Chapter 4548: Myriad Metal Qi
Chapter 4548: Myriad Metal Qi
Lu Yin was surprised. So that’s it. These Lepids don’t want the Lepidarch to wake up. That makes things easier.
He stirred the Stillness and gathered it into his hands. Extremes Must Be Reversed acted upon the Stillness, causing one hand to hold Activeness and the other Stillness. His two palms came together and then slammed directly downward: Duality Seal.
There was a bang. An attack from the flower stuck to his front tried to send him flying, but Lu Yin forced himself to stay in place, fighting against the force while slamming the Duality Seal downward.
A cloud appeared, blocking his downward attack. It was another qi treasure.
Lu Yin's Duality Seal pushed into the cloud and scattered the qi treasure. Some of the Duality Seal's power was consumed while another flower had appeared on Lu Yin’s abdomen. An Immortal was approaching.
The next moment, an Immortal Lepid shot up at Lu Yin. The power in his hands forming the Duality Seal kept being consumed by the scattering cloud. The cloud was not intended to block his attack, but rather to stall him. In fact, it was not a cloud at all; there were countless thread-like things that were grabbing at the power of the Duality Seal.
At the same time, attacks came from the flowers on his abdomen and shoulder, making his body shudder.
The Lepid from below arrived, and Myriad Metal Qi stabbed straight at Lu Yin.
He pressed a hand downward. The Duality Seal, which should have been greatly depleted, suddenly surged to overpower and shatter the Myriad Metal Qi before continuing on to shoot towards the Lepid.
The Immortal was shocked. Impossible!
It had clearly dragged away most of the power behind the skeleton’s attack, so how could it still overwhelm its Myriad Metal Qi?
The creature had no time to think any further. The Duality Seal was pressing it down.
The palm struck the Lepid, tearing its wings apart and smashing it to the ground like a meteor. There was another bang as Lu Yin was attacked from behind. There was also a flower on his back now.
Caught off guard by the blow, he was struck far away, though he also managed to use the momentum to race away. The stars of the Cosmic Art reappeared as Stillness erupted, plunging everything into darkness.
In a fissure deep in a canyon below, a Lepid was miserably crushed beneath the rubble. Its wings had been torn apart, and its body had been split open. It was on the verge of death. It was the Lepid that Lu Yin’s palm strike had hit.
As long as he could land a direct blow, these Immortal Lepids’ defenses were far from enough to stop him. Saying that the Lepids were unable to be harmed by the power that they absorbed from a target only worked if they were able to absorb more power than what the creature was able to mobilize for an attack.
One colorful Lepid after another descended and surrounded the wounded Lepid.
"It is that civilization. The one that we have always been unwilling to make contact with."
"The Lepidarch said that that civilization should not come after us."
"They do not attack because of their karmic chains, but this creature is not an Immortal being."
"Can a non-Immortal being be that powerful? He escaped after we surrounded him, and he even withstood Bloomdance Transfer and Myriad Metal Qi again and again. Not only that, but his power was clearly not completely drained. Why does he still have more?"
"That is impossible to understand. His physical strength is also absurd, and his spiritual force is powerful enough to endure being drained."
"If he can keep his reserves of one power hidden, then he can do the same with a second or a third. What we need to do now is find out why he is here on our Lepidarch Continent. What is his purpose?"
"Keep searching. As long as he remains here, he cannot hide. Now, bury it."
As that voice fell, the body of the severely injured Lepid slowly moved deeper into the soil until it vanished.
Soon, the many Lepids flew away again, heading out to cover the entire Lepidarch Continent and scatter pollen in search of Lu Yin.
Beneath a dim sky, seawater kept beating against the reefs.
Lu Yin was currently on an island. He let out a breath and looked at the Butterfly Bloom marks on his body. The last one to appear had disappeared. Had that Lepid died? While his attack had certainly been heavy, he had attacked an Immortal. It should not have died so easily. Or had the mark disappeared because he had moved too far away from it?
There were still two flower marks on his bones. As long as they did not disappear, he could not lightly make a move.
He was in too reactive a position. Bloomdance Transfer always affected him at critical moments. Even if it could not seriously injure him, it was enough to affect his accuracy.
Just now, he had paid the price of detonating all the stars of the Cosmic Art to deceive all the Lepids. Only after doing that had he gained the chance to strike one opponent with the Duality Seal. It would not be easy to create such an opportunity again. Those Lepids would never think that he had completely depleted his Stillness.
The Stillness contained within the Three Deaths Art was essentially ten times the Stillness contained within the Cosmic Art. It would be good if, each time he erupted with as much Stillness as possible, he could kill one of the Lepids.
Above the ocean, scattered pollen drifted down. Lu Yin did not dare to interfere with the pollen at all. He felt that he had most likely been previously discovered because he had pushed the pollen away. It was fine if wind naturally blew it around, but if he interfered with the pollen directly, he would be discovered.
He could only evade it.
He would wait until the Butterfly Bloom marks on his body disappeared. They would not find him so easily again.
In truth, he had thought of hiding at the bottom of the sea, but even that was useless. The pollen would fall through to the seabed. Water could not affect it at all.
Lu Yin kept avoiding the pollen. There were many of these colorful Lepids, but no matter how many there might be, they could not shroud the entire Lepidarch Continent with pollen. This method was different from using Willforce or consciousness to envelop an entire megaverse, which meant that Lu Yin had room to avoid it.
However, as time passed, there were fewer and fewer places where he could hide.
Several months later, the rest of the Butterfly Bloom marks finally disappeared from his body.
Lu Yin let out a breath of relief. Without the Butterfly Bloom marks, he would not be at too much of a disadvantage if he fought the Lepids again. Besides, after the previous battle, he would have an easier time defending against this technique.
Unfortunately, this clone could not teleport. Otherwise, things would not nearly be so troublesome.
Pollen scattered across the sky. Lu Yin was hiding beneath a cliff. There was only enough uncovered space to barely fit one person, as everything else was completely covered in pollen. He needed to wait before he could leave.
This was the farthest location from where all the Immortal Lepids had shown themselves. He was pointedly avoiding them. This was the advantage of staying hidden while the Lepids were exposed. He could see their movements clearly, and as long as he did not touch the pollen, he could avoid them.
Suddenly, an Immortal Lepid approached him.
Lu Yin was shocked. Had he been discovered?
No. The other Lepids were not moving. It was just this one that was headed his way.
After previously being surrounded and attacked, Lu Yin needed to understand the movements of all the Lepids before he decided what to do.
There was no need to move. This Lepid was not looking for him. Lu Yin suppressed the urge to flee and simply stared at the Lepid as it drew closer and closer.
The colorful Lepid slowly flew over Lu Yin's head, twisted around, and then shot down to the seabed. Lu Yin stared beneath the water and watched as the Lepid dug out a strangely colored stone. It then stared at the stone and slowly breathed. Is it devouring Myriad Metal Qi?
Lu Yin watched and gradually sank into the scene. It was as though he had merged with the Lepid. A stone appeared before him as well. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale.
This was the Path of Breathing, which Lu Yin had previously practiced with his true body under Master Qing Cao’s guidance. It had allowed him to comprehend the truth that breathing could awaken the body's memories. Then, with his original body, he had been able to sense the breathing of the universe. He had relied on that ability to master the Yan Gate’s First and Second Needles.
That was his true body. This skeleton clone possessed the same comprehension because Lu Yin only had one mind and awareness, meaning that the clone was essentially Lu Yin himself. However, this body had not yet comprehended breathing. Moreover, each body was unique and distinct. His true body’s memories had been awakened by breathing, but this skeleton had no such memories.
However, as he watched the Lepid devour the Myriad Metal Qi, the sensation of merging with it actually allowed his clone to hear the breathing of the stone for a moment.
Given Lu Yin's previous comprehension, grasping the Path of Breathing was extremely easy. He immersed himself in the scene of the Lepid devouring the Myriad Metal Qi. The metal was being devoured by the Lepid, yet it also seemed to be devoured by him. It was not only the Myriad Metal Qi. The sea, the rocks, the universe—all of it breathed. Though it was faint, he could hear it.
The skeleton clone had also stepped onto the Path of Breathing. This feeling was both familiar and unfamiliar.
Of the Yan Gate’s Seven Needles, the First Needle disrupted the mind by targeting the space between the brows. Lu Yin raised a skeletal hand as he slowly sank into the seabed. He looked at the Lepid in the distance while a strand of energy appeared at his fingertips, identical to the Lepid's Myriad Metal Qi. He was using the Myriad Metal Qi to unleash the First Needle.
Go.
The energy shot at the Lepid. It was still devouring the Myriad Metal Qi when it suddenly sensed danger and saw a strand of energy stabbing at it. Myriad Metal Qi? Why?
When it saw the strand of Myriad Metal Qi, the Lepid’s first reaction was not to dodge, but rather utter confusion. This was something that only others of its same species could unleash. Why was Myriad Metal Qi shooting towards it?
The First Needle disrupts the mind by striking between the brows.
The strand of energy pierced the colorful Lepid before vanishing into the void.
Using qi to form a needle made it invisible and intangible. It could disrupt someone’s mind, yet it caused no visible injury whatsoever. It instead only damaged the mind and spirit. At this instant, the Lepid was actually stunned and frozen in place.
Lu Yin moved forward, his hands rising to grab the Lepid's wings, and he abruptly used his full strength.
The Immortal Lepid was torn apart by Lu Yin. His tremendous strength was too much for the Lepid to resist. It could only let out a shrill scream while its Lifeforce surged out and blasted at Lu Yin. He pulled back his hands and threw a palm strike. A terrifying force ripped through the Lepid, and then Lu Yin stepped back and left.
Just a moment later, one Lepid after another appeared at the seabed. They stared blankly at the Lepid lying on the seabed, dying miserably. How could this have happened so quickly?
They could not understand why Lu Yin, who was clearly not an Immortal, could kill an Immortal being so quickly. Immortals should not be this fragile.
The death of the first Immortal Lepid had only succeeded because Lu Yin had made it look like he had consumed all of the Stillness in his Cosmic Art. However, this second one seemed to have been killed far too easily.
"There are traces of Lifeforce. It looks like it was torn apart while being completely defenseless. Why was that creature able to tear its body apart at close range without causing much of a commotion?"
"Logically, it should have at least been able to counterattack with Butterfly Bloom. It should not have died so pathetically. Moreover, its cosmic law was not weak, yet it never used it at all."
"That is the strangest part. Why did it not use its cosmic law? Why did it also not use Butterfly Bloom and instead allowed that creature to tear it apart?"
"Awaken all of our kin. From this moment on, we only move in pairs. We have encountered great trouble."
"No matter how troublesome this creature may be, we cannot awaken the Lepidarch."
Far away, Lu Yin had long since hidden his aura and was walking through a strange city. It was not a human city, but rather one built by a species that looked like insects. He roamed the shadows so that no creatures could see him.
He glanced back at the sea. The Yan Gate’s First Needle was incredibly useful. Once that needle was unleashed, it had a wondrous effect similar to Endless Recall. What made the First Needle more powerful than Endless Recall was that it caused long-lasting damage to the target’s thoughts. One needle essentially deprived its victim of a portion of their intellect, and it could turn a clever individual into a fool.
This was quite terrifying.
Even if that Lepid had possessed stronger defenses and been able to withstand Lu Yin’s attacks after he unleashed the First Needle, it still would have had no chance of winning because its mind had been damaged. Even if it was only a tiny bit worse than before, that difference would have been enough to drag it into the abyss.