Breaking the Four Locks Formation would mean shattering his four strongest abilities, and doing so would impede Lu Yin’s future progress. It would be like planting a seed of failure.
There was no denying that Tian Feng's Four Locks Formation infuriated everyone.
This was why Lu Yuan had also never offered to break the Four Locks Formation for Lu Yin.
A powerhouse’s conviction was of vital importance.
Lu Yin needed to resolve the sourcebox on his own.
"Senior Wu Tian-"
Lu Yin started to speak, but he was immediately interrupted. "Call me Big Thug."
Lu Yin was momentarily taken aback.
Wu Tian looked at Lu Yin and smiled. "You've met Master, haven’t you? Then you should have been given your own nickname."
That comment caused Garan Zhiluo to instantly focus on Lu Yin as well.
Lu Yin’s face betrayed nothing. "No."
Garan Zhiluo laughed mockingly. "Impossible. That habit of Master’s has never changed. Go on, tell us. Don’t be shy. Getting a name means that Master’s acknowledged you."
"Really, I never got one," Lu Yin answered somberly. He then pointedly glanced over at Hongyan Mavis and Lu Yuan.
They were the only two who had heard about Lu Yin’s nickname of Pillar, and Lu Yin felt that acknowledging the name out loud would be undignified.
Hongyan Mavis said, "Alright, stop making things difficult for him. Pillar, what were you about to say?"
"Pillar?"
"I see. A good name."
Lu Yin was completely speechless, and he stared at Hongyan Mavis, aghast.
She just coughed. "Sorry, a slip of the tongue."
Lu Yuan laughed. "Alright, it's no big deal. Little Seven, what were you about to say?"
Helpless, Lu Yin turned back to Wu Tian. "I wanted to ask, Senior, why didn’t you leave the Third Scourge? Just what is the ‘fate’ that you mentioned?"
Lu Yuan and the others fell silent, all of them turning solemn.
Wu Tian straightened up. "When the First Mainland was destroyed, on the same day that something happened to Master, I arrived before everyone else. I personally witnessed the final portion of the confrontation between the Boundary Guardians and Master.
"Master cut off his own hands and then forced the Boundary Guardians back. When he noticed me, he gave me a warning."
Wu Tian stared at Lu Yin in a very serious manner. "‘My speculations are right.’"
Lu Yin could not make any sense of the statement.
Lu Yuan spoke up, “Master once speculated that, when anything in the megaverse approaches its limit, it will transform into another kind of creature, one that the megaverse cannot tolerate. Thus, the megaverse will seek to dominate it. It might have been some insight that Master gained from his own Dukkha, but when a creature triggers such an event or phenomenon, it is known as the Fated One.”
Wu Tian’s voice dropped low. "If master’s speculation about the Fated One is correct, then given the fact that the Boundary Guardians secretly ambushed Master, ‘fate’ might be either be the Boundary Guardians themselves acting once one reaches a certain limit. Or, it could be something else that stands behind them.
"Regardless, at that moment, I knew that the Fated One is real, and I felt a chill fall upon me. It felt as though something was watching me."
At this point, Wu Tian’s expression turned grim. "There was definitely something watching me at that time, and that something prevented me from going after Master. Master knocked me away, and I don’t know what happened after that. I have no idea how Master ended up at the Immemorial Citadel, or what that even is.
"All I know is that, in the battles that followed, as each Mainland was destroyed, I always felt like something was watching me. Each Mainland was destroyed, and yet I was powerless to do anything about it. When I learned that Aeternus’s Divine Commandment was about to end, I allowed myself to be captured by them and imprisoned in the Third Scourge. In doing so, I drew the Fated One’s attention to the Aeternals instead of humanity.”
"This is a secret known to only a select few of us. The existence of the Fated One is something that only Master could have suspected," Lu Yuan finished.
Lu Yin understood. It was no wonder why Wu Tian had been unwilling to leave the Third Scourge. The man had possessed the ability to leave at any time, and he had even instantly restored his own strength when he had joined the battle in the Second Scourge. He had never needed anyone's help.
"So you joined the battle in the Second Scourge because the Boundary Guardians showed up?" Lu Yin asked.
Wu Tian nodded. "The Boundary Guardians represent the Fated One. Since they’ve already declared war on humanity, then there’s no longer any reason for me to remain in the Third Scourge."
"Do you still feel the Fated One’s attention on you?" Lu Yin suddenly asked.
Lu Yuan, Hongyan Mavis, and Garan Zhiluo all turned to look at Wu Tian. This was a very important question.
The man let out a breath. "Not for now."
Sighs of relief escaped from everyone.
However, they then exchanged glances, noting the helplessness in each other’s eyes.
It did not matter if they could not sense it for the moment, as the Fated One would certainly return. In the past, only the Origin Progenitor had been able to detect the presence of the Fated One, but what about in the future?
Lu Yin was not sure if there was some unfathomable being in the megaverse, or if everything that was happening was connected to them.
The fall of the Heavens Sect, the way in which the Boundary Guardians had continually weakened humanity, and even the rise of Aeternus might all be tied to that same being.