This question had occurred to Lu Yin back when he had chased after the Ossis Ark from the Immemorial Citadel, when he had seen True God attempt to escape.
It was a question that had weighed heavily on his heart for far too long.
While things seemed quite clear, there had long been a shadow looming over Lu Yin's heart.
He hoped to hear an answer from True God, but the fewer who heard that answer, the better.
True God turned his head, the Origin Progenitor’s sword still impaled the man’s neck, so the movement produced a sickening sound. True God’s pupilless eyes stared at Lu Yin, sending a chill down his spine.
Lu Yin stared at True God, and the man stared back, though he said nothing.
Far away, Verdant King was holding onto Yan Gang, and the Verdant Sage stared blankly as Lu Yin drove a sword into True God’s neck. This was the end. Everything was over. All of them were all going to die.
Skydog howled in agony. Despite his toughness, he was not able to endure being surrounded and attacked by so many powerful cultivators. Blood spurted from the dog’s mouth.
Forgotten Ruins God and Wang Xiaoyu were facing a similarly desperate situation, and they were even hiding behind Skydog.
In the other direction, fury distorted Blackless God’s features. The black lines in his eyes pulsed and then wove through space as he tried to hold back the power emanating from the Investiture of the Gods so that he could escape.
However, he was facing Wu Tian, Hongyan Mavis, and the other members of the Three Realms and Six Daos. There was no chance of fleeing.
With no other choice, Blackless God was forced to consume his own life force.
He was a conscient from the Consciousness Megaverse, and his power was also his life itself. His consciousness had reached what the Consciousness Megaverse considered the Celestial level, which was equal to the Ortuser level.
While Blackless God was not strong enough to be regarded as particularly powerful in the current battle, True God was holding back both the Origin Progenitor and Lu Yin, which gave Blackless God the confidence to escape.
His consciousness spread out, and Blackless God moved further away.
Lu Yin stared at True God. "You won’t speak, even when you’re about to die?"
"You won’t be the one to kill me. It will be Tai Hong." True God’s pupils returned as he looked over at the Origin Progenitor. "You suppressed the sequence strings, protecting the Tianyuan Megaverse. Your strength and skill might be without equal, but Tai Hong was no easier an opponent than you. If not for her, I would have been able to force my way into the Immemorial Citadel.
"There are times when it’s easy to want to die, and living is the greater struggle.
"We both underestimated Tai Hong."
The Origin Progenitor trembled, and his expression betrayed his complicated emotions. "I never underestimated her."
True God closed his eyes. "Before I die, let me show you my true power."
The Origin Progenitor’s expression changed. "Pillar, retreat!"
True God’s eyes snapped back open, and his right index finger flicked, producing two sharp ringing sounds. Two of the Origin Progenitor’s swords snapped. As the finger swept through space, the shards of the broken sword shot out, aimed at both the Origin Progenitor and Lu Yin. ꭆＡℕȰʙЁS̩
Two shattered sword blades pierced through the Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm.
Lu Yin saw the fragments targeting him, and he used Inverse Step to dodge. However, even as he started moving, one of the broken pieces of the blade pierced his shoulder, scattering his blood across outer space.
Lu Yin stood there in shock. How was this possible? The attack had happened too fast.
The boat that was Lightstream appeared, and time was reversed by a second.
Again, Lu Yin saw the shard of the broken sword approaching, but even after reversing time, he could not dodge the attack. Immense pain assaulted him as the shard pierced his body.
Lu Yin was not the only one, as a piece of the other broken sword similarly stabbed into the Origin Progenitor’s arm.
In front of them, the golden light of the Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm formed countless golden beams that shot towards True God, each of them stabbing through his body.
True God stood tall in outer space as each and every beam of golden light pierced his body. This was the last bit of the Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm’s power. While it had been weakening True God the entire time, the Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm was also constantly weakening itself, as it was not able to perform such a function without any cost.
After so much time had passed, the Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm had weakened enough that True God was able to break through it.
The Great Sovereign had also foreseen this moment, as it had been an inevitability. That was why she had left a final countermeasure in her Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm.
The condition for activating this countermeasure was for True God to forcibly break free from the restriction.
At this moment, the Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm could be broken forcefully, but doing so activated the countermeasure, which dealt a vicious blow to True God.
If True God had not forcibly broken his restrictions, the Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm would have eventually dissipated on its own.
The bottom line was that the restriction would succeed in weakening True God, but he could still cultivate and recover.
The Great Sovereign had put this countermeasure in place for Lu Yin and the others. She had believed that they would succeed in forcing True God to take action before her Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm fully dissipated.
True God had already realized this, and it was why he had refrained from forcibly breaking the Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm when he had had the chance. He had known that doing so would cost him dearly and inflict wounds that would be very difficult to heal.
As long as there was any other choice, he would not have done so.
He was facing death, and this was the only choice available.
Even so, there was only one opportunity to strike.
True God had easily broken the Origin Progenitor’s swords and injured both the Origin Progenitor and Lu Yin. This was True God’s real strength.
It was also the last flare of his life.
"Tai Chu, do you remember the promise that we once made to each other?" True God’s body was about to fail entirely. The beams of golden light were fading, even as he moved closer to death.
The Origin Progenitor stared at True God. "That we would die at the hands of the other and that we would not allow our bodies to be devoured by astral beasts."
True God smiled, even though blood filled his mouth. "Back then, our enemies were the astral beasts. There were countless powerful beasts that were the true rulers of this megaverse at that time. You, me, and Tai Hong—we all promised each other that, if any of us died, whoever survived would destroy the body so that it would not be eaten by beasts.
"Tai Hong died brilliantly. I don’t want a miserable death. I hope that you will keep that promise."
The Origin Progenitor raised his hand, and his two swords that were still intact flew towards him, and he grabbed them. "I understand."
While his attention remained on True God, the Origin Progenitor spoke to Lu Yin, "Pillar, leave this to me. I won’t let him leave this place alive."