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.