The śarīra charged at Shao Yin from the front.
A solitary śarīra did not pose much of a threat to the man, but Mu Xie had more than just that one śarīra; his true attack was his Śarīra Kingdom.
For a very long time, Mu Xie had kept his true śarīra inside the Mother Tree, where he had used it to search for Ye Bo and to train with Origin Tracer.
After Lu Yin managed to find Ye Bo, Mu Xie had been able to release his main śarīra, and that allowed him to use his true Progenitor's world: Śarīra Kingdom.
The śarīra suddenly separated, forming a central piece with eight satellites surrounding it. This was the form of Mu Xie’s Śarīra Kingdom, and the entire thing then crashed into Shao Yin. The man was forced back a step, as the power of the attack far exceeded his expectations. This attack was nearly as powerful as one made by a sequence powerhouse.
Mu Ke’s saber chopped down once again.
Shao Yin waved a hand, dispersing the Śarīra Kingdom. He was highly wary of both Mu Ke and Mu Xie, and he prevented any of their attacks from approaching. He was quite frustrated, as he could not understand how these two men were able to erase his attacks. What kind of battle technique were they using?
The entire First Scourge had been thrown into chaos, but Shao Yin had no time to worry about anyone else. His only intention to break free of Origin Tracer.
Unfortunately for Shao Yin, he could not find any way forward, as he was completely unable to comprehend the time-manipulating battle technique.
Helpless, Shao Yin could only retreat. This was not because he lacked the strength to fight against Mu Ke and Mu Xie, as even when cooperating, the two men could not defeat Shao Yin. Still, their techniques were too bizarre, and their relentless assault and total focus on him made Shao Yin uneasy.
As he pulled back, Mu Ke’s attacks grew sharper, and Mu Xie’s Śarīra Kingdom blocked Shao Yin’s path. The Śarīra Kingdom was not able to deal much damage to the man, but it was tough and durable enough that it was difficult for Shao Yin to break through even with his sequence particles.
He tried to move in a different direction, but Mu Ke would not allow it.
Step by step, Shao Yin was forced to move towards the black Mother Tree.
This was exactly what Mu Ke and the others were trying to do, and it was exactly what Lu Yin had told them to do; force Shao Yin to the black Mother Tree.
Shao Yin felt that something was off about Mu Ke and Mu Xie’s actions. Whenever he retreated, the attacks he faced grew softer, yet any time he tried to move in a different direction, the attacks grew fiercer. Something was definitely wrong.
He quickly decided to not go along with their plans. Shao Yin knew that he needed to move in a different direction.
Mu Ke’s saber slashed out again in a fierce attack as the Śarīra Kingdom closed in.
This time, Shao Yin was determined to change direction. He retaliated with a Divine Yin Awl, firing it at the Śarīra Kingdom while dodging Mu Ke’s saber. Shao Yin had managed to figure out that the men could not negate his attacks so long as none of their attacks got close to him.
While Mu Ke and the others had their own techniques, Shao Yin was not an idiot, and he had managed to determine the pattern.
A beam of light shot out, forcing Mu Ke to dodge.
As soon as this happened, Qing Ping stepped forward from where he had been watching carefully. He had also been taught Origin Tracer.
The three disciple brothers had all learned Origin Tracer, though they all had different levels of mastery of the technique. Mu Ke was able to easily negate Shao Yin’s attacks due to also being a sequence powerhouse, while Mu Xie found it more difficult, though he could succeed with great effort. As for Qing Ping, it was much more difficult.
For this reason, he decided not to use Origin Tracer at all, and instead used Judgment.
The set of scales appeared, with one side appearing beneath Qing Ping's feet while the other appeared under Shao Yin's feet.
This was Qing Ping’s method of using the laws of the universe to judge another law. The path he walked was unique to him alone, but it was a path that had once allowed him to judge even Di Qiong. Facing Shao Yin was naturally within Qing Ping’s capabilities.
Shao Yin pointed a finger, intending to destroy Qing Ping's Progenitor's world.
It did not work. Qing Ping's Progenitor's world was not a battle technique or a physical attack. Instead, it was a judgment based on the laws of the universe. Although it did not use sequence particles, it used a shortcut that allowed it to function similarly.
"Judgment: near or far? It must be near."
During the battle against Di Qiong in Aeternus Nation, Qing Ping had used this same judgment to save Lu Yin. The further he had been from his target, the more favorable the judgment had been in Qing Ping’s favor. This had forced Di Qiong to distance himself from Lu Yin. Against Shao Yin, Qing Ping reversed the trial, choosing to be near. This meant that the closer he was to Shao Yin, the more the judgment would be in Qing Ping’s favor, and the worse it would be for Shao Yin.
This was a fair trial, so long as there was no outside interference.
The effectiveness of the battle techniques employed during the judgment should determine the outcome, but with Mu Ke and Mu Xie interfering, things changed.
Shao Yin was relatively close to Qing Ping at the moment, and he could clearly feel that the scales were raising him up. He felt a nameless fear come into being, as though some invisible force was weakening him.
What was going on?
As Qing Ping continued to move closer, Shao Yin felt a chill that only grew worse.
If Mu Ke and Mu Xie were not present, Qing Ping’s judgment might not have posed any danger at all to Shao Yin. Even in the worst case scenario, Shao Yin would suffer harsh injuries. This was because Qing Ping was not invincible, nor was his Judgment.
Shao Yin knew nothing about the severe backlash Qing Ping would face if he forced the Judgment to continue, and Shao Yin could not risk being wounded on the current battlefield.
With Qing Ping closing in, Shao Yin had no choice but to retreat, so that he could maintain a bit of distance.
The further Shao Yin retreated, the more his side of the scales dropped, and the sense of danger faded.
Shao Yin let out a sigh of relief, but then he saw Qing Ping chasing after him.
Shao Yin raised a hand and fired a beam at Qing Ping, but Mu Ke shattered the attack with a sweep of his saber. At the same time, Mu Xie’s Śarīra Kingdom approached from the other side.
Shao Yin was utterly bewildered. The coordinated efforts of these three men indicated a pre-planned strategy. Just what was their goal?
Mu Ke's saber, Origin Tracer, Qing Ping's Judgment, and the relentless pressure from the Śarīra Kingdom worked together to overwhelm Shao Yin, leaving him breathless.
The trio combined their techniques in various manners to counter everything that Shao Yin attempted.
Helpless, he could only continue to retreat, trying to gain as much distance as possible from Qing Ping. However, Qing Ping chased after Shao Yin, moving their fight closer and closer to the black Mother Tree and further from the main battle where Progenitor Xi and the others were fighting.
Mu Ji noticed the odd fight between the four men, but chose to neither intervene nor investigate.
Given the size of the battle across the First Scourge, the attack on Shao Yin was only a small skirmish, and it lacked the scale of other fights.
There was the fierce, ongoing clash between Arrow God and Sovereign Dou Sheng, Lu Tianyi's battle with Progenitor Xi, Kong Tianzhao's fight with Ji Luo, and the combined efforts of Lord Xu and Mu Shen against Ancient God, and all of them were far more eye-catching than what the three disciple brothers were doing.
Even more distracting was the fact that high above everyone else, the Ancient Lightning Locust sent its lightning spreading across the First Scourge while the Lord of Lightning fought it. Blackless God’s black lines filled the sky, giving the entire Scourge the appearance of an apocalypse.
No one dared rise high into the sky.
The First Scourge fell into ruins.