Chapter 4040: A Few Moves?

Boom!

The universe above the Immemorial Citadel shattered. An unimaginably terrifying wave of power shot out in all directions, pressing Lu Yuan and the others down towards the citadel. The Immortal monster’s descending arm was kicked aside with so much force that the thunderous crack of bone echoed across the universe.

The droplet-shaped creature’s eyes bulged.

Shan Xiao and Luo Chan exchanged stunned glances.

Is that...?

Bang, bang, bang...

Dozens of individuals slammed down into the Immemorial Citadel, but since they had only been struck by shockwaves, none of them had suffered any serious harm. One by one, they looked up above.

Lu Yin?

“Little Seven?”

“Lord Lu?”

“Pillar...”

Excitement stirred in everyone, as Lu Yin had returned.

High above the Immemorial Citadel, Lu Yin stood straight as he stared at the distant insect Immortal with cold eyes.

In a different direction, the Immortal beast was still staggering back after its massive arm was kicked aside. It let out a roar of fury and then bellowed in the direction of the Immemorial Citadel.

Lu Yin turned to look at the monster. “Senior, the bug is all yours.”

Master Qing Cao stepped forward, arriving at Lu Yin’s side while shaking his head in a helpless manner. “Fate toys with us all. The Tianyuan should not be destroyed, and yet its time has fallen into chaos.”

Just moments earlier, Lu Yin and the green lotus leaf had crossed what should have been half a day’s journey to arrive directly in the Tianyuan Megaverse. It was not that their speed had increased. Time itself had fallen into chaos, erasing an entire stretch of distance until its time was simply gone.

And the time that had been erased due to the clash between the River of Aeons and the Immortal monster’s arm.

Essentially, the monster’s attacks had thrown the Tianyuan’s time into disarray. It was somewhat similar to how Zhao Ran had reverted the flow of time years ago, but it was also distinctly different.

Reversing time was not something that could affect an Immortal.

In this case, an entire portion of time had simply been erased. This was something that was beyond even the power of Zhao Ran, who was a ferryman of the River of Aeons. Destabilizing the river meant destroying it, and while an Immortal could pull that off, erasing a specific portion of time was something that even Immortals were rarely able to achieve.

One could only say that it was fate.

Even Master Qing Cao had not anticipated such a coincidence. The fact that precisely the half-day that they needed to reach the Tianyuan had been erased had allowed Lu Yin to arrive in time.

Lu Yin’s arrival was like a beam of light shining above the Immemorial Citadel, illuminating everyone below.

In particular, his kick had just sent the Immortal monster flying. No one in the citadel could believe their eyes.

That was true of Lu Yuan and the others, while the bugs were even more incredulous.

The droplet creature’s eye twitched. This human was not an Immortal, and yet he had driven back the Immortal beast. The force of his kick was no small thing. Was this the man who had defeated Unbroken Time and Chang in the other human megaverse?

Regardless, he was clearly an expert who had reached the pinnacle of power beneath the Immortal realm. This was indeed a problem.

At the same time, the insect looked at Master Qing Cao, who was a human Immortal. If the bug’s guess was not wrong, the karmic barrier that had appeared earlier and stopped the insects from reaching their destination had been put up by this man. Was he an Immortal who wielded the power of karma?

“Master, that human is called Lu Yin. He’s the one who killed Unbroken Time and fought against Chang. Chang must have also met his end at this man’s hands,” Luo Chan quickly reported.

Shan Xiao’s expression grew grave. “Master, Lu Yin wields the power of karma. Is it possible that the karmic barrier we felt earlier was...?”

The droplet creature shook its head. “It could not have been him. He is not an Immortal, and only an Immortal who has mastered the power of karma could have controlled karma across such a vast distance.”

“But he-” Shan Xiao started to argue, only to be cut off as the grass around them started to grow.

Master Qing Cao stepped forward, his bamboo basket still on his back. His gaze was fixed upon the Immortal bug. “I thought that the Nest civilization only had one Immortal, the Immortal Lord. I didn’t consider that there might be a second.”

The droplet creature turned to face Master Qing Cao. “Human, do you wish to increase your restrictions?”

Master Qing Cao sighed. “Then retreat. This old man has no wish to fight you.”

The droplet creature’s eyes flickered, but it did not reply.

Below, in the Immemorial Citadel, everyone could see Master Qing Cao. While none of them could understand why the Immortal had appeared with Lu Yin and was blocking the insect Immortal, everyone still knew that Qing Cao was also an Immortal. For the moment, he was also their ally.

Roar!

The Immortal beast roared again as it twisted its massive arm about. There was a deep red mark on it that stood out sharply. It was from Lu Yin’s foot.

He had waited far too long to deliver that kick.

The Immortal beast’s eyes locked onto Lu Yin. Slowly, its uncontrollable rage and hatred swelled before finally erupting in another roar.

Lu Yin had woven karma for the monster, creating a hatred between it and the Nest civilization. However, that had not erased the karma between the monster and Lu Yin himself.

The grudge that had prompted the beast to hunt down Lu Yin stemmed from its arm being severed by the Tri-Azure Sword Intent. That was why it had targeted both the Nest civilization and Lu Yin.

Lu Yin’s appearance meant that the beast completely ignored the droplet-shaped creature. Its arm lashed out savagely, its claws slashing at Lu Yin.

Lifeforce surged from Lu Yin’s body, and he infused it with Immortal matter. He stepped forward, easily evading the monster’s claws while rushing along its arm to deliver a punch straight between the beast’s eyes.

There was a deafening bang as the void shattered. Spatial cracks spread out in all directions. The Immortal beast was knocked back by the solitary single punch, letting out howls of agony.

Everyone froze; had Lu Yin actually managed to hurt the creature?

The droplet creature was similarly stunned.

Lifeforce? And such terrifying physical strength!

There was no doubt that the human was capable of fighting against Immortals. Given the punch that had directly struck the area between the monster’s eyes, the two had also evidently fought before.

Behind Lu Yin, the Tri-Azure Sword Intent shot upwards, releasing slashes at the Immortal.

The moment the Tri-Azure Sword Intent appeared, the beast’s rage peaked beyond anything it had felt before. Its arm swept to the side, crushing the sword intent. However, Lu Yin just raised his hand and tapped the void in response, causing a Heaven and Earth Lock to descend. He infused it with Immortal matter to bind the beast, sealing its arm, its body, and even its strength.

The Immortal monster roared yet again as it strained to break free from the Heaven and Earth Lock.

The power of the Heaven and Earth Lock was directly related to how much Immortal matter was infused into the technique. In the Consciousness Megaverse, Lu Yin had only managed to gather a small bit of Immortal matter, so he had not been able to trap the beast.

But things had changed, and Lu Yin’s reserve of Immortal matter was multiples times greater than before. More importantly, before he left the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, Greater Sancte Awe Gate had given him more, increasing his total reserve to nearly 100,000 specks of Immortal matter.

While that was not considered much for an actual Immortal like Master Qing Cao, it was enough to pose a threat.

If the Tri-Azure Sword Intent was released as 100,000 slashes that had each been empowered with enough Immortal matter to match the power of an Immortal, it would be enough to overwhelm any opponent beneath the Immortal realm.

Of course, against an Immortal, just one speck of Immortal matter per slash would not be sufficient.

The Heaven and Earth Lock had been strengthened by hundreds of specks of Immortal matter, which allowed it to firmly pin the monster down.

Lu Yin lifted a hand. The Tri-Azure Sword Intent drifted through space, pointed straight at the beast as it was steadily infused with more and more Immortal matter. Lifeforce surged from his upraised hand as Lu Yin stepped forward, stabbing his attack straight between the monster’s eyes.

Every eye in the Immemorial Citadel was watching, no one able to comprehend what sort of methods Lu Yin was employing. He had changed too much since he had last been in the Tianyuan.

The Tri-Azure Sword Intent pierced through the beast’s body, stabbing almost halfway between its two eyes.

Those eyes were locked onto Lu Yin. With a furious roar, the monster’s body started to expand, shattering the Heaven and Earth Lock as the beast started spinning in a frenzy.

Lu Yin retreated a few steps so that he was standing in front of the Immemorial Citadel.

From his first strike to when he had just injured the Immortal beast, his movements had flowed seamlessly, which left everyone shaken.

Even the droplet creature was shaken.

Lu Yin and Jiang Feng were entirely different types of experts. Jiang Feng was like an assassin with subtle and silent attacks, whereas every move that Lu Yin made was absolutely overwhelming. Still, both men could threaten an Immortal.

However, Jiang Feng lacked Lifeforce and Immortal matter.

He had chosen a different path, one of struggle after taking a shortcut. It was a path that amazed even Master Qing Cao.

The Immortal monster’s body continued to grow larger, and Lu Yin’s eyes glinted with a sharp light. Who had said that the monster lacked a unique world? Its body was its world.

While its size ballooned, its defenses did not weaken in the slightest.

Left unchecked, there would not even be a need for the monster to attack. Just its presence alone would crush the Immemorial Citadel.

Realizing this, Lu Yin looked over at the Immortal bug. “Bug, do you want to exchange a few moves?”

The droplet creature replied, “Are you capable of taking on two at once?”

Lu Yin sneered. “I don’t need to. One-on-one is enough. Senior, I’ll trouble you to hold that beast back. The bug is mine. I want to see how much its karmic chain will increase by fighting me.”

The droplet creature felt a flicker of fear. It was not truly afraid of Lu Yin, as no matter how strong he might be, he was not an Immortal. No matter his strength, he could not kill the insect Immortal.

Still, fighting against such a powerful opponent would increase the Immortal’s karmic chain by a large amount, and the bug was not confident that it could kill Lu Yin. The man was ruthless, and he posed an even greater threat than Jiang Feng.

The cost and potential reward were completely unbalanced. The bug would suffer a huge loss regardless of the outcome.

Fighting against this kind of opponent was not worth the cost.

“Let’s go!” From behind Lu Yin, the Tri-Azure Sword Intent sliced at the droplet creature.

The insect’s antennae twitched, causing droplets to fill the universe, only for them to be torn apart by the sword intent that severed the curtain of droplets from existence.

When the Tri-Azure Sword Intent arrived before the creature’s eyes, it was gone.

Luo Chan and Shan Xiao had also vanished.

The sword intent only struck empty space.

Lu Yin frowned.

They escaped? How decisive

.

That was actually what he had been expecting. Since the Immortal bug had not been willing to compete with Master Qing Cao in a test of endurance, then why would it stay?

With the droplet creature gone, the entire Nest civilization had essentially retreated from the Tianyuan.

It was just a pity that Lu Yin had not been able to eliminate Shan Xiao or Luo Chan.

If the Immortal bug had been alone, Lu Yin might have been able to find a way to pin down and eliminate another Insect Lord, but with the Immortal monster also present, it forcefully split his focus. After all, Master Qing Cao was unwilling to fight.

Lu Yin let out a heavy breath.

Now, it’s just the monster

.

Within the Immemorial Citadel, when people saw that the Immortal bug had vanished, they all subconsciously heaved sighs of relief.

While the Immortal beast remained, humanity had just gained two supreme powerhouses. Master Qing Cao was an Immortal, while Lu Yin had just kicked the monster aside and revealed such incredible power that people mistook him for another Immortal. Clearly, he had the strength to face the monster head-on.

That was enough.

For the moment, the threat of the Nest civilization had been alleviated.

Far away, the Immortal beast continued to writhe as it grew larger and larger.

Master Qing Cao called out, “Lord Lu, this old man promised that I would help the Tianyuan against the insects. You brought that beast here yourself, and I won’t take part in that battle. Play with it on your own.”

With that, he stepped back and vanished.

Lu Yin frowned, but he did not try to stop the man. Such a thing was also impossible for him.

The Immemorial Citadel was no place to battle an Immortal. Lu Yin raised his hand and ripped the void open. “Beast, come with me.”

With that, the Tri-Azure Sword Intent cut across the beast’s body, producing a metallic clang. Lu Yin himself slipped through the spatial tear, returning to the Origin Universe before heading towards the Aevum Inch.

The Immortal monster ignored the humans in the Immemorial Citadel. It was solely focused on Lu Yin, and with a roar, it lunged after him.