Chapter 3347: Life's Requiem

Lu Yin had not expected Meng Sang to endure his attack. The creature’s physical strength had greatly exceeded Lu Yin’s expectations.

Even so, when it came to pure physical might, Meng Sang was no match for Lu Yin.

Seeing Meng Sang's previously broken arm, Lu Yin clenched a fist and threw a punch so powerful that the dream realm around them warped.

Meng Sang's body transformed. He grew taller and his appearance more grotesque. His claws glittered with a cold gleam as he slashed them at Lu Yin’s approaching fist.

Boom!

The impact echoed throughout the nearby area, waking countless people from their dreams.

Meng Sang was sent flying by the punch. No matter how much he strengthened his body, it was not enough for him to surpass Lu Yin. Lu Yin appeared beside the Seraph in an instant while summoning earthen spears that pierced through his body. The dirt spears were kicked, shattering them, but more and more appeared. Lu Yin drove all of them into Meng Sang’s body.

The Seraph raised his claws again to attack, but this time, Lu Yin was prepared. While Extremes Must Be Reversed allowed Lu Yin to simply ignore the attacks, he did not want to take any risks.

He used Inverse Step to move at the speed of time. Meng Sang saw what Lu Yin was doing, and his claws sliced through space to sever time itself, forcefully ending Lu Yin’s technique. The moment Lu Yin appeared, he pressed a palm to Meng Sang’s chest and pushed. There was another thunderous boom as Meng Sang was sent tumbling to the side.

Lu Yin gave chase, and he appeared above Meng Sang. He looked down at the Seraph and prepared to stomp down.

Meng Sang's pupils dilated. He was an almighty Seraph, and he could not tolerate the humiliation of being stepped on.

Sequence particles erupted yet again, but this time, they did not come from Meng Sang, but rather from eight shadows that had suddenly appeared beside him.

Each of the eight shadows were identical to Meng Sang. The flood of sequence particles quickly spread out, too numerous for even Lu Yin’s inner universe to repel them. “A sequence base.”

The eight shadows charged at Lu Yin. They were not living creatures, but rather constructs formed from sequence particles.

“Eightfold Nexus!” Meng Sang shouted. “This sequence base was condensed from the power of fifty-one sequence powerhouses who have all mastered my Spirit Nidus Eight-Gate Seal sequence technique. Lu Yin, you’ve forced a Seraph to use a sequence base! Even in death, you should be proud of yourself.”

Lu Yin attacked eight times in a row, targeting each of the eight shadows. However, he was merely striking sequence particles. No matter how overwhelming the force behind his attacks was, the shadows always quickly reformed.

Not even Lu Yin’s inner universe could disperse the sequence particles quickly enough. This was the power of a sequence base.

The eight shadows completely surrounded Lu Yin while simultaneously attacking him. He hurriedly tried to escape, only to discover that, no matter how he moved, the shadows followed him like his own shadow.

“Eightfold Nexus.”

At that moment, Lu Yin felt as if he had been enclosed within a sealed space. He fought desperately, but he could not break free from this space created from sequence particles. His inner universe was able to constantly repel the sequence particles, but the progress was too slow.

Lightstream appeared, and time was reversed by one second. Lu Yin thought that this would allow him to escape from the Eightfold Nexus, but he quickly learned that he had not. Without reversing time to before all eight shadows had appeared, it would be impossible to avoid them.

Lu Yin peered through the Eightfold Nexus at Meng Sang and asked, “What will sealing me accomplish? As a proud Seraph, are you only able to protect yourself with a sequence base?”

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Meng Sang stared back at Lu Yin. “The sequence technique I’ve cultivated is called Life's Requiem. It ranks sixth out of the eighty-eight sequence techniques. Lu Yin, do your best to remember your entire life, as you are destined to die.”

The Seraph then raised his hand and pressed it against the Eightfold Nexus. That caused another type of sequence particle to surge into the sequence base. Within the perfectly sealed space, no matter how Lu Yin tried to repel the sequence particles, they continued to press him in. But now, the Eightfold Nexus also started to shrink.

Lu Yin could not sense anything unusual, but that was exactly the oddest detail about the whole situation.

Of all the sequence powerhouses he had encountered, the ones who proved to be the greatest threats were not those who had comprehended sequence particles that could be used offensively, but rather the ones that were more bizarre. The odder the law of the universe, the more dangerous the sequence particles tended to be.

Meng Sang's sequence technique ranked sixth, and it was undeniably powerful. While it appeared to be completely ineffective at the moment, Lu Yin had simply not yet realized what was happening.

He drew the God of Death’s scythe and slashed out, but the sequence base’s Eightfold Nexus with its eight shadows proved to be more resilient than anticipated. Not even death energy could cut through the construct of sequence particles.

He slowly brought up his hand again, and the sequence particles inexplicably surged towards Lu Yin’s palm from the eight shadows.

Meng Sang was astonished. What was happening?

Lu Yin simultaneously used his inner universe to repel the sequence particles while borrowing them with Linked Palm. Two different methods were used in unison to weaken the Eightfold Nexus, which visibly thinned.

What Meng Sang was seeing defied all that he understood to be true. Could a peak powerhouse, not even an Ortuser who could repel the laws of the universe, borrow sequence particles from others? Was that even possible?

No matter Meng Sang’s thoughts, Lu Yin had already accomplished just that. Linked Palm was the greatest battle technique that Progenitor Chen had ever created. It grew stronger when used against a stronger opponent, and there were times when it could completely turn the tides.

Meng Sang gritted his teeth. He could not wait any longer.

Life's Requiem sequence technique had but one purpose: to create poison. The purpose of the sequence particles was to analyze everything about an enemy by using the laws of the universe. No creature could escape death, as the sequence particles would eventually form a poison that specifically targeted a given enemy; it would be a unique poison that had never appeared before.

Such a poison could only be created once for any given moment. If even another second passed, the energies and conditions within an individual would change, which would lead to the creation of a different poison after the analysis was completed.

In a sense, each poison produced by Life's Requiem was a unique existence in the entire megaverse.

At this moment, Meng Sang had developed a poison that was uniquely tailored to Lu Yin's current state.

The poison produced by Life's Requiem could be either tangible or intangible, but for Lu Yin, such things meant nothing. Regardless of the form that the poison took, he would not be able to avoid it.

The moment the poison appeared, Lu Yin’s thoughts instantly froze. The sound of the Origin Progenitor’s Sutra disappeared, and his steady-as-a-stone spiritual force started to waver. His formidable physical strength became weak and powerless as his body quickly started to recover from the withered state of Extremes Must Be Reversed. At that moment, all of his unwavering confidence and invincible attitude disappeared.

His blood flowed in reverse within his body. An unknown power had appeared in his inner universe, stopping the stars from moving.

Lu Yin spat out a mouthful of blood as he stared at Meng Sang in horror. What sort of power was this?

Meng Sang spoke in a low voice, “Life's Requiem produces a poison unique to you. It will be completely ineffective on anyone else, only affecting you alone.

“You underestimated me too much! I am a Seraph! A Seraph of the Spirit Nidus! You have underestimated both me and my Spirit Nidus.

“Our eighty-eight sequence techniques are based on the most supreme laws of the universe! No sequence technique is useless. Everything depends on how they are utilized, especially those which are ranked in the top ten.

“All that you see is within the dream realm. You firmly believe this to be a dream, and you’re right—it is. However, have you ever considered who can save you within a dream? If you weren’t so determined when facing Dreamshade, even with the immense destruction that you can unleash, you might have drawn someone over to rescue you. Now, there is nothing you can do.”

Lu Yin was shaken. “Life's Requiem? Another sequence technique?”

Meng Sang proudly replied, “Ranked sixth!”

Lu Yin bent over into a half-crouch as he continued to cough up blood. His internal energy was struggling to move at all. It was the first time he had experienced such a sensation. He was affected by sequence particles, but also not quite. This was a poison that specifically targeted his power, and it affected all of the abilities that he had demonstrated.

There was no invincible technique in existence. Even with his inner universe, an Ortuser could still keep Lu Yin at bay and find ways to suppress him.

However, Lu Yin also had more abilities than what he had used in his fight against Meng Sang. Lu Yin had his comprehension techniques—Setting Sun and Flipping the Sky—as well as his Investiture of the Gods and Champions' Stage. He had multiple abilities that were still at his disposal, as he had not used them yet. There was no way for them to be affected by the poison.

However, when the poison took effect, Lu Yin’s stable spiritual force had wavered, which had shaken his resolve. At that moment, his determination had developed cracks, and the lines between dream and reality became blurred. Lu Yin saw the Heavens Sect, and yet Meng Sang did not attack, and the people in the Heavens Sect also remained oblivious to the battle.

Lu Yin was in a peculiar state. His thoughts were blurred, and he felt dizzy. It was as though heaven and earth were spinning around him.

The efforts he had been putting into weakening the Eightfold Nexus also stopped.

Lu Yin felt profoundly helpless. The more helpless he felt, the weaker he should become, but instead, this moment allowed him to slip into an alternate state of mind. There was no sense of self or of others. He relinquished all thoughts, and his desires and wishes were amplified. The karma of his cultivation, his lack of emotions, his sense of powerlessness and weakness, and the vertigo cause Lu Yin’s mind to go completely blank. Unknowingly, he had entered the mental state necessary to cultivate Natural Art.

In his inner universe, the planet of divine energy started to spin. A strand of energy surged towards Lu Yin, guided by Natural Art. At that moment, his vision doubled, and his eyes instantly turned scarlet.

Meng Sang stared at the surging red aura that covered Lu Yin’s body in utter bewilderment. What sort of power was this?

“Ethereal autumn waters, a vague beauty, gazing eastward...”

“Family unseen, ascending the heights of heaven, one person remaining...”

~~

A dreadfully sad song rang out. It was as though a peerless beauty was singing across the surface of a lake. Meng Sang was stunned. They were in the dream realm—his domain—so where was this sorrowful song coming from? Where had anyone come from? He suddenly looked up, and saw lanterns descended through the mist, one by one. Each one had his name written on it.

Staring at the lanterns, Meng Sang's mind was flooded with memories of his past.

The first sound he had heard was of crying. His mother’s whispers. His father’s laughter. The struggles he had stumbled through as he cultivated. The joyous laughter of his childhood friends. Everything felt like it had taken place just the day before.

No, this isn’t real! They died a long time! They’re long gone!

Meng Sang clutched his head and watched as the lanterns fell. He saw one face after another. He saw his mother’s love, his father’s pride, his wife’s tears, his child’s wails. Countless images flooded his mind, forcing him to continuously scream, “This isn’t real! Why have I forgotten them? How many years has it been? It’s been so long! These memories should have vanished long ago!”

The Seraph glared at Lu Yin. “What have you done? What have you done?!”

Within the Eightfold Nexus, Lu Yin looked up. His crimson eyes left Meng Sang feeling terrified. “An Aeternal?”

Lu Yin stared at Meng Sang. “Since you’ve discovered this, die.”

Lu Yin raised his hand and then struck downwards.

The Eightfold Nexus was still there, and it still surrounded him. His attack seemed to carry no power at all, but Meng Sang instinctively looked up. He saw a lantern being destroyed.

There was a soft sound as Meng Sang spat out blood. He stared at the destroyed lantern in disbelief. He staggered back a few steps and nearly collapsed.

He had not spat out blood due to a physical injury. In fact, the Seraph had no idea why he had spat out blood. All he knew was that he suddenly felt as though he had lost something. No external force had harmed him, but the self-inflicted damage was far more severe than any injury caused by an outside force.