After hearing Jiu Wen’s words, Lu Yin nodded. “True. Who knows? Maybe we’ll be wiped out someday.”

“Does your civilization have any Immortals?” Ba Yue asked.

“Yes.”

“How many?”

“One.”

“Just one?” Ba Yue was disappointed.

Jiu Wen said, “Having one is already not bad, considering that you’re descendants of bait.”

Lu Yin frowned, but then he quickly relaxed.

“Though with you, you effectively have two, and an Aberrant can be even more useful than an Immortal.” Jiu Wen looked at Lu Yin with a smile that crinkled his eyes. “An Aberrant is free to commit slaughter.”

“You seem rather fond of slaughter.”

“Using killing to end killing—that’s the way to survive in the cosmos.”

“So is that the Path of Dispassion?”

“The Aevum Inch is heartless, which is how the Path of Dispassion came to be. Only the Path of Dispassion can make it easier to step into the Immortal realm.” Jiu Wen took a sip and then swirled his wine gourd. “Your civilization has only one Immortal Realm being, so you should understand how difficult it is to reach that level.”

Lu Yin countered, “The Path of Dispassion separates one from the essence of life.”

Jiu Wen’s eyes flickered. “Why did you suddenly think of the essence of life?”

Lu Yin smiled faintly. “I think about many things. I occasionally like to daydream.”

Jiu Wen chuckled and shook his head. “You cultivate your mental state, so it’s natural for you to be more contemplative. But kid, if you can’t step into the Immortal realm, what ‘essence of life’ is there to speak of?”

The man’s eyes aged as he looked out from the Sect of Dispassion. “If there was never a Path of Dispassion, do you know how many of those little ones outside would be able to survive? Even for the Immortals who stand guard in four directions—who can be certain that they would ever become an Immortal?

“I can tell you, probably not even one of them would have succeeded.

“Your megaverse is exactly the same. The premise of the essence of life is life itself. Only with life can some sort of essence exist. If life is gone, what use is essence?”

Lu Yin was about to reply when Jiu Wen suddenly thought of something. “Right, how did you get in?”

Ba Yue stared at Lu Yin. This was extremely important to her as well. Finally, they were getting to the point.

Lu Yin bluntly replied, “No comment.”

Jiu Wen stared, but Lu Yin met the old man’s gaze without the slightest bit of fear.

Jiu Wen smiled and took a sip of wine.

Ba Yue stood up, her eyes locked onto Lu Yin. “You have no right to hide anything from the sect master.”

“So, are disciples of the Sect of Dispassion not allowed to have secrets?”

“Do you not understand how vast the gap is between you and our sect master is?” Ba Yue shot back.

Lu Yin glanced at Jiu Wen. He could feel that Jiu Wen’s aura was strong, but he truly could not tell exactly how strong the man was.

However, it was said that the strongest being in this civilization was Hong Xia, the Chivalrous Ancestor.

Jiu Wen might have become an Immortal through a direct breakthrough, or he might be a powerhouse who resonated with two cosmic laws.

“Just because you are an Aberrant, you think that you have nothing to fear. However, you don’t realize that the gap between Immortals is still enormous. You-”

“Girl, this kid has probably seen very few Immortals. Aside from the one belonging to his own civilization, any foreign Immortal that he may have encountered couldn’t have been very formidable. If they were, he likely would not have made it here. He doesn’t know much.”

Ba Yue persisted, “But he knows about the Nine Ramparts. Could they really have no records in that inheritance?”

Jiu Wen looked back at Lu Yin. “During the era of the Nine Ramparts, the fact that your forebears were deceived is proof that they did leave with some important inheritances. So, just how much of those inheritances do you still have now?”

Lu Yin said, “I don’t know about any inheritances. I only saw the words ‘Nine Ramparts’ on a mural that contained my ancestors’ hatred.” 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Jiu Wen nodded. “Hatred is just hatred. It’s nothing. It wasn’t easy for your people to have survived for so long. There’s little chance that you were able to preserve any inheritance at all.

“Forget it. If there are things you don’t wish to say, then don’t. What do you plan to do now?”

Ba Yue looked at Lu Yin. It was impossible for him to leave. Even if he refused to reveal the location of his own megaverse, the Sect of Dispassion would never abandon a chance to connect with another human civilization.

This Lu Yin really believed that being an Aberrant enabled him to do as he pleased. Getting into their megaverse revealed that he was skilled, but now that they were now paying attention to him, leaving should be impossible.

It would be best if he did not force the sect master to act. That was a level of power that not even Ba Yue could withstand.

Lu Yin put on a show of contemplating the situation. If he really wanted to leave, no one could keep him here, not unless Hong Xia was just as powerful as Ancestor Shan had once been; he needed to be able to influence the cosmos within a range of twenty years’ travel to do so. If not, Lu Yin was confident that he could simply teleport away.

There was no need for him to rush back to his own civilization. He would stay here for a while and gain a clear understanding of Crimson Starshade.

No matter what he thought of their Path of Dispassion, humanity was still humanity, and that included Crimson Starshade as well.

“If I want to return to my own civilization, can I leave?” Lu Yin asked.

A cold glint flashed across Ba Yue’s eyes.

Jiu Wen smiled. “Of course. But the Aevum Inch is dangerous, and you aren’t an Immortal. Since you aren’t able to travel very quickly, this old man is willing to take you part of the way.”

Lu Yin sat back down. “I would like to stay here and have a look around and also experience the Path of Dispassion.”

Jiu Wen’s smile did not change. “Very well. You may stay as long as you like. As for the Path of Dispassion, if you wish to learn it, you may join the Sect of Dispassion. If not, that is also your choice. As an Aberrant, your status within our Crimson Starshade civilization is equal to that of an Immortal. I will grant you a status equivalent to a Sevenfold Crimson and the corresponding regalia.”

Lu Yin was curious. “Sevenfold Crimson?”

That was not something that he had specifically looked into.

After entering the megaverse, he had been preoccupied with learning about the Path of Dispassion, mainly because the civilization’s overall culture had stunned him. These people were even more cold-blooded and emotionless than the Aeternals, and slaughter had actually become the unchanging theme of this human civilization. It was a situation that he had never imagined being possible.

Ba Yue explained, “Our Crimson Starshades have twelve paths that determine the level of crimson robes that one wears. Only Immortals can reach the Sevenfold Crimson level. Above that is Eightfold Crimson, Ninefold Crimson, and it continues all the way up to Twelvefold Crimson.

“As for those below, there’s no need to bother explaining, as they mean nothing to you.”

Lu Yin didn’t understand. “What does ‘fold’ mean?”

Jiu Wen spoke, “Where crimson robes pass, not a blade of grass remains. The Twelvefold Path of Dispassion and the Two-Poles Heaven-Burning Mirror—this is what Crimson Starshade refers to.

“The Path of Dispassion places the greatest emphasis on one’s mental state. The more dispassionate one becomes, the more closely one is aligned with the Dao. The stronger one’s dispassion, the greater one’s combat strength. The so-called ‘Twelvefold Path of Dispassion’ represents that concept.

“To be robed in crimson, one bears a crimson umbrella. The umbrella’s ribs are supported by the Path of Dispassion. One fold of the path corresponds to one rib, and twelve ribs corresponds to twelvefold paths. Thus, by counting the ribs of an umbrella, one can determine how many folds of the Path of Dispassion a person has attained.”

Lu Yin understood. This was tied to Crimson Starshade’s inherited power. Umbrella ribs? That would indeed be an easy way to distinguish someone’s strength. “Does anyone deliberately hide their ribs?”

Jiu Wen smiled. “There’s no benefit to doing so. Why hide them? The more ribs, the higher one’s status.”

“How many folds are you?” Lu Yin looked at Ba Yue.

Ba Yue coldly replied, “I do not cultivate the Path of Dispassion. Because of my status as an Immortal, I was specially granted the status of a Sevenfold Crimson.”

Lu Yin looked at Jiu Wen again. “And you?”

Ba Yue frowned. “Since you’ve been granted a status of Sevenfold Crimson, do not be rude to our sect master.”

Jiu Wen waved a hand. “It’s fine. A guest from afar is still a guest. This old man is an Elevenfold Crimson.”

Lu Yin pressed on. “And Ancestor Hong Xia?”

Jiu Wen’s expression turned solemn. “Ancestor Hong Xia is the progenitor of our entire Crimson Starshade civilization, as well as our sovereign: Twelfthfold Crimson.”

Lu Yin exclaimed in admiration. “Twelvefold Crimson... Is Ancestor Hong Xia the only such expert in Crimson Starshade?”

“That’s right.”

“Ancestor Hong Xia must be supremely powerful. I would like to pay my respects.”

“Wait until you’re familiar with our Crimson Starshade Civilization first.” Jiu Wen said. “Ancestor Hong Xia is not someone whom you can meet just because you wish to.”

He beckoned with a hand, and three red streaks shot over from a mountain behind the main hall, stopping in front of Lu Yin. It was a set of crimson robes, a crimson umbrella, and a crimson sword.

Jiu Wen’s expression turned grave. “Accepting our crimson robes means that you will be considered half a part of our Crimson Starshade. Lu Yin, consider this carefully. If one day you betray Crimson Starshade, we will go after you until you are dead. Even if you flee to the edge of the cosmos or to the end of the omniverse itself, no matter how the ages may flow or if all living beings vanish, we will hunt you forever until we use your corpse to honor our forebears.

“Do you accept?”

Lu Yin accepted without hesitation. Hunt me? Leaving aside the fact that they were both human civilizations, unless Crimson Starshade betrayed humanity itself, Lu Yin would never do anything to harm Crimson Starshade.

Besides, even if they did decide to hunt him, could they catch up when he teleported away?

Crimson Starshade consisted of just one human megaverse, while Lu Yin was from a civilization that consisted of three human megaverses, the Human Trio.

They had no idea what stood behind him.

Once he put on the crimson robes, held the crimson sword, and opened the crimson umbrella above him, Lu Yin found it to be a unique arrangement, though also strangely unsettling. In his experience, those who carried crimson umbrellas were usually women.

Seeing that Lu Yin had accepted these items, Ba Yue’s gaze softened slightly.

Jiu Wen sized Lu Yin up. “Are you sure you want to take these crimson robes?”

Lu Yin smiled. “Haven’t I already put them on?”

Jiu Wen stared at him. “You put them on too quickly. You don’t understand what Crimson Starshade means, nor what the Twelvefold Path of Dispassion is.”

Lu Yin was about to speak when Jiu Wen said, “I’ll show you. We are both human, and you are a guest, so this old man can give you a chance to reconsider.”

With that, he took a step and walked into outer space.

Lu Yin looked at Ba Yue. “Is it possible to back out of this?”

Ba Yue coldly stated, “You’d be the first.”

Lu Yin looked at Jiu Wen. The first person ever allowed to back out?

He followed after the old man. Since Jiu Wen was taking him to see Crimson Starshade, this perfectly suited Lu Yin’s intentions. All along, he had intended to learn more about Crimson Starshade.

Jiu Wen led Lu Yin out of the universe, past the boundary of the Crimson Starshade Megaverse, and he continued on in a specific direction.

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. In that direction, there was another Immortal.

He had already looked at the megaverse from every direction and seen its four Immortal guardians. Jiu Wen was leading Lu Yin to one of those guardians.

He had already seen all four; was he going to learn about them now?

Jiu Wen led Lu Yin up to a middle-aged man, one of the four Immortal guardians of Crimson Starshade.

The middle-aged man slowly bowed to Jiu Wen. “Sect Master.”

Jiu Wen nodded and indicated for the man to look at Lu Yin. “His name is Lu Yin. He’s from another human civilization.”

The middle-aged man was surprised. “Another human civilization?”

He stared at Lu Yin, who met the man’s gaze. Though this man’s eyes showed surprise, they were also veiled by a certain chill. His eyes were very similar to Jiu Wen’s, and they both matched the gazes that Lu Yin had seen in those who had slaughtered their way out of the Dispassion Valleys. They were all cut from the same cloth.

Jiu Wen said to Lu Yin, “This is Xi Shangfeng, an Eightfold Crimson.”

Lu Yin was polite. “Greetings, Senior.”

Xi Shangfeng observed Lu Yin carefully. “You aren’t an Immortal, but an Aberrant.”