Chapter 4523: Legend

On top of the castle, music exploded with a roar. With a bang, Fishbone jumped up from the sewer. It had been pushed out by the sudden burst of music. It was lucky to have not been completely shattered.

"A mistake, a mistake. I calculated the timing perfectly, but this news stunned me too much," Fishbone awkwardly stated. It then stared at the bear. "Are you Lord Thousand Machinations?"

Old Sixth lazily replied, "What? Do you think that just anyone can make Withered Requiem sing more songs each day?"

When Lu Yin had been forced to tell the bear stories every day, it had compensated him by having Withered Requiem sing a few more songs every day. Lu Yin had been very grateful for this. If not, he definitely would not have broken through with his mental state at the time, and the war against the Trio would have destroyed humanity.

It really was amazing. The one who had helped him was an Abyssal of the Death Megaverse, while another Abyssal had wanted to destroy his human civilization. In other words, if not for Thousand Machinations and Withered Requiem, Lu Yin would never have had the chance to kill Death's Dominion.

If the Death Megaverse learned of this, who knew what they would think.

But this news also provided an explanation for several things. You Che was definitely no weaker than Withered Requiem, especially with his Formless Heaven Art, which had been second only to the Fifth Rampart’s invincible technique. No matter what, You Che should not have died in that battle.

And yet he had died in battle, and there was no way that had been accomplished by Withered Requiem alone. This Thousand Machinations had to have also been involved.

The true reason why the Grand Death Shift had been used more than three centuries ago had been to transfer Thousand Machinations here, which meant that Wang Wen had also played a part in things.

Why did Wang Wen want You Che dead? You Che had not sided with humanity. Lu Yin could not understand this.

"Legend says that Lord Withered Requiem reached the power needed to become an Abyssal with the help of Lord Thousand Machinations. Are you that same Lord Thousand Machinations?" Fishbone asked in a worshipful tone.

The bear looked at Fishbone and nodded.

Fishbone grew excited. "I never thought that I would live to see you! Legend says that you are the one solely responsible for creating the Death Megaverse's battle techniques, the Death Codex, as well as Lord Withered Requiem's ultimate move: Heaven and Earth Eradication. Supposedly, that is only one move from the Death Codex."

The bear nodded again, causing Fishbone to become even more excited. "Legend says you can help any being achieve the limit of their potential and bring out their true power..."

The bear raised its thumb.

Fishbone excitedly continued, "Legend says any living being that emerges from the Thousand Machinations Abyss will be transformed..."

The bear raised its thumb again.

Old Sixth rolled their eyes. "Legends, legends, legends. I think that you look like a legend. Go die somewhere else."

Fishbone suppressed its excitement and leaped onto Lu Yin's shoulder before immediately flattering Old Sixth, "Brother, don’t get angry. This is my dear brother. We are family."

Old Sixth contemptuously asked, "Who is related to you?"

Lu Yin wanted to raise his eyebrows. This damned toad. Since when is it their turn to look down on me? Even their father never spoke to me like this.

At that moment, footsteps rattled out from behind him, and everyone looked over.

It was the beast-shaped skeleton with the piece of armor. It had heard voices, and while considering how Lu Yin had eyed its armor earlier, it had moved over to take a look. It was quite on edge.

As soon as it looked over, it met Lu Yin's gaze and immediately screamed, "Mine!"

Lu Yin clenched his jaw and glanced at Old Sixth before looking back at the plate of black armor strapped to the skeleton. He then silently took two steps forward to block Old Sixth's line of sight, preventing the toad from seeing the plate with Ancestor Shan’s writing on it. Lu Yin still did not know exactly what state Old Sixth was in at the moment.

"I know it’s yours. What’s yours is yours."

"Don’t get any ideas about it! It’s mine. Otherwise, I won’t be polite to you."

"I know, I know." Lu Yin hurriedly drove the skeleton away.

Fishbone was furious, "Hey, brat, who are you? How dare you be impolite to my big brother?"

That skeleton turned to glare at Fishbone. "Mine!"

"What is yours?" Fishbone was at a loss.

"Mine is mine."

"Get lost! Are you sick?" Fishbone scolded.

The skeleton swept a wary gaze over the bear and Old Sixth before slowly retreating. As it left, it continued to mutter, "Mine is mine. Don’t even think about taking it! Mine!"

As the skeleton spoke, it moved farther away, shifting to another part of the castle.

Seeing that Old Sixth had not noticed the plate of black armor, Lu Yin breathed a silent sigh of relief.

"Is that fellow sick, brother? What did it say was its?" Fishbone asked.

Lu Yin shot back, "How should I know?"

He quickly changed the topic and spoke to the bear. "Why do you want to help me?"

Old Sixth impatiently replied, "Did we not already tell you?"

Lu Yin somberly stated, "I don’t believe that things are so simple."

Old Sixth sneered. "Simple? You think that this is simple? Ask this fishbone whether or not it is reasonable for Thousand Machinations to do this."

Fishbone instantly agreed. "It’s reasonable. Perfectly reasonable. Legend says that what Lord Thousand Machinations enjoys most is challenging themself. They help one being reach the limit of their potential and then use that same method to help another creature so that they can compare the results of the two, and make adjustments to the approach in the future.

"Legend says that Lord Thousand Machinations can calculate the cultivation power that is most suitable for a given creature.

"Legend says—"

"Enough." Lu Yin interrupted and looked at the bear. "Withered Requiem is one of the Death Megaverse's Abyssals, so they must be the strongest creature you have helped. Can you really help me surpass them so easily? The price that you need to pay for this definitely can’t be small, and the Death Megaverse won’t allow this either, will it?"

The bear pondered the question for a moment, raised a hand, and drew a circle.

Lu Yin looked to Old Sixth. The toad said, "How about I make up a story to make you believe it?"

Lu Yin was confused.

Old Sixth mockingly explained, "You don’t believe the truth, so I can only make up a story. You humans are such hypocrites. You only want to believe what you want to believe. Some facts are not that complicated. This is just an experiment; success is fine, but failure is also fine. Why think so much? Regardless, there is no harm to you."

Fishbone bounced up and down. "That’s right, Big Brother! Receiving Lord Thousand Machinations' help is something countless beings dream of. Even powerful Abyssals would fight for this chance. You are being given an enormous opportunity."

Lu Yin thought about it for another moment before agreeing. "In that case, many thanks."

The bear nodded. It then looked at Fishbone, raised its hand, pointed, and then gave it a thumbs-up. Lu Yin was at a loss.

Old Sixth was surprised. "So it’s that one?"

Lu Yin was astonished. These two recognized Fishbone?

He looked at his shoulder. There was definitely something wrong with this fish skeleton. Before the Dream Band had entered the castle, it had tried every possible means to get in, yet after entering, it had completely disregarded the band and basically never asked about anything again. No one knew what it did each day.

Fishbone shrank back. "Which one?"

Old Sixth sized up Fishbone. "So, you are the owner of this Building Blocks."

Fishbone was startled. "How do you know?"

Lu Yin was also shocked. "Are you the owner of this Building Blocks mirebound artifact?"

This was something he had never dreamed of.

Fishbone hurriedly corrected him, "Former owner. I am the former owner. This mirebound artifact now belongs to Withered Requiem."

Old Sixth said, "So what do you want to do now? Take back your mirebound artifact?"

Fishbone did not deny it. Since it had been recognized, its purpose could naturally be determined. It simply did not understand how it had been recognized.

Lu Yin understood. It was no wonder why Fishbone had been so eager to get inside the castle. It was because the castle was the core of the mirebound artifact. Of course it had been able to find a way in through the sewers, and of course it had always been eager to form a band. This explained everything.

But this also did not make sense. It was a fish skeleton, having received Bone Script from Withered Requiem. It should not have any thoughts of resisting Withered Requiem.

The bear pointed at Fishbone and then pointed upward.

Old Sixth translated, "It is impossible for you to take back the Building Blocks. To you, Withered Requiem is the heavens. Back then, you were able to gain control of this mirebound artifact not due to your strength, but due to your luck.

"Also, the one who granted you Bone Script was not Withered Requiem. Have you ever thought about why the Building Blocks was given to Withered Requiem?"

"Is this even a question?" Fishbone was stunned. How could one hand gesture be translated into so many words?

Lu Yin had already gotten used to this sort of exchange. Instead, he was more curious about who had given Fishbone Bone Script, as well as why it was in Joy City.

Fishbone swished its tail. "The one who gave me Bone Script was Ruinfall, and I was able to come here because I moved with a Grand Death Shift long ago.

"But I don’t understand; Ruinfall obtained this mirebound artifact back then, so why did it not use it themself, but instead gave it to Withered Requiem?"

The bear raised its hand and pointed at itself. There was no translation needed. Even Lu Yin understood the meaning of that movement.

"You did it?" Fishbone was surprised.

The bear grinned.

Fishbone did not know what to say. No wonder it had been recognized. From beginning to end, its tragedy was because of this bear. No, the one who had granted it Bone Script had not been Thousand Machinations, and Withered Requiem had only obtained the Building Blocks because of it.

Lu Yin was also at a loss. "Why did you help Withered Requiem obtain the Building Blocks?"

The bear spread its hands.

Old Sixth translated, "It was just a casual favor. The Death Megaverse’s seven Abysses all have their own territories, such as Death's Dominion's black plaza and Ruinfall's crimson veil. Withered Requiem needed one too. Since I was the one who had lifted them up, I could not have let them embarrass me."

Fishbone really wanted to slap this fellow with its tail but did not dare. Thousand Machinations was much stronger than Withered Requiem as well as far, far older.

This bear even dared to announce that it would allow the human skeleton to surpass Withered Requiem. Who knew what this bear was thinking? It was either too stupid or too confident.

With a slap, the bear clapped its paws together, turned around, and then left.

Lu Yin and Fishbone looked over at Old Sixth. The toad spoke to Lu Yin, "If you want to learn, then follow. As for you." They glanced at Fishbone, disdain and contempt filling the toad’s eyes. "Go play by yourself."

Fishbone felt that it had just suffered an enormous insult. These two had no intention of stopping it at all.

Lu Yin stepped forward to follow the bear. He wanted to see exactly what kind of ability Thousand Machinations possessed that would allow him to surpass Withered Requiem.

One had to know that releasing oneself of all restraints depended entirely on their own willingness. There was no way to force such things. If he was unwilling to reach the level the bear expected, it could not force him.

Moreover, this would be good to take this opportunity to learn more about this fellow. The Death Megaverse was a great enemy, and sooner or later, there would be a decisive battle.

"Hey, what do you mean? I am going to seize the Building Blocks, and you aren’t going to stop me?

"Hey! Hey?"

The fish skeleton’s voice gradually faded away.

Old Sixth said, "That fellow is a member of your Dream Band. If there is to be a challenge, your whole band should face it together."

"It’s fine. It cannot take the mirebound artifact awaywards. It will obediently come back to play music.

"Still, we said so much. Withered Requiem can’t possibly be unaware of all of this, right? Do they still not know that you are helping me? Do they not know that Fishbone wants to seize this mirebound artifact?"

This was a question that Lu Yin had wanted to ask for a while. They were not outside the castle, but rathen when inside, it. It could be said that they were directly under Withered Requiem's eyes.

The bear suddenly stopped. It raised a finger, and drew a circle.