Chapter 4127: Give It A Fright

“Let me try,” Lu Yin said.

Ku Deng wanted to dissuade the young man, but after seeing the determination in Lu Yin’s eyes, he instead said, “Be careful, Mr. Lu. If you cannot do it, don’t try to force it.”

Lu Yin gave a single nod and entered the Living Megaverse.

The moment he did so, the endless surge of Activeness rushed into him again. He wanted to release his inner universe to endure the flood, but his inner universe was miniscule when compared to the Living Megaverse. It would be like trying to hold back an ocean with a streambed.

He did not dare risk making a mistake at this moment. He could only endure the surge of Activeness on his own.

His skin withered and recovered again and again as he shot straight for the ocean. After a few moments, a terrifying blast split the universe as he released the power gathered by Extremes Must Be Reversed. The attack tore all the way through to the Aevum Inch.

Wave after wave of power ripped through the universe.

Lu Yin soon arrived on the bottom of the ocean that Ku Deng had mentioned, and there, he saw the object. It looked like a piece of metal or stone, but it was impossible to tell for sure.

It had an irregular shape, not matching any sort of living creature. Even so, it radiated a sense of erosion. It almost resembled a sourcebox, but this object’s energy was the polar opposite of a sourcebox’s complete stillness.

The closer Lu Yin drew to the object, the denser the Activeness became. It surged like a storm until it nearly drowned him.

While it had previously taken fifteen minutes for his Extremes Must Be Reversed to reach saturation, the saturation time shortened the closer he drew to the object. Eventually, his body withered, recovered, and withered again in a mere instant. He finally had to retreat from the ocean, even leaving the Living Megaverse entirely. Not even Extremes Must Be Reversed was enough for him to endure.

If he had forced himself to go any closer, he would have ended up like One-Eye and exploded.

That energy was unquestionably at the level of an Immortal.

“That has to be the source of all the Activeness in the Living Megaverse,” Lu Yin agreed. “Senior, if we can take that away, would this place become an ordinary megaverse?”

He wanted to seize that item and forge it into a living weapon. He had lacked a truly suitable weapon for a very long time.

Ku Deng replied, “The Activeness that already fills the megaverse would remain, but no new energy would be added to it.”

Lu Yin nodded. “Let’s go. We really can’t take it for now.”

Ku Deng sighed helplessly. “It’s this old man’s fault. If Greater Sancte Awe Gate had come with you, things might have turned out differently.”

Lu Yin smiled. “Don’t belittle yourself, Senior. If not for your timely breakthrough, our human civilization might not have been able to survive to now.”

As they spoke, the green lotus leaf started drifting towards Obscura’s gate.

There was no doubt that they would return to the megaverse in the future, but that would only be after the crisis of the Seven-Treasure Anuras had been dealt with. There was not enough time before then. By the Immortal snail’s estimate, the Seven-Treasures Astral Anuras would arrive within ten years.

They might arrive earlier or later, or possibly not at all. No one could be certain.

Within ten years was what Kang Tian believed to be accurate.

The giant snail believed that the Seven-Treasures Astral Anuras would only come if they had discovered Astral Anura’s existence, as the Tricolor Skyborne might not be enough to lure the toads to the human megaverses.

However, Lu Yin and Greater Sancte Green Lotus were aware that the Seven-Treasures Astral Anuras had indeed learned of Astral Anura’s existence.

That meant that the toads would undoubtedly arrive.

Humanity was facing another impending crisis.

After another three years, the green lotus leaf passed through the gate and returned to human civilization. Lu Yin and Ku Deng then reported everything that they had discovered in the Living Megaverse.

After hearing them, Greater Sancte Green Lotus’s expression fell. “While all creatures believe that Immortals cannot die unless slain by another Immortal, that is not actually true.

“Mortals have mortal lifespans, and Immortals have their own lifespans.”

Lu Yin stared at Greater Sancte Green Lotus in shock. Immortals had a lifespan? That went against everything he knew. He had always believed that, absent any sort of outside interference, an Immortal would live forever due to them harmonizing with the cosmos. After all, that was the very meaning of the word ‘Immortal.’ How could such beings have a lifespan?

Lu Yin was not the only one shocked by this revelation. Even Greater Sancte Awe Gate and Ku Deng were puzzled. They had never heard of such a thing before.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus clasped his hands behind his back, his voice low. “An Immortal’s lifespan is not measured in time, but in the cosmic law they resonate with.

“By harmonizing with the cosmos, one attains immortality, borrowing time from the law to exist without end. But when the law descends, if one’s resonance ever wavers or strays, that same law will devour them.

“That is an Immortal’s lifespan.”

He glanced at the three and gave a rueful smile. “Of course, that is exceedingly rare. Immortals are scarce to begin with, so being devoured by one’s law is even rarer. You needn’t dwell on this. I never mentioned it before to prevent you from overthinking things, especially to you, Lu Yin.”

He gazed intently at Lu Yin. “As I mentioned before, if I lay out the road before you, every step will become more difficult to take. However, you have already stepped onto the level of Immortals. Even if I say nothing, you will come to ask such questions on your own.

“Whether this knowledge will be a boon or a bane to you, I cannot say.”

Lu Yin asked, “Then what about the object that we found in the Living Megaverse?”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus nodded. “It is the withered remnant of an Immortal who was devoured by their law across uncountable ages.”

Lu Yin gulped. So that really was a dead, withered Immortal.

He had assumed that, even if the object was an Immortal’s corpse, they would have been killed by an enemy and then withered away afterwards, similar to the corpse that had existed in the Second Scourge.

Learning that the Immortal had been devoured by their own cosmic law was a shock.

To resonate with a cosmic law was to become an Immortal, but to potentially be devoured by that very same law... What was actually constant and what was merely an illusion?

He suddenly recalled the Immortal monster whose law was size. It sought to grow endlessly, until it became larger than the Aevum Inch itself.

But the Aevum Inch was teeming with various species and civilizations, which included powerful Immortals. If that beast grew large enough that others took note of it, calamity would chase it. Would that count as being devoured by its own law?

Or would it be struck by calamity even before other Immortals noticed the beast’s size?

What form would such a calamity take?

For a moment, Lu Yin’s thoughts raced. He had already encountered more than a few Immortals.

Suddenly, a hand clapped onto his shoulder, snapping him back to the present. He noticed that Greater Sancte Awe Gate was staring at him. “Don’t overthink things. In the worst case scenario, once you become an Immortal, just stop thinking about the cosmic law completely. I did.”

Lu Yin blinked. “You can just... not think about it?”

“You can,” Ku Deng agreed.

“You can,” echoed Greater Sancte Green Lotus.

Lu Yin was speechless.

Could they sound any less convincing?

“Senior, what should we do about that withered Immortal?” Ku Deng asked, looking back at Greater Sancte Green Lotus.

The man replied, “What it was in life remains both unknown and irrelevant. Now, it is nothing more than crafting material. Since that Activeness can be used to forge weapons, whoever needs it may take it.”

“I have Awecloud. I don’t need it,” Greater Sancte Awe Gate stated.

“This old man has no need for a weapon,” Ku Deng said.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus looked at Lu Yin.

“I do lack a suitable weapon,” Lu Yin said, “But I can’t take it yet.”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus grunted his assent. “It was once an Immortal, after all. The reason it releases infinite Activeness is because the law that they resonated with was Activeness itself. To subdue that object is to directly suppress the cosmic law, which is no easier than defeating an Immortal head-on. At the moment, that is very difficult for you now.

“Wait until you become an Immoral.”

Lu Yin could only give up. There was no other choice.

If he could acquire an Immortal-level weapon, he would be far more confident when facing any enemy Immortal.

Even just the endless flood of energy could cause average Immortals to die by exploding.

“By the way, has Astral Anura sensed anything?” Lu Yin asked.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus shook his head. “Not yet.”

“So the Seven-Treasures Astral Anuras aren’t getting close yet,” Lu Yin said with a frown. “Though it’s also possible that the damned toad’s been lying.”

Before leaving for the Living Megaverse with Ku Deng, Lu Yin had urged Greater Sancte Green Lotus to keep the toad outside of the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm. Since Astral Anura had been able to sense the Tricolor Skyborne all the way from the Tianyuan, he should also be able to sense the Seven-Treasures Astral Anuras approaching from a great distance.

However, the toad was greedy and crooked by nature. Even if it sensed something coming, it might not say anything. After all, Astral Anura’s kin were the ones who were approaching.

In fact, given the toad’s personality, Lu Yin suspected that it might be eagerly awaiting that very day.

The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus and the others exchanged looks. They also felt that Lu Yin’s suspicions were quite reasonable.

“Then what do we do? That frog is a Seven-Treasures Astral Anura. Their arrival will help it,” Greater Sancte Awe Gate asked.

Lu Yin thought for a moment. “Have the one who tied the bell untie it.

“Let’s go scare him.”

...

A green lotus leaf quietly drifted outside the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm. Sitting on it were Xing Fan and Astral Anura.

Xing Fan sat cross-legged, her eyes closed as she cultivated.

A short distance away, Astral Anura was sulking, his lotus leaf over his head.

He had been doing just fine in the Tianyuan. He had been getting endless orders to produce more of Emperor Slayer’s “virtue” banners. The prices for raw materials had been rising, and Astral Anura had been preparing to renegotiate the prices with a markup when he had suddenly been dragged away from his business and told to sense for any sort of familiar aura arriving.

It was maddening. He had not wanted to leave. He was all the way past the edge of the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm. If any powerful foreigner arrived, Astral Anura knew that he would be the first to meet disaster. Even so, refusal had never been an option. Greater Sancte Green Lotus had personally ordered Astral Anura to move.

There was another thing irritating the toad: his only companion was that woman, Xing Fan.

Xing Fan had once been one of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse’s Lesser Sancti, only to have been thrashed so badly by Lu Yin that she had not been able to determine north from south. Such a companion did not offer Astral Anura any sense of security.

If only Greater Sancte Awe Gate were here instead.

As terrifying as that Immortal was, at least her presence felt safer.

The toad heaved a heavy sigh.

A short distance away, Xing Fan opened her eyes to glance over, only to shut them again and continue cultivating.

Astral Anura glanced over. “Hey, it’s been ages. Can’t we talk a little?”

He might not like her, but with just the two of them on the green lotus leaf, there were few options.

“There’s nothing to discuss,” Xing Fan replied in a cool tone.

“I heard that you used to be a Lesser Sancte, right? You must’ve had a lot of clout in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

Xing Fan said nothing.

“Those spirit threads throughout the Spirit Nidus, those are your doing, right?”

Still no response.

Astral Anura kept talking, chatting at length, but Xing Fan never answered at all.

The toad rolled his eyes. “Given your personality, it was pure luck that you survived your encounter with Lu Yin.”

Xing Fan’s eyes snapped open, and she locked onto the toad with a frigid stare. In an instant, he was being squeezed by tremendous pressure.

Astral Anura had never been Xing Fan’s equal, and after she cultivated the Nirvana Tree Path, she had gained enough strength to rival the Nest civilization’s four Insect Lords. She had reached the pinnacle of power beneath the Immortal realm. The toad instantly shrank back and hid beneath his lotus leaf.