Star Odyssey

Chapter 4209: The Blacklight Civilization

Mister Mu let out a helpless sigh. “Things were fine before, when he still had his own River of Aeons and could discuss matters with the Great Master while also cultivating on his own. However, after his river rejoined the main stream of the River of Aeons, the only place where he can train in the power of time is the Mirari Realm. Thus, Zhao Ran, as the ferryman of this River of Aeons, cannot escape him.”

Lu Yin felt a headache forming, but there was nothing that he could do.

Greater Sancte Blood Tower had not done anything excessive. He simply wanted to discuss methods of using the power of time with Zhao Ran. However, she found the ordeals to be unbearable.

They could not chase the Immortal away. If nothing else, he had sacrificed a branch of the River of Aeons to help Mister Mu’s breakthrough. Such a favor was far too significant to dismiss the man. Besides, even without that, Greater Sancte Blood Tower was one of humanity’s few Immortals. Any improvement for him would mean increasing the overall strength of their human civilization.

Zhao Ran, this is just your bad luck.

Lu Yin returned to the Lu Sanctum a short while later. The Lu family had produced a great number of descendants in recent years. While a few decades felt short, it was still enough to raise an entire generation.

The Lu family was far livelier than in the past.

In recent years, additional members of the Lu family had awakened the innate gift of teleportation, which had greatly excited humanity as a whole. However, both the Champions Stage and the Investiture of the Gods remained innate gifts that were limited to the Lu family’s direct line.

The fact that teleportation was awakened more easily than the other two innate gifts was rather odd.

Lu Yin spoke with Ancestor Lu Yuan, Ancestor Lu Tianyi, and others, and he unintentionally ended up asking about Lu Huai. There had been no word of the man for years.

Decades ago, Lu Huai had been cherished by the entire human race, heralded as the symbol of their future hope. Despite that, just a few decades later, his name was hardly ever mentioned.

“Lu Huai sealed his cultivation and memories and left to temper himself,” Ancestor Lu Yuan reported.

This news surprised Lu Yin. “He sealed both his cultivation and his memories?”

Ancestor Lu Yuan nodded. “He hopes to walk the same path as you.”

Lu Yin laughed. “Back then, I was forced onto that path, while he willingly chose it.”

“No one knows who he is anymore,” Lu Yuan said.

Lu Yin grew thoughtful. “If Lu Huai is able to carve out his own path, then in the future, more of the Lu family’s children will be able to do so as well. Others may only have one path available to them, but that is not true of our Lu family.”

“I had the same thought,” Ancestor Lu Yuan agreed.

“By the way, my father-” Lu Yin began, only to abruptly cut himself off while rising to his feet. “Senior Green Lotus is looking for me. I must go.”

With that, he vanished.

He immediately arrived in the Sea of Karma in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, where he saw Greater Sancte Green Lotus.

The Immortal’s expression was solemn. “The Seven-Treasure Anuras have arrived.”

Lu Yin was astonished. “The Seven-Treasure Anuras?”

“They are at our border. Bring them here. It seems that something has happened to their species,” Green Lotus explained before sharing the toads’ location.

Lu Yin vanished, reappearing at the edge of the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm. There, he saw Little Eighteen’s battered form, as well as Astral Anura, both some distance away.

At the same time, Little Eighteen and Astral Anura saw Lu Yin.

Astral Anura’s mouth twisted as he rushed forward, seemingly anguished. “Seventh Bro! Seventh Bro! You have to save us, Seventh Bro!”

Lu Yin stopped the toad before Astral Anura crashed into him, and then he looked the two over. “What happened? Why are you so badly injured?”

Astral Anura had been injured, though not terribly. On the other hand, Little Eighteen was in terrible condition. One hand was gone, their steel fork had snapped in two, and even their lotus leaf, the symbol of Seven-Treasure Anuras, was missing.

Astral Anura wailed, “Seventh Bro, you have to save my people! We are counting on you, Seventh Bro!”

Lu Yin looked at Little Eighteen.

The toad had changed dramatically and was no longer the arrogant creature that Lu Yin had met before. Little Eighteen was silent this time, and the killing intent in his eyes was far stronger.

“I’ll take you back first,” Lu Yin announced. He hid nothing and simply teleported the two toads back to the Sea of Karma.

Little Eighteen was startled. “Teleportation?”

Astral Anura was equally shocked. When he left, Lu Yin’s teleportation ability had only been known to a select few. During the time that the toad had been absent, the entire human civilization had learned of the innate gift.

Seeing someone capable of teleportation was earthshaking.

Astral Anura gaped. Isn’t this the ability that only the Nest civilization’s Luo Chan possesses? And yet Seventh Bro actually has it now...

“Speak. What happened?” Lu Yin asked. He had brought Greater Sancte Awe Gate, Greater Sancte Blood Tower, Mister Mu, and Jiang Feng to the Sea of Karma.

There was no reason for the toads to repeat their story.

Ku Deng was still standing guard on the other side of the Gate of Laws, while Master Qing Cao was unrelated to the current matter. On top of that, he was currently focused solely on teaching.

Kang Tian was even less of a concern, and it had been tasked with producing ever more color-glass.

Astral Anura looked over at Little Eighteen. The toad scanned the group of humans: five Immortals and one Aberrant. So this is the strength of this human civilization. Quite impressive. If they offer their support, the Seven-Treasure Anuras might still have a ray of hope.

With that thought, Little Eighteen started in a low voice, “The Blacklight Civilization has descended upon us...”

Half an hour later, after hearing everything, grim expressions had appeared on the faces of Lu Yin and the others. Each of them had fallen deep into thought.

Little Eighteen did not immediately beg for humanity’s help, and instead waited, allowing them to make a decision.

No one could make a causal decision when it came to going against the Blacklight Civilization.

The Seven-Treasure Anuras were powerful, and Ancestor Shan was beyond terrifying. No matter how many Immortals humanity gained, they still might not be able to stand up to Ancestor Shan alone.

The ancient creature’s most impressive known feat was destroying a fishing civilization. That civilization had been the Blacklight Civilization itself.

Long ago, the Blacklight Civilization had fought against the Seven-Treasure Anuras. In terms of overall power, the toads had been the weaker party. No matter how strong they might be, they were not a fishing civilization. The gap had been clear.

But ultimately, the Blacklight Civilization had been destroyed.

This story had caused humanity to greatly fear the Seven-Treasure Anuras. They hoped to avoid any possible conflict with the toads.

However, Little Eighteen’s explanation allowed Lu Yin and the others to finally understand what had happened.

It was not the Seven-Treasure Anuras who had destroyed the Blacklight Civilization, but rather Ancestor Shan alone.

Ancestor Shan had singlehandedly annihilated all of the Blacklight Civilization’s Immortals, dragging a fishing civilization down from its pedestal. The price of those actions had been nearly completing the ancient toad’s karmic chain, leaving him unable to act again.

The toads had thought that the Blacklight Civilization had been utterly destroyed and that the Seven-Treasure Anuras’ display of power had been enough to deter other fishing civilizations from provoking them.

Even Obscura had felt the same.

And yet, the Blacklight Civilization had recently returned, proving that it had not been completely annihilated.

“Uncle Fourth said that they believed that they had destroyed the civilization. No one wants to leave an enemy that’s capable of becoming a fishing civilization alive. And yet they somehow managed to preserve their inheritance and succeeded in seeking revenge in such a short time,” Little Eighteen said through a clenched jaw.

Lu Yin and the others looked grave.

If any of them had fought a fishing civilization, they would have also made sure to eradicate the enemy’s inheritance. Any civilization that had proven itself capable of becoming a fishing civilization possessed terrifying means and legacies.

Having risen once, such a civilization could rise a second time.

It was unfortunate that the Seven-Treasure Anuras had failed to utterly destroy their enemy, especially since they had been found.

“What about Ancestor Shan? Is he unable to handle the current Blacklight Civilization? Or has it grown stronger than before?” Jiang Feng asked.

Little Eighteen replied, “Ancestor Shan is sealed and cannot act.”

Everyone was stunned.

Ancestor Shan was known to be strong, and his unimaginable strength had only just been revealed. Slaughtering all of a fishing civilization’s Immortals alone went beyond mere strength.

And yet Ancestor Shan had been sealed?

Little Eighteen’s expression fell, fear and unwillingness clear in their eyes. “The Blacklight Civilization possesses an inheritance that is known as the Darksky Ninety-Nine Seals. That inheritance supposedly had a maximum of ninety-nine seals. Their strongest Immortal was once able to use all ninety-nine, and Uncle Fourth said that that inheritance was why they had become a fishing civilization.

“Fortunately, Ancestor Shan overcame their Darksky Ninety-Nine Seals and crushed the Blacklight Civilization’s strongest expert, leading to the civilization’s destruction.

“The truth is that that battle was extremely dangerous. After losing the Darksky Ninety-Nine Seals, the Blacklight Civilization used the One-Hundredth Seal, a technique mentioned only in their legends as it would supposedly consume their civilization’s entire inheritance.

“They lost that battle, but a group must have escaped with the legacy of their civilization. They took the full One-Hundredth Seal with them, though it was unusable after their strongest Immortal died. Right now, the One Hundredth Seal is being used to imprison Ancestor Shan.”

Little Eighteen looked at Lu Yin and the others. “That seal is absolute, to the point where not even Ancestor Shan can break it. He said it is capable of sealing all creatures living in the Aevum Inch. According to his understanding, it is the strongest power in existence.”

Everyone exchanged glances. The strongest power?

Greater Sancte Awe Gate spoke in a grave tone, “Is this seal the Blacklight Civilization’s absolute means?”

Little Eighteen shook their head. “No. Their absolute means is known as Life Overreach.”

“What does that mean?” Everyone grew tense. Was a tool that could seal Ancestor Shan not their strongest trick?

“Life Overreach is an ability that allows them to transcend their level or use techniques beyond their capability. For example, the Darksky Seals. The creature that I fought against could only use thirty-six seals, but after using Life Overreach, it was able to use seventy-two seals. If Uncle Fourth hadn’t protected me, I would have been sealed, never to escape.

“This is the Blacklight Civilization’s most terrifying ability: their overall strength can rise an entire realm.”

Lu Yin and the others were shaken. That was certainly an absolute means, and it was overwhelmingly powerful.

Teleportation was an incredible ability, but Life Overreach was just as astonishing.

If humans were capable of increasing their power by a full tier, what would that mean? Lu Yin would be capable of challenging Greater Sancte Green Lotus.

It was no wonder why the Blacklight Civilization had risen to become a fishing civilization.

“Then why have you come to us? You cannot be asking us to fight the Blacklight Civilization, can you?” Jiang Feng asked.

Little Eighteen fell silent.

Astral Anura looked at Lu Yin, begging with his eyes. The toad had found a long-lost sense of kinship and family in the Seven-Treasure Anuras. “Seventh Bro...”

Lu Yin looked at the two toads. “In addition to Ancestor Shan, what of the Seven-Treasure Anuras’ other Immortals? Were all of them sealed?”

“Both Ancestor Shan and my father were sealed. Uncles Fourth and Fifth have tried to hold back the most powerful members of the Blacklight Civilization, but they can’t break the seals. The longer Ancestor Shan remains sealed, the closer his karmic chain will be to completion. The moment it is complete will be the moment of his death.

“When Ancestor Shan dies, our species will no longer be able to withstand the Blacklight Civilization. Our extinction will become inevitable,” Little Eighteen stated.

Greater Sancte Blood Tower spoke up, “So now you think of us?”

He looked over at Lu Yin. “Lu Yin, I remember that, when you returned to visit the Seven-Treasure Anuras, you said that their civilization wished to not have any sort of interaction with our human civilization. Isn’t that right?”

Lu Yin nodded. “That is what Ancestor Shan told me.”