Chapter 3103: A Mere Toad

In the Second Scourge, the sound of crashes continued to ring out from Heaven’s Furnace as the eyeball within it slammed against the sides. Xu Jin’s screams echoed across the Scourge.

Lu Yin clenched his fists. Xu Jin had to be obliterated within the furnace. The death of one of the Three Pillars and Six Skies would be an amazing victory for humanity.

Beams of light fell from the sky, and Lu Yin's expression changed. Outsider powerhouses?

Familiar figures started to appear. One was the Star Devourer. As soon as the beast arrived in the Second Scourge, it opened all six of its eyes and stared at Sovereign Dou Sheng. The man’s radiant golden figure was hard to miss.

Another was Astral Anura.

The toad was appearing yet again.

Lu Yin’s entire intention behind this invasion of the Second Scourge had simply been to force Xu Jin away from the Nine-Star Civilization. An all-out fight with Aeternus was not something that Lu Yin had anticipated, and he was therefore unprepared for it. Aeternus had beaten him in hiring Astral Anura.

Astral Anura laughed loudly. "A big job! Another big job! Boss Yong Heng, is your Scourge in trouble again?"

Lu Yin's expression fell. While True God had not been forced out himself, Astral Anura had been summoned instead.

Thinking quickly, Lu Yin pulled out another cosmic door. This one was connected to the Cyclic Universe. It was the one that he had obtained from the Six-Fingered Tribe, and it was the one that he had used to force Nutjob Lu to reveal himself as a Redback. There was only a single purpose for this cosmic door: to summon the Great Sovereign.

Lu Yin always kept a card hidden up his sleeve, as he was always afraid that there would come a day when he might face an unbeatable foe. Regardless of whether it was Lu Yuan or the Great Sovereign, he needed to have someone who could save him.

Between Lu Yuan and the Great Sovereign, the latter was naturally a better option.

“Lu Yin? Aren’t you that big boss from the Sixverse Association?” Astral Anura’s eyes lit up when he saw Lu Yin.

Lu Yin looked up at Astral Anura. “Whatever Aeternus is paying you, I’ll double it.”

Astral Anura’s mouth opened wide, and the coins hanging from his neck jingled as he replied in his high-pitched baby voice. “A big boss! Truly a big boss! Lu Yin, I would be honored to serve you, but it’ll have to be next time.”

Lu Yin frowned. “If you're a businessman, you shouldn't be so upright. You should work with whoever offers to pay you more. You understand that, don’t you?”

Astral Anura looked troubled. “Lu Yin, your offer is very tempting, but I'm an honest businessman. Only by being trustworthy can one go far.”

Lu Yin felt exasperated. It was impossible to reason with the toad. Sooner or later, the creature would have to be dealt with.

With no other choice, Lu Yin activated the cosmic door and passed through it, disappearing.

Astral Anura looked regretful. “He’s escaping just like that? Come on, let’s talk a bit more. Don’t worry, I won’t kill you. You’re a big boss!”

Golden light continued to shine across the Second Scourge, which looked like it had been shredded. Lord Xu and Mu Shen exchanged glances. Lu Yin would have never simply fled. He must have gone to get reinforcements. They needed to protect that cosmic door. If it was destroyed, they were done for.

However, if the two men could understand that much, then so too could the Aeternals.

The Magician immediately turned to attack the cosmic door, and Thousand-Hand Seal did the same, launching a barrage of seals.

Ye Wu’s expression fell. Xu Jin was extremely difficult to obliterate, and he still had not succeeded.

The Star Devourer charged at Ye Wu, which sent the man flying. However, right at the moment of impact, the void suddenly shattered, just like when Jue Luo had cut off Ye Wu’s arm with his sword. The void shattered without warning due to Ye Wu’s sequence particles, which no one could understand.

Astral Anura lifted its lotus leaf and smashed it at the cosmic door. "This is over. Retreat."

Pieces of wood appeared around the cosmic door. Mu Shen was protecting it.

Mu Shen had no idea whom Lu Yin had gone to for help, but they had to be strong enough to handle Astral Anura. This battle would be the best opportunity to kill Xu Jin, and such a chance might not come again.

One of the Three Pillars and Six Skies had to die.

The lotus leaf struck the wood, but it failed to shatter it.

Mu Shen's wood was extremely tough. In the past, even when Astral Anura had taken on his colorful form, he had not been able to immediately pierce the blocks with his steel fork.

Sovereign Dou Sheng had five arrows sticking out of his body. His golden blood was burning the void, and yet he still charged at Arrow God, smashing her into the ground with his cudgel.

Arrow God was already in bad shape. She could not kill Sovereign Dou Sheng, only injure him. Unfortunately, each of those injuries was absorbed by Extremes Must Be Reversed, which converted the wounds into more powerful counterattacks to be used against her. It was hard to tell who was more madly wounded, Sovereign Dou Sheng or Arrow God.

Originally, the Nine-Star Civilization's universe had been the main battlefield, but things had since moved to the Second Scourge.

Even the intensity of the fighting in the Third Scourge could not match what was happening in the Second Scourge.

Lu Yin exited the cosmic door and appeared in the Cyclic Universe. He took a deep breath and shouted, "Great Sovereign, come out!"

The Cyclic Universe trembled, and Sovereign Ninth Lotus’s eyes snapped open. She stared blankly into the distance.

Chu Jian nearly spat out a mouthful of blood upon hearing Lu Yin's voice again.

Here we go

.

Sage Yajna sighed.

Here we go again. Endless interruptions

.

With Lu Yin's current strength, no one in the Cyclic Universe could stop him aside from the Great Sovereign herself.

Even if Sovereign Lotus wanted to deal with Lu Yin, it would not be easy for her. Given all of Lu Yin's abilities, the best that the Sovereign could do was to protect herself.

On top of that, because of Lu Yin's status and reputation in the Sixverse Association, there was no one in the Cyclic Universe who even wanted to try to stop him, aside from Sovereign Lotus and Chu Jian.

Chu Jian was furious, and he yelled, "Lu Yin, stop disturbing my master's cultivation!"

Lu Yin did not even look at the man. He stared up at the sky and said, "Great Sovereign, come out! We're going to the Second Scourge."

Chu Jian was stunned. The Second Scourge?

Sovereign Lotus approached. She was badly startled. Did Lu Yin want to go to Aeternus’s Scourge again? Not only that, but he even wanted to go to the Second Scourge? What was going on?

Lu Yin shouted a few more times, but he received no response. He started to get anxious. In the Second Scourge, Sovereign Dou Sheng, Lord Xu, and Mu Shen were alone, and they might not be able to hold out for long. If the cosmic door shattered, then even the Great Sovereign would struggle to get to the Second Scourge.

They would have to first go through the Nine-Star Civilization’s universe, and that would take too long.

"Astral Anura said that you'll never overcome Dukkha and that you'll never defeat True God. That’s why he’s helping Aeternus.

"He also mentioned that your feelings for Tai Chu are one-sided," Lu Yin shouted.

A gust of wind blew past him, and Lu Yin was covered with chills. He slowly turned around to see the cosmic door shake a few times. He glanced at Chu Jian.

The man was in a daze.

What had just happened?

Lu Yin passed back through the cosmic door, only to be greeted by a scene of utter chaos. The sky above the Second Scourge was falling, the earth had shattered. Everyone was staring at the sky in shock. Astral Anura was crying.

"Tai Hong, are you crazy? Do you really need to go all out? I'm leaving! I'm leaving! Isn’t this enough?" Astral Anura screamed and he jumped about.

Above his head, the Great Sovereign was staring downwards with a frigid gaze. Sequence particles that far outnumbered what Xu Jin was capable of wielding filled the sky and covered the ground as they pressed in upon Astral Anura. The toad’s skin started to crack.

"What did you say just a moment ago? If you have the guts, repeat it now." A majestic voice rang in everyone's ears.

Astral Anura was completely bewildered. "What did I say? Tai Hong, you're a madwoman."

"A mere toad dares to speak such nonsense."

Even Ye Wu was stunned. The fighting had been incredibly fierce, and then suddenly, the wood surrounding the cosmic door had all shattered as someone stepped out. As soon as the woman arrived, Astral Anura had been completely overpowered, and the toad had been forced to beg for mercy.

His straw hat was torn, and his lotus leaf had been shattered. The copper coins around his neck were scattered all over the ground, and Astral Anura looked truly pathetic.

Lu Yin's face twitched. The madwoman had actually believed him. Perhaps in her mind, no one would dare to try to deceive her.

What would happen to Lu Yin if the Great Sovereign learned that he had lied to her?

Lu Yin did not even want to think about it. He regretted not going to Lu Yuan instead. Just because the Great Sovereign had not killed Lu Yin the last time he had disturbed her did not mean that she would be merciful again.

"Argh, Tai Hong, I'll fight you to the end!" Astral Anura's body transformed and became more colorful. He clenched his steel fork and thrust it fiercely at the Great Sovereign, who was above his head.

The woman raised a hand, and slender fingers gently flicked at the fork. There was a sound that seemed like a ripple, and the Second Scourge fell silent. At that moment, the Great Sovereign’s fingers grabbed the steel fork’s sharp blade, and then with a snap, it broke.

Astral Anura held his broken fork before his eyes, staring at the snapped portion and looking like he was about to cry. "Tai Hong, I never offended you. Why are you picking on me right now?"

"You’re a toad." The Great Sovereign's voice was icy, and the sound of it gave everyone chills. Her hand fell, and the broken blade from the fork gently dropped down, though it stabbed into Astral Anura's body. He howled in agony.

Lu Yin realized that he might have misunderstood something.

Were the Great Sovereign and Astral Anura really both at the same level?

Had he misunderstood something about the Origin realm and Dukkha? Or had he missed something else? It was clear that Astral Anura was being completely suppressed by the Great Sovereign, and the Great Sovereign was still injured.

Astral Anura howled in pain, but he also went berserk. The void was constantly being shattered around the toad.

Suddenly, the toad turned and rushed towards the black Mother Tree. "Yong Heng, help me!"

Seeing Astral Anura and the Great Sovereign both head towards the black Mother Tree, Lu Yin refocused. No matter what, Xu Jin needed to be dealt with first.

Heaven’s Furnace had started to crack, and Lu Yin could see that the Star Devourer was not far away and was preparing to attack the furnace. Lu Yin’s eyes grew cold, and his Champions' Stage appeared. He rode atop the Seven-Star Mantis and sped towards Star Devourer at the speed of time itself.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Just as Lu Yin was about to pull out his slipper, he remembered that he had returned it to Ce Wangtian. With a sigh, he instead brought out Infinity while simultaneously visualizing the Fifth Mainland. He used Extremes Must Be Reversed and confined a hundred punches before launching a single powerful attack at the Star Devourer.

At the Star Devourer's side, sequence particles gathered and condensed. They produced a terrifying pull that shifted Lu Yin's punch, and the attack merely grazed the Star Devourer instead of hitting him head on.

However, even this was enough to prevent the Star Devourer from attacking Heaven’s Furnace.

Inside the furnace, Xu Jin's eye was not moving at all. It looked like it had reached his limit.

Ye Wu had blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, but he continued wearing down the eyeball.

While the Totem Civilization had not been a particularly powerful civilization, its people had been very kind to Ye Wu.

His cultivation method was something that humanity naturally rejected, and yet the man refused to join Aeternus and instead chose to live on the gray fringe.

In all of reality, Ye Wu only cared about his two disciples and the Totem Civilization.

While he could accept the Totem Civilization’s defeat, he could not accept their people being devoured. Ye Wu’s hatred for Xu Jin was far beyond what anyone had seen or understood.

Ye Wu would not rest until Xu Jin was dead.

Xu Jin suffered from unimaginable pressure while within Heaven’s Furnace. Lu Qi possessed nothing more than a thin layer of pressure from Heaven’s Furnace beneath his skin, and yet that gave the man the courage to face the True God Guard Captains and even claim to be immortal. At this moment, Xu Jin was taking on the full pressure of Heaven’s Furnace.

Experts from the other Scourges and even outsider powerhouses had arrived to save him, but Xu Jin was still on the brink of death.

However, Lu Yin did not believe this to be true.

While fending off the Star Devourer, Lu Yin continued to keep an eye on Xu Jin.

Shaman God had only been killed because Progenitor Hui had intervened. Even when Lu Yin had thought that they could kill Shaman God, the Skygod had still managed to escape right from under Lu Yin and Lu Tianyi’s watchful eyes.

Undying God had been surrounded and attacked on all sides, but that attack also would have failed without Mister Mu's ultimate technique, Origin Tracer. In fact, without that technique, it would have been impossible to even injure Undying God.

As for Corpse God, even with Ye Zhang’s assistance, that Skygod had still ultimately escaped.

Lu Yin knew all too well how difficult it was to truly eliminate any of the Seven Skygods or anyone else at that level.