Published at 23rd of October 2026 5:39 am

Chapter 4594: Encounter

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Thousand Machinations had once said that all things in the cosmos, all living beings, followed a certain sense of fairness, both outwardly and inwardly.

The traits of technological civilizations also followed that same fairness. It was the same as how civilizations throughout the Aevum Inch did not communicate with each other and avoided encounters as much as possible. That was determined by the very nature of life itself.

Based on Lu Yin's understanding of this technological civilization, it would definitely make a move. Only when the creatures knew that their civilization was absolutely no match for another would they consider retreating or stepping back, and they had only just encountered the Lepidarch.

As for the Lepidarch itself, it was more than eager to communicate with Lu Yin, but he refused to answer.

After a long time, vessels approached the Lepidarch, one after another. Not a word was transmitted, and they simply attacked with Cosmic Shear.

One Cosmic Shear after another tore the cosmos apart in an attempt to shred the Lepidarch.

Not even Lu Yin had ever seen so many Cosmic Shears be fired at the same time.

The technological fishing civilization clearly attached great importance to the Lepidarch, and they were also analyzing the Immortal’s strength.

Fortunately for them, the Lepidarch only had three pairs of wings remaining. If there were the nine pairs that had appeared at its peak, the technological fishing civilization might not have tried attacking at all. Of course, this was already within Lu Yin's expectations because he had always known that the nine pairs of wings could not possibly last that long.

There was still lingering Stillness inside the Lepidarch, so its condition was terrible.

Even so, it was not something that a mere Cosmic Shear could deal with. It was clearly a butterfly, and yet it remained completely motionless despite the fierce Cosmic Shears battering at it. This horrified the beings of the technological civilization.

"Absolute Analysis activating. Analyzing… Analyzing… Analyzing…"

"The analysis still isn’t complete?"

"Your Highness, an analysis is impossible! This creature’s strength fluctuates too wildly, so the Absolute Analysis cannot be completed."

"Release another round of Cosmic Shear."

"Your Highness, the empire has already sent word. Release all Cosmic Shears. If we still cannot injure this target, we are to immediately withdraw."

"Fire!"

A new round of Cosmic Shears was unleashed. This time, there were twice as many attacks as before, and they caused the entire cosmos to shatter.

The cracks on the Lepidarch's body kept opening and spreading. The unrelenting Cosmic Shears were worsening its injuries. Its wariness of Lu Yin had prevented it from making a move against him, but it could no longer hold back. Countless streams of Myriad-Metals Qi shot towards the lights.

The vessels’ external defenses were extremely powerful, but not to the point where they were able to withstand the Lepidarch's Myriad-Metals Qi. One ship after another was pierced through, and each one was utterly destroyed.

Lu Yin calmly observed from the distance. Among those vessels was one that was larger than the others. It should be a king vessel.

The lights had looked randomly scattered, and yet they surrounded that king vessel.

As the various vessels shattered one after another, the prince inside the king vessel shouted, "Fire!"

Invisible ripples spread like flowing water. In the blink of an eye, they passed over the shattered vessels, over the Lepidarch, and continued on into the distance.

Lu Yin was surprised. Is that an unseen world?

This was a law attack. He just did not know what law it was.

Unfortunately, if that was all that it was capable of, it would be meaningless against the Lepidarch. The Lepidarch had long since used Infinite Expansion. Against a technological civilization, passively defending was better than attacking.

The ripples looked like they would pass over the Lepidarch, but the reality was that they went around it. The Lepidarch was unaffected.

The king vessel shattered. All of the technological civilization's vessels were destroyed by the Myriad-Metals Qi.

The Lepidarch reflexively checked its karmic chain. It had hardly grown at all. This meant that it had not killed any creatures from this technological civilization, or rather, those who had died were the most ordinary beings. Unless hundreds of billions or even trillions of such creatures died, it would not be enough to increase its karmic chain.

This made the butterfly breathe a sigh of relief.

Lu Yin shook his head. This technological fishing civilization disappointed him, but that was not unexpected. After all, this time, they were facing the Lepidarch.

Moreover, this civilization still had its imperial vessel. That was its strongest vessel, and it definitely possessed a unique attack.

The number of vessels sent out had been more than sufficient. Their loss was due to the overwhelming difference in raw power.

"Do you still intend to prevent me from leaving? Or do you wish to endure having your karmic chain increase and kill me?" The Lepidarch's voice rang out once more.

Lu Yin stared at it. There was almost no Stillness lingering within its body, and the technological civilization would not possibly attack with its imperial vessel. That civilization would either flee or remain silent.

Lu Yin finally spoke. "You may leave."

The Lepidarch breathed a sigh of relief.

"Continue in the same direction as before."

The Lepidarch was taken aback, and then it suddenly recalled how it had been forced to change direction more than half a year earlier. "You deliberately forced me this way. Do you want to use me against this technological civilization?"

Lu Yin did not answer.

"Is your thinking not too simple? If you are unwilling to let me leave, then I can simply join forces with this technological civilization."

"Try." Lu Yin's voice remained calm. "Do as I say, and you may have a chance to leave. Refuse, and you can only be buried together with this technological civilization."

The Lepidarch hesitated. Under normal circumstances, if it were faced with this situation, it would not hesitate. It would unquestionably join forces with the technological civilization rather than allow an enemy to seize the initiative.

The problem was that its current condition was extremely poor. Its strength was incomparable to its peak state. This unknown expert had not attacked precisely because he wanted to use the butterfly against the technological civilization. As soon as the Lepidarch refused, while there was a chance that it would be allowed to leave because this expert feared lengthening his karmic chain, there was also a possibility that the expert would kill it.

It could not see through Lu Yin's thoughts.

At this moment, Lu Yin's gaze shifted and he peered far into the distance. There, the technological civilization was moving.

The civilization's megaverse was only about 100 years away. That was the maximum range that the civilization’s technology could detect.

But it was well within the range of Lu Yin's Mirrorlight Art.

He could see the technological civilization's home megaverse and the incomparably enormous vessel heading in another direction.

The technological civilization had decided to run. They had confirmed that they could not defeat the Lepidarch, so they had abandoned their own megaverse. This was quite decisive.

Lu Yin stared at the imperial vessel. It was more than ten times larger than any other vessel, including the king vessels. Its size was beyond exaggerated, and it could carry countless lives.

The ruler of the technological civilization was inside that imperial vessel.

"Your goal is to destroy this technological civilization, is it not? With your strength, you are absolutely capable of succeeding. The only reason for you not to is that you fear increasing your karmic chain. It is also possible that this technological civilization possesses an attack that even you are wary of. If you hesitate because of your karmic chain, but the increase to your karmic chain would be even greater if you killed me. And if this civilization has an attack that you are wary of, I am even less willing to seek death.

"Am I right?"

Lu Yin looked away and turned back to the Lepidarch. "You believe yourself clever."

The Lepidarch moved. It was trying to run, just not in the direction specified. It was trying to flee elsewhere.

It trusted its own analysis of the situation. It could not go after the technological civilization, nor would it allow this unknown expert to reap all of the benefits. It would see whether this being would risk increasing his karmic chain by killing it.

Lu Yin did not move and instead allowed the Lepidarch to flee.

Coincidentally, the Lepidarch had chosen to flee in the same direction as the technological civilization's imperial vessel. How fortunate. Since this was happening, even if Lu Yin could not shift the direction that the Lepidarch was fleeing, he could absolutely alter the imperial vessel's trajectory.

As long as he forced the imperial vessel to alter course, he could ensure that it would eventually meet with the Lepidarch.

He had assumed that the Lepidarch’s speed was too fast, but unexpectedly, the imperial vessel was absolutely fast enough. This was the only way to ensure that the two met. Otherwise, the Lepidarch would be long gone, and the imperial vessel would fail to even glimpse its shadow.

Thinking of this, Lu Yin vanished, teleporting away.

As the Lepidarch flew through the Aevum Inch, it remained nervous. It was afraid that Lu Yin would attack.

But after waiting for quite some time, Lu Yin still did nothing, and not only that, but the Lepidarch also felt the hidden gaze disappear.

It looked back. He’s really gone. Is that being no longer watching me?

It breathed a sigh of relief. As expected, that expert feared lengthening his karmic chain, which was why he had not attacked. That was good.

Although karmic chains were the shackles that restricted all Immortal beings, they were also shields that protected Immortal beings.

The Lepidarch only wanted to find some place to quietly recuperate and recover, restoring itself to its peak condition. Most importantly, it wanted to nurture those ten Immortal butterflies again so that its hidden trump card could be reused.

Unfortunately, one of the colorful butterflies had gone missing. Nurturing that one would essentially mean starting from scratch.

100 years’ travel away, though moving in the same direction that the Lepidarch was fleeing, the imperial vessel fled from its native megaverse.

"Your Majesty, His Highness stayed in the empire to monitor the situation. As long as we confirm that it is safe again, we can return home at any time, so we should not need to go too far."

"The Aevum Inch is too dangerous. Such a powerful being actually appeared. What a pity. If we could kill it and study it, the empire's strength would advance yet another step."

"Actually, His Highness did not need to personally stay in the empire to monitor things. He could have left a substitute behind."

"Let him stay. This also counts as devotion to the empire."

"Understood."

"Beep, beep, beep. Warning! Massive energy approaching. Warning! Massive energy approaching."

"What is going on?"

"Your Majesty, there is a massive energy approaching from that direction."

"Is it that being again?"

"No, it is another creature. However, it is another Immortal being, and judging by the intensity of the energy, it is not at all weaker than that being."

"Immediately change course to avoid it."

"Changing course."

In the distance, Lu Yin withdrew his hand, and a smile appeared on his face. That’s more like it.

As long as the imperial vessel maintained its current direction and speed, it would run into the Lepidarch. Let me see what your imperial vessel is truly capable of.

The Lepidarch and the imperial vessel were both extremely fast. Although the distance between the two was vast, at the speeds they were traveling, and with both of them practically heading toward each other, they would meet very soon.

Even if it was impossible to shift the Lepidarch's direction, was the imperial vessel not another option? Redirecting either one was the same.

The imperial vessel's unexpected speed left Lu Yin even more eager to see the results. The imperial vessel was the strongest ship in the technological fishing civilization, and when they had fled, only this one imperial vessel had fled. No other regular vessel or king vessel had joined the imperial vessel. This made it clear that, as long as the imperial vessel remained, the technological fishing civilization believed that its inheritance would endure.

Every fishing civilization possessed its own absolute means and hidden power. The Lepidarch had sacrificed ten Immortal butterflies to reach a level of combat power that matched that of a three-law Immortal. In that case, what about this technological fishing civilization?

Beep, beep, beep…

An intense alarm kept going off, and a panicked voice spoke up within the imperial vessel. "Your Majesty, another being is approaching! It’s another Immortal being!"

"Where are so many Immortal beings coming from? Activate Absolute Analysis and find out exactly how strong this one is."

"Absolute Analysis activating. Analyzing… Analyzing… Analyzing…

"Analysis complete. Immortal being. Strength unknown. Unable to analyze completely. Has been fought before."

That emperor was startled, and looked at the display. Has been fought before?

"Your Majesty, it is that creature! The one that endured numerous Cosmic Shears without being defeated. It’s the one!"

"Why is it here?" None of the creatures had expected the Lepidarch to also change direction.

At that moment, the Lepidarch also sensed the technological civilization’s presence. If it had not already exchanged blows with the civilization, it would not have cared about the presence of the imperial vessel, but having faced other such vessels, it had gained knowledge of the vessels’ detection methods, and thus it easily sensed the civilization’s presence.

Did this technological civilization really control such a large territory?

Soon enough, it saw the imperial vessel, and the imperial vessel also clearly saw the Lepidarch.

The two had met, but meeting did not mean battle. The Lepidarch wanted to communicate. However, a rift swept past its side, headed straight for the imperial vessel.

Alarms rang throughout the vessel. "Warning, danger! Warning, danger! Activating automatic defenses. Activating automatic counterattack…"

"Your Majesty."

"Activate the cognition weapon."

"Cognition weapon activating. Activating…"

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