Chapter 3040: The “Heaven” Character
“Where is he now?” Lord Xu asked immediately. The conclusion of such a difficult battle had been Corpse G.o.d’s self-destruction. If not for the child, they would have never been able to push Corpse G.o.d so far, but if even this was not enough to kill the SkyG.o.d, could they ever truly kill him?
The child replied, “I don’t know. He stayed within the illusory world that I created for many years just so that he could place divine energy within me. Divine energy is the energy of someone who is overcoming Dukkha, and while I was in that illusory world, I was not conscious and was unable to resist.”
“Is that the power that he used to wound you so badly?” Moon Fairy asked.
The child coughed up more blood. “He was trying to kill me.”
Lu Yin stared at the child. “If I’m not wrong, you possess some type of power that is related to illusions.”
Mu Shen and the others were not surprised by this comment, as they had already guessed as much themselves. Corpse G.o.d’s words had been clear; without belief, Ye Zhang could not hurt anyone. This also explained how Ye Zhang had rescued Corpse G.o.d so easily earlier; his power was illusory.
The child gave Lu Yin a look of admiration. “You aren’t a sequence powerhouse, or even a peak powerhouse, and yet you possess such strength. You are truly the future ruler of this megaverse. I just hope that you don’t end up like me.”
He suddenly stopped talking, and his expression changed before he quickly refocused on Lu Yin. “The Cyclops King you summoned, is he actually suffering?”
Lu Yin took a moment to think, but then shook his head. “My champions are only summoned power. There’s no connection to the person themselves.”
The child sighed. “I guessed as much. Otherwise, the Lu family would have disappeared long ago. Humans shouldn’t possess that kind of power.”
The child continued to say, “Make me one of your summons.”
Lu Yin was taken aback.
The child appeared to be completely serious. “I’m going to die anyway, so I might as well leave my power to you.”
Lu Yin hesitated. “In order to anoint you as a champion, I need to kill you myself.”
The child shrugged. “I’m already going to die, so why should I care about such a thing?”
Lu Yin glanced over at Mu Shen and the others. Striking down someone who was not an enemy was not easy for Lu Yin. He was not a murderer.
However, the other people present all just nodded at Lu Yin. Gaining Ye Zhang’s power would be a tremendous help to humanity. No matter if it was his power over illusions that could deceive people or that strange ability that had severely wounded Corpse G.o.d, both abilities were incredibly powerful.
Lu Yin took a deep breath. “In that case, thank you, Senior.”
Mu Shen and the others slowly backed away. Anointing champions and conferring summoned G.o.ds were the innate gifts of the Lu family, and they did not feel that it was appropriate to watch. This was especially true since everyone other than Lu Yin was a sequence powerhouse, and no one could say what they might discover if they watched.
Lu Yin did not mind being watched when he anointed a champion, but he made no effort to stop anyone from leaving since they were taking the initiative themselves.
The child’s life was still slipping away. “I possess two different powers. One is sin. I am able to imprison someone in their own sins. Pierce the Heavens is an attack that uses this power, and it affects those who feel a deep sense of guilt more deeply.
“My second power is illusions, which is also the law of the universe that I have comprehended. Belief is what makes my illusions real, while disbelief makes them cease to exist.”
The child then turned to look at the distant group of humans. “When Corpse G.o.d was being attacked and he called for my help, all of you believed that I had the power to save him. That’s why all of you believed everything that happened when I did take action, and you were easily controlled by my illusions. Giants" Purgatory is the same; the Mountain King and the Cyclops King both believed in the rules that I established, which made them real. That is why they did not truly die, even when they were killed. For as long as they believed, they would have continued to exist.”
“That is the power of my Law of Illusion.”
Lu Yin was shocked. The Law of Illusion was utterly terrifying. It sounded easy to break; if belief made things real, then disbelief made them cease to exist. But how do you make someone stop believing in something?
If Ye Zhang used the Law of Illusion to create a cage and everyone who saw it believed that it was a real cage, they would fall to his sequence particles. After that, no matter what they tried to think, the cage would be real to them.
If Ye Zhang used the Law of Illusion to bring about the apocalypse, everyone who saw it would naturally believe it, and that would cause the apocalypse to truly arrive.
No matter how simple it appeared, a false power like the Law of Illusion was one of the most difficult powers to deal with.
“People often get lost in illusions and are unable to extricate themselves. As long as nothing is said, such power is unsolvable.”
Lu Yin let out a long breath. “Senior, your ability is incredible.”
The child gave a bitter laugh. “I was taught to use this power by someone else. Over time, I managed to cultivate it to the level of sequence particles.”
“Your master?” Lu Yin asked, intrigued by the thought of someone who was able to develop such an incredible power of illusions. Just how extraordinarily talented must that person be?
The child shook his head, which led to him coughing up more blood. “He never allowed me to call him my master.”
“What happened to him?”
“He must have pa.s.sed away by now.”
Lu Yin nodded, suddenly feeling rather relieved. After learning about such an undefeatable and mysterious power, if the creator of this ability were still alive, Lu Yin would be left questioning whether everything he had ever seen was real or an illusion.
“Cough, cough. I’m almost out of time. I can’t hold on much longer. Please, do it,” Ye Zhang requested in a weak voice. There was blood covering his entire body.
Lu Yin struggled again with what he had agreed to do, but ultimately, he raised a hand. “Senior, I, Lu Yin, who was originally known as Lu Xiaoxuan, Dao Monarch of the Heavens Sect in the Origin Universe’s Fifth Mainland, will see you off.”
The child’s vision was already blurry, and blood filled his eyes. “Take good care of your civilization. I hope that you won’t follow the same path as me.”
“Thank you,” Lu Yin said earnestly.
His hand then fell and struck the child’s forehead. The child’s body quivered slightly before he slowly fell to the ground.
Mu Shen and the others all watched from a distance. A mighty powerhouse had just pa.s.sed away. He had been the creator of Giants" Purgatory, which had once been the focus of intense interest and study by the Sixverse a.s.sociation, and he had just died.
Lu Yin felt an indescribable weight fall upon him. He took a deep breath and brought out his Champions’ Stage. “By my name, I anoint a Champion.”
As the image of Ye Zhang slowly appeared on the Champions’ Stage, Lu Yin felt uncertain about how he should categorize the man’s power. If his power was not understood, he could not be beaten. However, once his power was understood, it could be easily broken. Lu Yin could not figure out who he should compare Ye Zhang’s strength to, but Lu Yin did believe that he could successfully anoint Ye Zhang.
As the image became more detailed and real, the Champions’ Stage suddenly shook violently. It was connected to Lu Yin through his blood, and the disruption caused him to spit out blood as his face turned pale. Sounds became indistinct and blurry as he looked up. The character for “Heaven” suddenly appeared, and as it did so, it smashed down upon him.
Lu Yin experienced a sensation that he had never felt before. It had not appeared when Nightking Zhenwu had launched a sneak attack and Lu Yin had been teetering on the edge of life and death, nor when he had stood up to the powerful and arrogant Great Sovereign.
Lu Yin felt as though he was being suppressed by heaven itself. It was as though the sky was collapsing, and at that moment, Lu Yin had a glimpse of what normal humans experienced when they faced an apocalypse. Even that did not do the sensation justice. This was more akin to an ant looking up at the sky. What is happening? What is this?
Everything occurred in an instant. The “Heaven” character was suddenly pressing down upon Lu Yin as though he had violated some cosmic law.
At that same moment, the die unexpectedly appeared. There was absolutely no warning, but Gift Copy immediately turned to face the descending character, and the flames which had once burned the Books of Destiny appeared. However, the flames did not move towards the character of “Heaven.” Instead, they moved towards Ye Zhang’s corpse. Something unknown was destroyed, and the “Heaven” character vanished just as it was about to crush Lu Yin.
Had it been real or not?
Lu Yin stared blankly at the sky above him, which had suddenly become empty. Close by, his Champions’ Stage was also empty. There was no image of Ye Zhang to be seen. The die slowly disappeared, and everything grew eerily calm. Far away, Mu Shen and the others showed no signs of being at all disturbed. Their lack of reaction made it seem as though everything that Lu Yin had just experienced had been nothing more than an illusion.
An illusion? Could that be the Law of Illusion?
But then, why would Lu Yin ever believe that he could be suppressed by a single character, let alone killed? Why had his die appeared so suddenly?
On top of that, there was blood, and it was real. Lu Yin had undoubtedly been overwhelmed, and the danger that he had felt had also been real. He had felt what it was like for ordinary humans to stand at the edge of death.
Lu Yin looked over at where Ye Zhang’s body lay, but already, there was nothing but ashes. The body had disintegrated the moment the flames touched it.
If not for Lu Yin’s injuries and the inexplicable appearance of his die, Lu Yin would not believe that what had just happened was real. Where had that character come from? Had it appeared because of Ye Zhang?
Lu Yin carefully observed the area and brought out Lightstream so that he could see exactly what had happened.
Why had he been suppressed? After suffering an injury out of nowhere, Lu Yin was determined to find out where the power had come from.
Lightstream shimmered, and the scenery that Lu Yin saw shifted as he looked at the past. Ye Zhang’s ashes slowly regathered and his corpse appeared once more. Lu Yin could see the flames that had incinerated the corpse, but the “Heaven” character could not be seen anywhere. Lu Yin abruptly focused on the direction of the flames, and he then repeatedly rewatched the scene as Lightstream allowed him to look into the past. Lu Yin’s focus was on Ye Zhang’s corpse at a precise moment.
He was able to clearly make something out. It was another character: “Slave.” It had appeared on Ye Zhang’s forehead.
The “Slave” character that was etched onto Ye Zhang’s forehead was normally invisible, but it had appeared when Lu Yin had tried to anoint the dead man as a champion. Just what did “Slave” and “Heaven” even mean?
The effects of Lightstream ended, and Lu Yin’s vision returned to normal. The area around him was empty.
His mind was in chaos. How could “Slave” be etched onto Ye Zhang’s forehead? The meaning of such a word was all too clear.
Who could enslave someone like Ye Zhang? Heaven? But what did “Heaven” even represent?
Lu Yin’s fingers tingled. He felt like he had just touched upon some sort of forbidden knowledge.
If not for the flames, would he even still be alive?
Those flames had also appeared when the Books of Destiny had burned. At that time, Lu Yin had used his die’s Gift Copy to steal the flames, which proved that they were someone’s innate gift. After that, the flames had been stored in the die, and they had unexpectedly just saved him. Those flames had some sort of connection to the Immemorial Citadel. The Books of Destiny had burned precisely because Lu Yin had requested a divination regarding the Immemorial Citadel. Could whoever was related to this “Heaven” character also be related to the Immemorial Citadel?
It was clear to Lu Yin that the Immemorial Citadel was where both ancient and modern human powerhouses fought against Aeternus to prevent the destruction of sequence strings. This was an answer that Lu Yin had arrived at through logic. However, why had the “Heaven” character appeared just now? What did this character mean in the context of the Immemorial Citadel?
Lu Yin’s confusion was only increasing. The Immemorial Citadel was not as simple as Mu Ji had made it out to be. There was clearly some sort of problem, and Lu Yin realized that he had to visit the Immemorial Citadel.
Determination steeled his gaze. He needed to see the Immemorial Citadel for himself. There were a great number of important secrets hidden in that place.
The Champions’ Stage slowly drifted down. When Lu Yin looked over at it, he saw that not only had Ye Zhang’s image disappeared, but so too had the Cyclops King’s.
The Cyclops King had only existed because of Ye Zhang’s Law of Illusion. After Ye Zhang had told Lu Yin that the super giants only existed because of the Law of Illusion, Lu Yin had stopped believing in the Cyclops King’s existence. Thus, the Champions’ Stage had lost the champion.
Losing two of his most powerful champions possible at the same time was painful, but Lu Yin had also caught a glimpse of a certain secret, and he needed to uncover the full truth.
Mu Shen and the others approached from where they had been waiting in the distance. “Dao Monarch Lu, how did it go?”
Lu Yin did not know how to explain what had just happened, so he simply nodded. “It’s over.”
Lord Xu rubbed his head as he frowned. “We were finally able to force Corpse G.o.d into a corner and kill him, only to learn that he’s still alive. From now on, it will be even harder to kill him.”
Moon Fairy commented, “We were not the ones to defeat him. That child took care of things.”