The corpse king leaned back with unbelievable speed, which meant that Lu Yin’s knife slash missed. However, the corpse king only managed to save its upper body. Its thigh had still been ruined, which would undoubtedly affect its speed. An array of stars revolved around Lu Yin’s body, and he tensed his muscles to let him to move top speed while simultaneously predicting all incoming attacks with his domain. He was changing the fight into one a test of offense and defense by engaging with the corpse king in a tiny space of only a single meter across.
All that anyone else underground could see were two figures constantly flickering about. Lu Yin’s arm occasionally disappeared as he entered the true universe, and the same happened to the corpse king’s upper body. What followed was a scene that was very disturbing to watch, though it also evoked a strange harmony.
Even though the corpse king’s movements had been slowed down and restricted , it would still be difficult for Lu Yin to kill the creature. Out of desperation, Lu Yin began to aim his attacks at the corpse king’s lower body. Let’s see how fast it can run with both legs crippled!
Observing the situation from afar, Marquis Green Bamboo’s brow knitted in frustration. Just where did this Long Qi get so many power vessels? Not many items were able to trap this speedy corpse king, and not even the Four Junior Progenitors might own this many power vessels!
At this same time, the marquis felt a bit of heartache, for he could tell that his speedy corpse king was doomed to eventually perish. At the moment, the marquis was contemplating whether or not he should send another corpse king to fight Lu Yin.
“It looks like he’s using more and more of his items now, gagagaga,” Shaman God’s doll spoke up again.
Marquis Green Bamboo somberly replied, “To help that person accumulate battlefield achievements, I’ve already suffered considerable losses. All of those he defeated were true powerhouses, and it won’t be easy to create similar ones again.”
“Rest assured, it will all be worth it in the end. The day we reap the rewards, your contributions will definitely be taken into account. It will be your greatest honor to have participated in this grand mission, and you’ll even be granted the opportunity to witness the most exciting scene in the universe. I assure you of that, gaga,” Shaman God’s doll laughed creepily.
Marquis Green Bamboo sighed. “I hope you’re right.”
Shaman God’s doll stared off into the distance while floating in the air. “It will soon be time for us to exchange greetings.”
At this time, the one person the two were watching had finally managed to kill the speedy corpse king after a half-day-long endurance match that had drained both combatants of all their energy.
After seeing the corpse king’s broken neck and that its breath had halted, Lu Yin collapsed to the ground. He was exhausted—no, he was beyond exhausted after attacking and defending at top speed for half a day without any rest. No human could keep up with such strain. Forget half a day, as even an hour of that was more than what most people could handle.
As soon as Lu Yin relaxed, his entire body was wracked with pain so bad that he felt as though his muscles were about to liquify.
Che Zhan stared at Lu Yin in awe. “Brother, don’t you think that it’s time for you to come rest?”
Lu Yin lifted his head to look up at the shadow of the second forward basecamp. He then said, “Honestly, I’m trying to find my own end here. Sitting here and waiting for death is a terrible thing.”
Che Zhan laughed heartily. “I could say the same for the rest of us, hahaha!”
Brother Hong’s voice echoed out of the underground area, “You defeated three Envoy level corpse kings consecutively… When word of this gets out, the mighty name of Long Qi will ring throughout the entire Perennial World. Unfortunately, that will never happen if you die down here in the New World. What a shame.”
“A true shame.” Matriarch of the Eastern Mountain sighed regretfully.
Mr. Guo spoke up, “Let me write a book to commemorate your great achievements, Long Qi. In the future, if the New World is ever reclaimed by humans, it’s possible that someone will find it.”
Che Zhan was left speechless. “How unusual. Mr. Guo’s making jokes! I didn’t even know you could do that.”
Mr. Guo’s expression remained completely serious as he replied, “I’m not joking.”
Che Zhan’s lips twitched into a smirk.
Finding joy in sorrow was the perfect description of what they were doing at this moment. Waiting for an inevitable death and being completely hopeless was enough to drive any human insane. It was at such moments that humanity would be stripped down to its rawest form.
Lu Yin quickly glanced around the underground space to see where everyone had situated themselves. All of these people were his companions, and no matter what ulterior motives he might have, he still wanted to help everyone escape and survive as long as possible.
The speedy corpse king’s death had raised an alarm throughout the corpse king horde surrounding the humans. Neither the horde, nor another powerhouse stepped forward, and the standoff persisted for two days. Still, no corpse king appeared.
Some people complained underground, “Why aren’t they coming to fight? I’m practically eager to die.”
“Yeah, I’m so bored.”
“Death must be a relief. The people who already died are so lucky.”
“Don’t worry, your turn will come sooner or later, hahahaha.”
…
Lu Yin leaned against the wall of the underground space and looked at the shadow of the second forward basecamp once again. As he heard the people around him joking and making ironic remarks about chasing death, many thoughts flashed through Lu Yin’s mind: this Perennial World, the Fifth Mainland, the Sixth Mainland, and even the first four mainlands that had already been destroyed, the Lu family, Aeternus, and more. The universe was unimaginably vast, so could there be an even more horrifying civilization than Aeternus?
How had Aeternus come into being? How had the first ever corpse king been born? Surely it could not have been man-made…
The longer Lu Yin contemplated such thoughts, the more exhausted he became. Everything he saw in the sky up above had gone black.
Hmm? Black? Lu Yin shot to his feet while looking around in shock. Somewhere close by, Che Zhan continued to clean his sword while remaining vigilant. Further away underground, Zhou Tang was leaning against the wall and resting while the others carried on their various conversations. However, everyone had turned black.
Down at his feet, Lu Yin saw that his own shadow had started to twist and turn, and then he saw a doll floating in the void. It appeared right in front of Lu Yin, and it stared into Lu Yin’s eyes with disturbing eyes that were full of ridicule and mockery.
Lu Yin felt shivers run down his spine. Shaman God’s doll?
Lu Yin instantly wanted to take out the jade talisman that he had received from Mister Mu, only to discover that he had been completely immobilized. Nearby, had Che Zhan’s body grown larger? No, that was not the case, it was just that Lu Yin’s sense of sight had shifted to his hand. The scent of blood suddenly became much stronger, but that was because his sense of smell had shifted down to his leg. All five of his senses had become tangled up, which was proof that Shaman God’s doll was truly before Lu Yin.
Lu Yin looked up in a daze. He stared at Shaman God’s doll as an inexplicable sense of hopelessness well up from within.
The moment that Qing Chen had mentioned Shaman God in the past, Lu Yin had felt that it was absurd; how could Shaman God be in the Perennial World? And yet, at this moment, Lu Yin was face to face with Shaman God’s doll. In fact, they were less than a meter apart.
“Gaga, brat, we meet again!” the doll said in the same strange scratchy voice that Lu Yin remembered.
Lu Yin’s heart sank. It really was the same Shaman God from the Fifth Mainland. Lu Yin had still been holding onto a bit of hope that the Shaman God in the Perennial World was not the same as the one from the Fifth Mainland. Even if both possessed the same abilities and titles, it would be fine, as long as the two were not actually the same being. Unfortunately, in the end, Lu Yin’s hopes had been shattered. Lu Yin was truly facing the same Shaman God from the Fifth Mainland, who was the being that had taken the Ghost Monkey as a pet.
“It’s been a long time! Don’t you have a greeting saved up for me? I didn’t do anything to keep you from speaking, and none of the others can hear you or see what’s going on,” Shaman God’s doll spoke in a sarcastic tone as it flashed a creepy smirk.
Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. His voice sounded hoarse as he asked, “What are you doing here in the Perennial World?”
Shaman God’s doll cackled. “I should be the one asking you that! So, how ‘bout you? What are you doing here in this part of the universe?”
Lu Yin clenched his fists tightly, but doing so blinded him since his vision was coming out of his hands at the moment. He asked, “Are you Seven Skygods able to freely travel between the Perennial World and the Fifth Mainland?”
“Of course! There’s nothing Aeternus can’t do,” Shaman God bragged.
Lu Yin’s emotions were in chaos. He was unable to accept the sudden appearance of Shaman God’s doll in the Perennial World. What made Lu Yin even more distraught was the fact that he had no way to retrieve his jade talisman, which meant that he had no way to reach out to Mister Mu. His current helpless situation caused Lu Yin to despair, as he did not have the strength to escape from this predicament.
“Brat, honestly, over my countless years of living, I’ve seen many cultivators with exceptional innate gifts, but you’ve proven yourself to be the most unique of all! To think that you actually managed to take advantage of the Specter Clan’s death energy to inherit the flames of the God of Death! If you really do become a Progenitor one day, it’s possible that no one in the entire universe will be your opponent aside from the True God. That’s why I intend to uproot you while you’re still just a sprout right now.” Shaman God’s doll covered the short distance separating it from Lu Yin. There were less than ten centimeters separating the two now.
For Lu Yin, ten centimeters was incredibly close, but compared to Shaman God’s doll, ten centimeters was about half of the length of the doll’s body. It raised a finger and pointed it at Lu Yin’s forehead.
Lu Yin’s pupils shrank to pinpricks. His eyes remained glued to the finger, and he began reciting the Stonewall Scriptures. However, this time, not even the Stonewall Scriptures were of any use. Lu Yin’s body remained immobilized, and he could do nothing aside from helplessly stare as the finger of Shaman God’s doll drew closer and closer. Then, the finger stopped when it was less than a millimeter away from touching him. The doll cackled. “Gagagaga, brat, are you scared?”
Lu Yin glared back. “You old freak, what is it that you plan to do?”
“Gaga, it’s certainly not pleasant to feel death’s approach, is it?” the doll asked.
Lu Yin stayed silent and stared at Shaman God’s doll.
“Dying is too simple, as everything’s over once you die. Living, however, is the most difficult option available, and yet you humans all hope to keep living. So, what’s your choice? Life or death?” Shaman God casually spoke as it questioned Lu Yin. The voice contained an eerie note timbre.
Lu Yin scoffed, “Stupid, of course I’d choose to live.”
Given the circumstances, it was useless for him to beg for mercy, and revealing any sign of dread or fear was equally useless.
Shaman God’s doll took a step back as it responded, “Do you want to live? Well, that makes things much easier then! Join Aeternus! Do that, and not only will you receive an undying and imperishable body, but you’ll also be able to successfully cultivate the God of Death’s inheritance. Once you eventually surpass us Seven Skygods, it will be nothing but child’s play for you to dominate the entire universe. I’m offering you the path of illumination.”
Lu Yin laughed. “The path of illumination? A puppet like you dares to speak of illumination? What a joke! Do you really not have any idea what you look like? For the word ‘illumination’ to come out of your mouth, of all people, only fools would believe you.”
Shaman God was not upset by Lu Yin’s outburst. “Brat, being rude will do nothing to help your situation, though it might cause you to suffer far worse hardships and torture that you would otherwise.”
This was precisely the reaction that Lu Yin had wanted his words to have. He was not afraid of torture. If that happened, he might be able to find an opportunity to make a move. What Lu Yin feared the most was Shaman God immediately eliminating him without giving him the chance to resist.
Lu Yin retorted, “The last time you tortured me, it allowed me to cultivate the power that opened up the God of Death’s inheritance. Torture me again, and what do you think the odds of me cultivating the power of Wu Tian are? I hope that you didn’t forget that I also received an inheritance from him from the Sword Monument.”
Shaman God’s doll showed a bit of surprise. “You’re right, I did forget about that. You’ve even come into contact with Wu Tian’s inheritance, which is truly miraculous. To think that you’ve accepted three of the Ancient Progenitors’ inheritances, gaga! Why don’t I capture you right now and make you undergo the corpse king transformation? That’s the True God’s Inheritance, and with that, you’d have four of the Ancient Progenitors’ inheritances!”
Lu Yin arched a questioning brow, The Ancient Progenitors’ inheritance? Four? What’s this all about?
The God of Death was one of the four, and although there was no confirmation that Wu Tian had even existed, Shaman God’s words made it sound like it was completely certain that the ancient powerhouse had once existed. Did that mean that Wu Tian had really lived? Did that also mean that the True God, which was Aeturnus’s most powerful corpse king, was also an Ancient Progenitor? Even if that was all true, it only added up to three Ancient Progenitors. In that case, who was the fourth one?
Right, fatesand! Xiao Shi had once mentioned before that fatesand had been created by Destiny. If Destiny truly existed, then they must have also been an Ancient Progenitor! However, many people possessed fatesand, so could such a thing still be considered an inheritance from an Ancient Progenitor? Of course, Lu Yin did possess a great deal more fatesand than most others.
“Gaga! Brat, are you scared now?” Shaman God mocked Lu Yin once more.
Lu Yin stared straight at the doll and tauntingly asked, “Are you blind? In what way do I look frightened?”
Shaman God’s doll released another disturbing laugh. “Your rudeness never fails. Anytime you humans are trapped in a desperate situation, there are some who will do whatever they possibly can in order to save themselves. You, on the other hand, even though you are most certainly afraid, your attitude goes the opposite direction. It’s quite amusing.”
Lu Yin frowned. “Cut the crap. What exactly do you want?”
The doll circled Lu Yin and whispered, “The Lu family’s heir, tsk tsk.”
Lu Yin felt a finger twitch. This was the worst possible situation: Shaman God knew about his surname! “The Lu family’s heir? Does having the surname Lu automatically make me the heir of the Lu family?”
Lu Yin tried testing the waters.
“Gaga, trying to hide the truth? Given your talent for cultivation and your innate gift, is there anyone who’d believe you if you claimed to not be the Lu family’s heir?” Shaman God’s doll laughed and spoke with its same scratchy voice.
