Chapter 4540: You Are Welcome To Take It

Lu Yin considered the technological fishing civilization that he knew of. The greatest advantage of technological civilizations was that they were not bound by karmic chains, and yet their struggle to advance their strength was in and of itself as great a restraint as a karmic chain.

"Are there any powerful technological fishing civilizations around us?"

"There are none nearby, though there are some farther away. I know where they are, but I just don’t want to bother with them. They are creatures of light, lacking bones, so they cannot be granted Bone Script. Even if I wanted to deal with them, there would be no benefit."

"Senior, do you know how to use Thousand-Autumn Dream?"

"Of course not." Thousand Machinations looked at Lu Yin, taken aback by the question. "That is those birds’ instinctive ability. It is hard for any other creature to learn it. Otherwise, I would have learned it long ago."

Lu Yin let out a regretful sigh. "True. Otherwise, the Aevum Inch would be filled with civilizations that covet the Thousand-Autumn Dream."

"Those feathered mutts are not easy to provoke. Long ago, the Nine Ramparts wanted to wipe them out, but unfortunately, the humans were the ones who were ultimately destroyed. When your human civilization was first born, it was weak, and yet their possibilities were infinite. That is what interests me most about you."

"There must be many human skeletons in the Death Megaverse."

"None as interesting as you."

Lu Yin stared at Thousand Machinations. Interesting?

After living through the fall of the Nine Ramparts, the deaths of their loved ones, and having their bones rip free of their own flesh, even if those humans had retained their original minds, they would have already changed. How could they be interesting? Those human skeletons were fundamentally different from Lu Yin.

"Do you know why I enjoy listening to your stories?"

Lu Yin was curious. "You wanted me to release my own restraints."

Thousand Machinations smiled. "While your stories are chaotic, they yearn for the light. That is far too rare in the Death Megaverse. Look at all of those skeletons, so weighed down with death. You are different. The more imaginative your stories are, the more they align with your true heart. Listening to your stories feels contradictory yet also very comfortable."

Lu Yin instantly grew alert. So that was it. He had already been exposed.

Indeed, all skeletons were weighed down with death. Even the skeletons that had willingly betrayed their own civilizations to join the Death Megaverse would become like that in the murky world of death. Withered Requiem's music was thunderous and shocking, but at its core, it was still entwined with the concept of death. That was why, whenever there was war, the music grew even more intense.

Great Golden Wings, Sword Stone, and every other being that Lu Yin had encountered within the Death Megaverse were all gloomy as well.

He alone was different. Even if he did not usually show it, his stories revealed his true heart, completely revealing his inner yearning for the light to Thousand Machinations. That was why this Abyssal saw Lu Yin in a different light.

His existence was quite special, even when considering the entire Death Megaverse. He was like a sun that had fallen into darkness.

Thousand Machinations crouched down and patted the water with a paw. "Don’t overthink things. Whatever happens outside of this place has nothing to do with me. What I enjoy is studying battle techniques. Do you see any skeletons in my abyss? Before this, aside from me, that toad, and the experimental subjects underground, there was nothing else here.

“I do not take part in wars."

Lu Yin was astonished. "You don’t take part in wars? Then what about the battle between Joy City and Void Mountain? Without you, Withered Requiem could not have killed the master of Void Mountain."

What Lu Yin was most curious about was why Joy City had gone to war with Void Mountain and what role Wang Wen had played in that matter.

Thousand Machinations continued to play with the water. "Who told you that I fought in that battle?"

Lu Yin stared at Thousand Machinations' crouching back, dazed. What does that mean?

Thousand Machinations stood up and stretched lazily. "I did not participate in that battle. I simply wanted to see how Withered Requiem was doing and waited for a certain result. Unfortunately, I never got that result."

Lu Yin was shocked. "Without you, was Withered Requiem really able to kill the master of Void Mountain?"

Thousand Machinations grinned. "How they killed him has nothing to do with me. Besides." The bear raised its head to stare at Lu Yin. "What is the basis for you to be so certain that You Che is dead?"

Lu Yin met Thousand Machinations' gaze. A skeleton had no eyes, or else Thousand Machinations definitely would have seen something in Lu Yin’s gaze.

How was he certain? To begin with, from the memories of Joy City's skeletons, Lu Yin had seen You Che die in battle, reduced to ash.

Second, at Void Mountain, he had encountered You Che when he had tried to exchange heart gates with Lu Yin. In the end, Lu Yin had been the one to finish You Che off.

Judging by the result, You Che should absolutely be dead. After all, he had died by Lu Yin's hand. Still, how had Withered Requiem defeated You Che in battle? Without Thousand Machinations' help, Withered Requiem should have been evenly matched with You Che at best. That Abyssal should have never been able to defeat You Che.

And yet You Che had also clearly said that his death had increased Withered Requiem’s karmic chain.

For a moment, Lu Yin's thoughts were thrown into chaos. You Che should be dead. He had been killed by Withered Requiem. You Che had admitted so himself.

However, according to common sense, Withered Requiem lacked the strength needed to kill You Che. He had not been an ordinary powerhouse.

"Did that toad make a move?"

"That did not happen either," Thousand Machinations stated.

Unease rose within Lu Yin. Wei Rong's words rang out in his mind. Only the unexpected could defeat a scheme. Wang Wen's schemes were not easy to break. Anything related to him could only be approached in reverse if one wanted to introduce the unexpected. That was why Lu Yin had not yet taken control of Manifest City.

Logically, given his current strength, he was already able to control Manifest City, and he also needed to do so. Manifest City was known as the strongest defensive mirebound artifact. No matter how one looked at the matter, leaving such a peerless treasure unused made no sense.

It was because of Wei Rong's reminder that Lu Yin had not rushed to act.

Wang Wen's visit to Joy City and the fact that he had instigated a war between Joy City and Void Mountain had always been strange. Was it a scheme that targeted Lu Yin at the current time, so that he would be forcefully drafted to fight for Obscura and complete his karmic chain, or did Wang Wen have some other goal in mind?

If Withered Requiem did not have the strength to kill You Che, then You Che should not have died, much less admitted that he had died at the Abyssal’s hands.

The more contradictory details that appeared, the more unsettling the entire situation became. Everything that defied common sense surely had some explanation. It was simply that the true explanation was unknown.

Lu Yin looked back at Thousand Machinations. Wang Wen might be able to prepare schemes that stretched across eons, but surely there was no way he could have predicted that Lu Yin would encounter Thousand Machinations.

Wang Wen, You Che... What exactly is real, and what is false?

Splash.

A stone fell into the river, interrupting Lu Yin's thoughts.

Thousand Machinations continued, "You seem to have thought about a lot, but there is no need to think too much here. The purer you are, the better. By the way, what is your name?"

"Chen."

"Chen? Good name. The toad has become the newest Abyssal. From now on, you will take its place in translating my words."

Lu Yin nodded. "Understood."

"In that case, let’s deal with your matter first." Thousand Machinations raised a paw. The bear did not appear to do anything at all, and yet pitch-black Stillness appeared in its palm. The force of the energy caused the nearby void to warp as though it was being devoured. Space warped as it was swallowed, yet the green grass beneath the bear’s feet never even moved. Even when a gust of wind blew past, it was completely unaffected by the devouring force.

The only things that were affected were the fish along the cracks in Lu Yin's shattered bones. Those fish became streams of black Stillness that sank into the void within Thousand Machination’s palm before finally vanishing.

Lu Yin stared at the darkness in Thousand Machinations' palm. That pure darkness seemed capable of devouring all Stillness. It was even more domineering than when he had devoured Stillness from the skeletons of the Death Megaverse. However, it also felt very familiar to him. It felt like the technique that he had used to blast through the ceiling of the underground space.

That was it. It was similar to that technique.

That battle technique was a powerful one from the Death Codex. Was it also capable of eliminating the fish that had been attached to his broken bones? He had tried everything to eliminate them before, but nothing that he tried had worked. Thousand Machinations could succeed, which meant that the bear was using a similar technique, but not the exact same one.

The bear casually dispersed the Stillness and then looked at Lu Yin. "You can recover now."

Lu Yin reconnected the broken fragments back to his bones, finally able to recover. "Senior, what was that just now?"

"A method of applying Stillness."

"The triangle from the Death Codex?"

"That is called the Three Deaths Art. It is an application that was developed separately to allow those who cultivate Stillness to use it more easily. Unfortunately, from ancient times to now, very few have managed to master the Three Deaths Art."

Lu Yin found that strange. "Very few?"

The technique had not felt overly difficult to master. The only reason why it had taken him so long was that he had needed to wait for the broken skeletons to use the Three Deaths Art. Each repetition of the technique had taken a large group of skeletons, as well as a great deal of time. If Thousand Machinations had personally guided Lu Yin, it would not have taken long at all.

Thousand Machinations smiled. "That is why you are different from the others. No matter if it is your talent or your mastery of Stillness, you are different."

The reason why Lu Yin had such exceptional mastery of Stillness was that he had first cultivated the God of Death's death energy, which was very similar to Stillness. After that, he had used Extremes Must Be Reversed on the Activeness produced by his scythe, Aberrant. Lu Yin’s mastery of Stillness had not been achieved through orthodox means, and yet he was still able to devour Stillness from within other skeletons.

"The Three Deaths Art is only a simplified version that has been stripped of my own application method, and yet it was already enough for you to force your way up from the underground with only a faint bit of Stillness. You can sense just how powerful its use of Stillness is and how much it can store it. As for the true method of applying Stillness, that lies with me." Thousand Machinations stared at Lu Yin. "Do you want to take it?"

Lu Yin was stunned by those words. "Take what?"

Thousand Machinations smiled. "This is no longer a battle technique or cultivation art, but rather more of an independent object formed through years upon years of cultivating Stillness. This allows me to use it at any time, while also allowing whoever takes it to use it as well. You can think of it as another kind of mirebound artifact. It is something that contains Stillness that far surpasses your imagination. Do you want to take it?"

Lu Yin gave a bitter smile, though it could not be seen on a skeleton's face. "Senior, you must be joking."

Thousand Machinations turned around. "You are welcome to try taking it from me. Don’t worry. I won’t get angry."

After saying that, the bear vanished. "The toad is about to leave the Nethersea. At that time, the Abyssal Displacement will take place again to send it to the region that it will be responsible for and where it will establish its own Abyss. When that time comes, you can enter the Abyssal Displacement and absorb Stillness to recover. I am quite curious how much Stillness you will be able to absorb with the Three Deaths Art."

After seeing Thousand Machinations leave, Lu Yin lowered his head to look at his arms and torso. He had finally recovered, but he still had not restored his Stillness reserves yet.

In the jungle, he was able to absorb as much Stillness as in the underground. That was not enough for him to fully recover, let alone fill the Three Deaths Art. The Abyssal Displacement was indeed the most suitable place.

The Three Deaths Art?

Three lines connected to form a triangle, and that triangle then condensed endlessly upon the center before it formed that black spot.

This was Lu Yin’s method of using the technique, but it was also only a simplified version.

Having gained this method, Lu Yin was certain that he could absorb far, far more Stillness than he had been able to in the past. In that case, what about Thousand Machinations? Its power exceeded that of Lu Yin's skeleton clone, and the bear also had the complete method of applying the technique. Just how vast was the Abyssal’s reserves of Stillness?

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