Chapter 4323: A Chance At Invincibility
Elsewhere, Lu Yin let go of Old First. The toad intended to continue searching for Little Eighteen. Meanwhile, Lu Yin would take Green Lotus, Ba Yue, Chu Songyun, and the others back to the Human Trio.
He first tossed Chu Songyun into the Tianyuan to let him cultivate on his own. Lu Yin was not particularly close with the man, and Chu Songyun’s cultivation was already extremely high. Thus, there was no need to personally look after him. Besides, he might one day just break through to the Immortal realm for no apparent reason.
The group from Canglan Valley was also left in the Tianyuan.
In the Sea of Karma, Ba Yue was dumbfounded as she saw one Immortal after another appear. Didn’t he say that his civilization only had one Immortal?
She had expected Lu Yin to be keeping some secrets, but never this many.
As for Ba Yue, Lu Yin neither disliked nor liked her. He simply treated her as another human Immortal. “Our human civilization has seven Immortals. You’ve already met Greater Sancte Green Lotus. This is Greater Sancte Blood Tower.”
Ba Yue looked over as Blood Tower flashed her a grin. His bloodthirsty aura churned violently, making her feel suffocated. She could tell that this man was strong, much more so than her.
She had only managed to become an Immortal by relying entirely on Hong Xia and Jiu Wen’s help. They had allowed her to observe multiple resets and had even used her connection with He Xiao to push the breakthrough forward. Under normal circumstances, she would have never become an Immortal.
While Blood Tower had also broken into the Immortal realm by observing a megaverse’s reset, he had also done so through his own efforts, which was entirely different from Ba Yue.
“This is Greater Sancte Awe Gate,” Lu Yin continued the introductions.
Ba Yue looked at Awe Gate. A woman. Crimson Starshade had Meiran Dan, while this civilization also had a female Immortal. Somehow, this woman felt even more dangerous than Blood Tower, radiating a fierce killing aura.
Awe Gate’s expression was icy, but it was not the coldness of the Path of Dispassion. Ba Yue could not say why, but her detached aura somehow felt more real.
Lu Yin continued, “This is Master Ku Deng.”
To help Ba Yue learn their faces, Lu Yin had gathered all the Immortals. Ba Yue nodded to Ku Deng. This man felt normal, not putting any pressure on her.
Ku Deng returned a courteous bow.
“This is Master Qing Cao,” Lu Yin paused before adding, “You can consider him half a traitor to humanity.”
Ba Yue was confused; what did that even mean?
Master Qing Cao was not bothered. It was true that he could be considered half a traitor and that the death of Greater Sancte Mi Jin weighed on everyone. But if they were being honest, if they had been in Master Qing Cao’s position and had witnessed Obscura use other civilizations to destroy a civilization with ten Immortals, they would have also fallen into despair. They might have even joined Obscura just to preserve humanity’s legacy via the Spirit Nidus.
However, since no one else had personally experienced that, it was normal for them to harbor resentment towards Master Qing Cao.
Lu Yin had often wondered if Mi Jin might have known something, which was why he had told Green Lotus and the others to not seek revenge before dying.
“This is Mister Mu, who is also my master.” Lu Yin introduced the Immortals in order. The only outlier was Master Qing Cao, who was placed after the Nine Odysseys Megaverse’s Immortals, despite having broken through before several of them.
Ba Yue looked at Mister Mu, and he met her gaze. A suffocating pressure enveloped her, along with an indescribable majesty. There was something that did not seem to belong to the man himself, and yet it somehow did.
Mister Mu had become an Immortal through a direct breakthrough. The moment he succeeded, he had gained the power to fight against Awe Gate or Blood Tower. He also possessed a guardian mirebound artifact, which had been enough to qualify him to participate in the war between the Seven-Treasure Anuras and the Blacklight Civilization. He had even interfered in the battles between those who resonated with two cosmic laws.
Even though Mister Mu’s breakthrough had occurred late in his life, his starting point had been high, which made his future even harder to fathom. Green Lotus had even mentioned that Mister Mu had as much potential as Green Lotus himself
Of course, the last Immortal to be introduced was Jiang Feng.
Looking at Jiang Feng, Ba Yue felt something strange from the man. He was undoubtedly an Immortal, but something felt off about him. It was as if he was present and absent at the same time.
Jiang Feng smiled politely at Ba Yue, and she returned the greeting.
“Come. I’ll show you the other Immortals too,” Lu Yin said.
Ba Yue was shocked. “There are more?”
“Of course.” As Lu Yin placed a hand on Ba Yue’s shoulder, he clearly felt her stiffen up. She instinctively wanted to resist, but she forced herself to endure.
When Lu Yin had first visited Crimson Starshade, Ba Yue had attacked him twice, only for both attempts to fail. Now, the tables had turned. She was in the Human Trio and was seeing a much broader world. Yes, this was a broader world to her eyes. Although the humans in this place had once been abandoned to serve as bait, that bait had since grown to surpass their current Second Rampart.
If the Second Rampart did not have Hong Xia, they simply could not be compared to this civilization at all.
Still, where had they gotten so many Immortals? The number was simply absurd. They practically looked like a fishing civilization.
Lu Yin first brought Ba Yue to see Kang Tian. The giant snail was on strike, refusing to produce any more colored-glass. Lu Yin and the others had not bothered forcing things; Kang Tian had already produced enough. Many cultivators were already equipped with colored-glass, which had greatly improved their defenses.
Next were Old Fourth and Old Fifth, the two Seven-Treasure Anuras.
Ba Yue had seen Old First before. That toad’s suffocating pressure was unforgettable. Though Old Fourth and Old Fifth were far weaker than Old First, they were still Immortals, and these Immortals were bizarre.
Their entire species was present.
“These are the Seven-Treasure Anuras, an outstanding civilization,” Lu Yin explained.
Old Fourth and Old Fifth were delighted to hear his words, to the point where they even forgot to ask about Old First. Only after Lu Yin left did the two remember.
But Lu Yin was only gone for an instant. He returned a few moments later, having already sent Ba Yue away.
Seeing Lu Yin return, Old Fourth quickly asked, “Has Little Eighteen been found?”
Lu Yin shook his head. “Not yet.”
Old Fourth sighed. “Old First won’t say it, but he cherishes Little Eighteen. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have forced you to fight them back then. He wanted Little Eighteen to broaden their horizons, pushing towards a breakthrough. Who would’ve thought that they would simply disappear.”
“I hope that they’re still alive,” Old Fifth agreed.
Lu Yin guiltily said, “If I hadn’t asked Little Eighteen to search for that Thread of Heaven, they wouldn’t have gone missing. I’m sorry.”
Old Fifth shook their head, causing their lotus leaf to sway. “This has nothing to do with you. Even if you hadn’t asked them to search for that Thread of Heaven, they would’ve wandered off anyway. It’s fate.”
Old Fourth added, “You can’t be afraid of death if you want to survive in the cosmos. The more you fear it, the sooner it will find you. Little Eighteen has their own fate, so don’t overthink things. By the way, why are you here now?”
Lu Yin took out a black, hexagonal scale. Old Fourth and Old Fifth were thrilled to see it and quickly took it. This plate of armor contained more of Ancestor Shan’s last words.
Lu Yin watched Old Fourth and Old Fifth. He eagerly awaited learning about what was written on this scale, hoping that it was about the Nine Ramparts Civilization.
“This scale contains half a set of coordinates,” Old Fourth reported.
Lu Yin did not understand. “Half a set of coordinates?”
Old Fifth nodded. “It should be half. You’ll have to find the other plate with the matching half to determine the location. Without it, you only have a line to search along. It would be very hard to find the location.”
Lu Yin’s eyes flashed. If two scales had been dedicated to this location, then it had to be important.
“What are the coordinates for?”
“I don’t know. Father didn’t say. He only left one sentence.” Old Fifth stared at the plate. “‘Here lies a chance at invincibility.’”
Lu Yin arched a brow. “A chance... at invincibility?”
Old Fifth checked again and again but then nodded. “That’s right, a chance at invincibility.”
Old Fourth agreed, “Yes, a chance at invincibility. Huh? If there’s such a chance, why didn’t Father go look for it?”
Old Fifth was also puzzled. “Who knows? Father could be pretty cryptic sometimes.”
Lu Yin took the scale back. Coordinates? A chance at invincibility? Old Fourth had a point; if such a chance truly existed, why had Ancestor Shan not claimed it? Why had he deliberately left it behind?
Lu Yin thought about it, but the answer might lie with the other plate.
Unfortunately, finding that plate was entirely dependent on luck. There was no way to search for it.
The compass that had once helped him locate objects of the same substance could only be used within a single megaverse. When the search range was expanded to the Aevum Inch, that compass could not sense anything at all.
Even if he could not confirm the exact coordinates for the time being, Lu Yin could still absorb the plate with his Manifestation Beyond the Pupil. This was his thirteenth scale, and the more he gathered, the larger the area around himself that he could protect.
If he returned to the Crimson Starshade Megaverse now, he could force Hong Xia to stay there and be unable to leave.
Lu Yin teleported repeatedly as there was no need to bring Green Lotus or any of the others along. Hong Xia would not dare to directly attack Lu Yin, and Lu Yin was not going there for a fight; he was going to take people away.
However, when Lu Yin arrived, he found that surprisingly few people were touching each other.
He had no fear of being discovered by Hong Xia, so he went straight to the Blood Tower and asked.
Xi Shangfeng gave Lu Yin an odd look. This person was far too dismissive of Ancestor Hong Xia. Was this young man not afraid of being attacked?
Jiu Wen knew that Lu Yin was relying on his status as a fellow member of Obscura to prevent Hong Xia from targeting him.
“He has said that, however many you take away, he will kill that same number from those who remain,” Jiu Wen explained with a single sentence. It was a brutal answer that perfectly aligned with Hong Xia’s personality.
Lu Yin felt helpless. Such petty tactics were easy to counter, especially when used by someone with no bottom line.
Hong Xia emerged from the nearby void and stared at Lu Yin with killing intent overflowing from his eyes.
He wanted to kill Lu Yin so badly. If not for this brat, the Human Trio would be no more than a toy in Hong Xia’s palm. No matter how many Immortals they might have, there would be nothing that could stop him from doing whatever he wished.
Without Lu Yin, the Human Trio would have never even overcome Lan Meng.
Without Lu Yin, Hong Xia definitely would have succeeded with his breakthrough and advanced further.
It was entirely Lu Yin who had forced him into such a passive position. Without the brat, Jiu Wen and Green Lotus alone could have never successfully plotted against Hong Xia.
This brat was not even an Immortal, but a mere descendant of some abandoned bait was actually able to threaten Hong Xia.
Maybe if he had betrayed a bit later—just a bit later—the ancestors of this bait would have died, preventing the current situation completely. How hateful.
“You want to prevent me from leaving Crimson Starshade, so you are using this petty trick. It’s meaningless,” Hong Xia coldly stated.
Lu Yin knew that it was impossible to hide his goal, but he had also never intended to do so. “I overestimated your bottom line.”
Hong Xia replied indifferently, “If I say that I can destroy this megaverse, then I can. Don’t overestimate me, and don’t underestimate me either.”
Lu Yin nodded. “That’s why you were able to betray the Second Rampart so thoroughly.”
Hong Xia stared at Lu Yin. “You don’t want me to leave Crimson Starshade because you fear that I’ll ambush you. Relax, I’ll give you a chance. I’ll stay right here and won’t leave. Have those who stand behind you come for a decisive battle. If you win, you can eradicate me, the traitor. If you lose, I won’t make things hard for you. I can even release Jiu Wen. However, from that point on, you will stop entangling yourselves with my affairs.”
