When Lu Yin destroyed one of the enormous ovoid lights with a single slash of Aberrant, the creatures inside the two remaining vessels were completely stunned.

It was still ineffective. Why was it like this? How could their weapons have not had even the slightest effect?

“Continue releasing Cosmic Shear.”

The scythe slashed down. Lu Yin had already set his sights on the third enormous oval light.

From inside that vessel light, a creature spoke in a booming voice. “We can communicate, Your Excellency! We are from-”

There was a boom. The enormous ovoid light shattered.

Lu Yin gripped his scythe while staring at the last light.

Communicate? He wanted that too. Who would not want the support of a technological civilization that had reached the level of a fishing civilization?

But could he communicate with them?

Many tragedies began with arrogance. At the moment, their human civilization held the qualifications to communicate with any civilization, even a fishing civilization.

But what would be the consequences of such interactions? Lu Yin could not be sure.

The technological civilization wielded too great an advantage. If something happened to Lu Yin one day, those repeated blasts of Cosmic Shear would be enough to drag the entire human civilization into the abyss.

Compared to communicating, he would rather have no contact at all. His only contact with the technological civilization would be to use it.

The technological civilization’s advantage originated from resources. They were destined to be used, and that was enough. Beyond that, Lu Yin did not want any communication whatsoever.

He suddenly appeared directly above the last enormous ovoid light, and Aberrant slashed down.

Inside the enormous oval light, a creature spoke in a low voice, “Throughout our civilization’s history and development, there has never been any creature capable of completely evading Cosmic Shear. Being able to develop to this point was truly good luck on our part. Unfortunately, that luck has run out.”

Boom. The sound of the vessel shattering rang through the Aevum Inch. Lu Yin panted heavily as he put away his scythe.

The four enormous vessels had been powerful enough to destroy the Seal-Eater Civilization, but they had just been reduced to dust at his hand.

The entire process had not even been difficult: teleport, attack, teleport, attack. It had been that simple.

However, without being able to teleport, how could anyone fight back?

The Seal-Eater Civilization had had five Immortals, and Lu Yin readily admitted that he would struggle to overpower them in a one-on-one fight, let alone overcome all five at once. The technological civilization had accomplished just that, and yet the technological civilization was not Lu Yin’s opponent at all.

There was no truly invincible power in the cosmos. There were only powers that countered certain other ones.

It was just a pity that Lu Yin had not learned about the war before those five Immortals were wiped out. If he had, he could have captured them all after they were heavily injured and thrown them into his Champions’ Stage Purgatory. That would have likely strengthened his Karmic Dao to the point where it would be able to rival the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm.

What a pity.

The Seal-Eater Civilization’s universe was being reset. After Cosmic Shear had been used multiple times, nothing remained in the region.

But that did not mean that the technological civilization lacked the ability to continue exploring from this point.

Lu Yin remembered how he had first learned of the technological civilization’s existence via a mechanical eye. He still had that eye-like object in his possession, and it could make contact with the technological civilization.

Fearing the technological civilization’s continued exploration, Lu Yin returned to the human megaverses and went to see Old Fifth. He then had Old Fifth take Dan Jin, Qing Xing, and some others out to inspect the path leading from the Seal-Eater Civilization to the human civilization’s territory. Anything even remotely technological that they found had to be destroyed. Under no circumstances could the technological civilization be allowed to identify their civilization’s coordinates.

It did not matter that the distance was so great that, even if they did determine the coordinates, it would be useless.

Being cautious was never wrong.

Lu Yin simply did not have the time to search the path for himself. Such a search would take more than a decade at minimum, likely longer.

Old Fifth did not refuse.

This mission would also help Dan Jin and the others adapt to the Aevum Inch.

No one could predict their human civilization’s future. It was possible that the next war would not take place within their megaverses, but rather out in the Aevum Inch.

It had been a long time since their civilization had acquired Unbroken Voidflow from one of the One-Hundredth Seal’s plates, and this was a perfect opportunity for them to practice the movement technique.

As for Lu Yin, he found a place and laid back down in the red coffin. He needed to send his consciousness back to Vestigium. “Ba Se, I’m here.”

Ba Se’s answer sounded curious. “Why did you suddenly leave last time?”

“I had to handle some private matters. Furball, Old Man Hehe, are you here? I’m back again.”

No one responded. Ba Se’s voice was the only one. “Lu Yin, congratulations on completing a three-star mission. You may now choose your reward.”

“What rewards are available?”

“Anything is possible, so long as it corresponds to a three-star mission.”

“Is that so? The Seal-Eater Civilization had five Immortals. Defeating them wasn’t easy, so how about this: is there any way to add a few Immortals to my human civilization? Not many, just two will do.”

Ba Se replied, “Obscura’s principles do not include any words like ‘helping.’”

“I’m not asking for help, just a mission reward.”

“There is no such reward.”

“Then why did you say that anything is possible?”

Ba Se had no answer to offer.

Lu Yin asked, “I’m curious about something. Some time ago, what reward did Lan Meng want for destroying my human civilization?”

Ba Se replied, “That was a reward that Lan Meng demanded. I will not comment on that.”

“What if I ask for the answer as my mission reward?”

“I will still not say. We do not disclose information regarding other members of Obscura.”

“Then why try to tell me that anything is possible?”

Ba Se was speechless. “Can you choose a reward that a normal person would choose?”

“Like what?”

“Battle techniques, cultivation arts, comprehension, knowledge, and so on.”

“What do you think I should choose?”

“Lu Yin, choose the reward that you desire.”

Lu Yin sighed. “You won’t give me what I want, so how am I supposed to choose?”

Ba Se stayed silent.

Throughout their conversation, because it was regarding the choice of a mission reward, no one else could hear anything that they said.

Seeing that Ba Se was ignoring him, Lu Yin said, “Then I’ll go with what I originally wanted. Give me a method that will allow me to see a great distance.”

Ba Se said, “Agreed. The Mirrorlight Art comes from a civilization that Obscura destroyed. In theory, it can allow one to see across the entire Aevum Inch.”

Lu Yin was shocked. “What? See across the entire Aevum Inch? You must be joking.”

Ba Se calmly replied, “I never joke.”

“Do you know how big Aevum Inch is? Has Obscura seen across the entire Aevum Inch?”

“Obscura’s knowledge of the Aevum Inch is still limited.”

“Then why are you making such a bold claim?”

“It’s theoretical.”

Lu Yin was intrigued. “Even theoretically speaking, that’s still absurdly exaggerated.”

“That is why it is considered a reward for a three-star mission,” Ba Se said.

Lu Yin thought about it and felt that it was a reasonable answer. A three-star mission required one to destroy a civilization with five Immortals. When he first entered the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, how many Immortals had the entire human civilization had? Even if Master Qing Cao was included, there had only been four.

They had not even been able to compare to the Seal-Eater Civilization.

Lan Meng’s mission to destroy human civilization had also been a three-star mission, with a corresponding reward. That meant that the Mirrorlight Art was something of equal value to the reward that Lan Meng had craved so badly.

It no longer seemed impossible for Lu Yin’s reward to have such extreme theoretical limits when considering that it was a reward for destroying a civilization with five Immortals.

“What is this Mirrorlight Art? A battle technique? An innate gift?”

“It is a method of applying one’s understanding of light.”

Light? The first thing that came to Lu Yin’s mind was the technological civilization, but the civilization that the Mirrorlight Art came from had already been destroyed by Obscura, so it could not be the technological civilization. The technological civilization was still around.

“Explain in more detail.”

“Mirrorlight Art: by combining, folding, magnifying, and so on, the light within one’s line of sight...”

After hearing Ba Se’s explanation, Lu Yin understood. The Mirrorlight Art essentially integrated all known ways in which living beings across the cosmos perceived light through vision, then extrapolated further possibilities. All of it was concentrated into a single sheet of light. This sheet was not an external object, but something condensed just outside one’s eyes. By relying on it, one could see across unimaginably vast distances.

As for the theory, Lu Yin could not fully grasp it, partly because he had not encountered enough different species.

Some beings possessed truly miraculous means of vision. For example, there was no one who could explain how the Jumping Line of Sight worked.

This Mirrorlight Art fused many miraculous means of vision, and it had only been developed after countless years of extrapolation with the power of an entire civilization.

Lu Yin said, “I’ll take the Mirrorlight Art. Give it to me.”

“You must come to Vestigium to claim it. The cultivation of the Mirrorlight Art originates from that civilization’s light plate, and that light plate is kept in Vestigium.”

Lu Yin’s heart sank and he frowned. “I have to go collect it in person?”

Ba Se slowly stated, “All of Obscura’s mission rewards can only be obtained by directly entering Vestigium.”

“Can’t you just teach me how to use it?”

“I don’t know it, and I also won’t teach you.”

Lu Yin had a headache. He was very interested in this Mirrorlight Art. It was no worse than the Jumping Line of Sight. Additionally, this method allowed one to determine how far they were looking, so there were some situations where it could even be even more helpful than the Jumping Line of Sight.

The Jumping Line of Sight could enable Lu Yin to instantly reach a faraway place where no one could find him, but it was difficult to use it to follow specific traces or search for anything.

On the other hand, if he cultivated the Mirrorlight Art, then according to the technique’s theory, even if he was never able to see across the entire Aevum Inch, it might not be impossible for him to see all the local region around the human territory, or even to see Vestigium.

Lu Yin desperately needed the technique.

Unfortunately, retrieving it in person was a problem, as he simply did not dare to make that journey.

“Lu Yin, what are you worried about?” Ba Se’s voice came.

Lu Yin looked at the Divine Tree in front of the floating coffins. What was the point in asking such an awkward question? It was asked every time.

“Out of curiosity, what happened to the civilization that created the Mirrorlight Art?”

“I already told you. It was destroyed.”

“How strong were they?”

“It was a four-star mission.”

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. A four-star mission meant about ten Immortals, which was a staggering number. That was roughly equal to the current human civilization.

“Who completed that mission?”

“No comment.”

“Was that civilization nearby?”

“It was very far away.”

“So it wasn’t in the same cosmic ecosystem as Obscura?”

Ba Se lightly asked, “What is a cosmic ecosystem?”

Lu Yin did not believe that Ba Se did not understand the question. “Stop pretending. I’m not even trying to test you. I already know this much. The Seven-Treasure Anuras’ Ancestor Shan even came here to Vestigium, and he told me many things, like the awareness of fishing civilizations, how all civilizations ultimately end in destruction, and so on.”

Ba Se’s tone remained flat. “I don’t understand.”

Lu Yin laughed. “Fine. If you don’t understand, you don’t understand.”

“Lu Yin, can I take what you call an ecosystem at its literal meaning?”

“You’re getting a bit carried away, Ba Se. There’s no need to pretend.”

“An ecosystem. First, ecology: life, civilizations. Second, a system, meaning enclosing a civilization or multiple civilizations within it. Is that correct?”

“That’s right.”

Ba Se’s tone turned frighteningly flat. “Then I understand. To Obscura, there is no ecosystem.”

Lu Yin raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“To Obscura, there is no territory.”

Lu Yin’s expression turned solemn. No territory?

“Lu Yin, many things are not as complicated as you imagine. The ones capable of maintaining what you call an ecosystem are fishing civilizations. I won’t deny that some fishing civilizations may remain within a fixed region for long periods of time. But if they are fixed in place, how can they continue fishing? If civilizations within a region are constantly destroyed, yet new ones continue to emerge, that is not fishing, but livestock breeding.

“The Aevum Inch is not as peaceful as you think. Once something is destroyed, it is destroyed. It will not reappear. When the destruction of civilizations within a region is complete, one must move on to another region. That is the Aevum Inch.”