Star Odyssey

Chapter 4107: Letting Loose

More than a year later, just moments away from reaching the limit of the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm, Awe Gate turned to look at Astral Anura. “Have you decided how you’ll do it?”

Astral Anura swallowed. “Y- yes, I have.”

“I’ll protect you, and Greater Sancte Green Lotus and Mr. Lu are both watching over you as well.”

That only made Astral Anura more nervous. If he was being honest, while Greater Sancti Green Lotus and Awe Gate were more intimidating due to being Immortals, the toad was more afraid of Lu Yin, especially when it remembered his kindly smile during their last meeting. Even just the memory caused a chill to run across the toad’s scalp.

Only a short amount of time had passed since Lu Yin first appeared in the Tianyuan, and yet he had already changed the megaverse’s history. In such a short span, he had established a reputation that everyone feared.

Lu Yin looked at the toad trembling from nervousness.

The space around the green lotus leaf suddenly grew a bit brighter, causing Astral Anura’s heart to skip a beat. They had just left the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm, and the oppressive sensation had vanished.

Ahead of them lay unfathomable mysteries. The Tricolor Skyborne were still nowhere in sight.

“You’ll see them in no more than half a day, but I can give you more time to prepare,” Awe Gate offered. They wanted to eliminate the giant snails, but matters in the Aevum Inch could not be decided in just a few hours.

No matter how fast or slow they traveled, any civilization that was being drawn over by the Tricolor Skyborne would need multiple years to arrive, unless they were also capable of teleportation.

Astral Anura took several deep breaths. “There’s no need for that, senior. I’m ready. Come what may, I’ll go belly-up at worst.”

Awe Gate raised a brow. That was... ominous phrasing.

Far away, another green lotus leaf was drifting along, and it was carrying Qing Xing, Xing Fan, and the others who had fought against the Tricolor Skyborne. They had pulled back after the Immortals started fighting. After all, unless the Immortal snail was dealt with, there was no reason for weaker cultivators to take action.

Soon, a mass of enormous shells appeared in the distance, looking like a black forest that stretched out with no end in sight. It was the Tricolor Skyborne.

Astral Anura felt a great deal of pressure as soon as he saw the giant snails. Much like the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm, anything that could threaten his life pressured him, no matter how strong or weak the individual’s strength was.

Awe Gate guided the green lotus leaf closer while watching the toad from a distance. She did not follow him any further. Whatever came next depended solely on Astral Anura.

In the midst of the Tricolor Skyborne, the Immortal snail continued to rest. Since Awe Gate had not approached them, it ignored the humans. Even if a fight broke out again, it would not act so long as no human Immortal got involved.

The reality was that the humans’ individual combat strength was quite limited, and even their collective strength was inferior to the Tricolor Skyborne's. If only we could replace human civilization and escape from that terrifying species.

The Immortal snail was sorely tempted.

Unfortunately, the humans had too many Immortals. Were they a species that possessed mediocre overall strength yet were able to enter the Immortal realm relatively easily, like some others?

If so, they were to be envied.

As the snail’s mind wandered, a strange, indescribable sense of unease welled up from within it. The slumbering snails also started to stir, letting out strange sounds.

The Immortal Kang Tian’s head snapped up. What is this?

It immediately searched the distance but saw nothing. Even so, the sense of unease could not be mistaken. It gradually turned to face the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm, at which point it suddenly saw a creature that Kang Tian would never be able to forget.

Astral Anura stood in the middle of the Aevum Inch on one leg. His right leg was bent atop his left knee while his body flashed with various colors. His steel fork rested on his shoulder, his left arm pinning it in place. There was a straw hat on its head, and his right arm was raised in a position to attack while he shouted at the Tricolor Skyborne, “Lord Toad is here!”

“Lord Toad is here!”

“Lord Toad is here!”

“Lord Toad is here!”

...

Echoes rippled through the Aevum Inch, reaching the entire Tricolor Skyborne group, as well as the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm.

At that moment, the cosmos fell silent. Countless eyes were staring at Astral Anura, some blank, while others were stunned.

Lu Yin was among those who were stunned. No one had told Astral Anura what to do. Everyone had wanted to see how his racial connection to the Tricolor Skyborne might guide his instincts.

Lu Yin had never dreamed of such an outcome.

He was not alone, as Greater Sancte Green Lotus and Awe Gate were similarly dumbfounded.

This was... far too arrogant. The snails had an Immortal, and even one powerful enough to have withstood the combined assault of Awe Gate and Ku Deng.

Astral Anura was actually just as shocked as anyone. This was not what he had planned, but when he neared the Tricolor Skyborne, a bone-deep pride, untamable and even arrogant, had erupted. He had not been able to help himself, and he had completely lost control.

How did this happen?

He had just acted like an Immortal.

He examined his pose, how his leg was held, the position of his gleaming fork, and how his hand was raised in a brazen fashion. Could he take any of it back?

His eyes trembled.

The next moment, chaos erupted within the Tricolor Skyborne. The gigantic snails all shot away as one, raising cries of panic, fear, and despair.

The largest, most conspicuous Tricolor Skyborne, which was their Immortal, let out a heartrending wail before fleeing without so much as a backward glance. It flung mired space from its shell, sweeping up every last snail as they tried to escape. In an instant, every last creature was gone.

Lu Yin was left even more bewildered. What in the world was that?

Are our suspicions right? That was insane!

Astral Anura stood frozen in outer space, just watching the Tricolor Skyborne flee. He blinked. Huh? Huh? Huh? What just happened? Such a reaction? Did... did I just scare off an entire civilization? And an Immortal?

Are they afraid?

Were my instincts actually correct? I can be that arrogant before those snails?

They fear me, dread me! It’s awe forced upon them by my bloodline, by my species.

At that instant, Astral Anura savored the same triumphant feeling that Emperor Slayer had once tasted. It was the feeling of being able to look down upon all others in the cosmos, including even an Immortal. It was a soaring feeling of invincibility, and excitement exploded. The toad nearly gave chase.

Awe Gate appeared at his side, eyeing Astral Anura curiously. He rolled his eyes. The sight of Awe Gate was like a bucket of cold water, and the toad offered her a fawning grin. “Senior, was that satisfactory?”

Good, he’s still himself. A simple toad that regards humanity with equal parts reverence and fear.

Awe Gate stared at Astral Anura for a long time before turning to peer into the distance. That frightened? It seems that Greater Sancte Green Lotus’s conjecture was correct.

The abject fear shown by the Tricolor Skyborne caused the observing humans’ own hearts to sink.

What level of power could make a species led by an Immortal feeling so hopeless?

The fact that Astral Anura alone, relying on nothing more than the instincts of his bloodline, dared to swagger and taunt an Immortal spoke volumes about how terrifying the civilization behind him was.

Such a civilization could serve as a baseline measurement, and that baseline was an abyss.

“Let’s return.”

Far away, the Tricolor Skyborne fled in a panic. Their Immortal looked insane, with their bloodshot eyes.

How could they have moved so fast? It’s impossible! It should have taken them more time to arrive, no matter what they are capable of.

Did Obscura aid them?

No, Obscura is their enemy, not their friend.

Also, given their personalities, they would never accept such help.

So how did they get here so fast?

Ahead of the giant snails, a long blue sword lay across their path. Lan Meng stepped forward to bar Kang Tian’s path.

“Out of the way! They’re already here!” Kang Tian snapped. It was not in the mood to talk.

Lan Meng stared at the Immortal, and then at the frantic giant snails behind it. “That isn’t a Seven-Treasure Anura.”

“How could we not sense the truth? We’ve fulfilled our promise! Let us pass!”

Lan Meng’s voice rasped. “The Seven-Treasure Anuras can’t have arrived so quickly.”

“Then explain that!”

“It clearly has nothing to do with the Seven-Treasure Anuras.”

“That’s one of those accursed anuras!”

“In that case, it’s most likely one that drifted into the humans’ territory by accident.”

The Immortal Kang Tian replied, “You don’t understand those wretches. They don’t allow their own to roam about. If this one truly did wander here by accident, its kin would have come for it even without us.”

“So are you saying that you’ve outlived your usefulness?” Bloodlust suddenly filled the area.

The Immortal snail stared at Lan Meng. Obscura. The Tricolor Skyborne would have never worked with someone from that civilization unless absolutely necessary. After all, once entangled, it was far from easy to break away from Obscura.

Just then, a melodious voice drifted over from far away, “Stay here. If you try to leave, your entire species will die.”

Kang Tian turned to glare into the distance. “Are you the Nest civilization’s Immortal Lord?”

Lan Meng also looked over, showing uncharacteristic wariness and even staying silent.

“Help me annihilate the human civilization, and I’ll help you leave,” the Immortal Lord spoke again.

Kang Tian wanted to refuse, but with Lan Meng ahead and the Immortal Lord behind, even if it could escape, the rest of its species could not.

All of the most powerful Tricolor Skyborne had been gathered here to lure the Seven-Treasure Anuras over. If the giant snails were wiped out, then the Tricolor Skyborne would be fated to perish. All who remained would suffer an even worse fate, having lost their kin and left to wander the Aevum Inch alone.

Immortals were all ruthless individuals. When faced with the choice of the survival of its species or itself, Kang Tian would not hesitate to choose itself, even if all the other Tricolor Skyborne perished.

But precisely because Immortals are so ruthless, they understood that only their own kind can survive beside them. Even Immortals needed others they could coexist with.

Only the mad ones of Obscura wanted nothing at all.

In the end, Kang Tian returned close to the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm and obediently settled back down.

Lan Meng was right. This Seven-Treasure Anura had most likely merely strayed into the human civilization’s territory by accident. The Seven-Treasure Anuras could not have already arrived. A single toad was not enough for it to start a war with Lan Meng and the Immortal Lord.

The snail searched for Astral Anura, but the toad had already reentered the bounds of the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm.

While it was possible that the toad was nothing more than a stray, it was also possible that the Seven-Treasure Anuras had already set their sights on this human civilization. Even if the humans were not currently targeted, they might be in the future. No matter what the situation, Kang Tian knew that it had to find a way to leave as soon as possible. The timeline that it had calculated to lure those toads over had to be accelerated, just so that it could be prepared.

It needed to think of some way to accomplish that.

Lu Yin and Greater Sancte Green Lotus took form above the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm. “It appears that it really is Astral Anura’s species being drawn here. Judging by the reaction of the Tricolor Skyborne, Astral Anura’s civilization is likely extraordinary. Tell me what you saw before again.”

Lu Yin shared all that he had seen when examining Astral Anura’s karma.

“From some unknown distance, they still managed to cause even you to cough up blood. Without question, they are a race of top-tier powerhouses. I do not dare to attempt to peer into their karma myself, as I cannot even guess how that expert might measure up against me,” Greater Sancte Green Lotus commented warily.