Chapter 4220: A Second Ancestor Shan

Could there be a connection between this technological civilization and the creature that had rescued the Seven-Treasure Anuras?

There should be, though that unknown creature had only left a short while ago. Also, that creature clearly had not come from the technological civilization; such a civilization could not possibly have an ability like teleportation.

What was going on?

Suddenly, Hui saw Lu Yin.

That’s it! That’s the creature that rescued the Seven-Treasure Anuras!

Before the Blacklight creature could even react, Lu Yin appeared beside Obscura’s gate, turned his head to glance outward, and then simply vanished.

When he disappeared, so did the gate.

Huo saw everything clearly.

The gate—it was that gate!

The gate did not belong to the Seven-Treasure Anuras, but had rather been left behind by the creature that had helped the toads.

Could that gate possibly form a connection to a far-off, distant civilization?

That creature had used the gate to form a connection with the technological civilization, bringing them to the seven-colored land to fight a war.

So that’s it. This is how it works

.

Obscura. That old, undying monster called it that. So is this how Obscura works? Using civilizations to destroy other civilizations? Despicable. Absolutely despicable

.

Teleportation and a gate. Obscura had truly terrifying methods.

If Hui had known that the gate was such a danger, it would have immediately destroyed it. It also did not believe there was only one such gate; Obscura had to have many.

Unfortunately, the gate had been taken away.

Lu Yin had no choice but to take the gate away. After their defeat, the technological civilization would not be willing to attack again anytime soon; they needed to prepare. From the actual location of their civilization to where Lu Yin had found them was a distance that would take an Immortal at least 100 years to traverse. If preparation time was added in, the civilization might not attack again for well over 100 years.

Over the course of that time, how could the gate not be discovered by the Blacklight Civilization?

Lu Yin needed to keep the gate safe for that entire time.

“Old First, how long can Ancestor Shan endure for?”

“I’m not optimistic.”

“Roughly?”

“If Huo keeps attacking, never letting up, then no more than 1,000 years.”

Lu Yin arched a brow.

Is that not optimistic? So how long is optimistic?

After all, he had only been cultivating for a bit more than 1,000 years himself.

“That’s enough. That will give the technological civilization enough time to prepare for their next attack. We’ll head back for now. After a bit of time, we’ll put the gate back,” Lu Yin stated. He then took everyone back to the human megaverses.

This battle, if Obscura was not considered, was humanity’s first time going to war with a fishing civilization.

Lu Yin had gained a much deeper understanding of fishing civilizations, as well as a deeper understanding of what a civilization truly represented.

...

The human civilization settled the Seven-Treasure Anuras down in the Consciousness Megaverse. That megaverse had been empty for some time, with almost no conscients surviving. It was perfect to serve as the Seven-Treasure Anuras’ new home.

Aside from how they treated each other, the toads were extremely nasty to all other species.

Lu Yin was worried about possible conflicts erupting between the Seven-Treasure Anuras and humans, so he forbade humans from traveling to the Consciousness Megaverse. Besides, going there was pointless, as there was nothing in that megaverse.

Well, not quite. There were still the Broken Realms which were formed from bits of Immortal matter.

However, those Broken Realms no longer held any value to Lu Yin. Even if he could harvest every speck of Immortal matter from every Broken Realm in the Consciousness Megaverse, it would not amount to much.

The Seven-Treasure Anuras also liked their new home; it at least meant that they did not have to live side by side with the humans. There was some distance between them.

In truth, if they had not needed to ask Lu Yin and humanity to rescue them and deal with the Blacklight Civilization, the Seven-Treasure Anuras would have much preferred to live outside of the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm.

Humans were forbidden from going to the Consciousness Megaverse, and the Seven-Treasure Anuras were forbidden from traveling to the humans’ three megaverses. For the time being, both species were prevented from interfering with one another.

Astral Anura was delighted, as he had gained the support of both the Seven-Treasure Anuras and the humans, which meant that he now enjoyed the highest status possible. That thought caused an unconscious grin to remain plastered on his face.

Additionally, Astral Anura was the only creature free from the restrictions placed on the two species. He was allowed to freely travel back and forth between the humans’ megaverses and the Consciousness Megaverse.

That made him even happier.

The only thing that left the toad feeling uneasy was that he did not know how long his current situation would last for.

He was far too familiar with Lu Yin. Lu Yin had paid a shocking price to save the Seven-Treasure Anuras, and he had even fought against powerful Immortals and made multiple trips between the human megaverses and the seven-colored land. He had also found a way to frame Obscura for what he had done. How could Lu Yin’s goal really be as simple as to merely save the Seven-Treasure Anuras?

He would use the toads, there was no doubt about it.

Astral Anura would not allow himself to be fooled by how formidable Old First was, or how Old Fourth and Old Fifth were also powerful Immortals. The three were still no match for the current human civilization, and when it came to scheming, they were even less of a match for Lu Yin.

Especially Uncle Fifth, that idiot.

Astral Anura had no idea when Lu Yin would make his move against the Seven-Treasure Anuras, but the thought of what was coming left him feeling helpless.

He had already been accepted by the Seven-Treasure Anuras and wanted to help them, but Astral Anura lacked the strength to do so. As for Lu Yin, he would at most use them. Framed nicely, it would be a situation of mutual assistance. Lu Yin would not seek to genuinely harm the toads. What Astral Anura needed to do was help Lu Yin smooth the tempers of the toad-like Seven-Treasure Anuras in advance.

Peh! We’re not toads! We’re Seven-Treasure Anuras!

Lu Yin had countless means at his disposal. The nastier the toads’ behavior, the more they would ultimately suffer.

Astral Anura had to think things through very carefully.

Ah... If only I were that idiot, Uncle Fifth. Then I wouldn’t have to think about anything.

Elsewhere, Lu Yin returned to the Tianyuan, along with Mister Mu.

The Seven-Treasure Anuras had settled down in the Consciousness Megaverse. They would not be disturbed for the time being, but they would be dealt with later on.

Jiang Feng was curious about the trip, so Lu Yin shared a brief version of the events.

“With that Old First around, will the Seven-Treasure Anuras behave?” Jiang Feng asked.

Lu Yin shrugged and simply repeated Ancestor Shan’s words. He had also shared those words with Greater Sancte Green Lotus and the others.

The Greater Sancti had looked grave after that, and they had agreed that rescuing Old First had been the right decision. Jiang Feng felt the same way.

“If Obscura really is that terrifying, then we need to carefully consider how to handle our relationship with the Seven-Treasure Anuras. At the very least, we can’t let them run away, but we also can’t push them too hard.”

Mister Mu said, “For now, our human civilization has no foreign enemies, and there’s nothing that we need to force the Seven-Treasure Anuras to do. It would be best if both sides remained at peace.”

Jiang Feng said, “But those toads can’t be tamed. They only care about their own kind. As soon as Ancestor Shan dies, they’ll likely leave.”

He then looked back at Lu Yin. “Ancestor Shan may have promised you something, but such promises mean nothing when it comes to the survival of an entire species.”

Lu Yin agreed. “That’s why Astral Anura will be useful.”

“You want to use that toad to bind the Seven-Treasure Anuras to us? That’s not very likely,” Mister Mu retorted.

Lu Yin calmly stated, “I want Astral Anura to become a second Ancestor Shan.”

Mister Mu and Jiang Feng blankly stared at Lu Yin. Given that he had gone as far as he had to rescue Old First, they were certain that Lu Yin must have thought of something, but they had certainly not expected such audacity.

A second Ancestor Shan? How was that even possible?

Forget becoming as strong as Ancestor Shan; Astral Anura would be lucky just to break into the Immortal realm.

Lu Yin looked up. “That won’t be our only conversation with Ancestor Shan. Next time, I’ll take Astral Anura with me and have him speak with Ancestor Shan. No matter what they talk about, I can decide the meaning of that conversation; the Seven-Treasure Anuras will have to believe me whether they want to or not. That’s because I’m the only one who can decide which of the toads will be the last one to speak with Ancestor Shan.”

Jiang Feng laughed. “Good idea! Ancestor Shan might be able to see through your plans, but they won’t be able to inform Old First or any of the others. To ensure that the Seven-Treasure Anuras continue to live here within our human civilization, that old monster will be forced to give their inheritance to Astral Anura, and that will prevent the Seven-Treasure Anuras from falling out with our human civilization.”

Mister Mu sighed. “Because that toad is already convinced that the Seven-Treasure Anuras can’t outmaneuver you.”

Of the Seven-Treasure Anuras, the smartest one, and the one with the greatest wisdom, was Ancestor Shan. They would be able to see through Lu Yin’s intentions with a single glance.

But there was also no need to try to hide anything from that old monster.

Besides, Ancestor Shan had never held much goodwill towards humanity. Originally, the ancient toad had bluntly stated that the Seven-Treasure Anuras would sever all contact with their human civilization.

When Ancestor Shan had told Lu Yin to rescue Old First, had the ancient powerhouse not considered that, if Old First was saved, the Seven-Treasure Anuras might not obediently cooperate with humanity? Of course they had considered that possibility. Ancestor Shan was simply thinking of their descendants.

When dealing with a creature of such great wisdom, there was no need to waste effort. Lu Yin would do things brazenly, albeit while weighing the pros and cons.

Such a decision was rather cruel for an old monster who was about to die, but it was also an undeniable fact that human civilization had saved the Seven-Treasure Anuras and had paid a price to do so. Since humanity had saved the toads, the Seven-Treasure Anura needed to repay their debt.

Of course, everything was based on the Seven-Treasure Anuras’ personalities. If the toads were not naturally nasty creatures but instead truly understood the concepts of gratitude and reciprocation, Lu Yin would not be forced to use such methods to deal with them.

The Seven-Treasure Anuras needed to be bound to their human civilization. None of the toads would be leaving.

The more terrifying that Ancestor Shan made Obscura out to be, the more it became necessary for Lu Yin to bind the Seven-Treasure Anuras to humanity.

Before long, Mister Mu and Jiang Feng left. Lu Yin released Kui on the mountain behind the Heavens Sect.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus and the others had already seen Kui. Jiang Feng had no interest in the creature, and the most suitable person to speak with Kui was Lu Yin. His path of karma made him the most fitting.

Kui’s body had been torn apart by Huo’s cosmic law. Only a small portion of the Blacklight creature’s original body remained intact. Even its eye was only half-present. It could barely move and let Kui look at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin was still using his disguise and not revealing his human form to the creature, just in case the Blacklight Civilization had some method to transmit information.

The mountain behind the Heavens Sect had also been sealed off.

“You didn’t have to die, but Huo didn’t care about your life at all. It ripped you apart without any hesitation.” Lu Yin spoke slowly while staring at the remaining half of Kui’s eye.

Kui stared at Lu Yin. “Why did you capture me? What do you want from me?”

Lu Yin snorted. “What can I gain from a half-dead Immortal? I’m merely curious. After all, you’re from a fishing civilization.”

“What manner of creature are you?” Kui asked. It was extremely curious about Lu Yin.

Lu Yin stared at the creature while a spiral of karma coiled about his fingers before circling around Kui once.

Kui saw nothing.

Lu Yin arched a brow. “What did you see?”

Kui was puzzled. “What should I have seen?”

Lu Yin did not waste time speaking. The spiral of karma immediately pierced Kui’s body, exposing the creature’s karmic past.

The half eye abruptly changed. Kui had felt something stab into it, though the sensation was not very obvious. The Blacklight creature’s body had gone numb long ago. Still, it had undoubtedly felt some sort of sensation.

See what? Some sort of unseen power?

The unknown creature had clearly used some kind of power that Kui was unable to see. Could it be a legacy of the creature’s civilization?

That would make sense. After all, the unknown creature was part of a fishing civilization, which meant that it was on the same level as the Blacklight Civilization. It was normal for such a civilization to have powerful methods.

In Kui’s karmic past, Lu Yin saw nothing but more Blacklight creatures.

He simply watched and continued watching. Time flowed on.

For an Immortal, an unimaginable amount of time would pass from the moment they started cultivating to their current self. It was impossible for Lu Yin to observe all of Kui’s life. He could only rely on luck.

If there was another old monster like Ancestor Shan behind Kui, then that creature might be able to sense karmic prying even across an immense distance.

That was why Lu Yin was testing things.

This probe might draw such a powerhouse over, but the chances of that happening were vanishingly small. After all, the Blacklight Civilization should not have a powerhouse as powerful as Ancestor Shan.