Chapter 3981: Press Down

Lu Yin released his inner universe, enveloping himself with Verdant Eternity. He had not consumed any strength so far, as it was all endlessly circulating through Infinity. If he had been facing Shan Xiao or Unbroken Time, they would have undoubtedly noticed something and would have tried to escape from Verdant Eternity’s range. Chang neither saw what was happening nor cared. The creature was too confident, and it fully believed that no power was capable of breaking through its defenses, unless it faced an Immortal.

This meant that, even if he depleted his Lifeforce, Lu Yin could continue to fight against Chang by combining his brute strength with Extremes Must Be Reversed to continuously wear down Chang’s Lifeforce.

This was much like when Lu Yin had fought against Emperor Wu, who had used the Heaven’s Seal sequence base. At that time, Lu Yin had countered Emperor Wu by constantly absorbing attacks with Extremes Must Be Reversed.

Lu Yin had been at a disadvantage throughout that battle as well.

The Nine Odysseys Megaverse launched a counterattack. Insects were endlessly slaughtered. The Great Master swept away vast swathes of bugs with each swing of her oar, yet the number of insects meant that complete annihilation was practically impossible.

There were simply too many.

At that moment, a roar rose from directly below where Lu Yin and Chang fought. It was the roar of a Morrow Behemoth.

The beast’s roar did not interest Chang. After all, compared to Lu Yin, the Morrow Behemoth’s power was insignificant.

However, Lu Yin was startled by the sound.

The First Night Pillar?

He was fighting directly above where the First Night Pillar stood.

From the moment the war started to the present moment, the First Night Pillar had done nothing. No one had appeared from that Night Pillar, and no insect had managed to breach its defenses. Lu Yin had long wondered what was so special about it, and he had even suspected that it might have no experts, much like the Sixth Night Pillar. However, that seemed unlikely. There was something special about the First Night Pillar. It was the very first one of the Nine Odysseys. It was nearly impossible for no one to remain with it.

And yet, the First Night Pillar had always been shrouded in mist that made it impossible to even see.

If the Morrow Behemoth beneath the Night Pillar was emerging, it meant that the First Night Pillar was about to move.

The ground quaked as the Morrow Behemoth stepped out. It picked up the band of brown hide, moved around the First Night Pillar, and started pulling. The beast’s immense power caused the earth to shudder.

Countless insects surged through the sand and the sky, aiming for the beast. In their path, cultivators rushed up from one city after another, determined to strike down the swarm of insects.

With another thunderous roar, the Morrow Behemoth flung the First Night Pillar out. It rose up from beneath where Lu Yin was fighting against Chang, soaring into outer space.

Lu Yin was puzzled. Was the First Night Pillar leaving?

However, the First Night Pillar did not leave the megaverse, as it came to a stop nearby in the sky. At that moment, the rest of the Nine Odysseys trembled, and a familiar sensation spread out. This was... the Nine Odysseys spirit treasure formation.

Lu Yin peered into the distance. The spirit treasure formation formed from the nine Night Pillars had been active throughout the entire battle, even without the Fifth Night Pillar. That alone defied his imagination. Was this proof that the formation could still transform?

As Lu Yin wondered about what was happening, chaos spilled through the void, accompanied by a sense of tearing. These two forces spread across the entire Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

Dan Jin, Gu Duanke, Bai Xia, Wu Cheng, and the other Odysseys Commanders attacked from the sky. They borrowed the chaos and tearing force to attack the swarms of insects. They were using both their own strength and the spirit treasure formation’s danger zone, which allowed them to slaughter far more bugs than before while also not exhausting themselves.

Soon, more cultivators from the Night Pillars joined the attack, each of them borrowing the spirit treasure formation to bolster their attacks.

The chaos and tearing force released into Nine Odysseys served as an additional source of power. People could wield this power, and it covered the entire megaverse.

Endless insect corpses fell from the sky as entire sections of the horde vanished.

It would not be long before the Nine Odysseys Megaverse annihilated all of the invaders.

Lu Yin looked away again. In front of him, Chang’s tail lashed out. The beast’s terrifying power slammed into Lu Yin. He raised an arm to block the attack, but his body was knocked back, causing bleeding tears to open up all across his arm. He did not hesitate a single moment before stepping forward again, seizing the instant that Chang’s tail swept past. The Tri-Azure Sword Intent flashed from his fingertips, descaling the beast and sending blood spraying across the sky.

Chang’s five claws came slashing down. Lu Yin dodged while lashing out with Flipping the Sky.

Heaven and earth switched places. Chang’s body fell, but like a massive wheel, its tail whipped upward and smashed down from above.

Lu Yin charged straight into the tail’s path. One hand grabbed hold of Chang’s back while the other unleashed a Wheel of Karma.

The Wheel of Karma pierced Chang, but it had little effect. Although intelligent, the beast had become utterly consumed by its battle lust. Its Dukkha and choices no longer mattered at all. Its only desire was to overwhelm Lu Yin, pitting strength against strength. Chang was the most physically powerful being in existence.

Bang!

Lu Yin grabbed Chang’s back and slammed the beast down onto the land of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, blasting out a massive crater at the border between the South and West Domains.

Countless eyes turned to look at the point of impact. That battle would decide everything. If Lu Yin failed to defeat Chang, then even the combined efforts of the Nine Odysseys would not be enough to hold the beast back. Since it could empower itself with both Lifeforce and Immortal matter, Chang might as well be a Semi-Immortal. Its defenses were nigh-impregnable.

That is, unless an Immortal intervened.

Greater Sancte Awe Gate peered down from the Frightened Sparrow Terrace. How long had it been since she had last witnessed such a heart-stirring, exhilarating battle? She was restrained by her existence as an Immortal. While she would still choose to break through to the Immortal realm given a second chance, she might have delayed the breakthrough slightly.

Master Qing Cao frowned. “If Lu Yin cannot suppress that Insect Lord, this old man will not act.”

“It cannot escape,” Greater Sancte Awe Gate replied in a cool tone.

The ground split open as the cracks spread wider, their depths without end.

Lu Yin leapt back into the sky, soaring up towards outer space. Behind him, Chang barreled its way out from underground, its eyes locked onto Lu Yin, an expression of disbelief on its face. How could he still have more? This human’s Lifeforce should have been exhausted some time ago.

Lu Yin clasped his hands together, merging his fists together to deliver a brutal downward slam onto Chang’s head, slamming the beast back underground.

Ripples spread out through the void, instantly splitting the sky from the ground with a field of white.

Lu Yin panted heavily. He glanced at his hand as the streams of white energy dissipated. It was gone. He had run out of Lifeforce.

Down below, Chang let out another roar before charging back up once again. It had also seen Lu Yin’s Lifeforce run out. “Human, how many more times can you block me?”

Lu Yin calmly replied, “Many.”

As he spoke, his body visibly withered while Infinity started swirling around him. Lightstream flickered as well. He had no choice but to use some of his other powers at this moment.

Chang charged forward, but Lightstream flickered in front of Lu Yin, and time reversed by one second. Chang’s body staggered back while Lu Yin moved at the speed of time with Inverse Step. With that extra second, a hammering punch struck.

Chang was slammed down yet again.

While this punch lacked the extra boost of being empowered by both Lifeforce and Immortal matter, it was still strong enough to knock Chang back.

The beast raged, “Despicable!”

Lu Yin shrugged. “I never said that I had to compete with you with nothing but raw strength. After all, you’re simply too big.”

“Human, I’ll devour you!” Chang lunged fiercely, its five claws sweeping across horizontally to slice Lu Yin.

The man let out a breath.

Here it comes

.

Bang!

Lu Yin was blasted away. Without Lifeforce and Immortal matter empowering him, he was more than a step weaker than his opponent, though that did not mean that he would be completely crushed.

If neither used any Lifeforce or Immortal matter, Lu Yin’s strength was evenly matched with Chang’s.

Before him, Chang’s tail whipped around. Lightstream flickered, and time rolled back by one second. While moving at the speed of time, Lu Yin empowered the Tri-Azure Sword Intent with Immortal matter and released a slash.

There was a tearing sound, and many of Chang’s scales were sliced off. Its blood sprayed across the sky.

Furious, Chang twisted back around and slammed its claws down, forcing Lu Yin to the ground. His body recovered, only to wither once more. He was ready to continue brawling.

Countless eyes watched as Lu Yin used Extremes Must Be Reversed together with Lightstream to fight Chang in a battle of attrition. They traded wounds and blows, and while the battle was not as intense as their earlier collision of pure strength, it was far bloodier. The sky itself took on a scarlet hue.

Lu Yin’s body continuously recovered, but the bleeding gashes from Chang’s claws did not disappear.

As for Chang, its body was repeatedly sliced open by the Tri-Azure Sword Intent. Still, to such a large creature, they were only flesh wounds.

No one knew how long this battle would last for, but no one could intervene.

Across the megaverse, the swarms of insects gradually fell silent. Cultivators used the spirit treasure formation formed by the Night Pillars to crush the swarms.

Lu Yin had not known about this possibility at first, but now, he understood why Greater Sancte Awe Gate had remained so calm. As long as humanity could prevail in the battles involving the most powerful combatants, then no matter how many insects there were, they would never be able to seize an advantage.

Had this tactic been used early on, Luo Chan would have been able to easily shatter the spirit treasure formation.

This was a home-field advantage, though the cost was steep. Too many had died across the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, and countless rivers had run red with blood. Even just cleaning up all of the insect corpses would take a very long time.

...

Lu Yin’s body slammed against the Mother Tree with enough force to make the tree tremble.

Gasping for breath, Lu Yin saw Chang glaring at him from a distance. The beast could not leave unless it killed Lu Yin. Additionally, Chang did not want to leave. Their contest of strength had not yet been decided.

Lu Yin removed a leaf from his head and prepared to step forward.

A voice reached his ear. It was Greater Sancte Awe Gate. “Can you win?”

Lu Yin’s voice was steady. “Of course.”

“Thank you.”

Lu Yin curled five fingers. He twisted his neck, producing soft popping sounds from his bones. Only then did he leap towards Chang.

The beast let out another roar and then fiercely lunged at the tiny human. Lu Yin threw a heavy punch, smashing it straight at the Insect Lord’s head.

Chang had expected Lu Yin to reverse time and deliver a tricky blow, but that did not happen this time. Lu Yin’s fist landed directly on Chang’s head, even as the beast’s full momentum continued forward into the human.

The universe thundered.

A terrifying shockwave swept out, kicking up a storm that caused countless people to lose consciousness. Many cultivators started to bleed from their seven orifices. They were unable to withstand the shockwave, and many were unable to even watch the battle.

“You’re nothing but a bug! Get down!” Lu Yin roared as his fist pressed against Chang’s head. The beast’s Lifeforce surged without end, like the blades of a thousand mountain walls, and yet the power of Lu Yin’s own strength seemed similarly endless. It drew power from all of Chang’s earlier strikes, as they had been absorbed by Extremes Must Be Reversed.

This was the true limit of Lu Yin’s strength.

Chang could not believe what was happening.

How is this possible? How can this human still possess such terrifying strength?

You want to press me down? Impossible!

Its Lifeforce would never allow Chang to yield.

It bared its teeth, releasing a roar as its power surged even higher.

A dark-red energy erupted from Lu Yin’s body. He used True God’s Natural Art. Heaven's Seal’s sequence particles spread out while Infinity circulated through his body. He withered yet again, absorbing Chang’s power. The absorption and counterattack happened in tandem.

The sky shook. The pressure was so great that countless people could barely even breathe, yet none dared to utter a sound.

At this moment, Lu Yin did not intend to use any other form of power. He wanted to force Chang down with nothing but physical power. This was an instinct and the dignity of creatures in battle.

Chang’s roars caused Lu Yin’s vision to grow blurry, but he continued to release his strength. He could not lose. He had never lost in a battle of physical power.

Just an insect, just an insect...

Press it down, press it down, press it down...

Whoosh

.

A stream of white energy surged from Lu Yin’s fist. After a moment, an indescribable sensation rose within his body. It was as though he was experiencing a rebirth. More streams of white energy erupted, seemingly endless. It was Lifeforce, but how could there be so much? This was far more than anything he had wielded before.

Chang was horrified by the sight.

How is this possible?