"I'll go bring Big Thug and the others over as well," Ancestor Lu Yuan said as he prepared to leave, only to be stopped by Lu Yin.
"I'll go. It'll be faster." With that, Lu Yin vanished.
Soon, Chu Yi, Wu Tian, Hongyan Mavis, Wilderness God, and Garan Zhiluo all arrived. One by one, they turned to stare at the distant megaverse and proceeded to wait in silence.
A breakthrough to the Immortal realm that used the resetting a megaverse required an individual to use Immortal matter to personally experience the cycle of a megaverse’s start and decline. Their realm would transform as their body accepted and fused with Immortal matter. This would allow the Lifeforce within their body to increase on its own, creating an endless supply. Only after all of those steps were accomplished could one become an Immortal.
In the Aevum Inch, this was the most common breakthrough method for the Immortal realm.
Previously, the Immortal eagle-beast had used this exact same method, guided by Mountain Sword Sect's ancestor.
Ancient God had cultivated for a very long time. For a long time, because the Origin Progenitor had prevented his disciples from entering the Origin realm, Ancient God’s cultivation had stagnated. Later on, the Heavens Sect had collapsed, and he had joined Aeternus. He had then endured countless years of suffering. While his cultivation had only recently improved, his mental state had long since reached the required level.
As their human civilization climbed upward step by step, Ancient God was finally able to fully let go of his attachments. It had taken him just a few hundred years to advance from a normal Dukkhan to a peak Dukkhan and start preparing to advance towards Immortality.
Even so, this still felt too rushed. After all, how long had Ancient God really been a peak Dukkhan for? It was far less than Qing Xing or any of the others, but not even they were in a hurry to attempt a breakthrough.
"Breaking through by relying on the reset of a megaverse and breaking through directly are two entirely different concepts. I tried to persuade Musclehead to endure a little longer, but he couldn't hold back," Chu Yi said with a sigh.
Ancestor Lu Yuan spoke up as well. "As if he'd ever listen to you. If he did, he would have never brought all that suffering on himself back then."
Garan Zhiluo's voice was cool. "Musclehead won't tell us what he's thinking, but it's easy enough to guess. He thinks that our human civilization has too few Immortals."
"That’s not entirely it." Hongyan Mavis stared into the distance. "The injuries that he suffered many years ago were too severe, and although he has since recovered, he still has no confidence in breaking through to the Immortal realm on his own. You all know how difficult Mister Mu's breakthrough was. He was able to endure a direct breakthrough, but not on his own. His difficulty was such that he needed to return to his own megaverse. On the other hand, Musclehead can’t bear such a burden on his own."
Lu Yin peered into the distance. It was true that Ancient God had been severely wounded by Qing Cao and then nearly stomped to death by Yong Heng. If not for the temporal reversion, Ancient God would have already died. Even if the hidden dangers caused by such grave injuries had nearly faded away entirely with the passing of time, they had still left their mark behind.
Besides, not everyone could become an Immortal through a direct breakthrough. Neither Awe Gate nor Blood Tower had used such a method. A direct breakthrough was far harder, and it was not possible to see the end of such a path.
As regrettable as it was, for Ancient God, breaking through by relying on the reset of a megaverse was the most suitable option.
The megaverse roared as it split apart. One parallel universe after another collapsed, and countless specks of Immortal matter appeared within the spatial fissures formed by the collisions of the various universes.
Ancient God leaped up and seized the Immortal matter.
Time passed slowly. The man’s aura grew weaker and weaker as he started experiencing the cycle of a megaverse.
Lu Yin had witnessed this exact process more than once before. The one that had left the deepest impression on him was Venerable Lan Ye’s breakthrough attempt. Even though the man had been perfectly suited to the Orchid Megaverse, he had still ultimately failed.
Lu Yin could only hope that Ancient God would succeed.
Every time a megaverse was reset, it was both the megaverse’s most brilliant and its quietest moment.
Life consisted of both birth and death, and a megaverse was no different. A person could view life as having both length and breadth, but how did a megaverse view its own life?
A megaverse’s life depended on the living creatures within it. Though it was the megaverse that sustained those countless creatures, in the end, it could only allow those creatures to determine whether the megaverse lived or died.
If that’s true for a megaverse, then what about the Aevum Inch?
Time continued to pass. Three years went by as Ancient God continuously attempted to comprehend the cycle of origin and decay. As he did so, he was very quick to seize the Immortal matter.
As Lu Yin watched Ancient God try yet again, a sense of unease rose within his heart. Many years ago, Lei Gong had been the first person that Lu Yin had watched die during an attempt to break through to the Immortal realm. Lei Gong's body had attempted to endure through the cycle of decay, but he had never been able to return to the origin. He had simply been reduced to ashes while letting out roars of frustration until the moment of his death.
After that had been Venerable Lan Ye, who had also died during his breakthrough attempt.
There had been far too many. Many people from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse had died in that exact same way.
"Should we stop Senior Ancient God?"
Ancestor Lu Yuan and the others said nothing. They simply stared into the distance.
Stop him? What would become of Musclehead's dignity? What would become of their own? Ever since they had come into contact with the Aevum Inch, their generation had gradually retreated from standing at the center of history. Despite being among the first cultivators in the Tianyuan, all of them could only watch on as Lu Yin risked his life outside, while those capable of standing beside him were people from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse or even members of Obscura.
What about the Three Realms and Six Daos? Again and again, they had been forced to stay within their own megaverse, waiting for word in humiliation.
Who could understand their frustration?
There was another reason why Musclehead wanted to break into the Immortal realm, and all of his peers understood it. He wanted to restore the honor of their entire generation.
He wanted to tell the Trio that they had once led the Tianyuan and that they were still able to walk before everyone else. Whether they walked towards glory or disaster, they could bear it all.
That would be better than relying on a single child.
How many brushes with death had that child already survived? The fact that they were becoming more and more incapable of keeping up with him was something that none of them could bear.
Even if it meant dying, they were determined to carve a path forward.
Very soon, Ancestor Lu Yuan and the others' expressions changed drastically as they stared into the distance. Ancient God's body was collapsing. He was falling completely into the cycle of decay.
Lu Yin's pupils shrank. Not good!
If this cycle of decline continued, he would have no possibility of returning to the origin. Ancient God would turn to ash and die.
Lu Yin looked over at Ancestor Lu Yuan and the others. Their expressions remained calm, though uneasy. They still did not step forward.
Ancient God was merely the first of them. If he died, the rest of them would proceed, one after another, until one of them blazed a trail to the Immortal realm.
They did not fear death.
"Ancestor!" Lu Yin could not help calling out.
Ancestor Lu Yuan gritted his teeth. "Watch."
Lu Yin looked back at Ancient God. His body was already on the verge of collapsing.
"Pillar." Chu Yi's voice came.
Lu Yin turned to look, and found Chu Yi’s eyes on him. The man smiled. "Your determination to protect humanity is the same as our determination to protect you. There is no fear of death."