Chapter 4235: Neither Asking Nor Watching

Lu Yin took a sip of tea. As a species, humans cared about face. In many situations, right or wrong were not what mattered; what mattered was having an excuse. Even a ridiculous or laughable excuse was acceptable, so long as it justified the action.

In the end, everything still came down to the strong reigning supreme.

Shui Su’s experience was tragic, but it was certainly not unique. Through merging with the will of the megaverse, Lu Yin had witnessed the lives of countless cultivators in the Tianyuan Megaverse. Many had suffered even more than Shui Su. Everyone had their own unique journey.

Ordinary people possessed dreams that were impossible for even Immortals to achieve. Cultivators could similarly live lives that other cultivators either envied or pitied.

Immortals might be able to live eternally, but they needed to resonate with the laws of the cosmos. However, the cosmos did not belong to a single individual, but rather to all beings. If an individual could not resonate with those cosmic laws, then what about two people? Twenty? 20,000? 2 million? 200 million?

If a single person’s experience was insufficient to comprehend the Immortal realm, then what about 100? 10,000? 1 million? 100 million?

Lu Yin stared at the tea in his cup. He had cultivated for a very short amount of time. If he followed conventional paths, comprehending Immortality and overcoming Dukkha would have taken him at least 10,000 years. But from the very beginning of his journey, every step that he took had been different. Others’ paths simply did not apply to Lu Yin at all. Since that had always been the case, forging a new path to the Immortal realm might not be impossible.

Dukkha was something that had to be endured, whether through a megaverse reset or one’s own breakthrough. This trial was difficult to avoid, nor did one wish to avoid it. Yet through the experiences of countless individuals, one could forge a towering wall of hardship for oneself. Everyone has their own Dukkha. Dukkha was not a realm of cultivation, but a path of the heart, a process of life itself.

If every person’s individual struggles were built into a singular wall, then overcoming even a single struggle might allow Lu Yin to break into the Immortal realm.

Lu Yin did not know if his thoughts were accurate, but even if he was wrong, understanding others’ experiences would be helpful for overcoming his own Dukkha.

As he thought, he looked up at the sky. As he did so, the universe itself changed. He slowly raised a hand and reached for Shui Su.

She stared at him blankly, not daring to even move despite not knowing what Lu Yin was about to do.

She also did not think too deeply about what Lu Yin might do. Despite being confident in her appearance, he was Lu Yin, the same man who did not care about even the Seven Fairies. What kind of woman could he not have?

Lu Yin’s hand moved past Shui Su to touch the sky behind her. A brick appeared there. It looked so familiar. He remembered dismantling the karmic wall, brick by brick. This time, when constructing a wall of the heart, it would once again be brick by brick.

He truly seemed fated to have a connection with bricks.

Once, he had torn them down. This time, he was building them up. Interesting.

The wall of the heart began with its first brick: Shui Su. She had endured the struggles of being an independent cultivator, only to gain the fortune of joining a family, but then suffered the pain of displacement and the sorrow of parting with her loved ones. She was also an old acquaintance of Lu Yin’s. No one could be more suitable.

One day, when his wall of the heart was complete, would he be able to overcome it and enter the Immortal realm?

Lu Yin did not know, yet he knew that this path of the heart was one he would have to walk sooner or later. Shui Su was the perfect catalyst.

Several days later, Lu Yin looked farther downstream. “The river’s changed.”

The day before, Shui Su had tried to bid Lu Yin farewell, but he had not allowed her to leave. He wanted to meet Lin Jie.

The reason why Lin Jie had warmly invited Shui Su to stay with the Linlushan family was because he believed that she had a close relationship with Lu Yin. While the man had later learned that this was not the case, he had already formed a bond like that of father and daughter with Shui Su, and he could not sever it.

Lu Yin’s idea to construct a wall of the heart had originated from Shui Su. She had inspired him, and so he intended to repay that favor.

“That is the Fifteen-Family Alliance!” Shui Su exclaimed.

Lu Yin was surprised. “The Fifteen-Family Alliance?”

Shui Su nodded, her expression turning grave. “To survive the civilizational wars and the arrival of cultivators from the Tianyuan, fifteen cultivator families united. I’d almost forgotten about them, but they shifted the river so that it now runs straight through the Fifteen-Family Alliance’s territory. Lord Lu, we...”

She was with Lu Yin. Who was qualified to make him alter his path?

Let alone the Fifteen-Family Alliance—even the strongest faction in the East Domain, the Dream Dominion, was not qualified to do so.

“Drink your tea,” Lu Yin said with a hint of a smile.

Shui Su let out a breath as she nodded. Looking back at the territory belonging to the monstrous Fifteen-Family Alliance in the distance, an unprecedented sense of security enveloped her. She had never imagined that she would one day pass straight through such a colossal faction.

No one could stop them. So long as she was with this man, whatever he said would become reality.

In the distance, Lord Feng and the others were still watching. “They actually went in.”

“Lord Feng, is that person really going to challenge the Fifteen-Family Alliance?”

“Let’s go. We’ll first visit the Dong family to see what they do from there.”

“What if this person isn’t too powerful?” Geng Zi asked.

Lord Feng’s eyes grew cold. “We’ll decide after seeing what happens.”

It was not so easy to take what belonged to him. Otherwise, how could he continue to survive in Wuyang City?

The bamboo raft soon approached the Fifteen-Family Alliance’s strongholds. Each family had their own massive structure that resembled a mountain fortress, all of which was encircled by a sourcebox array. A glance was enough for Lu Yin to see that the formation was quite decent and had likely been arranged with the help of an Array Grandmaster.

The Fifteen-Family Alliance? There were a great many gathered together.

From the time he had started cultivating, Lu Yin had never seen so many families form an alliance without fear of internal conflict. The only possibility was that one of the families in the alliance was exceptionally powerful and completely suppressed all the others.

As the small raft drew closer, a loud shout rang out from afar, “This is the Fifteen-Family Alliance! Outsiders are not permitted to enter. Stop!”

“Stop!”

“Stop...”

Shout after shout echoed across the distance, the voices purposely sounding intimidating.

Shui Su’s previously tense expression had already relaxed. Without Lu Yin, she would not even have dared to so much as glance at this place, let alone draw near it. Instead, the feeling of relying on the power of another felt remarkably good.

Lu Yin was unbothered by the challenges, and he instead simply examined the fortress with open interest. It looked like a bandit stronghold. Fifteen families uniting together led to an imposing appearance, and in the eyes of many minor figures, they formed a major faction. However, the alliance was greatly lacking when compared to a true faction, and it could not be considered to even exist on the same level.

Even if the overall number of experts was similar, numbers were ultimately useless.

A true faction possessed a legacy that could be passed down, whereas the Fifteen-Family Alliance could not put together a full inheritance. This was their greatest flaw.

The raft continued downstream. The distant aura of intimidation grew stronger, and some attacks were even launched, but none of them were able to even approach the small raft. All of the attacks simply vanished, leaving the members of the Fifteen-Family Alliance dumbfounded.

The raft even passed right through their sourcebox array.

That sourcebox array was the pride of the Fifteen-Family Alliance, yet it might as well have not even existed for the drifting raft. It simply continued to float along the river. Lu Yin’s leisurely behavior and Shui Su’s calmness gave the alliance the impression that they were two unfathomable beings. In particular, Shui Su’s beauty inspired even greater wariness.

Beautiful people usually belonged exclusively to the strong.

No one could so much as catch a glimpse of Lu Yin’s face.

The Fifteen-Family Alliance was on full alert. More and more cultivators stepped out to look at the flowing river, but none could see Lu Yin clearly.

“Old Duan, can you tell who it is?”

“I cannot.”

“What about Old Bai?”

“He can’t see anything either.”

...

“Father, the patriarch has arrived!”

“Patriarch, this one is incompetent. I cannot see that person’s face.”

“I can’t either.”

“What? Even you can’t see them?”

“Hurry and ask Ancestor to come out.”

“There’s no need. I am already here. I also cannot see them.

“Do not offend that person.”

...

Although the family’s structures looked like mountain strongholds, each one concealed a vast inner space for the family. Only from the outside did they resemble fortresses.

The strongholds were arranged in a circle, with the river flowing through the center. The largest strongholds belonged to the Dong family.

At the moment, Lord Feng and his followers were being escorted in by members of the Dong family. As they moved along the wooden steps, they saw the raft on the river. “Why is that little raft able to pass straight through? Is the Dong family not stopping it?”

Grave expressions appeared on the faces of the members of the Dong family. They had just received word that no one was allowed to antagonize the raft or those on it. It was allowed to pass through without impediment or questions. In fact, they were not even to look at it.

No one reacted to the question.

Everyone could only watch on as the raft passed through the Fifteen-Family Alliance’s territory, entering one side of the headquarters and exiting out the other. From beginning to end, no one in the alliance dared to speak a single word to those on the raft.

Lord Feng and Geng Zi exchanged glances while thoroughly suppressing their inner thoughts. They knew that they were lucky to have not provoked that person earlier.

Not even the Fifteen-Family Alliance dared to question whoever was on that raft. What kind of heaven-defying ability did that indicate? That person was undoubtedly one of the human civilization’s top powerhouses, which meant that they were an existence they would never be able to approach no matter how long they lived.

Lord Feng was curious about who was on the raft, though the Fifteen-Family Alliance was even more curious.

This was especially true of the Dong family’s ancestor, who was a powerful Dukkhan. He strongly wished to pay a visit to the raft. The fact that he was unable to see the face of the person on the raft suggested that they were at least a peak Dukkhan, or possibly even beyond that.

If the Dong family could form a connection with such a powerhouse, they would have no further need for the other fourteen families.

But the moment that thought arose in the old man’s mind, he felt a gaze swept over him, and he felt forced to bow low. That person did not wish to be disturbed, so the Dukkhan abandoned all thoughts of visiting.

He was unqualified.

As the Fifteen-Family Alliance disappeared into the distance, Shui Su looked back at its shrinking form. When in her life had she ever done anything so impressive?

After this day, even if she were not with Lord Lu, her life would take a different direction because of this event.

The Fifteen-Family Alliance was not led by fools. They would certainly remember Shui Su, which meant that everyone would know that there was someone behind her whom not even the alliance dared to provoke, matching the beliefs that the Linlushan family had once held.

There were times when it was very simple to change a person’s life.

“Thank you, Lord Lu.” Shui Su bowed to Lu Yin.

Lu Yin glanced over with a smile. “I did nothing more than enjoy the scenery.”

Complex emotions clouded Shui Su’s eyes. Yes, Lu Yin was merely enjoying the scenery, but by doing so, he had changed a person’s entire life. This was why countless people longed to become strong. The world belonged to those with power.

They all lived beneath the same starry sky, yet they lived completely different lives.

More than a month later, Lu Yin finally met Lin Jie.

The old man stared at the sudden visitor with absolute disbelief.

Lu Yin was still sitting on the little raft as Lin Jie stood on the riverbank before slowly kneeling down. “This humble Lin Jie greets Lord Lu.”

Behind Lin Jie stood a woman with a weathered face. She appeared to be much older than Shui Su, yet she was Lin Jie’s daughter and was actually a great deal younger than the other woman. At this moment, Lin Jie’s daughter knelt beside him. “Greetings, Lord Lu.”

Lord Lu? Could he really be that Lord Lu? Impossible! How could such a lofty figure be here?

An irresistible force raised Lin Jie back up.

Lu Yin looked at him. “You wanted to see me. I am here.”

Lin Jie gave a bitter smile, not knowing what to even say. He wanted to see Lu Yin? Yes, that had been true long ago, even before the Linlushan family had been driven off of their mountain. However, it was far too late. The Linlushan family was already gone.

None of what had happened had anything to do with Lu Yin, but Lin Jie simply did not know what to say to the young man standing before him.

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