Star Odyssey

Chapter 2793: Besieging Xia Shenji

Xia Shenji avoided the small path, but it instantly appeared beneath his feet and dragged him away.

The Progenitor wanted to escape from Evernight, but he also wanted to capture his clone. During his moment of internal conflict, Lu Yin appeared, walking through the Shenwu World. He moved as though he could see through every sword attack. There were curved lines on his forehead that formed an eye-like symbol, and as soon as the young man saw Xia Shenji, he raised his palm rose and shot out an attack at the Progenitor.

Xia Shenji looked up and roared, "You little bastard! I’m going to kill you!"

The Shenwu World spread out, and swords slashed at Lu Yin, only for his entire body to suddenly disappear. The palm strike had been a feint, and the real attack was Arch-Elder Zen’s.

Xia Shenji saw that, far out in the distance, Arch-Elder Zen’s Ancestral Qi had already transformed into Lu Tianyi, and a Hidden Needle had shot out to pierce through Xia Shenji.

Xia Shenji had roamed the Perennial World and fought against the Aeternals for countless years. How could he fall for a trap so easily? When he whirled around, he used a secret technique to freeze the Hidden Needle in the void.

"Do you really believe that you can deal with me by summoning Lu Tianyi? How much of his strength can you even call upon?"

Arch-Elder Zen's eyes suddenly flared, and blood vessels erupted in each eye. The Hidden Needle that had been locked down by Xia Shenji’s secret technique trembled, and then, shockingly, broke free and instantly stabbed into Xia Shenji.

Lu Yin appeared above Xia Shenji's head, slapping down with his slipper.

Xia Shenji's eyes grew unfocused, and he did not even try to dodge. Secretly, Lu Yin thought that this was not a good thing, but just as he was about to retreat, his body froze, as did the Hidden Needle. One attack was frozen above Xia Shenji's head, while the other froze at the side of his body. This was the man’s unique battle technique, Graduation, which used time to lock down the void.

This was the battle technique that Xia Shenji was proudest of, and also what he believed gave him the ability to fight against even the masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas.

In Lu Yin’s Heaven’s Sight, it was clear that Xia Shenji had not fully mastered the power of sequence particles yet, and he was clearly much weaker than Old Mo. However, the power of time was extremely difficult to deal with.

"Dao Monarch!" Arch-Elder Zen shouted.

Lu Yin spun around as the Shenwu World fell upon him. To his Heaven’s Sight, it appeared that the Shenwu World had replaced the darkness of Evernight. It was impossible for Lu Yin to block such an attack with his own strength.

At the last possible moment, the Investiture of the Gods appeared, and multiple figures emerged from the glowing golden scroll. Cloudflow's Thousand Streams Shatter the Dao erupted, as well as Monarch Mu's divine hologram and Progenitor Nong's Plowing the Land, Three Progenitor-level powerhouses attacked as one, shattering the Shenwu World.

Xia Shenji was shocked to see that Lu Yin had already conferred three Progenitors as gods. Wait, who is that?

"Monarch Mu?"

Lu Yin swung his slipper down, instantly smashing through Xia Shenji’s Graduation. Not a word was spoken as the young man shot straight at Xia Shenji.

The Progenitor sneered. "You’ve already revealed everything that you possess. Do you really think that you can kill me? I will definitely expose the identity that you’ve used to hide in the Sixverse Association!"

The man did not recognize Evernight, as that would have instantly identified Lu Yin’s other identity.

Lu Yin steeled his gaze. "Even if you find out, can you still leave?"

Xia Shenji's Divine Martial Armor erupted, and inch by inch, the unique energy spread throughout all parts of the Shenwu World. "Let me show you a power that is comparable to the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas!"

He unleashed an unprecedented level of strength with his Progenitor’s world, and at that moment, the Shenwu World filled Evernight and pushed back the absolute darkness.

The Shenwu World filled the entire space with blades. At this moment, every blade burned with Divine Martial Energy, causing the void to warp.

"Dao Monarch, you’ve now seen my power. Tell me, are you afraid?" While Lu Yin felt that Xia Shenji's power was indeed terrifying, the man was still a bit weaker than Old Mo. The power of sequence particles was on another level.

Even so, Xia Shenji was too strong for Lu Yin to resist at this moment, which meant that he could only go all out.

Xia Shenji had always claimed that he was just as powerful as the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas, and he had indeed exposed a level of strength that surpassed anything he had revealed before. Every slash of the Progenitor’s blades was powerful enough to defeat Cloudflow or Chen Le, which meant that each attack could instantly kill an ordinary Progenitor. As Lu Yin looked around, he could not even count how many blades the Progenitor had manifested.

This level of power would be difficult for most peak powerhouses to deal with, and only those who had surpassed a certain limit would be able to do so.

Lu Yin clenched his slipper, and blood leaked from Arch-Elder Zen’s eyes. It was time to finish this fight. Senior Tianyi, this junior will see if he can reproduce your power!

Xia Shenji's eyes flared, and he glared at Lu Yin. The man refused to believe that the slipper could block all of his attacks. His arms waved, and countless blades slashed down.

Suddenly, he coughed up a mouthful of blood, and his face turned pale. He spun around, disbelief filling his eyes. "Do you want to die? He’s trying to kill us!"

Xia Shenji's clone lowered his hand, gasping. He had just injured himself.

However, upon seeing Xia Shenji’s rage, the clone smiled as his hand fell. "He wants to kill you, not me."

"If I die, then so will you!" Xia Shenji was furious and regretted not killing his clone before all this. Unfortunately, it was too late for regrets. The burning Shenwu World started to disappear as Xia Shenji’s strength started to fade.

Unable to maintain his current state, the Progenitor raised his head as his Shenwu World desperately lashed out in every direction. He wanted to escape, but it was already impossible for him to capture his clone.

Xia Shenji wanted to escape, but he was forced to stay behind.

The Shenwu World slashed at Evernight, and Graduation locked everything down as Xia Shenji stared at Lu Yin. "You little bastard! You’re dead! Do you think that the Sixverse Association will ever let you go?"

Lu Yin had a mocking smile on his face. "Look behind you."

Xia Shenji’s head snapped around, just in time to see a needle. It was the Hidden Needle that he had frozen with Graduation. At some point in time, the needle had broken through Graduation, and the Hidden Needle now shot towards Xia Shenji, just as the man used Graduation to create a barrier in front of his body.

The battle technique shattered with the sound of breaking glass.

The Hidden Needle stabbed into the man with a power that was beyond Xia Shenji’s understanding. He was instantly skewered, and blood welled up in his throat.

He spat it out, unable to believe his current situation.

At the same time, Arch-Elder Zen also spat out a mouthful of blood as he grew pale. He was indeed incapable of utilizing Senior Tianyi’s full power, and attempting to do so had nearly killed Arch-Elder Zen.

This opening gave Lu Yin the opening to land his palm strike, though he first trapped thirty such attacks with the power of time, before unleashing the unified palm strike onto Xia Shenji’s back. The Progenitor’s bones snapped, and the Shenwu World disappeared.

"Dao Monarch Lu, please show mercy!" Xia Shenji's clone shouted in a weak voice.

Lu Yin waved a hand, and the clone shot over.

"He’s all yours."

Puff.

Xia Shenji vomited more blood out, and his vision blurred as he looked upwards, just in time to see another attack from Lu Yin hit him. At this moment, Xia Shenji was completely incapable of blocking any attacks, and his vision faded to darkness.

The clone could not wait, and he rushed down.

Arch-Elder Zen moved to Lu Yin's side. The old man’s face was pale, and he looked even worse than if he had been seriously injured. He appeared to be at death’s door.

Lu Yin looked at the man with great concern. "Senior, are you going to be alright?"

Arch-Elder Zen answered with a bitter smile. "Senior Tianyi's power is truly too much. Even if I have the Tri-Yang Ancestral Qi Technique, it’s impossible for me to bring out his full power. Attempting to do so harms me, and I can’t endure for much any longer."

Lu Yin had heard Lu Buzheng mention that he only occasionally succeeded in summoning Destiny with his own Tri-Yang Ancestral Qi Technique, and that low success rate was due to the gap between the man’s strength and Destiny’s. Trying to forcefully summon Destiny with his Ancestral Qi would only harm the Semi-Progenitor.

"Is Ancestor Tianyi that much stronger than you?" Lu Yin felt quite curious about this, and he hoped to obtain some idea of Lu Tianyi's level of strength from Arch-Elder Zen.

The old man muttered, "I don't even know how large that gap is, which is the scariest thing.

"If I knew his power, I would not worry about it. But it’s precisely because I don't know that, if I overdraw the Tri-Yang Ancestral Qi Technique, I’ll most likely kill myself."

Lu Yin was completely certain that Ancestor Tianyi had mastered sequence particles. If not, there was no way that Arch-Elder Zen would be so much weaker than Lu Yin’s ancestor.

If Arch-Elder Zen had summoned someone with Xia Shenji’s level of strength, there would be no difficulties at all, and this demonstrated the difference in strength.

"If the clone merges with the main body, aren’t you worried that the clone will be absorbed instead? What if the clone has his own ambitions and becomes another Xia Shenji?" Arch-Elder Zen was worried. He coughed, and more blood leaked from the corner of his mouth.

Lu Yin clasped his hands behind his back. "There’s no need for you to overuse Ancestor Tianyi’s power. This man is already badly injured, and we can deal with him."

"I actually want to try it myself. I’ve never been able to experience Senior Tianyi’s power for myself, and I felt the urge to push myself and find out. I never thought that I would suffer so badly for it." The Progenitor felt a bit helpless.

Lu Yin knew how to dismiss the old man’s worries. "I will confer him as a god. A person has to be completely willing to accept that process for it to work. And if he fails, he’ll just be made into a champion."

Arch-Elder Zen gave Lu Yin a strange look. This was indeed the behavior of the Lu family: domineering and impossible to control. The living could be conferred as gods, while the dead could be annointed as champions. Was there anyone whom the people could not use?

Finally, Arch-Elder Zen understood the four ruling powers’ feelings towards this family. No one would want to live beneath such people.

"In addition to that, I’ll ask my senior brother to place a ?arīra in him, just to ensure that he never changes his mind," Lu Yin continued. He looked downwards with a strange expression. The Nine Clones Secret Technique was a truly miraculous ability.

Arch-Elder Zen nodded. This would be safe.

Starting from this day, the original Xia Shenji would cease to exist.

What would the clone become in the future?

Lu Yin and Arch-Elder Zen stared downwards for a long time before the merging finally finished.

Ahem.

A loud cough echoed out. Xia Shenji placed a hand over the wound from where he had been stabbed by the Hidden Needle. He struggled to his feet while complaining, "Dao Monarch Lu, you are too vicious."

Lu Yin and Arch-Elder Zen moved closer, certain that it was not the clone who was standing before them.

There had been too large a gap in strength between Xia Shenji’s true body and his clone. Even if the true body had been seriously injured to the point of standing at death’s door, it was not impossible for the Progenitor to force his clone into submission.

Lu Yin had simply given the clone an opportunity.

Of course, it had been an incredibly risky opportunity, but it had also been the clone’s requirement, and Lu Yin had agreed to the condition.

The greatest risk was if the clone was forcibly absorbed into the main body. If that happened, then even if Lu Yin killed Xia Shenji, he would obtain no information about the Lu family's location. Only the clone could detect where they were.

If possible, Lu Yin wanted to take full control of the clone.

However, if the original Xia Shenji endured, then he would have no choice but to eliminate the man, and when the main body died, the clone would perish as well. The main body’s life was linked to the life of his clones, but the death of clones could not cause the main body to die.

While Lu Yin had complete control over whether Xia Shenji's clone lived or died, that did not mean that he could discern whether the clone was speaking the truth or lying.

Xia Shenji's broken body slumped back onto the ground. He looked at his arms and his chest several times before trying to move his arms. A numbness affected his entire body.

The worst injuries that the Progenitor had suffered were from the Hidden Needle and the palm strike to his back.

While the clone was only a Semi-Progenitor, his understanding of strength and power came from the original Xia Shenji. Shockingly, Lu Yin had used a single palm strike to deal a great deal of damage to the Progenitor. This had far exceeded the clone’s expectations, as he had thought that the main body would have to be besieged on all sides to fall.

Lu Yin and Arch-Elder Zen landed on the ground and carefully observed Xia Shenji.