Chapter 4170: Even More Aberrant

Astral Anura watched Little Eighteen’s back as they left, wondering if he could be counted as normal. At least, he felt he was more normal than that one.

Lu Yin waved once more to Astral Anura, and then he turned to bow towards the tallest peak. “Astral Anura has been delivered, so this junior will take his leave. Thank you for your guidance.”

With that, he turned and started making his way toward the green stalk.

But after only a few steps, the lake started to churn. A ferocious aura shot upwards, as if it wanted to ignite the entire Aevum Inch.

Lu Yin glanced over at the disturbance.

Far away, the Immortal Lord grew alert.

Another powerful aura?

This one was sharp and profound, and it felt very similar to the old monster’s. The Seven-Treasure Anuras had yet another formidable expert.

Astral Anura was startled and quickly retreated.

All the Seven-Treasure Anuras looked towards the lake. “Is Old First coming out?”

“Old First hasn’t come out in many years. What triggered it this time?”

Old Fourth and Old Fifth both appeared beside the lake. “Old First, are you coming out?”

A deep voice rose from the depths of the lake. “Aberrants are rarely encountered. Human Aberrant, Little Eighteen seeks your guidance.”

Lu Yin looked over at the lake in confusion.

On the far side of the lake, Little Eighteen was shocked. “An Aberrant? That human is an Aberrant?”

They looked at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin instinctively met the toad’s gaze. He then remembered that Kang Tian had once mentioned that the Seven-Treasure Anuras also had an Aberrant. Could it be Little Eighteen?

Old Fourth praised, “Exactly! There are too few Aberrants in the Aevum Inch. We have one, and this human is also one.”

They turned to Lu Yin. “Human, fight Little Eighteen. We’ll see which Aberrant is more Aberrant.”

Old Fifth added, “We’ll have to trouble you, human.”

Little Eighteen showed a cruel grin. They had been holding in their anger, having no excuse to vent it, but this was the perfect opportunity. They leapt back down in front of Lu Yin and taunted him. “Human Aberrant, fight me!”

Lu Yin clasped his hands behind his back and shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I did not come here intending to fight.”

“What intentions? It’s just a spar, simple enough. Show me how your civilization was able to eliminate so many slugs.” Little Eighteen tightened their grip on their steel fork while shouting.

Lu Yin took a relaxed stance. “I don’t want to fight.”

In the distance, Old Fourth shouted, “Human, are you scared?”

Lu Yin nodded. “Yes.”

Old Fourth choked, left speechless.

Little Eighteen roared angrily, “You’re afraid even before starting to fight? Human, is that how your civilization is?”

Lu Yin turned and started walking away.

The Seven-Treasure Anuras would not communicate any further with his human civilization. Shan’s stance was firm. Since that was the case, there was no need to say anything more. Sparring was pointless. Why should Lu Yin fight?

A terrifying, suppressing aura arose from the lake. “Human, what do you want?”

Lu Yin glanced at the lake. “This junior wants nothing. Your species may enjoy fighting, but my human civilization does not fight without need.”

“Do you wish to gain the friendship of my kind?”

“How can there be any sort of friendship without communication?”

“Is that Ancestor’s decision?”

“Correct.”

“Then leave.” The creature beneath the lake no longer pressed the matter, and Lu Yin walked straight towards the green stalk without so much as a backward glance.

Little Eighteen roared angrily, “Human, are you really so afraid of me? As a fellow Aberrant, you shouldn’t fear death.”

Lu Yin ignored the toad.

“Human, you may not be able to gain my friendship, but do you want to receive my enmity instead?”

Lu Yin still ignored the toad. Without communication, there could be neither friendship nor enmity.

Old Fourth suddenly spoke up, “Human, if we happen to encounter other civilizations, we may mention human civilization, or we might not.”

Lu Yin’s eyes instantly darted over to Old Fourth, killing intent flashing in his eyes.

Old Fourth did not care at all.

Old Fifth grinned. “Old Fourth, don’t spout nonsense. Ancestor has already said that our past debts with human civilization have been written off.”

“But I might accidentally slip up. What then?” Old Fourth teased.

Old Fifth agreed. “Your mouth is quite crooked, and even if I’m clever, I might also slip up.

“Human, if we slip up, please forgive us. It won’t be intentional.”

The other Seven-Treasure Anuras showed not even a hint of surprise. Their friendliness and kindness were only for their own kind.

Lu Yin stared at Old Fourth, Old Fifth, and the smug Little Eighteen. No one bothered to stop them. For the anuras, such behavior was considered normal.

This was the real Seven-Treasure Anuras: vile-tempered, arrogant, yet also cowardly. They were exactly like Astral Anura.

The peaceful setting had almost caused Lu Yin to forget the toads’ true temperaments.

Astral Anura had once conducted business with both humanity and the Aeternals, helping both sides of the war. Even if the toad had been honest in his dealings, his conduct had been absolutely terrible. All of the Seven-Treasure Anuras were the same; they were gentle to their own kin, protective of their family, and utterly indifferent to any other civilization.

Not even their ancestor, Shan, intervened in the matter.

There was no friendship between humans and the toads, only a lack of communication and enmity. There was nothing more.

These damned toads!

The Immortal Lord calmly observed the proceedings. Anyone who believed that a single meeting could secure the safety of a civilization was far too naive.

Foreign civilizations would always be foreign civilizations; they would always act in their own best interests. If humanity was not afraid of their megaverses’ locations being exposed, Lu Yin could simply leave. But were they fearless? Of course not.

There was hardly any trust between different civilizations. Even a shred of integrity was quite rare.

Lu Yin was suddenly feeling grateful that he had exposed the location of the Tricolor Skyborne in the Thread of Heaven. Hopefully that would bring trouble to the Seven-Treasure Anuras.

These damned toads. They’re content with their place in the ecosystem, don’t care about exposing humanity, and even dare to use such a threat as leverage.

Lu Yin clenched a fist, but then he relaxed it as he nodded. “Fine. You want to fight, so we fight. However, if you die, do not blame me.”

Old Fourth looked pleased.

A deep voice spoke from beneath the lake. “Agreed. Life and death will not be considered. After this battle, the Seven-Treasure Anuras will completely forget about human civilization. Old Fourth, Old Fifth, do not slip up.”

Old Fifth immediately covered their mouth. “Rest assured, Old First. I’m very smart. I won’t slip.”

Old Fourth straightened their two steel forks.

Little Eighteen showed a broad grin. “Finally, a worthy opponent! An Aberrant, huh? I’ll show you that, compared to us, your human civilization doesn’t have a real Aberrant.”

Astral Anura stared on in silence.

Bang

.

A deafening blast erupted, causing space to bulge out before shattering, creating shockwaves that then spread farther outward.

Little Eighteen’s hand fell in front of Lu Yin, but he met the attack head-on. Little Eighteen grew excited, spinning their steel fork before fiercely slamming it down. “Human, not bad.”

Beneath the falling trident, Lu Yin neither dodged nor tried to avoid it. Since he had chosen to fight, he would beat Little Eighteen until not even the toad’s own father could recognize them.

With that thought, Lu Yin reached up and grabbed the fork.

Old Fourth exclaimed in shock, “He wants to grab Little Eighteen’s fork? This human is too arrogant!”

Before the toad could even finish speaking, Lu Yin had a firm grip on the steel fork. His body did not budge. Instead, he used his overwhelming strength to pull Little Eighteen closer. The toad was stunned; how could a human be stronger than them?

There really was no visible indication of Lu Yin’s strength.

A foot shot out, and Little Eighteen tightened their grip on the fork. The toad twisted in the air to slam their back at Lu Yin.

There was a heavy bang as Lu Yin’s foot landed. Unexpectedly, Little Eighteen was not sent flying. The toad’s skin was shockingly tough.

Seizing the opportunity, Little Eighteen attacked with their fork. The resulting shockwave caused Lu Yin to instinctively loosen his grip. The toad spun around, releasing their own kick at Lu Yin. He sneered and raised his leg to retaliate.

The two kicks collided with enough force to cave in the ground. Space collapsed, and the two briefly fell underground before quickly separating and standing across the hole from each other.

Each one stared at the other. The previous exchange had only been the both of them testing the other. Little Eighteen was thrilled to discover that Lu Yin could fight head-on.

Lu Yin was equally impressed by Little Eighteen’s defenses. He had not held back at all, intended to brutally beat the toad, only to discover that he was unable to overpower the creature. This damned toad was much, much stronger than Astral Anura. In fact, their defenses were absolutely no weaker than the humanoid Verdant Sage’s.

Lu Yin had assumed that his only opponents in the future would be Immortals.

Whoosh, whoosh

.

The steel fork spun. Little Eighteen grinned. “Human, I acknowledge your strength, but an Aberrant needs a means to kill Immortals. You had best use yours soon, or else you will never get a chance.”

The toad leapt up, thrusting their fork in a fierce manner. The tines split space and time apart, creating chaos in its wake. It was as though reality had paused or was rewinding.

Lu Yin brushed the chaotic time aside and stepped to the side, easily avoiding the attack and moving past Little Eighteen. The toad’s eyes flickered about, and they instantly attacked behind themselves, only for Lu Yin to have already vanished.

Lu Yin’s mastery of the powers of time and space far surpassed Little Eighteen’s. He was able to move along the River of Aeons with Lightstream, and he could even teleport. Even without teleportation, his comprehension of space far exceeded Little Eighteen’s.

The toad stabbed backwards with their fork, but there was nothing there. Pain suddenly blossomed from their head. Lu Yin had stomped down from above, smashing the skull-like crown with a vicious kick that almost knocked Little Eighteen unconscious.

The toad growled and stabbed upward, only to find nothing at all again. At that moment, a foot slammed into their back, followed by another, and another. The toad was unable to even retaliate.

Old Fifth covered their eyes. “This beating is way too miserable.”

Old Fourth said, “But there’s been no real damage.”

Little Eighteen’s defenses were terrifying. Lu Yin felt that it was almost impossible to break past them. He pointed a finger out, unleashing Tri-Azure Sword Intent. The slash landed directly on Little Eighteen’s body, but there was only a burst of sparks, nothing more.

Little Eighteen was nearly impervious to all attacks. Lu Yin had already fused his Tri-Azure Sword Intent with Immortal matter, which meant that it contained enough power to harm Immortals, but even that level of force could not break through Little Eighteen’s defenses.

The toad’s defenses were not only due to their tough skin, but also from Lifeforce.

Lu Yin realized that Little Eighteen had already spread Lifeforce across their entire body.

Despite successfully blocking the sword intent, the relentless battering pushed Little Eighteen to their limit. Lifeforce surged across their body before gathering above their head to form a huge eye: Anura Eye.

As soon as the Astral Anura Eye appeared, all of the Tri-Azure Sword Intents missed. Little Eighteen’s fork struck precisely wherever they pointed it, and every attack was batted aside, regardless of the angle.

The toad thrust their fork at Lu Yin. He dodged again, but the fork seemed to sense his movement before it happened. He had no choice but to use the Heaven and Earth Lock to seal off the fork, as well as all of Little Eighteen’s external senses.

But even the Heaven and Earth Lock failed. The fork was restrained, but Little Eighteen themselves remained unhindered.

Lu Yin looked up at the eye.

Is it because of that thing?

He swept a hand across, releasing a burst of Lifeforce that merged with the Tri-Azure Sword Intent before slashing sideways.