Star Odyssey

Chapter 3918: Ultimate Power Level

On the mountain peak, the man grinned. “I’m Qing Xing. I’ve waited a long time for you, Mr. Lu.”

Lu Yin stared at Qing Xing. “Why?”

“To verify something that someone said.”

“What’s that?”

“Someone once said that I have reached the greatest strength beneath the Immortal realm. Anything that person said, I will strive to prove true.”

Lu Yin arched a brow. “If that person said a mountain isn’t a mountain or that water isn’t water, would you try to prove that as well?”

Qing Xing laughed loudly. “Absolutely. If that person said it, I would leave no mountains on the ground and remove all water.”

Lu Yin chuckled. “Many people say that I’m arrogant, but you’re even more extreme. I’m curious, who is the person you’re referring to?”

“Greater Sancte Mi Jin.”

Lu Yin was surprised. “Greater Sancte Mi Jin?”

Qing Xing’s expression grew solemn. “I am Greater Sancte Mi Jin’s disciple, Qing Xing. I specifically invited you here, Mr. Lu, to verify his statement. Who really is the strongest beneath the Immortal realm: you or me?”

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. “You didn’t invite me, you threatened me.”

“At least you came. As long as I can verify the truth, you may take the corpse without any complaint from me.”

“If I defeat you, I’ll take the corpse regardless of what you say. This isn’t a transaction. You forced me to come here, and I’ve deliberately made a detour. You will pay a price for that.”

Qing Xing froze, only to laugh again. “You truly are incredible, Mr. Lu. You want to make me pay? No one’s done that since my master died.”

Lu Yin nodded. “I believe you, but that ends now.”

Qiunan Zhen had told Lu Yin that Qing Xing wanted to face him and see the gap between them. At the time, Lu Yin had thought that Qing Xing merely wanted to understand the gap between them. It was a bit surprising to discover that the man actually wanted to confirm his own strength.

Qing Xing looked down at Lu Yin. “We fight without using Immortal matter, agreed?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Lu Yin just shrugged.

Qing Xing casually waved a hand, and the smell of wine disappeared. The ground shook as the sky grew dark. All of the cultivators near Whither Peak looked at the man in shock, as Qing Xing was completely different at this moment. His entire body became pitch black, as if he had been swallowed by the endless darkness of outer space. The only light that could be seen were his two monstrous eyes.

Bang.

Qing Xing took a single step to stand in the middle of the sky. His aura spiked as a stream of energy shot into the sky from beneath his feet. It swept out in all directions, plunging everything into darkness while scattering the clouds.

Lu Yin’s focus sharpened. The world had just changed, along with his opponent. The man in the sky raised a hand, and the nearby space, and even time itself, started to distort. Gray wisps twined about his fingers, and scenes from moments before, and even days before, started to replay.

Zhang Hongyun trembled, consumed by fear. The longer he observed Qing Xing, the clearer he could sense the terrifying power erupting from the man. It was a power that devoured the mind, and it threw Zhang Hongyun’s vision into chaos.

He hastily looked away, not daring to watch any longer. Unfortunately, the man’s mind had already been thrown into chaos. All of his thoughts and emotions became jumbled.

Qing Xing took another step forward, and the surging energy instantly intensified even further.

This caught Lu Yin off guard. He can improve even more?

As that occurred, the wind churned the clouds across the South Domain. Countless people looked to Whither Peak, where they saw a stream of energy shooting into the sky, connecting it to the ground. That pillar appeared to be even taller than the Mother Tree.

What was happening?

Such a magnificent scene left everyone dumbfounded. Whoever looked at the rising stream of energy found their vision turning distorted, and they were unable to stay steady.

Countless people started to weep tears of blood.

That sense of chaos continued to spread.

One old man looked up to the sky with a mournful expression. “Greater Sancte Mi Jin... this is Mi Jin’s power... Mi Jin is not dead yet!”

“Grandfather, what are you saying? That this is Greater Sancte Mi Jin’s power?”

“Kneel! Greater Sancte Mi Jin is not dead! The heavens have blessed our Nine Odysseys Megaverse!”

“The heavens have blessed the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. We pay our respects to Greater Sancte Mi Jin!”

“Greater Sancte Mi Jin-”

The countless cultivators who were rushing to the Fifth Night Pillar suddenly stopped and turned to stare at the rising stream of energy.

On the Fifth Night Pillar, Qiunan Zhen stood before the war drums and excitedly bowed. “I pay my respects to Greater Sancte Mi Jin!”

The Azuresword Sovereign, Lian Jing, and everyone else also bowed.

The entire South Domain was trembling.

Up in the Mother Tree’s canopy, within the Frightened Sparrow Terrace, Greater Sancte Awe Gate stared at the pillar of energy that stretched high into the sky from down below. “The Chaotic Ancient Qi Art... I can see it once more. I thought that your disciple would never release this attack again, Mi Jin. You may now rest in peace.”

Merely the emergence of that energy stirred up the entire Nine Odysseys Megaverse, as countless people knelt in worship.

Only those near Whither Peak understood that Greater Sancte Mi Jin had not returned. This power was being released by the drunkard.

None of them had ever expected the star of misfortune they all knew of to be capable of wielding Mi Jin’s power. It was a power that shattered their minds. They did not dare to look at it, or even dare to think about it.

If one observed the Nine Odysseys Megaverse from outside, they would see that the region surrounding Whither Peak had been completely obscured. Both space and time had been thrown into disarray.

This was the Chaotic Ancient Qi Art.

When Qing Xing took his next step, he arrived directly in front of Lu Yin. A finger was thrust forward, and the energy that had spread across the sky and the ground abruptly converged. It coiled around the finger as it stabbed at Lu Yin.

The world nearby returned to normal, but only because all of that chaos had been condensed onto a single finger. The power being unleashed could shatter the universe and reverse time itself.

This was Qing Xing’s most powerful attack. It drew power from the Chaotic Ancient Qi Art, which was the power of Greater Sancte Mi Jin. It was the attack that had enabled Qing Xing to be acknowledged as the most powerful individual beneath the Immortal realm. It was a force that none could endure. This one strike could pierce the past, present, and future.

Lu Yin watched as the finger drew closer. His brow twitched, and his body was covered with chills. He could feel actual danger. Someone who was not an Immortal and who was not even using Immortal matter could actually make him feel threatened. It was a long-forgotten feeling, and yet it was all too familiar.

It stirred Lu Yin’s blood. Not even Xing Fan’s most powerful attack had managed to incite such a feeling. He could not resist wanting to unleash his Wielder-realm battle force.

His hand rose and then pressed back down. The void froze.

There were two arms frozen in midair between Qing Xing and Lu Yin. Qing Xing’s finger pointed forward, with Lu Yin’s palm pressing down upon it, yet neither moved.

Two energies intertwined and then sank into the ground below before dissipating with a gust that lifted the two men’s hair.

Everyone around Whither Peak had been anticipating an earth-shattering clash, only to see nothing more than a mere breeze.

Zhang Hongyun suppressed his fear enough to look over.

He saw Qing Xing staring blankly at his own finger, unable to move.

There was also Lu Yin, his left hand still behind his back while his right hand pressed down on the sky. He looked completely relaxed and at ease, as though no effort at all had been used.

Crack!

The ground beneath the two split open.

Qing Xing continued to blankly stare at his finger. His attack had been suppressed. The Chaotic Ancient Qi Art had just been thoroughly suppressed. The chaos had been forced back to order while the void had been frozen so firmly that it was as immovable as iron to an ordinary human.

What sort of power could actually overwhelm Qing Xing’s strike?

Lu Yin pulled his hand back and observed his palm. Truly formidable, my Wielder-realm battle force... The truth was that Lu Yin himself no longer knew what his battle force had become, though perhaps Ancient God could provide him with an answer.

It had easily extinguished Xing Fan’s most powerful attack when she had unleashed it, and Qing Xing’s finger strike had just been overwhelmed with the same sense of ease.

It was not purely a difference in strength, but rather a difference in level.

Lu Yin lowered his hand and looked at Qing Xing. “Satisfied?”

Qing Xing pulled his own hand back. He was still in shock, and unable to believe the outcome. “How much of your strength did you just use?”

Lu Yin took a moment to consider the question. “Maybe half?”

After all, he had not used karma or Word Manifestation. Saying that he had used half his strength was already being kind, yet the words still stung Qing Xing’s ears.

He had believed that he had reached the greatest strength possible beneath the Immortal realm, only to discover that he was unable to stand up to even half of Lu Yin’s strength. What a joke.

If Lu Yin had said ninety percent, Qing Xing could have told himself that he would catch up with a bit more training. But half? How could he catch up to that? The gap between them was too vast.

The man could not help but question if Lu Yin had already become an Immortal.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m no Immortal.” Lu Yin could guess the other man’s thoughts, as they matched those of many others in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. Even with his power, Lu Yin had not reached the Immortal realm.

Qing Xing barked a bitter laugh. “So, this is the true ultimate power beneath Immortals? Then what am I? It turns out that Master was wrong after all.”

Lu Yin did not know what to say. After all, he greatly respected Greater Sancte Mi Jin as well. It was also true that Qing Xing deserved to be considered the most powerful beneath the Immortal realm. The attack that he had unleashed was something that not even the High Seraph or other peak Dukkhans could survive without issue. Even if they did survive the attack, they would be left unable to fight any further. Unfortunately, Qing Xing had faced Lu Yin.

In the Tianyuan Megaverse, the Spirit Nidus, and even the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, Lu Yin’s mere existence was continuously redefining people’s understanding of reality. Even a supreme supreme powerhouse like Qing Xing had just had his entire perspective reworked.

Lu Yin walked over to Cheng Gong’s corpse, removed the cosmic ring, and opened it with the dead man’s blood. Sure enough, it contained the Void Wall.

The Cheng family had pinned all of their hopes onto Cheng Gong, but they had never truly understood the terror of the power of karma.

With another glance at Cheng Gong’s corpse, Lu Yin casually caused it to vanish. Their grudge was gone.

“Mr. Lu, do you want me to pay an additional price?” Qing Xing spoke up.

Lu Yin looked over. “If I wanted to ask about Whither Peak, what could you tell me?”

Qing Xing hesitated. “The laws of the Nine Odysseys Megaverse forbid anything regarding Whither Peak from being disclosed. On top of that, I’ve never climbed it myself, so I don’t know any of its secrets.”

Lu Yin nodded and dropped the matter.

“However, I can tell you a story that I once heard from my master.”

Lu Yin grew curious. “I’m all ears.”

Qing Xing glanced at Whither Peak. “Once, a child got lost and stumbled upon a giant. The two got along very well, though the giant was unwelcome in its own tribe and was frequently beaten. One day, the tribe discovered the child and wanted to eat him, so his friend, the giant, fled with the child.

“Unfortunately, too many giants pursued them, and the child and giant were trapped in a valley in a mountain. They were surrounded by giants on all sides and were unable to escape.

“Fortunately, the valley was quite large, which made it impossible for every direction to be watched. The child came up with a plan: he had the giant tie him to a long bamboo pole and lift above the valley so that he could see which direction was not being watched. In this manner, the child found a path to escape, and both fled.”

That was the entirety of Qing Xing’s short story.

Even so, it was enough for Lu Yin to finally understand Whither Peak. The mountain was the bamboo pole mentioned in the story. It was where the information regarding the war in the Allsense Megaverse had come from, as well as the purpose of all who had climbed Whither Peak.

Lu Yin looked back up the mountain, a newfound respect in his eyes.

No matter what sort of relationship existed between the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and the Tianyuan, those who climbed Whither Peak and ultimately vanished from existence all deserved respect, regardless of their individual motives.

Qing Xing glanced at Whither Peak and sighed. “I’m leaving. I’ll never return to Whither Peak.”

Lu Yin was surprised. “Why not?”

“Whither Peak was built by my master, which is why I’ve always stood guard over it for him. However, I failed to prove his words true, so how can I still have the face to continue standing guard here?”