Chapter 4536: Protection

Lu Yin had agreed to help Old Sixth not because he wanted to negotiate with the Seven-Treasure Anura, but rather because Swordstone’s participation in this competition was much too strange. No matter how he thought about it, this stone man did not seem like a powerhouse capable of becoming an Abyssal. So then why was it competing for that position?

Lu Yin felt as though he could see a pair of eyes behind the stone man.

Furthermore, Swordstone itself was very special. It was from the Nine Ramparts, which meant that it was a part of human civilization. The one who had killed Death's Dominion had been Lu Yin, a human powerhouse. Swordstone and human civilization: no matter how Lu Yin looked at it, something about this relationship was problematic.

He might as well help Old Sixth win and become an Abyssal. It would be better for the damned toad to become an Abyssal than Swordstone, whose purpose remained unknown.

"My condition is simple: take me to Thousand Machinations' Abyss to help me reach my full potential," Lu Yin stated.

Old Sixth stared at him, and Lu Yin fearlessly met the toad’s gaze. However, a skeleton's eye sockets were empty, and Old Sixth was unable to read anything in Lu Yin’s gaze.

"Are you sure that that’s your condition?"

"Is it difficult?"

Old Sixth laughed. "I agree! By the way, let me tell you this: from the very beginning, Thousand Machinations wanted to take you to their Abyss! Even if you hadn’t brought it up as a condition, it would have happened anyway!"

Lu Yin then realized that this damned toad was truly despicable. They could have stayed silent while sharing this was clearly only to infuriate Lu Yin.

But there was nothing that he could do. His proposal had been agreed to, so there was only one way forward.

Lu Yin turned and walked back to the finish line, while Old Sixth simply watched. He reached close to where the path of Stillness ended and then spoke without turning around. "Toad, if I am in danger, do not hesitate. Save me immediately."

Old Sixth waved a hand. "Don’t worry. You’re the one that Thousand Machinations values most right now, so I’ll definitely save you."

Lu Yin wanted to slap the damned toad. Old Sixth had just said that Thousand Machinations valued many creatures. The damned toad did not speak a single truthful word, and yet its lies were always easy to see through.

Meeting a swindler was not frightening, and neither was being deceived. What was frightening was having the matter announced to the world afterwards, especially if the swindler was the one spreading the tale. That was exactly how Lu Yin felt right now.

He really wanted to come over with his true body and slap this fellow to death.

Taking a deep breath, Lu Yin stepped forward, reaching the finish line.

The stone man moved, turning to face him.

Lu Yin tensed, afraid that the stone man would attack with its sword. Although Lu Yin was confident that he could dodge its strikes, if he was attacked, he would not be able to help Old Sixth.

The toad had asked Lu Yin to help precisely because Old Sixth felt that there was a strong possibility that a human skeleton would not be attacked by Stone Sword. Otherwise, if the goal was simply to defeat the stone man, Lu Yin would not be able to contribute much to Old Sixth.

Whether they succeeded or failed depended on this first step. At this moment, Lu Yin was tense, but Old Sixth was even more so on edge.

Two gazes stared at the stone man, terrified that he might make a move.

The stone man did not move after merely turning to face Lu Yin.

Lu Yin raised his foot again and took a second step, fully stepping off of the path of Stillness.

Old Sixth's heart lurched into their throat. Lu Yin was ready to flee at any moment.

The stone man still did not move. It simply faced Lu Yin, as though observing him.

Lu Yin looked back at Old Sixth, and the toad raised a hand and clenched a fist, encouraging him.

Lu Yin raised his foot again and walked forward. He was clearly a skeleton, and yet he somehow managed to move in a sneaky manner.

One step, two steps, three steps... Lu Yin slowly approached the stone man, but the stone man still did not move. Only if Lu Yin changed direction would Stone Sword shift so that it was always looking straight at the human skeleton.

Lu Yin watched the stone man. As he did so, a spike of sorrow welled up within him, despite his tension and nervousness.

He was not being attacked because he was a human skeleton. In the end, this Stone Sword was also a part of humanity, wasn’t it?

Could it be facing me in order to protect me? This thought suddenly occurred to Lu Yin, and he turned back to Old Sixth and beckoned the toad forward.

Old Sixth was stunned. "Me?"

"Come over."

"Go forward?"

"It isn’t attacking."

"I’m not human."

"Try it."

"That doesn’t seem right." Old Sixth hesitated.

Lu Yin asked, "Do you want me to become an Abyssal instead?"

Old Sixth's eyes shifted, and they tried to cross over the finish line.

However, the moment a foot stepped off the path of Stillness, a sword slashed at the toad. Old Sixth immediately retreated, crying out, "As expected, I was attacked! I can’t go over there."

Lu Yin had already known that the toad would be attacked. What he was concerned about was not that Old Sixth would be attacked, but rather the fact that, when Stone Sword had attacked, it had instantly moved to stand between Lu Yin and the toad. It really was protecting him.

At this moment, Lu Yin fell silent, and sorrow surged into his heart without end. Regardless of whether human civilization had been destroyed in the past, Swordstone continued to protect humanity, even while trapped within the Death Megaverse.

The greatness of the human civilization did not lie in its dazzling, flourishing, and invincible strength, but rather in those who had sacrificed themselves for their civilization: humanity’s selfless guardians.

This sword testing stone was not in control of its own fate, and it could only do what it wanted whenever possible.

Lu Yin walked closer to Swordstone, step by step until he reached it. At that point, he slowly bowed without saying a word. Lu Yin then reached out to grab Swordstone and carried it away from the finish line.

Swordstone was extremely heavy, nearly at the maximum weight that the skeleton clone could carry. Every step was a struggle, and each movement caused his bones to let out soft creaks that sounded as if they might crack at any moment.

Lu Yin still carried the stone man forward, one step at a time.

The void caved in beneath each step, leaving a trail of black impressions behind him.

Old Sixth stared in a daze as Lu Yin carried Swordstone away. The toad was utterly stunned. Earlier, they had only flippantly commented that Swordstone needed to be moved away, and yet this skeleton had just done exactly that.

Lu Yin staggered, and Swordstone nearly slipped from his grasp. The toad shouted, "Use more strength! Don’t drop it! Don’t anger the damned thing!"

Holding Swordstone, Lu Yin looked over at Old Sixth. "Show some respect. This is an elder from my human civilization."

Old Sixth curled their lips in contempt. You’re already just a skeleton yourself, and yet you still want to talk about humanity?

Even so, the toad said nothing.

Continuing on in that manner, Lu Yin carried Swordstone away from the finish line. After fully leaving the area, Old Sixth happily went forward, extremely excited. If not for Lu Yin, fighting against Swordstone definitely would have forced the toad to pay a steep price. This method was far too easy.

Although the toad could not understand why Stone Sword had appeared to compete for the position of Abyssal, Lu Yin’s arrival had just happened to provide the best help possible.

Lu Yin stood away from the finish line, effectively blocking Swordstone. If he did not do so, the stone man might very well move forward again.

With his back to Old Sixth, Lu Yin simply looked at Swordstone. He was looking at both the statue’s face, which was also the face of the Divine Swordsman, and at Swordstone itself.

It felt as though he was flowing through time into the past to see the era of the Nine Ramparts, when one outstanding hero after another had protected human civilization.

Now, it was Lu Yin and the others’ turns. No matter how bitter their struggle became, no matter how exhausting it might be, they had to persist.

Because the Nine Ramparts had been too glorious, the current human civilization had been targeted from the very beginning, like birds locked in a cage. However, they had also reaped many opportunities in the form of legacies from the Nine Ramparts. Without the Nine Ramparts, the Trio would not have reached their current level of power.

Surrounded by enemies on all sides, there was no need to blame the heavens or anyone else. Humanity could only rely on themselves to walk out, step by step.

Time moved on, yet no more powerful enemies appeared.

The Abyssal Displacement fluctuated, and Swordstone was taken away by the Stillness. The competition to be the next Abyssal had come to an end, and Old Sixth had succeeded.

The competition may have seemed intense, but because there were too few participants, it could not be considered truly intense. After all, only five creatures had competed.

Old Sixth would return to Thousand Machinations' Abyss. Before leaving, the toad told Lu Yin that, when the next Abyssal Displacement occurred, he would be able to go to Thousand Machinations' Abyss because they also needed it to go to the Death Sea.

Lu Yin also set off to return to Joy City. This entire event seemed to truly be nothing more than a competition to determine the next Abyssal.

"Hey, we’ve met each other so many times, and yet I still do not know what to call you." Old Sixth asked Lu Yin for his name.

The problem was that, in Joy City, none of the skeletons ever asked each other for their names. It was as though they all subconsciously wanted to forget their pasts.

Fishbone was simply called Fishbone, and Zhou was simply called Zhou. Neither was their real name. Even Withered Requiem had only started being called that after becoming an Abyssal. Names were not important in the Death Megaverse.

"Chen. You can call me Chen."

This was not the “Chen” that meant star, but rather the “Chen” that meant dawn because human civilization would one day see the light of dawn again.

Old Sixth watched Lu Yin leave and reminded him, "Don’t be so sentimental in the future. An elder from human civilization? Saying something like that in the Death Megaverse will only bring misfortune."

Lu Yin waved a hand and left along the Abyssal Displacement.

To arrive, he had needed to pave a path with Stillness and also needed to absorb Stillness, so his progress had been very slow. Going back was much, much faster.

Before long, Lu Yin reached Joy City.

From the castle, Withered Requiem and the others all watched as Lu Yin descended, each one finding it unbelievable. Had the skeleton actually returned alive?

Withered Requiem had thought that Lu Yin would certainly die. "Yo yo, what did you experience?"

Lu Yin replied, "I didn’t go very far. I encountered some fellow called Great Golden Wings and then waited there until the end."

"Yo yo, Great Golden Wings? That’s a subordinate of Dark Prisonbone. You didn’t have an easy time staying alive." After saying that, the Abyssal leapt into the Abyssal Displacement.

Lu Yin looked up. The seventh Abyssal had been decided, and Lu Yin was also about to leave Joy City.

This was the place where his mental state had had a breakthrough and also where he had met Thousand Machinations. Next, he would go to Thousand Machinations' Abyss. He did not know what he would encounter there.

***

Above the dark yellow sea, a deep voice rang out. "The next Abyssal has been determined: the Seven-Treasure Anura."

"I did not expect the new Abyssal to be a toad."

"This is no ordinary toad. Have you all forgotten about Shan?"

"Shan is already dead. Do you think that this creature can reach Shan's level?"

"No matter what, a win is a win. Those are the rules, and they cannot be broken."

"Yo yo, I don’t care."

"But who will translate for Thousand Machinations after this? Although I find that damned toad unpleasant, it seems to translate accurately for the most part."

"That is Thousand Machinations' business. If there is no creature to translate for them, they should just stop speaking."

"It is just a pity. We originally wanted to use Swordstone to lure that candle out. Since Swordstone did not become the Abyssal, that plan cannot be carried out. What a pity."

"I am curious. How did the Seven-Treasure Anura defeat Swordstone?"

"Only the Death Megaverse itself can see through the entire Abyssal Displacement. None of us can do that yet."

Clap.

Thousand Machinations clapped its hands, but no one translated for it, and the sea fell silent.

No one knew what Thousand Machinations meant.

***

To become an Abyss, the first step was to go to Thousand Machinations' Abyss and reach the limit of one's potential. Then, they had to go to the Death Sea to absorb Stillness. Only after that was the entire process considered complete and success announced to the other Abysses.

Lu Yin was waiting for Old Sixth to travel to the Death Sea. When the Abyssal Displacement reappeared, it would be time for Lu Yin to go to Thousand Machinations' Abyss.

Fishbone sighed. "For countless years, the Abyssal Displacement has never been used so frequently. How many times has it occurred recently?"

"There will be another one soon," Zhou announced.

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