Published at 26th of September 2026 6:22 am

Chapter 4539: Charging Out

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Which Abyss did this battle technique belong to? It far surpassed Cosmic Erasure.

Lu Yin grew increasingly interested in the battle technique. Dragging his broken body, he started to move other bones and repair random skeletons. Some collapsed after executing their moves, making it impossible for certain techniques to be performed again, but he needed to see this particular technique again—the more times, the better.

For the next ten years, in an Abyss’s underground section, a broken skeleton could be seen barely controlling its body as it moved its arms that were on the verge of shattering to move one skeleton after another. Like a diligent repairman, it restored their bones, allowing them to execute those moves that produced a ripple. It happened again after more than a decade.

Once, twice, three times, four times.

Lu Yin observed the technique four times. By the fourth repetition, he seemed to understand something, but it was not enough. Continue.

Once, twice, three times…

Again and again, he moved bones. Again and again, he repaired the skeletons. Time continued to pass. It had already been more than 400 years since Lu Yin had fallen beneath the Abyss. He had become quite familiar with the skeletons there. Some of them had been repaired by him, and some had been dismantled by him. He watched them move through the technique again and again, until finally, after the move was released by many bones once more, Lu Yin fell into deep contemplation. It lasted for several decades.

When he returned to his senses, the Stillness that he had absorbed over the course of 500 years gathered at his heart and slowly condensed. Even the stars of Stillness that belonged to his Cosmic Art shattered one after another. Everything merged to form a single black dot. It was just one black dot, and yet all of Lu Yin’s Stillness was fused into it. Inspired by the technique that he had been obsessing over, this black dot had been manifested into existence.

The Stillness that he had absorbed more than 500 years earlier could only be contained within the Cosmic Art’s stars, but at this moment, everything had been poured into a single, nearly invisible, black dot.

Although it looked like a black dot, it was actually a triangle. This triangle was the battle technique that Lu Yin had observed. He had merely compressed it again and again until it finally took form as the tiny black dot.

Looking at the black dot before him, Lu Yin knew that it contained all the Stillness that he had absorbed across 500 years. Although it was far from comparable to the vast amount of Stillness that his skeleton clone had possessed at its peak, this method was fundamentally different from what he had used before. Even the Duality Seal was far inferior. It was as though the power of a violent wind capable of flattening heaven and earth had been gathered into a single point. That point contained an unimaginable might.

Given the strength of the skeleton clone, when it had absorbed as much Stillness as possible from the Abyssal Displacement, if Lu Yin had possessed this method of storing Stillness, he truly could not guess what his limit might have been.

This one black dot seemed capable of containing all the Stillness that all the stars in the entire Cosmic Art could contain. That was beyond ridiculous.

Lu Yin had absorbed too little Stillness beneath the Abyss to truly get a feel for how exceptional this technique was. He could only take a risk.

While thinking about this, the black dot slowly floated upwards. Then, it was released. Black light filled the place as it stabbed upwards to the top of the underground space.

This was the only option available to Lu Yin in the underground. If this was still unable to get him out, he would either have to abandon this clone or have his true body act.

The black dot pierced the ceiling, and as soon as it did so, a beam of light shone down through the hole. Lu Yin looked up. The ceiling had been pierced through. It had actually been unexpectedly easy.

As the black light gradually faded away, the black dot also dissipated.

Lu Yin rose through the air, taking the fragments of his own bones with him as he leapt upward, chasing the hole that he had opened up. It looked tiny, but it was actually large enough for a person to pass through.

The light fell straight down as Lu Yin flew upward within the beam of light and passed through the hole, blocking the light. Soon enough, the light spilled down once again. Lu Yin had escaped the underground area.

***

Large, vibrant trees blocked the view of the sky and the sun. Birds, sparrows, and insects could be heard in the trees. In front of Lu Yin, a river wound its way along. In the distance, he saw a small waterfall. He was standing on a muddy wetland. An insect sprang up, jumping onto Lu Yin's leg, only to leap back off and vanish into the jungle.

This was what met Lu Yin after he passed through the hole in the ceiling. He had entered a jungle.

He looked around and then turned to look behind him. There was a deep, dark fissure in the ground. The fissure was actually Stillness. Was the ground beneath his feet the ceiling of that underground space?

This was completely different from what Lu Yin had imagined. Could this really be one of the Death Megaverse’s Abysses?

Pushing aside the underbrush to see into the distance, Lu Yin saw a bear by the river. This was the same as in Joy City, where the bear and the toad had always seemed to be waiting for Lu Yin to appear.

Only this time, there was no Seven-Treasure Anura.

Lu Yin walked over and stopped behind the bear. It slowly turned its head, looked at Lu Yin, raised a paw, and gave him a thumbs-up.

Lu Yin almost thought that he was gaping as much as the idiotic jiao.

"Many thanks to the Abyssal for saving me." Lu Yin made sure he sounded respectful. Regardless of whether he had been thrown beneath the Abyss intentionally or by accident, it remained a fact that he had learned various techniques from the Death Codex beneath the Abyss. It was highly unlikely that Thousand Machinations was unaware of what Lu Yin had done down there. The fact that the Abyssal had not stopped him could be considered helping him.

At first, Lu Yin had truly believed that he had been abandoned, and perhaps that had indeed been true. Later, as he slowly comprehended the techniques from the Death Codex, Thousand Machinations had done nothing to stop him. Lu Yin’s identity as a test subject might have made him useful once again.

While he had escaped from the underground area, he was still in someone else's territory, so of course he had to show some gratitude. Moreover, he was still counting on Thousand Machinations to help this clone recover, or even advance a step further.

The bear grinned, slowly raised a paw, and reached for Lu Yin's forehead.

He did not move. Against Thousand Machinations, any sort of resistance would be useless.

He did not know what Thousand Machinations intended to do, so Lu Yin could only suppress his nervousness.

The paw made contact with Lu Yin's forehead. Suddenly, he heard an unfamiliar voice. "That was your own effort. If you had not escaped, I would not have helped you."

Lu Yin was stunned. "Is that your voice, Senior?"

Thousand Machinations nodded.

Lu Yin finally understood why Old Sixth was able to translate Thousand Machinations' simple motions. Clearly, this Abyssal had been speaking for the toad to hear. The translation was nothing miraculous, nor was it some kind of mutual understanding like Lu Yin had imagined.

He had always thought that it was ridiculous. After all, no matter how well two individuals might understand each other, how could the mere twitch of a finger be translated into so many words?

"In any case, Senior, you did not stop me from learning the battle techniques of the Death Codex. That was you helping me, so thank you, Senior," Lu Yin reiterated.

Thousand Machinations smiled. Its mouth did not move, yet its voice appeared in Lu Yin's mind. "After all, you are my test subject. Withered Requiem is not actually that impressive, and none of the Death Megaverse’s seven Abyssals are human. Humans are a very special species, and I want to study them more. You don’t mind, do you?"

"This junior lacks the ability to mind."

Thousand Machinations sized up Lu Yin. "If I told you that I was the one who revealed your location to Dark Prisonbone, would you still not mind?"

Lu Yin was surprised. "Senior told that bird? Why?"

Thousand Machinations looked back towards the river. "An experiment."

Lu Yin stared at Thousand Machinations' back. He heard its voice again. "Humans excel at surviving in desperate situations. It just so happened that I needed something from Dark Prisonbone, so I shared your location with it. That allowed me to both obtain what I wanted, as well as to test your potential.

"Did you think that potential is something that could be evaluated with just a glance? Why do you think so many invitations are sent out, yet so few creatures are able to enter this place?"

The bear turned back to meet Lu Yin's gaze. "The toad was wrong about one thing. My Abyss is not hard to find. Rather, after it is found, those who reach this place die very easily, just like you. Potential always needs to be forced out."

Lu Yin stared blankly at Thousand Machinations. This was an Abyssal of the Death Megaverse. This was the true Thousand Machinations.

In Joy City, the bear that he had gotten to know was a bear who had enjoyed the name of Ying Xiong. It had moved about in an odd manner, enjoyed listening to stories, and helped Lu Yin a great deal. However, that had only been the surface. What he saw at this moment was the true Thousand Machinations, one of the seven Abyssals.

This was a being who treated the lives of others like grass.

Thousand Machinations smiled. "Don’t look at me like that, human. Do you think I should help you? Or protect you?"

Lu Yin replied, "Of course not. I’m just not used to it."

"You will get used to it in the future. How should I put it? If you want to break through your own potential, you will have to risk your life. I think highly of you." Thousand Machinations' voice rang out.

Lu Yin shrugged. "But this junior is already ruined."

"That is just some petty trick of Dark Prisonbone’s. It believes itself to be very powerful and looks down on all others. Relying on the Plume Immortals’ ability to teleport, it thinks that it can go wherever it wants.

“But it overestimates itself. If it were truly powerful, it would not have been granted Bone Script and lost the other abilities of the Plume Immortals."

"Why did Dark Prisonbone attack me?" Lu Yin was puzzled by this. Thousand Machinations had shared his whereabouts with Dark Prisonbone, but that action presumed that the skeleton bird wanted to know Lu Yin’s location and even attack him. Was it really just because of Great Golden Wings?

"Because of Great Golden Wings."

"Was it worth it?"

"Why not? Great Golden Wings was the strongest creature under Dark Prisonbone. If it could have become an Abyssal, the combination of the two would have been quite impressive."

"Great Golden Wings was inferior to the toad. It couldn’t have possibly become an Abyssal, even without me."

"That is not what Dark Prisonbone thinks. I told you—it is arrogant, conceited, and narrow-minded, just like all Plume Immortals. That is not something that can be changed. Repaying every grudge is part of their nature. All birds are petty like that."

Lu Yin sighed. "True. Those birds are exactly like that, though their natural abilities are truly incredible. In particular, their Thousand-Autumn Dream can accelerate the dissolution of their karmic chains. That is simply too powerful."

Thousand Machinations grinned. "Remember this. For every gain, there must be a loss. Karmic chains are the foundation of everything in Aevum Inch. No one can avoid them. Whether they are dissolved by the passing of time or through secretly changing your biological form, no method can truly remove a karmic chain. The Plume Immortals are unable to do this, and neither can the Death Megaverse. Don’t think that their Thousand-Autumn Dream is some divine technique."

The Plume Immortals used Thousand-Autumn Dream to dissolve their karmic chains, while the Death Megaverse granted Bone Script, which altered the form of a creature’s life, to not increase their karmic chains. So far, these were the most effective methods that Lu Yin had encountered for dealing with karmic chains.

Yet was this how Thousand Machinations considered the matter? For every gain, there must be a loss. Lu Yin had wanted to find a way to transfer his karmic chain. Could that also fall under this saying?

Thousand Machinations had lived for far too long, and its understanding of the Aevum Inch far surpassed Lu Yin’s. What he could think of, people in the past must have surely considered as well.

Even Ancestor Shan, who had been so powerful, had not been able to remove his karmic chain.

Lu Yin had still been thinking about things too simply.

"Then which is better, Thousand-Autumn Dream or Bone Script?" Lu Yin asked.

Thousand Machinations raised two fingers, and pointed one forward. "Bone Script reduces the increase to one’s karmic chain as much as possible, but if one already has a karmic chain, it offers no help."

It pointed the second finger forward. "Thousand-Autumn Dream cannot affect how one’s karmic chain lengthens, but it can accelerate the speed at which it is dissolved. This can only help the individual.

"There is no saying which of the two is better or worse. If you ask me, the best is still the technological civilizations. As long as they gain the means to overpower an Immortal being, then whatever height their technology reaches, their civilization can dominate at that level.

"However, technological civilizations have a harder time progressing than cultivation civilizations. They need far too many things: raw materials, technology, comprehension, and so on. The most crucial thing remains time."

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