Chapter 4223: Stirring The Pot A Bit

Faced with Lu Yin’s stare, Astral Anura did not deny the question. He understood Lu Yin, and Lu Yin understood Astral Anura. “After all, they’re my kin.”

Lu Yin nodded. “At least you still have a conscience. Since you care about the Seven-Treasure Anuras, then you should also care a bit more about us humans. Without us, the current you wouldn’t exist.”

Astral Anura nodded. “I know. If you hadn’t defeated Aeternus, Seventh Bro, I might’ve already been ‘remade’ by that bastard Yong Heng.”

Lu Yin stared into the depths of space.

Yong Heng...?

Aeternus’s defeat had not been too long ago, and yet it felt like ages had passed.

That mysterious Obscura member had used Yong Heng to threaten Lu Yin into joining, forcing Lu Yin to ask Greater Sancte Green Lotus to scour various parallel universes in an attempt to drag Yong Heng and Zhu out into the open. Despite those efforts, the two had not yet been found. If they truly fell into the hands of that secretive member of Obscura, it would be trouble for their human civilization.

After all, that threat indicated that this Obscura member was able to use the Death Megaverse, which was beyond terrifying.

Unless humanity’s strength could ont day surpass that of the Death Megaverse, they would always be threatened.

Of course, since Lu Yin had joined Obscura, that mysterious member of Obscura was not likely to threaten him again. Even now, Lu Yin still did not know who that mysterious expert was.

He still needed to return to Vestigium and learn more about Obscura. He needed to flush that mysterious expert out.

“Remember, when there’s nothing going on, just try to suppress the toads’ personalities a bit,” Lu Yin added.

Astral Anura was speechless.

We might have been thinking the same thing, but... we aren’t toads!

...

Astral Anura returned to a Zenith Mountain. For a moment, Lu Yin remained alone.

He returned to the seven-colored land. From a great distance away, he could see that the ovoid lights had arrived.

He frowned. It was no surprise to see that the technological civilization had come. After all, it had been more than a decade since he had placed the gate at the bottom of a lake. Their presence was perfectly normal. What was not normal was that he saw no fighting taking place between the technological civilization and the Blacklight Civilization. The two seemed... peaceful.

That was not good.

When civilizations did not interact, it was usually due to a disparity of power and Obscura’s influence. If the two had similar levels of strength, there could be interactions. There was one other case that could lead to communication: when both sides needed to buy time. In that situation, communication took place merely so that both sides could stall for time.

Lu Yin believed that to be the current situation, as he could not believe that these two fishing civilizations could coexist peacefully.

However, that was also precisely the situation that Lu Yin wanted to see the least.

The technological civilization was stalling while waiting for reinforcements. Just a little more than a mere decade could not possibly be enough for them to gather their forces. At minimum, multiple decades were needed, possibly centuries.

On the other hand, the Blacklight Civilization was likely stalling while they ground Ancestor Shan to death.

𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

The Blacklight Civilization did not know how long the technological civilization needed for their reinforcements to arrive. Perhaps the technological civilization was seen as a temporary threat, which forced the Blacklight creatures to try to stall with negotiations.

Lu Yin did not know the details of what was happening. All he knew for certain was that war would inevitably erupt again. The only question was if it would happen before or after Ancestor Shan’s death.

If war broke out only after the ancient monster died, it would be meaningless.

At worst, the technological civilization and the Darklight Civilization would become enemies, or one of the two might even be destroyed, but neither of those were the result that Lu Yin wanted.

Unfortunately, he could not get any closer for the time being, and that meant that there was nothing he could do.

There was also one crucially important detail to consider: the technological civilization undoubtedly knew what humans looked like. If information about the human form was exchanged with the Blacklight Civilization, then Blacklight Civilization might realize that it was humans who had appeared to rescue the Seven-Treasure Anuras. This was a risk that Lu Yin had considered before, but he was seeing that it was a very real possibility.

The exact outcome that he had feared had likely appeared.

Still, he had already weighed the pros and cons with Greater Sancte Green Lotus and the other human Immortals before deciding upon a path of action. At this juncture, nothing could be changed.

If things eventually grew ugly, he would drag Obscura back in. Doing so would make the surrounding region of the Aevum Inch even more chaotic, and he would be able to use that truly chance to see through the technological civilization. If that civilization was dealt with, the human civilization would gain a path of retreat.

However, since Obscura had a gate that already connected to the region where the technological civilization existed, they would still be able to find the human civilization. That was a threat that could never be fully erased.

For the time being, Lu Yin could only wait. War would eventually break out between the technological civilization and the Blacklight Civilization. He simply did not know how long it would take.

He also was not certain about how long Ancestor Shan could hold on. Next time, Lu Yin would bring Old First along.

...

The Blacklight creatures occupied the majority of the seven-colored land, while the remaining bit was held by the technological civilization.

“Huo, how much longer?”

“It’s already more than half way formed. If we fight again, I don’t know how long we will be able to hold out for.”

“These karmic chains make us Immortals worse than Aberrants, damn it! How else could we have allowed some technological civilization to push their way in?”

Huo said nothing.

“How much longer before that old monster is ground to death?”

Huo answered in a low voice, “I don’t know. I don’t know that old monster’s limits.”

“Should we first deal with this technological civilization? I’m afraid that they’ll surprise us with an attack. We’ve already told them that the seal is imprisoning the Seven-Treasure Anuras’ old monster, but damn if that old freak won’t say even a single word! Because of that, the technological civilization keeps guessing at what’s inside. Once they think they’ve amassed enough strength, they might attack.”

Huo was also feeling quite helpless. Its karmic chain was already too close to completion. The bit that remained needed to be saved for grinding the old monster to death. If Huo struck the technological civilization and its karmic chain was completed, it would become very difficult to finish off that old monster.

There was no other creature in the entire Blacklight Civilization aside from Huo who could use the One-Hundredth Seal, not even Hong. It was a legacy from the absolute pinnacle of the Blacklight Civilization.

Without such a limitation, how could the technological civilization have ever been allowed to enter the seven-colored land?

Still, it was through the exchanges with the technological civilization that Huo had learned the true form of the creatures who had attacked years before. It felt like it had seen that form somewhere before, but it had been too long ago, and Huo had long forgotten about it.

So long as the Blacklight Civilization could grind that old monster to death and leave the seven-colored land without issue, they would definitely find and destroy that creature’s civilization next, leaving nothing behind.

Huo hated Lu Yin no less than the Seven-Treasure Anuras.

On the seven-colored land, one of the ovoid lights would occasionally make a circuit around the black sphere, attempting to analyze it.

This was the technological civilization’s method.

Huo did not try to stop them, and it actually even encouraged such analysis. It hoped that the lights would be able to verify the contents of the black sphere and prove that the Blacklight Civilization was pursuing vengeance, not trying to unseal some sort of treasure.

The technological civilization continued to believe that there was something invaluable inside the One-Hundredth Seal. They had even mentioned mirebound artifacts, testing the Blacklight Civilization.

There was nothing that Huo could do. It had tried to force Ancestor Shan to say a few words, but the old toad stubbornly refused to speak even a single word.

The longer the black sphere remained silent, the more the technological civilization made guesses, and the thicker the hostility that grew between the two civilizations.

Both sides needed time, and both sides could see that the other needed time, which led to both being even less willing to grant the other that time.

Sooner or later, one side would launch a preemptive strike.

Huo did not dare let up for even a second. It continuously made the black sphere shrink, grinding Ancestor Shan to death. All the while, Huo’s karmic chain kept growing.

Beneath a lake, a dazzling radiance flared. Another massive oval light had appeared, and it also rose into the air, putting the Blacklight creatures on guard.

Duan stared.

Wait just a little longer

.

As long as the Blacklight Civilization had just a few more decades, it should be enough.

One day, more than thirty years later, Lu Yin reappeared outside of the seven-colored land. With him were Old First, Old Fourth, Old Fifth, and Mister Mu. Because of the time that had passed, Old First was worried that Ancestor Shan would not be able to hold out any longer, and they had wanted to return and check.

Lu Yin understood clearly. It was possible that Old First would decide to attack.

The seven-colored land was not only being occupied by the Blacklight Civilization, but also by the technological civilization.

Old First hoped to take advantage of the chaos to try again. How could they just watch as Ancestor Shan was ground to death?

Should a three-way brawl break out, with the inclusion of the technological civilization’s methods, it might not be impossible to rescue Ancestor Shan.

After all, the One-Hundredth Seal was not Huo’s own power, but rather something that could be considered at least half a tool.

After years of preparation, the technological civilization should have gathered substantial power. Lu Yin was quite eager to see what they were truly capable of.

It was time for a battle.

Almost sixty years had passed since Old First and the others had been taken away from their homeland.

Still, they could not recklessly start fighting. At the very least, they could not become the other two parties’ mutual target.

While considering that, Lu Yin turned to look to Mister Mu and the others. “Wait here for a moment. I’m going to stir things up a bit.”

Old First froze.

Stir things up?

Stirring things up was a simple matter. Lu Yin teleported directly into the Blacklight Civilization’s region of the seven-colored land. He grabbed a black plate and hurled it at the technological civilization. Given his physical strength, the plate shot easily sailed straight through one of the ovoid lights. As simple as that, the fighting began.

No one could stop Lu Yin; teleportation was too fast.

He had chosen to start with the Blacklight Civilization because they were able to wait longer than the technological civilization. Huo’s goal was Ancestor Shan’s death, and to achieve that goal, it had even allowed the technological civilization to enter. Huo had known all along that the technological civilization was receiving additional reinforcements, and yet it had still endured. Huo’s only goal was Ancestor Shan.

The technological civilization had waited for decades. Lu Yin did not know how much longer they might be willing to wait for, but who cared? He would poke first and talk later.

The results proved unexpectedly good. The technological civilization immediately unleashed powerful attacks at the Blacklight creatures. Huo could not stop Lu Yin from taking action, though it could see him.

Huo wanted to give an explanation to the technological civilization, but they did not have the time to do so. Countless lights erupted, creating a canopy over the sky. Clearly, a great deal of preparations had been made over a long period of time.

Duan released its black plates to block a vast portion of the barrage, but some Blacklight creatures were still wiped out.

Fury erupted in its enormous eyes. Black plates flew through the air towards the technological civilization’s forces, ripping streaks open through the light, revealing the technological civilization’s creatures.

They were... eggs?

Yes. Eggs.

Their shapes were identical, perfectly oval, with no eyes, ears, nose, or mouth. Only a hazy glow remained. To Lu Yin, every one of those technological lifeforms looked exactly the same.

Were those truly the lifeforms of the technological civilization? Or had the technological civilization created beings specifically to control that light?

Given that the technological civilization was a fishing civilization, it would not be hard for them to develop lifeforms that could carry out tasks for them.

There was no need to overthink matters. The technological civilization’s advantage instantly appeared.

Dozens of enormous needles were released. This was the same attack that had been launched against Lu Yin and the others when they had first placed Obscura’s gate that connected to the seven-colored land. However, that previous attack could not compare to the level of the one being released across the seven-colored land. This time, each needle carried enough destructive power for even Lu Yin to feel a sense of danger. They were as powerful as his Tri-Azure Sword Intent when empowered with Immortal matter.

That meant that each needle was powerful enough to harm an Immortal, even if only a weaker one.

The technological civilization’s advantage was numerical. They did not need to worry about karmic chains.

“Huo, focus on grinding that old monster to death. I’ll handle things here!” Duan shouted. Black plates flew across the sky to clash with the needles. All around, multiple Blacklight creatures released a surging aura before charging at the technological civilization. They had also been holding themselves back for a long time.

The war between civilizations began anew.

Lu Yin teleported back to stand beside Mister Mu and the others. “Let’s just hope that the technological civilization doesn’t lose as quickly as last time.”

“That is unlikely,” Mister Mu mused, “Given how easily it was to stir things up, the technological civilization completed their preparations some time ago. Even if you had not interfered, they would have most likely launched their attack very soon.”