Star Odyssey

Chapter 4343: Mountain Sword Sect

Lu Yin stared at the paper bridge, his eyes flickering. The fact that he had been marked by Ni Bieluo was not good at all.

"Existence is justification."

Lu Yin was puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Old Man Hehe sighed. “That is Ni Bieluo’s power, whatever it deems to exist will exist, and once it exists, it is justified. It’s extremely troublesome.”

"Doesn’t that essentially amount to creation?"

"It is not nearly that exaggerated. Also, you do need not worry. Ni Bieluo will not move against you."

"Why not?"

"An opponent has been assigned to each of the eight elders. Do you think that Ni Bieluo's opponent will let it slip away that easily?" ƒгeewebnovёl.com

Lu Yin asked curiously. "Who is Ni Bieluo's opponent?"

"Hehe."

"Fine, then don’t tell me. Old Man Hehe, you are absolutely infuriating."

"Hehe."

After ending the conversation, Lu Yin looked back at the paper bridge. Even if Ni Bieluo had an opponent, there was absolutely no way that that being would kill it; the price of doing so was simply too steep. The increase in karmic chain that would come from killing a powerhouse like Ni Bieluo would be enough to reduce any Immortal to someone without any value at all, leaving them as helpless as Ancestor Shan had been. Just slaughtering the Blacklight Civilization’s Immortals had been enough to complete the toad’s karmic chain, essentially ruining him.

Every creature who joined Obscura did so for their own purpose. No one would sacrifice themselves for Obscura.

Old Man Hehe had claimed that Ni Bieluo would not attack Lu Yin, but he did not believe that. He had already succeeded in threatening Lan Meng with Ni Fan, and Ni Bieluo's opponent could similarly allow Ni Bieluo to attack Lu Yin, provided that they harbored any sort of hostility towards Lu Yin.

His best approach was still to take down another one of the eight elders and then stop.

While touching the main stream of the River of Aeons was incredibly tempting, nothing was more important than staying alive.

That old monster is far too confident.

Another one of the eight elders? Ni Fan is the best choice, but it already ran away.

***

The paper bridge extended far across the cosmos. It started from a massive Mudwater Dominion, from which white paper that had been folded into various shapes occasionally appeared.

Along the paper bridge, one Mudwater Dominion after another returned.

The paper bridge did not stretch through the void. Rather, it dragged the Mudwater Dominions back while ignoring space itself. This was Ni Bieluo’s power. Within the range of its influence, existence was justification.

"Ni Gui has vanished, and Ni Bai is dead. Both due to a single Aberrant. This Aberrant is strong enough to kill Ni Bai on their own, and they pose a major threat to our Mudwater Dominion."

"An Aberrant? How is that possible? At best, an Aberrant can match Ni Jie, and one could never be Ni Gui's opponent. How could they have killed Ni Bai on their own?"

"Normally, an Aberrant would not even be able to match up to Ni Jie. Although Ni Jie is the weakest of us eight elders, it still possesses our civilization’s legacy and has recorded other civilizations. It cannot be compared to a typical Immortal."

"True, and within our eight elders, Ni Bai ranked fifth. It could easily crush Ni Jie and should not have died to an Aberrant. It must have been heavily injured first and only killed afterwards by that Aberrant."

"Ni Bai was no fool. If it ever felt that it life was threatened, it would have designated karma. Even if it had been heavily injured by another Obscura member, it should have been fine when facing that Aberrant. Even so, it still died. This Aberrant is very strong."

"Everyone, do not forget. Obscura has never allowed an Aberrant to join before. This one is the first."

Those words silenced the eight elders. It was true. Even if they were forced to question common sense, they could not doubt Obscura.

"Ni Fan, you have fought this Aberrant. What is your impression?"

"Not only does this Aberrant possess shocking combat strength, but they also kept their strength hidden. They are extremely cunning. In particular, they moved so quickly that I was unable to even see it. I have no confidence in being able to escape if I face them again."

"So strong? Then how did you survive?"

"The Aberrant suddenly left, and I fled the battlefield."

"Let me deal with him."

"What about your opponent?"

"I will deal with both of them at the same time."

"Do not overestimate yourself. The reason why we are able to brazenly move through the Aevum Inch is not because of our combat strength, but rather our karma designation. Without that, aside from Lord Ni Bieluo, none of us would be able to survive. And yet you want to deal with two at once?"

"Ni Fan, share an image of that Aberrant. I want to see what kind of creature we are facing."

"Fine."

Soon, an image of Lu Yin appeared.

"Eh? It’s one of those?"

"Ni Que, have you seen them before?"

"I have. On my battlefield, Obscura lured over a creature with this same form to attack me. I sent a mud doll to deal with them. The creature was useless."

"Is this Aberrant from the same civilization?"

"I do not know."

"Is it on your battlefield?"

"I have also seen it. Obscura has other creatures like this one."

"Is that so?"

***

“Vast mountain mists, blades fall like rain.

“By my sword, I strike down my enemies.

“The Mountain Sword endures, let our civilization rise.

“By my sword, I strike down my enemies. The Mountain Sword endures, let our civilization rise...”

A colossal mountain stood in the cosmos. It was not just a mountain, but an entire civilization. It was not a megaverse, but the Mountain Sword Sect.

Majestic voices echoed through space. Countless cultivators were bowing in the direction of the mountain. Each one of them was carrying a stone sword on their back. The Mountain Sword Sect used stone swords, taken from the mountain and forged by each person.

On the mountain’s peak, an old man with fathomless eyes stared into the distance. Suddenly, his hand rose, grasping the stone sword in front of him. The sword swung: Mountain Sword Sect’s Sword of Great Momentum.

There was a mud doll in the distance. Confronted with the old man’s Sword of Great Momentum, white paper fluttered out from the mud doll, folding into countless rings that sliced out to meet the slash.

The old man kept avoiding the civilizational weapon with his stone sword. Shattering any of those rings could cause his karmic chain to grow, as each ring represented an entire civilization. Accepting the karma of destroying an entire civilization was no small matter. The old man was the only Immortal in the entire Mountain Sword Sect. If he died, his civilization would be finished.

Years ago, one of Obscura’s gates had opened wide, pulling the Mountain Sword Sect onto the battlefield to join the war against the Mudwater Dominion. The old man had immediately tried to shatter that gate, but a mud doll had happened to be nearby and had shot through the gate to attack him. The current stalemate had lasted since that time.

The old man repeatedly tried to force the mud doll back so that he could leave the battlefield, but while his opponent was not particularly strong, the threat that its civilizational weapons posed to the old man’s karmic chain constantly restrained him. The old man could not easily defeat the mud doll, which was why their battle had dragged out for so long.

A surge of energy suddenly rose from the stone sword, and it pressed down upon the cosmos as the sword chopped down at the mud doll.

It had already faced this attack more than once before. The stone sword did not have a sharp edge, and it instead possessed incredible momentum and heavy power. Its passage disturbed the void. It was not an attack that the mud doll could directly face. However, precisely because the stone sword lacked a sharp edge, it could not easily kill the mud doll. Even if the old man was willing to accept the increase in his karmic chain to slay his opponent, it would not be easy to succeed.

Bang, bang, bang!

The stone sword viciously slammed down. The old man stepped away from the Mountain Sword Sect, carrying his stone sword as he tried to push the mud doll back through the gate. If the opportunity ever arrived, he would immediately shatter the gate.

Unfortunately, the mud doll’s civilizational weapons wrapped around the gate. If the old man insisted on shattering the gate, the increase in his karmic chain would leave him unable to take any further action.

How would such a condition be any better than death?

On the lower parts of the mountain, the old man's disciples were grief-stricken. "We are unfilial! We failed to break through to the Immortal realm and bear this burden for Master! For so many years, we have left Master to shoulder it alone."

"From the day he led Mountain Sword Sect out into the cosmos until now, Master has carried everything alone. We are unfilial."

"We are unfilial."

The old man sighed. "Foolish children, enough. Enough. The more you overthink matters, the harder it becomes to break into the Immortal realm. Perhaps this is the destiny of our human civilization. If we can survive this crisis, so what if this old one must sacrifice his life?" ƒгeewёbnovel.com

As he spoke, the old man raised his stone sword high. “This old man is dull-witted. Though I have grasped the power of the stone sword, I lack the resolve to kill. It is I who have harmed human civilization.”

"Master..."

The old man swept his stone sword to the side, intending to shatter the gate. Even if his karmic chain was completed, it would still be better than letting his civilization be destroyed. An Immortal with a complete karmic chain might not be able to act, but they could still serve as a deterrent to other Immortals. He could continue to keep his human civilization safe for some time.

If he let go, he would be able to obtain release.

The mud doll hurled all of its recorded civilizations forward, but they were simply shattered by the stone sword. The old man closed his eyes as his karmic chain increased by the moment. It felt like he was sinking into a mire, as though countless eyes were staring at him. The deaths of those civilizations were all treated as his doing.

While the mud doll also accepted nearly half of the karmic burden, it was not an Immortal and thus did not care.

Just as the stone sword was about to smash into the gate, the mud doll squeezed through, escaping to the other side. The sword stopped. It was blocked by another creature from the Mudwater Dominion: one of the eight elders, Ni Que.

Above the Mountain Sword Sect, the old man's eyes flared. Not good!

He released a violent burst of power, and his Lifeforce erupted. Fathomless Mountain Sword: Descend.

At the same time, he released his world, which caused his mountain sword to grow larger until it seemed to overshadow the cosmos.

On the other side of the gate, Ni Que watched on in contempt. The gap between it and the swordsman was too great. The old man was nothing more than an average Immortal.

White paper fluttered, folding before shooting forward.

The paper pierced the stone sword, following it and then also piercing the old man's shoulder. Blood splattered across the mountain. He stumbled back, step after step. He was horrified. This being was an absolute powerhouse.

He clenched his jaw, forcing out his full power so that he could shatter the gate, but it was already too late. White paper darted back and forth, repeatedly piercing his body. Blood sprayed across space. The old man's disciples' eyes grew bloodshot with rage as he let out an insane scream.

Some of his disciples charged out to stop the white paper, only to be stabbed by it. Each one who was stabbed exploded and died.

The old man let out another roar as he pulled his stone sword back so that he could swing it horizontally. Against the white paper, the stone sword seemed to be nothing at all, as the paper simply shot through the sword. The civilizational weapon pierced the old man's body yet again.

The old man spat out a mouthful of blood as he dropped to one knee. His face turned deathly pale.

The sky above the Mountain Sword Sect dimmed. Everyone looked up, watching in despair as the mountain cracked. The white paper moved, and Ni Que appeared atop of it.

The creature arrived quickly, yet it vanished even faster, taking the Mountain Sword Sect with it.

Not long after Ni Que left, a shadow appeared, astonished. "Is this a surviving human civilization?

"I suppose that the Mudwater Dominion took them away to deal with Lu Yin. It seems that Cyan and the others really did have him make a move. Interesting."

***

Lu Yin sat cross-legged in the middle of outer space as Lan Meng waited nearby.

It had been half a year since he had killed Ni Bai and seen Ni Bieluo summon the eight elders. The paper bridge had disappeared long ago, and the battlefield seemed to have calmed, given that none of the eight elders had appeared.

Obscura also did not take the initiative to summon back all of its members and have them attack the Mudwater Dominion. Everyone feared the civilization’s ability to designate karma.

It was impossible for Lu Yin to destroy the entire Mudwater Dominion by himself, especially since Ni Bieluo was also present on the battlefield. Lu Yin could not even deal the killing blow, as doing so would be far too dangerous.

"Reach out to Old Man Hehe to see what the current situation is," Lu Yin ordered.

Lan Meng called Old Man Hehe.

"The eight elders have not come yet. Why are you in a hurry?"

"If they never come, are we supposed to just keep wasting time on this battlefield forever?"

"For an Immortal, time holds no meaning."

"What is the standard for Obscura to issue a mandatory draft for a war? What circumstances usually trigger a war?"