Chapter 4092: Upheaval

Lu Yin was puzzled by something. “How long has it been since Obscura learned of Qi Xu’s death? It hasn’t even been twenty years. Within just two decades, even if they found these giant snails, how could they have sent them so close to us?

“Even we humans know to prevent Obscura’s gates from being activated. If this foreign civilization is stronger than us, then they should be even more inclined to stop this from happening. They wouldn’t allow Obscura to control them.

“Unless it wasn’t a gate...” He suddenly thought of something and turned to look at Greater Sancte Green Lotus. “Megaverses can move.”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus met Lu Yin’s gaze. “There are certain answers that I can’t give you, simply because none of us know.

“Trying to come to conclusions by using common sense often yields nothing. For the time being, all we can do is prepare for another civilizational war.”

“What do you need me to do?” Lu Yin asked.

“For the moment, nothing,” Greater Sancte Green Lotus replied, “I’m informing you now so that you are mentally prepared. I have an uneasy feeling that our human civilization is facing growing danger.”

...

It took about a year to travel between the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and the Tianyuan aboard a green lotus leaf, and it took about the same amount of time to reach the giant snails’ location from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

The Tianyuan was actually rather close to the edge of the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm, which spread out from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, which served as the center.

After a little over a year, a green lotus leaf arrived, and battle erupted just outside the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm. It was a fight between the humans and the foreign civilization.

Lu Yin watched the first engagement through the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm. He personally witnessed just how strange the foreign creatures were.

He saw many human cultivators die after being shot by a transparent, glass-like substance that the giant snails fired.

Each giant snail possessed astonishing defense, at least equal to that of a human Progenitor. Many had reached the level of sequence powerhouses, though the snails did not master sequence particles. Instead, they wielded the glass-like substance as both their weapon and shield, using it to sweep across the cosmos.

Most shocking was when dozens of the giant snails combined their strange substance to crush a number of cultivators to death. Among the human experts were those who had cultivated the Nirvana Tree Path.

Finally, the snails seemed capable of nullifying physical power.

Lu Yin could not understand how they had accomplished that. It seemed as though they... ate it?

Many human experts were famous for their physical strength, but against the snails, any attacks that used physical power were rendered useless.

Most terrifying of all were the shells on the snails’ backs. They were able to unleash black vortices that devoured everything, and those vortices could be freely swept through space. Even the snails that were as strong as a human Progenitor were able to drag sequence-level cultivators into their shells. Once that happened, Lu Yin never saw a single person emerge again.

What truly drove cultivators to despair was the use of Lifeforce. All of the giant snails possessed Lifeforce, even if only faint amounts. But even a trace was enough to grant them a power beyond ordinary creatures at the same level.

Many people had traveled on the green lotus leaf, but by the end of the battle, only the top experts such as Qing Xing or the Great Master had succeeded in killing any of the snails. As for everyone else, they had at best inflicted minimal harm. The humans suffered far heavier casualties.

In fact, humanity suffered greater losses than when they had faced off against the Nest civilization.

Thus, the first battle started quickly, only to end even faster.

Humanity also lost that first clash.

Lu Yin watched the giant snails in silence. The snails’ round forms created a black forest that stretched out endlessly, radiating a grim, killing aura.

His mood grew heavy.

During the war against the Nest civilization, there had been vast numbers of insects, but after they dealt with the Verdant Sages, the remaining insects had posed only a limited threat to the stronger cultivators.

The snails were different. Each one was formidable, and they also possessed a variety of methods. Often, it took between three and five human cultivators to handle just one snail.

Worse yet, the snails’ numbers were close to the human forces’.

After just one battle, humanity understood the snails’ strength, though they had not yet accepted defeat.

Every last one of the giant snails was akin to one of the Nest civilization’s Verdant Sages.

The Nine Odysseys Megaverse started to rework their strategy. Humans’ greatest strength was their intelligence.

So long as it was possible to understand the enemy, there would always be methods to counter them, unless the gap in absolute strength was too great.

It did not take long for a second battle to break out. Once again, Ku Deng faced off against the Immortal snail, but this time, he also scattered the horde of snails by opening rifts. The human cultivators assembled into groups, just like they previously had in the Consciousness Megaverse. Each group was supported by a top expert, such as the Great Master, Qing Xing, Xing Fan, and a few others.

The groups also covered each other, providing mutual support when needed.

This strategy caused the giant snails to suffer notably more significant losses, and it even forced them to reveal a third ability: lightning.

When Ku Deng saw lightning shoot out, he immediately evacuated everyone from the battlefield. He had not expected the snails to be capable of launching such a powerful attack.

“Honored Immortal of a mighty civilization, our kind has no desire to become your enemy. Please allow us to settle here, and we will never initiate a war against you,” the Immortal giant snail shouted, its voice reaching the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus stared at the distant snails, his expression growing even darker after hearing the snail’s words.

He did not know if the snail was being honest, but he hoped not.

If the snail was being truthful, then the strike against humanity might not be from the snails at all. It was possible that they were bait to lure in another, stronger civilization.

But the snails were already formidable opponents. If Immortal combatants were removed from the conflict, then it was quite possible that the Nine Odysseys Megaverse would lose an all-out war against the snails. The odds of humanity’s loss were quite high.

The fact that all of the snails possessed Lifeforce, no matter how thin it might be, meant that there was a qualitative difference in power. It did not even matter that they had not cultivated Lifeforce on their own.

There were also the snails’ other abilities. Their shells manipulated space in a manner that was exceedingly difficult to counter.

Each individual snail really was as powerful as one of the Nest civilization’s Verdant Sages.

With a few more Immortals added to their numbers, their civilization could win an all-out war against humanity without question.

“How did you reach this place?” Greater Sancte Green Lotus had Ku Deng ask a question.

The Immortal snail replied, “We migrated. We were facing the threat of extinction.”

“But you arrived here too quickly.”

“Not even Immortals are capable of seeing the entirety of the Aevum Inch. You simply didn’t see us coming.”

“What is behind you?”

The Immortal snail made a confused sound. “I don’t know what you mean.”

Ku Deng glared daggers at the Immortal snail. “There is a blue sword behind you.”

The Immortal snail fell silent.

Karma? So they saw that. This is certainly troublesome

.

The snails’ arrival was indeed related to Obscura, though the Immortal snail also had not lied about certain details. The snails truly did have no intention of starting a conflict with humanity. Their only wish was to quietly remain beyond the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm. Their purpose was to lure over a specific civilization, nothing more.

The Immortal Snail had not expected their purpose to be discovered so quickly.

“Yes, we encountered a blue sword. What of it? Our civilization will not fight against yours, not at all,” the Immortal snail swore.

Ku Deng replied, “I can sense your sincerity. In that case, as an Immortal of our civilization, I formally invite you to enter in order to discuss joint defense.”

“I will not enter your civilization.”

“Do you not trust us?”

“Is your civilization not also wary of me?”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus’s expression grew heavier. He spoke to Ku Deng through the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm. “Kill it. Eliminate all of these creatures, or else we’ll be in true danger.”

Ku Deng had already had the same thought, and thus he lashed out immediately.

The third battle broke out.

Lives withered away as the fighting between two civilizations that did not even know the other’s name or nature continued.

This was the way of the cosmos; civilizations could not coexist.

Obscura’s favored method was both simple and direct; simply put another civilization close to humanity. That was all that they needed to do.

In order to survive in the cosmos, it was necessary to ensure that a civilization was not discovered by others. The greatest measure of trust in the Aevum Inch was the absence of trust.

In the Tianyuan, Lu Yin’s attention shifted. He still had not found the Willbound Spire yet.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

He was the best option to intervene in the war between the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and the foreign civilization. He possessed the combat strength of an Immortal without the restrictions of one. He was certainly capable of delivering devastation to those giant snails.

But he could not leave.

Obscura understood human civilization. If Lu Yin left, there would be no Immortal-level protector for the Tianyuan. Qing Cao could not be trusted, and while it was unlikely, the Nest civilization could return at any moment.

Lu Yin could not take that risk. He would not allow the Tianyuan to fall into crisis.

There were some mistakes that offered no room for redemption.

The Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm started to roar as Lu Yin released his Karmic Dao and merged with it.

“You’ve seen the strength of those foreign creatures. You are our best option to deal with them. As for the Tianyuan, let Awe Gate protect it in your stead,” Greater Sancte Green Lotus said.

That removed Lu Yin’s hesitation. “Alright.”

It was a sound solution. As long as there was an Immortal-level guardian for the Tianyuan, it would be safe.

Lu Yin trusted Greater Sancte Green Lotus and also Awe Gate.

Awe Gate stepped out from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and vanished, making her way towards the Tianyuan.

She felt frustrated. If she had not broken through to the Immortal realm, Lu Yin would not be needed in the current war.

Qing Xing and the others had improved their combat power with the Nirvana Tree Path, achieving levels comparable to the Nest civilization’s four Insect Lords, but there were simply too many giant snails. Some even possessed similar levels of strength, and the snails simply had too many methods at their disposal.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus had become convinced that the giant snails were merely bait to lure over an even stronger civilization. They were but a tool in Obscura’s plot.

Eliminating the snails was humanity’s top priority. If not for that, he would not have insisted that Lu Yin go.

The faster the snails were destroyed, the better it would be for human civilization.

Awe Gate arrived at the farthest point that her gates could reach. There, she stepped onto a green lotus leaf and continued on towards the Tianyuan.

Before she had gone very far, the leaf came to an abrupt stop. Awe Gate heard Greater Sancte Green Lotus speak in a low voice, “There’s been a new development. Support Ku Deng now.”

At the same time, from the Tianyuan, Lu Yin had also seen the change. A familiar figure had appeared near the battlefield outside the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm: the droplet-shaped Verdant Sage.

That bug’s silhouette was unforgettable, especially because it was an Immortal.

Both the Immortal giant snail and Ku Deng froze, and they turned to stare warily at the droplet-shaped creature.

Ku Deng’s face turned grim. He had seen this Immortal bug before. It was his first opponent after he had become an Immortal himself. He had never considered the possibility that the Immortal Verdant Sage would appear on the current battlefield.