Chapter 4395: Exchange
The Immortal Lord thought about it. After completing a mission for Obscura, they would use the reward from that mission to ask Ba Se to check if there was still a Dao Sword inside their body.
"Immortal Lord, are you there? Give me a shout if you are," Lu Yin called out again.
The Immortal Lord hesitated. Should they respond? Speaking in this sort of atmosphere did not suit their temperament.
"I am here." In the end, they spoke.
Lu Yin smiled. "Come on, say hello to everyone."
The Immortal Lord stayed silent.
"Heh heh, so you are the Immortal Lord. You betrayed the Plume Immortals and joined Obscura, just like Hong Xia. You had best be careful. Those strange birds are hard to deal with." Furball tried to scare it.
Lu Yin replied with evident contempt, "Furball, there’s no need to try to scare anyone. The Immortal Lord may not be any weaker than you."
"Is that so?" Furball was clearly unconvinced.
"Hehe, welcome aboard, Immortal Lord."
The Immortal Lord remained silent. All of these Obscura members were powerful Immortals. The Immortal Lord had once joined forces with Lan Meng to attack the human civilization, yet now that creature was gone, certainly dead. They simply did not know how Lan Meng had died.
The Hui-Silver Sky Army had also been destroyed, and the Immortal Lord had personally fought against Hui once.
The longer that a member of Obscura managed to survive for, the more unfathomable they became.
Not long afterward, Vestigium grew quiet again. Lu Yin sought Ba Se to ask about his rewards.
"You currently have one six-star mission reward, two five-star mission rewards, one four-star mission reward, and one two-star mission reward," Ba Se replied.
Fighting on the battlefield during war was every member of Obscura’s duty and thus offered no rewards. Only special missions granted them rewards.
For example, Lu Yin's six-star mission reward was given to him for destroying the Plume Immortals' great tree. It was the highest reward that Lu Yin had obtained so far.
Off of the battlefield, it would be impossible for him to ever receive such a reward, because a just five-star mission required him to destroy a fishing civilization. How could Lu Yin possibly have the strength needed for that?
As for a six-star mission, he did not even know what it entailed.
Destroying the Plume Immortals' great tree had also involved an element of luck. If the Immortal Lord had not happened to be present, Lu Yin could have never defeated Ming Yu. If not for Transparent’s broken sword, Lu Yin could not have split the tree apart.
Even on the battlefield, it had been extremely dangerous and difficult for him to earn a six-star mission reward, so he could only imagine how difficult it must be to complete a true six-star mission under normal circumstances.
Among the many mission rewards, some came from the war against the Mudwater Dominion, but more came from the war against the Plume Immortals Civilization.
"Please choose the reward that you wish to exchange for," Ba Se said.
Lu Yin very much wanted to use a reward to ask Obscura to deal with Nan Ling so that he could release Green Lotus. He believed that a five-star mission reward would definitely be enough for that.
However, before sealing himself away together with Nan Ling, Green Lotus had explicitly told Lu Yin to never hand him over to Obscura.
That request caused Lu Yin to hesitate. He believed that Green Lotus had absolutely considered the possibility of Lu Yin using a mission reward to obtain Obscura's help. Since the man had still made that specific request, it was clear that he did not want Lu Yin to do that.
After thinking things over, Lu Yin decided to let the matter go. Green Lotus must have his reasons.
With so many rewards, Lu Yin would exchange them one by one.
He remembered that Ba Se had once said that Obscura possessed knowledge of other human civilizations and that the information corresponding to a two-star mission reward, a five-star mission reward, and a six-star mission reward. Since that was the case, he would start by exchanging the two-star mission reward.
So long as the related human civilization only corresponded to a two-star mission reward, it would absolutely not be very strong. In fact, it should not even measure up to the level of the previous Nine Odysseys Megaverse. Still, it should possess an Immortal, or at least some knowledge related to the Immortal realm for their civilization to be categorized as a threat deserving of a two-star mission from Obscura.
Regardless of whether that human civilization could help the Human Trio, humans were still humans, and Lu Yin intended to find them.
"I will use a two-star reward for the location of a human civilization," Lu Yin stated. During the war against the Mudwater Dominion, he had found the Mountain Sword Sect, which had roughly matched the level of a two-star mission, but since Lu Yin had taken those people back, their civilization could no longer be included among Obscura’s available rewards.
If an exchange was still possible, it meant that Obscura had the locations of other human civilizations as well.
"Yes. The Starfall Megaverse corresponds to a two-star mission reward," Ba Se replied.
Lu Yin frowned. "Ba Se, you previously told me that Obscura only has knowledge regarding three other human civilizations, which correspond to a two-star, a five-star, and six-star mission reward. That Mountain Sword Sect has to have been one of them, but after I’ve taken them away, you still have another at that same level?"
Ba Se said, "The Mountain Sword Sect was a civilization that was used as a tool by a specific color of Obscura. It was not included among the mission rewards of Obscura as a whole."
"Which member of Obscura?"
"No comment."
Lu Yin's expression turned grave. So that was how it was. It did make sense. Every member of Obscura had their own distinct knowledge and opportunities when it came to the Aevum Inch, and those things were not related to Obscura as a whole. The Mountain Sword Sect had never been a part of Obscura's shared knowledge.
The Starfall Megaverse? Ba Se gave Lu Yin the coordinates for the human civilization. Lu Yin also asked about the megaverse’s circumstances, but Ba Se would say no more. The coordinates themselves were Lu Yin’s reward. Anything beyond that required him to use additional rewards, since everything was considered knowledge.
Still, these coordinates only corresponded to a two-star mission reward. Lu Yin left Vestigium, found Jiang Feng, and asked him to investigate the matter. Lu Yin did not have the time to continue exploring unknown megaverses himself. That was especially true after Greater Sancte Green Lotus had been sealed away. Lu Yin had to remain stationed in the Trio to prevent future accidents. He could not place the safety of his human civilization in Obscura’s promised protection.
At this moment, the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm had been replaced by his own Karmic Dao. Lu Yin used it to envelop the three megaverses just as Green Lotus had once done with his Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm.
Of humanity’s current Immortals, Jiang Feng was the most suitable to scout the Starfall Megaverse and see if the civilization was suitable to merge with the Trio.
The Starfall Megaverse was located within Obscura's sphere of knowledge. If they did not merge with the Human Trio, all that awaited them was eventually being used as a tool of Obscura against other civilizations, which would ultimately lead to their total destruction. They themselves ought to understand that as well.
Jiang Feng agreed, and Lu Yin teleported the man to the location indicated by the coordinates. The distance between the Trio and the Starfall Megaverse was not even as far as the distance to the Plume Immortals' great tree. After multiple teleportations, the two men saw the Starfall Megaverse.
It was a megaverse filled with stars. Lu Yin took Jiang Feng inside and then left. He could sense that the megaverse had an Immortal, but only one. Jiang Feng was completely capable of handling this matter.
After all, Jiang Feng was someone who had once slowly walked up to Si Qin to strike the Plume Immortal, even if that attack had ultimately proven entirely useless.
Lu Yin returned to Vestigium again and used a four-star mission reward to have Obscura heal Awe Gate's injuries.
First, the woman had been severely wounded by a sharp sword slash, and she had never been able to fully recover from those injuries. Her wounds had nearly caused her death when the Plume Immortals attacked the Trio. With even Green Lotus sealed away, there was no one in their human civilization who was capable of helping Awe Gate recover, so the only option that Lu Yin could think of was Obscura.
A four-star mission reward was absolutely enough to heal the woman. Judging by the value of the reward itself, this was a bit excessive, but such matters could not be measured by value alone.
Not to mention a four-star mission reward, even if healing her cost a five-star or six-star reward, Lu Yin would not have hesitated, so long as Awe Gate could recover.
All of his mission rewards came from battlefields. In truth, being drafted to fight in Obscura’s wars was not all that bad. Lu Yin believed that his own survival ability was very strong, and it was easier to earn mission rewards on the battlefield. It was far, far easier than during normal times.
With this, he only had the one six-star mission reward and the two five-star mission rewards to turn in. He began considering what he should exchange them for. The first thing that came to his mind was more knowledge on other human civilizations.
Obscura had information regarding two more human civilizations. Just as Lu Yin was about to ask for that information, an inexplicable chill abruptly rose up within him, and he once again saw the Meteor Realm being split apart. The terror of that moment was still vivid in his memory.
Why had the Keeper of Balance taken action? Because they wanted to limit the potential strength of the human civilization and would not allow the Trio to grow any stronger.
The Meteor Realm was connected to the Longevity Megaverse. It was very likely that the Keeper of Balance knew about that megaverse, which was why they had severed the Meteor Realm. Right now, if Lu Yin were to redeem a reward for knowledge of other human civilizations, what would the results be?
The fate of the Meteor Realm was the answer to that question. Perhaps the very moment that he learned about the location of another human civilization would be the moment that those civilizations were destroyed.
Obscura had promised to protect the Human Trio, not all human civilizations.
Knowledge of the Starfall Megaverse was only worth a two-star mission reward, which was not much. However, if a human civilization was worth a five-star mission reward, it had to either possess the strength of a fishing civilization or somehow pose an equivalent threat to Obscura. Obscura would not be willing to allow the Human Trio to connect with such a civilization.
There was no need to mention the civilization worth a six-star mission reward.
Simply turning in a mission reward might very well result in Lu Yin summoning disaster for those two human civilizations.
The more he thought about it, the stronger the chill he felt, until it seemed like it would shoot straight into his skull. He took a deep breath and then forcibly suppressed the temptation to ask to exchange his mission rewards for more information about other human civilizations. He deliberately calmed himself.
He could not be rash. Obscura was a mortal enemy of human civilization. They would never sit by and watch humanity grow stronger. The Keeper of Balance’s sword slash had merely been a warning. If that individual wanted to find human civilizations, they absolutely did not need to do so through Obscura.
If Lu Yin considered things from another direction, one of the two human civilizations known to Obscura had to be the Longevity Megaverse. If not, why would the Keeper of Balance have severed the Meteor Realm? Or was it that the Longevity Civilization was a civilization that the Keeper of Balance used and therefore lay outside of Obscura's knowledge?
Regardless of the reason, every move Lu Yin made at this juncture would be carefully watched. Having reached such a height, his vision extended farther, but it was also possible for others to see more of him as well.
"Lu Yin, please choose the reward that you wish to exchange for," Ba Se reminded him.
Lu Yin thought for a moment. "I wish to exchange for knowledge."
"Very well."
"I want to know the difference between the Plume Immortals' great tree and other Mother Trees."
Ba Se fell silent for a moment. "Yes. That knowledge requires a six-star mission reward."
"Wait, a six-star mission reward?" Lu Yin was astonished. What he had seen when destroying the Plume Immortals' tree had left him badly shaken, which was why he wanted to know more, but he did not feel that knowledge should require a six-star mission reward. Why should it? That was a six-star mission reward.
Ba Se replied, "That information can only be received with the exchange of a six-star mission reward."
Lu Yin said, "Then forget it. I will think a bit more."
He did want to know the truth behind what he had seen, but for both himself and the human civilization, a six-star mission reward was too valuable. Gaining a single piece of knowledge would not be enough to change their current situation.
He believed that the Nine Ramparts must have had that knowledge in the past, and yet they had still been destroyed. What mattered most at the moment was increasing humanity’s strength.
"I would like to exchange a five-star mission reward for Mother Trees. How many can I get?"
"You wish to exchange for Mother Trees?"
"Yes." The motes of green light that he received from Mother Trees were of enormous help to him, so naturally, the more the better.
Ba Se said, "Obscura will gather them for you."
"Gather them?"
"When Obscura destroys megaverses, their Mother Trees are destroyed, rather than preserved."
Lu Yin frowned. "Ba Se, your mission rewards really are a scam. Either the cost is too high or it takes way too much time to prepare them. Can’t you be a little more straightforward?"
Ba Se said, "Please choose whether to proceed with the exchange."
Lu Yin sounded impatient. "Of course I am not exchanging for that! Who knows how long I’ll have to wait for you to gather enough!"
Ba Se fell silent.
