Chapter 3617: Wielder - God

Spirals of karma gathered at Lu Yin's hand, where they combined to form a Wheel of Karma that acted as a shield for him. Emperor Wu raised a hand and attacked downward with enough force to break past the Wheel of Karma and directly strike Lu Yin.

Lu Yin dispersed the Wheel of Karma, allowing the spirals of karma to scatter out chaotically. He then faced Emperor Wu and smiled.

Emperor Wu paused.

He’s smiling? Can he still smile?

Naturally, Lu Yin had to smile. He had more than one way to fight Emperor Wu even in his current state. Lu Yin could have countered Emperor Wu even when he was fully empowered by the sequence base, and yet Lu Yin had continued to merely endure. He had even refrained from using spirals of karma. This was because only someone like Emperor Wu, who was physically stronger than Lu Yin, could accomplish a critical task: pressure Lu Yin.

Only extreme pressure could bring about both destruction and rebirth.

How many of Emperor Wu’s attacks had Lu Yin endured? Too many. From the moment that Emperor Wu had first started using his sequence base, Lu Yin had been struck repeatedly. It had started even before Emperor Wu released his full power. After he used the Nine Heavens Transformation, he had continued to rain down blows upon Lu Yin, who had lost count of how many times he had been struck.

Stars shattered, and both the Hollow and the True Void were exposed. Lu Yin moved through all of the destruction. While he had not yet breathed in the primordial purity of the megaverse’s origin to reach the Origin Realm, the pressure that he faced from Emperor Wu let another one of Lu Yin’s powers finally evolve.

The Wielder - Indestructible battle force on Lu Yin's body that had been shattered started to merge back together. This time, the battle force was no longer black, but rather a dark-grey color. It possessed an ancient aura that was reminiscent of the first soil that had appeared when the universe had first appeared. The battle force spread over Lu Yin’s entire body. This was Wielder - God.

Lu Yin had suffered terrible pain in order to obtain Wielder-realm battle force. It was a power that was built up solely from overwhelming agony. Similarly, Wielder - God also required one to endure suffering.

Ancient God had achieved his breakthrough in battle force by breaking through and becoming an Ortuser, but Lu Yin had chosen to once again take the path of suffering.

"

The more hits you take, the closer you are to a breakthrough.

" This was the advice that the Origin Progenitor had given to Ancient God. Lu Yin had fought many battles during his time in the Spirit Nidus, and he had desperately hoped to encounter someone who could actually hurt him, but none of his opponents had been suitable. The High Seraph was so overwhelmingly powerful that his attacks would simply crush Lu Yin outright.

Only Emperor Wu was capable of delivering blows that were heavy enough to push Lu Yin to his absolute limits without entirely destroying him. With Natural Art serving as a restraint, Lu Yin was confident that he could endure everything from Emperor Wu.

Days of being repeatedly attacked had finally culminated at this exact moment.

Lu Yin looked up as Emperor Wu's fist fell once more. Lu Yin did not counter or evade, and he instead willingly accepted the punch.

A blow that would have pushed Extremes Must Be Reversed to its absolute limit completely failed to break past the dark-grey substance that covered Lu Yin’s body.

Emperor Wu was shocked. "You used me."

"Don’t say it like that. I’ve been the one taking all of your aggression this entire time, so now it’s your turn." Lu Yin moved with Inverse Step to appear behind Emperor Wu. The dark-grey substance that covered his body instantly gathered at his fingertip as he thrust it forward: Dao of One Heavens.

Emperor Wu whipped around while unleashing another punch. No matter what Lu Yin may have obtained, Emperor Wu's strength remained unbeatable.

Lightstream flashed out, reversing time by one second, which caused Emperor Wu’s punch to miss. From the side, Lu Yin’s finger stabbed into Emperor Wu’s neck, ripping open his flesh and nearly completely tearing through his neck.

Blood splattered through outer space, and Emperor Wu’s hand reached out to grab Lu Yin, who quickly avoided it. Right after that, Lu Yin unleashed a fierce consciousness attack. While it was impossible for him to crush Emperor Wu with consciousness, such attacks could at least momentarily stun him. During that brief opening, the landmass from Lu Yin’s inner universe manifested above Emperor Wu’s head. A palm turned. With the earth above the sky, it was destined to overturn: Flipping the Sky.

Boom!

The ground slammed down, forcing Emperor Wu to bend from the sudden pressure. He was caught off guard by the comprehension technique that had suddenly appeared. More of the lanterns drifting around were destroyed, and the red line on Emperor Wu’s face grew bolder. He raised an arm and shattered the landmass while his other arm pointed at the distant Lu Yin and unleashed a devastating attack that severed the stars and split the universe asunder.

Lu Yin again evaded with Inverse Step. His finger rose and dropped again, and the broken mainland suddenly formed into countless spears. Each one was enveloped with Wielder - God battle force, and they fell like rain.

Countless spears stabbed through Emperor Wu’s body, leaving behind numerous bleeding wounds. While they were only flesh wounds, he instantly looked miserable to all who were watching.

Onlookers could no longer understand what was happening. The constant exchanges and shifts in battle made it so that even powerful experts like Old Salamander and Seraph Meng Sang found it impossible to determine who held the upper hand.

Emperor Wu was extraordinarily powerful, and that astonishing strength had only risen after he used the Nine Heavens Transformation. Even so, he was unable to defeat Seraph Lu. Just how deep was the young man’s foundation?

It was only at this moment that people started to understand what a joke the battle at the Umbral Deep had been. Forget those who had fought in that battle—even if ten times the number of experts had participated, they still would not have been a match for Seraph Lu. His only true opponents were the High Seraph, or possibly Emperor Wu after he used the Nine Heavens Transformation.

Emperor Wu endured the countless spears that made his body resemble a pincushion. Each spear embedded itself deep in his body.

He grabbed one of the spears and looked down at it before crushing it with overwhelming strength. “So this is it... You’ve had a breakthrough. You’ve reached the absolute limit of physical defense for a living being.”

Wielder - God battle force was, in a way, an absolute limit. In the past, Ancient God had used the same battle force to suppress Progenitor Ku and other experts, to the point where no one had been able to even fight back. Only the fact that Lu Yin’s ancestor, Lu Yuan, had broken through had allowed them to hold Ancient God back. Even then, defeating him had been utterly impossible. During both the battle in the Scourge and the final battle at the Immemorial Citadel, no one had ever broken through Ancient God’s battle force when he had used it defensively.

Even when Lu Yin had fought against Ancient God on the Ossis Ark, he had only managed to force Ancient God back; he had never actually breached the man’s defenses.

It was important to note that, at the time, Lu Yin had already possessed physical strength that surpassed the limits of the megaverse while Ancient God had not. Ancient God might have been an Ortuser, but that had not given him any advantage over Lu Yin, who was still not even a Sequence Progenitor.

Ancient God had not been able to defeat Lu Yin and had been forced to rely solely on his Wielder - God battle force. Still, that was precisely why Ancient God had been the only one aboard the Ossis Ark who was capable of directly confronting Lu Yin and retreating unscathed.

Lu Yin had just undergone his own transformation and achieved Wielder - God battle force. That, combined with his already formidable defenses and physical strength, meant that he far surpassed Ancient God on the Ossis Ark.

Emperor Wu’s comment had been quite accurate; Lu Yin had indeed reached the limit of physical defenses that a living creature could achieve.

In his Nine Heavens Transformation state, Emperor Wu had almost reached the peak of physical strength that a living creature could obtain, much like what True God had revealed after using his Natural Art and uprooting the black Mother Tree.

This strength was also the foundation of Emperor Wu’s confidence for challenging the High Seraph.

As he ripped each spear out of his body, Emperor Wu spoke in a low voice. “Seraph Lu, I understand why you had the audacity to antagonize my Primal Beastland. I admit, before mastering the Nine Heavens Transformation, I would have been no match for you. You deserve to be called the strongest Seraph.

“But do you truly understand the Nine Heavens Transformation?”

Of course Lu Yin did. He took a deep breath as his inner universe pulsed and the star of divine energy started to spin. Only by understanding the Nine Heavens Transformation could one truly grasp just how terrifying it was.

It was not a mere battle technique, but rather a state to be achieved—a transformed state.

Lu Yin understood this precisely because he had also mastered the Nine Heavens Transformation.

"The Nine Heavens Transformation is a state." Emperor Wu's voice echoed throughout the universe to reach everyone’s ears. "Everyone believes that the Nine Heavens Transformation is just an attack, but unfortunately, that is not the case. It is a state where one’s power is amplified multiple times over. At most, one can gain ninefold their original power. You have earned my respect, and so, as a parting gift for your death, I am telling you this."

As he spoke, the space behind Emperor Wu started to distort, and layer after layer was stripped away. Each layer represented one level of the Nine Heavens, and each level seemed to contain an image of Emperor Wu cultivating.

"If a cultivator’s strength is one," Emperor Wu paused, gaze locked on Lu Yin. "Then in the Nine Heavens Transformation, he might still be one. Or—he becomes nine."

The surrounding cultivators erupted into chaos as they struggled to process this unbelievable revelation. How was such a technique even possible?

Emperor Wu was implying that a person’s strength could increase nine times over by using the Nine Heavens Transformation. This was not as simple as multiplying Emperor Wu’s strength by nine, but rather, combining the power of nine Emperor Wus into one body. It was no wonder why, even without relying on his sequence base, Emperor Wu had been able to completely overwhelm Seraph Lu.

Only at this moment did people truly grasp just how terrifying an opponent Lu Yin had been facing. However, this understanding only made it harder for people to comprehend how Lu Yin had managed to launch a counterattack. How had he managed to overpower an Emperor Wu who had entered such a state?

The more overwhelming and fearsome Emperor Wu was, the greater Lu Yin’s power was emphasized.

Both Lu Yin and Emperor Wu had far surpassed the level of strength that everyone had understood the Seven Seraphs to possess.

Zhan Ming’s expression soured. The Nine Heavens Transformation was the High Seraph’s supreme technique. It was what allowed him to single-handedly suppress the entire Spirit Nidus and what had allowed him to sweep across the Consciousness Megaverse unopposed. This was the High Seraph’s strength.

However, Emperor Wu had achieved the same power.

The Seven Seraphs had never truly been equal to each other, as there was always variance in their power levels. However, this was no longer a matter of mere imbalance; Emperor Wu had completely broken free from the others, as had Lu Yin. Neither of the two belonged to the same level as the rest of the Seven Seraphs.

These two had stepped onto the same stage as the High Seraph.

It was no wonder why Lu Yin had dared to challenge the Ascendant Hall and had demonstrated a complete disregard for the Gate of Laws. He had even gone so far as to threaten to deface the walls of the Apex Palace. From the very beginning, Lu Yin’s target had never been the Seven Seraphs, but rather the High Seraph.

Wait...

At that moment, Zhan Ming suddenly realized something.

He was not the only one. Jiu Xian, Old Salamander, and several others reached the same conclusion, and their expressions grew more solemn than ever before.

There was no shortage of sharp minds among the spectators. One by one, those people’s faces fell as they stared at Emperor Wu.

No way... Is he going to do it again?

In the middle of outer space, Emperor Wu clutched at his heart. A strand of yellow lightning spread across his body, gradually enveloping him. Endless sequence particles erupted, but these sequence particles belonged to the Heaven's Seal sequence base. Once again, Emperor Wu was drawing upon his sequence base.

Despite still being weakened by Natural Art, the multiplication of strength that the Nine Heavens Transformation provided meant that he was far, far stronger than when he had first used the sequence base.

Emperor Wu was immensely powerful even in his natural state, and he was capable of drawing on Heaven's Seal. After all, it was a sequence base created by the sequence particles of 299 beast-form Spirit Rebirth cultivators who had all cultivated Finite Strength or Infinite Strength. No matter how strong Emperor Wu became, he could never surpass the combined sequence particles of 299 sequence powerhouses.

It could be said that, if Heaven's Seal were given to the High Seraph, he would also be able to access its power.

Just what level would Emperor Wu reach after using the sequence base in his current condition?

Soon, everyone witnessed it.

Emperor Wu let out a light breath, yet just that shattered even the void. The universe trembled as though it was unable to withstand the oppressive power that had appeared within it.

This was no longer merely surpassing the limit of biological strength. At this moment, Emperor Wu was genuinely qualified to challenge the High Seraph. After all, the High Seraph had also mastered the Nine Heavens Transformation.

Countless people felt the bitter taste of despair. Cultivators from the Primal Beastland fell into a heavy silence.

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Who had taught Emperor Wu the Nine Heavens Transformation? Where would this push the future of the Spirit Nidus to?