Chapter 2875: Searching In The Past, Tracing Back To The Origin
While the Heavens Sect had grown incredibly powerful, and the Lu family had also returned, what of it? The ancient Heavens Sect had been destroyed at the height of its power. Humans would never be able to compare to Aeternus.
Jiu Zizai had successfully gotten close to Nutjob Lu, which meant that his next task depended on what Wei Rong requested. The Aeternals were also waiting to see what Wei Rong's goals were.
Jiu Zizai had no idea that Nutjob Lu was also a Redback, just like Jiu Zizai himself. Naturally, it was easy to place one Redback close to another.
While Aeternus did not know why Wei Rong had sent Jiu Zizai to get close to Nutjob Lu, they assumed that it was because Lu Yin was targeting the traitor to the Lu family.
This was quite interesting. While it appeared that Lu Yin was in control, the truth was that the Aeternals were manipulating everything.
However, neither the Aeternals nor Jiu Zizai were aware that Lu Yin also knew that the man was a Redback. In fact, Lu Yin knew that both Jiu Zizai and Nutjob Lu were Redbacks, which was why he had sent Jiu Zizai to get close to Nutjob Lu. After spending years within the Heavens Sect, there was finally a use for Jiu Zizai.
There were times when patience was imperative to a plan’s success. If Jiu Zizai had been given such a mission shortly after he joined the Heavens Sect, it would have been very suspicious, and the Aeternals were not stupid. They would have easily guessed that Lu Yin knew the man was a Redback. However, given the number of years that Jiu Zizai had been a part of the Heavens Sect, the Aeternals felt that Lu Yin must have forgotten about the man.
They did not know that Lu Yin had only started to play his game.
…
Lu Yin returned to where he had been in seclusion, and he continued rolling his die. He hoped to Possess Nutjob Lu, as that would be ideal. There would be no need to do anything, as Lu Yin would simply have the man commit suicide.
Unfortunately, given the length of time that Lu Yin had been in seclusion for, the chances of rolling Possession were extremely low now.
There were times when there was no reason to go into seclusion for an extended period of time, as doing so would provide no benefits.
On Lu Yin’s first roll, he got Enhance.
Lu Yin took out the bubble. He had previously considered the possibility that Cheng Kong was not human, but rather some sort of strange life form. Could this be like Sapling’s case and produce a new Cheng Kong once it reached the limit?
Cheng Kong was the greatest hidden threat to the Sixverse Association. The possibility of a sneak attack befalling anyone at any time produced a great deal of mental pressure. If Cheng Kong could be eliminated, it would be worth paying almost any price.
With this thought, Lu Yin tried to upgrade the bubble.
Besides, it was difficult to roll six pips.
He decided that he would next go to the Arboreal Realm to roll the die, but first, Lu Yin would enhance the bubble.
He placed the bubble on the top screen of light and then started throwing out star essence. Not only could the bubble be Enhanced, but it was even possible to do so with the Cyclic Universe’s star essence.
Lu Yin proceeded to toss out more and more star essence onto the two screens of light, and he watched as the bubble fell out the bottom, only to pick it back up and set it on top again. It fell again and again, Enhanced repeatedly. Lu Yin intended to have the bubble reach the limit of its potential.
Soon, Lu Yin had spent over 100 billion star essence Enhancing the bubble.
This was not a simple item. After all, even when Lu Yin had Enhanced Sapling from a stellular energy pill, it had only cost him 7.2 billion star essence.
Of course, just because it cost more to upgrade, that did not mean that this bubble was more valuable than Sapling. It simply meant that the possibility of the bubble coming alive was not as high as it had been with a stellular energy pill. For this reason, Lu Yin had triggered Sapling’s life and growth with just a few billion star essence, but he needed to spend over 100 billion on the colorful bubble.
There was nothing that could compare to the value of the Mother Tree. It would be unbelievable if Cheng Kong was equal to the Mother Tree.
Using Heaven’s Sight, Lu Yin could clearly see that some sort of life had appeared in the bubble. Something was being developed. Whatever it was, it was alive, but also not.
Regardless of what it was, Lu Yin intended to continue Enhancing it.
Lu Yin continued to throw out more and more star essence. 200 billion. 500 billion. Soon, he had spent more than 1 trillion.
The only treasures that had ever required such an exorbitant sum to reach the limit of Enhancement were the Origin Progenitor’s sword and the Books of Destiny. No other item had ever needed a trillion star essence, not even Sapling’s seed. The fact that this bubble required so much indicated that it was incomparable to just about everything else.
After spending so much, Lu Yin continued to Enhance the bubble, wanting to reach the limits of its potential.
Ultimately, Lu Yin reached the limit after spending 3 trillion star essence on the bubble.
Lu Yin checked his cosmic ring. He had previously Possessed Sage Jiang for a second time and then used the Dao of Great Reincarnation to wound Cheng Kong. That Possession had consumed 12 trillion star essence, which was a truly terrifying cost for a single Possession, though most of the cost came from the moment that Lu Yin had touched upon the Dao of Great Reincarnation.
After using 3 trillion star essence to Enhance the bubble, Lu Yin only had 7 trillion star essence left.
For anyone else, 7 trillion was a startlingly large number. Even the gift that Lu Yin had received from the Merchant Exchange after saving them had only been 5 trillion. Unfortunately, he could easily use up that amount by Possessing just one peak powerhouse.
There were three Books of Destiny, and repairing even one would drain all of the funds that Lu Yin had left.
In addition to the 7 trillion star essence of the Cyclic Universe, which was what remained of the Merchant Exchange’s payment, he had also already had 5.5 trillion star essence from the Origin Universe, and 300 million transcendent crystals and 8 trillion flourishing crystals. This summed up his total liquid assets.
It was not enough. It was absolutely not enough.
Lu Yin sighed heavily and then returned to the Heavens Sect to find Big Sis again.
He understood how to use the bubble after it had been Enhanced, and he needed to test it out with Big Sis.
When Big Sis saw Lu Yin coming to see her again so soon, she was thrilled. "Who are we going to deal with this time? Just say the word."
Lu Yin smiled. "Big Sis, I want you to look at something."
As he spoke, Lu Yin placed the bubble over his face. Quickly, it seemed to dissolve and spread over his face, creating a thin barrier that altered his appearance. Lu Yin had put on Big Sis’ face.
Big Sis blinked. "Is that a disguise?"
"Can you see through it?" Lu Yin asked.
Big Sis stared at Lu Yin for a long time and then frowned. "I can’t. What is that?"
She was quite interested. What sort of disguise could deceive Big Sis? It was possible that this was something that only the Three Realms and Six Dao could see through, though it might be beyond them as well. This meant that, theoretically, anything could be done by someone with this mask.
Lu Yin shared where he had found it.
Big Sis considered the information. "There are many strange life forms throughout existence, but no matter how strange they might be, it is impossible for them to disguise themselves so perfectly that even I can't see through the disguise."
Lu Yin proudly stated, "I can improve the performance of different items."
Big Sis nodded and stopped asking questions. Instead, eagerness filled her eyes. "Are you giving this thing to your sister?"
Lu Yin grew curious. "What do you want it for?"
Big Sis rolled her eyes. "That’s my business."
"I can’t give it to you now, as I need it myself. However, after I’ve used it, I’ll give it to you. Or, if I can find Cheng Kong and get another one from him, I'll upgrade that one for you, Big Sis."
"Deal, but you have to get me one. Hehe, one day, I’ll be able to enter the Immemorial Citadel, and then I’ll find that bastard Ce Wangtian. When that time comes…" A dangerous smile appeared on Big Sis' face as she thought about getting revenge for her past grievances.
Even if Big Sis was unable to see through the mask, Lu Yin still did not feel safe. He went to the Lu Sanctum and sought out Lu Tianyi, asking him to also examine the mask.
Lu Tianyi was caught off guard. "I can't see through it. What is it?"
Lu Yin relaxed a bit. This was very reassuring, and he felt that he had picked up a precious treasure.
Lu Yin asked about Progenitor Ku's condition, and Lu Tianyi replied, "Our ancestor is in seclusion, and I don’t have any time to focus on Progenitor Ku for the time being. We’ll discuss the matter after Ancestor emerges."
After leaving Lu Tianyi, Lu Yin found his senior brother, Mu Xie, and asked for information concerning Ye Bo.
Just as Cheng Kong was a grave threat to the Sixverse Association, Lu Yin did not want Ye Bo to threaten the Origin Universe.
"Ye Bo? Why are you asking about that all of a sudden?" Mu Xie was surprised by Lu Yin’s curiosity.
Lu Yin shared what had happened during the Tea Ceremony. Everyone was aware that Bai Wangyuan and the others had tried to frame Lu Yin, but the specific details of their accusations had not reached the Origin Universe. This was because the entire matter was seen as a joke, as the Progenitors had tried to get Lu Yin to frame himself. Everyone had laughed at the joke, and they had not asked about any of the details.
Mu Xie laughed. "So that's what it’s all about. Ye Bo? If you had not actually been Ye Bo, they might have really successfully accused you of being a spy. After all, Ye Bo is real, and it would not really matter if the time of activity coincided with your periods of seclusion."
Lu Yin understood. "What would have mattered is that Ye Bo is real, and whether or not the Great Sovereign believed the allegations."
Mu Xie nodded. "Exactly. As long as the Great Sovereign believed the accusations, the truth would not actually matter."
Lu Yin said, "Senior Brother, you should know a lot about this Ye Bo."
Mu Xie shrugged. "I do, and yet I can’t find anything.
"Ye Bo has been around since before your Lu family’s exile. Senior Tianyi even participated in the search, as have many people from the four ruling powers. However, no one has been able to find anything. As time passed, people have stopped searching. At the same time, Ye Bo has become less and less active, and the amount of damage he’s caused has also been greatly reduced.”
Lu Yin was surprised. "That shouldn't be. If Ye Bo is a spy of Aeternus, then the only reason for a decrease in damage or activity would be if there’s some greater scheme in play."
Mu Xie repiled, "But what if Ye Bo isn’t a spy?"
Lu Yin was caught off guard. "Not a spy?"
It had been from Bai Sheng’s memories that Lu Yin had learned that Ye Bo was an Aeternal spy in the Perennial World, as well as the similarities between Ye Bo and the Sixverse Association’s Cheng Kong. How could Ye Bo not be a spy?
"Come with me." Mu Xie led Lu Yin to a specific location on the trunk of the Mother Tree. It was a location that was above the Middle Realm, but below the Higher Realm, and it was relatively hidden.
Lu Yin followed without saying a word.
Soon, Mu Xie led Lu Yin to a place where he saw something strange. There was a śarīra hidden in the trunk of the Mother Tree, and it gave off faint ripples that left the surrounding area somewhat hazy. It was difficult to tell what was real or an illusion.
"Senior Brother, is that your śarīra?" Lu Yin was surprised.
Mu Xie grew serious. "As you know, if my śarīra is destroyed, I can produce another. However, those śarīras are merely derived from the true śarīra, and they are not real in and of themselves. What you are looking at is my true śarīra. That is your senior brother’s Progenitor’s world."
Lu Yin was stunned, and he stared at Mu Xie in a daze. "Senior Brother, are you telling me that, even with all the times that you’ve taken action, you’ve never gone all out?"
Mu Xie sounded depressed. "It's not that I don't want to, but that I can't.
"Junior Brother, Master has two unique battle techniques. One is the Ninesuns Cauldron Transformation, which you alone managed to master, and the other is Origin Tracer. However, do you understand what Origin Tracer does?"
Lu Yin thought for a bit. "Senior Brother, you once told me that Origin Tracer allows you to deny a bit of time that was ignored or skipped."
Mu Xie clasped his hands behind his back. "True, but also not quite accurate."
He looked at Lu Yin, and upon seeing his puzzled expression, proceeded to calmly explain, "Denying a portion of time that was skipped is possible because of Origin Tracer, but the search through time is only the beginning.
"The true purpose of Origin Tracer is not in the present, but rather in the past."
Lu Yin's expression changed drastically. "The past?"
These two words held an extraordinary meaning.