Star Odyssey

Chapter 4558: Destination

The chill was so terrifying that it brought about utter despair. It was simply impossible to resist. This was a being that could erase the master of the Thread of Heaven with but a single thought.

It did not even dare to move. It stayed frozen, as if dead. This moment of time stretched out seemingly forever. The master was reminded of that feeling of being on the cusp of life and death.

An instance later, the Lepidarch vanished, chasing after Lu Yin.

Still in the same place, the master of the disk was momentarily stunned before it regained its senses. It stared after Lu Yin and the Lepidarch in a daze. Gone? They left?

They had completely ignored it.

Only then did the Immortal react. It heaved a sigh of complete relief and then raced away in the opposite direction at its fastest speed. It had never expected to encounter such a situation. It had very nearly died.

Either one of those two beings could have easily destroyed it. They had probably not killed it simply because they did not want to increase their karmic chains, but such hesitation could not absolutely guarantee absolute safety.

It had to escape. The farther it fled, the better.

Right. The moment the Lepidarch swept past me just now, did a universe appear? The Immortal had seen countless stars revolving. It could not make any sense of that image. It could not understand the strength of beings at that level.

Far away, Lu Yin had not expected to suddenly run into a Thread of Heaven while fleeing. He did not know if it was a genuine Thread of Heaven or bait used by a fishing civilization. Either way, it could not offer him any help. Even if there was a fishing civilization behind it, there was simply no time.

He did not want to waste any strength. He had to reach the megaverse up ahead as quickly as possible.

The Lepidarch had also noticed the Thread of Heaven, and it had similarly ignored it. It wanted to kill Lu Yin because Lu Yin was not an Immortal being. If Lu Yin were an Immortal, the Lepidarch would not be this determined to chase him down and kill him.

The skeleton’s Stillness would eventually be exhausted.

The stars of the Cosmic Art exploded one after another. They were no longer able to divert the Myriad Metal Qi attacks that rained down upon the sourcebox arrays on the Lepidarch Continent.

Lu Yin sent all of his remaining Stillness into the sourcebox array that covered his bones, hoping that its protection would last long enough for him to escape into the megaverse. It might not be able to help him, but there had to at least be a branch of the River of Aeons here.

He wanted to use that branch as a threat. If the Lepidarch wanted to kill him, Lu Yin would do everything he could to draw down the River of Aeons’ main stream. At that point, the Lepidarch would not want to continue chasing him, and Thousand Machinations would be even less willing to attack.

The reason why Lu Yin had been sent to the Lepidarch Continent was to collect primal talisman materials for the Death Megaverse so that Ruinfall could help avoid being drawn into the River of Aeons’ main stream.

That was why Lu Yin was convinced that Thousand Machinations also would not want the main stream to be drawn down at this moment. It would be too easy for some accident to occur.

If you will not help me, I will force you to.

On the Lepidarch's back, Myriad Metal Qi descended.

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

Four arrays shattered, and the four Immortal Lepids flew out and into the Aevum Inch. They all followed the Lepidarch to chase after Lu Yin.

As long as they could catch Lu Yin, the Lepidarch would not need to do anything. The four Lepids would be able to deal with this skeleton. No one could withstand having their power absorbed by so many Butterfly Blooms.

At this moment, Lu Yin was relying solely on Stillness to stay alive. He looked back and saw the Lepidarch, as well as the four other Lepids, still chasing after him. He gritted his teeth and continued his forward charge with his head down.

Countless strands of Myriad Metal Qi crossed the cosmos to stab at him. Some came from the Lepidarch and the rest came from the four Immortal Lepids.

They wanted to use Myriad Metal Qi to exhaust his Stillness and break the sourcebox array protecting him.

Lu Yin could only dodge as he fled.

He was already close and getting even closer to the megaverse with every second. The Stillness that enveloped his body started to dim. The sourcebox array was about to vanish.

Lu Yin could do nothing else but his absolute best to dodge the incoming attacks and occasionally unleash the Yan Gate's First Needle for the Lepidarch and the others to see, slightly stalling their attacks.

But no matter how much he stalled them, his Stillness was still at its limit. Only a tiny bit remained, and he needed it to move his skeleton body. If he were deprived of absolutely all Stillness, his skeleton clone would not be able to live any longer. His bones only lived because of Bone Script, and Stillness was what empowered Bone Script.

In the distance, Thousand Machinations raised its head. He has reached his limit.

Stillness disappeared from the surface of Lu Yin's bones. The sourcebox array protecting him grew dim.

Immediately, four more Butterfly Bloom marks appeared on his bones.

Seven. A full seven flowers of Butterfly Bloom were present.

Having his powers be absorbed by them all, as well as being exhausted by fleeing for so long, Lu Yin was instantly overwhelmed, and he nearly collapsed.

The power of Bloomdance Transfer descended. His bones shattered one after another, and he was sent flying into the distance by a powerful attack.

The Lepidarch and the others had all noticed the megaverse up ahead, but they did not care about it at all. They were in control, and no matter what Lu Yin wanted to do, it would be useless.

Lifeforce churned inside Lu Yin's body, and it condensed to form the First Needle.

Many of the needles shot at the Lepidarch and the four Lepids, and they were successfully restrained for an instant.

Using that opening, Lu Yin continued to move towards the megaverse, only for an attack from Bloomdance Transfer to strike him from the front. It instantly halted his momentum and even sent him flying back towards the Lepidarch and the others.

Lu Yin forcibly resisted the attack. At this moment, his skeleton clone was in an even worse state than when he had been attacked by Dark Prisonbone. If not for the three plates of black armor that were wedged into his bones and preventing them from shattering completely, Lu Yin would not have even been able to move at this point in time.

If he was struck by Bloomdance Transfer even just two more times, he would inevitably die.

Did he really need to summon his true body? He could not afford to lose this clone.

Lu Yin gritted his teeth. The megaverse was clearly right in front of him. It was not far away at all, and yet he had still not managed to quite reach it. Even if he could enter it, he would still have to find the local branch of the River of Aeons. While doing so would be quick, even a single breath was too long. The Lepidarch would not give him any time.

Death or his true body: those were the only two choices he currently faced.

He blankly stared at the megaverse as his two options ran through his mind countless times in an instant.

Suddenly, he stared at the megaverse in shock. Is that...?

Bang, bang, bang!

A series of loud impacts rang out as his bones shattered, and Lu Yin was flung through the cosmos yet again. The greatest damage was caused by the Lepidarch's Bloomdance Transfer attack. That creature had dealt most of the damage that Lu Yin had suffered.

He eventually managed to steady himself, and he turned to look at the Lepidarch. "My purpose in going to the Lepidarch Continent was not the remnants of the Grand Clarity Civilization."

Lepidarch hesitated. "What did you say?"

Lu Yin stared at the Lepidarch as Lifeforce continued to surge from him. He was trying to do everything he could to protect himself. "I was not sent to the Lepidarch Continent to search for remnants of the Grand Clarity Civilization. The Death Megaverse sent me there to deal with you."

Lepidarch sneered. "I have no bones."

"Do you know of the Death Megaverse’s seven Abyssals?"

"I do not, nor do I want to."

"The seven Abyssals are the seven most powerful beings in the Death Megaverse. Each one is at least a peak two-law Immortal."

The four Lepids were all shocked. Seven peak two-law powerhouses? Seven? How was that possible?

The Lepidarch fell silent. It truly had not known about this. All that it knew of the Death Megaverse was that it was very powerful and represented death. The beings of that civilization could grant independent life to living creatures’ bones, which allowed them to act without increasing their karmic chains. The Lepidarch had never dared to get close, but since it had no bones, that ability could not affect it.

Lu Yin mocked, "Do you really think that you are safe just because you have no bones? Let me tell you something. Among the seven Abyssals, there is one known as Devouring Trace. Its true body is that of a creature that can endlessly divide itself. Because of that, it was captured by the Death Megaverse and ultimately made into an Abyssal, specifically so that it could help the Death Megaverse search for more Immortal beings and increase their numbers.

"You have also been targeted, precisely because of Butterfly Bloom."

The Lepidarch was shocked, but also uncertain. "You think that I will believe that?"

"What would I gain from lying to you?"

"You want to live."

"But this information cannot buy my life."

"Your purpose was the remnants of the Grand Clarity Civilization. I watched you from the moment you entered my Lepidarch Continent. There is absolutely no mistake."

Lu Yin sneered. "Those Lepids under you openly kept an eye on the Grand Clarity sourcebox array to hide the fact that they were protecting the weakness on your back. Am I unable to openly search for remnants of Grand Clarity to hide the fact that I wanted to confirm your weakness?

"I will tell you one more thing: your battle with me has been watched by an Abyssal the entire time."

The Lepidarch grew uneasy because Lu Yin was telling the truth. It had always felt that it was being watched by something, which was why it had never dared to reveal its true body. This was also why it had continuously dragged out the fight with Lu Yin.

Lu Yin’s words were merely confirming what the Lepidarch had already sensed. There was definitely some being watching it in secret.

When Lu Yin saw that the Lepidarch did not argue, he let out a pent-up breath. No matter how far away Thousand Machinations might be, as long as it was watching, the Lepidarch should be able to sense it. After all, even if Lepidarch was inferior to Thousand Machinations, it could not be so weak that the bear could observe it without being sensed. It was not like Lu Yin’s clone, which was not even an Immortal.

"If you kill me, you can hide your weakness for a short time, but the Death Megaverse will send more creatures to your Lepidarch Continent. You cannot escape. However, if you do not kill me..." Lu Yin stared at the Lepidarch. "I will help you conceal your weakness and do everything possible to make the Death Megaverse give up on you."

After saying this, he took off for the nearby megaverse again.

This was the entire purpose of everything he had said; he wanted to make the Lepidarch hesitate for a moment while considering a choice. This was a single moment that Lu Yin had won for himself, and it should be at least enough for him to enter the megaverse.

The Lepidarch was not in a hurry to attack. It truly was hesitating. It was terrified of being targeted by the Death Megaverse, and there really was someone secretly watching it.

For someone to be able to watch the Lepidarch without being seen, they could only be an Abyssal.

"Ancestor, he is running," a Lepid spoke up.

Lepidarch stared ahead. "Junior, stop."

Lu Yin was perfectly obedient and stopped running. He was already at the megaverse’s boundary. He could enter it with just a single step.

However, Bloomdance Transfer did not need even that much time to attack him. His life was in the Lepidarch's hands.

"Who is watching me?"

"Thousand Machinations."

Far away, Thousand Machinations' smirked. That fellow did not hesitate in the slightest to sell me out. Judging by his behavior, he is desperate to enter that megaverse. Has he discovered something?

"Thousand Machinations?"

"One of the seven Abyssals, as well as the one that has survived the longest and possesses the greatest combat power among the seven Abyssals. After all, dealing with you would not be easy even for a two-law Immortal."

The Lepidarch did not know if Lu Yin was telling the truth or lying. "If it is watching me, then even if I do not kill you, how will you help me conceal things?"

"That’s very simple. I will report back that you are able to merge the power of ten Lepids into yourself, reaching the very peak of a two-law Immortal, possibly even touching the level of three laws. In any case, your Lepidarch Continent unquestionably has ten Immortal Lepids, no more and no less. There is also your Butterfly Burial, which can transfer the ownership of Butterfly Bloom. All of that is absolutely true.

"As long as the Death Megaverse believes me, no Abyssal will be so bored as to make trouble for you. They will either invite you to join them or simply ignore your existence. Otherwise, anyone who comes after you will have to carefully weigh the consequences."

After saying this, Lu Yin took one more step forward and entered the megaverse.

The Lepidarch shouted, "Stop! Move again, and I will kill you."

Lu Yin did not move, but that was because he had already arrived at his destination.

He was standing beneath the megaverse’s Mother Tree. Not far away from him stood a gate. Astonishingly, it was one of Obscura’s gates.