Countless people stared as the smoke and dust slowly dissipated.
Bao Qi was still standing in the same place, but his eyes were empty. He had died while fighting.
Across from him, Lu Yin suddenly spat out blood. This was not from any injury caused by Bao Qi; it was from the fact that the Cauldron Bell had broken. This was karmic backlash.
The High Seraph’s real plan had begun. Karmic backlash was the man’s means of dealing with Lu Yin.
Karmic backlash. Again, it’s karmic backlash. Lu Yin’s vision shifted. Suddenly, it was as though he had returned to the Tianyuan Megaverse, without experiencing the thirty-seven years that had been rolled back. That, or he might have returned to the cycle of karma, where he could see Long Xi and Little Xiaoxuan. What was real? What was fake?
At this moment, Lu Yin’s Karmic Dao erupted within his inner universe, and the golden light of the Investiture of the Gods blazed like a sun, enveloping Lu Yin. Down below, the Champions' Stage was a deep and dark abyss.
Blood filled Lu Yin’s mouth as he sat down cross-legged, struggling to resist the karmic backlash.
This time, he was not incapable of fighting back.
As his Karmic Dao grew stronger, he would eventually gain the power to withstand karmic backlash. Karmic backlash originated from the vast megaverse itself. But at this very moment, he had forged his own Karmic Dao, allowing him to stand against the karma of the megaverse.
To outsiders, Lu Yin appeared to have been severely injured by Bao Qi’s final attack, given his ashen complexion.
People’s eyes flickered as many of them started thinking quickly. If they did not take immediate action, they might never see another chance. The Third Boss was terrifyingly strong, and he had completely suppressed a Seraph like Bao Qi from beginning to end. If Bao Qi had not broken one of the megaverse’s ten sequence bases, he would not have been able to so much as injure the Third Boss.
Such a person should not be allowed to continue living. So long as he lived, who could fight him for the title of Seraph?
The Day of Offering was fast approaching, and everyone wanted to seize any miniscule chance of success and attack.
Traces of power manifested, and of them, the strongest burned with an intense heat that ignited a spark on Lu Yin’s body.
He was sitting on the ground, occupied with his Karmic Dao as he fought against the karmic backlash. However, to the spectators, they could only see the golden light of his Investiture of the Gods shining on him.
Suddenly, everyone saw the spark appear on Lu Yin's body.
"Is that... a flame?"
"You Xia’s here! He’s a powerful Ortuser from the Primal Beastland, and he’s even fought for the title of Seraph before."
"Wraithmother has also already attacked."
Surrounded by his Karmic Dao, Lu Yin opened his eyes to see flames blazing in front of him. He could feel bloodlust coming at him from all directions as various individuals tried to attack him while he was still severely injured.
A sudden mournful wail came at Lu Yin again. Blood dripped from Wraithmother’s neck while her hair flew about, giving her the appearance of a vengeful ghost as she lunged at Lu Yin.
He evaded with Inverse Step, moving at the speed of time to appear behind the woman and reach for her head.
Wraithmother spun around and struck with her palm: Five Poison Palm.
Her Five Poison Palm harnessed sorrow, resentment, hatred, anger, and bitterness as five distinct poisons, unleashing an attack of pure malice. This technique had once shaken an entire era, instilling such terror that no one had dared to stand against Wraithmother.
Lu Yin waved his hand, unleashing Setting Sun to incinerate the sinister attack. At the same time, his other hand seized Wraithmother’s head. With an explosion of force, he slammed her down, sending her plummeting into his Champions’ Stage Purgatory.
In an instant, Wraithmother vanished, and Lu Yin’s Karmic Dao surged in strength.
He exhaled slowly. He was still battling karmic backlash, his mind trapped in a haze where past and present blurred together. His very identity wavered, and his power threatened to fade. But by imprisoning Wraithmother in Champions’ Stage Purgatory, his Karmic Dao had strengthened, granting him a fleeting moment of clarity.
Only by tempering his Karmic Dao with the karma of powerful cultivators could Lu Yin truly resist his karmic backlash.
This was the worst possible time for anyone to challenge a Seraph. Even if they won, it would only provoke countless ancient powerhouses, all of whom sought the slimmest chance of survival on the Day of Offering.
But for Lu Yin, this was the perfect opportunity. Only at this moment would so many powerful cultivators willingly throw themselves at him, providing him with the means to strengthen his Karmic Dao. And only at this moment could he truly ascend to the position of Seraph.
He had already imprisoned Wraithmother.
Lu Yin lifted his head and looked around. "The Seven Seraphs? What a joke! As far as I’m concerned, there isn’t a single true expert in the Spirit Nidus. The megaverse is so vast, and yet not a single cultivator here can compare to me.
"Did you think that you could take my life while I'm severely wounded? Do you really believe yourselves to be qualified to do that? Come, show me who has the courage to step forward."
His voice echoed across the universe.
Both those near the Umbral Deep and in distant reaches of the universe, countless people were shaken by Lu Yin's arrogance.
He had just defeated Seraph Bao Qi and Wraithmother, and yet the Third Boss was already challenging all of the Spirit Nidus’s experts. Did he truly believe there were no genuine powerhouses in their megaverse, or did he simply have no fear of death?
Old Tao shuddered. "Third Boss, you should say less. Look at you, you're still bleeding."
Qing Yun swallowed hard. His aura was overbearing, covering the world. This was truly him.
Qing Xiao’s mouth was hanging open. Too- too vicious!
Within the Wisdom Domain, Mr. Li’s expression fell. "If he doesn't die here, who in the Spirit Nidus will be able to stop him in the future? Those old freaks should move now."
In the distance, a pillar of flame rose up. A blazing beast that looked like a massive rat, one as large as a mountain, stepped forward while glaring at Lu Yin.
"I, You Xia of the Primal Beastland, will kill you here today!"
Many of the people present worked to disperse the raging heat. "Sure enough, You Xia’s here. He’s one of the Primal Beastland’s Ortusers. That was his flame."
In the opposite direction, water swirled around, resisting the vicious heat. A dashing, graceful middle-aged man stepped forward and said. "You Xia, please calm your flames. Can you not see that you are evaporating my stream of water?"
The man then turned to look at Lu Yin. "Third Boss, I have no enmity with you. While you are indeed quite arrogant, that does not offend me. However, could you release Qing Yun? She is my junior."
Lu Yin looked over. A Dukkhan had already appeared.
While he had been aware that some Dukkhans were hiding to watch his fight with Bao Qi, he had thought that such people would only appear after he had dealt with all of the Ortusers targeting him. It was a surprise to see a Dukkhan step out so soon.
"Is that Nian Xian?"
"Nian Xian? The same one as in the legends?"
"Yes, the man from the legends."