The red rain grew cold as it fell to the ground.
Lu Yin's expression remained calm as he stepped closer to Hu Wu and Tian Ya.
He had indeed been stunned by their last attack. The powerful experts who secluded themselves away from the megaverse were never simple people. Lu Yin had remained cautious, but there were still some attacks that were impossible to counter with vigilance alone.
The Worryless Elder’s Free of Care, Sorrowless and the thunderous power of Butterfly Dances on the Horizon had both been in that category.
Lu Yin had boldly declared that he would challenge the megaverse’s strongest experts, but doing so was not that easy.
Mad dogs. The mad dogs that Bao Qi had mentioned were truly difficult to deal with.
It was not unreasonable for the Phantom Reach to want the Third Boss to eliminate such threats. When a Seraph’s seat became available, all of these people would take action at the same time. Together, they might be enough to prevent even Lu Yin from succeeding in taking the title.
As he approached the couple, Lu Yin’s eyes locked with theirs. "It appears that you’re done."
Hu Wu averted her eyes, her gaze empty.
Tian Ya sighed. "We’ve lost. Do with us as you wish."
He clearly understood that this Third Boss was here specifically for them. Was his motive really as simple as challenging the strongest experts in the Spirit Nidus?
Hu Wu and Tian Ya were most famous for fighting against Bao Qi for the title of Seraph. Given the caliber of the opponents that he was targeting, this Third Boss might very well be striving for the title of Seraph.
If he did not eliminate the hidden threats, how could he be at ease?
Normally, Lu Yin would imprison his defeated opponents in his Champions' Stage Purgatory, strengthening his Karmic Dao. However, he felt no real malice towards the couple. They were straightforward and honorable people, and there had never been any rumors of any wrongdoing on their part, which was completely different from the Worryless Elder.
Qian was a typical cultivator, decisive when it came to killing. Lu Yin had held no qualms in imprisoning the man in the Champions' Stage Purgatory, as that was simply following the law of survival.
As for the Worryless Elder, the man had been too vile in his actions, and he had stolen people’s human nature. Killing such a man would not have been enough to slake Lu Yin’s anger over his crimes.
In contrast, Hu Wu and Tian Ya were not typical cultivators. Their open and upright nature made it impossible for Lu Yin to see any way to strike them down.
Lu Yin looked at the two for a moment. "Make me a promise."
Tian Ya met Lu Yin’s eyes. "Tell us."
"Do not fight me for the title of Seraph," Lu Yin stated.
Tian Ya's eyes shifted. Is this really all because of the title of Seraph?
The man was just about to agree, but from his embrace, Hu Wu refused. "We will definitely fight for the title of Seraph."
Lu Yin frowned. "I could kill you both now and simply eliminate a future threat."
Hu Wu was stubborn, and that stubbornness had been made clear to Lu Yin from the first time he had laid eyes on her. "That doesn't matter. As long as you don't kill us, we will definitely fight for the title of Seraph."
Tian Ya interjected, "We don’t need to compete with him. At worst, we’ll compete the next time a Seraph’s seat becomes available."
Hu Wu argued, "The next time, the next time! You always say ‘the next time!’ This person might be a monster, but can you guarantee that there won't be even stronger monsters next time? What if he loses? Will we still not compete with him at the next opportunity? Or maybe the time after that? How long can we live for?
"We are not immortal. We can’t live for so long."
Tian Ya shrugged. He wanted to say something more, but he could not bring himself to do so.
"Third Boss, this is the one condition that we cannot agree to. I’m sorry. We are determined to take the title of Seraph."
Lu Yin felt puzzled. "Do you want the title of Seraph that badly? Then why did you withdraw when Bao Qi was fighting for the position? I heard that the two of you had an argument. If not for that, Bao Qi might not have succeeded."
Hu Wu mockingly asked, "You believe that? If the High Seraph hadn’t intervened, why would we have staged an argument and withdrawn? Bao Qi was preordained to become Seraph at that time. He’s nothing more than the High Seraph’s dog."
Tian Ya looked at Lu Yin. "The High Seraph is trying to take more and more control of the Spirit Nidus. The Seven Seraphs might actually be able to counterbalance the High Seraph, but he is constantly scheming. Bao Qi is one of his ploys. While the man appears to be arrogant and unruly, his future was decided by the High Seraph long ago. Similarly, the strongest cultivator beneath the Seven Seraphs, Palace Master Yao, is also preordained to become a Seraph by the High Seraph.
"We are unwilling to accept things as they are, and we wanted to compete. If we had dealt with Bao Qi from the beginning, the High Seraph would have never been able to intervene.
"Unfortunately, we realized the truth of the matter too late. Everyone who was competing for the position of Seraph and the forces behind them only saw the truth in the end.
"We had no choice but to withdraw."
"Do the seven major powers allow the High Seraph to act like this?" Lu Yin asked in confusion.
Before he arrived in the Spirit Nidus, he had assumed that the High Seraph ruled the entire megaverse and that a single word from the man could decide everything.
After entering the megaverse, Lu Yin had come to realize that things were not nearly that simple.
The High Seraph was extremely powerful and did indeed rule the Spirit Nidus, but only in secret. On the surface, there were still the seven major powers and the Seven Seraphs. The Wisdom Domain would never be controlled by the High Seraph. The Gate of Laws was also secretly communicating with the Grandverse Manor. The Spirit Nidus was actually much different from what Lu Yin had originally pictured.
If the High Seraph could easily decide who would become a Seraph, that would contradict what Lu Yin had seen of the megaverse’s state of affairs so far.
Tian Ya softly replied, "So what if they are unwilling? The competition for the position of a Seraph will still be fair.
"We are independent cultivators, and we were stopped by the High Seraph's intervention, but that doesn’t mean that the representatives of the major powers stepped back. Bao Qi genuinely fought until the very end. With the help of the Cauldron Bell, he is truly qualified to hold the title of Seraph.
"While Palace Master Yao’s title as the strongest beneath the Seraphs is not entirely correct, the High Seraph must have the means to compensate for her lacking strength, which will grant her the power to become a Seraph.
"No matter what step the High Seraph takes, he has not broken any rules. All who obtain the title of Seraph need to possess the requisite strength."
This was true. Lu Yin was aware of just how strong Bao Qi was. With his Cauldron Bell, the man was absolutely as strong as Yi Shang. Additionally, Bao Qi could enter Dukkha at any time.
Shao Chen’s Mortal Realm had easily forced the Seraph to enter Dukkha.
From this perspective, the High Seraph really had not broken any rules.
"You once withdrew from the competition to become a Seraph because of the High Seraph’s intervention. What about in the future? Who can guarantee that the High Seraph won’t do the same thing again? You already said it yourself—the High Seraph is always scheming." Lu Yin countered.
Hu Wu looked up. "First, we need to clearly see what his plans are, and then deal with them.
"The person with the greatest advantage to become the next Seraph is undoubtedly Palace Master Yao. We need to deal with her first so that the High Seraph won’t be able to intervene again."