Chapter 4570: Honest
Chapter 4570: Honest
Back in its Abyss, Ying Xiong was drinking tea with a solemn expression.
"Senior, I am back."
Thousand Machinations looked up at Lu Yin, its gaze revealing a greater depth than ever before.
Lu Yin moved over, sat down from Thousand Machinations, and announced, "That Keeper of Balance in Obscura taught me the Heavenbond Art."
Pfft!!!
Thousand Machinations spat their tea out and gave Lu Yin a stupified look. Did he really just admit something like that openly?
Lu Yin reacted with befuddlement. "What’s wrong, Senior?"
Thousand Machinations stared at Lu Yin. "You are even more honest than I thought."
Lu Yin humbly said, "I am a being of the Death Megaverse, so naturally, my heart belongs to the Death Megaverse. I will tell you everything that happens with Obscura, Senior."
Thousand Machinations placed its teacup down. "There is no need to tell me everything. I am not interested."
Lu Yin found that a strange reaction. Just what had Wang Wen discussed with Thousand Machinations that made him so confident that the bear would help Lu Yin hide the fact that he had joined Obscura from the rest of the Death Megaverse?
Lu Yin had deliberately mentioned the Heavenbond Art just now to test Thousand Machinations. The Abyssal was surprised that Lu Yin had admitted anything, but they were not surprised that he had received the Heavenbond Art. Clearly, they were familiar with Wang Wen and even knew him very well.
Many people believed themselves to be clever, thinking that they were capable of moving among different factions, but in reality, they were nothing more than clowns.
In the same manner, Lu Yin was moving between the Death Megaverse and Obscura, but he had no intention of hiding anything. He intended to do things openly.
Looking back, he had joined many organizations under various assumed identities. His success had been due to his die’s Possession ability, which granted him hidden knowledge and allowed him to understand his enemies even better than he understood himself. Without that, it would have been impossible for him to succeed. No one was stupid.
"What about Obscura's plot against Ruinfall? Is there no need to say anything about that either?" Lu Yin asked.
Thousand Machinations waved a paw. "Not interested."
Lu Yin muttered, "Oh."
He actually wanted to speak, as it would be for the best if Ruinfall’s matter could be used to spark a war between the Death Megaverse and Obscura. Only an all-out war could consume both sides' strength.
But Thousand Machinations did not take the bait, and Lu Yin could not force the topic. Doing so would easily arouse suspicion. His greatest advantage for the time being was the fact that no one knew that this skeleton clone was actually Lu Yin. As soon as anyone even started to think in that direction, everything would be over.
"You learned the Heavenbond Art?" Thousand Machinations asked.
Lu Yin nodded. "I did. That Keeper of Balance taught me."
"He only taught you half."
"How do you know that, Senior?" Lu Yin was puzzled.
Thousand Machinations finished the tea in its cup, and Lu Yin quickly poured the bear another one. "Because there is absolutely no way the complete Heavenbond Art could be taught to you. It is an extremely powerful method for guiding power. It can even be said to open another door, and that door should not be opened here.
"The key to Heavenbond Art lies in the two words ‘heaven connecting.’"
The bear slowly smiled. "It truly can reach the heavens. Once you learn it, you have reached the heavens."
Despite seeing that Lu Yin still looked like he did not understand, Thousand Machinations did not explain further. Instead, they said, "I can help you obtain the complete Heavenbond Art."
Lu Yin understood that sentence. His earlier comment had shocked Thousand Machinations, and hearing these words from the Abyssal shocked Lu Yin just as much. "The complete Heavenbond Art?"
Thousand Machinations smiled. "Do you want it?"
Lu Yin nodded. "Of course."
"Then do as I say. Without your cooperation, it really will not be easy for me to beat Wang Wen.
"Oh, you do not need to know much about that. Just understand it as that we have a wager, a bet between balance and imbalance. What you need to do is fuse the Stillness and divine energy within your body."
Lu Yin was astonished. Fuse them? He had done that before. When the Trio had been attacked, he had used his Stillness transformation and divine energy transformation at the same time, which had caused half of his body to become black and white and the other half to become red. His eyes had also changed color, one becoming black and white and the other red. At that moment, he had not known how he had done it, but that fusion had allowed him to unleash an unparalleled strike.
Unfortunately, that attack had been partially blocked by an Immortal skeleton, so it had only left a mark on Death's Dominion. After that one attack, Lu Yin’s scythe, Aberrant, had shattered. It had been unable to withstand that power.
Even though Lu Yin's attention at the time had been on the war, he clearly remembered the madness and killing intent clouding his mind at that moment. It had been difficult to suppress, and he had felt as if his sense of reason might have been devoured at any moment. Furthermore, his body had also been unable to bear the stress of that fusion.
However, because the scythe had shattered almost instantly, the power that exceeded Lu Yin’s limits had decreased.
After that battle, Lu Yin had broken into the Immortal realm and separated his skeleton clone from his divine energy clone, so he had not considered the matter again. Only at this moment was he reminded of it.
He had not forgotten the slash that he had produced by fusing Stillness with divine energy. It was the strongest attack that he had ever unleashed as an Aberrant, and it had shocked Ni Bieluo and the other pinnacle experts.
Unfortunately, it had only been a momentary flash of brilliance.
"Can these two powers be fused?" Lu Yin asked.
"No."
"Then why are you asking me to fuse them, Senior?"
Thousand Machinations raised a finger and drew a circle. "It is precisely because they cannot be fused that he is using this as our wager. You do not need to understand the specifics. You only need to find a way to fuse them. Why else do you think he taught you half of the Heavenbond Art? He wants you to cultivate Obscura's divine energy faster and have it match your Stillness as soon as possible. If there is a large gap between the two powers, you will not be able to even attempt a fusion.
"Of course, the Heavenbond Art can also help you to absorb more Stillness and continuously expand your limits."
Lu Yin understood. No wonder Wang Wen had been kind enough to teach him the Heavenbond Art. It turned out that he had already made a bet with Thousand Machinations. Since Wang Wen wanted to use Lu Yin’s clone, he had to pay a price.
Half of the Heavenbond Art was that price.
"Actually, I did not believe him before. After all, that man is always scheming, and I really do not want to struggle against him in a battle of wits." Thousand Machinations grinned. "But he even took out half of the Heavenbond Art, which is enough to show his sincerity. Since that is the case, I will wager with him this once."
Lu Yin asked, "The Keeper of Balance paid such a great price. Am I worth that?"
Thousand Machinations smiled. "To him, the most important thing is the balance of the overall situation. This is the foundation, and that is why he is the Keeper of Balance. Anything that threatens that foundation must be erased, no matter the cost.
"He paid such a great price to use you. It seems that the overall situation is not good, and it is no longer easy for him to achieve balance, so he needs you to help him. Chen, you are very useful."
Lu Yin felt bitter as he smiled. "I am only afraid that I will be used to death."
Thousand Machinations waved a paw. "That will not happen. I will help you. I have seen your sincerity toward the Death Megaverse. You were also forced to join Obscura by circumstances outside of your control. I understand all of it."
Lu Yin respectfully said, "Thank you, Senior.
"By the way, Senior, I used up quite a bit of Stillness during this outing. Can I replenish my reserves?"
Thousand Machinations somberly refused. "No."
Lu Yin. "?"
"You have absorbed too much Stillness recently and have nearly drained me dry. We can discuss it during the next Abyssal Displacement."
"That... All right. I understand."
"Fusing Stillness with divine energy will be extremely difficult. From ancient times until now, who knows how many beings have tried to do it, but all of them have failed. Your only chance of success lies in two points." Thousand Machinations raised two claws. "First, you are cultivating both the Three Deaths Art and Heavenbond Art at the same time.
"Second, I will help you.
"This is the fundamental reason why you have a greater possibility of success than other beings. Even so, you must still work hard yourself."
"Yes, I will definitely do my best." Lu Yin answered excitedly.
"All right, go and work hard. Think about what to do on your own, and I will consider this matter as well. In any case, there is still some time before the matter concerning Ruinfall." Thousand Machinations dismissed Lu Yin.
The skeletons that belonged to Thousand Machinations' Abyss were all underground. The only two on the surface were Thousand Machinations and Lu Yin.
Lu Yin deliberately chose a place that was relatively far away from Thousand Machinations before he started trying to fuse Stillness with divine energy.
It could be seen that Thousand Machinations cared a great deal about this matter. This was what it had wagered on with Wang Wen.
Lu Yin cared even more. He did not care about what Thousand Machinations might gain from this wager. No matter what, Lu Yin would benefit greatly.
Did Thousand Machinations truly believe that Lu Yin was loyal to the Death Megaverse? That was impossible. No one would be so naive, especially with Wang Wen in Obscura. The Abyssal was merely saying such things. Wang Wen was using Lu Yin, and so was Thousand Machinations.
Being used indicated that one possessed value. Lu Yin had the confidence to move between the two old monsters because of his true body’s strength. He was not in a completely passive position.
Before returning to the Qi Megaverse after completing Obscura's assessment, he had deliberately dispersed the Stillness from the Cosmic Art that he had released. At the moment, all of his Stillness was solely within the Three Deaths Art.
As for his divine energy, that only existed in the marrow of his bones.
Lu Yin first mobilized his Stillness, causing darkness to spread across his entire body. Right after that, he drew upon his divine energy.
As the green divine energy appeared, the Stillness grew unstable. Then, a violent tearing force split the universe in two.
Far away, Thousand Machinations looked over and shook their head. Kid, they are two completely different powers, and both are supreme powers. Do not kill yourself while trying to fuse them.
Lu Yin lay deep in the ground, staring up at the sky. There had been a single instance when his bones had produced a tearing sound that caused one's teeth to ache. Those two powers had both acted upon his body at the same time, and the force that they unleashed was beyond astonishing. He had felt as if he were experiencing the ultimate strike that his true body had unleashed while using the Stillness transformation and the divine energy transformation.
Fusing these two energies would indeed be very difficult, but no matter how difficult it proved to be, he had to try.
Lu Yin got up and began trying little by little while sensing the nature of the two powers.
Just like that, 100 years passed.
A mere century was nothing more than a momentary thought to a being like Thousand Machinations. Which of the battle techniques in the Death Codex had not taken tens of millions of years of research? It was not easy to create such supreme techniques.
During this century, Lu Yin experienced everything from exhilaration to utter exhaustion. He tried every possible method to fuse Stillness with divine energy, but the results never changed: tearing, and then an explosion. Again and again, he endured being attacked by his own power. Things reached the point where there were many marks on his bones that were difficult to erase.
Thousand Machinations was also trying, but they barely moved. They had studied far too many battle techniques, and they could understand the result without even needing to move. There might as well be another world where it was conducting tests.
Lu Yin very much wanted to know how the efforts to capture branches of the River of Aeons was progressing. The Death Megaverse intended to use 100 branches of the River of Aeons to help Ruinfall survive the approaching calamity. Regardless of whether those efforts were worthwhile, they were already underway.
He eventually found a suitable opportunity to ask Thousand Machinations, but the Abyssal merely replied that they also did not know, though they guessed that things would take at least several hundred more years.
Nearly 400 years had already passed since the Death Megaverse had decided on a method, which meant that the entire Death Megaverse would have to devote around 1,000 years to complete these preparations.