Published at 18th of October 2026 5:59 am

Chapter 4584: Loyalty

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Secretly, Lu Yin was far more shocked. He did not know how much power Thousand Machinations possessed, but their control of Stillness was something that even he, a person who could absorb Stillness from other creatures of the Death Megaverse, could not achieve.

He could guarantee that, if he fought Thousand Machinations, his Stillness would not only fail to help him, but it would also become his greatest weakness.

It was similar to how he could hide his own Dao Sword within an enemy; Stillness was essentially a Dao Sword that Thousand Machinations had buried within Lu Yin.

Dark Prisonbone slowly flapped its bone wings. "I had no intention of offending you, but that human skeleton was releasing killing intent towards me. My dignity cannot tolerate that."

Thousand Machinations raised a paw and snapped their claws. Lu Yin raised his voice and translated, "In my place, you must tolerate it."

Dark Prisonbone was furious and stared at Lu Yin, "You dare translate nonsense?"

Thousand Machinations smirked, and the bear’s paws came together with a soft sound.

There was no need for Lu Yin to translate that. Dark Prisonbone stared blankly at Thousand Machinations. The human skeleton had spoken exactly what Thousand Machinations had said.

Lu Yin also had not expected Thousand Machinations to take such an aggressive stance. Both the bear and Dark Prisonbone were Abyssals of the Death Megaverse. Thousand Machinations had lived for an extremely long time; they were incredibly skilled at creating battle techniques, and they also possessed an unfathomable strength. However, Lu Yin had not expected the bear to be so domineering even before an old monster like Dark Prisonbone, who was clearly a three-law powerhouse.

Dark Prisonbone was a true peak expert. If it returned to the Plume Immortals, it would likely stand above even Gao Tian. No one knew how it compared to Shang Jing, but it was definitely an old monster.

And yet Thousand Machinations did not care about it at all.

Dark Prisonbone stared at Thousand Machinations, looking at the bear’s face that could not be more familiar. In the past, this face had always seemed ordinary, but at this moment, the bird remembered: the power that it had left inside this human skeleton had been dealt with by Thousand Machinations. How else could the skeleton have recovered?

"Thousand Machinations, do you truly intend to protect him?" Dark Prisonbone's voice was terrifyingly low.

Thousand Machinations clasped their paws behind its back and nodded.

Lu Yin looked up at Dark Prisonbone. "Hurry up and get lost. I have someone backing me."

Dark Prisonbone remained silent for quite a while. "Fine. I will show you some face and not kill him today, but do not let me encounter him outside. Should I, he will die without question."

Thousand Machinations wagged one claw.

Lu Yin pursed his lips tightly. He did not want to translate that message, but he still did, "That would be what he deserves."

Dark Prisonbone sneered. "I am here to ask about the battle involving Devouring Trace."

The bird again stared at Lu Yin. "You fought there. How did Devouring Trace die?"

Lu Yin answered, "I do not know."

"You participated in that battle."

"Devouring Trace and the toad both disappeared halfway through the battle. I could not catch up with them."

"The betrayal of the toad alone could not have stopped you. Devouring Trace alone could have dealt with the Seven-Treasure Anura. What were you doing at that time? The sword-testing stone would have protected you, and Ji was also there. With the few of you joining forces, you still allowed that toad to escape?"

Lu Yin shrugged. "The toad had something hidden."

"What was it?"

"I do not know." This was Lu Yin's way of dealing with the Death Megaverse's questioning: he did not know. Everything else would be left to Thousand Machinations.

Thousand Machinations turned their head to look at him. Lu Yin looked very calm.

Dark Prisonbone shouted, "You were on the battlefield, and yet you do not know?"

Lu Yin retorted, "I am not even an Immortal being; if not for the sword-testing stone's protection, I would have died early on in that battle. I’m not afraid of you laughing at me, but I was hiding behind the sword-testing stone. As for the fight between Devouring Trace and the toad, I don’t know what happened."

"Ji says that you are also a traitor!" Dark Prisonbone suddenly shouted fiercely, and overwhelming killing intent covered the sky, causing it to change color.

Lu Yin looked up, facing Dark Prisonbone as he carefully stated each word, "Let it come and accuse me directly."

Dark Prisonbone did not respond and simply stared at Lu Yin. He did not back down in the slightest and met the bird’s gaze.

After quite a long time, Dark Prisonbone retracted its killing intent and turned to Thousand Machinations. "Losing two Abyssals at the same time means that they must be replaced as soon as possible. Another fight with Obscura will break out very soon."

Thousand Machinations snapped their claws again. Lu Yin was surprised, but he still translated, "The Seven-Treasure Anura was with me all along. Is there nothing that you want to ask me?"

Dark Prisonbone left without another word.

Lu Yin watched it teleport away and felt rather envious. It would be so wonderful if his skeleton clone could also teleport.

"Did it just say that there’s going to be another war with Obscura?" Lu Yin looked at Thousand Machinations and asked in surprise.

Thousand Machinations nodded. "Losing two Abyssals at the same time, while also consuming so many branches of the River of Aeons and all the primal talisman materials means that we can no longer help Ruinfall. Before Ruinfall is dragged away by the main stream, we still hold an advantage if we start a war with Obscura. They have also suffered great losses recently, so if we fight now, we have a much greater chance of victory."

Lu Yin understood. Sooner or later, Ruinfall would be taken away by the River of Aeons’ main stream. It was inevitable, so it would be better for it to fight Obscura to the death. Even if the battle ended in mutual destruction, the Abyssal would still take a member of Obscura down with it. Since the Death Megaverse had suffered losses, Obscura had to suffer as well.

Given this understanding, war would break out very soon, and replacing the missing Abyssals as soon as possible was also for the sake of this coming war.

"Are there suitable candidates to replace two Abyssals at once?" Lu Yin was curious about this.

Thousand Machinations grinned. "There may not be any suitable candidates now, but if they come to me and reach the limits of their potential before being thrown into the Nethersea, they should be nearly qualified. What do you think? Do you want to compete for one?"

Lu Yin was surprised. "Can I?"

"Of course you can."

"Many thanks, Senior."

"But you cannot win."

Lu Yin was confused. "?"

Thousand Machinations rolled its eyes. "You are already half a member of Obscura. No matter how much I may ignore your situation, I cannot allow you to become an Abyssal."

Lu Yin was speechless. Ever since laying his cards on the table with Thousand Machinations, he had no longer considered the possibility of becoming an Abyssal, even though it was something that he had greatly desired before.

Still, the way that Thousand Machinations spoke really called for a beating.

"Senior, you should already understand this junior's intentions. I belong to the Death Megaverse and will forever belong to the Death Megaverse," Lu Yin proclaimed.

***

Lu Yin arrived in Vestigium. This time, he only sent his consciousness.

"Congratulations. You have completed a five-star mission. Please choose your reward." As soon as he arrived, Ba Se informed Lu Yin of his reward.

Lu Yin replied, "I did not kill Devouring Trace, and my original target was Ruinfall."

Ba Se stated, "The five-star mission did not specify which Abyssal had to die. Moreover, the Seven-Treasure Anura reported that you contributed greatly to Devouring Trace’s death. Without you, it could not have succeeded. In addition to the intelligence that you provided us in advance of this battle, it is enough to qualify as a five-star mission. Please choose the reward that you wish to exchange for."

Lu Yin said, "There is no hurry for that. The Death Megaverse already knows that Devouring Trace is dead. How did they find out so quickly? I can only suspect that the Death Megaverse has a spy within our Obscura."

Ba Se calmly replied, "Understood."

Lu Yin had made this claim before in order to delay his own entry into Vestigium, but he had eventually still entered. When he brought up that matter again, Ba Se reacted much too calmly. They very likely knew this to be true.

"There is one more thing. The Death Megaverse is going to start another war with our Obscura."

This did surprise Ba Se. "Thousand Machinations said that?"

"Dark Prisonbone specifically went to Thousand Machinations' Abyss to say it. The Death Megaverse intends to start a war before Ruinfall is dragged away by the River of Aeons’ main stream. I believe that they intend to have Ruinfall drag one member of Obscura to their death and increase the Death Megaverse's advantage."

Ba Se offered rare praise. "Your information is very timely, Chen. Actually, you could have accepted a new mission and then used this information to complete it, obtaining additional rewards."

Lu Yin loyally declared, "Since I have joined Obscura, there is no need to fuss over personal gains and losses, especially when it concerns a matter such as this."

Ba Se gave an affirmative sound. "Good! Now, you may choose your reward for the five-star mission that you’ve completed."

Lu Yin’s true body was also a member of Obscura, and yet he had never received such praise from Ba Se. In contrast, Chen had already been complimented several times.

It seemed Ba Se did not disregard the loyalty of each member of Obscura but that they simply could not control such things. Who would not want their subordinates to be loyal to them?

Lu Yin felt that his skeletal clone's status in Ba Se's heart had changed. "What rewards are there?"

"There are battle techniques, cultivation methods, knowledge…"

Ba Se explained the possible rewards to Lu Yin in great detail, and they even offered some analysis on what best suited him. For example, Obscura had once killed an Abyssal and obtained a specific method for using Stillness. There were also insights and attempts related to breaking into the Immortal realm and much more.

Ba Se was very serious about this matter, and Lu Yin also listened very carefully. However, in the end, he did not make a choice. "I am sorry, but I want to wait a little longer before choosing. Is that alright?"

"Of course. You can choose your reward at any time."

"Many thanks." After a pause, Lu Yin asked, "By the way, did the toad say anything in Vestigium? You absolutely cannot let it expose my identity."

"It was quite heavily injured and had no chance to say much."

"Then is it able to cultivate divine energy just like me?"

"It must."

"For now, do not let it roam about. The Death Megaverse will definitely try to hunt it down, and Dark Prisonbone can teleport."

"It has not even entered Vestigium. Chen, you now need to choose a new mission."

Lu Yin energetically replied, "Another five-star mission!"

This time, Ba Se did not protest by saying that a five-star mission might be seen as delaying to complete a mission because Chen had already completed one such mission and was also proving to be quite proactive in targeting the Death Megaverse.

Wang Wen suddenly spoke up. "A five-star mission? In addition to killing an Abyssal, you can also become one yourself."

Lu Yin had been having a private conversation with Ba Se, and yet Wang Wen was still able to interject. The status of Obscura’s Keeper of Balance was really too privileged.

"Is becoming an Abyssal also a five-star mission?"

"Yes."

"But I am unable to become one. Thousand Machinations clearly said that they will never allow me to become an Abyssal. Otherwise, since there are two open Abyssal positions, I would be confident in competing for one."

Wang Wen laughed. "Go ahead and compete. Your value far surpasses what you imagine. Don’t worry about what Thousand Machinations will do."

Lu Yin grew uneasy. "Can I really?"

"Of course." Wang Wen answered with absolute certainty.

Lu Yin gritted his teeth. "Fine, then I will go and compete."

After ending that conversation, Lu Yin prepared to leave when he suddenly heard Furball call out, "Green, are you here?"

This meant that Furball wanted to speak with Chen alone, but they first needed to confirm that he was in Vestigium.

"I am here."

Furball immediately started a private conversation. "You completed your mission, right?"

"I just turned it in."

"Then have you exchanged it for a reward?"

"Not yet. I do not know what to choose."

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