Chapter 3473: Pressing Down

Qi Zun was taken aback, and he turned to look at Lu Yin. “Are you an enemy of Lord High Seraph? How are you even in the Spirit Nidus?”

Lu Yin gave the man a teasing smile. “The High Seraph can’t stop me. I can roam freely about the Spirit Nidus.”

“Impossible. Given your strength, you can’t possibly stand up to Lord High Seraph,” Qi Zun denied in disbelief. He had assumed that his family had been attacked simply because of some internal strife within the Spirit Nidus. Given his family’s standing with the High Seraph, it should have been possible for them to preserve their bloodline by paying a steep price.

The old man had never imagined that his opponent would be the High Seraph’s enemy.

This defied Qi Zun’s understanding of things.

Lu Yin laughed. “Your descendant tried to tell you from the beginning, but you wouldn’t listen to him. Go ahead and have them give you a full explanation now. Let’s see what price Senior Qi Zun is willing to pay.”

Qi Zun looked over at Qi Gong with a grim expression.

Qi Gong shrugged. “He is the Grandverse Manor’s Third Boss. The Grandverse Manor...”

As Qi Gong spoke, a spiral of karma twined about Lu Yin’s fingertip before expanding across the Consciousness Domain. He now intended to complete his second goal for this visit.

During the Nine Horizons, he had gotten a glimpse of all thirty-six domains, and in doing so, he had seen something only visible to those who cultivated karma. Any who did not would be blind to the sight.

While the Spirit Nidus appeared normal on the surface, when seen through the lens of karma, Lu Yin had instantly noticed something strange.

The Spirit Nidus was separated into seven different regions of karma.

He could not quite describe the phenomena, but in that moment, he had seen that the megaverse’s karma was split into seven different zones, one of which was the Consciousness Domain.

On his way to the Consciousness Domain, Lu Yin had spoken with Old Tao, and in doing so, he had confirmed that the other six sections of karma were centered on the other six major powers of the Spirit Nidus.

In other words, the seven sections of karma corresponded perfectly with the seven major powers. Not one more, not one less.

Could this be a coincidence? Lu Yin did not know, but one of his purposes in visiting the Consciousness Domain was to seek an answer to this question.

He took advantage of the time that Qi Gong spent speaking and investigated the Consciousness Domain’s karma. There was some massive secret hidden in the Spirit Nidus.

The spirals of karma spread further and further, until it covered the entire Yijing.

To those who could perceive karma, the spirals blotted out the sky, but to those incapable of sensing karma, there was nothing at all. Not even those as strong as Qi Zun or Wu Wei could sense the spirals of karma.

Countless spirals of karma enveloped the Consciousness Domain. Lu Yin was certain that there was something hidden within the domain.

For such a vast amount of karma to be perfectly divided seven ways, just what was that karma?

Traditionally, karma was understood as something that stemmed from life itself; where there was a cause, there would be a corresponding effect. This was the common understanding. However, after comprehending karma, Lu Yin had come to understand that, while karma did indeed arise from cause and effect, karma itself might exist a priori to life.

After experiencing multiple cycles of karma, Lu Yin had repeatedly attempted to alter the past, but the future had always converged to the same outcome, no matter how many different paths he tried. All the paths seemed karmically destined to reach a single outcome.

Karma was a line upon which lifeforms could be placed. However, that did not necessarily mean that life came first, and then was followed by karma.

As Seruzen had once said, emotions, virtue, sin, and even karma could be quantified, but who or what was recording such things?

Lu Yin pressed deeper into the karma of the Consciousness Domain.

However, his efforts were soon interrupted by Qi Zun.

“Does your Grandverse Manor truly intend to clash with the Ascendant Hall? Do you really wish to provoke the Lord High Seraph?”

Lu Yin looked over at Qi Zun. “Have you decided upon a price?”

Qi Zun’s expression darkened. “You, sir, are from the Tianyuan Megaverse, aren’t you?”

Qi Gong had explained what he knew about the Grandverse Manor, including the various speculations that he had heard. Qi Zun had become certain that the common assumptions about the Grandverse Manor were all wrong. Those people were not conscients, but rather humans from the Tianyuan Megaverse.

While still peering into the Consciousness Domain’s karma, Lu Yin replied, “Just tell me what you’re willing to pay, and make sure that it’s satisfactory. Otherwise, your Qi family will be annihilated.”

Qi Zun shook his head. “You have no idea of the Spirit Nidus’s power, nor do you understand the High Seraph.”

The man then turned to face a specific direction and shouted, “Wu Wei, the survival of the Consciousness Domain is now at stake! If you don’t do something, the Qi family will perish, and you won’t be able to survive either.”

A deep voice echoed from the distance, “Some old fossil who’s already dead shouldn’t be threatening me. You are not the Qi Zun of the past. How are you any different from us now? If you went to the Consciousness Megaverse, you would cultivate to eventually become a conscient.

“You are no longer just a creature of the Spirit Nidus.”

Qi Zun’s tone turned cold. “What sort of creature I am does not matter. Even if Lord High Seraph abandons me, this Yijing and my Qi family will not be abandoned. If you, a surrendered conscient, don’t protect this domain, then what use are you?”

Lu Yin sighed. “When a person dies, their light goes out. Do you think that the Revolt Alliance exists for no reason? Old man, you lost your value the moment you died.”

With that, Lu Yin made his move. His star of consciousness spun, and a vast, immeasurable consciousness attack surged toward Qi Zun.

Everstone reappeared near the old man’s body, and he sat upon it. With that, he became as immovable as a mountain.

“Do you really think that I’m afraid of you? Your consciousness is mixed and impure. No matter how much consciousness you might possess, you cannot defeat me with it. I only asked Wu Wei to act in order to trap you. Even if that thing does nothing, you won’t destroy my Qi family.”

A smile crept across Lu Yin’s lips. “Is that so? Then do your best to stop me!”

He released his inner universe, and Verdant Eternity spread out. Lu Yin’s terrifying consciousness did not attack Qi Zun. Instead, it spread out crazily as his star of consciousness spun faster and faster.

Qi Zun’s pupils shrank.

It’s that technique again!

The old man was absolutely sure that Lu Yin had not initially been his match in terms of consciousness. However, as soon as he used this strange technique, he had been able to block Qi Zun’s consciousness. Afterwards, the younger man’s consciousness had grown tremendously, and now, he was employing the same technique yet again.

“Wu Wei, will you really refuse to do anything?”

“All who are within the Consciousness Domain, release all the conscients! I will free the surrendered conscients! I promise that, if this domain survives this calamity, you will all gain your freedom.”

The ground shattered as Qi Zun attempted to release all of the surrendered conscients.

However, the area underground remained silent. No conscients at all remained there.

The old man only then realized that the surrendered conscients were already gone.

From every direction, many cultivators from the Consciousness Domain, including even those from the Revolt Alliance, took action. Everyone sent their consciousnesses into Qi Zun’s Everstone.

Suddenly, Qi Zun charged forward. He was going to use his Everstone sequence particles to directly attack Lu Yin’s body.

Lu Yin watched as Qi Zun charged at him. What was this? A forceful impact that turned the intangible tangible, like a rock crashing into a river. While the river itself would not be harmed by the rock, the riverbed would crack, and that would scatter the water.

That was Qi Zun’s goal.

However, since he had taken on solid form...

From the distance, Qi Gong screamed in horror, “Ancestor, this man focuses on physical strength!”

Qi Zun did not even hear his descendant’s voice. His eyes saw only Lu Yin. He would crash into the brat and shatter him.

Lu Yin raised a hand.

Boom!

The ground shattered, and the universe seemed to flip over. The shockwave from the impact spread far through space, as though cleaving the universe in two.

All across the Consciousness Domain, everyone stared in a daze. This battle was too intense. There was no doubt that this was a fight at the Seven Seraphs’ level.

The resulting ripples of consciousness and physical shockwaves left everyone too scared to move closer.

On the Consciousness Domain’s ground, Qi Zun just stared at Lu Yin, who was holding the millstone formed from sequence particles in place with a single hand.

How... is this possible?

Lu Yin met Qi Zun’s gaze. The old man was within arm’s reach. “I thought that I would have to put in a bit of effort, yet you took on a solid form on your own. It’s time to end this.”

With that, Lu Yin’s left hand shot forward, striking the sequence particle millstone. It cracked, and Lu Yin’s consciousness surged through the fractured Everstone to attack Qi Zun.

Qi Zun howled in agony as he pulled back. With each step of retreat, his form grew more and more transparent.

He had long since ceased to have a physical form, given that he was nothing more than a remnant consciousness. With his consciousness suddenly gravely injured, Qi Zun looked like he was about to vanish entirely.

The world spun around him, and for a moment, Qi Zun forgot everything. His mind went completely blank.

Lu Yin raised a hand to suppress Qi Zun, intending to imprison him in the Champions' Stage Purgatory.

Qi Zun’s consciousness might not last for much longer, but for what time he did linger for, he would possess a bit of karma. No matter the source of karma, it could strengthen Lu Yin’s Karmic Dao.

“Today, I will imprison you. This is the consequence of opposing me.”

Qi Zun finally reacted. “No! No! I won’t die! My consciousness will live on, eternal and unending! This is the path to Immortality! Release me! I will pay any price. Release me! Relea—”

Qi Zun’s voice gradually faded away as he was trapped within the Champions' Stage Purgatory.

Seeing their ancestor disappear, the members of the Qi family were all overcome with despair. Qi Gong knelt on the ground. His eyes were glazed and lifeless, and his face was devoid of all color.

Far away, Shi Lin remained silent. The once-mighty Qi Zun had succumbed to a pitiful fate. It was both pathetic and lamentable.

Feng Zhishang and other members of the Revolt Alliance were trembling. This Third Boss was terrifying. How could he be so overwhelmingly powerful? His strength was enough to leave everyone in despair.

He had single-handedly suppressed the entire Yijing.

How had he done it?

Lu Yin retracted his inner universe. Qi Zun’s consciousness was vast, but Lu Yin could not devour it, as that consciousness represented Qi Zun’s very being.

He then lifted his head and saw that everyone around him was staring at him with eyes filled with fear.

Even the distant members of the Revolt Alliance looked at him the same way.

The ground of the Consciousness Domain had been shattered and ruined. The entire area was half-destroyed.

Lu Yin’s battered appearance demonstrated that the battle had been hard fought, but he had proven himself the ultimate victor.

Clang

.

A blade fell to the ground, producing a soft ringing sound.

A member of the Qi family collapsed, having been completely drained of all strength. Their vacant eyes stared up at the sky. “Why? Why did things still turn out like this? Even our ancestor appeared, so why?”

Everywhere, the other members of the Qi family were similarly despondent.

They had experienced despair earlier, when their family’s territory was destroyed. At that moment, they had all resigned themselves to their expected fates. However, the appearance of Ancestor Qi Zun had rekindled their hope. They had suddenly believed that they could win. However, the result had not been altered.

“Why grant us hope, only to leave us in despair again? Why?”

“Why? Why?”

Qi Gong spat out a mouthful of blood. His body swayed before he slowly collapsed.

The Qi family was just as tattered and broken as the Consciousness Domain itself.

There had been a time when the Qi family would have never thought that they would suffer such a fate.

Qi Guan, Qi Shangjun, and Qi Gong: each and every one was a sequence powerhouse or beyond. Their Qi family had been protected by the High Seraph and had ruled over the Consciousness Domain for countless years, raising up consciousness cultivators to lead the squads that fought in the Consciousness Megaverse. They had been such a magnificent family.

Even when the Revolt Alliance had risen to power and the Consciousness Domain had been divided between them and the Qi family, no one had dared to offend the Qi family.

At this moment, the Qi family had completely fallen.

No one in the Spirit Nidus had come to their aid. Not even one person from the Ascendant Hall had offered any assistance.

Why?

Was it because all of them feared the Third Boss?

Lu Yin had already lost interest in the Qi family, but since he had announced that he would destroy them, he intended to see things through to the end.

He looked at Qi Gong. “Your Qi family is finished. As the patriarch, you should join your ancestor and also become my captive.”

With that, Lu Yin stretched out a hand and reached down for Qi Gong.

The man just stared blankly at the shadow that fell upon him. There was no life in his eyes.

At that moment, Wu Wei’s deep voice spoke up. “Third Boss, the Qi family is already destroyed, and you have taken Qi Zun. Let things end here. What do you say?”