Chapter 4199: Cheating

Just as the shadow expected, another Immortal appeared, making it a two against one battle as the two Immortals besieged the ancestor of the Thorn Civilization.

The Immortal thorn creature tried to communicate with the attackers, but it was clear that they had no intention of responding. The ancestor believed that the attacking civilization was responsible for the gate that had appeared and saw their presence as an invasion, while the civilization with two Immortals believed that the gate belonged to the Thorn Civilization. For that reason, the two Immortals had led their forces through the gate to attack. All along, neither side knew how many Immortals the other side had.

With no channel for communication, war remained the only option.

Only when two civilizations were evenly matched could dialogue even be possible.

The shadow clearly understood that the Thorn Civilization was doomed and would be destroyed. Obscura would only use a civilization after studying it, unless the civilization was too powerful to be fully controlled. When that happened, other alternatives would be sought.

According to Lan Meng, the civilization with two Immortals would attack any civilization that they found was weaker than them because they needed to reset megaverses in order to increase their number of Immortals.

Everything could be boiled down to benefits and gain.

Not every creature was capable of breaking into the Immortal realm on their own. In fact, such individuals were exceedingly rare.

As the Thorn Civilization’s Immortal was gradually forced back, the surging Lifeforce and Immortal matter threw the nearby area of the Aevum Inch into chaos. The shadow grew ever more excited. It’s close! So very close!

Just as that thought flashed through the creature’s mind, it was struck by a sudden sense of nervousness. Its gaze snapped to the opposite side of the megaverse, where it saw a familiar glow. One of Obscura’s gates was activating.

Obscura’s gates might be small, but once one was activated, it would be seen from not only the nearby megaverse, but also across a vast distance of the Aevum Inch. That was why Obscura was so confident that their gates would cause civilizations to destroy each other. No one could ignore the radiance of the gates.

The shadow stared at the distant glow. For a moment, the light overshadowed even the battle between the Immortals. The shadow desperately wanted to lash out and shatter the second gate, but it could not. Even a momentary action would be breaking the rules.

Please don’t let it be the human civilization! Anyone but the humans!

Lan Meng had mentioned that the human civilization was very strong, as well as the fact that they had a terrifyingly powerful expert who had comprehended karma.

If, during this mission, the human competitor made their move with the support of the full power of the human civilization, then forget about the Thorn Civilization’s Immortal—even the two Immortals that had been drawn over would be in serious trouble.

However, Lan Meng had also said that Obscura could not use the human civilization.

Additionally, even if it was possible, the humans should not have arrived so quickly. The shadowy creature had not wasted a single moment, whereas the human civilization should have spent time questioning, speculating, and analyzing the matter first, right?

How could they have taken action so quickly?

Suddenly, space in front of the gate twisted, and an ovoid light abruptly appeared. A mechanical voice rang out. "Beep. Civilization detected. Absolute analysis automatically initiated. Beep. Analyzing... Beep. Analyzing...”

"Civilizational war. Those three colossal creatures in the distance are all Immortals. Transmit a report back immediately and await the decision of the mainship."

"Absolute analysis is still incomplete. Should the report be transmitted now?"

"Send it right now."

Soon, a second ovoid light of unimaginable size appeared. While the gate itself was small, the space around it could be compressed or expanded. Aside from special items that could not be stored in cosmic rings, such as the floating coffins, anything else could freely pass through Obscura’s gates.

The moment the enormous ovaloid light appeared, it became the focus of the entire battlefield. In size alone, it was a match for the Thorn Civilization’s Immortal and the other two.

The Immortal thorn creature and its kin all looked over. What was that thing? They could not sense any aura from it. Was it not a living creature?

The shadow stared at the massive ovoid light. Is that the human civilization?

From within the colossal light, a voice rang out, "Beep. Civilization detected. Beep. Absolute analysis automatically initiated... Beep. Analyzing... Beep. Analyzing..."

"What is there to still analyze? Can you not see that this is a civilizational war? There are even three Immortals present. This will not be easy. Fight with everything we have. Fire crystal fall and prepare the law-based weapons."

A moment later, yet another massive ovoid light appeared. Upon seeing that the first massive ovoid light had already begun preparing to launch its crystal fall, the second light immediately opened up a communication channel. "Are we engaging immediately?"

"Is there any point in trying to communicate?"

"We only have two mainships. It will be difficult to deal with three Immortals."

"Law weapons are not about numbers. They are about whether or not luck can hold. So what if there are three? If they are unable to withstand the law-based weapons, then even thirty Immortals would die. The empire has plenty of experience in killing Immortals. Fire!"

"Activate the law-based weapons and fire immediately."

The shadow gazed across megaverse to a distant point in the Aevum Inch. It was chaos, pure chaos. That was not the human civilization. That was not what humans looked like. Who would win, and who would lose? The shadowy creature was desperate to intervene, and yet it could not. All it could do was await the final outcome.

...

A few months later, a day came when Master Qing Cao reached out to Greater Sancte Green Lotus to deliver a message that Obscura wanted to see Lu Yin.

This time, Lu Yin simply opened the red coffin on the mountain behind the Heavens Sect. He laid down inside of it, and his consciousness was sent to Vestigium.

He was greeted by the familiar multicolored light, the sheer cliff, drooping branches, and the endless stretch of gates down below.

Since he was returning to Vestigium, he knew that what awaited him was Obscura’s stance toward him.”

Lu Yin had no idea what the result would be. As Greater Sancte Green Lotus had said, it had been left to destiny.

They could not allow their human civilization to become a tool of Obscura, but if Obscura wanted to attack humanity, they would no longer have an easy time of things.

Humanity was no longer a civilization that Obscura could casually crush with one hand.

Being forced to join Obscura was primarily a means of buying time for humanity to develop in a stable environment while warding off the other fishing civilizations. If joining Obscura caused humanity to become one of Obscura’s blades, that would run counter to the entire purpose of joining Obscura, and everything would be rendered meaningless. They would look like complete fools.

"Human brat, you still dare to come here?" a voice called out.

Lu Yin casually replied, "Furball, it’s been a long time."

"If you failed your entrance mission, I will tear that mouth right off of you."

"Alright, Furball. Thank you, Furball."

"Hmph!"

Far away from the red coffin hung a brown one. Within it lay the shadowy creature, Lan Meng’s friend, Kuang.

Kuang shot vicious glares to both sides, as it did not know exactly where Lu Yin might be. The one thing that Kuang was certain of was that it would one day kill that human Aberrant.

"Lan Meng, are you there?"

There was no answer.

"Lan Meng, are you there or not?"

Still, there was no response.

"Kuang, are you there?"

A cold light flashed through Kuang’s eyes. "Human, are you looking for me?"

Lu Yin chuckled. "How did your mission go?"

Kuang growled, "You cheated."

Lu Yin paused. Cheated? Where is that coming from? Still, if that’s what it’s saying, then does that mean that it didn’t complete the mission?

At just the right moment, Ba Se spoke up. "I hereby announce that the one who completed the mission to destroy the Thorn Civilization is Lu Yin of the human civilization.

"Let us welcome our new member."

"Hehe, welcome, little one."

"Welcome."

"Hmph! We’ll see how long you survive." That was Furball.

Kuang shouted, "I refuse to accept this! That human cheated!"

Lu Yin arched a brow. "How so? Are you suggesting that Ba Se is ignorant?"

Grinding its teeth, Kuang growled, "That technological civilization is definitely not something that he can use! That is a fishing civilization—there’s no doubt about it. They have technological means that are able to kill Immortals, and thanks to relying on technology, they have no karmic chains. How could such a powerful civilization possibly be used by a mere Aberrant? I refuse to accept this! He cheated!"

Ba Se spoke up again, "No matter what methods were employed, as long as the candidate did not act personally and the Thorn Civilization was destroyed, the mission is considered complete. The means are irrelevant. Obscura only cares about the results."

"What about me?" Kuang protested, unwilling to accept its loss. "If I had not lured over that other civilization over and forced the Immortal Thorn creature into fighting a battle of attrition, his technological civilization would not have found it so easy to wipe that civilization out."

Lan Meng snapped, "Enough, Kuang! Try again next time. Step back for now."

"Lan Meng, this human is unqualified to join Obscura! I am the one who reveres Obscura the most! Humanity and Obscura are mutual enemies, and his joining will only harm us!" Kuang shouted, still refusing to accept its loss. "Ba Se, let me join instead. I am loyal to Obscura. That human will betray us!"

Lu Yin had barely opened his mouth when another voice cut in from the side. It was Furball. "Hehe, little thing, since when has Obscura ever cared about loyalty?

"Hehe, Obscura only cares about completing its missions. What is loyalty supposed to be?"

"Why would anyone be loyal to Obscura? Even I want to destroy it myself. So what? Hahahaha!"

"Hahahaha!"

Lu Yin was stunned. Isn’t that being a bit too blunt? Just what kind of lunatics are these creatures?

Kuang was similarly dazed. What is going on? This is Vestigium, the very heart of Obscura, and yet they’re talking about betraying Obscura and wanting to destroy it? This has to be a joke. Could I have misheard?

Lan Meng shouted again, "Stand down, Kuang! Don’t force me to kill you."

Kuang did not even know how it ended up leaving Vestigium. It was left with the distinct feeling that it had just escaped from a den of madmen.

In Vestigium, the laughter continued. One creature mockingly said, "Lan Meng, it’s understandable that you want to bring your friend in, but you should have at least made sure that it’s qualified. What kind of perspective is that? It was talking about loyalty! Hahahaha."

"Lan Meng, your little friend is quite amusing, even more so than this human brat."

Furball chuckled. "I should get to know it someday."

"Furball, how about you and I get acquainted first?" Lu Yin cut in.

"Brat, you dare to meet me?"

Lu Yin replied in a challenging tone, "Why wouldn’t I?"

"Take care, or else I’ll butcher you."

"Ask Ba Se whether or not you’re allowed to butcher me first."

"Hmph! We’ll see just how long you can last."

"Furball, are you an animal or a plant?"

Those words caused several creature’s eyes to bulge. It was just too insulting.

"Human, you had better not run into me, or else I will make you wish you were dead!" Furball roared in fury.

Ba Se's voice rang out. "From this moment on, Lu Yin of the human civilization is formally a member of Obscura. He is to be given a gate that directly connects to Vestigium and is allowed to pay homage to the Divine Tree, where he may obtain a color, a floating coffin, a line, and a sword of his own. By joining Obscura, he is rewarded with the Sword Planting and Sword Seed techniques. For completing the mission of destroying the Thorn Civilization, he may select one additional reward.

"Lu Yin, do you understand?"

Lu Yin had not expected to be given the Sword Seed and Sword Planting techniques as soon as he officially joined. He did not even know what Sword Seed really was, but Sword Planting was an incredibly powerful battle technique. If an opponent was caught unprepared, that one technique could reverse an entire battle. Even if someone was on guard, the sword technique could still buy time. Many forms of defense could not fully block the technique.

"I understand. In that case, when can I obtain those things?"

"When you pay homage to the Divine Tree."

"When do I pay homage?"

"Whenever you wish."

Lu Yin looked toward the distant Divine Tree. Paying homage to it meant traveling to Vestigium with his true body, and if he was honest, the mere idea of doing that unnerved him. He did not feel safe doing that, and that meant that the rewards that he had been granted were essentially useless for the time being.

He already had the red coffin and the red line, so there was no need for him to hurry. The Sword Seed and Sword Planting techniques could also wait. He had plenty of powerful means at his disposal at the moment.

"I understand."

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