Chapter 3194: One Figure, One Sword

Lu Yin's pure gratitude startled Astral Anura, and the toad shot a glare at Lu Yin. "Hey, why are you thanking me? Don’t say such things without any reason! Being overly polite can get someone killed—no, it can get a toad killed! What do I have to do with any of this?"

Hongyan Mavis let out a genuine laugh. "If you hadn’t forced Tian Fa to unleash its sequence particles, it would have escaped. I couldn’t have stopped it. You were the one who forced it into a corner. All along, you were the only one who was able to hurt that thing. You really gave it a beating."

This was all completely true. If Lu Yin and Hongyan Mavis had been on their own, they would have never been able to trap Tian Fa, let alone hurt the creature. Astral Anura had been the one to push Tian Fa to its limits.

While the decisive attack had been delivered by the Royal Regent that Great Elder Shan Gu had summoned, without Astral Anura, No Sky Shall Remain would have never had a chance to be unleashed. The Great Elder would not have had an opportunity to summon the Royal Regent, and Tian Fa would have easily left the Mirari Realm. Hongyan Mavis would not have been able to stop it.

Astral Anura let out a squeal, "Don’t say that! When did I fight? What does any of this have to do with me? Don’t slander me! This is just wrong! This is unethical!"

Lu Yin continued to act grateful, "Don’t worry, I'll pay you for your services."

"Lu Yin, stop saying things like that! What do you mean, 'my services'? Have you gone crazy?"

"What, you don't want your hoard anymore?"

"That's already mine! You can’t pay me for what you’re calling my services with what’s already mine!"

"Then what price do you want? Just name it."

"I don't want anything! I was never hired by you! You’re too sneaky! You’re even worse than Tai Chu! Don’t get me in trouble! I’m begging you, stop talking!"

"So, you really don’t want your hoard back?"

Astral Anura was finally pushed past his limits, and he clenched his steel fork tightly and pointed it at Lu Yin. "Kid, don’t push me too far! If you provoke me, you won't enjoy the consequences. I’m a Dukkhan! You can’t handle me, not even by working with First Blood!"

Hongyan Mavis frowned in irritation. "You're nothing but a toad."

Astral Anura finally snapped, and he raised his steel fork and lunged at Hongyan Mavis.

Lu Yin shook his head. There was no way for Astral Anura to extricate himself from the current situation. Even ignoring the threat the toad had posed to Tian Fa, simply moving his steel fork meant that Astral Anura had fought in the battle. There was no way that Lu Yin would allow the toad to simply walk away.

Hongyan Mavis looked down at Astral Anura. While the toad was not weak, he was still an opponent that she could handle, even without being able to use sequence particles. At the very least, she would not be defeated.

Suddenly, the mist stopped moving.

The wind froze.

Even the River of Time seemed to stop flowing.

The entire Mirari Realm underwent a shift, seemingly becoming a mere image, with everything frozen in place. Only Lu Yin and the others were able to move.

Astral Anura froze in mid-air. His mouth slowly fell open as he stared into the distance in a daze. "What the-"

Hongyan Mavis slowly turned around. She saw what should have been the dispersed liquid of Tian Fa’s body. The blood-red liquid had somehow gathered from every direction and reformed into the shape of a person. It was a blood-red figure.

Lu Yin also saw the figure, and he stared at it, dumbfounded.

No way, it isn’t over? But it should be. Ortusers aren’t invincible. Why isn’t Tian Fa dead?

He reflexively tried to move, but while it was possible, Lu Yin moved incredibly slowly, as though he was bound in place by countless invisible ropes.

Hongyan Mavis clenched a fist and tried to punch the blood-red figure, but her movements seemed to have been slowed by 10,000 times.

Astral Anura clutched his steel fork, ready to escape. Damn it...

He had seen Ortusers die before. The toad knew that such powerhouses were not invincible. While Ortusers had surpassed the level of sequence powerhouses, the strength of an Ortuser varied wildly, depending on the individual. They had proven their qualifications to pursue Immortality, but that did not mean that an Ortuser was invincible or that they could not die. How was Tian Fa still alive?

No way, I can’t fight that thing. I’m done for!

Astral Anura immediately decided to spend the rest of his life hiding in the Mirari Realm and to never leave the place again.

The blood-red figure slowly finished taking form, and then it lifted its hands, as though to inspect them. After that, it moved its legs and twisted its neck. It seemed as though the figure was unfamiliar with its own body.

In front of the figure, Hongyan Mavis's slow movements clearly showed that she was about to throw a punch.

The blood-red figure looked at the woman, and she met its gaze.

The figure smiled and then raised its hand as a strangely shaped, blood-red sword materialized in its grip. A blurry pattern could be seen on the hilt, but it was indistinct and blurry.

With a single step, the figure passed by Hongyan Mavis and caused a streak of blood to splatter onto the ground.

An expression of helplessness covered Hongyan Mavis's face. She looked down to see that a massive wound had been opened across her body, covering her from bottom to top.

As single slice of the sword—just one attack—had left Hongyan Mavis heavily wounded. She had never had the slightest chance to even put up her defenses.

Lu Yin’s pupils shrank to pinpricks. This was impossible! That was Hongyan Mavis, one of the Three Realms and Six Daos! She was powerful enough to compare to even Lu Yuan and Gu Yizhi, before they had broken through and become Ortusers. How could she have been so badly injured by a single attack?

Unfortunately, there was no denying that what they had seen was absolutely real.

The entire Mirari Realm seemed to have been frozen in time.

Was Tian Fa truly invincible?

The crimson figure moved past Hongyan Mavis. After delivering its slash, it seemed to momentarily become confused. It glanced down the bloodied blade of its sword and then back at Hongyan Mavis. The blade swung again. This time, it was a horizontal slash that left a deep wound across the woman’s back.

No one could interfere, and Hongyan Mavis's movements were absurdly slow.

Lu Yin's eyes bulged in rage as he watched the crimson figure raise the sword to deliver a third attack. Then a fourth, and a fifth. He roared, "Stop-"

The figure turned its head to look at Lu Yin.

Hongyan Mavis crumpled to the ground. She had suffered five attacks, and they had almost torn her body apart.

As she collapsed to the ground, Hongyan Mavis could hardly believe her situation. How could there be such an overwhelming power? Even when she had faced her master, she had never felt so helpless before. Who was this person? This being exceeded anything they could have ever imagined. This was definitely not Tian Fa. This was a powerhouse who was beyond their understanding.

This was the end. Hongyan Mavis had not expected such a being to suddenly appear.

If they had known that such a thing would happen, they would have never attacked Tian Fa, but it was too late for regrets.

It was impossible to lay perfect plans. Lu Yin had set a trap to eliminate Tian Fa. While every possible outcome had been considered, both victory and defeat as well as escape plans, Lu Yin had never thought that an invincible being would suddenly appear after Tian Fa’s defeat. Even if Lu Yuan and the Great Sovereign were present, they would not be able to stop this figure. There was no one who could render Hongyan Mavis this helpless.

This figure was an unexpected variable that surpassed anyone's schemes.

Lu Yin had not anticipated such a variable, and its arrival only meant death.

The figure briefly looked at Lu Yin and then took a step forward, disappearing.

Lu Yin threw a punch while releasing a loud roar. He could only move slowly, but he refused to simply give up. Even if his punch would never touch his target, he would still attack. Just like Progenitor Chen, Lu Yin preferred to die standing than give up.

Astral Anura was completely stunned, and his scalp was numb. He was fully aware of just how powerful a being needed to be to render Hongyan Mavis completely helpless. The toad did not even consider trying to fight such a being.

This individual had to be an Immortal, right? This had to be someone who had overcome Dukkha, right?

To the toad’s knowledge, the strongest creatures in all of history should be the humans’ Progenitor Tai Chu, and after that, Yong Heng. They were the only ones who were capable of giving Astral Anura the impression that they were close to achieving Immortality, even if neither of them had actually reached that level.

However, neither of those two were capable of leaving Hongyan Mavis unable to even fight back. Against them, she would have at least been able to at least throw a punch, but she couldn’t even do that against the blood-red figure.

𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

A monster. This was a true monster.

As the toad stared, red filled his vision.

Astral Anura stared in shock as the figure appeared, and the toad’s mouth fell wide open. "We’re friends!"

The blood-colored sword fell with a hiss, and it was followed by the sound of metal striking metal. Astral Anura was smashed down by the blow and nearly split in two.

The toad slammed into the ground, his eyes rolling back in his head as he pretended to be dead. Blood leaked everywhere.

The blood-red figure took another step, and this time, it appeared right in front of Lu Yin, who was not even halfway through his punch. He was caught in the middle of the motion, his stance almost looking ridiculous, though only he knew just how powerless he truly was at this moment.

The figure raised its sword up high and slowly brought it down. Unlike when it had attacked Hongyan Mavis and Astral Anura, which had been instantaneous, the sword fell slowly this time. It moved just a bit faster than Lu Yin’s fist. Still, that difference in speed ensured that the sword would strike before Lu Yin’s punch would connect.

The comparison induced a sense of despair. The blood-red figure was clearly enjoying Lu Yin’s helplessness and desperation, and even his futile resistance. It was toying with him.

Lu Yin's eyes went wide in shock as he watched the blood-red sword blade slowly fall and land on his shoulder. The icy chill of the blade sliced through him, followed by a searing pain that radiated throughout his entire body. He could hear the slow, horrible sound of his bones being sliced apart. It felt as though time itself had been stopped, which caused the pain to feel eternal.

As this happened, Lu Yin’s punch was casually evaded by the figure. The gap between them was too vast.

No matter what Lu Yin tried, it seemed like it was impossible to escape his fate of being cut down.

How could this be happening?

Lu Yin was filled with unwillingness. He had faced countless dangers and overcome death on many occasions. He had even died more than once since he had started cultivating. Why was he facing such a situation once again? He was unwilling to accept this outcome. He had gathered so many types of power that he should be capable of facing any enemy. Even if True God attacked, Lu Yin was confident that he would not be completely powerless and unable to even fight back. How could a figure that had suddenly appeared kill him so easily?

Lu Yin had power, and that power should allow him to resist any threat.

The sword blade continued down, passing from his chest to his abdomen as it sliced through his body. The physical strength that Lu Yin prided himself on was nothing before this blood-red figure. Hongyan Mavis and Astral Anura both possessed unimaginably strong defenses, and yet they had both been instantly cut down and left for dead. Lu Yin could not exceed them.

As the sword fell, blood scattered across the ground, leaving a crimson stain.

At that moment, the small boat that was Lightstream appeared near Lu Yin's body, and it sliced through space, reversing time by one second.

The blood-red figure's sword had moved slowly, but that was only for someone at Lu Yin's level. From the moment the sword had been raised to the moment the slash was completed, less than a second had elapsed. By reversing time by one second, Lu Yin could return to his condition before the blade had touched him.

Lightstream traveled through space, unaffected by the fact that everything else was frozen. The appearance of the boat seemed to take the blood-red figure by surprise.

The figure raised a hand, and its sword slashed at Lightstream.

The small boat instantly shifted, dodging the strike.

This scene sparked a sudden realization in Lu Yin’s mind: Lightstream did not merely chase time with the power of space; it also devoured fragments of time that were not part of the River of Time—time that existed independently of the universe they knew. The blood-red figure was clearly unable to affect that separate timeline.

In that case, in order to attack this blood-red figure, one needed to be able to surpass the limits of the megaverse, but how could he do that?