Chapter 4383: Old Monster

Lu Yin’s question absolutely terrified Luo Chan. The bug was just about to disappear, but its teleportation failed. It had been caught by Lu Yin.

Before asking his question, Lu Yin had already decided to take control of Luo Chan. After all, the Immortal Lord was useful, extremely so.

The green stalk shot closer to Lu Yin. "What are you doing?"

Lu Yin held Luo Chan and stared at the Immortal Lord. "I’m eliminating Luo Chan for you. That way, the Plume Immortals won’t be able to catch you anymore, right?"

"If things were that simple, I would have eliminated it long ago." The Immortal Lord was absolutely furious. "Let it go!"

Regardless of whether Luo Chan existed or not, they could always be found by the Plume Immortals. It was better to keep Luo Chan; that way, if they faced the Plume Immortals, unless that old monster or Gao Tian personally took action, the other birds would be able to do nothing to the Immortal Lord.

Lu Yin’s voice grew cold. "I will help you break free of the Plume Immortals."

Lu Yin's words startled the Immortal Lord, and then a thought suddenly struck them. "Join Obscura?"

Of all of the civilizations that they were aware of, Obscura alone was capable of directly confronting the Plume Immortals Civilization. If anyone could help the Immortal Lord break free from the birds, it would be Obscura. After all, Lu Yin himself was a member of Obscura.

Lu Yin said, "That’s right. Join Obscura, and you won’t need to fear the Plume Immortals any longer."

The Immortal Lord did not understand. "Why did you join Obscura? While I may not know the history of your human race, I clearly understand that Obscura is a sworn enemy of your species."

"My reasons for joining are none of your concern. In any case, you don’t have a choice," Lu Yin answered flatly.

The Immortal Lord fell silent. They indeed had no other choice. Go back? That was impossible. They were indeed partially responsible for Ming Yu's capture, and while no other Plume Immortal had witnessed that, if the Immortal Lord dared to go back, Lu Yin could immediately reveal the truth. They would not escape death. After all, Ming Yu was still alive, and the truth could not be hidden.

The Immortal Lord also did not believe that the Plume Immortals would show them mercy.

Was joining Obscura their only path?

Lu Yin stared at the Immortal Lord. He wanted them to break free from the Plume Immortals’ control and join Obscura. This was not to help the Immortal Lord, but rather to help Lu Yin himself.

Killing Ming Yu and destroying the Plume Immortals' great tree had dealt too great a blow to the Plume Immortals Civilization. After all, that task had been worth a six-star mission reward. If the Plume Immortals learned that Lu Yin was responsible, they would certainly try to seek revenge. His human civilization would never know peace again, and he could not entrust the safety of humanity solely to the so-called thousand-year protection that Obscura had promised.

Responsibility needed to be shifted onto someone else, and the Immortal Lord was the best choice.

Once they joined Obscura, the Plume Immortals would realize that they were a traitor. Given the Immortal Lord's strength, it was not impossible for them to kill Ming Yu and destroy the Plume Immortals' tree.

As for Lu Yin, although he had not returned to Vestigium, that did not mean that he was responsible for destroying the birds’ tree. Even if he were thought to be involved, he should only be able to offer the Immortal Lord some support. This was because the Plume Immortals believed Lu Yin to be much weaker than Ming Yu, which meant that he should be absolutely incapable of deciding the outcome of Ming Yu’s battle.

The birds would much rather believe that Obscura had long since turned the Immortal Lord to their side and that everything had been planned for the sake of this war.

Thus, the Immortal Lord had to join Obscura to divert the Plume Immortals' attention away from Lu Yin. If not for this, he would have never helped the Immortal Lord. It would have been better to simply allow the Plume Immortals to kill them.

Long ago, in order to have the Immortal Lord agree to escort him on his trip to visit the Seven-Treasure Anuras, Lu Yin had said that all grudges between the Immortal Lord and humanity would be erased. However, that had been unfair to the Lost Clan. After all, the Lost Clan had been destroyed by the Nest civilization, and Lu Yin had once promised to help the Lost Clan destroy the Nest civilization. He still remembered that promise.

"Why are you still hesitating?" Lu Yin frowned.

The Immortal Lord answered in a low voice, "Even if I join Obscura, they may not be able to protect me. The Plume Immortals are able to teleport."

"Then stay in Vestigium. The Plume Immortals can’t possibly enter Vestigium to kill you, can they?" Lu Yin retorted. He was helpless himself. If possible, he would much prefer delaying the Immortal Lord worshipping the Divine Tree, just as Lu Yin himself was doing. That had been his original plan. He had already determined the Immortal Lord as the most suitable candidate to join Obscura, but he had not been able to find them before. Now, however, the Immortal Lord would need to stay in Vestigium. If not, as soon as the Plume Immortals locked onto their location, the Immortal Lord’s death would not even be the gravest threat. Rather, if the birds captured the Immortal Lord and forced them to reveal the truth, it would be far more troublesome for Lu Yin.

That would cause his entire human civilization to be targeted by all of the Plume Immortals. Obscura might be capable of waging war against the birds, but humanity was not.

If the Immortal Lord stayed within Vestigium, they would have to worship the Divine Tree. There was nothing that Lu Yin could do about that.

The Immortal Lord agreed, and Lu Yin immediately moved away from them, lying down in his red coffin and sending his consciousness into Vestigium. He was also curious to see how the battle there had fared.

As for the Immortal Lord, Lu Yin had no worries that they would attempt to flee. To begin with, Lu Yin had Luo Chan. Second, where could the Immortal Lord even run to? Even if Lu Yin could not find them, would the Plume Immortals also fail? Running would be suicide.

As he lay in the coffin, Ming Yan's consciousness reached out from the Investiture of the Gods to envelop Lu Yin, and the three-colored divine energy was slowly separated.

The process was painful. As the divine energy receded, Lu Yin’s aura continuously weakened. Blood stained the entire coffin, giving the red coffin an even bloodier appearance.

He breathed heavily. His injuries were too severe this time. Absorbing the overwhelming number of green lights had strengthened his body, but the grave wounds that he had suffered had not healed at all. He did not hurry to send his consciousness to Vestigium. Instead, he rolled his die, determined to first recover as much as possible.

He had not revealed his true condition to the Immortal Lord, fearing that it might prompt an attack.

His third roll gave him four pips, Time Stop. He entered his Timestop Space.

The die's Timestop Space was truly bizarre. No matter where Lu Yin was, Timestop could always be used to absolutely freeze time for him alone. He had recently understood the mechanism of this ability; his die’s Timestop ability did not come from a branch of the River of Aeons, but rather from the main stream itself.

Anytime he used the frozen time of his die’s Time Stop, Lu Yin had relied on the main stream of the River of Aeons to do so.

Clearly, he had gained the innate gift of Timestop from his second brother, Lu Mo, but why did the innate ability directly connect to the River of Aeons’ main stream? Lu Mo certainly had not possessed such a capability; he had been far too weak at that time. That indicated that the reason lay in the die itself.

Lu Yin’s die was itself a mirebound artifact. It had not come with any abilities of its own, but the six abilities that it had on its six faces had come from Lu Yin’s six senior brothers and sisters. Had the die enhanced all six innate gifts?

He still did not know what kind of mirebound artifact the die truly was. Timestop alone could directly access the main stream of the River of Aeons... Could the die actually be a guardian artifact?

Lu Yin recuperated for several years inside his Timestop Space. His injuries healed a bit, but most importantly, his energy recovered. Only after that did he emerge and finally send his consciousness into Vestigium.

The moment he entered that place, he heard various members of Obscura discussing matters. He stayed quiet and listened for a while, learning what had happened. That terrifying old monster had truly been the Plume Immortals’ old monster. It was just that everyone had believed the bird to be dead. Not even Obscura had expected it to still be alive.

Obscura didn’t know? Lu Yin did not believe that. He preferred to believe that the war itself had been Obscura’s attempt to probe the Plume Immortals and possibly draw out that old monster.

As for the fact that the war had been initiated by the birds, that was not important. Obscura had made many preparations for the war, and even Lu Yin himself was one of those preparations. The only thing that not even Obscura had expected was for Lu Yin to perform so well.

The moment that terrifying being awakened, all of the Plume Immortals had fled from Vestigium. The war seemed to have reached a temporary cease-fire.

"That little Lu Yin certainly is vicious enough. He actually destroyed the Plume Immortals' great tree." Furball sighed in amazement.

"Hehe, that was his purpose all along."

"But he is still only an Aberrant."

"You can say that he destroyed their tree, but it was not truly destroyed. That old monster was guarding it the whole time. Forget Lu Yin, but even Transparent couldn’t have truly destroyed it."

"Hmph! That old monster is the Plume Immortals' ultimate trump card. If even it was forced out, then the Plume Immortals are not far from destruction." Furball sounded contemptuous. They had once crushed a Plume Immortal to death and were also on the Plume Immortals' kill list.

Hong Xia's voice suddenly rang out. "How much of its former strength does that old monster retain?"

You Che replied, "Orange, do not be afraid. If that old monster tries to deal with you, we will all help you."

The words sounded pleasant, yet they were stifling to hear. Hong Xia did not pay Che any attention at all.

Second Furball asked in a low voice, "Ba Se, how much strength does that old monster retain?"

They were also very curious.

Truthfully, Lu Yin was even more curious about Second Furball. They were a shield that had somehow become sapient.

Ba Se slowly answered, "Unclear... It has slept ever since that battle long ago. Still, its mortal wounds may not have fully healed. Restoring the Plume Immortals' tree at this time consumed some of its strength as well, so it absolutely does not possess the same power that it did back then."

"Hehe, even if only one or two parts remain, it is still absolutely terrifying." Even Old Man Hehe sounded wary.

Lu Yin arched a brow. Was that ancient being truly wary of the bird? Not necessarily.

Looking back, of all of the Obscura members whom Lu Yin were aware of, Old Man Hehe had hidden himself the deepest. They were capable of drawing upon the main steam of the River of Aeons, which was far from simple. Not only that, but during both of the wars that Lu Yin had been drafted to fight in, Old Man Hehe had faced absolute powerhouses.

At the very least, their opponents had been beings that Lu Yin could not even touch.

This was especially true of the war against the Mudwater Dominion. Back then, Lu Yin had asked Old Man Hehe who Ni Bieluo's opponent was, and they had only replied with a "hehe." At the time, Lu Yin had been absolutely infuriated, but in hindsight, had that not already been an answer?

Ni Bieluo's opponent had been Old Man Hehe. Lu Yin had been given the answer. He had simply not realized it.

Yet that also did not seem to be entirely accurate. Old Man Hehe had wanted Lu Yin’s assistance in dealing with their opponent. If that opponent had been Ni Bieluo, then no matter what, it should have fallen to Lu Yin to deal the final blow. Or could Old Man Hehe have had more than one opponent in that war?

Old Man Hehe gave Lu Yin the impression that, even if they were thrown in front of a powerhouse like the Plume Immortals’ unfathomable ancestor, they would still suffer no harm.

If the transparent Keeper of Balance embodied unmatched sharpness and dominance that could break through everything, then Old Man Hehe embodied a softness that overcame hardness: endless and unceasing.

“Lu Yin, congratulations on completing a six-star mission. You can now redeem the rewards of two four-star missions, two five-star missions, and one six-star mission,” Ba Se stated, their voice unheard by any others. Lu Yin alone heard it, and Ba Se knew that he had arrived.

Lu Yin said, "Obscura is short on people, isn’t it? I would like to recommend the Immortal Lord as a candidate to join Obscura."

"The Immortal Lord of the Nest civilization?"

"That’s right."

"That is acceptable. Their strength meets Obscura's requirements."

"However, because they have been marked by the Plume Immortals, those birds are able to sense their location at any time. Is that a problem that can be resolved?" Lu Yin asked.

Ba Se replied, "There is no obligation for Obscura to offer help before a member joins. They also need to complete a suitable mission and redeem rewards."

"What level of mission?"

"A four-star mission."

"Fine. I will exchange one of my rewards for that," Lu Yin stated. If the Immortal Lord’s problem was not resolved, they would remain uneasy, and it would be easy for trouble to arise later on for Lu Yin. Moreover, if this issue could be resolved, the Immortal Lord might not actually need to worship the Divine Tree and immediately be chosen by a color.

Ba Se agreed. "Have them enter Vestigium."

Lu Yin was just about to ask if the Immortal Lord could delay worshiping the Divine Tree, but after thinking things over, he decided that he had no right to ask such a question. Only the Immortal Lord themself could do that.

Upon exiting Vestigium, Lu Yin found the Immortal Lord. "I used one of my own four-star mission rewards to resolve the matter of the Plume Immortals being able to sense your location. Remember to repay me later."

The Immortal Lord felt extremely complicated emotions. From the Plume Immortals to Obscura, their fate always seemed to be controlled by others.

"Thank you." Facing Lu Yin, that was all they could say, and they felt utterly humiliated.

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