Star Odyssey

Chapter 4345: Exchange

Lu Yin's tone was calm. "I can’t save them."

"Hehe."

"Can you help me?"

"Hm? Child, is that a joke?"

Lu Yin was very serious. "I’m not joking."

"Hehe. I can help, but I will not."

Lu Yin was not surprised. "Who in Obscura can help me?"

"No one. You pose a greater threat to the Mudwater Dominion than anyone else in Obscura. That means that this trap has been prepared for you, and it will include either Ni Bieluo or some being that is second only to Ni Bieluo. Even if there are Obscura members who can deal with such opponents, doing so is still extremely troublesome. The increase in one’s karmic chain from doing so would be enormous, and you cannot afford that price."

Lu Yin glanced at Lan Meng. "Contact Ba Se."

Lan Meng ended the contact with Old Man Hehe and reached out to Ba Se.

"Ba Se, is a four-star reward enough for me to get some help to rescue the Mountain Sword Sect from the Mudwater Dominion?" Lu Yin asked bluntly. His current strength meant that it was simply impossible for him to save those people. Old Man Hehe was right that the trap laid for Lu Yin would include either Ni Bieluo or some being second only to that creature. Even the weakest such being would be at least equal to Furball.

Teleportation was not omnipotent. In particular, Lu Yin would not even be able to escape if he faced Ni Bieluo.

That creature had already killed a Plume Immortal.

Ba Se replied, "During times of war, you are able to receive much greater rewards than normal while on the battlefield, but the rewards spent are also far greater than usual. Are you sure that you want to exchange your reward for the rescue of the Mountain Sword Sect?"

"Yes."

"A four-star reward is not enough."

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. "Even a four-star reward isn’t enough?"

"Of the Mountain Sword Sect, the sect is still outside, but their ancestor is inside. If you want to completely rescue Mountain Sword Sect, then Ni Ren must die. Ni Ren is second only to Ni Bieluo, and it is as powerful as a two-law Immortal. Killing Ni Ren during this war would grant you a five-star reward. Once this war ends, you will not receive another such chance.

"But on the current battlefield, no one from Obscura is willing to kill Ni Ren. If you want to rescue the Mountain Sword Sect, the only possibility is to offer a five-star reward, and even then, it depends on whether anyone from Obscura is willing to act."

That said, there was simply no one from Obscura who was willing to take action. Lu Yin knew very well what those individuals were thinking. They would rather give such a reward to Lu Yin than accept the increase in their karmic chain.

"Who from Obscura is fighting Ni Ren?"

"No comment."

"Ba Se, if I only want to rescue the Mountain Sword Sect that is outside, is a four-star reward enough?"

"To rescue the sect, yes."

"But I also want to ensure that no one inside the sect is harmed or killed."

"Then it is not enough."

"Then how much is needed?"

"Two four-star rewards. Without that much, it is impossible to ensure the lives of the humans within the sect."

Lu Yin immediately threw Ni Gui out of a Zenith Mountain. After his karma finished increasing, he said, "I hope that you will keep your word and help me rescue everyone within the Mountain Sword Sect."

With that, his sword fell, and Ni Gui died. With Ni Gui and Ni Bai, Lu Yin had earned two four-star rewards. This was the most that he could do at the moment.

Otherwise, even if he killed another elder and obtained a five-star reward, it still would be useless even if no one from Obscura was willing to act.

"Wait." The gate vanished.

Lu Yin closed his eyes. His mind was occupied with the Mountain Sword Sect’s ancestor, the kind senior who had exhausted himself for the legacy of the humans of the Mountain Sword Sect, returning from the battlefield time and again covered with blood. I am sorry, Senior. This junior cannot save you.

Despite having never met the man, Lu Yin could tell that the Mountain Sword Sect’s Immortal was the same kind of person as Arch-Elder Zen and others; he was utterly devoted to humanity.

I am sorry.

At the same time, in another part of the cosmos, there was a vast Mudwater Dominion that looked like a porcupine. All of its civilizational weapons had been formed into blades that stabbed outward in every direction. This was Ni Ren's Mudwater Dominion, and beneath it was the Mountain Sword Sect.

Just like the cement-like creature that had clung to the middle-aged man's head, this Mudwater Dominion was attached to the top of the Mountain Sword Sect. From afar, the peak of the Mountain Sword Sect appeared to be a gray sheet.

A blade suddenly thrust out from the Mudwater Dominion and slashed in a very specific direction.

There was a clang, and a red sword swung up, batting the long paper blade aside. Hong Xia emerged from the void, looking at the Mudwater Dominion. He also saw the Mountain Sword Sect beneath it. Humans?

Ni Ren appeared in the Mudwater Dominion. The two long white blades at its side were both civilizational weapons.

Every last one of the more powerful eight elders in the Mudwater Dominion possessed civilizational weapons that had recorded at least two Immortal powerhouses. This was the result of the Mudwater Dominion's long years of hunting and conquering Immortals.

For the Mudwater Dominion, conquering Immortals did not involve destroying civilizations. Instead, those civilizations were used to strengthen the power of their Immortal civilizational weapons. The more Immortals recorded, the stronger the civilizational weapons became.

Of everyone in the Mudwater Dominion, Ni Bieluo was the strongest because it had recorded three Immortals in its civilizational weapons.

"These are your kin, are they not? Well? Will you come save them?" Ni Ren asked in a cold, dry voice.

In front of the creature, Hong Xia was unfazed. "Where did you find them?"

"On this battlefield."

"Oh?" There was just a single word, then nothing further.

Ni Ren stared at Hong Xia and saw the cold indifference in the man’s eyes. The complete lack of emotions was from truly not caring at all.

It seems that these creatures also do not care about their own kind.

There were far, far too many species throughout the cosmos which did not care about their own kind. It appeared that the Aberrant would not come to save these creatures.

In that case, I should kill this one first. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

With that thought, the two long white blades beside Ni Ren attacked Hong Xia. The two had fought more than once during this war, but both had always shown a level of restraint, and they had never managed to see the other's true strength.

Hong Xia had no desire to entangle himself with Ni Ren. Every clash further increased his karmic chain. Even if he ultimately defeated Ni Ren, the designated karma would ruin him. There were no benefits to be found in this battle; merely restraining Ni Ren was enough.

This was also the entire goal of Obscura’s war against the Mudwater Dominion. No losses meant victory.

Clang, clang, clang. The red sword and white blades clashed as the two fought. While Hong Xia did not want to fight Ni Ren, he could not simply abandon his opponent. If he did, he would not be able to answer to Obscura.

While they fought, the Mountain Sword Sect suddenly vanished.

Hong Xia stared in shock into the distance. He had seen a gate swallow the Mountain Sword Sect, causing the mountain to disappear. Did that one intervene?

Ni Ren was stunned as well. Where is the Mountain Sword Sect? Gone?

Obscura had rescued the Mountain Sword Sect. Logically, Obscura should not care about such a weak civilization. Besides, this civilization’s Immortal had already been recorded by Ni Ren, so what was the point of taking the Mountain Sword Sect away?

Could it be because of that Aberrant?

Ni Ren regretted its decision. Hong Xia's uncaring attitude had led it to believe that the Aberrant also did not care about his own kind and would not come to save this civilization. That belief had caused Ni Ren to ignore the Mountain Sword Sect while fighting against Hong Xia.

Who would have thought that the mountain would be rescued so easily?

"It seems that you do care about your own kind after all. You put on such a convincing act." Ni Ren was furious. A slash of a white blade tore through the void, opening a rift that stretched out endlessly.

Hong Xia dodged while staring at Ni Ren. "You were never testing me. This was all because of some other human."

"So what?" Ni Ren kept attacking with its civilizational weapons.

Hong Xia also regretted his actions. He thought that Ni Ren had brought out the Mountain Sword Sect to influence him, and he had even mocked Ni Ren for being naive. However, the moment that Obscura rescued the Mountain Sword Sect, Hong Xia had realized his mistake; the Mountain Sword Sect had never been bait for him, but rather Lu Yin.

Lu Yin was also fighting in this war. His status as a powerful Aberrant left no doubt that he must have caused the Mudwater Dominion to suffer heavy losses. On top of that, the Mudwater Dominion had happened to stumble upon a human civilization on the battlefield, so they had wanted to use that civilization to counter Lu Yin. This had been a trap to eliminate Lu Yin.

But Hong Xia’s own lack of concern had convinced Ni Ren that humans did not care about their own kind, undermining the trap. The less that Hong Xia cared, the more convinced that Ni Ren was that Lu Yin was the same. Things had continued until the creature had removed all protection from the Mountain Sword Sect, allowing the civilization to be easily rescued.

It was as if Hong Xia had unwittingly helped Lu Yin. How infuriating.

Hong Xia rarely grew angry. "Why did you not say earlier that this was to deal with Lu Yin?"

"Lu Yin?" Ni Ren was puzzled. "Is that the Aberrant's name? What do you mean by that?"

Hong Xia fell back, silently staring at Ni Ren. After a moment, the man turned around and left.

Ni Ren looked at the emptiness before it. Its opponent had simply left. What did his words mean? Was it possible that this Obscura member also wanted to deal with the Aberrant? That would explain why he was no longer keeping Ni Ren occupied.

With that conclusion, Ni Ren took out a paper bridge. Without an opponent to hold it back, it could leave the current battlefield and kill that Aberrant.

Success depended on whether Ni Ren’s opponent would interfere.

The paper bridge stretched out, and Ni Ren stepped onto it, carrying its Mudwater Dominion with it and instantly vanishing.

Hong Xia watched from afar, doing nothing to stop it. There was no doubt that his actions would displease Ba Se. Every member of Obscura fighting in this war had been assigned to a specific enemy. They were not required to kill that enemy, merely hold them back. However, Hong Xia had allowed Ni Ren to leave.

He did not want to offend Ba Se, but dealing with Lu Yin was a far more urgent priority. As long as Lu Yin died, all of Hong Xia’s problems would be resolved at once. Compared to that, as long as he did not openly violate Obscura's rules, Obscura would not do anything to him.

***

Elsewhere, Lu Yin stared at the gate that opened before him. The Mountain Sword Sect emerged from it and quickly expanded. He was thrilled. They had been rescued so quickly.

Lan Meng was also astonished. This was far too efficient.

There were countless humans within the Mountain Sword Sect who had survived. Having been rescued, they were extremely grateful to Lu Yin, and they were also curious as to which human civilization he was from. Even so, they were even more eager to rescue their ancestor.

Across the Mountain Sword Sect, everyone knelt, begging Lu Yin to save their ancestor.

There was nothing Lu Yin could do. He simply transferred the people from the Mountain Sword Sect to a Zenith Mountain and then put it away.

"Ba Se, thank you."

Ba Se replied, "This was a mission reward. You have used up your rewards from this war. I wish you luck."

With that, the gate vanished.

A short distance away, Lan Meng felt that this use of rewards was a pity. Two four-star rewards had been used up in an instant. If turned in after the war, the potential rewards that they could be exchanged for were too tempting for even powerful Immortals to resist.

"Contact Old Man Hehe."

"Hehe, child, are you looking for me again?"

"I want to know who from Obscura is fighting Ni Ren."

"You rescued that human civilization?" Old Man Hehe was genuinely surprised. "You must have used an extraordinary reward."

It was not surprising that the ancient powerhouse had quickly reached that conclusion. If Ni Bieluo had been the one to set the trap for Lu Yin, then not even Ba Se could have rescued the human civilization so quickly. That meant that Ni Ren was the only possibility. There was also a substantial difference between Ni Ren and Ni Bieluo.

"Two four-star rewards."

"What a pity, what a pity. Upon killing my opponent of the eight elders, you would have been able to exchange your rewards for a five-star reward. Do you know how tempting a five-star reward is? Even I would be moved by that. Truly, what a pity."

"I won’t help you now."

"Hm? You no longer want to touch the main stream of the River of Aeons?"

"If I kill another of the eight elders, Ni Bieluo will definitely come after me itself."

"Hehe. Even if you do not kill another, the result will not change."

"What do you mean?" Lu Yin froze. At that exact moment, the paper bridge reappeared. As it did so, an indescribably sharpness filled the area, along with a suffocating, terrifying sense of dread. Pressure surged over from the distance, racing straight for Lu Yin.