Star Odyssey

Chapter 4232: The Limits Of Human Effort

After bidding farewell to Greater Sancte Green Lotus, Lu Yin looked in the direction of the Frightened Sparrow Terrace and the nine-leveled Blood Tower. There was no need for him to visit those places. The other Greater Sancti would give the same answer as Greater Sancte Green Lotus. They would not hold back when it was time to act just because of a few words from Lu Yin. Greater Sancte Green Lotus had said something completely accurate: the Immortals were not acting for themselves, but for the future of their human civilization.

Lu Yin had been the one overthinking things, and yet he also needed to understand the state of humanity’s Immortals in order to face the battles to come.

After returning to the Tianyuan, Lu Yin spent the next ten years calming his mind and merging with the will of the megaverse. He focused on sensing the joys and sorrows, and the loves and hatreds of countless people. He sought to push his mental state towards that of an Immortal and overcome Dukkha.

But how could it be so easy to overcome Dukkha? His was letting go. He had realized that when he had first merged with the will of the Tianyuan Megaverse. It had actually started even further back than that; when he saw the mural on the wall in the Sea of Karma and comprehended it, it could be said that he had entered Dukkha.

Lu Yin believed that letting go was his Dukkha, but over the years, he had spoken with many people, all of whom believed that they understood their own Dukkha. But was what they saw as their Dukkha really it?

Lu Yin was very certain that letting go was his Dukkha, and that certainty was like seeing a light in the sky. But the more certain he felt, the more he felt that he was wrong. If not, why were so many powerful beings unable to reach the Immortal realm?

Was Lu Yin any smarter than those people? Had he comprehended things more thoroughly? He did not believe anyone to be naturally more intelligent than another.

Letting go was not giving up. The process of overcoming Dukkha was a gradual process of release; that was Lu Yin’s understanding of his own Dukkha. But even after so many years, he could not sense even the slightest hint of approaching the Immortal realm.

He could not even see the peak of Dukkha.

Was letting go truly his Dukkha?

One day, Shang Tianzong requested an audience.

“Shang Tianzong of the Infinity Empire offers greetings to Lord Lu.”

Lu Yin observed the man before him. “It’s been a long time, Emperor Shang.”

Shang Tianzong was the current Emperor Shang of the Infinity Empire. When the Infinity Empire had first made contact with the Origin Universe, their previous Emperor Shang had died. At that time, Lu Yin had supported Shang Tianzong in becoming the new emperor, but he had long since forgotten about the man. After all, the people of the Infinity Empire did not cultivate and only researched mechas, which meant that they did not live for very long.

It had been several hundred years since Lu Yin had last seen Shang Tianzong, and he was surprised to learn that the man was still alive.

Shang Tianzong was badly startled, and he replied, “Your subordinate is no longer Emperor Shang!”

“Oh? What are you looking for me about?”

“Your subordinate is here to report to Lord Lu that thirteen-ring energy has been successfully developed.”

Lu Yin’s eyes lit up. “The research on thirteen-ring energy succeeded?”

Shang Tianzong smiled. “Yes. I ask that you inspect our efforts, Lord Lu.”

Lu Yin was delighted. “Wonderful! Let’s go take a look.”

With that, he vanished, teleporting away with Shang Tianzong.

Ring energy was the foundation of all of the Infinity Empire’s technology. They used cycles as a source of power, and each additional cycle added a tremendous amount of force.

The Infinity Empire specialized in manufacturing mechas, and they used ring energy to power their machines.

A mecha powered by one-ring energy was enough to fight against an Explorer, and a two-ring mecha corresponded to the Hunter realm. Three-rings matched the Enlighter realm, while four-ring energy compared to an Enlighter with a power level of 400,000. Five-ring mechas were a match for Envoys, as were six, seven, and eight-ring mechas.

A nine-ring mecha could fight against a Semi-Progenitor. A ten-ring mecha could face a Progenitor, but eleven-ring mechas could face some of the most powerful Progenitors. The strongest mecha that the Infinity Empire ever developed had been powered by twelve-ring energy. Only a few twelve-ring mechas had ever been built, and each one had been given a unique name.

Lu Yin still remembered their first clash with the Infinity Empire. The mechas had been truly astonishing at that time. In the past, the Infinity Empire had relied on their mechas to conquer one parallel universe after another, unstoppable in their imperialism.

But when it came to the war against Aeternus and later on the conflicts with foreign civilizations, the role of mechas had grown smaller and smaller. Even so, Lu Yin had never abandoned them.

Some mechas had even joined Boundless to go to the Spirit Nidus, and the machines possessed an irreplaceable utility in certain situations. What Lu Yin was most eager to see was the successful completion of the thirteen-ring energy research.

Success would undoubtedly bring about a leap forward in their human civilization’s overall strength.

Mechas built to utilize thirteen-ring energy would be powerful enough to battle Ortusers.

What sort of existence were Ortusers?

Ascend to the Origin realm. Overcome Dukkha. Gain immortality.

The Origin realm was the first of the final three stages of cultivation. In both the Tianyuan and the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, all Ortusers were considered top experts. No civilization would ever look down on an Ortuser, and such experts would never be considered for their sheer numbers.

Even the Nest civilization was no exception.

However, successfully developing thirteen-ring energy would allow Ortuser-level combat power to become something that could be produced en masse.

Why were technological fishing civilizations so terrifying? Because they could produce weapons with the destructive power of Immortals that were not bound by karmic chains. Sufficient resources were all that was required.

The Infinity Empire’s mechas were no different. So long as ring energy could be pushed to higher levels, powerful mechas could be mass-produced, provided that there were sufficient materials.

Initially, the Infinity Empire had only built a few twelve-ring mechas, but later on, as they gained access to far more abundant resources and many parallel universes, including even the Spirit Nidus and the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, the number of twelve-ring mechas had increased dramatically. Now, they were given serial numbers, no longer being considered worthy of receiving unique names.

If thirteen-ring energy could be developed to the same level, then their human civilization would be pushed one step forward in the field of technology.

If thirteen-ring mechas could fight against Ortusers, then the next step would be to develop fourteen-ring, and then fifteen-ring and sixteen-ring energy. It was possible that, one day, the Infinity Empire would become capable of manufacturing mechas that rivaled Immortals. At that point, the human civilization would be capable of becoming a technological fishing civilization, and they would be unstoppable given that they had sufficient resources.

With numerous cultivators breaking into the Immortal realm, if technological means were added to the equation, humanity would experience a complete transformation.

Of course, the time needed to complete that research would unquestionably be extreme. It was a length of time that could make one nervous, but just having hope of success was enough.

If other civilizations could become fishing civilizations with technological development, why not humanity?

With those thoughts in mind, Lu Yin eagerly traveled to the Infinity Empire.

Life was difficult for the people of a civilization that manufactured mechas but did not cultivate to extend their lifespan. Still, allowing someone with an extremely high status like Shang Tianzong to live for 1,000 years or more was not too difficult; it was simply that the people of the Infinity Empire could not live as long as cultivators.

Not only was Shang Tianzong still alive, but Shang Cheng, Shang An’an, and Elder Huan were also still around.

Elder Huan had been the one leading the research of thirteen-ring energy.

When Lu Yin arrived in the Infinity Empire, he found a group of people who greeted him. Standing at the very front of the crowd was the Infinity Empire’s current Emperor Shang, Shang Tianshi. Behind him stood the top members of the empire’s current generation, as well as people like Shang Cheng.

Soon, Lu Yin saw a demonstration of thirteen-ring energy.

Compared to twelve-ring energy, the thirteen-ring mecha was much, much larger. Additionally, it had just been completed and had not yet been put into practical use; the people of the Infinity Empire were simply too excited.

According to Lu Yin’s memory, it had taken nearly 800 years for thirteen-ring energy to be fully researched. Still, that was an extremely long time for the Infinity Empire. Only after making contact with other megaverses and acquiring new resources had they managed to break through the technological barrier. If they had remained confined to the Tianyuan Megaverse, there was no way to know how long success would have taken them.

Elder Huan was so excited that he forgot himself, and he endlessly repeated his explanations to Lu Yin.

Still, Lu Yin praised the old man. “Elder Huan, you’ve worked hard. With the development of thirteen-ring energy, in time, we will surely equip a large number of mechas for our human civilization. They will serve as a sharp blade for our expansion.”

“Hahahaha! We also must thank you, Lord Lu. If you had not defeated Aeternus and led us to contact other megaverses, who knows how long we would have needed to reach a breakthrough? Thank you, Lord Lu.” Elder Huan bowed.

Behind the old man, Shang Tianshi, Shang Tianzong, and the others all bowed in unison. “Thank you, Lord Lu.”

“Thank you, Lord Lu...”

Lu Yin laughed. “Since when did you become so polite? After so many years, have you even learned flattery?”

Elder Huan laughed heartily. “This is entirely from the heart! There’s not a word of flattery.”

Lu Yin looked at the enormous thirteen-ring mecha. “This level of ring-energy is able to unleash power comparable to Ortusers. Elder Huan, do you understand what this means?”

Elder Huan grew even more excited. “It means that a single thirteen-ring mecha is powerful enough to dominate the cultivation world! Countless cultivators burn through their entire lives without ever reaching the Origin realm, but right here, a single mecha possesses that level of power!”

Lu Yin nodded. “Exactly. Countless people die without ever getting a glimpse at the Origin realm, and yet you have perhaps developed the means of producing it as an assembly-line product. That is rather tragic.”

Elder Huan sighed. “Human effort has its limits, but technology has no bounds. That is the reality of things. There’s no escaping it.”

Lu Yin smiled at the old man. “There may indeed be limits to human effort, but do you have any idea how far those limits can really be pushed? As for technology having no limits, do you know if that infinite potential can truly be realized?”

After speaking, he looked up. There was not a flicker of visible movement as the entire research facility split open. Unimaginable power struck at the starry sky, causing space to roll back, twisting and warping. It was as if the entire universe was trembling.

Right after that, the universe tore open. Sequence strings appeared, and multiple parallel universes emerged. Everyone from the Infinity Empire stood in place, dumbfounded. They had never witnessed such a scene before. This was something that only Immortals were supposed to be able to do, toying with a megaverse and squeezing it as though it was a mere inch in size.

A thought was enough for one to survey countless parallel universes, or even to cause a universe to vanish.

Beyond the sequence strings lay the Aevum Inch. Elder Huan and the others were carried by Lu Yin out into that endless expanse. When they looked back, the Tianyuan Megaverse was right before their eyes, yet it was no larger than a palm. Lu Yin casually reached out and took the megaverse into his hand, utterly stunning everyone watching.

They had witnessed wars between civilizations and had even seen Immortals take action, but they had never experienced such power at such close proximity.

At this moment, Elder Huan’s understanding of everything fell apart. He had believed that developing thirteen-ring energy would allow humanity to dominate the cosmos, but the power that Lu Yin had just demonstrated made thirteen-ring energy look like a joke. Thirteen-ring energy? Not just that. Could fourteen-ring, fifteen-ring, or even sixteen-ring energy equal such power?

Human effort had limits, and yet Lu Yin was clearly far from reaching his limits. So what about technology? When Elder Huan had developed thirteen-ring energy, he had also developed the ambition to achieve fourteen-ring energy, and yet that was as far as his ambitions had gone. He had never considered fifteen-ring energy, let alone sixteen-ring energy. Such power was beyond his imagination.

Elder Huan was unable to see the limits of human effort, though he had run into the limits of the supposedly infinite potential of technology.

The scenery shifted before everyone’s eyes, and an instant later, they had returned from the Aevum Inch to the Infinity Empire. Looking back, the thirteen-ring energy that had just filled them with such incredible excitement suddenly seemed like such a small accomplishment. Their efforts could not produce so much as a ripple beneath the power they had just seen.

A transformation of understanding had come about so quickly that it caught everyone completely off guard. It was like seeing a boundless ocean become a trickling stream in the blink of an eye.

No one had even reacted yet.

Lu Yin clasped his hands behind his back and calmly waited for them to process things.

A long while later, Elder Huan finally spoke up, his voice hoarse. “Lord Lu, what is the meaning of what we just saw?”