Star Odyssey

Chapter 4566: Obscura’s Green

From the moment that Lu Yin had first joined Obscura, not one member that he had come into direct contact with seemed to be especially loyal to Obscura. There were even some who had secretly tipped him off. Twice, he had managed to prevent creatures from joining Obscura as new members.

Either those individuals were powerful enough to not be affected by divine energy, or they had never gone far enough to truly betray Obscura.

With myriad thoughts running through his mind, Lu Yin drew closer and closer to the Divine Tree. Beneath his feet flowed a river of divine energy, rippling with multicolored light. It was beautiful to look at, and yet it flowed into an abyss darker than the Death Megaverse. In the depths of that abyss, one floating gate after another drifted aimlessly, along with countless floating coffins.

Lu Yin did not know how other creatures cultivated divine energy. He lowered his head, looked into the river, slowly crouched down, and then stretched out his bone hand to touch it. What he touched was the green drifting among the multiple colors.

As his hand touched the river of divine energy, the green spread along it as if it were alive. In an instant, it covered the white bones of his body. At that moment, an incomparable desire tried to shake his mind. Slaughter, slaughter, slaughter. A desire to slaughter everything devoured his sense of reason. This urge was unimaginably domineering, and it left Lu Yin with no power to resist before he was submerged within it.

All of his white bones turned green, and he roared at the sky. He sounded as if he wanted to devour everything.

Just then, a force enveloped him. The divine energy that covered his body was forcibly pulled away. It formed a puddle of green that fell back into the river with a soft sound.

Only then did Lu Yin come back to his senses. He swayed twice, then sat right on the ground.

"Hahahaha!"

"Hehe."

"Hmph!"

"You dared to touch the river of divine energy the first time you came into contact with divine energy? The fact that it did not reduce you to a monster that knows nothing but slaughter shows that your will is strong," Furball said before bursting out laughing again.

Lu Yin panted heavily while staring at the river of divine energy with lingering fear. It was so beautiful to look at, and yet it had nearly devoured him.

His will did not belong to his clone, but rather to his true self. This meant that, even if his true body came and touched the river of divine energy, the outcome would not be much better.

"Hehe, little fellow, all substances in the cosmos go from intangible to tangible, and then from tangible back to intangible. You have not mastered even the first step, and yet you already want to touch the second? Are you not being too impatient, or is this how you cultivated Stillness within the Death Megaverse?"

"I am curious as well. Just where did you manage to get such an astounding amount of Stillness?" Furball asked.

Lu Yin was still panting to catch his breath. He did not answer as he continued to stare at the river of divine energy. From intangible to tangible, then from tangible to intangible... Yes, he had indeed overlooked such a simple principle.

He could only blame himself for being overconfident. This was Vestigium, the source of divine energy. Although he possessed three different colors of divine energy, which might appear to be more than any other member of Obscura, it was still far from being comparable to Vestigium itself.

The divine energy within Vestigium and the Stillness of the Nethersea were both concepts of sheer power that he currently found difficult to fathom. This small river contained a profundity no less than that of the Nethersea.

He slowly rose and looked at the Divine Tree. "I was too impatient. My apologies."

After saying that, he shifted to sit cross-legged on the ground and proceeded to quietly sense the ambient divine energy in the air.

Formless divine energy naturally existed in the area. Beneath the Divine Tree, divine energy was absolutely everywhere. It was merely difficult to see with the naked eye.

What Lu Yin needed to do was sense that formless divine energy, absorb it, and use it as a guide with which he could begin cultivating.

Wang Wen spoke up, though admiration could be heard in his voice. "While arrogant, his comprehension is exceptional. Cyan, you brought us a true genius."

Furball was pleased to hear that. "Your trip to the Death Megaverse wasn’t wasted, was it?"

"That still depends on the results. I hope that he won’t disappoint us."

Vestigium fell silent as every member of Obscura watched Lu Yin cultivate.

Cultivating divine energy in Vestigium for the first time was no easy matter. When Furball said it was not difficult to cultivate divine energy, that did not mean it was actually easy. It meant that getting started was not hard, and absorption was possible, but it required a connection to one's heart.

This kind of cultivation, attuned through the heart, could be called easy, and it truly was easy, but call it difficult, and it could be as difficult as scaling the heavens.

The various members of Obscura kept observing Lu Yin, waiting for the moment he truly absorbed divine energy. Even so, none of them expected him to succeed so quickly. His speed was rather unbelievable.

They saw a storm appear beneath the Divine Tree, gathering divine energy towards the skeleton that sat beneath it. It looked as though Lu Yin had found the eye of the storm. This sudden success startled everyone.

"No way! So fast?"

"Sensing divine energy and absorbing it should at least require a process. How can he have completed them both so fast? How much time has it been?"

"Hehe, it seems that he really is a genius."

"Judging by the manner in which he is absorbing the power, he is not resisting it at all."

Beneath the Divine Tree, Lu Yin was naturally not resisting the divine energy because he had already cultivated divine energy and understood the process all too well. Still, understanding was one thing. The divine energy’s influence on his skeleton clone could not be reduced.

Faint green marks appeared on his bones, clinging to them in what looked like vein patterns. The marks grew more and more numerous. If he had been absorbing red divine energy, the marks would have looked like actual blood vessels.

As the divine energy grew increasingly abundant, at some unknown point in time, an additional thought appeared in his mind. At first it was vague, but it gradually became clearer and clearer. That thought was... the Divine Tree.

In Lu Yin's mind, or rather within his conscious awareness, the image of the Divine Tree was constantly becoming clearer and taller. It was as if the image were being branded into his heart and soul.

There was a certain reverence in regards to the Divine Tree. The feeling was difficult to resist, and it also became clearer and clearer.

This was the price for cultivating divine energy. When a creature truly cultivated divine energy for the first time, their conscious awareness would inevitably be overwhelmed by the mad desire to carry out slaughter and destruction. They would concentrate their full strength into suppressing that madness, which would cause them to overlook the burgeoning reverence for the Divine Tree. This was Obscura's method.

Because Lu Yin was too familiar with divine energy, that crazed desire for slaughter did not affect him at all, which allowed him to clearly sense another influence. This influence would become more and more distinct as one absorbed more divine energy.

Lu Yin looked at the Divine Tree. At this moment, he felt that this great tree was utterly sacred. Even though he knew that this feeling came from the divine energy that he was absorbing, he still could not change it.

It was like a mortal revering a god. Even if that person was told that the god was fake or just another mortal pretending to be a god, would someone truly dare to disrespect a god? They would not, not because of the validity of the matter, but rather because their heart had already been influenced.

The feeling that Lu Yin had in regards to the Divine Tree was the exact same thing.

Things were still fine for the moment, but if he continued absorbing divine energy until it approached the amount of Stillness that he had, he was certain that he would never dare to disrespect the Divine Tree. There would be a reverence in the depths of his heart that surpassed all external influences.

While he saw this clearly, he had no choice but to continue absorbing divine energy.

Although his true self had never entered Vestigium or worshiped the Divine Tree, his awareness was still being affected. Lu Yin felt helpless. This was probably the primary purpose of worshipping the Divine Tree.

If that was true and there were no other influences, then his true self could indeed enter Vestigium and worship the Divine Tree.

The green energy covering his bones increased. More was constantly being added. From a distance, he looked like a creature glowing with a hazy green aura.

"Hehe, for his first time cultivating this power, he has absorbed quite a lot."

"It’s more than I expected. I thought that, given how much Stillness he has, it wouldn’t be easy for him to absorb divine energy. I didn’t expect this," Furball exclaimed.

Wang Wen calmly observed, "Stillness and divine energy do not conflict with each other. I’m actually curious where his Stillness is hidden. Stillness is a power that is best suited to merging with one’s body. This is acknowledged by the Death Megaverse as being the most correct path, but it is not the one that he is taking."

Furball replied, "I’ve seen it. He conceals his Stillness within some triangular black lines."

Wang Wen smiled. "The Three Deaths Art? As expected of Thousand Machinations' handiwork. No wonder he has so much. In that case, there is even less of a conflict between the two."

They spoke as Lu Yin continued to absorb divine energy. The more he absorbed, the more at ease these Obscura members would be.

Lu Yin stared intently at the Divine Tree. This massive tree was clearly only a small part of a branch of the Mother Tree that stretched across the Aevum Inch, and yet it was somehow different from the other Mother Trees. The Divine Tree must have been fed divine energy for countless years.

A thought suddenly occurred to him. If this small branch could be influenced until it became the Divine Tree, then if divine energy were passed from the Divine Tree to the Mother Tree that filled the Aevum Inch, would that Mother Tree eventually become a Divine Tree as well?

The moment that thought came to him, it grew wildly until it became difficult to suppress. He thought of that great Mother Tree and then of this small branch piece. The thought of the Divine Tree was branded into his heart. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that his thought must be true.

If the entire Mother Tree became a Divine Tree, the Aevum Inch would belong entirely to Obscura. Who would still be able to resist them?

The Divine Tree was Obscura, and Obscura was the Divine Tree.

At this moment, a line of green divine energy drifted down from a branch and slowly descended towards Lu Yin.

He raised a bone hand and grabbed the line. The green divine energy wound along his bony arm and then around his body.

After receiving the acknowledgment of the line of green divine energy, Lu Yin's absorption of divine energy gradually slowed.

Just like when he had absorbed Stillness, he was still capable of absorbing more, but in order not to arouse fear or suspicions, as well as to limit the Divine Tree's influence on him, Lu Yin stopped.

Furball's admiring voice echoed from the cliff. "Congratulations! You have obtained the green line. From this moment on, you are a member of Obscura, Green."

"Hehe, a new member has finally joined. Little Lu Yin stopped several others, but he could not stop you. Furball, in this regard, you won by one move."

Furball was quite pleased. Of course! No matter how capable Lu Yin might be, he can’t possibly stop me!

In the depths of the abyss, a gate and a floating coffin connected to the green divine energy line.

A cosmic ring drifted down, and Ba Se's voice rang out. "Most beings of the Death Megaverse do not use cosmic rings, but you need to hide your floating coffin so that you can carve a gate to Vestigium on its lid. Thus, you will need to use one."

Lu Yin accepted the cosmic ring. "Many thanks."

He stored the floating coffin within the cosmic ring and learned how to draw a gate so that his consciousness could enter Vestigium.

"Even if Thousand Machinations does not care, is this not a bit too obvious?" Lu Yin asked uneasily.

At this moment, green divine energy covered his entire body. It was as if he had a layer of green gauze draped over him, formed entirely from divine energy. If he encountered any other creature of the Death Megaverse in such a state, his situation would definitely be recognized. Even with Thousand Machinations' help, it would be impossible to avoid offering some sort of explanation.

Wang Wen spoke up. "Do not worry. We will help you in a moment. You can now learn Obscura’s legacy battle techniques: Sword Nourishing and Sword Planting."

"There’s no need. I have many battle techniques already."

"These are Obscura’s battle techniques. You need to learn them," Ba Se emphasized.

There was nothing that Lu Yin could do but learn the two battle techniques.

Sword Nourishing nourished the green sword. When You Che had fought against Withered Requiem, the green sword had shattered, and now, Lu Yin received another sword from Obscura. This was one that he could nurture with his own green divine energy. This was a sword that could cut through karma.

As for Sword Planting, that was the method of sinking a sword into the void. This was a sword technique that was commonly used by all members of Obscura. Lu Yin had seen Lan Meng, Furball, and the others all use it.