the Third Scourge instead of returning to humanity, because he had seen a threat even greater than Aeternus.
If humanity truly wished to break free of such restraints, they needed to rise up, step by step. First, they needed to eradicate the Aeternals, and then they needed to confront that looming fate.
Lu Yin was currently trying to prepare for that future day.
The Great Sovereign looked down below. "So, is this also an option?"
She looked up at True God. Things were getting interesting.
The Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm had been steadily sapping away at True God’s power, even if progress was very slow. The Great Sovereign had prepared herself to wait for an eternity, but with this new method of weakening Yong Heng, everything had changed.
Down among the black Mother Tree’s roots, Lu Yin’s mind remained clear and free of all distractions. He focused solely on absorbing divine energy and strengthening the star within his inner universe. Divine energy, like the other energies that formed stars in Lu Yin’s universe, was nothing more than another tool for Lu Yin to use. Even if using divine energy roused a desire for slaughter, that was just nothing more than a means to an end.
Even if he never used the divine energy, sealing it away inside of himself would still weaken True God.