Chapter 2011: Wu Xing

Moments before the attack reached his body, Xia Ji’s vision cleared up. He managed to narrowly dodge, and the attack missed his vitals. Instead, a gaping wound opened on his arm. He stumbled backwards, crushing planets with every step. A vast expanse of space had been sliced open.

Undying God revealed an expression of surprise as he watched. He glanced sideways. "Someone’s trying to get in the way."

There was a somber expression on Kui Luo’s face. That earlier attack had been no laughing matter. If not for the Origin Progenitor’s Sutra, Xia Ji would have already died. "The Seven Skygods are famous throughout the entire universe, yet few have seen them truly attack. This old man got lucky today."

Undying God hefted his sword onto his shoulder as he observed Kui Luo. "You truly are lucky. The last person who forced me to use my true strength was Ku Jie. I’ve been sleeping ever since then and only just woke up. Although this is only a Semi-Progenitor incarnation, this is still pretty interesting, hahaha."

Undying God’s chortle elicited a dubious look from Lu Yin. This person felt like they were completely different from earlier. Could Undying God have a dual personality like Yan'er?

Kui Luo asked, "What do you mean by you’ve been asleep? Are you saying that all the Undying God incarnations were moving around while you were sleeping?"

Undying God hefted his long sword and pointed it at Kui Luo. "I'll tell you if you beat me."

With that, afterimages started to appear. Undying God’s body seemed to move backwards, yet he actually moved forward. This was Inverse Step.

Lu Yin's expression changed. Inverse Step? How could this be?

Undying God’s use of Inverse Step was completely different from how Progenitor Chen’s clone had used the movement technique. If one tried to describe the differences in simple terms, then if the universe was a single image, then Undying God was able to perfectly grasp a certain portion of that image with Inverse Step. He was clearly standing right in front of Kui Luo, yet he was able to instantly shift his location to materialize right behind Kui Luo.

Kui Luo considered himself someone with extensive combat experience, and he had managed to evade the pursuit of numerous Semi-Progenitors in the Perennial World. Despite that, dozens of wounds appeared on his back before he could even blink when Undying God used Inverse Step. Amidst crazed laughter, Undying God aimed a stab at Kui Luo’s head. "Trash.”

Xia Ji's long knife shot over Kui Luo’s head, and he swept the blade upwards as he launched a sneak attack on Undying God. However, not even Undying God’s shadow was touched by the attack.

This opponent was simply too fast.

Lu Yin could barely believe his eyes. This was not a matter of speed, but rather time. Kui Luo simply could not block Undying God’s attack. No matter what method the old man used, everything was instantly undone. This was the power of Inverse Step. Even if Kui Luo and Xia Ji worked together, Lu Yin could not see any hope of them overcoming Inverse Step. Lu Yin was the only person present who understood the true terror of this movement technique, aside from Undying God himself.

It deserved to be called an invincible technique.

Lu Yin had already known that Progenitor Chen had learned Inverse Step from someone else rather than create it himself. The mastery of the technique that Progenitor Chen had demonstrated within the Enlighter realm had revealed a bit of time manipulation, which was not something that Enlighters were capable of creating. This meant that Progenitor Chen must have learned the technique from another person. Lu Yin had not expected Undying God to have also mastered this technique.

Just who had created Inverse Step?

Kui Luo was forced to use his inner world to lock down Undying God in the pool beneath the waterfall. A condescending voice echoed down to the Skygod. "This is the Dragon Gate Realm. If you want to challenge me, you must first jump over the Dragon Gate."

Undying God looked up, expressing a bit of interest. "Sounds fun. Destroying inner worlds is one of my favorite pastimes. I remember that there was this one guy who wanted to pass my assessment who had a similar inner world. What was it called…? Ah yes, Four Arts: Celestial Blade Realm. I shattered that with a single stroke.”

The sword rose once more, and reality twisted at the edge of the blade as desperate wails seemed to arise from the distortion. They sounded as though the innocent souls who had died to this blade were crying out.

This slash seemed to connect everything with a vertical line, from the ground to the top of Dragon Gate Realm, and it even continued on to the highest point in space before hacking back down toward Kui Luo.

Kui Luo clenched his jaw and raised both hands high. "Dragon Gate Realm, drown him!"

There was a whoosh as the blade crashed against the dragon gate. The impact caused spatial cracks to appear everywhere. Not even Xia Ji was left unscathed, and he quickly fell back.

Kui Luo panted heavily. Looking down, he saw that his Dragon Gate Realm was still holding strong even after blocking the attack.

The sword in Undying God’s hand had shattered. He looked at the hilt and then looked up. "If we were in that era, I would’ve allowed you to pass my test and observe the Sword Monument. Unfortunately, you are not a youth, and I am no longer an examiner."

As he spoke, what looked like strands of withered yellow hair grew up from beneath his feet in the pond and started to climb upwards. Outside the pond, the strands grew out of the waterfall and started climbing the dragon gate. It was a bizarre and terrifying power.

Kui Luo was overcome with alarm, and he inwardly cursed even as he rushed over to Lu Yin's side. "We need to go now! We can’t beat him.”

One of the Seven Skygods was releasing their full strength. Anyone who could fight on equal footing against such an individual would be a powerhouse famous throughout history.

Lu Yin finally gained a bit of understanding of just how powerful Progenitor Ku had been. That Progenitor had always only viewed the Seven Skygods as his opponents.

Xia Ji was also preparing to escape. He completely regretted trying to fight against Undying God. Not only had he wasted his stellular energy, but he had also awakened a legendary killer.

The withered strands finally tore through the Dragon Gate Realm. When Undying God emerged, he ignored Xia Ji and focused solely on Kui Luo and Lu Yin. The yellow strands stretched across space like an evil spirit to entrap the two humans.

Lu Yin's scalp went numb. He pulled out the Netherworld River and the Withered Bark in case the worst-case scenario occurred. "Run!”

Kui Luo’s overwhelming spiritual force swept out. While it was common sense to never use spiritual force against a corpse king, this was Kui Luo’s most powerful attack.

The spiritual force started to press down upon Undying God, and the withered strands’ speed slowed.

Kui Luo was stunned that his attack had proved effective. "It actually worked? Isn't this old guy a corpse king?"

Suddenly, all movement froze. Whether it was Kui Luo’s spiritual force, Undying God’s withered strands, the orbits of the nearby astral bodies, or Xia Ji who was escaping into the distance, everything came to a standstill and turned gray.

Lu Yin became ecstatic. "Master!"

Only Mister Mu could create this particular phenomenon.

Sure enough, Mister Mu emerged, looking perfectly calm.

Upon seeing Mister Mu, Lu Yin hurried forward. He brought out the frozen Ming Yan and started earnestly begging, "Master, she’s dying! Please save her!"

Mister Mu glanced at Ming Yan and then looked at Lu Yin. "There are certain roads that you must walk on your own. Your master cannot help you."

Lu Yin's heart lurched. "Master, what do you mean? Can you not save her?"

It had never occurred to him that Mister Mu might not be able to save Ming Yan. If not even Lu Yin’s master could save Ming Yan, then no one could.

Mister Mu spoke softly, "I can save her, but times have changed. We cannot not waste any power or show any weakness."

Lu Yin heard the words clearly, but he could not understand his master’s meaning.

Mister Mu sighed. Then, for the first time, his eyes grew tender. "My disciple, I am very satisfied with you. I’ve told you before that everyone must take their own path and that they must do so resolutely without ever straying from it. It is possible that you will also one day reach the Immemorial Citadel and walk beside those select few toward an unknown end. Before that day arrives, I cannot provide you with much assistance as your master.”

Lu Yin was left thoroughly confused. "Master, what’s the Immemorial Citadel? What are you talking about?"

Mister Mu looked to the west. "There are laws that regulate the development of humanity. Whether we prosper or face extinction, there are always some unavoidable factors. I seldom interfere with this process, not even when the Daosource Sect broke or when the Lu family was exiled. However, this time is different. Since he has taken action, I will also be making my move."

He then turned back to Lu Yin and grew solemn. "Listen well: there is a battlefield in the Fifth Mainland that is frozen in time by a sourcebox. Go ahead and open it. I cannot determine whether the results will be good or bad, but it is the only chance that you all have against Aeternus."

Mister Mu’s words reminded Lu Yin of the place where many Lockbreakers had gathered. Could that be what his master was referring to?

President Xiu Ming and the other most powerful Lockbreakers had moved there to stand guard over that place, as they were afraid someone would try to unlock that sourcebox and that doing so would release powerful enemies.

"Master, what about Yan'er?" Lu Yin was growing anxious.

Mister Mu replied, "Others will soon appear, and I cannot save her. You can only rely on yourself for this. I believe that your strength will one day reach heights that will allow you to save her yourself."

Lu Yin felt dejected. Without Mister Mu’s help, he would have no choice but to rely on himself. He felt all the strength drain from his body as he stored Ming Yan’s frozen form away again.

Mister Mu’s head suddenly whipped around to stare at Undying God. "Wu Xing, stop pretending. I know that you can hear me."

Lu Yin looked over in shock. He followed Mister Mu's gaze to stare at Undying God. Could the Skygod hear them?

During the few times that Lu Yin had met with Mister Mu, no one had been able to see Lu Yin’s master aside from himself. Not even Semi-Progenitors had been exempt from this limitation. Despite that, was Undying God able to see Mister Mu?

Across space, the supposedly frozen Undying God rolled his eyes at Mister Mu. "So it's you."

Mister Mu spoke casually, "I warned Wu Tian back then that the child he had picked up had sinister eyes and would easily go astray. He thought too highly of himself, or maybe he was just reluctant to abandon you. Not only did he teach and groom you, but he even allowed you to guard the Sword Monument. After years of being nurtured by the martial stele, you became such a disaster. You bring shame upon Wu Tian.”

Undying God grinned in response. "This is my path. You just told your little apprentice that everyone has to travel their own path."

Mister Mu’s voice dropped low. "You are unworthy of the name that Wu Tian bestowed upon you. He named you Wu Xing not only in hopes that you would overcome the side effects of your innate gift, but also because he hoped that you would rid yourself of the evil in your heart and turn over a new leaf. Unfortunately, you still ended up becoming a monster. If Wu Tian were here, he would be disappointed in you."

"Nothing but bullshit,” Undying God spat out contemptuously.

Mister Mu waved a hand, and Undying God disintegrated into ashes that scattered into nothingness.

No matter how powerful the Skygod might be as a Semi-Progenitor incarnation, he was still nothing more than an ant before Mister Mu.

After eliminating Undying God, Mister Mu turned back to Lu Yin. "The Seven Skygods have ancient origins, and each one of them is far from simple. That was but one of his Semi-Progenitor incarnations. The true Seven Skygods are each comparable to Progenitor Chen, the Rune Progenitor, and other famous individuals. The Starfall Sea’s defenses were breached because Corpse God’s main body appeared, and even I had a difficult time fighting against him. Corpse God was the one who fought against Xia Shang back then."

Wariness blossomed in Lu Yin's eyes. "Are all the Seven Skygods at Progenitor Chen’s level of power?"

Mister Mu replied, "Aeternus can overpower humanity, and the Seven Skygods are second only to Aeternus’s True God. What do you think?"

"Does that Wu Xing just now have some sort of connection to Wu Tian? Wasn't Wu Tian just a legend?" Lu Yin asked.

Mister Mu said, "The God of Death, Destiny, Wu Tian, and the Origin Progenitor—none of them are mere myths. When he was a child, Wu Xing was adopted by Wu Tian, who then tasked him with guarding the martial stele and assessing those who wanted to observe it. Unfortunately, he was lured by Aeternus, and he eventually became one of the Seven Skygods. You will understand more in the future. If you reach certain heights, you will definitely meet me again. But for now, we must each go our separate ways. Truly, man cannot fight his own fate, and I was still a step behind."

"Are you referring to 'Murkiness?' Is this 'Murkiness?’" Lu Yin asked.