Chapter 3292: Losing Everything

Jiang Feng observed the approaching man with confusion. "Where are you from, Master Qing Cao?"

"Lord Jiang, why are you sitting here?" Master Qing Cao did not answer the question. Instead, he asked his own.

Jiang Feng stared at the old man and repeated his question. "Where are you from, Master Qing Cao?"

Master Qing Cao smiled at Jiang Feng. "Whitecloud City's power comes from mirebound artifacts. It’s the power that you refer to as aura energy. It’s a power that aligns with sequence particles, and it can serve as a sort of shortcut. However, that’s only true for the early stages of cultivation. As you progress, the path becomes harder to walk, and it becomes nearly impossible to find a way to break through.

"However, I can help you cross that threshold, and once you do, you will stand on the path to Immortality—the path to eternity."

Jiang Feng clenched his sword tighter. The path to Immortality?

"Master Qing Cao, are you an Immortal?"

Master Qing Cao chuckled softly. "The path to Immortality is before you. What will you choose?"

"You are the one who commands the Boundary Guardians." Jiang Feng's voice turned cold.

Master Qing Cao sighed as he shook his head. "I admire your talent, but just like Gu Yizhi, you're bound by your fleeting concerns. Time can change many things. Civilizations and even entire megaverses can disappear, but Immortals are beings which will endure forever. Why cling to this megaverse and this race? Wouldn't it be better to roam the cosmos and live freely? To rule over time itself?"

"It would be good, of course it would, but can I bring Whitecloud City with me as I live the free life of an Immortal?" Jiang Feng retorted.

Master Qing Cao let out another laugh. "I chose the Aeternals over humanity precisely because of how your emotions tie you down. Never mind. Since you've already abandoned this opportunity, then disappear from this megaverse."

With that, the old man took another step forward, moving closer to Jiang Feng.

Jiang Feng thrust his sword forward. The originally purplish-black substance reinforcing his attack had taken on a blackish-gray tinge. Coincidentally, both he and Ancient God had cultivated the same power, which was the path of strengthening the human body itself. Ancient God had achieved Wielder - God battle force before Jiang Feng, but after he witnessed Ancient God’s breakthrough, the Lord of Lightning had advanced further down his own path.

Thunder roared and shook the universe.

Master Qing Cao smiled in amusement. Both people who had attacked him recently used the same power. That was quite the coincidence.

Ancient God had used his sequence particles to infinitely Enhance himself and unleash the most brilliant punch of his life. But even then, it had not been able to affect Master Qing Cao at all. Even Nong Yi had not sensed the punch, despite being so close. There was no need to even consider Jiang Feng, who had yet to truly achieve Wielder - God battle force.

Still, Jiang Feng was different from Ancient God in one key aspect: he was a more practical man. He had risen to power during his planet’s apocalypse, and he had emerged from that time of despair with an intense desire to survive. He still had his family. In contrast, Ancient God had stood at the peak from the very beginning as one of the Origin Progenitor’s disciples. His pride would never allow him to retreat, only always moving forward, even if doing so meant death. He had been utterly determined to uncover the mysteries surrounding the one known as the Fated One.

Jiang Feng thrust his sword forward, but as the blackish-gray substance dissipated and his lightning faded, he immediately pulled back. He brushed past Master Qing Cao in an attempt to escape.

Master Qing Cao smiled. "You’re smarter than Gu Yizhi."

Jiang Feng had no intention of fighting to the death. He had launched a sword attack at full strength, and he had felt the overwhelming might of an Immortal. There was no need to continue fighting, as doing so would be suicide. Thus, Jiang Feng had decisively chosen to escape, intending to return with information about his opponent.

Unfortunately, escape was impossible. The universe turned into a prison, and just as Jiang Feng slipped by Master Qing Cao, the man’s body was dragged back by some invisible power. There was a clap of thunder as the Lord of Lightning’s power backfired on him. Soon, he found himself unable to so much as hold his sword, which clattered to the ground.

Master Qing Cao turned around and looked at Jiang Feng.

The Lord of Lightning could not believe what had just happened. He had been attacked by his own power. How was it possible for him to be harmed by lightning? That was supposed to be his own power.

There was no one who could answer him.

Master Qing Cao was the first and only Immortal in the history of humanity in the Tianyuan Megaverse to have ever taken action. No one knew what abilities an Immortal might possess.

"We are not the same. I am the ruler of the megaverse, while you must follow its lead. I can take your power away at any moment, such as your lightning."

A black orb emerged from Jiang Feng’s chest and floated in front of him. He realized that his lightning had disappeared, but how was that possible?

"Your power."

Jiang Feng felt weak. He stopped breathing. He was in outer space, and he was unable to breathe. Even though he had reached the level where he could freely travel through the universe long, long ago, at this moment, Jiang Feng felt like an ordinary human.

"Everything that you possess can be taken away. Your life, colors, and even your five senses." With each word that Master Qing Cao spoke, Jiang Feng felt himself lose something. He was unable to see colors, and everything turned black. He lost his sense of touch and taste, and only his hearing remained. All he could do was listen to Master Qing Cao’s voice.

He felt like a corpse that had been tossed into the abyss, but then his sense of gravity and space faded away.

"You follow the megaverse, which means that you are always beneath me. I valued your understanding of the power of sequence particles, which you received from your mirebound artifacts, but you chose to defy me. Mere tools mean nothing. Today, I will take them from you." As Master Qing Cao spoke these words, a withered tree also emerged from Jiang Feng’s body and floated into outer space.

A sword, a withered tree, and a black bead. These were Jiang Feng’s three mirebound artifacts, and all of them were being taken.

Jiang Feng stood in outer space, unaware of anything happening around him, unable to sense or see anything. Everything that he possessed had been taken from him. For Master Qing Cao, stripping Jiang Feng of his power had been as easy as taking a breath.

Humans were strange creatures. No one could know what they might do when faced with overwhelming despair.

From Master Qing Cao’s perspective, Jiang Feng was already finished. The man had lost everything. Even so, the truth was that the man’s powers had not really been taken from him. Technically, he had lost the time when he possessed those powers. With that time taken from him, everything that had happened as a result of those powers, and all of the opportunities that he had gained, would vanish entirely.

This was not manipulating the power of time, but rather controlling the megaverse itself.

For Master Qing Cao, even the River of Aeons was nothing more than a force of the megaverse, and such a power could be used as he saw fit.

He could decide the life or death of anyone in the megaverse, and he could similarly manipulate what powers they possessed. Did they have too much power? He could take it away. Not enough? He could grant it to them. It was as simple as that.

This had not been a battle, but a judgment. He was conducting a trial for every living creature in the entire megaverse.

However, at this moment, despite having already lost everything, Jiang Feng felt something else.

In the darkness, unable to see, touch, hear, or smell, with nothing around him—or at least, there should have been nothing—he could feel a breath. It was the breath of all things, the aura of the universe that he had once comprehended.

During his Earth’s apocalypse, Jiang Feng had learned about many different kinds of energies, but he had ultimately comprehended the breath of all creatures. When he entered the greater universe, he had come to understand that the universe itself breathed.

Animals, plants—all lifeforms breathed, and Jiang Feng could sense that whenever he wished.

However, at the edge of the megaverse, there were no planets. There was nothing at all. So where was this breath coming from?

Master Qing Cao, an Immortal, was present. In that case, why was Jiang Feng sensing so many different breaths around him? The breath of all things, all laws, the breath of the universe... Just what was he sensing?

Wait...

Were the breaths closest to him his three mirebound artifacts?

Master Qing Cao opened a hand, and the three mirebound artifacts started to move towards him. Suddenly, Jiang Feng, who should have lost everything and been unable to move, grabbed the sword, the withered tree, and the black bead. The man hurled the bead away, and it disappeared in an instant as the space around it warped.

Master Qing Cao had not expected Jiang Feng to still be able to move. It should not have been possible.

There was a sudden flash of golden lightning that blazed in the distance as it crashed down. The Ancient Lightning Locust had arrived. Finally, it had managed to find Jiang Feng.

The Delivery Shrub had taken the Ancient Lightning Locust away from the battle in the Second Scourge and to the Immemorial Citadel, where it had been captured by the super giant ancestor. As soon as it had escaped during the final battle between humanity and Aeternus, the Ancient Lightning Locust had immediately started searching for Jiang Feng. With the war between humanity and Aeternus now over, it was able to hunt for the man again.

It had indeed found him, as it was impossible for Jiang Feng to truly lose the bug, no matter where he went.

Master Qing Cao frowned. "Just a bug."

He considered getting rid of it, but he hesitated and glanced down at his wrist. Adding more to his chain of karma for a mere insect was not worth it.

The Ancient Lightning Locust was terrified. It understood that even the slightest hint of killing intent from Master Qing Cao would end the creature’s life. It immediately turned and fled.

As soon as the Ancient Lightning Locust was gone, Master Qing Cao turned to look in another direction. A gray mist was approaching, freezing space wherever it touched. Mister Mu had arrived.

"I, Mu Zhi, offer my respects to the Immortal before me."

Master Qing Cao calmly looked into the distance before glancing back at Jiang Feng, who was still standing in front of the old man, awaiting his fate. Then, Master Qing Cao turned around and left.

One or two bugs did not matter. The mirebound artifacts were gone, so he dropped the matter. There was no need to add more to his chain of karma for mere insects. Ultimately, they would all die, as their megaverse would be reset.

By the time Mister Mu arrived at Jiang Feng’s side, Master Qing Cao had already disappeared.

Mister Mu looked at the stone gate. The old man had passed through the gate.

He then looked down and moved over to Jiang Feng.

The Lord of Lightning did not move at all. He was as still as a statue as he stood in outer space.

Soon, Lu Yin and the others also arrived, though they only saw Mister Mu and Jiang Feng.

"Master," Lu Yin called out.

Mister Mu shook his head. "I couldn't stop him."

Lu Yin was not sure if he should feel relieved or regretful. Was it even possible to stop an Immortal? Even if such an individual was restricted, what could any of them offer to strengthen those restrictions? Their lives?

"Uncle Jiang?" Lu Yin shot over to Jiang Feng.

The man was still trapped in darkness, having been deprived of all his senses, his cultivation, and even his innate gift. Master Qing Cao had thought that the man was incapable of moving, which was why he had not been killed. However, Jiang Feng was still able to sense the presence of people around him.

Still, he could not determine who those people were, and he was also incapable of even speaking.

Lu Yin called out several times, but Jiang Feng never responded.

Not even Mister Mu could understand what was wrong with the man.

It seemed that an Immortal was capable of doing more than simply take time away, but unless they specifically knew what such a powerhouse was capable of doing, there was no way to even guess what had happened. Even if they could guess, they had no way of retrieving the time that Master Qing Cao had taken away.

In this condition, even an ordinary human could kill Jiang Feng.

After determining that it was impossible to wake Jiang Feng, Mister Mu and the others tried to open the stone gate, but it seemed to be blocked or barred on the other side. Something was preventing it from being opened.

With no other choice, they were forced to leave someone behind to guard the gate.

"I'll stay," Lu Yuan offered.

Lu Yin’s heart trembled.

Whoever stayed behind would most likely face Master Qing Cao. If the Immortal truly intended to bring another megaverse here and start a war, then whoever remained at the stone gate would be the first to die. Taking this job was almost certainly a death sentence.

Lu Yuan smiled at everyone. "The Lu family serves as humanity’s flag bearers. When the flag is unfurled, it’s time for war. The first to fight should be the flag bearer."

"But the flag cannot be allowed to fall. Let me stay," Wu Tian argued.

Lu Yuan shook his head. "The flag that can’t fall is Little Seven. My flag fell long ago."