Chapter 4099: I Will Surely Slay It

The darkness closed in, sealing the humanoid Verdant Sage’s hand before spreading out and forming a flat plane.

The Verdant Sage let out a deep growl and frantically forced their Lifeforce and Immortal matter into the darkness while bracing against it.

The arm was crushed and restored, again and again. It became a cycle of breaking and mending. Blood dripped from the torn flesh and shattered bone, flowing into outer space like a river.

From the distance, Lu Yin threw another palm strike, even as the droplet-shaped Verdant Sage moved behind him to restrain him.

Bang.

The palm strike slammed into the humanoid Verdant Sage, and they coughed up blood. Even so, the creature continued to stare fixedly at their arm. They poured all of their Lifeforce and Immortal matter into the arm. The body shrank down. The once delicate features contorted. The pale skin turned ashen, flaking away like stone. The Immortal’s vitality was ebbing away, yet they still protected Luo Chan.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus had long since moved up from the Nine Odysseys Megaverse to enter his Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm. Lu Yin had already managed to capture Luo Chan, and in the next moment or so, the bug would surely die.

Suddenly, Green Lotus’s expression changed. Something was wrong.

Beyond the edge of the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm, a stalk of green grain radiated an emerald light that shone upon Kang Tian, Ku Deng, Awe Gate, and even Lan Meng.

Lan Meng looked at the stalk of grain and sliced at it with the long blue sword, cutting through the green light even as they staggered back.

The stalk of grain continued to grow larger, and it started to leave streaks of green marks in the void.

Awe Gate looked down at the green mark that was spreading across the back of her hand and was seized by an indescribable chill. The green mark somehow seemed... alive.

The stalk of grain was beautiful to look at; there was no denying it.

Inside the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm, karma formed multiple lotuses that then slammed into the stalk of grain, and yet the green marks only continued to multiply.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus’s expression grew grim. He was too far away, while the Immortal Lord was much closer.

At that moment, another stalk of grain appeared inside the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm, directly above both the humanoid Verdant Sage and Luo Chan.

As the green stalk moved down, the Heavenly Kamric Macrocosm was torn apart.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus exhaled. This was a trade. The lives of Awe Gate and Ku Deng were being offered in exchange for Luo Chan.

He could stop Luo Chan from being rescued, but in doing so, the Immortal Lord would surely kill either Awe Gate or Ku Deng. Even if Green Lotus managed to intervene, he would only be able to save one.

Was it worth it to trade Luo Chan for an Immortal?

Green Lotus did not know. All he knew was that lives should not be exchanged.

The green marks fell from the stalks like winding serpents that fell upon the darkness. Lu Yin lashed out with another palm, but the stalk merely swayed, unbroken.

The green light that it gave off was nothing like the life-filled light of the Mother Trees.

The Mother Trees’ light overflowed with vitality, whereas the grains’ green marks seemed more like poison. There was something unbearably sinister to them.

When the green marks tore the darkness open, a terrified Luo Chan was exposed.

By this point in time, the humanoid Verdant Sage had completely lost any semblance to a human form. They had been reduced to a block of weathered gray stone. If not for the portion of their arm which still shielded Luo Chan with the last traces of the Immortal’s Lifeforce, the Verdant Sage would have been completely unrecognizable.

They had used their own life to protect Luo Chan.

As Lu Yin watched the green marks pull the humanoid Verdant Sage and Luo Chan away, he let out a heavy breath.

The Immortal Lord had taken Luo Chan away so easily. The fact that Green Lotus had not stopped it from happening meant that there were surely other reasons at play. This meant the current battle was nearing its end.

Just as that thought formed, Green Lotus’s voice entered Lu Yin’s ears. “Now, only one Immortal Verdant Sage remains. Can you kill it?”

Lu Yin was startled. “Will the Immortal Lord allow me to?”

Green Lotus’s voice turned grave. “If you are able to kill it, no one can save it. I give you my word.”

“Good.” Lu Yin’s fighting spirit surged. He had assumed that Green Lotus and the Immortal Lord had arrived at an agreement, which included Luo Chan being rescued. What Lu Yin was hearing indicated that there had been no agreement, but a compromise, and the compromise was over.

“Watch closely, Senior. I will surely slay it.”

Back in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, Green Lotus exhaled. It was outside of his expectations that humanity would have someone who was not yet an Immortal kill an enemy Immortal.

The Immortal Lord had forced Green Lotus to allow Luo Chan to leave, and the moment that Luo Chan had been taken away, both Awe Gate and Ku Deng had been called back. There was no need to continue fighting.

With both Lan Meng and the Immortal Lord present, Kang Tian would not die. On the contrary, keeping the giant snails outside of the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm would only serve as leverage against human civilization.

As soon as Awe Gate and Ku Deng returned, the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm was sealed shut. Neither the Immortal beast nor the droplet-shaped Verdant Sage would be allowed to escape.

As for the giant snails, nothing could be done about them for the time being.

At the very least, Lu Yin could eliminate those two Immortals, removing terrible threats to humanity.

Not only that, but the humanoid Verdant Sage had also been crippled.

Humanity had not achieved their goal for the battle. The giant snails remained at their border, but the Nest civilization had been practically ruined. Only their Immortal Lord remained whole.

The only unknown factor that remained was which civilization Kang Tian was luring over. When they arrived, another fierce battle would break out, and nine times out of ten, that would not go in humanity’s favor.

This thought caused Green Lotus’s heart to grow heavy, and his attention fell upon the Tianyuan.

That was the final battlefield of the current war.

Within the Tianyuan, Lu Yin raised a hand and attacked the droplet-shaped Verdant Sage. The creature would die during this battle.

The droplet creature grew uneasy. The Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm pressed down upon it in an oppressive manner. Luo Chan was already gone. It had been left isolated with no escape path.

As it saw Lu Yin’s palm descending, the bug turned and fled without hesitation, just like the Immortal beast had done before.

The Verdant Sage had no desire to face Lu Yin on its own.

Lu Yin could not prevent the Verdant Sage from running away. Helpless to stop it, he exited the Tianyuan and pursued it on his own.

The droplet creature was no fool. It would never fight against Lu Yin while he was merged with a megaverse. Fleeing was its best chance of survival. If it could escape, great. If not, it would still deprive Lu Yin of his advantage.

Soon, Lu Yin had chased the Verdant Sage far from the Tianyuan.

The megaverse was still protected by the karmic wall, but when the people of the megaverse saw Lu Yin leaving, their hearts clenched.

Lord Lu, you must win!

...

In the Aevum Inch, Lu Yin was sitting on a green lotus leaf. He was moving faster than the droplet-shaped Verdant Sage. The bug occasionally turned around to fling water droplets and attack the pursuing human.

At this moment, it had no reason to fear Lu Yin.

A spiral of karma coiled around his hand before being flung out. “Weave karma for me.”

The Verdant Sage’s body instantly dispersed, transforming into endless water droplets that filled the region. Endless Water Realm: absolute dominion.

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed as his body started to dry up.

It was the same technique as before. He had previously overcome it by using the Immortal monster’s cosmic law, but that beast was no longer nearby.

Water droplets filled the cosmos, stretching out into the distance.

Even if Lu Yin used the Tri-Azure Sword Intent to destroy one droplet after another, there were so many that eliminating them all would take an untold amount of time.

However, there was another way.

Above Lu Yin, the Investiture of the Gods appeared, radiating its golden light.

Already, it had become the home of a cluster of consciousness bodies, Ming Yan among them.

Lu Yin entered the Investiture of the Gods himself, and as Ming Yan looked at him in puzzlement, he smiled and took her hand. “Let me borrow some consciousness.”

She just smiled gently at him and silently offered her support.

Countless droplets surrounded the Investiture of the Gods, but when Lu Yin stepped out of it, the droplets could no longer affect him at all.

He had just become a consciousness body as well.

Naturally, his consciousness body was not as strong as his true body, lacking both Lifeforce and Immortal matter, but its greatest advantage was that it was immune to the water droplets while still being able to unleash consciousness techniques.

Both the Tri-Azure Sword Intent and the Heaven and Earth Lock were technically consciousness techniques.

While the lack of Immortal matter meant that neither technique could achieve the strength of an Immortal, they were both Immortal-level techniques. Even without Immortal matter, they were capable of destroying the water droplets, as there were simply too many of them. Most of the droplets could not possibly contain Immortal matter, let alone Lifeforce.

These water droplets formed the droplet-shaped Verdant Sage’s unseen world.

Lu Yin raised a hand and released multiple strands of Tri-Azure Sword Intent. While being a consciousness body meant that the attacks were far weaker than before, they were still able to destroy the water droplets.

“Human, you cannot defeat me with a consciousness body. Even if you are no longer affected by my Endless Water Realm, you cannot destroy every one of my droplets in time.”

“I know. But do you think you still have time?”

The droplet creature fell silent. Having been sealed within the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm, it could sense that its true body was also taking action but was not able to tear the karma open.

“Just so you know, Awe Gate and Ku Deng are already on their way. When the three of us are against you alone, we’ll watch how you die,” Lu Yin threatened.

The Verdant Sage was shocked. “Impossible! The fighting’s still ongoing outside.”

“If it was, how would you be trapped right now?” Lu Yin retorted.

The droplet creature had no argument for that. With what its true body was capable of, so long as the human Immortals were outside of the realm of karma, it would be possible to coerce the human civilization into releasing the Immortal Verdant Sage. However, it was clearly trapped within the karma, unable to escape. There was only one conclusion: the human Immortals had abandoned the other battlefield and, as Lu Yin claimed, they were on their way.

Of course, it was also possible that the human Immortals had been killed and that they wanted the droplet creature to join them in death.

Regardless, its chances of survival were slim.

Its only hope was to flee and escape from the bounds of karma.

With that, the countless droplets converged and reformed into the droplet-shaped Verdant Sage. It then immediately sped off in a single direction. It could only escape from the bounds of the karma with its own power.

It was restricted by the human karmic Immortal, just as its true body was restricting that human. No one could help the droplet creature, but at the same time, no one could stop it.

Lu Yin dropped back into the Investiture of the Gods and allowed his true body to emerge. Lifeforce surged from him, sheathing the Tri-Azure Sword Intent as he also released a spiral of karma.

The droplet creature had a specific weakness; whenever it used its Endless Water Realm, it would no longer be able to move. At that time, it could only expand its range. No matter how large an area it encompassed, it would remain centered on the same point. Unless, of course, it could extend beyond the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm.

If that were possible, it would not need to escape, as not even Greater Sancte Green Lotus would necessarily be the bug’s match.

All of that meant that, if the Verdant Sage wanted to escape, it needed to survive the karma that surrounded it. If not, it would remain trapped forever.

That was an outcome that it refused to accept. As far as the droplet creature was concerned, the longer it waited, the more likely that it was that it would be attacked by the human Immortals.

Hence, it most likely would not use its Endless Water Realm again, as Lu Yin was able to transform into a consciousness body and render it useless.

Battles were not only won with strength, but by wits.

Karma moved about ceaselessly as the droplet-shaped Verdant Sage evaded it again and again. However, as soon as Lu Yin merged his Karmic Dao with the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm, the entire Aevum Inch seemed to be filled with spirals of karma. The bug was left with nowhere to run, and it was finally pierced by karma, and karma was woven.

This direction?

No, over there instead.

The karma that Lu Yin wove was simple; it merely changed the bug’s direction. Such a thing only used a little of Greater Sancte Green Lotus’s karma, but that was enough to make it nearly impossible for the droplet-shaped Verdant Sage to ever escape.