In the distance, Ni Bai was still on guard. It knew that Lu Yin would launch a sneak attack soon. It had already gone through this cycle many times before.

The next instant, Lu Yin did indeed appear, materializing directly in front of Ni Bai. A scythe swept out as Heaven's Sight opened, releasing Manifestation Beyond the Pupil.

Slash.

Ni Bai unleashed its Lockforce Domain, and the power of Movement and Stillness overlapped 100 times.

Boom!

There was a gust as the scythe swept past, splitting Ni Bai's body in two. The scythe simply avoided the invisible power gathered by Ni Bai’s Lockforce Domain, and it was in turn forced to endure the strongest attack that Lu Yin had released so far, given that he had finally unleashed the power that Extremes Must Be Reversed had stored. This first time he used such power was also the last time.

Ni Bai's body slowly fell. How can this be? This strength?

The Champions' Stage Purgatory appeared, and Lu Yin flicked his hand to toss Ni Bai inside. At that moment, the creature’s invisible power created a storm, and half of Ni Bai’s body was swept up and flung into the distance. Lu Yin shot forward to block it, only to be struck head on by a suffocating pressure. It was the power that he had just unleashed.

Right, it never dismissed its Lockforce Domain. The power that he had just attacked with had also been locked down by Ni Bai, who had then used that power to hurl half of its body away. Lu Yin could do nothing but evade. He had no desire to directly face his own power.

He watched as half of Ni Bai's body was hurled away, and then he shot forward again, moving to block it a second time. The power used by the Lockforce Domain was steadily being consumed, and it was nowhere near enough to fling Ni Bai entirely out of its Lockforce Domain.

Seeing that Lu Yin was blocking its escape yet again, Ni Bai let out a low roar. Around the remaining half of its body, the power of Movement and Stillness overlapped, this time exceeding 100 times.

Boom!

Space warped as terrifying power surged. It felt as if it was about to crush the cosmos inward from all sides. Movement and Stillness united, and the power remaining within the Lockforce Domain crashed towards Lu Yin.

He vanished yet again. Teleportation granted him an unbeatable position.

Still in the same place, Ni Bai barked a bitter laugh. "So that’s how it is! I should have realized long ago—teleportation! No wonder I lost. No wonder.

"Losing is fine. Dying is fine! But do not think you will get anything!" Ni Bai roared as the overlapping Movement and Stillness that was squeezing the cosmos abruptly surged back toward it.

Lu Yin's pupils shrank. Not good!

Crack.

The void shattered. Starting from Ni Bai, the fissures spread outward. Lu Yin suddenly appeared, only to see Ni Bai's body shattering further and further as it was swallowed by the void. "Do not think that you will get anything!"

It had seen the Champions' Stage Purgatory, and despite not knowing what it was for, Ni Bai would rather die than end up at Lu Yin's mercy. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Lu Yin clenched a fist, teleporting back to the other half of Ni Bai's body. He kicked the mass of what seemed like cement into his Champions' Stage Purgatory.

His Karmic Dao began to increase, but only a short time passed before it stopped.

Ni Bai was dead.

Lu Yin felt regretful. Ni Bai had been too stubborn, though that fit the temperament of a creature who cultivated physical strength. It had chosen to die rather than allow him to gain karma.

The creature had clearly been an Immortal, and yet the karma that Lu Yin gained only amounted to what he would normally expect from a peak Dukkhan. What a pity, what a pity...

Next, he could only wait; there was still Old Man Hehe.

The truth was that there were several other Obscura members aside from Furball and Old Man Hehe on the battlefield who had not contacted Lu Yin yet. Did they not need his help?

He teleported back over to Lan Meng. As he arrived, a gate appeared. Ba Se was reaching out. "Lu Yin, congratulations on killing Ni Bai, one of the Mudwater Dominion’s eight elders. You have earned a four-star reward. You may choose from rewards such as battle techniques, cultivation methods, knowledge, or resources."

"I choose knowledge."

"Speak."

"I want to know about other human civilizations," Lu Yin stated, his expression growing solemn.

Furball and Old Man Hehe had both mentioned that human civilizations were special. The price for anything related to them might not directly correspond to the strength of the individual civilization, largely in part to the reputation of the Nine Ramparts.

Even for Obscura, any surviving human civilization was extremely important.

Lan Meng looked at the gate with curiosity. How many human civilizations still existed?

Ba Se's voice came through. "Aside from your Human Trio and Hong Xia's Crimson Starshade, Obscura knows about three other human civilizations."

Lu Yin's eyes lit up.

"Information regarding them corresponds to a two-star reward, a five-star reward, and..." After a pause, Ba Se finished with, "A six-star reward."

Lu Yin jerked. A six-star reward?

Obscura’s five-star missions required one to destroy a fishing civilization. Lu Yin had specifically asked about the difficulty of a six-star mission before, but Ba Se had refused to answer. Instead, they had stated that Lu Yin needed to complete a five-star mission before he could know.

Obscura had missions that were more difficult than destroying a fishing civilization. What kind of human civilization necessitated a six-star mission? Could they have a three-law powerhouse?

The first thing that Lu Yin thought of was the Longevity Civilization. He had not been able to clearly sense Chang Chuan’s strength, but the suffocating pressure that the man gave off had been absolutely terrifying, indicating that he was in no way inferior to Hong Xia. If the Longevity Civilization had fully inherited the Fourth Rampart’s legacy, then with the relevant mirebound artifact, Chang Chuan was absolutely capable of facing an expert like Ancestor Shan.

That should be the civilization that corresponded to a six-star mission.

"One of them corresponds to a two-star mission?" Lu Yin asked, curious.

Ba Se replied, "It is merely a broken remnant and an unimportant human civilization. If you want to know more, you may accept that as your reward."

Lu Yin pursed his lips. "You want me to use a four-star reward to accept a two-star reward? You really know how to do your accounting."

"Do as you please."

Lu Yin could complete a two-star mission at any time, but it would be difficult for him to complete a four-star mission once the current war was over. A four-star mission required one to destroy a civilization with ten Immortals by using another civilization. It was unimaginably difficult.

"I’ve decided to save the reward for now. We’ll talk again once I’ve saved up enough for a five-star mission reward," Lu Yin declared.

Ba Se replied, "Very well. In that case, I wish you luck."

Ba Se did not ask Lu Yin to provide further support for the battlefield. Clearly, the situation elsewhere was in Obscura’s favor.

"How long will this war last?" Lu Yin asked Lan Meng.

They shook their head. "I do not know. War can be long or short. As far as I know, the shortest ended after just a few days, while the longest..."

They glanced at Lu Yin but did not continue.

Lu Yin understood that this was a reference to the war against the Nine Ramparts. That war must have involved every member of Obscura.

Ever since arriving on the battlefield, Lu Yin had had a question: what was the standard that Obscura used when conscripting participants for a war? Was it because the Mudwater Dominion had invaded? But Ba Se had stated that Obscura did not have any sort of cosmic territory. Therefore, it should not have any sort of regional boundary. Even if the Mudwater Dominion had drawn close, it should have had nothing to do with Obscura.

Also, the Mudwater Dominion should have been lured into this region because a mud doll had been captured. In that case, what about their approach had triggered such a reaction from Obscura?

In the past, the Death Megaverse had approached the Trio, getting even closer than the Mudwater Dominion. Had Obscura ever gone to war against that civilization?

Lu Yin asked his question, though without any mention of the Death Megaverse. Some things were better to analyze on his own, as even asking a question might provide information or even bring about disaster. "When was the last time that Obscura had a draft for a war?"

Lan Meng thought for a moment. "It was a long time ago. I had just joined Obscura at that time and joined a war against a fishing civilization. That civilization was destroyed, but I could barely even protect myself during that war."

Lu Yin nodded and did not ask further questions. Clearly, that fishing civilization had not been the Death Megaverse.

The Death Megaverse was another civilization that had fought in the war to destroy the Nine Ramparts. How could it be easily destroyed by Obscura?

Lu Yin glanced into the distance. Where’s Furball? Don’t they plan to appear?

At that moment, an extraordinary scene appeared before his eyes: a paper bridge stretched across an endless expanse of the Aevum Inch, reaching out from a faraway location and extending out of sight as well.

To Lu Yin, it looked like a streak of white in the endless darkness with neither end in sight.

He quickly used his Mirrorlight Art, but he still could not see either end.

This paper bridge exceeded the distance that an average Immortal could traverse in twenty years. He immediately teleported, doing so ten times in succession, but he still could not see the end of the bridge.

What he could see already exceeded the distance that an Immortal could travel in a century, but as to how much farther the bridge might go, he could not say.

Lu Yin returned. "Contact Old Man Hehe."

Lan Meng averted their gaze from the paper bridge and reached out to Old Man Hehe. It was not long before the ancient voice was heard. "Child, are you looking for me?"

Lu Yin stared across the cosmos. "Do you see that paper bridge?"

"Hehe, of course. The entire battlefield can see it. That is Ni Bieluo. It is summoning the eight elders."

"Ni Bieluo? Can it really cover the entire battlefield? How large is this battlefield?"

"Very, very large."

"Old man, stop trying to be mysterious and speak plainly."

"I cannot say. I am not an ordinary Immortal, while your knowledge is still only at the level of an ordinary Immortal’s." There was a pause. "Let me put it this way: for one to roam the Aevum Inch, being an Immortal is the prerequisite. Before reaching the Immortal realm, one can only stay trapped within their own megaverse. Only by becoming an Immortal can one travel the Aevum Inch. But even then, an Immortal's speed in comparison to the scope of the Aevum Inch is no different from comparing an ordinary creature to a cultivator.

"In the Aevum Inch, the most obvious indicator of a civilization's strength, or an individual’s strength, is the distance that they can affect. An ordinary Immortal’s attack can affect an entire megaverse, or even several. If you encounter an existence whose attack can encompass ten megaverses, a hundred, or even 10,000, then even if your strength is equal to theirs, who do you think has more influence?"

Lu Yin understood this principle: authority lay within the range that one could attack.

"You do not need to ask about Ni Bieluo's attack range, because it exceeds the limit that you can comprehend. Its opponent will not be you. However, you have been marked by it, hehe."

Lu Yin frowned. "Is Ni Bieluo summoning the eight elders because of me?"

"Why else? The Mudwater Dominion’s absolute means is karma designation, which is why they do not fear powerful civilizations. Even against my Obscura, they dare to meet us directly, confident that we would not dare to actually kill them. The only thing they fear is technological civilizations. But what are the chances that the Mudwater Dominion, which is itself a fishing civilization, could encounter a technological fishing civilization? They need not even consider such a possibility and are free to rampage across Aevum Inch without restraint.

"But in this war, they have encountered you. You have already dealt with two of their eight elders. Their entire civilization only has those eight elders, so Ni Bieluo is panicking. Hehe, you have been marked by it. You have already damaged the Mudwater Dominion’s foundation," Old Man Hehe explained with a laugh.

Lu Yin warily asked, "With you saying all of that, aren’t you afraid that I will refuse to help you?"

"Do you think that touching the main stream of the River of Aeons is something that any Immortal is capable of doing? Besides, as long as you deal with one more of the eight elders, you will be able to learn the whereabouts of another human civilization. Child, you are unable to refuse."

Lu Yin sneered. "Old man, don’t think that you are so important."

"Hehe."