Published at 29th of June 2026 7:11 am

Chapter 4362: Crimson Lotus Tomb

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

One day, half a year later, Zhao Ran suddenly appeared, bringing a note for Lu Yin. On it was a set of coordinates.

Lu Yin looked at her in confusion. Zhao Ran explained, "It came from the River of Aeons. I dont know what it means."

Lu Yin stared at the coordinates on the note. From the River of Aeons?

"Alright, thank you." He stood up and vanished in an instant. No matter who had provided this set of coordinates, he needed to go take a look.

The coordinates were for a very distant location, but teleportation allowed him to arrive quite quickly.

While it was farther away than what an ordinary Immortal could travel in twenty years, Lu Yin stopped and peered into the distance. He saw a megaverse that was home to a civilization. It appeared ordinary to him, but that might just be because he was still too far away.

He moved a bit closer and examined the distant civilization. He still felt that it was rather ordinary, but at a closer distance, he was able to sense the aura of an Immortal that was spread across the entire megaverse at all times.

It felt similar to how Green Lotus protected the Human Trio with his Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm, though what Lu Yin was currently seeing was far weaker. This was simply the efforts of an ordinary Immortal.

Could this be the site of Miao Zuns trial? Back when he had been tested by Obscura, he had been tasked with eradicating the Thorn Civilization, which had also only had one Immortal.

Miao Zuns trial should be similar, since Obscuras entrance trials were not about personal strength, but rather about a candidates ability to use other civilizations. To pass the trial, a candidate could not take direct action. They had to use another civilization to destroy their target civilization.

If Lu Yins suspicions were correct, then who had given him the coordinates? It could not possibly have been Hong Xia. There was no need for him to hide anything, and he would have simply told Lu Yin directly.

Only someone from Obscura could know these specific coordinates, but who in Obscura, aside from Hong Xia, would share them with Lu Yin? The first to come to mind was Old Man Hehe, as he could influence the main stream of the River of Aeons. It should not be impossible for them to pass a note down a River of Aeons. Also, while that ancient powerhouse had infuriated Lu Yin on multiple occasions, they had also saved his life on the battlefield.

Could it be them?

Lu Yin forced himself to stop speculating. No matter who it was, since he may have found the civilization that was Miao Zuns target, even before being told by Hong Xia, the situation had become advantageous to Lu Yin.

He first went back to Old First to capture the Jade Thread of Heaven. Then, he took the toad, Greater Sancte Blood Tower, the Jade Thread of Heaven, and the Seven-Treasure Anuras to the target civilization. They stayed far enough away from the target for its guardian Immortal to not detect them yet close enough for Old First to arrive quickly.

After that, Lu Yin went to visit Crimson Starshade.

Hong Xia wanted Lu Yin to skirt the edge of breaking Obscuras rules, or even outright break them. In that case, Lu Yin would make Hong Xia be witness to the fact that he was not breaking any rules.

In the Aevum Inch, beneath a sky with no suns, dark-red gas blanketed the land, blotting out the sky. All manner of grotesque, strange insects crawled across the land. Some even curled into balls and rolled around. The scene was utterly unsettling.

Space twisted, and a shadow stepped out. They took out a floating coffin and drew a gate.

Underground, a pair of fierce, ugly eyes opened. The pupils shifted to look upward and stare at the surface.

The shadow finished drawing the gate and looked down, as if meeting the savage gaze. "Miao Zun, are you willing to join my Obscura?"

The eyes flickered with a vicious coldness, and a sound similar to glass being cut came forth. "Willing."

"Good. Complete your trial, and you may join my Obscura. Your trial target is the Ning Megaverse. You may not act personally and may only use civilizations. Pass this trial and you may join. Good luck." With that, the shadow stepped through the gate and vanished.

Once the shadow was gone, the land split open. A gigantic, triangular monstrosity crawled up, large enough to pressure the void. More than ten legs, solid like iron hammers, stomped the ground. Each step shattered space in all directions.

The creature stretched its body and then roared at the sky with enough force to shatter the stars. It then sprang up and ran toward a certain direction.

Obscura was truly troublesome. To destroy a civilization, it had to use another civilization. Fortunately, Miao Zun knew the location of a qualified civilization. It was one which had once allied with their own civilization in the war against Obscura. In the end, Miao Zuns own civilization had been destroyed, while their allies had been crippled.

But even crippled, it would be no problem for them to destroy a civilization with only one Immortal.

However, that civilization knew of Obscura and would not be willing to pass through a gate. Miao Zun would have to force their hand.

With that thought, the creature ran faster and faster, reaching a speed that far surpassed most Immortals. Each step left deep imprints in the Aevum Inch and shattered the cosmos.

Elsewhere, Lu Yin arrived at the Crimson Starshade Megaverse, but he did not look for Hong Xia. Instead, he went straight to the Blood Tower and sat down cross-legged in outer space to face Jiu Wen.

The man was puzzled. "What is this?"

Lu Yin met Jiu Wens gaze. "The Path of Dispassion is a legacy of human civilization. This junior once misunderstood the Path of Dispassion. Now, I want to understand it more deeply."

Jiu Wen was surprised. "You want to cultivate the Path of Dispassion?"

Lu Yin nodded.

Jiu Wen said, "A persons energy is limited. Mr. Lu, reaching your current height is unprecedented throughout the past and present. Even in the Nine Ramparts era, you would have stood at the pinnacle. Why cultivate other powers? Doing so is not only useless, but also harmful. Furthermore, you do not understand the Path of Dispassion. The Path of Dispassion cannot coexist with other powers."

Lu Yin smiled. "This junior understands the nature of the Path of Dispassion very well, but cultivating the Path of Dispassion is only to perfect my mental state. I wont cultivate its power, only its meaning."

"So that is how it is. In that case, this old man will share some stories with you. Perhaps you can comprehend the Path of Dispassion from them," Jiu Wen said.

Lu Yin was grateful. "Thank you, Senior."

The stories that Jiu Wen shared might have come from the Second Ramparts history or simply be his own inventions. Regardless of their origin, they aligned with Jiu Wens Path of Dispassion.

His Path of Dispassion was the Path of Dispassion followed by the Second Rampart.

Lu Yin listened to story after story, his mind sinking into them as if becoming a person within the tales, experiencing different choices again and again and feeling various mental states again and again.

Not far away, Hong Xia observed the entire time. Lu Yin should have come to learn the location of Miao Zuns target megaverse from Hong Xia, but he would not tell the brat at this ime. Telling Lu Yin too early would give him time to prepare. It was better to wait. Miao Zun would not act quickly. Hong Xia would tell Lu Yin the target after Miao Zun started to move.

Then, the brat would have to teleport over in order to arrive in time, and that would give Hong Xia ammunition to accuse Lu Yin in Vestigium. Even if Lu Yin did not clearly break the rules, he would still have to flirt with breaking them.

If Miao Zun proved to be insufficient, then he would use two candidates next time. Lu Yin might be able to handle one, but what about two?

Someone would eventually force him to break Obscuras rules, as long as he did not worship the Divine Tree.

Just wait. You can only learn the location of the target civilization from me. I will make you wait until the last moment.

With that thought, Hong Xia sneered and closed his eyes.

Time flowed on, and in the blink of an eye, twenty years had passed. During these years, Lu Yin had sat in front of the Blood Tower. Sometimes, he listened to Jiu Wens stories. Sometimes, he pondered. Sometimes, he had discussions with Jiu Wen. Xi Shangfeng also occasionally spoke a few words. The time passed quickly enough.

"Senior, this junior has heard that there was a saying in the Second Rampart: Crimson Starshade follows the Path of Dispassion, yet Hong Shuang alone is the most compassionate.

"You have shared many stories with me, including ones about affection and love. Affection and love are choices of action, while the Path of Dispassion is a choice of ones mental state. Action and mental state do not have to conflict with each other, but if they do not conflict, are the emotions still real? Without a conflict, how can there be emotions when following the Path of Dispassion?

"The Path of Dispassion can be directed towards oneself, but it can also be directed externally towards others. Likewise, affection and love can be directed both towards oneself and towards others."

Jiu Wen stared at Lu Yin with a growing intensity. "Cultivating the Path of Dispassion is both vast and profound. It cannot be summed up in a simple line about actions or mental states. If you truly want to elevate your mental state with the Path of Dispassion, twenty years is not enough. 200 years or even 2,000 years still would not be enough. At the end of the Nine Ramparts era, Hong Xia betrayed the Second Rampart. At that time, this old man was only a young, slightly talented cultivator, yet I was able to keep my own mental state intact despite Hong Xias influence for countless years. Do you know why?"

Lu Yin shook his head. "Please enlighten me, Senior."

"Because of shock."

"Shock?"

"Some things, once you have seen them, last for a lifetime. You cannot forget them, no matter what. Mr. Lu, do you want to see it?"

Lu Yins eyes brightened. "Please show me, Senior."

"Alright, look." Jiu Wen said, his expression growing complicated. "Perhaps this scene will allow you to see the true Path of Dispassion."

A karma spiral shot towards the Blood Tower from Lu Yins fingers. It passed through the Blood Tower, piercing Jiu Wens body and revealing multiple scenes from his past.

At this moment, whatever Jiu Wen remembered, karma would reveal.

Jiu Wen lifted his head to look at his past revealed by karma. "This is the Crimson Lotus Tomb."

***

It was a shattered land. Broken swords stabbed into the ground. Both the sky and the ground were completely red. Broken umbrellas drifted and danced about as the smoke of war rose in all directions.

Someone strode across the land, alone and barefoot as they stepped across shards of broken swords, leaving a trail of blood. He was climbing a mountain.

All along his path were fragments of broken swords. Some of the broken blades were still attached to severed limbs. Blood dyed the entire mountain red.

Atop the mountain there were two silhouettes: one a woman, the other was a long spear.

The long spear had been driven into the womans body, completely piercing her. The shaft had been driven deep into the mountain. Her blood ran down the shaft, flowing from the mountain to the land below.

In the dark-red sky, three Plume Immortals wheeled through the air, letting out cheerful screeches as in a mocking, toying manner.

From time to time, razor-sharp streaks swept past, knocking the man who was climbing up the mountain back down and tearing away great swaths of his flesh. Yet he did not give up. His focus remained fixed on the woman at the top of the mountain as he moved closer to her, one step at a time. Shattered blades tore his feet open as both heaven and earth tried to stop him. Even so, step by step, he climbed the mountain with unwavering resolve.

He fell again and again, but he resumed climbing again and again. His flesh withered away, but his eyes never changed in the slightest.

Flames burned the sky and scorched the land, and yet the man climbed with stoic resolve. At last, he reached the woman. He raised a hand, grabbed hers, and without any hesitation, forced his body upon the spear, driving it through him so that he could embrace her. A blissful smile appeared, and then their mixed blood dripped down the spear.

At that moment, a storm surged through the sky and across the land. Flames were instantly extinguished. Red rose up from the land, piercing the sky and spreading through outer space, freezing the entire universe, as well as the three Plume Immortals flying through space. Finally, everything turned into a dark-red crystal that glittered brilliantly within the endless darkness of the Aevum Inch.

***

Lu Yin stared at the scene in shock, forgetting everything around him. His eyes only beheld the lone figure climbing the mountain with unwavering resolve and the figure who remained standing despite being pierced by the long spear.

"Is that the Crimson Lotus Tomb?"

Jiu Wen exhaled heavily. "A tomb that buried three Plume Immortals, while also bringing release to our predecessors. That is the culmination of the final, fathomless essence of the Path of Dispassion.

"That land was called Crimson Lotus, and thus it became the Crimson Lotus Tomb."

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