Star Odyssey

Chapter 3478: The Worryless Elder

Suddenly, raging flames erupted, and all the water of the Bifrost Unscathed Sword boiled away.

Palace Master Yao’s eyes tightened, and she raised a hand, summoning her Bifrost Unscathed Sword.

“The Bifrost Unscathed Sword? Palace Master Yao?" A voice full of surprise spoke up as the flames scorched space itself, warping the nearby universe. Someone stepped forward, and as they did so, an overwhelming pressure swept through the area.

Everyone nearby who was watching instantly felt suffocated.

"That- is that Qian?"

"Who? Old monster Qian? The one who fought against Bao Qi for the title of Seraph? Is he still alive?"

"He’s still alive..."

No one had expected Qian to still be alive.

Long ago, Qian had delivered such a severe blow to Bao Qi that the man had almost lost his chance to become one of the Seven Seraphs. During that battle, Qian had been defeated by Bao Qi's Sound Sequence Technique, and everyone believed that he had died to that attack. But shockingly, he still lived.

Palace Master Yao was surrounded by the water of her Bifrost Unscathed Sword, and it continued to disappear as it attempted to suppress the flames.

"Palace Master Yao, how did you know where to find me? Also, why did you attack me?" Qian had a deep voice, and there were multiple layers of flames blazing around him. The inferno looked like a constantly expanding red sphere, and the expansion pushed Palace Master Yao back.

She was known as the most powerful cultivator beneath the Seven Seraphs, but that was only under the premise that old monsters like Qian did not appear.

Many such old freaks had fought for the title of Seraph in the past, but few had ever made a lasting impression on the megaverse.

Just because someone fought for the title of Seraph did not mean that they were close to that level of power.

There were a number of people who would fight for the title just to improve their reputation, such as Threeheaded Fiend or the Primal Beastland’s expert who had used the Divine Projection of Emperor Wu. The fact that the beast had possessed a Divine Projection of Emperor Wu meant that the beast was a subordinate of the leader of the domain. For such an individual to compete for the title of Seraph was nothing more than a means of improving the Primal Beastland’s status in the Spirit Nidus.

However, there were others who truly competed for the title. Many of them were listed on the Phantom Reach’s White Spirit List. These were the people that Bao Qi had referred to as "mad dogs."

Qian was one of those mad dogs.

This man was an independent cultivator who had cultivated the Sixteen Layers of Infernal Blaze. His flames could incinerate space itself, and he had few peers in the megaverse.

This was not even considering the fact that Palace Master Yao had left her spirit weapon in the Ascendant Hall, where it had been destroyed. Even at her peak, she might not have been confident of defeating Qian.

Her face grew pale as her sequence particles spread out. The Absolute Reversal Sequence Technique was powerful and capable of turning the tide of any battle.

However, Qian did not give Palace Master Yao any opportunity to do so. Her sequence particles were immediately blocked by eight shadowy figures.

“The Eight-Gate Seal?” Palace Master Yao’s eyes narrowed.

Further away, Lu Yin’s eyes lit up upon recognizing a familiar sequence technique.

In the branch stream of the River of Aeons, Lu Yin had seen this same sequence technique when fighting against Meng Sang. In addition, Lu Yin had also seen the associated sequence base: Eightfold Nexus.

The Eightfold Nexus was a sequence base created from the sequence particles of fifty-one experts who had cultivated the Eight-Gate Seal sequence technique throughout the ages. The sequence base was capable of blocking all sequence particles.

Against it, even the repulsion of Lu Yin’s inner universe had proven ineffective. He had been blocked, which was how Meng Sang had escaped.

However, Meng Sang had lost the Eightfold Nexus in return.

At present, Lu Yin needed to find the Eightfold Nexus sequence base again in order to mend his broken karma.

Since she was being blocked by the Eight-Gate Seal sequence technique, Palace Master Yao could not use her own sequence technique. Qian appeared in front of the woman, flames blazing in his palm. "No matter why you struck at me or how you found me, you can die now!"

The man threw his palm forward, completely shattering the void. He did not care about Palace Master Yao, one of the Ascendant Hall’s Absolute Duo.

She watched the palm fall and raised her own while summoning the water of her Bifrost Unscathed Sword.

Bang!

The two palms collided, which shocked Qian. Was this woman actually able to block his attack?

Palace Master Yao was panting. If not for the fact that she had lost her spirit weapon, she would not be in such a passive position right now.

Her spirit weapon, the Bifrost Unscathed Sword, could enhance the power of her eponymous battle technique. With that spirit weapon, it would be far more difficult to boil the water away, and there would be no way to say who would emerge victorious between Palace Master Yao and Qian.

Still, she was not his match at the moment. Even so, if Qian wanted to kill the woman, it would be impossible, provided that she committed to escaping.

Her mission had been accomplished.

Lu Yin stepped forward to arrive beside the woman and faced Qian directly. "You’re one of the mad dogs who fought with Bao Qi for the title of Seraph, aren’t you?"

Qian’s attention turned to Lu Yin, and the old man felt a flicker of danger.

He had cultivated for countless years and had survived countless life-and-death crises in both the Spirit Nidus and the Consciousness Megaverse. He had fought countless battles and was highly sensitive to even the slightest threat.

The moment the young man appeared, Qian had felt grave danger.

The old man’s mind raced, still questioning why his location had been discovered. It was clear that this unknown man was here to find him.

It was also clear that Palace Master Yao had acted upon this man’s orders.

"Who are you?" Qian asked.

Lu Yin clasped his hands behind his back. "Who I am is none of your concern. Consider yourself unlucky, as you’re destined to go to purgatory.”

His goal was to find powerful opponents and strengthen his Karmic Dao. In doing so, he would also reduce the number of powerful experts in the Spirit Nidus. Where was the downside?

Qian's eyes narrowed, and he turned to leave. It was clear that he had no intention of fighting Lu Yin.

His goal was to fight for the title of Seraph again, and he would use any means necessary to do so. However, he did not want to be targeted by others.

It was not yet time to fight.

Lu Yin took a step forward, moving at the speed of time and causing everything around him to freeze.

Qian’s eyes followed Lu Yin’s movement, and the old man sensed the power of time.

Despite being unable to wield the great power of time himself, Qian was still capable of seeing through such abilities. After all, the man was an Ortuser.

Flames continued to burn space, and layer after layer was compressed down: Sixteen Layers of Infernal Blaze.

Above Lu Yin’s head, sixteen layers of what looked like red earth pressed down on him. Each flame layer was more powerful than the last. This was Qian’s most famous and most powerful technique. It was what had supposedly wounded Bao Qi.

The flames pressed down, but Lu Yin just raised a hand. The Sixteen Layers of Infernal Blaze were absorbed into his palm, instantly disappearing.

Qian's pupils shrank to pinpricks. How could this be?

Far away, Palace Master Yao was similarly shocked. She had personally experienced the power of Qian's Sixteen Layers of Infernal Blaze just now, and she knew how formidable the technique was.

The woman was not surprised that Lu Yin was capable of defeating Qian, but how could he do so in one attack? It was impossible to control all sixteen layers of flames, unless one had also cultivated the Sixteen Layers of Infernal Blaze.

In the distance, many spectators were similarly stunned.

"Here, have yours back." Lu Yin threw a palm strike of his own. He had already gathered the Sixteen Layers of Infernal Blaze into his hand. Now, he was returning an attack that was as hot and powerful as the sun itself. It looked as though Lu Yin was holding a star in the palm of his hand.

Linked Palm was Progenitor Chen’s ultimate technique, and it was able to seize external power and use it. It did not matter if that power came from the person themselves or their opponent.

Even when trapped in the Rivers and Mountains Painting, Progenitor Chen had been able to use the sequence base’s sequence particles to attack. Not even Yuan Qi had been able to stop the Progenitor from taking action.

Even True God himself had marveled at the technique that Progenitor Chen had developed.

The palm struck Qian, smashing into his shoulder. The impact deformed the man’s shoulder, drawing blood.

He spat out more blood as he staggered back. Even so, his sequence particles spread out as he used the Eight-Gate Seal.

Eight shadows appeared in an attempt to block Lu Yin.

Lu Yin released his inner universe, pushing back the sequence particles.

He might not be able to repel the Eightfold Nexus’s sequence particles, due to the sheer quantity of particles in the sequence base, but Qian could not compare to a sequence base. Lu Yin was only facing off against a single opponent’s sequence particles.

The Eight-Gate Seal was immediately pushed back.

Qian had never expected his Eight-Gate Seal defeat Lu Yin. The old man had merely hoped to buy enough time to escape.

But unexpectedly, his plan proved utterly useless. Lu Yin’s inner universe repelled the sequence particles too quickly. In fact, it somehow seemed even faster than normal.

Qian could never have imagined that Lu Yin had already absorbed Eightfold Nexus sequence particles. While those sequence particles could not be used without suffering karmic backlash, the fact that these sequence particles were familiar meant that Lu Yin’s inner universe could absorb them more rapidly and reject them even faster.

Right as Qian started to open up some distance, Lu Yin caught up and grabbed the fleeing man.

All who witnessed this scene felt their mouths go dry.

Such an exchange could only happen when the difference in strength between two people was too vast to overcome.

Lu Yin was like an adult bullying a child, simply grabbing the weakling with one hand.

Qian turned his head back to look at Lu Yin. "Just who are you? Where did an old monster like you come from?"

He felt completely overwhelmed, and he repeatedly tried to pull away, but his speed was no match for Lu Yin’s.

Qian saw Lu Yin’s hand reaching for him.

This was no different from how, earlier, Qian had intended to defeat Palace Master Yao with a single blow.

Qian gritted his teeth, and an intense light with a deep color appeared in his palm that he used to attack Lu Yin.

Two palms collided.

Lu Yin’s eyes flared in shock as he watched his palm actually start to melt. A piercing pain tore through him, and Lightstream flickered out, reversing time by one second.

Seeing the one-second temporal reversion absolutely horrified Qian. Once again, his opponent was using the great power of time.

Before Qian could even react, a powerful consciousness surged forth, and he simply felt a roar fill his mind before he lost all awareness.

Lu Yin watched the man fall and then raised his hand to look at his palm.

His palm had just melted. He was well aware of his own physical strength, and when he had sensed a hint of danger, he had instantly activated his Wielder-realm battle force. Even so, he had not been able to stop Qian’s final attack.

His eyes turned to Qian’s hand, and the dark glow there caught his attention. Was that the cause?

Is this... a spirit weapon?

Palace Master Yao walked over. "That’s Flame's Matron. Long ago, Qian used his Sixteen Layers of Infernal Blaze as a distraction so that he could land a blow with this Flame's Matron while fighting against Bao Qi. That attack left a permanent mark that couldn’t be healed."

"Flame's Matron? It’s incredibly powerful," Lu Yin praised as he reached for the spirit weapon.

The distant crowd felt bitter. Qian had once competed for the title of Seraph and had managed to land a severe blow on Bao Qi, almost preventing the man from becoming a Seraph. Despite his accolades, Qian had just been miserably defeated.

While the various observers had all maintained a great deal of distance and were thus unable to see the battle clearly, just the brief amount of time it took for the fight to conclude said it all: the Third Boss had won in a crushing victory.

This level of power was equal to the Seven Seraphs.

In the asteroid field, Lu Yin touched Flame's Matron. Without Qian's support, Flame's Matron was no longer as intense, but just touching it caused Lu Yin to feel the pain of being burned.

Good stuff. I wonder if it can be Enhanced with my die.

Even if not, the spirit weapon could be used as a surprise attack in a critical moment.

After all, if not even his own physical strength could endure the spirit weapon, then Lu Yin could not imagine anyone else who could.

It was no wonder why Qian was a mad dog who had fought Bao Qi for the title of Seraph. The old man certainly had some tricks up his sleeve.

With Qian imprisoned in his Champions' Stage Purgatory, Lu Yin was eager to see how much his Karmic Dao had been strengthened by.

"Who’s next?"

Old Tao arrived and respectfully said, "The Worryless Elder."

Palace Master Yao frowned. "He's still alive? How do you know?"

Old Tao gave a bitter smile. "Even I didn’t think that the Worryless Elder was still alive. He, like Qian, once competed for the title of Seraph, though he did not compete against Bao Qi. He competed when Meng Sang succeeded in becoming a Seraph."

"That’s ancient," Lu Yin commented.

Palace Master Yao’s tone grew somber. "The Worryless Elder is from nearly the same generation as Yuan Qi and the Seraph Yi Shang. They aren’t that far apart. However, after becoming an Ortuser long ago, the Worryless Elder never entered Dukkha. No one knows why.

"He did enter the fray during the Seraph competition that Meng Sang won, but the Worryless Elder only intervened once, and he did not show any real intention of trying to win. On top of that, he never appeared at all during the competition when Bao Qi succeeded in becoming a Seraph. Everyone assumed that he had died. Now, the Worryless Valley has changed leaders multiple times and has weakened greatly."

"Then let’s go. Let’s head out to the Worryless Valley," Lu Yin decided.

Soon, the sedan moved out again, this time heading for the Worryless Valley.

The Worryless Valley was located in another one of the thirty-six domains, the Revelation Domain.

The Revelation Domain was currently under the control of the Revelation Sect. The Revelation Domain was also in the lower portion of the 灵 character formed from the spirit threads of the Spirit Nidus. It was relatively weak when compared to the rest of the thirty-six domains, and it was even weaker than the Vast Qian Domain.