Xuan Jiu remained silent for a moment, but then he gave the waiter an admiring look. "You truly have seen the universe and become as steady as a mountain."
The waiter was left speechless. "There isn't really anything extraordinary about me."
"I’ll introduce you to a beautiful and gentle woman who will be your wife. I'm her ninth grandfather, so as long as I give the word, she’ll agree to marry you without any hesitation. However, you have a rival, and I’m not sure whether or not you have the courage to face him."
The waiter blinked. "Our boss treats me well. I'm not afraid of rivals."
"You really have seen the world. My granddaughter’s name is Starsibyl."
"That’s a nice name, Uncle. You should come on out first. The ground here is cold."
"You’re such a good child—Uncle appreciates your efforts. By the way, your rival's name is Lu Yin, though some people call him Lord Lu."
"Boss! This bastard’s trying to trick me!"
"Who dares to try to take advantage of someone from our restaurant? I'll cut them down!"
There was a bang as Xuan Jiu leaped through the window and out of the restaurant. He was still holding a roasted haunch in one hand, and he muttered to himself even as he ate it, "I’d better go find that brat Lu Yin. Grandpa Jiu can't be beaten! Let's see who’s got worse luck! Brat, grandpa's coming..."
...
After returning to the Heavens Sect, Lu Yin decided to roll his die.
It was not going to be easy to deal with the Boundary Guardians, and on top of that, Lu Yin wanted to use his die to check on the current situation of the Aeternas.
Aeternus was doing everything possible to get the Boundary Guardians to act against the Heavens Sect. On the surface, the guardians seemed to be wary of the Heavens Sect, but Lu Yin was not certain what their true intentions were.
Aeternus was not run by fools. Lu Yin could not help but suspect that they were laying a trap, given that the Aeternals were acting so weak.
Aeternus had destroyed the ancient Heavens Sect with overwhelming power.
Only knowing both his enemy and himself would reassure Lu Yin.
Seizing the consciousness of the Purple Emperor had allowed Lu Yin’s cracked star of consciousness to mostly recover, which meant that he should be able to break through the barriers in the strange dark space that separated different parallel universes. Lu Yin was not going to target any of the Seven Skygods or the Three Pillars and Six Skies with his Possession; otherwise, he might run into True God again. The best option was to merge with some other peak powerhouse within Aeternus so that Lu Yin could determine the state of the Scourges.
He lifted his head as his die appeared. He used divine energy as he tapped the die and rolled it. He watched as it slowly stopped spinning. It showed one pip, and Pilfer caused something useless to fall out. Again.
Ten days later, Lu Yin rolled his die again. His first four rolls had not given him Possession once.
Once, twice, thrice, four times. Still, not once did Lu Yin roll Possession. This was pretty bad luck, so he waited again. However, even after another ten days, he still failed to roll Possession.
It was highly unusual for Lu Yin to have so much trouble getting a specific roll, and he could not believe his luck.
Finally, as he watched the die come to a stop, it showed six pips, and Lu Yin's consciousness appeared in the strange dark space.
He looked into the distance. The dark space was vast, and he could only see a few dim orbs of light far off in the distance. They clearly represented individuals who were much weaker than Lu Yin. His consciousness wandered about, and soon enough, he saw a slightly brighter ball of light. From the brightness, he judged that it should represent a peak powerhouse.
There was also a barrier between him and the light.
Lu Yin's consciousness shot towards the orb, and he smashed through the invisible barrier to merge with the orb of light.
When he opened his eyes, he saw a familiar landscape surrounding him. He was back in the Scourge. Memories quickly surged into Lu Yin’s mind, and he raised a hand as he realized that he was Possessing Chong Gui.
Chong Gui was one of the True God Guard Captains, and Lu Yin had first learned of the man’s existence when he had attacked the Heavens Sect. That was also when the Lu family had returned from exile, and as a result, Chong Gui had been captured by Lu Tianyi and then imprisoned within the death energy beneath Aeternus Nation. When Di Qiong had invaded Aeternus Nation, Lu Yin had been forced to release Chong Gui and Dual Bladeform in order to return to the Scourge as Ye Bo. That had allowed Lu Yin to continue infiltrating Aeternus.
Chong Gui was not human. Lu Yin had previously received reports about him, and the Heavens Sect had interrogated him, but Chong Gui had never said anything.
However, from the memories he could see, Lu Yin learned that Chong Gui had indeed been born a human, though he had lived a truly tragic life.
Chong Gui had been born as an ordinary human, but later on in life, he had been captured by a cultivator who specialized in experimenting with insects. That cultivator had used insects to attack enemies, and he had used people to feed his bugs. Chong Gui’s childhood had been miserable, and he had barely survived. As for the cultivator, he had eventually been devoured by his own insects with nothing left behind. Chong Gui, due to having spent so much time with the bugs, had gained the ability to control them. Thus, he stepped onto the path of the cultivator who had captured him.
While the cultivator had only ever managed to become the equivalent of an Envoy, Chong Gui successfully became a peak powerhouse by following the man’s path.
Because he used insects to fight, Chong Gui had been regarded as an evil individual, and he had never bothered to explain himself. He had mercilessly killed all invaders and committed heinous massacres in his native civilization. Eventually, he had been taken away by Aeternus and made a True God Guard Captain.
As for the man’s strange manner of speaking, that all stemmed from his childhood interactions with insects, during which time he had created an alternate personality.
Chong Gui's memories left Lu Yin feeling very uncomfortable. The man’s tragic childhood and the slaughters that he had committed after becoming a cultivator both opened Lu Yin's eyes.
The man had lived a pitiful life. Everything about his existence had been tragic, but he had also delivered tragedy to countless others.
He had killed many innocent people.
In front of Chong Gui, a river of divine energy flowed through a crack in the ground. The First Scourge was in shambles after the multiple battles and invasions.
Mu Ji approached from the distance. "Chong Gui, why are you staring at the divine energy river?"
Lu Yin looked over at Mu Ji. The Arborean was the reason why Hui Wu had become a frenzied corpse. Mu Ji was one of Lu Yin’s must-kill targets, though the man had not yet told Aeternus that Ye Bo was actually one of Lu Yin’s alternate identities, nor had the man’s suspicions regarding Wang Xiaoyu been shared. Just what was Mu Ji thinking?
Mu Ji observed Chong Gui with open curiosity. "What's wrong with you? You don't seem like yourself."
Lu Yin's consciousness withdrew from Chong Gui's body. He did not need to be cautious any longer. Even if he was discovered, what of it? True God already knew that Lu Yin could Possess people with his die. The Three Pillars and Six Skies and the Seven Skygods most likely knew about the matter as well.
It was not impossible for Mu Ji and the other captains to have been informed, so it would not be unreasonable for them to be suspicious if Chong Gui acted in an unusual manner.
When his consciousness returned to his body, Lu Yin let out a breath. Chong Gui's memories were still weighing heavily on Lu Yin’s heart. A person needed to be able to control their own fate. Lu Yin had also experienced something terrible in the past, and he had nearly become white meat. Fortunately, his luck had not been completely terrible, and he had ultimately reclaimed everything that should have belonged to him from the beginning.
After steadying his mind, Lu Yin continued to roll the die.
After another ten days passed, Lu Yin rolled Possession again. He quickly found another appropriate orb of light, and he immediately merged with it.
Upon opening his eyes, his vision was completely filled by a dark-red light. Was he in a river of divine energy?
Memories entered his mind. Lu Yin had Possessed a frenzied corpse. There were a great many memories he could access, as the frenzied corpse had once been a peak powerhouse.
Lu Yin had no interest in the cultivator’s memories. After all, they had been reduced to being nothing more than a frenzied corpse.
Not far away, he could see another frenzied corpse. It was Hui Wu.