Lu Yin immediately called for Mu Zhu and his senior disciple brothers. If time had been taken from Progenitor Ku, then they could use Origin Tracer technique to search for it.
Mu Zhu was fine, but Qing Ping and Mu Xie were still struggling to recover. They had already used Origin Tracer to help Lu Yin deal with Prof. Wei, and they had not yet regained their full strength.
However, this matter was too important. If some of Progenitor Ku’s time had really been stolen away, then something truly significant must have occurred during that time.
When Progenitor Ku had invaded the Scourges by himself, he had not expected to return alive. He had fully intended to pave a path for future generations. Even if he died, he had intended to leave behind some clues within Aeternus. Even when he used his sequence particles to escape, he had not really expected to succeed. Lu Yin had scoured the black Mother Tree and all six Scourges, but he had not found even a trace of a clue.
That period of time had been taken away, and Master Qing Cao had to have been involved. But if Master Qing Cao had been in the Scourge during Progenitor Ku’s invasion, why had the man not simply killed Progenitor Ku? If he had not cared about the Progenitor, then why had Tian En been sent out to hunt Progenitor Ku down?
Master Qing Cao had his own plans, and both Lu Yin and Progenitor Ku wanted to discover what had happened during the missing time.
Senior Brothers Qing Ping and Mu Xie both went to the Five Spirits Alliance so that they could quickly recover in the parallel universes where time flowed faster.
It was more than a month before they finally returned. They had needed the extended stay with the Five Spirits Alliance in order to fully recover.
They were going to try to use Origin Tracer to search for a removed piece of time that involved a terrifying expert like Master Qing Cao. Not only were Lu Yin and several others present, but even Mister Mu had come, just in case.
If some time had truly been taken away from Progenitor Ku, then his presence during that time would have to exist outside of the River of Aeons, which meant that Origin Tracer should be able to find it.
As they started using the technique, all that Lu Yin and the others could do was wait.
Ancient God’s death meant that Lu Yuan and his peers were all grieving terribly. Even the Origin Progenitor had fallen silent beneath the Immemorial Citadel.
The Immemorial Citadel was all quiet, and the Heavens Sect had similarly become eerily still.
The Aeternals may have been defeated, but only those who were unaware of the truth were celebrating. No peak powerhouse or anyone who had reached a higher level of cultivation could bring themselves to feel joy.
The true enemy had only just revealed themselves.
After half a year passed, the day finally came when Mu Zhu and the others shouted, “We’ve found it!”
They were staring at the stream of the River of Aeons trickling between them. There was a flashing gray light as images flickered by, but they were too blurry to make out.
Suddenly, a pair of eyes snapped open within the gray, and they stared directly at the four individuals.
Lu Yin instantly recognized the eyes, as they belonged to Master Qing Cao.
Cough!
All four people using Origin Tracer abruptly coughed up blood and collapsed.
A wave of Mister Mu's hand caused the void to tremble as the stream of the River of Aeons vanished. Concern covered his face.
In the middle of outer space, Master Qing Cao frowned. Had he been discovered? If so, it was time to start the war in earnest.
He stood up and made his way toward the edge of the megaverse.
On the mountain behind the Heavens Sect, only Mu Zhu remained conscious. The three men who had been working with her had all fainted at the same time.
Mister Mu quickly examined them and then said, "They’re fine. They only received a glance. That person didn’t do much to them."
After moving Senior Brother Mu Ke and the others aside so that they could rest, Lu Yin turned to Mu Zhu. "Senior Sister, were you able to see anything?" РaꞐốᛒЕṩ
Mu Zhu’s face was pale, but she recalled what she had seen and started drawing a symbol in the air.
The symbol that she drew was the same one that True God had noticed when Ancient God had been trying to fight Master Qing Cao. It was the symbol that was on Qing Cao’s withered wrist.
Progenitor Ku grew excited. "That’s the symbol! I don’t know why, but when I saw that, I knew that I had to survive and get the message out."
Lu Yin glanced toward Mister Mu, Lu Yuan, and the other senior cultivators present.
Lu Yuan and the others of the Three Realms and Six Dao were all visibly confused.
Even Wu Tian, who was known for being a teacher and possessing the broadest knowledge base, was unable to make any sense of the symbol.
"Karma," Mister Mu said as he stared at the symbol. That was all he said, just one word.
Everyone looked at the man in confusion.
What did the symbol have to do with karma?
Mister Mu stared at the symbol for a long time before he let out a sigh. "So that’s it. Now I understand. No wonder I managed to survive. It all makes sense now."
"Master, you understand this?" Lu Yin asked.
Mister Mu waved his hand, and the symbol disappeared. "In this megaverse, aside from myself, no one else will understand this symbol, not even Tai Chu. That’s because you simply haven’t experienced it.
"I saw this symbol long ago."
Mu Zhu looked at Mister Mu. "In our megaverse?"
Mister Mu nodded, his expression conflicted. "Yes, in our megaverse. At the time, I didn’t understand what the symbol meant, and I didn’t think much of it."
He then turned to Progenitor Ku. "As for you, why did you find this symbol so strange?"
Mister Mu then immediately shook his head. "Never mind, you won’t remember."
While it was true that Progenitor Ku could not remember, something must have happened at the time that had made him feel that the symbol was important enough to let others know about it.
It was even possible that the symbol was the reason why Master Qing Cao had taken a period of time away from Progenitor Ku and then sent Tian En to hunt the Progenitor down.
"If I were to guess, then I believe that this symbol is used for measuring time," Mister Mu continued.
Everyone felt confused by that. Measuring time?
Mister Mu continued in a solemn tone. “There are no absolutes in the megaverse. This is something that I, Tai Chu, Wei Nu, Tai Hong, and others have all agreed upon. If an absolute were to exist, such as an Immortal, then there would have to be restrictions holding them back. The most probable restriction is karma.
“We don’t know how Immortals might be restricted, but whatever it is, it must be severe. If not, how could a megaverse develop normally? An Immortal cannot possibly dominate the entire megaverse.