Lu Yin immediately teleported back to Awe Gate. He found Qing Yun supporting her mother, and Awe Gate’s face had grown pale. Her arm had been severed. The sharp slash had devastated nearly half her body, and she was coughing up blood.
"Senior!" Lu Yin immediately took her back to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, and they appeared within the Sea of Karma. Green Lotus pressed a hand to Awe Gate’s shoulder to dispel the lingering sharpness.
Lu Yin stared on in a daze, his limbs cold. Even just recalling the instant that the slash had appeared left his scalp tingling. The entire cosmos had seemed like a thin sheet of paper being sliced apart. Whether it was within the Aevum Inch or inside a megaverse, there had been no difference.
Even Greater Sancte Awe Gate had been severely wounded. Forget defending against such an attack, but they had not even been able to evade. Even teleportation had barely allowed Lu Yin to escape.
From beginning to end, he had not even seen the enemy’s appearance, nor did he know where the attack had originated from.
In that moment, Lu Yin felt a profound helplessness. This was similar to when he had first started cultivating and faced the Nightking clan. It was like when the Great Sovereign had revealed the truth about Aeternus to him. It was like the time when he had tried and failed to rescue Ancestor Shan. Each moment of helplessness and despair carried the same icy chill.
Everyone remained silent.
Green Lotus silently treated Awe Gate’s wounds. However, the injuries would not heal easily. Time alone would not eliminate them. Some unknown force remained present.
Qing Yun stood beside them, clenching the Longevity Vine tightly. Lu Yin said nothing. At this moment, there was nothing that he could say. The Meteor Realm was gone. The Longevity Civilization could no longer be found. Was this the reason why that sharpness had suddenly appeared?
It had taken only a single move. Just one strike, and the sense of security of the Trio had been completely destroyed. Humanity’s self-confidence that they could defend themselves had been utterly shattered.
If that strike had shifted even slightly, Awe Gate would have died. The attacker was not incapable of killing; they had simply chosen not to.
The spilled blood told everyone the same thing. If that being wished it, their human civilization would not be able to withstand even a single strike.
Lu Yin took a deep breath and teleported away. He appeared in outer space, laid down in the red coffin, and entered Vestigium.
"Ba Se."
"I am here."
"Some being just cleaved through my human civilization’s megaverses and severely injured Greater Sancte Awe Gate. You said that if I fought in Obscura’s war, my civilization would be protected for 1,000 years. How do you explain this?" Lu Yin demanded in a low voice.
Ba Se said, "Obscura promised protection, but we are not omnipotent. I can only promise that this matter will be investigated. If no result can be found, compensation will be provided."
"The attacker should be Obscura’s transparent one."
"Do you have evidence?"
Of course Lu Yin had no evidence. He did not even know where the strike had originated from. However, aside from that mysterious Keeper of Balance who might be hiding within the Trio, he could think of no one else.
He had joined Obscura in order to protect the Trio, as well as learn about Obscura in order to ultimately eliminate humanity’s mortal enemy. Lu Yin had never intended to truly rely on Obscura.
But at this moment, he actually placed his hopes upon that very enemy. Even he found it absurd.
The feeling of helplessness wrapped around him. He did not know who to turn to or who could help him. He longed to obtain something from Obscura, even if it was only information about his current enemy, but Ba Se’s response was cold and ruthless.
Should Lu Yin feel disappointed? That was ridiculous. In the dark and endless omniverse, placing hope in others was already the greatest joke, let alone placing it in an enemy.
All that could be said was that that single wisp of sharpness had severed everything that Lu Yin believed he had achieved until now. It felt as though all of his efforts had been meaningless.
He left Vestigium, returned to the mountain behind the Heavens Sect, and silently stared out at the starry sky.
Mister Mu arrived. He said nothing and simply accompanied Lu Yin in silence. Long Xi poured tea for the two of them and quietly withdrew.
"Master, what I have done is still not enough. Far from it," Lu Yin murmured.
Mister Mu took a sip of tea. "You are lost."
Lu Yin’s expression turned complicated. Yes, he was lost. It was not fear or cowardice, but genuine confusion. He felt more lost than ever before.
In the past, when he had faced powerful enemies, even after seeing the truth of Aeternus, he had never felt that way. He had experienced despair before, but he had always been able to quickly regain his resolve. No matter how hopeless things had seemed, there had always been people walking beside him.
This time, his confusion came from something else: his path forward had been sealed off.