Star Odyssey

Chapter 4140: Forever

The exact number was not mentioned. It was possible that the creature writing the message did not know themselves. Still, there was no doubt that there were more than four Immortals among the Seven-Treasures Anuras.

To refer to the toads as the strongest civilization simply due to the fact that they had more than four Immortals was unquestionably an exaggeration. The human civilization also had more than four Immortals, but they were still being targeted by Obscura and the Nest civilization. This was proof enough that four Immortals was not enough to qualify as a fishing civilization.

The author’s perspective was limited.

After that, there was an account of how the Seven-Treasures Anuras lived in rainbow-colored lakes and meadows. Their home was not a fixed place, as they drifted through the Aevum Inch.

There was also a mention of a specific battle technique: Astral Anura’s Star Plucking Hands.

The text read, ‘Astral Anura’s Star Plucking Hands is invincible throughout the Aevum Inch. With it, they are capable of plucking the sun, moon, stars, and even entire megaverses. Within the Aevum Inch, nothing is beyond reach.’

There was no doubt that this was the very same technique that Astral Anura had once used to fight against Emperor Wu. When the toad was pushed into a desperate situation, he had displayed a battle technique that had left a deep impression on Lu Yin.

The toad had claimed that he could only use the technique once, and while that seemed rather unbelievable, the terrifying power that Astral Anura had unleashed had lent his claim a bit of plausibility.

Astral Anura’s Star Plucking Hands was absolutely a formidable technique.

With it, they are capable of plucking the sun, moon, stars, and even entire civilizations. Within the Aevum Inch, nothing is beyond reach.

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. Was it really possible that, for an expert with sufficient strength, they could pluck an entire civilization as if it was a star? Terrifying!

Most importantly, the text used the exact same wording that Kang Tian had used to describe the founding ancestor of the Seven-Treasures Anuras. That ancient powerhouse embodied the very meaning of an Immortal. Clearly, it was a toad that had lived for an unfathomably long time.

‘Our ancestor is the eternal star of us Seven-Treasures Anuras, lighting the path ahead, asking not about the past or future. Our ancestor is always there, forever, forever, forever.’

Three forevers: a symbol of infinity.

This was a creature who had truly become immortal.

“Could they really be that powerful?” Mu Zhu muttered in surprise. She was already aware that there was a chance that humanity’s next enemy was the Seven-Treasure Anuras. With what was shared in the text on the stone, it made sense that even a civilization with multiple Immortals would regard the toads as a grave threat.

Lu Yin’s expression turned grave. “This is an exaggeration, but some of it rings true. This creature worships the Seven-Treasure Anuras so much, and yet it lacks precise information.”

He then wrote a message beneath the boastful text. ‘Well said! Truly my good son! We Seven-Treasure Anuras are invincible throughout the Aevum Inch! We fear nothing! Even our location can be freely revealed. Good son, tell them where we are! Let them kneel in awe!’

When he finished writing, he threw the stone out and watched as it was instantly snatched up.

Lu Yin genuinely hoped that the other individual knew the toads’ location. With that, he could share the coordinates and send other civilizations towards the toads.

It was clear that Obscura knew the whereabouts of the Seven-Treasure Anura, but the Immortal Lord might not. When it came to dealing with the toads, having their coordinates might serve as leverage.

The Nest civilization posed no threat to the toads, but if there was a fishing civilization hiding behind the bugs, that would be another matter.

Of course, Lu Yin also hoped that there was no hidden fishing civilization.

On top of all that, there was still the Death Megaverse to consider. Lu Yin could not allow himself to forget that. The civilization had once caused even Greater Sancte Green Lotus to feel the threat of encroaching death.

Neither Obscura nor the Immortal Lord had ever imposed that same sense of impending death. Lu Yin could only imagine how terrifying the Death Megaverse had to be. Humanity never wanted to make contact with that civilization again.

If the Seven-Treasure Anuras ever pushed humanity too far, Lu Yin would throw the Death Megaverse their way.

With that thought, he drew a skeleton on another stone and tossed it out. Regardless of whether he gained any new information from it, it was at least worth an attempt.

Come to think of it, others seem to barely know anything about any of the fishing civilizations. Is it possible that humanity knows too much? Could I be overthinking things?

“It’s back!” Mu Zhu exclaimed as she grabbed the Astral Anura stone. It had returned quickly this time, whereas the cauldron stone was still absent.

Both looked down to read the message. ‘Dear Father, I don’t know the way! You must lead us! Let’s go home!’

Lu Yin met Mu Zhu’s gaze. What a pity. They don’t know the location.

“Could they be suspicious of us?” Mu Zhu guessed.

“I doubt it. First, the Seven-Treasure Anuras really do drift about, and their home has no fixed location. On top of that, they’re already calling me ‘father.’”

An awkward expression covered Mu Zhu’s face. That was true. Calling someone father without even meeting them face-to-face? What other secrets could they still be keeping?

She suddenly thought back to the earlier messages.

Others had claimed that some of the correspondents in the Thread of Heaven were insane, and that was certainly true.

If she had stumbled upon these Astral Anura or cauldron stones without proper context, she would also have believed the writers to be mad.

After all, she still felt that whatever creature they were communicating with through the Astral Anura stone was insane.

Lu Yin quickly carved a reply. ‘Father’s also lost.’

He tossed the stone out and did not bother waiting for another reply. Judging by the current messages, the creature’s knowledge regarding the Seven-Treasure Anura was quite limited. The earlier praise was likely all of the creature’s knowledge.

Mu Zhu handed Lu Yin several other stones, all of which had cauldron characters carved on them.

Lu Yin slowly smiled. “Apparently that thing doesn’t want to talk to us anymore. They’ve thrown out another batch of stones to test the waters.”

“They’ve probably been trapped in this Thread of Heaven for a long time,” Mu Zhu commented.

Lu Yin nodded. “If they are a part of the Hui-Silver Sky Army, then they’re not the only one searching for Master in the Aevum Inch. There most be others in other Threads of Heaven. We just haven’t crossed paths.

“Let’s keep messing with it,” he announced while writing another cauldron character beneath the existing ones. “Senior Sister, copy what I did before. Let’s drive it crazy.”

Mu Zhu nodded. Tormenting the creature did help her feel a bit better.

As for Lu Yin, he picked the Astral Anura stone back up. ‘Grandpa knows.’

Lu Yin was speechless. Some other creature had grabbed the stone and jumped in. He did not reply and instead simply tossed the stone back out. It was quickly grabbed and sent back. ‘Where?’

The other creature believed the meddler.

Lu Yin still refrained from responding, and simply threw the stone out again. He watched as it was grabbed and sent back. ‘Call me Grandpa.’

Lu Yin threw it away immediately. He was done with that conversation. The two lunatics could amuse each other.

‘Grandpa!’

The other side actually responded.

Lu Yin then realized that the creature had absolutely no shame. First, they had called Lu Yin father, and now they were calling another creature grandpa, dragging Lu Yin into the farce.

‘You believe that?’

Even the one referring to themselves as “grandpa” could hardly believe it.

There was an immediate reply. ‘No one dares to deceive a Seven-Treasure Anura!’

Lu Yin shook his head and decided to not even observe the ensuing conversation. He would wait and check later on.

Elsewhere, the silver-eyed creature was staring at a pile of stones. They had written another “cauldron” character on all of the stones before throwing them out, only to see others grab them. When the silver-eyed creature had retrieved the stones, every single one had another, identical cauldron character written beneath their own.

Another cauldron. And again. A familiar feeling suddenly returned.

The creature paused for a moment and then wrote a third cauldron character beneath the two already on all the stones before throwing them all back out.

The stones were quickly collected and then returned. The silver-eyed creature hurried to grab the stones, only to find that each stone now had a fourth cauldron character.

Silently, they added a fifth.

Someone else wrote a sixth.

A seventh.

An eighth.

The silver-eyed creature wrote the ninth cauldron character. When they tossed out the stones, they stared intently at the roof of the mouth, waiting. What came after the ninth cauldron was what truly mattered.

They waited for a while, yet there was no response. They waited longer, and there was still nothing.

They continued to stare upwards until all of the stones had been thrown back out. They hastily retrieved all of the stones, only to find that every last one had been marked with a single period.

Their eyes narrowed. Gritting their teeth, they drew a picture of Mister Mu and hurled the stones out once again. It was the exact same series of events as before, and they needed to see how the other side responded.

The stones were grabbed, vanishing. After a bit, it reappeared. When the creature seized the stones, there it was again: another cauldron.

A low growl escaped. Again, it’s that same one! Who is it? Who dares to toy with me over and over, reacting to everything I throw out just to make trouble!? It’s the same process and the same result. Bastard, bastard, bastard!

In another tooth, Mu Zhu laughed, genuinely entertained.

Lu Yin chuckled as well. “Feeling better, Senior Sister?”

She nodded and smiled at him, though her expression quickly hardened again. “If only we could infuriate them to the point where they break the rules and are expelled from this Thread of Heaven!”

Lu Yin shook his head. “Provoking it is just for fun. Still, I really would like to see them lose their composure. With that, it might be possible to pull more information from them. Ideally, we would even get the coordinates to your megaverse. That would be truly perfect.”

Mu Zhu exhaled softly. “That’s not very likely. We’ve done what we can. Thank you, Junior Brother.”

Lu Yin did not reply. Instead, he grabbed the Astral Anura stone again and checked it, only to be stunned speechless. Are they now having a heart-to-heart chat?

‘Grandpa, tell your eldest grandson the location. I miss home!’

‘Call me grandpa three more times.’

‘Grandpa, Grandpa, Grandpa, Grandpa...’

‘The way you’re writing doesn’t make Grandpa feel like you mean it at all... Fine, Grandpa doesn’t know either.’

‘Are you also lost, Grandpa?’

‘Yes, that’s why I came here. Eldest Grandson, Grandpa’s sorry.’

‘Don’t blame yourself, Grandpa. We’ll find a way home together. We’ll find the location for sure. Where’s Father? Why isn’t he talking? Grandpa, where’s Father?’

‘Your father—my son—is probably busy and doesn’t have time to answer us.’

‘Father, are you there? Father?’

‘Good son, come out! Good son, your father and your eldest son are both here!’

...

Lu Yin threw the stone away. Those two are nuts!

He suddenly remembered something, picked up a few stones, and carved, ‘Can you teleport?’

He tossed the stones out, wanting to know if any of the creatures present had ever encountered something like Luo Chan.

It did not take long for replies to be sent back. Lu Yin picked them up and read.

‘I wish.’

‘How would that even be possible?’

‘There’s no such ability.’

‘You must be dreaming.’

Lu Yin threw the stones back out. Many creatures spent decades or even centuries in a Thread of Heaven just for a chance to glean a single bit of useful information. With his scattershot approach, it was hard to gain anything meaningful quickly.

He was only testing his luck.

The Aevum Inch was so vast that finding useful information was harder than fishing a needle from the sea.

He looked up and saw Mu Zhu standing frozen in place, staring at a stone in a daze.

Lu Yin frowned and took the stone. When he looked at it, killing intent blossomed in his eyes.

The stone had pictures of a number of people on it, and beneath them was just the word “Domesticated.”

“The Hui-Silver Sky Army! This must be them!” Mu Zhu spat.

Lu Yin set the stone down with a sigh. “Do you remember the Aeternus Kingdoms, Senior Sister?

“Aeternus created multiple Aeternus Kingdoms. Each one was supposedly intended to be a place for humans and Aeternals to coexist. However, the humans in those places were tortured worse than hell itself, to the point where they were driven mad. That was also a form of domestication. When those people were finally rescued, they continued to worship Aeternus, believing humanity itself to be a desecrated existence. Those people could not be considered human.

“However, those same people have since changed. They’ve become normal humans again.”