Star Odyssey

Chapter 4212: Life Overreach

The Blacklight creatures were bizarre, ovoid beings. Bristling spikes protruded outwards from their bodies, along with two enormous hooked claws. They had eyes, but no ears, mouth, or nose. They looked like spiked blocks of iron, grotesque and terrifying.

Upon seeing the seven-colored land in front of them, Little Eighteen nearly charged straight in.

“When we escaped, the Blacklight creatures hadn’t completely covered this place. Now... I don’t know what may have become of our kin,” Astral Anura lamented bitterly.

The two toads had spent decades traveling to the human megaverses from their home, and while that could not be considered a long time for cultivators, it was certainly long enough for a war to conclude.

Mister Mu peered into the distance. “One... two. There are two enormous black spheres.”

“Those are the Darksky Seals,” Little Eighteen explained.

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. Through the swarm of Blacklight creatures, he could still see some Seven-Treasure Anuras leaping about the seven-colored land. The toads had not yet been completely defeated. That was good.

“We go right in.” Lu Yin took everyone and teleported again. They next reappeared within the seven-colored land.

The lakes, prairies, and mountains that had once been so beautiful had since become a scene of total ruin.

Much of the grass was stained red. Hooked claws floated atop the lakes. The mountains had been shattered. A ravine cleaved the earth in half, and the sky was filled with choking, sooty smog.

All of the Seven-Treasure Anuras had gathered by a lake that lay beneath the mountains. On a broken peak stood Old Fourth and Old Fifth.

The two were in even worse shape than Little Eighteen. Their flesh was torn and peeling. One of Old Fifth’s legs dangled limply, a deep imprint embedded in its flesh. Old Fourth had always had a crooked mouth and squinted eyes, but at this moment, the toad’s face looked like it had somehow been beaten straight. They actually looked a bit better with the damage that they had suffered.

Lu Yin and the others’ sudden appearance startled the Seven-Treasure Anuras, while also alerting the Blacklight Civilization to their sudden presence.

“Little Eighteen!” Old Fourth shouted, leaping down.

Old Fifth stared at Lu Yin, who was next to Little Eighteen and Astral Anura. At the moment, Lu Yin had altered his appearance, deliberately shifting forms to prevent the Blacklight Civilization from recognizing that he was human.

“Uncle Fourth!” Little Eighteen called out.

Old Fourth looked at Astral Anura, and then finally at Lu Yin. “This is...?”

Little Eighteen said in a low voice, “Uncle Fourth, you only need to know that he is part of Obscura.”

Old Fourth was startled. “Obscura?”

Little Eighteen whispered, “Lu Yin.”

Old Fourth’s face went blank. The toad’s mental capacity made it a huge struggle to process this information.

Old Fifth also descended from the mountain top. When they heard Little Eighteen’s explanation, Old Fifth said, “I am so smart, and yet even I still can’t understand.”

Lu Yin spoke. “You two, it’s urgent that we save Ancestor Shan. How are things at this moment?”

The two Immortal Seven-Treasure Anuras stopped asking questions. Whether this creature was part of Obscura or not, as long as their ancestor could be rescued, everything else could be discussed later.

Ancestor Shan was like the sky for the Seven-Treasure Anuras. Without their ancestor, the toads would not even exist.

“Ever since Ancestor was sealed, we have repeatedly tried to break that seal, but all of our attempts have failed. It’s not even the Blacklight Civilization stopping us, but rather that we lack the power to break it. The One-Hundredth Seal is a legend even within the Blacklight Civilization...” Old Fourth explained in a heavy tone.

Lu Yin silently listened.

The Blacklight Civilization did not try to interfere.

“The Blacklight Civilization doesn’t even care about our attempts, because they also need time to grind Ancestor down. As long as Ancestor dies, then even if they are forced to retreat at this time, we Seven-Treasure Anuras will still be doomed.”

Lu Yin’s gaze flickered. “Are they targeting you with other civilizations?”

Old Fifth nodded. “That should be the case. The primary purpose of this attack is to grind Ancestor down and kill them.”

Lu Yin looked over the two black seals in the distance that looked almost identical. “One of those is the One-Hundredth Seal, while the other is the Ninety-Eight Seals, and yet they look almost the same.”

Old Fourth slowly stated, “Ancestor could shatter the Ninety-Eight Seals with one slap, but Ancestor cannot escape the One-Hundredth Seal’s range.”

Lu Yin stared. “How large is that range?”

Before Old Fourth could speak, Little Eighteen answered, “Not even teleportation can escape it.”

“Teleportation?” Old Fourth and Fifth were caught off guard by the comment, yet they quickly considered how Lu Yin and the others had appeared so suddenly. Could the human actually teleport?

“Then shall we first save Old First?” Lu Yin asked.

Old Fourth and the other toads exchanged glances. “The Blacklight Civilization has two powerful experts, one named Duan and the other Kui. They are the ones preventing us from breaking the Ninety-Eight Seals. However, even if they weren’t around, we would still have to deal with Huo, who sealed Old First. Huo is the strongest Blacklight creature. It’s the one who used the One-Hundredth Seal to imprison Ancestor. Long ago, it was also the creature who escaped with the Blacklight Civilization’s inheritance.

“It will be very difficult for us to defeat it.”

Lu Yin stared into the distance. “Whether or not we can win is a separate matter. If we can rescue your senior, then we will have a much better chance of saving Ancestor Shan.”

He paused for a moment. “How long can Ancestor Shan endure for?”

Old Fourth and Fifth shook their heads, as neither of them knew.

...

Outside of the seven-colored land, Blacklight creatures filled outer space in swirling waves.

They blotted out the sight of the seven-colored land. As they moved, their hooked claws spun about, scattering cold, sharp gleams of light.

“How did those creatures pass through our blockade?”

“They seem to have used some sort of special method. Two Seven-Treasure Anuras and some creature that we have never seen before. Could it have come here to save them?”

“It’s not an Immortal, so that’s simply ridiculous.”

“Do not underestimate it. The Seven-Treasure Anuras are not fools.”

“Hm? It moved.”

On the ground below the Blacklight creatures, Lu Yin was walking towards one of the enormous black seals that lay far away from where the toads had gathered. He was moving straight for the One Hundredth Seal, which had imprisoned Ancestor Shan.

There were two enormous black seals on the ground, in opposite directions.

As Lu Yin approached Ancestor Shan’s seal, the Blacklight creatures did nothing to stop him. However, that would immediately change if he tried to approach Old First’s seal.

Step by step, Lu Yin advanced towards Ancestor Shan’s seal.

A voice rang out from outside of the seven-colored land. “Who are you? Which civilization do you hail from? Do you understand what is happening here?”

Lu Yin ignored the creature and simply continued moving towards the immense seal.

“I am from the Blacklight Civilization, a fishing civilization. Do not bring disaster upon your people.”

Lu Yin finally stopped and looked up, peering past the vault of the stars.

From far away, Old Fourth and the other Seven-Treasure Anura watched him.

Lu Yin spoke slowly. “You should not have come to this territory.”

An enormous Blacklight creature appeared from outside of the seven-colored land. It looked down at Lu Yin, but it said nothing.

Lu Yin averted his gaze and resumed his journey towards the distant seal. He proceeded step by step, completely unhurried.

From beyond the landmass, the enormous Blacklight creature stared at Lu Yin. Two more similarly massive Blacklight creatures appeared beside the first one. “What does that mean?”

“That creature should also be from a fishing civilization.”

“A fishing civilization? Do the Seven-Treasure Anuras actually have a connection to another fishing civilization?”

“That does not match these toads typical behavior.”

“And yet those words are quite clear. There are things that you are unaware of because you have stayed within our civilization. I have carried the legacy of our Blacklight Civilization to this day and have a better understanding of the Aevum Inch. Every fishing civilization has a sphere that they rule, annihilating all within that range. This is not a rule, nor some boundary drawn on a map, but rather a manifestation of that civilization’s control over their surrounding area. That range serves as a deterrent to other fishing civilizations.

“Civilizations do not interact with each other, and yet they have certain unspoken understandings. The same is true between fishing civilizations.

“We have entered their territory.”

“Then what do we do? If we draw another fishing civilization to us, we will be in trouble.”

Down on the ground, Lu Yin drew closer and closer to the black seal. The Blacklight creatures stopped speaking. Lu Yin’s expression shifted slightly. It appeared that Ancestor Shan had been right. Even if certain things had never been spoken aloud, for many years, Lu Yin had been repeatedly considering such matters.

If Obscura was both humanity’s mortal enemy and shield, then what Obscura protected was not the human civilization itself, but rather the ecosystem in their region of the cosmos. That also matched with what Ancestor Shan had said.

As civilizations continued to develop, they would eventually break out of their ecosystem, which would lead to unknown disasters.

According to this knowledge, one could take the Aevum Inch and, by using fishing civilizations as points, draw spheres around each one. Those were the ecosystems of the Aevum Inch.

The Seven-Treasure Anuras were clearly within Obscura’s circle, which was why Lu Yin had acted as though he was from a fishing civilization speaking on behalf of the regional ecosystem.

The Blacklight creatures still gave no answer, which proved that Lu Yin’s deductions were correct.

Spheres within spheres?

He could not help but wonder how Obscura’s sphere ranked among all of the fishing civilizations’ spheres.

It should not be considered a small one.

Beyond the seven-colored land, one of the enormous Blacklight creatures ordered, “Le, go test that creature walking across the ground.”

“Let me do it. Le is too weak.”

“No. Le will go.”

A Blacklight creature soon arrived from outer space, screaming through the sky above the seven-colored land. Its enormous hooked claws were stretched out to grab hold of Lu Yin.

Far away, Little Eighteen wanted to intervene, but Old Fourth pressed the younger toad down. “Not yet.”

Lu Yin casually brushed the hooked claws aside. The Blacklight creature was a peak Dukkhan, but not an Aberrant. Are they testing me?

Lu Yin was not himself an Immortal, so it made sense to use a peak Dukkhan to test him, as the Blacklight creatures possessed their Life Overreach ability.

When its hooked claws were easily pushed aside, the Blacklight creature called Le spun its body around. The hooked claws acted like twin blades as they viciously slashed at Lu Yin.

This was one of the Blacklight Civilization’s legacy techniques: Time-Space Severing Blades Void-Extinction Slash.

The slash could cut through both time and space and then use the broken time and space as strings to accelerate even further. The result was slashes that grew stronger and faster, ultimately able to overcome everything.

Both the technique and the Darksky Seals were parts of the Blacklight Civilization’s inheritance. Though, compared to the Darksky Seals, the slash was a far more effective attack.

Lu Yin wanted to experience the Blacklight Civilization’s inheritance, so he dodged again and again.

With each evasion, Le’s slashes grew more powerful. The creature used the shattered time and space as strings, though Lu Yin could not understand how the creature was able to endure the stress itself. Was this how the creatures had managed to become a fishing civilization?

Straight in front of Lu Yin, Le savagely chopped its hooked claws down.

Lu Yin raised a hand and clenched his fingers. Bang!

A thunderous boom blasted Le’s massive body backward. Both of its hooked claws snapped clean off; one smashed to the ground, while the other fell into the lake with a tremendous splash.

Le itself wobbled and nearly crashed to the ground. It stared at Lu Yin, its huge eyes filled with shock. What terrifying strength!

This creature is clearly not an Immortal, and yet he easily broke my slash. Could it be... an Aberrant?

Staring at Lu Yin, Le’s enormous eyes narrowed. So what if he’s an Aberrant? In the Blacklight Civilization, anyone with Le’s strength could be an Aberrant.

With that thought, an indescribable burst of power erupted from the creature.

Old Fifth’s voice reached Lu Yin’s ears. “That is Life Overreach. It wants to seal you by improving its strength by a level. Be careful.”

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. The creature was already a peak Dukkhan, which meant that, by using Life Overreach, it could fight against Immortals. This was an ability worthy of a fishing civilization.

If humans had this same ability, then Qing Xing and the others would all be Aberrants. No matter their relative strength as peak Dukkhans, they would all be able to fight one level higher. That was a truly terrifying ability. Possessing it would grant human civilization at least ten more Aberrants.

Gaining ten additional Aberrants would create a situation that could only be imagined.

That was also exactly what the Blacklight Civilization was capable of producing.