The city was bustling, and Lu Yin’s appearance did not stand out because not everyone wore crimson.

This civilization was very similar to the one that Hong’er had been born in. Many cultivators were wearing crimson robes and carried crimson umbrellas, but compared to the population of cultivators at large, there were not actually that many of them.

In this megaverse, there were large swathes of regions that were shrouded in a red mist. With the Mirrorlight Art, Lu Yin saw that these regions were densely spread throughout the entire megaverse.

Given his current level, there was no need for him to slowly learn about things. With a single sweep of his consciousness, the situation became clear.

The regions that were shrouded in red mist were called Dispassion Valleys, and this megaverse was indeed the Crimson Starshade Civilization, or at least, that was what their inheritance claimed.

Where crimson passes, not a blade of grass survives!

This was how the cultivators of this civilization understood themselves.

However, “Crimson Starshade” did not refer to the entire civilization. Only those acknowledged by the civilization and qualified to bear a crimson umbrella were considered Crimson Starshades. It was neither a realm nor a faction, but rather a title reserved for the civilization’s strongest figures.

Many cultivators did not wear crimson, not because they did not wish to, but rather because they were not qualified to do so.

Only by joining the Sect of Dispassion could one wear crimson. Only by being acknowledged by the Sect of Dispassion could one carry a crimson umbrella and become a Crimson Starshade.

The Sect of Dispassion was the strongest—and only—sect in this megaverse. The megaverse spread the Path of Dispassion, using the Dispassion Valleys as trials. In each trial, only one entrant could survive, and that was how cultivators joined the Sect of Dispassion. With Dispassion Valleys spread throughout the megaverse, the sect gained an endless influx of talent, each person having been forged from oceans of slaughter and blood.

Upon learning all of this, Lu Yin did not know how to describe his feelings.

In his civilization, there was no lack of similar cultivation paths, but such paths were usually considered heretical, as they used slaughter to elevate one’s cultivation. Such practices could never be passed down throughout the entire civilization, and Lu Yin had never even imagined otherwise.

But that was precisely the inheritance of this human civilization, and it was accepted by everyone. The Path of Dispassion had become the strongest and even sole path in this human civilization for cultivating one’s mindset.

This path could not itself be considered wrong, only that it violated normal human emotions. Still, dispassion was itself a kind of emotion, but could any person truly become completely dispassionate?

Lu Yin believed it was impossible, at least not unless one was an Aeternal.

He had cultivated his mindset all this time, and he was still working on building the wall in his heart. He had seen far too much, and he believed that no one was truly absolutely dispassionate—no one.

So how had the Path of Dispassion attained supremacy in this megaverse?

The strongest being in this megaverse shattered that understanding. That person’s name was Hong Xia, and he was called the Chivalrous Ancestor. His mere existence shattered Lu Yin’s understanding of emotions because this ancestor had truly achieved his power by following the Path of Dispassion.

From what Lu Yin had quickly learned about this civilization, the Chivalrous Ancestor was a supreme powerhouse and ancient beyond measure. At the very least, he was someone who had resonated with two cosmic laws.

How could any powerhouse climb that high by following the Path of Dispassion?

Slaughter, seas of blood, and endless conflict: these were the unchanging themes of this megaverse.

Lu Yin instantly appeared within a Dispassion Valley. There was death all around him. Corpses carpeted the ground, and the rivers had long since been dyed red. That red mist was clearly the color of blood.

Someone was frantically killing others. Their eyes were cold and emotionless, reminding Lu Yin of the four Immortals standing guard outside the megaverse.

He went to another Dispassion Valley, only to find the same thing.

Regardless of gender and age, any time that someone entered a Dispassion Valley, it was as if they became a different person.

Everyone took lives with their own blade. The edges of everyone’s knife and sword had been stained red.

Lu Yin crouched beside a woman who was soaked in blood. Half of her body had been severed, and he calmly asked her, “Do you regret it?”

The woman’s eyes could only make out a blur of blood and flesh. She was on the verge of death and was unable to see Lu Yin clearly. Faced with his question, she burst out with loud laughter. “Regret? I regret not preparing more! I regret not killing that guy at the start—he was the most threatening of them all. I regret spending too much stamina at the beginning. I regret it, I regret-”

Lu Yin watched her die. Even at death’s door, she never regretted entering this Dispassion Valley. The perspective of a civilization could not be changed by a few words.

Lu Yin examined one Dispassion Valley after another. Slaughter caused no change in anyone’s expressions. What shook him the most was that those who entered the Dispassion Valleys rarely had any attachments.

They had once been someone’s father, someone’s son, someone’s daughter, or someone’s wife. Outside of cultivation, they had all held various roles in life. But upon entering a Dispassion Valley, their worldly ties became astonishingly few.

Most of those with relatives did not see them come here. Lu Yin spread his consciousness and easily located their families and acquaintances, but they had almost no friends. As for their relatives, they coldly went on with their own lives, as though entering a Dispassion Valley meant a final farewell.

That was often the truth, as only one person could leave each Dispassion Valley alive.

Dispassionate. This was true ruthlessness.

Lu Yin did not know how to describe his feelings. He could not accept this cultivation path, and yet he had no right to call it wrong as this civilization had indeed produced multiple powerhouses through their Path of Dispassion. In fact, they had an even greater number of Immortals than his own human civilization.

He was like a spectator as he walked through one Dispassion Valley after another, watching people fall, one after another. Their eyes never changed throughout it all. They were so cold, so indifferent to the lives of others, and yet even more indifferent to their own lives.

In this civilization, emotionlessness and ruthlessness were carved into their people’s very bones.

To the people of such a civilization, casting some people out to serve as bait so that the rest could survive would be seen as reasonable or perhaps even appropriate.

Lu Yin gradually understood what those who had been abandoned felt. They had not hated being cast aside, and neither did they care that their sacrifice had been for the preservation of human civilization. Rather, what mattered was the bone-deep coldness and contempt shown by those who had cast them aside. The abandoned had hated the fact that the continuation of their civilization had been bought with the price of their deaths and that they had been cast aside without so much as a tombstone or a single word of thanks.

Lu Yin hesitated. What would acknowledging kinship with such a civilization bring?

While also a human civilization, the Crimson Starshade Civilization felt like it had been formed from an entirely different species, one utterly alien to human emotions.

Lu Yin could not accept the path of cultivation that they walked.

In his own human civilization, there was a harmonious atmosphere. Of course, there was death and conflict between cultivators, as well as crude and vile acts. Such things were unavoidable. However, the darkness in the corners could not smother the overall light.

The threat of war with another civilization in the Aevum Inch had directed humanity’s conflicts outward into the cosmos. Immortals frequently made appearances to guide others’ cultivation. Once that sort of culture made contact with Crimson Starshade, it could easily be disturbed.

They were two different civilizations, not two individuals.

Lu Yin sat on a mountain in silence. In the distance, other peaks appeared and vanished as if within clouds, as if they rose above the nine heavens. Those mountains marked the Sect of Dispassion.

Every final survivor of a Dispassion Valley would be guided into the Sect of Dispassion. Only there, in this civilization, could one truly take the first step in cultivation. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

A hundred days later, the sounds of bamboo echoed through the sky. It was cold and clear, like a winter morning. There was the sound of bamboo striking the ribs of the crimson umbrellas, and it was also the sound of the Sect of Dispassion accepting new disciples.

The red mist opened over one Dispassion Valley after another, revealing the final survivor.

Some stood, some sat, and some lay on the ground. Some were crippled, with only half of their body left. Some were just a head that retained its consciousness, but they were not far from death.

Beams of light shone from the Sect of Dispassion and fell on every corner of the megaverse, precisely taking away every last survivor from each Dispassion Valley.

Crippled or not, even if only they were less than a breath away from death, surviving til the Sect of Dispassion’s recruitment was a success. The Sect of Dispassion would heal them.

A woman stood outside the main hall of the Sect of Dispassion. Throughout the entire sect, crimson umbrellas opened wide. They covered the sky and threw a red light over the sky and the earth below.

“You have done well. When following the Path of Dispassion, life and death have long since been cast aside...” The woman spoke continuously, as if instructing all creatures. She was an Immortal, and her voice could be heard by everyone.

Lu Yin deliberately looked in the various cities, looking at the relatives of those who had entered the Dispassion Valleys. Their expressions did not change.

If their relatives had survived, they would have already learned of it, but the vast majority had died in the Dispassion Valleys. Still, their families and friends remained expressionless, living numb lives as they listened to the woman speak.

Lu Yin’s gaze returned to the woman, and his expression shifted slightly.

Standing before the main hall, the woman’s words hesitated. Her eyes turned Lu Yin’s way, and she met his eyes with surprise and confusion.

Lu Yin calmly met her stare. His expression matched those who cultivated the Path of Dispassion, but he would never be able to match their coldness. Their coldness had sunk into their very bones.

The woman looked away. She spoke a few more lines, turned, and then vanished.

Soon, she appeared before Lu Yin, studying him. “Who are you? Where do you come from?”

Lu Yin looked at her. “A human civilization. I am Lu Yin.”

The woman frowned. “A human civilization? Is there actually another human civilization in the Aevum Inch besides my Crimson Starshade? How did you even get in?”

Lu Yin rose, facing her. “I have my ways. Is your name Ba Yue?”

The earlier sweep of his consciousness had revealed a great deal of information, such as the fact that this woman, Ba Yue, was publicly known to oversee the Sect of Dispassion. It was also known that she was an Immortal.

However, in Lu Yin’s senses, this woman was greatly inferior to Awe Gate. At best, she was comparable to Ku Deng.

Ba Yue stared at Lu Yin. “How insolent! An Immortal’s name is not something that you can speak directly. Come with me.”

She then turned and walked towards the Sect of Dispassion, utterly confident and not the slightest bit worried that Lu Yin would try to run.

He had no intention of running. He followed Ba Yue into the sect, though as they moved along, no one could see them.

Despite the fact that Lu Yin was not an Immortal, his aura made Ba Yue wary. She was well aware that this man might possess the pinnacle of power beneath the Immortal realm. There were only a few such figures in their entire civilization. It was understandable that ordinary cultivators could not perceive them at all.

If she had not sensed his strength, she would have lashed out the moment that Lu Yin had spoken her name.

Following Ba Yue into the Sect of Dispassion, Lu Yin saw that the main hall was crimson, and the color continued to appear as far as his eye could see. Behind every chair was a crimson umbrella. Only then did he notice that each umbrella rib was set with a blade and also that the handles of the umbrellas were actually sword hilts.

“Crimson robes, crimson umbrellas, and crimson swords—so this is the legendary Crimson Starshade. No wonder everyone says that, where crimson passes, not even a blade of grass survives. You cultivate the Path of Dispassion and care about nothing,” Lu Yin commented. As he spoke, he casually sat down in one of the chairs.