Chapter 4604: Stepping Off Of The Chessboard

Lu Yin stared blankly at Thousand Machinations. At this moment, the bear’s smile overlapped with Wang Wen's. Lu Yin could not help but feel that the two were strikingly similar.

Was this really what Wang Wen had planned?

Had the attention, appreciation, and rewards that he had given Chen from the very beginning merely been for the sake of testing Death Overlord just once? Was the purpose of teaching him the Heavenbond Art to allow Death Overlord to see Chen? If he truly became an Abyssal and paid his respects to Death Overlord, and if that mythical being was in the Death Megaverse, then Lu Yin would never be able to leave alive.

This was truly something that Lu Yin had never considered before.

This was primarily due to the fact that Obscura had treated him too well. They had even taught him the Heavenbond Art. He had believed that he was playing with two colossal entities in the palm of his hand, but in reality, no matter if it was Wang Wen or Thousand Machinations, neither actually cared about Obscura or the Death Megaverse. They were solely concerned with the existence of Death Overlord.

Thousand Machinations clasped their paws behind their back. "Death Overlord is the foundation of the Death Megaverse. You are a stepping stone that Obscura wants to use to test Death Overlord. If Death Overlord is there, then Obscura cannot create any great waves. If Death Overlord is not there, war will truly begin.

"Now, do you still want to become an Abyssal?"

Lu Yin was puzzled. "Senior, why are you explaining the situation to this junior so plainly?"

Thousand Machinations smiled. "There is one thing that Wang Wen said that was accurate; this is my only chance to surpass him."

The bear raised a paw, stared at it, and then made a slapping motion. "I want to slap Wang Wen across his face. As long as I can beat him, that will be enough. To me, that is the most important thing.

"Also, while I may not care how the Death Megaverse's war goes, it would not be good if things go too badly. The chances of Death Overlord's existence being tested is too deeply tied to the war. Do not think that, just because you are a minor figure, you cannot play a major role."

Seeing Lu Yin calmly standing high in the sky, Thousand Machinations grinned. "Do not underestimate Wang Wen. In his eyes, you might as well have never existed at all."

Lu Yin bowed to Thousand Machinations. "Thank you for the reminder, Senior."

Thousand Machinations waved a paw indifferently. "You are actually quite good. Although you are inexperienced, you already have your own schemes. Originally, I would not have pointed this matter out. I want to see exactly what methods Wang Wen intends to use to push you to become an Abyssal while preventing me from stopping it, and yet you actually accomplished it on your own. Quite good.

"Chen, although you are only a chess piece, you are a chess piece that has jumped off of the board and forced me to reveal the truth. This must be something that Wang Wen has never expected.

"Very good, hahahaha!" As Thousand Machinations spoke, the bear even patted Lu Yin’s shoulder.

Fear lingered in Lu Yin’s heart at the realization that he had nearly been plotted against. He had truly thought that he could scheme against Wang Wen and Thousand Machinations, but everything that he had done so far had merely allowed him to step off of the chessboard.

However, he had not been plotted against because he was not smart or cautious enough, but rather because he lacked knowledge and understanding of the situation. Simply put, he simply did not know what Wang Wen and Thousand Machinations were competing over.

The truth was that Lu Yin’s level was still not high enough.

Seeing Thousand Machinations laughing loudly, the image of Wang Wen's little smirks that were not quite full smiles appeared in Lu Yin’s mind. He let out a breath. Things were not too bad for him. Being able to step off of the chessboard where these two old monsters were playing was actually quite impressive.

Still, no matter how he looked at things, he wanted to beat these two old monsters to death.

While thinking about this, Dark Prisonbone returned with Withered Requiem.

"Yo, isn’t that Chen? Yo, yo, why are you here?" Withered Requiem swayed.

Dark Prisonbone answered in a cold and sinister voice, "I cannot force my way through and break the Clear Sky Locked Earth Array. I need your help."

Thousand Machinations nodded. They glanced at Lu Yin and thought for a moment. "Stay here. After I go with them to the Clear Sky Locked Earth Array, I will take you back. I want to see what Wang Wen plans to do if you do not appear during this war."

When the bear finished speaking to Lu Yin, Dark Prisonbone disappeared with Thousand Machinations and Withered Requiem.

Lu Yin stood above the Nethersea. After a moment of silence, he descended into the sea again.

Thousand Machinations intended to counter Wang Wen by meeting all his changes with an unchanging stance, but Lu Yin could not possibly allow himself to stay out of this war.

Stepping off of the chessboard was merely the first step. Since he could see the goal clearly now, he needed to step out of his own game. Although these two old fellows were terrifying opponents, Lu Yin was still a hidden player.

What mattered was who had the last laugh.

The Clear Sky Locked Earth Array could not be forcibly broken. Even if they could get inside, a broken array was useless to the Death Megaverse.

Lu Yin had managed to enter with the help of the ferryman of the River of Aeons, but now that he had taken that ferryman away, Thousand Machinations and the others would have no choice but to find a way in on their own.

Lu Yin might not know how advanced Thousand Machinations' mastery with sourcebox arrays was, but no matter how fast the bear might be, it would still need some time to enter it.

That would be just the right amount of time for Lu Yin to roam about the Nethersea.

Nethersea Suppression was still present, but that had nothing to do with Chen. As long as the Abyssal did not stop him, everything would be fine.

Lu Yin walked across the surface of the sea, as though he were sightseeing. Nethersea Suppression did not stop him.

As he roamed, he encountered many creatures native to the Death Megaverse. He did not know whether they had always been in the Nethersea or had just arrived. He also did not try to communicate with them, and none of the creatures showed any interest in communicating with him. It was as if they and he existed in two different worlds.

In the blink of an eye, several decades passed. Lu Yin did not move quickly, traveling far slower than a normal Immortal. Thus, even after several decades, he still had not reached the end of the Nethersea.

However, he did discover Nethersea Suppression’s Abyss. It was located within the dark-yellow mist, above a certain region of the Nethersea.

He only discovered it because a tail hung down from the mist there—a white bone tail.

The only creatures allowed to enter the Nethersea were the Abyssals themselves and the creatures of the Death Megaverse. Even Nethersea Suppression could not ignore this rule. Lu Yin was an exception, but such exceptions were few and far between.

Since he had found a skeleton, it meant that he had also found Nethersea Suppression’s Abyss.

Lu Yin did not rashly enter. Instead, he respectfully asked, "Senior Nethersea Netherpressure, may this junior be allowed to enter the Abyss?"

"You may," Nethersea Suppression agreed.

Lu Yin expressed his gratitude. Seeing that the Abyssal did not ask why he wanted to enter, he said nothing more, leaped up, and simply rushed into the dark-yellow mist.

Up and down flipped sides. The moment Lu Yin entered the mist, the Nethersea seemed to flip over, becoming the sky, while Lu Yin descended into a bottomless darkness.

He found a dark cliff, similar to the one in Vestigium, yet it was also different. There were no vines along this cliff, only endless black stones, each jagged and grotesque. There were also quite a few white skeletons climbing along the cliff.

Looking up, the Nethersea looked like a rolling curtain. Clearly, one could not see this Abyss from the Nethersea, so why could the Abyss see the Nethersea?

Lu Yin roamed the Abyss. With the Mirrorlight Art, he was easily able to see the bottom. There were countless skeletons there, like an ancient graveyard. Some of the white bones were moving, though others were not.

His goal was to find the sword-testing stone and also to see if there were any human skeletons in this Abyss.

After searching for a long time, he found that there were indeed no human skeletons, though he did find the sword-testing stone.

The sword-testing stone was easy to locate. Its surroundings were completely empty, and the cliffs and precipices there were different from what could be seen elsewhere. It looked as if they had been polished by something.

No skeleton dared to approach it.

Lu Yin approached the sword-testing stone. He knew that Nethersea Suppression was watching, but he had already come into contact with the sword-testing stone. Everyone knew that, during the battle when a disguised Devouring Trace had impersonated Ruinfall in a scheme targeting Old Man Hehe, one of Devouring Trace’s guardians had been the sword-testing stone.

It was also a well-known fact that the sword-testing stone did not attack human skeletons.

Lu Yin arrived in front of it, but he did not do anything unusual. Instead, he circled the sword-testing stone once, looking rather curious.

After being observed for a while, the sword-testing stone moved. With one sword strike, it cut at itself.

Lu Yin was caught off guard, but then he quickly remembered that the sword-testing stone was constantly grinding itself. It was a stone. The only reason why it had a human form was because it had ground itself into one, and its face was the same as that of the Rampart Warden of the Eighth Rampart, the Divine Swordsman.

A sword slash passed by, but left no visible trace. Right after that, another slash sliced past, and then another. The sword-testing stone continued to grind away at its own body.

Lu Yin was puzzled. "Senior, what is it doing?"

Nethersea Suppression’s voice descended. It seemed that, just as it had said earlier, it admired Lu Yin, and it answered his question. "Instinct."

"Instinct?"

"It is a sword-testing stone. It spent countless years being struck by swords. Even after losing its master, the habits accumulated over countless years makes it grind itself with swordstrikes and imitate its master."

"Was its master the Divine Swordsman?" Lu Yin did not hide his knowledge of this matter.

Nethersea Suppression asked, "How do you know about that?"

"The toad told me. Speaking of which, back then, the reason why the toad was able to become an Abyssal was because this junior helped it by blocking the sword-testing stone. Without that, it is unknown just who would have ultimately become the Abyssal back then."

Nethersea Suppression did not respond. It was unknown whether it had already known about this matter or was only just learning about it now.

Lu Yin knew very well that some things had to be said aloud. It was important to not try to hide everything. Although saying more meant making more mistakes, if one said nothing at all, they would only invite suspicion.

He would never underestimate these colossal organizations. They possessed more knowledge and information than he imagined.

Lu Yin did not shy away from revealing what he knew of the sword-testing stone. Instead, he acted very open and aboveboard.

Thousand Machinations had once told him to forget his identity as a human because that identity would bring him disaster. Lu Yin made sure to remember those words.

The less he avoided his former identity, the more it would seem that he had forgotten it.

It was unknown whether it was because of what Lu Yin said, or due to some other change in the outside world, but after several more years, Nethersea Suppression left.

Lu Yin was certain that the Abyssal was gone. While his skeleton clone was far from matching Nethersea Suppression’s strength, as long as they were both in the same Abyss, he could feel that he was being watched by Nethersea Suppression. Suddenly, that feeling vanished.

More importantly, the Nethersea had grown somewhat brighter.

For a few years, Lu Yin spent his time observing the sword-testing stone and wandering about the Abyss. However, with Nethersea Suppression gone, he returned to the sword-testing stone.

It was not striking itself with a sword at every moment. It always did so on a periodic basis.

This was also why it had managed to maintain its current appearance over the course of countless years. Without these breaks, it would have been ground away entirely long ago.

Lu Yin stared at the sword-testing stone, reached out, and brushed away a bit of nearly invisible stone dust produced by the endless sword strikes.

His movement made the sword-testing stone suddenly turn and stare at him.

It was only stone, and even its eyeballs were stone, but at this moment, Lu Yin clearly felt that the sword-testing stone was staring at him.

Throughout all of their previous encounters, including when the sword-testing stone had protected him, Lu Yin had never felt its attention on him so strongly. Instead, it had felt like the stone had been acting instinctively. It had not been protecting Lu Yin, but rather a human.

But at this moment, Lu Yin felt the gaze of the sword-testing stone.

It saw him, Lu Yin.

Lu Yin looked down at the stone dust on his finger. Was it the act of cleaning it that had made it see him? Was there something special about that particular action?

The sword-testing stone moved. It took a step forward, moving closer to Lu Yin. Then, as he stared in astonishment, its body tilted forward slightly, and it fell towards Lu Yin.

He did not dodge. He allowed the sword-testing stone to lean against him, much like if a person had fallen into his arms.

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