Lu Yin’s pupils transformed into runes, and then runes started spreading out from him. At that moment, the invisible force restraining him became visible to his eyes.

The Immortal’s world could not be represented in runes, but Ni Bai’s Lockforce Domain was not locking down its own power. Rather, it was affecting whatever was produced by power, including Lu Yin’s. And Lu Yin could manifest that as runes. Otherwise, if the Immortal’s world itself could be represented by runes, Immortals would not have invisible worlds at all.

Lu Yin had tried this before, and he knew the limitations of runes.

However, they could still be used to analyze what happened when Ni Bai locked down the power that Lu Yin generated with his own strength.

The scythe slid to the side, evading the invisible force as it fell. Another blast of invisible power shot at Lu Yin from Ni Bai’s front. This force came from Ni Bai itself, which meant that Lu Yin could not sense it through runes. However, it was also unable to completely block the scythe. The blade only paused for an instant before slicing down and grazing by Ni Bai’s body.

The Immortal kept retreating. Something was wrong with that last exchange. Had this Obscura member somehow evaded the invisible power that Ni Bai had generated from that person’s own strength? That should be impossible. How could he see it?

It did not believe that this could be the case. As the scythe pressed the attack, Ni Bai used the force generated by the weapon to once again imperceptibly lock it in place.

Again, Ni Bai’s efforts were avoided, and the scythe grazed past its body.

Time after time, Ni Bai narrowly avoided disaster. What saved it was not Lu Yin’s power, but rather its own.

There was no longer a question if this member of Obscura could see Ni Bai’s invisible power; only the power that originated from Ni Bai itself remained imperceptible.

Lu Yin tightened his grip on Aberrant and chopped straight down. He opened Heaven’s Sight, bringing out Manifestation Beyond the Pupil.

Purple sight power created a seal that trapped Ni Bai. With no way to evade and also unable to break free of the seal for a moment, Ni Bai’s only choice was to unleash all of its Lockforce Domain’s invisible power.

Even without runes, Lu Yin could sense that the invisible power converging around Ni Bai’s body to defend it from the scythe’s direct blow.

He vanished, instantly teleporting away.

In the blink of an eye, Lu Yin was gone.

Ni Bai’s entire body was shrouded in its invisible power. Its Lockforce Domain then erupted. No matter how powerful this Obscura member’s attacks might be, they would not be able to break through. The stronger the attack, the more invisible power that it would generate for Ni Bai. As long as it could block the attack for even an instant, it would turn into a stalemate. And the longer the stalemate, the greater its advantage would become.

Ni Bai had thought everything through, but the one thing that it had never considered was Lu Yin suddenly disappearing. He had instantly vanished. Damn it, where did that Obscura member go?

Ni Bai blankly stared at its surroundings. Did he truly leave? That fast?

The creature extended its Lockforce Domain, reaching further and further outward. Its world was large, to the point of nearly being half the range of the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm. It was impressive, and yet it still could not find any trace of Lu Yin. How could he have disappeared so quickly?

Ni Bai slowly grew increasingly uneasy. It could do nothing but maintain its Lockforce Domain. Days passed, and yet Lu Yin did not appear. Half a month passed, and the human still did not appear.

Ni Bai could only disperse its Lockforce Domain, but at that exact moment, the Immortal was overcome with terror. Manifestation Beyond the Pupil appeared as a scythe slashed down. Fortunately, Ni Bai was prepared, and a civilizational weapon appeared.

The recorded civilizations and Immortals attached themselves to Ni Bai’s body, granting it a terrifying power that slammed right into the scythe.

There was a thunderous clang, but Lu Yin stood unmoved. Ni Bai also did not retreat even a single step. The void twisted and ripped open at the point of impact between the scythe and Ni Bai.

The Immortal was badly shaken. This Obscura member could actually withstand its full power. It had assumed Lu Yin was merely fast and had thus planned to counter his speed. Lu Yin’s physical strength was completely unexpected.

The previous Obscura member was already impressively strong, and even when Ni Bai had gone all out, their fight had devolved into a standstill. This Obscura member’s physical strength should not be this high. As Ni Bai considered that, its Movement and Stillness began to overlap, reinforcing the creature as its Lockforce Domain reappeared.

Lu Yin vanished again.

Ni Bai felt as though it had punched empty air. He actually fled again?

It roared in fury, "Obscura, is running all that you can do? Get out here!"

Far away, Lu Yin frowned as he observed Ni Bai. His gaze shifted, and he quickly found Lan Meng and teleported over.

Lan Meng looked at Lu Yin, who had suddenly appeared. They wanted nothing more than to cut the human with their blue sword, but managed to restrain themself.

"Call Furball."

Soon, Furball’s voice came out from a small gate. "You still haven’t finished it?"

Lu Yin replied, "It isn’t severely injured."

"If it had been wounded too severely, it would have designated its karma to me long ago," Furball responded irritably. "Do you think that it’s easy to earn a reward? Not only will you receive the reward for dealing with Ni Bai, but you will also get my forest of Mother Trees. Do you know how long it took me to gather that entire grove?"

Lu Yin’s expression turned cold. "Don’t try to pull one over on me. Since I agreed to this deal, I’ll see it through."

"Then why did you call me?"

"What can you tell me about Ni Bai’s world?"

"It locks down power that it can then use for itself. I already told you."

"How does it lock down power?"

"You want to learn its methods?"

"Yes."

"Hmph! That is a world formed from resonating with a cosmic law. For you to learn it, the prerequisite is for you to comprehend the same kind of cosmic law."

"Movement and Stillness?"

"The power of Movement and Stillness is only the result. To resonate with the law of Movement and Stillness, your understanding of how power acts upon reality must reach a certain level. How else could you comprehend it? It is precisely that understanding that forms the Lockforce Domain. It is not merely about the results. The process is the most complex part."

Lu Yin looked into the distance. He understood this principle, but he also had a process. In terms of mastery of power, he believed himself to be no worse than Ni Bai. Not only that, but he also had Verdant Eternity to prevent him from losing any power that he expended.

If he could learn the Lockforce Domain, or even reverse engineer Ni Bai’s mastery of power through it, it might be possible for Lu Yin to elevate his own physical strength even further.

Immortals were not limited to simply resonating with one cosmic law. Since they could resonate with two or three, then in theory, more were possible as well.

When Lu Yin had broken through to the Progenitor realm long ago, he had gained four Progenitor’s worlds; why could he not have four cosmic laws as well?

The later that one broke into the Immortal realm, the greater their understanding of their cosmic law and the greater their control of their own power. At least, that was Lu Yin’s perspective.

His human civilization’s current peace and power was built upon Lu Yin’s continual breakthroughs. If he were not an Aberrant with the power to slay Immortals with the ability to teleport, then Obscura would have never invited him to join. In that scenario, humanity would not be enjoying its current peace.

Nothing was more important than Lu Yin’s own breakthroughs.

Even so, the Immortal realm seemed infinitely out of reach. It was not even in view, and Lu Yin had cultivated for much too short a time.

But being unable to break into the Immortal realm did not mean that he could not further improve his combat power.

He was already able to face off against the most powerful one-law Immortals, and he could even trade blows with two-law Immortals. Sooner or later, he would be able to defeat two-law Immortals.

Ultimately, the Immortal realm was just another cultivation realm, and combat power was not necessarily constrained by realms.

"Deal with Ni Bai as quickly as possible. Stop overthinking things. If what you want was possible, I would also want to comprehend thousands of cosmic laws, but that is fundamentally impossible. For an Immortal, being able to live long enough to comprehend a second cosmic law is already a remarkable achievement. Each successive law is enough to represent an Immortal’s entire existence. How much time do you think you’ll need to comprehend such things?" After that, the gate disappeared.

Lu Yin looked back at the vigilant Ni Bai in the distance. Furball was correct, but Lu Yin still wanted to try.

It was much like reading books. Reading could provide a person with understanding and knowledge of the world, while studying the power of Immortals might similarly offer understanding and knowledge of that Immortal’s power.

Lu Yin put his scythe away and took a step forward. Extremes Must Be Reversed caused his body to wither right before he vanished. When he reappeared, he was already in front of Ni Bai, his arm rising to throw a punch.

Ni Bai had not expected Lu Yin to put his weapon away. No matter what this Obscura member intended to do, he would not be able to withstand Ni Bai’s power.

Movement and Stillness overlapped as the Lockforce Domain reappeared, as did the civilizational weapons.

Boom!

With a thunderous roar, Lu Yin was forced back multiple steps. He had been overwhelmed by not only Ni Bai’s power, but more so by his own strength.

The Lockforce Domain had added Lu Yin’s power on top of Ni Bai’s own.

Again.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Blow after blow landed, each one forcing Lu Yin back. However, with Extremes Must Be Reversed absorbing the damage, he suffered no injuries.

Ni Bai had indeed been injured in its earlier fight; Lu Yin could feel it. If not, it would possess even greater power. At the very least, the way that it was overlapping Movement and Stillness was not smooth. The damage that Furball had dealt was not light, or else Lu Yin would be able to continue using brute strength to test the creature.

Lu Yin continued to test Ni Bai’s power for a full month. The cosmos continued to shatter beneath the repeated impacts.

Some of the civilizations that Obscura had sent to participate in the war had been dragged into the fray, but at this moment, any civilization that passed through a gate immediately fled back. Those that were unable to escape simply destroyed the gate outright, abandoning even their own kind. An exchange at this level of power was simply too terrifying. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

There were even civilizations lured through gates with Immortals, though their strength varied wildly. Still, the battle being fought was clearly beyond what ordinary Immortals could handle.

The longer the fight dragged on, the more helpless Ni Bai became. Its injuries had not healed, and it continued to be dragged along by Lu Yin. It was unable to overpower him, and it was also incapable of escaping. It knew that this Obscura member was using it to delve into the mysteries of power, but there was nothing that Ni Bai could do to shake him off.

The most infuriating part was that this Obscura member was an Aberrant, not an Immortal. That meant that he did not have to worry about a karmic chain when dealing with civilizational weapons. That left Ni Bai completely frustrated.

If its opponent were an Immortal, it would have the means to break free, even if it meant mutual destruction.

Unfortunately, its opponent was not even an Immortal.

Its mounting unease caused Ni Bai’s attacks to grow weaker and weaker. Although it still overpowered Lu Yin, it no longer demonstrated its initial dominance.

Lu Yin irritatedly said, "Is this all the strength of one of the Mudwater Dominion’s eight elders?"

"What species are you, that you possess the speed to move unseen as well as such powerful physical strength?" Ni Bai snarled.

"I gave you a month, but you didn’t cherish it. Since that’s the case, I’ll stop being polite." After speaking, Lu Yin vanished.

It was as Ni Bai’s wariness rose to the peak that Lu Yin suddenly disappeared, and it nearly spat out blood in frustration. Despicable! Utterly despicable!

Far away, Lu Yin frowned. He could not understand what he was seeing at all. Ni Bai’s application of power had already surpassed the level where its traces could be sensed. It was impossible for him to gain any more insight into the Lockforce Domain or Movement and Stillness. Every creature used their physical strength differently.

What was true of karma was also true of physical strength.

There might be ten thousand ways to apply brute force. Lu Yin’s own understanding was one method, while Ni Bai’s comprehension was another. For him to comprehend Ni Bai’s method of power application while maintaining his own would be no easier than for Lu Yin to develop an entirely new method of power application from scratch.

The month of testing had allowed him to realize that clearly. Since that was the case, it was time to end things.

He slowly closed his eyes, emptying his mind of all thoughts. He raised his arm, and the scythe reappeared in his hand. His withered body abruptly recovered as all the damage that he had absorbed was released. His eyes snapped open, and he vanished.