Star Odyssey

Chapter 4415: Like Thorns At One's Back

This move was actually similar to the Tri-Azure Sword Intent. The strike aimed directly at the outcome. However, while the Tri-Azure Sword Intent was guaranteed to hit its target, Hong Xia's technique was guaranteed to determine superiority or inferiority in comparison to his opponent.

This was Hong Xia's true power.

Fortunately, Green Lotus had directly used his Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm to negate the usage of Hong Xia’s cosmic laws, including the use of the Absolute of No Absolutes. Without that, if he used this move without his opponent understanding it, then not even teleportation would be able to avoid his first strike. Even if someone was able to avoid the subsequent attacks with teleportation, the first strike alone would be enough to heavily injure anyone.

This was also only the world that Hong Xia had chosen to reveal. How much more was he still hiding?

Lu Yin would never forget the first time that he faced Hong Xia. That overwhelming pressure had reminded him of the Longevity Civilization’s Chang Chuan. Hong Xia stood at the very peak of two-law Immortals. Perhaps not even Nan Ling, who had been sealed by Green Lotus, was Hong Xia’s match.

This was the greatest traitor to humanity, a man who had survived since the era of the Nine Ramparts. No matter how the shield defended, it could not escape from Hong Xia's repeated attacks, and it was battered full of holes.

Lu Yin slowly clenched his fist. Teleportation could help him avoid this ability, but the shield was not able to teleport.

Hong Xia had never intended to kill Second Furball. If he had, Second Furball would have never been able to survive for so long. The gap between them was simply too great.

Hong Xia was probably trying to capture the shield and take it back to Vestigium, but that would not do. Thinking of this, Lu Yin teleported back to Crimson Starshade and spoke to Jiu Wen. "Senior, force Hong Xia back."

Jiu Wen said nothing. One of his hands struck the Blood Tower mirebound artifact, while his other attacked Xi Shangfeng.

Xi Shangfeng neither dodged nor evaded and simply allowed Jiu Wen's palm to land. He spat out a mouthful of blood, staining the Blood Tower.

At the same moment, Hong Xia's expression changed. He instantly turned back to face his home megaverse. "Jiu Wen, stop!"

Jiu Wen met the other man’s gaze. He then raised his hand and placed it against the Blood Tower. "Your strength leaves no visible hope of defeating you outright, so we will do things little by little, starting by breaking seven parts of your Path of Dispassion."

Hong Xia grew anxious and raced back to Crimson Starshade, no longer caring about the shield.

Second Furball seized the chance to flee, only for Lu Yin to chase after it. "Trying to run? Come back to Vestigium with me, you traitor."

Hong Xia passed by Lu Yin while directing a cold glare at the young man. No one present was stupid. The moment Lu Yin started chasing after the shield, Hong Xia understood what was happening, and yet he did not dare to take the risk. If he did not return and the Blood Tower and Xi Shangfeng were both destroyed, then seven parts of Hong Xia’s Path of Dispassion would truly be gone.

Jiu Wen's death was of no consequence to Hong Xia, but he could not afford to lose more of his Path of Dispassion. All of his power was built upon the Path of Dispassion. Once that was broken, his strength would decline drastically.

Even setting aside the threat that Lu Yin and the others from his civilization posed, the Plume Immortals and other threats were enough to terrify him.

In an instant, the two disappeared. One arrived at the Crimson Starshade Megaverse, while the other managed to catch up with the shield.

The shield took out a gate and passed through it, but it failed to reach another point in the Aevum Inch. Obscura’s gate had lost its power.

Lu Yin's voice rang out, "You have already broken Obscura’s rules, so how could the gate still be used by you?"

Despite saying those words, Lu Yin was inwardly extremely wary. This made it clear that Obscura controlled all the gates, and that was not a good thing. Fortunately, Lu Yin had never relied on the gates.

The shield kept flying away at its top speed. "Lu Yin, Hong Xia's strength is unfathomable. Back then, he was already able to ambush my master with one of the Ten-Eyed Divine Crow's innate gifts. That battlefield involves multiple three-law Immortals. No one knows what Hong Xia may have mastered by now. It is utterly impossible for your human civilization to deal with him by relying on your own strength."

"I don't need you to tell me what to do. At the very least, I haven't seen you demonstrate any ability that could be of help to me." Lu Yin teleported directly behind the shield. He opened Heaven's Sight, and purple sight power spread out as Pressure Over All Living Beings descended.

The shield suddenly paused. Its defenses were extraordinary, to the point where it was able to dominate all kinds of battlefields, but its movement abilities and attack methods were far too poor.

While avoiding the entangling golden flesh, Lu Yin managed to touch the shield and teleport away.

Outside of the Crimson Starshade Megaverse, Hong Xia frowned. Gone. The range of the boy's teleportation ability had increased even farther, to the point where Lu Yin had completely disappeared from Hong Xia's perception in an instant.

In front of Hong Xia, Jiu Wen no longer made any moves. His only purpose had been to force Hong Xia to return.

Fifty years’ travel away from the Crimson Starshade Megaverse, Lu Yin and the shield reappeared. The shield viciously charged at Lu Yin, while its yellow divine energy formed into a shockwave.

Lu Yin teleported aside, dodging. With a casual wave of his hand, a river of sword intent emerged from the Investiture of the Gods and slashed at the shield.

Second Furball took the entire attack head-on, yet it suffered no damage whatsoever. Lu Yin's eye twitched. What incredible defenses! This shield truly measured up to its appearance. No wonder it had been the tool of a supreme expert.

"Lu Yin, you cannot hurt me."

"Is that so? I’ve already killed a two-law Plume Immortal."

"Defense is my greatest forte. There is no need for you to waste time on me. I will definitely seek revenge against Hong Xia. Leaving me alive will only benefit you."

"That doesn’t match the attitude that you’ve shown in Vestigium." Lu Yin clenched his five fingers into a fist and threw a punch. He was using Star Fist, the Dipper Fist. Second Furball hated all of humanity just as much as it hated Hong Xia. It regarded them all as its enemies. Once Hong Xia was dealt with, its next target would absolutely be other human civilizations.

Second Furball sounded astonished. "This is...?"

With a bang, the shield was blasted away, and even its yellow divine energy was distorted by the strike. "This is the Sixth Rampart's Tai'a Star Fist. How do you know it?"

Lu Yin's eyes lit up. So it is from the Sixth Rampart! My guess was right. The Star Fist truly is a Rampart’s legacy. The Sixth Rampart, Tai'a Star Fist?

That was not an insignificant name.

"Take a guess." Lu Yin threw another punch. His Star Fist shook the cosmos as he continued to hammer against the yellow divine energy.

"Could it be that your Trio descended from the Sixth Rampart? Lu Yin, I will give you a path towards invincibility! Just send me away and help me avoid Obscura. In the future, I will definitely help you deal with Hong Xia!" Second Furball shouted.

Lu Yin stared at it. "What path?"

Second Furball insistently shouted, "You must first agree to send me away!"

Lu Yin hesitated. Letting Second Furball go and join forces with it later to face Hong Xia in the future was not entirely impossible, but it was far too risky. The shield held just as much hostility towards humanity as a whole as it did towards Hong Xia.

On the other hand, capturing the shield and extracting as much information as possible about the Nine Ramparts era seemed like a much better choice. "Why should I believe that you can actually show me a path towards invincibility? Invincibility doesn’t exist in this cosmos."

Second Furball sneered. "You only say that because you have never seen infinite possibilities. My master, Qiu Huang, once achieved invincibility in a certain area. They resonated with three cosmic laws and were respected by even the Plume Immortals.

"Absolute invincibility does exist. The cosmos is so vast that even Immortals cannot see its end. The broader the cosmos, the more infinite possibilities that it contains."

"You've got it backwards. The broader the cosmos, the less likely something like invincibility can exist because you can never see the whole omniverse."

"Wrong! When a certain power reaches the absolute peak, it can be sensed. Just like how you are undoubtedly the strongest beneath the Immortal realm. Do you dare to say that, because the cosmos is infinite, there actually exists another beneath the Immortal realm who is stronger than you?"

Lu Yin had no answer to that. No matter how vast the cosmos might be or how endless the eons from past to present, he was certain that no creature beneath the Immortal realm had ever surpassed him. He truly stood at the peak of his level.

Was it actually possible that Second Furball was right and that such invincibility existed? He frowned. "Go on, then."

"Take me away from here first," Second Furball demanded.

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. "Obscura’s gates allow its members to travel along the main stream of the River of Aeons and reach anywhere. Just where do you think you can escape to?"

"Stop testing me! As for Obscura and your human civilization, I will tell you what I know. No matter how powerful Obscura may be, it still cannot see the entirety of the Aevum Inch."

"If I help you, that would be considered breaking Obscura's rules."

"You would not be breaking the rules. Teleportation is itself a form of combat."

Lu Yin felt a headache coming on. This shield was not easy to deceive. "First, give me the coordinates of where you first found the Mountain Sword Sect."

Second Furball sounded puzzled. "The Mountain Sword Sect? Why are you asking about them? Didn't you already save them?"

"Do you want to leave or not?" Lu Yin barked.

Second Furball did not hesitate any longer and gave the coordinates of where it had first discovered the Mountain Sword Sect. Those coordinates were not for the Mountain Sword Sect's native megaverse, but from that location, it would be possible to find their homeland.

Lu Yin teleported next to the shield, raised a hand to touch it, and then vanished.

Just as Second Furball had said, Obscura could not observe the entire Aevum Inch. If Lu Yin teleported enough times, Second Furball should be able to temporarily shake off Obscura's pursuit.

That was what Lu Yin thought, and Second Furball believed the same thing, but when they saw a gate appear nearby, they both fell completely silent.

It was the same gate that Second Furball had just taken out in its attempt to escape from Hong Xia's pursuit, only for the shield to discover that the gate had lost its functionality. For that reason, it had ignored the gate and felt that it could only rely on Lu Yin's teleportation to escape. However, the gate was somehow clinging to the shield, as if attached to its body, and it changed positions even as they teleported away.

Second Furball's golden flesh violently smashed against the gate. There was a bang, yet the gate remained utterly unmoved. White light flowed across its surface.

There was no need to think further. This was the power of Obscura’s White.

From the moment that Second Furball had taken out that gate, White had already fixed their gaze upon the shield.

Sweat dripped from Lu Yin's forehead as he stared at the gate in the distance. There was no escape now. Not even teleportation could evade this sort of pursuit. What kind of power did White possess? How was it tracking him across teleports? Were they using some other method?

He could not understand it at all.

The shield shook Lu Yin's hand off and rushed into the distance.

But no matter which direction it fled in, the gate maintained the same fixed distance from Second Furball. It was as though it had attached itself to the shield. No matter how the shield attacked the gate, it remained unmoved. It could not be broken, escaped, or evaded.

Lu Yin felt his back growing cold. No matter what, Second Furball was strong enough to compare to a two-law Immortal, but when it tried to go against Obscura, it faced nothing but a hopeless situation exceeding anything it had ever imagined.

The shield crazily rammed into the gate. Golden flesh struck the gate again and again, while yellow divine energy surged endlessly. Still, it was impossible to do anything to the gate.

Around the gate, more and more white light gathered.

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. He teleported above the shield, and his scythe appeared in his hand. "You have broken Obscura’s rules, Second Furball. Surrender!"

As he spoke, his scythe slashed down, its edge striking the shield with great force. However, the shield suffered no damage at all. Second Furball completely ignored Lu Yin and continued frantically ramming against the gate.

Lu Yin had attacked for White to see. He had no desire to end up facing the same sort of fate as Second Furball. Just thinking about such a possibility made him feel thorns pricking at his back.

The scythe kept slashing down. It did not cause the shield to hesitate even the slightest, but Lu Yin struck with great force all the same.

After crazily ramming against the gate for a while, the shield let out a furious roar. "When my master was still alive, which of you would have dared to act against them? Whether it was Obscura or the Plume Immortals, all of you treated my master with the greatest respect! What gives you the right to treat me like this? All I ever wanted was to avenge my master!

"Is Hong Xia even worthy of being compared to my master? Obscura, what gives you the right to talk about rules? What gives you the right to impose your rules on me? I have done more than enough for you all these years. White, let me go! Let me go!"