Chapter 4384: Shang Jing

Lu Yin released Master Qing Cao from a Zenith Mountain. The man could directly bring the Immortal Lord to Vestigium.

Master Qing Cao looked at the Immortal Lord and showed no surprise. The Immortal Lord had always belonged to the Plume Immortals Civilization, so their appearance on this particular battlefield was perfectly normal.

Qing Cao had no idea how great Lu Yin’s accomplishments during this war had been.

As for the Immortal Lord turning on the Plume Immortals and joining Obscura, that was even less of a surprise. In the past, the Immortal Lord had been suppressed by Lu Yin. Once someone was caught by Lu Yin, their life always changed. That was how everyone saw Lu Yin.

"Also, do your best to not worship the Divine Tree just yet. Delay that and don’t get chosen by a color. That will help me," Lu Yin said.

The Immortal Lord did not understand this request. Having not yet joined Obscura, they could not understand what Lu Yin was saying.

Lu Yin stared intently at the Immortal Lord. "What helps me helps you. You know me."

Master Qing Cao glanced at the younger man. Those words were not a threat, and yet they carried even more weight than a threat. The better that one understood Lu Yin, the greater the pressure that sentence would place upon them.

Very soon, Master Qing Cao opened a gate, and the Immortal Lord stepped through. They did not hesitate, nor did they worry about what Obscura might do to them. At this juncture, if Obscura moved against them, then with the Plume Immortals’ malice, the Immortal Lord would have no path to survival at all.

There was no reason for Lu Yin to deceive them.

The Immortal Lord was different from Lu Yin. When Lu Yin had been forced to join Obscura, he had not drawn the ire of the Plume Immortals or any other powerful enemies. If the birds had also intended to attack his human civilization back then, Lu Yin would not have been able to delay worshiping the Divine Tree for so long.

The Immortal Lord had been driven to a dead end.

After the Immortal Lord entered Vestigium, Lu Yin took Master Qing Cao and teleported back to the human megaverses. There, he lay down in the red coffin once more, sending his consciousness back into Vestigium.

"Hm? A being wants to join at a time like this? Who is it?"

Ba Se's voice rang out. "The Immortal Lord of the Nest civilization, which was originally a part of the Plume Immortals Civilization. Lu Yin used a four-star mission reward to erase the hidden danger from them, and they have agreed to face Obscura's trial. Do you all agree?"

"I disagree." Second Furball was the first to object.

Furball objected right after that.

Lu Yin frowned. He had actually forgotten that there was this step to candidacy. Back when Miao Zun had been invited to join, these Obscura members had all voiced their opinions as well, though, of course, they had all agreed at that time.

"Inviting the Immortal Lord to join as a member or not is my authority. Informing you all is simply a matter of respect. I also ask that you all consider Obscura's current situation," Ba Se said.

Lu Yin was surprised. Is that how it works?

"Hehe, when you invited that little fellow to join back then, you said the same thing. The facts proved your decision was correct. I agree," Old Man Hehe said.

After that, more voices spoke up, and they all voiced their agreement.

Within Vestigium, the Immortal Lord's green stalk stood in mid-air, facing the Divine Tree as they listened to the conversation surrounding them. Everyone speaking was a member of Obscura, and every one of them was a powerful Immortal. Not one was any weaker than Lan Meng.

Today, the Immortal Lord would also join Obscura. It felt like a dream. They had never imagined that they would join Obscura.

The Nest civilization had once wanted to become a fishing civilization. In retrospect, just how laughable was that dream? The absolute means of any true fishing civilization was enough to exterminate them. In fact, the very ability that had allowed the Nest civilization to freely roam across the Aevum Inch was actually one of the Plume Immortals' absolute means.

"Lu Yin, the power within the Immortal Lord that allowed the Plume Immortals to sense it has already been erased. Your exchange of this reward is complete. Do you still wish to exchange for another reward?" Ba Se's voice came.

Lu Yin asked, "On the Immortal Lord's side, there is also Luo Chan..."

He briefly explained Luo Chan's situation, and Ba Se replied that the bug had to die. Luo Chan had been born from the Plume Immortals. Unlike Lu Yin, who had grown the innate gift of teleportation with the help of his family’s ancestor, Luo Chan would inevitably be noticed by the Plume Immortals the moment that it appeared.

The Immortal Lord was also informed of that detail. Left with no choice, they could only destroy Luo Chan.

They did not care if Luo Chan lived or died. What they cared about was the ability to teleport. Upon losing that ability entirely, the Immortal Lord would become like any other ordinary creature, losing an absolute means. For a time, the Immortal Lord could not accept that loss, and they fell silent.

***

The exact instant that Luo Chan died, and after the power within the Immortal Lord that the Plume Immortals could sense had been erased, furious screeches erupted from the birds’ great tree. "So it was that bug!"

"Nan Ling, what is it?" a Plume Immortal asked.

Nan Ling furiously replied, "That bug betrayed us! Luo Chan is dead, and the power inside that other bug has been erased!"

Vestigium and the Plume Immortals' great tree were very far apart, and yet the Plume Immortals still seemed to be able to instantly sense the death of Luo Chan.

This was also why the Immortal Lord had known that they could not free themself from the Plume Immortals. No one knew how far the Plume Immortals could sense certain kinds of power. After all, with their ability to teleport, they could appear absolutely anywhere.

"What? That insect?"

"The one who erased the power that we left within it must be Obscura."

"No wonder Ming Yu disappeared. So it was that bug! I knew that Obscura had no one free to take action, aside from that Aberrant, and an Aberrant could have never defeated Ming Yu and destroyed the tree. Damn it! We must kill it! It is even more despicable than that Hong Xia!"

"Kill it!"

Furious screeches echoed across the sky.

"It is nothing more than a mere traitor. There is no need to be so enraged. Over the years, quite a number of our kin have died, yet the Ten Plumes will always remain." A low voice rose from beneath the great tree, and all the other Plume Immortals fell silent.

"A problem has appeared in our tree. I must find a way to fix it. Delay our war with Obscura for the time being." After a pause, the voice continued to ask, "Why has Gao Tian not yet returned?"

Bei Qing answered respectfully, "Reporting to Ancestor: Gao Tian is fighting against Obscura's Keeper of Balance. This was agreed upon before battle broke out, as we intended to give Gao Tian a chance to kill that Keeper of Balance in a one-on-one fight. If successful, Obscura will suffer grievous losses."

"Fools!" The cosmos trembled. The aura of the terrifying being instantly suppressed everything, forcing Bei Qing and all the other Plume Immortals to crawl on the ground. "Who gave you the confidence that you could definitely kill that little one? He is the existence within Obscura who had hidden themselves the most deeply in these recent eras. Gao Tian may not be his match."

Bei Qing, Nan Ling, and the others were horrified. "How is that possible? Is Gao Tian incapable of defeating him?"

The terrifying existence explained in a frighteningly low voice, "You thought yourselves to be plotting against Obscura, but it is you who have been schemed against by them. Before I went to sleep, I warned you to not underestimate Obscura. Their cunning is beyond your imagination. Fools!"

"But he is clearly just a mere-"

"Silence!" The terrifying existence's aura spiked in a shocking manner, making it seem as though the Aevum Inch was swaying, frightening every Plume Immortal into trembling.

Only quite some time later did that overwhelming aura finally calm down. "Do you have any way to find Gao Tian?"

The gathered Plume Immortals shook their heads.

"Is this Gao Tian killing him? Clearly, it was Obscura who created a chance for him to kill Gao Tian. Infuriating. Foolish! Obscura is as cunning and scheming as those humans. Despicable!"

Yue Ting raised its head. "Humans? Yes, there are indeed human members of Obscura."

Bei Qing glanced at Yue Ting. "Sooner or later, I will kill Hong Xia."

"Not him. There is another." Yue Ting hesitated briefly. "And that human has also obtained the ability to teleport."

Hearing this, Nan Ling suddenly remembered. "Yes! Ancestor, we were just about to report this to you. The reason this war suddenly began is that Yue Lu was severely injured by that Keeper of Balance and nearly killed. After investigating, we learned that the true cause is that the human civilization now has an Aberrant who has obtained the ability to teleport."

Boom!

The cosmos pressed down with enough power that countless spatial cracks opened up and spread out in every direction.

"What? A human has obtained the ability to teleport?" The terrifying existence roared. Its rampaging aura caused even the Plume Immortals to struggle to breathe. Nan Ling had never imagined that a single report would enrage their ancestor so much. It did not even know how to respond.

"A human? Humans can now teleport?" the terrifying existence continued to roar.

Nan Ling forced itself to answer. "Yes, that is what Yue Lu said. At the start of this war, the human who can teleport also came here. Ming Yu faced him and kept pursuing him. Yue Ting can testify to that as well."

Yue Ting quickly spoke up, "Yes, Ancestor. Please understand things clearly. That human truly is able to teleport. He is the one who used Taiqing's sourcebox array to help Obscura attempt to seal off Gao Tian’s senses. If we had not made preparations in advance, Gao Tian might really have been sealed off. Although that human is only an Aberrant and is not especially strong, he has many methods and is extremely strange."

More and more spatial cracks opened up. In the distance, the rifts split the Aevum Inch like lightning falling from the sky. They were even larger than the Plume Immortals' great tree, looking like crimson pillars holding up the sky.

"Forget everything else. Kill that human first. Exterminate that human civilization!" the terrifying existence roared. Hearing about humans had completely ignited its fury.

Bei Qing asked in a low voice, "Then what about the war with Obscura, or that traitorous bug?"

"Destroy this human civilization first. Nothing is more important than that! Do you not understand my words?"

"Yes, Ancestor."

"Yes, Ancestor."

***

The Immortal Lord left Vestigium to complete their candidacy trial. Only by using a civilization to destroy the civilization designated by Obscura could they truly join as a member. No one was exempt from this process.

But after having lost Luo Chan, the Immortal Lord's means of travel had become Obscura’s gates. They were extremely unaccustomed to such a method.

After the Immortal Lord was gone, Ba Se addressed Lu Yin again. "What do you wish to exchange your remaining rewards for?"

Lu Yin said, "That can wait. Ba Se, you never told me that the Plume Immortals had such a terrifying old monster. I almost died! Shouldn’t you have said something?"

Ba Se calmly replied, "That is war. Anything can happen. Not to mention you, but not even Obscura expected that bird to still be alive."

Of course Lu Yin did not believe that at all, and neither did any other Obscura member. "Who exactly is it?"

Ba Se said, "Shang Jing, the Ancestral Plume of the Plume Immortals. It is a creature that resonates with three cosmic laws and is also a wielder of a guardian artifact. It is one of the strongest known existences in the Aevum Inch, as well as one of the key instigators of the war against the Nine Ramparts."

Lu Yin's eyes flickered as he stared into the pitch-black depths of Vestigium. In the distance, the Divine Tree seemed to transform into a gigantic Plume Immortal. Shang Jing? Ancestral Plume? One of the instigators of the war against the Nine Ramparts?

At this moment, Lu Yin felt as though another corner of the past had been lifted. He finally saw a clearly defined enemy.

"We all believed that it had died back then. We did not expect it to still be alive. As long as it lives, the Plume Immortals will not fall so easily. This war may drag on for a very long time," Ba Se continued. The conversation between them and Lu Yin could not be heard by the other members of Obscura.

Lu Yin stared at the Divine Tree. "Why did you all think that it was dead?"

Ba Se casually replied, "That is a matter of knowledge. Do you wish to exchange a reward for that knowledge?"

Of course Lu Yin did not agree to that exchange. Although he very much wanted to know the details, using a reward for that information would be too costly. Regardless, he already knew that Shang Jing was one of humanity’s strongest enemies, and that was enough. His target had become clear. It was just that this enemy was much too terrifying, and his current self was nowhere near enough to deal with it.

After all, he could not defeat even Hong Xia.

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