Back when Wu Jiang had just arrived in the spiritualized universe, he had caused a lot of trouble. Zhan Hua had represented the Zhan family to negotiate with Wu Jiang, wanting to take Zhan Yan away. He had been disrespectful and had even threatened Lu Yin. In the end, Lu Yin had chased him out.
Since then, although he had never seen Lu Yin again, he had always kept this matter in mind and thought about how he could take revenge one day.
But as Lu Yin's reputation grew and he did many shocking things, Zhan Hua's desire for revenge faded. In particular, Lu Yin's victory against Wu Huang had shaken the entire spiritualized universe, so he had completely stopped thinking about revenge.
Only after Wu Huang had died and all the Law Domains had sealed themselves did Zhan Hua relax.
The outside world was too dangerous; home was still the safest place.
Now, after experiencing the war between civilizations and hearing about Lu Yin's legendary experiences in the Nine Heavens Universe, the entire Zhan family was dumbfounded. They had not expected Lu Yin to do well in the spiritualized universe and even better in the Nine Heavens Universe.
Now that Lu Yin had come, Zhan Hua felt like he was facing a supreme being.
Zhan Ming was also shocked, but he was much better than Zhan Hua. Lu Yin had not come in directly and had instead sent someone to inform them. This meant that he did not intend to do anything to the Zhan family, which was good.
"I'll welcome him personally."
The Great Master looked outside the Law Domain. Lu Yin had come as well. This Zhan family had some history with him, which was interesting.
She did not want to leave and just watched.
"Great Master, what about me?"
"Go."
Outside the Law Domain, Lu Yin stood in the starry sky and scanned the entire place.
He did not need to report if he wanted to enter, and with his relationship with the Zhan family, they were neither enemies nor friends. The Zhan family had even schemed against him, so there was no need to report. It was good enough that they did not cause trouble for him.
But now that he stood at such a high position, he did not care about these small grudges. Furthermore, the Zhan family had been guarding the door for Qinglian Shangyu and the others, so even if they had not done anything, they had worked hard.
In particular, Zhan Ming had not stopped Lu Yin from taking Yi Shang away. He had been polite and had even let Grandpa Fa and the others go. This was why Lu Yin did not cause trouble for them.
Zhan Ming came out, followed by Zhan Hua and a group of Zhan family cultivators, including Zhan Qian and Gu Hou.
"Zhan Ming brings the Zhan family to greet Mr. Lu."
"Greetings, Mr. Lu."
"Mr. Lu …"
Everyone from the Zhan family bowed respectfully, to the point of being fearful. After all, the Zhan family and Lu Yin had not been on good terms.
Lu Yin clasped his hands behind his back and smiled at Zhan Ming. "Long time no see, Zhan Ming."
Zhan Ming bowed deeply, not daring to raise his head. "Mr. Lu, you flatter me. In front of Mr. Lu, how can I be Sang Tian? I'm just an old man guarding the door."
Lu Yin laughed. "You don't have to remind me. I know you're guarding the door, but the person guarding the door doesn't have to be surnamed Zhan."
Zhan Ming was shocked.
The faces of Zhan Hua and the others changed greatly, and they lowered their heads even more.
"Of course, the surname Zhan isn't bad either. I'm a rather traditional person," Lu Yin said. He then looked at Zhan Ming. "Aren't you going to invite me in?"
Zhan Ming heaved a sigh of relief as his face turned pale. "Mr. Lu, please."
At this moment, Lu Yin's position in Zhan Ming's heart was completely different from the Lu Yin of the past.
Lu Yin had once been an enemy of the Tian Yuan Universe, a spiritualized universe. They had schemed against each other and fought against each other.
But now, Lu Yin was the Mister Lu that everyone in the Nine-Firmaments Universe had to respect. His status was comparable to the Eternal Emperor, and he was invincible in the universe. Their past grievances had vanished, and they were not qualified to mention the past to Lu Yin.
What key? What Yi Shang? What Zhan Yan? They were all gone.
Zhan Ming only hoped that Lu Yin would not mention them.
Lu Yin entered the Law Domain under Zhan Ming's lead.
It was his first time entering the Law Domain, and he had taken Yi Shang to the Garden of Ruins.
"I thank Zhan Ming and Sang Tian for your generosity on behalf of Master Fa and the others," Lu Yin said.
Zhan Ming said respectfully, "It's my pleasure."
He was glad that he had let Master Fa and the others go, or else the Zhan family would be gone.
Lu Yin looked at the Garden of Ruins. He had disguised himself and joined Master Fa's team in order to enter the Garden of Ruins and catch Yi Shang at close range. Now that he thought about it, although not much time had passed, it felt like a lifetime had passed.
Zhan Ming, who used to be on the same level as him, did not even dare to raise his head in front of him.
He wondered how Master Fa and the others were doing.
Seventeen, not bad.
As soon as he entered the Law Domain, he saw the great master sitting there casually.
"Oh, you're here," the Great Master greeted.
Lu Yin nodded. "I didn't expect Luo Chan to be trapped in the Wheel of Ruins."
"I just remembered," the Great Master said. She looked at Lu Yin. "How did it feel to fight against an Eternal Realm?"
Lu Yin said, "It was tiring and hard to kill."
"Nonsense, you can even kill an Eternal Realm." The Great Master rolled her eyes.
The two of them talked, and no one dared to interrupt.
Zhan Ming personally served them tea.
"Oh right, what are you doing here?" the Great Master asked.
Lu Yin said bluntly, "I want to see that door."
Zhan Ming's heart sank. The door was guarded by the Zhan family, and the ancestral teachings said that outsiders could not see it. With Lu Yin and the Great Master's strength, if they wanted to do something, no one could stop them.
The Great Master smiled. "I'm also here to guard the door." She then looked at Zhan Ming.
Lu Yin also looked at Zhan Ming. "Please lead the way."
Zhan Ming hesitated.
The Great Master said, "What's there to think about? Mister Lu is on the same level as an Eternal Realm. If he really wants to see it, no one can stop him unless the God of Defense stops him. The fact that he is here means that he has been acknowledged."
"And with Mister Lu's strength, it's already good that he can greet you. Do you think he can't see it?"
Lu Yin did not refute. It was the truth.
If Qinglian Shangyu and the others did not trust him, they would not have let him come to the Law Domain.
Zhan Ming took a deep breath. "Yes, my lords, please."
Soon, Zhan Ming brought Lu Yin and the Great Master to the Door of Arts.
The Door of Arts was a legend in the spiritualized universe. Since ancient times, countless people had guessed what was behind the Door of Arts.
Some said that it was a place of supreme seclusion.
Some said that it could lead to the Eternal Realm.
Some said that it was a place of abyss and so on.
Countless legends created the Zhan family and gave them a special status in the spiritualized universe. Even Yu Sang Tian, Yu Lao, and Master Qingcao would not do anything to them.
They were just gatekeepers, but this door was too special.
They saw this door again.
This door was not as big as the Door of Wonder. It even looked a little ordinary, but it was this door that made them feel sad the moment they saw it.
The patterns on the surface did not depict living creatures, but rather destroyed civilizations.
The uncontrollable sadness made Lu Yin fall silent.
The Great Master also fell silent and looked on quietly.
Zhan Ming was not far away. He had seen this door too many times, but he still felt sad. He did not know the reason, but he hoped that Lu Yin would explain it.
Lu Yin looked at every pattern on the door, wanting to remember the creatures that had been destroyed. He did not know why he wanted to remember them, but human civilization was also destroying other civilizations. No matter how noble the reason was, extinction was extinction.
They were not fundamentally different from the unknown.
Lu Yin thought of Master Qingcao when he looked at the door. He was not wrong to protect the spiritualized universe. No matter what method he chose, his goal was to protect the spiritualized universe.
Master Qingcao's life might not have been better than Lu Yin's. He had been born in the spiritualized universe and had been suppressed by many cultivators from the Nine Firmaments Universe. He had not been able to resist, and as his cultivation and status had increased, he had even had to protect the cultivators from the Nine Firmaments Universe.
He had personally seen the cultivators from the Nine Firmaments Universe suppress the spiritualized universe's cultivators and plunder their resources.
The clearer he saw the situation, the more he knew that the spiritualized universe might one day replace the Nine Firmaments Universe.
To him, this was unacceptable.
If the spiritualized universe had been replaced by the Tian Yuan Universe, Lu Yin knew that he would not have done better than Master Qingcao. He did not know what choice he would have made in the end.
Would he have cooperated with the unknown to protect the spiritualized universe?
Or would he have considered the big picture and fought against the unknown for the sake of the entire human civilization? He would have fought for a future that was bleak in his eyes. He could not see the future.
Lu Yin had experienced being exiled from the Lu family. He had been a nobody on Earth who had climbed up step by step, cultivated, experienced life and death situations, fought against the Eternals, and finally went on an expedition to the spiritualized universe to fight for a chance of survival for the Tian Yuan Universe.
He was not fundamentally different from Master Qingcao.
They were both fighting for their respective universes.
Master Qingcao's feelings for the spiritualized universe might not be any less than Lu Yin's feelings for the Tian Yuan Universe.
He was lucky to have been recognized by the Nine Firmaments Universe, but Master Qingcao was unlucky. Even though he was an Eternal Realm cultivator, he could not change the situation between the Nine Firmaments Universe and the spiritualized universe.
Lu Yin's hatred for Master Qingcao originated from the war between the spiritualized universe and the Tian Yuan Universe. It originated from the destruction of the Above Heaven Sect and the weakening of the future scale.
But this was only hatred based on his position.
From Master Qingcao's point of view, if he confirmed that the unknown was absolutely invincible and that human civilization had no hope, then his way of doing things might not be wrong.
That was why he had always wanted Lu Yin to see the universe clearly. He hoped that Lu Yin could also see the situation clearly.
If Lu Yin could really see the situation clearly and confirm that the unknown was absolutely invincible, then what choice would he make?
Of course, all of these basic conjectures came from Master Qingcao's understanding of the unknown.
Master Qingcao had his own understanding, but did Qing Lian Yu and the others not have their own understanding?
Since Qing Lian Yu and the others had been playing games with the unknown, it meant that they had the will to continue fighting and the desire to win. On this basis, Master Qingcao was wrong.
Many people could not distinguish right from wrong because they each stood on their own side.
But there was no right or wrong in a position, but there was right and wrong in the outcome.
If the unknown was defeated after a few years, then everything that Master Qingcao had done would be wrong.
If it was the other way around, then everything that he had done would be right.
That was why people wanted to see the future.
Lu Yin also wanted to see the future and see if the unknown could be defeated.
Right and wrong existed, and so did one's standpoint. There was only one point that could not be hesitated — to fight. Humanity's will, its spirit of never giving up.
If humans lost their backbone, it would be equivalent to their civilization losing its inheritance. Would such a human civilization still be considered a human civilization?
"You asked me to see the universe clearly. Even if I see it clearly, I will still choose to continue walking down this path. Even if human civilization goes extinct, it's still better than living without a backbone."
"You have your choice, and I have mine."
"Perhaps I will leave a laughable mark in the history of the unknown, but so what? This is human. A human's spirit and will cannot be shaken."
New