Chapter 3472: The Most Powerful Consciousness

Just as Qi Zun was about to retract his consciousness, his expression abruptly changed. He was still staring at the ground.

Impossible!

A storm erupted beneath the ground, shattering the earth and throwing numerous cultivators into the air.

Qi Zun’s beam of consciousness had indeed pierced the ground, but it had never struck Lu Yin. Instead, it had been blocked by Lu Yin’s consciousness.

Verdant Eternity.

Within Verdant Eternity, his powers could be recycled infinitely, without any concern for consumption or depletion.

Regardless of whether Lu Yin used his physical strength, battle techniques, or even his consciousness, there would be no expenditure.

Qi Zun’s consciousness had indeed overwhelmed Lu Yin and left him breathless, and he had even been pushed into the ground, but that had all been intentional. How else was he supposed to reach the surrendered conscients?

Qi Zun’s final strike had also caught Lu Yin off guard. He had not expected the old man to be so cautious and launch a merciless blow even when Lu Yin appeared to have been defeated. That was the moment where Lu Yin had been forced to expose Verdant Eternity.

Lu Yin’s consciousness might not be capable of withstanding Qi Zun’s attacks under normal circumstances, but as long as Lu Yin consumed none of his own energy, his consciousness was able to put up a fierce enough resistance to allow him to hold his ground.

No one had expected Lu Yin, who had appeared to be on the brink of exhaustion, to block Qi Zun’s most powerful consciousness strike.

Qi Zun’s expression darkened.

So, it was all an act?

“All who are within the Consciousness Domain, activate the spirit treasure formation.”

Simultaneously, cultivators from both the Qi family and the Revolt Alliance instinctively worked together to set up the spirit treasure formation. All of their consciousness was channeled towards Qi Zun.

Throughout the Consciousness Domain, streams of consciousness rose up everywhere, all connecting to Qi Zun.

Qi Zun sat atop his Everstone sequence particles. The resulting millstone expanded further and further while emitting thunderous sounds and shattering the void. All of the streams of consciousness merged together and passed through Everstone, combining into a terrifying colossus that hung above the Consciousness Domain.

This consciousness far surpassed anything that had ever appeared. It was comparable to Wu Wei’s Universe-realm consciousness in quantity, but it exceeded it in ferocity.

Beyond the Consciousness Domain, everyone watching quickly pulled back. No one was willing to suffer the aftereffects of this consciousness. Who could say what would happen to them if they were struck by it?

The mass exodus caused the regions closest to the Consciousness Domain to be completely vacant, but this only served to further emphasize how terrifying the gathered consciousness was.

Lu Yin looked up from the Consciousness Domain’s underground.

What a terrifying consciousness! It’s no wonder why the Everstone sequence base can overpower everything in the Consciousness Megaverse

.

Everstone was perfectly suited for dealing with conscients. Consciousness was not a power that needed to be vast, as being incredibly tough was already frightening enough.

Lu Yin glanced around. There were numerous conscients underground, and all of them had surrendered from the Consciousness Megaverse.

Some of these conscients had physical bodies, while others did not. No matter their form, all of them were trapped underground.

Lu Yin’s eyes swept the area as he released his inner universe. His star of consciousness started to rotate. “Let’s see which is stronger—the combined consciousness of the Consciousness Domain cultivators, or mine after I harvest these conscients.”

High above the Consciousness Domain, Qi Zun pressed his hands down. There was a deafening boom that shook the universe.

Countless people turned pale, and many involuntarily spat out blood.

The terrifying consciousness warped the void as it formed a black beam that shot down at the ground.

Suddenly, a vast consciousness surged upwards, raging as it collided with the black beam that fell from above.

Boom!

An apocalyptic explosion echoed in everyone’s ears. At the center of the collision, the consciousness formed ripples that radiated outward, reaching beyond the Consciousness Domain and sweeping the surroundings away like a tsunami.

Old Tao and the others were horrified. “Quick! Get out of the way!”

Even Palace Master Yao had no desire to withstand this shockwave, and she hurriedly retreated.

No one wanted to endure the shockwaves from this collision of consciousnesses.

Across the ground of the Consciousness Domain, many consciousness cultivators collapsed.

Shi Lin stared underground in shock.

How is this possible? Where did the Third Boss gather such a vast consciousness?

The shockwave reached far away, and it even touched Wu Wei.

The conscient had believed everything to be over, but much to its surprise, Lu Yin had unleashed a terrifying amount of consciousness. It was vast and boundless and was continuously growing. It was close to surpassing the Celestial realm and was closing in on the Universe level.

How has this human cultivated? Where did he obtain such a terrifying consciousness? If he had this power, why didn’t he use it from the beginning?

Qi Gong spat out blood yet again, his face growing pale.

How are we supposed to hold out any longer? Ancestor, Ancestor-

Qi Zun could not believe what he was seeing. He gritted his teeth and launched a frenzied attack of consciousness.

Underground, Lu Yin was also gritting his teeth; he was devouring the consciousnesses of the nearby conscients while simultaneously resisting Qi Zun. He had managed to briefly achieve a tenuous balance, but as the conscients moved away from him, the rate at which he devoured their consciousnesses slowed.

The fight had started as an ambush, but after that...

In that case...

Lu Yin released Verdant Eternity as he lifted a hand and then pressed it back down.

The ground below and the sky above. Today, the ground shall dominate the sky. I will flip the sky!

Just using Flipping the Sky once allowed Lu Yin to overpower all of the conscients that were held captive beneath the Consciousness Domain.

The conscients were all terrified. “This human can steal our consciousness! Run! Hurry!”

“Why can a human steal our consciousness?”

“Human, you will die a horrible death!”

“Human-”

For conscients, having their consciousness devoured did not mean dying. After all, they had a vitality core that they relied on to cultivate their consciousness. Their consciousness was merely one of their powers.

Lu Yin had discovered this after devouring a conscient’s consciousness for the first time, which had been Blackless God.

Thinking of this also reminded Lu Yin of another matter: Whiteless God.

When Lu Yin had devoured Blackless God’s consciousness, it had caused the Skygod’s core of vitality to dissipate. That vitality core had included the conscient’s mind, as it filled the same role as a biological creature’s physical body. However, Whiteless God’s consciousness had fully merged with Lu Yin’s star of consciousness, which puzzled him.

He had always felt that Whiteless God might not really be dead, but he had never been able to find her vitality core.

Qi Zun was using other cultivators’ consciousnesses to attack him, and he had refrained from drawing from the captive conscients’ consciousnesses. This was because their consciousness could not be used, seized, or absorbed by others.

Lu Yin was an exception to this.

This was also why Blackless God had once stated that Lu Yin was the Consciousness Megaverse’s greatest nemesis.

The surrendered conscients who were imprisoned underground were also realizing this truth at this moment, but they could no longer escape.

They had been suppressed by Flipping the Sky, which rendered them as nothing more than balls of consciousness for Lu Yin to devour.

His star of consciousness spun crazily as it pulled in more and more consciousness to strengthen itself, allowing Lu Yin to resist Qi Zun.

One from above and another from below; two beams of consciousness continuously fought against each other. Initially, Qi Zun’s consciousness overwhelmed Lu Yin’s, but as time passed, Lu Yin’s consciousness slowly gained the upper hand, and then it started pushing upward.

Qi Zun was horrified. “Impossible! Impossible! Impossible...

“How can you overpower my consciousness? Who are you? Just who are you?”

Everyone outside of the Consciousness Domain could hear Qi Zun’s screams, but they were all bewildered by them.

What’s going on? Isn’t the Third Boss a conscient?

Qi Zun would not be mistaken about such a thing.

The fact that not even he could recognize what the Third Boss was meant that he was not actually from the Consciousness Megaverse. In that case, where had he come from? Who was he really?

Old Tao and the others stared into the Consciousness Domain in shock. They watched the two beams of consciousness collide.

The Third Boss was too terrifying. His consciousness rivaled Qi Zun’s, which effectively made him the greatest wielder of consciousness in the entire Spirit Nidus. How had he done it?

No one could understand.

Not even Qi Zun could fathom such a thing.

No one had expected Lu Yin to be able to challenge Qi Zun in terms of consciousness.

Underground, Lu Yin had devoured the consciousnesses of all the surrendered conscients. He believed that there had been two Celestial-realm conscients, eight in the Stellar realm, twenty-seven in the Starlight realm, and dozens in the Nine Gears realm. Together, their consciousnesses had pushed Lu Yin’s past the Celestial realm.

While his consciousness was mixed and impure, its sheer quantity was undeniably at the Universe level.

This meant that Lu Yin had achieved the strength of a Dukkhan, though only with his consciousness.

This was his true goal for visiting the Consciousness Domain.

The cracks in his star of consciousness had already mended, and the star had also grown multiple times bigger as it continued to spin. It gave Lu Yin the impression of size and grandeur.

However, he already knew that, even with a Universe-level consciousness, he could not crush Qi Zun’s Everstone.

If that were possible, how could Qi Zun have overwhelmed the Consciousness Megaverse?

At best, Lu Yin could merely stand equal to Qi Zun in terms of consciousness.

There was a loud boom, and all of the consciousness dissipated.

The two terrifying beams of consciousness disappeared, as did the ripples they had been creating.

Everyone stared at the ground, wondering what had just happened.

Lu Yin slowly climbed up and emerged from the ground, looking as though he had been badly beaten. His clothes were tattered and torn, and dust covered his body. There were still traces of dried blood on his face, as well as fresh bloodstains across his body.

Despite all of this, when he appeared from underground, no one dared to speak a word. The entire domain fell into absolute silence.

Lu Yin grabbed his shirt and tore it off, revealing a set of solid muscles. He shifted about briefly and then looked up at Qi Zun. “Old man, you’re quite brutal.”

Qi Zun was stunned.

I’m brutal? Who’s the real brute here? You actually managed to withstand my consciousness attack!

That had not just been Qi Zun’s strength, but rather the combined consciousness of the entire Yijing, which included countless cultivators.

Even combined, they had failed to suppress one man.

“Just who are you?” Qi Zun’s voice sounded quite flat, as it lacked the arrogance that it had initially held.

Lu Yin sneered. “I am Grandverse Manor’s Third Boss. Today, I will destroy the Qi family.”

Lu Yin’s words echoed across the Consciousness Domain, causing everyone from the Qi family to tremble as they stared at Lu Yin with eyes filled with fear.

Even Qi Zun had stepped forward. But could even he not deal with this Third Boss?

Qi Gong spat out blood.

The members of the Revolt Alliance gazed at the Qi family with sympathy. They had been targeted by a true monster, which meant that the Qi family was doomed.

Wu Tong had already returned, and she stared at Lu Yin with open admiration.

That man... is so powerful!

Her first impression had been that Lu Yin was incredibly arrogant, but suddenly, that arrogance seemed entirely justified.

With such strength, she would also dare to curse the High Seraph in his face.

So, so incredible!

Shi Lin was rattled. He had long held pride in the fact that he had founded the Revolt Alliance and was the greatest consciousness cultivator. However, before this man, Shi Lin was nothing.

This man was truly the most powerful consciousness cultivator in the Spirit Nidus, having surpassed even Qi Zun.

For a moment, the entire Yijing was silent.

Qi Zun descended to the ground, staring at Lu Yin the whole way. When the old man spoke, his voice was much softer. “Third Boss, why must you destroy my Qi family?”

Lu Yin slowly smiled. “What? Do you want to negotiate with me?”

Qi Zun sighed. “I have been dead for a long time. The only reason why this remnant consciousness has stayed behind is to protect my Qi family. If you are willing to relent, Third Boss, my Qi family is prepared to pay any price.”

Lu Yin moved a finger, which gathered a ball of water that cascaded down upon his head, rinsing away the dust and washing the blood off.

Much better

.

“Old man, you nearly killed me. Your Qi family can’t pay anything that would buy my life,” Lu Yin casually stated.

Qi Zun shook his head. “Purge the current generation of the Qi family entirely then. Leave only the young children who are not yet aware to preserve the bloodline. Everything that the Qi family possesses will belong to you, Third Boss. What do you say?”

Lu Yin was impressed. “You’re certainly vicious enough. Then why don’t you ask your descendants if they agree?”

“To die for the sake of the Qi family—why would any be unwilling?” Qi Zun’s eyes moved over to Qi Gong and the others.

Qi Gong closed his eyes. “Ancestor, if this will truly protect the Qi family, we are willing. But, but...”

He hesitated, his voice trailing off.

Qi Zun frowned. “Go ahead.”

Despair filled Qi Gong’s voice. “But this man is Lord High Seraph’s enemy. He’s an enemy of the entire Ascendant Hall.”