Published at 28th of June 2026 6:32 am

Chapter 4359: Shedding The Mortal

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Chu Songyun remained confused: the Path of Dispassion or the Nirvana Tree Path, which one should it be? Why was he reluctant to move away from the Path of Dispassion? Did he not hate it?

Lu Yin shouted, "What do you truly hate, the Path of Dispassion, or the current Crimson Starshade?"

That sentence struck Chu Songyun like thunder, cleaving through his confusion. He froze in place, staring blankly at the ground.

Below, Ku Wei rolled his eyes and nudged Hui Can. "Look at this kid putting on a show. Making such a huge fuss just to be accepted by Master."

Hui Can replied, "Exactly! When we were accepted by Master back then, we didn’t get this kind of treatment. He is way too good at grabbing attention. Isn’t that right, Senior Brother?"

Tuo Lin was worried. "Is our junior brother alright? He looks like he’s in pain.

"What? Oh, Little Ruyu, you’re right. With Master here, how could anything happen?

"I understand. Little Ruyu, you are the best. Master is proud of you."

Ku Wei and Hui Can rolled their eyes in unison. Lunatic.

The people outside the Heavens Sect did not know what was happening. Chu Songyun looked as if he had gone mad. Was it possible that he had gotten too excited about accepting Lu Yin as his master and his mind had broken?

Everyone waited. Lu Yin was not in a hurry, and everyone else was even less so.

Before long, Chu Songyun lifted his head to look at Lu Yin. Clarity had returned to his eyes, as well as resolve. He slowly knelt. "Master, your disciple is guilty."

"What are you guilty of?"

"Your disciple no longer wishes to cultivate the Nirvana Tree Path."

The moment he spoke those words, the crowd erupted. One after another, they all stared at Chu Songyun as though he were an idiot.

Not cultivate the Nirvana Tree Path? Had he completely lost his mind? Throughout multiple megaverses, who would choose to not cultivate the Nirvana Tree Path? It was a cultivation path that did not affect a person’s original cultivation while fusing everything that a person had cultivated, allowing their strength to erupt by an incredible amount in a short time. It could be said that the existence of the Nirvana Tree Path had elevated the top experts of the Human Trio by an entire level.

The clearest example was Awe Gate. With the help of the Nirvana Tree Path, she had even managed to surpass Greater Sancte Blood Tower while suffering no effect to her own cultivation.

This cultivation path did not affect one’s existing cultivation while allowing them to experience a leap in power, and yet someone refused to cultivate it when given the chance? Not only that, but he was even doing do so publicly at the creator’s disciple-acceptance ceremony; was Chu Songyun not slapping Mr. Lu in the face?

Many people’s expressions fell, and even Tuo Lin frowned.

Yet Lu Yin did not get angry. Instead, he smiled. "Why not?"

Chu Songyun knelt even lower. "Your disciple wishes to continue cultivating the Path of Dispassion."

Many people looked at Chu Songyun with confusion or mockery in their eyes, though there were also quite a few who admired him. It was not easy to firmly choose one’s own path under such circumstances. Still, why did it have to be right at this moment? They looked up at Lu Yin. Right, because of the Nirvana Tree Path. Lord Lu had only just shared the Nirvana Tree Path with Chu Songyun at this exact moment.

Moreover, what Lord Lu had said earlier had been to offer guidance to Chu Songyun, and he had never insisted on Chu Songyun cultivating the Nirvana Tree Path.

Of course, people were still unable to understand Chu Songyun’s decision. The Nirvana Tree Path did not affect the cultivation of other powers, so why not cultivate both?

No one understood Chu Songyun except for Lu Yin. This was the Path of Dispassion, a domineering human legacy. Once one started cultivating it, they could cultivate only it. If someone wanted to cultivate other powers, they would have to abandon the Path of Dispassion.

Lu Yin’s words cleaved through Chu Songyun’s confusion and caused him to hold fast to his true heart. For that, even if he rejected the Nirvana Tree Path under the gaze of countless people, Chu Songyun was willing to bear that price.

He continued to kneel low, knowing his choice must embarrass his master. He was willing to accept any punishment. He knew that he was guilty.

Lu Yin smiled, looking absolutely delighted. "Chu Songyun, as your master, I was wrong."

Everyone stared at Lu Yin in astonishment. Had he lost his mind due to his anger?

Chu Songyun lifted his head, looking at Lu Yin in confusion.

Lu Yin clasped his hands behind his back, still smiling. "I first said that I would not demand that you be invincible under heaven, nor that you be the strongest through past and present. Now, I retract my words."

His voice spread across the universe, ringing in countless ears. "As an heir of the Nine Ramparts, a genius of the Second Rampart’s Path of Dispassion, your will is firm, and your true heart remains as it was in the beginning. As your master, I now demand that you be invincible under heaven, the strongest through history!

"This is the requirement that I place upon you for taking me, Lu Yin, as your master.

"You must shoulder the responsibility of inheriting the Second Rampart’s Path of Dispassion. The Path of Dispassion itself is not wrong as it still distinguishes between right and wrong. The Path of Dispassion can also include emotions. This is a legacy of human civilization. Since you have chosen it, I require you to pass it on.

"Can you do this?"

Chu Songyun’s breathing was ragged and his heart was pounding as he looked up at Lu Yin and shouted, "Your disciple can do it!"

Lu Yin nodded. "Good. I await that day. When it comes, you will be the blade of our civilization."

Chu Songyun prostrated once more. "Your disciple will surely die before our civilization falls, fighting for the continuation of human civilization!"

***

The disciple-acceptance ceremony ended, and everyone dispersed. What happened would allow many people to see something new.

It appeared that Lord Lu was very pleased with the Path of Dispassion.

People had clearly heard before that he was absolutely disgusted by the Crimson Starshade Civilization’s Path of Dispassion, so why did he have such a reaction?

Also, was it possible that the Path of Dispassion could not fuse with the Nirvana Tree Path?

Many people wanted to ask Chu Songyun about this, but even if his identity as Lu Yin’s disciple was ignored, the man’s own strength was enough for him to stand among the most powerful people in the human civilization beneath the Immortal realm. Not just anyone could approach him.

Ku Wei and Lu Yin’s other disciples were exceptions.

Lu Yin returned to the mountain behind the Heavens Sect, and Ku Wei and his fellow disciples went to find Chu Songyun. They kept calling him junior brother. Even though seeing Lu Yin’s newest disciple accept him as a master might have caused the others to grow jealous and their voices sour, he was still their junior brother.

Tuo Lin was thrilled, as he had gained another family member.

Chu Songyun was also very happy. He now had a family of his own, which was something that he had never been able to experience in the Crimson Starshade Civilization. But was there something wrong with Senior Brother Tuo Lin’s head? Who was Little Ruyu? Where was she?

On the mountain behind the Heavens Sect, Lu Yin sat at a stone table, looking up at the starry sky, lost in his own thoughts.

The Path of Dispassion that Chu Songyun hated was not the true Path of Dispassion. The fact that he had wanted to abandon the Path of Dispassion was not his own fault, but rather the fault of the Path of Dispassion, or rather, the Path of Dispassion of the current era.

People said that power did not distinguish good from evil, only people. But if the Path of Dispassion was cultivated wrongly in the current era, then it was wrong. Its power made people turn cold towards their families while causing their emotions to vanish. If that was not wrong, then what was?

Chu Songyun had lived under the Path of Dispassion, and yet he was able to discern between good and evil while following the Path of Dispassion. What about him?

Being able to distinguish between the good and evil of a power was only one detail. Lu Yin also detested the current era’s Path of Dispassion and could see what was good and evil about it, but that did not mean that he could see everything else. The higher a person stood, the more likely it was that there were things beneath them that they could not see.

Chu Songyun’s purity lay in his cultivation, so where did Lu Yin’s own purity lie?

At this thought, the wall in his heart rose up before Lu Yin’s eyes. He looked at the black and white bricks, as though seeing the countless faces and countless events that made up the wall.

The wall was divided between black and white. Lu Yin reached out to touch the boundary between the two colors. The next moment, the wall turned into two beams of light that wrapped around Lu Yin, still black and white. The countless experiences and events from the past appeared one after another. Lu Yin stood in place, not moving as he allowed the black and white lights to coil around him.

However, in the eyes of a spectator, there was nothing at all.

Long Xi took one look and withdrew. It was clear to her that Lu Yin was in a state of enlightenment.

What was a genius? Someone who easily understood what ordinary people struggled with was a genius. A genius often attained enlightenment through small matters.

Chu Songyun’s choice had granted Lu Yin an opportunity for enlightenment.

The more one gains, the harder it becomes for them to see clearly, to distinguish good from evil, or gain from loss. In the end, a person must return to the ordinary. The more ordinary they become, the more clearly they can see.

This step was for shedding the extraordinary and returning to the mortal state.

Undergoing metamorphosis into mortality!

Lu Yin’s eyes snapped open as he stared out into space. Cultivation was a circle, which meant that the entire path of cultivation was linked together. Beside the Immortal realm, there were mortals.

Shed the mortal to become Immortal… Is this truly my path?

To hold fast amid confusion, to keep one’s heart and mind unmoved, and thereby break into the Immortal realm, it was never a matter of how much time had passed. What truly mattered was one’s understanding of themselves, one’s understanding of the universe, and one’s understanding of the Aevum Inch.

At this moment, Qing Cao suddenly arrived at the mountainside, but Long Xi quickly stopped him. "He is having a moment of enlightenment."

Master Qing Cao looked across the mountain. Didn’t he just accept a disciple?

"Come in," Lu Yin’s voice called out.

Master Qing Cao stepped past Long Xi and he arrived on the mountain. As soon as he saw Lu Yin, the man simply announced, "A new member is joining Obscura."

Lu Yin was surprised. "Who?"

"I do not know."

Lu Yin frowned and immediately entered outer space. Arriving on a barren planet, he laid in the red coffin and entered Vestigium.

The moment he arrived, he heard Furball say that they agreed. Right after that, Lu Yin heard several unfamiliar voices. Some he had heard before, such as the one that he had almost called Second Furball, but others had not spoken even once in his presence.

Lu Yin etched those voices into his mind as he asked, "Ba Se, will there be a new member joining us?"

Ba Se replied, "Miao Zun."

Lu Yin arched a brow. Miao Zun? What a strange name. "Tell me about them."

"Heh heh, brat, this will be fun. This Miao Zun is very interesting," Furball announced with obvious schadenfreude. The more they acted like that, the more uneasy Lu Yin became. This meant that Miao Zun joining would benefit Furball while putting Lu Yin at a disadvantage.

In fact, regardless of what Miao Zun was like, as long as someone joined, they would undoubtedly worship the Divine Tree and be chosen by a color. At the moment, Lu Yin knew of three available colors which could choose a new member: red, silver, and blue. No matter which color chose Miao Zun, Lu Yin would have to deliver the corresponding line.

Those three lines had allowed Lu Yin to defeat Ni Ren. Although he could not control them and using them caused a severe backlash afterwards, to the point where even a slight mistake would be disastrous, they were still a trump card that he could use to fight with his life on the line when there was no other choice.

If even one line was lost, he would lose that trump card.

Furthermore, since Miao Zun was going to join, Ba Se would certainly force Lu Yin to worship the Divine Tree first, and that meant entering Vestigium with his real body. That was a risk that he was unwilling to take no matter what.

At this thought, Lu Yin’s heart sank. This was trouble.

"No information about any member of Obscura will be disclosed by Obscura. I can only tell you the reason why they were invited. First, cultivation. Miao Zun is a one-law Immortal whose strength is in no way inferior to Lan Meng’s. Second, Obscura has suffered multiple losses recently and needs to refill its numbers," Ba Se said.

"Is that all?"

"That is all."

Lu Yin asked, "Do I have any right to decide?"

Ba Se said, "Every member of Obscura has the right to choose whether they are willing to allow a new member to join."

Lu Yin was just about to speak when Furball spoke up again. "But your choice no longer matters. Most of Obscura has already made their choice and have agreed to let them join. Even if you are against this, it means nothing."

Lu Yin grew curious. "Furball, from what you’re saying, it sounds like you know this creature well."

Furball snorted. "There was once a war, and Miao Zun’s civilization was the enemy. In the end, the civilization was completely wiped out, with only Miao Zun surviving. If you want to see what they look like, it’s simple. Their species is drawn on Obscura’s gates."

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