Chapter 4525: The Seven Abysses

After a long while, Old Sixth finally finished speaking.

If they had not been afraid that Lu Yin would recklessly make up some random story, the toad would have never said so much.

“I can tell that you care a lot about your homeland. Then, how did you end up here?” Lu Yin was curious. This could no longer be considered a roundabout probe, as with Old Sixth's lead-in, the question did not feel abrupt.

Old Sixth stared at Lu Yin. “Ask fewer useless questions. In any case, I do not want to hear the Seven-Treasure Anuras being mentioned in your stories.”

Lu Yin nodded. “All right. I can respect that.”

Old Sixth heaved a sigh of relief.

More stories still had to be created and told. But because Lu Yin truly did not mention the Seven-Treasure Anuras, Old Sixth's attitude toward him improved quite a bit. Still, the toad became extremely upset at all the logical problems in the stories. Displeasure was evident in their tone of voice.

Lu Yin's grasp of rhythm grew increasingly precise. He could more and more clearly sense the feeling of following his heart.

When cultivating, one’s state of mind came first. The higher one’s cultivation rose, the more they were expected to possess a lofty state of mind. However, elevating one's mental state also meant moving farther and farther away from the purity of a newborn being.

Currently, Lu Yin was climbing to an even greater height in terms of cultivation while his mental state was regressing back to its earliest state.

When the two converged and harmonized internally, they could transform his power. In essence, this was similar to his breakthrough into the Immortal realm.

Several more years passed, and the bear suddenly beckoned to Yong Heng. This completely interrupted Lu Yin's thoughts, and he turned to watch.

Old Sixth walked directly behind the bear, ready to translate.

The bear made a gesture of inviting Yong Heng to sit, and he did not stand on ceremony. He smiled at the bear. “Do you need me to make up a story?”

The bear shook its head while looking at Yong Heng. It then raised a hand and curled its fingers.

Yong Heng glanced over at Old Sixth. The toad translated, “Why are you staring at us?”

Yong Heng replied while pointing to Lu Yin, “I want to be like him.”

The bear curled its finger again.

“You are different from him,” Old Sixth said. Although even they did not know what that difference might be, they did feel that Yong Heng was more pleasant than the human skeleton. Though, at the moment, everyone was more pleasing than Lu Yin to the toad.

“Where is the difference?” Yong Heng asked.

The bear slapped a paw onto the ground. Anyone who did not know better would have thought that it was angry.

Old Sixth lazily stated, “Different means different. I have no obligation to answer you.”

Yong Heng felt helpless. “Can I receive the same guidance as him?”

The bear scratched its chin before waving a finger.

Old Sixth explained, “I only guide one at a time.”

Yong Heng looked at Lu Yin with open envy. “To receive Thousand Machinations' guidance is truly great fortune.”

He then looked back at the bear. “In that case, may I receive an invitation?”

The bear raised a paw, taking out an invitation from somewhere that it then handed to Yong Heng.

He was surprised as he accepted it. “For me?”

“Nonsense. Who else would it be for besides you?” Old Sixth said directly.

Yong Heng grew puzzled. “I’ve heard that Thousand Machinations' invitations are extremely difficult to obtain. Does this mean that I have received one?”

“Who told you that they are difficult to obtain?” Old Sixth shot back.

Yong Heng subconsciously glanced over at Lu Yin. He remembered that, when the bear had given the skeleton an invitation, this toad had mentioned that it was something that countless people would desperately fight for. Did that not count as difficult to obtain?

Old Sixth continued to say, “Invitations are given to whoever asks for one, but not everyone can find the Thousand Machinations Abyss. You’ve mistaken where the difficulty lies—what truly matters is finding the Abyss.”

Yong Heng understood. “In that case, you have my thanks.”

He then bowed and left, his actions swift and decisive.

Old Sixth watched Yong Heng depart. “I think that this fellow is better.”

The bear turned its head, smiling at Lu Yin before turning back and falling into thought.

Lu Yin did not even know what the bear meant. Yong Heng had been following Thousand Machinations for years because he wanted to climb higher through the Abyssal, but was this Yong Heng’s own desire, or was it Wang Wen's?

The fact that Yong Heng was in Joy City was entirely thanks to Wang Wen, so logically, Yong Heng should still be following Wang Wen's desires.

Less than half a year after Yong Heng left, Fishbone arrived and shamelessly asked the bear for an invitation. The bear gave it one. It gave them to all who asked for them.

Fishbone also found this rather strange. “Isn't it said that these invitations are very difficult to obtain?”

No one answered it. Regardless of whether it was difficult to receive an invitation, very few creatures were able to enter the Thousand Machinations Abyss. That was a fact.

Fishbone took the invitation and left.

Later still, Zhou approached to ask for one as well. Having an invitation was clearly better than not having one. If they were one day lucky enough to find the Thousand Machinations Abyss, would that not be perfect?

Twenty years later, Lu Yin discovered something interesting; he was able to easily control Old Sixth's emotions.

Making up stories was one way, while the second method was with rhythm. When Old Sixth recited stories, Lu Yin could create a rhythm by striking at precise moments. In doing so, he could create a rhythm that made the toad feel comfortable, or one that made Old Sixth feel miserable, as though something had been going smoothly only to suddenly get stuck halfway.

At first, Old Sixth did not notice. It was only after Lu Yin made many attempts that the toad finally noticed what was happening. A fierce argument broke out, but the ultimate result was Thousand Machinations praising Lu Yin.

“Your talent is outstanding. You are far better than Withered Requiem.” Old Sixth translated the bear's words with great reluctance, making an expression as if they had just swallowed excrement.

Lu Yin was completely using the Seven-Treasure Anura as practice, and yet Old Sixth could do nothing about it. A mere skeleton actually dared to toy with them in such a manner. If Thousand Machinations did not value the skeleton so highly, the toad would have genuinely considered slapping him dead.

“Many thanks.” Lu Yin was sincerely grateful. No matter what Thousand Machinations' stance might be, it had helped him greatly.

Thousand Machinations sized Lu Yin up, circled him once, and then nodded.

Old Sixth clenched their jaw. “Before long, you will be able to challenge Withered Requiem. For now, winning is still impossible, but at least you will not lose miserably.”

Lu Yin was reinvigorated, and he clenched a fist. “Understood.”

Old Sixth rolled their eyes. The more they looked at Lu Yin, the more annoyed they became.

Several more years passed. One day, Joy City shook in a very regular pattern.

Old Sixth’s head snapped up abruptly to stare into outer space. The toad’s expression grew solemn.

The bear stood up and stretched lazily.

“What happened?” Lu Yin asked. Old Sixth had been in the middle of reciting a story, only to suddenly stop.

They stated in a heavy tone, “An Abyssal has died.”

Lu Yin was surprised. “An Abyssal? You mean one like Withered Requiem?”

“When an Abyssal dies, the other Abysses will all sense it, though the timing might be fast or slow. We do not even know which Abyssal died, but it should have occurred within the last few decades,” Old Sixth added.

Wasn’t it Death's Dominion? Lu Yin had not expected news of Death's Dominion's death to reach Joy City only now. However, since that was the case, it meant that the entire Death Megaverse should know now.

“Can you know where they died? Who in this region of the Aevum Inch could kill an Abyssal?” Lu Yin asked hurriedly.

Old Sixth shook their head. “The location is unknown. The Death Megaverse can sense the death of an Abyssal because the Stillness given to the associated Abyss has vanished. Just like this Joy City, each Abyss possesses a large amount of Stillness. Its purpose is to preserve the Abyssal's life at a critical moment, as well as perform the Abyssal Displacement.

“This Abyssal died, and their Abyss’s Stillness has also disappeared. It must have encountered an absolute powerhouse, very possibly some three-law powerhouse.”

At this point, the toad suddenly reacted and turned to glare at Lu Yin. Why am I telling him all this? What an annoying fellow.

The bear picked up its feet and started walking toward the castle. Old Sixth and Lu Yin followed.

“The Death Megaverse is going to become lively. With an open Abyssal position, everyone will want to compete for it. Even some old monsters will appear. This will be enough to broaden your horizons,” Old Sixth announced, though whether they were speaking to themself or to Lu Yin remained unclear.

Lu Yin was still curious. “Are there many creatures qualified to become an Abyssal?”

“Of course not. There can only be seven such individuals. Not even one more is possible, because even this vast amount of Stillness can only be divided between seven individuals.

“The competition that I mentioned is a competition for the chance to undergo two transformations. One is in the Thousand Machinations Abyss, while the other is absorbing Stillness from the Death Sea—”

The toad suddenly stopped. They had said too much again. They would stop explaining things. Just looking at this skeleton annoyed them.

Lu Yin stared at Old Sixth's back. Are they not going to continue?

“I suddenly thought of an extremely wonderful story. About that—”

“The Thousand Machinations Abyss can help beings raise their potential, while the Death Sea is the source of all Stillness. The Stillness beneath Joy City comes from the Death Sea. It was absorbed from the depths of the Death Sea after Withered Requiem won their position of Abyssal,” Old Sixth immediately interrupted. They truly did not want to listen to another story.

Lu Yin did not believe that. “Can Withered Requiem really absorb such a vast amount of Stillness? Then why can't they use it themself?”

Old Sixth explained, “It was absorbed over the course of many separate visits. That is an

Abyssal's privilege.”

At this point, the toad moved close to the bear. “I want to compete for the position of Abyssal.”

The bear continued walking toward the castle step by step, not even glancing back. It simply raised a paw, and with its back still to Old Sixth, gave them a thumbs-up.

Old Sixth grew excited. “Thank you, my lord!”

Lu Yin was curious. “Are you qualified to compete?”

“Heh heh, yes.”

“If you win, will you become an Abyssal?”

“Win? Things are not defined so simply, but judging by the final results, yes.”

“Are you confident?”

“The others are just a bunch of trash.”

“Then congratulations in advance. When you lead an Abyss, I will write your story and spread it far and wide. You will become a legend.”

Old Sixth instantly shot him an angry glare. “If you dare, I will kill you!”

They walked through the castle all the way to the top floor. The bear pushed the door open and passed through it, while Old Sixth stood in the doorway. Lu Yin did not go in, either.

Not long after, the bear returned and moved a finger.

Old Sixth was surprised. “It was actually Death's Dominion? I thought it was... but that makes sense too. None of the other Abyssals are easy to provoke. Devouring Trace is a bit weaker, but it has many fragments. As long as those fragments don’t die, it can’t die. When you think about it, any of them could have died.”

Devouring Trace? That should be the Soft Megaverse creature. Over the years, Lu Yin had learned a great deal about the Death Megaverse, including the Seven Abysses.

The seven Abyssals were Nethersea Suppression, Ruinfall, Dark Prisonbone, Thousand Machinations, Devouring Trace, Death's Dominion, and Withered Requiem.

Although he had not deliberately asked around, from what he currently understood, Nethersea Suppression was the strongest. It had been born within the Stillness of the Death Megaverse itself, and it could control all Stillness. No one knew what that Abyssal looked like. The other Abyssals certainly knew, but that information was not widespread.

Ruinfall was a genuine creature of the Death Megaverse, which was different from Nethersea Suppression. Nethersea Suppression had been born in the Death Megaverse, but it was not the same kind of pure black creature that was indigenous to that megaverse, while Ruinfall was one of those pure black creatures.

Dark Prisonbone was a Plume Immortal.

When Lu Yin first learned of this, he had been very surprised, though not astonished. It was normal for the Death Megaverse to kill Plume Immortals. It could only be said that this Plume Immortal had to be extremely powerful. Its bones had torn free of its flesh with Bone Script, and yet it had still managed to become an Abyssal. A conservative estimate placed it as a peak two-law Immortal, which was no weaker than Nan Ling.

Thousand Machinations was the bear before Lu Yin, but it had accepted the name of Ying Xiong.