Lu Yin did not immediately attack, and instead, he pointed downwards. “Do you know what this is?”
Venerable Lan Ye glanced at the bamboo slip beneath Lu Yin’s feet, and his eyes flickered. “If I’m not mistaken, that’s the Autumnspring Slip.”
Lu Yin then pointed to Qian Shu. “Do you know who he is?”
Lan Ye gave the young man a brief glance. “The Autumnspring Slip’s Qian Shu, a prodigy from the Scion Spire.”
Lu Yin nodded. “He offended me, and so I destroyed the Autumnspring Slip. However, because their mirebound artifact is somewhat useful, I decided to spare his life. Tell me, what about you? You’ve just offended me, so I can only hope that you can also offer me something that’s worth sparing your life.”
Venerable Lan Ye suddenly breathed out a blast of dark-green smoke. This was not just smoke, but also his miasma. It moved about like a living dragon as it shot towards Lu Yin, instantly shrouding the entire sky.
From the ground’s perspective, the entire sky was filled with a green haze, transforming the entire world.
Lan Ye spread his miasma across the universe. He was not trying to suppress Lu Yin’s physical strength, but simply sense where Lu Yin’s attacks would come from and what sort of range they would have. Right after that, Lan Ye took a step upwards to loom above Lu Yin. From that position, he released a torrent of sequence particles. Simultaneously, an Awe Gate appeared in another direction, and Lan Ye’s own body moved and flickered as he used the Nine Heavens Transformation.
Four converging attacks from four different directions. How could Lu Yin hope to break free?
Qian Shu’s expression changed. The miasma that had appeared was deadly, even for a peak Dukkhan like Qian Shu. On top of that, there were other deadly attacks coming from three other directions. There were countless sequence particles falling from above, an unshakable Awe Gate to one side, and a cold bloodlust from behind.
Venerable Lan Ye proved that his reputation as one of the East Domain’s top powerhouses was fully warranted. Qian Shu was forced to admit to himself that, if he fought the man, his only way of holding out would be by relying on his own physique. He had no means of defeating this man.
Lu Yin remained casual as he stood in the middle of the approaching onslaught. With both his sequence particles and his Nine Heavens Transformation, Lan Ye was close to the High Seraph’s level of power. On top of that, his miasma was reminiscent of Yue Ya’s manifested thoughts, and it served as a deadly trump card.
But so what?
All of it was nothing more than fleeting clouds.
Lan Ye still had not reached the level of either the High Seraph or Yue Ya in terms of combat strength. He was closer to the level of Old Chief or Emperor Wu after being strengthened by Heaven’s Seal and the Nine Heavens Transformation.
While the attacks from every direction seemed inescapable, did Lu Yin even need to escape?
From around the Autumnspring Slip, chains of consciousness shot upwards. The Heaven and Earth Lock activated, and it locked down every direction.
Miasma, sequence particles, the Awe Gate, and even Lan Ye’s Nine Heavens Transformation were all intercepted and sealed by the Heaven and Earth Lock. The man could not believe his eyes. Consciousness? How could it be so powerful?
Venerable Lan Ye refused to accept his situation. He repeatedly lashed out, but no matter what he tried, he was unable to break through the Heaven and Earth Lock.
The Heaven and Earth Lock could seal attacks, manifested thoughts, consciousness, and even an individual’s perception of the outside world. When the technique was fully mastered, it sealed off absolutely everything. If merged with Immortal matter, it could even briefly trap an Immortal. While Lu Yin had not yet used Immortal matter, the Heaven and Earth Lock still was not something that Venerable Lan Ye could break.
It was a genuine Immortal-level true battle technique.
Lu Yin slowly turned his head so that he was facing Lan Ye. “Have you thought things through? What value do you possess that would make it worth my while to spare your life?”
Lan Ye’s pupils shrank. His hand rose and a finger pointed forward. “Lanleaf Strike.”
Using the Lanleaf Strike, Lan Ye drew a leaf. Miasma twisted at his fingertip in a manner that resembled the birth of a universe. The image was vivid and lifelike. When he thrust his finger forward, it was as though an entire universe was cast at his target.
At that moment, Qian Shu’s scalp went numb. He stared at Lan Ye’s finger and unexpectedly felt a threat to his life. That attack...?
Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. That was the move.
Earlier, Lan Ye had used this same technique to break past the ripple produced by Lu Yin’s third finger tap. This attack actually resembled Lu Yin’s inner universe, albeit a simplified version.
The reason why Lu Yin had allowed Lan Ye to attack so freely was so that he could observe this battle technique.
This was the first time that Lu Yin had seen anything that resembled his inner universe in another person.
Peak powerhouses possessed a Progenitor’s world, which could contain living creatures, but a Progenitor’s world was not the same as Lu Yin’s inner universe. One was a manifestation of an expert’s personal power, while the other encompassed all things, holding the past while also possessing potential for the future.
Lu Yin’s inner universe was a true universe, one that he had given birth to. While he might not know how to help it finish maturing, it was already in its embryonic form; it consisted of stars, astral phenomena, and even karma.
Venerable Lan Ye’s finger technique used miasma to simulate the Orchid Megaverse, and the megaverse naturally filled in the miasma. He had accompanied the Seventh Night Pillar on the expedition to destroy that megaverse and had roamed about it freely, using that experience to eventually develop this attack, which he regarded as his ultimate trump card. He had not anticipated using it so soon, as he had only returned to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse shortly before. In fact, Lan Ye was facing his very first opponent since returning.
Earlier, he had used his Lanleaf Strike to shatter the ripple produced by Lu Yin’s physical strength, and doing so had not even consumed all of the attack’s power. Because of that, Lan Ye was confident that he could also use it to break through Lu Yin’s consciousness.
The Lanleaf Strike triggered the transformation of a universe, and the lone attack struck the Heaven and Earth Lock...
...to absolutely no effect.
Venerable Lan Ye’s pupils shrank to pinpricks. Impossible!
Miasma madly erupted from his body as it concentrated at his fingertip. The illusion of a universe intensified to the point where the universe around the two men could not endure it, and it started to fracture.
Countless eyes were drawn to the finger, and people felt pained by its mere presence.
Qian Shu stared at that finger, transfixed by it. What kind of power is that? Even the void can hardly withstand it.
This was not as simple as tearing the void; the void was completely overwhelmed. It was as if an entirely new realm of existence had been ripped open.
Once again, the Lanleaf Strike struck the Heaven and Earth Lock.
Still, there was absolutely no effect.
Venerable Lan Ye stared at Lu Yin in a daze, only to receive a slight smirk.
The Lanleaf Strike, which simulated the Orchid Megaverse with miasma, was quite literally a simplified version of that megaverse. Such a thing was only possible because Venerable Lan Ye had succeeded in becoming a peak Dukkhan. If his cultivation was even the slightest bit weaker, he would have failed, no matter how much miasma he could control.
However, the Lanleaf Strike merely simulated a universe, while the Heaven and Earth Lock was able to seal the cosmos itself. The two were conceptually on different levels.
On top of that, Lu Yin’s consciousness was far more terrifying than Lan Ye could ever imagine.
If not for the fact that Lu Yin had wanted to observe the Lanleaf Strike again, Word Manifestation alone would have been enough to prevent Lan Ye from being able to make any move at all.
“Are you done playing around?” Lu Yin asked casually, his voice dripping with mockery.
Those words might as well have been a clap of thunder on a clear day to Venerable Lan Ye’s ears.
Playing around? In this man's eyes, my most powerful attack is only... playing around?