Chapter 4228: Yan Gate’s Seven Needles
Chapter 4228: Yan Gate’s Seven Needles
Old First understood. “So that’s why you asked if we have a nemesis.”
Lu Yin nodded. “Because the chances of Obscura acting against you are too small. Still, Lan Meng did appear, so I’ll still investigate things within Obscura. However, due to Obscura’s rules, even if some creature from there did act, they’ll never admit to it. Also, since someone was able to make Ancestor Shan unwilling to escape and even leave him feeling like teleportation wouldn’t be enough to get away, their strength can be imagined. So long as that party refuses to acknowledge anything, digging them out will be difficult.”
Old First bowed again. “We know that this will be difficult. Thank you for being willing to help us, taking in us Seven-Treasure Anuras, helping us deal with the Blacklight Civilization, saving our Ancestor, and even investigating our enemy. Our kind owes you far too much.”
Lu Yin sighed. “Let’s not talk about any of that. Ancestor Shan’s death is a tragedy. Ultimately, we still weren’t able to save him.”
Old First and the others looked up into the vastness of space. Dad... travel well.
Soon after, Lu Yin and Mister Mu roamed through the surrounding region, collecting the plates that had once been part of the One-Hundredth Seal.
Lu Yin mentioned to Old First and the others that Ancestor Shan had recorded some things on the plates of the One-Hundredth Seal. After gathering what they could, the toads combined their haul with Lu Yin’s to create a total of eleven plates.
Lu Yin felt helpless. The spatial distortion had swept most of the plates away. Finding even eleven had been a challenge.
Their worst fear was that some of the plates may have been destroyed.
“These plates are different from the ones that are the Blacklight creatures’ scales. When Huo died, its Ninety-Nine Seals weakened and could be crushed by just a pinch. They became completely worthless. But these plates that form the One-Hundredth Seal were forged at the peak of the Blacklight Civilization and were specifically created to deal with Dad. Their toughness isn’t something that can be overcome by just spatial distortion. We should be able to find them,” Old First said.
Mister Mu sighed. “We just don’t know how far they may have gone.”
That was the real headache. Spatial distortion was a kind of astral phenomenon that existed in the Aevum Inch. Its most important aspect was that no one knew where it might send someone or something. Even if the spatial distortion was only 100 meters wide, it could still sweep someone to a location so far away that they could never traverse the distance in their entire life.
It was extremely troublesome.
“What kind of writing is this?” Lu Yin asked while staring at a plate in his hand.
Old Fifth answered, “This is a secret method of recording for us Seven-Treasure Anuras. Others can’t learn it. Only our species can decipher this writing.”
Lu Yin looked toward Old First, and the toad spoke in a low voice, “Dad lived far too long. His experiences are the greatest treasure that a civilization could hope to have. Because of that, he created a legacy-recording method based on the bloodline of the Seven-Treasure Anuras. Outsiders can truly never learn this. It’s a form of writing that only we can read.”
Lu Yin understood. It was no wonder why Ancestor Shan had deliberately recorded information on the plates; it had been done to make the Seven-Treasure Anuras more valuable to humanity. If it was impossible to save the plates, then so be it; no one would read the records anyway. However, if the Seven-Treasure Anuras were saved, then the records on the plates would become the toads’ own value.
For the sake of his species’ legacy, Ancestor Shan had exhausted every single thought.
Ancestor Shan had not been the only one; Huo had been the same.
Only a portion of the Blacklight Civilization had joined the attack on the Seven-Treasure Anuras. While those forces included the strongest individuals of their civilization, most of their kind’s inheritance had been preserved elsewhere.
Even Kui, an Immortal, had not known the location of their home megaverse. It was possible that only Huo and Hong had ever known.
During the recent battle, Lu Yin used karma to sneak attack Huo, trying to use it to search for the Blacklight Civilization as a target. However, Huo had dodged that attack.
Even in the middle of a fight to the death, it had refused to be ambushed by karma, despite not having any sort of prior knowledge that Lu Yin wielded karma.
That precaution to preserve a civilization’s inheritance had been taken to the extreme.
Back when Lu Yin had gone to visit the Thread of Heaven, Greater Sancte Blood Tower had mentioned that, if Lu Yin ever faced death while away from the human megaverses, he must make sure that he left clues informing humanity of who had killed him so that there would be a target for revenge. However, those words also had another hidden meaning: never lead an enemy back to their human civilization.
That did not apply solely to Lu Yin, but were rather orders given to all who traveled far from humanity’s megaverses, including the Immortals themselves.
A civilization’s inheritance was more important than anything else.
Soon, Lu Yin took Old First and the others, teleporting them all away from where the seven-colored land had once been. He wanted to avoid being noticed by the being who had been watching Ancestor Shan.
Lu Yin was not afraid of that creature. While it was undoubtedly very, very strong, to the point where even Ancestor Shan had been wary of it, there were a great number of Immortals with Lu Yin. If anyone wanted to kill them, they would die as well. Lu Yin truly did not believe that they lacked the ability to fight back.
Mister Mu had not even used his dominion mirebound artifact yet.
Additionally, Lu Yin had a transmutation disc on him. When that was paired with his ability to teleport, he was confident that, even if Ancestor Shan had wanted to kill him, it would not have been easy for the toad.
On top of all that, Old First and the other Seven-Treasure Anuras were not weak, especially Old First himself. That toad was strong enough to be a match for Huo in its normal state.
However, since they were about to translate the plates’ contents, it would be better to remain cautious.
Of the eleven plates, eight held records of civilizations that had once been glorious. They were either civilizations that Ancestor Shan had personally encountered or ones they had heard of and confirmed the existence of through other means. These civilizations had been recorded because, if they still existed, they were likely not too far away and in the same local ecosystem of the Aevum Inch. These records were an advance warning for Lu Yin.
Every civilization that was qualified to be noted down by Ancestor Shan had Immortals; some had one, while others had two or three. While that might not seem particularly strong, all of this information was from long ago.
Since those civilizations had produced Immortals back then, then if they had survived to the present day, then they would not be simple opponents.
Lu Yin silently memorized all the information about the various civilizations.
There were three plates left over. Old Fifth lifted one. “This one has Unbroken Voidflow recorded on it.”
Lu Yin was puzzled. “Unbroken Voidflow?”
“It’s a movement method. It relies on pulling the void to move around. There’s no need to move yourself; when space changes, you move with it. It’s a very good movement method, well-suited for roaming the Aevum Inch, though it should be useless to you, Lu Yin,” Old Fifth explained.
Lu Yin was disappointed. The movement technique truly was useless to him, given that he could teleport. “It can be taught to your Seven-Treasure Anuras and to our human cultivators.”
Old Fifth handed the plate to Lu Yin. “We don’t need this. We Seven-Treasure Anura have our own movement techniques. Teach this to your humans.”
Lu Yin solemnly stored the plate away. Despite being useless to him, the fact that Ancestor Shan had recorded the technique down on a plate indicated that it was not simple.
If their human civilization continued to develop smoothly, more cultivators would enter the Aevum Inch in the future. Such a movement technique could save them an enormous amount of time. Learning an additional technique was always good.
Lu Yin looked at Old First, who was translating another plate. It seemed to contain a great deal of information.
The toad raised their head and looked at Lu Yin. “This one mentions a place that was once part of your human civilization. It’s called the Seventh Rampart.”
Lu Yin was shocked. “The Seventh Rampart?”
Mister Mu was also startled.
Ancestor Shan had once mentioned that, at humanity’s peak, they had formed a civilization known as the Nine Ramparts that had spanned the cosmos. Currently, Lu Yin knew that the Lost Clan had come from the Third Rampart, and Mister Mu’s megaverse had been known as the Ninth Rampart. It remained unknown if the three human megaverses had once been a Rampart themselves. However, Ancestor Shan had recorded down information about the Seventh Rampart.
The Seventh Rampart had also been known as the Yan Gate, the seventh of the Nine Ramparts that had once spanned the cosmos. Unrivaled throughout the past and the present, they had been absolutely brilliant at the zenith of human civilization.
The Seven-Treasure Anuras had not interacted much with human civilizations, and they had known even less about the Seventh Rampart. Only an eight-line mnemonic had been passed down:
The Yan Gate’s strongest inheritance is the Seven Needles. With seven needles, the Yan Gate opens.
First needle: the spirit is thrown into chaos at the brow.
Second needle: the heart-gate’s fatal knot is undone.
Third needle: heaven and earth shake.
Fourth needle: the Immortal Abode is dragged down into the mortal world.
Fifth needle: the soul’s concealment is shattered in all living beings.
Sixth needle: the rules become unstable.
Seventh needle: all that is human is completely sealed.
All beneath fall within the Aevum Inch.
These nine lines described the Seventh Rampart, the Yan Gate. The origin of the mnemonic was unknown. No one knew if it was some outsider’s description or if it had come from the Yan Gate itself. In any case, the Seventh Rampart had been extremely powerful, to the point of being untouchable during the height of human civilization.
When human civilization was destroyed and its remnants scattered, the whereabouts of the Seventh Rampart had become unknown. There was a strong possibility that it had been completely annihilated.
If the Yan Gate could be found, then the restoration of the human civilization’s former glory might be within hand.
Old First slowly recited what was written on the plate.
Lu Yin’s eyes lit up. The Yan Gate and the Yan Gate’s Seven Needles. “All that is human is completely sealed. All beneath fall within the Aevum Inch.”
What arrogance! This showcased the Seventh Rampart, the Yan Gate.
Mister Mu marveled, “From these eight lines, one can already imagine how glorious human civilization once was. This is also merely the Seventh Rampart, and yet human civilization consisted of nine great ramparts. The Nine Ramparts spanned the cosmos... Perhaps during that era, even Obscura would not have dared to provoke humanity.
“What a pity. What a pity...”
Old First and the others were also shaken by what had been written on the plate. Did Dad really write down the truth? Was human civilization really once this strong?
The toads felt as if Ancestor Shan had once peered at the stars and the sun sun from a corner. The human civilization had been those stars and that sun, shining down upon the entire Aevum Inch.
The contents of this plate elevated Lu Yin’s interest in collecting the rest of the plates, making it a top priority. Ancestor Shan had certainly planned well; just one plate with a mention of the Seventh Rampart was enough to make Lu Yin set on finding the rest. If he wanted to learn more about human civilization’s Nine Ramparts, gathering the other plates was the fastest way.
Of the 100 plates, nine should contain records related to the human civilization’s Nine Ramparts.
Lu Yin was desperate to know what the Nine Ramparts spanning the cosmos had truly been like. Also, how had they been destroyed? Who had been humanity’s enemy?
If their human civilization could develop to the limit, they would inevitably draw over that same formidable enemy who had once shattered the Nine Ramparts. Lu Yin did not doubt this for a moment.
Ancestor Shan had had a powerful enemy watching them from the shadows. Humanity also had powerful enemies of their own.
Old First handed the plate over to Lu Yin. The information regarding the Seventh Rampart that the plate held would certainly be passed along to Lu Yin’s human civilization.
If only they could find the Yan Gate.
The last plate was in Old Fourth’s hands. Lu Yin looked forward to finding out what it held. Could it also have information about the Nine Ramparts?
“Old First, this is... the Anura Order.”
Old First’s eyes instantly flared. They snatched the plate and read it excitedly. However, there was cruelty and killing intent in the toad’s eyes as well. “It really is the Anura Order! The Blacklight Civilization is finished!”
Lu Yin was disappointed that the plate did not contain information about the Nine Ramparts. “What does this Anura Order mean?”
Old First’s voice dropped low. “This is a method that Dad deliberately left behind so that we can find the Blacklight Civilization. The Blacklight creatures think that, by sending only some of their kind over, especially the ones who never intended to return home alive, they wouldn’t expose their home. Their thinking was too simple! How could killing Dad be so easy?
“This Anura Order can lead us to the Blacklight Civilization.”
Lu Yin exchanged looks with Mister Mu and saw shock in the older man’s eyes. “How can this Anura Order find them? Aside from Huo, none of the other Blacklight creatures even knew how to find their homeland. I couldn’t find it even with karma.”
Old Fifth did not try to hide anything. “One of the laws that Dad resonated with was the cosmic law of Connection. Anything related to Dad—bloodlines, battle techniques, power, or even the air that a creature breathed—could be found by Dad.”