Xi Shangfeng observed Hong Xia from within the Blood Tower. A peerless powerhouse who could betray his own civilization without even a twitch was offering terms that were extremely unfavorable to himself. Perhaps he was confident that he could ultimately win this battle, but the unfairness of the wager also revealed how troubled—and helpless—Hong Xia felt from being targeted by Lu Yin.
Since when had anyone been able to put Ancestor Hong Xia in such a bind?
Jiu Wen understood it clearly: Lu Yin was not an Immortal, but he could teleport and was also a member of Obscura. Hong Xia could not directly attack the young man, and if Lu Yin decided to become entangled with Hong Xia, then forget a breakthrough—even just recovering from his losses would be difficult.
To Hong Xia, nothing was more important than his own life. One could not be fooled by the man’s shocking strength; the stronger the expert, the farther they could see. Hong Xia also harbored anxieties about his own safety and survival.
Even if they could not defeat Hong Xia, they had weakened him and made it hard for him to recover his former strength. That was precisely what Hong Xia could not accept. As for being schemed against or having his Path of Dispassion anchors broken, both of those were things that he could ignore.
That was not to say that Hong Xia did not want revenge, but rather that he simply understood his priorities too well.
Lu Yin was a truly troublesome opponent. Not only did he have the ability, but he also had the brains. Coupled with his ability to teleport, only heaven knew what he might do next. Hong Xia did not want to be entangled with such a person. There were far too many potential accidents.
Lu Yin looked at Hong Xia deeply. “You want to settle everything in one go.”
“You could say that.”
“For people of the Nine Ramparts era, was it really possible to settle all debts at once?” Lu Yin countered.
Hong Xia’s eyes narrowed. “Junior, how old are you? Don’t keep dragging the Nine Ramparts era into things. You know nothing. You never lived during that period. What right do you have to avenge them?
“Also, do not forget that your people were treated as bait, abandoned and cast out. My Second Rampart had a hand in that, as did the other Nine Ramparts. Even if I betrayed the Nine Ramparts Civilization, that has nothing to do with you. You were betrayed by the Nine Ramparts first.
“I can tell you this: back then, there were dozens of groups who were deceived and used as bait. Each carried a piece of Nine Ramparts’ inheritance as they fled in a different direction, using every means available to escape. At that time, the Nine Ramparts had not yet fallen. They had not yet experienced true despair. Those people knew that those cast out would be hunted down, but in their minds, their deaths were hope. Each carried a will to die—no refusal, no regret—risking everything to take humanity’s legacy away.
“Even if the Nine Ramparts had eventually won, they still would have taken that step, just in case, despite that step meaning nine deaths in exchange for one life.
“They believed that they were sacrificing themselves for humanity. Every inheritance was bound to their very lives, so that even if they were hunted down and killed, those inheritances would never be allowed to fall into others’ hands. That was the will of those bait.
“Before they left, too many people saw them off. Even now, I still remember how hypocritical those farewell words were, and yet they made the baits’ blood boil. They had no idea that they were bait, cast out by the Nine Ramparts to relieve the pressure of the next battle.”
Lu Yin slowly clenched a fist as Hong Xia continued to say, “I saw it. I heard it. Hmph! I even laughed. I laughed at how pathetic they were. I laughed that, even as they were used and sent to their deaths, they never knew the truth.”
He stared at Lu Yin. “You are a descendant of that bait. My betrayal pushed the Nine Ramparts into the abyss, indirectly saving that bait. If I had betrayed them a little later—even half a day later—all of that bait would have disappeared. There would be no Human Trio of yours, no Lu Yin. I’m the one who gave you life, not the Nine Ramparts. So what if I am a traitor? I betrayed the Nine Ramparts, not you. All of your lives were given to you by me.
“What right do you have to oppose me? Go ask your ancestors how much they hated the Nine Ramparts. Did they ever forget how they struggled before death? Their hatred and resentment for the Nine Ramparts would only make them feel gratitude towards me. The greater their hatred, the greater their gratitude. If your ancestors still lived, they would not oppose me. We are the new human civilization. The Nine Ramparts? That’s all in the past.”
Lu Yin listened in silence, saying nothing. There was nothing he could say.
Green Lotus’s hatred for Crimson Starshade was real. When he had abandoned the people that Jiu Wen had deliberately taken over, despite knowing those people were a false civilization and merely serving as part of a scheme, his emotions at that moment had been real. If not, Green Lotus could have never deceived Hong Xia.
Green Lotus had inherited the hatred and resentment of his ancestors. As Hong Xia had said, if the ancestors who had been abandoned as bait still lived, they might not oppose him.
As Lu Yin listened to Hong Xia, Jiu Wen and Xi Shangfeng could hear everything as well.
Xi Shangfeng observed Lu Yin. What would this man think?
Jiu Wen closed his eyes. He made no effort to interrupt. Hong Xia was speaking facts. Whatever Lu Yin chose to do or think had to be based on those facts. There was no need to deceive the young man and no point in hiding these things.
The cosmos fell silent. There was not a single sound.
In the distance, meteorites streaked past them. They were mere flashes of light that vanished in an instant.
Lu Yin looked at Hong Xia. “Finished?”
Hong Xia stared at him.
Lu Yin turned his head to glance at the fleeing meteorites in the distance. “For people... forgetting the past is the same as betraying yourself. Bait, huh? That lesson cuts deep.”
He smiled as he looked at Jiu Wen. “Senior, is what he said true?”
Jiu Wen opened his eyes to meet Lu Yin’s gaze. “I don’t know the specifics, but it should be true.”
Lu Yin nodded. “What do you think I should do, Senior?”
“Follow your own heart.”
“And if my heart puts me counter to what you want, Senior?”
“Don’t consider anyone else. It is your life and your decision.”
Lu Yin let out a breath, still smiling. “One’s life should be their own decision, yet those people who were cast out as bait didn’t get to decide their own lives. How truly tragic.”
Hong Xia spoke up again, his voice heavy. “Dozens of groups, billions of lives, and nearly all of them perished. Some died while never knowing the truth. Others learned the truth, but too late. You are lucky to have survived and for your lineage to persist to this day. Cherish your ancestors’ struggle. Don’t sacrifice yourselves for the Nine Ramparts.
“The Nine Ramparts were not as wonderful as you believe. The so-called pinnacle of human civilization was nothing more than a temporary surge of fate. Now, it’s already vanished like smoke.”
Lu Yin looked back at Hong Xia. “Back then, how many people knew that those groups were being sent out to serve as bait?”
Hong Xia paused. He truly did not know. At that time, he had been focused on finding a way to betray the Second Rampart.
Lu Yin then looked at Jiu Wen, but the man just shook his head.
Lu Yin asked again, “Do you think that the people chosen to be bait were weak?”
No one answered.
“To fool our ancestors, either the number of people who knew the truth was extremely, extremely small, to the point where it could have only been one or two. Or...” He looked up to stare at Hong Xia. “They were never bait at all.”
Hong Xia frowned. “You still want to deceive yourself.”
Lu Yin shook his head. “I choose to believe the first possibility, that means that the ‘betrayal’ you speak of wasn’t a betrayal from the entire Nine Ramparts, but only a very small handful of people.”
Hong Xia could not deny this. If many in the Nine Ramparts had known that the groups sent out were serving as bait and the groups did not consist of weaklings, then how could they have been so thoroughly fooled?
Lu Yin’s expression fell. “If those few who deceived our ancestors are still alive, I won’t hesitate to beat them to death to vent my ancestors’ rage. I’m someone who repays grudges. I’m certainly not that magnanimous.
“However, none of that has anything to do with the Nine Ramparts as a whole.