Star Odyssey

Chapter 4376: Ming Yu

The bird’s eyes oozed disdain. Did a mere Aberrant truly really believe himself capable of opposing it? It opened its beak and spewed out almost pitch-black flames. Within the flames was a sphere that felt mildly threatening to Lu Yin, though only the smallest bit.

Lu Yin shook his arm and released a burst of power into the void, preventing the black flames from approaching him. His entire body withered as he simply grabbed the black sphere.

He caught it.

The moment it entered his grasp, he felt as if his arm was about to melt away, and his arm quickly recovered. He arched a brow. What powerful destructive force. The fact that it could restore his withered condition back to normal meant that it could actually injure him. For this bird to live within the Plume Immortals Civilization, it was certainly no ordinary creature.

But with a thought, Lu Yin’s eyes sharply flared, and the black sphere shattered in his grip with a crisp crack. The fragments contained the extreme heat of the black flames and were pushed across and back onto the bird itself. The creature was startled. What kind of monster was it facing? It suddenly remembered that this creature had emerged from one of Obscura’s floating coffins. And its appearance was... human?

The bird instantly retreated. It could move with a speed that rivaled teleportation and seemed capable of freezing time itself, but Lu Yin still appeared directly in front of it and struck it with a palm.

The extreme heat of the black flames slammed into the bird’s body, causing it to let out a shrill scream. “Human! You are human!”

Lu Yin gave a contemptuous snort. This bird had nothing particularly special about it, aside from its incredible speed and destructive black flames. As long as those two aspects were dealt with, it would be easy to defeat the bird.

But how many creatures throughout the Aevum Inch could truly suppress such an opponent? Even a two-law Immortal would struggle to do so.

Using the extreme heat of the black flames, Lu Yin melted a portion of the bird’s body. He seized it by the neck with one hand and slammed his knee against its head. The brutal blow caused the bird to suffer as a dent instantly appeared in its head. Right after that, Lu Yin’s arm dropped, shattering half of the bird’s body.

It let out one final wail before completely losing consciousness. Lu Yin tossed it into Zenith Mountain. It could no longer fight back.

Only after that did he have a chance to observe the battlefield.

Inside the Zenith Mountain, Master Qing Cao stared at the battered bird in shock. How long has it even been? He crippled an Immortal being so quickly—just how powerful has Lu Yin become?

There were far more Immortals on this battlefield than the one with the Mudwater Dominion. On the Plume Immortals’ side, aside from the Plume Immortals themselves, there were also various other Immortal birds. The one that Lu Yin had just defeated was one of them.

Strewn across the battlefield were random civilizations, which had been dragged there through Obscura’s gates. There were also several Immortals among those civilizations. It was obvious that they had no intention of fighting, but the moment that those Immortals emerged from a gate, those gates were shattered by the Plume Immortals.

Whether it was arrogance or something else, the Plume Immortals had effectively left multiple Immortals stranded on the battlefield.

Lu Yin did not watch for long before he disappeared. He was being targeted. His battle against the bird had been swift and ruthless, and he had defeated it faster than any other Immortal opponent since officially becoming an Aberrant. His fight had naturally drawn the attention of the Plume Immortals.

A Plume Immortal appeared before Lu Yin, its talons raised to claw at him. Its terrifying aura locked down the void itself. The creature was utterly incomparable to the previous bird.

Lu Yin quickly retreated. This Plume Immortal undoubtedly resonated with two cosmic laws, given the immense pressure that it placed upon him. He did not want to fight it directly.

“Human, you can teleport. How did you obtain that ability?” the Plume Immortal shouted as it vanished. Lu Yin also teleported away. The two repeatedly appeared and disappeared as one chased the other across the cosmos.

The battlefield was enormous, and it far exceeded the area immediately surrounding the tree.

At the very least, Lu Yin was unable to see where any other Obscura member was.

After all, they were fighting against Plume Immortals. When against beings capable of teleportation, distance lost all meaning.

Lu Yin kept teleporting, each time covering a distance that an Immortal could travel in twenty years’ travel. He did not dare to reveal the true limits of his ability. The Plume Immortal pursued him relentlessly while trying out various methods to suppress him. Because both sides were teleporting, the Plume Immortal struggled to counter Lu Yin in the same manner that other civilizations struggled to counter the Plume Immortals.

“Human, why can you teleport? Which Rampart are you from?” the Plume Immortal shouted.

Lu Yin replied coldly, “What is your name?”

“Ming Yu.”

“You seem to know quite a bit about humanity.”

“Answer me or die!”

“We’re on a battlefield. Would you ever allow me to live?” Lu Yin asked in a mocking tone. He stopped and turned around, holding his scythe as it released a surge of Activeness while also letting his sight power erupt. Pressure Over All Living Beings descended as Aberrant slashed at the bird.

Ming Yu faced Lu Yin as the purple sight power pressed down on it. Seeing the scythe fall as Activeness surged, the bird’s gaze sharpened to the extreme while its talons rose to block the attack.

Bang!

A thunderous explosion split the void apart. It churned like boiling water across an endless stretch. The shockwave even spread in the direction of the great tree, reaping countless lives along the way. Whether it was birds that belonged to the Plume Immortals or creatures dragged onto the battlefield through Obscura’s gates, once the aftershock touched a creature, none could escape, aside from the Immortals.

Lu Yin gripped his scythe and slashed downwards with tremendous power. His eyes locked onto Ming Yu’s. He had not expected even that strike to fail to break through the bird’s talons.

Ming Yu’s body slowly descended. It had never anticipated that, as a two-law Immortal, it would actually be forced down by a mere Aberrant. This was unforgivable, completely unforgivable. Not only that, but this Aberrant was also a human. A human who should be mocked and toyed with had actually pressed it down. Unforgivable!

Ming Yu shrieked, and visible shockwaves spread out from it. Lu Yin retreated further and further, feeling crushed to the point where he could barely breathe. This feeling...

Godplume Spear!

A feather shot at Lu Yin.

His pupils shrank as he teleported away. The Godplume Spear pierced the place where he had just stood, creating a ripple that continued far into the distance.

The attack looked perfectly ordinary, and yet Ming Yu’s eyes grew dark. This creature recognized the Godplume Spear. Not only could this human teleport, but he also had knowledge regarding the Plume Immortals. He must have inherited something from the Nine Ramparts. He had to die.

Far away, Lu Yin let out a breath. That was the same attack that had once heavily injured Ku Deng, Master Qing Cao, and Kang Tian. It was the Plume Immortals’ offensive battle technique, and it was able to merge and transfer power. It seemed impossible to stop it with external force, but it also had a deceptively ordinary appearance. If one failed to pay attention, the consequences would be disastrous.

Not only that, but Ming Yu had been the one to launch the Godplume Spear. This Plume Immortal was significantly stronger than Yue Lu. Fortunately, Lu Yin knew about this technique beforehand.

Unfortunately, his knowledge was still not enough. He still did not fully understand the Plume Immortals.

Thinking of this, he continued teleporting while reaching out to Ba Se.

“Ba Se, tell me everything you know about the Plume Immortals.”

“Of course. This is war...”

This war had arrived too quickly for Ba Se to properly relay any information regarding Obscura’s enemy, and Lu Yin had been attacked the moment that he had stepped onto the battlefield. He was only able to ask for information at this point in time.

While teleporting to avoid the battlefield and search for other Obscura members, Lu Yin listened to Ba Se’s explanation.

This war was far more intense and dangerous than the one against the Mudwater Dominion.

Before stepping onto the battlefield to fight against the Mudwater Dominion, Lu Yin had been able to calmly review all the relevant information while still in Vestigium. This time, that was impossible.

Up ahead of him, the void opened up, and ripples spread out. Lu Yin turned his head to see Ming Yu in the distance. The strange bird had locked onto Lu Yin and was relentlessly pursuing him.

He continued to teleport, though he never approached the great tree.

The battlefield extended far beyond the immediate area. The Immortal Lord had once said that there were ten Plume Immortals. Lu Yin did not know how many were present on the battlefield, but he also had no doubt that a supreme expert was among them. He had no desire to encounter such a creature.

His only sense of security came from the confidence that Obscura must have also dispatched similar powerhouses.

He teleported, again and again and again. Ba Se’s small gateway managed to keep up with Lu Yin, never losing him.

After listening for quite a while, Lu Yin grew irritated. “Is this all the information that you have? Don’t you have anything on Ming Yu, the one chasing me?”

Ba Se replied, “Obscura has fought the Plume Immortals before, but the last full-scale war occurred far too long ago. The occasional conflicts since then have never escalated.

“Not every Plume Immortal has survived. From the time of the last full-scale war until today, we estimate that nearly half of them have been replaced.”

Lu Yin was surprised. “They are able to teleport, and yet so many have died? Who killed them?”

“The dangers of the Aevum Inch far surpass what you can imagine. Teleportation has both advantages and disadvantages. Compared to the Plume Immortals’ teleportation, yours is actually safer,” Ba Se explained before the miniature gate vanished.

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. Nothing in existence was absolute. Absolute advantages could also bring about absolute dangers.

The Plume Immortals relied on their ability to teleport to freely roam across the Aevum Inch, but that also meant they experienced its greatest dangers firsthand. Perhaps not even Obscura itself had ever fully experienced those dangers.

It was like how one traveler who explored every corner of a desert might die quickly, while another who stayed in one place could live to old age. No matter how strong the first traveler might be, they would eventually be unable to survive the desert’s danger.

The intelligence that Ba Se provided about the Plume Immortals raised Lu Yin’s caution further than ever.

The Plume Immortals’ absolute means was their ability to teleport. They also had an absolute movement technique with Thousand Feathers, Thousand Changes, and when that was paired with their ability to teleport, they could safely escape from nearly ninety nine percent of any danger that they encountered. Most importantly, their legacy also included their Thousand-Autumn Dream.

Thousand-Autumn Dream was able to erode karmic chains with accelerated time. This time was not a branch of the River of Aeons, but rather the main stream itself. They also paired it with the Plume Immortals’ inherited cosmic law of All Paths Return to One.

All Paths Return to One allowed the Plume Immortals to devour the cosmic laws of other Immortals in order to strengthen their own laws.

Normally, strengthening one’s connection to their cosmic law required cultivation and comprehension through additional breakthroughs. Mastery of a cosmic law was not a realm, and yet it was even more difficult than increasing one’s realm.

Plume Immortals were different. They simply hunted Immortals and devoured their cosmic laws. While doing this increased their karmic chains, Thousand-Autumn Dream offset that flaw perfectly.

No matter how one looked at it, the combination of Thousand-Autumn Dream and All Paths Return to One constituted an absolute means.

This meant that the Plume Immortals possessed two absolute means: one which allowed them to escape from nearly anything, and another that allowed them to endlessly strengthen themselves. Their legacy was truly terrifying.

Before this war, Lu Yin had only known about their ability to teleport. Now, when he looked at their great tree again, caution and killing intent filled his eyes. If these birds were not stopped, the Plume Immortals would eventually dominate the entire Aevum Inch.

Of course, that was only in theory. Obscura would never allow that to happen. Still, there was only one path to stop the birds: war.

And that war was being fought now.

Lu Yin had never expected a creature in the Aevum Inch to be capable of devouring the cosmic laws that other Immortals had resonated with.

If the Mudwater Dominion were seen as Aberrants in the Aevum Inch, then the Plume Immortals were the true villains.