Star Odyssey

Chapter 4214: A Charge

Ancestor Shan continued, saying, “Take my children and go. You cannot save me, but it would be best if you can take Old First with you. I know that trying will be dangerous, but Old First is the only Seven-Treasure Anura who has a chance of reaching my level. In the future, he may become a foundational strength that safeguards your human civilization. If you are able to rescue him, I will make some arrangements.”

Lu Yin glanced at the other black sphere. The toad trapped in it was a supreme powerhouse who had been sealed by Ninety-Eight Seals. Out of everyone in the entire human civilization, only Greater Sancte Green Lotus might be qualified to be sealed by that level of the technique.

Between the Seven-Treasure Anuras’ Old First and Greater Sancte Green Lotus, Lu Yin truly did not know who was stronger. However, he did know that, if human civilization gained another such supreme powerhouse, they could be far more confident in the omniverse.

However, even if Old First moved to humanity’s megaverses, the Seven-Treasure Anuras might not be willing to allow themselves to be commanded.

Humanity might not be able to suppress the toad.

“Lu Yin, there are two things that I must entrust to you. Listen carefully.” Ancestor Shan spoke up yet again. “First: Obscura is terrifying, utterly terrifying. Their strength far exceeds what you can even imagine. I once destroyed the Blacklight Civilization, which was a true fishing civilization at its peak. But when I was confronted with Obscura, I retreated.”

Lu Yin’s gaze trembled. Retreated?

“You heard me correctly—I retreated. I went to make trouble for Obscura, and I even found Vestigium, which is their base. But I stayed outside of that place only briefly before I left. At that time, I went with the intent to wipe out Obscura because they were the reason for Old Second’s death.

“Instead, I retreated. I did not strike.

“It’s possible that you believe that, because you have seen Obscura’s power, or because you have killed creatures from Obscura, that they can be dealt with. However, you are wrong, gravely wrong. What Obscura controls, what they possess, is not something that you can even imagine. Let me say it clearly. At the peak of your human civilization, when the Nine Ramparts spanned the cosmos, your strength far exceeded something like the mere Blacklight Civilization. Despite that, your civilization was still destroyed. One of the primary hands behind that destruction was Obscura.”

Lu Yin stared at the black sphere. “Obscura?”

“Do not underestimate Obscura. Never underestimate them. The moment you think you have seen them clearly is precisely the moment that you see the least.”

Lu Yin thought back to Obscura’s rewards and missions. Learning about Obscura’s mission rankings had caused humanity to grow far warier of Obscura, but deep down, they still had a sliver of doubt. Destroying their human civilization would only be considered a three-star mission. Above that were four, five, and six-star missions. How could Obscura possess the power to post such missions?

From Ancestor Shan’s words, Lu Yin understood that it was quite possible that Obscura’s missions were genuine.

Master Qing Cao had apparently personally witnessed Obscura use a civilization to destroy another with ten Immortals. Their ability to leverage civilizations was in and of itself a form of power.

Any civilization that could give rise to ten Immortals was very likely a fishing civilization. To manipulate a civilization at that level into taking action while not suffering any retaliation was a very real demonstration of power.

And Obscura had more than one civilization that they could use.

That was Obscura’s strength.

Their strength was so great that not even Ancestor Shan had dared to cause trouble upon arriving at Vestigium.

At the very least, their current human civilization might be incapable of withstanding even Ancestor Shan alone.

At the very least, Ancestor Shan would not fear the current human civilization, and yet Obscura had forced the toad to retreat.

Of course, it was also possible that Ancestor Shan was saying all this to put more pressure on Lu Yin and convince him to rescue Old First. However, Ancestor Shan did not know that Lu Yin had already joined Obscura, nor that the missions and rewards that Lu Yin had seen confirmed the ancient powerhouse’s words.

“I know that you may not believe me. This may all sound like a joke. You would likely prefer to believe that I am saying all this to push you into rescuing Old First. So be it. I am only trying to warn you because my children will soon join your human civilization. I do not want them to die due to your ignorance,” Ancestor Shan said heavily.

“Second: the last time you came here, you asked me if there are more branches of human civilization that have survived. I can tell you... yes. And I have seen it.”

Lu Yin was thrilled. “Another human civilization still lives?”

“The Nine Ramparts spanned the cosmos. How could such a civilization be extinguished easily? Even if that human civilization collapsed long ago, some embers were bound to be preserved. Your own civilization is one of those embers.

“If you one day see a gigantic candle in the Aevum Inch, that is another human civilization.”

Lu Yin was puzzled. “A gigantic candle?”

“A gigantic candle that can move. It should be a mirebound artifact. I only saw it once, as I did not wish to have interact with the human civilization. I did not reveal myself,” Ancestor Shan explained.

A gigantic candle? That reminded Lu Yin of Gu Xiao’er’s Smoke-Eater Peaks, which looked like a gigantic cigarette.

If the gigantic candle was a mirebound artifact, could it be the same kind of powerful mirebound artifact as the cauldron that belonged to his master?

“To have lived for so long and suddenly face death... there is too much that I wish to pass down, and yet I do not know where to begin. They will also not give us the time.”

Lu Yin looked up. There were black dots falling from outer space, growing larger and larger. They were all Blacklight creatures.

At the forefront was a gigantic creature that was far larger than Le. It was an Immortal.

“Go,” Ancestor Shan warned.

Lu Yin drew a deep breath. Behind him, Old Fourth and Old Fifth charged out, attacking the largest Blacklight creature.

Black hexagonal plates danced through the void. Two consecutive bursts of Thirty-Six Seals surrounded Old Fourth and Old Fifth while the Immortal Blacklight creature shot past the two toads, charging straight for Lu Yin.

When the creature was halfway to him, Little Eighteen burst in from the side, their hands grasping at the void: Astral Anura’s Star-Plucking Hands.

A hooked claw swept to the side, meeting the Star-Plucking Hands and sending Little Eighteen flying.

At that same moment, Old Fourth and Old Fifth broke free from the seals targeting them. Thirty-Six Seals could not imprison the two Immortals.

A steel fork stabbed down at the Immortal Blacklight creature from above. The creature’s name was Kui.

Kui did not even glance at Old Fourth or Old Fifth. Its hooked claw was reaching for Lu Yin. It was determined to test this intruder’s full capabilities.

Lu Yin looked up. Old Fourth and Fifth’s attacks would only land after the claw struck him. Kui had successfully managed to force an opening.

However, that brief opening only existed with the presumption that Lu Yin was not capable of blocking the Blacklight creature’s attack.

The claw’s edge glinted with a sharp light. All around Lu Yin, divine energy gathered to form a sword. With one swing of the blade, the claw was swept aside.

Kui was astonished. What domineering power.

Facing the creature directly, Lu Yin’s divine energy boiled out from his body, the power changing the color of the sky above and the ground below. Behind Kui, Old Fourth and Old Fifth were still charging forward. Across the entire seven-colored land, Blacklight creatures and Seven-Treasure Anuras were once again slaughtering each other. Darkness swallowed the stars and moon.

Hexagonal plates filled the area, surrounding Old Fourth, Old Fifth, Kui, and Lu Yin all at the same time.

Old Fifth shouted, “Get back!”

Lu Yin immediately retreated, as a full seventy-two plates had appeared.

The Darksky Seventy-Two Seals had the power to trap powerful Immortals. Even Old Fourth and Old Fifth feared that technique.

Kui had locked onto Lu Yin. Its hooked claws linked together: Time-Space Annihilation Slash.

The gigantic Blacklight creature released cutting edges that shattered all things as they surged toward Lu Yin.

From above, a long sword slashed down, Lifeforce and Immortal matter empowering it.

Clang!

A thunderous crash knocked both Lu Yin and the sword back. To keep his human form hidden, he could not go all-out. Karma, Willforce, and Extremes Must Be Reversed all needed to be kept in reserve if possible, which meant that an Immortal from a fishing civilization like Kui was able to outright suppress Lu Yin.

Kui’s eyes grew savage as it slashed at Lu Yin again. Each attack was stronger than the last.

Lu Yin could only use speed to evade, but Kui’s slashes grew faster and faster, slicing both time and space apart.

Suddenly, a steel fork stabbed at Kui from the side. The fork struck, only to immediately shatter.

Old Fifth swept past Lu Yin, charging forward while using Star-Plucking Hand.

Bang!

Old Fifth’s attack blasted Kui away. From another direction, Old Fourth also charged forward, only to be blocked by another gigantic Blacklight creature.

“You cross-eyed toad, I am still your opponent!”

“Duan, you are courting death!”

Seeing that Old Fifth was able to hold Kui back, Lu Yin charged straight at the black sphere that was trapping Old First. There was another massive Blacklight creature hovering above that sphere: Huo.

Huo watched as Lu Yin rushed forward, utterly confused. If even Kui can suppress you, where is the courage to charge at me coming from?

Lu Yin wanted to rescue Old First. As Ancestor Shan had said, Old First’s existence would be of immense benefit to humanity. Even if the toad’s presence placed the Seven-Treasure Anuras on equal footing with humanity, they would still have an alliance in place. That would give their human civilization far more confidence to face Obscura.

However, it was far from easy to rescue Old First.

Lu Yin had deliberately allowed Kui to overwhelm him, hoping that the Blacklight creatures would lower their guard towards him and allow him to reach the black sphere that sealed Old First. Lu Yin was hoping to find a chance to shatter the sphere with one blow.

If he had displayed any more strength, the Blacklight Civilization would have never given him such an opportunity.

Unfortunately, he had still underestimated the Blacklight Civilization.

Regardless of whether Lu Yin had been suppressed by Kui, the Blacklight Civilization would not underestimate him.

Huo themself moved. Black plates whirled out, one after another. Lu Yin’s scalp tingled at the sight; there were ninety-seven of them.

The Darksky Ninety-Seven Seals.

Damn it! Is this really necessary? Also, isn’t Huo already using its plates to imprison Old First? How can it have more?

He immediately teleported away. A single moment later and Lu Yin would not have been able to escape.

Huo’s eyes locked onto the location where Lu Yin had vanished from. What ability was that?

Lu Yin had not gone far, which made it impossible for Huo to know if the creature had changed locations through speed or some other method.

A creature who had never seen teleportation was far less likely to recognize the ability.

After escaping the range of the sealing technique, Lu Yin warily glanced upwards. Huo was much too cautious, and it would not allow Lu Yin to get close at all. This would not do.

Even if Lu Yin went all-out, he would not be Huo’s opponent. Since that was the case, he needed to change tactics.

Lu Yin abruptly vanished, and when he reappeared, he was outside the seven-colored land.

“Is it time for me to act?” Mister Mu asked.

Lu Yin shook his head. “Not quite yet. I feel that the Blacklight Civilization is not as simple as they seem to be.”

“Fine, then we wait a bit longer.”

Lu Yin grabbed the red coffin and vanished, returning to the seven-colored land. He then raised the red coffin above his head and teleported to the side of the black sphere that was trapping Old First.

Huo was shocked. So fast?

Hexagonal black plates sliced through the void. These plates could not only form sealing arrays, but they could also cut things. At the moment, that was the only way that Huo could use the black plates, as they did not belong to the creature itself. Huo’s own plates were being used to seal Old First. The plates that it was using against Lu Yin were from other Blacklight creatures, yet they were controlled by Huo.

The black plates sliced down, one after another. Seeing that Huo was not using Ninety-Seven Seals, Lu Yin slipped into the red coffin, leaving a narrow slit open so that he could speak to the trapped Seven-Treasure Anura.

As for the attacking plates, they all struck the red coffin, which blocked every single attack.

Huo was astonished. While these plates might not belong to it, since it was wielding them, the power of the plates was not any weaker than that of an Immortal who had resonated with a single cosmic law. Despite that, all of the plates had been blocked by an Aberrant’s tool. Just what was that red object?