The man could sense a threat from Lu Yin, even if it was small. Even those who had achieved the pinnacle of strength beneath the Immortal realm could not give Xi Shangfeng that sort of feeling. He was very curious about what sort of combat power Lu Yin actually possessed.

Lu Yin was equally curious about Xi Shangfeng’s strength. The man clearly felt weaker than Jiu Wen, but Lu Yin also felt more pressure from this man than Ba Yue. This man might be a true expert.

Without exchanging blows, there was no way to know for sure, but Immortals did not casually spar.

“Alright, let’s go.” It seemed that Jiu Wen had only brought Lu Yin over to meet Xi Shangfeng. The old man was ready to move on without even giving Lu Yin a moment to speak.

Xi Shangfeng did not stop them, and he simply watched as Jiu Wen and Lu Yin departed.

“Senior, are we already leaving?”

“What else do you want? To chat with him?”

“A little. Didn’t you say you’d help me understand the Path of Dispassion and Crimson Starshade?”

Jiu Wen turned to show a tight smile. “What did you think of that man just now?”

Lu Yin thought for a moment. “Polite. Steady. Ruthless eyes. Feels like an expert.”

Jiu Wen smiled. “To cultivate the Path of Dispassion, he refined himself as a sacrifice.”

Lu Yin did not understand. “What do you mean?”

Jiu Wen spoke slowly, “On the path of cultivation, stepping into the Immortal realm is the greatest obstacle. Dukkha is a chasm, barring countless people from immortality. In order to change this, the Path of Dispassion was created. But is it easy to truly become dispassionate? Throughout Crimson Starshade’s history, there have been countless attempts. One such attempt was to extend ruthlessness toward oneself, and from there on, everything else.

“This method requires one to endure extreme suffering, suffering beyond what you can imagine. It is like tearing a normal person’s flesh apart bit by bit, sprinkling it with salt, sealing it back together, and then tearing it open again. And this is only the first step. The pain does not come solely from the body, but also from the mind.

“There is a torment born of fear, a torment born of one’s own psyche. In short, many attempted this path, and in the end, all of them abandoned it. Even those regarded with extraordinary willpower gave up. In the entire history of Crimson Starshade, only a handful were able to endure it to the end. He is one of them.”

Even hearing the explanation was not enough for Lu Yin to truly fathom what Jiu Wen was describing. He had also experienced intense pain before, especially when he had comprehended Wielder-realm battle force. The pain at that time had nearly driven him mad.

Jiu Wen suddenly asked, “Have you seen a sword be forged?”

“Yes.”

Jiu Wen gave a grunt. “He was once forged as a sword for 10,000 years. He restrained all of his power, aside from making his form invisible to ordinary people. Aside from that, he was no different from one. He imprisoned himself, and in that state, countless people hammered and tempered him. Cultivators even took him and tried every means to melt him down. He endured 10,000 years of torment, and that was after enduring the painful torment of the Path of Dispassion.

“After 10,000 years, he could no longer feel pain.” 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Lu Yin’s gaze tightened. When he glanced back, his expression was entirely different from before. This was a truly ruthless man.

“He is one of the rare few people to truly master this painful method of the Path of Dispassion. In this era, there is another who has also mastered it.”

“Was someone else able to succeed as well?”

“Come, I’ll take you to meet him.” Jiu Wen offered a faint smile and led Lu Yin in another direction. Before long, they saw someone. He was a pale-faced youth whose eyes made everyone who saw them uncomfortable. There was a sly glint to them.

The man looked like a youth, but he had to actually be incredibly old.

His gaze was also frigid, but compared to Xi Shangfeng’s, this man’s eyes felt more like knives that carried a chill.

When Jiu Wen arrived, the pale-faced man was not as courteous as Xi Shangfeng. He merely glanced over once and then focused on Lu Yin. There was a single grunt of surprise, and the man suddenly studied Lu Yin with great interest. “An Aberrant?”

Jiu Wen showed an indifferent expression towards this man. “His name is Lu Yin, and he is from another human civilization.”

The man’s eyes flared. “Another human civilization?”

Jiu Wen turned to Lu Yin, “This is Bing Xu, an Eightfold Crimson.”

After having met Xi Shangfeng and learned about him, Lu Yin showed much more respect to Bing Xu and deliberately offered a bow. “This junior is Lu Yin. Greetings, Senior.”

Those who could endure what others could not were worthy of respect, even if this man made Lu Yin feel rather uncomfortable.

Bing Xu sized Lu Yin up. “Kid, what is that human civilization of yours like? Take me to see it.”

Lu Yin answered politely, “This junior’s civilization is too far from here. If you wish to go see it, Senior, then you can only wait for a chance in the future.”

Bing Xu slowly smiled. “No matter. You can stay here and chat with me instead.”

“Enough. Let’s go.” Jiu Wen turned and left.

Bing Xu raised a brow. “Sect Master, let this Aberrant stay with me. I want to get close to him.”

Lu Yin felt a chill crawl up his spine. He trusted his instincts, and this man had made him uncomfortable from the first glance. Lu Yin had only been courteous out of respect for what Xi Shangfeng had endured, but the more that Bing Xu spoke, the greater the discomfort that Lu Yin felt.

At his level, such a feeling always had a reason.

With that thought, he turned to leave, only for Bing Xu’s eyes to snap wide open. He reached out to grab Lu Yin. “Kid, stay.”

Lu Yin’s eyes turned cold. His instinct screamed at him to strike.

Suddenly, the cosmos trembled. Jiu Wen slowly turned back around to stare at Bing Xu. Slowly, the old man enunciated, “Stand. Down. We’re leaving.”

Bing Xu’s hand hovered just above Lu Yin’s shoulder, but he did not bring it down. In the face of Jiu Wen’s sky-crushing pressure, the man just offered an unconcerned smile. “I was just teasing the kid, Sect Master. Don’t mind me. I’ll stand down.”

With that, the man slowly retreated.

Lu Yin looked back at Bing Xu, who simply offered an even broader smile.

Lu Yin left, following behind Jiu Wen. Only after they had put some distance between them and Bing Xu did Jiu Wen speak again. “Do you know how he mastered the tempering of the painful method of the Path of Dispassion?”

Lu Yin shook his head. “Of course not. Was it different from Xi Shangfeng?”

Jiu Wen said, “He used his own relatives as an experiment. Step by step, he experienced pain, but for every pain he intended to experience, his relatives felt it first. He divided pain into tiers, letting himself gradually increase the level of pain until he could no longer endure it.

“To develop those tiers of pain, all of his relatives and friends, as well as some unrelated innocents, died under pain. None were spared. This includes his own parents, his wife, and his children.”

Lu Yin’s pupils flickered. He stared at Jiu Wen in a daze. The Immortal turned back to meet Lu Yin’s gaze. “What are you thinking?”

Lu Yin stared at Jiu Wen. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“What difference would it make?”

Lu Yin thought of the bow that he had given Bing Xu and suddenly felt a surge of killing intent.

There were many people who lacked a sense of humanity, and Lu Yin could not police them all, but he had actually bowed to such a person. It felt like he had swallowed a dead fly.

He was usually the one who left others choking in frustration. He had not expected to be the one to experience such a thing at this time.

Jiu Wen offered a faint smile. “That is the Path of Dispassion. Xi Shangfeng became dispassionate towards himself, while Bing Xu was dispassionate towards his own kin. Come, the next one.”

Lu Yin looked back once. Bing Xu? He would remember that name.

The third Immortal that they met was a woman. Not only that, but she was also an extremely beautiful woman, her loveliness intoxicating.

When he first looked across the Crimson Starshade Megaverse, Lu Yin had noticed this woman from a great distance. His initial glance impression was a sense of familiarity as this woman’s aura was nearly identical to Wang Miaomiao’s.

Now, upon seeing her up close, the resemblance was even greater.

“Hehe, Sect Master, this little guy is pretty cute. Who is he?”

Jiu Wen said, “His name is Lu Yin. He’s from another human civilization.”

The woman exclaimed in surprise, "Are there other human civilizations? That's wonderful!"

She approached Lu Yin, accompanied by an alluring fragrance that not even Lu Yin's cultivation could hold back. She raised a hand, reaching out to caress his face, but Lu Yin stepped back. “Senior, please maintain a sense of dignity.”

The woman rolled her eyes. “What are you pretending to be innocent for? How old are you? ‘Dignity?’ Kid, tell your big sister: do you like this big sister?”

Lu Yin glanced at Jiu Wen. The message was simple: it was time to leave. Lu Yin did not do well with this type of person.

Jiu Wen turned and left, and Lu Yin hurried after him.

“Hey, kid! The sect master’s here, so you’re embarrassed, huh? That’s not a problem. Big Sister will wait right here. Come back anytime.” The woman chuckled.

Once they were far away, Lu Yin let out a breath. “Senior, what’s her deal?”

Jiu Wen said, “Her name is Meiren Dan. During the Dispassion Valley Selection that she participated in, she not only killed everyone in her own valley, but she also used one of her clan’s seniors. She had them go from valley to valley, slaughtering every cultivator participating in that selection. There were no exceptions.”

Lu Yin’s eye twitched. How many must that have been? Each individual Dispassion Valley had created a sky full of blood-mist. Just how many deaths had that woman been responsible for?

“Why? Just to cultivate the Path of Dispassion?”

Jiu Wen stared off into the sky. “At that time, she alone entered the Sect of Dispassion. I asked her why she killed everyone, and her answer was simple.

“She said that she felt her talent wasn’t good enough. Being strong in the present did not mean that she would continue to be strong later. So to prevent anyone from ever surpassing her in the future, she simply killed them all, which would leave her as the strongest.”

Lu Yin’s eyes shook. “She killed everyone for that reason?”

Jiu Wen nodded. He said nothing more and silently continued on to their final direction.

Lu Yin followed in silence. Psychopaths. Both Bing Xu and Meiren Dan gave him the feeling of total psychopaths.

Was the world of cultivation really like that? He could not condemn the Path of Dispassion as immoral, but the human civilization that he wanted to protect was not this.

The last person they visited was another person that Lu Yin had seen when he first looked at this megaverse. This man appeared to be refined and well-mannered.

Unlike Bing Xu, this man possessed excellent bearing. During his distant observation, Lu Yin had developed a quite good impression of the Immortal.

Now, he was no longer sure. Every kind of person existed on the Path of Dispassion.

“Greetings, Sect Master.”

Jiu Wen’s voice was cold. “His name is Lu Yin, and he’s from another human civilization.”

The man looked at Lu Yin in utter surprise. “Another human civilization?”

Lu Yin glanced at Jiu Wen’s back. He had managed to pick up on the pattern; if he wanted to know what sort of person he was meeting, observing Jiu Wen’s attitude when introducing them was enough.

With Xi Shangfeng, Jiu Wen’s attitude had been normal, and he had even smiled. With Bing Xu, Jiu Wen had shown utter indifference, and he had even seemed ready to attack at any moment. As for Meiren Dan, Jiu Wen had also been rather cold.

As for this last man, despite his clearly respectful attitude to Jiu Wen, even going so far as to bow, Jiu Wen revealed an attitude that was not much better than what he had shown towards Bing Xu.

Lu Yin understood what that attitude meant, and he revealed the same coldness when looking at this fourth Immortal.

Lu Yin did not care what anyone else might think; while this man might be an Immortal, Lu Yin was qualified to reveal whatever attitude he chose.

Confronted with a blatantly cold greeting from Lu Yin, the man did not appear surprised. Perhaps he had seen too many cold people. After all, nearly every elite in this megaverse walked the Path of Dispassion.