Back in the underground crevice, Mr. Guo hoarsely said, “He won’t be able to hold out for much longer. That one’s too much for the kid to handle. He can’t overcome that thing’s strength.”
“Although you’re right, I have to mention that Long Qi is an absolute demon himself,” Che Zhan commented.
“He has to be using a power vessel, most likely a very impressive defensive one. There’s no other way he could possibly block any of the corpse king’s attacks,” Brother Hong responded.
Matriarch of the Eastern Mountains exclaimed in surprise, “I’ve seen the Four Junior Progenitors, and not even they possess this level of strength. None of them would be able to stand up to a corpse king like this for so long. The biggest difference between them and this Long Qi is his ability to stay in the true universe. The Four Junior Progenitors are able to enter it briefly before being forced out, but Long Qi doesn’t seem to have any trouble staying there.”
“He’s already surpassed the Four Junior Progenitors. What a joke! To think that a son-in-law of the White Dragon Clan’s main family would actually be able to surpass the clan’s direct descendant and successor,” Brother Hong mocked.
“That’s true. He hasn’t even used the White Dragon Transformation yet, has he?” Che Zhan asked. He looked to be deep in thought.
Matriarch of the Eastern Mountains, Mr. Guo, and the others were all stunned by this observation. Sure enough, the White Dragon Clan’s most distinctive skill was one that boosted the user’s physical abilities, the White Dragon Transformation. It enhanced a person’s strength, and once it was used, it might not be impossible for Long Qi to be able to overcome the corpse king’s advantages.
“Within the White Dragon Clan, only direct descendants are allowed to learn the White Dragon Transformation. He can’t use it.” Zhou Tang sighed sadly.
The others felt the same way. If Long Qi was able to use the White Dragon Transformation, he would have done so long ago.
“The kids nowadays are truly terrifying,” Matriarch of the Eastern Mountains mused to herself.
All of the Envoys had been surprised by Lu Yin’s abilities, so there was no need to mention the other people present, as they had all been stunned stiff from the very beginning of Lu Yin’s battle. Lu Yin had revealed a battle prowess that far exceeded anything these people had ever heard of, and he was destroying what they had always accepted to be true.
At the same time, Marquis Green Bamboo was quietly standing above the distant second forward basecamp that had been sliced in two. From where he stood, he was observing the faroff scene of Lu Yin fighting against the corpse king in a one-on-one. The ancient powerhouse was shocked, and he exclaimed, “Such talent, how horrifying! If this child fully matures, who will be able to stop him?”
Two figures were standing behind Marquis Green Bamboo. Even though they made sure to suppress their energy and conceal their presence, the fact that they were allowed to stand behind Marquis Green Bamboo proved that they were true powerhouses.
One of the figures was a corpse king with blazing scarlet eyes while the other figure was that of a human.
“My lord, that man is Long Qi, a son-in-law of the White Dragon Clan’s main family. He’s visited the Dominion Realm, and he was also the one who exposed the Guan brothers and Yun Mubai, which ruined all of our plans,” the human said in a voice that showed the utmost respect for Marquis Green Bamboo as the human stood behind the ancient corpse king.
Marquis Green Bamboo smiled casually. “He’s truly gifted. If he were to become a part of Aeternus, his future accomplishments would surely not be inferior to my own. I’d really like to play with him, but sadly, I’ll have to wait for another opportunity.”
After speaking, he waved a hand and ordered the two figures. “Leave.”
The corpse king standing behind Marquis Green Bamboo left without any hesitation, but the human hesitated momentarily. “My lord, what of this Long Qi?”
Marquis Green Bamboo replied in a nearly emotionless voice. “Does that have anything to do with you?”
That man quickly bowed low and apologized, “I’ve overstepped myself as your subordinate. I’ll immediately take my leave.”
Thus, the man left.
After both figures left, Marquis Green Bamboo spoke again, “Is this Long Qi really that important? Is he really worthy of you coming here yourself to interfere with the outcome of the battle? I even spared Xia Yan because of him, but who knows if the child will soon die.”
The void behind Marquis Green Bamboo twisted, and then a creepy-looking doll appeared. Surprisingly, it was a doll of Shaman God. “You’re underestimating him. He won’t die so easily.”
“I’m forsaking the stakes of this battle at your orders,” Marquis Green Bamboo stated with a furrowed brow.
The doll of Shaman God laughed in a disturbing manner. “I’ll owe you one then! I’ll be sure to remember that.”
Marquis Green Bamboo’s tense forehead relaxed. “So what exactly is this Long Qi’s background?”
“You don’t need to know at the moment, but that boy is the key to us cracking the Perennial World wide open,” Shaman God’s doll replied in a scratchy voice.
Marquis Green Bamboo was shocked. “Him? A mere Enlighter?”
“If we convert him into our nation, his rank will even surpass your own. Can you believe that?” Shaman God doll’s response was a thought-provoking question.
Marquis Green Bamboo’s eyes narrowed, and he began twirl his bamboo flute between his fingers in disbelief. “What do you want me to do?”
“I’ll tell you about that in the future. We just have to take things one step at a time, as we’re in no hurry.” After Shaman God’s doll left those words behind, its voice grew softer and more distant.
After Shaman God’s doll disappeared, Marquis Green Bamboo’s eyes lit up, and a flash of pain flickered through his eyes. He dropped to the ground, kneeling on one knee. He was suddenly short of breath as well, and he gasped. “Who? Long Qi? I understand. Please rest assured that you can leave things to me.”
After speaking, his eyes returned to normal. He looked up and stared into the distance in utter shock. He had just been contacted by Whiteless God, and this Skygod had also reached out to Marquis Green Bamboo because of Long Qi.
Of the Seven Skygods, Ancient God was publicly accepted as the strongest, but the most mysterious one was, without a doubt, Whiteless God. They controlled all of “Aeterna.” From the very beginning, Whiteless God had been heard of, but no one had ever seen them, not even the Twelve Marquises. Whiteless God was directly in charge of the True God, so despite never having revealed themselves, both humanity and Aeternus were greatly influenced by this Skygod.
No one dared to offend Whiteless God. Ever since Marquis Green Bamboo had first attained his rank of marquis, he had never been in direct contact with Whiteless God. This was his first time, and it was actually because of Long Qi.
Whiteless God’s orders were simple: Marquis Green Bamboo could not allow Long Qi to die. No matter what, the youth had to return to the Perennial World alive.
Shaman God and Whiteless God had both stepped forward because of Long Qi. As he thought back on the conversation that he had held with Shaman God a moment before, Marquis Green Bamboo stared into the distance again. This time, his expression was much more solemn than before. Just who exactly was Long Qi? Could he be a member of “Aeterna?”
Unaware that his mere existence had badly shocked Marquis Green Bamboo, Lu Yin took out the knife that he had taken from Wang Su. He had delivered terrible wounds to his previous opponents with this knife in the past, and it had helped him several times. At this moment, he was hoping that it would help him out again.
The corpse king’s attacks remained powerful and aggressive, and each one contained an impressive destructive power. Lu Yin stopped taking each attack head on, instead attempting to divert each attack’s force. He did so successfully, which left the creature frustrated. Despite that, the corpse king did not reveal any human emotions such as anxiety, and it simply continued to barrage Lu Yin, each successive attack coming faster than the previous one. In addition, the creature constantly phased in and out of the true universe.
Lu Yin pulled back, and right after he moved, a powerful palm attack from the corpse king smashed down right in front of Lu Yin’s eyes. The ground was shattered, and after that, the corpse king vanished for a moment before reappearing. The stalemate of their battle continued for almost half a day.
Underground, all of the humans grew restless as they waited.
The New World had no night; instead, it was eternally shrouded in dusk.
Corpse kings did not tire, but humans were not the same. Every human had a limit to their energy.
The crowd hiding underground were all worried that Lu Yin would not be able to endure, but they were also too afraid to try to help him, as any actions on their part might provoke the countless other corpse kings ambling about nearby.
The void warped in front of Lu Yin’s eyes, and the corpse king reappeared. A bronze palm careened towards the youth along a brutal path. Lu Yin hurriedly dodged aside; he had begun prioritizing his speed in order to continue dodging the corpse king’s attacks, as he could no longer use the Teleportation Formation or the Ce Secret Art. The corpse king was using stellular energy to quell all the star energy in the visible universe, which prevented Lu Yin from using his star energy at all.
It felt like the battle was playing on repeat, but this time, there was a difference, and that was that Lu Yin had left his knife on the ground. When the corpse king’s attack fell down, it missed Lu Yin, and Lu Yin shot towards the knife while simultaneously dodging the corpse king’s attack. At this moment, Lu Yin’s eyes blazed with excitement, and he waved his hand to use the Yu Secret Art.
The corpse king distorted space with stellular energy, which impacted Lu Yin’s techniques. This was also why Lu Yin had not attempted to use the Yu Secret Art before, but things had changed. Lu Yin had already seen through the corpse king’s various attacks, and the youth had also calculated exactly where the corpse king would step with each foot, as well as where its body would lean to as it lunged.
At that moment, there was no more than ten meters between the knife and the corpse king’s neck. Lu Yin had purposely dropped the knife on the ground earlier in their fight while narrowly avoiding an attack. The corpse king had not noticed the incident, and it had assumed that Lu Yin had simply lost his grip on the knife.
At that same moment, Lu Yin grabbed the opening that the short ten meters presented, and he used the Yu Secret Art to shift the knife and stab it straight into the corpse king’s neck.
He could only use the Yu Secret Art once, as the corpse king would definitely use stellular energy to disrupt the star energy needed for the secret technique if he used it a second time. The corpse king roared from the impact of the knife that had been slammed into its neck. The knife had been upgraded until it was capable of unleashing an attack with a power level of 800,000, which was not something that the corpse king could endure. The knife had pierced through its neck and ruined it. Lu Yin also seized the moment to raise his hand and release an unending wave of Vacuum Palms.
The corpse king lifted its hands to block Lu Yin’s attacks, but with its neck badly injured by the knife, the creature’s control of stellular energy had been greatly affected. This let Lu Yin move behind the corpse king with a Teleportation Formation, where he continued to bombard it with more Vacuum Palms.
Golden battle force and 350 Stacks: each Vacuum Palm was released with full force. There was a bang as the corpse king’s head flew from its shoulders. In the end, Lu Yin had finally defeated the corpse king.
Everyone was more than stunned from where they were watching within the crevice. How had Long Qi defeated such a powerful enemy?
Zhou Tang gasped in shock. The longer he looked at Lu Yin, the more the old man felt that Lu Yin resembled his young master. The youth’s incredible talent, indomitable spirit, and fighting talent were all too similar.
Lu Yin was breathing heavily, and his entire body ached. Fortunately, he had been smart enough to make sure to redeem the Cloudguard Robes, as he would have already been smashed to a pulp if he had been relying on his universal armor.
Glancing at the knife on the ground, Lu Yin also felt ecstatic at the decision that he had made back in the Forgotten Ruins. Once again, his decision almost felt like foresight.
Far, far away, Marquis Green Bamboo gasped in shock as well. Even though Lu Yin had relied on power vessels, being able to kill a corpse king so much more powerful than himself was a truly remarkable accomplishment. Upon thinking of this, the marquis immediately ordered, “Continue.”
Countless corpse kings surrounded the humans hiding underground, but another lone Envoy level corpse king stepped forward. This one did not rush forward like the previous corpse kings had. Instead, it walked forward with slow, deliberate steps. Each time its foot touched the ground, a deep footprint was left behind. It was clear that this corpse king was very heavy.
Lu Yin grew solemn, but then he heard Che Zhan’s voice echo from behind, “Long Qi, it’s our turn.”
Che Zhan emerged from the underground entrance as he spoke.
Lu Yin blocked the Envoy from continuing forward. “You can support me in this fight. Attack when I’m unable to continue. Don’t forget— this corpse king is just one of many.”
Che Zhan stared at Lu Yin’s back in confusion. “You still want to keep fighting?”
Lu Yin gave a small smile. “Dying in battle is the most honorable ending.”
Che Zhan burst out laughing. “Alright, I’ll support you from the side then.”
After speaking, the man took out his sword from his cosmic ring, stabbed it into the ground near the entrance, and then sat down cross-legged on the ground with every muscle of his body tensed and ready to fight.
The corpse king continued to approach from the distance with slow steps. While this corpse king seemed to be around the same size as an ordinary human, it was extraordinarily fat. Its dead, scarlet eyes were lined with dark yellow rings, and every breath it took was deep and powerful. Just its breath distorted the void in front of it.
This was yet another corpse king that possessed a powerful innate gift.
Lu Yin bent his arms and looked up to release a Vacuum Palm.
There was a boom as the Vacuum Palm ruthlessly struck the corpse king’s left arm even as it was lifting its left arm to block the blow. The impact did nothing more than cause the corpse king to tremble slightly. Then, it continued to slowly make its way towards Lu Yin as though nothing had happened.
Lu Yin’s scalp went numb. A key factor in his victory over the previous corpse king was because he had been able to indirectly fight against it by relying on his Vacuum Palm. In other words, they had both been fighting an offensive battle, and he had fought fire with fire. However, this new corpse king was clearly a defensive fighter, which meant that it was an opponent that could completely disregard Lu Yin’s Vacuum Palms.
Lu Yin attacked again, and this time, golden battle force wrapped around his entire body, and he used the maximum number of stacks that he was capable of unleashing. Lu Yin even activated the Void Rip sourcebox array and launched both attacks in unison.
The corpse king’s movements stalled, and it slowed down, but it never completely stopped moving. None of Lu Yin’s attacks had any real effect.
Looking at the corpse king, it was clear that this creature was thicker. Even though it was about the same height as a human, it was decidedly quite round.
As soon as the fat corpse king arrived at a point around a thousand meters away from Lu Yin, it stepped through the void and entered the true universe.
