Hearing Furball's words, Lu Yin's eyes flickered. "I don't believe you."
"Believe me or not, your choice."
"Then no bet."
"You can't even catch it, so there's no point in betting."
Lu Yin smugly replied, "I almost caught it today. If that strange bird hadn't used its life-saving move, I would have caught it and agreed to bet with you. You would have been scared out of your wits."
Furball asked in surprise, "What life-saving move?"
"It split into more than a thousand birds and escaped."
"Thousand Feathers, Thousand Changes?" the old guy asked in surprise. "I didn't expect you to be able to force the bird to use that."
Thousand Feathers, Thousand Changes? Sounds impressive. Lu Yin's eyes flickered. "What's so surprising about it? My human civilization has many experts. We also have the most powerful of the Seven-Treasure Anuras with us, who has resonated with two cosmic laws. Why wouldn't we be able to deal with a single bird?"
The ancient voice replied, "It's different. This isn't a battle, but an ambush. Those disgusting birds love to ambush their targets. Since it’s impossible to catch up to them, trying to prevent their teleportation seems like the most straightforward option, but how many can actually accomplish that? Forcing one to use Thousand Feathers, Thousand Changes is not easy at all. If I'm not mistaken, your ability to teleport also played a part. Congratulations, child, you've become one of the few civilizations that can actually threaten the Plume Immortal Civilization."
Furball barked a cold laugh. "Now the Plume Immortal Civilization will remember you. From now on, your human civilization will constantly have to face ambushes from those strange birds. They won’t allow any civilization in the cosmos that has the ability to deal with them to survive, unless you’re outright stronger than them. You’re finished, heh heh."
Lu Yin retorted, "What about Obscura? Aren't we also enemies of those strange birds? For us to still be around, are you saying that Obscura stands above the Plume Immortal Civilization?"
Right at that moment, Ba Se’s voice spoke up. "Lu Yin, when you complete a three-star mission, you may learn about the Plume Immortal Civilization."
Lu Yin sighed. With Ba Se’s interruption, he would not be able to probe any further.
Still, his attempt had managed to reveal a few things. Of course, many of those details made him even more uneasy, especially Furball’s last comment.
If that comment was accurate, then his human civilization would have a truly difficult time finding peace in the future. A solution had to be found.
There was also the fact that Furball claimed to know who had been targeting Ancestor Shan, just like Old Man Hehe.
But was that true?
Lu Yin hoped that it was a lie. If that information was a publicly known secret among those at a certain level, it meant that more than just one member of Obscura was strong enough to deal with Ancestor Shan. That would indicate that Obscura’s full power was even more unfathomable than what they had thought, and Lu Yin could not accept that.
Che's voice rang out. "Lu Yin, Furball's warning is correct. You must be cautious and always on guard against those strange birds. They do indeed hold grudges and are very insecure. You now pose a threat to them, especially given your own ability to teleport. This is unacceptable to them. Be mentally prepared."
"I didn’t warn him. I’m glad, hahaha! Your human civilization will regret this! The best solution was to let one or two of your Immortals die at the very beginning in order to send that strange bird away. It only appeared in your megaverses by coincidence, unlike a normal fishing civilization, but that’s all changed. Now, you’re a target. It’s too late for regrets, hahaha!" Furball gloated.
Lu Yin's eyes grew cold. "Even if you told me that at the very beginning, I wouldn't have done it. My human civilization would rather stand and die than kneel in order to survive."
That said, he left Vestigium.
Once Lu Yin was gone, Che let out a sight of admiration. "Honestly, I've always admired human civilization."
Furball sneered. "If it weren't for the fall of the Nine Ramparts, the Plume Immortal Civilization would never have dared to provoke them. It looks like the Plume Immortal that ambushed them doesn’t know much about humanity, so it was most likely only recently added to their ranks. This has become interesting. I wonder who will be the next to awaken."
“Heh. The Plume Immortal Civilization played no small role in the destruction of the Nine Ramparts. I wonder how many of you were there back then. Do you still remember the Crimson Lotus Tomb?”
The old man spoke slowly. When those final three words were uttered, Vestigium fell silent.
A long time later, another voice spoke up. "The fact that they forced that bird to use Thousand Feathers, Thousand Changes coupled with that child’s teleportation ability means that the little Plume Immortal shouldn’t be bothering human civilization anymore.
"Ba Se, I suggest that we go easy on the child. Let’s allow him to break through and become an Immortal more quickly, as that’ll let us deal with the Plume Immortal Civilization more easily."
Furball immediately refused. "No! That breaks the rules!"
The ancient voice said, "If that brat can help us deal with the Plume Immortal Civilization, we certainly can’t allow him to break through. He’ll become even more troublesome than the Plume Immortal Civilization itself. How many of you here have blood on your hands from the destruction of the Nine Ramparts? You all know that the brat will take revenge."
An unknown voice said, "We merely struggle to deal with the Plume Immortal Civilization’s teleportation ability. That does not mean we are unable to deal with human civilization."
***
At the same time, far away from the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm, Yue Lu preened its feathers, staring at the distant Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm with a rare bit of dread in its eyes.
I was actually caught. If not for Thousand Feathers, Thousand Changes, I wouldn’t have been able to escape from that human.
It did not care about Aberrants, but since one had managed to catch Yue Lu, it meant that they had made preparations. The Aberrant was nothing more than a bridge—the real threat was the civilization’s other powerful beings.
This was precisely what had scared the bird into breaking free from Lu Yin. If not for that, simply being caught by Lu Yin would not have frightened Yue Lu at all.
Thousand Feathers, Thousand Changes had allowed it to escape from that human once, and it could escape countless more times. At least, that was what Lu Yin and the rest of humanity believed. But in reality, Thousand Feathers, Thousand Changes was not an invincible technique. The cosmos did not have any truly invincible powers.
As the name suggested, Thousand Feathers, Thousand Changes was able to create up to 1,000 copies of a bird, with one being real while the rest were false.
This was what had happened to Lu Yin. While he had caught Yue Lu, after it used Thousand Feathers, Thousand Changes, the bird he had held onto had become a fake.
As for which bird was real and which was fake, not even Yue Lu itself could control that. That was precisely what made it impossible for an opponent to find an opening.
If the bird could control which image was real and which was fake, then an opponent would be able to devise strategies to determine which was true. However, if even the user of Thousand Feathers, Thousand Changes did not have any control, then there was nothing for an enemy to use.
Still, catching a fake once did not mean that a fake would be captured every time. Even if it was only a one in 1,000 chance, since the probability was not zero, then there was a chance that the real one would be caught.
Yue Lu clearly understood that, if it continued to target this human civilization, it might not be able to escape the next time. Its death or survival had become a matter of chances.
It was not unstoppable.
Thousand Feathers, Thousand Changes had its advantages, yet it also had its disadvantages.
Yue Lu watched this human civilization for a long time, but it eventually left. However, it would never forget the grudge between them.
This civilization would certainly be destroyed.
I feel like I’ve seen this civilization somewhere... They rouse both a familiar and a revolting feeling from my bloodline.
***