Chapter 4217: Cognition And Inheritance

Kui was half-dead, weakened and at the very brink of death. When it saw Lu Yin arrive, its massive eyes betrayed a trace of fear.

No creature did not fear death. Not even those who belonged to fishing civilizations were an exception.

Lu Yin did not waste words, and he simply seized the creature and threw it into a Zenith Mountain. They could talk later.

“Turn over Kui.” Duan appeared, its hooked claws reaching for Lu Yin as plates flickered out to surround the area. Duan intended to imprison Lu Yin.

Lu Yin glanced at the Blacklight creature, but he did not try to fight it. He simply vanished.

The next instant, Old Fourth and Old Fifth charged over. “Die, Duan!”

Streaks of Tri-Azure Sword Intent appeared behind Lu Yin. A casual wave of his hand sent sword slashes slicing out in every direction, felling multiple Blacklight creatures.

At that moment, Blacklight creatures fell across the seven-colored land like rain.

Down on the ground, the hexagonal plates from the Blacklight creatures kept dropping and shattering. Each shattered plate marked another death.

Astral Anura was wild with joy. He could see hope of victory.

But right at that moment, a shudder of dread struck the toad. His eyes snapped over to the final Immortal that had arrived on the battlefield. Ninety-eight plates had appeared around it. The creature had used Life Overreach.

“Master, let’s go!” Lu Yin did not hesitate, and he instantly appeared at Mister Mu’s side, ready to take him away.

But Mister Mu stopped him. “Not yet. Go and try again. See if you can release Ancestor Shan. I’ll keep one of its plates pinned down so that it won’t be able to complete its seal.”

Before them, the Blacklight creature’s surging aura erupted again as though it was a monster. Despite that, one of its plates was still restrained by Mister Mu’s hold.

As for Huo’s plate that Lu Yin had been holding onto, that one slipped free. Huo had also used Life Overreach.

Lu Yin hurried back to Ancestor Shan’s black sphere. No one stopped him this time.

“Senior, I’ve already rescued Old First. If we work together, can we get you out?” Lu Yin asked.

Ancestor Shan replied, “You can’t. Your civilization can’t save me. Go. Leave immediately. Don’t underestimate the Blacklight Civilization.”

Lu Yin did not fear the Blacklight Civilization; he could teleport. Still, if it was impossible to save Ancestor Shan, there was no reason to stay. Even though Lu Yin had killed many Blacklight creatures, many Seven-Treasure Anura had also died. In terms of the entire battlefield, if not for the fact that the Blacklight Civilization’s top combatants were being suppressed, the Seven-Treasure Anuras would be at a complete disadvantage.

One Blacklight creature after another started to use Life Overreach. Huo and Old First burst out of the lake; Huo used Time-Space Annihilation Slash, but Old First opened their mouth and swallowed both the attack and attacker in one gulp. It was as if the toad could devour the cosmos. Lu Yin was dumbfounded. Were the Seven-Treasure Anuras actually capable of such a thing?

He had failed to notice that, ever since the battle started, quite a few of the Blacklight creatures’ Time-Space Annihilation Slash had been swallowed by the Seven-Treasure Anuras. The Blacklight Civilization had an inheritance with multiple ultimate techniques, but so did the Seven-Treasure Anuras. In addition to their Star-Plucking Hands and Anura Eye, there was also Skyeater.

For the Seven-Treasure Anuras, their body part with the strongest defense was not their skin, but rather their mouth. More precisely, it was the inside of their mouth.

If one was swallowed by a Seven-Treasure Anura, it was extremely hard to get back out.

However, that was only for normal creatures.

Across the battlefield, more than one Seven-Treasure Anura’s head had been torn open and their blood splashed across the land. Only at this moment did Lu Yin finally understand where those strange toad corpses had come from.

Old First may have swallowed Huo, but Old First would not be able to endure for long.

Elsewhere, Mister Mu was close to losing control of the black plate. After using Life Overreach, the Immortal Blacklight creature was strong enough to fight against even a truly powerful Immortal who had resonated with two cosmic laws. That was not something that Mister Mu could currently contest. Even with his mirebound artifact, he could only barely hold out for a short time. He was facing someone with more power than what both Lan Meng and Hui had possessed.

It was time to leave.

Lu Yin looked into the sky above a lake and sent a voice transmission to Old First.

Old First’s first response was to glare at the black sphere that imprisoned Ancestor Shan. After that, the toad’s expression turned mournful, and they gave an order to all of the Seven-Treasure Anuras on the battlefield.

Lu Yin watched as one toad after another gathered together. Time. They still needed more time.

Bang! Bang!

Two heavy crashes rang out as Old Fourth and Old Fifth slammed into the ground. Their opponent’s black hexagonal plates whirled towards the two. Lu Yin moved over and snatched a plate with a hand. It was a simple method in principle: as long as even a single plate could be restricted, the Blacklight creatures’ techniques that relied on those plates would be broken. The difficulty was that each and every plate had a power that was equal to the Blacklight creature itself, and they could both attack and defend. If one was unable to defeat the Blacklight creature, it would be too hard to grab one of its plates.

As soon as Lu Yin seized that one plate, the Blacklight creature called Duan changed targets. Every one of its plates swarmed to attack Lu Yin.

Duan was powerful. If not, it could have never fought against both Old Fourth and Old Fifth at the same time, even if it had only dealt with the two toads while they were badly wounded.

The fact that Lu Yin was able to seize control of one of Duan’s plates proved that he possessed enough strength to face Duan.

Remembering Kui’s fate, Duan suddenly faltered.

“Little Seven, let’s go,” Mister Mu called out in a weary voice. He was just about to lose hold on the Blacklight creature’s plate. After using Life Overreach, that creature’s power had surged to the level of an Immortal who resonated with two cosmic laws. Mister Mu did not want to use his mirebound artifact too many times. It was very distinctive and could be easily used to identify them.

Lu Yin nodded. He teleported away with Old Fourth and Old Fifth and then continued on, flickering across the battlefield, collecting one Seven-Treasure Anura after another.

Above the lakes, the shattered peaks crumbled. Old First’s mouth was forcefully torn open, and Huo burst forth, its plates whirling about. Darksky Ninety-Eight Seals: it was trying to imprison Old First once again.

Suddenly, Old First simply disappeared.

Huo looked across the seven-colored land. The Seven-Treasure Anuras that should have been fighting were all disappearing.

Huo immediately sent its plates swirling out to surround the entire seven-colored land, determined to seal the entire place. When using the same amount of power, the larger the range of the sealing technique, the easier it became to break. Still, that did not matter. What was most important was to first imprison the toads. They could not be allowed to escape.

Unfortunately, Huo was a step too slow. As the last Seven-Treasure Anura vanished, the seven-colored land fell silent.

Right after, Huo’s Darksky Ninety-Eight Seals was completed. Unfortunately, there was nothing at all to seal.

It stared blankly into the Aevum Inch. Their enemy had gotten away.

“It’s teleportation. I didn’t think that a creature could actually have such a movement ability.” The Blacklight creature who had fought Mister Mu approached Huo. Its name was Hong, and it was the strongest Blacklight creature after Huo.

Duan also arrived. “Kui didn’t die. They were taken.”

Huo’s huge eyes stared deep into outer space. “That is an absolute means that only a fishing civilization could possibly possess. Their civilization is terrifyingly strong. A mere Aberrant was enough to rescue the Seven-Treasure Anuras.”

“What if that civilization comes after us?” Hong asked while staring down at the black sphere that imprisoned Ancestor Shan.

The Blacklight creatures could leave, but if they wanted to take the seal with them, Ancestor Shan would have to cooperate. If not, then Ancestor Shan could manipulate things from inside so that, as soon as the seal was moved, they would instantly be released, just like with Old First.

Even though the Blacklight Civilization trusted their One-Hundredth Seal, they still needed to guard against the worst possible outcome.

Ancestor Shan’s strength was not anything that Old First could compare to.

If Ancestor Shan had not been sealed at the very beginning of the Blacklight Civilization’s assault, they would have never had the nerve to launch a war against the Seven-Treasure Anuras.

Huo stared at Ancestor Shan’s seal. “Hong, take some of our kin far away. If that fishing civilization comes back to kill us, you will immediately leave and never return.”

“What about you?”

“Even if I die, I’ll die here. I escaped once before, and I won’t do so again. This old monster must die.”

“Is that fishing civilization able to save this old monster?” Duan asked nervously.

Huo replied, “Impossible. This fishing civilization’s absolute means is teleportation. While its powerful, it can’t break our seals. Every fishing civilization has its own specialization and focus. This civilization is absolutely incapable of breaking the One-Hundredth Seal that is a legend even within our Blacklight Civilization. The old monster is doomed.

“As long as they die, the rest of the Seven-Treasure Anuras will eventually die as well.

“The only pity is that our One-Hundredth Seal might be stolen by that civilization.”

As Huo spoke, it looked over at Hong and Duan. “If things really come to it, I’ll throw the One-Hundredth Seal as far as I can. You will have to find a way to retrieve it.”

Hong snarled, “I never thought that those damned toads would latch onto a fishing civilization! We could’ve had our revenge!”

Huo merely felt helpless. This was the Aevum Inch. There was nothing to be done about things.

Given enough time, they could still rebuild their Blacklight Civilization. With Life Overreach, it was only a matter of time before they were once again a fishing civilization.

They just needed to wait. Those damned toads would die for sure.

Huo slowly descended beside Ancestor Shan’s seal. “They’re smart. They didn’t insist on saving you. If they had, they would have all died.”

Ancestor Shan’s voice was ancient and weary. “I’ve lived for far too long. Because of the fight against your civilization back then, my karmic chain is nearly complete, preventing me from acting. Paying such a steep price to kill an old thing like me isn’t worth it.

“You could have just waited a bit longer, and I might have died on my own.”

Huo’s eyes grew icy. “You old monster, you’ve already lived longer than the entire existence of the Blacklight Civilization. Wait for you to die? Even if I die, you still won’t. Even if you would eventually die, we still want to get revenge ourselves.”

“There is no right or wrong when it comes to civilizational wars. Back then, it was your Blacklight Civilization that took the initiative to initiate the war against us Seven-Treasure Anuras, believing that you could slaughter us. If we are going to talk about fault, you were the ones in the wrong first.”

“So what? We were a fishing civilization.”

“Do you even know the true meaning of a fishing civilization?”

“Do you?”

“I do... but I won’t tell you. Your Blacklight Civilization is no longer a fishing civilization.”

Huo sneered. “With Life Overreach, we’ll become one once again.”

“Heh. Wrong. Strength isn’t the only standard to determine a fishing civilization—it’s merely the ladder. You’ve lost the knowledge and inheritance of a fishing civilization, so you will never be a fishing civilization again.”

Huo did not argue. When it fled long ago, the Blacklight Civilization had lost too much. In truth, Huo did not know why fishing civilizations exterminated every civilization they encountered, nor why its own civilization had insisted on going to war with the Seven-Treasure Anuras in the first place. It could remember clearly that this old monster had given repeated warnings at that time, and yet the Blacklight Civilization had still insisted on war. Huo did not know the reasons for any of that.

“Old monster, what are you trying to say?”

Ancestor Shan slowly replied, “I’m just lamenting. In a sense, my Seven-Treasure Anuras have indeed perished together with your Blacklight Civilization. You lost the cognition and inheritance of a fishing civilization, whereas we lost our freedom.”

Huo stared at the seal. “That civilization just now?”

“Have you ever heard of Obscura?”

“Is that civilization called Obscura?”

“You’ve been in hiding for so long that your kind has even managed to give rise to several Immortals, and yet you have no knowledge of the Aevum Inch that surrounds you? Right. I remember now. Your megaverse moves, and you’ve been chasing after it this whole time.”

Huo’s voice sank. “Old monster, don’t even dream of living on. That civilization can’t save you. They absolutely cannot break this One-Hundredth Seal.”

Ancestor Shan sighed. “I know. That’s why I didn’t allow them to stay. Saving the inheritance of my Seven-Treasure Anuras was already not easy. An old thing like me should’ve been buried in the stars, drowned by time long ago. Your Blacklight Civilization will meet the same ending.”

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