Chapter 2103: The Circle Of Life

However, when Lu Yin reached the halfway point to the gates with the statue on his back, someone appeared in his path. It was Heluo Mavis.

"Sky Garan is badly wounded, and so is Chu Yuan. The only person who can stop you now is me." Heluo Mavis solemnly stared at Lu Yin with a firm determination.

Lu Yin had to ask, "Can you beat me?"

"I can't," Heluo Mavis answered bluntly.

"So why are you in my way?"

"I'm also a Dao Chosen. I can't simply stand by and watch you surpass us."

"So, you’ll die just because you don’t like this outcome?" Lu Yin coldly demanded.

Outside the plaza, on the back of Ancestor Tortoise, Yunying Mavis and the other members of the Mavis family watched this exchange take place with complicated emotions. When Heluo Mavis had first appeared, every member of the Mavis family had realized that there was hope for their family to rise up again, especially after Heluo Mavis was selected as the Lu Heavenly Gate’s representative in the Dao Chosen selection. If she succeeded, the Heavenly Gate would no longer be completely dominated by the Lu family, as the Mavis family would also gain some control.

However, given the current situation in the Dao Chosen selection, Lu Yin had gradually proven himself to be utterly invincible, and the Mavis family had given up all hope for Heluo Mavis’s victory. They had already assumed that everything was over, and they were simply waiting for Lu Yin to formalize his victory and officially be crowned the Dao Chosen of the new era. They already knew that Lu Yin would usher in great changes, as he was not someone who would happily keep the status quo. There was no way he would be willing to let things continue as they had been the last twenty years.

Who could have expected Heluo Mavis to step out at the very end of the Dao Chosen selection and challenge Lu Yin? She had even admitted that she could not defeat Lu Yin, so why was she doing this?

"You aren’t a stubborn person. Otherwise, you would have never agreed to work with Chu Yuan to deal with me. The truth is that you are not such a dedicated person," Lu Yin stated. He had encountered pure and determined people before, such as Zhang Dingtian and Liu Shaoqiu. Even if they were up against a powerful opponent who greatly surpassed their own strength, those people would brazenly charge towards death because of the obsession rooted in their hearts.

Heluo Mavis was not this kind of person, and her attitude at this moment struck Lu Yin as very odd. She had clearly been born during the greatest peak in the Heavens Sect era, and she could easily recognize the difference in strength between herself and an opponent. This was why Heluo Mavis had previously agreed to gang up on Lu Yin, and it was also why he had not expected her to suddenly stand up to him.

Heluo Mavis replied, "This isn’t me being stubborn or dedicated, but rather because every person has their own mindset. Do you think that, because we were born in the Heavens Sect era, we would all be combat maniacs who are dedicated to fighting fairly? That’s just wrong. That’s never what the Origin Progenitor tried to encourage.”

"The Origin Progenitor encouraged creativity and sharp wits, which led to the people of our era generally being either extremely stubborn or very intelligent."

Lu Yin laughed. "And yet you’re being so stupid right now."

Heluo Mavis sighed. "Everyone else’s already lost, so only I can do this. If there was even a chance, I’d like to find a few others to work together, but no matter what, I can’t just watch as you calmly surpass us."

She gave a wry smile as she finished by saying, "We also have our own pride."

Lu Yin fully understood that, ever since these people had awoken in the current era, they had felt a deep contempt from the very bottom of their hearts for the people of modern times. While failure was acceptable, insults were not. If Heluo Mavis just watched from the side and did nothing while Lu Yin became the Dao Chosen of this new era, it would become an obstacle in her heart that she would never be able to overcome. This was just like how Xia Ji would never be able to overcome his own mental obstacles without killing Lu Yin.

"Fine, I'll help you—I'll do my best to not kill you," Lu Yin stated quite blandly as he continued to walk towards the Heavens Sect’s gates with the statue on his back.

"If you want to pass, you'll have to kill me!" Heluo Mavis spat coldly. She knew that it was impossible for her to defeat Lu Yin, but the Mavis family was unmatched in terms of survivability. Regardless of how much stronger than Lu Yin might be, Heluo Mavis was certain that Lu Yin could not actually kill her.

She stoically stood in place, blocking Lu Yin’s path as he continued to walk forward. A green light completely covered Heluo Mavis’s body, and her eyes suddenly glowed brilliantly with a flickering green glow.

On the back of Ancestor Tortoise, Yunying Mavis grew excited. "That- that’s the Circle of Life!"

"What’s the Circle of Life?" Ya Mavis stood next to the older woman and felt rather confused.

Yunying Mavis actually became short of breath. "We all know that our Mavis family has the inherited innate gift Rhythm of Life, as well as our inherited battle technique, Infinite Power. However, we also once had a unique power that we have since lost. That power was known as the Circle of Life, and we lost it when the Second Mainland was destroyed. I never imagined that I would have the opportunity to see it!"

Heluo Mavis’s performance during the Dao Chosen selection was not as impressive as Chu Yuan or Sky Garan’s, especially when it came to her combat technique. She used the exact same style as the Mavis family of the current era, and Lu Yin had not seen anything new. Thus, her sudden burst of power caught him off guard.

The number of runes on Heluo Mavis did not increase, but for some reason, Lu Yin felt a strange sensation as he looked at the woman. It was as though her very life had become unpredictable.

At this moment, Heluo Mavis’s vision of the universe had changed. Much like how Truesight allowed people to see runes, the Circle of Life allowed people to see reality from another perspective.

Only those who cultivated Truesight were able to see runes, while only those who cultivated the Circle of Life were able to see the vitality of living creatures. Heluo Mavis gazed at Lu Yin's vitality, but it surged so powerfully that it was like staring at a blazing star, and she was unable to see all of it. She tried to erase a portion of Lu Yin’s vitality while also spreading her own out to connect it to various plants and people.

Every family and clan powerful enough to dominate an entire Mainland boasted a nigh invincible ability.

The Garan family’s Eight Stars innate gift could theoretically allow them to deal with any opponent. Chu Yuan’s ability to control time and his secret technique meant that, theoretically, he could stack an endless number of attacks. By the same token, a person who could use the Circle of Life could theoretically never die, especially in battle. As long as the Circle of Life itself was not broken, it would form a feedback system and allow the user to recover from any and all injuries.

This was the Mavis family’s most ridiculous battle technique.

There was a bang as Heluo Mavis charged at Lu Yin and released a punch. The visualization of the divine tree behind her significantly boosted the power of the attack, and her aurelian force burned the void. Starting at this moment, every attack that she released would contain every drop of her power.

Lu Yin stopped walking, and rays of black and white light flickered across his entire body, instantly completing the God of Death Transformation as he lashed out with a chain to meet Heluo Mavis’s punch.

The woman was knocked back a step, but only a single step. She twisted her body around and released a second punch.

The strength in her fists was equal to the strength of Sky Garan’s slashes when he utilized the unique power of the Garan family. At that time, Sky Garan had managed to slice through one of Lu Yin’s chains of death energy with just three slashes, so Heluo Mavis knew that she could break a chain with three punches, or even less!

However, the woman had forgotten that the entire reason why Sky Garan's three slashes had managed to slice through a single chain was because he had used the spatial memory of Chu Yuan’s ability to erase a segment of time. Lu Yin had no way of stopping those three slashes from landing on his chain in the exact same location, but things were different for Heluo Mavis. His chains were free to drift through the air, which made it impossible for her fist to repeatedly strike the exact same location. Unless she somehow managed to break a chain in a single strike, she would never be able to even approach Lu Yin, let alone defeat him.

Heluo Mavis’s breath ran ragged as she stared at the chains surrounding Lu Yin’s body. She felt incredibly frustrated, as it was impossible to even cross the physical distance between them. Her overflowing vitality did not matter, and it could not help her defeat this freak.

𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Regardless, she needed to keep fighting, so Heluo Mavis firmed her resolve and lashed out with her fists once more.

Some distance away, the spear pinning Sky Garan to the wall dissipated, and the man fell to the floor. He gritted his teeth as he watched Lu Yin continue walking towards the Heavens Sect’s gates while carrying the statue of the Origin Progenitor. This person had refused to even use his family’s Champions’ Stage; how could he be so powerful? Sky Garan could not accept this outcome, not even if it killed him.

Chu Yuan, who had also collapsed onto the floor of the plaza, was similarly unwilling to let things end as they were. The two rivals glanced at each other. "I can still control a bit of the power of time."

Sky Garan looked back at where Heluo Mavis was wildly attacking Lu Yin. "I can lend her my Garan family’s power."

Suddenly, someone appeared in front of the two young men: Silver. He flashed the two a large and charming smile as he spun his butterfly knife about. He looked quite relaxed as he looked down on the two men. "What were the two of you talking about just now? Did I hear that you wanted to work together to attack Captain?"

Sky Garan glared at Silver. "Get lost!"

Silver’s smile grew even larger, and his eyes went wide. "My apologies, but this is an opportunity for me to demonstrate my loyalty, even if both of your assistance would still pose no threat to Captain."

A flicker of white flashed as the butterfly knife danced past both Sky Garan and Chu Yuan.

Both men’s expressions changed, as neither of them were in any condition to dodge even this simple attack. The knife flickered through their bodies, exacerbating their wounds. On top of that, death energy entered their bodies and suppressed them to the point where they were unable to even move.

Jiu Yao shouted from outside the plaza, "Stop!"

Silver flashed a smile at Jiu Yao, but there was something about the young man’s expression that gave everyone the chills.

Far away, Lu Yin turned back to shoot a cold glare at Silver. "Who told you to deal with them?"

Silver just laughed. "I just didn’t want you to have to bother with such little bugs, Captain."

Lu Yin's right hand trembled, and a Hollow Palm flew across the plaza to slam into Silver, and the smiling man was sent flying.

Lu Yin had deliberately slowed this palm strike down, as he had wanted to allow Silver a chance to dodge. However, Silver had purposely remained in place and allowed Lu Yin’s attack to land. Silver had already been quite badly wounded by his fight with Heluo Mavis, and Lu Yin’s Hollow Palm eliminated the last bit of Silver’s fighting strength.

However, the smile never left Silver’s face. Even as he continued to stare at Lu Yin, no hint of resentment or desire to fight back could be seen.

This reaction reminded Lu Yin of Liu Shaoge. Liu Shaoge and Silver were quite similar in certain traits, though one appeared gentle while hiding his inner thoughts deeply, while the other was just mysterious and odd. Still, no one knew what went on in either man’s thoughts. There was another point of similarity between the two; Liu Shaoge had managed to keep up with Lu Yin’s rising status, while Silver seemed to be able to keep up with Lu Yin’s improving strength.

As long as these two people lived, Lu Yin was certain that his life would never be boring.

Heluo Mavis kept striking at Lu Yin’s chains, but her attacks lacked the necessary power to break them. As her assault continued, she only grew more and more frustrated.

Lu Yin shook his head and raised his right hand. As countless people watched, a black scythe appeared in his hand. It swept out, and although Heluo Mavis tried to dodge, a chain had wrapped around her and prevented her from moving. Thus, she was forced to remain square in the path of the scythe’s slash and face the attack directly.

Blood splattered across the ground, and Heluo Mavis was flung far into the distance before smashing into the ground. No one knew if she was still alive.

On the back of Ancestor Tortoise, Yunying Mavis was horrified to see this. "Alliance Leader Lu, please show mercy."

A single attack from Lu Yin had devastated Heluo Mavis. This was the power of the God of Death Transformation. Given Lu Yin's current strength, as long as he was not facing the practically impossible power of Sky Garan or Chu Yuan, not a single one of his peers could stand up to his God of Death Transformation.

Lu Yin glanced at where Heluo Mavis lay on the ground, but even he could not tell if the woman was still alive. His feet started moving again, and he continued stridingforward. He had not held back with his attack, and he was not entirely certain if he had killed Heluo Mavis, but given her powers, she should not die.

After Lu Yin took another hundred steps, Heluo Mavis’s finger twitched.

Countless people throughout Earth’s solar system and beyond were stunned for a long time. They had already watched Chu Yuan and Sky Garan reveal their seemingly invincible powers, only to be broken by Lu Yin. At this moment, Lu Yin gave off an aura that felt familiar to many. It was the same sensation he had radiated after winning ZENITH: peerless.