Chapter 4098: Endless Darkness

In the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, Greater Sancte Green Lotus closed his eyes. His mind entered his Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm so that he could face the Immortal Lord alone.

The earlier clash against the Immortal Lord had only been a probing strike, and yet just that had already left everyone else feeling shaken.

At the moment, Green Lotus was deliberately hurling shockwaves from that confrontation over to the Immortal monster.

Lu Yin’s battle had entered a stalemate, which meant that some sort of outside force was needed.

The Immortal beast could serve as the perfect lever. So long as it returned, Lu Yin would stop being restricted by the droplet creature’s cosmic law.

Go back, now.

The Immortal beast continuously altered course, only to find that its paths to freedom were growing fewer and fewer. Finally, it was forced to turn back.

There was no other choice. Any further forward would cause the beast to be caught in a blast.

Given its condition, it was not able to withstand such an impact.

Though its mind was clouded by hatred, the beast was not foolish. It knew that it had been trapped and also that returning to where it had been was the only way out.

With an enraged roar, the beast started to shrink. Lifeforce flooded out from its body to cover it as it sped back towards the Tianyuan.

As that happened, in a different direction from the Tianyuan, several oddly-shaped creatures were peering into the distance, trembling.

“What is this place? Those are all Immortals, right? Right? Right?”

“Shut up! You’ll get us spotted!”

“Big Brother, I don’t want to, but I can’t help it! This is too terrifying! Since when do Immortals fight in a melee?”

“It’s got to be a fishing civilization. I can’t imagine any civilization where Immortals fight in such numbers.”

“Ordinary civilizations only have one or two Immortals, at best, and yet how many have already appeared here? Also, look up. Doesn’t it feel like the cosmos is collapsing?”

“Big Brother, let’s run! This isn’t a place for us.”

“Not now. If we move, we’ll be noticed. Shut up and just watch. If we make it out of this alive, we’ll get far, far away. Whoever wants this place can have it...”

...

The fight continued to rage outside the Tianyuan.

Lu Yin continued to pound at the two Immortal Verdant Sages, but they continued to flicker about, vanishing and reappearing in an utterly unpredictable manner.

After a while, a familiar roar was heard, causing Lu Yin’s eyes to light up.

The two insects’ eyes snapped over to peer into the distance. “Why has that beast come back?”

“Master, shall I send it away?”

“You won’t be able to move it at all. With Lu Yin watching, we can’t help you.”

“Be careful.”

“Go. Leave this Lu Yin.”

Lifeforce formed six white arms that swept towards the two Immortal Verdant Sages.

They both instantly vanished.

The Immortal beast then turned its bloodshot eye to the nearby Tianyuan. With the Verdant Sages gone, its only remaining enemy was Lu Yin.

At that moment, the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm split space open between the two with a thunderous roar.

Startled, the beast showed no hesitation. It charged past the Tianyuan, fleeing into the distance.

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. Greater Sancte Green Lotus was corralling the monster about, but doing so was pointless. The Verdant Sages had already slipped away, but as soon as the Immortal beast left, they would return. Nothing would really change.

Far away, the humanoid Verdant Sage looked up. “That human Immortal who controls karma is still able to take action, despite the main body’s interference. We need to be careful. We can’t get caught up in that.”

“The battlefields are confined, preventing anyone from shifting to another one. Humans are truly troublesome,” the droplet-shaped Verdant Sage said.

The humanoid insect turned to stare at the Tianyuan. “I’ll use everything I have to keep him pinned down. You attack that karmic barrier and eliminate the megaverse’s defenses.”

“What about you?”

“At worst, I’ll have to use the Three Revolutions of Qianyuan.”

“Alright.”

The next instant, Luo Chan shifted the two Immortal Verdant Sages to opposite sides of the Tianyuan.

Lu Yin’s arms shot out in both directions. At this moment, he was the Tianyuan, so no matter how his opponents moved about, he would always be able to attack them both.

The humanoid Verdant Sage’s gaze grew sharp, and their hands pressed together: Three Revolutions of Qianyuan. It was their most powerful attack.

The silhouette appeared, growing larger and larger. Finally, a colossal form reached across the cosmos to slap a hand at the Tianyuan.

Lu Yin retaliated with a single palm strike.

Space rippled and shattered, causing darkness to unfurl without end as the thundering impact raked across the Aevum Inch.

The humanoid Verdant Sage did not give up a single step. They were pushed to the brink as their Lifeforce was continuously drained, but even as they spat out blood, the Immortal continued their charge towards the Tianyuan. It was like seeing a man rushing to his death.

Lu Yin’s focus shifted. Was the humanoid Verdant Sage truly seeking death?

He looked down at the creature’s wrist and the karmic chain there. Because of the fighting, the chain had increased, but it was still far from being complete. As for the droplet-shaped Verdant Sage’s karmic chain, Lu Yin still had not found it.

The humanoid insect pressed forward. The Lifeforce-empowered Three Revolutions of Qianyuan started shrinking, but despite their suffering grievous wounds, the Verdant Sage continued to advance.

The droplet creature continued its attack on the karmic wall with countless droplets, which forced Lu Yin to raise his other hand to defend it. This gave the humanoid Verdant Sage the chance to continue forward, even as their Lifeforce drained away.

Lu Yin’s expression fell. He glanced at the droplet creature and then back at the humanoid insect. The Primordial card was flicked out. Shan Barrens was sent streaking towards the humanoid Verdant Sage.

Immortal matter surged around the creature, creating a Lawless Barrier.

They would not be easily pulled into Shan Barrens.

However, the card did not try to trap the Immortal. Instead, Darkness covered the card in layers before it shot out beams of black light.

The Immortal was startled. Was this another trick? They had thought that the force that had nearly trapped them within the card had been the card’s limit. It had been a power worthy of a Primordial card. Just the fact that it had succeeded in trapping an Immortal for a time was an impressive feat.

Immortal matter formed a third silhouette around the Verdant Sage. This one was far smaller than the silhouette of Lifeforce, being only a hundred meters across, but it was still enough to hold back the black beams.

While an Immortal’s Lawless Barrier was of limited use against their peers, it still worked against the Primordial card.

One beam after another shot past the humanoid Verdant Sage, vanishing.

They frowned.

Was that too easy? If my defenses endured so easily, then why use that attack?

An indescribable sense of unease appeared, but retreat was no longer an option. The humanoid Verdant Sage had to buy time for the droplet Immortal to break the karmic wall. As soon as the megaverse was exposed, the human would be vulnerable, and then their victory would be assured.

Human emotions would always be the Nest civilization’s greatest weapon against them.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

The Tianyuan shuddered. Lu Yuan clenched his fists. He felt incredibly frustrated. He was the ancestor of the Lu family, one of the Three Realms and Six Daos, which made him one of the first cultivators in their megaverse, and yet he was being protected by one of his descendents. He could not accept it.

Ancient God, Jiang Feng, and many others felt the same unwillingness.

But before they broke through to the Immortal realm, they were not qualified to intervene in such battles.

Jiang Feng had once succeeded in wounding the droplet-shaped insect, but things had changed since then. Both of the Verdant Sages had trained for long periods of time, growing beyond Jiang Feng’s reach.

If not for the fact that he was able to merge with the megaverse, Lu Yin would also struggle greatly against the two Immortals.

In fact, he would have had a hard time defeating even just one of them.

The battle was less a matter of Lu Yin fighting against powerful foes than him and more like the entire Tianyuan standing against their enemies.

Behind the droplet creature, a single blue droplet slowly gathered. No matter how many droplets bombarded the karmic wall, that one blue droplet did not move, it only grew larger. It was the bug’s ultimate attack, and it was waiting for the right opportunity.

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

The humanoid Verdant Sage clenched their teeth, still enduring Lu Yin’s blows as they pressed forward. As for the black beams from Shan Barrens, the Verdant Sage had already dismissed them, focusing solely on Lu Yin.

Before long, the massive droplet finished forming.

Blood stained the humanoid Verdant Sage’s lips. The repeated blows had opened up wounds across their body, and yet they still stared straight ahead. Hands rose, and with a final burst of Lifeforce, the third silhouette appeared and was shoved forward by the Verdant Sage’s arms. “Lu Yin, to face two Immortals while not being an Immortal yourself, that alone is something to be proud of. You’ve left a mark in the history of the cosmos, but even so, you will still meet your end here.”

The Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm quaked beneath the unimaginable force. The Immortal Lord was striking harder, clearly determined to keep Greater Sancte Green Lotus pinned down.

From behind the droplet creature, the massive droplet rose up, ready to destroy the Tianyuan at any moment.

Lu Yin’s focus sharpened. He glanced at the humanoid Verdant Sage, and then a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

The Verdant Sage saw the movement, and their heart dropped.

He’s laughing?

“Endless Darkness.”

As these words were spoken, darkness suddenly surrounded the humanoid Verdant Sage. All light vanished. The darkness came from the Primordial card, Shan Barrens.

Absolute darkness completely enveloped the insect.

The droplet creature could sense a spike in danger, and it flung the droplet forward, hurling it towards the Tianyuan.

Lu Yin spun around to face the droplet creature, raising both hands to block the attack.

Boom!

The megaverse and the Aevum Inch both trembled.

Lu Yin’s hands slammed into the droplet, and space shattered. Time and space fell into chaos before transforming into indistinguishable bolts of lightning that shot through the void and far into the distance.

The entire Tianyuan shuddered.

Meanwhile, the region that was now shrouded in darkness was suddenly compressed and forced downward. Space transformed into a flat plane as the darkness stretched out without end.

Vrmmm.

There was a faint sound before the humanoid Verdant Sage erupted from the flat stretch of darkness. Their hair was disheveled, and their body looked as if it had been crushed. The creature’s face was pale, and their Lifeforce flickered weakly. Tears and cuts could be seen everywhere, as well as dried blood, despite the fact that only a brief moment had passed within the darkness.

“Get me out of here!” the humanoid Verdant Sage ordered.

Luo Chan could not believe its eyes. It had not expected the Immortal to be this badly injured. This was even worse than when they had fought against Awe Gate. Hastily, Luo Chan rushed over to the humanoid Verdant Sage’s side to take them away.

Suddenly, a feeling of intense danger appeared. A sliver of darkness appeared at the humanoid Verdant Sage’s side, and although it looked small compared to them, it was as vast as a universe to Luo Chan, and it instantly enveloped the bug.

From within the Tianyuan, Lu Yin turned his head to look over.

He had used Shan Barrens’ second, previously sealed, trap to severely wound the humanoid Verdant Sage. So long as the creature did not flee, it would actually die.

But in order to leave, they needed to rely on Luo Chan’s ability. That meant that Luo Chan was guaranteed to appear at the critical moment. That was why Lu Yin had held a bit of the darkness back. It had been saved specifically for Luo Chan.

This time, you won’t escape!

Luo Chan watched as the darkness closed in on it, remembering that its master had just been grievously injured in that same trap.

Up above, a section of the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm suddenly collapsed, exposing a crystalline green stalk of what looked like grain. Its appearance lit up a vast region of the cosmos, only for it to be almost instantly torn apart by karma.

The Immortal Lord had taken action, trying to save Luo Chan.

Previously, the Immortal Lord had taken action to prevent Greater Sancte Green Lotus from saving Lu Yin. This time, Greater Sancte Green Lotus responded in kind to prevent Luo Chan’s rescue.

As the darkness closed in on it, Luo Chan saw a hand thrust in at the last moment, grabbing the bug tightly. It was the humanoid Verdant Sage’s hand.