Chapter 4436: Withered Requiem

"Oh right. Tuo Lin, you came to the Lu Sanctum for something this time, didn’t you?" Lu Buzheng asked.

Tuo Lin replied, "Yes. This junior wants to go to Manifest City."

Lu Buzheng was surprised. "You want to go to Manifest City? Why?"

Over the years, many people had gone into Manifest City, not just Lu Yin. Anyone who wished to go could apply, and the Lu family regularly took groups over.

Lu Yin hoped that someone might eventually be able to find something in Manifest City. The cosmos contained endless opportunities, and it was impossible for all of them to belong to him alone. Just because he was unable to find Heartbond Nonduality or the method to control Manifest City did not mean that no one else from human civilization could find them.

It was possible that some people might find their opportunities within Manifest City. If that was possible, Lu Yin would naturally try to make it happen. He was not the kind of person who hoarded every possible benefit for himself.

The fate of Manifest City concerned the hope of the entire human civilization. Once the guardian artifact was brought under humanity’s control, the Trio’s security would greatly increase. It would even be able to weather something like the Plume Immortals’ previous attack without massive casualties.

Lu Buzheng had already arranged for various members of the Lu family who could teleport to take quite a few people to Manifest City, but he had not expected Tuo Lin to ask to go as well.

Tuo Lin looked devout. "Master has gone to Manifest City many times, and he has said that he hopes to take control of it. His disciple is useless and may not be able to help Master in any real way, but if I can look at at least one more brick or one more tile for Master, that would still be good."

Lu Buzheng stared at Tuo Lin for a long moment. It was obvious that the boy meant every word he spoke. With a bit of emotion, the old man commented, "It is also Lord Lu’s blessing to have a disciple like you."

Tuo Lin hurriedly replied, "It is this junior’s blessing, earned across ten lifetimes, to be accepted by my honored master."

Lu Buzheng smiled. Seeing how serious Tuo Lin was while looking at him, Lu Buzheng felt a little troubled. "Manifest City is actually very dangerous. When cultivators step into the cultivation world, their life and death are left up to fate. Many people have gone to Manifest City, but every time, some die inside. You..."

Tuo Lin remained determined. "This junior is not afraid of death. I merely hope to look at one more brick or one more tile for Master."

Lu Buzheng took a moment to consider. "I need to report this to our ancestor. Wait here."

Tuo Lin nodded. "I’m sorry to trouble you, Senior."

Lu Buzheng went to find Ancestor Lu Yuan, but the man was not in the Lu Sanctum. In the end, his only option was to find Lu Hui and have her report the matter to Ancestor Lu Yuan, asking what should be done regarding Tuo Lin.

Lu Yin was still in seclusion, so there was no way to ask him directly.

It did not take long for Ancestor Lu Yuan to send Lu Hui back with his agreement to allow Tuo Lin to enter Manifest City. Tuo Lin was a cultivator, so regardless of his status, no one could deprive him of his right to cultivate. Lu Yin’s disciples should be sheltered even less than others.

Lu Yin carried the banner of humanity and had climbed to the peak by overcoming many hardships. His disciple should do the same. Comfort could be left to ordinary people.

Still, as Lu Yin’s disciple, Tuo Lin did enjoy a few privileges. For example, Lu Hui personally took him to Manifest City. Others had to wait in batches while Tuo Lin was able to go immediately.

Outside of Manifest City’s gate, the Immortal stone monster kept its distance. While it was indeed standing guard over Manifest City, it did not dare to get close. It was still traumatized by its time inside.

Even the Immortal was surprised by Tuo Lin’s arrival. Is this child really that Lu Yin’s disciple? He looks so humble.

Tuo Lin was extremely polite as he greeted the stone monster and the others nearby who had entered and exited Manifest City. He then walked to the city gate, but stopped there. "Little Ruyu, once we go in, we’ll have to separate for a while.

"I’ll be careful, but you should too. Take things slowly.

"Mhmm, alright. I’ll definitely build a statue for Master inside. You need to work hard too."

With that, he stepped forward and entered the city.

In a secluded corner of Manifest City, a shadow flashed. It was a feral cat with fierce eyes. From time to time, children would chase after it or throw stones at it, but they were never able to hit it.

The feral cat did not fight back and simply darted back and forth between the buildings, as though it was searching for something.

That cat was Hui Can. He had also entered Manifest City, and he had come far earlier than Tuo Lin. Ancestor Lu Yuan knew that Hui Can had applied to enter Manifest City together with a group, but he had not treated Hui Can any differently. In fact, aside from being brought over separately by Lu Hui, Tuo Lin was also not treated any differently. In Ancestor Lu Yuan’s eyes, regardless of a person’s status, as soon as they stepped into the world of cultivators, they had to be prepared to die.

Upon entering Manifest City, Hui Can had become a cat, a fierce feral cat covered in scars. He was also searching for the method to control Manifest City. Just because his master could not find it did not mean that Hui Can could not. As a descendant of Progenitor Hui, he considered himself to be exceptionally intelligent. Surely he ought to be able to see something that others could not.

But even after staying in Manifest City for so long, he still could not find anything. It was plainly nothing more than a city of ordinary people. If he had not transformed into a feral cat, Hui Can might have even suspected that someone was playing a prank on him.

What was the difference between the mortals within this city and the mortals outside? Especially the children who chased him with stones. They were truly awful.

Hui Can crouched beneath an abandoned house, watching as pedestrians came and went along the street. His eyes remained sharp, as he hoped to discover something.

Suddenly, he froze. He stared blankly at a person on the street who stood in front of a stone carving stall. The person was glancing around curiously while constantly asking the stall owner various questions. The cat’s pupils shrank to pinpricks. Is that... Tuo Lin? He’s a human?

***

In the Tianyuan, in his secluded cultivation grounds behind the Heavens Sect, Lu Yin let out a breath as he watched his die come to a stop. One pip. Then, one pip again. He had already rolled this result several times before, so he would have to rest for ten days before trying again.

Even with his current cultivation level, rolling the die too many times still left Lu Yin dizzy. His die was a mirebound artifact, there was no doubt about that, but he still did not know just what level it was.

Looking at the pips on the die, Lu Yin grew a bit melancholy. Six people had completed one artifact. If his six brothers and sisters had not died, each of them certainly would have become true prodigies.

Ten days later, he flicked a finger and continued rolling the die.

With his scythe resting across his knees and Extremes Must Be Reversed acting upon it to convert Activeness into Stillness, he watched the die slowly come to a stop. Six pips. Lu Yin’s eyes flared. Success!

His awareness entered that familiar yet strange dark space, and he quickly searched about. Despite darting everywhere constantly, he found nothing.

After searching for some time, it appeared that he was still too far from any creature of the Death Megaverse.

So he continued. Time continued to pass, and a month later, Lu Yin looked at a faint light within the mysterious dark space. That light represented Zhu, who Lu Yin had already Possessed several times. He did not want to do so again. There was nothing of value in Zhu’s memories. Lu Yin withdrew from the dark space and continued rolling his die.

It was not easy to find a creature of the Death Megaverse. Lu Yin left his place of seclusion and proceeded to repeatedly teleport in a single direction, continuing until he was about 500 years’ travel from the Trio before he stopped. He wanted to see if this place might be a bit closer to the Death Megaverse.

He did not know which direction the Death Megaverse lay in, so he could only rely on luck. If this was not the right direction, he would try another one next.

One day, half a year later, when Lu Yin’s awareness entered the dark space, he saw several balls of light in the distance. He was thrilled. He had finally found them. Had he finally found the correct direction?

He rushed over and merged with the brightest ball of light, though calling it the brightest was only relative. Compared to himself, even this brightest light appeared quite dim. It likely represented someone without much strength.

This was how the die’s Possession ability worked. Even if a creature from the Death Megaverse stood right beside Lu Yin, he was not guaranteed to see their ball of light in the dark space. Even after so many years, Lu Yin still had not grasped the underlying principle or trick behind Possession.

He merged into the orb of light, and immediately, roaring brass music filled his ears. He saw his surroundings clearly. One strange white skeleton after another walked across the earth, swaying rhythmically, as if dancing. It was a beautiful world with blue skies, white clouds, green mountains, and clear waters. It was a joyful world, where all life was dancing to the music. The only discordant thing was that the music was so loud that even the bones of the various dancers were trembling. On top of that, all who danced beneath the blue sky and white clouds were skeletons, skeletons of every conceivable bizarre form.

Lu Yin looked around to see endless stretches of skeletons dancing. It was a scene he had truly never imagined, not even in his dreams. He looked across the ground, and then into the distance. Finally, he understood. The expanse beneath his feet was both land and some kind of musical instrument that had been enlarged countless times over, until the instrument became a world itself.

Turning around, he saw that the far end of the nearly endless mountain range was covered in darkness. It was a darkness so overwhelming that it caused his breath to catch. It was the power of Stillness. Never before had he encountered such a vast amount of Stillness. It formed another world and had the impression of a crouching demon. The music came from that Stillness. As the music vibrated, the demon seemed to laugh. The blue sky trembled and rippled, the river shook, and skeletal fishes leaped out of it. The mountains trembled, and skeletal beasts howled in celebration. The ground itself shook as sleeping skeletons instinctively beat out the rhythm.

What kind of world was this? Everywhere that Lu Yin looked, he saw only skeletons. There were endless skeletons, all responding to the Stillness in the distance. The black and white colors formed a vivid contrast.

Memories started to flood his mind, and Lu Yin stood frozen in place. His gaze remained glued to the dark Stillness in the distance, and he vaguely made out a castle within it. Within that place was an existence called Withered Requiem, and they were one of the strongest beings of the Death Megaverse, leading an Abyss. Lu Yin was on Withered Requiem’s world, a world of music.[1]

The booming music did not stop, and Lu Yin instinctively moved his body to start dancing. The movement, which arose from sheer instinct, came from the skeleton body that he had Possessed. It was like the joy of life itself, and it came from every movement and every beat of the music.

Lu Yin was certain that this music would blast any normal flesh-and-blood body apart. This was a world solely for skeletons. This was one of the Death Megaverse’s Abysses, the realm of Withered Requiem.

Lu Yin continued examining the skeleton’s memories, though he could not understand how a skeleton could have any memories at all. It was as if the skeleton, after being given life, had become linked to the power of Stillness.

All of the memories were of dancing, rhythm, joy of this world, and a yearning to enter the castle in the distance.

Even a skeleton had desires. This one wished to enter that castle, which was considered the happiest place in this entire world. To enter the castle, one needed to form a band, and only bands that were acknowledged by Withered Requiem themself could enter the castle. Strength had nothing to do with it.

Strength was the least valuable thing in this world because no one could surpass Withered Requiem. They were the creator of this world. When they chose whom they wished to acknowledge, they did not consider strength at all since no one could compare to them. What they looked at was music and whether someone could keep up with their own rhythm.

More memories poured in, and Lu Yin also saw the memories that the skeleton possessed before its bones had been given life. There had been a horrifying exchange between life and death.

In truth, Bone Script transformed a creature from one form of life into another. Memories were preserved, and so was awareness. Only one’s loyalty was altered, and the loyalty of all of the skeletons was directed at the one who granted their bones life. They were loyal to Bone Script and to the Death Megaverse.

1. The original name for Withered Requiem combines music, skeletal imagery, and complete withering or exhaustion. ☜

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