Chapter 2101: Confidence

Lu Yin did not believe that Chu Yuan could stack infinite slashes. Every battle technique had its own limits. Still, the number of runes for the stacked slashes was already sufficient to overpower his God of Death Transformation.

This was the power of Chu Yuan, the Dao Chosen of the First Mainland during the Heavens Sect era. He was someone who genuinely possessed the ability to meet Lu Yin head on even with his God of Death Transformation.

Sky Garan had been the first to break one of his death energy chains, and if Lu Yin had not happened to pick up the Ce Secret Art and comprehend Board Manipulation, it would not have been nearly so easy for him to defeat Sky Garan. At the moment, he really had no way to resolve the overwhelming power that Chu Yuan was preparing. This was the strength of the Dao Chosen.

This power also let Lu Yin understand why these people looked down on the current era and even him so much.

If Lu Yin had faced this attack twenty years earlier when the ancient people had first been released from the sourcebox, the only way he could have survived Chu Yuan’s attack would have been to roll his die and hope to enter Timestop for a second. There was no chance of avoiding this attack with Inverse Step, as being able to do so would render the secret technique worthless.

Given the fact that this was a secret technique, the time needed for it to strike was almost definitely erased, so it should be a truly instantaneous attack once it was released.

This stacked blade attack had surpassed a power level and gone through a qualitative change, and no battle technique could withstand it unless the target was capable of using something that had reached a similar level.

It just so happened that Lu Yin possessed such an ability.

"How many blades can you stack?" Silver called out from across the plaza. His presence in the plaza had seemed to disappear after Lu Yin revealed himself, until now when Silver deliberately spoke up.

Chu Yuan completely ignored the side character.

Silver smiled over at Lu Yin. "Captain, that slash looks pretty tough to deal with. Why don’t you save your strength for that one, and I’ll help you deal with the other person?"

Lu Yin was caught completely off guard.

Heluo Mavis stared at Silver, her expression quickly darkening, "Fox-face, you’re asking to die!"

Silver responded with a brilliant smile and a flourish of the butterfly knife in his hand. "I just want to give it a shot. After all, defeating a Dao Chosen from the Heavens Sect era would be quite the accomplishment."

Sky Garan, Chu Yuan, and Lu Yin had all demonstrated a practically invincible level of power during the battles in the plaza. Heluo Mavis was another former Dao Chosen, so there was no way she was weak. The underdog was clearly Silver, and yet he was openly declaring his intention to face Heluo Mavis in a duel.

This was something that not even Lu Yin had expected to hear.

Heluo Mavis's face contorted, as she felt that she was being underestimated. While Silver was clearly highly talented and certainly had the ability to compete in the Dao Chosen selection, being strong enough to compete was not the same as being a Dao Chosen. And that was a position that Heluo Mavis had already earned.

Heluo skipped any further nonsense and simply punched at Silver. A swaying divine tree appeared behind her, and she immediately swallowed a glowing fruit, which caused her power to skyrocket. She used the combination of Infinite Power and aurelian force to instantly surpass Chu Yuan’s power level before he triggered his secret technique. The power of this punch rivaled the slashes that Sky Garan had unleashed when using the Garan family’s unique power to recall Chu Yuan’s instantaneous attack. This punch could break through the death energy chains that belonged to the God of Death Transformation.

She was determined to eliminate Silver in one blow.

In the face of the terrifying punch, Silver’s smile slipped away. His nearly perpetual grin was replaced by a cold light in his eyes that made him seem as creepy as a ghost. Lu Yin had never seen this side of Silver before, not even when he had been controlling Corpse Beast to disrupt the Astral Tower competition. This was the first time that Lu Yin had ever seen such a chilling expression on Silver’s face.

The wind from the shockingly powerful fist blasted towards Silver, enveloping the entire section of the plaza. Silver looked up to face it, and a surge of death energy swept out like a tide. The light of day was replaced by a sea of death energy. Within it, the only sight to be beheld was a solitary figure holding a scythe that was slowly raised up. Silver mirrored the movement as his eyes turned golden.

Lu Buzheng was stunned. "The God of Death? How could anyone from this era have a visualization method using the God of Death?"

The Dao Chosen selection had brought repeated surprises to everyone, but the sight of Silver using the God of Death in a visualization method was as shocking to the audience as the sight of Sky Garan's Eight Star innate gift.

At this moment, even Jue Yi struggled to believe his eyes. He had never expected this new era to give birth to someone who could visualize the God of Death simply from absorbing death energy without the help of a teacher. This was something that even Jue Yi had only accomplished after becoming a Semi-Progenitor.

This ability was what had allowed Silver to stand out from everyone else and earn the right to be the Undying Heavenly Gate’s representative in the Dao Chosen selection. The fact that he had managed to create his own visualization method based on the God of Death had completely transformed Silver’s ability to manipulate death energy.

Lu Yin frowned. The God of Death? Was this what Silver had kept hidden?

Once the visualization method of the God of Death manifested, the death energy in the area practically solidified. Heluo Mavis’s punch struck the death energy, but it dissipated after only proceeding a hundred meters. Even her impressive strength was abruptly eliminated by the death energy.

At the same time, the massive image of the God of Death that stood behind Silver raised its scythe and swept out. Death energy shot out in a slash of black light that cut through the void and sliced through everything in sight. Both space itself and the visualized divine tree behind Heluo Mavis were cut through.

Only the powerful clans and families that had once ruled a Mainland possessed visualization methods, but Silver had managed to create one based on death energy and the God of Death. This was an accomplishment that was beyond even Lu Yin, and Lu Yin could not comprehend how Silver had managed this.

Puff!

Heluo Mavis spat out a mouthful of blood as she stared intently at Silver. His foxy smile was gone, and the coldness she saw on his face made her feel as though she was looking at the God of Death himself.

During the Heavens Sect era, the God of Death, Destiny, and Wu Tian had all belonged to the First Mainland. The God of Death had had no heirs, and Jue Yi had merely appointed himself as the God of Death’s disciple, as he was the person closest to realizing the God of Death’s power. However, there were no other dedicated followers, and the God of Death had never sent out any representatives to participate in the Dao Chosen selections.

Destiny had trained Destina, though no one knew if there were other disciples as well. After all, Destiny had always been unpredictable.

As for Wu Tian, he had taught too many people to even count. Wu Ji, who had competed with Chu Yuan for the title of the First Mainland’s Dao Chosen, had been Wu Tian’s representative, and he was regarded as the man’s disciple. Still, Chu Yuan had managed to kill Wu Ji.

While the Dao Chosen had always heard of the God of Death and how powerful that ancient Progenitor was, no one had ever fought against one of the God of Death’s heirs. Their first experience facing that power was Lu Yin’s God of Death Transformation, and Silver’s visualization method was the second. This man was actually able to develop a visualization method based off of the God of Death, and for those watching the Dao Chosen Selection, they could not determine who was the true heir to the God of Death between Lu Yin and Silver.

Regardless, Silver had revealed a strength that qualified him to join the true fight to become the Dao Chosen. He actually stood on the same level as the other seeded candidates.

"I underestimated you." Heluo Mavis stared at Silver while wiping the blood from her mouth. The visualization method of the divine tree reappeared behind her, and it was bigger than ever as it kept growing. It looked like a true divine tree.

Even Ancestor Tortoise was drawn to the sight, as it was staring at the glowing fruits hanging off of the divine tree that Heluo Mavis had visualized. The beast was practically drooling.

A green light flashed in Heluo Mavis’s eyes as she stared at Silver: The Rhythm of Life.

Silver’s eyes flared once more. Blood leaked out of his mouth, but he just wiped it away. "The Mavis family’s innate gift is able to directly weaken my vitality. How ruthless."

He then leaped up and shot towards his opponent. His butterfly knife drew a beautiful arc with one hand, and the slash was aimed directly at Heluo Mavis. The sea of death energy trailed behind Silver, and when the dizzying path of the knife was combined with the surge of death energy, it became difficult for even the Semi-Progenitor to predict where the knife was headed.

The void around Heluo Mavis burned from her aurelian force as her glowing green eyes searched for any trace of Silver. Suddenly, he appeared right behind her. The knife flickered, and blood splattered. She whipped around and threw an uppercut at the blade and then followed up by chasing after Silver and punching down at him as she pursued him.

Death energy condensed in front of Silver’s body, and it acted like a swamp that completely swallowed the power of Heluo Mavis's fist. Golden eyes met green eyes. One person coughed up blood after having their vitality sapped away, while the other felt a disturbing chill that slowed them down. That gaze was like a ghost’s stare.

Silver seized the opportunity to spin around. His knife once again tasted Heluo Mavis's blood.

Two figures clashed across the plaza, one black and one green. Wherever they moved, scarlet stains of blood appeared on the floor of the plaza. While this battle was not as impressive and overbearing as the one between Lu Yin and Chu Yuan, Heluo Mavis and Silver were far more ruthless in their fight, and they were practically dancing along the edge of a knife.

Lu Yin looked away from the other fight. Those two possessed a similar level of strength, and neither would gain an upper hand in the short term. However, as time passed, it would only become more and more likely for Silver to lose. He lacked Heluo Mavis’s physical strength, and the woman was also able to heal herself with the nearby plants, or even completely reincarnate. Silver could not counter these abilities.

Still, it could not have been easy for Silver to reach this step.

Lu Yin looked at Chu Yuan, and he was left rather speechless; the man was still swinging his blade, though clearly not at the same speed as before. It took a bit of time for each slash to form, but already, thirty six slashes had stacked up and were ready to be released in a single fused attack. The power of this merged attack was terrifying, and Lu Yin had to admit that it was absolutely impossible for him to currently block this attack, not even if he used Extremes Must Be Reversed.

Despite the chaotic and exciting battle between Heluo Mavis and Silver, most remained focused entirely on Chu Yuan. He was still swinging his blade and stacking attacks, clearly intending to eliminate Lu Yin with this ultimate attack.

Lu Buzheng could no longer hold himself back. "None of you can survive that attack, and even a Semi-Progenitor would be wary of it. Lu Yin, surrender."

Hen Xin stared at Chu Yuan. This young man truly deserved to have been crowned the Dao Chosen of the First Mainland. If his cultivation improved just a bit, perhaps to five tribulations, then this attack would be dangerous even to Semi-Progenitors.

Semi-Progenitors possessed an inner world, which put them on a completely different level from Envoys. However, that difference did not mean that it was impossible to surpass the gap in strength. However, it was large enough that no one had managed to pull off such a feat in countless years.

However, the secret technique Chu Yuan was using could allow him to cross that gap.

Once the man became a six or seven-tribulation Envoy, normal Semi-Progenitors would be helpless before him. This was the power of time.

"How many blades do you want to pile up?" Lu Yin asked as he stared at Chu Yuan.

The man’s eyes shifted to look at Lu Yin. "As many as it takes for you to give up and walk away."

Lu Yin was taken aback. "You’re waiting to see my reaction?"

Chu Yuan frowned. "While I don’t like to admit it, your reaction indicates that you are confident that you can face this attack. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but it’s clear that you aren’t afraid."

Up in the audience, Xia De grew solemn. "Lu Yin thinks that he can take this attack? Impossible!"

Ni Huang also spoke up. "I have to completely agree with that. Even if we don’t consider the current times, during the Heavens Sect era when human civilization reached its peak, there was never a three-tribulation Envoy who could launch an attack that would cause a Semi-Progenitor to look twice. Finding someone capable of doing so would be far, far too difficult, as they would have to be even more talented than Progenitor Chen."

Hen Xin focused entirely on Lu Yin. While the other Semi-Progenitors were able to see the situation quite clearly, they were all simply dumbstruck by Chu Yuan’s power and were ignoring Lu Yin’s reaction. Only Chu Yuan was paying attention to Lu Yin, and he could clearly see that there was no fear in Lu Yin’s eyes, not even a flicker. Was he really that confident that he could handle this attack?

There were instances when a destructive power reached a level where it could no longer be blocked, redirected, or shifted by battle techniques or even secret techniques. In those cases, the only option was to counter with an even greater power, so why was Lu Yin unafraid?

𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

It was impossible for even the God of Death Transformation to boost Lu Yin’s strength to the level where he could handle such a powerful attack. After all, his base strength was merely that of a three-tribulation Envoy. Chu Yuan was only capable of releasing such a powerful attack because of his control of time, so what was the source of Lu Yin’s confidence in being able to receive this attack?