Chapter 4194: Value And Threat

Lu Yin's eyes narrowed as he stared intently at Wang Miaomiao. "Who?"

Wang Miaomiao gave the same answer as before. “Zhu and Yong Heng.”

Lu Yin silently stared at Wang Miaomiao.

Zhu and Yong Heng had sealed themselves inside a sourcebox before escaping to one of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse’s parallel universes. That was why no one had been able to find them so far. However, Greater Sancte Green Lotus had said that, if they wanted to travel to the Death Megaverse, they would need to first leave that parallel universe and travel through the Aevum Inch. Only then would they be able to spend an unknown amount of time searching for the Death Megaverse.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus had also guaranteed that, the moment they left the parallel universe, they would be detected. After all, the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm enveloped the entire Nine Odysseys Megaverse, including its parallel universes.

There was no choice but for the two to pass through the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm if they wanted to reach the Death Megaverse.

Because of that assurance, Lu Yin had set his worries concerning the two aside and had gradually forgotten about them.

He had never expected to hear their names come from Wang Miaomiao’s mouth.

She smiled more broadly. “One month. You have just one month to give your answer. If you have not replied within one month, Zhu and Yong Heng will be sent into Aevum Inch, possibly even farther. They might even reach their desired destination. No one can be certain what fate will be in store for your human civilization if that happens.”

Lu Yin softly asked, “Are they in your hands?”

Wang Miaomiao chuckled. “Don’t phrase it like that. I can’t speak for that expert, so all I can say is that we are all in that expert’s hands.

“Little Lu Yin, I have always been helping you, so I’ll remind you of something: momentary brilliance can never overshadow eternal radiance. With just a few hundred years of struggling, how can you hope to surpass that expert’s countless years of planning and knowledge of human civilization?

“Just a casually concocted method is enough for them to decide the life or death of the entire human civilization. Obscura may not be able to do so, but that expert can.

“After all, they understand humanity far too well.”

Lu Yin nodded. “Thank you for the reminder. Help me by passing a message to the expert behind you. In a given ecosystem, there can be only one fishing civilization.”

Wang Miaomiao smiled. “I will. Then, shall I go?”

Lu Yin averted his gaze and no longer looked at the woman.

“How heartless. This matter should have been handled by Master Qing Cao, but I specifically fought for it just so that I could come see you. Little Lu Yin, can’t you at least give me a smile?” Wang Miaomiao acted as though she should be pitied, but Lu Yin was in no mood to cater to her antics.

Wang Miaomiao sighed and then slowly disappeared from sight.

Once she was gone, Lu Yin looked back, his mood heavy.

It was a threat. It was a very simple method, and yet he was truly cornered by it.

Obscura’s mysterious expert had hidden themselves within human civilization for far, far too long. It was indeed quite possible that they were capable of accomplishing things that Obscura as a whole could not. Wang Miaomiao had been quite right: momentary brilliance could not overshadow eternal radiance. This member of Obscura had always been present, and they knew far too much.

Just a single sentence could shatter all their plans.

The words of the Seven-Treasure Anuras’ ancient monster had also given Lu Yin a better understanding of things. Every fishing civilization could be considered a separate sphere of the cosmic ecosystem. They would destroy everything within their own sphere and gradually expand. However, if they encountered another fishing civilization, they might choose to fight, or they might choose to simply avoid each other. There had to be ways for them to make such a decision.

Obscura would never casually antagonize the Death Megaverse. This was also how Lu Yin was able to test Obscura’s hidden expert.

Even so, the chances of his test succeeding were vanishingly small.

Lu Yin’s body abruptly vanished, and he next reappeared inside the Heavens Sect, where Mister Mu had been stationed to stand guard over the Tianyuan Megaverse.

Mu Zhu was also present. When she saw Lu Yin, she complained to him about how she had not been taken along to get revenge.

Lu Yin greeted his senior sister casually and then carried Mister Mu to the Sea of Karma in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. After that, he went to collect Greater Sancti Awe Gate and Blood Tower as well.

Master Ku Deng remained on the far side of the Gate of Laws, standing guard. It was vital for humanity that a powerful protector remain in place there, and truthfully, it made little difference whether Master Ku Deng joined this discussion or not. He was not skilled at scheming.

Lu Yin shared Wang Miaomiao’s words with everyone present.

As they listened, their moods grew as heavy as Lu Yin’s.

Mister Mu did not know who Zhu was, but he had already heard from Lu Yin how Yong Heng had managed to escape. As humanity’s greatest enemy in the Tianyuan, Mister Mu was very concerned about Yong Heng.

As for the Death Megaverse, he knew nothing about that civilization.

“The Death Megaverse is another fishing civilization. They use sourceboxes to fish, sealing white skeletons within them to serve as bait. Back then...” Lu Yin slowly recounted his knowledge of the Death Megaverse. The more that Mister Mu heard, the worse his mood became.

Both the Nest civilization and the Seven-Treasure Anuras had been discussed before, but Mister Mu had never heard about the Death Megaverse. Humanity had never gone to war with that civilization.

It was not possible to explain so many things at once.

“Was Yong Heng really taken away by that member of Obscura?” Greater Sancte Awe Gate asked.

Lu Yin shook his head. “I don’t know. No one knows who that member of Obscura is or what methods they might have.

“We originally thought that the red sword belonged to that expert, only to learn that it actually belonged to Qi Xu. The hidden Obscura member never revealed anything about themselves at all.”

Mister Mu’s voice dropped low. “I am not surprised to learn that Yong Heng was able to escape, or that Obscura’s hidden expert has been able to keep track of him. After all, they have managed to control even Master Qing Cao. Yong Heng entered their grasp long ago. It is even possible that Yong Heng joined the Netherfiends as part of that expert’s schemes.”

That reminded Lu Yin of something. “Right. Yong Heng has betrayed both humanity and the Netherfiends. It is certainly possible that all of those actions were guided by Obscura’s hidden expert.

“It is unknown if Yong Heng only betrayed Qi Xu. From what Wang Miaomiao said, I am certain that Obscura is not internally united. Hui’s death has actually pushed them to agree to invite me to join, which means that they don’t care about Hui’s death. Since that’s the case, it makes it easier to believe that Obscura’s hidden expert was also scheming against Qi Xu.”

“That would explain why Qi Xu’s red coffin never appeared while her red sword was taken away. Someone prepared the board a step early,” Greater Sancte Blood Tower suddenly blurted.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus’s expression turned grave. “If that is true, then Obscura’s hidden expert is absolutely terrifying.

“It seems that they plotted against both Qi Xu and Mi Jin, causing the deaths of two Immortals while remaining unseen. Then, they controlled Qing Cao and Yong Heng in order to keep the three human megaverses divided, and now, they have left us helpless with just one sentence. This hidden Immortal is a great enemy.”

Lu Yin did not understand why someone else from Obscura would have targeted Qi Xu, but this was not the time to dwell on such questions.

There were certain things that could only be understood through direct confrontation and conversation.

They had become more certain than ever that Obscura’s hidden expert had both Zhu and Yong Heng under their control, or that they were at least able to send the two out into the Aevum Inch. Such means were frighteningly impressive.

With this new information, they needed to consider what answer to give.

“If the Death Megaverse really is drawn over, can our human civilization survive?” Mister Mu asked.

In the past, the human civilization had only had a few Immortals in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. It had been perfectly normal for humanity to have no chance of standing against a fishing civilization with so few experts. However, humanity had undergone a complete transformation since then. They had gained Mister Mu, Kang Tian, the innate gift of teleportation, the Nirvana Tree Path, the Mind Manor, and other methods.

Even if humanity was compared to the Seven-Treasure Anuras, they were not weak. The only unknown factor was the true strength of the toads’ old monster.

No matter how the human civilization was looked at, they could be considered a quasi-fishing civilization.

If they encountered the Death Megaverse now, would they still be completely powerless? They had once been forced to sacrifice a Mother Tree while Greater Sancte Green Lotus acted as bait. Only then had they managed to gain the Death Megaverse’s indifference.

Only Greater Sancte Green Lotus could answer this question, as only he had ever directly experienced the pressure of the Death Megaverse.

Everyone turned to look at the man.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus’s gaze grew heavy as he recalled the past before offering his answer. “If we gather the full strength of our human civilization and fight them head-on, I do not know what the final result might be. That is because, no matter how strong the Death Megaverse might be, they are still restricted by karmic chains. However, there is one detail that I am certain of.” His gaze swept over everyone. “I would absolutely die.”

Everyone was horrified by that declaration and stared at Greater Sancte Green Lotus in a daze. This included even Mister Mu.

There was no question that Greater Sancte Green Lotus was the strongest expert in the current human civilization. He was capable of shattering one of Obscura’s coffins with his own strength, which was something that no one else could replicate. Without the protection of the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm, their human civilization would have never survived this long. Truthfully, no one had even seen the limits of Green Lotus’s power yet.

Lu Yin had once thought that he had seen the man’s true strength, only to then hear from Greater Sancte Blood Tower that Immortals could resonate with more than one cosmic law. Upon hearing that, Lu Yin had understood that he would never see the true extent of Greater Sancte Green Lotus’s strength.

Hearing such a declaration from Greater Sancte Green Lotus made the answer clear to everyone.

If even Greater Sancte Green Lotus would undoubtedly die, then what chance did anyone else have of surviving?

Lu Yin looked away and stared out at the Sea of Karma. If the current human civilization was capable of directly standing up to the Death Megaverse, he would not fear the threat of Obscura’s hidden powerhouse. Obscura and the Death Megaverse were not one and the same. If the two fishing civilizations drew close to each other, there was no doubt that something would happen, and three-way stalemates were exactly what he excelled at.

However, it had become clear that they could not risk drawing the Death Megaverse towards them for the time being.

Before, it had not particularly mattered to Lu Yin whether he joined Obscura. If he joined, so be it. As long as humanity continued to steadily develop, he could always betray Obscura at a later date.

However, his conversation with Mister Mu had led to some hesitation, and Lu Yin feared that Obscura’s invitation might be a trap.

Unfortunately, it appeared that he no longer had a choice.

The Death Megaverse had once passed by the human civilization. Zhu had gone to great lengths to construct a sourcebox array that would end the Nine Odysseys Megaverse’s coordinates to the Death Megaverse, which served as proof that there was a very high chance of that civilization returning. Obscura’s hidden expert understood humanity far too well and had directly struck at their weakest point.

Before long, everyone dispersed without reaching a conclusion.

Mister Mu and Lu Yin returned to the Tianyuan and sat on the mountain behind the Heavens Sect.

“There is still one potential choice to take regarding this matter: wait,” Mister Mu stated while accepting tea from Long Xi and taking a sip. “Even if the Death Megaverse comes, no one knows how long it will take them to arrive. It is possible that, by then, you will have already broken into the Immortal realm. I have great confidence in you, and your breakthrough will cause your strength to surpass everyone else’s.”

Lu Yin responded with a bitter smile, “Master, the absolute means of a fishing civilization can be considered a miracle. The Death Megaverse might not take that long to rush over here. A few hundred years might not be enough. Even I’m not confident in becoming an Immortal in just a few hundred years.”

Given his past cultivation speed, Lu Yin seemed more than capable of quickly breaking through, but the Immortal realm was a threshold that could not be crossed just time alone. If that were possible, the Mirari Realm would have caused a frantic battle long ago.

To become an Immortal, one needed to at least see hope of a breakthrough.

Lu Yin could not attempt to break through by relying on resetting a megaverse. He needed to break through on his own, just as Greater Sancte Green Lotus and Mister Mu had done. Anything else would render his breakthrough meaningless.

Unfortunately, he could not even see the possibility of such a breakthrough.

“Ignoring when the Death Megaverse might arrive, Obscura alone is already a problem for us. Hui is dead, and Obscura has become even more eager for me to join. I have proven my value to them, as well as the fact that I can be a threat,” Lu Yin said.