Chapter 3014: Vacuum Rebound

The man stared at Lu Yin. “The fact that you know Vacuum Palm means that you have most likely been to the Starfall Sea.”

Lu Yin let out a breath. “So you really are a traitor from the Fifth Mainland, aren’t you?”

“You know things that I want to know, while I know things you want to know. It’s just a matter of who will end up being the one who asks the questions.” The man attacked again, still using Vacuum Palm. He did not underestimate Lu Yin just because he was not a peak powerhouse. Additionally, his Vacuum Palm was even more powerful and faster than before.

Lu Yin similarly raised his own hand and lashed out with a Vacuum Palm as well.

Bang!

The palms collided, and the impact caused the void to collapse. The damage spread, and the Hollow was exposed.

Lu Yin was surprised. Could this man actually block his attacks? Lu Yin knew that, aside from individuals like members of the Mavis clan or a Star Devourer, it was extremely rare to meet someone with a similar level of physical strength as him, even if he did not use his visualization method or Infinity. That was even true of sequence powerhouses, but this opponent had not used any sequence particles yet.

On the other side, the man was similarly surprised. This young man was incredibly strong. He was clearly not a Progenitor powerhouse, and yet he was able to block the man’s Vacuum Palm. What kind of person had the Fifth Mainland produced?

Aeternus had six Scourges, but only the First Scourge had ever interacted with the Origin Universe. This man had stayed in the Fourth Scourge for too long, and Blackless God hardly ever returned, which was why he had no knowledge of the Origin Universe’s current situation.

Regardless, he would learn soon enough.

The man attacked again, this time using Hollow Palm.

Lu Yin also used Hollow Palm.

Again and again, palm strikes clashed, tearing the universe apart. The man continuously increased the strength of his attacks, and Lu Yin reciprocated. On one side, there was a sequence powerhouse, who possessed a much higher cultivation realm. On the other, there was a man whose physical strength went far beyond what most people could even imagine. Both of them increased the strength of their attacks as the fight continued.

Far away, Arch-Elder Zen was stunned. How could this man use the same palm techniques as the Dao Monarch?

The competition of palm strikes continued, with neither man taking the initiative to use any other power or attack method.

Finally, Lu Yin visualized the Immovable Heavenly King Elephant, which caused his strength to surge as he overpowered the man with a Hollow Palm.

In retaliation, the man used a new palm strike. It was similar to Vacuum Palm and Hollow Palm, as it gathered all of the man’s power into a single palm strike, but this attack was very gentle. No matter how much Lu Yin increased the power of his attack, everything was absorbed as if his attacks were hitting a sponge.

Lu Yin instinctively knew that this must be the last palm strike that could be learned from Mt. Stacks Dojo.

The palm strike continued to grow more powerful the more that Lu Yin tried to stop it.

This palm strike did not seem to carry any particular attack power, and it instead seemed intended solely to absorb and eliminate all of Lu Yin’s attacks.

The man kept staring at Lu Yin.

He doesn’t know the third palm strike. Did he not learn it? He is clearly powerful enough to have done so.

The man’s expression firmed as he stared at Lu Yin.

Bang!

The palm strike collided again, and Lu Yin’s expression changed. This time, a powerful force passed through the point of impact, continuing on towards him. Lu Yin nearly lost his footing, as the man in front of him lashed out with another palm strike. Something was wrong.

Bang.

There was another impact, as another attack was thrown. Lu Yin stared at the man’s palm strike. This was another unknown palm strike, which had probably come from Mt. Stacks Dojo. This attack was not only able to absorb and dissolve Lu Yin’s attacks, but it was also able to unleash a powerful attack of its own. No, the attack was not that simple. This attack transformed Lu Yin’s own attack power into an attack against him, absorbing his attack to grow stronger.

The stronger Lu Yin’s counterattacks were, the stronger the attack that he would face.

He immediately used Infinity, and lines continuously surged into his body as his physical strength spiked.

The man was startled. How could any mere Semi-Progenitor exert such power? Not even ordinary Progenitors would be this young man’s opponents. It looked like the odds were against him.

Lu Yin did not believe that his opponent was capable of countering all of his palm strikes.

Lu Yin’s strength rose to the peak with Infinity, and there was a loud bang as the two palm strikes met. Lu Yin was forced to take a step back, but he had succeeded in countering the man’s attack.

The man lowered his hand as he stared at Lu Yin with open admiration. “You are the first to ever make me so serious, as I can’t even be confident in my own counter-attacks. My name is Kong Ji. You are worthy of knowing my name.”

“Are you from the Fifth Mainland?” Lu Yin asked solemnly.

Kong Ji nodded, “Yes.”

“You betrayed humanity?”

“You could say that.”

“Why?”

Kong Ji looked upwards. “Everyone has their goals that they pursue, while race and one’s physical form are just external signs. Even without my body, I remain myself, so why cling to something like humanity?”

Lu Yin shouted, “How ridiculous! You were lured over by Blackless God, weren’t you? What did he offer you?”

Kong Ji clenched a fist, but then he relaxed it. “You will find out for yourself. Receiving that inheritance and meeting me here is fate. Since you hate Aeternus so much, I will simply kill you and not allow you to become a corpse king. This is the respect I will show to you.”

Lu Yin’s arm moved. “I’ll show you my own respect, and I will make you pay for betraying humanity.”

There was a whoosh as Kong Ji lashed out with another palm strike. “Since you never learned the third palm, watch carefully. This is the fourth, which is known as Vacuum Rebound.”

Vacuum Rebound was the palm strike that could devour an opponent’s force and convert it into the palm strike’s own power. To deal with this, Lu Yin had been forced to use his visualization method and Infinity, but he once again lashed out with a single palm strike. Kong Ji watched in shock as his Vacuum Rebound was countered by a palm strike, but as Lu Yin attacked, his hand and arm suddenly withered; he had used Extremes Must Be Reversed.

Bang!

There was a deafening bang, and Lu Yin felt a tremendous force strike him. This was the power of Lu Yin’s own attack, which Kong Ji had sent back with Vacuum Rebound. However, the attack was absorbed by Extremes Must Be Reversed, and Lu Yin’s arm started to recover. This attack had not been powerful enough to overcome the limits of Extremes Must Be Reversed.

Kong Ji was startled, and he stared at Lu Yin’s withered arm. “What is that?”

Extremes Must Be Reversed allowed Lu Yin to absorb any attack that did not surpass his limits, and that power would then continuously enhance his strength. Even if Lu Yin’s own attacks were returned to him, they would simply raise Lu Yin’s own strength. While Kong Ji had been able to fully absorb the power of Lu Yin’s last attack, his increased strength meant that Lu Yin’s next palm strike would be far stronger than expected.

There was an explosion as the void between the two men shattered, and the resulting shockwave forced them both to retreat.

Lu Yin’s arm had returned to its original condition; it had been fully restored after absorbing the power of Kong Ji’s attack with Extremes Must Be Reversed before releasing another attack. Vacuum Rebound had not been able to absorb the full power of Lu Yin’s enhanced attack.

Kong Ji stared down at his own hand and then looked back at Lu Yin. No longer was the man merely astonished, as a powerful wariness had appeared in his eyes. “You can actually overpower Vacuum Rebound.”

Lu Yin clenched his fist. “Enough playing around. It’s time to get serious.”

At that moment, Kong Ji’s eyes flared, and his entire demeanor changed. A heavy pressure rolled off of him, and just his breathing was enough to shatter the void.

Lu Yin grew solemn when he saw sequence particles appear. Even if Kong Ji could not compare to Senior Brother Mu Ke, he was at least comparable to Xu Wuwei. This was someone from the Origin Universe, and he should not be too old. It was possible that he had lived during the Daosource Sect era that had been dominated by the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas, or he might be even older. However, a Sequence Progenitor would not be an unknown powerhouse in the Fifth Mainland, which left only one explanation; this man had been lured to the Fourth Scourge by Blackless God before he became a Sequence Progenitor. Aeternus must have helped Kong Ji reach that level.

"Is this what Blackless God gave you?" Lu Yin asked in a low voice.

Kong Ji's eyes flickered. "So you can see sequence particles. I didn’t know that was even possible for someone not yet a Progenitor. Still, seeing them doesn't mean that you can resist them. If I hadn't gone to the Fourth Scourge, I would have never been able to achieve this power."

"Even if you did, so what? You can only stay in the Fourth Scourge. Even if you’ve become immortal, you're still just a dog for Aeternus," Lu Yin sneered.

Kong Ji shook his head. "You don't understand what it means to pursue power. What was that strange move you just used?"

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. Given Kong Ji’s level of strength, it was impossible for him to not know about Extremes Must Be Reversed if he had been around. Thus, he must have gone to the Fourth Scourge before the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas had risen to power during the Daosource Sect era. "Figure it out for yourself."

Kong Ji lashed out with Vacuum Palm again, but this time, the invisible attack was filled with sequence particles. The complete change in the attack made Lu Yin’s scalp go numb, and he evaded with Inverse Step, moving at the speed of time. However, his feet felt heavy, and it was incredibly difficult for him to use Inverse Step.

It was not nearly as easy to move at the speed of time in the presence of sequence particles as Lu Yin had expected.

In an instant, the nearby universe returned to normal, and the Vacuum Palm brushed past him to shatter the void.

Lu Yin looked back. He had only very narrowly avoided being struck.

Suddenly, he felt his hair stand on end again as Kong Ji lashed out with Vacuum Rebound. This time, Lu Yin did not face just one attack, but dozens of palm strikes that filled the area in front of him. While he could move at the speed of time with Inverse Step, not even that would be enough for him to avoid all the approaching attacks.

He released his universe, isolating himself from the surrounding space with a black halo. As the Vacuum Palms swept through the Hollow, a number of the sequence particles were eliminated, and at the same time, Lu Yin retaliated while using Extremes Must Be Reversed.

He was still struck by three attacks, and each one forced him to take a step back. Luckily, while the palm strikes had landed, Lu Yin had successfully blocked all of them.

Kong Ji was shocked. What he was seeing should be impossible. This person had already been able to block Kong Ji’s normal attacks, which was already incredible, but he had also just blocked attacks reinforced with sequence particles!

Taking advantage of Kong Ji’s astonishment, Lu Yin instantly used Inverse Step and seized the initiative. "With my name, I summon a champion."

Kong Ji was not an easy opponent, and Lu Yin was not confident that even a sneak attack with the slipper would work. Someone this strong would not relax their guard no matter what they faced.

However, Lu Yin had no intention of hiding his strength. He would not allow Kong Ji to leave this battle alive.

One figure after another appeared as over a dozen summoned Progenitor champions charged at Kong Ji.

Kong Ji’s pupils shrank. "A Champions' Stage? The Lu family... You’re part of the Lu family!"

The surrounding champions all attacked, but Kong Ji raised his hand and effortlessly eliminated all of them. Ordinary Progenitors were of no use against this man.

Suddenly, the Cyclops King and the Seven-Star Mantis were summoned. Doing so caused Lu Yin to feel a wave of dizziness. Sure enough, summoning these two was difficult, and he was not able to use the power of his Champions' Stage without any sort of limits. For the moment, Lu Yin could only summon twenty champions at the very most.

While this was not a huge number of champions, every last one of Lu Yin’s summons was a peak powerhouse.

The Cyclops King was surrounded by a halo of the Hollow as he punched at Kong Ji.

The Seven-Star Mantis swung one of its blades.

Kong Ji clashed with the Cyclops King. The massive giant possessed a terrifying level of physical strength, as well as an utterly massive body. In strength alone, it overwhelmed Kong Ji. However, the summoned champion could not contend with sequence particles, and while the halo of the Hollow was able to eliminate some of the sequence particles, the remaining were more than enough to shatter the Cyclops King’s arm.

When the Cyclops King attacked, he released enough strength to lock down the space in the region. At that moment, all six pairs of the Seven-Star Mantis’s wings unfurled, and it moved at the speed of time to appear behind Kong Ji, where its blade fell.

There was a hiss as a massive wound appeared across Kong Ji’s back.

He spun around and lashed out with a palm strike, but the Seven-Star Mantis vanished. While movement techniques like Lu Yin's Inverse Step would be restrained by sequence particles, the Seven-Star Mantis used its own body and power to move at the speed of time. It had almost never encountered anyone who could counter it before running into Lu Yin.