Chapter 4231: Qualification

“Can I become the Keeper of Balance?” Lu Yin suddenly asked.

Inside the broken blue coffin, Lan Meng let out a rare snort of laughter. The sound dripped with contempt.

The old powerhouse also laughed. “Hehe.”

Ba Se remained as calm as ever. “You can, provided that you are qualified to accept the mission.”

“Fine, I’ll take it. What qualifications do I need?” Keeper of Balance or not, he would first push for information.

Ba Se replied, “You must first complete a five star mission. After that, we can talk.”

“So is it necessary to complete a five star mission to become the Keeper of Balance?”

“To become the Keeper of Balance, you must first complete a five star mission, but doing so does not mean that you can become the Keeper of Balance. The two are completely separate concepts, brat. Hehe.”

“Old Man Hehe, do you want to be the Keeper of Balance?”

“Hehe.”

Lu Yin decided not to waste any further words. The old geezer would not be tricked into revealing even the smallest shred of information. They were crafty to the bone.

Shortly thereafter, Lu Yin pushed the lid off of the red coffin. He sat up and let out a breath.

Every visit to Vestigium felt like a fight, matching wits against wits and words against words. The information he received could be considered half true and half false. It was all a chaotic mess, especially with that old geezer deliberately making things difficult.

Normally, Lu Yin was the one to infuriate others. He had not expected to be so frustrated by that old bastard instead.

Next time he visited Vestigium, he would not waste any breath on that old geezer.

Wait, what if me ignoring them causes them to fixate on me the same way that I targeted Lan Meng? That would be even more infuriating. Lu Yin needed a plan.

Still, this round of verbal sparring in Vestigium had at least yielded some information.

First, it was possible that the old geezer knew who had been watching Ancestor Shan, though it was also possible they were lying. Additionally, that creature wanted Lu Yin’s blood, which indicated that its methods might involve blood. He would need to be on guard against such things.

Second, Obscura had a great many floating coffins. Obscura’s Keeper of Balance was willing to allow Lu Yin to see them, but Lan Meng was not qualified to do so.

Lastly, becoming Obscura’s Keeper of Balance required him to first complete a five star mission. Destroying Lu Yin’s human civilization could only be considered a four star mission, which meant that Obscura’s Keeper of Balance was terrifyingly strong. If they were really the mysterious member of Obscura hiding in the Tianyuan Megaverse, it would be a tremendous problem. Such power might be too much for even Greater Sancte Green Lotus to resist, should he be present.

In that case, could the one who was watching Ancestor Shan be the hidden expert from Obscura?

That hidden powerhouse was able to watch over humanity, and they knew that people had gone to reinforce the Seven-Treasure Anuras. Given the level of strength that the expert wielded, it was possible that it would not be possible to escape from them even with teleportation.

It was both powerful and intelligent, which meant there was a very high chance that escape would be impossible.

There was even more; both Qi Xu and Lan Meng had accepted tasks to destroy the human civilization during the time when the mysterious member of Obscura had been hiding within the human megaverses. It was impossible for there to be no connection at all.

Was that member of Obscura the one standing behind Lan Meng?

Lu Yin stared off into space in a daze. If his analysis was accurate, then so long as he was able to catch Lan Meng, he would be able to learn a great many things.

Standing in outer space, the red line extended out from the star of divine energy. It started to coil around the red coffin, loop upon loop. Each loop caused the star of divine energy to actually swell a small bit. As this happened, a familiar sensation surged up. Lu Yin’s expression grew heavy. The more that he wrapped the line around the coffin, the more that his entire being shifted to be more in line with Obscura’s power. If he completely wrapped the line around the red coffin, his condition might become similar to when the silver line had entered his body, which was more than what he could endure.

While in Mister Mu’s native megaverse, Lu Yin had relied on his master to suppress the silver line, but this time...

Lu Yin retracted the red line. He had managed to wrap more than half of the coffin up with the line. If he continued any further, it would become hard to stay in control. He needed to take things slowly.

Even though Obscura did not overtly control those who joined, whether it was divine energy or the floating coffins, being able to fully wield the powers of Obscura essentially meant fully joining Obscura. There was no need for any additional means of control.

Luckily, Lu Yin had started cultivating divine energy long ago and managed to gain some control over it. Otherwise, as soon as he cultivated Obscura’s divine energy and made contact with the floating coffin, he would not have had nearly as easy a time maintaining control as he currently did.

That was what made Obscura truly terrifying: nowhere were there restrictions, yet everywhere there were constraints.

Obscura assigned missions, yet they did not force members to complete those missions. That was because they knew that the missions would be completed sooner or later, due to both the unruly nature of divine energy and because of the potential rewards.

Lan Meng had once said that it sought to destroy their human civilization for the sake of the mission’s reward.

Receiving a reward even once would make it impossible for someone to stop.

Obscura manipulated the most primal desires of living beings. Such a thing was even more terrifying than controlling life itself.

Obscura schemed against every creature that joined, but they did not understand Lu Yin.

With Mister Mu’s help, it had become possible to suppress even the silver line. So what about the floating coffin?

With that thought, he dragged the red coffin to the Tianyuan. After finding Mister Mu, the two men went to the Mirari Realm. Mister Mu did what he could to suppress the divine energy, and Lu Yin took advantage of the lack of time in the Mirari Realm to work towards adapting to it.

He did not know how long it took him to succeed, but when Lu Yin emerged, he had already stored the red coffin within the star of divine energy.

“Master, how is your karmic chain?” Lu Yin asked.

It was considered quite rude to ask about another’s karmic chain. Ancestor Shan’s fate had cast a shadow of fear over Lu Yin. Each time he did something, Mister Mu and Awe Gate had helped him without hesitation. In fact, their willingness to help had been so free that Lu Yin had overlooked their karmic chains. However, karmic chains always existed. The human Immortals had simply not allowed Lu Yin to worry about such things.

Since they were willing to go so far for him, Lu Yin no longer cared about politeness, and he asked quite bluntly.

Mister Mu was caught off guard. “Why ask about that?”

“I just want to know if you can still take action.”

Mister Mu chuckled. “Of course I can.”

Lu Yin looked at Mister Mu with a serious expression. “Master, do you know how long Awe Gate held back before taking action when the Nest civilization attacked us? And why she endured? If she had acted sooner, fewer human cultivators would have died. Even so, her decision wasn’t wrong.”

Mister Mu nodded. “I know what you mean. But now, Awe Gate doesn’t hesitate to act for your sake. You are worth all of us taking action, even if doing so has costs.”

“But that price shouldn’t be the future inability to protect human civilization, because your disciple must also protect humanity,” Lu Yin said.

Mister Mu met Lu Yin’s eyes. After a moment, the older man smiled. “Yes, I almost forgot. We’re all doing this to protect human civilization.

“Don’t worry. My karmic chain is not very long.” As he spoke, Mister Mu raised his wrist, making his karmic chain clearly visible. It was far, far shorter than Master Qing Cao’s.

Lu Yin let out a breath. Mister Mu had only recently broken through to the Immortal realm. Even if he had taken action a few times, it was impossible for him to be restrained by so few incidents. If not, what would be the meaning of trying to become an Immortal?

Master Qing Cao and Ancestor Shan’s karmic chains had grown long due to their repeated actions taken over a period of eons, timespans that no mortal could comprehend. Only with that had their karmic chains approached completion.

Mister Mu was still far from that.

“I know that I’m being impolite, but I still want to confirm with Greater Sancte Green Lotus and the others about their karmic chains,” Lu Yin stated.

Mister Mu smiled, neither agreeing nor objecting to Lu Yin’s decision.

Lu Yin went to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and found Greater Sancte Green Lotus. Straightaway, the Immortal’s karmic chain was brought up.

Seeing the Greater Sancte’s startled expression, Lu Yin could only shrug. “I just want to be sure of who can act and who can’t.”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus smiled. “Were you frightened by Ancestor Shan’s matter?”

“Yes. I’m afraid that you seniors might suddenly end up like Ancestor Shan. For the Seven-Treasure Anuras, they were separated from their ancestor without any warning,” Lu Yin said.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus nodded. “Don’t worry. We know what we should do. Originally, when we decided to support the Seven-Treasure Anuras, Awe Gate wanted to be the one to act, but I stopped her. Her karmic chain is not very long, but repeatedly taking action will drastically shorten the time for which she can protect our human civilization. It was not worth it.

“Blood Tower’s karmic chain is more than half complete. Qing Cao’s chain is the most complete. That Kang Tian has a very short chain, as does Ku Deng. Of every Immortal in our human civilization, the shortest karmic chain should belong to your City Lord Jiang. He has never acted at all.”

Lu Yin shrugged. “There hasn’t even been a chance for anyone to ask Uncle Jiang to do anything. I don’t even know how strong he is.”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus frowned. “City Lord Jiang is different from every other Immortal I’ve ever seen. The Dukkha he overcame originated from the backlash of taking a shortcut. It was as if someone had artificially created an obstacle, and then he artificially crossed it. It is almost like a deception, as if he deceived the cosmos and himself to elevate himself into the Immortal realm.

“Whether he is strong or weak is not even what’s important. I’m worried that, in the future, he will have to face his Dukkha yet again. The cosmos is not so easily deceived.”

Lu Yin grew uneasy. “Will Uncle Jiang have to overcome Dukkha again?”

“That, I do not know. He walks a different path than the rest of us. We could tell with a glance that he could become an Immortal; the feeling was seamless, as though he had already overcome Dukkha. But ever since he succeeded, the sense of a Dukkhan has continued to linger around him.

“Let me put it this way: overcoming Dukkha consists of ten parts. Only by overcoming all ten parts can one be considered an Immortal. From the first moment I met City Lord Jiang, I could see that he had already overcome ninety-nine percent of it, which indicated that he could naturally break through. But after his breakthrough, that remaining tiny fraction still has not dispersed.

“That was outside of my expectations. That tiny portion may plant a hidden disaster for him in the future. Although only a tiny is missing, overcoming that bit is no easier than overcoming the entire ten parts.

“This is particularly true due to the fact that he has already entered the Immortal realm. No one knows what that remaining fraction of his Dukkha will become. No one enters the Immortal realm before overcoming Dukkha. He is special. Throughout human history, there has never been another like him.”

The more that Lu Yin heard, the more uneasy he became. “In that case, is there any way to help Uncle Jiang overcome that remaining fraction of his Dukkha? If nothing else, can he even overcome it now?”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus gave a wry smile. “Do you think that this is something we humans can control? That remaining fraction stems from himself. It’s not impossible that it will stay like this forever and that he will be no different from other Immortals. On the other hand, it may one day erupt and drag him into the abyss. No one can be certain.”

“I believe that he understands this as well.”

Lu Yin rubbed his forehead. He had not expected Uncle Jiang to prove to be the biggest problem.

“Taking shortcuts and then even overcoming that shortcut... Ultimately, his entire journey has been a shortcut. There are no shortcuts in the cosmos. The more that one takes shortcuts, the more that they will ultimately pay.” Greater Sancte Green Lotus sighed.

Lu Yin exhaled. Uncle Jiang had not exactly taken a shortcut; he had already paid a price for what he had done. However, entering the Immortal realm through the method that he had used was also a shortcut, and the price still needed to be paid for that.

“Do not speak of this to City Lord Jiang. He is either already aware, or if he is not, then your words will only make it easier for his Dukkha to descend upon him,” Greater Sancte Green Lotus warned.

Lu Yin nodded. “This junior understands.”

“One more thing.” Greater Sancte Green Lotus looked at Lu Yin. “Do not burden yourself with our karmic chains. Whether it is us, your master, or any others, we do act not for your sake, but for the future of our human civilization. This is not flattery. At the very least, with your innate gift of teleportation, you are qualified to represent our entire human civilization.”

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