Star Odyssey

Chapter 4192: Ease

Lu Yin felt shaken as he recalled the words of the Seven-Treasure Anuras’ ancestor. He looked over at Greater Sancte Awe Gate. “Senior, do you remember what that old monster said?

“The cosmos itself has an ecosystem. Obscura serves as both our mortal enemy and our shield. If Obscura is defeated, what we find beyond may not be a weaker civilization. Ultimately, all civilizations share the same destination: destruction.”

Mister Mu asked in astonishment, “Who said that?”

“An ancient expert who has lived a very, very long time, one who perfectly embodies what it means to be an Immortal,” Lu Yin replied.

Mister Mu nodded. “That senior’s vision far surpasses our own. Very impressive.”

Lu Yin exchanged a glance with Greater Sancte Awe Gate, both of them showing awkward expressions.

Senior?

Yes, someone who lived for so long could indeed be considered a senior.

A senior toad.

Lu Yin wanted to avoid mentioning the Seven-Treasure Anuras again, lest he make Mister Mu uncomfortable.

“What that, cough, senior said was a gentle reminder, and it matches our own concept of self-awareness. Obscura is powerful, terrifyingly so. Being able to use even one of their gates is already fortune enough for us. Trying to repeatedly exploit Obscura’s gates could very likely trap us in a web of our own making.” Lu Yin looked back at the gate. “No matter where the gate leads, we can’t look, see, or touch. We live within our own place in the cosmic ecosystem because that is where we are most familiar and also the most secure.”

Greater Sancte Awe Gate nodded. “That makes sense. Anything connected to Obscura should be destroyed. In that case, we’ll destroy this gate.”

Lu Yin and Greater Sancte Awe Gate both looked back at Mister Mu.

It was his megaverse. Thus, he should be the one to act.

Mister Mu looked at Obscura’s gate and waved his hand. The cauldron flew out from his sleeve, smashing down and pulverizing the gate, just as it had the silver coffin.

Greater Sancte Awe Gate’s brow shot up. “Have you seen this gate before?”

Mister Mu nodded. “I wanted to destroy it back then, but I underestimated its durability during my first attempt, and I failed to break it.”

Greater Sancte Awe Gate felt greatly reassured upon hearing that.

She had also once underestimated a gate, which had allowed Lan Meng to investigate human civilization and learn of Qi Xu’s death. If Awe Gate had struck the gate at her full strength the first time, as Mister Mu just had, Lan Meng might have never had the chance to meddle with humanity.

One could say Lu Yin had been careless at that time, but it could also be said that Greater Sancte Awe Gate had been careless as well.

With Obscura’s gate destroyed, there was nothing important left in the megaverse.

Mister Mu had already wandered about for days and was ready to return.

Lu Yin took Mister Mu, Greater Sancte Awe Gate, Kang Tian, and the red coffin along as he teleported away. They next reappeared in the Aevum Inch. Lu Yin continued teleporting, each time delivering them to another pathfinding stone.

Before long, they saw the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm. Just one more teleport would deliver them to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

When Greater Sancte Green Lotus saw that Lu Yin and the others had returned, he was finally able to completely relax.

He immediately focused on Mister Mu.

Mister Mu bowed to the Greater Sancte. “Thank you, Senior, for your assistance.”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus smiled as he lifted a hand. “There is no need for such courtesy. With one more Immortal, our human civilization has gained greater strength to protect ourselves. I acted for the sake of humanity.”

Lu Yin added, “We still must thank you, Senior. Without your suggestion, I wouldn’t have thought to take my master to his native megaverse. It was also precisely because you stood guard over our homes here that Senior Greater Sancte Awe Gate was able to go with me.”

“How did it go? What of Hui?” Greater Sancte Green Lotus asked.

Lu Yin said, “Let me bring Senior Greater Sancte Blood Tower here first, and then we’ll explain everything.”

Lu Yin quickly traveled to the Mirari Realm and then delivered Greater Sancte Blood Tower back to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. Only then did they share the battle that had taken place.

It had been a difficult fight against Hui, and there had been danger at every step, but fortunately, they had all made it through in the end.

Hearing about the battle made Greater Sancte Blood Tower’s blood boil. He wished he could have been there himself.

Mister Mu bowed low to Greater Sancte Blood Tower, as the latter had sacrificed his River of Aeons. Mister Mu owed the man a tremendous favor.

“Haha, exchanging a branch of the River of Aeons for another Immortal was worth it. Without question, haha!” Greater Sancte Blood Tower laughed heartily.

Greater Sancte Awe Gate shot him a glance. “You actually said something sensible for once.”

Greater Sancte Blood Tower frowned. “Girl, you’re getting cheekier by the day. Who did you learn that sharp tongue from?”

Greater Sancte Awe Gate did not reply, opting to completely ignore the man.

"Though, to be honest, losing that River of Aeons really does pain me." Greater Sancte Blood Tower sighed. After a moment, he added, "The best compensation is to become one family. That way, the losses remain within our family. What do you think? In-laws?"

Mister Mu just gave the man a confused look.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus shook his head in a helpless manner. “Can’t you two say something useful?”

Greater Sancte Blood Tower laughed again. “I’m not joking! Don’t mind him, mister. By the way, that cauldron of yours, could you let us take a look at it?”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus scolded, “Blood Tower, mind your manners!”

Mister Mu chuckled. “Of course.”

With that, the cauldron slipped out from his sleeve and spiraled upwards while gradually expanding.

The cauldron’s appearance caused the air of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse to grow heavier. The entire universe felt suppressed. The sensation was felt by countless people who could not understand the cause.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus, Greater Sancte Blood Tower, and the others present all solemnly stared at the cauldron. They felt an oppressive aura press against their chests like a weight that they could not escape. It was extremely uncomfortable.

So this was a dominion-type mirebound artifact?

Greater Sancte Green Lotus exclaimed in admiration, “There were once legends within human civilization of dominion-type mirebound artifacts, treasures capable of governing a civilization’s fate. Today, I’ve finally seen one.”

Lu Yin asked in confusion, “Does our branch of humanity have a dominion-type mirebound artifact?”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus’s voice grew bitter. “We once did, but no longer.”

It was clear that he did not want to elaborate.

“Mister Mu, please put the cauldron away.”

Mister Mu withdrew the cauldron. After that, Lu Yin shared much of what had happened while his master had been in seclusion, filling in the holes in Mister Mu’s knowledge.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus and the others also wanted to spend time speaking with Mister Mu.

In particular, Greater Sancte Green Lotus regretted not having met Mister Mu sooner. The two men shared surprisingly similar personalities.

Greater Sancte Blood Tower kept trying to refer to Mister Mu as his in-law, earning multiple scoldings from Awe Gate.

Kang Tian left to produce more color-glass. Still, the snail had contributed greatly during the battle against Hui, and the human civilization’s opinion of it improved considerably.

At this moment, Lu Yin was feeling the most at ease. Before, he had carried the burden of the Tianyuan on his own. Fortunately, he had since met Immortal seniors, like Greater Sancte Green Lotus, who were easy to get along with. Even so, he had still felt the pressure, no matter how friendly the Immortals were.

If forced to choose, they would never choose to abandon the Nine Odysseys Megaverse in order to protect the Tianyuan. It had already been abandoned once before.

However, with Mister Mu becoming an Immortal, not to mention such a powerful one, he had once again become a reliable pillar that Lu Yin could lean on. There was a feeling of no longer needing to shoulder everything alone.

It was a truly wonderful feeling.

With his master back, Lu Yin could at last relax.

If Uncle Jiang, the Origin Progenitor, and the others could all successfully break through as well, the Tianyuan Megaverse would rise high.

***

Branches hung down in a bottomless abyss. Coffins floated, clinging to the cliff walls, each a different color.

“Hui is dead.”

“How did they die?”

“They actually died?”

“Hmph! They used their seniority to behave arrogantly. It’s good that they’re dead. It’s finally peaceful.”

“When did they die...”

The first creature to speak answered, their voice deep and raspy. “Obscura never interferes with anything outside of our assigned missions. However, a human civilization killed one of our own and kept the matter hidden for ages. Because of that, we must now place markers on each of you to monitor your life status. Rest assured, only your lives or deaths will be monitored, nothing more.

“Time of death: several days ago. Location: the human civilization’s Ninth Rampart. Cause of death: unknown. Their line has disappeared, their coffin was shattered, and their gate was destroyed.”

One creature exclaimed, “Their coffin shattered? Is that a joke?”

“I just assumed that Hui didn’t have time to use that escape method. It looks like they did, yet they still failed. That’s odd... Any force that can break a coffin is terrifying.”

“The Ninth Rampart, was it? If I recall correctly, human civilization’s Ninth Rampart should have been annihilated. What do you say, Orange?”

The orange coffin’s occupant remained completely silent.

“The Ninth Rampart is near the human civilization that Qi Xu was assigned with annihilating, right? Who is targeting that civilization now?”

“I am.”

“Could those humans have been involved? They’ve already killed Qi Xu, after all. It would not be impossible for them to kill Hui. In some ways, Qi Xu was a more difficult opponent than Hui.”

“Lan Meng, what is that civilization’s current strength?”

Lan Meng’s voice rang out, “They merely use some petty tricks. Aside from one karmic cultivator, none are able to threaten Hui. Was their coffin destroyed by karma?”

“That remains unknown. It has not been investigated yet,” the first creature replied.

Lan Meng coolly replied, “They had absolutely nothing to do with this. They lack the strength to even reach the Ninth Rampart. The Nest civilization’s Immortal Lord and the Seven-Treasure Anuras are both threats, so their karmic cultivator won’t dare to make a move. Even if he wanted to, there wasn’t enough time for him to reach the Ninth Rampart.”

The first creature spoke again. “There is one thing I must inform you all about: the human civilization has obtained the ability to teleport.”

“What?”

“Teleportation?”

“That has to be a joke. Humans can’t obtain that innate gift.”

“That ability is unique to those strange birds.”

“I know that this is unbelievable, but they do indeed have that ability. That is the reason why I ordered Qing Cao to invite someone from that civilization to join us, a human named Lu Yin. Unfortunately, he has not responded to my invitation.”

Lan Meng shouted harshly, “No! That civilization must be destroyed, and Lu Yin must die!”

“Is Lu Yin that strong?” another creature asked.

The first creature answered, “He is an Aberrant, and he has already killed Immortals.”

“Has a mere Aberrant been invited to join us? Have Obscura’s standards fallen so far? The Aevum Inch is truly lacking talent now,” another voice lamented.

Lan Meng’s voice grew vicious. “He is just an Aberrant. So what if he can teleport?”

“I actually agree with inviting him. He would make it much easier to deal with those birds.”

“Indeed. Those birds are quite troublesome.”

“I disagree,” another creature stated firmly.

The first creature’s voice remained emotionless when they replied. There was no hint of either sadness nor anger at the objections. “Inviting him or not is within my authority. I only announced it out of respect for you all. There is also something else you should know: Lu Yin already possesses abilities that belong to Obscura: he has taken Qi Xu’s line and coffin.”

“Oh? Now that’s interesting. A human who has an innate gift that doesn’t belong to his species and has obtained powers that he should never have been able to learn? Very well, let him join. I’m quite curious about him.”

“Hehe, me as well. Let him join us. We’ll see how far the little one can go.”

“Lan Meng, compared to this young human, you are only an Immortal in name. Aside from that, you’re useless. Hahahahaha!”