Chapter 3338: Entering Dukkha

Shui Hua looked at Leng Qing with open contempt. The man was nothing more than a peak powerhouse. He was nowhere close to mastering sequence particles, and he was completely unqualified to face her. She could easily obliterate him.

Cold filled the region of space, instantly freezing the entire area and turning a corner of the battlefield white.

Leng Qing used his Celestial Blade World. Countless blades rose up from below, and they spread all the way under Shui Hua. Within Leng Qing's Progenitor’s world, everyone had to walk over blades.

Shui Hua frowned as the countless blades drew closer. This man had a bit of skill. It was unusual for any peak powerhouse from the Spirit Nidus to make her feel even a hint of danger, but it was nothing more than that.

Sequence particles appeared, and they instantly caused the Celestial Blade World to collapse.

Leng Qing raised a hand and formed a long saber as he suddenly charged straight towards Shui Hua. The man shot forward as though racing to his own death. Shui Hua snorted disdainfully and then sent some sequence particles towards Leng Qing. Instantly, a figure took form; it was a copy of Palace Master Yao.

Shui Hua had cultivated the same sequence technique as the round-faced old man, which was the eighth-ranked technique, Divine Projection.

Divine Projection functioned by conjuring illusions. The sequence particles created false beings, and if enough sequence particles were present, then the illusions could even wield the powers of the being that they represented.

The illusions were essentially deceiving the universe, causing reality to accept the illusions as real.

The round-faced old man’s God of Death had never truly existed, but that illusion could attack with its imagined power.

Shui Hua’s illusion was of Palace Master Yao, who did exist. After following Palace Master Yao for many years, the more that Shui Hua understood the other woman, the more accurately her illusion could replicate Palace Master Yao’s abilities.

When the illusion of Palace Master Yao appeared, she extended her hand and materialized droplets. A subsequent wave of her hand caused green sword qi to slash straight at Leng Qing.

The Progenitor swung his blade, but his body froze in place as the green sword qi pierced his forehead and his entire body. He slowly collapsed.

This was war. No one could know who would live or die on the battlefield.

Leng Qing’s body dropped and then drifted through outer space.

Shui Hua looked away and moved to leave, but then she slowly turned back around. There was someone else.

Many of these people from the Tianyuan Megaverse are courting death

.

Arch-Elder Zen stared at Leng Qing’s floating body with a conflicted expression. The two men had known each other for many years. One had overseen the affairs of the Heavens Sect, while the other had acted as the Dao Monarch’s assistant. They had always gotten along very well, but in the blink of an eye, Leng Qing was dead.

“You dare to challenge me without even mastering sequence particles? While the Tianyuan Megaverse may be weak, your spirit isn’t bad,” Shui Hua stated coldly.

Arch-Elder Zen looked over at Shui Hua. “Thank you for the compliment. My spirit can wear you down until you’re dead.”

Shui Hua sneered. “You’re even weaker than the last one.”

Leng Qing had been one of the ancient Heavens Sect’s twelve gatemasters. At that time, the masters of the Twelve Heavenly Gates had all been acknowledged as the most powerful Semi-Progenitors, and they were expected to eventually become Sequence Progenitors, given enough time.

Arch-Elder Zen was a master of the modern era, having lived since the Daosource Sect era. Most of his strength was focused on his Tri-Yang Ancestral Qi Technique. During his Progenitor’s breakthrough, he had reformed his Progenitor’s world from his original inner world, primarily for Lu Yin’s sake. In regards to combat power, Arch-Elder Zen could not compare to Leng Qing, as long as the Tri-Yang Ancestral Qi Technique was not used.

In particular, Leng Qing’s relentless fighting spirit had been incomparable.

Behind Shui Hua, the illusion of Palace Master Yao that was formed from Divine Projection sequence particles extended a hand. Again, a droplet started to form.

The streams of the Tri-Yang Ancestral Qi Technique started to swirl around Arch-Elder Zen. A Thousand Calamities, which was one of Xue Wuqing’s spiritual force techniques, shot towards Shui Hua. Simultaneously, the summoned forms of Progenitor Hui and Lu Tianyi attacked as well; one used Hidden Needle, while the other used a sourcebox array. As for Arch-Elder Zen himself, he retreated in another direction.

Shui Hua’s expression grew frigid. “You have quite a number of tricks.”

She ignored Xue Wuqing’s spiritual force, as it could not harm her in the slightest. The green sword qi sliced through Progenitor Hui. In an instant, two of the summons from the Tri-Yang Ancestral Qi Technique had been destroyed.

The gap between the two was simply too large. One was merely a Progenitor, while the other was a sequence powerhouse.

The illusion of Palace Master Yao was especially dangerous. Even if it could only use a fraction of the Bifrost Unscathed Sword’s true power, it was still not something that Arch-Elder Zen could withstand.

The final summon was of Lu Tianyi, and that figure pointed a finger at Shui Hua.

Arch-Elder Zen spat out blood. Lu Tianyi’s finger attack gave Shui Hua pause. This was a genuinely powerful attack, even if it was ultimately still useless.

The green sword qi slashed through the summoned Lu Tianyi. Meanwhile, Arch-Elder Zen’s Serene Path appeared beneath his feet. He stepped forward and attacked Shui Hua from above.

Right when he neared the woman, a bone-deep cold froze Arch-Elder Zen. A soft, seemingly boneless hand pressed down, and the ice shattered. Arch-Elder Zen just barely avoided the attack, but one of his arms was destroyed. Blood fell with the shattered ice.

At that same time, the green sword qi reappeared.

Arch-Elder Zen stood in place, and the Tri-Yang Ancestral Qi Technique brought Lu Tianyi back beside the man. The image stepped forward, a finger pointed at Shui Hua.

The green sword qi ignored Lu Tianyi and instead attacked Arch-Elder Zen himself. A cut opened across his neck, leaving behind a trail of blood.

The man’s pupils dilated as he stared at Shui Hua with eyes that embraced death.

Shui Hua raised a hand to freeze the Progenitor, only for her expression to suddenly change. She whipped around.

Sequence particles?

A finger fell before her, piercing the woman’s neck in the exact same location where the green sword qi had sliced through Arch-Elder Zen’s.

Shui Hua could believe her eyes. How? How could another summon have appeared behind her?

Behind her back, the first summon of Lu Tianyi vanished.

Arch-Elder Zen barked a bitter laugh. He had succeeded. He had known that it would be impossible for him to kill Shui Hua with sheer power. His only chance had lain in sequence particles. Specifically, those that he had obtained from the Transcendent Universe's research. That device brought out random sequence particles, but before the battle, Arch-Elder Zen had obtained a very peculiar sequence particle, as it seemed to be of some law that left things in complete disarray.

These sequence particles could invert a person’s vision, various items, or even a sequence of events.

The Lu Tianyi summoned from the Tri-Yang Ancestral Qi Technique had followed a specific order when attacking by proceeding from far to close. Arch-Elder Zen had inverted that order. This meant that what Shui Hua perceived had merely been what followed the attack; the real summon had not even attacked yet.

The Lu Tianyi that pierced Shui Hua's neck with a finger had been the true summon.

Arch-Elder Zen had used his life as bait for this opportunity, and that had caused Shui Hua to miss the subtle presence of the few sequence particles. This was the precise moment that the man had been waiting for.

It was impossible to overcome such a difference in strength with strength. Leng Qing had attacked recklessly and failed to even get close to Shui Hua before dying. Arch-Elder Zen had summoned Lu Tianyi and used a clever ploy, which had allowed him to stab a finger into Shui Hua’s neck.

Shui Hua clutched her neck. As the summoned Lu Tianyi faded away, Arch-Elder Zen collapsed. The woman’s own sequence particles began to dissipate.

How could this be? They were mere ants!

Blood streamed down, covering her body. Shui Hua dropped to one knee, glaring intently at Arch-Elder Zen’s corpse. An ant, just a single ant, had given her a fatal wound. She refused to accept it. How could such a thing have happened?

She would not die. Such a wound would not be enough to kill her.

She quickly stood back up and started moving towards the stone gate, heading for the battleship.

Suddenly, inch by inch, her body started to crack and fracture. She had never noticed the appearance of sequence particles above her. They were tearing her body apart.

Far away, Lu Tianyi looked away. The woman was dead, but there was no way to bring back either Arch-Elder Zen or Leng Qing.

The battle consisted of even more brutal battles then when humanity had invaded the Scourges or fought at the Immemorial Citadel. The Spirit Nidus’s invasion had only just begun, and yet so many familiar faces were already gone.

If Lu Tianyi had not sensed his own power, he would not have noticed Arch-Elder Zen’s fight. Many people had already died silently on the battlefield.

Would he also perish on this battlefield?

Looking around, Lu Tianyi saw two of the Spirit Nidus’s sequence powerhouses moving to surround him. His strength had caught the attention of powerful enemies.

Just as Lu Tianyi had sensed his power being used elsewhere on the battlefield, elsewhere, Palace Master Yao had also noticed when Shui Hua had used her Bifrost Unscathed Sword. However, the Palace Master had been too far away. Even if she had seen Lu Tianyi eliminate Shui Hua, there had been nothing that Palace Master Yao could do about it.

Far away, massive creatures fought. Some were from the Spirit Nidus, while others were from the Tianyuan Megaverse.

When cultivators in the Spirit Nidus underwent their Spirit Rebirth, they could choose to take on any form they wished. While most chose to remain human, some would choose the forms of astral beasts.

Several of the Spirit Nidus sequence powerhouses here had chosen the forms of astral beasts specifically to invade the Tianyuan Megaverse. Naturally, they were opposed by creatures like the Megalith, the Pridebeast, and even the Divine Eagle and the Python Ancestor.

The clash of the behemoths was awe-inspiring.

The fighting continued, though everyone’s attention remained fixed on the showdown between Bao Qi and Garan Zhiluo. The two silent powers slowly faded away.

Bao Qi sneered, and then he slammed his hand down on the Cauldron Bell once more. Again, the silent power spread out again.

Opposing the man, Garan Zhiluo gritted her teeth. She needed a bit of time before she could use her Eight-Star Garan again, and that posed a problem.

Just as she prepared herself to risk her life in a fight against Bao Qi, the man suddenly froze in place. Confusion filled his eyes, and he looked lost and dazed.

Garan Zhiluo and several others exchanged glances, unsure of what was happening. Only Shao Chen heaved a sigh of relief. His attack had worked. His desperate attempt had been effective, though he could only hope that the result would be positive, instead of an absolute disaster.

Shao Chen had attacked Bao Qi with Heart Refinement. It was not a harmful attack, but an attempt to help the man start overcoming his Dukkha.

Overcoming Dukkha was not something that could be explained. A person’s Dukkha was not an external enemy nor was it some sort of an inner demon. Rather, it was a breakthrough process that stemmed from a person’s deepest commitments and persistence.

For the Great Sovereign, Dukkha had been to defeat True God, and she had pursued that goal regardless of the cost.

Astral Anura’s Dukkha was to collect profits and conduct business. For that, he had even been willing to be threatened by Lu Yin to attack Tian Fa.

Everyone’s Dukkha was unique. It could be regarded as a person’s deepest, most stubborn aspects of their personality, or insanity.

Only by overcoming Dukkha could one achieve Immortality. Even those who sought to reset the megaverse needed to overcome Dukkha.

Everyone who was overcoming Dukkha was insane.

Bao Qi had deliberately avoided entering Dukkha for his own reasons. Entering Dukkha would alter his thoughts and actions, and he had no idea what he might become during that process.

There was no one on the entire battlefield who was capable of defeating Bao Qi, not even Lu Yin. At best, there were people who could fight him, but no one could defeat him. Shao Chen had clearly realized this. Thus, he had used Heart Refinement to push Bao Qi into entering Dukkha. At this moment, Bao Qi had officially entered Dukkha.

No one could guess how Bao Qi’s behavior would change upon becoming a Dukkhan. He might stay the same as before, or he might completely change. It was possible that, much like everyone else, he would need a megaverse to be reset before he could achieve Immortality. Or, it might be possible for him to genuinely overcome Dukkha.

This was what Shao Chen was worried about. There was no telling if his actions would lead to fortune or disaster. Still, it was their only option.

He would have to disrupt another’s path to achieve his own desires, but he had no other choice.

Far away, Chu Yi and Palace Master Yao fought a strange, mysterious battle. With his Dao of One Heavens, Chu Yi could evade danger, while Palace Master Yao specialized in deadly attacks. Her Bifrost Unscathed Sword did not have a large attack range, but not even someone as strong as Tian Ci wanted to get close to the two people’s battle.

Tian Ci was also unable to break away from his own battle, as both Ce Wangtian and Hongyan Mavis were targeting the man.