Star Odyssey
Chapter 3616: Heavy Oppression

Chapter 3616: Heavy Oppression

Lu Yin’s consciousness formed a Skyshearer Millstone as he fell down, and it slammed into Emperor Wu. On top of that, Lu Yin’s spiritual force slashed out like a sword. It was the same as Progenitor Xi’s Qingluo Intent, an attack of pure spiritual force. At this moment, Emperor Wu might be a stubborn stone, but that just meant that he was destined to eventually shatter.

Jiu Weihu exchanged glances with the others, all of them eager to intervene. Unfortunately, given their strength, what could they hope to accomplish? None of them could hope to block even a casual blow from Lu Yin.

Further away, the eyes of the ancient beast-form Spirit Rebirth who was standing beside Zhan Ming flickered. This was unexpected. It should have been impossible to defeat the Heaven's Seal sequence base. Could the Fu River’s source be a place where the beast-form Spirit Rebirths were destined to lose yet again? This was already a place of humiliation for the beast-form Spirit Rebirths, given that the last ruler of the Primal Beastland had been defeated and slain here by the current High Seraph. Emperor Wu could not be allowed to lose as well.

If he did, then the beast-form Spirit Rebirths would never be able to raise their heads back up.

The ancient beast raised a foot, ready to move forward.

Zhan Ming immediately spoke up. “If you interfere, not only will you fail to save Emperor Wu, but you will also die. On top of that, you will even burden the beast-form Spirit Rebirths with the humiliating disgrace of being incapable of accepting defeat.”

The ancient powerhouse froze and gritted his teeth. He could not interfere. There was no way for him to get involved, as Zhan Ming was absolutely right. To begin with, the ancient beast was no match for Seraph Lu, who was absolutely terrifying. Only the High Seraph could hope to meet this human in battle.

“Emperor Wu won’t be defeated that easily. His invincible defense is not a mere rumor or a casual ability. He also has Limitless Destruction,” Zhan Ming stated calmly.

Emperor Wu had cultivated a battle technique known as Limitless Destruction. It was his ultimate technique and the one that had made him famous. It was also the technique that had created the legend of Emperor Wu’s invincible defenses.

Even after fighting for so long, Emperor Wu still had not used Limitless Destruction even once.

The beast-form Spirit Rebirth bitterly said, “Limitless Destruction came from the previous Primal Beastland lord. It is the root of all his defensive abilities, but not their culmination. Using Limitless Destruction as fertile ground, the concept of ‘invincible defense’ took shape. But once that defense is broken, even Limitless Destruction becomes meaningless.”

Zhan Ming was astonished. So that’s how it is. Then Emperor Wu is truly in danger.

Emperor Wu endured attack after attack. His innate gift was being continuously depleted while his Treasureform was losing sequence particles and slowly shattering. He had also reached the limits of his endurance with respect to the backlash from suppressing Heaven's Seal. Unless Natural Art vanished, Emperor Wu would no longer be able to wield his sequence base.

His strength was gone, and his defenses were failing. His defeat seemed inevitable.

Lu Yin appeared behind Emperor Wu and pressed a single hand to the back of his head. Even then, there was no hint of joy on Lu Yin’s face. “What are you still holding back?”

Emperor Wu had been reduced to a pitiful state. Most of his body had been shattered, and he was almost entirely covered with blood.

“I can sense that you’re still far from death’s door. There’s some force within you that is keeping you alive... That must be the fabled Limitless Destruction,” Lu Yin slowly stated. “It won’t be difficult to break that power. Do you really want me to kill you?”

Emperor Wu said nothing. No one could tell what he was thinking.

Lu Yin stared at Emperor Wu’s back and remarked, “Is it possible that I am even stronger than the High Seraph?”

Emperor Wu whipped around, as if to meet Lu Yin’s gaze.

A smile spread across Lu Yin’s lips. “A dead man can’t challenge the High Seraph. You can’t defeat me in your current condition, so show me what you’ve been keeping hidden.

“You want to rely on the sequence base Heaven’s Seal to quickly end this battle between us. I’m looking forward to seeing that power as well.”

Emperor Wu slowly took a step back. “I’ve been trying to find some method of eliminating you without resorting to that ability, but it turns out that doing so is simply beyond me.”

Lu Yin nodded. “I know you assumed that I couldn’t kill you and that you’ve been waiting for the right moment. However, I also knew from the very start that you’ve prepared a surprise for the High Seraph.”

“Waiting has become meaningless. You can blame only yourself for choosing to fight me too early!” Emperor Wu’s shattered body could be seen recovering. Soon, his innate gift of Hardening surged across his body, and Heaven's Seal was also restrained once more. The vast power that surrounded him wiped the blood from his body. He looked just like he had at the beginning of the battle. It was as if nothing had ever happened.

Lu Yin rubbed his head. “Alright then. Does this mean that we’re done with the warm-up?”

“That wasn’t a warm-up. I’ve always been serious about killing you,” Emperor Wu replied solemnly.

Lu Yin laughed. “And yet I was just warming up!”

Far away, one by one, the cultivators were stupefied by his words. “Warm- warm-up? Is he serious?”

Everyone was stunned. All along, they had believed that only the High Seraph could compare to Lu Yin, and yet he was claiming that everything he had done so far had been nothing more than a warm-up!

"That's got to be a lie! A warm-up?"

"Of course he’s lying! This is just psychological warfare!"

"I think he’s being honest. Seraph Lu is the ruler of the Tianyuan Megaverse. Doesn’t that mean that he’s on the same level as our Spirit Nidus’s High Seraph?"

Multiple gasps rang out as people stared into the distance. Was it true? Had the entire battle really just been a warm-up to him?

On the other side of the Fu River, countless beast-form Spirit Rebirths were similarly left speechless as they all stared at Emperor Wu. Just what was going on? Weren’t they fighting earlier? Could the entire thing have just been an illusion? Seraph Lu claimed to have been merely warming up, while Emperor Wu's body had completely recovered and looked as if he had never been struck at all.

Zhan Ming, Jiu Xian, Meng Sang, Old Salamander, and the other such powerhouses all grew incredibly somber. This was highly unexpected, not just of Seraph Lu Yin, but also of Emperor Wu.

If the entire battle had truly been just a warm-up, then their entire existence might as well be a joke.

Others only understood Limitless Destruction in the manner that Emperor Wu wished them to. If a cultivator’s ultimate technique could be easily understood by everyone, then could the person still be called a cultivator? No one would ever allow such a thing to happen.

Emperor Wu had allowed Lu Yin to attack him freely. To outsiders, it had been a pitiful display, but the truth of the matter was that Emperor Wu had always been supported by Limitless Destruction. He had merely been searching for an opportunity to counterattack, but unfortunately, Lu Yin had never given him that opportunity.

Lu Yin was genuinely curious; just what kind of battle technique could have given Emperor Wu such confidence?

Everyone stared as Emperor Wu bent his legs and faced Lu Yin.

Lu Yin's eyes intensified. It's happening!

The next instant, Emperor Wu shot forward. His body suddenly contracted while a violent, uncontrollable aura exploded from him. A familiar feeling of pressure caused Lu Yin's pupils to shrink. Is that the Nine Heavens Transformation?

He could have never imagined that Emperor Wu would actually succeed in forming the Nine Heavens.

At that moment, everyone was stunned.

Even the High Seraph, in the distant Apex Palace, suddenly looked over, his eyes overflowing with powerful killing intent.

Boom!

Lu Yin took a punch to the chest. The rising power ripped space apart as it spread through his body, permeating every corner. Pressure compressed all of his internal organs, and even though he was using Extremes Must Be Reversed, which should have caused his withered form to instantly recover, this punch surpassed the limits of what Extremes Must Be Reversed could endure.

This punch contained the absolute limit of Emperor Wu’s power, as well as Heaven's Seal, despite the fact that he had been weakened by Natural Art.

Lu Yin stared at Emperor Wu’s ferocious smile in a daze. The smile looked like it belonged to some sort of ghost or demon. How did he split apart the Nine Heavens?

Cultivating the Nine Heavens Transformation first required one to split apart the Nine Heavens. Lu Yin had only been able to learn it thanks to his Champions’ Stage Purgatory, which had forced Yu Shan to relive his experiences of cultivating the technique. Lu Yin had observed every step of the process, and then, with the Origin Progenitor’s guidance, he had devised an alternative path: splitting apart his consciousness to form the Nine Heavens. Even then, Lu Yin had only been able to succeed because he had already studied the Nine Clones Secret Technique. Without each and every piece of the puzzle, it would have been impossible for him to learn the Nine Heavens Transformation.

Just how had Emperor Wu obtained it?

Had the High Seraph taught him, or even split apart the Nine Heavens for him? Impossible. Even if Lu Yin was unaware of all the grudges that existed between Emperor Wu and the High Seraph, he was still absolutely certain that the High Seraph would have never split the Nine Heavens for Emperor Wu.

The tension that existed between human-form and beast-form Spirit Rebirths was irreparable; it was embedded into the very cultivation culture of the Spirit Nidus. The tension served as the basic foundation of Lu Yin’s strategy, which was why he was so certain of this.

Furthermore, Emperor Wu’s next target was the High Seraph himself, which the man undoubtedly knew. If the High Seraph had still agreed to split apart the Nine Heavens for Emperor Wu, the only possible explanation was that he did not consider Emperor Wu to be a threat at all. If Emperor Wu learned of that, he would never be willing to challenge the High Seraph in the first place.

The most important factor was Emperor Wu’s pride. That alone would never allow him to accept the High Seraph’s charity.

In that case, how had Emperor Wu cultivated the Nine Heavens Transformation?

A fist crashed down upon Lu Yin once again. His body withered up once more as he tried to endure the overwhelming force while also destroying lanterns to weaken Emperor Wu.

Boom!

Another punch landed, and Lu Yin coughed up blood. So, this is his strength even after he’s been weakened.

Without Natural Art, the force of Emperor Wu’s punches after using the Nine Heavens Transformation would instantly destroy Lu Yin.

Everyone watching from the distance went numb from shock. They stared blankly at Emperor Wu’s display of overwhelming power. It was enough to overcome any known defenses.

Old Salamander’s scalp went numb. It’s the Nine Heavens Transformation... Yao really cultivated the Nine Heavens Transformation!

The old man was grateful that he had been discovered and escaped afterwards, as the power that Emperor Wu possessed while using the Nine Heavens Transformation was utterly beyond Old Salamander’s limits.

He had once believed that Emperor Wu’s greatest strength was solely the Heaven's Seal sequence base. Thus, Old Salamander had believed that having a way to counter the sequence base would allow him to fight evenly against Emperor Wu. Clearly, Old Salamander had grossly underestimated Emperor Wu.

Still, why had Emperor Wu been able to master the Nine Heavens Transformation?

That was the High Seraph’s ultimate skill. Aside from the High Seraph and Yu Shan, not a single other person in the entire Spirit Nidus should have learned that technique.

No one could offer any sort of explanation. Everyone who was familiar with the relationship between the High Seraph and Emperor Wu would instantly discard the possibility that the High Seraph had taught Emperor Wu the Nine Heavens Transformation. So what had happened?

In an instant, the Nine Heavens Transformation had elevated Emperor Wu to a level that made it no longer necessary for him to rely on Heaven's Seal to empower his attacks. Emperor Wu was already able to suppress Lu Yin.

The two frantically tested to the absolute limits of the other’s abilities.

Before, Lu Yin had been pushing Emperor Wu to his limits, and at this moment, Emperor Wu had shattered his former limits. His own limits were almost impossible to see, while Lu Yin was being tested with each and every punch. Every blow had the potential to break his limit and kill him. The suffocating pressure and overwhelming force of each blow was felt by every observer.

No one dared to even breathe, fearing that they would be engulfed by the overwhelming pressure.

Lu Yin coughed up blood as his body sank into the endless darkness. The darkness was all too familiar, as it was deeper than the Hollow. The True Void was being exposed with every punch from Emperor Wu. Each attack could shatter the universe.

Emperor Wu no longer held anything back. He fully intended to kill Lu Yin. Lu Yin had succeeded in pushing Emperor Wu further than he had ever imagined, but it was all about to end.

No matter how prepared Lu Yin might have been, there was no hope for him to resist the overwhelming power of Emperor Wu’s matchless strength.

Lu Yin watched as Emperor Wu repeatedly raised his arms and threw out crushing punches. Never before had Lu Yin participated in such a relentless, brutal brawl. There were no miraculous battle techniques, no amazing innate gifts, and no stunning tools or external powers. It was just brute force and absolute defense. It was the most instinctive method of fighting for any living creature.

A person’s cultivation began with plain and simple combat, and later moved on to dazzling battle techniques and innate gifts. In the end, did it still all come down to raw power? The universe was a cycle, as was cultivation.

With a flick of his finger, a spiral of karma twisted and then was flung forward.

At the moment Emperor Wu’s fist fell, he suddenly turned and struck again. Not only did he avoid the spiral of karma, he also landed a second punch directly on Lu Yin.

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