Chapter 1877: Stellular Tribulation
Lan Xian was not the most powerful of the Sixth Mainland’s Semi-Progenitors, and neither was she the closest to becoming an Progenitor. However, she was the youngest and most talented.
Even a lazy person like Qing Hua occasionally envied Lan Xian"s talent.
She was his junior in the Sixth Mainland, but her cultivation already surpa.s.sed countless others. She had risen to become one of the most powerful people in the entire Sixth Mainland and was only under the three Progenitors.
Anyone from Lan Xian’s generation In the Sixth Mainland would only have one phrase to describe her with: peerless within her generation.
Her white dress fluttered in a breeze as cherry blossoms filled the sky and painted s.p.a.ce red. Meanwhile, her hands plucked at her three-stringed instrument to control an entire battlefield. This was Lan Xian.
Xu Qing half dropped to his knees. Sweat poured down his face as he stared into the void. The Void Wanderer elder"s body twisted, and then, as Xu Qing eagerly watched, the ma.s.sive astral beast pulled out a piece of leather. It was Progenitor Wushang"s hide.
Lu Yin had only possessed a single piece of Progenitor Wushang"s hide, but the Progenitor’s full hide was absolutely ma.s.sive, as Progenitor Wushang had been an enormous astral beast.
At this moment, a large piece of Progenitor Wushang’s hide covered the entire body of the Void Wanderer elder.
At that instance, everyone looking over was frozen stiff, including Lan Xian. Both the hide and the Void Wanderer elder were too ma.s.sive, and everyone could clearly see Progenitor Wushang’s hide. Even Master Qing Hua, who was the furthest away, saw it and became frozen.
No one had expected the Void Wanderer elder to be in possession of such a ma.s.sive piece of Progenitor Wushang"s hide.
Lu Yin was also frozen and staring blankly at the sight. This was such an enormous piece of Progenitor Wushang"s hide, and it was also Xu Qing"s last resort. He was using a Progenitor item.
With the Void Wanderer elder donning Progenitor Wushang"s hide, the pink world filled with cherry blossoms shook and then cracked.
Lan Xian was frozen stiff as she stared straight at the hide. The Void Wanderer elder barreled into her, and since she was stunned by the ma.s.sive piece of Progenitor Wushang"s hide, Lan Xian made no attempt to dodge. She was struck, and blood stained her veil.
An inner world was not only a Semi-Progenitor"s strongest weapon, but it was also their greatest weakness. If their inner world was ever damaged, the Semi-Progenitor would be instantly injured.
Lan Xian had not been injured by being struck by the Void Wanderer, but rather because her inner world had cracked.
The only two people present who were not frozen at this moment were Xu Qing and Sword King.
The moment that Lan Xian"s inner world had cracked and her body knocked back, Sword King"s wounded body had started to move. He formed a star from star energy and instantly attacked. However, he did not attack Lan Xian, but rather Lu Yin.
No one had expected Sword King to suddenly attack Lu Yin. Not even Lan Xian had expected it. Elder Jiu Shen and others had not expected it either, and not even Lu Yin himself had considered it. This was Xu Qing"s entire plan.
He had already known that it would be impossible for them to kill a Semi-Progenitor like Lan Xian, even with Progenitor Wushang"s hide. Instead, Progenitor Wushang"s hide could allow the Void Wanderer elder to escape and ensure that the hide did not fall into Lan Xian’s hands. Additionally, the moment before the Void Wanderer fled, the ma.s.sive piece of Progenitor Wushang"s hide that would shroud the beast’s body would freeze everyone on the battlefield, and that moment could let them accomplish many things.
Xu Qing’s first priority was to kill Lu Yin.
Throughout the war, Xu Qing had developed a very clear understanding of Lu Yin, and if Lu Yin did not die, the only possibility was for him to become an enemy of the Astral Beast Domain in the future. It was very likely that Lu Yin would become a Progenitor, and once that happened, the Astral Beast Domain would be done for.
Even if he did not obtain the G.o.d of Death’s inheritance, Lu Yin needed to be eliminated. As long as he died, the Great Eastern Alliance fleet would break apart, and Xu Qing would also not have to fulfill his side of the bargain that he had struck with Lu Yin. In fact, it might even be possible to secure a portion of the Outerverse before the Sixth Mainland took over defending the Outerverse.
This was Xu Qing’s plan. The moment that Lan Xian had appeared on the battlefield, the astral beast’s general had known that victory was impossible. However, that did not mean that he could not eliminate Lu Yin.
Xu Qing did not believe that a powerful Semi-Progenitor like Lan Xian would remain on the battlefield for long. This was not a place that deserved a Semi-Progenitor’s attention.
As long as Lu Yin died and the Void Wanderer elder escaped back to the Astral Beast Domain with Progenitor Wushang"s hide, everything would be worth it. Even if Xu Qing himself died, it would be worth it. Besides, after Lan Xian appeared, Xu Qing no longer was the one in control of his own life or death, so the best choice was to eliminate Lu Yin, who presented the biggest threat to the Astral Beast Domain.
Xu Qing was the Astral Beast Domain’s General, and he was naturally able to clearly read the situation even under the pressure of a Semi-Progenitor and choose the best option available.
Lu Yin, you have to die! If you want to blame someone, then you can only blame yourself for being too outstanding. Your talent is too terrifying, and you should not exist in this universe!
Elder Jiu Shen, the Second Nightking, and the other human powerhouses were all still frozen due to Progenitor Wushang"s hide, and they could only watch as Sword King’s sword slashed towards Lu Yin. This was the most powerful attack that Sword King was capable of unleashing at this moment, and this attack surpa.s.sed a power level of a million.
A sword slash with a power level of a million shot towards Lu Yin. Even if he still had his bodysuit armor, it would still be useless, as it would not stop an attack this powerful. Besides, Lu Yin did not even have any armor at this moment.
His pupils shrank to pinp.r.i.c.ks. He had not antic.i.p.ated this attack. Was he about to die? He watched as the sword fell. He had no strength to resist and no way to escape.
Master! Master! Master! Lu Yin shouted internally.
Bang!
The sword dropped, and there was a deafening noise. Sword King looked to see what had happened, as his sword had been blocked. It had been stopped by a cherry blossom.
Sword King turned to look to the west. Lan Xian had actually blocked his attack with a cherry blossom, saving Lu Yin"s life.
No one had thought that Lan Xian would save Lu Yin.
No one had expected Xu Qing to order Lu Yin’s death, and by the same token, Lan Xian protecting Lu Yin was completely unexpected as well.
Naturally, Lan Xian was the first person to recover after being frozen by Progenitor Wushang"s hide. She was a Semi-Progenitor afterall.
Xu Qing"s eyes blazed with anger when he saw that Sword King"s attack had been blocked. Did he really need to use that option? As expected, Skymender had not been mistaken. This thought prompted Xu Qing to pull a book out of his cosmic ring. As he stared at Lu Yin, the astral beast general shouted, "Void Wanderer elder!"
The Void Wanderer elder spun around and slammed its body into Lan Xian again. The astral beast was relying on Progenitor Wushang"s hide that covered his body to protect him. Lan Xian was also helpless to deal with it, as her cherry blossoms could not break through the hide, and she also could not even look at it without being momentarily frozen.
At this moment, Sword King lifted his sword once again and slashed down.
Lan Xian frowned, and her fingertips flickered. Sword King’s blade was raised high as he brought it down with all his might. Just as he was about to launch another attack at Lu Yin, the cherry blossoms twined around his ma.s.sive sword, just as before. Then, they continued along to cover his body as well. Blood splattered, and Sword King died.
Blood sprinkled onto Lu Yin, Elder Jiu Shen, and others, painting both them and the battleships behind them red.
Sword King had been a ma.s.sive astral beast, and his huge body collapsed. A true powerhouse had just perished.
Xu Qing"s eyes grew cold. He tossed the book in his hand out, and it moved by itself, opening up to reveal a ma.s.sive sword on a page. It looked exactly like Sword King"s enormous sword.
Lu Yin’s entire body was covered with chills when he saw this weapon, and he felt a sense of extreme danger.
At this same moment, the Void Wanderer elder charged into Lan Xian once again, blocking her sight of the book, the sword, and Lu Yin.
The sword in the book came to life, gradually taking form from the book’s pages and forming in s.p.a.ce. It appeared behind Lu Yin and dropped down. While there was no technique, the attack was just as powerful as Sword King"s final attack.
Lu Yin"s scalp went numb. His body suddenly moved. He had started reciting the Origin Sutra the moment he was immobilized by Progenitor Wushang"s hide. No one else, not even Elder Jiu Shen, could move at this moment, but Lu Yin could.
But what did it matter? Sword King’s attack had locked Lu Yin down, so even if he had managed to recover from seeing Progenitor Wushang"s hide, he was still locked in place by the sword attack. Lu Yin could not even turn around. He was helpless as the sword fell.
The gap between him and an attack with a power level of a million was just too vast.
Desperate, Lu Yin closed his eyes, and the nearby star energy surged into his body at a shocking rate. The moment the sword dropped down, Lu Yin’s internal star energy finished his forty ninth cycle, and he reached the true peak of the Enlighter realm. This triggered his stellular tribulation.
The greatest challenge that Lu Yin faced in surviving his stellular tribulation and becoming an Envoy was the seal that had been placed on him.
While Lu Yin knew that he had been sealed, he did not know how many layers there were to the seal.
When the seal had first appeared, the crazy headmaster of Astral-10 had helped Lu Yin break the seal, which had allowed him to become a Melder. The second time the seal had appeared, a desiccated corpse had been attacking Lu Yin and had broken the seal. This had given Lu Yin the opportunity to become an Explorer. The third layer of the seal had been broken by Progenitor Chen’s blood, and Lu Yin had then become a Hunter.
At this moment, it would be the fourth layer of the seal. Each successive layer became increasingly difficult to break.
Lu Yin did not know how strong the globe of Progenitor Chen’s blood that had broken the third layer of the seal had been, but he believed that he would need a power level of at least 800,000 or 900,000 to break through the fourth layer of the seal, and possibly even a power level of a million. This seal could act as a shield to protect Lu Yin from Sword King"s attack.
Lu Yin wanted to use Sword King’s attack the same way he had used the desiccated corpse when he had broken through to the Explorer realm. As for a formcast model, Lu Yin did not have one anymore. He simply did not have the necessary funds to Enhance an eight-stage formcast model.
When Lu Yin reached the true peak of the Enlighter realm, a ma.s.sive tree appeared in s.p.a.ce, and mysterious runes appeared behind him. These runes were his seal, and it was trying to bind Lu Yin and suppress his breakthrough.
The sword fell the same moment the seal appeared. There was a tremendous bang that shook the entire region of s.p.a.ce and shattered the void in a wide-spreading crack.
Elder Jiu Shen and the others were all blown away by the shockwave.
The Void Wanderer elder twisted its body around and vanished into the void. It needed to leave quickly as if it dallied for too long, Lan Xian would either become accustomed to the suppression of Progenitor Wushang"s hide or find a way to avoid it. If either happened, the Void Wanderer elder would be suppressed, or worse, Progenitor Wushang’s hide might be stolen.
Lan Xian was unable to stop the Void Wanderer elder from leaving, and besides that, at this moment, she was staring at Lu Yin with a rare fluctuation of emotion in her eyes.
Xu Qing was also staring at Lu Yin. The Void Thunderbeast had thought that this sword would kill Lu Yin, especially since this was what Skymender had divined. The Celestial Beast Empire’s imperial teacher had said that there was a 90% chance that the sword would kill Lu Yin, and yet the attack had failed. Xu Qing had no idea what had appeared behind Lu Yin, but it had stopped the sword.
Lan Xian was also startled to see an Enlighter block an attack with a power level of over a million. Not even Progenitor Chen would have been capable of such a feat when he had been an Enlighter. This was something that was completely unprecedented throughout all of time.
As the Void Wanderer elder left, Elder Jiu Shen, Ya Mavis, and everyone else managed to regain control of their bodies and senses. As soon as they recovered, they all turned to look at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin looked up to see that the s.p.a.ce above him had already changed. A ma.s.sive vortex was gradually growing and spreading out into the distance above his head. This vortex was larger than any that Lu Yin had ever seen before.
Lightning flickered within the dark vortex, and no end could be seen to its depths. The sounds emanating from the vortex were disturbing, and the faces of all those who witnessed this scene grew pale.
"Stellular tribulation! It’s a stellular tribulation! He’s trying to pa.s.s his tribulation! Everyone, get back!" Elder Jiu Shen shouted. He was also the first one to flee the scene.
Regardless of which person a stellular tribulation appeared for, everyone else would be caught up in it as long as they were within a certain range, and that range depended on the person’s strength. Jiu Shen had no desire to get caught up in Lu Yin’s stellular tribulation, especially after he saw the vortex that had appeared above Lu Yin. This did not look like what other Enlighters experienced when breaking through to the Envoy realm as it was just too big.
Jiu Shen was not alone, as the Second Nightking, Qing Hua, and everyone else with the necessary knowledge could tell that this stellular tribulation looked far too large for someone breaking through to the Envoy realm.
Even Lan Xian retreated. Forget a Semi-Progenitor—even a Progenitor would suffer if they were dragged into this stellular tribulation.