It was not impossible for a fishing civilization to possess the means to counter teleportation. The fact that the Mudwater Dominion’s strongest creature, Ni Bieluo, had slain a Plume Immortal was not particularly surprising. However, speculation was one thing while knowing something for certain was something else entirely.

“I understand, thank you.” No matter what Che may have done in the past, at least he was warning Lu Yin now. He was even willing to return a relic of the Fifth Rampart. Lu Yin had no choice but to acknowledge such a favor.

War was ruthless, and there was no such thing as right or wrong in a clash of cosmic civilizations. However, outside of war, things were different. There was no obligation for Che to return this relic of the Fifth Rampart.

The gate vanished.

Lu Yin got lost in his thoughts. What was Che really thinking? Was he truly helping every Obscura member?

If Lu Yin considered things in the most pessimistic light, was it possible that returning the Fifth Rampart’s relic was just a part of some scheme? After all, Che was still an enemy, so Lu Yin could not help but consider that possibility.

No matter what his motive might be, since Che was willing to return that relic, Lu Yin would absolutely accept it.

For the time being, he could only continue to wait for Furball and Old Man Hehe to get in touch.

He waited for a full three years. During that time, Lu Yin stayed with Lan Meng on the battlefield. Ba Se never came looking for either of them.

As for Ni Fan, it had completely vanished, having clearly withdrawn from the battlefield.

The current battlefield, much like the one that Lu Yin had first been sent to, could be considered resolved. Since Ba Se had not come, it seemed that none of the other battlefields required Lu Yin’s assistance.

While the Mudwater Dominion was a fishing civilization, in the current situation, it seemed to be thoroughly suppressed by Obscura.

How much did the Mudwater Dominion actually know about Obscura? Likely, not much. Otherwise, the war might have never broken out.

Of course, it was also possible that Lu Yin was underestimating the Mudwater Dominion. Just because both Ni Gui and Ni Fan were weak did not mean that all eight of the civilization’s elders were as well. Even within Obscura, there were members like Lan Meng and Hui, who were only one-law Immortals.

One day, a gate finally reappeared. Lan Meng connected to it with divine energy, and Furball’s voice came through. “Lu Yin, get ready to come over.”

Lu Yin’s gaze turned solemn. “And the information?”

“Ni Bai has a civilizational weapon that includes Immortals. It attaches that weapon to its body like a powerful form of armor that grants it overwhelming physical strength. It’s an opponent that perfectly suits you.”

Physical strength? Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. That did indeed suit him.

“Of the eight elders, Ni Bai ranks within the middle. I have been testing it this entire time, and only now was I able to confirm that its cosmic law is Movement and Stillness. Movement allows it to influence its surroundings, which becomes its strength. Stillness is also able to generate strength, because the cosmos is in constant motion. To remain still is to forcibly counter that motion. This Movement and Stillness is able to overlap, up to 100 times at best, which grants Ni Bai incredible power.

“The world derived from its cosmic law is able to lock in all energy for its own use. Whether it is the force unleashed by it or the force unleashed by its enemies, everything within its world can be absorbed and converted to its own strength.

“That is everything that I can tell you about Ni Bai’s abilities. I have already severely wounded it, while also pretending to be gravely injured so that there is a reason for us to avoid each other. Otherwise, it might have simply designated its karma to me. I’ll leave the rest to you.”

Lu Yin was astonished. This Ni Bai’s world resembled the Origin Progenitor’s Verdant Eternity. However, Verdant Eternity could only enable someone to fully utilize their own power, which effectively conserved one’s own resources. In contrast, Ni Bai’s world was even able to appropriate an opponent’s power.

He took a deep breath. “How does Ni Bai’s strength compare to Hui’s?”

“Ni Bai has more powerful attacks, but if you can overcome its power, it’s rendered meaningless,” Furball replied.

Lu Yin understood. “Furball, you aren’t trying to use Ni Bai against me, are you?”

“In the entire Mudwater Dominion, aside from Ni Bieluo, there is no one who can deal with your ability to teleport. Besides, I am convinced that you are capable of more than just that. I know how cunning you humans can be,” Furball growled.

Lu Yin did not deny that. “I am only warning you. If you dare to target me, I will make you pay an even worse price than Hong Xia.”

“Hmph! Brat, you overestimate yourself. Still, on this battlefield, I truly have no intention of doing anything to you. You can go without worrying,” Furball spat out contemptuously. Still, they did not continue to bicker.

The gate beside Lan Meng then expanded, and Lu Yin approached it. He looked back at Lan Meng. “Come with me.”

They were unwilling. “I will stay here on this battlefield.”

“If you don’t come with me, how will Old Man Hehe get in touch with me? Furball, you can tell them that Lan Meng isn’t cooperating,” Lu Yin called out.

Furball impatiently replied, “Lan Meng, go with him! If you don’t, then even if you survive this war, you can forget about having a peaceful life.”

Lan Meng felt stifled. If they were still at their peak, they truly would not fear Furball, since Furball was not allowed to personally take action against other Obscura members. At worst, Lan Meng would simply abandon their home. Unfortunately, given their circumstances, they could only follow Lu Yin.

The two passed through the gate and arrived in an unknown megaverse.

Lu Yin looked back at the gate. Obscura’s gates opened along the main stream of the River of Aeons and could serve as methods of both travel and communication. They were incredibly convenient.

Time and space could be considered as two extremes in the Aevum Inch. Mastering either one could allow one to disregard the other. If one could move freely along the main stream of the River of Aeons, spatial distance no longer mattered.

This was also one of the reasons why Obscura had no specific territory; they could access the entire Aevum Inch.

The gate shrank back down, and Furball’s voice came through it. “It is recovering near where you arrived, but I don’t know its exact location. Just look for the Mudwater Dominion. That thing is extremely arrogant.”

Lu Yin nodded and used his Mirrorlight Art to search the distance. He soon found the Mudwater Dominion.

Being cautious, he first studied the Mudwater Dominion, and then he examined its surroundings. He felt no sense of danger.

As his strength rose, Lu Yin trusted his instincts more and more.

If he had felt a chill in his heart from that first glance, he would have left without hesitation.

Even so, he decided to be cautious. He placed a hand on Lan Meng, which caused the expression on their skull-like face to change drastically. Before they could react, they were seized by an irresistible power. In an instant, they were taken elsewhere and then hurled straight at the Mudwater Dominion.

Furball watched from the distance, completely unsurprised.

Lan Meng had been greatly weakened by their injuries, while Lu Yin possessed exceptional physical strength. Lan Meng tried to escape with their limited strength, but they continued to fly towards the Mudwater Dominion.

One creature after another emerged from it as various civilizational weapons blasted towards Lan Meng.

They slammed into a civilizational weapon. The impact erased a portion of their momentum, allowing Lan Meng to finally escape with their own strength. They fled in a different direction. Lu Yin, you bastard!

"Hm? You want to leave?" A deep voice rang out from the Mudwater Dominion with enough power to shake the void. As it echoed, a chain shot out, moving like a serpent swimming through the cosmos as it flew at Lan Meng.

They glanced back. The chain was moving faster than them. They barked, "Lu Yin, are you still not going to act?"

Lu Yin watched calmly. He was in no hurry.

The chain snaked out and writhed towards Lan Meng. Gritting their teeth, Lan Meng shouted, "Ni Bai, I am not your enemy!"

At the same time, they raised a hand, bringing out a long blue sword that slashed at the chain.

There was a clang, and the chain stopped for an instant. Taking advantage of that gap, Lan Meng sped up and fled into the distance.

The chain then shot out once again, crossing the cosmos as though to bind all of reality. "Obscura’s Blue, show me where you can run to."

Lan Meng was furious. "Ni Bai, your opponent is someone else, not me!"

"Stay here." Ni Bai refused to listen at all. Lifeforce erupted along the chain as it continued to spin about. Ni Bai was using a battle technique, determined to crush Lan Meng.

With no choice, Lan Meng continued to slash at the chain with the blue sword. Eventually, they released the sword, and illusory blades emerged from the void: Sword Planting.

The illusory swords struck the chain from every angle. Lan Meng raised a claw and grabbed the chain, pulling it taut so that the illusory swords could hack down upon it.

There was a loud boom. The numerous phantom swords fused together, severing a portion of the chain. Lan Meng seized that opening to run away again.

But at that moment, another chain shot through space, followed by another from a different direction. One after another, white chains appeared, each a civilizational weapon. This was the best strategy to employ against Immortals.

Lan Meng hurriedly controlled the illusory swords from Sword Planting. Cutting the chains would kill the creatures recorded in the civilizational weapons, and Lang Meng would be the one whose karmic chain lengthened. They could only dodge while shouting for Lu Yin and Furball to join the fight.

Within the Mudwater Dominion, Ni Bai had always been on guard. Lan Meng had appeared much too abruptly, and no matter how Ni Bai considered things, the creature had clearly been thrown onto the battlefield. By that cyan member of Obscura? Is it using this blue one to test me? And who is Lu Yin?

As it attacked Lan Meng, Ni Bai remained conscious of its surroundings. Were there several Obscura members present?

The sky suddenly turned blue from Lan Meng’s world.

Blue descended from above, enveloping the Mudwater Dominion. No creature could escape, as they were all bound by the blue radiance.

Taking this opportunity, Lan Meng finally managed to escape. They had been forced to use their world.

One civilizational weapon after another fell back down.

Ni Bai stared in the direction that Lan Meng had fled in and then shattered the blue sky. The white chains retracted.

Suddenly, there was a sharp spike of danger. Lu Yin appeared right in front of Ni Bai, a scythe in hand as a river of sword intent poured down. The scythe slashed to the side in a killing blow.

The void warped across Ni Bai’s body as it released its cosmic law and its Lockforce Domain.

Hiss

The scythe sliced almost halfway through Ni Bai’s body. The power of Movement and Stillness frantically overlapped atop the blade. If not for that, Ni Bai would have been cut in two, and the river of sword intent would have sliced it apart.

Lu Yin’s focus sharpened. This creature was truly impressive. His ambush had failed to finish the creature off, and its law of Movement and Stillness was even more overbearing than expected.

Ni Bai let out a roar of fury. Its law of Movement and Stillness erupted even further, forcing the scythe out of its body as it retreated again and again. All the while, the river of sword intent rained down upon it.

Lu Yin’s ambush had almost killed it.

Ni Bai had not expected Lu Yin to strike without any warning, let alone with a ferocity that surpassed even that cyan Obscura member. It continuously retreated from the endless downpour of sword intent.

Suddenly, an invisible power shoved the river aside, causing the attacks to miss.

The Lockforce Domain was able to lock down all power. The momentum of the river of sword intent was itself a form of power, and Ni Bai used that power to shove the river aside.

Lu Yin felt that Ni Bai’s methods were very similar to runes. The Rune Progenitor had posited that any action imposed upon reality also produced a corresponding influence. Runes were the manifestation of that influence, and with runes, it was possible to completely offset any action imposed upon reality.

There was no denying that the Rune Progenitor’s creation had been remarkably farsighted, much like Progenitor Ku’s Extremes Must Be Reversed. Both were able to scale endlessly upward as one’s cultivation rose.

One was the power of comprehension, while the other was the power of one’s own body.

Lu Yin held his scythe tightly and slashed the blade down again. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Ni Bai stared at Lu Yin as an intangible force struck it. Within its world, even its enemy’s actions could be turned into Ni Bai’s own. Lu Yin felt as if he were sinking into a mire, unable to exert any force. His scythe’s downward slash grew slower and slower as the invisible power kept dragging at it. The harder he pushed, the stronger the force that bound him.