Jiu Wen said to Lu Yin, “His name is He Xiao.”

“Sect Master, where is this other human civilization?” He Xiao asked curiously, his gaze measuring Lu Yin. An Aberrant? After all, the Immortal felt a bit of pressure from Lu Yin.

It was completely unexpected for an Aberrant from another human civilization to appear.

In the Aevum Inch, there was a common understanding that any civilization able to produce an Aberrant could not be weak.

Jiu Wen clasped his hands behind his back. “I don’t know. He hasn’t said yet.”

He then immediately started moving back to the megaverse. “Let’s go.”

Lu Yin turned and left, even as He Xiao’s curious gaze followed him.

“Lu Yin, right? Do you also follow the Path of Dispassion?” He Xiao suddenly asked.

Lu Yin did not even look back. “No.”

He Xiao stared as Lu Yin followed Jiu Wen away. The man’s originally calm expression fell away, and his eyes grew unfathomably cold.

They moved far away from He Xiao, with Jiu Wen in front and Lu Yin behind.

“How did it feel?”

“He Xiao? Not much.”

“Don’t you think that he has excellent bearing?”

“I don’t.”

Jiu Wen chuckled. “You were cold to him because you noticed my own attitude, didn’t you? Be careful. He might cause trouble for you.”

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. “He’ll make trouble for me?”

Jiu Wen pondered for a moment, then said, “His Path of Dispassion comes from love.”

Lu Yin did not interrupt, and listened in silence. Love? Romance?

“He Xiao is a peerless prodigy. Everyone who cultivates the Path of Dispassion heads toward being emotionless, and yet he went against that flow. The more he cultivated it, the more he wanted his emotions to grow richer. He believed that the more affectionate a person became, the more dispassionate they could become. That’s why, before entering the Immortal Realm, he experienced romance again and again, and he carried himself away without any reservations. Each of his relationships could be praised by ordinary people and envied by countless others.

“But do you know how all of his romances ended?”

Lu Yin asked curiously, “How?”

Jiu Wen stopped and looked out at the stars. “He personally killed every single person he ever loved.”

Lu Yin had already anticipated this answer. Using the logic of the Path of Dispassion, it was somewhat predictable.

Even so, he still had to admit that He Xiao was particularly vicious.

To give love without holding back, only to end that love with one’s own hand; how much pain must that cause? And yet He Xiao had done it. It was no easier than experiencing the Champions’ Stage Purgatory.

“Truly ruthless.”

Jiu Wen exhaled. “3,821.”

Lu Yin was startled. “What did you say?”

Jiu Wen said, “In total, 3,821.”

Lu Yin stared blankly at Jiu Wen. He had thought that the man might have had a few dozen relationships at most. Even 100 would be terrifying. But the truth was so many that it was completely unexpected.

Jiu Wen said, “When considering the lifespan of a cultivator, that number isn’t actually large.”

Lu Yin slowly turned back around. Even without using his Mirrorlight Art, it was as if he could see He Xiao. The man’s face contained the deepest gloom, contorted with ferocity.

The face kept warping, and one woman’s face after another seemed to appear, each of them wailing, suffering, and despairing.

He Xiao had given his emotions to love, and then he had ended those same emotions with his own hands. He had mastered the Path of Dispassion and become an Immortal, but what of those 3,821 women? They, too, had given their emotions to him, but what had they received in turn?

Who could possibly understand their despair? To be killed by the one they loved, betrayed by their own emotions and tormented by pain—just how desperate must they have felt at the moment of their death?

Lu Yin thought about what it would feel like if he had to kill Ming Yan with his own hands, but he did not even dare to imagine it.

Jiu Wen suddenly turned around. He stared at Lu Yin and shouted, “Now! Are you still willing to wear those crimson robes? Are you still willing to join Crimson Starshade?”

Lu Yin looked at Jiu Wen. The old man roared, “Consider it carefully. No one may betray Crimson Starshade. No matter who they are, betrayers will die.”

Lu Yin reached for the crimson robe he wore. Jiu Wen stared intently, expecting to see Lu Yin rip it off and throw it away, but the young man merely smoothed the folds. “It got wrinkled. This fabric really isn’t all that great.”

Jiu Wen froze, unable to understand Lu Yin.

The younger man lifted his head to face Jiu Wen and smiled at him. “Their experiences have nothing to do with me, and I don’t even have any intention of cultivating the Path of Dispassion. Ba Yue hasn’t cultivated it either.”

Jiu Wen did not understand. “You don’t loathe them? You don’t hate the entire Path of Dispassion?”

Lu Yin let out a long breath. “To be honest, I do.

“But there’s too much that I despise: this profound darkness, old enemies who treat human civilization like ants, the boundless Aevum Inch itself, the very idea of ‘knowing one’s place.’ Does my hatred change anything? As long as they don’t provoke me, I won’t meddle with them.

“I once thought that reaching the Immortal Realm would change everything, but after cultivating for so long, I’ve realized what a joke that idea is. There are many things that not even Immortals can change.

“So I’ll leave things be. Overthinking does me no good.”

Jiu Wen stared at Lu Yin. The young man met his gaze openly, his eyes frank.

After a long while, Jiu Wen looked away. “As long as you understand that. This old man doesn’t wish for the day when I must hunt you down to come.”

Lu Yin found that reaction odd. “Even if I hate the Path of Dispassion, I won’t betray humanity. Why would you think that?”

Jiu Wen again gazed out at the stars. “In Crimson Starshade’s history, there have been no lack of traitors.”

Lu Yin stared at Jiu Wen’s back. “This junior feels that your attitude isn’t quite right, Senior. You’ve cultivated the Path of Dispassion, and yet your attitude toward those four is not the same. Instead, your attitude comes close to mirroring my own.”

“Hahaha.” Jiu Wen laughed, turning back to Lu Yin. “Dispassionate does not mean being indiscriminate. Being dispassionate can allow one to abandon everything, but that does not mean that one may harm everything.”

Lu Yin understood. He bowed slowly to Jiu Wen. “This junior has learned.”

Jiu Wen shook his head. “You don’t cultivate the Path of Dispassion. What have you learned?”

Lu Yin replied, “Senior, you also seem to loathe them. With such a sense of morality, have you ever considered that one day, you might become a traitor as well?”

“I’m already used to it.”

“So that’s how it is.”

“If you hate them, keep your distance. Everything is because of the Path of Dispassion.”

Lu Yin’s heart stirred. “If their Path of Dispassion were broken, would they change?”

Jiu Wen sneered. “That’s assuming that you can break it.”

With that, he headed back towards the Sect of Dispassion.

Crimson Starshade had given Lu Yin an extremely high status. Being a Sevenfold Crimson meant that his status was equal to an Immortal’s. Throughout their entire civilization, there were only a handful of Immortals.

Lu Yin already stood near the apex of this civilization.

Jiu Wen allowed Lu Yin to choose where he would live. Lu Yin chose a place that was as far away from the Sect of Dispassion as possible, which did not surprise Jiu Wen at all.

Lu Yin did not want his every move to be observed by the Sect of Dispassion. Of course, given his strength, even if Ancestor Hong Xia tried to spy on him, Lu Yin would certainly notice.

Canglan Valley was the name that Lu Yin gave to his new residence.

The place had not been named before that. Despite being a beautiful valley, it was surrounded by strange astral phenomena, which kept most people out. Even cultivators who came to explore the region usually just left soon after. The place was too remote from the Sect of Dispassion, and it seemed to have nothing worth noting.

Among Crimson Starshades, it was common sense that the closer one was to the Sect of Dispassion, the more clearly they could sense the Path of Dispassion.

Despite it being common knowledge, it was completely wrong. Just a bit of thought would make it obvious, but there were times when right or wrong did not matter; it was attitude.

The Dispassion Valleys were not the only path into the Sect of Dispassion. Some of the sect’s high-ranking cultivators would roam the megaverse and accept disciples or servants. Those people were also given entry into the Sect of Dispassion.

In this civilization, the Sect of Dispassion was the heavens.

After moving into Canglan Valley, Lu Yin set up a sourcebox array. He had some leftover sourceboxes from the Human Trio, so there was no need for him to gather more. Though, with his status, a single comment would be enough for the finest sourceboxes to be sent over. He would not even need to know who had sent them.

Setting up the sourcebox array was merely a demonstration of his attitude. Such a thing could never stop an Immortal. Still, with the array in place, if anyone tried to forcefully spy on what was happening in Canglan Valley, Lu Yin would be justified to respond accordingly.

Once the sourcebox array was complete, Lu Yin rested in Canglan Valley, and that vacation lasted half a year. He did not leave once during those six months.

His mere existence created a massive commotion within the civilization. It was unclear who spread the news, but it was soon confirmed that an Aberrant from another human civilization had come. This news caused many people to come out, searching for Lu Yin.

This was especially true of those who were unable to join the Sect of Dispassion. They were hoping to discover another cultivation path more than anything else.

They could see no hope in Crimson Starshade. The Path of Dispassion was the civilization’s only cultivation path, and they were desperate to find another inheritance.

There were also several experts searching for Lu Yin who believed that they had achieved the pinnacle of strength beneath the Immortal Realm. They had always believed themselves to be capable of competing with Immortals, but Crimson Starshade’s Immortals refused to spar with them, considering it a waste of increasing their karmic chains, as well as a waste of time.

Having someone like Lu Yin who had been clearly confirmed as an Aberrant naturally led to him becoming their target.

However, Lu Yin never took so much as a single step out of Canglan Valley.

Within the Sect of Dispassion, Ba Yue stared across the distance. Someone arrived behind her. “Acting Sect Master.”

“What is it?”

“May I ask where that Lu Yin is?”

“He has nothing to do with you.”

“I’m not the only one who wishes to know. They all wish to know as well.”

Ba Yue coldly asked. “They?”

The person behind her replied, “Nearly every last one of the Sixfold Crimsons.”

The Sixfold Crimson level was second only to Sevenfold Crimson, which were Immortals, and it was higher than Fivefold Crimson, which were Dukkhans. In general, Sixfold Crimson experts were acknowledged as powerhouses who stood at the peak beneath the Immortal realm.

There were roughly as many Sixfold Crimsons as there were Immortals in the megaverse, while there were far, far more Fivefold Crimsons.

In Crimson Starshade, there was a saying that Fivefold and Sixfold were the watershed. Countless people longed to become a Sixfold Crimson, as only then could they be said to stand on another level.

However, the Sixfold Crimsons did not see things that way themselves, as they could never touch the Sevenfold Crimson level.

If there had been 100 Sixfold Crimsons throughout the history of Crimson Starshade, then of those 100, only two or three at most would eventually become Sevenfold Crimsons.

Lu Yin was clearly not yet an Immortal, and he also did not cultivate the Path of Dispassion. But the moment he arrived, he was made a Sevenfold Crimson. They refused to accept this.

Ba Yue’s eyes grew colder. “Senior, your lifelong wish is to step into the Sevenfold Crimson level. I have always been helping you to strive for that. Go back. Do not provoke that man. He will not become your stepping stone to the Sevenfold Crimson level.”

“I may have helped you once, but it wasn’t intentional. I also cultivate the Path of Dispassion.”

“I know, but help is still help.”

“Acting Sect Master, please tell me where that man is.”

Ba Yue turned back to look at the man behind her. He was old, and his features were weathered. He looked far older than Jiu Wen.

This man had lived for a very long time, and he was at least older than Ba Yue. Back before she reached the Immortal realm, she had once faced a life-and-death crisis and been saved by this old man. She had always remembered that debt.